civilians. three members of his unit had already pled guilty. gibbs was accused of cuts off pieces of the corpses to keep as souvenirs and planting weapons to make it look as though the men were taliban fighters. gibbs will be eligible for parole in ten years. in the turkish city, 28 people have been pulled alive from the rubble after a deadly earthquake wednesday night. rescue crews worked throughout the day, thursday, to reach people still trapped. dozens more may still be buried. the government says 260 survivors have been taken to other cities. the death toll stands at 12. the murdoch media empire has been compared to the mafia. he said they adopted a code of silence surrounding the phone hacking scandal. murdoch rejetted the allegation when he appeared before mps thursday. he insists he didn't learn about the scope of the problem until last year. those are the top stories from cnn, the world's news leader. i'm monita rajpal. "world business today" starts right now. good morning, from cnn london, i'm nina dos santos. you're watching "world business today." these are our top stories on friday, november 11th. it's a tough job but somebody has to do it. lucas papademos. and get rich or die trying? we track the success of 50 cent from rapper to business leader. first up we head straight to the european stock markets. we've seen a slightly higher open. we'll bring you the numbers in just a moment's time within the first hour of trading. let's bring you up to date with what is happening in terms of what's moving the markets. it's a big day politically speaking, right across europe, special for this man, the new greek prime minister lucas papademos. his resume shows he has a solid economic background. he says the main task of the transitional government in greece will be implementing the bailout package. in the meantime in italy, they are set to vote on a package of austerity measures. the final approval is expected to come on saturday. if that does happen, the current prime minister, mr. berlusconi may resign that very same day. some say italy's president may act quickly enough so that the new government is in place in italy before the markets open on monday for a new week. here's how the stock markets are performing right now. green arrows right across the board. we have the likes of also the spanish stock exchange, up to the tune of 1.5%. that's rising on the back of news that spanish gdp registered nil growth, 0% growth. we'll have more on that in just a moment's time. neutral gains across the board for the first hour of trading. in the meantime, the stock markets recovered some ground after a steep sell-off on thursday's session. the major indices posted mild gains, following positive numbers on wall street and also perceived progress on the political impasses we have going on here in europe. japan's nikkei was in the green by 0.2%. exporters such as sony and sharp were among some of the best performers there. we saw gains in stocks leading the hang seng to a higher close after registering a 5% plus decline earlier in the week. that index actually ended the day and week up almost 1%. the shanghai kpcomposite ended e session flat. the asx ended 1.2% higher. wall street is looking to continue its rebound. the decline in italian bond years and a seven-year low in u.s. unemployment claims managed to soothe investor sentiment, at least for the meantime. let's take a look at the closing numbers. we saw the s&p 500 not far behind either with energy shares making the biggest gains. but a 2.5% drop in apple shares helped to weigh on the nasdaq stateside. u.s. markets look set for a higher open when trading begins in five hours from now. anything can happen between now and then, given the political situations we have going on in europe. for the moment, this is the picture across the premark action futures. the s&p 500 is poised to rise the most. its futures are up to the tune of 0.75%. we'll get fresh perspective on how the markets are reacting to the crisis. let's listen in to some of the opinions that we've been listening to on air here on cnn over the past 24 hours. . >> europe has serious problems. they're getting worse, they're not getting better. until they deal with them and re-organize a lot of debt, it will affect worldwide. >> they haven't decided what route to go. in the end, it will be more powerful but it will not be powerful enough to fully save countries like spain and italy together. >> europe has done exactly that. they just passed out money, the politicians passed out money to anybody who asked for it for the past 20 or 30 years. now we have to pay the price. europe may be able to get through one more round but i doubt it. >> european is a club with 27 member states, 17 in euro zone. and the institution framework is not favorable to very quick actions. that takes some time. it's normal that some emerge, because it's a very complex system. >> political clarity. that is what we need. as a lender. and i believe that many lenders, many investors actually expect exactly that to happen. >> in '98 and '99, asia had problems. you know what they did? they failed, re-organized their banking system and came out much, much stronger. in the west we're refusing to take our pain. we're trying to just say we'll get past the next election. we're propping up zombie banks and zombie companies. we're