gadhafi. they say they are on the verge of taking the port city of sirte. a spade of killings at a port on the mekong river has interrupted cargo trade between children that and thailand. at least 12 sailors were murdered in what may have been a drug traffic attempt. investigations are continuing. severe weather in new zealand is hampering efforts to corn taken an oil spill off the country's north eye land. authorities are trying to pump the remaining oil off a ship that struck a reef last wednesday. 30 tons of oil has leaked from the vessel. those are the headlines from cnn, the world's news leader. i'm monita rajpal. "world business today" starts right now. good morning from cnn london, i'm charles hod southern. >> and good afternoon from cnn hong kong, i'm andrew stevens. welcome to "world business today." the top stories monday, october 10th. >> bell jen bank agrees to its bailout. are more bank rescues on the way? >> and weather hampers efforts to contain an oil spill in new zealand. and -- >> it's a real issue and an issue that's getting bigger and the principle reason it's getting bigger is because of the economic situation. more people are finding it harder to make end's meet. >> the age of austerity has all too many uk residents relying on charity to feed their children. we'll move straight on to the rescue of dexia and what it involves. what we know is that the board has approved a rescue plan by the governments of belgium, france and luxembourg. the beljan unit of the bank is to be sold. they agreed to guarantee up to 90 billion euros of funding over the next decade. more on that with richard quest in just a moment. now unfortunately it has to be said, this is nothing new for dexia. at the height of the crisis, the franco belgian bank was bald out. three years later, it's gone full circle. it holds $21 billion worth of greek, italian and peripheral euro zone debt. dexia posted record losses of $5.5 billion in the second quarter after writing down the value of those greek holdings. the company stock has plummeted, losing more than two-thirds of its value so far this year. richard quest is in brussels and joins us now with a closer look at what's going on. richard, very briefly, it seems to me that the bank's board had very little choice. they had to accept this bailout, didn't they? >> reporter: they had no choice whatsoever. basically the retail part, the consumer part of the bank is -- off so ordinary people don't have to worry about what happened. you have a bad bank with toxic assets and the taxpayers of france, belgium and luxembourg end up bailing the guarantees for the rest of the bank. it's a bad situation all around. from dexia's point of view, it was the only solution. >> richard, i think it's pretty welfare to say, that the question in a lot of people's minds is, is this the first of many? dexia has had two bailouts. how many others will need one or two bailouts? >> dexia needed a bailout because of the unique circumstances of the bank. it was high into municipal bonds, late in the game. it had a particular financial structure that meant when things turned sour, dexia was one of the first to get clobbered. they may be at the front of the line but there are plenty behind. what we have to watch for is if the situation continues to deteriorate, dexia passed the second set of euro stress test for banks. indeed, many other banks will be fine if they get their act together. however, the situation continues to deteriorate. if greek bonds do end up taking a sharp -- without recapitalization, there will be other banks in the same position as dexia. that's what european officials today are looking at. what needs to be done. recapitalize the banks and put together new structures in place. >> okay, richard, thank you very much. richard quest, you'll be interviewing the commission president in the next half hour. we look forward, if possible, to hearing from you as to what he has to say about the latest developments. let's move on to stock markets here in europe. and they rose slightly at the open on monday. that follows confirmation of the bail joust the troubled bank dexia and proposal by the french and german governments to recapitalize some of the euro zone's other vulnerable banks. the markets quite passive about that, perhaps speculative. we are seeing gains on most of the banks -- most of the indices at the moment. dexia shares still suspended from trade at the moment. there was a credit downgrade that came from moody's and fitch on friday for italy and spain. they seemed to be reasonably positive about that. the main issue is something we'll be returning to and that is the promise by the french and germen leaders to essentially map out a rescue plan for the euro zone by the end of the month. gains, scant, around 0.25% for the ftse, cac and the zurich smi. the dax went 0.25% the other way. there's not a lot of details at the moment but fred will bring us up to date. let's take a