Business Daily

On Business Weekly, we look at the problems faced by companies affected by the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19. Are staff shortages just a blip or could they be more long term? Professor Joshua Hausman at the University of Michigan gives us his view. Plus, we look at efforts being made in the textile industry to move away from “fast fashion" using traditional, slow and more sustainable methods. Also, it’s 20 years since the schoolboy wizard Harry Potter first appeared on movie screens; which businesses are still feeling the marketing magic? And we shake and stir with some of the world’s top mixologists to find out about the trends in cocktails for 2022. Business Weekly is presented by Matthew Davies and produced by Clare Williamson.

Our love for cocktails has surged during the pandemic. Nisha Patel speaks to mixologists and bar owners from all over the world to find out what's inspiring them and what concoctions we may see across global bar menus. Hanky Panky bar in Mexico says lockdown sent everyone back to their books and emerging are pairings inspired by cook books. Two Schmucks in Barcelona say the diversity of their staff has led to a range of cocktails you'd usually see in your main meal and cocktail aficionado Lynette Marrero shares how she's seen her cocktail masterclasses filled with customers who have a thirst for premium alcohol. Phil Tate from CGA strategy analyses cocktail trends worldwide and explains how the pandemic has influenced and changed the global cocktail trend, and how this will continue into 2022.This programme is produced and presented by Nisha Patel(PIC: Vodka with cranberry and grapefruit CREDIT: Getty)

In the remote mountain villages of Guizhou, China, indigenous people have been handmaking clothes for centuries. But with so many young people leaving rural areas for jobs in China's manufacturing centres, those ancient skills are disappearing. Angel Chang tells us how she quit her job in the designer fashion houses of New York to start her own clothing line, employing indigenous craftspeople to grow organic cotton, use natural dyes and sew her collection by hand. It’s part of a wider shift away from the highly-polluting fast fashion industry. We also hear from Nicole Rycroft, founder of the NGO Canopy, which is changing the way popular brands source the world's third most popular fabric: viscose, which is traditionally made from the wood-pulp of trees. Vivienne Nunis asks if this more environmental approach can be adopted by the wider fashion industry. Producer: Sarah Treanor. Image: A woman dressed in handmade clothing typical of the Dong indigenous community in Dimen, Guizhou, China, holds some handwoven cotton fabric that has been dyed with locally-grown indigo. Credit: Angel Chang/Boe Marion/2DM Management

More men have considered cosmetic treatments during the pandemic. Has spending more time at home staring at ourselves in video conferencing made us more worried about our appearance, and have the pressures of ageism in the workplace also had an impact. Ed Butler speaks to psychologist Helena Lewis Smith, and Past President of the American Association of Plastic Surgeons Dr Alan Matarasso about just what’s motivating men to make more changes. Plus, he tries a treatment for himself. (Picture of man having cosmetic surgery. Picture via Getty Images).

2021 was another year of firsts in the ever-expanding industry around space, as we moved towards space tourism as a reality. But what about NASA, and its plans to return to the moon? We hear all about it, and the space agency’s ambitious plans for not just the moon, but mars; from NASA’s Carlos Garcia-Galan. We also hear about the increasingly urgent issue of space junk, which is causing serious safety issues in orbit. University of Texas at Austin professor, and chief scientific officer at Privateer, Moriba Jah explains. Plus Katie Miller from Skyrora tells us about the company’s space tug; a nifty idea to clean up unwanted objects in space.Presenter Jane Wakefield Producer Sarah Treanor(Picture: Earth from space, Credit: Getty Images).

