:00:02. > :00:07.hundreds more are still missing. Those are the latest headlines from
:00:07. > :00:17.BBC World News. Now for the latest financial news with World Business
:00:17. > :00:20.
:00:20. > :00:24.Report. Welcome to the programme, your
:00:24. > :00:29.chance to catch up on all the latest in the world of business and
:00:29. > :00:31.money. Let's take a look at the headlines: Turning up the gas power,
:00:31. > :00:34.Russia begins work on a new pipeline to southern Europe that
:00:34. > :00:44.critics say will tighten its grip on the EU energy market. Hong
:00:44. > :00:47.
:00:48. > :00:57.Kong's biggest debut in two years. Plus, US jobs numbers to take a hit
:00:57. > :01:02.as Superstorm Sandy blows America's recovery off course.
:01:02. > :01:12.Let's begin with gas. Later this Friday Russia will launch a project
:01:12. > :01:14.that critics say will tighten its grip on the European energy market.
:01:14. > :01:21.President Putin will attend a ground-breaking ceremony on the
:01:21. > :01:23.Black Sea Coast for a major new gas pipeline to southern Europe. Russia
:01:23. > :01:26.already supplies almost 40% of Europe's gas, in parts of Eastern
:01:26. > :01:36.Europe it's effectively 100%. In the past most Russian gas came
:01:36. > :01:39.
:01:39. > :01:43.through Ukraine. A series of disputes in 2005-2006 has led to
:01:43. > :01:45.shortages in Europe sparking a race to open alternative routes. The new
:01:45. > :01:52.South Stream route under construction from today will go
:01:52. > :01:54.under the Black Sea to Bulgaria, bypassing Ukraine. This will
:01:54. > :02:00.supplement the NordStream route which opened in 2011, pumping
:02:00. > :02:03.Russian gas under the Baltic Sea direct to Germany. But all this has
:02:04. > :02:07.raised fears in Europe that it is over dependent on Russian gas. A
:02:07. > :02:10.group of companies backed by the EU has been trying to get a plan
:02:10. > :02:19.called Nabucco off the ground. A pipeline would pump gas from
:02:19. > :02:23.Central Asia to Europe via Turkey, cutting out Russia altogether.
:02:23. > :02:33.Lilit Gevorgyan is a Russian analyst at IHS Global Insight. Nice
:02:33. > :02:43.to have you with us. Another pipeline. Here is the problem, it
:02:43. > :02:51.
:02:51. > :03:00.diversified as the route, it does not -- diversify supply.
:03:00. > :03:10.Russians are at -- arguing, forget the problems we had with Ukraine
:03:10. > :03:14.
:03:14. > :03:22.and the galleries, it was not their fault. -- Belarus. The new pipeline
:03:22. > :03:30.will show that. The critics will go, this pipeline titans Russia's grip
:03:30. > :03:40.on the EU energy supplies. Winnie Degas, we buy their gas, we are not
:03:40. > :03:50.
:03:50. > :03:55.bringing it in anywhere else. -- we need their gas. We have a big
:03:55. > :04:00.supplier, we should take advantage of it. At the same time, the EU has
:04:00. > :04:07.new regulations such as the third energy package. That make sure
:04:07. > :04:17.there is no monopoly on the supply. There could be consequences. Russia
:04:17. > :04:18.
:04:18. > :04:23.has not really cleared its way when it comes to EU regulations.
:04:23. > :04:29.Diversified routes are important in terms of energy security. Russia
:04:29. > :04:39.could be the best supplier, but any customer would like to have
:04:39. > :04:42.
:04:42. > :04:50.diversified routes. We will see how it goes. Yes, it is a wait and see.
:04:50. > :04:55.Does it make any difference to European consumers? It is not
:04:55. > :05:04.really about the supply, it is about the competition. That is why
:05:04. > :05:08.the routes after be done. Thank you. -- have to be done. The People's
:05:08. > :05:11.Insurance Company of China has made its debut on the Hong Kong stock
:05:11. > :05:18.market. Let's speak to Sharanjit Leyl in the BBC's Singapore bureau.
:05:18. > :05:25.Some are calling this a bit of a bright spot in an otherwise dismal
:05:25. > :05:35.year for initial public offerings? You are right. Some people are
:05:35. > :05:42.
:05:42. > :05:47.saying that. PICC doing well. Up 8%. All of this on its debut in Hong
:05:48. > :05:55.Kong. That is despite the tough market conditions. This is the
:05:55. > :05:59.state owned insurer. It was the biggest share sale in Hong Kong in
:05:59. > :06:08.two years. It has priced its stock at the bottom of its indicated
:06:08. > :06:18.range. 348 Hong Kong dollars every share. Hong Kong has seen fewer and
:06:18. > :06:22.
:06:22. > :06:32.fewer major listings in its once very hot share market. PICC was
:06:32. > :06:35.
:06:35. > :06:43.founded in 1949. The first in China. It has 130 million customers. 2.4
:06:43. > :06:48.million institutional clients as well. The investment environment
:06:48. > :06:51.has been subdued this year because of the slowdown in China. Some
:06:51. > :06:58.companies looking to go public have delayed a lot of their planned
:06:58. > :07:07.listings. They have dramatically reduced the amount to be raised.
:07:07. > :07:17.These shares were helped by individual retail investors. All of
:07:17. > :07:19.
:07:19. > :07:29.this is helping to boost the Hun Sen index. A nice little bright
:07:29. > :07:32.
:07:32. > :07:35.spot to end the air on. We are not there yet, but close. -- the year.
:07:35. > :07:38.It's that time of the month when global markets await key employment
:07:38. > :07:41.numbers from the US. America has been adding jobs in recent months
:07:41. > :07:44.but figures for November due later this Friday are expected to show a
:07:44. > :07:48.sharp drop in hiring. Economists blame Superstorm Sandy for the loss
:07:48. > :07:51.of jobs, which comes on top of the closure of Hostess, the maker of
:07:52. > :07:56.Twinkies resulting in more than 15,000 layoffs.
:07:56. > :08:01.Hoboken in New Jersey looks very different today from a few weeks
:08:01. > :08:10.ago. Residents new Hurricane Sandy was coming, nobody expected it to
:08:10. > :08:17.hit this hard. This is what is left of the storm ravaged business.
:08:17. > :08:23.of the furniture go damaged. As you can see, the floor has buckled.
:08:23. > :08:29.staff are now in limbo. How many employees? 3. What has happened to
:08:29. > :08:34.them? They are out of work. Three employees may not seem like a lot,
:08:34. > :08:40.but it adds up across the north- east. Instead of seeing a seasonal
:08:40. > :08:44.boost to employment, jobs are being lost. It will definitely show up in
:08:44. > :08:50.the national numbers even though it was a regional event. We know that
:08:50. > :08:57.from past experience, in 2005 there were two hurricanes, what we saw in
:08:57. > :09:07.the immediate aftermath that job growth slowed by 75%. In Hoboken
:09:07. > :09:10.
:09:10. > :09:15.sandy has not just destroy jobs, this station is closed.
:09:15. > :09:19.This is a snapshot of the US labour market. Capturing the devastation
:09:19. > :09:28.caused by Superstorm Sandy. The task of rebuilding should bring
:09:28. > :09:35.with it jobs, that may ease some of the pain in the months ahead. There