were killed when gunmen fired on a check point. representatives from around the world are meeting right now in london to discuss somalia. the country has been mired in war and famine for more than 20 years. british prime minister david cameron is hosting the meeting to promote a global resolution to the situation. i'm max foster, "world business today" starts right now. good morning from cnn london, i'm charles hodson. >> and good evening from cnn hong kong. i'm pauline choiu. this is "world business today," the top stories this day, japan appears willing to lend a hand to europe despite its own daunting debt pile. a falling out at the top of the gambling empire, bribery allegations drive two long-term business partners apart. a stampede into lin sanity. one company had the financial for site to buy in two years ago and has walked in with a bargain. they're not soaring and they're not slumping, but there is a perceptible lethargy on the markets as investors say tuesday's greek rescue deal is a stopgap really, a band-aid, not a solution. thursday's picture is mixed with low volumes mirroring low confidence in europe's debt strategy, charles. at this week's greek rescue deal was meant to offer cause for celebration, investors, ratings agency and furious greek public have other ideas. while lawmakers work over time to meet the criteria, the streets of the capital have once again filled with dissent. cash strapped agent theinians aren't alone in their disappointment. stocks are in limbo around the globe after a strong start to 2012. fitch became the first ratings agency to downgrade greece, cutting its score to c from ccc. if a debt swap goes ahead, that rating will fall into restricted default. other agencies will form low the lead. a vote is due later on thursday on the terms of the swap. one of the few major markets to rise this thursday was tokyo. exporters were among the gainers after the japanese government announced its intention to boost the imp's european fire power. japan says it might offer up to $50 billion to help europe out of its own crisis at a time when tokyo itself is gappaling with the biggest debt burden. kyung lah joins us. >> reporter: japan is saying, look, imf, we do want to help you, but only sort of. in an opinion piece that was written by the financial ministers of the united kingdom and japan in the "financial times," basically what the ministers were saying is, to the imf, we hear you, we understand the euro crisis is the biggest threat to global growth, so we want to contribute. we're only going to contribute if certain conditions are met. here are the conditions as spelled out in this opinion piece in the "financial times" saying, quote, we will not have any -- no new eurozone specific funds. that's a condition. they also will give money if the funds given are subject to imf conditions. also saying any additional resources need to be drawn from a wide range of countries and that the eurozone must boost financial fire walls, that being long-term solutions to the debt crisis. the imf is seeking to raise money. it wants to boost its ability to try to help out what's happening in the eurozone. but they need to get more countries on board. right now the united states and canada resisting contributing more to the imf. japan saying, hey, look, we're going to contribute. but remember we had the tsunami a year ago. japan has a long range of problems it has to deal with beyond the strong yen, the tsunami and the demographic crisis. this country is saying it underhands that what happens in greece and what happens in europe is certainly going to impact this country as well. on top of those issues you just mentioned kyung, japan is dealing with inflation, it tipped into recession last year. is there a public appetite for this? >> reporter: sort of. when you talk to people on the street, especially people who are involved in the financial sector here, they absolutely say they are paying attention to what happens in europe. there is a very deep understanding in this country, especially because europe is such a large customer of japan, that anything that does happen with the eurozone is going to deeply affect this economy. so this country certainly wants to help. it looks at the imf as a possible way toot tack the problem. but at the same time people here are looking at the possibility of their taxes going up, at the possibility of finances being diverted out sued the country when there's so many domestic problems that need to be fixed. >> okay. kyung lah reporting live from tokyo on the very latest with this story. thank you very much kyung. charles? here is toefr all picture in terms of european stock markets. i stress this is the overall picture. it looked a bit flat to start off with. we are seeing some overall gains. the big theme we're really seeing is bank earnings. let me start are credit ag cull, reported a loss in the fourth quarter, forced to set aside money to cover its greek bonds. so the net loss just over 3 billion euros or $4 billion. also, we've seen wider losses here at the uk at rbs, royal bank of scotland, obviously a majority state ownership. we saw a 766 million pound annual pre tax loss on thursday. kind of sort of almost a perfect storm with a whole lot of factors working against rbs. one was provisional link to a scandal over miss selling a payment protection insurance, but also a lot -- much weaker position at the investment banker. steep decline in the profits there. one or two brighter -- actually, the other one i should mention is commerce bank. that stock off by as much as 7.5% and a bit of change after its earnings hit by the eurozone crisis. we are seeing gains for the french bank nettie see, its results beat forecasts banks to the fore in terms of investors. we are seeing a bit of gain after two sessions of losses, european stock markets seem to be gaining again. >> charles, the economic concerns over greece and the eurozone continue to weigh on most of the markets here in the asia pact region on thursday. exporters and financial stocks were down as fears grow about the viability of the greek deal. japan was the exception to this largely down beat feeling. exporters there did better than the index thanks to a boost from the weaker yen which has remained above 80 to the greenback in dollar-yen trading the day. exporters were also void