just, you know, we're sinking deeper and deeper. >> we heard from the experts had to say, let's bring in another one, a senior trader at etx capital. what a week it's been. give us your thoughts on where we are now and what we need to do to get out of this problem. >> we're still not out of the woods yet, nina. it's been a volatile week. although we're seeing a slight move higher in the equity markets, a dip in ten-year yields as well, it doesn't mean the problems are over. we have an italian election in the next few hours or so. it could remain volatile going into next week. france's credit rating is under water at the moment. that has the potential to be downgraded at some point, s&p made the mistake yesterday of sending out a message in error that it was going to be downgraded. do i feel if the u.s. can be downgraded with the amount of exposure france has on its books, they could be up for a credit downgrading at some point in the future. the euro zone, whether they restructure or re-implement a plan for countries to leave the euro zone, we'll have to wait and see but they'll have to do something soon. >> do you have any confidence at all, traders like you, have any confidence at all, whether what they're trying to do is the right recipe for the situation. >> i think it's the right recipe but the euro zone models along and put stickings on wounds going forward. until they formulate a plan, to be able to exit the euro zone or they implement a proper easing program whereby the ecb is able to go into the markets, the secondary markets and buy up sovereign bonds, i feel we'll see these gyrations upwards and downwards. >> that's a very expensive strategy. a lot of people have started to say, perhaps it is time too change the ecb's reading. that could be an uphill battle and it could take time to negotiate. we don't have time. >> absolutely. there's legal issues there as well with regards to the ecb coming into the markets into the secondary markets and buying up bonds. it's something that will take time. unfortunately for the market, the market doesn't have that time. we could see volatile moves to the downside and big swings back to the upside until issues are resolved. >> manoj ladwa, thank you. italy's senate is set to begin voting in about an hour on a string of cost-cutting measures. approval will also pave the way for prime minister silvio berlusconi's exit stage left. let's go over to matthew chance who's in rome and who's been following all this right throughout the course of the week. this is coming to a climax, isn't it, matthew? any word on whether monti will be the right person to lead italy through these difficult times? >> our former european union commissioner is of course the man being picked as being the next prime minister of italy, a head of a technocrat government to steer the country through these difficult economic times. we have to wait until silvio berlusconi formally steps aside before anyone is announced in that position by the country's president. before silvio berlusconi steps aside, of course, he's made it quite clear that he wants to see this budget law carrying these austerity measures passed in both houses of the italian parliament and passed into law. as you mention, it's being debated. it starts in about 20 minutes in the senate. a special session of the italian parliament is being called for saturday. we're expecting the law to be passed into the -- the bill to be passed into law perhaps by saturday evening. that would of course open the way for these other changes at the top of the political leadership to take place. nina? >> matthew, countries like italy and also greece, to a certain extent have just had to put democracy on hold to get their finances in order. is there any sense that that will leave them better off down the line and that it's worth it? >> well, i mean, i don't think anybody is talking about putting democracy on hold here in italy. this government, if it's appointed, will ultimately have to seek a democratic mandate in the country. and that's a really crucial thing, obviously, because the kind of reforms that are necessary to get italy's economy back on track are going to be very deep indeed, very cutting and difficult for the population of the country. in order for them to take place and be legitimate, a democratic mandate will have to be sought. i think what's really interesting is that this has become about so much more than internal italian political economic crisis. you get the sense watching this that the future of the euro zone is currently being decided here in rome. if italy can make good on its huge debts, if it can get its economy back in order, there's a sense that the euro stands a chance of surviving. if it doesn't, that will be a real big negative for the currency. >> the pressure is on for the two people who will be in charge in greece and also in italy. matthew chance, joining us there from rome. many thanks as always. excellent update and insight. if you want to learn more about the situation, particularly vis-a-vis the bond markets, i've written a blog about italy's bond sale on thursday, the man who helped yields staying out of the zone. logon to cnn.com/biz360. coming up next, betting on a bus stop. there will be losers but there will be winners as we ponder who might be first to leave the euro zone. that's next. ( phone ringing ) okay... uhh. the bad news, it's probably totaled. the good news is, you don't have to pay your deductible. with vanishing deductible from nationwide insurance, you got $100 off for every year of safe driving, so now your deductible is zero. the other good news ? i held on to your coffee. wow. ♪ nationwide is on your side ( laughing ) it's actually a pretty good day when you consider. that's great. welcome back. you're watch be "world business today" live on cnn. europe may be staring into the void as its debt crisis deepens but its troubles may yet be a big win for some people betting on a possible euro zone breakup. no, not talking about the likes of short sellers but the ordinary punters who fancy a bit of a quick flutter. william hill is offering odds on which country could be the first to lead the euro zone. as you can see behind me, it seems like the smart money is currently standing on greece with odds of 1-4. perhaps that's not much of a surprise. let's it have a look at who's next, italy with odds of 7-2. that's well ahead of the next most likely candidates, being portugal and spain with odds of 10-1 and 12-1 respectively here. bringing up the rear is france. who would have guessed that with odds of 20-1 according to william hill's figures today. france may be less likely to leaf the euro zone than some of its neighbors but it's clearly nervous about where the debt crisis going next. french jitters were very much in evidence on thursday when standard & poors mistakenly said it lowered france's aaa credit rating. that prompted a sell-off of french government bonds that pushed france's borrowing costs up by almost 0.25%. the french government as you'd expect, is currently demanding an investigation. that episode demonstrated the extent to which the french government siene tlauled to the markets and by expansion to the ratings agencies. could france be the next domino to fall? max foster put that question to the chief economist at ing investment management. >> they went from small countries to bigger and bigger ones, spain and italy. it becomes difficult to control. of course the next discretion now is france struggling to keep its aaa rating. even rumors on austria today, the rumors there. the strong countries have a strong incentive to stop this vicious downward spiral once and for all end this crisis. >> an end to the crisis what everybody wants to see. at least one man is prepared to pay someone for an answer to that. simon wolfson said he'll pay an equivalent of $400,000. he set that up with the person that comes up with the best plan for an orderly exit for one or more states from the euro zone. it's the second biggest ak dem ache ward after the nobel prize. the deadline for submissions is on january 31st. he spoke to max foster a little earlier on. >> my biggest worry is that something may happen before we have the answers in. i sincerely hope that as well as people working for the competition, that all the central banks in europe are busy working on exactly the same problem. if not, we could have chaos. >> you're talking about disorderly collapse. >> the worst possible thing that could happen is for the euro to bust up and one government to start printing its own paper. then there will be no clarity as to what that paper is worth, what happens to people's savings, mortgages, debts, contracts will fall through. it needs to be planned and implemented with confidence and authority. >> speaking of moneys, dollars and euros, let's tell you what's coming up after the break on this very show. rapper 50 cent isn't satisfied with being a superstar and a budding mogul, instead he's turning his financial success strategy towards helping others. do stay tuned. 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. you're watching "world business today." let's take a look at how the major currencies are faring against the u.s. dollar. we can seat euro's currently trading at a price of 1.3635, british pound, 1.5907 and 1 u.s. dollar will buy you 77.39 in japanese yen. now, get rich or die trying. that was the motto of this man, rapper curtis jackson, better known by his stage name of 50 cent. and while he used to make a livings aa drug dealer before, jackson overcame a criminal conviction to become one of the highest selling musicians of this past decade. since then he's doubled in a number of corporate ventures from films to creating his own record label and releasing a line of music products. now 50 scent launching a different kind of business product. cnn's maggie lake caught up with the rap superstar. >> i try to relax people before i ask for my money. >> reporter: there was a time in the life of 50 cent when that statement would have sounded more like a threat than a joke. this convicted felon turned rap superstar has morphed yet again into a key donor to the united nations. >> i was actually traveling on tour and had an opportunity to stop in africa. and i experienced something that was more extreme than low income. >> reporter: moved by the experience, curtis jackson, aka 50 cent, decided to launch an energy drink called street king and use the proceeds to provide meals to the world food program. >> really the breadth is important for us, because we're recognizing that consumers really, they want to do things in a different way now. >> reporter: so does curtis jackson, the man who