stage of voting last month after voting for the lower house, egyptians will elect an upper house. unconfirmed reports from syrian activists say at least 36 civilians and 7 members of the security forces were killed in fighting on tuesday. the u.s. state department is calling on russia and other countries on the u.n. security council to speak out against the lethal crackdown in syria. a blistering attack by one iraqi politician against another. in an interview with cnn, deputy prime minister called prime minister nuri al maliki a dictator. it came as u.s. president barack obama noted the end of america's military operations in iraq. almost all u.s. troops will be out of the country by the end of this month. those are the top stories here on cnn. i'm monita rajpal. "world business today" starts right now. hello and a very warm welcome to "world business today." i'm nien sa dos santos at cnn london. >> i'm andrew stevens in hong kong. the top stories this wednesday, december the 14th. olympus narrowly ducks de-listing, but the fallout from a huge accounting cover-up continues. the former editor of a russian magazine tells us how he was sacked for shining a light on election fraud. and google digs deep with an $11 million grant to help fight modern-day slavery. well, olympus has avoided automatic de-listing from the tokyo stock exchange but only by the skin of its teeth. the japanese camera company registered its earnings for the last quarter just about three hours ago. and that's two hours before the deadline. earlier in the day, as the ousted ceo, michael woodford, spoke with lawmakers, olympus stated its earnings between 2006 and 2010. figures at the end of september followed later. the company is mired in a $1.7 billion accounting scandal that woodford made public back on october the 14th. and since he's made that public, he lost his job in the process. but certainly the company's share price took a huge dip on that news. over the past six months, you can see it's gone down. it has come back just a fraction. woodford made his concerns public. since then, the net effect is a 47% drop. now, the company argues that its problems were not endemic but were limited to the boardroom and are a thing of the past. and that independent panel found that the senior management was, quote, rotten, nina. and that's what olympus is saying. it was just senior management. the rest of the company is okay. >> it was one of the most shocking stories of the year. a lot of people are saying, especially for such a company. but olympus is by no means the only stock that's gone down. share markets it seems around the world today under more pressure following the u.s. federal reserve's recent decision not to prop up the american economy to try and offset the chilling effect of the euro zone crisis. investors broadly speaking continue to be unsettled by the prospects of possible sovereign debt downgrades especially here in europe and, of course, they'll keep their eye on a number of european insurance companies following the recent decision to downgrade some pretty biggie talian and spanish insurers yesterday. here stock markets have been open about an hour. this is how they're performing. a bit of a downbeat day after yesterday's tentative moves on the upside. of course, as i was just saying before, a number of things in the forefront of investors' minds, in particular, the lack of action coming from the u.s. federal reserve. also we've got angela merkel of germany restating her country's opposition to boosting the euro zone bailout fund, and that is also affecting some of these euro zone markets like particularly the dax and also the cac 40 in paris. those two markets down by the most. also, some apprehension about an italian bond sale later today. and as we were just saying before, we have talk of downgrades to italian and spanish insurers. that's not helping either. let's also take a look at the currency perspective here and see how the euro is actually holding up amidst all of the gloom surrounding the euro zone, seeming seemingly insurmountable debt crisis. this is how the euro actually started the year, relatively week, as you can see, against the u.s. dollar. and as you can see, it was trading back in january at about 1.2894. since then, it's actually gained, if we continue with the chart and move further along against the rest of the year, as you can see, it's gained more or less up until about september, let's say. and then this is what happened just recently, as you can see. it's been hovering around about an 11-month low against the greenback as, of course, those concerns about the euro zone and its ability to put its finances in order, persist. and as you can see, there's also a threat of recession, let's say, for this region. and that's why despite the fact that it held up during all the times when we saw those bailouts, andrew, as you can see, it's now trading at 1.2034, but it's come back down to the level of 1.28 which we saw earlier on at the start of the year. >> absolutely, nina. i guess if there is further economic slowdown, interest rates could go lower which could send the euro lower as well. certainly it's an indicator everybody in asia is watching pretty closely because it is a pretty strong indicator of the health of the euro zone. here in asia this day, that was the figures there. pretty disappointing sort of day with all the major indices losing steam. and as nina was saying, no move from the u.s. federal reserve. no new steps to stimulate the economy. and that was a little disappointing. investors also avoiding risky assets because of possible sovereign debt downgrades in europe. more broadly, asian markets have been underperforming as european money managers actually repatriate funds from this region to square the books back home. so that's what we're seeing. one stock to tell you about which actually starts trading tomorrow, nina, this is the jewelry company based in hong kong. it's got the label as the world's biggest jewelry company, something like 2,000 stores across china. it's doing an ipo. that's the number it's raised. $1.96 billion. sounds pretty good, but it's actually a little disappointing. the company was initially hoping to raise $2.7 billion. even at $1.96 billion, the valuation of this company makes it about twice as big as tiffany, to give you an idea of relative sizes. and that stock, as i said, will start trading here, nina, tomorrow. impressive figures. of course, there's a slightly different story that, as you were saying, andrew, because it's not quite the figure that they wanted to raise. let's just