preside over crowds today in havana. he's on his last leg of his visit to cuba. before saying mass, he'll speak to cuban president raul castro. his brother fidel has requested a meeting as well. a key part of the health care reform law may be in jeopardy. the u.s. supreme court expressed different views on whether the government can require individuals to buy health insurance or face a penalty. today is the third and final day of the hearings. a ruling is expected in june. those are the top stories from cnn. i'm monita rajpal. "world business today" starts right now. good morning. from cnn london, i'm nina del santos. >> and a very good afternoon from cnn hong kong. i'm andrew stevens. you're watching "world business today." these are our top stories this wednesday. shares in totale fall after a major gas leak in the north sea. the oil giant says it could be months before the rig is back online. rupert murdoch's news corp. is hit by more allegations of hacking. this time an australian newspaper says the company used piracy to derail its pay tv rivals. and why being super skinny is no longer a plus for models working in israel. we've got a jam packed show ahead in the next hour. let's have a look at how the markets are doing, though. they've been trading for about an hour themselves. this is how we're faring at the moment. little bit of a mixed picture. up about 1% just in the last quarter hour. the ftse teetering just above the flat line after something dropped in the morning. and the zurich smi trading below the flat line. one of the good stocks has been the cac, but only up 0.2%. nestle has fallen more than 1% after a downgrade by the main brokerages, which is run of the reasons the smi is down below the flat line. the others just managing to teeter above it, but we're not optimistic with a picture like that, andrew. >> speaking of optimism, a distinct lack of it over here, nina. there's been something of a reality check about the state of the u.s. economy given the bernanke comments on monday, the possibility of another round of quantitative easing put the markets up yesterday. when you get bad consumer confidence numbers coming in, still very weak housing numbers, which have happened in the u.s. over the past 24 hours or so, you get this sort of reality check where the u.s. economy is not as strong as many would hope. you've got a big sell-off in shanghai, down 2.6%. obviously, the u.s. is such a key export market for china. nikkei down .75%. hong kong down about the same. no reason why australia showed this strength today, up by 1%. certainly, it was the banks getting a boost in australia and some resource stocks as well. at the close in the u.s. on tuesday, stocks retreating from their highest level in nearly four years. that was the close. and at the close, the dow down by .33%, weighed by bank of america stocks downgraded by bad equity research. the s&p finishing about .33%, and the nasdaq finishing just marginally. let's take a look at futures. looks like a bit of a rebound in store for the u.s. equity market. but anything can happen to these numbers over the next few hours. >> we've got about four hours to go, four hours, 15, before these u.s. markets get trading. now, to the north sea where an underwater gas leak has occurred in the drill run by the french giant total. more than 200 workers evacuated from the platform about 240 miles off the coast of aberdeen in scotland. total hasn't said what caused the leak but has said it could take up to six months to fix. ships and aircraft have been ordered to stay away from the area where the rig is located, and the dutch driller shell has evacuated workers from two nearly rigs. shares in total took a really big hit, falling some 6% when the market closed. that dragged down the cac in paris. it's currently down again to the tune of about 3%, trading at a price of 37.40 euros. the cac is just managing to hover above the flat line, but given the performance by total the last couple of days, some of us saying that could be difficult to maintain the momentum for the french markets. it is, obviously, heavy stock here. total says it's weighing up its options for stopping the gas leak, which includes perhaps drilling a relief well. earlier today, cnn's john wall spoke to simon boxall about what's best for this rig. >> the leak was detected on sunday. the first thing was to evacuate the platform because of the risk of explosion and also toxicity was very high. this is called sour gas. not only does it have methane, it has a high portion of hydrosul identifihydro s sulfide and carbon dioxide. they're now trying to inspect the rig using robots. >> what would the risk be of explosion? >> initially, the risk of explosion was seen as being very high. there were reports coming through of a large gas cap enveloping the whole rig. but last night it became clear that there was still a light on the platform, and that contradicts the fact there's a very high risk of explosion. so the idea being perhaps the quantity of gas isn't that great as first thought. also, the wind is taking the gas and blowing it away from the flare, which again implies for the moment that the risk is there but isn't quite as serious as people first thought. >> perhaps not quite as serious, but nina, as you say, it's going to take up to six months to try to close off that leak on the sea floor. let's take a look now at the oil picture. that was a gas story you're talking about, but the price of brent crude has been falling but still hovering around that $125 a barrel mark. down 30 cents a barrel at the moment. at that level, though, nina, still causing a lot of concerns for industry. >> you can bet. also, we've got oil rigs that are going out of action, again, that will put pressure on prices again, andrew. still to come on "world business today," the major developing nations are gathering in new delhi, but the host country may not have the energy to keep up with some of its companions. and rupert murdoch is under the microscope yet again. we'll tell you about the latest allegations. golly! that is deep snow! can you get me out of it? 