It's 20 years since the first Harry Potter film was released and the movies and books have spawned a world of wizard-related retail opportunities. Elizabeth Hotson asks Chris Columbus, director of the first two Harry Potter films, how he dealt with the pressure of bringing the boy wizard to life. And we travel to Edinburgh for The Potter Trail tour which starts with a spell and ends in a graveyard. We step inside the magical Museum Context shop, and hear form owner, Andrew McRae. Plus, Scott Mendelson, a film critic and box office pundit at Forbes, tells us why he thinks the franchise has been so successful. And we end with a look at the most hallowed of magic artefacts, the philosopher's stone itself.Presenter: Elizabeth Hotson Producers: Elizabeth Hotson and Sarah Treanor(Picture of a boy dressed as Harry Potter, Picture by Stephen Chernin for Getty Images)

On this edition of Business Weekly, we’re looking at the rising cost of energy across Europe, and hear from Emma Pinchbeck of Energy UK on how producers and consumers are coping, plus Tom Wilson from The Financial Times analyses the causes behind the price hike. We hear about how some countries are scaling back their road building projects in the face of climate change and ask how best to get people out of their cars? Plus, we go to Ghana, where consumers are unhappy with a new tax the government wants to add to electronic money transfers made using mobile phones. And the BBC’s Michelle Fluerry is in the US state of Kentucky to meet people who have decided to quit their job, and reevaluate their lives during the pandemic. Business Weekly is presented by Sasha Twining and produced by Clare Williamson. (Image: cooking gas ring with blue gas flame; Credit: BBC)

What will be left of human civilisation in the geological record 100 million years hence?Justin Rowlatt speaks to the geologist Jan Zalasiewicz of Leicester University in an extended interview, speculating on the durability of the human legacy. We may take pride in our cathedrals, technologies and feats of engineering. But what strange fragments will survive long enough for aliens visiting our planet in the distant future to discover? And will it be enough for those future geologists to figure out what caused the mass extinction we will leave behind in the fossil record?This is an extended version of an interview recorded for Justin's Geochemical History of Life on Earth, also available on the BBC World Service.Producer: Laurence Knight(Photo: Skull fossil artwork from the Modern Fossils collection by Christopher Locke. Credit: Christopher Locke/Heartless Machine)

The new variant poses a particular threat to China's hitherto successful zero-Covid strategy at a time when the country's economy is looking vulnerable.Ed Butler gets the latest on the fast-moving Omicron variant from Boston University epidemiologist Eleanor Murray. One new development is a recent study in Hong Kong that found that one of the two main Chinese vaccines offers very little resistance against it. Health security expert Nicholas Thomas of Hong Kong's City University says the Chinese government is now in a race to deliver booster vaccines to its population, while stopping Omicron from leaching across its porous land borders. It comes at a sensitive time, with the Beijing Winter Olympics to begin in February, and the government seeking to gently deflate a property market bubble ahead of a politically sensitive Communist Party Congress in October. But independent economist Andy Xie says that when push comes to shove, the government would rather lockdown the entire national economy rather than let Covid get out of control.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: A large crowd of commuters wearing face masks at a subway station in Hong Kong; Credit: Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

2021 has seen some extraordinary economic changes. First a global economic rebound, then a global supply chain crisis, then inflation of a kind not seen in western countries for decades. And finally millions of people deciding they didn't even want to go back to work after lockdown. So what could 2022 have in store? Ed Butler discusses all this with Oxford economist Linda Yueh of Oxford University and author of the Great Economists, and Mohamed El-Erian, President of Queens College Cambridge. (Picture of interest rate graph. Picture credit: Getty Images).

The World Bank says this could cost the global economy $17 trillion. Coronavirus brought education systems across the world to a halt. At its height more than ninety percent of the globally enrolled student body were not in school. That’s more than 1.6 billion learners. Nearly two years on from the start of the pandemic, hundreds of millions of children are still not back in the classroom. In Uganda, as the BBC’s Patience Atuhaire tells us, schools were closed in March 2020 before the country registered a single coronavirus case. They are yet to reopen. She interviews a father whose twelve children have missed nearly two years of school. Robert Jenkins, the Director of Education and Adolescent Development at UNICEF, says the global economic impact of this lost education amounts to $17 trillion. He says the need for governments around the world to reopen all schools is critical.(picture of Fred Ssegawa's children via BBC).

