of a vote in which she's running for a parliament and says she is encouraged by the rising political awareness of the people of myanmar. and audits of apple's largest supplier in china found a long list of workplace violations i including failure to adequately pay for overtime hours and the lack of true union representation, foxconn says it will bring itself into compliance within the next 16 months. much more ahead on cnn. "world business today" starts right now. good morning to you out there from cnn london, i'm nina dos santos. an audit outlines failures at foxconn. so will factory reform there's signal a change for the industry? labor laws are also in the spotlight in spain today. austerity protests turned violent. and a story that's the talk of the town here in corruption-conscious hong kong, billionaire brothers have been arrested into a probe in alleged bribery. just an hour into trading here in europe, and look at the turn of events here, after spending a number of days in negative territory, these markets have gotten off to a good start from the word go. the cac up nearly 1%. similar picture with other eurozone markets, the dax and the ftse 100 up about 1%. we have a meeting of finance ministers in copenhagen, we'll have plenty more on that, but also one of those key eurozone countries that people are worried about these days, spain, they will present their budget and there's been a lot of strikes ahead of that we'll have to see what's on the cards amid concerns that this country is having too much trouble reining in that deficit. asian markets have wrapped up the week over here. another quarter goes by as well and positive data out of japan on friday, but still that cautious loss on the markets there. consumer prices in japan are up and unemployment is down. that's eased, so those were some figures that needed to be applauded. household spending was up more as well, good news for japan. but most chinese banks were reporting healthy profits. you know, you are just looking at this board, and you might be thinking she seems enthusiastic about how the markets have been doing, they have seesawed in and out of positive territory, but the feeling is they have done quite well. a marked improvement. here in hong kong, one of the pressu pressures was the stock due to the arrest of twin brothers. one of the brothers, sun sung hung kai. it's asia's largest redevelopment, it's owners, raymond and thomas were arrested on suspicion of corruption a big deal here in hong kong. we'll bring you more on that in a second. and also this tech developer, hon hai, have seen their stock fall. they are down about 1.3%. they are the headquarters of foxconn. their share price is slipping. serious labor violations have been found in foxconn headquarter in china. an audit has found staff worked excessive overtime, wages were often unpaid and salaries often didn't cover basic living expenses. if you own an apple product, how do you feel? we are joined more now to talk about this report with eunico yoon. >> reporter: well, 35,000 workers were interviewed and many of those workers at plants manufacturing apple products said there were several different safety violations, health from health and safety violations to unpaid overtime and also to excessive work hours. some of them were egregious violations, according to auditors, they were the often 60-hour work weeks, which is in violation of apple's own limit and several workers complained of having to be on the production line for seven days or more during the peak production period. there were a lot of violations they found, the company, of course in question, foxconn, said they will be working closely now with the fla and also with apple in order to try to comply with these -- with these recommendations. they also said that they're going to very closely work with these companies because they want to raise their standards. >> i wondered about that the wider industry impact. if this is one company, and it's a company that makes apple products, this is something that people all over the world are hearing about other companies must be under scrutiny as well what will happen now? >> that's what the fair labor association is hoping to see. they are hoping foxconn sets an important example because they are such a big supplier to electronics firms, not only to apple but to hewlett-packard and other big brands, they are hoping foxconn's labor practices will matter here and it will lift the entire industry this is what the ceo had to say. >> i really believe that with the commitment that foxconn has made in response to our findings, that they are going to become a driver. they will set the bar high, and peers and competitors will have to align themselves with those new standards, because foxconn will attract workers from other factories, and other factory also have to match those standards that foxconn is adopting. in this way we could set off a race to the top. it will be good for the private sector and for the electronics sector in china because the new standards which apple and foxconn are setting will be emulated by other companies. >> and others, though, are just not convinced they say that the fla has not been taking into consideration the fact that china is at a different stage of economic development compared to many countries in the west, including the united states. the vast majority of workers, they say go to the factories to make as much money as possible and then after a couple of years go back to the villages, so they do want