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[ female announcer ] travelocity. get great deals on all kinds of beach vacations. hello and welcome back. you're watching "world business today" live on cnn. >> the leaders of the so-called brics nations will have plenty to talk about when they gather hours from now. the policy makers from brazil, russia, and china will meet on oil sanctions and food supplies. but one idea is attracting special attention to the world's top emerging economies. despite their differences, the five nations will discuss pooling their finances in a joint development bank, which will fund projects and encourage trade between the bric countries. india is behind this idea, and it could be a fact in elevating the status of the world second tier economies. certainly watch that space. while india is undoubtedly on the rise, an acute energy shortage is putting that growth currently at risk. about 40%, 1.2 billion people, still live without electricity, and most who do have power cannot rely on it 24 hours a day. the challenge for the indian government is how to build supply. if you take a look at this chart, this is how supply, energy production currently stacks up. as you see, thermal energy the lion's share, more than 65%. thermal energy includes things like coal, gas, and oil. hydropower is on the rise. about a fifth of india's energy sector now. nuclear a minor sector, as you can see, and renewables provide about 11.5% of energy needs. as monica kapur reports, there's pressure to help the energy sector to meet demand. >> reporter: here these power cables don't reach everyone. a third of india's population don't have access to electricity. there are billions of people, the economy is growing, and there's a massive demand for power. in fact, india is the fourth largest consumer of electricity after the united states, china, and russia. this village on the banks of the yemena river in delhi got power just a year and a half ago. before that, we used to live in darkness, says rukhsana, who has lived here 33 years. it used to be so dark, it used to feel we were living in a well. now we have light, a tv, a dish, a mobile phone charger. it feels like we've reached the moon. almost a decade ago, india set itself an ambitious target, power for all by 2012. that hasn't happened. india needs a huge jump in the supply of electricity, and it's now pursuing every option -- wind power, solar power, and nuclear energy too. currently, india gets only 3% of its power from nuclear sources. the goal is to increase that and lower its dependence on coal and gas. india's nuclear plans are facing some opposition, especially after the fukushima accident in japan, but the indian government insists it will continue with its nuclear program. it will just make sure it has a much higher safety standard. it insists it's the only way to light up every village, every home in india. mallika kapur, cnn, delhi, india. let's hone in on another one of those crucial bric countries around the world. as it prepares to host the 2014 world cup and the 2016 olympic games, brazil is showcased like never before. one thing the country doesn't want to showcase is its continual problems with poverty. the world's sixth biggest economy is emphasizing education in its efforts to cut deprivation. >> reporter: this woman patches together a blue jean dress for her 14-year-old daughter. with on-site training, she's also building a new career as a seamstress and hopefully a better future for her family. i'm learning a profession that i thought was very difficult, she says. i looked at clothes, and i didn't believe i could make them with my own effort. she is one of 13 million families to benefit from the state run program, bolsa familia, aimed at the poorest. last year the government spent $14 million on the program. the families get a small cash benefit as long as their kids are in school. she says the aid is temporary, just to get organized, buy some sewing machines, she says, and then i'm going to walk on my own two legs. brazil knows a thing or two about poverty reduction. over the last decade, millions of brazilians have climbed into the middle class, lessons it will share with its partners at the bric summit in new delhi next week. the sixth biggest economy in the world could also learn from its partners. >> you're very right to mention competitiveness and applying science and technology to the industrial output. this is one of the big challenges for brazil's economic development for the next few years. >> reporter: brazil's economy is heavily dependent on commodity exports, like soybeans, iron orr, aor ore, and beef, much of it headed to china. now brazil wants to boost the export of high end goods like tablets and high end cars to meet the growing luxury class. but antonio patriota says the summit is most remarkable because these five countries have created an unprecedented forum to discuss world affairs. >> there is increasing coordination when it comes to, for example, enhancing the participation of brics at the imf, world bank, and financial institutions. >> reporter: at brazil's career centers, women bake bread and practice stitching hem lines. they hope that they too will soon see the benefits of the country's growing prosperity. as for jeleni, her