look at what's been happening here at the start of the week. a pretty mixed picture as well. japan closed today for the national sports day holiday. in hong kong, resource stocks lost ground, after china's biggest refiner announced it was taking over the canadian gas and oil producer. hong kong turning around in the last few minutes. australia and seoul, both talking up modest gains. shanghai, down by almost 0.66%. the interesting thing here is, not only is shanghai starting after a week holiday, it's also starting at a pretty low base. this is the index performance over the past three years. you can see there. back in july 2010 it was down at 2,300 odd points. you have to go back to 2009 for the composite levels. that's a 2 1/2 year low for the composite. the golden week holiday didn't bring for any sort of nerves or certainly didn't calm nerves for the chinese investors. they came in and got rid of two-thirds of the value of the composite exchange. we of such a volatile week which ended on friday. most of the markets in asia are down by 1% or 2%. certainly count that picking up where it left off. >> it's interesting, andrew. we are seeing a disconnect between what's been going on in the asian markets and what we've been seeing on the markets in north america and europe. wall street, it appears anyway, will be looking for reasons to extend last week's gains when trading begins on monday. even though u.s. stocks did close lower on friday, they were higher over the week. the dow climbed by a fraction of 1% in friday's trading. over the week it had a gain of nearly 1.75%. the nasdaq lost more than 1% on friday but added nearly 2.75% over the week. the standard and poors 500 was 2% than it was last monday. u.s. markets, here we are, the futures as you've been seeing them for a little while, actually, they look set for opening gains when trading begins in a few hours from now. just the premarket action there. out by around about 1% across the board. andrew? >> yes. a few hours before the markets open in the u.s. the news coming out of europe over the next few hours will be vital to how the u.s. markets eventually open. let's get back to our top story. like dexia, french banks are exposed to french debt. the french president nichololas sarkozy and angela merkel met over the weekend. this is a pivotal plan. fred pleitgen is following that story. we seem to have no detail yet. >> there's a deadline and a promise that was made by french president nicolas sarkozy that they'd come up with a comprehensive package to shore up the european currency and indeed the european economy as well. that they would do that before the next g20 summit which, of course, is going to take place in france in cannes on the 3rd and 4th of november. they set up a deadline and a promise. it's not clear what will be part of that package. if you talk to analysts and people on the ground they'll tell you it basically consists of long term and short-term measures. both sides, angela merkel and nicolas sarkozy said they were committed to recapitalizing european banks. there was some discord between the two leaders as to how exactly that is supposed to happen but the long-term measures could entail some european treaties. it could make it easier to stop some countries if their fiscal policies are not what they should be. no details at this point in time but a promise that a big comprehensive package is on the way, which is something that might not calm down investors but does make some sense if you keep in mind, these are the two most powerful people in the european union. but they'll have to get the support of the entire euro zone to be able to push these measures through. >> europe's politicians have been criticized strongly for really adopting, it's more like a drip, drip approach to dealing with this. just doing enough to stave off the next day or week of the crisis. it's interesting that we have the uk leader, david cameron saying they only have a few weeks to solve this or there will be a full-blown approach in the euro zone. he's now saying there has to be a bazooka approach, throwing everything at it. >> i don't see angela merkel pulling out bat zook ka at this point in time. she probably also heard what david cameron had to say. if you look at the history of what angela merkel and nicolas sarkozy has been done in the past, it does seem to be enough. both of these leaders are, of course, under immense pressure at home as well, especially angela merkel who's facing a lot of criticism and has a lot of people in her own governing coalition who are not fond of putting up extra money for the european stabilization mechanism for the european stability fund as well. she's got a lot of internal problems she's going to have to deal with. on the other hand, the french, of course, would like for their banks to be able to access the efsf, to recapitalize themselves. you have the problem of greece as well, because the german economy is