medical officials say hamas troops may be buried in the rubble. three french aid workers kidnaped more than five months ago in yemen have been freed by al qaeda militants. the french news agency quotes nicolas sarkozy and officials as confirming the release. no word yet on their condition. mr. sarkozy thanked the authorities for their help. an inquiry prompting by the phone hacking scandal brought down by the british tabloid gets under way in london today. investigators will look at the culture, practices and ethics of the british news media. a separate police probe of the scannedle is ongoing. those are the top stories from cnn, the world's news leader. i'm zain vergee and "world business today" starts now. good morning from cnn london, i'm charles hodson. >> and a very good afternoon from cnn hong kong, i'm andrew stephens. you're watching "world business today." our top stories this morning, the 14th of november. president obama wants asia to keep on growing but tells china enough's enough when it comes to the value of the ewan. can a government under monti calm nerves. and it's tough time for a man known as a richard branson. it's the monday morning after the weekend before as you might say and clearly a busy political time. now let's have a look at the financial implications of what's been going on in terms of new governments being formed, both in italy and in greece. let's take a look at the european stock markets, clearly investors watching numbers in europe closely, the measure of confidence in italy's interim government and greece as well. we are looking at a higher open on monday. this follows gains of 1.5 and 3% on friday. it does look as if the rumor has been bought because the selling that we're seeing now on the fact is fairly luke warm, i would say, 0.5% for the ftse, the cac current and the zurich smi, a little bit more for the dax, which is the new volatile index of europe, it seems these days. let's focus on the italian stock exchange. the ftse is currently higher by 1.7%, just below 16050 there. mario monti is now in place to replace silvio berlusconi. he's accepted the huge responsibility as he termed it, of forming a new government. but the appointment of the former eu commissioner still needs to be approved by the italian parliament. he has to stand at the head of the majority. we'll be going live to rome for an update shortly. it is a big day in italy in terms of politics and financials. the country will also auction 3 billion euros in five-year bonds monday. in rough numbers that's about $4 billion. last year, of course, as you remember, the ten-year italian yield, the premium that italy pays relative to germany for its sovereign debt, that surged to a record high. sorry, the overall debt interest rate that is surged to a record high, about 7%. but now it is at 6.3%, which i shows is more manageable than 7 plus but still uncomfortable. >> still very uncomfortable, isn't it but it's out of that bailout zone we've been talking about. still a long way to go until that gets down to acceptable levels. here in asia, if you look to see what happened here in asia, a fairly positive day and a positive reaction to those latest developments in italy. all the major indices you see finishing higher this monday. the nikkei up by 1%, third quarter gdp coming out of japan today. japan is up by more than 1%. so we'll have more on that at the moment. it certainly helps the equities there. olympus getting a boost today, up 17%. reports there that the company may avoid delisting, giving some life to share holers. hong kong, though, the best performer up by nearly 2%, financial and real estate getting a boost there. energy and commodities leading the markets higher today. let's take a look at the big economic news coming out of japan today. it posted its first quarter of growth in a year. actually helped by the reconstruction efforts after the march earthquake and tsunami. you can see that japan here had three consecutive quarters of economic contraction in the leadup and directly after the disaster. but from the quarter july to september, gdp growing a pretty healthy 1.5%. that's compared with the previous quarter and if you put that on an annualized rate, the economy is currently growing at 6% a year, which is a pretty good rate. improved consumer spending and export numbers helping expand the economy there. japan's growth is, analysts say, expected to cool in the coming months as the strong yen and also the thai floods hit japanese manufacturers. the supply chain, particularly for some of the japanese carmakers in thailand, which may hurt their operations there. now, growth in the asia-pacific region certainly a key pillar of support for the struggling u.s. economy as well. so they would be delighted to see those numbers coming out of japan at the moment. the annual apec, the u.s. president barack obama could not have been clearer about the importance that his administration is attaching to this region. >> no region will do more to shape our long-term economic future than the asia-pacific region. as i've said, the united states is and always will be a pacific nation. many of our top trading partners are in this region. this is where we sell most of our exports, supporting some 5 million american jobs. and since this is the world's fastest-growing region, the asia-pacific is key to achieving my goal of doubling u.s. exports, a goal by the way which we are on track right now to meet. and that's why i've been proud to host apec this year. it's been a chance to help lead the way towards a more seamless regional economy with more trade, more exports and more jobs for our people. >> as you heard the president say, this is not a new theme, trying to get more u.s. exports to help the u.s. economy, getting those exports into the asia-pacific region. this apec meeting, it was all about the transpacific partnership. this is eye new free trade deal that nine countries, including the u.s., are trying to push forward. obama wants to see this deal in place by next year. it's a fairly aggressive timetable. china is not included in the initial nine. that will be an interesting development to watch as well. >> it seems to me, andrew, that the president wants it both ways. he wants asian growth to be strong, but he also wants u.s. exports to be stronger. he's pressing china to let its currency appreciate, yet one of the reasons that china has been able to grow so fast is because it's kept its currency, some might say, odd officially low. you can't have it both ways, can you? >> you can't have it both ways, you're right but the u.s. has been relentless in its