by the japanese government's pledge to boost the imf. the nikkei was up by more than .4%, shanghai up by more than .25. the main aussie benchmark was in negative territory. meanwhile over on all street u.s. stocks pulled back as investors expressed doubts of greece's latest bailout. a negative reading on business activity in the eurozone. here is how it looked by the close of wednesday. all in negative territory with the dow down about .2%. the nasdaq by more than .50%. the s&p 500 down by more than a third of 1%. looking ahead to the start of trade, in about 5 1/2 hours from now u.s. markets appear set for a higher open. all the futures are in positive territory by quite a bit. at least by .30%. charles? pauline we had big u.s. tech earnings out after the close on wednesday on wall street. hewlett packard, fiscal first quarter profit fell 44%, fell 44% from previous year, $1.5 billion. despite that plunge that still beats the estimates from the street. it was first earnings called from the new ceo meg whitman who blamed the slump on p clfrnlths sales. hp's earnings kaems on the heels of a disappointing report from dell. dell says its fiscal fourth quarter profit fell nearly 18% from the previous year to $764 million on declining demand from its personal computers. it tumbled 5% in after-hours trade after the company said its first quarter sales will also miss estimates. i wonder whether both dell and hewlett pang card are the victims of the burgeoning sales for apple. >> that is the big question. still to come on "world business today." >> he's proposing today a corporate tax plan which i understand sounds like he's lowering taxes, but, in fact, he's raising taxes, raising taxes on businesses by hundreds of billions of dollars. >> that is mitt romney taking aim at president obama's new corporate tax plan. we'll break down the details coming up next. used to be we socked money away and expected it to grow. then the world changed... and the common sense of retirement planning became anything but common. fortunately, td ameritrade's investment consultants can help you build a plan that fits your life. take control by opening a new account or rolling over an old 401(k) today, and we'll throw in up to $600. how's that for common sense? welcome back. you're watching "world business today" live on cnn from hong kong and london. it's taken more than a year. but u.s. president barack obama and his team finally released their plan to overhaul the united states corporate tax code. the u.s. currently has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world at 35%. the obama administration is now proposing to slash that to 28% and to fill the remaining gap which eliminating dozens of tax breaks and loopholes for businesses, especially the oil and gas sector. now, the administration says that will put the u.s. rate on par with rates in other advanced economies, but republicans want to cut even further. presidential hopeful mitt romney has come out with his own corporate tax plan which aims to reduce the rate to 25%. charles, those rates both by obama and mitt romney sound pretty high when you compare it to hong kong's corporate tax rate on profits. there's a flat tax rate of 16.5%. it looks pretty attractive for businesses. then there are certain tax breaks for certain sectors like for shipping and also if you're in the business of reinsurance here in hong kong. how do things look where you are in the u.k.? >> it's a complex picture i think always in terms of corporate tax. in terms of the basic rates that most people would pay, all those smaller businesses, less than about $400,000, $450,000 in turnovers in annual sales pay significantly less. we did have a tax rate of 26%. the current government is now -- has cut that down to 25%. in fact, it's going to go down in stages from here over the next couple years. and ultimately in 2014, we'd be looking at a tax rate of 23%. it's definitely an issue that the government here has in its sights, pauline. >> certainly and with the economy the way it is, many countries are trying to boost their own economy by attracting more businesses back to their territory. it will be interesting to see which plan wins out at least in the u.s., charles. >> okay. let's move on, because high stakes political showdown appears to be taking shape down undeferment prime minister julia gillard has called for a meeting after the shocked resignation of kevin rudd on wednesday. gillard ousted rudd in 2010. the betting is he wants the top job back for himself. rosemary church talked to political editor hugh riminton about how risky this is for gillard? >> reporter: it is a high-risk play. it's a curious thing for a stable, wealthy, plas id democracy, the prime minister grasped the nettal. she and her cabinet believe the foreign minister have been working for months in a campaign to damage her by stealth essentially, creating conditions where the polling numbers for the prime minister continue to decline as they have been doing so it will be ripe for him to take over and sweep for an election scheduled for next year. what they have done is essentially ramped up pressure on him by having proxies for the prime minister in recent days, being increasingly vocal in their condemn names. he was in washington. he said enough is enough. i'm quitting as foreign minister, on a plane right now somewhere over the pacific. a ballot has been set for the leadership within the ruling labor party for monday next week. the prime minister believes she can win and win handsomely. it's a dangerous, risky ploy for her. >> hugh, how do the numbers look? this has been a festinger problem for kevin rudd. he never really quite got over being shafted. >> reporter: well, kevin rudd was an enormous hero of center left politics in australia he swept to power in 2007 after a dozen years of conservative rule. he was immediately popular. he was, in fact, the most popular australian prime minister in history for a period. however, there were problems underneath the surface. ministers and senior public servants who were working with him describe terrible tantrums, a sense of kai os, a micro manager who didn't consult with anyone, insisted in being involved if every area of policy to the point where decisions weren't being made, dysfunctional leader, to such a degree that in the end julia gillard had to step