killed. a spokesman says the cause of the crash is currently unknown but reports there was no insurgent activity in the area. north korea says it will launch a rocket to put a satellite in orbit of the the korean central news agency announced the launch saying it's intended to mark 100 years since the birth of the founder of the north korea state, if north korea goes ahead it will breach the united nations resolution passed after a previous launch in 2009. those are the headlines from cnn, i'm zain vergee, "world business today" starts now. good morning from cnn london i'm nina del santos. >> i'm andrew stevens, the top stories this friday, march the 16th. >> certainly is friday, apple with a record high for their company stock and lines like these cueing up for latest ipad. >> the ax is falling on subsidies in india, how citizens are affected by the government's latest budget. >> a critical source of funding for the government also linked to corruption and human rights abuses. we'll take you inside a diamond mind in zimbabwe. first off, let's look how the european stock marketsare shaping up. have been trading for 2:00. they are taking cues after the united states, some of the markets putting on a gain of just high of 1% in the first few minutes alone. we're also focusing on greece, the athens composite as you can see. up three quarters of one percent, they are coming back in the forefront of investors attention. the international monetary fund agreed late on thursday to contribute a further 36.5 billion toward that crucial second bail out for greece alongside funds coming from other places like the european uni union. investors will be weighing that against another warning from the imf telling athens this market there is no wiggle room when it comes to making any missteps in implementing the economy reform program. that market has been trading and that one up three quarters of 1%. nina, here in asia, basically flat would be the order of the day. only the shanghai composite providing any interest here. investors cautious while they weigh stronger u.s. economic data against signs of slowing growth. numbers and the comments we have been get out of china. the come pos sit up by 1.3. expectations there will be no let-up in the restrictions on the property market in china. but a little bit of hunting in property markets pushing the broader index up. hong kong finishing in the red, nikkei and s & p barely moved. you may or may not be one of the thousands who lined up for the the latest ipad outside apple stores, on the other hand you may be left incredulous at the notion of cueing up for an expensive product like this. whatever you think of appele an their products, they're huge and the apple phenomenon is getting bigger. on thursday, share prices pasted $600 apiece mark on the nasdaq, finished the day slightly below that level but nevertheless, this is an immense achievement for a company. the tech giant's market capitalization doubled in 17 months and thursday's peak of $559 billion this, company has the third highest market value anywhere in history. a month or so ago, a single share of apple would have set you back $100 less. estimates of how high it will go vary, but even the biggest detra detractors have to concede this is a company these days with unrival unrivalled money. >> this is story in graphon, ten year picture of apple stock. for every step back there, have been several big steps forward. with only the financial crisis of 2008 here, really causing any substantial dips. if you are lucky enough or wise enough to snap up ten shares of apple back in 2002, would have cost about $120. today, those ten stocks would be worth $5855. that is a rise of 4700%. last year the ceo tim cooke was given a bonus of one mill yen apple shares and supposing the same level of growth is maintained over the coming deck said, that bonus alone, nina, worth about $28.2 billion in 2022. now apple's new ipad has gone on sale in ten markets this friday, the first sales were in the asia pacific region, stores in australia, hong kong, japan and singapore followed by france, germany, switzerland and uk. last stop was north america with walmart stores throwing open their doors to thousands of fans. sales will begin next week for other countries. some people were prepared to cross borders to get their hands on the first batch. that was the case here in hong kong. for every customer who pre-ordered there was another going to extreme lengths to get one on the day. take a listen to this. >> pre ordered yesterday around 9:00. and visit the website and provide some information and wait for the result. >> flying in because we're going for selling for me for my friend and go back, go home. >> we stay five hours and we came to hong kong. >> the first guy who bought the ipad i offered him $15,000 hong kong dollars, he wouldn't sell it to me. the hype surrounding the ipad is gathering momentum, i will stand outside an apple store around the corner when they start selling those in about an hour or so time in london. for research purposes only, though. consumers in japan are famously snapping up the latest technology before anyone else gets it, little surprise cues were forming in tokyo ahead of friday's launch. some in japan see apple as a throat to home gone technology companies, the mood in the capital was one of celebration this morning. kim spoke to some of the first owners of the world's most talked about tablet. >> reporter: 400 people here in tokyo, among the first in this city and in the entire world to get ahold of the brand new ipad. cheers as the doors open at the apple store in tokyo thanks to global time zones, japanese customers were among the first in the world to buy the device which starts at equivalent of $535 u.s. dollars in tokyo. the usual wackiness from most devout fans, camped out in freezing temperatures. this devotion has led to apple making a huge feat in this tech producing company. apple has 63% of japan's tablet market in the last quarter of 2011, became the biggest seller of mobile phones