strategy in the country. an american sergeant is suspected of the killings near his combat post near kandahar. afghan president hamid karzai has described the incident has unforgivable. the war in afghanistan and syria are certain to dominate discussions at the white house this tuesday as david cameron visits barack obama. they both have pledged to maintain the special relationship between their countries. those are the headlines from cnn. i'm monita rajpal. "world business today" starts right now. good morning from cnn london, i'm charles hodson. >> and good afternoon from cnn hong kong, i'm andrew stevens. welcome to "world business today." the top stories this day. challenging china, the u.s. prepares to mount a fresh trade case against beijing's restrictions on rare earth exports. going against boeing. u.s.'s sold subsidies were unfair but it still claims victory over the eu. >> and tensions rise in silicon valley as yahoo! sues facebook over a series of alleged infringements. we start with the markets. cautious buying across equity markets tonight. investors look forward to guidance from the u.s. fed chief ben bernanke. the central bank is holding rates and monetary policy steady as the u.s. federal reserve is expect to do as well. charles, how is it looking in the european markets? they just opened, haven't they? >> yes, here we are paris cac currant, straight up there, up by 0.75%. just to have a look at the dax, up about 0.3%. same is true for the zurich smi. the ftse up by nearly 0.6%. clearly, the focus is on the macroeconomy. it doesn't seem to be too bad. also in terms of monetary policy, not too many worries. meanwhile we've had the euro group finance minister's meeting at the eu headquarters in brussels. i suspect that's not impacting the markets too much. too much of a foregone conclusion. we'll have a live report a little bit later, andrew. >> charles, there's also pretty good retail sales numbers expected in the u.s. which is giving boy anncey to the market. australia, the s&p up by 1.2%. on top of that, there are growing expectations that china will take measures sooner rather than later to underpin falling economy. that's all leading to as you see there, four arrows of the color green across the board. optimism about the greek second bailout help as well. as i mentioned earlier, the central bank and japan, the bank of japan has left the country's key interest rate unchanged at 0% to 0.1%. the boj is expanding a low-cost loan program by about $24 billion to help the japanese economy as well as fight deflation. one stop one stock to mention, the casino operator win mckou up. this is obviously already the biggest gaming hot spot of them all globally. >> yes. one of the interesting things i must say about what's been going on in global markets over the past session or so, is the marked decrease in volatility. i'll look over at wall street, the leading american stock indices struggled to find some direction on monday. volume, little in the way of economic or corporate news to drive trading. that's the kind of marketplace you can see volatility because small amounts of buying or selling will drive the price up and down quite markedly. we didn't really see that in that session. volatility is settling down. that's probably a good thing in the context of what we've been through on markets over the past few years. at the close, the dow was almost 0.3% higher. the s&p marginally up and the nasdaq slipping 0.16%. the federal reserve will meet to decide whether to change or hold steady on interest rates. and let's have a look at the futures market by the way. it's ben bernanke in case you're wondering. the futures of all three main indices are in positive territory if we could have a quick look at those. no, not happening. okay. andrew? >> very nice picture of the federal reserve building nonetheless. we don't do the blue skies in hong kong for some reason. volatility, the last 12 months, the extreme volatility we're seen in the markets, there are volatility but it's of the political kind if the visit of china's leader in waiting, xi jinping, to washington last month suggested a warning or sign of u.s. relations, things got decidedly chillier. here's why. the u.s. government is approaching the world trade organization to combat china's alleged hoarding of minerals. these palestinian rals aren't rare but china produces about 95% of the world's supplies. and export restrictions are said to give its domestic tech sector an unfair trade advantage. the european union and japan are both expected to join the u.s. in this complaint which comes weeks after mr. obama promised to get tougher on chinese trade practices. an official announcement on the action is expected later in the u.s. this day. and china will then have ten days to offer the wto its side of the story. let's get more now from cnn's eunice yoon, joining us live from beijing. any comment from china yet, eunice? >> yes, there was, andrew. chinese authorities here are basically reiterating beijing and long-held position that china hasn't done anything wrong and the export curves have legitimate. the position has been that the curves are in line with the new broader environmental policies to reign in some of the environmental damage caused by rare earth mining. at a press briefing today, the foreign minister spokesperson said china never stopped exporting. we've always kept it at a certain amount. we'll keep providing and effectively managing rare either according to wto regulations. it's an ungrouted statement they say that china will have a monopoly on this resource. china hopes other countries with rare earth reserves will join the efforts of shouldering the responsibility to meet the global demand. china is sometimes seems that it is monopolizing the rare earth industry because it is such a major producer of rare earth minerals. as you said, rare earth minerals aren't actually rare. they can be found, large deposits in other countries, including the united states. andrew? >> which leads me to the question if this is a bit of a misnomer, these rare earths, why does china have such a choke hold on the industry? 