The United States said it launched attacks on 85 targets in Iraq and Syria in response to a drone strike Sunday by Iran-backed militants on a US military outpost in Jordan. The US defence secretary says US strikes in Iraq and Syria are “the start of our response". Also, in the programme, we talk about new EU AI Act regulations and will find out how a raccoon plunges parts of Toronto into darkness.(Picture: Dignified Transfer of fallen US service members at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, USA. Picture credit: EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

All 27 members of the EU agreed to send the support package worth €50bn for Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the new funding, saying it will strengthen the country's economic and financial stability.The first transaction will be transferred in March, according Ukraine's Economy Ministry. But how will this money be spent?Also, in the programme, we will talk about a state of emergency because of a worsening drought in Catalonia and discover why Elon Musk moves to shift Tesla's legal home to Texas. (Picture: Special European Council in Brussels, Belgium. Picture credit: EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Executive of the owner of Facebook and Instagram finds himself under fire at the US Congress for not protecting children. Rahul Tandon finds out if this will it stop investment in tech companies? The US Central Bank has announced that its keeping interest rates unchanged and still at a 22 year high. But will they come down in March? And we hear why Universal Music Group are threatening to pull their vast music catalogue from social media app TikTok.Rahul will be joined throughout the programme by two guests on opposite sides of the world Michael Malone who's the host of the insider Podcast from California and Zyma Islam, a journalist with Bangladesh's leading English language newspaper the Daily Star. (Picture: Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg looks at X Corp's CEO Linda Yaccarino and TikTok's CEO Shou Zi Chew as they raise their hands to be sworn in during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on online child sexual exploitation at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 31, 2024. Credit: REUTERS)

Microsoft and Google’s parent company reveal results for their fourth quarter. Alphabet is investing heavily in AI. While Microsoft are pushing their cloud business. Sam Fenwick is getting the latest on their reports. Also on the programme, the IMF says the chances of a global recession are fading.And can Universal take on the mighty Walt Disney when it comes to theme parks?Sam will be joined throughout the programme by two guests on opposite sides of the world Dana Peterson, Chief Economist at the Conference Board in New York City and Mehmal Sarfraz, Co-founder and journalist at The Current PK news website in Lahore, Pakistan.(Picture: The Microsoft store sign is pictured in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., January 18, 2022. Credit: Reuters)

Australia is working to determine the next steps for sheep and cattle on a vessel that was ordered to return to the country after being diverted from the Middle East. Amazon's forced to suck up a ban on their latest takeover deal. The EU has blocked their plans to buy robot vacuum maker iRobot.A judge in Hong Kong has called time on Evergrande and ordered the liquidation of the Chinese real estate developer. What does it mean for foreign investment in China?Sam will be joined throughout the programme by two guests on opposite sides of the world Peter Morici, an economist at the University of Maryland in the US and Nga Pham a freelance Journalist from Taipei, Taiwan.(Picture: Sheep wait in a pen at a farm near Delegate, New South Wales, Australia, Credit: Reuters)

Former President Donald Trump has been ordered to pay $83m for defaming columnist E Jean Carroll in 2019 while he was president. Roger Hearing finds out what this case means for Trump going forward. Liverpool Football Club manager Juergen Klopp is leaving at the end of the season, despite having two years to go on his contract. We hear what is the best way to leave your job? Also cash as well as cards - Ireland moves to force businesses to take coins and notes Roger will be joined throughout the programme by two guests on opposite sides of the world - Colin Peacock, Producer and Presenter of Mediawatch on Radio New Zealand in Wellington. And Lori Ann Larocco, Senior Editor at CNBC in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.(Picture: Former U.S. President Donald Trump departs Trump Tower in New York Credit: Reuters)

US GDP grew at an overall rate of 3.3% well above the 2% that was predicted but we hear how some people are struggling to pay rent.We also find out what is going on in the gaming world as Microsoft is slashing 8% of its workforce in their gaming division.Pursuing the theme of ageism in the workplace, we're asking how far you'd go to look younger to clinch a new job opportunity. Ed Butler discusses this and more business news with two guests on opposite sides of the world: Diane Brady in the US and Yoko Ishikura in Japan.(Picture: Row of houses in a suburb in the US Picture Credit: Getty Images)

The US Federal Aviation Authority says it won't allow expansion in production of Boeing's 737 MAX 9 until doubts over quality control are cleared. We hear about the repercussions this could have for the company.Thousands of Argentines have taken to the streets to protest against president Javier Milei's policies and the reforms he is trying to get approved by the Congress to revive the economy. We get the latest.Microsoft's stock valuation made history after crossing the $3 trillion milestone for the first time. We look at why investors are rooting for the firm's shares.Ed Butler discusses this and more business news with two guests on opposite sides of the world: Sergio Guzman, Director of Colombia Risk Analysis in Colombia, and Alison Van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues in the US.(Picture: Boeing's new 737 MAX-9 is pictured under construction at their production facility in Renton, Washington, U.S. Picture credit: REUTERS)

Voters are set to select Donald Trump as Republican candidate in New Hampshire. Exit polls put him ahead of his rival Nikki Haley. We look at what this would all mean for the US economy. Netflix pays 5 billion dollars for the right to stream WWE Wrestling. We assess what this means for the streaming giant which has also added millions of new subscribers.Passengers travelling with Asiana Airlines on international flights will be weighed when they fly out for from Seoul. We hear why the data is being collected on travellers.

We look at how much money is really needed to run a successful presidential race in the United States. Campaign costs can run into billions of dollars and we examine how they work. The world's first vaccine programme against Malaria started in Cameroon. It is hoped it will save thousands of lives across Africa. The nominations are out for this years Golden Raspberry Awards or the Razzies. It’s a celebration of the biggest film flops of the year. We look at some of the contenders.

The U.S. President Joe Biden has announced plans to cancel student debt of nearly $5 billion for an additional 74,000 borrowers. This includes more than half who earned forgiveness after 10 years of public service as teachers, nurses and firefighters.Madonna sued after allegedly arriving on stage two hours late for Celebration tour. The two fans behind the claims say she arrived late for the Celebration tour at New York's Barclays Centre in DecemberSome companies are making their products smaller in order to preserve profits during the cost of living crisis. We examine so called shrinkflation, and what it means for customers.

Apple announced it would permit app developers to sell products in places other than its own store - but only if they still paid commission.Spotify said that was "outrageous" and accused Apple of "stopping at nothing" to protect its profits. It is urging the British government to prevent similar fees being levied in the UK.Also, how another US government shutdown has been avoided and why is it tougher to get promoted if you work from home?(Picture: Top view of smartphone with music player app on white stone office desktop. Picture credit: Getty Images)

A prosecutor investigating an attack on a TV studio in Ecuador has been shot dead.Also in tonight’s programme: as Japan Airlines announces its first ever female president, just how many of the world’s airlines are run by women? And the start-up behind a futuristic “hoverbike” design files for bankruptcy. So why is it so hard to get these machines off the ground? Roger Hearing find out.(Photo: Prosecutor investigating assault on television channel murdered, Guayaquil, Ecuador. Credit: EPA)

The crisis in the Red Sea shows no sign of easing as a Greek owned ship is attacked in the Red Sea. As the threat of attacks continues, some insurance companies are placing new restrictions on the shipping industry, and many ships are now diverting around the southern tip of Africa rather than taking the shorter route through the Suez Canal. As De Beers makes some of the steepest cuts to its diamond prices in years, slashing prices by about 10% across the board, we look at the reasons why and what it tells us about the diamond trade.The inquiry into Britain's Post Office scandal continues - where hundreds of local post officials were prosecuted for stealing money, which was in fact down to malfunctioning software. The system known as Horizon was developed by Fujitsu. Roger Hearing looks at how a company as big as Fujitsu could deal with the reputational damage that the scandal is causing.Presenter Roger Hearing is joined by Sushma Ramachandran, senior Ffnancial journalist for The Tribune newspaper in Delhi, India and by technology journalist, Takara Small, in Toronto.(Photo: The Zografia ship which was attacked on 16 January, 2024, by Yemen's Houthi group on its way to Israel. Credit: Mohammed Mahmoud/Getty Images)

Ed Butler is joined by Peter Morici, Economist at the University of Maryland, based in Washington and Jessica Khine, Corporate Advisor for Astris Advisory in Malaysia to discuss the top business stories.Iowa is the first major state to decide who will be the Republican US presidential candidate for the 2024 election. The opinion polls suggest that former President Donald Trump looks like the clear front-runner, with Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis competing for second place. Houthi rebels have hit a US-owned container ship, the Gibraltar Eagle, with a ballistic missile off the coast of Yemen. The rebels say they will continue to target all US and British ships taking part in what they call aggression against Yemen. The two countries have hit Houthi positions after the group began attacking ships in the Red Sea. Ed Butler speaks to Jakob Larsen of BIMCO (The Baltic and International Maritime Council) which represents ship owners around the globe.Also on the programme, Faisal Islam, the BBC’s Economics Editor, speaks to us from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland about whether the annual gathering of the great and the good - and the rich - still has a relevance in an ever changing world.And our reporter Izzy Greenfield tells us how trainer technology is producing record times for top athletes as well as profits for the companies who make them. (Picture credit: Bloomberg/Getty Images.)

Devina Gupta is joined by Peter Ryan, ABC's senior business correspondent in Sydney, and Alison Van Diggelen, host of the Fresh Dialogues podcast, based in San Francisco, to talk about the top business stories from around the globe.People in Taiwan are preparing to vote for a new president and legislature on Saturday. The BBC’s Cindy Sui, looks at how the country’s relationship with Beijing may have dominated election campaigns; it's the economy and jobs that concern the electorate the most.The American bank, Citigroup, says it will cut twenty-thousand jobs over the next two years. The announcement comes as the company announced its worst quarterly results for more than a decade, reporting a loss of $1.8bn. And BBC reporter Douglas Shaw meets the Italian tech entrepreneur who’s started an advertising company that creates sonic branding to help businesses stand out with distinctive sounds. (Picture credit: Sawayasu Tsuji/Getty Images.)

Roger Hearing will be taking a look at how the crisis in Ecuador is affecting the country's economics - can it maintain the exports that provide most of its income? Also the Austrian heiress with millions of Euros she doesn't want, sets up a panel to give it away.And the dog ate my money - we hear from the US official who can rebuild chewed banknotes (Picture Image: A woman shops in an almost empty market following a wave of violence around the nation. Credit: Reuters)

Hooded gunmen have burst onto a live TV set in Ecuador, a day after the country's president declared a state of emergency following the disappearance of a powerful gang leader from prison. Roger Hearing will be bringing us the latest. The World Bank's latest report is predicting the worst half decade of growth in 30 years as many economies are set to grow more slowly in 2024 and 2025. We find out what this means for us. And Norway has become the first country in the world to open up part of its deep sea bed for commercial-scale mining.(Picture: Armed men interrupt live programming at TC Television station, Guayaquil, Ecuador. Credit: EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

United Airlines has reported loose bolts on their Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes. Presenter Roger Hearing will be looking at what this means for the company going forward. We get a sneak preview of the latest in gadgetry and gizmos at the tech trade fair in Las Vegas. And golfing veteran Tiger Woods has ended his sponsorship deal with Nike after 27 years. A deal reported to be worth £500 million dollars. (Picture: A United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 jetliner is grounded at Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico January 7, 2024. Credit: Reuters)

Hiring defied forecasts as the US economy added 216000 jobs in December. The Treasury Secretary says the country is achieving a 'soft landing.' We take a deep look at the figures.Guyana seems to have found a new partner to exploit its recent crude discoveries in the Essequibo region: India. We listen to the implications this might have on the dispute between this South American nation and Venezuela over the oil-rich territory.Roger Hearing discusses these and more business stories with two guests on opposite sides of the world: Dante Disparte, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy for Circle, in Washington, and Rachel Puppazoni, business reporter with ABC News Australia, in Perth.(Picture: A 'now hiring' sign on the window of a FedEx office in Washington, DC. Picture credit: JIM LO SCALZO/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Houthi rebels detonate an unmanned vessel in the Red Sea a day after US and allies warned they would protect the crucial global shipping lane with military action if necessary. We get the views from the maritime industry.The Chrome browser is trying a new feature that disables third-party cookies - small files stored on your device that have become vital for advertisers. We hear about the impact this change could have on their businesses if extended to all users.And Microsoft has announced it will add a new key to keyboards, the first in 30 years: an AI key. We explain what you can do with it.Roger Hearing discusses these and more business stories with two guests on opposite sides of the world: Jessica Khine, Corporate Advisor for Astris Advisory in Tokyo, and, Oliver Stuenkel, associate professor of International Relations at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Sao Paulo. (Picture: Yemen's Houthis claim new attack on cargo ship in Red Sea, Sanaa. Picture credit: YAHYA ARHAB/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

To discuss the big business stories of the day from around the world presenter, Roger Hearing, is joined by Zyma Islam, journalist at the Daily Star newspaper who's in Dhaka, and Kimberley Adams, Senior Washington Correspondent for Marketplace in Washington DC.Latest data from the US shows the number of new job openings fell substantially in November, its lowest in two years, suggesting that the economy is less ‘hot’ than it wasRoger Hearing examines the extraordinary story of how a Chinese student’s family paid $80,000 in response to cyber threats alleging the young student was being held hostage and how the incident in the US has shed light on a growing trend in crime - cyber kidnapping. In Australia Phil Mercer looks at the business of holograms as improvements in 3D flexible image technology mean they’re now being used by a range of industries including entertainment, education, design and defence. (Picture credit: wildpixel/Getty Images.)

We look at the possible influence of rich donors on Universities in the United States.Tesla is pushed into second position in global electric car sales after Chinese rival BYD clinches the top spot.AND How much do shipping companies stand to do lose after the latest attack by Houthi rebels on cargo travelling through the Red Sea ? Photo Harvard University Cambridge Massachusetts 2023 Picture Credit Reuters/BryanSnyder

Japan is hit by another earthquake. We hear about the impact it could have on the economy.We examine microfinance and how it works in practice after a Bangladeshi pioneer of this type of finance is sentenced for violating labour laws.And the state railway company of Ukraine introduces women only compartments to stop assaults on trains.

As the war continues, we take a look at the state of the Russian economy and what this might mean for Ukraine. Argentina's new president has announced the South American country will not join the BRICS alliance. We hear about the implications this can have for the inflation-hit nation. And we listen to the challenges Nigerian businesses face to become more productive.Ed Butler discusses these and more business stories with two guests on opposite sides of the world: Andy Uhler, Journalism Fellow at the University of Texas Energy Institute and Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy, and Sharon Brettkelly, presenter at Radio New Zealand.(Picture: damaged residential building after shelling in Odesa, Ukraine. Picture credit: IGOR TKACHENKO/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Nearly nine-tenths of all foreign investment in China’s stock market this year has been pulled out, according to an investigation by Financial Times. We look into the reasons. The major European property developer, Signa, based in Austria, has announced that two of its key divisions were filing for insolvency. We get the latest from Vienna. And L'Oreal heiress, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, has become the first woman to amass a fortune of $100bn after the company's shares reached a record high. (Picture: A man buys food in the grocery store, in Shanghai, China, 06 December 2023. Picture credit: ALEX PLAVEVSKI/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

US news organisation the New York Times is suing ChatGPT owner OpenAI over claims its copyright was infringed to train the system.ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs) "learn" by analysing a massive amount of data often sourced online.The lawsuit claims "millions" of articles published by the New York Times were used without its permission to make ChatGPT smarter, and claims the tool is now competing with the newspaper as a trustworthy information source.Also, in the programme, we will find out if the Red Sea safe for international shipping and will look at efforts around the world to make workers more productive.(Picture: The New York Times newspaper and office building, Manhattan, NYC. Picture credit: Getty Images)

Danish shipping giant Maersk has said it is preparing to resume shipping operations through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.We explore the fallout from a ban on some of Apple's latest watches in the US .AND We examine why Argentina's new president, Javier Milei has decided to sign a decree cancelling the contracts of seven thousand public sector workers. (Photo: A Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) container ship crosses the Suez Canal towards the Red Sea Credit EPA/MOHAMED HOSSAM)

We explore the impact of the AI revolution on businesses and the world of work.

President Joe Biden has signed an executive order expanding the US's ability to impose sanctions against Russia.The idea is to further isolate Moscow from the global economy by applying sanctions to foreign financial institutions that help Russia's military and defence sectors.Those banks then won't be allowed access to the US financial system.(Picture: US President Joe Biden during a news conference with Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine's president, not pictured, in the Indian Treaty Room on the White House complex, in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. Picture Credit: Getty Images).

Crucial in the manufacture of many key goods, chips and the materials used to make them, are the subject of an ongoing trade war between China and the West.On Thursday Beijing banned the export of technology used to extract and process rare earth metals -- a vital component in the chip-making process. The technology has been added to a list of items that can't be sold abroad for national security reasons. So what does this mean for the global supply of advanced chips and semi conductors?(Picture: Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corp.'s inverter board displayed at the Semicon Japan exhibition in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023. Picture Credit: Getty Images).

The CEOs of Warner Brothers Discovery and Paramount have reportedly met to discuss a $38 billion merger – we ask what this could mean for the future of both companies. US consumer confidence is at a five-month high, according to conference Board's consumer index which says confidence has increased to 110.7 this month. We ask how e-scooters, once all the rage, have now been left parked up. And members of the Harlem Globetrotters join us in the studio.(Picture: A Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. logo is pictured at one of the studio's gates in Burbank, California, U.S., July 5, 2017. Credit: REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo)

Colorado’s Supreme Court has removed Trump from the 2024 US Presidential ballot. We ask what this means for the elections. US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin is calling for more countries to join the international coalition set up to protect maritime security in the Red Sea. This comes as a number of ships have been targeted by Houthis.We hear from someone who lost millions because of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto fraud. Toshiba has delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, we ask how the company got to this point and what it means for it's future.(Picture: Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a "Commit to Caucus" event for his supporters in Coralville, Iowa, U.S., December 13, 2023.CREDIT: REUTERS/Vincent Alban/File Photo)

US is seeking to form the "broadest possible" maritime coalition. Operation Prosperity Guardian is the latest effort in ramping up security in the Red Sea region as international shipping firms have paused all shipments over safety concerns. The Houthis have attacked a number of ships in the last couple of months. We ask how this will impact global trade and oil prices. Apple may have to stop selling some of it’s watches in the US over a patent case find out why and how this may impact the company. And the Chinese firm rewarding it’s employees for exercising.(Picture: Houthi military helicopter flies over the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea in this photo released November 20, 2023.Credit:Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY/File Photo)

We discuss the impact of Maersk’s decision to stop using the Red Sea route on the global shipping industry and explore the security issues behind it. Malawi is not quite ready to give up fossil fuels. We speak to a coal mine manager to find out why. And would you trade your work Christmas party for a bonus? Our guests in the US and Taiwan share their thoughts.

We discuss the impact of Maersk’s decision to stop using the Red Sea route on the global shipping industry and explore the security issues behind it. Malawi is not quite ready to give up fossil fuels. We speak to a coal mine manager to find out why. And would you trade your work Christmas party for a bonus? Our guests in the US and Taiwan share their thoughts.

At a summit in Brussels European leaders announced they will open accession talks with Kiev as well as Moldova, whilst Georgia has been awarded candidate status. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky called the decision "a victory" for his country and the whole of Europe.Vivienne Nunis discusses this and more business news from around the world with journalist Mehmal Sarfraz, Co-founder of the Current PK and Alison Van Diggelen, Host of Fresh Dialogues based in Silicon Valley.(Picture: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) and U.S. Army General Christopher G. Cavoli (2-L), Commander of the US Forces for Europe and Supreme Commander of the NATO Forces in Europe (SACEUR), during Zelensky's visit to the headquarters of the U.S. Army Command in Europe and Africa in Wiesbaden, Germany, 14 December 2023. Credit: UKRAINE PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

The US central bank left interest rates unchanged as it said it remained committed to slowing price rises.Members of the Federal Reserve gave the strongest sign yet that they expect to start cutting rates next year.Projections released after the bank's meeting showed they expect its key interest rate to stand at 4.6% next year, more than half a percentage point lower than the current rate.Also, in the programme, we will find out how popular non-English speaking content is on Netflix. (Picture: FED The Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States of America. Picture credit: Getty Images)

Just two days since Argentina's new president was sworn in, and already there are signs of some of the radical measures promised by Janier Milei. Argentina will weaken its peso over 50% to 800 per dollar and cut energy subsidies. The new Economy Minister Luis Caputo announced these measures, saying it would be painful in the short-term but was needed to bring down inflation.(Picture: ARGENTINA-G20-TRADE-DUJOVNE-CAPUTO. Picture credit: Getty Images)

The draft text of COP28 summit agreement has prompted widespread backlash from countries vulnerable to climate change. A group of small island states says the new draft is "completely insufficient" with "weak language on fossil fuels".Almost 200 countries have representatives at the Dubai summit - all must agree or the deal collapses.Plus, we're on the new night train from Paris to Berlin. And, are financial pressures driving young people in Taiwan to avoid parenthood and get a pet instead?Throughout the show, Roger Hearing is joined by Cary Leahey, an economist in New York, and Karen Lema, Reuters bureau chief in the Philippines. (Picture: COP28 UNFCCC Climate Conference: Day Eleven. Picture credit: Getty Images)

The UN climate change conference in Dubai is coming to an end. We examine whether there could be a big breakthrough on reducing the gases heating our planet. We hear how the new Argentinean President plans to replace the local currency with the US dollar and the US Department of Commerce is to investigate the safety of garlic imported from China.(Picture: COP28 UNFCCC Climate Conference: Day Eight. Picture credit: Getty Images)

Top EU officials met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing this week for their first in-person summit in four years. We examine what was on the agenda. We hear about tensions between Venezuela and Guyana over a disputed oil rich region. And popular video game Fortnite has launched a high-profile collaboration with Lego.(Photo: President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen (L), President of the European Council Charles Michel (C) and Chinese Premier Li Qiang meeting in Beijing, China. Credit: European Union Handout)

US Senate Republicans block billions of dollars in emergency aid for Ukraine. We hear what this means for the country’s war against Russia.The government of the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni tells China it will exit their Belt and Road Initiative. We find out how this might affect future relations between the two countries.And Google launches its long-awaited answer to Chat GPT, but will their new model called Gemini succeed in the AI space?(Picture: U.S. President Joe Biden looks up while addressing the White House Tribal Nations Summit at the Department of the Interior in Washington, U.S. Credit: Reuters)

The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has countered those he says are trying to pressure Israel’s military tactics, saying the only way to finish the job was to use crushing force against Hamas. Meanwhile, families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza have met Mr Netanyahu and members of his war cabinet to press for more action to be taken to ensure their release. Eighty Israeli hostages were released during the temporary truce last week - it is believed that around 160 are still being held.(Photo: Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Credit: Getty Images)

The UK wants to reduce the number of migrants coming to the UK to work but the plan has faced opposition from unions and business groups. We find out how this will affect the UK's workforce. We'll hear from a lawyer involved in the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy settlement before the US Supreme Court. He'll give us his view of what could happen if a $6 billion deal is overturned. And Grand Theft Auto 6 has dropped its latest trailer ahead of schedule all because of a leak. So what does this mean for the gaming working?

On the second day of the COP28 summit in Dubai, for the first time, countries have pledged to integrate food and agriculture into their plans to tackle climate change - acknowledging the link between farming and global warming.In what’s been called ‘climate quitting’, young people are leaving their jobs because they disapprove of their employers on climate grounds - often to work for environmental groups. It’s left top top oil and gas companies struggling to recruit the brightest and best graduates - three people who’ve done just that tell the thinking behind their decision to quit.And Phil Mercer reports on how one community in Australia is recovering from the fires of 2019 and 2020 - and preparing for dangerous conditions in the years to come. Roger Hearing discusses these and other business stories of the day with Peter Ryan, senior business correspondent at ABC Australia in Sydney and Dr Stephanie Hare, researcher, broadcaster and author in London. (PICTURE CREDIT: NurPhoto/Getty Images.)

The COP28 summit will see world leaders from around the world discuss tackling climate change. Our presenter Rahul Tandon looks at what is on the agenda and speaks to people directly affected.Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo is being sued for $1bn after promoting a range of NFTs for Binance. We get the latest from our correspondent in the US. And is a flag important to a country’s economy? We look at the country of Kyrgyzstan as they have recently filed a bill to change the image of their flag.(Picture: 'Cop28 UAE' logo is displayed on the screen during the opening ceremony of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) Credit: Reuters)

Investment guru Charlie Munger has died at the age of 99 - our presenter Rahul Tandon looks back at his legacy.We also take you to India where 41 construction workers trapped for 17 days in a tunnel in the Himalayas have finally been rescued. We find out if the pace of development in the area is too quick.And are you miserable at work? We speak to an expert on why so many of us are depressed with our jobs.(Picture: Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chair Charlie Munger arrives to begin the company's annual meeting in Omaha May 4, 2013. Credit: Reuters)

Roger Hearing talks to Mitchell Baker the CEO of Mozilla, one of the oldest and most influential internet institutions about her hopes and fears over AI.He also delves into just how much shoppers in the US spent on this Cyber Monday/Black Friday weekend. And we find about New Zealand scrapping its plans to phase out smoking altogether.