vowed to get rich or die trying, says he is now motivated by something more powerful. >> it's been a gradual process. at this point i feel like i need to show growth and do different things that allow me to be a strong impression on other's lives without it actually relating to music. i think music is a platform that was necessary for me to get enough attention to matter. and now i can do things that are really effective. >> reporter: jackson is no stranger to the beverage business. an early investment in vitamin water is rumored to have netted the star close to $100 million, a figure he declined to confirm. street king is a much more public venture. jackson has enlisted high profile friends to spread the word and hopes others will follow his lead. >> i feel like away from the actual energy drink itself that the business model for street king is the solution for a lost the actual issues going on right now. when you look at occupy wall street and protesters there, they are feeling like major corporations don't care about working class people. it's conscious capitalism. >> when you look back at some of the songs you've done, some of the lyrics, are there any that stand out in your mind to speak to your business strategy. >> position of power. the hip hop culture we usually talk about finances we don't have in the very beginning. and you know, a lot of the artists fake it till they make it. from my perspective i'm blessed to to shall in a position where i've acquired those finances. >> reporter: something he hopes to translate into another kind of business. >> when jay-z is calling me and swiss beats is calling me. imagine in google was under this model. it's only ten years old. that would solve a huge problem as far as world hunger is concerned. >> reporter: maggie lake, cnn, new york. still to come on "world business today," greece's rocky road. its interim prime minister will be sworn in just a few hours from now. [ male announcer ] if you're only brushing, add listerine® total care for more complete oral care. ♪ it works in six different ways to restore enamel... strengthen teeth... freshen breath... help prevent cavities... and kill bad breath germs for a whole mouth clean. so go beyond the brush with listerine® total care, the most complete mouthwash. now get all the benefits... without the alcohol. new listerine® total care zero. who needet all the benefits... without the alcohol. imagine... one scooter or power chair that could improve your mobility and your life. one medicare benefit that, with private insurance, may entitle you to pay little to nothing to own it. one company that can make it all happen ... your power chair will be paid in full. the scooter store. hi i'm doug harrison. we're experts at getting you the power chair or scooter you need. i didn't pay a penny out of pocket for my power chair. with help from the scooter store, medicare and my insurance covered it all. call the scooter store for free information today. welcome back to the show. let's take another look at how the european stock markets are performing about 90 minutes into the trading session. putting on substantial gains, they're about double in percentage terms of what we saw 20 minutes ago. the likes of the cac 40 leading the charge after standard & poors was saying it was a mistake that they were preparing to downgrade france. can greece really pull itself back now from the brink of financial disaster? let's go over to the greek capital today. linda, lucas papademos, i remember meeting the man myself when he was deputy governor of the ecb. is that not sort of sensitive link? this man was not an elected mp before taking the helm. >> that's right. he was former vice president of the ecb and it has been seen here as a good choice, the reaction so far has been positive towards him, simply because as you well know, most of the issues greece is facing at the moment are to do with its financial future. he's seen as an insider, a man who can talk on an international scale. he knows the players, he knows how things are run. as a result he's seen as a kind of person that can help greece get through this financially difficult time. >> now, the ecb has notably been between a rock and a hard place between the euro zone crisis. on the one hand it says it can't and doesn't want to intervene more. if it doesn't, the whole currency it's set to regulate could collapse. i'm sure mr. papademos knows this rather well. would he advocate a stronger role for the ecb in saving countries like greece? >> well, at the moment, he hasn't really opened his cards in terms of exactly what it is he's going to do. i mean, he's only taking over today. what we do know and he has said during a speech yesterday, is that he will push through with the reforms that are necessary for greece to remain in the euro zone. he's saying that greece's future is with the euro zone. he is also saying that he will do whatever it takes to ratify the new bailout loan that greece had agreed in the end of october in order for that money to come through. he's also saying that he will make sure that the sixth installment of the previous bailout loan gets to greece. basically his next moves will be to do whatever it takes to keep greece into the euro zone, nina. >> okay. elinda joining us live from athens. many thanks for that. let's take a look at how the markets finished