horn of africa. the united nations says it has received half of the $2.5 billion it needs to tackle the crisis. china says it is slowing down its bullet trains and stopping new construction because of an accident that killed last month that killed at least 40 people. the accident was blamed on design flaws on equipment. and syrian troop efforts are growing to end the crackdown. under scored the urgency of the situation there. those are the top stories from cnn, the world news leader. world business today starts right now. good morning cnn london. and a very good friday afternoon, from cnn hong kong. i m andrew stevens. you re watching world business today and the top stories for today, friday, august 12th, four countries go to protect their banks. a short-selling ban goes in effect today. growth slows to zero. and several reasons to celebrate. a reversal of fortune for this group, whose company just announced massive layoffs. let s get straight to the mark
i m guessing that this particular spot was no accidental target. you are absolutely right. thank you for having me on your program. on 9/11 when the terrorists hit the world trade center not only did they murder thousands of people who work in the financial markets, they were destructive to the financial markets. fortunately the federal reserve acted promptly to stablize the situation but we remain vulnerable to that type of attack.shepard smith an shepard: it seemed to me at the time had they been able to reopen the stock market while there was so much fear and the planes went had nynex been able to get down there that day which the mayor wouldn t allow we might have had a freefall that this country wouldn t have withstood. but that didn t happen. there are other ways to get down there. perfectly, correct. we had the worst financial crash since the great