from the besieged arab red crescent. western diplomats say that iran is trying to clean up something at its military base. inspectors believe the site may have been used to test triggers for nuclear bombs. this is what a solar flair looks like up close. the flair erupted and was captured by scientists in this dramatic video by nasa. we should be feeling its effects today as radiation distorts the magnetic field possibly disrupting the gps signals. those are the headlines from cnn. i'm juanita raj paul. "world business today" starts now. good morning from cnn london, i'm nina dos santos. >> and a very good afternoon from cnn hong kong, i'm andrew stevens. welcome to "world business today." the top stories this thursday, a boom town in the midst of devastation. we'll tell you about a japanese city doing brisk business as its neighbors struggle to rebuild. the deadline for the greek debt swap is fast approaching. the signs so far are good as people sign up to push the deal through. and apple ceo says the ipad is the poster child of the post pc world. we'll check out the third generation, the company's tablet computer. first up though, a new greek bailout hinges on the success of a debt swap and the deadline for this very debt swap is just hours away now. the signs it seems are pretty promising at the moment. that's because largely 30 prominent creditors have publicly backed a plan that will be costing them three-quarters of the value of their bonds. it could mean eventually they'll see something back on their investments. the group includes hsbc and it holds a combined greek debt worth about $107 billion. that's about 40% of the total private debt. with many of us set to follow suit, what it does, this kind of move by these creditors sends a positive message to those bond holders. they're still wavering over the terms of the deal. greece already has warned them that they won't get their money back if they don't sign up. what we're seeing here is a 75% subskrupgs rate required to make this particular plan work. at least for the moment investors are hoping that that will be sorted out by the end of the market trade today. there's confidence that that kind of figure can be reached and exceeded and that would pave the way for the bailout funds to reach athens before it's likely to default on its debt. it has $18.5 billion worth of bonds coming due on march the 20th, hence the deadline here that they need to clear with that debt swap before that. this is how the markets are fairing. a little optimism ahead of this. we should point out that the paris cac is the highest. the aerospace group eads is up almost 8% in paris. this is after this couple doubled its dividend and also in paris we have heard that one of those banks has accepted the greek debt swap. it has seen its shares rise above 2%. it was a price tag of $2 billion. on the flip side for this market as well, we should point out the klm, air france, it has swung to a loss of over $1 billion. andrew, as you'd expect, a lot of that is basically down to the persistently high oil price that it has to pay. yeah, that's hurting a lot of industry now, not just the airlines, all industry using oil. certainly it was a good day here in asia today. investors joining the global move to push markets higher. pretty muches as you see across the board. it was, as you point out, the growing optimism about the bond holder deal being done in greece. getting a fairly upbeat number on private sector jobs out of the u.s. that's adding to optimism about the overall u.s. economy. this lagged the other key markets. that's because the unemployment rate in australia rose slightly, up to 5.2% in february. those numbers coming out today. it wasn't in line with the forecast, but even so a little bit of concern. that pulled the aussie market back just a fraction. a relative sense of course. the big performer today, the nikkei up by more than 2%. a weaker yen helping there. revised gdp, this looks at the broadest measure of economic growth, and it said that the economy in the final three months of last year in japan shrank by over 2 tents of a percent. it shrank by .7%. people are talking about a 2.3% slump in japan's economy this year because of what happened in march, the tsunami, the nuclear meltdowns as well. to get .7% is actually quite a good number. that has quite a bit of optimism for investors in japan. it wasn't all good on the japanese front. japan's economy isn't in top shape yet. it shows that the country's current account hit a record deficit in january. here is the number. $5.4 billion. that's the biggest monthly deficit since comparable records began back in 1985. it accounts mostly due to japan's increased demand for imported fuel. that's, of course, in relation to nuclear power going off line in japan following the fukushima disaster. that crimped a lot of japanese industry. all but two of their reactors are operating and they're going to close in a month or two. weakening demand is hurting the price of oil in that that price of oil just keeps going up which, again, hurts japan. now our special coverage of japan's recovery one year on from the disaster continues today. we're visiting the northeast city of sendai. this one seems to be making the strongest come back. anna reports on how their massive rebuilding efforts are quickly turning it into an economic boom town. >> reporter: the guests come one after another to check into this hotel in sendai, northern japan's largest city. >> we are happy to tell you our rooms are fully booked here. he has twice as many customers now compared to a year ago before the devastating earthquake and su nam mi struck the region. with sendai becoming the hottest area, this place is full. >> reporter: it's saturday night and shops, bars, restaurants are busy, a sign of the economic resurgence that is underway. recovery work as government compensation checks and families relocating from disaster jones