up and take control of circumstances here, take control of the government and lead a challenge that she won in 2010. now, since then, it is alleged kevin rudd has run a campaign of essentially leaking against the prime minister. she barely got home with the government in 2010. she in fact had to form a minority government with the help of three independents and difficult for her ever since. this is her intent to clear the air,. if she doesn't win overwhelmingly on monday, there's a danger that kevin rudd will go, sit on the back benches, plot, sulk, do whatever else is needed to be done and have another crack at her in a few month's time. will it clear the air? we'll have to wait and see on that. >> that's hugh rem inning ton reporting from australia there. we'll have to see what happens down under with that leadership ballot. still to come on wbt, china, the u.s., russia and india have finally found something in common. they've all got it in for the eu's aviation carbon tax. it's green-minded europe verses the rest of the world. that is just ahead. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you from paying up to thousands of dollars... out of your own pocket. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans... exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit... with all you need to enroll. put their trust in aarp medicare supplement insurance. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. the prices are competitive. i can keep my own doctor. and i don't need a referral to see a specialist. call now to get a free information kit. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. and the advantages don't end there. choose from a range of medicare supplement plans... that are all competitively priced. we have a plan for almost everyone, so you can find one that fits your needs and budget. with all medicare supplement plans, there are virtually no claim forms to fill out. plus you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare. and best of all, these plans are... the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp. when they told me these plans were endorsed by aarp... i had only one thing to say... sign me up. call the number on your screen now... and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan. you'll get this free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare, to help you choose the plan that's right for you. as with all medicare supplement plans, you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. welcome back to "world business today." let's take a look at the price of oil today. brent crude rose 98 cents. it's now trading at $123.55 a barrel for april delivery. now, the price of brent crude rose this thursday after hitting a nine-month high earlier in the week over concerns about supply. a weak euro has meant that the cost of a barrel of bread is near a record high for those paying for it in the euro, the single currency. right now it's trading for just over 93 euros a barrel, just 16 euro cents below its peak from 2008. that's likely to squeeze both corporate profit margins and consumers putting upward pressure on inflation at a time, of course, when european economies are very fragile and the ecb has very little room for monetary maneuvering. this is "world business today" live on cnn. welcome back. some of the world's biggest economic powers have finally found a policy that they will agree on, and that is stopping europe's aviation carbon emissions plan. now, the eu is taxing airlines that use european airports for the carbon pumped into the atmosphere. when i say their flights, it's their flights from the takeoff airport to destination including not only european aerospace, but all the aerospace in between the place where they took off and where they enter european aerospace. if you're flying from japan, this will be all the flight over siberia as well as the flight into the european airport. on wednesday, more than 25 countries vowed to do whatever it takes to defeat that tax. after talks in moscow, russia, india, the united states and china all agreed on a basket of countermeasures. they will do everything they can to cancel or post post the eu's tax. russia has already said it may limit european airlines flights over siberia. other countries might ban their airlines from taking part in the scheme. the eu's climate commissioner has fired back on twitter. connie head guard wrote, unfortunately, our question for the moscow meeting participants remains unanswered. what's your concrete constructive alternative? pauline? >> well, i'm curious to see how this turns out. i fly from hong kong to europe at least twice a year. lit be interesting to see what kind of change i see in the price of tickets. there's no question this car xwon tax is a divisive issue. could it lead to a trade war? that's the question that richard quest put to the editor of business green. he said that's one of the likely scenarios. >> it is a lot of sabre rattling. there are elements of this agreement that if brought into force could spark a very, very serious trade war. >> okay. but the europeans are adamant that they're not going to budge. >> yeah. >> basket of countermeasures. already the chinese. where do you think this is going? >> there's two ways it can go. one is a very, very bad way, and we do have a quite severe trade war potentially in the offing. some of these counter measures, they're talking about banning their airlines from taking part altogether in the eu emissions trading scheme. russia talking the same. the u.s. could do the same. if that happens, if you're an airline, you breaking the law not to comply when you land in terksu, but breaking the law to comply when you leave your home states. the airlines are very, very worried. if that escalates, it could get disastrous. however, there is a route out. all parties are saying they want this to go to the national civil aviation organization. the eu are basically saying bring it on, if it goes there, that's where we want it to government we want an international agreement, too. >> still to come on "world business today," the next chapter in a billionaire battle royale between two former best friends is about to be written in the gamble hub of mccow. we'll tell you who is likely to get snake eyes. don't go away. 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