95%. >> it's because the industry has moved here. rare earth mining is very detrimental to the environment. so in the past, there were several people who in other countries who lived around the mines and said not in my backyard anymore. i don't want to have the rare earth minerals and this mining in my backyard. a lot of mining companies in other countries said they decided it doesn't really make much financial sense because they didn't have the economies of scale to make rare earth mining financially viable for them. now, what china has been saying is their position is we are not willing to pay that environmental price anymore. so this year, the export quota, they said, is now set at over 30,000 tons, this is down by about 40% over the past two years. of course china, again, reiterates these are for environmental reasons but then again there are the suspicions, especially in u.s. congress, that these export curves are also a very convenient way to allow chinese companies, especially tech companies to get an advantage or leg up on their competitors in other countries. andrew? >> eunice yoon in beijing. thanks very much for that. we'll have the official statement expected at least from the u.s. on taking china to the wto later this day. charl? >> still ahead on "world business today," boeing's billions. the united states is reprimand by the world trade organization over illegal grants to the aviation giant. and an unlikely marriage made in money. china's top online video provider snaps up its main rival to save costs. we'll be telling you what investors make of the move. [ female announcer ] want to spend less and retire with more? then don't get nickle and dimed by high cost investments and annoying account fees. at e-trade, our free easy-to-use online tools and experienced retirement specialists can help you build a personalized plan. and with our no annual fee iras and a wide range of low cost investments, you can execute the plan you want at a low cost. so meet with us, or go to etrade.com for a great retirement plan with low cost investments. ♪ sksksk me.reat retirement plan with low cost investments. [ male announcer ] even if you think you can live with your old mattress... ask me how i've never slept better. [ male announcer ] ...why not talk to one of the 6 million people who've switched to the most highly recommended bed in america? it's not a sealy, a simmons, or a serta. ask me about my tempur-pedic. ask me how i can finally sleep all night. ask me how great my back feels every morning. [ male announcer ] did you know there's a tempur-pedic for everybody? tempur-pedic beds now come in soft, firm, and everything in between. these are real tempur-pedic owners. ask someone you know. check out twitter or your friends on facebook. you'll hear it all, unedited. ask me how it's the best investment i've ever made. [ male announcer ] tempur-pedic brand owners are more satisfied than owners of any traditional mattress brand. now for 5 days only, get 0% apr on the tempur-pedic that's just right for you. to learn more about this special financing offer, visit tempurpedic.com. don't wait. 5-year special financing ends march 12th. tempur-pedic. the most highly recommended bed in america. welcome back. you're watching "world business today" live from london and here in hong kong. >> now, rival businesses locking horns over patents is nothing new in the tech world. now it's reached the realm of social media, though. the web pioneer yahoo! is suing facebook over a series of patents it says the social network has copy, including comment posting, news feed generation and privacy controls. in fact, yahoo! has gone as far as to say facebook's entire model is based on its social networking technology. well, facebook has responded saying it's kind of puzzled by the move which has been called an act of desperation. the social networking giant has also vowed to defend itself, saying that it's disappointed with yahoo! which it says has substantially benefited from association with facebook. yahoo!'s share price dropped following its decision to head to court. its shares were down by around 1%, just under 1% at monday's close and they were trading at just under $14.50 each. andrew? >> slightly different reaction to news of a marriaerger in the overnight, u.s. share prices that is. shareholders welcoming the merger of china's two biggest video websites. youku and tudou have rocketed since the companies announced a merger on monday. stock price rose by more than 27% there. following the announcement. shares trading at around about, what, $32 or so. meanwhile, tudou's holdings has seen its share price leap by more than 166%. tudou 28% will be owned by tuduo shareholders. the merger of those two sites will create a new industry leader. youku currently boasts a 22% share of china's online video market. tuduo is in second place with 13%. despite the fact that both companies posted a net loss for 2011, the merger is certainly seens aa positive move until the highly competitive industry in china. internet analyst duncan clark explains why it's happening at a crucial time for online video in china. >> the chinese government is becoming more restrictive on tv content. it's a traditional television. for example, the most popular shows are entertainment or variety shows that have become so popular that the chinese government is now restricting the number of shows. the government wants to see more patriotic, traditional content. all this means is people are turning even more to online. >> now, in addition to forming biggest online video service in china, the merger between these two is also set to reduce costs, licensing and transmitting content. it looks like it's a pretty good business deal all round. still ahead here on "world business today," greece's second bailout is rubber stamped in brussels. now eurozone ministers turn their attention to reigning in spain. that story just ahead. an identio stole mary's identity, took over her bank accounts and stole her hard-earned money. now meet jack. after 40 years, he finally saved enough to enjoy retirement. angie, the waitress at jack's favorite diner, is also enjoying his retirement. with just a little information, she's opened up a credit line, draining the equity in jack's home. unfortunately, millions of americans just like you learn all it may take is a little misplaced information to wreak havoc on your life. this is identity theft, and no one helps stop it better than lifelock. see, ordinary credit monitoring services tell you after your identity has been stolen. they may take up to 60 days to alert you-- too late for jack. lifelock has the most comprehensive identity theft protection available. if mary had lifelock's bank account alerts, she may have been notified in time to help stop it. if jack had lifelock's 24/7 proactive protection, he could have been alerted by phone or e-mail as soon as they noticed an attack on their network, before it was too late. lifelock has the most comprehensive identity theft protection available, guarding your social