Roads? Where we’re going, do we need roads? Some countries think they've already got too many. In the face of a climate catastrophe, the Austrian and Welsh governments are reconsidering plans to expand their road networks, moving away from a car-first model to better include more environmentally modes of transport. In Wales, they’ve all but halted any new roads as Climate Minister Julie James tells us, and are instead looking at improving public transport and active travel measures. In Austria we speak to Leonore Gewessler, Minister for Climate Action in the national government, who says that to build more roads would only attract more traffic and therefore more pollution. Electric vehicles could go some way to lowering carbon emissions, but the take up isn’t fast enough, says transport researcher Giulio Mattioli and so reducing reliance on cars altogether has to be a priority. And that means reimagining how cities are built to accommodate convenience, but without the car – transport planner Susan Claris tells us how that can be done. Today’s programme is presented by Tamasin Ford and produced by Russell Newlove.

On this edition of Business Weekly, we’re looking at rising inflation in Turkey, and hear how different communities are trying to live during a period of economic uncertainty. Victoria Craig tours Istanbul to hear from shop workers and families caught up in the currency crisis. Plus we focus on the Netherlands, and Meta’s proposals to build a giant, energy-hungry data-centre there. We hear how the community is divided on the plans from Facebook’s parent company. We’ll look at the diplomatic spat between Lithuania and China, that now has implications for trade between the two countries and the wider European Union, and we also delve into the world of premium pet food, to hear how today’s cats and dogs are getting the luxury treatment from their owners. Business Weekly is presented by Sasha Twining and produced by Clare Williamson. (Image: Tourist shop in Istanbul's spice market, credit: Getty Images)

Why has it become so popular for millions of young people? Has the failure of conventional nest-eggs, rising student debt and high property prices forced twenty-somethings into an ever riskier outlook - and what's the pandemic got to do with it? Nachiket Tikekar, a 23 year old student of business, tells Ed Butler why he decided to stick all his spare money into stocks and shares and why he's not scared of the markets crashing. This has all been made possible by the rise of low-cost online trading platforms like The Zerodha, which is India's biggest. Somnath Mukherjee runs its business and legal operations. Ed also speaks to Sarah Pritchard, the executive director of markets at the UK's Financial Conduct Authority who are trying target these risk adverse investors with warnings through new platforms such as TikTok. And Lesley-Ann Morgan has led a global study looking at investment trends, including for younger people, across more than 20 countries for Schroders Wealth management. She says thousands of young people have been saving as a result of forced lockdowns, and are feeling more inclined to ignore traditional investment strategies. (Picture of a young investor. Picture Credit: Getty Images).

The official inflation rate in Turkey is above 21% and the value of the lira has plunged by nearly half this year. Victoria Craig hears from families, students and workers about what a currency crisis, fueling red-hot inflation, feels like to live through. (Picture Description: Turkish Flag, Picture Credit: Getty Images).

What is at stake when a big company like Meta comes knocking on your door? The small Dutch town of Zeewolde is grappling with this. Meta - the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp - wants to build a huge data centre in the area which could be the biggest in Europe. It is a proposal which has raised questions about land-use, water consumption, political power and energy. The municipality says it will bring significant benefits – but not everyone agrees. Opponents like local resident Sipke Veentra, say the centre will use five times the amount of energy that their local windmills provide. And local farmer Carla Dekker is concerned that prime agricultural land is being given over to development and is worried about the amount of water Meta will use. They both claim Meta is being given preferential treatment over local businesses. But those in favour, like Egge Jan de Jonge the local cabinet member who is steering the deal through, says Meta will have to provide new power supplies to feed the centre and that they have a proven record of having done this in the past. Stijn Grove, from the Dutch Data Centre Association says there is no Dutch national strategy and that more political leadership is needed from the top. And Sebastian Moss, who watches the data centre industry for the website DatacenterDynamics says companies face similar challenges to Meta when trying to site hyper-scale data centres all over the world. (Picture: Data centre; Credit: Getty Images)

The pet food industry is a multi billion dollar business but are premium brands - with premium ingredients - worth spending more money on? And could insect protein be the key to a more sustainable way of feeding our animal companions? Elizabeth Hotson gets the facts and figures from Kate Vlietstra, a global food and drink analyst at Mintel. We also hear from Tom Neish, founder of insect-based cat and dog food company, Yora. Plus, Rachel Grant from premium pet food brand, Laughing Dog, tells us why she believes her product is worth splashing out on. A trio of dog owners tell us what's on their pets' menu and Sean Wensley, senior vet at the pet charity, PDSA explains how to make sure your animal companion eats a balanced diet. Plus, Natalia Santis, manager at the Java Whiskers cat cafe, describes the eating habits of their eleven fussy felines. (Picture of treat time at Java Whiskers cat cafe. Picture by Elizabeth Hotson).