the overtime pay, and foxconn could lose workers because of this new decision. >> these are very important developments, important report, eunice, thanks for bringingthat. apple commissioned the fla audit voluntarily, let's remind you it started as of last month and coincided with the release of these findings, apple's ceo, tim cook, has gone to china. on wednesday he paid a visit to foxconn and workers, and chatted with some workers on the floor. in their findings they say we appreciate the work that fla has done to assess the conditions at foxconn and support their recommendations. we they that empowering workers and helping them to understand their rights is essential. we share the fla's goal of improving lives and also raising the bar for manufacturing companies everywhere. nithe iphone makes up a hug portion of apple's profits. let's take a closer look at all of this. about 90% of the iphone is actually manufactured outside the united states. its hundreds of parts come from really all over the world from places as far as japan, south korea, taiwan, germany and also italy. much of the workers outsource to other companies like samsung, lg, micron and texas instruments. that might come as a surprise to some of you. let's move on a second and give you more details about this. the product is assembled by foxconn which is in china. keep in mind that the iphone's retail price is around the $550 mark and more than half of that money goes back to apple $321 from each phone sold. it's fascinating story, but some important advancements, i guess, made today and important discussions. nina? >> exactly. it's also important for consumers of apple because this story has been rumbling on for a long time. apple is listed on the nasdaq and the new york stock exchange, let's look at how u.s. stocks were doing on thursday's session. they were down for most of the day but rebound later on to nearly break even. what we saw as a string of weak economic reports, including jobs data that had the stock markets down. at the close the s&p 500 and the nasdaq closing in the red for a third day. when it comes to the nasdaq, that was down by 0.3%, the s&p was down by 0.16%. the dow was up by 0.15%. if we look at how trading on wall street is supposed to kick off about five hours from now, look at futures markets behind me. more or less taking their cues from things over here in europe. the market starting out on a positive note after days and days worth of declines. as you can see, we have the likes of the dow jones futures indicating that market could open up to the tune of just shy of 0.50%. not all that bad. what we have coming up is personal income and spending numbers today. that could move the markets today. >> looking good so far, nina. you never know when these things might change. one last word on apple. people always have this debate about touchscreen or typing, if you like typing you might like blackber blackberry, but it's been another disappointing quarter for r.i.m. they posted a $125 million net loss. a year early it made a $934 profit. r.i.m. sold just 11 million blackberry smartphones and 500,000 playbook tablets in the fourth quarter of the year. that means sales were down 23% on the previous quarter. r.i.m.'s ceo says substantial change is needed if the company is to survive in the competitive smartphone market. it's interesting to see what that substantial change will end up being. >> will, indeed. still to come, billionaire brothers two of hong kong's richest property tycoons have been arrested in a property investigation. we'll look at how that is effecting stock markets in hong kong. kong's victoria harbor, yo just about see the skyline. there it's something of a concrete jungle. much of what you see was built by sun hung kai property developers. the tallest building on hong kong island, which you can just about see there, we are just pulling out so you can get a better view of the skyline, it is the international finance center, known as ifc. it is one of the company's big projects. here in hong kong, the billionaire brothers who run this company have been arrested. and it's part of what's been an unprecedented investigation into alleged bribery and misconduct in public office. the story, as you can imagine, has everyone talking here in hong kong. so let's cross to hong kong who is standing by is standing by on victoria harbor. >> reporter: this news is huge for hong kong. many viewer mace not know their names, thomas and raymond kwok, but they are among the world's richest people. their family is the world's 27th wealthiest with more than $18 billion to their name. in hong kong, they're among the city's best known business leaders. now, well, they're a bit more famous. photos of the property magnates were splashed across the newspapers today. the south china morning post talks about a corruption industry. and "the hong kong standard" writes busted in bribery probe. the kwok brothers were arrested on thursday, they have since been released and no charges filed. and also this man, rafael hui, was arrested thursday. his arrest has raised suspicions of collusion between the political and the business communities. hong kong's critics say there are too many cozy ties between developers and officials. despite all this, asia's richest man did voice support for the kwok brothers. they are also his competitors in hong kong's property market. >> translato >> translator: sun hung kai is a competitor but there's also a friendship. i don't know what's happening. i can't answer