are bringing added life to this city. >> reporter: construction workers are coming from as far away as kobe and still they need more. carpenters say they get nonstop calls from people who want to rebuild their homes. >> honestly speaking, i developed a hard problem in the beginning because i got so many calls my phone didn't stop ringing. they all needed me to work. >> reporter: before the earthquake many of his competitors had left the industry, but now builders say there is enough work to last them ten years. sendai retailers have seen sluggish sales turn to a brisk business. last quarter sales were up 10% on the year before, especially benefitting the luxury sector as consumers take on a new attitude after the trauma of march 2011. >> translator: we used to think, let's wait, even though we wanted to buy, says this shopper, but after such experience we learned that such an idea was no use. >> reporter: the director of the local fugisaki department store said in the initial months after the quake customers were looking to replace lost goods. now the high end brands and jewelry are the best sellers. >> translator: some people buy things to treat themselves after experiencing a hard time or they buy expensive stuff to prove to themselves they are still alive. >> reporter: but sendai's bounce back is the exception, not the rule, for japan. in other cities there are still piles of abandoned cars and depress debris and rebuilding plans are only just beginning to come together. japan's national economy is still struggling to grow with hampered sflie lines, declining exports and the heaviest debt burden in the developing world. only a structural overhaul of the economy, experts say, would lead to a real and lasting boom for japan. but for now, sendai is a surging city amid the ruins of japan's coast line. anna koran, cnn, sendai. >> their quick recovery is even more impressive when you consider the full scale of the destruction. to give you a better eye deep cnn.com has compiled a series of interactive before and after photos. take a look at this one. this is a satellite shot of sendai taken in 2008. you'll see the beach here, a strip of the city there going into the green folds. look at the shot now after the tsunami. this was taken immediately after the tsunami. the color is this tore rent of mud and debris that swept right across the whole region. these green fields reduced to really just this black sort of muck. let's go back to that first picture if we could to give you an idea. look at the difference there. the only thing you can see if we move back again is the canal. the canal is quite visible. the devastation is visible. it wasn't just sendai, this whole region took a hit. this is in me yag gi free if he can prefecture. virtually everything has been wiped out. the whole beach is gone. all of this development which rings the coast line here, again, if we can come back and get a sense of that development. come back ghagain and you'll se it's been absolutely devastated by what happened there. so many more photos on the website showing in stark detail, stark contrast just the size of the destructive power of that tsunami. go to cnn.com. take a look at them for yourself. now one of the biggest concerns following the disaster was radiation leaking from the damaged fukushima nuclear plant. workers still had to report to duty. >> reporter: there's no way you won't be radioactively contaminated if you work at the nuclear plants, he says despite disposable gear, daily decontaminati decontamination, workers will be exposed to radiation. >> certainly a high price to pay to protect your country. we'll bring you a special report on that tomorrow right here on "world business today." nina? andrew, still to come on the show it's decision day for greece as the debt deadline swap approaches. we'll tell you who's in and who's holding out. and mr.'s plenty of swagger at apple following the release of its new whatever you call this new tablet, it's not the ipad 3. we'll tell you why and give you a look at it just ahead. roc® retinol. found in roc® retinol correxion deep wrinkle night cream. it's clinically proven to give 10 years back to the look of skin. now for maximum results, the power of roc® retinol is intensified with a serum to create retinol correxion® max. it's clinically shown to be 4x better at smoothing lines and deep wrinkles than professional treatments. new roc® retinol correxion® max. nothing's better than gold. can you get me out of it? of course. travelocity? that's amazing. but i'm still stuck. come on, man. dig it! [ female announcer ] travelocity. get great deals on all kinds of beach vacations. owe splenda® essentials™ no calorie sweetener with b vitamins, the first and only one to help support a healthy metabolism. three smart ways to sweeten. same great taste. splenda® essentials™. . the new ipad. and it is amazing. we've taken it to a whole new level and we are re-defining the category that apple created with the original ipad. >> apple ceo tim cook there. he's so confident about the company's latest ipad it seems he hasn't given it a number. is this really the definitive tablet that the company pioneered -- from the one the company pioneered i should say. >> reporter: i'm dan simon at the apple event in san francisco. we got our hands on the new ipad. it's just called the apple. when you hold it in your hands, it looks and feels like the previous version, the ipad 2, but it actually has a much better screen. it's a retina display so pictures and text look a lot crisper. the other new feature is the camera on the back. an all new camera, five megapixel camera. theoretically you could use this as your primary camera for taking pictures. there's an iphoto app. one thing you can't see is the new chip that supports faster downloading speed. the ipad now supports the 4g network that's available on at&t and verizon. it's going to go on sale for march 16th. the starting