Leishmaniasis may not be a household name in much of the rich world, but the parasitic disease is found in over 90 countries, and can lead to agonising disfigurements, and death. It’s classified as a neglected tropical disease, which means treatment is underfunded and under-researched. We hear from British adventurer and writer Pip Stewart, who contracted Leishmaniasis on an expedition through the jungle of Guyana. She received treatment in the UK, but it was a harrowing experience. Pip explains how her Guyanese friends have to resort to excruciating home remedies to try and stem the parasite. She’s written a book about her ordeal: Life Lessons from The Amazon. We also get the view from Ethiopia, where Dr Helina Fikre explains the difficulties in treating the same parasitic illness. Dr Laurent Fraisse from the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative tells us about his organisation’s search for better treatments, while Dr Madhukar Pai calls for an overhaul of the way tropical diseases are funded. Image: The Leishmaniasis parasite under a magnification factor of 1000. Photo By BSIP/UIG Via Getty ImagesPresenter: Vivienne Nunis Producer: Sarah Treanor

On this edition of Business Weekly, we look at Germany to see how the change in chancellor from Angela Merkel to Olaf Scholz may impact the direction of the country, both domestically and on the world stage. We also hear how Ukrainians are faring economically as relations with their neighbour Russia sour further, and how there’s further military tension on the border. Plus, we look at the business of private adoptions, and hear how much money can change hands when a child is welcomed into a new home. Business Weekly is presented by Sasha Twining and produced by Matthew Davies.

Lithuania has provoked China's rage by going too far in recognising Taiwan. Beijing is now apparently blocking Lithuanian imports and is even threatening global firms who trade with Lithuania. The spat was started by Lithuania's decision to allow a Taiwanese Representative Office to open in Vilnius in November. China says Taiwan is part of its territory. This has all come days after Brussels proposed a new law allowing it to retaliate against economic sanctions like this. Ed Butler speaks to Finbarr Bermingham, the Brussels correspondent of the South China Morning Post, Shelley Rigger from Davidson College in the US and a leading expert on Taiwan's trade relations and Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, the director of the European Centre for International Political Economy who is advising EU member states on the new legislation.(Picture: Made in Lithuania logo; Credit: Picitup/Getty Images)

Will the next war be waged online? Ed Butler talks to Nicole Perlroth, winner of the 2021 Financial Times Business Book of the Year for This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends - an investigation into the how governments, spies, criminals and corporations are dealing with - and exploiting - the risks associated with doing business in the digital era.

What can be done to stem the tide of carers quitting the industry? Before the pandemic the healthcare sector struggled to recruit enough workers. Today they're leaving in droves. Citing physical and mental exhaustion, poor working conditions, a lack of appreciation and miserly pay, carers are leaving their jobs - a trend with all the makings of a future skills crisis. The BBC's Rebecca Kesby speaks to Ged Swinton, a member of the Royal College of Nursing who had to leave his job as a frontline nurse after losing patience with an unappreciative government - and abuse from the public. Will Hunter recently returned to his job as an accident and emergency junior doctor, but could only handle part time work after an intense year of pandemic conditions. In the USA we hear from Vicki Good, former president of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, who tells us people are leaving the care sector almost as soon as they join, despite spending years in training beforehand. We speak to Lori Peters of the National Association of Health Care Assistants, who says that without decent pay and conditions, the sector won't attract enough workers to fill a skills gap that will only get bigger.This episode is produced by Russell Newlove, Sarah Hawkins and Elizabeth Hotson.

