problems. >> a look at "hardball" late yesterday. while japan struggles to recover from last week's twin disasters, house republicans are defending cuts to foreign aid and ocean safety in their budget proposals. house majority leader eric cantor told reporter yesterday, "we've got to stop spending money we don't have. essentially what you're saying is to go borrow money from the japanese so we can spend it there to help the japanese." concerns over a potential nuclear crisis are weighing heavily on japan's benchmark nikkei index. for more on that, we want to take an early look at the markets as we get all up in your business. this morning, cnbc's anna edwards live in london for us. good morning. good to see you, thank you. yes, there are days when one theme or one story certainly dominates mark thinking. and that certainly is the case today. we've seen markets in the asian session very much weaker. in particular in the japanese market as you might expect. that's now spreading through into the european session and looks as if it will spread through into your equity trade,