any questions on this matter. i hope it comes to nothing. >> as you can expect, all this drama has hurt sun hung kai's share price. it closed down by more than 13% today. at one point it was down 15%, and that erased $6 billions from company's share price. >> it's something like the worst share performance in about 14 years for the company. hong kong was often billed as the gold standard when it comes to these sorts of issues. so, you know, what does this mean? these problems that we're talking about, it's a real hit to hong kong. >> sure. we are not just talking about sun hung kai, we are talking about hong kong itself, and companies trust this, here ss c is a safe place to do business. the u.s. came in at number 24 as far as safety, and earlier i spoke to a manager in risk management and he described these arrests as an earthquake for the hong kong business community. >> hong kong is undoubtedly far less corrupt than any other city in asia it has a powerful anti-corruption legislation, and it is regularly enforced. but this particular case is so high profile, it has grabbed all of the headlines. the issue will be whether charges follow or not. >> and that is what everyone is watching for. the kwok brothers, for now, will continue to run the day-to-day operations of sun hung kai, as long as they retain the confidence of the board. >> thank you very much for bringing us up to date on that incredible story. nina? after the break, we will focus in on another incredible story, death of an englishman. how one businessman's death in china remains cloaked in mystery. and austerity and spain, as the government prepares to release its latest budget today. in light of not just the spanish budget being presented but also the emeeting of european financ ministers, the euro is trading at 1.3351 and the british pound is standing at 1.6004 and the yen is strengthening to a three-week high. it has since eased back but it it has since eased back but it is trading at 82.14. i've found a new way to get my profile out there. it has since eased back but it is trading at 82.14. check me out. everybody says i've got a friendly disposition and they love my spinach dip. five foot ten... still doing a little exploring. but... my sign is sagittarius, i'm into spanish cheese, my hairline is receding but i'm getting a weave. getting a weave. there's an easier way to save. who wants some ronald tonight!? who wants some ronald tonight!? geico. fifteen minutes could save you 15% or more. this is "world business today." welcome back to the show. it has all the elements of a suspen suspense novel, but there's nothing fictional about this story a successful british businessman dies in china under rather mysterious circumstances. as stan grant reports now, finding the truth could lead all the way to the top echelons of power. >> reporter: the streets of chongqing in southwestern china, more than 30 million people and the story shrouded in mystery. we are following this tale of intrigue, betrayal, and suspicions of foul play, that has now spread as far as britain and drawn in the uk's spy agency mi6. first stop for us, the british consulate. >> hello? >> reporter: yes. hello. i was wanting to know if the consulate official was in at moment. perhaps here some answers about what happened to neil hayward, a british businessman with chinese connections whose companies used to help broker deals. he was found in a chongqing hotel room last november. the british media reports that chinese officials say he drank himself to death and his body was cremated without an autopsy. now hayward's death is being linked to the sacking of a rising star of the communist party and britain wants china to investigate. just come out of discussion with the consulate officials behind those doors. they say because there is an investigation now pending, they're very much bound by confidentiality, there is simply no more they can say. here chinese and british companies network and do deals. it's the chongqing monthly drinks. today the talk is not about just money lost and won but the death of neil heyward. >> do you think anyone knows the truth? >> truth is behind the truth. >> reporter: there are so many whispers about neil heyward. he was certainly well-connected in china. he married a local woman here and he also came into contact with bo xilai, the former communist party chief of chongqing, and that placed neil heyward at the center of a political drama that has captivated china. only now is it emerging that heyward and bo xilai's families were linked. no one will talk here that they knew heyward but they heard rumors. >> they said the guy never drank alcohol. never touched alcohol. so i think the guy's wife was looking for something in england. >> reporter: bo xilai was sacked as party chief. foreign media reports quoted diplomatic sources say the cops split after raising suspicions with his boss that heyward had been poisoned. bo xilai had fashioned himself as a redder than red communist hard man. the son of a party hero, adopting revolution songs and slogans. he cracked down on criminal gangs and corruption and made enemies acy s enemies. a source close to bo xilai tells cnn his family rejects all allegations against him. right now with neil heyward dead and bo xilai banished and out of sight, whatever truth there is remains hidden in the mist and haze of chongqing. stan grant, cnn, chongqing. anger swept the streets of spain on thursday with protesters in full force. sources of their fury? unpopular austerity measures