security number, your money, your credit, even the equity in your home. while identity theft can't be completely stopped, no one works harder to protect you than lifelock. you even get a $1 million service guarantee. that's security no one can beat. you have so much to protect and nothing to lose when you call lifelock right now and get 60 days of identity theft protection risk free-- that's right, 60 days risk free-- use promo code "not me". order now and get this document shredder to keep sensitive documents out of the wrong hands-- a $29 value, free. [click-click] [♪...] what makes the sleep number store different? the sleep number bed. the magic of this bed is that you're sleeping on something that conforms to your individual shape. wow! that feels really good. in less than a minute i can get more support. if you change your mind once you get home you can adjust it. so whatever you feel like, the sleep number bed's going to provide it for you. at our semi-annual sleep sale, save $400 to $700 on our most popular bed sets. plus, free standard shipping - but only through march 18th! only at the sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699 major currencies are holding steady against the dollar this tuesday. the euro slightly weaker and the pound slightly stronger. it's the one at the bottom of the screen that's worth keeping an eye on in the weeks and days ahead. chinese central bank officials say the country's february trade deficit proves their currency is no longer undervalued. remember this has been a big bone of contention between beijing and washington and if it begins to depreciate against the green back, again, those trade tensions we talk a lot about on this show could heat up once again. welcome back. you're watching "world business today." >> greece may have dominated the headlines ahead of this week's meeting of eu finance ministers but with that issue solved or perhaps shunted on to the back burner depending on your viewpoint, there are plenty of other troubles to tackle. two more cash strapped countries are high on the agenda in brussels. now spain has had its knuckles wrapped after admitting it will miss its deficit target from 1 201. even though the eu's leading economic official says he will cut madrid some slack, spanish government is being asked to cut more spending at a time when unemployment is nearing 23%. hungary is also in trouble. while spain is hoping to reduce its deficit in 2013, the government in budapest expects its financial shortfall to worsen that comes despite repeated eu warnings and finance ministers are suspected to vote on suspending part of hungary's funding there's a wider funding issue at play as region tries to build a financial fire wall. a transaction tax is once again on the table although britain and sweden still aren't playing ball. for more on what's being discussed at the finance ministers, let's cross now to cnn's diana magnay. in terms of the financial transaction tax, let's just start with that. are the germans pushing hard for that, diana? >> yes. the german finance minister has written a letter together with eight other eu finance ministers to the dames who hold the eu presidency at the moment requesting that this financial transaction tax be put through. and they want it, of course, on an eu 27 or 227-member state level. as you've just said, britain and sweden really aren't up for that. britain, especially, the cause of london being such a financial hub and obviously then bearing the burden of a tax at which will be extremely damaging to the british economy. this is something that ill with be discussed, willing on the table today. but probably no real headway will be made on it until the eu summit at the end of march, charles. >> okay, now let's look at spain. i can imagine there have been some eyebrows raised in berlin about the whole idea of the spanish asking for some lee way, asking to be cut some slack on their deficits. they've been wrapped over the knuckles, presumably the germans again will feel that here is an issue of financial stringency and they better not give way too much. >> well, that's the trouble. you know, these new rules, these new fiscal rules have only just been put into place. and it has to be proven that they have teeth. the spanish basically came out, the new prime minister a few weeks ago and unilaterally declared he wouldn't be able to meet the budget deficit targets for this year. and that just doesn't go according to the new stability and growth pact. they seem to have reached a compromise, which, again, isn't really sticking to the rules. you have a delicate balance which plays out across the eurozone right now. if spain is made to stick to the fiscal rules agreed only just recently, then it's going to have to put even more stringent austerity measures into play at a time when unemployment is at 23%. obviously incredibly difficult for the spanish people to digest yet at the same time if you have rules you've got to stick to them. >> diana, very briefly. we're nearing the end of our time. very important issue is the issue of the fire wall. there is a vision that's shared between some european union officials and some at the imf, many at theism mf, actually, a $2 trillion firewall involving eu and imf funds. this requires a bigger fire wall on the eu side. the germs have been holding out on that. are there a few signs very briefly on the germans giving way on that one? >> it's certainly becoming more of a discussion point here. there seems to be a sort of movement towards the possibility of the stability mechanism, the esm being combined together with the temporary facility, the efsf. germany has been very opposed to that because it just means this he have to pay more money. we are seeing tentative signs that they may be willing to do that. that's something that we'll be looking at to see what happens over the course of the day. but again, that won't be decided until the end of the month, charles. >> diana magnay, thanks very much. joining us live from berlin. let's take a quick look at the business travelers forecast. ivan cabrera is at the international weather center with more. a private moan here, ivan. we haven't seen the sun in hong kong for what seems like months now. will that likely continue? >> we are likely going to continue to see that. let us start where diana was there as weigh check in on conditions in europe where we desperately need the rain. a significant drought is under way across spain and into the uk as well. you see the spin. it's going the wrong way. that's an area of high pressure that will be dominating our pa