It's time for one of America's favourite shopping days. A record 130 million people were expected to shop in stores and online in the U.S. this Black Friday - according to the country's National Retail Federation. But forecasters had predicted the cost of living pressures on households would result in a more subdued day of spending compared to previous years. So how are things panning out? (Picture: A retail store on Black Friday. Picture credit: Getty Images)

35-year-old heir to a banana business empire Daniel Noboa has been sworn in as Ecuador’s new president, with a promise to create jobs and curb violence in a country gripped by a bloody drug war. Mr Noboa holds a degree in business administration from New York University and three master’s degrees, from Harvard, Northwestern and George Washington universities. He intends to bring order to the country and stop the violence. However, it is not clear what economic reforms the new president is preparing. And in North Queensland town of Karumba Australia, thousands of rats have swept up on beaches, overwhelming residents. (Picture: President Daniel Noboa Takes Office in Ecuador. Picture credit: Getty Images)

The veteran anti-Islam leader of the Freedom party pledged to cut immigration and help people who are facing high utility bills and food prices. An IPSOS exit poll indicate that this PVV party has clearly won the most seats in the snap general election. Sam Fenwick gets reaction live from the Netherlands, and discusses more business news from around the world with Walter Todd, president and chief investment officer Greenwood Capital in South Carolina and Rachel Pupazzoni, Business Reporter ABC News in Australia. (Dutch far-right politician and leader of the PVV party, Geert Wilders reacts to the exit poll and early results in the Dutch parliamentary elections, in The Hague, Netherlands November 22, 2023. Credit: REUTERS/Yves Herman)

The founder of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has stepped down and agreed to plead guilty to federal money laundering charges in the United States. The US Justice Department said Binance prioritized its "profits over the safety of the American people" and became the largest crypto exchange "in part because of the crimes it committed." Sam Fenwick gets reaction to the ruling and more business stories from around the world with Andy Xie, independent economist in Shanghai and Rachel Premack, Editorial director at FreightWaves, in New York. (Picture: Zhao Changpeng, founder and chief executive officer of Binance speaks during an event in Athens, Greece, November 25, 2022. Credit: REUTERS/Costas Baltas/File Photo)

Following the sacking of CEO Sam Altman on Friday, hundreds of members of staff have threatened to resign unless he is reinstated. Despite being offered a job at Microsoft, their CEO has suggested Altman could go back to Open AI; Microsoft shares rose on the news he could be joining the company. Sam Fenwick picks over the comings and goings, and more business news from around the world with Peter Morici, Economist at the University of Maryland in the United States, and Sushma Ramachandran, an independent business journalist and columnist for The Tribune newspaper joining us from Delhi. (Picture: A keyboard is placed in front of a displayed OpenAI logo in this illustration taken February 21, 2023. Credit: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo)

Sam Altman, the head of artificial intelligence firm OpenAI, has been ousted by the company's board, which said it had lost confidence in his ability to lead the company. We look at what this means for the company going forward and who will be replacing him? It was announced that Amazon will lay off hundreds of employees in its Alexa division. We look at why Amazon is moving its resources towards AI and away from its Alexa smart speaker. And Canada's capital city Ottawa was once branded 'the city that fun forgot.' But plans are in place to change that. We hear how the city is hoping to hire a 'nightlife tzar'. Our presenter Roger Hearing will be discussing these topics alongside guests Andy Uhler and Salve Duplito.

Buyers in the US will be able to browse and purchase vehicles from dealers on Amazon starting from next yea. We hear if consumers are likely to buy a Hyundai car alongside their online shopping basket and why this deal will change the way we purchase cars going forward. We take a look at the aftermath of that meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping. Is anything going to change in the somewhat icy trade relations? And the UK luxury chocolatier Hotel Chocolat has been sold to the US confectionary giant Mars for $660 million. We find out why this deal has raised some eyebrows and if Mars can help the brand conquer the US. (Picture: Hyundai unveils the 2024 Santa Fe XRT during AutoMobility LA at the LA Convention Center in Los Angeles, California. Credit: EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in San Francisco, California to discuss relations between the two countries, which deteriorated earlier this year. They agreed to restore high-level military communication and take steps to curb fentanyl production. We find out what this means for the two superpowers going forward. And the union representing thousands of Starbucks workers in the US will stage a walkout on one of the coffee chain's busiest days of the year. We get the latest from a Starbucks worker in the US. (Picture: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the side-lines of APEC summit, in Woodside. Credit: Reuters)

The presidents of the US and China are meeting in person for the first time in a year, at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group summit in San Francisco. We consider what could be on the agenda. Sales of electric vehicles remain strong despite the reduction in public incentives to buy them. We find out why. And we go to Wales to hear how the rise in shoplifting incidents is impacting a supermarket chain. Rahul Tandon discusses these and more business stories with two guests on opposite sides of the world: NPR's Emily Feng in Taipei and Cleo Capital's managing director Sarah Kunst in San Francisco. (Picture: U.S. President Joe Biden shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping as they meet on the sidelines of the G20 leaders' summit in Bali, Indonesia, November 14, 2022.Picture credit: Reuters)

The agreement could be the first of its kind, but how easy will it be to reach a consensus? Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr. has appeared in court as part of a civil case against the former US president. Our reporter in New York was watching proceedings. And a researcher tells us why employees find Zoom meetings boring, and what managers can do to make them more engaging. Rahul Tandon discusses these and more business stories with two guests on opposite sides of the world: Kimberly Adams from Marketplace, in Washington DC, and Han Lin who is China Country Head at the Asia group, in Shanghai. (Picture: Employees sort plastic bottles at the Weeco plastic recycling factory at the Athi River industrial zone near Nairobi, Kenya, May 15, 2019. Picture credit: Reuters)

On Thursday, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, hosted a conference in Paris aimed at co-ordinating aid for Gaza. Today, BBC Europe editor Katya Adler, has been speaking to him. She started by asking Mr Macron about his reaction to the Hamas attacks in southern Israel on 7th October, which killed at least 1,200 people, and the Israeli response, which the Hamas-run authorities in Gaza say has left more than 11,000 people dead. We also will talk about the meeting between US and China leaders - Joe Biden and Xi Jinping. And we will discuss the spending power during Diwali celebration. (Picture: French President, Emmanuel Macron Picture credit: BBC)

The 10th annual Hollywood Diversity report says top TV shows are improving representation. Also, the US says Israel will make a daily pause in the fighting in Gaza for four hours. Plus, if being micromanaged is bad for your health, what makes for a good boss? And a Texas steakhouse chef on why beef prices are reaching record levels. Rahul Tandon is joined throughout the show by Dante Disparte, Head of Global Policy for Circle, a financial technology firm in Washington DC, and Mehmal Sarfraz, a journalist and co-founder of the news website Current.pk in Lahore, Pakistan. (Picture: ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-CONFLICT. Picture credit: Getty Images)

With less than 12 months to go until the US presidential election, five Republican candidates took to the stage to promote their candidacy. The frontrunner for the selection, former President Donald Trump, missed the debate, instead attending a rally in Miami. Sam Fenwick hears the latest from the debate, and discusses other business stories from around the world with Steven Bertoni, Senior Editor with Forbes in New York, and Rachel Pupazzoni, Business Reporter with ABC news in Perth, Australia. (Picture: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks as former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, former biotech executive Vivek Ramaswamy and U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) listen at the third Republican candidates' U.S. presidential debate of the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign hosted by NBC News at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Florida, U.S., November 8, 2023. Credit: REUTERS/Mike Segar)

Research from the New York Fed shows the amount of credit card debt has been rising every quarter for the past two year with more people missing payments. The $154 billion increase in credit card debt is the biggest since the organisation started tracking data in 1999. Sam Fenwick discusses this and more global business news stories with Satoshi Shimoda, senior reporter at Nikkei newspaper in Tokyo, and Kristina Hooper, Chief Global Market Strategist at Invesco in New York. (Picture: Shoppers cross Sixth Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., September 21, 2023. Credit: REUTERS/Bing Guan)

Donald Trump has testified in a New York court as he fights a civil fraud trial that threatens to crush his real estate empire. The former president is accused of fraudulently inflating the value of his properties to secure favourable loans. Sam Fenwick gets the latest and discusses this and more of the world's biggest business stories with Peter Morici, economist from the University of Maryland. and Jennifer Pak, China Correspondent for American Public Media in Shanghai. (Picture: Former U.S. President Donald Trump leaves the courtroom after attending the Trump Organization civil fraud trial, in New York State Supreme Court in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., November 6, 2023. Credit: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton)

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese touches down in Beijing this weekend and he will be the first Australian leader to visit China in seven years. Will these two nations finally bury the hatchet – we will get the latest. In the US President Biden is hosting leaders from Latin America - we will be hearing from the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment from the US to talk about the trade ties there. And there is a rising fashion trend at the moment called 'dupes' - we look at the business of copycats handbags. (Photo: Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (L) and China's President Xi Jinping shake hands prior to a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders' Summit in November 2022. Credit: EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Sam Bankman-Fried, who once ran one of the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, has been found guilty of fraud and money laundering at the end of a month-long trial in New York. We hear the latest reaction from the US and what this will mean for the former 'crypto king' as well as how his empire came crashing down. Also, the US House of Representatives has voted in favour of sending more than fourteen billion dollars of security aid to Israel. And we look at why more women are now choosing MBA programs in the US and how they are being supported in various business school. (Picture: FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried exits United States Court in New York City, New York in June Credit: Reuters)

The US Federal Reserve has left interest rates unchanged at a 22 year high in a bid to stabilise price rises which has reached record levels. We'll be getting the latest reaction from a business in the US. Shares in the world's biggest offshore wind developer Orsted has fallen all because they abandoned a project to build two huge wind farms off the east coast of the United States. We hear why it seems so hard to get these developments of the ground. And would you fancy a 70-hour working week? Well one man in India has sparked a debate in the country with this call saying young Indian professionals need to work harder and longer. (Picture: US Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell delivers remarks after the Fed refrained from raising interest rates. Picture credit: EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Israel's military has confirmed that its jets carried out an attack in the Jabalia area of Gaza. The IDF says the strike killed a senior Hamas commander and caused the collapse of Hamas's underground infrastructure. The Hamas-run health ministry and a hospital director say at least 50 people were killed. (Picture: GAZA CITY, GAZA - OCTOBER 31: A view from the area after Israeli airstrikes on Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, on October 31, 2023. Picture credit: Getty Images).

The United States has said it is confident there will be an increase in humanitarian aid entering Gaza through the Rafah crossing at the border with Egypt in the coming days. Meanwhile, Israel has been continuing to intensify its air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces have been seen on the territory's main north-south road, close to Gaza City. (Picture: KHAN YUNIS, GAZA - OCTOBER 29: Distribution of medical aid and medicines to Nasser Medical Hospital in the city of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, which recently arrived through the Rafah crossing on October 29, 2023 in Khan Yunis, Gaza. Picture credit: Getty Images).

On Friday, US President Joe Biden met with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi for an hour, which the White House described as a "good opportunity" to maintain lines of communication open between the two geopolitical foes. And Taylor Swift, with a record-breaking tour, a blockbuster film, and a keen business sense, the 33-year-old musician is now worth $1.1 billion. Devina Gupta discusses this and more of the business news from around with James Early, Chief Investment Officer at BBAE (digital investment platform) in Washington D.C, and Sushma Ramachandran, Independent business journalist and columnist at The Tribune newspaper, Delhi. (Picture: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrive to speaks to the press prior to meetings at the State Department in Washington, DC, October 26, 2023. Photo Credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images).

Former crypto boss Sam Bankman-Fried has been testifying to a judge at his trial after the jury was sent home. The former entrepreneur was asked to testify to Judge Lewis Kaplan to determine which parts of his testimony can be put to the jury. The PlayStation 5's manufacturer, Sony, has announced that the supply chain issues that beset the device for three years have been fixed. Leanna Byrne discusses this and more of the business news from around with Yoko Ishikura, Professor Emeritus at Hitotsubashi University and currently a member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network based in Japan and in Colombia we have Sergio Guzmán, Director at Colombia Risk Analysis. (FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried leaves from Manhattan Federal Court after court appearance in New York, United States on June 15, 2023. Photo Credit: Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Mike Johnson has been elected Speaker of the House of Representatives, ending weeks of chaos and Republican infighting on Capitol Hill. Mr Johnson's success in the hard-fought Speaker battle represents a victory for the ideologically right-wing, Trump-aligned faction of the Republican Party and a loss for its moderates, whose candidates struggled to gain traction among conservative representatives on Capitol Hill. (Picture: House Elects Mike Johnson Of Louisiana As Speaker. Picture credit: Getty Images)

Thirty three US states have grouped together to file a lawsuit accusing Facebook and Instagram's owner Meta of contributing to a youth mental health crisis for the sake of profit. A suit filed in a federal court in California said Meta had "repeatedly misled the public about the substantial dangers of its Social Media Platforms". Meta said it sought to make young people safe online. (Picture: State Senator Andrew Gounardes speaks as Governor Kathy. Picture credit: Getty Images)

There's a mood of consolidation in the air in the US oil industry - earlier this month Exxon Mobil, the largest American oil-producer, bought oil-explorer Pioneer Natural Resources for $59.5bn. Now Chevron has announced its buying its main rival Hess for $53bn. The oil industry last went through an era of major consolidation in the late 1990s, following a collapse in oil prices. That's not the case now. Today, the majors are sitting on piles of cash. (Picture: Blue Metal Oil Barrels Stacked In A Warehouse. Picture credit: Getty Images)

Voters in Argentina will be heading to the voting centres on Sunday to cast their ballot in what is widely regarded as the most unpredictable presidential election since the country returned to democracy 40 years ago. And this comes in the middle of an economic crisis with inflation is at almost 140%. One of the Presidential candidates, Javier Milei is promising to dollarizing the economy and get rid of the local currency, the Peso. Rahul Tandon discusses this and more of the business news from around with Fermin Koop, Argentine freelance journalist on environmental and climate change, and Rebecca Choong Wilkins, Senior Correspondent and China Credit Reporter for Bloomberg who mainly covers China property debt. (Picture: A supporter of Argentina's presidential candidate, poses for a picture during the closing of a campaign in Lomas de Zamora, Buenos Aires province, on October 19, 2023, ahead of Argentina's presidential election to be held on October 22. Photo Credit: JUAN MABROMATA/AFP via Getty Images)

US President Joe Biden has delivered a national primetime address from the White House. The speech has touched on US support for Israel and Ukraine, among other issues of national security. Biden's began his address saying: "We're facing an inflection point in history." Rahul Tandon discusses this and more of the business news from around with Stephanie Hare, a researcher of technology and politics based in London, and Andy Xie who is independent economist in Shanghai and formerly worked for Morgan Stanley & the World Bank. (Picture: US President Joe Biden addresses the nation on the conflict between Israel and Gaza and the Russian invasion of Ukraine from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 19, 2023. Photo Credit: Jonathan Ernst/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

International aid agencies are waiting to get full details of the opening of Egyptian border with Gaza for aid delivery to the strip after 10 days war. The US president Joe Biden has announced that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has agreed to open the Rafah crossing to a handful of trucks loaded with aid destined for the Gaza Strip. We will hear from The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies about they are ready to deliver this aid to the people who need it. (Picture: Aid convoy trucks loaded with supplies are seen near the North Sinai in Egypt on October 15, 2023. The aid convoy, organized by a group of Egyptian NGOs, set off today from Cairo for the Gaza-Egypt border crossing at Rafah. Photo credit: Mahmoud Khaled/Getty Images)

The World Health Organisation says it needs urgent safe passage to send supplies as people are 'dying unnecessarily from a lack of water and medical care'. President Biden and other world leaders have called on Egypt to open the border known as the Rafah crossing as tonnes of aid piles up. Sam Fenwick discusses this and more business news from around the world with Tony Nash, chief economist at Complete Intelligence, in Texas, and Rachel Cartland, author, writer and expert on Hong Kong. (Picture: People load a humanitarian aid convoy for the Gaza Strip, parked in Arish, Egypt, 16 October 2023.Credit: STR/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Russia's President Vladimir Putin is expected to meet China's President Xi Jinping as the programme marks its 10th anniversary. Over that ten years has it benefitted China or the developing countries where the building projects have taken place? Roger Hearing discusses this and other business news from around the world with Sharon Bretkelly, Presenter at Radio New Zealand in Auckland, and Peter Morici, Economist at the University of Maryland.

Microsoft has completed its $69bn takeover of Call of Duty-maker Activision Blizzard in the gaming industry's biggest ever deal. Also we will dear about the US healthcare company Kaiser Permanente and its workers have reached a tentative deal, following the largest medical strike on record. More than 75,000 health workers in five US states and Washington DC went on a 72-hour strike for better wages and improved staffing last week. Vivienne Nunis discusses this and more of the business news from around with Takara Small, Toronto-based technology journalist, and Simon Littlewood, President of ACG Global Growth Delivered based in Singapore. (Picture: Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard. The European Union approved Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Photo credit: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

New Zealanders will be casting their vote on Saturday in the country's general election, 9 months after Jacinda Arden unexpectedly resigned as Prime Minister. They'll be deciding whether to give Labour a third term in office, or flip to a National-led government. We’ll hear from the current finance minister and the deputy leader of the opposition. Ford Motor shares fell after the United Auto Workers (UAW) union expanded its strike at the company's biggest and most profitable factory in Kentucky. The UAW said 8,700 workers walked out of the truck plant in Kentucky, in response to Ford refusing to move further in contract negotiations. Vivienne Nunis discusses this and more of the business news from around with Colin Peacock, the host of MediaWatch at Radio New Zealand and Betsey Stevenson, Professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan. (Photo: A voting sign on display outside a polling booth during election day on October 17, 2020 in Wellington, New Zealand. Picture Credit: Getty Images)

As the conflict continues, we hear how a business tries to stay afloat in Israel, and we look into the role cryptocurrencies may have played in the financing of Hamas. The trial of the founder of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, goes on in New York. We get the latest from our correspondent. An undercover investigation by the BBC has exposed a blackmail scam using instant loan apps to entrap and humiliate people across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. We hear more about how it worked. Rahul Tandon discusses these and more business stories with two guests on opposite sides of the world: Mehmal Sarfraz, Co-founder of The Current in Lahore, and Tony Nash, chief economist at Complete Intelligence in Houston. (Picture: An Israeli army flare illuminates the sky above the northern Gaza strip on 11 October 2023. Picture credit: MOHAMMED SABER/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

The US and the European Union vow to increase support as more reports of killings emerge. We take a look at the impact this is having in the global economy. Finland and Estonia are investigating damages to an undersea gas pipeline between both countries. Authorities suspect it wasn't an accident. We hear about the implications this can have for the energy market. And the trial against the crypto exchange FTX's founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, goes on in New York, where his former girlfriend will testify. We get the latest from our correspondent. Rahul Tandon discusses these and more business stories with two guests on opposite sides of the world: Andy Uhler in the US, journalism fellow at the University of Texas Energy Institute and Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy, and Rachel Pupazzoni in Australia, a national business reporter and presenter at ABC. (Picture: A view shows houses and buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes in Gaza City, October 10, 2023. Picture credit: Reuters)

Volatility could spread across global markets as the conflict escalates. We take a look at what is happening in the Middle East and the implications this could have for the rest of the world. China's Golden Week has given the tourism industry a huge boost, but not as big as expected. We hear more about the impact it had on tourism and retail. And Claudia Goldin has won the Nobel economic prize. We look into the research that led her to receive the award. Rahul Tandon discusses these and more business stories with two guests on opposite sides of the world: Stefanie Yuen Thio, Joint Managing Partner at TSMP Law in Singapore, and Luisa Kroll, executive editor at Forbes in New York. (Picture: Smoke rises following an Israeli air strike on Gaza City, 09 October 2023. Picture credit: MOHAMMED SABER/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Employers added 336,000 jobs in September, almost double the 170,000 estimated, according to figures released by the Labor Department. Great news if you're looking for work there, of course, but if you're in the Federal Reserve, America's central bank, and worried about the economy overheating, maybe not so good. (Picture: Portrait of smiling waitress carrying food and drink on serving tray in bar. Picture credit: Getty Images)

The World Trade organisation has halved its estimate for global exports growth this year - from 1.7% to just 0.8%. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, WTO director-general, said the projected slowdown was “cause for concern, because of the adverse implications for the living standards of people around the world”. (Picture: Glass globe representing international business and trade. Picture credit: Getty Images)

Governments around the world are finding it harder to borrow as Bond prices fall. It means that yields are up, but could lead to higher interest rates for longer. Roger Hearing discusses this and more business stories from around the world with Mehmal Sarfraz, Co-Founder of The Current PK in Lahore, and Sarah Kunst, managing director of Cleo Capital, in San Francisco. (Picture: An investor walks past an electronic board displaying live market data at a stock broker's office in central Bangkok, Thailand, August 19, 2015. Credit: REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom/File Photo/File Photo)

The US House of Representatives has voted to remove the Republican Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, the first time in history that the chamber has removed its Speaker from office. It follows a motion put forward by Republican rebel Matt Gaetz who had criticised Mr McCarthy for reaching a temporary spending deal with Democrats to avoid a government shutdown. Roger Hearing discusses this and more business news from around the globe with Satoshi Shimoda, Senior Journalist at Nikkei in Tokyo and Kristina Hooper, Chief Global Market Strategist at Invesco, in New York. (Picture: Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy responds to a question from the news media as he walks to the House floor in the US Capitol in Washington, DC, USA, 03 October 2023. Credit: SHAWN THEW/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Donald Trump criticises a judge and prosecutor as he attends the opening of a fraud trial that threatens his business organisation. The former President is accused of overstating the value of his business and property in order to get bank-loans, which he denies, Roger Hearing discusses this and other business stories from around the world with Jessica Khine, Corporate Advisor for Astris Advisory in Penang, Malaysia and Peter Morici, Economist at the University of Maryland in Virginia. (Picture: Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a Manhattan courthouse, where he attends the trial of himself, his adult sons, the Trump Organization and others in a civil fraud case brought by state Attorney General Letitia James, in New York City, U.S., October 2, 2023. Credit: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)

A state of emergency has been declared in New York City as strong storms cause flash flooding which have affected the subway, streets and highways and closed at least one terminal at LaGuardia Airport closed on Friday. The US is edging closer to a government shutdown after Republicans rejected a last-minute funding deal in the House of Representatives. The latest on the UAW strikes in America with 7000 more workers at Ford and General Motors now set to join the industrial action. And Rahul Tandon speaks to the mixologist who’s just been voted the world’s best bartender. IMAGE CREDIT: Michael M.Santiago/Getty Images

Shares in the property company Evergrande were suspended from Hong Kong trading on Thursday as the company confirmed that its billionaire founder and chairman, Hui Ka Yan, has been detained on suspicion of criminal activity. Rahul Tandon looks at the latest developments and what might happen next. Could the United Auto Workers in America reach a deal over strike action, or are they about to expand their action and call more strikes? And why after 25 years, Netflix is ending its DVD rental service, meaning there’ll be no more red envelopes being sent through the post for customers. Presenter Rahul Tandon talks about these and other business stories with Karen Percy in Melbourne and Oliver Stuenkel Associate professor of International Relations at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Sao Paulo.

The controversial Rosebank offshore development off Shetland has been granted consent by regulators. Rosebank is the UK's largest untapped oil field and is estimated to contain up to 300 million barrels of oil. The plan has faced widespread criticism due to its impact on climate change. (Picture: Greenpeace activists board a BP oil rig in Cromarty Firth to stop it from further oil drilling at sea, June 10th 2019, Cromarty, Scotland, United Kingdom. Picture Credit: Getty Images).

Donald Trump "repeatedly" misrepresented his wealth, by up to $3.6 billion, to banks and insurers, a New York judge has ruled. It is a major blow for Mr Trump before the case goes to trial next Monday. (Picture: ERIE, PA - JULY 29: Former President Donald J. Trump speaks to supporters during a Make America Great Again rally in Erie, Pennsylvania on July 29. Picture Credit: Getty Images).

A tentative deal has been struck between a major US screenwriters union, The Writer’s Guild of America and studio bosses that could end five months of strike action. Details of the deal haven't been made public yet, but it’s understood agreement has been reached over writers' demands over protections from AI and better residual pay from streaming companies. The head of the music streaming giant Spotify, Daniel Ek, has told the BBC there is a place in the industry for music created by Artificial Intelligence, so long as it does not impersonate artists. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is in Vietnam to discuss a possible deal with the Mercosur bloc of countries - what areas would any agreement cover and how would it benefit both sides? And Roger Hearing finds out who pays the bill to maintain those super yachts and other assets seized from Russian oligarchs with links to the Kremlin. Roger Hearing discusses these and more business stories with two guests: In India, Jyoti Malhotra, Editor, National & Strategic Affairs at The Print India and in America, Kimberly Adams from Washington.