in japan. so, is it worth the hype? early reviews from the first customers, the screen exceeds expectations. but the new ipad isn't breaking a new technological barrier. >> the revolution was to create the ipad in the first place. this is just the next logical step for it to take. >> why do you have to have it the first day? >> i just have to. >> you have to. >> i just have to. >> like breathe. >> i never even questioned it. >> despite mixed reviews, if tokyo is any indication, the new ipad is poised to continue to grab more buzz for apple. kyung lah, cnn tokyo. thursday's session was one for the record books on wall street as alison kosick tells us. both the dow and s&p helped to lead stocks hires. >> the dow extended the winning streak to seven straight sessions. at close the dow rose 58 points to 13,252, the seventh winning streak for the dow in more than a year the s&p closed up since 2008. first time claims for jobless benefit fell by 14,000. february wholesale prices were driven by energy cost by the jump in inflation was not as much as economists forecast. cisco slipped 1%, the giant agreed to buy nds group, a uk-based video software make near a deal valued at $5 billion. friday, the government releases the consumer price index. that is a wrap of the day on wall street i'm alison kosick at the new york stocks exchange. one other stock to mention from yesterday's trading, goldman sachs wiping out the big resignation from greg smith. this is how futures are looking so far today, for new york, opens in five hours from now. as alison said, big numbers many consumer sentiment very important at the moment will give us an idea of the u.s. economy but nina, all looking positive so far. it is indeed for the moment, andrew and of course it's a friday so everybody is happy on the markets. you're watching "world business today." later we focus on india's budget the financial minister announcing the budget for the next year we'll bring you highlights as the country looks to boost economic growth and to lower the burden of subsidies. 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[ male announcer ] tempur-pedic brand owners are more satisfied than owners of any traditional mattress brand. ♪ it's the perfect time to save up to $300 on select mattress sets. tempur-pedic. the most highly recommended bed in america. this is "world business today" live on cnn welcome back to the show. it was supposed to be the economic lifeline for a country in tat tcters. diamond mining in sim bab wa has fallen short. unless the industry delivers, a lack of revenue could shut down the government. zimbabwe is thought to be home to some of the biggest diamond deposits in the world. but this year they have generated less than a third of the income officials have been hoping for. the mines have been steeped since the state took control of them four years ago with allegations of corruption and human rights abuses. robin kernow got exclusive access. >> reporter: this is the entrance to the marange diamond fields, clearance approved by the government. >> thank you. >> we're about to get access to these very controversial diamond fields, some of the diamonds are mined here in the world. controversial because human rights groups are concerned the revenue from the mines secretly support security forces, allegations the government denies. which is one reason for the unprecedented show and tell. this man works at the state-owned marange resources one of four companies operating here. he gives us a tour as we are trailed by zimbabwe government officials and intelligence agents. >> looking for element c. the heavy security and surveillance, we get a glimpse in the production work here, something the government has never offered before. they came to show off their new technology, after the process, steam that monitor blood diamonds says the gems are clean and now able to be sold on international markets. another set of security, signed my name for the third time but there is a good reason you say. the diamonds are in there. >> exactly. >> another ring of security, and this is where the raw diamonds are plucked and separated from ordinary stones. and then dropped in a secure canister. they are sorting through what looks like dirt to me, they are picking out diamonds, a few diamonds every five minutes. >> exactly. >> it's amazing. you say you have a capacity to produce 200,000 carats worth of diamonds every month from this mine. >> exactly. >> later, even deeper inside the marange fields, we visit a chinese-zimbabwe joint venture. they offer us a welcome speech and corporate video. before we are taken to a massive, open mine. many believe that this area is the most significant diamond find in more than a generation and this area is vast, more than 600 square kilometers, that is about 70,000 soccer pitches. zimbabwe says the state will receive $600 million this year, two more investors are expected to be given concessions soon so income is expected to rise. but human rights groups say very little of the money will go to ordinary zimbabwens. they've spoken out against the decision to allow international sales. the director of the mine says they're wrong. >> every stone is accounted for and every dollar is accounted for. >> as the sunsets on our visit to the mines, the government is making every effort to try to market the legitimacy of its gems. robyn kornow. coming up next on "world business today" we're with a man whose creations are regular on the red carpet and now his shoes have become as famous as the women who wear them. milo blanic will be ahead on cnn just after this break. >> announcer: meet mary. she loves to shop online with her debit card, and so does bill, an identity thief who 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, 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[click-click] [♪...] . from cnn hong kong i'm andrew stevens. >> i'm nina dos santos cnn london. welcome back do "world business today." now, earlier in the show we reported on a good couple of days for apple. on thursday the