But are apps that deliver from the shop floor to your front door in minutes just a pandemic-era fad or are they here to stay? Have you ever been in a situation where you needed something delivered right away? A toothbrush you forgot on a trip? Or butter for a recipe you've already started preparing? There are many apps for that – a whole fleet of them – that are now competing for your dwindling time. They promise to get everyday items to you, sometimes in 10 minutes or less. But, is it just a pandemic-era trend, or does it have staying power? The BBC’s Victoria Craig speaks to the boss of eight-year old US-based super-fast delivery company, GoPuff. Yakir Gola started the business while at university and has grown it to become a dominant player in the American market. He talks about why the company has decided to expand in the UK, and how it plans to compete in a red-hot space. Plus, we hear from Adrian Maccelari, the director at London-based bakery Sally Clarke about whether partnering with super-fast delivery start-ups has been helpful to the business, and Elodie Perthuisot, the director of data and e-commerce at grocery chain Carrefour, explains how the model has been a game changer for the supermarket business. There has been blockbuster growth in the super-fast delivery category over the past two years, which leads Bain and Company’s Ruth Lewis to think consolidation is an inevitability. A number of start-ups have entered the space, and already, the industry has seen some high profile mergers and acquisitions.

At any given time, about a million American families are looking to adopt and most prefer newborns. The industry is regulated on a state-by-state basis and many advocates argue that, not only the existing rules are not enforced properly, but that much greater federal regulation is needed to ensure that the whole process is ethical and safe. Ivana Davidovic hears from Shyanne Klupp, who says she felt pressured by an adoption agency to give her son up for adoption when she wanted to change her mind. She is now a reform campaigner and wants the private adoption industry, in its current form, abolished. Maureen Flatley, who has been working in the field of adoption legislation for two decades, is very concerned about the internet blurring the lines of legality and ethics and "trading of children" on social media without proper oversight. She hopes that 2022 will see some federal legislation governing this field finally implemented. And adoptive parents from Ohio explain why, after spending $70,000 on their first adoption through an agency, they have decided to take the matter into their own hands and advertise themselves online as prospective parents.PHOTO: Woman holding little boys hand walking down the street/Getty Images

The world’s biggest clothing retailer, Inditex, has a new boss, the 37-year old daughter of the company’s founder. Will Marta Ortega manage brands like Zara, Pull & Bear and Massimo Dutti in the same way her father did or will she take a different path? And do consumers still want fast fashion? Plus, we hear why mining the metals and minerals used in green technologies can contribute to the world’s climate change problems and what is needed to ensure that they are mined in a way that doesn’t infringe on human rights or damage local communities. Also, one of the founders of Transparency International tells us the money stolen by corrupt leaders is being ploughed into western assets like property – with the help of an army of financial and legal professionals. Meanwhile, Covid has forced many workers to re-assess and re-evaluate their lives and as a result, they are quitting their jobs in record numbers. It's being called the Great Resignation. And the increasing appeal of the ukulele; how the small guitar-like instrument is making a big noise among the young. Business Weekly is presented by Matthew Davies and produced by Clare Williamson. (Image: Zara shopper with brown bag; Credit: Getty Images)

Could a more equitable global vaccine rollout have stopped the new variant? As the world waits for more information about just how contagious and dangerous the new Covid-19 variant is, we ask if the emergence of a variant like Omicron could have been avoided – or at least slowed - if people all around the world had been vaccinated at the same pace. Instead, richer countries race to give booster vaccines to their own populations as many poorer countries are still waiting to receive their first jabs. Tamasin Ford hears from Dr. Richard Mihigo, who coordinates the WHO’s immunisation and vaccine development progamme in Africa. He says it’s not just about shipping jabs to countries; the international community could also step up to help with planning and logistics for the distribution of vaccines. Dr. Atiya Mosam, a public health specialist in South Africa, was disappointed in the way the world reacted when news the new variant came out of her country. She argues that the travel bans that many countries quickly imposed are both discriminatory and ineffective. She also worries that many South African scientists feel they have been punished for being open and honest with the world about their discovery. Dr Meru Sheel, an epidemiologist at the Australian National University, says the issue of vaccine inequality should have been fixed many months ago. She says the vaccines should evenly distributed because it makes the most sense from a public health perspective, and also because it’s the ethical thing to do. (Image: Passengers at Cape Town airport in South Africa on 29 November 2021. Source: David Silverman/Getty Images)