seams are getting stronger. >> china is one country who hopes to learn from brazil's example. at this week's summit, as shasta just reported, the country hopes to bridge the gap between rich and poor. another dark day for rupert murdoch's newscorp. a police investigation must now take place following claims the company used high tech piracy tactics to sabotage its pay tv rivals. the allegations came to light on tuesday when the australian financial review published details linking newscorp to computer hackers. the article suggests that hackers were paid to crack the security systems of competitors, causing millions of dollars worth of damage. the revelations come just a day after the bbc reported that a newscorp subsidiary company nds hacked its rival pay tv company on digital. andrew? >> certainly the pressure growing on rupert murdoch's news empire. now, news limited, the parent company, is strongly denying the allegations laid out in the australian financial review. the company says, "the story is full of factual inaccuracies, flawed references, fanciful conclusions, and baseless accusations which have been disproved in overseas courts. the company goes on to say, "the united states department of justice, a federal court jury, and an appellate court have all said they are not responsible for distributing codes to facilitate piracy." newscorp has been rocked by a string of scandals lately, and they've come at a serious cost. it began with allegations of phone hacking, which surfaced back in 2009. last year the company was forced to drop its $14 billion bailout of british broadcaster b sky b in the wake of that hacking affair. newscorp announced the legal costs alone of the phone hacking scandal were around $200 million. in february, new claims of payments to uk police weighed further on newscorp's image as well as its finances. certainly tough times for rupert murdoch. still ahead on "world business today," why a captain's midflight behavior led to an emergency landing. we'll bring you this amateur video of what happened. also, what's happening in the currency markets. as you can see, the yen has been strengthening against the u.s. dollar. now 82.8. and 1.33 and 1.59 against the euro and pound respectively. 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. it's hugging my body. 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. sale ends march 31st. only at the sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699. oh, my god. we got israel. we got iraq. we've got to get down. >> this amateur video apparently shows the behavior of a captain on a plane traveling from new york to las vegas. passengers told cnn that he was locked out of the cockpit and then began shouting "we've got to get this plane down" before passengers and flight attendants managed to restrain him. jet blue says an off duty pilot came in to lend a hand to the copilot, until the plane landed in texas and the pilot was taken to a local hospital. you're watching "world business today." welcome back to the show. >> not what you want to hear from the captain when you're 36,000 feet in the air. business travelers from europe may be feeling the heat as well. let's go to ivan cabrera in the weather center for more on that. >> good to see you. hopefully your flight, if you're traveling today, will be smooth. certainly more than that one. if you're traveling in europe, it's going to be warm. we have just fast forwarded here to june. forget spring. we have been talking about temperatures, look at this, low 20s, where normally this time of year we have single upper digit highs here. that's not been the case. june-like temperatures will continue so long as this high is protecting us here from the weather systems that would bring at least clouds to cover us up and keep us a little cooler. clouds that precipitate. none of that. that's all going around the high. all the action across eastern europe. look at this dive here across, very impressive on the satellite. we can't even make clouds here to the west. so with that, the temperatures will continue to be rather warm. madrid will be seeing temperatures into the low 20s once again as we head through the remainder of the week. the further west you are, the warmer it's going to be. that's the way the story is going to go. london looking at low 20s for high temperatures, where normally this time of year we shouldn't even be close to that. towards the end of the week and over the weekend, we're going to see a bit of pattern changes, especially further to the east. places like poland, germany will begin to see cooler temperatures begin to move in, so i think by friday, for example in berlin, we're going to be talking about temperatures back closer to average where we should be for this time of year. the other feature we're following in the weather center, we'll keep you posted throughout the day, no formation yet, but we do have that potential cyclone developing in the south china sea. we'll keep you posted. we have plenty of time to watch it for now. back to you. >> ivan, just quickly, some friends of mine are planning on skiing in europe over the easter break. is there any snow left? >> you have to go high, high elevation, and there's still some snow left, but it's going to be melting rather quick. >> going to be a very slushy affair, i suspect. thanks very much for that. you're watching "world business today." we're going to be back in just a moment. from cnn hong kong, i'm andrew stevens. >> and i'm nina del santos at cnn london. welcome back to "world business today." let's see what's going on in the european stock markets. we're about 90 minutes into the european trading session, and we've already flirted with negative