the week in asia. mild gains across the board after thursday's really sharp sell-off largely on concerns about countries like greece and italy. let's take a look at the asx in australia. the hang seng after falling in excess of 5.25% on thursday's session managed to stage a bit of a rebound, not enough to completely eclipse those losses earlier in the week but still ending the day on friday up to the tune of nearly 5%. shares in rupert murdoch's news corporation ended the trading session down -- excuse me, almost about 2.5% higher, not down. so up in new york on thursday's session. that may have come as something of a surprise to anyone who's been following the recent developments in the company's phone hacking scandal. murdoch's son, james, who heads up news corp.'s parent company was back in parliament on thursday. he faced tough questions in round two in the news of the world hacking scandal. atika shubert has the low lights and the highlights. >> reporter: james murdoch was grilled for more than two hours by mps. he gave a confident and spirited defense, saying he had never seen an e-mail or any other document as early as 2008 showing that phone hacking was any more widespread than one reporter. he insisted to mps that he only found out about the extent of the problem in late 2010. that prompted some angry responses, particularly from labor mp tom watson. take a listen. >> i believe that where evidence or sufficient suspicion of widespread criminality, allegations of it were there, this was the job of the new editor who had come in to, for lack of a better word, to clean this up, to make me aware of those things. on the contrary, i was not shown those things in 2008 and in $2009, i receive the same assertions around the quality of those investigations and the lack of evidence that this committee received. and that's something that is a matter of regret. >> you must be the first mafia boss in history who didn't know he was running a criminal enterprise. >> mr. watson, please, i think that's inappropriate. >> you may have heard gasps of astonishment from other mps who may have felt watson had gone too far in his comments about the mafia boss. on the other hand, he may have been voicing what's on some other members minds. outside, people held up signs saying media mafia. there was someone dressed up as james murdoch there. while inside, murdoch was trying to defend himself against accusations that he mislead parliamentari parliamentarians. murdoch is in a bit of a catch 22 here. basically by saying that he did not know the extent of the problem, that he hadn't seen these e-mails that had been circulating as early as 2008 indicates that he didn't seem to know what was going on within his own company. certainly one mp called him incompetent for that reason. on the other hand, if he was to give any indication that he knew of this phone hacking scandal happening any earlier, then it would have looked as though some sort of a cover-up had gone forward. he was really in a very difficult position, trying to strike that balance. did he succeed? we'll have to wait and see what the reaction is, not only from the public but from news within international itself. in the meantime, there's more to come for james murdoch. next week the judge led an inquiry into phone hacking scandal. atika shubert, cnn, london. strong storms ripped through parts of australia on thursday. jennifer delgado standing by at the cnn international weather center with amazing video as the storm rolled in down under. jennifer? >> that's right, nina. the storms were quite wicked. reportedly a tornado touched down in an area just to the south of melbourne. as we go over to the video, let's show you the storms as they rolled in. luckily, there was video capturing this. you can see the lightning, the clouds starting to lower and extremely heavy rainfall. some locations they picked up about 25 millimeters of rainfall, roughly about an inch in an hour and very bad conditions there. homes were damaged. power was out and apparently two-thirds of the local emergency entity was called into action as those storms rolled through parts of melbourne as well as other areas, including victoria. as i take you over and show you on the satellite, things look quieter. we have an area of low pressure down to the south that's moving through. that will bring a chance of showers through parts of melbourne. other than that we're not expecting much. the storms have certainly weakened. it looks like as we go through the upcoming weekend we'll be looking at the chance for more showers out there as this ridge of high pressure sets up. this will bring coastal showers through parts of australia. and then, 0 cross parts of europe we're looking at wet weather starting off the day through parts of ireland. the rain will continue to get heavy, starting to spread into western parts of england and the storms will be sticking around for today as well as into saturday and it's also going to bring in to the warm conditions but meanwhile, over towards the south and to the east we do have a high pressure in control and that's going to keep things nice and dry for areas including spain as well as into france and more clouds over towards the east. and that includes parts of the ukraine as well as into russia. nina? it looks like we're out of time. we send it back over to