The move excludes Ford, which the UAW says is making more progress in talks. We take a look at the latest developments. The Russian military company Wagner has a new leader - business school grad Dmitry Sytii. We hear more about him and what this means for the firm. And in South America, a toll on a crucial waterway has generated a growing and expensive row between Argentina and Paraguay. We look into the details. Roger Hearing discusses these and more business stories with two guests on opposite sides of the world: Jennifer Pak, China Correspondent for Marketplace, and Sergio Guzmán, Director of Colombia Risk Analysis.

The 92-year-old will become chairman emeritus of the two corporations. His son, Lachland Murdoch, has been named his successor. We look at what the future might hold for family-run media empire. The cost of oranges has gone up this year as crop sizes have gone down across the world due to weather events. We hear more from a farmer and a trading association in Florida. And Russia bans the export of diesel and petrol. We look at the reasons and the impact this can have on global fuel prices. Roger Hearing discusses these and more business news with two guests on opposite sides of the world: Simon Littlewood, President of ACG Global in Singapore, and Sarah Kunst, managing director of Cleo Capital in San Francisco. (Picture: Rupert Murdoch. Picture credit: Reuters)

The US Federal Reserve held interest rates unchanged but projected a further rise by the end of the year. The Fed is keeping monetary policy significantly tighter than previously expected in 2024. (Picture: Federal Reserve Chair Powell Holds A News Conference Following The Federal Open Market Committee Meeting. Picture credit: Getty Images)

The parents of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried are being sued for money they allegedly received from the crypto firm ahead of its collapse. Also, why retailers including H&M are clamping down on customer returns. (Picture: Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Attends Hearing To Determine Bail Revocation. Picture credit: Getty Images)

Union negotiators continued talks with representatives from General Motors, Ford and the Jeep-maker Stellantis today, as a historic strike by workers at America's top three car manufacturers entered the fourth day. The United Auto Workers union is seeking a 40% pay rise over a four year term, far more than the roughly 20% the companies have currently put on the table. (Photo: United Auto Workers Hold Limited Strikes As Contract Negotiations Expire. Credit: Getty Images)

US President Joe Biden says striking UAW workers deserve a 'fair share' of record profits made by automakers. The president said he hopes both sides can forge a "win-win" agreement. We'll be discussing the fall out of the first day of the car worker strikes in the US. Disney boss Bob Igor recently hinted that it was going to sell off it's TV network, ABC. Media entrepreneur Byron Allen has put his name in the ring to buy the station. We find out if his 10 billion dollar bid is a decent valuation. And some new research suggests that three in 10 people will quit their jobs after getting a promotion. Seems strange doesn't it - put all that work into getting a new job only to leave. We'll be hearing from the company behind the study. (Picture: President Biden's Remarks on Contract Negotiations Between UAW and Big 3 Auto Makers, Washington, US. Credit: EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Workers at General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis are set to walkout this week if their employers fail to meet their demands for big pay raises. Nearly 150,000 want a 46% pay increase and the restoration of concessions workers made years ago when the companies were in financial trouble. Sam Fenwick discusses this and more of the business news from around with Andy Uhler, journalist and fellow of the University of Texas Energy Institute in Austin, and Jyoti Malhotra, is Editor, National & Strategic Affairs at The Print India. (Picture: "UAW on strike" picket signs lay on a pile of wood outside the General Motors Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly in Hamtramck, Michigan, U.S. October 25, 2019. Credit: REUTERS/Rebecca Cook/File Photo)

Owners of the chip-designer ARM have announced what they're expecting of the most anticipated stock market launch in years. The price of $51 per share shows how microchips have become an indispensable part of the global economy. Alongside Peter Ryan, ABC Senior Business Correspondent and Alison Van Diggelen, Host of Fresh Dialogues based in Silicon Valley, Roger Hearing dissects this and the other business news from around the world. (Picture: Semiconductor chips are seen on a printed circuit board in this illustration picture taken February 17, 2023. Credit: REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo)

The head of BP Bernard Looney has suddenly resigned following allegations over personal relationships with colleagues. We find out what this means for the company going forward. It's Apple's new product launch day and it was overshadowed by their charging cable. We will be getting the latest news about the tech giant after the EU forced them to change their lightning charger ports. And dynamic pricing arrives in some British pubs - but will people accept paying more at busy times?

The two leaders are likely to discuss North Korea supplying weapons in support of Russia’s war in Ukraine. We will hear the latest on the economic friendship between the two countries. And Thailand's new prime minister has announced a cash handout in a bid to revive the economy. $300 will be distributed to every citizen through a digital wallet. We look at how this tactic will revive the country's economy. Also, US actress Drew Barrymore has caused controversy by bringing her talk show back to the airwaves despite the ongoing Hollywood strikes. We find out how her daytime show will be affected going forward. (Picture: North Korea's Kim en route to Russia for talks with Putin Credit: Reuters)

Officials at the G20 summit in Delhi say the African Union could become a member. The proposal has been backed by the US and by India, which is hosting the meeting. Roger Hearing discusses this topic and more other stories with Rachel Pupazzoni, Business Reporter at ABC News Australia and Simon Littlewood, Singapore based economics and the President of ACG Global Growth Delivered. (Workers decorate a G20 installation at the International Media Centre (IMC) on the eve of the two-day G20 summit in New Delhi on September 8, 2023. Picture Credit: Getty Images)

World leaders are making their way to Delhi for this weekend's G20 summit. And India is trying hard to present its best face for the visiting dignitaries. But is it trying too hard? The co-working company, WeWork, is looking to renegotiate nearly all of its office leases following a significant decline in its share value since the beginning of the year. The company has 777 locations in 39 countries with long term lease obligations totalling more than $13 billion. Roger Hearing discusses this topics and more other stories with Oliver Stuenkel, associate professor of International Relations at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Rachel Cartland - author, writer and expert based in Hong Kong. (G20 installation outside Pragati Maidan ahead of the G20 India Summit, on September 7, 2023 in New Delhi, India. Picture Credit: Getty Images)

African leaders have issued a declaration proposing new taxes across the world to fund action against climate change. The United States has announced another billion dollars' worth of aid for Ukraine. It includes a- hundred- and- seventy- five- million dollars in military assistance. Today marks 10 years since Chinese President, Xi Jinping, launched the Belt and Road Initiative on September 7, 2013, proposing new trade routes to create a 'new Silk Road' and widen economic cooperation. What is the impact of this after a decade? Rahul Tandon discusses these topics and more with Alexander Kaufman, Senior Reporter at Huffington Post and Zyma Islam, Journalist at Daily Star in Bangladesh. (A young man getting water from river Shabelle in the city of Gode, Ethiopia, after climate induced drought caused the failure of five rainy seasons, triggering the worst drought in four decades in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. Photo Credit: Getty Images).

The cost of oil jumps above $90 a barrel for the first time in 2023. We look at the reasons and the consequences this can have across the world. A new law has taken effect in New York City that restricts short term rentals through platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO. We find out the details and talk to an Airbnb host about the implications. And we hear about the Belgian government's initiative to put pressure on banks to get them to raise interest rates on deposits. But will it work? Rahul Tandon discusses this and more business news with two guests on opposite sides of the world: Dana Peterson in New York, who is the Chief Economist & Center Leader of Economy, Strategy & Finance at The Conference Board, and Jessica Khine in Singapore, who is a Corporate Advisor for a boutique in Japan called Astris Advisory. (Picture: An oil and gas pump jack near Granum, in Canada. Picture credit: Reuters)

Russian president Vladimir Putin says the agreement to allow Ukrainian grain exports on the Black Sea will be revived when his demands on exporting Russian products are met. We look into the impact this is having on Ukraine's economy. Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are holding their biannual meeting in Indonesia. We hear about the topics they will discuss and why US president Joe Biden's absence is under scrutiny. Rahul Tandon discusses this and more business news with two guests on opposite sides of the world: University of Maryland School of Business professor Peter Morici in the US and ABC's presenter Sinead Mangan in Australia. (Picture: Russian President Putin and Turkey's President Erdogan meet in Sochi, Russia. Picture credit: SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock.)

The highest storm alert is in force in Hong Kong as Typhoon Saola is approaching. It could be the strongest storm to hit the region in decades, with the Hong Kong Observatory is warning of winds with mean speeds of 118 km/h. Tens of millions of people in Hong Kong and adjacent areas of mainland China have taken shelter. Emergency shelters have been opening in the city of Shenzhen. (Picture: HONG KONG, CHINA - SEPTEMBER 01: Super Typhoon Saola hits Hong Kong, China on September 01, 2023. Picture Credit: Getty Images).

Tropical Storm Idalia is the most expensive natural disaster to hit the US this year. UBS has estimated that insurance companies in the state will be have to pay out $10 billion, but that figure could rise. This will put more pressure on insurance companies in Florida, where nine property insurance firms have closed down since 2021. We hear from a business that was badly damaged by the storm. (Picture: PERRY, FL - AUGUST 30: A damaged business in downtown Perry, Fla. Scenes from Perry, Fla. on Wednesday, August 30, 2023 after Hurricane Idalia passed through the area. Picture Credit: Getty Images).

Switzerland has outlined a series of measures to combat money laundering and increase transparency in its huge financial sector. They include a register of those who ultimately benefit from trusts and companies - Switzerland is the only European country that doesn't have one. Toymaker Lego saw profits fall in the first half of the year as the bumper sales growth seen during the pandemic starts to fade. Burger King must face a lawsuit that alleges it makes its Whopper burger appear larger on its menus than it is in reality, a US judge has ruled. So what goes into photographing food? Can it be cheated? Roger Hearing discusses these topics and more with Takara Small, technology journalist in Toronto, and Satoshi Shimoda, Senior Staff Writer at Nikkei newspaper, based in Tokyo. (A sign showing "Bank" written at the entrance of the headquarters of Swiss giant banking UBS. Photo Credit: Getty Images)

US commerce secretary, Gina Raimondo, is calling on Beijing to reduce the risk of doing business in China for American companies. Ms Raimondo says fines, raids and other actions have made it too risky to do business in the world's second largest economy. She made the remarks during her current four-day trip to China, but added she didn't want Washington to cut links with the Chinese economy. The Chinese premier, Li Qiang, accused the United States of politicising trade, which he warned would have a disastrous impact on global finances. Workers at two large liquefied natural gas plants in Australia are set to go on strike from 7 September, in a move that could drive up global prices. The dispute is about pay and working conditions. The Wheatstone and Gorgon sites produce more than 5% of the world's LNG and about 500 workers are currently employed at the two plants in Western Australia. Roger Hearing discusses these topics and more with Jyoti Malhotra, editor, National and Strategic Affairs of The Print news portal in Delhi and Alison Van Diggelen, host of the Fresh Dialogues in San Francisco.

Shares in embattled Chinese property developer Evergrande have fallen almost 80% in their first day of trading in Hong Kong for a year and a half. The shares have lost more than 99% of their value in the past three years as Beijing cracked down on property firms. A technical issue at UK air traffic control has led to long flight delays and a federal judge has scheduled the trial for Donald Trump for his alleged effort to overturn the 2020 election for 4 March, the day before Super Tuesday, the biggest voting day in the Republican race. Roger Hearing discusses these topics and more with Gaby Castro-Fontoura, a business consultant based in Uruguay, and Ralph Silva of the Silva Research Network in Toronto, Canada. (Evergrande Group logo. Photo Credit: Getty Images)

The US Federal Reserve chairman has said the central bank will continue to raise interest rates "if appropriate" as inflation remains "too high". Jerome Powell told an annual gathering of central bankers that the pace of price rises had fallen from a peak. The Director of the British Museum is stepping down over the way the institution under his leadership handled a series of thefts that have shaken its reputation. The international leg of Taylor Swift's Eras tour kicked off last night in Mexico City. She is on track to make one billion US dollars from her Eras tour, which would make concert history. (People shop at a Market in New York City. Photo Credit: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

The BRICS group of nations has invited six countries to join them. They are Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. We look at how some of these countries would benefit from joining this bloc. China suspends all seafood imports from Japan over the release of wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific. Central banks from around the world are gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for the start of the influential three-day economic conference. (The national flags of current BRICS members are displayed at the conference centre in South Africa. Photo Credit: Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images)

Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was listed as a passenger on a private jet which crashed on Wednesday evening north of Moscow with no survivors, the Russian authorities said, raising fears among his allies that he had been killed. Plus, central bankers from around the world descend on the US mountain resort of Jackson Hole in Wyoming for the Federal Reserve’s annual gathering. The race to win the Republican nomination for the White House steps up a gear, as the party holds its first presidential debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Roger Hearing will discuss these stories and more with Steven Bertoni, Forbes Senior Editor who is in New York, and Yoko Ishikura, Professor Emeritus at Hitotsubashi University who is in Whistler, Canada. (Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Russian private security company Wagner, holding a rifle in an unspecified location in Africa on August 21, 2023. Photo credit: Wagner Account/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

British microchip designing giant Arm has announced it has filed paperwork to sell its shares in the US. The Cambridge-based company, which designs chips for devices from smartphones to game consoles, plans to list on New York's Nasdaq in September. Also, Microsoft has made a new bid to buy Call of Duty-maker Activision Blizzard in the latest twist in the tale of what would be the biggest deal of its kind in the gaming industry. Its original $69bn (£59bn) deal was blocked by UK regulators, but under the new offer Microsoft has agreed to transfer the rights to stream Activision games from the cloud to Ubisoft, a video games publisher, for 15 years. Roger Hearing will discuss these stories and more with Jeanette Rodrigues, South Asia managing editor for Bloomberg News who's in Mumbai and Walter Todd, the president and chief investment officer for Greenwood Capital in Greenwood, South Carolina. (Arm's chips are used in devices such as smartphones. Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Tropical Storm Hilary swept across the US state of California on Sunday night, bringing fierce winds and flooding to the Pacific coast. Now headed north to Nevada, the storm passed over Southern California, with record rainfall and flash flooding predicted in the Death Valley National Park. The storm is expected to deal a major blow to the region's economy, including its vineyards which last year generated over $88 billion for the US. Left-winger Luisa Gonzalez is leading in Ecuador's presidential election. The poll was combined with a referendum, in which voters chose to end oil drilling in the Amazon. What could this mean for the country's economy, given that oil production accounts for almost 30 percent of its exports? We also head to Valencia to see how people in the city have been celebrating Spain winning the Women's World Cup. Roger Hearing will be joined throughout the programme by Rachel Pupazzoni, business reporter for ABC News Australia and Peter Morici, economist at the University of Maryland in Alexandra, Virginia. (Motorists deal with a flooded road and stuck vehicles during heavy rains from Tropical Storm Hilary in Palm Springs, California. Photo Credit: Getty Images)

We discuss how the heavily-indebted Evergrande hopes filing for bankruptcy protection will protect its assets in the US, as it works on a multi-billion dollar deal with creditors. The move comes as problems in China's property market add to concerns about the world's second largest economy. Also, US President Joe Biden has today hailed a "new era" of unity with the leaders of South Korea and Japan, as the three allies announced security cooperation at a first-of-its-kind summit, at Camp David, west of Washington. Millions of people will be gearing up to watch the Women's World Cup final over the weekend, when Spain take on England. Our presenter Rahul Tandon is joined by Takara Small, a technology journalist based in Canada, and Zyma Islam, a reporter with the Daily Star newspaper in Bangladesh. (Evergrande Group logo. Photo credit: Getty Images)

We look at how US government bonds have become a good source of income for investors. We hear from one businessman in Canada as wildfires spread across his neighbourhood. and we discuss why some of the biggest hotel groups in the world are helping to boost all-inclusive holidays

We discuss Joe Biden plans to boost the US economy through the landmark legislation known as the Inflation Reduction Act. We hear the arguments both for and against its potential to develop green industries in the US. We hear from the man who came up with the term BRICS to describe the economic alliance that binds Brazil, Russia, India and China. The countries came together two decades ago. And Sotherby’s in California is auctioning off twenty vintage Ferraris which came into their possession in a rather bizarre way.

It has been said that if America sneezes then the world catches a cold and this must now be true of China, the world’s second largest economy. On Tuesday it unexpectedly cut a key interest rate to try to boost growth and also said it would no longer report figures for youth unemployment. We look at how China’s economic woes are affecting the rest of the world. (Picture: Businessman looking at cityscape. Picture credit: Getty Images)

The gross domestic product (GDP) figure translated to a quarterly increase of 1.5%. It's the third straight quarter of expansion led by external demand and expanded exports by 3.2% respectively. The positive GBD data was driven by exports of goods such as automobiles as supply chain constraints, including shortage of semiconductors, eased. Recovering inbound tourism after the COVID-19 pandemic also contributed to the services exports. (Picture: Japan flag and Japanese Yen cash bills. Picture credit: Getty Images)

A judge in New York has revoked the bail of Sam Bankman-Fried, the former boss of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange, FTX. He will now remain in jail until his trial in October. Reports from the courtroom say Mr Bankman-Fried handed his blazer, tie and shoelaces to his lawyers and was then handcuffed by U.S. Marshals. Vivienne Nunis is joined by Peter Ryan, ABC Australia's senior business correspondent, from Sydney, and Jennifer Pak, China correspondent for Marketplace in Shanghai. (Picture: NEW YORK, USA - AUGUST 11: FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried arrives in Manhattan Federal Court to appear in court in New York, United States on August 11, 2023. Picture Credit: Getty Images).

As Hawaii tries to deal with a catastrophic wildfire that has taken 36 lives, we hear how the tourism industry there is trying to evacuate staff and visitors. Roger Hearing is joined by Simon Littlewood, President of ACG Global in Singapore and technology journalist, Takara Small, in Canada. (Picture: An aerial image taken on August 10, 2023 shows destroyed homes and buildings on the waterfront burned to the ground in Lahaina in the aftermath of wildfires in western Maui, Hawaii. Picture Credit: Getty Images).

US President Joe Biden will ban some US investment into Chinese quantum computing, advanced chips and artificial intelligence sectors, as it boosts efforts to stop China’s military from accessing American technology and capital. We hear how China have responded to the restrictions and what this means for their future economic relationship. Entertainment giant Disney has reported losses that shows declines of its television and movie businesses. We get the latest on the future of the company. And Mexican-American musician Sixto Rodriguez who is best known for his song Sugar Man has passed away. Mr Rodriguez failed to achieve commercial success in the US but years later his music developed a cult following overseas. We reflect back on his career.

Brazil's President Lula is hosting a summit in Belém, northern Brazil alongside seven other nations that share the Amazon. This is in a bid to save it and bring it out of economic turmoil. The Federal Reserve reports that U.S. credit card debt has hit $1 trillion for the first time toward the end of July. We find out what it means for US consumers and the country. And seeing as Frank Sinatra’s voice was used on a version of the hip-hop song “Gangsta’s Paradise” and various musicians are being mimicked by Artificial intelligence, Google and Universal Music have plans to license artists songs generated by A.I. We take a look at what this means for copyright claims.

Businesses in South-West of the United States explain how the weather is impacting them. India and Sri Lanka have announced that they will carry out feasibility studies on laying an oil pipeline across the narrow sea strait that divides them. Taylor Swift is the latest big name to take her international tour to Singapore but not Hong Kong. And, we discuss Burberry, the 170 year old high-fashion brand built on its British principles. (A sign warns of extreme heat danger on Death Valley National Park on July 15, 2023, in California. Picture Credit: Getty Images)

Global wheat prices have risen sharply after Russia carried out missile attacks on military infrastructure near grain ports in Ukraine. And the new barbie film is on the way but this is not the only film and TV series we expect from the Mattel franchise. (Picture: TQ Samsun last grain ship off the Black Sea on July 17, 2023 after Russia announced that it withdrew from the Grain Corridor Agreement. Source: Getty Images)

Moscow notified the UN, Turkey and Ukraine on Monday that it would not renew the Black Sea grain initiative, accusing the West of not keeping its side of the bargain. The decision has been condemned by world leaders including the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres and the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. (A farmer holds grains in pictured July 16, 2023. Source: Getty Images)

A US court has given Microsoft the green light to buy the videogame maker Activision Blizzard in a deal worth $69bn. Microsoft said after the US win, it would focus on resolving concerns around competition in the UK. The tech giant's merger with the Call of Duty owner would be the biggest deal of its kind in gaming industry history. Bank of America has been ordered to pay out $150m (£116m) in penalties after it was found to have opened credit cards without customers' permission. (Picture: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 by Activision. Source: Getty Images)

Threads, the social media app aimed at rivalling Twitter, has signed up more than 100 million users in less than five days. The platform, launched by Instagram-owner Meta, has beaten a record set by Open AI's ChatGPT app. China’s consumer inflation rate was flat in June while factory-gate prices fell further, causing alarms about deflation risks and adding to speculation about potential economic stimulus. Could countries be soon mining the seabed? A meeting of The International Seabed Authority started on Monday to try and hammer out a global code for exactly that. (The Meta logo with an Instagram Threads logo in the background. Source: Getty Images)

The US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, is heading to Beijing to restore the line of communication between the two countries after a persistent economic and diplomatic tensions. Filipinos make up around a quarter of all mariners worldwide, but many find it hard to get proper care abroad because of confusing legal loopholes. And should tourists try their hand at haggling abroad – or just pay what they’re asked? (Picture: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Source: Getty Images)

Leaders and representatives from various African countries are traveling to Eastern Europe in an effort to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia – and provide an Africa-led boost to the world’s economy. Roger Hearing is joined by ambassador Rama Yade from the Atlantic Council’s Africa Centre to discuss the visit. Foxconn, one of the biggest electronics manufacturers in the world, makes more than half of Apple’s products as well as goods for Amazon, Dell and Sony amongst others. But how is the Taiwan-based giant coping amid increasing US-China tensions? The company’s CEO Young Liu speaks to the BBC’s Karishma Vaswani. With the Fed holding US interest rates this week, and inflation apparently back within manageable limits, now America’s labour market is coming under scrutiny. (Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) greets South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (L). Archive image. Source Getty Images)

Roger Hearing looks at how the Federal Reserve has left the United States interest rates unchanged and steady for the first time in more than a year. However, its latest economic forecast suggest that more rate hikes lie ahead. Half of workers aren’t engaged on the job, putting in slightest effort to get by, according to research by Gallup. Employee engagement, a measure of involvement and enthusiasm at work, globally declined for the second year in a row. And the frenzy stoked by the start of the Beyonce's world tour is has been driving up prices in Sweden. (Picture: Shopper in a supermarket in New York, in JUNE 12. Source: Getty Images)

This week the EU votes on ways to regulate AI. Vice-President Margrethe Vestager leads the charge against threats posed by artificial intelligence. She tells the BBC that although the threat of human extinction ”probably does exist”, the likelihood is “quite small”. She says initial threats include discrimination, and criminals getting ahead of the police in understanding AI. This week European politicians debate the issue as they vote on the AI Act. It's the first law for AI systems in the West and it largely categorizes the away AI is used into four levels of risk: unacceptable risk, high risk, limited risk and minimal or no risk. If the legislation passes, unacceptable risk applications would banned by default and will not be deployed in European countries. U.S inflation has fallen again – but is it enough to prevent an interest rate rise? Inflation was down to 4% in the US at the end of May – its lowest since 2021. Prices for eggs, petrol and furniture were down, helping to cut inflation to less than half of its peak a year ago. But as the U.S central bank prepares to meet later this week, all eyes will be on whether the continued downward trend is enough to persuade the Fed to hold back on further rises to interest rates. And - how much money do you need to be wealthy in America? You might be surprised - Americans suggest it's around $2.2 million. The evidence comes in the annual Modern Wealth Survey carried out by the financial services company Charles Schwab. Picture: European Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager (REUTERS/Johanna Geron)

The U.S watchdog has asked a judge to block a $69 billion bid by Microsoft to buy Activision Blizzard. The gaming company makes ‘Call of Duty’ and many other titles. But the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) position on the deal is now closer to the that taken by the UK regulator. The issue hangs on claims the sale would give Microsoft's Xbox exclusive access to Activision games, leaving Nintendo consoles and Sony's PlayStation out in the cold. Also in the U.S, America's biggest bank, JPMorgan Chase, has agreed in principle to settle a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of victims of the convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. The case was brought by one victim on behalf of hundreds of other women and girls abused by the disgraced financier. The bank is facing a bill of around $290 million. And – you may have heard of ‘greenwashing’ – but have you heard of the new phrase…green-hushing’? We find out why companies are suddenly starting to keep their green credentials to themselves.