so big and people are expecting so much of merkel, people have not managed to stamp out that fire going on there. andrew? >> they have less than three weeks to do it. fred pleitgen, thank you. driving down inflation, china slashes fuel prices as the country's biggest oil refiner moves to shore up its energy supplies. the detail ozzen that, just ahead. the trading session for gold, checking out a couple commodities for you, precious metal climbs, that's continuing. up by just under $20. down about 11% over the past 30 days. we'll see whether that means it is going to move further ahead. have a look at the oil. also on the upswing, not fight so dramatically, up 60 cents. investors encouraged by the posted u.s. jobs report and the merkel/sarkozy summit. good news on the euro debt crisis and the real economy in the united states. welcome back. from cnn hong kong and cnn london, this is "world business today." >> let's just stick with oil for a moment and china's biggest oil refiner, the state-owned signer pick is poised to fork out $2.1 billion for the canadian oil and gas producer daylight energy. that's more than twice the value of daylight's stock at the close of trading on friday. it's just another example of beijing's continuing effort to find energy to support china's rapid growth. investors, though, not best pleased by news of that outlay. the stock down almost 3%. traded here in hong kong today. staying in china and with energy, beijing slashed gas lone and diesel prices by more than 3%. that is about $47 a ton has brought prices down from record high levels. this is the latest bid to reign in inflation from july's three-year high of 6.5%. we get another reading on inflation in china on friday. the cpi did ease slightly in august. a lot of people watching inflation incredibly closely in china. and finally, this man here, the man who said he's about to run for the president of russia, the current prime minister, vladimir putin will arrive in china tomorrow as wranglings over a huge gas deal continue between china and russia. with ceos of state-run energies and resource companies among his entourage, they are likely to form a key part of those talks in beijing. >> now, you're watching "world business today." authorities in england rush to contain an oil leak. the weather is working against them. details, next. calorie sweetener with b vitamins, the first and only one to help support a healthy metabolism. three smart new ways to sweeten. same great taste. new splenda® essentials™. check in quickly at the world currencies. 76.64 japanese yen, 1.5616 and 1.3530 as far as the euro and dollar are concerned. you're watching "world business today" live on cnn. an oil spill off the eastern coast of new zealand's north island is worsening as heavy weather hits the area. you can see quite clearly the slick so far. that's about 30 tons of fuel oil spilled fr eed from rina. oil started to wash up on a popular beach in the area and they're warning the water has become highly toxic. the prime minister john key says he's looking for answers. >> this is a ship that's played out in calm waters during the night, 7 to 10 knots. >> green peace says the accident shows how unprepared new zealand is for an oil spill that could result from the government's planned deep sea oil drilling program. charles? now, salvage and recovery workers try to pumps the remaining oil out of the cargo ship before it leaks out, the weather doesn't seem to be doing them any favors. we go to the cnn weather center. what's happening down there off the north ireland of new zealand? >> the conditions are deteriorating pretty quickly. putting the maps in motion, this is what the satellite looked a few hours ago. we had a few complexes of thunderstorms well offshore. you can see the storm's become better organized. as of this hour, the storm moved in. the bay of plenty, they're getting the rains and last check of some of the observations there seeing wind gusts up to 06 kilometers per hour. that's going to be the name of the game with the storm system. winds up to 60 kilometers per hour, not just today and tomorrow. possibly through wednesday. of course, the operations there going to be hampered and the seas could get as high as 1.5 to 2.5 meters. i just want to take you in for a closer look, give you a scale of the vessel out there, the rina. when you measure this, put it together, bids 236 meters across. take 20, 21 london red tour buses, line them up together, 21 of those make the vessel size right there. this has 2,100 containers on board. it's not just the oil and diesel. there's paint, there's greece, hydraulic oil. a lot of chemicals once they come in contact with the water can become very hazardous. when you have these swells up to 1.5 to 2.5 meters, the vessel being lodged between the reef out there, it is going to slosh around a little bit and the concern, of course, is this could leak more water and more chemicals within the