process, i'm totally sure people from the armed forces had been protecting him. after that, he changed the people who were protecting him and at the end of the day i mean that he was protected by very small group of the people from his family. but we'll check everything. we'll investigate everything. we'll announce what happened in the past 16 years. u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton has arrived in pakistan, aimed at talks repairing the nations between the two countries. large parts of the u.s. had severe thunderstorm warnings overnight. two people died in atlanta, georgia, when trees fell on two vehicles in high winds. those are the head lines. i'm zain verjee at cnn london. "world business today" starts now. good morning from cnn london. i'm nina del santos. >> good afternoon from hong kong. i'm andrew stevens. japan's auto industry stalls. honda and toyota unveil the full extent of post-quake production cuts. dollars for democracy. g-8 nations pledge to help egypt to foster freedom and economic growth. and find out why mark zuckerberg may have dropped a killer clanger. >> first the european markets. they are performing quite well this morning. we're well into today's friday session. the last one of the week. let's look at that some indices up around the 1% mark is a number of them buoyed by gains in the banking sector this is after citigroup analysts upgraded european banking stocks to overweight, and that has helped the likes of the cac 40. that index up over 1%. and the ftse 100 is pushing towards the 1% mark as well. andrew? the financial stocks have been dragging australia down this week after a downgrade. the winners, though, in this part of the world, hong kong led the way. petrochina was among the companies giving the hang seng a boost. that after the oil producer's parent company boosted its stake in the business. the hang seng up by almost 1%. the nikkei down in early trading after sony dropped pomore than . on an ls of almost 3.2 billion. in the past few minutes, sony announced it start a phased -- services in japan and other agencies on saturday. pejapan's big three automaks are saying the earthquake and tsunami in march slammed the brakes on honda, toyota and nissan's vehicle production. kyung lah joins us now from our tokyo bureau. kyung, how bad was it? >> reporter: well, we knew, andrew, all of these numbers would be bad, throughout the earnings season, all of the ceos and the president said we are hurting, specifically in sales and production because of the tsunami. we are now, though, getting the exact figures. we now know exactly how badly they are hurting when it comes to production and exports. take a look at these figures. these are the figures just released this afternoon. the april 2011 figures, as compared to the year previous. toyota down 47.8%. honda down 52%. nissan down 22%. this is for worldwide production. now look at the export figures. all of the automotive big three here in japan, as they are known, they are down more than 70% in april, the first full month that they are seeing the real impact of the tsunami. down more than 70% as compared to the april the year previous why is this all happening? the tsunami knocked out some key suppliers, some key partsmakers in that tsunami zone. they make those parts, so there is a parts shortage. they simply don't have the parts they need to make vehicles. that's impacting production and exports. what else is happening is that what the automakers are now having to deal with, especially heading into the hot summer months in japan, they're looking ahead at having to curtail production or shift their workdays because of the looming energy crisis in japan. andrew? >> just taking away the energy problems that the carmakers are facing, when do they expect to be back at full production? when will the supply lines be back working properly? >> it's really coming in phases. toyota, for example, said they want to start in june coming back to full production. if you look at nissan, they're saying in some areas we're back in full production, it's coming back slowly, but it's something we have to watch throughout the year. much of it will depend on how much energy there is to go around, to keep those production lines moving. >> just can't win at the moment. kyung, thank you very much for that. nina? now, let's have a look at how things fared on wall street. we'll hear the closing bell at some point now, you should be able to hear it. there we go. trading on thursday was overshadowed by gloom about the u.s. economy. weekless jobless claims came in at about the 400,000, and the government's revised reading on gdp stayed at 1.8%. strength in the technology sector did help stocks stay out of the red. for the day the dow jones eking out a small gain, the nasdaq gains three quarters of a percent, and the s&p 500 rising by 0.78%. day two of the g-8 summit in france is just getting underway, and libya, the middle east, japan's earth quiquake are some things that the leaders are discussing. the group of 8 asked russia to try to mediate the conflict in libya, and they asked for support for japan and they talked about the capture of radco mladic. the leaders of tunisia and egypt also arrived at the summit. much of the discussions going on there are focussed on the uprisings in north africa and the middle east and how the world's economies can support some of these countries, and in doing so they plan on doing that with billions of dollars. dan rivers is in deauville live with that story. talk to me about the solidarity expressed by the main g-8 countries towards egypt and tunisia. >> reporter: that's right. we will get some sort of communique, according to white house officials here, separate from the main g-8 communique which will deal with money for emerging democracies in north africa, called deauville partnership. reuterses is reporting that it may involve up to $20 billion of aid. that's something we are working to confirm but a significant chunk of money for these countries, because the imf has pointed out that egypt alone has lost about $15 billion just in the first quarter of this year in lost tourist revenues and lost economic activity because of the revolution