The collapse of the US energy giant Enron remains one of the most dramatic scandals in modern capitalism, but 20 years on did we learn any of the lessons from the fall of a corporate giant? The BBC's Lesley Curwen covered the story every step of the way back in the 2000's right up to the company's collapse, and the jailing of some of its most senior executives. She takes Ed Butler back through Enron's tale of deceit, intimidation and collapse with archive and fresh interviews with some of the scandal's key figures. And Ed hears from Dr Howard Schilit, of Schilit Forensics accountancy firm, a witness at Enron's Senate hearing and a man with a serious warning for the corporate world, two decades on from the Enron scandal. Picture Credit: Getty Images

Can the ambitious renewable energy plans of the incoming government overcome domestic nimbyism and Russian gas politics?Ed Butler hears from one member of the new left-liberal-green coalition, Social Democrat MP Jens Zimmermann, about their plans to phase out coal entirely by 2030, and replace 80% of electricity generation with wind and solar. But building new wind turbines already faces substantial red tape and vociferous opposition from bird conservation groups, as industry man Steffen Lackmann explains.Meanwhile, how will the government tackle a more pressing matter - Russian President Vladimir Putin's alleged restriction of gas supplies to Europe this winter in order to force German approval for the new Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Ed speaks to Gustav Gressel, geopolitical analyst at the ECFR think tank, and to Melissa Eddy at the New York Times' Berlin bureau. Plus Yuri Vitrenko, head of Ukraine's gas pipeline company Naftogaz, explains why he fears approval of the pipeline could mean war in his country.(Picture: Leaders of the incoming German government, including Chancellor-elect Olaf Scholz (centre), inadvertently re-enact the opening scene from Reservoir Dogs; Credit: Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images)

Authoritarian regimes are working closer than ever to keep each other afloat - with plenty of help from the West's financial system.Ed Butler speaks to Frank Vogl, who helped found the global anti-corruption organisation Transparency International. He claims that the world's kleptocrats are enabled by an army of bankers, lawyers and accountants who are helping them squirrel away their ill-gotten money in Western real estate and investments.And for regimes like those of Belarus, Venezuela or Syria, who find their power contested by their own people and their economies in tatters, there is plenty of support to be found these days from other authoritarians - chief among them Russia and China. That's according to the historian, journalist and author Anne Applebaum. The questions is whether the world's democracies will ever get their act together and do something about it?(Picture: Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro (left) embracing Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko; Credit: Sergei Gapon/AFP via Getty Images)

In Afghanistan, high schools are currently closed to girls, and women have been banned from TV dramas. So how hard is life for the female half of the population, as the Taliban reassert control?Tamasin Ford hears from her colleague Yalda Hakim, who recently returned to the Afghan capital Kabul, the city of her birth, where she quizzed members of the new regime about their intentions for girls' education. Tamasin also speaks to Mahbouba Seraj of the Afghan Women Skills Development Center in Kabul about what life is now like in the city. Meanwhile Marianne O’Grady, who worked in Afghanistan for the charity CARE International until she was evacuated in August, says that with food now running desperately short in the country, there are even more pressing concerns than the treatment of women.(Picture: Afghan girls look out next to a building in Sharan, Afghanistan; Credit: Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

On Business Weekly, we look at inflation in different countries, and in particular, how price rises are hitting the citizens of Turkey and the United States. We hear how two different presidents are trying two very different ways of getting it under control. We also hear how baristas in Starbucks are trying to unionise and how the coffee shop chain has reacted. Plus, we look at green hydrogen and hear from the producers in Denmark hoping the sustainable fuel will help meet climate change targets. Business Weekly is presented by Sasha Twining and produced by Matthew Davies.