President Biden has said that he should know by the end of Friday whether there is a deal with Republicans to raise the government debt ceiling, so it can continue to pay its bills. Mr Biden said things were looking good and he thought negotiators were very close to a deal. The two sides have a little more breathing room after the US Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, extended the debt ceiling deadline by four days, to 5 June. (Picture: U.S. President Joe Biden. Source: Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Nvidia, a US firm which specializes in chips powering artificial intelligence, surged as much as 27% on Thursday, putting the company on course for record performance with a market cap above $900 billion. But where is the future of AI while there are raising concerns about regulation and safety? And have you ever heard of ‘greedflation’? Find out why price rises might be bringing out some unsavoury tendencies in retail. (Picture: The logo of NVIDIA is seen displayed on a mobile phone screen with AI (artificial intelligence) written in the background. Source: Getty Images)

It's day two of the G7 summit, and the leaders of the group of major developed economies are in the Japanese city of Hiroshima. So far the focus of their talks has been Russia and Ukraine - today there is another major issue on the table – China. The Indian government says it will start withdrawing its highest value currency note from circulation saying it is not widely in use. People have been asked exchange their two-thousand rupee notes (worth around twenty five dollars) for smaller denominations by the end of September. An official from the central bank said the withdrawal would not cause any disruption to normal life or the economy. NASA has awarded the contract to build its astronaut Moon lander to a consortium led by Blue Origin - the space company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. (Picture: G7 leaders (left to right) Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, US President Joe Biden, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron, European Council President Charles Michel and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni arrive for the family photo at the Itsukushima Shrine during the G7 Summit on May 19, 2023 in Hiroshima, Japan. Source: Stefan Rousseau - Pool/Getty Images).

Royalty and dignitaries from around the world have arrived in London ahead of the coronation of King Charles. Many of them will be guests in Westminster Abbey on Saturday morning where the coronation ceremony will begin at 11 o'clock. Millions of other people across the UK and beyond are preparing to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III - a symbolic ceremony combining a religious service and pageantry. The day of splendour and formality will feature customs dating back more than 1,000 years. King Charles III is head of the Commonwealth countries and the head of state of 14 countries. (Picture: His Majesty King Charles III. Source: WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Apple has reported quarterly revenue and profit above Wall Street's expectations, fuelled by strong iPhone sales - particularly in emerging markets such as India (where the company recently opened its first stores). The US tech giant reported profits of twenty-four billion dollars ($24 billion) on revenue of ninety-four-point-eight billion dollars ($94.8 billion) in the first three months of this year. The US regional banking sector is coming under renewed pressure amid a crisis in confidence. Trading in the California lender PacWest was briefly suspended as shares fell more than fifty percent, after its owners confirmed it had explored strategic asset sales. The British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran has won Thinking Out Loud copyright case. A New York court ruled today that Mr Sheeran did not copy Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On when composing the track. (Picture: An iPhone logo in Shanghai, China. Source: Getty Images)

Geoffrey Hinton helped to establish some of the basic foundations of AI but now fears the technology is racing ahead too fast. He is leaving Google after more than ten years so he can speak more freely about the risks. The White House says First Republic bank, which collapsed to be taken over by JP Morgan, was ‘severely mismanaged’. However, some customers and former staff disagree. The failure of San Francisco-based First Republic is the second-largest in US history and the third in the country since March. And, Hollywood writers and television producers approach a deadline to sign a new contract - or take strike action…the first such action in 15 years. (Photo: Artificial intelligence pioneer Geoffrey Hinton speaks at the Thomson Reuters Financial and Risk Summit in Toronto, December 4, 2017. Mark Blinch/Reuters)

Apple Chief Executive, Tim Cook, has met with Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, as he is looking for a market growth and investment in India. Tesla shares dropped 2% after the electric-vehicle maker cuts down the price U.S for the sixth time this year. Tesla shares slid further in initial after-market trading on Wednesday following the company's quarterly report. April 18th - was Tax Day in the US - the day that marks the deadline for individuals to file their income tax returns for the year. That opportunity was by a group of billionaires to bring a protest to the US Congress too - demanding they pay more tax. It's been a challenging time for the global airline industry. Demand has yet to recover following the Covid pandemic - and this week industry leaders have warned the cost of de-carbonising flights could send passenger costs even higher in the years to come. (Picture: Men talk on their mobile phones in front of an iPhone 14 advertisement, in India. Source: Sankhadeep Banerjee/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The US voting technology firm Dominion has settled with Fox News just before their defamation trial was due to begin. Dominion had sought $1.6bn (£1.3bn) from Fox, whom it claimed spread falsehoods about its voting machines in the 2020 presidential election. The final settlement agreed between both parties was for $787.5m. The world of its biggest competitor the streaming giant Netflix has just released its latest financial results and it has bounced back from the loss of 200,000 subscribers a year ago. Pew Research in the United States found that even when women earnt the same as a male partner - they still spent more of their down time caring for either children or elderly parents - as opposed to the men who spent it - doing whatever they wanted. Baseball's new pitch clock designed to speed up the pace of the game has won many fans - just not in professional teams' commercial departments. (People walk by the News Corporation headquarters, home to Fox News, on April 18, 2023 in New York City. Source: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

There have been economic tensions between the US and China that has been for some time dominating the news and the involvement of their respective allies. Is this a new trade war that is coming back to the boil? And as a jobseeker, ChatGPT is affecting job applications as fears of cheating grow and employers thinking to disqualify any AI-aided submissions. (Picture: A photo illustration showing Chinese 100 yuan banknotes and US banknotes in Beijing. Source: EPA/WU HONG)

US inflation fell to 5% last month – the lowest rate since May 2021. March’s monthly consumer price index – which measures the price of a ‘basket’ of goods and services – continued its steady decline from its peak of just over 9%. It prompted US President Joe Biden to tweet that: “Inflation has come down 45% since its summer peak. Gas prices are down, and grocery prices fell last month for the first time since September 2020”. But the slowdown is not expected to sway officials at the Federal Reserve, who set interest rates. Economists are still expecting an increase. Also in the US - some ambitious new targets have been announced for cutting greenhouse gas emissions from cars. The Environmental Protection Agency wants two-thirds of all new vehicles to be electric within a decade. It's the latest step by the Biden administration to push for the mass adoption of EVs. Last year, electric vehicles made up about six percent of the American market so there's a long way to go to hit those targets. Are they realistic? And, do you fancy buying a dinosaur skeleton? If you do next week is your big chance. The full skeleton of a T-Rex goes to auction in Switzerland. But you will need a minimum of around $5 million if you fancy bidding. There is, however, some concern about the whole ethics of selling off such rare fossils. Will the public ever get to see it in future - or will fossil ownership simply become another rich person's toy? (Photo: President Biden during his visit to Ireland. Credit: Getty Images)

The International Monetary Fund raises concerns about the sudden failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in the United States, and the loss of market confidence in Credit Swiss. At its spring conference with the World Bank in Washington, the IMF warned that global financial stability risks have increased rapidly in the last few months, in part because banks generally didn't prepare adequately for interest rates increases. The IMF warns that this might impact in particular regional and smaller banks in the US. Meanwhile, in Japan where interest rates are at 2%, we look at what the Bank of Japan might do with rates in the future. The central bank has indicated that it may revise or even abandon its targeting of long-term interest rates by the end of September - if conditions are right. And – we report on a novel way of increasing productivity in Bangladesh – providing workers with free glasses to improve their eyesight.

The spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are beginning in Washington - the major global financial institutions - are gathering at a time of profound concern about persistent inflation, struggling countries, and the health of the banking system. It follows several failures of regional banks and uncertainty in giant finance houses like Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank There’s another twist in the story of FTX - the crypto-currency exchange that collapsed spectacularly last year in what US prosecutors say was an "epic" fraud. It's now emerged that the former bosses of FTX joked about losing tens of millions of dollars and even signed off expenses with emojis. These are just some of the findings of an initial report from the new management team at the company. And President Joe Biden arrives in Northern Ireland on Tuesday to join ceremonies marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday peace agreement. He will be meeting business leaders there - and that's significant because business problems with the post-Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland have been a big factor in the current failure to re-establish devolved government. (Picture courtesy Getty Images: The World Bank and IMF Spring meeting in Washington)

Healthcare company Johnson and Johnson has offered nearly $9 billion to settle a claim from tens of thousands of people who claim its talc product caused cancer. We hear from a lawyer whose firm is representing 17,000 claimants who say they've been affected by the company's trademarked talcum powder product. The housing boom is definitely over. In Europe anyway. House prices in the EU have suffered their first quarterly fall since 2015, according to the EU statistics office this week. House-hunters in Germany and Denmark tells us of their difficulties finding a home. Police forces around the world have launched a major joint operation to dismantle one of the biggest criminal marketplaces online. Genesis Market is thought to have sold personal information, such as passwords, stolen from more than two million people in the past six years. The details have allowed fraudsters to impersonate their victims online without raising suspicions. Globally, 200 searches were carried out and 120 people were arrested. And, Sri Lanka's economic crisis is having a devastating effect on what used to be one of Asia's most successful emerging economies. It's shrunk by a fifth in the last 3 years alone. And that's having an impact on the population, hundreds of thousands of whom are simply packing up to leave the island. We speak to some of them leaving – and those left behind. (Picture courtesy Getty Images)

US House committee votes to release Donald Trump’s tax information to the public Japan’s central bank catches markets off guard by making a move to tackle inflation. And what impact will the Taliban government’s decision to close universities for women have on the economy ? Devina Gupta discusses these and other business news stories with the Editor of National and Strategic Affairs at The Print website in India Jyoti Malhotra, and Walter Todd, the President and chief investment officer of US based Greenwood Capital.

One of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Binance, has pulled out of a deal to acquire its struggling rival FTX, leaving the latter's future in doubt. The near-collapse of FTX which was valued at $32 billion at the start of the year has shaken the crypto market, with Bitcoin and other currencies suffering steep falls. Rahul Tandon is joined by Tracy Wang, the deputy managing editor at Coindesk in New York, and entrepreneur Candy Valentino, the author of Wealth Habits: Six Ordinary Steps to Achieve Extraordinary Financial Freedom. It is investment day at the climate change conference COP27 in Egypt. We hear from the Makhtar Sop Diop, the managing director of the International Finance Corporation, which is the private arm of the World Bank, about how Africa can pay for climate change. Yongwook Ryu, assistant professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, talks to us about the ASEAN summit in Cambodia. The summit brings together the major economies from South East Asia. It is expected to focus on the global economy, amid rising inflation and the cost of living crisis. ( Photo: Bitcoin representation at La Maison du Bitcoin in Paris Credit: Reuters)

There are warnings people could starve across the globe due to food shortages caused by the war in Ukraine. The World Trade Organisation is seeking solutions to the crisis - we'll hear from UNICEF's Rania Dagesh along with University of Maryland economist Peter Morici, and Sushma Ramachandran, a Delhi-based independent journalist. Our live guests will also discuss turbulence in the Asian markets and a potentially lucrative deal in cricket's Indian Premier League. Also on Business Matters, India's biggest sporting league - the IPL - is on the verge of a multi-billion dollar deal over broadcasting rights. We'll hear from sports journalist Saurabh Somani and the self-styled 'image guru' Dilip Cherian about what it will mean. Have robots finally overcome their one big challenge - becoming human? Or is it still in the realms of sci-fi fantasy? We speak to Dr Radhika Dirks, the head of US firm Ribo AI, about why Google's latest showpiece may not be a harbinger of the future. (Picture: A Ukrainian serviceman surveys the grain in a field in Donetsk. Credit: Anatolii Stepanov).

In three months, conflict in Ukraine has destroyed parts of the country, hurt Russia's economy, and sent shockwaves across the globe. Countries are experiencing never-before-seen inflation, and a critical lack of supplies is forecast to worsen. Then there's the matter of who should pay for the colossal damage inflicted on towns and cities in Ukraine. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, world leaders are trying to solve the problem. A former Ukranian Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko, gives her view on the true cost. Much of the world's focus is on the outcome of that summit, but there's another one happening in Tokyo which could set the course of Asian trade relations for years to come. The Quad countries - Australia, the US, Japan and India - are meeting to discuss matters like China, inflation in the south of the continent, and a new US-led Pacific trading agreement. Tanvi Madan. Director of the Indian Project at the Brookings Institute, takes us through what to expect. ABC's senior business correspondent Peter Ryan is joined by Alison van Diggelen, Silicon Valley tech host, to talk about all the issues of the day. Meanwhile, Germany is among the countries trying new solutions to help citizens come to terms with economic crises. We hear from the Eva Kreienkamp, the head of one of the country's biggest transport companies. Image: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is seen on a giant screen next to Founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum Klaus Schwab during his address by video conference as part of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on May 23, 2022. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP) (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)

Cryptocurrency markets are being rocked after a popular token lost 99% of its value. We get the latest analysis from Anita Ramaswamy of the TechCrunch website. Oil giant Saudi Aramco has overtaken Apple to become the world's most valuable company. Indrajit Sen of the Middle East Economic Digest in Dubai discusses the significance of the shift. Russian shipping company Sovcomflot is reportedly selling off a third of its fleet to pay off some European debts before an EU sanctions deadline expires. It's one of the world's biggest transporters of oil and gas. We ask Richard Meade of the shipping journal Lloyd's List what this will mean for international shipping. An investigation in the US has revealed that the state of Louisiana is suing some families for making unlawful repairs to their homes - with government grants given out following Hurricane Katrina. We speak to David Hammer of WWL-TV, the investigative reporter following the story. And we have an extended report from the BBC's Russell Padmore exploring the problem of ships colliding with whales. Fergus Nicoll is joined throughout the programme by Kimberly Adams of our US partner station Marketplace in Washington DC, and by independent economist Andy Xie from Shanghai. (Photo: A cryptocurrency ATM. Credit: Getty Images)

There are warnings inflation will continue to soar around the world, despite the US and UK increasing interest rates. Stock markets have reacted by falling - the Nasdaq has had its worst day for two years. The Philippines are gearing up for hotly contested elections this weekend - we get analysis from our correspondent in the Philippines, Karishma Vaswami. A special report from Sam Fenwick examines how the war in Ukraine has impacted tourism all around the globe. Rahul Tandon is joined throughout by Jyoti Malhotra, senior consulting editor at the Print in Delhi and Paddy Hirsch, Editor at large at Planet Money in Los Angeles. (Picture: New York Stock Exchange, Wall Street. Credit: Matteo Colombo; Getty Images)

As many as 300 vessels are backed up in Shanghai, waiting to load up or discharge compared to this time last year. We get the latest from the BBC's Monica Millar in Singapore and we also hear about the knock on affects from Steve Lamar, President and CEO of the American Apparel & Footwear Association. Amid a worsening humanitarian crisis, the UN is seeking $4.4bn in aid for Afghanistan. We hear from Mark Malloch-Brown, president of the Open Society Foundations, and former deputy secretary general of the UN, discusses what role western sanctions are playing in the extreme hunger faced by many in Afghanistan. Also in the programme, with just a few days to go before the first round of France's presidential election, the BBC's Theo Leggett reports from the east of the country on how concerns about the rising cost of living are impacting the rival campaigns. Plus, with the current high cost of natural gas, there are renewed calls for countries to move away from the fossil fuel as a way of heating our homes. One alternative is the heat pump, and the BBC's climate editor Justin Rowlatt explains how they work. And joining us throughout the programme are Rachel Cartland, a former Hong Kong government official and the author of Paper Tigress and Alison van Diggelen, host of freshdialogues.com, is with us from Silicon Valley. (Picture: A ship in Shanghai. Picture credit: Getty Images.)

U.S. President Joe Biden could reportedly invoke a Cold War-era defence law to encourage domestic production of minerals. Josh Siegel of Politico explains why. Also in the show, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan faces a no-confidence vote in the next few days, over questions regarding his performance amid double-digit inflation and rising deficits. Russian forces have reportedly repositioned away from around the Chernobyl nuclear power facility, with Russian troops crossing back into neighbouring Belarus. Amid concern about supply from Russia, Germany has invoked its emergency gas plan. Plus, we have an extended report from Vivienne Nunes on a row brewing in Australia over a proposed new gas field in the Timor Sea. And Bruce Willis has announced he will step back from acting citing health concerns. All through the show we'll be joined by journalists Mehmal Sarfraz in Lahore and Andy Uhler in Austin. (Picture: U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington DC, March 30, 2022. Picture credit: Getty Images.)

Russia has said it will "drastically reduce combat operations" around Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv, during negotiations in Turkey. Financial markets reacted positively to the news, as Brian Dorst from Themis Trading in New Jersey explains. We'll also hear from President Biden's top official on sanctions, who says companies have a choice to make on whether they continue to do business in Russia. Also in the programme, the war in Ukraine is halting moves aimed at limiting the use of palm oil, which is a cause of deforestation in Asia. The price of one alternative, sunflower oil, has increased massively since the conflict began, and supermarket chain Iceland has reversed its pledge to remove palm oil from its own-label food. We find out more from Glenn Hurowitz of the Washington DC campaign group, Mighty Earth.Talks in Geneva to reverse the loss of nature and halt extinctions are in their final day. We'll hear from Patrick Greenfield, biodiversity reporter for the Guardian, on the details of the negotiations, and Dr Noelle Kumpel, head of policy for Birdlife International, about her thoughts on the progress. And we'll take a look at the new Australian budget. All through the show we'll be joined by Andres Franzetti, Chief Executive Officer at Risk Cooperative, in Washington DC, and Sinead Mangan, presenter of the ABC radio program ‘Australia Wide’ in Perth. (Picture: Ukrainian troops near Kyiv on 28 March. Picture credit: Getty Images)

The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet leaders of the "Quad" grouping, a US-led bloc which includes Australia, Japan and India, to shore up Indo-Pacific partnerships in the face of China's growing power. We get analysis from Cleo Paskal, Associate Fellow at Chatham House. The Dutch central bank has said it "deeply regrets" its founders' role in the slave trade. We get reaction from Linda Nooitmeer, chair of the National Institute for the History and Legacy of Dutch Slavery. Also in the programme, we look at what's happening on the US-Canada border where the ongoing vaccine protests first started. Truck drivers have blocked the most important commercial crossing, Ambassador Bridge. We get the latest from Nate Tabak who's been covering the story. As the cost of living rises rapidly in America, so has the use of gifting platforms such as the BuyNothing project. It is one of a number of schemes that help people give away things they no longer need, as the BBC's Michelle Fleury reports. And as the US postal service comes under fire for spending billions of dollars on a new fleet, we ask journalist Michael Sainato what the public thinks. Fergus Nicoll is joined throughout the programme by financial professional Jessica Khine in Malaysia and Dante Disparte, head of global policy for financial services firm Circle, who's in Washington DC. (Picture: Antony Blinken arriving in Melbourne. Picture credit: Getty Images.)

We start the programme looking at the the angry clashes between Russian and US envoys at the UN Security Council. The US called a meeting to discuss the build up of some 100,000 Russian troops on on its borders with Ukraine. US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the mobilisation was the biggest Europe had seen in decades. Her Russian counterpart accused the US of fomenting hysteria and unacceptable interference in Russia's affairs. The US and UK have promised further sanctions if Russia invades Ukraine. UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said legislation was being prepared which would target a wider range than currently of individuals and businesses close to the Kremlin. A US official said Washington's sanctions meant individuals close to the Kremlin would be cut off from the international financial system. Next we spoke to our North American Tech Correspondent James Clayton about whether Spotify had to take responsibility for the material it was hosting - and what the implications of and responsibility were. Over to Africa where just recently, Warner Music in the US bought a controlling stake in a Johannesburg business which bills itself as “the home of African music”. We hear from Mike Johnson in an extended report about what it all means for a new generation of African artists. Later this week, Beijing will become the first city ever to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics. This year's Games have given the authorities a huge logistical challenge: how to put on one of the world’s biggest sporting events in a country still committed to “zero-covid” at a time when the omicron variant is spreading rapidly in many parts of the world. The answer has been to enforce enormous, strict, separation bubbles - as our China Correspondent Stephen McDonell tells us. Lastly, Belgian civil servants will no longer need to answer emails or phone calls out of hours after the country became the latest in Europe to offer workers the right to disconnect. The law comes into effect on Tuesday and means that 65,000 federal officials are able to make themselves unavailable at the end of the normal working day unless there are “exceptional” reasons for not doing so. Throughout the programme we are joined by Diane Brady, the assistant Managing Editor of Forbes and Mehmal Sarfraz – the Co-founder of the online news and lifestyle platform The Current PK. (IMAGE CREDIT: GETTY)

The big event of 2021 that will shape economies all over the world for decades to come was the COP 26 climate conference in Glasgow in November. The meeting saw a deluge of promises, but what was actually achieved? Martin Webber speaks to Tim Gould, chief energy economist at the International Energy Agency and economist Irwin Stelzer, from the Hudson Institute in the United States. It was another boom year for the pharmaceutical industry as it crafted the vaccines that have saved so many lives. Of the 8 billion coronavirus vaccinations worldwide, one billion have been delivered by the US logistics company, UPS. We hear from Wes Wealer, President of UPS healthcare. And small business owners have had a bleak time for much of the past year. But many of those that have survived now feel optimistic. We hear from the owner of the Aroma speciality coffee shop in Bologna in Italy, Cristina Caroli, about her year. (Image: climate activists demonstrate outside of the COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. Credit: Getty Images).

A key senator has indicated he will not vote for President Biden's Build Back Better plan. We explore the potential impact on the economy with US economist Ken Rogoff. Also in the programme, the government of Ghana intends to introduce an e-levy tax on "mobile money" transactions. Plus, business correspondent Carrie Davies explains how the BBC has discovered that Covid passes are being advertised for sale on social media to people who have not been vaccinated. Rahul Tandon is joined by Jyoti Malhotra senior consulting editor at the Print based in India and Alexander Kaufman Huffington Post in America. Programme producers: Benjie Guy and Nisha Patel ( PIC : President Biden CREDIT: Getty Images)

Tesla surpassed a market value of $1 trillion on Monday, making it the fifth such firm to reach the milestone. Shares in the electric automaker climbed 12.6% after it struck a deal to sell 100,000 vehicles to the international car rental company Hertz. We speak to Bloomberg's Business reporter Dana Hull about Tesla's fortunes. Also in the programme, Facebook's latest financial results showed better than expected earnings. It comes as the whistleblower Frances Haugen appeared in front of the UK parliament and told MPs that the social media company was "unquestionably making hate worse". We ask Imran Ahmed, Chief Executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, if he agrees. And should the private sector intervene to save the Amazon jungle from destruction? We hear how a new platform aims to connect tropical forests with private sector cash. Later, Coca-Cola was named the world's biggest plastic polluter. Emma Priestland from the Break Free from Plastic Research Group, tells us how to reduce the amount of plastic we use. Plus, do we need to spell in this age of autocorrect? Our regular commentator Peter Morgan shares his views. All through the show, we'll be joined by Alison Van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues in Silicon Valley and Jyoti Malhotra, editor of The Print website in New Delhi. Picture: Tesla car. Picture credit: Tesla .)

Residents in north-east China are experiencing unannounced power cuts, as an electricity shortage which initially hit factories spreads to homes. Philippe Benoit at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, explains why this is significant. Also in the programme, Germany's centre-left SPD party has claimed victory in the federal election. Parties will now try to form a coalition government, the BBC's Victoria Craig in Frankfurt assesses what the outcome of the vote means for the German economy. We discuss urban reforestation across the globe and the impact of latest wildfires in California. Plus, regular contributor Peter Morgan asks whether it's time for greater transparency in the workplace about how much money people are paid. All through the show we're joined by Alison van Diggelen of Fresh Dialogues in Silicon Valley. (Picture: power pylons. Credit: Getty Images.)

Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou is released after nearly three years under house arrest in Canada, the BBC’s Gordon Correra has the details. China’s central bank bans all cryptocurrency activity in the country, sending the price of Bitcoin tumbling – cryptocurrency author Glen Goodman tells us more. Marketplace’s Kai Rysdell talks toothpaste, deodorant and supply chain woes, and Victoria Craig is in Germany for the Bundestagwahl – the country’s general election. We discuss New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Adern’s climate change policies and it’s twentyfive years since Spice – the Spice Girl’s debut album put Girl Power on the pop podium; we talk to Safiya Lambie-Knight at Spotify. Throughout the programme we’re joined by Sharon Brett-Kelly, host of The Detail podcast on Radio New Zealand in Auckland. (Picture: Meng Wanzhou speaks to reporters outside court Credit: EPA)

The embattled Chinese real estate firm Evergrande reaches the deadline for interest payments on its bonds – will Beijing step in to shore up the company? We speak to Sara Hsu, Associate Professor of Economics at the State University of New York. Erin Delmore is in Berlin to take us through the last days of campaigning in Germany’s general election, the vote will decide who replaces Angela Merkel after 16 years as Chancellor. Speakers at the UN General Assembly address the inequalities of Covid vaccine distribution around the world, America’s FDA withdraws nearly a million e-cigarettes from the market, and the European Commission wants all smart phones to have the same type of charging socket to cut down on waste, but will manufacturers go for it? Throughout the programme we’re joined by Robin Harding of the Financial Times and Hayley Woodin, editor of Business in Vancouver. (Image: People walk past a residential building developed by Evergrande in Pudong district in Shanghai, Getty Images)

Biden said there was never a good time to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan, but the situation has "unfolded quicker than expected". Dr Kamran Bokhari, director of analytical development at the Newlines Institute in Washington DC tells us that a lack of effective political and economic governance led the Afghan National Army to melt away and let the Taliban re-take the country. Plus, Daniel Arango, Disaster Management Coordinator at International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, gives us the latest on the situation in Haiti, where tropical storm Grace is making landfall, only days after a deadly earthquake hit the country. Also in the show, extra countries have been added to the service expected to be provided by the new 2Africa undersea internet cable being laid between Europe and two dozen African nations. The BBC's Zoe Kleinman explains why the new cable is needed. Plus, our regular workplace commentator Peter Morgan examines the lessons learned from an experiment in Iceland to offer thousands of workers shorter hours, without any reduction in pay. All this and more discussed with our two guests on opposite sides of the world: Alexis Goldstein, an activist and financial reform advocate in Washington DC. And Lien Hoang, a reporter with Nikkei Asia, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. (Picture: US President Joe Biden gestures as he gives remarks on the worsening crisis in Afghanistan from the White House August 16, 2021. Credit: Getty Images.)