there. there is a desperate need in the countries to get their economies firing on all four cylinders again after all this turmoil. president obama just came out of a bilateral with president sarkozy of france. here's what he had to say about events in north africa a short time ago. >> enormous opportunities as well as challenges that are presented by the arab spring. shortly we'll be discussing in depth how we can fully support countries like egypt and tunisia, not only as they transition to democracy but also ensuring that democratic transition is accompanied by economic growth, which can provide more opportunities for all the people, particularly the young people in the region. >> we're seeing more of the kind of arrivals here this morning. but we're being told that the egyptian and tunisian prime ministers will be here in one of the sessions this morning. that may well be the kind of headline that comes out of deauville today. this huge aid package for tunisia and egypt initially but open to other north african and middle eastern countries who, you know, embrace democracy. so potentially that could be made available to other countries. there was also mention of finishing off the job in libya. there's talk in britain this morning of sending apache attack helicopters into the fight in libya. that would be possibly a slight ratcheting up of the air campaign there. low-level helicopters going in to target particular groups of fighters the that's another element that may be talked about at the g-8, how they can enforce that u.n. resolution 1973. >> as dan was speaking, you are getting the chance to see live pictures of some of the delegates arriving for this important meeting. the g-8 meets about twice a year. support also appears to be building among western leaders to elect the first female director of the international monetary fund. the french finance minister, christine lagarde is a candidate for the position after dominique strauss-kahn resigned to fight criminal charges in new york. hillary clinton gave lagarde a boo boost. a french court is considering investigating lagarde, but the french president nicolas sarkozy says he has complete confidence in lagarde. >> translator: especially when it comes to christine lagarde, who is an outstanding woman with a fairly predictable, foreseeable character and the risks that you were referring to in our view can be easily taken care of as is understood by mrs. lagarde. the russian president, dmitry medvedev said he wants the brick nations to have a greater voice in managing the imf. that's a view thailand's finance minister shares. >> madam lagarde is highly qualified. she said she should not be barred of the job because she is european, our thought is the imf is a global institution and shouldn't be limiting its chance from one area or one nation. >> on tuesday, brick representatives to the imf said europe's traditional role in providing the managing director "undermines the legitimacy of the fund." since europe and the u.s. have the most votes on the board, electing a noneuropean to the post may prove difficult. it is going to be a very interesting battle. >> it certainly will. one of the most important candidates, andrew, is french and france actually founded the precursor to the g-8 when it was the g-6 back in 1975. coming up, fighting talk from the lawyers defending dominique strauss-kahn. find out what they have to say about the maid who accuses the former imf chief of sexual assault. this is "world business today." welcome back. let's bring you up to date on some other stoririey on some other storiristorys we' follows. lawyers for dominique strauss-kahn say they have evidence that could undermine the credibility of the maid who said he had tried to rape her. strauss-kahn is now living under house arrest in manhattan. the french economist faces huge media scrutiny and a string of leaks from the new york police case against him but his lawyers claim they could easily demonstrate his 32-year-old accuser should not be believed. we're just hours away from hearing details about what led to the fatal crash of an airbus two years ago. this is the tail wing of the plane. later on fridays, investigators will publish a time line of events leading up to the failure. they need more time to examine the data found from the black boxes. a more detailed report will follow in july. the former boyfriend of the late hong kong billionaire nina wang has been charged with forgery. this photo shows tony chan with the heiress in happier times but events since her death have turned ugly. chan is accused of forging a 2006 will that made him the sole beneficiary of wang's estate. a court ruled last year that the will was not genuine and that wang's family always maintained the authenticity of a 2002 document leaving most of her fortune to charity. he has been released on bail of a million. money often the source of many an argument. on this subject, tired of pulling out your wallet and swiping your credit guard? google says it has the answer. it's teaming up with mastercard, citigroup and sprint to launch a new mobile phone-based payment system. they are calling this offering the google wallet. phones will have special chips embedded in them and you'll also -- and all you have to do is scan your handset in front of the reader. right now the system is only available on sprint phones, but most new android phones that are going to be going on sale later this year will be able to use this google wallet system. >> amazing stuff. if you got your laptop open, you can watch our google wallet demo online. just go to cnn.money.com. coming up next on "world business today" we're off to africa. just like growing numbers of chinese tourists, we'll be having more on the link straight ahead. 