you. but it's friday. everything's good. >> have a great weekend. jennifer delgado at the cnn international weather center. the canadians have called this game cow patty bingo. there's no two fat ladies or legs 11, just a cow, a field and everyone guessing where the cow will drop a cow pat. only question is, what happens when the cow's con s is constip bingo -- or no bingo. >> reporter: have either of you ever played cow patty bingo before. >> no. >> reporter: it's different than regular bingo. >> what's the strategy? >> yes. >> you have to find the square that nobody else has got close to you. >> reporter: the rules are simple. you hope the cow drops a patty on your square. say hello to captain brooke grenadine. the crowd fills the bleachers, standing room only. >> i don't know if there's a strategy. >> reporter: all eyes and cameras are glued on the end of this dairy cow. >> i've never seen a cow not go. >> what next? >> reporter: it's not going. >> i don't understand it. >> reporter: we expected this story to have a lot of bs, that it has none, totally baffled the farmer, edwin frazier. what's happening? >> not sure. >> reporter: still, fingers crossed that the cow will drop the patty. >> it happened. >> reporter: have you had cow patty beginning go before? >> no. >> reporter: this is the first. and probably a first where the cow didn't play along. >> it didn't have the mojo. >> reporter: that's fine. it made cleanup a breeze. colleen jones, halifax. that's it for this jam packed edition of "world business today." thanks very much for joining us. have a great weekend. i'm nina dos santos at cnn london. you're watching cnn, the world's news leader. 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. this week on marketplace middle east, nuclear but not necessarily just for energy. as the atomic energy agency expresses concerns for iran's nuclear program. we look at different ambitions around the region. and jordan's economic woes, from a lack of jobs to the impact of the arab spring. we speak to king abdul laugh jordan in an exclusive interview. some members of the u.s. congress are calling for stiffer sanctions against iran after the latest u.n. report on tehran's nuclear capabilities. it is the international atomic energy agency's toughest assessment to date. the agency says there's credible information that iran is carrying out activities relevant to developing nuclear weapons. the report stops short of saying the country has made the decision to go ahead and build bonds. iran has long said its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes. iran constructed a vast nuclear network. brashear was the first nuclear power station, north is esfahan another plant was revealed in take ron in 2002 and then it went to a city near qom. concern over iran has led to oil prices hitting a seven-week high. according to the international energy agency, the costs are only to go higher. in the world's latest energy outlook, it is announced crude reach more than $200 per barrel by 2035 if not early. jordan imports more than 95% of its energy needs. as leoni lakhani found out, the country is also looking at nuclear energy as an alternative. >> reporter: the crisis surrounding the fukushima daiichi plant this year exacerbated international concerns about nuclear accidents. for those joining the nuclear club in the middle east, it was no different. oil producers like saudi arabia, qatar and kuwait, just last year looked towards nuclear power for future domestic needs to retain oil for export purposes. now they're shying away from those plans. but for the region's nonoil producers like jordan, crude is expensive and the need for energy is imperative. >> with the fukushima incident, definitely, we have extend our time lines for technology selection, particularly as related to safety in terms of flooding, earthquakes, in terms of stand-by electric power generators in case there is a cutoff of power from the reactor. >> reporter: all factors that are being carefully considered for jordan's nuclear power plants. this is one of the potential sites for jordan's first nuclear power project. and one of the reasons this is a candidate is because it's more than 15 kilometers from the nearest populated area. the plant development is still years off. but the need here is urgent because jordan currently imports more than 95% of its energy needs. in these arid lands, finding the correct site is jordan's biggest challenge. its atomic energy commission says a nuclear plant will require 25 million cubic immediaters of water annually. that poses a fresh challenge to a country where water is desperately scarce. >> there is villages and places in jordan without water in the pipelines more than six months. we have the problem even with drinking water. how can we spend, as example, 60 million cubic meter for reactors? >> reporter: the kingdom is looking to mimic a u.s. model in the midst of the arizona desert. it's the world's only nuclear facility not situated next to a body of water. >> we're trying to duplicate the palo verde plant. we have to use gravity flow from the plant to the location here. >> reporter: the government will choose an international plagrouo build the plant. >> we have the price range from 4 billion to 5 billion u.s. dollars for every 1,000 megawatt plant. we'd have a consortium of owners for the