operation to try to get china to ease or let the currency appreciate, charles. we've been following this story for a long time. the president certainly using the apec meeting to start talking about that topic again today. it's a very sensitive one, both for china and the u.s. this is what the president had to say about the currency issue. >> most economists estimate that the r & b is devalued by 20% to 25%. that means our exports to china are that much more expensive and their imports into the united states are that much cheaper. now, there's been slight improvement over the last year, partly because of u.s. pressure but it hasn't been enough. and it's time for them to go ahead and move towards a market-based system for their currency. >> that's about a 7% improvement if you look at the exchange rate between the chinese currency and the u.s. dollar over the last year or so. you're right. the u.s. would say all we want is a level playing field, we want to be able to compete with our exports going to china and china's exports going to the u.s., not undervalued, just so we could be at the same level. i've been saying this for a long time. certainly the affect meeting over the weekend bringing out quite a few tensions between the u.s. and china. if you look out for another year or so, 2012 will be enormous politically, both for the u.s. and china. we have the appointment of a new leader in china. these -- this rhetoric we're hearing from china and the u.s. about their own specific economic conditions and positions is only likely to sharpen as we get into that domestic political cycle. >> okay, mr. obama on a big swing and heading further, i believe, across the pacific, right? >> absolutely. he's taking quite a lot of places in this trip. the next stop for the president, this is a nine-day tour, charles. he'll be in australia, meeting the australia prime minister guillard there. after that he moves to bali for the final days of the trip. he'll be meeting leedsers of india, thailand, the philippines and indonesia. there will be talk on the economy and boosting trade agreements. also security issues will be front and center as well, charles. that's another interesting one. china has been upsetting a few of his east asian neighbors with their own position on security in the east china sea area. that one will be on the agenda as well. >> let's stick with the subject of worries about the neighbors and move back to europe, that being very much what we've been thinking about for months it would seem, in financial markets. specifically, though, in italy, celebrations exploded on to the streets of rome, following news of silvio berlusconi's resignation over the weekend. it's now down to business as usual or at least some kind of new business as usual as prime minister-elect mario monti formally accepted his nomination. for more on this man, matthew chance joins us now live from rome. matthew, is mr. monti reasonably assured of getting a majority when he places a vote of confidence in parliament? >> well, i wouldn't say he was assured of it but certainly that's what he's working towards right now. he's accepted in principle the nomination to form a new government. he's in consultations at the moment with the various political parties and the various experts in their fields. to establish what the make-up of his cabinet is going to be before he goes back to the country's president and says, yes, i can do this. but i think it's really important to remember that even though mario monti, this former eu commissioner, an eminent economist in the country is widely seen as the right guy to put together the right kind of bills to get the italian economy back on track, it's going to take much more than his personality and his background to get those bills passed into law. there are fundamental economic changes that need to be wrought in order to bring the finances under order, the huge debt, $2.6 trillion. it's going to be very difficult to get the public support for any government to do that, particularly when mario monti is about to take the reins of power without a specific democratic mandate. it's going to be hard. >> mean mile, italy as an economy or perhaps as a government faces a huge test, which is placing these 4 billion euros worth of five-year bonds, government bonds, on to the markets. is there any indication of how that's likely to go, matthew? >> well, i think the indicators are that it's going to go slightly better than it would have gone had silvio berlusconi still been prime minister of this country. i think the money markets lost faith in mr. berlusconi and his ability to cut through the forms needed to cut the italian deficit. i think they'll be much more assured with an economist, a technocrat like mario monti in charge. the interest rates, the yield, the spread, i think it's going to be a much happier picture for the italians as they go into this week. that's only perhaps short-term relief. much will depend on how effective mario monti's government is in implementing the kind of austerity measures the italian economy needs. >> matthew chance, thank you very much. joining us live from rome. andrew? let's do a quick recap of what happened in the u.s. at the end of last week. stocks rallying on friday as italy and greece took further steps to manage their ongoing debt crisis. investors encouraged by a better than expected consumer sentiment report. u.s. fdz confidence is now at its highest level in five months. the dow having a good day, up by more than 2%, the nasdaq as well, the s&p, a fraction after 2%. it looks at this stage we will get a follow-through. futures pointing slightly higher when wall street opens in a few hours from now. still ahead here on "world business today," lightening its load, there may be hope in the air. we head live to mumbai for the latest. improve the health of your skin with aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. the natural oatmeal formula goes beyond 24-hour moisture. it's clinically proven to improve your skin's health in one day, with significant improvement in 2 weeks. for healthy, beautiful skin that lasts. i found a moisturizer for life. [ female announcer ] aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. and for healthy, beautiful hair, try nourish plus haircare. only from aveeno. should i bundle all my policies with nationwide insurance ? watch this. on one hand, you have your home insurance with one company. and on another hand, you have your auto with another. and on another hand, you have your life with another. but when you bundle them all together with nationwide insurance, they all work together perfectly and you could save 25%. wow... it's all in the wrists. ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪ as you can see, it's just 5:15 p.m. here in hong kong. the days are drawing in, sunset there in hong kong. welcome back. you're watching "world business today." we're live from london and, of course, hong kong. let's turn now to the latest developments from india and kingfisher once touted itself as india's fastest-growing airline. now mounting financial problems are pushing it to scale back. the cash-strapped airline has canceled 40 flights a day as it scrambles to pay employees as well as meet its debt obligations. ma what's going wrong, malika? >> reporter: it certainly was a fast-growing airline. it was the airline which offered you the good times. the owner of the airline is known as the king of good times. it was the airline that tried to bring the fun and romance back into flying but it really is in quite a mess these days. it has a massive debt burden. some estimates say its debt burden is to the tune of $1.3 billion which is heavily cash strapped. some people say it is on the verge of bankruptcy. you've mentioned it had to cancel a number of flights last weekend. passengers are angry. king fisher is trying to figure out how to pull itself out of a mess. there have been a lost speculation about what kingfisher is going to continue to do to continue flying. the company's ceo has come out with a statement clarifying what kingfisher plans to do. he says going ahead, kingfisher will drop several unprofitable flights and it will reconfigure its fleet. and it hopes to have all this done within the next three months. once it's done, kingfisher will fly 300 flights daily instead of the current 340 flights. it's saying it does have a restructuring plan in place. kingfisher has been very clear today, clarifying that it has not asked the indian government for a bailout. it's only asked if banks can raise its limits. there has been speculation over a bailout over the last couple days, that king fisher is in fact asking the indian government for a bailout. that itself immediatelyl parts industrialists. it's a free market. if companies have to die, they must die. >> mallika, the problems facing kingfisher are they unique to the country itself or is there problems in the industry, right across the aviation industry at the moment? >> to be honest, kingfisher is no exception. these companies have to pay massive, massive fuel bills. the reason it's so massive in india is because fuel is heavily taxed. also we've seen passenger traffic, airline passenger traffic grow enormously over the last four or five years. when you travel domestically in india, you rarely get on a fly and have the seat next to you empty. the airlines haven't been able to increase fares because it becomes such a competitive industry. it really has been struggling to pay their massive fuel bills and get the passenger on board. this is a problem right across the sector. one thing many airline companies have been fighting for is government airline involvement. they want the government to allow foreign airlines to take a stake in domestic characters. this might be the thing that pushes the government into doing just that. >> more foreign direct investment. mallika kapur, joining us live from mumbai. thank you. vijay mallya, "forbes" recent recently put him at over a billion dollars. the owner of kingfisher, the biggest selling beer in india. he's been expanding aggressively, aquirg the scottish whiskey whyte & mackay in a high-profile deal in 2007. he used the kingfisher beer brand to launch kingfisher airlines. the airline has tried to appeal with premium services on domestic and international roots as we heard from mallika and certainly vijay himself is never far from the sport. he's known for his forets into sports and politics. he is a member of the indian parliament. he also owns the force india formula one racing team as well as a cricket franchise in the indian premiere league. a lot of people around the world will be dealing with how he deals with this kingfisher problem very closely, charles. >> indeed. most of the world is fretting about the recession. that is not the case at the dubai air show. who need imagine... one scooter or power chair that could improve your mobility and your life. one medicare benefit that, with private insurance, may entitle you to pay little to nothing to own it. one company that can make it all happen ... your power chair will be paid in full. the scooter store. hi i'm doug harrison. we're experts at getting you the power chair or scooter you need. i didn't pay a penny out of pocket for my power chair. with help from the scooter store, medicare and my insurance covered it all. call the scooter store for free information today. this is what the currency markets look like as i speak. you see there, the euro and the pound both down against the u.s. dollar. the euro down 1.36, 1. 37, and the yen strengthening against the u.s. dollar, something that japanese policymakers don't want to see. welcome back. you're watching "world business today," we're live from london and hong kong. >> it's only the second day of the due bay air show but boeing has received a record order for its 777 jetliners. gulf countries spend billions on expanding their fleets. signs of a global slowdown are nowhere to be seen. we have more from the air show. >> reporter: the 12th edition of the dubai air show commenced with the customary pomp and ceremony. the dubai ire show kicks off with a flying start. the ruler of dubai inaugurated the show, heading a royal tour through the festivities. inside these corridors are where the deals are made and emirates announced a record-breaking order for boeing. >> this order will establish our long-standing commitment to boeing. the 777 are in addition to the 777-ers emirates. >> reporter: the order for the 50777s is worth $18 billion. the airline has the option to buy 20 further planes for $8 billion. the boeing dream liner also makes its middle east debut with qatar airways expecting its first streamliner delivery next year. leoni lakhani, cnn, dubai. from cnn london, i'm charles hodson. >> and i'm andrew stevens at cnn hong kong. welcome back. you're watching "world business today." we take a look at the european stock markets, about 90 minutes into the trading day and we did see some gains at the start of trading but those seem to be slipping away subcertainly in the case of the paris cac current and the xetra dax. definitely a case by the rumor of new governments in italy and greece. off by a quarter percent for the x