and positive territory with these markets, as you can see. it's a little mixed picture with some of these indices back up in the green after spending about a half hour in the red. in particular, the zurich smi fell by quite a bit more than the other markets in just the first hour or so of trading. that was largely thanks to nestle dropping 1% following a brokerage downgrade. but the big stock in focus today is the french oil giant total after a gas leak on one of its rigs off of the coast of scotland in the north sea. that gas leak has been ongoing since sunday, affecting other rigs around the area, and it says it might take about six months to fix according to total. that stock is under pressure in paris, but the cac 40 managing to rebound a little bit. as we hone in on the u.s., experts in the oscd are saying this country needs a strong firewall. the corporation of economic development, which is a think tank for countries, says that the size of the rescue fund should -- and i quote here -- overshoot expectations, this to convince investors that their money is safe in europe. >> the mother of all firewalls should be in place, strong enough, broad enough, deep enough, tall enough, all sorts of -- you know, just big. to make sure that it does not need to be used actually, so people know it's there and will therefore not attempt to either speculate or try to see if it's strong enough. >> the secretary general there, you see, voicing that think tank's view. they're proposing a rescue fund worth about $1.2 trillion. andrew, i don't know about you, but it sounds like monopoly money to me, these figures have gotten so large. >> it gives you an idea of just how deep the problems are, doesn't it? i must admit, angel guerrera sounding a bit like david cameron's big bazooka. mind you, i think the mother of all firewalls is very descriptive. this is how the asian trading ended the day. there was something of a reality check as investors checked again on really what's going on in the u.s. economy. we had weaker than expected consumer confidence numbers out. we had still pretty dismal housing numbers out, and you add that to the jobs warning from ben bernanke the day before, and you see a bit of a sell-off, particularly shanghai. down by 2.6%. the u.s. obviously such a key export market for shanghai. remember shanghai was down yesterday when everyone else was up. so it's continuing on its path. these other markets taking back a few of their gains yesterday. the nikkei down by .75% as was hong kong and also australia. i do want to focus on one interesting piece of corporate news and big moves on the stock as a start. the taiwan owner of the apple supplier foxcon is taking anbig stake in the electronics company sharp. they're putting $5 billion in the struggling japanese tv maker. they'll get a 46.5% stake in sharp products. that's a joint venture between sharp and sony. take a look at this. this is the share price of hon hai, performing very well in taiwan, getting up to the may high from last year. 4% gain, not too shabby at all. it was up to 6.5% at one stage. hon hai is good, but look at this. sharp corporation, really in the doldrums, getting a big, big hop today. 15.1%. the company is forecasting a $4 billion loss for the year, and its shares have been down 35% over the last 12 months or so. hon hai riding to the rescue, and this was as far as sharp could rise in one day's trading. they could well be followed through by tomorrow, nina. >> andrew, we're about five hours away from the opening bell on wall street, and investors, of course, will be hoping to reverse tuesday's modest downturn. here's a preview of what we can expect today and also what happened yesterday from alison kosik. a quiet session on wall street tuesday. investors mostly held their positions after monday's big rally, though the major averages did post a modest downturn at the end of the day. a mixed bag of economic reports also head wall street, taking a more cautious tone. at the close, the dow slipped 43 points to 13197. the nasdaq ticked down just a fraction. tech stocks buoyed by another charge in apple shares, which hit a record high above $616 apiece during the session. the s&p 500 lost .25%. home prices in the u.s. fell to their lowest point since january. case-shiller says prices tumbled almost 1% since the start of the year. analysts say it adds further evidence just how bumpy the recovery is for the housing market and will continue to be. when it comes to the broader economy, americans remain just as upbeat in march as they were in february. the confidence board says consumer price rose after dipping last month. americans were concerned about inflation, mostly because of rising gasoline prices, but are generally upbeat about the current job situation. coming up wednesday, figures on durable goods, mortgage applications, and housing inventories. and a hearing on the collapse of mf global. that's a wrap of the day on wall street. i'm alison kosik in new york. here in hong kong, the court battle over the right of residency for overseas domestic helpers has taken a step backwards. today a hong kong appeals court overturned a ruling that granted those workers the right to apply for permanent residency. it says the clause in question was unconstitutional. we have more on this story. just for people who are probably new to this story. just fill us in. why are these domestic helpers being treated like this? >> sure, andrew. depending on who you ask, people will say there's political reasons, social reasons, or even racial reasons. here there's a big economic reason. critics have been touting this financial doomsday scenario. the weight of $3 billion on the economy