plant, including government of jordan, international and nuclear operator who will also be an investor in the plant. other potential private sector investors. >> reporter: other means of renewable energy like solar and wind are also on the cards here. still, nuclear power is considered the cheapest and most efficient form of alternative energy and in the wake of the fukushima accident, for jordan, where energy costs are high, the options are still limited. leoni lakhani from marketplace middle east. an exclusive interview with jordan's king abdullah within we come back. along with jordan's plans to tackle higher oil prices, there's a wave of unrest hitting the country earlier this year. in an exclusive interview with jordan's king abdullah ii, i talked to him about the arab spring and the biggest challenges still to come. >> it started economically. there's a lack of confidence because there was a problem in our country as there is throughout the region with a lack of jobs and poverty. that's the major challenge we have, how do we get an individual away from voting for somebody because he's from my tribe orvilleage to voting for people to come out with a economic, political and social package? that's going to be the most challenge of democracy. >> the first thing the business community says we need to tackle corruption. >> absolutely. >> the people around you shield you from the real corruption that's on the ground in this society. it's not a big economy. can you get your hands on the root causes of the corruption today? >> i think one of the biggest problems is we have to have more transparency in government. we have the anti-corruption department that is being empowered more and more. they need more capability and qualified people to move into that. the other thing is, you can't have people hide behind corruption. there's a couple of cases that are out there and have to be seen all the way through. there is corruption in jordan as there is in other countries. i think it's not to the extent people feel. because as you alluded to, there's a lack of confidence in government. that's always going to be out there. transparency, government, the rule of law, and creating the right mechanisms to be able to tackle corruption, we can change this around rather quick. >> i they point to you because of your roll, of course, as ring, to do more. >> as the king of jordan. i have to set the bar very high. when talking about economic, political and social reform, this is why at the beginning of this year, i said, listen, what we're trying to achieve is a two-to-five party system, representing left, right ander isser it understanding the concept of left, right and center is not quite mature here yet as quickly as possible so we can have an elected government. >> most people don't focus on this. this is an expensive arab spring. your tourism has dropped 20%, cost you about $4.5 billion a year for a small economy. this is the reality that could be with us, what, another three to five years? >> throughout the world, i think. i think it's not just limited to the arab world. we're seeing this in europe, in wall street. there is a backlash against private sector and privatization. and we felt it here in jordan. we have to change it. bringing in the private sector, bringing foreign investment to jord isn't best way of defeating poverty and unemployment. i'm pretty clear on the steps that we need to take for political reform over the next year or so. what keeps me up at night and mostly around the world is poverty and unemployment and the economic crisis we face. >> not just in jordan but in the region overall do we need to think in a much more conservative manner to solve the problems? >> yes, when you look at 85 million jobs for the arabs over the next couple of years, that's a tremendous challenge. a smaller country like jordan has a much better aability to maneuver out of this. it's just the countries with large populations that are going through these problems. it is going to be many tough years ahead of them. political reform is economic reform. they have to go hand in hand. one will cancel out the other if we're not successful. there's a lost money in the region. it's just how do we capitalize that and use that as tools to challenge and be able to take in the largest youth cohort in history that this region has ever seen. >> you raise an interesting point. there's a discussion of a gcc, gulf cooperation council marshal fund. again, we've had this arab spring for a year and still, no clear-cut package to put that together. >> you know, we obviously are aware of jordan's potential -- to the gcc. this is manage we're working on. i see tremendous benefits from both sides, from jordan and from the gulf cooperation council if we come together. i think the more we open ourselves up to each other, the economy and marketwise, the better the middle east will be. having said that, there's enough understanding that they have to change the way they're doing business. i think you're seeing a sense of leaders around the middle east and the business communities putting more pressure on us being much more transparent with each other. >> king abdullah ii, president of jordan. send your comments by e-mail to mme@cnn.com. that's it for this edition of "cnn money morning." i'm john deaf tearrifterios. thanks for watching. see you next week.