Can the minerals needed to decarbonise the global economy be dug up fast enough? And can it be done without the human rights and environmental abuses of the past?Tamasin Ford speaks to KC Michaels of the International Energy Agency says there will need to be a staggering increase in the amount of nickel, lithium, cobalt and rare earths being mined, in order to build all the batteries, wind turbines and solar panels needed. But mining consultant Dr Patience Mpofu says that the mines required can take anything up to 15 years to commission.With many of these critical minerals concentrated in the developing world, the fear is that a rapid increase in global demand may outstrip the supply from the formal mining industry, with the gap filled by much less responsible mining operations. Emmanuel Umpula of the Congo-based NGO African Resources Watch fears a worsening of human rights abuses and pollution from such mines. But Mark Cutifani, chief executive of mining giant Anglo American, says the industry is working hard to ensure better standards of behaviour.(Picture: South African miner; Credit: David Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)

Turkey's currency has been in free fall this week, reaching a record low against the US dollar. The Lira's collapse has been sparked, in part, by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan doubling down on his controversial economic policies, such as demanding that the central bank cut interest rates despite rapidly accelerating inflation. Ed Butler explores why President Erdogan is so attached to the policy, at the expense of three central bank governors in the last three years, and asks what impact the currency crisis is having on Turkey's economy. Ed speaks to Gulcin Ozkan, professor of finance at King's College London, economist and former fund manager Mohamed El-Erian, and to a forlorn wealth manager in Istanbul. Producer: Will Bain(Picture: Turkish Lira notes; Credit: Getty Images)

Starbucks workers in Buffalo, New York, are this month balloting to join a union - part of a surprise post-pandemic trend in union activism across America, as retail and hospitality workers find that the tight post-pandemic labour market is giving them more bargaining power with their employers.Ed Butler speaks to Michelle and Jaz - two baristas in Buffalo, New York, who are encouraging their colleagues to organise - and to Richard Bensinger, who hopes to represent them as part of the Workers United union. He reckons this marks a turning point for unions in the US, which have for decades seen thin membership numbers.We also hear from Stephen Delie at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a Michigan-based think tank and advocacy group for "right-to-work" laws, which discourage union membership. Unions, he says, take workers' hard-earned money for little or no return.(Picture: Starbucks union supporters posing in a group photo with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; Credit: Michael Sanabria)

Would you want to live to 150? With leaps in technology, science and medicine, it's becoming an increasingly realistic possibility.Elizabeth Hotson talks to Sergey Young, founder of Longevity Vision Fund and author of The Science and Technology of Growing Young. Sergey tells us why he embarked on a mission to help us live longer. Plus, Dr Michael Hufford from biotechnology company, Lygenesis tells us about organ regeneration technology, which enables a patient's lymph nodes to be used as bioreactors to regrow functioning ectopic organs.We also go on a voyage of discovery into the world of cryonics with Dennis Kowalski, president of the Cryonics Institute in Michigan, where you can have your body frozen and stored until the technology exists to bring you back to life some time in the future. We also hear from Paul Hagen, who's planning to follow his father's footsteps by undergoing the cryonics procedure.(Picture of an energetic older couple via Getty Images)

Texas has introduced the most stringent abortion law in America. Tamasin Ford assesses some of the reaction to this law by employers and employees who have traditionally been attracted to the Lone Star State because of its low taxes and lower house prices. Ashley Lopez, NPR journalist in Austin explains the complexities of the law and how it will disproportionately affect women of colour. Curtis Sparrer, co-founder of PR firm Bospar, explains how his company is offering to help relocate employees who want to move out of the state. And Vivek Bhaskaran, CEO of Austin-based QuestionPro, explains how his company will offer financial assistance to employees who need to get a termination. We also hear from Valerie Veteto, who moved to Texas, attracted by its job prospects and low house prices, but is now preparing for a move to New York.Producer: Nisha Patel(Picture: Protests outside the Supreme Court in the US Credit: Getty Images)

On Business Weekly, we look at the new wave of Covid-19 that’s hitting several European countries. We hear how the different take-up rates of vaccinations and booster shots are making things difficult for governments and how some are now resorting to lockdowns just for the unvaccinated. We also hear about the growing incidences of mobile phone spyware, and how unwitting victims are having their every movement tracked by modern day stalkers. Plus, we look at period poverty and sanitary sustainability, as the market for menstruation products widens. Business Weekly is presented by Sasha Twining and produced by Matthew Davies.