basically. they're saying that right now hong kong has 300,000 overseas domestic workers. about 40% of those are actually eligible to apply for permanent residency status, and if those folks bring, say, their spouses, bring their children over, that could theoretically bring as many as 500,000 immigrants, and that's what folks here are worried about. now, the legal counsel for the plaintiff has said that's a doomsday scenario that may never happen. folks may not stay that long, may not apply, may leave earlier. so they're saying that's just fear mongering. >> sounds like a bit of a scare tactic perhaps. what can the domestic helpers do about this? is this now their last avenue shut down? >> there's one more avenue they can do. basically, mark daley, who i spoke with, he's the legal counsel for the plaintiff, he said they're going to file an appeals to the high court, and this is the last line before a final answer is reached. >> it's very contentious issue, isn't it? these people, these helpers have been in hong kong for more than seven years, where people like me, if i'd been in hong kong for seven years, i can get permanent residency here, they can't. is this something unique to hong kong? >> some would say this is second class treatment for second class citizens, or what's perceived as second class citizens around the world. it's not just here in hong kong. we're also talking about singapore as well as the middle east. indonesians and filipinos predominantly in these regions. hong kong helpers work from monday through saturday. they do have sundays off. in singapore, interestingly, they don't have any day off, but that will change come the start of 2013 because of a new law that's going to come into effect. in the middle east, it's a little bit tougher. basically, over the last few years there have been incidences where indonesian maids in particular have actually been beheaded. they've been executed because of violence that they have turned against their employers. but this is an issue that's going to keep on going, and this hong kong ruling is just one small step backward. we're going to see where this is going to go in the future. >> and many of those helpers allow hong kong families to have the dual income to get ahead. i remember hearing, when i first came here, that the cost of employing a full domestic staff is cheaper than hiring a car park on a monthly basis in hong kong. puts it in perspective. >> it does. >> ramy, thank you very much. ramy inocencio joining us on that story. coming up, another chapter in our news story focusing on the millennials, the generation very much in the news right now. we're going to see how two young men in santiago and new york trying to find their voice in foreign circumstances. you're looking there at the shot across victoria harbor to central hong kong. it's like a fairly hazy day here, but certainly the warm weather has returned to hong kong. you're watching "world business today" live from hong kong and london. many people in their 20s, the so-called millennial generation, are not accustomed to disappointment. they do look for good and often feedback from their employers and certainly more than any generation before these millennials, but they're also expected to succeed and to do so quickly. cnn has begun a new series focusing on the lives and business challenges of this particular age group. in today's episode, david lloyd struggles against language barriers to get his message across in santiago, chile. while michael burback is in new york, where he's trying to cut it as a leading man. >> previously on the program, in santiago, chile, 27-year-old david lloyd admitted failure is not an option. >> i've got no interest in coming and doing nothing, being lazy, achieving nothing, and being very disappointed. >> and in new york, following your dream, michael burbach told us belief is everything. >> if you need it and want it badly enough, you can do it. that's the craziest thing because asometimes it seems like an impossible dream, but it's not. >> michael's shot at the bright lights cannot begin without a dramatic final test. >> read them with feeling. okay. in other words, don't just go blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. >> oh, you want us to act? >> today he's joining his mates at marymount college for his performance of a midsummer night's dream. a play he'll perform just before graduation. >> i will yield up to his lordship. >> his performance is crucial. it's the culmination of years of hard work. >> relent, sweet hermia. and lysander, yield thy crazy title to my certain right. >> his last battle before facing the cutthroat world of broadway. >> do you marry him? >> playing demetrius, one of the lovers in this romantic farce, is michael's chance to prove he can cut it as a leading man. >> in high school, i always wanted to be the romantic lead, be center stage, singing the romantic song or doing the romantic scene. and i was always the weird character or the weird supporting friend or the drunk. >> stay with me. thou taunts me. they were stolen into this wood, and here i am. >> in an ironic twist, it seems michael will fit right in as demetrius. >> he's really passionate, and he wants what he wants, and he's not going to stop at anything to get it. >> i love thee not, therefore, pursue me not. >> for this millennial, hitting the right note is key. >> hermia, the one i'll stay, the other stayeth me. >> it seems he's done just that. >> he's always prepared and always willing. sometimes i just wonder, with all that's going on with these people, i wonder where that drive comes from. >> as an actor, people are going to tell me no millions of times. i'm going to be told no over