that are likely to be presented today. hi again. welcome back. you are watching "world business today." let's give you an update on the world's stock markets, in particular the european stock markets that have been trading for about 90 minutes now. let's look at how they stand. they have been putting on a rather stellar performance, given the successive days of declines we have saw on the markets. almost a full week of declines on the markets last week in europe, which saw some big indices like the cac and the dax closing down nearly 3%. today we seem to be seeing a better performance, managing to exacerbate or counter some of those losses, but it seems for the last two weeks we will probably have notched up a negative performance a couple things to look out for on today's session. spain will be presenting its budget and also the european finance ministers are gathering in copenhagen. let's check on the asian markets here, nina. by the close this friday, if you look at the numbers on the day, it's actually been rather mixed performance. and we had some losses. a lot of pressure in hong kong because of that story we were talking about earlier. sun hung kai properties down. for japan, positive economic data. not enough to keep the index in positive territory, but these are indexes today which flip-flopped in and out of positive territory. if you look at the numbers on the quarter, particularly in japan, depending on the measures you look at, one is suggesting that japan is seeing the best quarter in about 24 years. depending on which index you look at you can see some good indications of where things are headed and how things have gone. but interestingly, nina, people very much keeping a sharp focus or keeping europe in sharp focus. given what we've seen in spain this week, that's hardly surprising. >> let's hone in on spain for a moment. it's picking up the pieces this morning after yesterday's protests right across the capital and other cities across spain. it is hoping for some calm after the storm that gripped the country on thursday. in barcelona, anger against austerity is turning into violence. but hundreds of thousands of citizens also attended mostly peaceful marches throughout the country as a general strike brought factories and ports to a total standstill. people are angry about further belt-tightening measures. they are hard to swallow for a country already struggling with shrinking economic performances and also soaring unemployment. the cuts, tax increases and also controversial new labor law that is likely to be introduced are part of spain's new budget which will be presented by the government today. the mariano rajoy government is under increasing pressure to get the country's finances in order even if they have to do that under unpopular austerity measures. were things as bad as expected, al, in terms of protests or were they slightly better than expected? we spoke to a government spokesman on "world business" yesterday and he said it wasn't as bad addres they were prepari themselves for. >> reporter: that was the official line, but clearly it was not a normal day. the government said about 800,000 people across the country were out in those protests. at the end of the strike day, the unions put that at a couple million. there was violence, but it was reduced. the violence in barcelona has been a recurring problem. after the end of a peaceful demonstration, a small group of radicals, according to local authorities, get out there. this has been a moment of truth for the new rajoy government. if we go back to last sunday in the southern region of ande andelusia, his party was defeated. and now he has to unveil his cards for the first time and show his budget, and everyone predicts some deep and unpopular cuts. nina? >> al, let's hone in on these deep and unpopular cuts. we are talking about bringing down the redundancy pay for people in spain, which is particularly generous. that's one thing people are worried about. the reality is that that will make it cheaper for companies to fire people, and then the unemployment rate, which is already at 20 something percent in spain will soar. >> indeed. now, the labor reform is what sparked that strike yesterday. so we're not expecting more on that this day, but we are expecting, according to the news filtering out of the prime minister's compound and spanish media and analysts well-connected to the government, basically a 15% cut is what we might see, a 50% reduction in infrastructure, basically the government here already did a $20 billion package a few months ago of cuts and tax increases. analysts say they will have to do that much this day, another 20 billion this day. nina? >> okay. al, goodman, thank you very much, breaking it down for us. the latest outlook for the eurozone as a whole does not inspire much confidence. the organization for economic cooperation and development has been saying the region stepped back here from the edge of the cliff, however the recovery does remain fragile, even the eurozone's three largest economies, it says, won't be immune from the crisis we suffered of late. the economic think tank expects gdp in germany, france and italy is likely to shrink by 0.4% in the first quarter of the year, largely dragged down by rising oil prices and slowing growth in the world's emerging markets. the report says financial firewalls will be critical here when it comes to strengthen the eurozone's growth and provide the region with breathing room after the bailouts of greece, ireland