In Australia's biggest ever buyout, Jack Dorsey's Square has offered to buy Afterpay. Jonathan Shapiro writes about banking and finance at The Australian Financial Review, and tells us what is so attractive about the $29bn 'buy now, pay later' giant. As day 12 of the Olympics begins in Tokyo, we hear whether Japan's hosting of the games is still unpopular given the mounting costs and increasing covid-19 cases in the country. America's Sunset Studios, behind hits such as La La Land, plans to invest almost a billion dollars creating a major new film, television and digital production complex in Hertfordshire, England. We find out more about the project from Georg Szalai, international business editor of The Hollywood Reporter. And the BBC's Ivana Davidovic reports on whether new scientific developments might help genetically modified foods to shed the suspicion with which they've been viewed by many consumers and health authorities around the world. All this and more discussed with our two guests on opposite sides of the world: Alison Van Diggelen, host of the Fresh Dialogues interview series, in California and Peter Landers, from the Wall St Journal, in Tokyo. (Picture: An Afterpay logo in a shop window. Picture credit: Reuters.)

In a blow to the UK's tourist and aviation industries, the CDC has advised US citizens against travel to the country. We hear more from travel expert, Simon Calder. In Germany, catastrophic flooding has left at least 160 people dead and more than 170 others missing; later this week, Angela Merkel is expected to roll out an emergency aid package for those affected. We hear from the BBC's Damien McGuinness in the village of Nuerburg. And we examine the causes of last month's collapse of Champlain Towers South in Florida with Ana Bozovic, a real estate broker and founder of Analytics Miami and Benjamin Schafer, a structural engineer and professor at Johns Hopkins University. Plus, a news agency has been launched in Africa called Bird, which aims to find inspirational human interest and feature stories from across the continent. We find out more from Moky Makura, executive director of Africa No Filter, which has given its backing to the project. And we're joined throughout the programme by two guests on opposite sides of the Pacific, Les Williams, associate professor at The School of Engineering at The University of Virginia and a co-founder of Risk Cooperative, and Lulu Chen, Asia Investing team leader for Bloomberg News in Hong Kong. (Picture of a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787. Picture credit: Robert Smith via Getty Images).

Face masks will no longer be legally required and distancing rules will be scrapped at the final stage of England's Covid lockdown roadmap, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed. The rule of six inside private homes will be removed and work-from-home guidance abolished as 16 months of on-off restrictions on daily life end. But is it too soon? Chinese authorities have frozen several prominent apps that recently listed in New York. What is behind the dispute, which includes preventing ride-hailing app Didi from adding new users? Also in the programme, Europe's three biggest truckmakers have agreed to invest almost $600m in a network of electric charging points. However, significant hurdles to electrifying road haulage remain, and we find out more from Claes Eliasson, senior vice-president at Swedish truckmaker Volvo. Despite the high profile of college sports, most of its athletes are amateurs. But a recent ruling by the US Supreme Court opens the door to the professionalisation of the sector. Picture credit: Getty Images

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has begun the inquiry into last December's cyber attack on the IT provider, media reports say. It will ask whether some companies failed to disclose they had been affected. Our technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones explains the story. As India offers its free vaccinations to all adults, human rights activist Manjula Pradeep of the Wayve Foundation in Ahmedabad offers an assessment of the country's vaccine rollout so far. And what is it that makes a tweet go viral? Researchers at the University of Cambridge say they've discovered the secret: being rude. We hear more from postgraduate researcher Steve Rathje. Jamie Robertson is joined throughout the programme by Dimuthu Attanayake, journalist and researcher for the LIRNE Asia digital policy think tank, who's in Colombo in Sri Lanka, and by Andy Uhler, reporter for Marketplace in Austin, Texas. (Picture: The SolarWinds Corp. logo. Picture credit: Getty Images.)

Search giant Google is to pay a $267m fine in France because of its advertising dominance. Katrin Schallenberg is an antitrust expert with Clifford Chance, and explains the background to the case. As some companies turn to anthropology to balance the insights of algorithms and AI, should all businesses now have an anthropologist on their books? We hear from Gillian Tett the author of Anthro-Vision: A New Way to See in Business and Life. Production of the luxury jet plane Learjet is set to end later this year, and the BBC's Russell Padmore takes an in-depth look at the global market for private jets. Plus, as people around the world return to the office, our regular workplace commentator Peter Morgan discusses the experience of those who have to try and fit into traditional office attire again, after spending time at home wearing baggy loungewear. Plus, we're joined throughout the programme by Alison Van Diggelen, in Silicon Valley; she's host of Fresh Dialogues. And Sushma Ramachandran, an independent business journalist and columnist for The Tribune newspaper, joins us in Delhi. (Picture: A Google office building. Picture credit: Getty Images.)

The Colonial fuel pipeline, shut down by a cyber attack since Friday, serves 45% of America's east coast. A regional state of emergency has been declared, allowing tanker drivers to work extra hours to get some fuel where it's needed – but will they be able to keep up with demand? We ask Ellen R Ward, president of Transversal Consulting. Is it a surprise that criminals were able to hack into the system running the most important fuel pipeline in the United States? A question for Algirde Pipikaite, cyber security expert at the World Economic Forum. Also in the programme, Mike Johnson takes a close look at Nigeria's electricity challenge, which means around 40% of the country having no access to official supplies. Plus, researchers have created a cricket bat made out of bamboo, rather than the traditional willow, which they say is cheaper and more sustainable. We hear more from Ben Tinkler-Davies of the University of Cambridge, who was on the research team. All this and more discussed with our two guests on opposite sides of the globe: Erin Delmore, political reporter in New York City and Patrick Barta, Asia Enterprise Editor for the Wall Street Journal, in Bangkok.

Apple has released its latest software update with a new tool that has forced a confrontation with Facebook over privacy; the BBC's Technology Correspondent Rory Cellan Jones explains the controversy. As an international effort is underway to help India as it faces an overwhelming surge in coronavirus cases, we hear how the US, the UK, China, Russia, the European Union Saudi Arabia are among those offering help. Also in the programme, the collapse of Greensill Capital in the UK has drawn attention to the practice of supply chain financing, which Greensill was known for; the BBC's Joshua Thorpe brings us an extended report. Plus, a company called Mirriad has developed a technique that enables product placement in archive films and TV shows; the company's CEO, Stephan Beringer, tells us how it works. And we're joined by two guests on opposite sides of the Pacific; Andy Uhler, reporter on the Marketplace programme who's in Austin, Texas and Mehmal Sarfraz, co-founder of The Current PK, who's in Lahore, Pakistan. (Photo of Facebook logo with Apple in the background by Pavlo Gonchar via Getty Images).

Pubs, restaurants, beauty salons and non-essential shops have reopened with the easing of lockdown restrictions across England. We hear from the heart of London’s shopping district and from a pub garden near Reading. The e-commerce giant Alibaba has been accused of anti-competitive practices and fined more than $2.5 billion by Chinese regulators. We discuss what this will mean for the future of the company. Also in the programme, the BBC’s Ivana Davidovic gives us the lowdown on Telegram, the messaging app - and one of the most downloaded non-gaming apps this year. And the BBC's arts correspondent Vincent Dowd tells us what the organisers of this year's Baftas are doing to improve diversity across the awards. Rahul Tandon is joined throughout the programme by Nisha Gopalan, editor for Bloomberg News in Asia, in Hong Kong, and Les Williams from the University of Virginia, in Arlington, Virginia. (Picture: A man drinking a pint of beer / Credit: Getty Images)

Switzerland's Credit Suisse and Japan's Nomura have seen their shares take a sharp fall after warning they could face losses of billions of dollars. The two large banks lent money to crisis-hit US investment fund, Archegos Capital, which was forced to liquidate billions of dollars’ worth of shares last Friday. We hear from Financial Times Correspondent Ortenca Aliaj and financial lawyer Mark Berman. The US says it could impose 25% tariffs on British exports to the US after the UK levied a digital services tax on major technology companies; we get the details from Steven Overly, Global Trade and Economics Reporter at the Politico website. Also in the programme, the European Union’s recent ban of palm oil in biofuel for vehicles has angered top producing nations Indonesia and Malaysia. The BBC's Manuela Saragosa explains the politics of the vegetable oil. Plus, as the pandemic has led to a re-think of the working day, the BBC’s Peter Morgan looks at the practice of an afternoon nap and if it’s time to refresh our attitudes towards sleeping on the job. And we're joined throughout the programme by two guests on opposite sides of the world; Alexis Goldstein, financial reform advocate in Washington DC, and Jasper Kim, Professor at Ewha University and director at Center for Conflict Management in Seoul, South Korea. (Picture of a Credit Suisse branch in Geneva / Credit: Fabrice Coffrini via Getty Images).

Texas's Brazos Electric Power Co-operative has filed for bankruptcy after winter storms. The firm says it's facing a $1.8bn bill as a result of last month's disruption, and Bloomberg's Jeremy Hill explains the implications. Also in the programme, starting a week of special programming about mental health and the pandemic, the BBC's Manuela Saragosa reports on what more businesses and governments could be doing to support their employees' mental wellbeing. Plus, how would you react if your employer insisted you are vaccinated before you re-enter the workplace? A UK based plumbing company has advertised for new staff on a ‘no jab no job’ policy and employees will face very difference workplaces upon returning to workplaces, as Pilita Clarke explains. And we're joined by political reporter Erin Delmore who's in New York and Yoko Ishikura, Professor Emeritus, Hitotsubashi University and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network, is in Tokyo. (Picture: An electrical substation in Houston. Picture credit: Getty Images.)

Google has agreed to pay Rupert Murdoch's News Corp for content from news sites across its media empire. Meanwhile, Facebook has announced it is banning the publishing and sharing of news on its platform in Australia. This follows moves by the Australian Government to make digital giants pay for journalism. We get the thoughts of Peter Lewis, Director of the Centre of Responsible Technology and is based in Sydney. We discuss one of the highest-profile court cases to come out of the Me-Too Movement in India - M J Akbar, a former minister has lost his his defamation case against journalist Priya Ramani, who had accused him of being a sexual predator. Also on in the show - a Great Green Wall across the arid lands of northern Africa - can the project save fragile communities in 11 countries - or is it just a mirage? And Ford Europe pledge to go all-electric by 2030. We hear from their CEO, Stuart Rowley. All this and more discussed with our two guests throughout the show. Les Williams, an Associate Professor at The School of Engineering at The University of Virginia, in Arlington, VA. And Sushma Ramachandran, an independent business journalist and columnist for The Tribune newspaper, in Delhi. (Picture: Rupert Murdoch. Credit: Getty Images.)

Around 150 million Americans have been advised to take precautions as an unprecedented winter storm continues to cause havoc across twenty five US states. In one of the worst affected states, Texas, more than four million people are without power as a surge in demand caused the power grid to fail. We hear how ageing infrastructure, unregulated grid and climate change have all contributed to the situation. Also - we go to Japan, where the government is trying to convince somewhat reluctant population to get vaccinated against Covid-19. And the BBC's Ivana Davidovic looks at the museum world. The era of Black Lives Matter has seen the toppling of statues in cities in Britain and the United States. Calls for the return of cultural property stolen during colonial times are getting louder. Many looted artefacts are housed by major national museums in Europe and North America. Leaders of new cultural institutions in Africa meanwhile are re-imagining the whole concept of what a 21st century museum should look like. Plus - how can artificial intelligence help football teams scout stars of the future? (Photo of snow in Austin, Texas. Photo by Montinique Monroe via Getty Images)

In her own words "history was made" today when Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala became the first woman and the first African director general of the World Trade Organization. She tells us how she plans to reform the WTO and the importance of climate change. Also in the programme, the global economic cost of the Coronavirus pandemic will run into trillions of dollars. Could the world set up a better early warning system for future pandemics? Dr Micheal Mina, an epidemiologist based at the Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health is trying to do just that with the project he calls Global Immunological Observatory. Plus, Bill Gates describes the implications of meeting the global target to reduce net carbon emissions to zero by the year 2050. And our regular workplace commentator, Stephanie Hare talks about how to approach bereavement in the workplace. PHOTO: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala/Getty Images

72 tennis players at the Australian Open are facing 14 days stuck in Melbourne Hotels after positive Covid-19 cases on their inbound planes; We discuss whether the Covid-19 pandemic is still a big threat to major sport events including the Tokyo Olympics. We'll hear the latest on the US Capitol as DC remains on high alert ahead of President-Elect Joe Biden's inauguration on Wednesday. Car and electronic device makers sound alarm bells amid a global microchip shortage. Russ Mould of stockbrokers AJ Bell is a former semiconductor analyst, and explains the background and implications. More than 140,000 retail jobs have been lost in the UK since the start of the pandemic; we hear how people have been able to survive financially by reinventing their way of doing business. Also in the programme, ski journalist Robert Stewart on why the resort of Courchevel in France is marketing itself as an alternative location for people to work from home. Plus could being too efficient working from home put your job at risk? (Picture: Tennis balls in front of an Australian Open logo. Picture credit: Reuters.)

A merger between Fiat Chrysler and PSA has won approval from the companies' shareholders. The new company will be called Stellantis and we ask why has Fiat agreed to be subsumed into an ever bigger group. Also in the programme, more than 200 workers at Google-parent Alphabet have formed a labour union. It marks a seismic shift in Silicon Valley, where unions are a rarity and relations with organised labour is often fractious. We hear from Google employee Dr Alex Hanna, who is one of the staff who've got their membership card. Plus, worries over health and anxiety about employment during the pandemic have led to restless nights for many of us. The BBC's Elizabeth Hotson reports on measures people can take to ensure they get a good night's sleep. And - as new year gets under way, we hear about the home fitness alternatives many are choosing for their resolutions, in place of signing up to a gym. PHOTO: Getty Images

Brexit talks stall prompting a meeting for later this week, between the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen and the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. We will hear what is at stake for both sides with analysis from Carsten Brzeski, from ING in Frankfurt. We will also consider the future of Venezuela, after President Maduro and his allies won political control, but the standoff with countries like the United States continues. Eileen Gavin, a Latin America analyst with the advisory group Maplecroft, gives us her analysis. Throughout the programme we'll also get the views of our guests, Professor Peter Morici, from the University of Maryland, in Washington and financial professional Jessica Khine, who is in Malaysia. (Picture: EU and UK flags. Getty Images.)

US President Donald Trump accepts that the formal transition to Joe Biden's White House can finally begin and it's reported that Mr Biden will nominate Janet Yellen, a former head of the Federal Reserve, as his Treasury secretary - we hear from Samira Hussain, our American Business Correspondent. There's more good news on the coronavirus vaccines front as it's announced that the AstraZeneca/Oxford trials could be almost as effective as two other vaccines already shown to work. There's growing evidence that later lockdowns, designed to combat a second wave of the virus, aren't having the same positive environmental impact as the initial lockdowns, as Mike Johnson has been hearing from Simon Birkitt, founder of the campaign group Clean Air in London. It will take “substantial last minute efforts” in order to strike a Brexit deal – that’s according to the EU Trade Commissioner, Valdis Dombrovskis, who's been speaking to our Global Trade Correspondent Dharshini David. And are you looking for something to buy your loved-ones for Christmas? How about some surplus crockery from the BA first class cabin? We hear more from Rhys Jones of the frequent flyer website www.headforpoints.com. Plus, we're joined throughout the programme by Jeanette Rodriguez from Bloomberg who is in Mumbai and Peter Morici, Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland. (Picture of US President Donald Trump, by Tasos Katopodis for Getty Images).

The chief executives of Facebook, Twitter, and Google have faced intense grilling from senators over Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects web companies from liability when it comes to content posted by users. Rebecca Klar, a reporter with The Hill in Washington D.C., gives us the highlights. Also in the programme, financial markets have tumbled around the world for a second day this week amid concerns that a rise in coronavirus cases will hurt still tentative economic recoveries. And the nuclear industry is pinning its hopes on mass-producing small, cheap power stations to compete with renewable energy. Plus, the Kazakhstan tourism board attempt to capitalise on the release of the second Borat film. All through the show we’ll be joined by Jeanette Rodrigues from Bloomberg in Mumbai and Ralph Silva from the Silva Research Network in Toronto. (Picture credit: Getty Images)

With just a week to go until the US election, we’ll hear how the Biden and Trump campaigns are getting their final pitches in. Also in the programme, the elite Central Committee of China’s ruling Communist Party is meeting behind closed doors over four days to create the economic blueprint for world's second biggest economy. Meanwhile, a Hong Kong activist has been detained by plain-clothed police officers near the US consulate, before reportedly attempting to claim asylum. And the cinema business is in trouble: movie theatres are closed or limiting numbers because of the pandemic and the supply of new releases has dried up. Plus, we’ll hear how working from home could be making us less creative. All through the show we’ll be joined by political journalist Erin Delmore in New York and Enda Curran of Bloomberg in Hong Kong.

Turkey's president calls for a boycott on French products - but do they work to stifle business, especially when driven by political or religious reasons? Plus, Japan has set itself an ambitious target to cut its harmful gas emissions to zero by 2050. We assess if they can do it. Cinemas are set to reopen in India, and we look at what it means for the Bollywood film industry, which has suffered hugely from halted productions during the coranavirus pandemic. We discuss all this with guests Tawnell Hobbs from the Wall Street Journal in Dallas, and Mehmal Sarfraz, co-founder of digital news site The Current PK in Lahore. (Image: Leaflet calling for a boycott of French goods are displayed in place of French products which have been removed in protest at a supermarket in Yemen. Photo by Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images)

The President's nominee Amy Coney Barrett says she is 'honoured and humbled' to have been chosen by Donald Trump for a place in the US's top court. After the first day of confirmation hearings, we speak to Ilya Shapiro, director at the Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies' Cato Institute and author of Supreme Disorder: Judicial Nominations and the Politics of America's Highest Court. Stanford University game theorists Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson have won the 2020 Nobel Economics Prize for their work on auction theory. We speak to Robert Wilson and ask how relevant auction theory is in the world today. And Australian scientists have discovered that the virus that causes Covid-19 can survive for up to 28 days on banknotes. Dr Debbie Eagles from the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness tells us how much of a threat this could be. Jamie Robertson is joined throughout the programme by Simon Littlewood, president of AC Growth Delivered, in Singapore, and by Alexis Goldstein, activist and financial reform advocate, in Washington DC. (Picture: Amy Coney Barrett; Picture credit: Getty Images)

After a controversial debate between President Trump and candidate Biden last week, Vice President Pence and candidate Kamala Harris are set to face off in Utah. Emily Means, a reporter with KUER Public Radio in Utah, tells us what to expect at the debate in Salt Lake City. Also in the programme, President Trump's administration has unveiled a tightening of rules for H-1B visas, which allow tens of thousands of high-skilled immigrants to work in the US. The President says this will protect US jobs but Michael Clemens, economist at the Centre for Global Development, says the evidence does not support this. Maelle Gavet, a Silicon Valley executive and author of “Trampled By Unicorns: Big Tech’s Empathy Problem and How to Fix it,” joins to talk about this week's congressional report into the monopoly powers of Amazon, Alphabet, Google and Facebook. And as global temperatures rise, we take a look at the impact on the workplace. All through the show we'll be joined by Andy Uhler of Marketplace in Texas, and Patrick Barta with the Wall Street Journal in Bangkok. (Picture credit: Getty Images.)

A report backed by US Democratic lawmakers has urged changes that could lead to the break-up of some of America's biggest tech companies. The recommendation follows a 16-month congressional investigation into Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple. The BBC's James Clayton explains what's behind the report. Also in the programme, US President Donald Trump has said he is ending negotiations over a Covid-19 relief bill, and will only resume talks after the election. A significant number of bars in Paris have been forced to close for the next two weeks, as journalist Sophie Pedder explains. We take a look at how the Coronavirus pandemic is hitting low-income students, and might provoke long-term changes in the education system overall, with Eloy Ortiz Oakley of California Community Colleges. And a 400-strong ensemble of freelance musicians has played outside the UK Parliament to highlight the plight of the music industry during the current pandemic. Violinist Nicola Benedetti attended to support to the performers, and explains what they are trying to achieve. All through the programme we'll be joined by political reporter Erin Delmore in New York and the Financial Times' Robin Harding in Tokyo. (Picture: Apple's Tim Cook, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Google's Sundar Pichai. Picture credit: EPA/Reuters.)

As the number of deaths from coronavirus approaches one million, we hear how countries around the world have been handling the pandemic. Also in the programme, why are some of the world's leading cement producers making a public pledge to shrink their carbon footprint? Plus, Apple and Epic Games are back in court for another face-off over the online video game, Fortnite. And, we meet the founders of London-based start-up NewFade, which is on a mission to make wigs cool, with a focus on serving young black men. Presenter Sasha Twining is joined by Nicole Childers, executive producer of Marketplace Morning Report in Los Angels, and Bloomberg editor Samson Ellis in Taiwan. Picture: A stock photo of a man wearing personal protective equipment. (Credit: Getty Images.)

We hear from businesses across India, as the country suffers a 23.9% fall in its economic growth, the worst on record, amidst one of the biggest single-day rises in coronavirus cases in the world. The start of the American presidential election campaign is in full swing, with the two candidates attacking each other over law and order, rather than the economy. And we'll hear the view from the English countryside on how a social media star stopped fears for the farming industry post Brexit. We discuss all this live with Nicole Childers, who is executive producer of Marketplace radio in Los Angeles, and Madhavan Narayanan, journalist and writer in Delhi. (Image: A woman handles India rupee notes. Credit: AFP PHOTO / ARUN SANKAR (Photo credit should read ARUN SANKAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Covid-19 restrictions and concerns mean that the only people attending in-person will be those necessary to orchestrating the event. Instead of 50,000 people gathering for the traditional calendar with days full of speeches, receptions and rallies, sessions will be streamed from the Democratic Party's social media channels and aired live on most US news channels. We discuss the ramifications with Simon Littlewood of AC Growth Delivered and political reporter Erin Delmore. Meanwhile, some of the richest people in Hollywood and Silicon Valley could be set to pay a state wealth tax but how much extra cash will it actually raise? And, Google has taken on the Australian authorities over a plan to make web giants pay news publishers for using their content. We'll look at what's at stake in a row that many say is unprecedented in Australia. (Picture: Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. Credit: Getty Images)

Alex Harris, Head of Global Policy at the Wellcome Trust and the BBC's Fergus Walsh tell us about promising progress on a coronavirus vaccine. Video-sharing app TikTok has denied that it is controlled by the Chinese government; Emily Taylor, associate fellow with the International Security Programme at Chatham House, tells us why countries like India and the US are not reassured by TikTok's guarantees about the safety of users' data. Office workers are still in many cases, working from home and there is a growing realisation that this is having a huge knock on effect on small retailers who rely on that footfall. The BBC's Dougal Shaw meets one retailer in London, whose family-run chain of small shops sells gift cards, wrote to the BBC explaining his plight. Civil rights leader and congressman, John Lewis, died last week; we hear about his life from Erika Alexander, co-founder of Color Farm Media and producer of the film John Lewis: Good Trouble. And our regular workplace commentator, Pilita Clarke, considers whether coronavirus marks the end of the era of hot-desking in the modern office. Plus, we're joined throughout the programme by Christine Spadafor, a management consultant and lawyer - she's in Maine on the east coast of the US and in Delhi, India we're joined by Madhavan Narayanan, a freelance writer and former senior editor at Hindustan Times. (Picture of a vaccine via Getty Images.)