and over again probably. that's not going to stop me. i have a dream, and i'm passionate about it, and i put so much work into it. i'll find a way. i'll find a way to work in the theater and make my dreams come true. >> in santiago, chile, david lloyd is also looking to create a lasting impression. today he's taking part in a networking event with like minded entrepreneurs. his aim here tonight is simple, to market his business and himself. >> it's also just a fantastic arena to share ideas, share problems, and a lot of the same problems that the others are sort of experiencing and solving. we can save ourselves problems in the long run by just learning from them what they did. >> as the event picks up steam and the music gets louder, david enters into a discussion in spanish on a new project he has in the works. soon he's faced with the harsh reality. his business concept is getting lost in translation. not wanting to lose out, he quickly switches to english. >> i'll switch to english, just like this. there's a girl, there's a guy. you're in this bar. you see many people. if english and spanish is exactly the same, i would prefer speaking english. while i'm always trying to improve my own spanish, there's always room for improvement. at the end of the day, the most important thing is that you minimize the kind of potential misunderstanding between the two people. >> despite the language barrier, it seems david's night here has ended well. he's made a new contact. >> i'll give you my cell. latinamerica.com, exactly. and phone number like this. >> still this millennial isn't blind to challenges that lie ahead for his business and for him. >> sometimes if i feel nervous in a business meeting in spanish, then i can forget words that otherwise i would know immediately. so there is a whole other dimension, but once again, it's a challenge that you kind of want to surpass. >> okay, a smile. >> next week on the millennials, michael takes an important step in his push to become a broadway star. will head shots help him get ahead? and from santiago to london, david comes home to look for 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[ male announcer ] brake problems? stop in to meineke today for a free brake inspection and you'll say... my money. my choice. my meineke. imaginic johnson's group is buying baseball. it's the highest price ever paid for a franchise. recently, the team has been overshadowed by financial problems. the owner frank mccourt was thrown a curve when his wife wanted more than half, and they filed for bankruptcy. being thin in israel is no longer chic. the government is banning underweight models on catwalks. models have to provide certificates proclaiming they're healthy, and even then if too thin, they may not be allowed to work. >> reporter: in israel's fashion week, a parade of models in all their skinniness. critics say this waif-like image glamourizes extreme thinness, encouraging eating disorders, and israel has become the first country to formally legislate against it. >> something happened the last 20 years. always the model was skinny, but not too skinny. i found the difference with skinny, thin and too thin, it's a difference between life and death. >> reporter: at his studio in tel aviv, addy barcan, is the fashion photographer behind israel's new law. it bans underweight models from catwalks and commercials, using body mass index as a way of estimating healthy weight to decide who can model and who can't. anyone with a bmi less than 18.5 is out. >> even the super model, nobody can get into the israel market if they are less than 18.5. it doesn't matter if it's kate moss or naomi campbell. if you're less than 18.5, you're not here. >> reporter: other countries like spain and australia have set minimum weight limits for certain fashion shows in the past, but israel's law goes much further. the fashion industry's obsession with being super skinny is increasingly global public health concern. this new israeli law may be a step in the right direction, perhaps a way of shocking the international industry into a way of making important changes. but critics say limiting the types of bodies permitted to model may also backfire. instead of celebrating bodies of all shapes and sizes, they say it simply rejects extreme thinness. but addy barcan knows the dangers that extreme thinness can pose. in his arms is hilla, a former israeli model dying of anorexia. he found her on the floor of her apartment five years ago too weak to stand. she'd been desperate to keep her weight down and passed away after having a heart attack, he says, in his arms. >> people die just because some scmuck told her lose weight. that's all. we do not know how much power we have. we can kill people, and we can save people. >> that's what barcan says he hopes israel's new law can achieve, slashing eating disorders among models and those trying to emulate them, saving a few lives in the name of fashion. matthew chance, cnn, tel aviv. jk rowling's online enterprise pottermore has conjured up digital editions of the harry potter books. these seven books have gone on sale in digital form for devices such as amazon's kindle and also the barnes and noble nook. by selling these books only through her website in this format, she'll be able to keep quite a portion of the revenue without having to share it with her publishers. the harry potter series has been one of the most successful book and movie franchises worldwide. it sold more than 450 million copies so far. that's it for this edition of "world business today." thanks so much for joining us. i'm nina del santos in london. >> and i'm andrew stevens in hong kong. a check of the top stories just ahead.