wheel around and take a look at what happened on wall street and remind you of how these markets closed on tuesday's session. there's continuing concerns about europe's economic mess, it seems wade on trade in wall street. this is how things stood. all three markets ending the day down. and it was the tech-heavy nasdaq that lost the most, down by 1.26%. let's look at what the u.s. futures are looking like in premarket action. as you say, there is a little bit of a pop for the s&p, the broader index, but the dow is flat, and the nasdaq is virtually flat as well, nina. it's so well known that it's now a verb. coming up next on "world business today," we'll tell you what google is doing in the battle to end modern-day slavery. inch another big name is joining cnn in the fight to end modern-day slavery. google says that it will donate $11.5 million to international organizations working to end slavery and human trafficking. as hail la gorani reports, it could be a game changer in the fight to freedom. >> reporter: it's just one example of modern-day slavery. more than 500 men, women and children forced to work for months in a brick kiln in southern india. enslaved to pay back a debt. >> the owner decides when the laborers will eat, when they sleep, whether they're free to leave or not. >> reporter: here, a government raid leads to freedom. >> there's an endless supply of poor people trying to better their lives, and they will accept almost any offer. however, almost unbelievable that it could help them. >> reporter: in the fight for the most basic of human rights, cnn has brought you their stories. >> investigators say the 7-year-old boy became the key to exposing the inner workings of a criminal gang that for years had been snatching children off the streets, crippling them purposely and then forcing them to beg. >> aid groups say many of the cambodians are put on fishing boats here in the thai port. they join a vast armada of ghost ships crewed by slaves which can be resupplied and stay at sea for years. their only chance of escape is on the rare occasion the fishing trawlers approach land. >> reporter: somewhere between 10 million and 30 million more. >> this is not allowed in, you know, in actual reality. >> reporter: today google says it wants to join the fight. >> this is a completely groundbreaking investment. i think it's historic, actually. >> reporter: groundbreaking because the millions google is donating could help free tens of thousands of people. especially if the groups who work to eradicate modern-day slavery cooperate and share resources and information. >> hello, national human trafficking resource center. how may i help you? >> google has taken on a certain part of the puzzle, but it's a big puzzle. what are some of the other parts of that work that we might take on? think i this is a good entry point for other corporations to join the fight and make a difference against one of the ugliest but most preventable disasters taking place in the world today. >> reporter: and because awareness is vital in the fight, even a small investment can sometimes make a big difference. >> we need to do something. we need to stop, think and speak. from venezuela, i'm taking a stand against slavery. >> reporter: hala gorani, cnn, washington. >> don't forget, on air or online, we've got regular updates on the cnn freedom project including the incredible story of the young haitian boy known as miguel who was saved from a life of slavery after being found basically buried alive. take a look, go to cnn.com/freedom. extraordinary story. nina. andrew, now for something completely different. all-american muslim is a reality television show that's being promoted as an intimate look at the customs and misconceptions about 5 million families living in michigan. and, of course, they're muslim families. but a conservative christian group insists that the show has a sinister purpose. as john vause reports, when a national home improvement chain pulled its ads from the show, a controversy quickly developed. >> reporter: there's a growing consumer backlash against the u.s. home improvement chain lowe's after the retailer pulled ads from the reality tv show "all-american muslim." a series about lebanese families living in dearborn, michigan. >> i had a woman sitting behind me saying, see that veiled woman? i turn around and told they are, then you get your ass off the plane because i have a meeting to get to like you. >> reporter: including the conservative florida family association complained the program does not present an accurate picture of muslims. >> we believe that the show is propaganda, and we've called on advertisers across the country to pull it. this whole thing is blown up. it's a distortion. and people are unfairly targeting lowe's in this particular situation. >> reporter: congressman keith allison of minnesota is one of two muslim-americans in congress. he sees nothing wrong with the show. >> the people who are on that show are typical. yet muslims do have babies, they coach football. they have interfamily disputes. i think it's a pretty typical show. >> reporter: forty part, lowe's posted an apology on its facebook page, saying that it appears we managed to step into a hotly contested debate with strong views from virtually every angle and perspective, and we've managed to make some people very unhappy. we are sincerely sorry. but muslims have started an online campaign. and some celebrities are also defending the show. media mogul russell simmons says lowe's, quote, endorses hate. and actress mia farrow is calling for a boycott of the home improvement chain. john vause, cnn, atlanta. and still to come here on "world business today," a commodity in crisis. norway can't seem to get its hands on enough butter. we'll tell you why and what the government is doing about it next. a gloomy day here in lohong kong. you see the live shot looking across the harbor. it doesn't look very enticing. certainly hong kong is enticing to the business community at the moment. for the first time hong kong has taken the top spot in the world economic forum's financial stability index, overtaking the u.s. and the uk. and that's thanks mainly to the size, scope and transparency of its banking and finance sectors. a silver light in the gloom. welcome back. you're watching "world business today" live on cnn. a unique crisis is spreading across norway. we're talking about dwindling supplies of butter. the result, rising demand and spiking prices. it all comes at a critical time, too, as butter is a key ingredient in many traditional norwegian holiday