eve of the latest ipad launch the shares moved briefly above the $600 mark and today looks like it's having a successful product launch. the california company isn't getting everything its own way. as it faces another legal tussle in china. some chinese writers are suing apple for allowing the sale of unauthorized copies of their books. >> reporter: while the world waits for the new apple ipad, chinese writer is less than enthussed. he says the u.s. tech giant allows pirated copies of his books to be sold and read on the tablet, prompting him and other authors here to take the american icon to court. there is unfair to us, he says, i hope apple as a big company can take responsibility. this is the second dispute against apple in china over copyrights, they face a legal battle with a chinese electronic firm over the trademark. apple products are popular here, so coveted they can hardly contain the crowds. but the legal tussles raised concerns about the company's future business in a current rip where authorities of violations of intellectual property or ip, slide. he and other writers are suing apple in beijing. they say nearly 100 of their works have been ripped off and made illegally available at apple's online store, downloaded more than one million times. the group has quadrupled demands. as an ip holder ourselves, apple says, we understand the important of protecting intellectual property, when we receive complaints we respond promptly and appropriately. it says anything who says material at their store is required to secure the necessary rights. apple is a victim of intellectual properties rights violations. in china it's ez stee find fake iphones, i patds and stores. >> foreign tech companies, ip protection is a huge issue. i think by drawing more attention to intellectual property that that is good for apple and good for the tech industry overall. >> he doesn't think apple is good for his industry. if our copyrights are not protected it will hurt literature. a nation learned for a nation creating their own designs and where more and more people can afford the ipad. eunice yoon. a nigerian start up is trying to get africans to buy their tablet computer. it's designed to cater to the specific needs of the african market. >> reporter: i'm at the silver bird media score, the first accredited store to africa's own version of the ipad. i'm here to meet the brains. we're talking at an interesting time where demand for the new ipad is set to be off the charts but africa has never been a big market for apple, is that the gap you're trying to fill? >> that is exactly the gap we're trying to fill. the apple company in the u.s. have no presence here, in nigeria, probably because they have a huge market in america and china. here we also would like to have access to search products, however price and after support is an issue for most consumers here. >> the ipad, the latest ipad is retailing around $500. this is half the price, right? yes. >> if i buy one of these, what do i get? >> what you get is the latest android 3.0. >> you use google android. >> e-mail, standard applications, browsers, standard application. >> do you have a camera? >> front facing camera. you have usb port allows it to connect other usb storage devices to copy stuff back and forth. >> what about internet connectivity, here in africa, 14% and here in nigeria, 28%. >> internet is growing, lots of cablings going on, one of the major problem is because of -- we have no broad band, we have to allow the telecoms. >> it's expensive but becoming cheaper. >> prices are going down. >> compared to how much it used to be certain years ago. >> there are challenges, you only sold 19 of inye one. you haven't sold a single device why? >> probably because we're trying to get funding, so we can bring the price points as low as we can but within nigeria it's a problem because technology is something that is still relatively new here h, investment-wise. real estate is the order of the day, primarily. i have seen lots of other stories of start-ups and i know how long it takes them to get funding so i know if you go as long as you can and get as much credibility behind your brand you will get funding locally or internationally. >> that report on the debut of africa's version of the ipad and dr drew, coming from nigeria perhaps they call call it the ni-pad. >> that makes perfect sense to me, probably means it will never happen. let's switch from nigeria to india, in front of the sensex, you will see the sensex is up by half of one percent. this is as the indian finance minister, pranab mukherjee presents the budget to parliament. india is under pressure to trim financial deficit. he said he expects the economy to grow around 7.6% in the year, that start in april, up from 6.9% in the current year. he also said that inflation is likely to reach a moderate level in the next few months. inflation has been a thorn in the economic side of india over the past at least year. despite a generally optimistic outlook for the economy, one suggestion mukherjee made, the financial minister called for the slashing of government subsidies as away of reducing the budget. oil prices have swelled to 2.5% of gdb, he wants it brought down to less than 2%. now, to subject dear to many women's hearts, i count myself included among this bracket, talking about shoes. not just any old pair of shoes. known asth manolos. even if they can't afford the $500 price tag. ♪ >> oh my god! >> shh, carrie. >> do you know what these are? manolo blahnik mary janes. >> it helped put sex in "sex in the city "carrie bradshaw made it a household name. his story started before all that. anna curran spoke to the designer about his 40 years in the business of haute heels. >> reporter: you opened your own boutique in london in 1973? >> 19 -- january 73, 40 years, yes. >> tell us about the challenges you faced in setting up the business. >> i just went to the bank and i said do you have collateral, i said what is that? i was a young man, i was stupid. somehow i managed to convince