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[ female announcer ] call the toll free number on the screen now to find out what the risks of p.a.d. really are. you'll find a 7-point checklist that helps you understand what could be putting you at risk. if you have symptoms, you'll learn how treating symptoms is different from reducing your risk. you'll also learn about lifestyle changes and treatment options that can help reduce your risk for heart attack and stroke. there's even a discussion guide for you to bring to your doctor that can help you discuss p.a.d. together. call the toll free number on the screen for your free information kit today. the risk is real. take the next step. call today. this is "world business today." welcome back. this past week we've been looking at life in africa, specifically we've been examining how chinese investment in the continent is changing a whole raft of things there. some see china's influence as a positive, bringing things like improvements to infrastructure, many others also say africa is getting a raw deal. they point to a huge trade imbalance and an influx of chinese workers doing jobs that africans could otherwise do. but another influx of chinese has been more welcomed, it seems, that's the growing number of tourists from china and the money they bring with them. now, when it comes to which asian countries spend the most tourist dollars in africa, none stands out like china and the sum is growing. we have a report from south africa about tourism from china jumping more than 60% last year. >> reporter: tourism is more precious than gold so south africa. it's a key foreign currency earner and an important job creation vehicle. europe is the top overseas market with over 1 million europeans visiting south africa every single year, but the global economic crisis has seen the majority of them spend less money while here, so tourism authorities are aggressively courting new markets. a 60% annual increase in chinese visitors to south africa has citizens of the world's second largest economy firmly in the sights of tourism officials here. no expense has been spared in selling the south african experience to them. >> we've just finished a global ad where we actually brought in two couples from china. they actually did experience these things in south africa. we call it 20 experiences in 10 days. what they did is what a typical traveler from china would love do in south africa. >> which is what? >> safari, of course. they love capetown. they love scenic beauty. and diamond shopping is one of those things they love. >> reporter: but the campaign has one big problem there are currently no direct flights from china to here. for now, travelers have to go through hong kong. national carrier south african airways launches its johannesburg/beijing route in september. chinese credit card holders spend over 3 million u.s. dollars in this country. >> however this announcement is a positive thing, i don't think they have been caught napping because it's a developing market. >> reporter: what about the language barrier? >> that's still our biggest challenge in terms of making sure that in south africa we have enough guides that speak mandarin and those are the things that as a country we need to prepare ourselves for in ensuring that we give the chinese traveler a fabulous experience. so we still have a long ways to go in terms of making sure that service providers in south vick are actually equipped to service the market better. but so far so good. >> reporter: cnn, johannesburg. coming up next, a trend that's boosting uk retailers and creating a fashion frenzy. we'll tell you more about the middleton effect. that and plenty more to come on the show. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you from paying up to thousands of dollars... out of your own pocket. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans... exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit... with all you need to enroll. put their trust in aarp medicare supplement insurance. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. the prices are competitive. i can keep my own doctor. and i don't need a referral to see a specialist. call now to get a free information kit. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. and the advantages don't end there. choose from a range of medicare supplement plans... that are all competitively priced. we have a plan for almost everyone, so you can find one that fits your needs and budget. with all medicare supplement plans, there are virtually no claim forms to fill out. plus you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare. and best of all, these plans are... the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp. when they told me these plans were endorsed by aarp... i had only one thing to say... sign me up. call the number on your screen now... and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan. you'll get this free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare, to help you choose the plan that's right for you. as with all medicare supplement plans, you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. live from cnn hong kong, i'm andrew stevens. >> i'm nina dos santos. welcome back to "world business today." >> the u.s. has suffered terrible weather and it has taken a toll on the wheat crop. the wheat trade group said in the u.s., which is the world's top wheat exporter, winter crops are suffering from drought and farmers planting this spring have been delayed by water-logged fields. ivan has more on this it's extraordinary that the winter crop is suffering from drought and in spring there's too much water. >> i'll show you what's going on in north dakota, the top wheat grower. it's raining there, and that's a problem for growers, but it's happening all across the planet. the top world wheat exporters, the uk, he germany, france, all suffering from drought. we've been talking about the lack of rain over the last several weeks and months across the region here. now, to make things worse, we have had significant temperatures there, temperatures above average which is not helping the situation there at all. in the u.s., we were having drought, now an issue of rainfall here. that's not looking good for our north dakota friends that are trying to plant the spring crop and are having a tough time doing so because the fields are essentially wet, too wet here. that's going to be a problem. now, in the uk and france and germany, it's actually raining, so that's good news. but this is just short-term stuff. the damage has been done. but it's good. i like to see the rain where we need it in