Several countries have criticised China for imposing a new security law on Hong Kong, which they say threatens the territory's long-standing. Some of the world's largest social media and internet businesses - including Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Google and Telegram - have all said they are "pausing" co-operation with requests for user information from the Hong Kong police, until they can assess the situation. The BBC's North America Technology Correspondent, James Clayton, tells us more. Meanwhile, could self-guiding, autonomous ships be the future? And, we talk to Hollywood Reporter Contributing Editor Jonathan Handel about how streaming a production of the musical Hamilton may just have given Disney's new online service an enormous boost. We discuss the implications of all these stories, and more, with Nicole Childers, executive producer of Marketplace Morning Report, and Economist Andy Xie. (Picture credit: Getty Images)

Intel had faced problems manufacturing its own designs, leading it to issue a public apology to computer-makers. Apple's challenge will be to carry off the transition smoothly to using in-house chips and convince third-party developers to update their apps accordingly. We talk to the BBC's James Clayton in California. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has banned international visitors from making the Islamic pilgrimage, or Hajj, this year in a bid to control coronavirus. However, locals will be allowed to attend, allowing the spirit of the Hajj to live on. We speak to Rashid Mogradia, founder and Chief Executive of the Council of British Hajjis. And can Rugby survive the lockdown? Teams are struggling to pay salaries and don't know when they can get spectators back into the stadia. (Picture: An iPhone. Credit: iStock Editorial/ Getty Images Plus)

After three bleak months, New York looks to lift some of its harshest lockdown restrictions. Meanwhile India plans to do the same. There is a difference between the two places, though. New York is widely seen as having put the worst of its coronavirus outbreak behind it. However, India is reopening places of worship, restaurants and shopping malls, despite coronavirus cases continuing to soar and experts warning the nation is far from hitting its peak. Meanwhile, anti-racism protests around the world continue in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, adding extra pressure to small businesses, hoping the end of lockdowns will bring a path to normality. The BBC's Rahul Tandon talks to Erin Delmore, a New York-based political journalist, and Sushma Ramchandran, an independent business journalist and columnist at the Tribune. Picture: Rickshaw driver in a face mask. Credit: Yawar Nazir

Washington may be about to strip Hong Kong of its special trading status with the US - we look at the interplay between the US, China and Hong Kong. Plus, we examine President Trump's move to try to regulate social media sites he says are stifling conservative views. And in Denmark, we head out to bars and restaurants, which are slowly beginning to re-open. Finally, a Canadian court has ruled that a Huawei executive should face a hearing to be extradited to America. The case has destroyed relations between Ottawa and Beijing, says our expert. We speak about all this with live guests Ralph Silva of the Silva Research Network in Toronto, and Mehmal Sarfraz, a journalist and co-founder of the Current PK website in Lahore.

The French government has announced an €8bn rescue plan for its car industry, which has been severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. President Emmanuel Macron's proposal includes €1bn to provide grants of up to €7,000 to encourage citizens to purchase electric vehicles. We hear more from Karl Brauer, Executive Publisher of Cox Automotive. We ask how Airbnb can survive the coronavirus hit to its business model and the BBC's Elizabeth Hotson looks at how fake coronavirus cures are being sold and who's buying them. Also on the programme, the life of Stanley Ho, who has died at the age of 98. The King of Gambling, as he is known, made billions of dollars from his casinos to become one of Asia's richest men. JK Rowling is publishing a new book, The Ickabog, which will be given away for free to entertain the millions of children stuck in their homes due to the lockdowns. We here more from Emma Pocock who writes for Forbes and for the leading Harry Potter fan site, The Leaky Cauldron. Plus, we're joined throughout the programme by political reporter Erin Delmore in New York and in Singapore, Simon Littlewood, president of AC Growth Delivered. Photograph of Emmanuel Macron, via Getty Images

We talk to the BBC's Politics Correspondent, Rob Watson about what Dominic Cummings' future may hold. With our special guests Sushma Ramachandran, of the Tribune in Delhi, and Tony Nash, of Complete Intelligence in Houston, Texas, we talk about how India and parts of the United States are easing their lockdowns. We also look at how many people are looking to change careers, whether forced to or not. (Picture: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Special Adviser, Dominic Cummings returns to his home in London. Picture credit: European Photopress Agency)

France lifts many of its lockdown restrictions, even as concerns mount in Germany that Covid-19 cases may be on the rise again. Philippe d’Ornano, Chief Executive of French beauty company Sisley explains what it means for business. Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson clarified instructions for the public in England, after a great deal of ridicule and confusion over the government's initial outlined steps. We explore the difficulty of his position as advice for England now stands at odds with advice for the other 'home nations': Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. And, we head to Hong Kong, where protests against the authorities have once again started to rise. (Picture credit: Guillaume Souvant/ Getty Images)

As demand for international flights has dried up, the effects are filtering through to Boeing and Airbus. Their customers don't need the planes they already have on order - never mind, placing fresh orders for even more craft. Meanwhile, theories continue to swirl about the mysterious absence of North Korea's leader from public view. He's missed several high profile events and some news outlets are reporting his death. What does the situation, and potential stability issues it creates, mean for the region? And US Crude oil slides 24% to just $12.80 a barrel. What can oil exporters do to turn the price collapse around? (Photo: Guvendemir/ Getty Images)

Countries and governments around the world are starting to feel the strain of coronavirus lockdown, with some showing signs of easing up restrictions. But the World Health Organisation is urging serious care, saying it cannot be done in a hurry. Also in the programme, the EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager has advised governments to prevent companies being taken over by Chinese firms. Amazon's share price surged after the company announced it would take on another 75,000 workers amidst increased demand, after already hiring some 100,000. Professor Scott Galloway at the New York University Stern School of Business discusses how we should interpret the move. The world's oil producers under OPEC and allies have agreed a record oil deal that will slash global output by about 10%. Paul Hickin, Associate Director at Platts, explains what this means for the future of oil prices. Plus, with the internet full of memes and videos to help us get through uncertain times, the BBC's Vivienne Nunis speaks to some of those creating internet content to make us smile during the long lockdown days. All through the show we’ll be joined by Rachel Cartland, author in Hong Kong and Tony Nash, chief economist at Complete Intelligence in Houston, Texas. (Picture: Dr Tedros Adhanom, Director-General of the World Health Organization. Picture credit: Getty Images.)

US crude oil prices fell below $20 a barrel on Monday, close to their lowest level in 18 years, as traders bet production would have to shut to prevent a glut in the markets. The situation is particularly bleak for high-cost wells in the world's largest producer: the US. We talk to Ellen Wald, from the Atlantic Council, in Florida, and Tom Adshead, a director of Macro Advisory in Moscow. Meanwhile, the Coronavirus outbreak has caused a rather startling change in fish consumption in Kenya. Instead of importing stocks from China, Kenyans have refound their taste for local catches, boosting incomes within the industry. And what do you do when you're in lock down? We interview David Shearer, who runs the UK puzzle exchange. He's seeing a resurgence in demand for jigsaws! (Picture description: Woman on a street in Moscow walks past live oil prices, showing the plunge due to Covid-19. Picture credit: Getty Images)

The Bank of Japan, Bank of England and European Central Bank all pledged to increase liquidity to help economies through any disruption caused by the Covid-19 virus. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

Fears of a recession grow after the country's GDP fell by 1.6% in the final quarter of 2019, as the full economic impact of the coronavirus is still to come. Devin Stewart, senior fellow at the US-based Eurasia Group Foundation, tells us what this means for the world's third largest economy. Is an iPhone shortage on the horizon? Manufacturer Apple says production is down and has warned it won't meet its previous revenue guidance. Our business reporter Zoe Thomas brings us up to date from San Francisco. And we find out the fate of The Skagway News, based in Alaska. Its owner announced he was giving away the local paper at the end of last year. But did he find the perfect new owner? Sasha Twining is joined throughout the programme by Sushma Ramachandran, independent business journalist and columnist for the Tribune newspaper, in Delhi, and Alexis Goldstein, activist and financial reform advocate, who's based in Washington. (Picture: A woman wearing a mask in Tokyo. Credit: David Mareuil/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Huawei's chief operating officer appears in a Canadian court to fight extradition to the United States on charges of fraud and breaching sanctions on Iran. The United States Census for 2020 is launched in Alaska, an important exercise for economic planning - we hear from Gabriel Layman, the Chief Operating Officer of Cook Inlet Housing Authority, about the quirks of gathering such huge amounts of information. And baseball is hit by a cheating scandal which could prompt advertisers to walk. And in Japan, a major restaurant chain is feeling the effects of the country’s ageing population. We discuss all this with live guests Sushma Ramachandran, an independent business journalist for The Tribune newspaper in Delhi, and Tony Nash, chief economist at Complete Intelligence in Houston, Texas. (Image: A silhouette in front of a Huawei sign. Credit: Wang Zhao/ Getty Images)

Speaking in Washington, US President Donald Trump said the pact would be "transformartive" for the US economy. Chinese leaders called it a "win-win" deal that would help foster better relations between the two countries. We hear from Greg Gilligan who chairs the American Chamber of Commerce in China and Steve Lamar, head of the American Apparel and Footwear Association. Russia's government has resigned, hours after President Vladimir Putin proposed sweeping constitutional changes. We explore the implications. Also, we take an in-depth look at the meat and dairy industry and ask whether it is sustainable. Will diets have to change? How fast will the food industry have to adapt? Plus, a familiar name in Japanese politics is again making waves - but for reasons outside of politics. The environment minister Shinjiro Koizumi - son of the former PM Junichiro Koizumi - has caused a sensation by taking paternity leave. Why is that still such a controversial move in Japan? Presenter Fergus Nicoll is joined by guests Christine Spadafor in Boston and Stefanie Yuen Thio in Singapore PHOTO: Getty Images

The NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said members were united in their concerns about what he called Iran's destabilising operations in the region and in their resolve that Iran should never acquire nuclear weapons. But he said it was a US, not a NATO, decision to kill the senior Iranian general Qasim Soleimani in Iraq last week. After Iranian threats of retaliation, the world awaits who will make the next move? Meanwhile, South African entrepreneur Richard Maponya has died, aged 99. We look back on this retail titan, known as the 'Father of Black Business'. Plus a moment of gratitude for Office Boys in Indonesian offices by workplace commentator Asmara Wreksono. And joining us throughout the programme are Rachel Cartland, author, writer and expert on Hong Kong and Houston based Tony Nash, chief economist at Complete Intelligence. (Picture: Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Picture Credit: AFP Photo/ Ho/ Iranian Presidency)

A look at the changing world of work. How will technology will play a growing role in all areas of our working lives and how essential is it to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse workforce? Washington based Sabina Dewan from Just Jobs Network, an international think tank focussed on creating more and better jobs worldwide joins the discussion. Adrian Blair, formerly Global COO of Just Eat and CEO of Receipt Bank, a fintech company which enhances workflow globally also joins Sasha Twining's workplace discussion. (Photo: Global communication network concept Credit: Getty Images)

US plane maker Boeing has replaced its chief executive Dennis Muilenburg in the wake of two deadly 737 Max crashes and the plane's subsequent grounding. We speak to Scott Hamilton, an aviation industry consultant with Leeham news and analysis in Seattle. Plus, UK defence and aerospace company Cobham has been bought by a US private equity firm in a $5bn deal that could test the new government's tolerance of foreign takeovers. Also in the programme, how green is the internet? We examine the energy consumed powering the web. And if you're looking for a last minute Christmas bargain, a small newspaper business in Alaska is looking to be snapped up. The asking price? Free - we find out why. All this and more discussed with guests Erin Delmore, a political reporter in New York, and journalist Jyoti Malhotra in Delhi. (Photos: File photos of David Calhoun (L), and Dennis Muilenburg (R). Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

Over the weekend, at the age of 92, one of the giants of American economic policy and former head of the US central bank Paul Volcker, died at his home in New York. He was perhaps best known for his dramatic hiking of interest rates in the early eighties to fight inflation. We explore his enduring legacy. Meanwhile, shares in Tullow Oil fell as much as 70% after the company announced a boardroom shake-up, scrapped its dividend and cut its production forecasts. Chief executive Paul McDade and exploration director Angus McCoss are stepping down immediately. We talk to Eklavya Gupte, senior editor of Europe and Africa News S&P Global Platts. Robin Harding, Tokyo Bureau Chief or Financial Times and Alexis Goldstein, an activist and financial reform advocate in Washington join the discussion. (Picture Credit: Getty Images)

Uber initially lost its licence in 2017 but was granted two extensions, the most recent of which expires on Monday. The firm will appeal and can continue to operate during that process. We talk to Shona Ghosh, UK technology editor for Business Insider, about what this means for the company. Meanwhile, the chief executive of Australia's third-largest bank, Westpac, has resigned following investor pressure. The bank was last week accused of 23 million counts of breaching anti-money laundering rules. We talk to the BBC's Phil Mercer in Sydney about the reaction. (Image: The Uber App - Picture credit: Getty Images)

Unrest continues in Hong Kong after more violent clashes between pro-democracy demonstrators and the police. Dozens of protestors have left the Polytechnic after more violent clashes with police. Throughout the programme we hear the views of Rachel Cartland, a long time civil servant in the Chinese city, who worked with the territory's Chief Executive Carrie Lam. Our other guest over the hour is Professor Peter Morici, from the University of Maryland in Washington and he has some interesting views on Ford unveiling an electric version of its iconic Mustang sports car. We also hear from motoring journalist Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield, from Transport Evolved, who took a ride in the car. We hear from the literary world after a tiny hand-made book written by Charlotte Bronte at the age of 14 was bought at an auction in Paris by the Bronte Society, which will ensure it returns to the North of England. As the UK prepares for one of the most uncertain general elections for many years we get an explanation of the policies of the Green Party, from its Brexit and finance spokesperson Molly Scott-Cato. (Picture: Hong Kong Polytechnic. Copyright credit Philip Fong.)

To the relief of the UK government, Chinese firm Jingye has promised to rescue British Steel, an iconic company that employs 4,000 people. We ask Martin Jacques, author of When China Rules the World, whether the UK is being drawn into China's Belt and Road plan. Protests in Lebanon show little sign of easing up; the entire financial and political system is the focus of the anger. The BBC's Ivana Davidovic has been finding out more. There is an argument that the American Dream is dead and that meritocracy and hard work aren't valued any more. But some do still live the dream and we hear from one such success story; Rob Bernshteyn, CEO of fintech company, Coupa Software which is worth around US$1.6 billion. Vast parts of Australia's east coast are bracing for potentially catastrophic bushfires today and we're joined by the BBC's Phil Mercer in Maitland, an inland city 165 km north of Sydney. China's annual Singles Day has morphed into an enormous frenzy of shopping and green groups are warning all this comes at a huge cost to the environment. We hear from Tang Damin, a plastics campaigner with Greenpeace in Beijing. And joining us throughout the programme are Simon Littlewood in Singapore - he's President of AC Growth Delivered. And in California, Alison Van Diggelen, is host of Fresh Dialogues. Photo description: British Steel's Scunthorpe works Credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Virgin Galactic had its first day as a listed company in New York. At their peak, shares rose just over 10%. Founded in 2004, Virgin Galactic has spent more than $1bn developing its programme, which is years behind schedule and took a hit after a fatal accident in 2014. We explore the future for this fledgling industry with Chief Executive George Whitesides. Meanwhile, Google is reported to be in talks to buy Fitbit. We speak to Carolina Milanesi, tech analyst at Creative Strategies. And how the world should prepare for the onslaught of so-called 'deep fakes' - the computer generated videos that allow the nefarious to put words in the mouths of the famous. (Picture Credit: Getty Images)

The prince has begun legal action against the owners of the Sun and the Daily Mirror. We speak to Brian Cathcart, founder of Hacked Off, which campaigns for press accountability in the UK, as Buckingham Palace confirms documents have been filed over the alleged illegal interception. US company Purdue Pharma has been in the headlines recently after it was accused of fuelling the opioid crisis with its drug OxyContin. Recent court filings now show that the company sent up to $13 billion of profits to its owners, the Sackler family - the largest estimate so far of how much the family made from Purdue. Jared S Hopkins, reporter at the Wall Street Journal, explains the story. Jamie Robertson is joined throughout the programme by Alexander Kaufman, senior reporter at the Huffington Post in New York, and Sharon Brettkelly, bureau chief at Radio New Zealand in Auckland. (Picture: The Duke of Sussex. Credit: Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage)

We look at the global repercussions of sweeping sanctions on the government of Venezuela by the US. We ask if President Trump's aim - to punish 'the usurping' of power by President Nicolas Maduro, Germany's hugely successful automotive industry is being choked by not only global trade tensions, but other factors - the BBC's Rob Young has an extended report on the economic powerhouse and its woes. Plus, we look Disney's disappointing financial results. We discuss all this with guests Youngsuk Chi, a Korean Businessman, who has worked extensively in the media and technology industry and Maya Van Rossun, environmental lawyer and author in Philadelphia. (Image: A man walks past a wall reading "Trump unblock Venezuela" in Caracas on August 6, 2019. Credit: Federico Parra / Getty Images)

China is 70 years old. Its growth has been staggering from rural economy to industrial powerhouse. We explore the many issues, both positive and negative, around this with founding executive of the Libra Association, Dante Disparte, and journalist Mehmal Sarfraz. We also look at what the nation's unique path has meant for its people with Yuen Yuen Ang, author of forthcoming book, China's Gilded Age: The Paradox of Economic Boom & Vast Corruption. Meanwhile, Facebook's plans to get the world to use its digital currency Libra continue apace. We discuss what Libra is and what it means for you. And, we talk trains! Africa's first high speed train was opened to the public in Morocco at the end of last year.The BBC's Nora Fakim is in Casablanca to see how it's doing. Picture credit: Getty Images

Hurricane Dorian could hit the US. We hear from Luis Fajardo from BBC Monitoring in Miami. And as the trade war between the US and China expands, we meet some of those impacted by it. Also in the programme, with Argentina in the midst of a currency crisis, the government has imposed sweeping restrictions on how much money people can exchange into foreign currencies. Jimena Blanco of risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft in Buenos Aires, explains the government's thinking. In May last year federal legislation which outlawed sports betting was changed; thirteen states now allow it and Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corporation has launched Fox Bet. We hear from Warwick Bartlett, the CEO of industry consultants GBGC. Plus our regular workplace commentator Heather McGregor of Heriot Watt University takes a look at research indicating that expressing gratitude towards our colleagues can help combat stress and boost job satisfaction. And we're joined throughout the programme by I'll be joined throughout the programme by Nathaniel Taplin from the Wall St Journal in Hong Kong and Tony Nash, chief economist at Complete Intelligence, in Houston, Texas. Pic description: Satellite image of Hurricane Dorian Pic credit: NOAA via Getty Images

Twitter and Facebook block what they described as a state-backed Chinese misinformation campaign against protests in Hong Kong. Chinese telecoms giant Huawei gets a temporary reprieve - but are US sights now being set on France? And the business of gold - we find out how the precious metal is being bought wholesale to try and beat the next global recession. We discuss all this live with Jason Abbruzzese, Senior Tech Editor at NBC News in New York, and Jodi Schneider, Senior International Editor at Bloomberg in Hong Kong. (Image: 'Free Hong Kong' graffiti during the demonstration. Credit: SOPA Images/ Getty Images)

Hundreds of thousands of US government workers and their families are visiting food banks as they remain unpaid for 32 days. We speak to Kate Maehr, who runs the Greater Chicago Food Depository. How can more women get appointed to the top roles in business? Vivienne Nunis hears from Sue Unerman, author of The Glass Wall. And BBC reporter Nick Beake tells us how China is keen to invest in Myanmar. Fergus Nicoll is joined throughout the programme by Nicole Childers, who is Executive Producer at Marketplace on American Public Media and is in Los Angeles, and Jyoti Malhotra, National & Strategic Affairs Editor at The Print, who is in Delhi. (Picture: A person carries a food bag in Washington DC. Credit: Yasin Ozturk/Getty Images)

Pakistan's finance minister has announced the country will ask the International Monetary Fund for a bailout. We'll hear from Nadeem Haque, a former Pakistani official and former IMF representative, and Saeed Shah from the Wall Street Journal in Islamabad. Then, Jair Bolsonaro is the favourite in the second round of Brazil's presidential election. The BBC's Julia Carneiro gives us the latest on the country's reaction and what happens now. It’s an age-old question, how do women balance the demands of raising a family with career progression? With three small children and a challenging job Christine Armstrong wanted that question answered once and for all, so she asked as many women as possible for her book the Mother of all Jobs. Alison Green has been giving workplace advice for over a decade and one thing that keeps surprising her is that people want their problems solved without even speaking to the key person. She explains why direct conversation can be the best. All throughout the show, we’ll be joined by Ralph Silva of the Silva Research Network in Toronto, Canada, and Asit Biswas from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Pakistani President Imran Khan speaks to the media on July 25, 2018. PHOTO CREDIT: Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images)

Earlier in the year sportswear giant Nike hired Colin Kaepernick for their adverts. The former American football star caused controversy by kneeling during the national anthem. As a result of the ad campaign some people said they would boycott Nike goods and some even posted videos on Twitter of burning trainers. Now Nike is holding its annual shareholders' meeting, and the company is under scrutiny as never before. We hear from retail analyst Neil Saunders on what might be said. A Canadian marketing company is advertising for part-time cannabis tasters after recreational cannabis use becomes legal in Canada in a few weeks’ time. The company, A Higher Level of Thought, were surprised by the level of response, as we hear from their boss Greg Pantelic. The trade war between the US and China has intensified, as each side slaps higher border taxes on each other's products. Beijing is considering cutting tariffs on products imported from most of its trading partners. Such a move would make many foreign-made goods cheaper for Chinese consumers, just as products from America get more expensive in China. Matt Gold, Professor of International Trade Law at Fordham University in New York gives his view. And finally, Britain is not really used to long, hot summers. But there has been an unusually sustained period of low rainfall. The drier weather has been a welcome boost to the UK's growing wine industry, which saw sales increase almost a third over the past two years. The BBC's Stephen Ryan has been looking into North London wine. All throughout the show, we’ll be joined by Jodi Schneider, Senior International Editor at Bloomberg in Hong Kong and Dave Shaw, Politico's executive producer for audio and podcasts in Washington. PHOTO DESCRIPTION: Colin Kaepernick and teammates of the San Francisco 49ers kneel in protest during the national anthem at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California on October 23, 2016. PHOTO CREDIT: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Apple has updated its iPhone X handset with three more powerful models. Connie Guglielmo, Editor-in-Chief of tech news site, CNET, tells us about their latest innovations. We have an interview with Ray Dalio, one of the richest people in the world and founder of hedge fund Bridgewater Associates to discuss his new book about the financial crisis. We travel to Singapore to find out how countries in Asia experienced an extraordinary economic boom after the global financial crisis. Our reporter looks at chief executives and bankers in Iceland who were prosecuted during the financial crisis. Plus, we hear about the Sri Lankan president's anger over airline cashew nuts. We're joined throughout the programme by three guests. In Washington, Heather Slavkin Corzo, the director of the Office of Investment of the trade union, the AFL-CIO, and Professor Randall Kroszner, Former Federal Reserve Governor and now Deputy Dean of the Executive MBA programme at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. We also have from Hong Kong Victor Mallet, Asia news editor for the Financial Times.