and portugal. and that is, of course, one of the key issues being decided at the eurozone finance ministers meeting getting underway in copenhagen today. currently the esm, the bailout fund, is capped at about $665 billion. let's get more from fred joining us live from berlin with more detail on what will be on the cards. seems as though the crisis has come back to the forefront with these talks. what will they discuss? >> one thing they will be talking about is the one that al was talking about, spain, and the whole thing that brought these fragile economies back to the forefront. the thing they will talk about most is the size of the firewall, the size of the bailout mechanism or mechanisms they want to put in place. it's one of those typical european institutional battles. on the one hand you have the germans. on the other hand you have the french and other european countries. the french finance minister came out yesterday and said he believes that any firewall that the eurozone puts up has to have the size of at least 1 trillion euros. with that, he's in line with the oecd, but also a lot of non-european countries like the u.s. and asian countries. the germans are saying they believe the firewall should be smaller. they want to combine the esm together with a temporary mechanism, which is already in place. yesterday the german finance minister in copenhagen said he believes a firewall around the size of 750 billion euros to 800 billion euros should be enough so there are fundamental differences. however most analysts believe there will be some sort of negotiations going on and they will come to terms with this and in the end there will be a compromise that could see a firewall of 940 billion euros, at least for a temporary time. certainly there is a lot of discussion, debate going in within the eurozone finance ministers. >> this is a rather difficult time because the main protagonists of solving these crises, like francefrance, are election year. >> reporter: certainly that is something that is very true, and it is alarming here in berlin and france with those elections looming and it is having an effect on other things that the finance ministers will be talking about. certain positions they wanted to fill like the head of the youeu group, many people believed the german chancellor would take that spot, however the french have said they don't want any determination made before the french elections. but certainly the perceived weakness of some of these eurozone economies, especially the large economies like france and to a certain degree germany, though the germans agree they are in a stronger position than they actually could be and still believe their economy is quite stable. that's certainly something that's a major factor at this summit as well, nina. >> okay. fred, many thanks for that update that. that's it for this edition of "world business today." that's all we got time for on this friday. thank you very much for joining u us. >> you are watching cnn, the world's news leader. "marketplace middle east" is up next. this week on "marketplace middle east" the arab summit in iraq. we speak to the country's foreign minister. and basra's construction boom. we look at the city's ambitious plan to raise its profile in the region during a petro dollar boom. after years of violence and sectarian tension, iraq is trying to reshape its image hosting its first arab summit since 1990. baghdad hopes the event will improve the country's standing as a major political player, but the country's foreign minister believes it could boost the economy as well. >> the summit is very important for two main reasons. one, it would be the reintegration of iraq in the environment this is very important for iraq who has had sanctions, punished, pushed out since 1990, not since 2003. second point is we believe that confidence of the international community will increase for business, for trade, for commerce, for the diplomatic relations, the international confidence in iraq will be enhanced. >> you've been on quite the diplomatic offensive trying to convince, especially gulf nations including saudi arabia, to attend the summit. why is that so important for iraq? >> iraq relations with the gcc is of paramount importance with saudi arabia it's very significant. we are seeing the beginning of a positive change in saudi arabia attitude and policies towards iraq. >> do you have a fairly positive outlook. where do you see iraq five years from now? >> iraq is moving, it's progressing in every field. still we have political difficulties, security challenges, our system is not tidy, not perfect, still struggling, in fact, to find itself. but things are moving. on all levels, i think, on democratization, on the economy, the economy will see are major boom with the increase of oil production, according to the plans. and there are prospects, we see this will increase over the next four, five years. >> given that, how concerned are you then that there will be some sort of spillover effect from syria that will jeopardize all these positive strides that you are mentioning? >> that's why we need the syrian crisis to be resolved, the sooner the better. because our main concern is over spillover. of rising fundamentalisms, of rising terrorism, of rising collapse of the whole state. and this will impact us. i mean, we are not an island. >> despite growth and development, baghdad still has a long way to go. the red cross says that 23% of iraqis live under the poverty line. electricity is