water. this is what we're following. that's the latest here in the weather center. guys? >> okay. joining us live from the international weather center, many thanks to you. >> yes. >> andrew? >> yes, charles, the environmental toll is becoming very, very apparent now. wildlife volunteers are standing by. done -- donna marie lever reports. >> reporter: he's being doused in sunrise soap and canola oil, flopping in the hands of those trying to save him. >> they're covered in black, sticky gunk, right down to the skin. they've ingested it and they're starting to get anemic, which is part of the toxic effect of the oil. >> reporter: he is one of five picked up after swimming right into the slick. they'll be put in these pools, they'll have to prove they have their waterproofing back before they're set free. >> they have to be able to sit on the surface of the water for six hours without showing any sign of it getting through and them starting to sink. >> with the shags, they don't cope so well. they get more stressed with us and the biggest problem we have with those guys is getting them to keep food down. >> this could be just the beginning. now more than 30 kilometers of this coastline is under close guard. dozens of teams armed with body bags are on alert for any more wildlife victims of the spill. >> we have pillow cases carrying live ones. that's what we're expecting. >> reporter: while it doesn't appear the oil has washed in yet, locals are worried about this popular fishing spot. >> there's no slick on the surface anyway. i know a lot of the heavy oil is about three feet down anyway. you can't see anything out there. >> reporter: what you can see is the crowds, the stricken ship is a talking point. >> i don't really want this beautiful beach to be covered in oil, you know. >> reporter: surfers aren't sure how long the waters will still be safe. >> you're thinking it could turn pretty quick. >> reporter: foot the penguins, it will take several more bobs to get them clean. the bill for this disaster response unisit being picked up by the ship's owner. donna marie lever, one news. it is known as the bay of plenty. we'll take a short break. when we come back, as growth in the euro zone and the u.s. slows down, many are pinning their hopes on asia's future prospects but is that wise? and we explain why hong kong's hang seng is one of the worst performing indices of the past three months. stay with us. from cnn london, i'm charles hodson. >> i'm andrew stephens at cnn hong kong. welcome back. you're watching "world business today." let's have a quick look at the european stock markets now an hour and 33 minutes into the session. higher, rounded about a third of a percent across the board as far as the ftse, paris cac and the zurich smi are concerned. the losses on the xetra dax are nar rogue. investors do obviously seem to be get something kind of reaction to the bank's bailout, dexia's bailout. it is imagined when dexia shares resume trading they will probably -- well, we'll see what happened. they plunged by 4 % last week. i should imagine we might see some kind of bounce on that. this deal has been largely in the price for a while, andrew. >> yes, absolutely. charles, here in asia meanwhile, the mixed picture for the markets this monday. the nikkei closed today. the shanghai re-opening. it was off for the entire week last week for the golden week holiday, playing catch up. the catch up is all negative, down by 0.66%. the kpos its at a 2.5-year low. this is not so much about europe in china, though europe is playing its part. it's also about worries on china's own economy and whether that which is now the world's second biggest is on track for a hard landing. here in hong kong, the hang seng index made up about 1.5% or so in the past few minutes, it ended the day flat. certainly coming back from a negative position. stocks losing out in hong kong after sixt nopec made an announcement. we always talk about events on one side of the world affect investors on the other. the european debt crisis no different. certainly being felt around the globe significantly here in asia as well. pauli pauline chiou explains why. >> reporter: asian stock markets have been even more volatile recently than those in the u.s. hong kong's hang seng index plummeted almost 23% in the third quarter of this year. south korea's benchmark index, the kospi, fell more than 16% in the same period. and the nikkei in japan lost nearly 12%. now, south korea and japan are big exporters and highly exposed to the troubles in europe and the u.s. but why is the hang seng down so much? it's got a lot to do with the fact that many mainland chinese companies are listed on the hong kong stock exchange and china's economy has problems of its own. those chinese firms listed hong coy by selling stock known as "h" shares. according to a manager director of ubs asia pacific, "h" shares aren't doing so well. he says the mark set concerned about china'