people. >> you have five factories in italy. you're very hands-on. are you a bit of a control freak? >> i guess maybe you can call me that if you wish to. i don't want to label you. >> i'm a perfectionist. to attain, thattism possible but you try. >> you had many offers to sell your business, but you've never sold out. >> i don't want to. >> why? >> i'm not here for the money i'm here for the fun of doing it and joy, the passion that i have for doing it. i can't stand to be ruled by this kind of -- economic society, companies and things that everything is like profit, profit, profit. yes, you have to be realistic, but it's not everything, actually. >> has the economic crisis affected your business? >> so far, i've been very, very fortunate. yes, in places like i don't want to talk about it but in places like greece, yes, because it's like tragedy, but so far very little. >> you can check out more of the interview on talk asia on saturday at 8:00 p.m. in hong kong, 1:00 p.m. european time. watch the whole thing if you are like me, you like high heels. the recipe is the higher the better, andrew. absolutely. i like high heels. to look at rather than wear, obviously. now, one of the big stories we have been focusing on this week is what has been going on at goldman sachs, that explosive "i quit" moment by greg smith reverberated around the world. extraordinary stuff going on there. certainly not the only explosive "i quit" moment between the tristar pictures movie jerry maguire and mr. burnham's retirement, here are are other examples how to end your career with a bang. >> well, don't worry, i'm not going to do what you all think i'm going to do which is flip out! who is going with me? who is coming with me? who is coming with me besides flipper here? >> i have never been a quitter. therefore, i shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow. >> management wants you gone by the end of the day. >> what sort of severance pack able is management prepared to offer me considering the information i have about our editorial director which i think would interest the irs since it constitutes fraud. >> man, you are one twisted. >> nope, i'm an ordinary guy with nothing to lose. >> great stuff there. let's take another look at european stock markets. 14 minutes in the trading session, after a lackluster start, gaining a little bit more momentum, really things hovering around the flat line for most of the market the athens is. thanks ever so much for joining the of two us i'm nina dos santos at cnn london. >> i'm andrew stevens in hong kong, we'll be back in a few hours. we have the opening bell on wall street and big numbers on wall street today and bring you up to date with everything that has been happening in every part of the world concerning business, we'll see you then. . sorry. sore knee. blast of cold feels nice. why don't you use bengay zero degrees? 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[ male announcer ] new bengay zero degrees. freeze and move on. this week on market place, middle east. from the heart of dubai's financial district, more pressure on iran. south korea joins the nation of making moves to reduce iranian oil imports. from scientists to ceos, the growing roll of women in the region. we sat down with one of the most power full, uae foreign trade minister. the u.s. and you are peian crack down on the iran exports is gathering momentum. south korea is the latest country saying it will seek to diversify supplies, while there are concerns in south korea about rising energy prices, the head of the korean national oil company says other oil can be found. >> i think the government can make it possible, actually we can have sources that easily, special agreement with iraq, if there is any crisis, they are ready to support us. that agreement was made last year, so i think our government has made enough to make nalt tiff sources. >> the company signed the deal to develop three energy feels in abu dhabi. i sat down with the uae foreign trade minister to discuss this bilateral relationship and overall tilt to the east of the uae for business and for trade. >> there has been a good commitment, mutual commitment from both governments from the leaders in south korea and the united arab emirates in terms of looking and expanding the relationship that we have with them. the same time there are new fields for us to actually look around, for example, our partnership with korea, south korea is in the field of nuclear development, but we've seen investments from the korean themselves committing and combined projects here within the united arab emirates and oil. at the same time we have seen new fields of business or industries such as renewable energy. >> i find it interesting what was a manufacturing investment partnership on nuclear energy or w water purification has moved in energy in advicement from south korea. >> south korea is a good example of asian countries and the way they look today. a paradigm shift on how they connect themselves politically and economically, strategically with many countries. example of the uae with south korea is not the only one. if you look at saudi arabia with china, very similar set-up as well. the thinking is more of a gcc at large, thinking about securing their connectivity and securing future in terms of how they deal, how they evolve with strong emerging markets. >> uae cost a trillion durhams during a slow economic recovery, your trade went up 25%. is this a factor of maintaining your markets in the west but tilting east to the higher growth economies? yes, that is very correct with you most importantly i think we should also speak about the strategy of the country itself in terms of diversifying the economy. 