Rahul Tandon presents a special edition of Business Matters from Delhi. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi came into power promising to make it to do business in the country. We speak to businessmen and women who have set up companies in the past few years. We also hear from the economist Saswati Chaudri about the challenge of creating employment in India's rural economy. And we speak to someone who returned to India few years ago to look for employment about the state of the job market. Also, over the last past few days thousands of small traders across India have taken to the streets to protest against Walmart's take over of the indian e-commerce firm Flipkart . We have a report from one of the protests. And the former civil servant turned writer Raj Liberham guides us through India's customs in the business world. Also in the programme, we consider how US states will be affected by overturning the established precedent allowing public-sector unions to collect fees from nonunion members. We're joined throughout the programme by Hartosh Singh Bal editor of The Caravan magazine and Mitchell Hartman in Portland, a reporter at Marketplace Radio. (Photo: Agricultural workers in rural India. Credit: AFP)

What's been done about Delhi's air pollution? Rahul Tandon presents a special edition of Business Matters from Delhi looking at the city's pollution problem. We have a report about living in a city with one of the world's highest pollution levels. The writer Sandip Roy tells us why India has not yet seen a mass anti-pollution movement. Also in the programme, we have a report on the protests against residential blocks in the south of Delhi that will result in thousands of trees being cut down. Plus, we hear from students at one of India's top business schools about how they think the problem should be solved. We're joined throughout the programme by Vasu Primlani, a sustainability professional and professor and Sushma Ramachandran, former chief business correspondent at The Hindu. (Photo: Environmental protest sign in Delhi. Credit: BBC)

Canada is putting tariffs on more than $12bn worth of American goods. They will come into effect on Sunday and will target not just US steel and aluminium but also consumer goods like orange juice, whisky and even toilet paper. We hear from our economics correspondent Andrew Walker and whisky producer Colin Spoelman from Kings County distillery in Brooklyn. President Trump has communicated much of his economic policy on Twitter; as part of the BBC's Money and Power series we hear from Dr Stephanie Hare who researches technological trends. We round up the week's biggest news stories with Katie Martin from the Financial Times and Richard Cockett from The Economist. And we're joined throughout the programme by Cathy Alexander, research fellow at the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute. Picture description: Canadian dollars Picture credit: Getty Images

Ahead of Sunday's election in Turkey, we ask what role economic decline may play. We gauge the mood in Istanbul with voices from business, academia and ordinary Turks. The oil producing nations in the OPEC grouping have agreed to increase output in order to lower prices around the world. Chris Low from FTN Financial in New York tells us about the surprising market response. Also in the programme, Eurozone countries have reached agreement with Greece on a repayment schedule for the country's debt. Yannis Palaiologos is a reporter on the Athens daily Kathimerini and tells us what the agreement means. We hear from Jonah Sachs, author of a new book on creativity, Unsafe Thinking. On 'Bring Your Dog to Work Day', our reporter talks to people who do just that. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued U.S. patent number 10 million to Joseph Marron, a principal engineering fellow at the Space and Airborne Systems division of Raytheon. Kai Ryssdal of the Marketplace programme on American Public Media has been speaking to him. On 'Bring Your Dog to Work Day', our reporter talks to people who do just that. Plus we look back at the rest of the week's big business stories with David Hodari of the Wall Street Journal, and Patricia O'Connell, former editor of Business Week. We're joined throughout the programme by Clive Hunton of ABC News in Canberra, Australia. (Photo: President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Credit: Getty Images)

The UN says more than two-hundred people people have drowned off Libya in recent days. The recent stand-off between Malta and Italy over a boatload of desperate African travellers has revealed how right-wing populism is hardening attitudes. We hear from Christian Dustmann, the Director of the Centre for Research and Analysis on Migration at University College London about the EU's handling of immigration. Also in the programme, we have a report examining the role that China plays in updating Zambia's infrastructure. The White House reveals a document proposing the reorganisation of the US federal government. Michelle Hackman of the Wall Street Journal in Washington tells us what she made it. Our correspondent Rebecca Henschke gives us the latest on Monday's ferry disaster in Indonesia that killed almost 200 people. Plus, we hear how two female boxing champions are inspiring girls and boys alike. We're joined throughout the programme by Jason Abbruzzese, Senior Tech Editor at NBC News Digital in New York and Emily Feng of the Financial Times in Beijing. (Photo: Migrants from Libya in the Mediterranean Sea. Credit: AFP)

President Trump has said there is a "very substantial chance" the summit may not happen. Meanwhile, the South Korean president, Moon-Jae in, is in Washington for talks which are focussed on salvaging the meeting. Harry Kazianis, Director of Defense Studies, at the conservative-leaning Centre for the National Interest in Washington gives us his take on if the talks with Kim Jong-un will go ahead. We have a report from Rahul Tandon about if India can create enough jobs to cater for the millions of people expected to enter the labour force over the next few decades. Also, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has testified at the European Parliament about the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. We hear from our technology correspondent, Rory Cellan-Jones who was watching Mr. Zuckerberg's appearance. Legal and General Investment Management in the UK has decided to launch the first investment fund aimed at encouraging gender diversity. Helena Morrissey, head of personal investing at LGIM, tells us how it works. Also in the programme, are voice controlled AI assistants at risk of developing human prejudices? Trevor Cox, professor of Acoustic Engineering at Salford University in northern England, tells us about the potential pitfalls of applying machine learning to decoding the human voice. We're joined throughout the programme by Catherine Yeung, Investment Director at Fidelity International- who's in Hong Kong, and Bridget Bodnar of Marketplace, in Los Angeles. (Photo: US President Donald Trump and South Korea's Moon Jae-in)

South Korea said the ship had transferred 600 tonnes of oil to a North Korean vessel. There are suggestions, denied by the Chinese, that China was responsible for the shipment. We find out more from China expert Gordon Chang. Also in the programme, it’s been a bumper year for commodities with palladium ending at a 17-year high. IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp explains what’s ahead in 2018. Does fake news mark the end of free speech in America? Katherine Mangu-Ward, editor of Reason.com explains whether a problem is brewing in the U.S. Then, Chelsea Fagan, author of the Financial Diet, demonstrates how to make non-traditional decisions about money. Our reporter explains why the defunct bank brand Lehman Brothers has been resurrected as a whisky. Plus, we look back at the year’s big business stories with Nina Trentmann of the Wall Street Journal and Justin Fox from Bloomberg. Colin Peacock of Radio New Zealand joins presenter Roger Hearing. (Picture: The Lighthouse Winmore, chartered by Taiwanese company Billions Bunker Group Corp., is seen at sea off South Korea's Yeosu port. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

The U.S. Senate closes in on passing tax reform legislation. Bipartisan Policy Center senior advisor, Steve Bell, weighs in on what a legislative victory on taxes could mean for the Trump administration. And a conversation with Democratic Congresswoman Jackie Speier about sexual-harassment allegations swirling through Congress. Also in the programme, UNCHR’s representative to Libya talks about the evidence of Libyan slave markets in a post-Gadaffi world. Plus, has Trump’s travel ban had an impact on American tourism? We talk with Brand USA president Chris Thompson. Joining throughout the programme is Robert Miliken, Australia correspondent for The Economist. (Photo: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell; photo credit: Getty)

A look into why Japan’s once sterling corporate reputation has taken such a hit amid a number of high-profile scandals in recent years. Also in the programme, a deep dive into why the nation's efforts to make it easier for women to return to work after having children may be destined to fail. And, as Tokyo celebrates its own AIDS Week – a conversation with Japan’s most prominent and respected LGBT figure, Pink Bear, about how traditional values in the country make it difficult for gay people to be open about themselves. Akiko Nagi, founder of networking site Wantedly, and Tomohiro Taniguchi, a journalist and government adviser, weigh in throughout the programme. (Photo: Japan scenery – photo credit: BBC)

Host Roger Hearing visits areas surrounding the city on the east side of Japan’s main island where almost half a million people had to leave their homes in 2011 due to the nuclear disaster. He speaks with one man who lost two children and is now involved in a group dedicated to finding those who have so far never been found. Later in the programme, Roger visits an area that was once considered the nation’s breadbasket, but now even as the government and producers try to clean the land and convince shoppers what’s grown there is safe…it’s still a tough call. Finally, even in the toughest times, there are still those who are working to keep the flame of traditional culture alive. Roger speaks to one man doing just that. Roger is joined throughout the programme by William McMichael, assistant professor of economics and business administration at Fukushima University, and Dr. Sae Ochi, director of internal medicine at Tokyo’s Soma Central Hospital. (Picture credit: Getty; a train suite Shiki-Shima, operated by East Japan Railway, during a training run in Inawashiro, Fukushima)

An already tense situation on the Korean peninsula escalated with North Korea’s launch of its highest-ever ICBM that landed in Japanese waters. Anna Fifield, Tokyo bureau chief for the Washington Post, explains how significant the action is. Later in the programme, Jared Bernstein, a member of President Obama’s economic team, talks about Jerome Powell’s testimony on Capitol Hill as he seeks confirmation to become the next Federal Reserve chairman. We’ll also hear from the BBC’s Karishma Vaswani about how Vietnam has become home to a thriving start-up scene, and discuss diversity in this year’s Grammy nominations with Kevin Fallon, senior entertainment reporter at the Daily Beast. (Picture: Kim Jong-Un delivering a statement in Pyongyang. Picture credit: Getty)

Regional branches of Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF party have joined growing calls for President Robert Mugabe to resign. We hear the latest from the BBC's Fergal Keane. Britain could put a tax on one-use plastic food packaging and polystyrene takeaway boxes. Government ministers are asking for evidence on whether a new tax would prevent waste and cut pollution in the world's oceans. Research this week found plastic is widespread in the stomachs of sea creatures, and humans are eating them. Craig Bennett, CEO of Friends of the Earth in the UK, tells us what he thinks of the UK government's proposal. The US media giants Comcast and Verizon have expressed interest in buying parts of Twenty First Century Fox, less than two weeks after Disney tried to do the same. Steven Barnett, Professor of Communications at the University of Westminster in London, explains why there's a bidding frenzy in media land. All this and more discussed with our guest throughout the show: Colin Peacock is the presenter of Mediawatch on Radio New Zealand. He joins us from Wellington. (Photo: Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe at a graduation ceremony in Harare on the 17th November, 2017. Credit: AFP.)

President Trump has renewed his verbal pressure on North Korea, warning Pyongyang not to take military action against the US or its allies. Mr Trump said he hoped the North's leader understood the gravity of the situation. World leaders have expressed concern at the war of words over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme. Vincent Ni, Senior Producer, BBC Chinese Service talks about how many people use services and social media platforms like Weibo, WeChat and Baidu Tieba in China. They are currently investigation for alleged violations of cyber security laws and said people had been using the platforms to spread terrorism-related material, rumours and obscenities. The breaches "jeopardised national security," the administration said. Michelle Fleury reports from New York about the growing premium market, as parents spend to make sure they have the very best products for their children. In the US, women are waiting longer to have children which, sometimes, means they have more disposable income.

North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch was in the direction of Japan. The Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, says the world needs to increase pressure on Pyongyang to end its missile testing programme. We'll discuss North Korea's latest intercontinental missile test, which experts say puts US cities in range. As the United States Food and Drug Administration announces that it wants to limit the amount of nicotine in cigarettes, we asked Professor Stanton Glantz from the University of California San Francisco for his assessment. Plus, an underground mail train in London is coming back on track as part of the London Postal Museum. The BBC’s Richard Collings went on board. Rob Young is joined on the programme by Colin Peacock, who’s a journalist at Radio New Zealand. (Photo: A man looks at images of missile launches and military exercises in a public square in Pyongyang. Photo credit: ED JONES/AFP/Getty Images)

The US House of Representatives has voted to impose fresh sanctions on Russia, despite President Donald Trump objecting to the legislation. Daniel Fried, former sanctions coordinator at the US State Department looks at the latest step. Is infrastructure spending really the secret to boosting economic growth? We look at the cost and benefits of planned projects around the globe. And, the "world's most useless airport" is finally about to get its first scheduled flight. The BBC's Roger Hearing will be joined throughout the programme from Singapore by Asit Biswas, distinguished visiting Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, and from Los Angeles by Andy Uhler from the Marketplace programme at American public radio. They'll also be joined from Taiwan by the BBC's Cindy Sui and by Chris Heathcote author of the Global Infrastructure Outlook report and the travel journalist Simon Calder. Picture: US President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg this month. Credit:Saul Loeb AFP/Getty Images.

Just as the protestors on Hamburg's streets have varied demands, so too do the leaders of the G20. The US, for example, wants more trade tariffs (especially on steel imports) - a policy that not all members agree with. We get the latest on the summit from our correspondent in Hamburg, Amir Paivar. London-based PR firm Bell Pottinger apologises after its social media campaigns caused offence in South Africa. Nikita Ramkissoon from the Save South Africa campaign tells us her objections to it. Plus, we meet the astronomer turned entrepreneur Dr Kim Nilson, whose company Pivigo matches data scientists with firms who need them. Susannah Streeter is joined throughout the programme by Peter Ryan, senior business correspondent for ABC in Sydney. (Picture credit Alexander Koerner/Getty Images)

As leaders of the world’s twenty largest economies arrive in the northern German city of Hamburg, thousands of protestors took to the streets. Several police officers were injured as violence erupted. We get the latest from BBC correspondent Jenny Hill. As the EU and Japan announce their free trade deal, we speak to Shihoko Goto of the Northeast Asia Program at the Wilson Center in Washington. And the BBC’s Timothy McDonald reports from the Philippines, where new technology is disrupting the craft of guitar making. Roger Hearing is joined throughout the programme by entrepreneur and author August Turake in North Carolina and investment director Catherine Yeung in Hong Kong. (Photo credit Alexander Koerner/Getty Images)

Figures from the US Department of Labor showed that the unemployment rate dropped in April. But the rebound in the jobs market could pave the way for the US central bank to raise interest rates, warns Chirs Low of FTN Financial on Wall Street. The Indian government says it's planning new rules allowing airlines to ban unruly passengers from flying. It follows a steady increase in air rage incidents worldwide, and an incident where MP Ravindra Gaikwad hit an Air India duty manager with his sandal. Charles Leocha from Travelers United.org says it is easy for stress levels to rise on packed planes. The chief executive of Goldman Sachs, the world's second largest investment bank, has warned that London "will stall" because of the risks from the Brexit process. He has told the BBC that his firm had "contingency plans" to move people depending on the outcome of the negotiations. More and more people are being allowed to take their dogs to work, which can have surprising benefits for other employees. Susannah Streeter borrowed a dog and brought it to work with her to investigate. Susannah is joined throughout the programme by Clive Hunton of ABC in Canberra, Australia. (Picture: Construction workers in New York Credit:Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The GDU-43 bomb weighs almost 10,000kg, is as long as a small bus and packs the equivalent of eleven tons of TNT. But is deploying it an essential part of the war against so-called Islamic State, or is it just designed to show off America's military strength? We ask Michael O'Hanlon from the Brookings Institution. Since the start of the conflict in Syria, Armenia has welcomed an influx of refugees from the native Syrian Armenian community in Aleppo. They've been supported by the government to set up a series of micro-enterprises, but this has caused conflict with local business owners who say it's bringing them more competition. Nicola Kelly reports from the capital city, Yerevan Political protests have become frequent and numerous in Venezuela in recent weeks. Most recently they have been sparked by a decision to bar the opposition leader, Henrique Capriles, from holding public office for fifteen years. The BBC's Daniel Garcia talks to us from Caracas. What does Easter mean to you? Is it a religious festival, a break from work or just an excuse to consume large quantities of chocolate? Well it would appear that in the US it's increasingly becoming a good time for shops, according to the National Retail Federation. Joining Roger Hearing to discuss those stories are guests Professor Aswit Biswas in Singapore and Alison Van Diggelen in San Francisco (Picture: GDU-43 or 'Massive Ordnance Air Blast' bomb, Credit: U.S. Air Force)

Despite the shadow of US military action in Syria, American President Donald Trump insists his talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have been positive. We talk to Heather Timmons from Quartz to find out how relations between the two superpowers are being shaped. After at least four people were killed in a suspected terror attack in Sweden, we find out the latest from the BBC's Maddy Savage in Stockholm. We discuss some of the weeks biggest stories - including executive pay, fake news and the world's best restaurant awards - with Shelly Banjo of Bloomberg in New York and Elaine Moore of the Financial Times in London. And we examine the new Icelandic TV sensation that's picking up a global audience. It's Big Brother, only with cats. Discussing all of that with Alex Ritson is Elizabeth Jackson, a presenter from ABC Radio in Sydney, Australia. (Picture: US President Donald Trump with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, Credit: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)

The Democrats hated it before it even happened and now many Republicans have distanced themselves from the US President's proposals for an Obamacare replacement. So is Trumpcare already dead in the water? We speak to Professor John McDonough of Harvard University's Department of Health Policy & Management - who worked in the Senate on the passage of the Affordable Care Act. The US Department of Justice has fined the Chinese telecoms maker ZTE nearly $1.2 billion for selling banned American-made equipment to Iran and North Korea. We get analysis from Shawn Donnan, World Trade Editor of the Financial Times in Washington DC. The shipping industry is predominantly male and women who manage to get in complain of institutional harassment and sexism. Eldine Chilembo Gless, a One Young World Ambassador from Angola in south-west Africa outlines the extent of the problem. We cast the net a little wider to draw in some of the business headlines from elsewhere in the world and we cross to Sydney and the BBC's Phil Mercer. 36 years ago at the age of just 36 Bob Marley died but interest in the reggae star shows no sign of diminishing. In the UK, a new stage show called One Love: The Bob Marley Musical opens on Friday. It's written and directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah who's been talking to our Arts Correspondent Rebecca Jones. And we're joined throughout the programme by Mitchell Hartman of Marketplace who's is in Portland, Oregon and Jyoti Malhotra, President of South Asian Women in Media is in Delhi. Picture description: Protestors demonstrate during a health care rally at Thomas Paine Plaza on February 25, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images

President Trump has issued an executive order putting in place a new travel ban. Is it legally watertight this time? We hear from Ambassador Norman Eisen who was senior counsel to President Obama and David Rivkin, a lawyer who served under Presidents Reagan and George Bush senior. The centre-right in France keeps Francois Fillon as its presidential candidate, despite falling poll ratings and a legal investigation into his financial arrangements; we get analysis from the BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris. The BBC's Sharanjit Leyl finds out how to make an amazing party in Singapore. We cross over to Kolkata where Rahul Tandon tells us about Asia's biggest business stories. One of the advantages of working in radio is that the dress codes aren't too rigid but in some jobs it's a very different situation. Our well-dressed regular commentator Lucy Kellaway of the Financial Times has been musing on corporate dress. And we're joined throughout the programme by two guests on opposite sides of the Pacific; Anjani Trivedi, Columnist for WSJ Heard on the Street who's in Singapore, and Richard Wolff, professor of economics emeritus at the University of Massachusetts and founder of Democracy at Work in New York. Picture description: President Trump walks across the South Lawn towards the White House on March 5, 2017 in Washington, DC. Photo by Erik S. Lesser-Pool/Getty Images

With President Donald Trump less than an hour away from addressing Congress for the first time, we preview what he's likely to say and how he's been performing in The White House so far. Three months on from India's surprise decision to remove high-valued banknotes from circulation, we examine how the economy has been affected with British economist Roger Bootle. Despite frequent reports that 'Milennials' are finding it difficult to get onto the housing ladder, a report from HSBC suggests that home ownership may not be all that out of reach for young adults in the 21st century. The survey of 9000 people in nine countries indicates that 40 per cent own their own home and 83 per cent of those that don't are planning on buying in the next five years. Should stars of stage and screen get involved in politics, or is it best left to the professionals? Following the Hollywood awards season, where many a political viewpoint emerged among the acceptance speeches, we ask whether celebrities have a part to play in the political sphere and do people actually listen to them? And joining us to discuss all that are Andrew Peaple, Deputy Asia Finance editor for the Wall Street Journal and Katie Long, of Marketplace (Picture Credit - Getty)

Donald Trump plans to radically change government spending, increasing the defence budget by 10% paid for by slashing domestic programmes and foreign aid. We hear from Sharon Parrot of the independent Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington DC. After the Oscars 2017 'Best Picture' mix up, we discuss how the accountants at PWC managed to mess the winners up with Erich Schwartzel, film industry reporter at The Wall Street Journal. We hear from the BBC's Yogita Limaye on how the withdrawal of high value rupee notes has hit agriculture and industry in India hard and Lucy Kellaway of the Financial Times gives us a masterclass in the art of persuasion. All this and more discussed with our guests throughout the show Ralph Silva in Toronto in Canada and Daisy Guo in Shanghai in China and Rahul Tandon in Kolkata. (Photo: US Military Parade. Credit: Getty Images.)

Greece's debt crisis burst back on to the economic and political agenda today following an extraordinary row at the top of the International Monetary Fund, the body overseeing the Greek government's bailout programme. In simple terms some of the IMF's board members think Greece's debt is "unsustainable", so some of it may need to be written off, whilst others passionately disagree. We'll have reaction from Athens from economist Dr Michael Arghyrou and journalist Katerina Btazak. The pledge to build a wall along the US-Mexican border was a key election promise from President Trump. The BBC's Hugh Sykes reports from the southern US state of Arizona on what businesses and politicians along the border make of the plans. It might sound something of an oxymoron - car companies looking to develop something other than cars - but that's apparently exactly what some of the biggest players in the industry are doing. Mark Garrison from the US business radio programme Marketplace explains all. The BBC's Fergus Nicoll will be joined throughout the programme from New York by Mark Garrison, from New Dehli by Jyoti Malhotra, senior journalist and president of the South Asian Women in Media (SAWM) group, and they'll also be joined from Hong Kong by the BBC's Juliana Liu. PICTURE: A man walks past a graffiti with a EU flag reading in German 'NO' concerning Greece's referendum on the latest offer of a debt deal by the country's EU-IMF creditors, in Athens on June 28, 2015. (Photo: ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images)

More than 100 US tech firms, including some of the industry's biggest players, have filed a legal document stating that President Trump's immigration ban affects their operations and "inflicts significant harm" on business. Journalist Alison Van Diggelen will bring us views and reaction from Silicon Valley. The BBC's Daniel Gallas takes us through a significant meeting in South America, as the President of Argentina Maurico Macri, travels to talk cross-border trade with his Brazilian counterpart Michel Temer. From big tech companies, to smaller, more local ones now - we'll hear about the big ambitions for local social networking site Streetlife, from its founder Matt Boyes. The BBC's Fergus Nicoll will be joined throughout the programme from San Francisco, by the journalist Alison Van Diggelen and from Kolkata by the BBC's Rahul Tandon. PICTURE: Leading tech CEOs, including Apple's Tim Cook meet with President Trump in New York prior to his inauguration. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Some of the most powerful business leaders in America have been among those to criticize President Donald Trump's plans to ban travel from seven mainly Muslim countries. In particular the bosses of some of the country's biggest tech firms have been quick to call on the President to think again. We'll hear from the billionaire chief executive of the cloud software firm, Stripe, Patrick Collison. We'll also hear diplomatic reaction, from a former US ambassador and government adviser Norman Eisen, and hear from Dr Betsy McCaughey, Republican Lieutenant Governor of New York State in the 1990s and an economic adviser to Mr Trump while he was the President-Elect. With almost daily stories about robots taking over everything from driving our cars, to our day to day jobs, are we all getting a bit hysterical about the prospect of artificial intelligence taking over our lives? Dr Chris Brauer from Goldsmiths University in London thinks so, and he'll tell us why. Throughout the hour the BBC's Rob Young will be joined from Dehli by Sushma Ramachandran, former chief business correspondent at the Hindu Times. And from San Francisco by Michael Brune, Executive Director of the environmental campaign group the Sierra Club. Picture: Demonstrators gather outside of the Trump Hotel International during a protest in Washington, DC. Protestors in Washington and around the country gathered to protest President Donald Trump's executive order barring the citizens of Muslim-majority countries Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen from traveling to the United States. (Photo by Zach Gibson/Getty Images)

In ten days, President Obama will leave the White House. But as the current President gives his farewell speech in his home town of Chicago, key players from the team assembled by the man set to replace Mr Obama in just over a week, President elect Donald Trump, are being confirmed to their cabinet posts in Washington. And many eyes will be on Mr Trump;s pick as Secretary of State, the former oil boss, Ex ExxonMobil chief executive Rex Tillerson. Jordan Fabian, White House Correspondent for The Hill tells us why. A lack of investment spending in emerging markets is strangling economic growth in those countries. That's the warning from the World Bank in its annual global forecast. The report's lead author, Franziska Ohnsorge, talks to us about that, China, and trying to get a read on the Trump administration. It's the swankiest week of schmoozing and high powered financial dealing of the year, and all against the backdrop of the snowy Swiss Alps. But why is the World Economic Forum in Davos such a pull for the World's business elite? Sandra Navidi - author of a new book called Superhubs: How the Financial Elite & Their Networks Rule Our World is here to tell us. And, don't fancy becoming an air force pilot but still fancy travelling faster than the speed of sound? The answer used to be buy a ticket for Concorde, until the transatlantic supersonic plane landed for the final time in 2003. But could a very high speed return to supersonic passenger travel be on the horizon, the BBC's Business Correspondent Theo Leggett has been taking a look. To pilot us through the hour, the BBC's Fergus Nicoll is joined from Los Angeles by Raghu Manavalan, a broadcaster at Marketplace and from Singapore by Nisid Hajari, Asia Editor for Bloomberg View. (Picture: President Barack Obama delivers a farewell speech to the nation in Chicago, Illinois. Credit: Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The ongoing fall-out from the Volkswagen emissions scandal took another twist in the US today as court papers revealed VW executives knew about emissions cheating two months before the scandal broke. It follows the arrest at the weekend of Oliver Schmidt, who was in charge of VW's US environmental regulatory compliance office from 2012 until March 2015. He was arrested on Saturday on charges that he took part in a conspiracy to defraud the US and VW customers. The company has said it can't comment on an ongoing legal matter, but what might the latest details mean for VW in the United States? Professor John Coffee of Columbia Law School joins us. It's been divided for more than 40 years, but could the European island of Cyprus soon become a reunified, single state once again? We'll hear views from both the north and the south, and assess the chances of success with Christiana Erotokritou, parliamentary spokeswoman for the Democratic Party in the Republic of Cyprus. How far is too far when it comes to compromising corporate principles for hard-nosed business realism? When Apple removed the New York Times app from its store in China, there was a lot of angry commentary on social media. But are such compromises simply pragmatism - or are they self-censorship? Reporter Melissa Chan, familiar with both China and the US, gives us her view. And, come on, be honest, you're amongst friends here at Business Matters. Have you ever not been... strictly upfront with someone in work? Perhaps professed something they'd done was just fine at the exact moment you began hastily redoing that piece of work from scratch, all the while sobbing silently inside for the bus you are set to inevitably now miss? Well former Apple and Google employee Kim Scott reckons she has the answer, it's called Radical Candor, and it sounds... candid. Buzfeed's Jonny Ensall assesses its brilliance, brutality or perhaps both. The BBC's bastion of honesty, Fergus Nicoll is joined throughout the programme by the equally honourable Diana Furchgott Roth,the Washington-based former chief economist of the U.S. Department of Labor, and from Hong Kong by independent economist, and former Morgan Stanley & World Bank employee Andy Xie. Picture:Getty Images.