treats. >> we have to apologize for the norwegians in preparation for christmas, they make these christmas cakes and so on. and butter is a very important ingredient in that. if you don't have butter, you can't make those cakes. >> in addition to holiday demand, lower than expected milk production and a low carbohydrate diet trend are also being blamed for this shortage. >> i don't know what happened. but everybody wants to lose weight, eat butter and bacon and lose weight before christmas when they can eat more food for christmas and even get thinner. i don't know what's going on, really. >> to prevent a complete butter meltdown, the government has reduced tariffs on dairy product imports. many stores are also rationing how much butter they sell, and airports and ferries traveling between denmark and norway have started offering butter in their duty-free shops. all of this, though, hasn't stopped people from trying to capitalize on the crisis. norwegian media reported that a russian man was detained earlier this week for trying to smuggle 90 kilos, that's about 200 pounds, of butter from germany into norway. authorities say that they have warned people not to buy butter from strangers. >> i was reading somewhere, nina, that someone had offered butter online, a half kilogram of butter, and he was getting a bid for $5500 u.s. dollars. well, norway's biggest farmer-owned dairy co-op says an extra-rainy summer is also to blame for the shortage. it led to a 20-million liter dropoff in milk production this year from last year. let's get more now on the world weather picture and see just how much the rain is playing havoc on the milk production. jen, first of all, that sounds like a pretty cool diet. eat lots of butter and lose weight. >> yeah, i thought you were going to ask me how much butter i eat. i do eat butter. i don't like that fake stuff. >> i'm a butter guy. >> i know you are. and we'll talk more about that. yeah, the rainy season has been affecting parts of norway. and guess what? it's still very active right now. as i show you on the radar, there's rain coming down right now. we still do have just a little bit of wintry mix coming down on the radar. but overall, we're just looking at stormy conditions through parts of the uk as well as northwest europe. notice for areas including parts of france as well as into areas including germany, dealing with stronger storms. we're going to continue to see that pattern as we go through the day. but yesterday, we saw some winds that were hurricane strength through parts of the uk, especially up towards the north. it's still windy out there, and we're going to stay windy through the morning as well as into the afternoon. we'll start to see those really diminishing as we head into the evening hours. you can see for parts of ireland, for glasgow, still looking at winds of 59, for areas including oslo, looking at winds of 41. 30 in copenhagen. again, this is going to potentially cause some delays again. so make sure you're checking ahead to see how this weather is affecting your travel. and here's that big area of low pressure just spinning. and it's bringing moisture towards the east, even affecting parts of russia where it's also going to be producing some snow. we also look for some delays across that region. as i said to you, some delays out there. we're talking about 30 to 45 minutes, significantly better than what we saw yesterday. and again, that's all going to be due to the winds. looking across parts of asia, we're talking about china, it's not bad right now. very quiet. lots of really clear conditions especially down towards the south. some snowfall moving through central parts of china. it's going to be quite heavy in some of those provinces. certainly that's going to be causing some travel delays. as we look at the temperatures, rather cool for areas for thursday. we're expecting a high for beijing, and then minus one for seoul and nine degrees for shanghai. we'll send it back over to my friend who's rationing his butter and thinking about ways to sell it. you're probably going to go on ebay, see if you can make more than the price of silver. >> you've got it. you've got it. >> it's healthy. >> i'm planning to corner the hong kong butter market. i should be retired this time next week. >> all right. we'll talk more. >> don't worry, i won't forget you. speaking of expensive things, if you think butter's expensive, take a look here. these are some of the most expensive bits of paper in the world. you're looking here at a three-page document that marked the creation of apple. the tech giant. yeah, that's right. so how much do you think it sold for? well, take a look at this. at a sotheby's auction in new york, a staggering $1.59 million. that's more than ten times its estimated price. now, the contract was signed by steve woz yniawozniak, steve jo ronald wayne on april 1st, 1976. and wayne famously relinquished his 10% stake in return for $2300. he must have really needed it because if he had hung on to it, it would be worth today, nina, $36 billion. now, that's an investment. >> yeah, it's a pretty good return on investment. it's almost kin to the kind of return on investment you might get on your butter stick there, andrew. coming up next on "world business today," we're going to look at a company that's been rocked by an earthquake, swamped by a sun, suffered a nuclear meltdown and also barely avoided bankruptcy. all of this in the space of just ten months. now this particular firm is facing another threat to its existence. stay with us here on cnn. ation. i trade on tradearchitect. this is web-based trading, re-visualized. streaming, real-time quotes. earnings analysis. probability analysis: that's what opportunity looks like. it's all visual. intuitive. and it's available free, wherever the web is. this is how trade strategies are built. tradearchitect. only from td ameritrade. welcome to better trade commission free for 60 days when you open an account. from cnn hong kong, i'm andrew stevens. >> and i'm nina dos santos. welcome back. you're watching "world business today." let's take a look at how the european stock markets are faring 90 minutes into today's trading session. there's lots of things on investors' minds. of course, they seem to be weighing on investors' minds. a look at the markets at the moment, almost all of them down at the moment with exception of the zurich. on the one hand, investors basically not too happy about the lack of stimulus coming from the u.s. federal reserve. angela merkel has also been restating germany's opposition to boosting the euro zone b