70% is not oil. most of us think of a country that prouss oil and store, have a lot of good reserve. however, the big bulk is trade. we sit as a main hub between the east and west. we are the gateway for africa. africa is a big market and gold mine for us. india is the number one trading partner for the uae, exceeding 43 billion u.s. dollars in terms of bilateral trade, also our position as their number one trading partner, china comes next, and then the u.s. some people believe that there is a shift to the east, but i can tell you within the united arab emirates we have seen 51% of our business and trade with the east, with asia, but in the same time, a combined 41% of our trade resides within european countries, partners as well as the u.s. >> president obama suggests we should give diplomacy a chance, let the sanctions set in i would like to get your perspective because we're 200 miles away from iran sitting here in the uae, what should be the course of action going forward? >> there is no doubt that the measures that have been put now are affecting our trade with iran. however, we are committed to the international community in terms of the sanction. iran is a neighbor, we keep a frank die a long and continue to maintain that while satisfying the commitment and promise within the international community. >> she may be the uae foreign trade minister but ranks at the top of the region's most powerful women. we'll profile those and ask her what is the right tool kit for women in the region for 21st century. when market place continues. 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[ male announcer ] zyrtec-d®. behind the pharmacy counter. no prescription needed. at meineke i have options... like oil changes starting at $19.95. my money. my choice. my meineke. . middle east is not normally recognized as a region of having women at the forefront of business. only a quarter participate in the labor force, vis-a-vis better than 50% in africa and east asia according to the world bank. but things are changing, faster than expected. in business and in the political arena. as kim kaleda found out. >> reporter: nayla is the first female film producer and director in the uae. >> film i shot for a famous friend. >> she says forging a career in this part of the world is the same as any working woman. >> the other day super streamline and focus and look at what you want and find a a solution how to get there might not be an easy path and it won't be that is a challenge. you have to find a way to reach your goal without having any fear. >> she was listed as the 33rd most powerful arab woman by the magazine "ceo middle east" 33 out of 100. >> i was kind of surprised, i didn't expect to be with such an incredible list of women. >> reporter: she joins the ranges with other women like the uae ministers for foreign trade and the yemeni activist awarded a nobel peace prize this past year, all arab women setting a positive example and becoming role models for future female generations. women from all around the region were honored at a ceremony in dubai. >> it's a wonderful accomplishment, especially to be among a lot of prominent women who do play a role in this society trks social, business, banking, just a strong message that a womb are there right now. >> christine's fear is sending a strong message, they is ceo of the restaurant empire call "treats" based in lebanon. >> difficult for women all over the world but i always say we shouldn't give ourself excuses, as long as this is what we want to do, there is nothing that can stop you for being whoever you want to do. >> reporter: according to a forth coming report, females are low throughout the region almost all the region country have participation rates below average. not advisingly the lowest participation rates are in places of conflict, however, for the region as a whole, the number of women in the work place has increased by less than 1% over the last 30 years. at this rate, mena would take 150 years to catch up with the current world average. it's not just the numbers they are hoping will change but most importantly, the image of arab women in the workforce. >> the importance of this, not for me but for new generation to recognize that there are other people other than football players and actresses and so on who do things that are worth being recognized. >> reporter: the wisdom of women charting a new course in the arab world. kim keleita marketplace, middle east, dubai. as we mentioned in the report, she told the list for the second year running responsible for trade relations of the uae both east and west. i sat down to discuss one of the most important skills for arab women in the 21st century. >> equipping themselves with technology and knowledge. today you can't move or do anything without the utilization of technology. articulation within the language in terms of speaking and write, not only your language, arabic, but english, because that is an international language. access to the world in terms of understanding what is taking place around you. the government in general here within the uae support the women and workforce and education, opening new fields for them as well and in terms securing job opportunities. but the women themselves, really have to take the first initiative about themselves. >> some people seem surprised we have arab women in the region in the private sector running business, running banks, running technology companies, you came from technology and logistics before entering the cabinet in the uae. >> women in the middle east have always had an important role to play within the business. there is a list that was launched and filled with publishing talking about 100 most powerful arab women. a major bulk for women in financial and business, and there are others who are in different disciplines as well. the numbers have always been there, the numbers are growing, but usually what we see is there is some times a misconception in the western world about the women here, they don't see that and i believe having to come as part of an important list like this, through a publishing house means we are demystifying the miss con sup shun the west have about us. >> that is all for this edition of cnn marketplace middle east this week from dubai, thanks for watching. see you next weekend. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com