A US intelligence report says that the Russian president Vladimir Putin "ordered" a hacking campaign to help Donald Trump win the presidential election. The unclassified and cut-down version of the report was released shortly after Mr Trump was briefed by intelligence chiefs. John Bussey, Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal in New York considers whether the President - elect is convinced about the hacking incidents. In the aftermath of Britain's vote to leave the European Union, the organisation is facing criticism that it's failed to sell a convincing vision for the future. Despite this, Serbia want to join the EU.. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Alexander Vucic, the country has undergone a major privatisation campaign - and is recording consistent GDP growth of nearly 3 percent. Vladimir Krujl is Serbia's Chief Economist for EU Accession - and when he came into the Business Matters studio Fergus Nicholl asked him why Belgrade is still hoping to join the EU. A free co-working movement launched in Sweden claims that working alongside strangers can make us more productive and even happier. This home/office hybrid is called Hoffice -and the BBC's Maddy Savage reports from one of their events in Stockholm. Fergus Nicholl is joined by Clive Hunton of ABC News in Canberra for comment throughout the programme, Photo credit: DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images

Several disturbing incidents have been streamed on Facebook Live, including one of a mentally disabled man being severely assaulted. Business Matters asks, whether with other sites like Periscope too, live broadcasting is now open to all - so is this a welcome expansion of free speech or a risky way of giving a vast audience to extremists and criminals? Jon Fingas, associate editor at Engadget comments. The farming community in Britain receive more than three and a half billion dollars a year from Brussels. But this will change when Britain leaves the European Union. Brexit is the theme for two farming conferences taking place at the moment. The BBC's Caz Graham got the views of some young farmers there about the uncertainty of what Brexit will mean for them. Roger Hearing is joined by Jason Abbruzzese, a Business Reporter at Mashable in New York, and Rosie Blau, China correspondent for the Economist in Beijing for comment throughout the programme. Photo Credit: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images

As President-elect Donald Trump confirms the Chief Executive of Exxon Mobil, Rex Tillerson, as his choice for US secretary of state and the former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to lead the Energy Department, we look at the implications of the appointments, for both the United States and the rest of the world. Professor James Goldgeier is Dean of the School of International Service at American University in Washington DC and gave us his thoughts. Also in the programme, the BBC's Coletta Smith reports from Reykjavik, Iceland, on the country's place at the head of a global league table for gender equality. Plus we hear from Bill Gates who has just launched his latest start-up - a billion-dollar project to turn good clean energy ideas into successful money-making schemes. It's called Breakthrough Energy Ventures - and he talked about it with David Brancaccio of Marketplace on American Public Radio. As US debt approaches the $20trillion mark within weeks, possibly days, of Donald Trump's arrival in the White House, we discuss why this matters and the impact of excessive debt on the global economy. And they may be an aphrodisiac, but oysters certainly aren't seducing some of the locals on Rhode Island where public land is being turned into oyster farms. Marketplace's Andy Uhler went there to check it out. Andy joins us throughout the programme alongside Lingling Wei who China correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Beijing. (Picture: Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson speaks as he and other top oil and gas industry executives testify during a Senate Finance Committee Credit: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

The big Palm Oil company Olam has been accused of using suppliers that may use unsustainable practices in parts of Southeast Asia and West Africa. The claims against the agricultural commodities trader were made in a report by a US-based environmental lobby group called Mighty Earth. The Singaporean company that has a majority share in Olam, called Temasek, insists that it's always been in support of ethical land clearance practices - and Olam itself has vehemently rejected the allegations. Glenn Hurowitz of Mighty Earth spoke to us from Washington DC. The Cuban government has signed a deal with Google's parent company - allowing the internet giant to provide faster access to its data by installing servers on the island that will store much of the company's most popular content. A little while earlier, another agreement was being signed between Cuba and the European Union - covering issues such as trade, human rights and migration. Will Grant is our Havana Correspondent - more from him on the Google deal. The world's largest oil producers have made a big money bet - agreeing to cut production in the hopes of boosting the price of crude oil - and refilling their dwindling Treasury coffers. Almost immediately, the price of crude went gone up to its highest level in almost two years. This strategy is a complete reversal of what was Plan A - pumping like crazy, not least in the hopes of driving upstart US shale oil companies out of business. So why have Russia, Kazakhstan and Mexico decided to work with OPEC? To assess the significance of the deal, the BBC's Rob Young talks to Chris Weafer at Macro Advisory in Moscow. One year ago, Saudi women were given the right to vote and run for office in municipal elections for the first time ever. Although municipal councils don't hold much power, many in the kingdom hoped it would bring about change. Hanan Razek has been looking at what's different one year on. Ageism in the workplace affects even the most glamorous of livelihoods. In Hollywood it's routine - well for women anyway. In music too - the latest evidence from Madonna as she received the Billboard Woman of the Year Award. Capping a list of music industry bigotry, she said - "And finally - do not age. Because to age is a sin. You will be criticized and vilified - and definitely not played on the radio." Now you'd think that a place like Silicon Valley in California - home to the likes of Google, Facebook and Apple - would be progressive ... beyond all that. But Lucy Kellaway of the Financial Times says what started out as a youthful vibe has indeed become outright ageism - an environment specifically designed to discriminate against the older worker. Hong Kong's pro-democracy groups have made strong gains in elections for the territory's Election Committee - a panel of 1,200 people that will choose Hong Kong's next leader. Pro-democracy groups fielded an unprecedented number of candidates this year, and have secured 325 seats, giving them significant negotiating power in the elections for Hong Kong's next leader. But pro-democracy campaigners like the lawyer Alvin Yu are annoyed that anti-establishment legislators are being targeted by pro-Beijing authorities. The Chief Executive elections will take place in March 2017. Hong Kong's financial secretary, John Tsang, has resigned from his position - but he's so far coy about plans to run for the top job. We get an update from Helier Cheung in Hong Kong. For a bit of musical levity to end the programme, it's worth considering that this year's Billboard CD sales may represent the final nail in the coffin of the music business as we know it. So who topped the list? Well it wasn't Drake. We are joined on the show by Anu Partanen, a Finnish journalist and the author of a book called The Nordic Theory of Everything, talking with us from New York. And our other guest is Catherine Yeung, the Investment Director at Fidelity Worldwide Investment, based in Hong Kong. (PHOTO CREDIT: Aerial view of an oil palm plantation, Borneo 04/02/2016 Science Photo Library)

The Obama White House hasn't always had the easiest of relationships with the Kremlin during his eight-year tenure, and it doesn't look like it's about to get any cosier. And that's because President Obama has ordered US intelligence agencies to investigate all cyber attacks and alleged foreign interventions in US presidential elections - and he wants the results on his desk before he leaves the White House on January twentieth. It was of course alleged during the campaign that Russia was amongst those states looking to interfere in the election. Hannah Kuchler who covers cyber security for the Financial Times in San Francisco explains more. It's a country the size of a continent, but the potential sale of private land of more than 1 per cent of the Australian landmass has caused controversy. We'll hear why the purchase of the Kidman estate is causing such concern from Danny Samson live in Melbourne. Plus, the Malaysian delegation shopping in London for data-savvy professionals to boost its growing tech sector. And you've heard of L'oreal, Maybeline and Max Factor - but what about Suzie Beauty? We'll hear from Nairobi about the Kenyan make-up artists looking to join the big name brands on a shelf near you soon. How can we eat healthily, sustainably and yet still tastily? It's the conundrum governments, scientists and the industry amongst others are pondering at a fringe event at the Nobel Prize awards in Oslo. We'll hear from two of the delegates. The BBC's Fergus Nicoll will be joined throughout the programme by Danny Samson, Professor of Management at the University of Melbourne, in Australia. (Picture: President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks at MacDill Air Force Base Credit: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

With the presidential election looming in the key East African economy of Kenya, the issue of corruption looks to be high on the political agenda. It was of course a key cornerstone of Donald Trump's US presidential election campaign, where he pledged to "drain the swamp" and rid Washington of corruption, so how bigger factor could it be in Kenya's presidential race? Vivienne Nunis reports from Nairobi. It's been described as the World's "forgotten war," yet the bloodshed in Yemen shows no signs of ceasing. Our security correspondent Frank Gardner reports from the Saudi Yemen border. Chief executive pay - it's a topic which regularly sees temperatures run high, and governments scratch their heads about how to control the gap between the highest and lowest earners. But now the US city of Portland in Oregon thinks it might have come up with an answer. The New York Times' Gretchen Morgenson tells us about the city's controversial new tax. The former British Prime Minister David Cameron says it cost him his job, but what's behind the rise in political populism across the globe? Our North America editor Jon Sopel takes a look. And, could there be a spy in your midst under the tree this Christmas? We'll hear about concerns that so-called "smart toys" are recording what our children say,and reporting it back to the software companies. The BBC's Roger Hearing will be joined throughout the programme by entrepreneur and author of The Business Secrets of Trappist Monks August Turak in Raleigh, North Carolina. And from Hong Kong by Andrew Peaple, Deputy Asia Finance editor for the Wall Street Journal. (Picture: Highrise buildings of downtown Nairobi are seen from Uhuru Park in Nairobi, Kenya. Credit: EPA/DAI KUROKAWA)

Millions of Italians go to the polls on Sunday to vote on whether their constitution should be reformed. Lorenzo Codogno, former chief economist and director general at the Treasury Department at the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance discusses whether the Prime Minister might be on the way out. The BBC's Guy Hedgecoe in Madrid reports on the pollution problem in Spain, and the decisions by the Mayors of Paris, Mexico City, Madrid and Athens to ban the use of all diesel-powered cars and trucks within a decade to improve poor air quality. As Barbados celebrates 50 years of independence, we ask Guy Hewitt, the High Commissioner for Barbados in the UK, why the country still retains free education and healthcare systems, in a difficult economic environment. The fashion and fragrance company Chanel warns that a planned high-speed train through the centre of France's perfume-making region will threaten production of its iconic product - Chanel No 5. Elizabeth Musmanno, President of The Fragrance Foundation in New York tells us what makes this particular scent so special. The BBC's Roger Hearing is joined throughout the programme by Peter Ryan, ABC Australia's Senior Business Correspondent. (Photo credit: Claudio Giovannini /AFP/Getty Images)

President- elect Donald Trump has begun a victory tour of US starting in the state of Indiana where he's taken credit for stopping a thousand jobs at an air conditioning firm Carrier from going to Mexico. Can Mr Trump live up to his campaign pledges - and does it matter? We asked economist Irwin Stelzer at the Hudson Institute. Food giant Nestle claims is claiming a breakthrough that will cut the sugar in its chocolate by 40 per cent. The company suggests it can scientifically 'restructure' the sugar without affecting the taste. Professor Julian Cooper, chair of the Scientific Committee at the UK Institute of Food Science and Technology, explains the implications. About 10 million turkeys are consumed in the UK over the festive season. Rearing the birds however isn't as easy as you might think with natural predators like foxes providing a constant threat. Elizabeth Hotson has been finding out about a rather novel solution to the problem. Business Matters is joined from Washington by Michael Brune, Executive Director of the environmental organisation the Sierra Club and Madhavan Narayahan, columnist and writer in India for comment throughout the programme. (Picture Credit: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

On Wednesday morning in Vienna OPEC is holding a meeting, aimed at halting the biggest decline in oil prices for a generation. Back in September, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries reached a tentative agreement to restrict output - but they still haven't hammered out individual output targets for each nation. We spoke to Amrita Sen of Energy Aspects about the biggest and most influential producer - Saudi Arabia. The old certainties about politics in America have been turned on their heads, including the twin beliefs that organised labour delivers votes for the Democratic Party candidate, while evangelicals deliver votes for the GOP. This time round things were less cut and dried, as Mitchell Hartman of Marketplace reports. Lithium - or white petrol as it's becoming known - is a hot commodity. Demand for the metal could triple in the next ten years - driven particularly by a rise in demand for batteries in products like smartphones, laptops and electric cars. On Tuesday a group of leading carmakers - including Ford, BMW and Porsche - announced they wanted to build a Europe-wide network of charging stations for electric vehicles - and that's music to the ears of lithium producers like the Canadian firm Wealth Minerals. The company's chief executive Henk Van Alphen spoke to the BBC's Jon Bithrey. A group of American developers has chosen a patch of countryside in the Netherlands to build a self-sustainable eco-village. Its marketing pitch is pretty straightforward -off the grid and the ideal antidote to the crazy congested urban lifestyle, as Anna Holligan reports. (PHOTO CREDIT: OPEC logo shown at an informal meeting between members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Algiers, Algeria September 28, 2016. REUTERS/Ramzi Boudina/File Photo)

Reckless, careless, even irresponsible, but not criminal. That is the judgment from the FBI on former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton - the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party for president - over her use of a private email server for highly confidential government material. Still, not exactly labels that any politician is going to wear with much pride. Will voters change their views? Mrs Clinton's Republican Party rivals have been flogging the email issue for months and going by Donald Trump's Twitter feed that is not going to change any time soon. Following Britain's vote to leave the European Union, the internal Conservative Party process to replace David Cameron as prime minister has whittled five candidates down to three. The second round comes on Thursday. Also, the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, used his third public speech in less than a fortnight to say that many of the predicted consequences of Britain's departure from the EU are already starting to happen, Still, he said, it is his job to protect jobs and growth - so he would free up 200 billion dollars for loans to households and businesses to try to prevent the economy slipping into recession. Zimbabwe is facing serious disruption by a public sector strike. Doctors, nurses and teachers have stayed away from work on the first of three days - protesting over their June salaries being withheld until the end of July. The country is already fighting its worst drought in a quarter of a century - and there is growing frustration over the rapidly deteriorating economy. A number of foreign clothing companies are reviewing their investments in the Bangladesh garment industry after an attack at the weekend on a cafe in the capital Dhaka. Twenty-eight people died - including Italians, Japanese and US citizens. It has since emerged that one of the attackers was the son of a politician from the governing party. We are joined by two guests on opposite sides of the Pacific - Kimberly Adams of the US business programme Marketplace in Washington DC and Madhavan Narayanan, a columnist and technology writer on the Hindustan Times in Delhi. (Photo: President Obama (L) and Hilary Clinton (R). Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Britain's vote to leave the European Union has caused damage to banks and to the wider economy in Italy. Growth forecasts there have been more pessimistic since June 23rd, and investors fear there'll be more defaults on loans. Italian banks are already sitting on a big pile of bad debt - but on Monday the world's oldest bank, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, saw its share price fall to an all time low after the European Central Bank said it had to cut back on the risky loans it holds. Professor Enrico Colombotto of the University of Turin described the scale of the problem faced by Italian banks. The Australian Electoral Commission has begun counting millions of postal and absentee votes today with the election still too close to call. Phil Mercer is watching the long-drawn-out process. The US space agency NASA is no stranger to dramatic count-downs, but right now early on Tuesday they are really holding their breaths. NASA's solar-powered Juno spacecraft is about to reach Jupiter after an almost five-year journey. When it does arrive, it's going to hit the brakes. But if a 35-minute main engine burn doesn't slow the spacecraft so it can be pulled into Jupiter's orbit it will be an epic billion-dollar fail. (Photo credit: GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP/Getty Images)

We get global reaction as the UK votes to leave the European Union. In Finland, the Foreign Minister, Timo Soini - who heads the eurosceptic Finns Party - said the UK result had to be respected - and he warned against what he called retaliation in future negotiations between the EU and Britain. We hear from Alexander Stubb , who was until recently, the Finance Minister of Finland. In recent weeks, we've heard the views of Roger Bootle of Capital Economics - arguing in favour of a British exit from the EU. We put to him that he must be very pleased today. Some of the world's largest companies warned they could relocate their British-based operations following the EU referendum result. But how do smaller businesses in the UK see their bottom line being affected? Lucy Hooker has been along to talk to the owner of the Brompton bike company here in the UK, a big exporter. We are joined throughout the programme by three guests. From Washington, Philippe Le Corre, a visiting fellow at the Centre on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution. Simon Littlewood, President at the Asia Now Consulting Group, joins from Singapore, and Colin Peacock of Radio New Zealand is with us from Wellington. (Photo Credit: Rob Stothard/ Getty Images)

The Colombian government and Farc rebels say they have reached a definitive bilateral ceasefire in Latin America's longest running armed conflict. The main issue - the disarmament of the rebels - has been addressed. And, after half a century of war, the Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has said a final peace deal could be signed by late July. There have been plenty of reports of peace before, so is this really it? We hear from the BBC's Natalio Cosoy in Bogota. California's last nuclear power plant will close by 2025 under a proposal announced on Tuesday, with safety concerns given as the main reason. But the Diablo Canyon plant produces enough power for 1.7 million homes. There is now a plan to replace the energy with renewables, though some environmentalists do not think they will be able to match that produced by nuclear. However, Erich Pica, president of Friends of the Earth US, says he is celebrating the closure of the plant. Are we heading towards a cashless society? It is a subject of intense debate in financial circles. The Danish and Swedish government have said they expect their countries to go entirely cashless in the future. In the UK, contactless card transactions have risen by a third over the past year and a Mastercard survey shows one in four Britons intend to make payments with their phone over the next 12 months. Most retailers have adapted to the trend but what about individual traders and organisations who have relied on cash donations to survive? The BBC's Susannah Streeter reports. We are joined by two guests on opposite sides of the Pacific - Peter Morici, professor of International Business at the University of Maryland - who is in Washington, and Simon Long Asia editor of The Economist in Singapore. (Photo: Graffiti with a sentence that reads 'Peace is ours' in Bogota, June 2016. Credit: Getty Images)

France wins the opening game of the Euros tournament, but will businesses lose out as striking workers disrupt the country's transport system? The US news site Gawker files for bankruptcy after being told to pay 140 million dollars in damages to a celebrity wrestler Plus the feat of engineering over common sense - we find out more about the multi billion dollar satellite constellation which was very nearly crashed back down to earth. And Susannah Streeter is joined throughout the programme by Professor Danny Samson from the University of Melbourne in Australia. (Photo: Nice, France where some Euro 2016 matches will be played. Credit: AFP/Getty)

So we now know, barring major incidents, that Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump are the choices for US President in November. But what are they offering American business? That's a concern of course for the US Chamber of Commerce. We hear from J.D Harrison, a senior editor at the US Chamber of Commerce based in Washington. The creative money-spinner that is Harry Potter moved on to its latest incarnation in London this week with the start of a series of previews of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child". It's been described as the eighth Potter story - although it's the first to originate as a piece of theatre. But does it have the magic of its printed predecessors? Our arts correspondent Vincent Dowd was among those blessed with a ticket and gives us his view. It seems the UK isn't the only country in Europe where enthusiasm for the European Union is less than whole-hearted. Britain may be the country which is about to have a referendum on membership - but new research by the US-based Pew Research centre suggests more than sixty percent of French people have an unfavourable view of the EU. Poland is the country with the largest proportion of EU fans. In Germany favourable is ahead by a fraction: 50% to 48%. So what does this tell us? Roger Bootle, the Chairman of Capital Economics, who's campaigning for Britain to leave the European Union - and Professor Sebastian Dullien, at the University of Applied Science in Berlin discuss. You know how it is - you're sitting in a café and you notice the person who just departed left their newspaper behind. You casually pick it up and start reading. In Morocco, you would be committing a crime. The authorities have banned people from reading in public newspapers bought by other people. Many Moroccans have taken to social media to ridicule the ban. One suggested special uniformed Newspaper Police might arrest 'illegal' readers, seize their offending newspapers and burn them publicly in the square. We hear from the BBC's Sidy Yansane in Casablanca. Throughout the programme we are joined by two guests on opposite sides of the Pacific. Duncan Clarke, the author and consultant in Beijing and Peter Morici, Professor of International Business at the University of Maryland in Washington. (Picture: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign event at Clinton Middle School. Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Officials in Brussels are proposing rules that would force online video services in the European Union to ensure at least twenty percent of their content is made in the EU. The biggest companies in the sector, Netflix and Amazon Prime, are American and much of their material currently comes from Hollywood. Supporters of the plan say it would have "a positive effect on cultural diversity". EU rules already oblige television broadcasters to spend at least half of their time showing European works, including material made in their own country. The world's biggest publicly traded oil company, Exxon Mobil, has largely seen down a rebellion at its annual general meeting over its climate change policies. Only a third of shareholders backed a motion that would have forced the company to work out a strategy against global warming. However a majority did approve a motion that could allow green activists to nominate members of the company's board. A report by the charity Human Rights Watch says thousands of children, some as young as eight years old, are working on tobacco farms in Indonesia. The country is the fifth biggest tobacco producer in the world. The authors say the farms involved supply companies including Philip Morris - the maker of Marlboro - and British American Tobacco, which owns cigarette brands including Dunhill. Our reporter has been to hear the stories of some of the child labourers. We speak to a group called Eco Peace Middle East, which has united Israelis and Palestinians on some of the biggest issues in the middle east, including water provision. And a report on our technology correspondent, Rory Cellan Jones on a new breed of robots - designed to work alongside their human masters. Our guests for the hour, on opposite sides of the Pacific - Peter Morici, Profesor of International Business at the University of Maryland - who's in Washington, and Puja Mehra of the Hindu in Delhi. (Picture: French actress Nadia Fares at the premiere of the French TV show 'Marseille', a Netflix co-production. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

Former Argentine President Cristina Fernandez has been indicted over accusations that she oversaw irregularities in the central bank's sale of dollars in the futures market. The number of migrants arriving in Greece from Turkey has fallen dramatically...as Ankara tightens the border, but elsewhere in the Mediterranean, attempts to stop the smugglers are failing. Miners seeking millions of dollars in compensation for contracting a serious lung disease have won a landmark judgement against the gold mining industry. The High Court in South Africa has given the go ahead for a class action by thousands of workers who developed silicosis while working underground. The head of GSK Sir Andrew Witty tells Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal why developing new drugs is so expensive. And throughout the programme Susannah Streeter is joined by Danny Samson, Professor of Management at Melbourne University in Australia. And the power of Eurovision - why the song contest has such an enduring appeal.

In Brazil, the new president is putting together a very different-looking cabinet to his predecessor - a much more market friendly one. His new finance minister is Henriques Meirelles, former head of the central bank. So what is the likely effect going to be on Brazil's wobbly finances? "Fantastically corrupt". That's how British prime minister David Cameron described Nigeria and Afghanistan earlier in the week. On Thursday he was hosting a global anti-corruption conference in London. Fifty states were represented at the summit, alongside banks, civil society organisations and the International Monetary Fund. Though delegates promised to make tackling corruption a top priority, the meeting led to few firm commitments. Just six countries agreed to publish registers of who really owns companies in their territories, a key goal of anti-corruption campaigners. So - just how much was achieved? St Louis, in Missouri, made international news two years ago because of race riots in the suburb of Ferguson. But it would rather be known for something else. It's become the unlikely capital of chess - in America if not - here's a boast - the world. David Edmonds has just returned from St Louis, which was hosting the US National Championship. Can you copyright a language? Obviously you can't claim the rights to Russian, or Spanish or Swahili, but what about a made-up language? That is an issue that an American court will look at later this year when Paramount Pictures and CBS sue the makers of a Star Trek fan movie. One part of that case is the use of the invented language for the warlike alien race, the Klingons. Klingon is a BIG deal. It was invented in the early 1980s by the linguist Marc Okrand for the Star Trek movies. And Roger Hearing is joined by two guests for the hour on opposite sides of the Pacific - David Kuo of the Motley Fool in Singapore and Ralph Silva of the Silva Network in Toronto.

Rahul Tandon looks at India's changing entertainment industry - the competition that Hindi films face from regional cinema and Hollywood. He also speaks to one of India's leading actors Manoj Bajpayee about his latest film Aligarh, based on the life of gay professor Ramchandra Siras. Plus the risks and opportunities posed to the industry by the ever growing numbers of Indian smartphone and tablet owners. Also, why aren't more Indian bands cracking the international music scene? Rahul hears from rock band Indus Creed. Joining Rahul in Mumbai is author and film critic Deepanjana Pal and from Boston, journalist and academic Hasit Shah. (Photo: Manoj Bajpayee in Aligarh. Credit: Eros International)

The BBC has exclusive evidence of the large-scale destruction of a reef in the South China Sea by Chinese poachers and the theft of valuable and endangered giant clams. The Philippines, which is pursuing its own legal claim to many of the islands, says the Chinese navy is allowing the poachers to plunder the reefs with impunity. Rupert Wingfield-Hayes has the story. All public schools in the Los Angeles area were closed on Tuesday after a ‘credible threat’ was received via email. Almost 700,000 students were affected. A similar threat was received by police in New York, but was not deemed credible - schools remained open. We hear from families caught up in the California alert. Also in the programme, the US central bank the Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates tomorrow, for the first time in almost a decade. Our economic commentator Roger Bootle offers his assessment. We discuss big data, as the EU announces new laws requiring companies to ask permission to keep clients data. Customers are also given the right to demand their details are removed from a company's database. However, a breach of the rules could see firms fined around 4% of global revenues. And the artists from a Grammy shortlisted album who definitely won’t be attending the awards ceremony – because they’re all behind bars. We speak to the producer of the Zomba Prison Project in Malawi. We're joined throughout the programme by Mark Miller, Managing Editor at Marketplace in LA and Madhavan Narayanan, columnist and tech writer on the Hindustan Times in Delhi. (Picture: Reef in South China Sea. Credit: BBC)