price will remain the same at $500. dan simon, cnn, san francisco. so were there any surprises in the latest apple unveiling or did we know pretty much what was coming in it anyway? here to analyze it is cnn's resident tech expert, kristie lu. >> i think the biggest surprise is that it didn't have a number. it's not called the ipad 3, they're saying there's not going to be anymore numbers. >> why? >> it's not going to be mack book 1, 2, 3. what apple is trying to do is just to create a new, better, more enticing tablet computer. it will be available on sale in hong kong next friday, the united states, seven other markets. in asia, that would include australia, singapore and japan. it will have faster processor, better resolution. five megapixel camera. is it enough to entice customers, those who haven't purchased one yet or those who are considering an upgrade? we ended up hearing from some people who saw it in an apple store in california. let's hear what they have to say. >> well, i'm interested in getting it because i only have the first one. the speed has been slowing down a little bit so i'm looking to upgrade. >> i'm currently very happy with my ipad. it's the third one that i've bought, however, i will buy another one. >> i know you probably think i'm mad, but i'm not. i just love it and i don't care -- i'm not one of those people that has to have the latest, absolute, most upto date recent one. it actually doesn't bother me. i still love this one. i'm going to hang onto it for a while. i'm going to enjoy this. i don't think about it much. >> so to upgrade or not to upgrade, that is the question. also, maybe just to buy into this. it's your very first ipad experience. what's very interesting is an angle of the story that's happening here in hong kong. over the weekend a young hong kong blogger, 21 chris chang, he posted a video of what he said were actual components of the ipad. he released this days before the official launch. the video had 2 million hits and counting. we invited him over to our bureau to ask him to show us the components and what it means to apple. >> if you take a look carefully you will find some difference with the ipad 2. there's a camera right here at the top and these are 3g model. and you see it's thicker and much tapered edges. the feel is compared to the ipad 2, it looks slightly different. >> that was chris chang of mic gadget. it seems like he did get his hands on the real deal. he said that it would be thicker. sure enough, it is 0.6 millimeters thicker. now how did a 21-year-old blogger get his hands on this? by cultivating and using his supplier sources in shenjen. what's really interesting is even though he uploaded the video and the blog, he had all these components from apple sources two months in advance. >> so these are the sources who are actually making the next ipad? >> apparently so. of course, we want to get our hands on the next ipad here and also get the components from chris, compare and contrast. in the meantime we have these allegedly ipad 3, your latest cases already on sale in main land china. sure enough, bigger hole for the bigger camera. >> they don't miss a trick. i guess we shouldn't be surprised. i want be to ask you quickly. ipad, believe it or not, is not the only tablet game in town. it just seems like it because we talk so much about it. are apple's rivalries making any inroads or with this new ipad have they totally sealed it? >> yes and no. you see a number of people trying to get into the game. frankly, there isn't a viable alternative to the ipad. that being said there was a lot of excitement about the amazon fire. windows osh so windows tablets could gain traction. the numbers speak for themselves. how many android tablets have been sold worldwide? 12 million. how many apple ipads have been sold last quarter alone, 15 million. enough said. >> pretty compelling number. christie will be back with that full story in her show later this day. still to come on "world business today," it may be the world's second biggist economy, but only a portion of its population is prospering. we'll look at the chinese growing wealth divide next. younger looking skin. [ female announcer ] new aveeno skin strengthening body cream helps transform dry, thinning skin, by strengthening its moisture barrier, for improved texture and elasticity in 2 weeks. reveal healthy, supple skin. aveeno skin strengthening. 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. this is world business today live on cnn. welcome back. as chinese lawmakers continue economic policy talks at the national people's conference in beijing, there's one issue that's high on the official agenda, the growing divide between the rich and poor. as of 2011 about 128 million people were estimated to live under china's definition of the poverty line, meaning they earn $360 or less a year. now china's per capita income is also ranked far behind that of other emerging markets, including brazil and russia at around $8400. eunice yun gets perspective from two people at opposite ends of the wealth spectrum in the capitol district. >> reporter: he lives in the suburbs of beijing. he works and sleeps in this public toilet only steps away from the apartment buildings of the city's wealthy. >> translator: of course the rich look down on us, he says. >> reporter: on a nearby street man is one of those enjoying the high life. he drives to work in his mercedes to a design job he got after moving to the capitol from the countryside years ago. i don't feel sorry for poor people, he says, because this is their reality. the reality is china is struggling with a widening wealth gap. this communist nation is now home to the second largest number of billionaires behind the u.s. while over 100 million here still live on $1 a day. over the past three decades the government has transformed the economy lifting 300 million out of poverty through policies that turned this cou