sporadic. and about 20% have unsafe sources of drinking water. but some say better times are ahead. iraq relies heavily on petro dollars and the imf expects the economy to expand more than 12% this year. we look at how the city of basra is benefiting from iraq's energy boom. >> reporter: when the boys at basra's etihad kickboxing gym work out, one of the fights is the shortcomings of their dilapidated training facility, but that doesn't stop them from going full speed as i found out when trainer ali made me work the pads. >> translator: this club needs more facilities like tv screens, shower rooms and many other things said the head trainer. >> reporter: many of the fighters dream of training here one day, basra sports city, one of the most ambitious construction projects in all of iraq. it's due to be the site of next year's gulf cup of nations soccer tournament. several stadiums, eight hotels and various other sport facilities with estimated costs of more than $1 billion, the sports city will be a symbol of basra's economic boom thanks to oil money in this region that sits on to top of 80% of iraq's proven reserves. >> we shift the city, the old city, we shift it around here, and we think it is very good odds for the city. >> reporter: sport city centerpiece is this state of the art stadium, which the local government hopes will host matches. ali is in charge of installing handrails in the spectator area. >> it's proud for us to be working in our countries, like this kind of project. >> reporter: this stadium will seat about 65,000 people, and this complex, once it's finished, should make basra one of the top sports cities in all of iraq. but make no mistake, iraq's second largest town still has a long way to go after decades of oppression and negligent, especially under the regime of saddam hussein. much of basra still looks like this. parts of town don't even have a working sewage system. and tens of thousands displaced by iraq's recent civil strife have set up squatters camps. but signs of progress can be seen in many places. this is basra's new children's hospital. funded largely through donations t offers quality health care in a place where most other hospitals are run down. we hope in a year or two this hospital will be a center in the region to provide high standards of health care for patients who come from neighboring countries as well, says the administrative director. and the hospital would probably also treat bloody noses from kickboxing, often the fate of those who dare take on the boys from the etihad club. in other news, reports say the government here in abu dhabi is in talks to buy a $15 billion stake in the shares of the bank of royal scotland. there has been no confirms from abu dhabi about the deal. and from the potential deal to one that's just been signed, an investment fund is investing $2 billion in brazil's ebx group it was announced by ebx's owner who happens tos will be brazil's richest man. we follow a first-time buyer in dubai as he shows us the growing allure of investing in modern art. 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. will be giving away passafree copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. wrapped up for another year, with the economic slowdown the search is on for alternative investments and some are turning to art. we followed a new collector as he looks to make his first big purchases. ♪ >> reporter: art has often served as an alternative investment for those looking to avoid the turbulence of the global stock markets. in art dubai, the city's contemporary art fair, gives collectors from all over the world the opportunity for big buys. this man has dabbled in graphic design, works in visual media and now looks to expand his own art collection. >> i refer to myself as a baby collector, i collected some art. it became a habit to keep collecting prettier and prettier things. ♪ >> reporter: you're going to show me the very first piece of art you bought. >> i can't remember if i bought them both for $50 or each for $50, now it's worth about $8,000. >> reporter: today he is hoping to find a new piece of art within his budget. >> i want to spend around $10,000 maybe, but i have a leeway of, okay, if i can afford going up to maybe 15,000 maximum. ♪ >> reporter: with that, it's off to the fair. we're at a special preview for buyers, patrons, collectors at art dubai of which wael is one of them. how will you go about finding your art? you're looking very busy over here? >> i do a pre-selection of the galleries i want to see. mark them down in different ones, and then create the floor plan. >> reporter: he has just over two hours until the special preview closes. he's determined to make it through all 75 galleries. this was before the arab spring. >> okay. >> reporter: part one done? now off to the second gallery? >> yes. >> reporter: let's go. ♪ trudging through thousand of visitors, he makes his way through hundreds of artworks. after two hours of examining, viewing, mingling and contemplating, success. he's found something. is this it? it >> it's exquisite. >> reporter: tell me about it. first, how much are you spending? >> $18,000. >> reporter: can i tell them? >> fine. >> reporter: your budget was 10,000. >> yes. 15,000. >> reporter: 15,000. >> i will be thin again. no longer food. >> reporter: what is it called? >> three-part flair. beautiful. >> reporter: congratulations. >> thank you. >> that's it for this edition of "cnn marketplace middle east." thanks for watching. we'll see you next weekend.