Happy World Toilet Day! It is that day of the year when we all need to overcome our embarrassment and discuss what is normally a taboo topic. Hundreds of millions of people still have no access to a toilet, putting them at risk of disease, sexual assault and public humiliation.Tamasin Ford speaks to the inventor of World Toilet Day, Jack Sim, about how much has been achieved since he founded his World Toilet Organisation 20 years ago to promote discussion of this topic. We also hear from Catarina de Albuquerque, who served as the first United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to safe drinking water and sanitation, and made it one of the UN's sustainable development goals.Also, consultant Timeyin Uwejamomere talks about the challenge of introducing proper sanitation in the slums of his native Nigeria. Plus Chilufya Chileshe, policy director at the charity WaterAid, explains how the lack of a toilet leaves women and girls vulnerable to sexual harassment, and interferes with their education.(Photo: An eco-friendly mobile toilet in Johannesburg, South Africa. Credit: Deon Raath/Galo Images/Rapport)

Is it time to stop the freeze of the country's financial assets and donor aid or will that just legitimise the Taliban? Ed Butler speaks to John Sifton, the Asia advocacy director for the campaign group Human Rights Watch, who says the west should ease up on its sanctions to help alleviate the situation. But Alex Zerden, who worked with the US Treasury department in Kabul from 2018 to 2019 and is now a senior fellow at the Centre for New American Security in Washington DC, defends the current US refusal to open the financial taps, says the Taliban itself is primarily responsible for the mess the country's in. Ed also speaks to health worker Karsten Noko from MSF (doctors without borders), who is desperately trying to keep its operations running without properly functioning bank services. And Masuda Sultan, a US-Afghan aid worker, who campaigns for the non-profit Unfreeze Afghanistan, tells him how bad the situation is there. (Picture: Afghan grandmother and her grandchildren, members of one of the Afghan families that put their children up for sale, pose for a photo at their rental home without water and electricity in Afghanistan; Credit: Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Can this multi-million dollar industry help the climate and fight period poverty? Tamasin Ford speaks to Marisa Meltzer, a writer in New York who recently tried them out. Maria Molland is the CEO of period underwear company, Thinx, who says that sales of their underwear, ranging from $17 to $34 a pair, boomed during the pandemic. Rochelle Burn is the Executive Director of the Environmental charity, Greener Future in Toronto, who focus on litter clean-ups. She says one of the main things they find washing up on the beach is tampon applicators. And Helen Lynn from the Women’s Environmental Network, a charity working on issues that connect gender, health and the environment says that the unaffordability of sanitary products as well as the taboos surrounding periods are still a problem. (Picture: Period pants; Credit: Getty Images)

With the number of devices infected with stalkerware rising by over 60% in a year, many are worried about the consequences. Ivana Davidovic speaks with Maria who, even after managing to leave her abusive husband of 25 years, was still not free from his clutches.Eva Galperin, who founded the global Coalition Against Stalkerware, explains how more training of law enforcement agencies is needed because many victims feel they are being gaslighted when they ask for help. She is also fighting for greater inclusion of stalkerware apps among anti-virus software manufacturers.In October this year, Google pulled several stalkerware adverts for apps that encouraged prospective users to spy on their partners’ phone. One of those apps, SpyFone, was banned by the US Federal Trade Commission in September for harvesting and sharing data about people’s movements and activities via a hidden device hack. Despite these positive moves, stalkerware apps and advice on how to use them are still easily accessible online.Xena Olsen tells how she became a cybersecurity expert after being a victim of stalkerware by her then-fiancé - and she offers tips on what to do if you are worried for your own safety. And Rosanna Bellini, from the Clinic to End Tech Abuse, says how sometimes their clients are advised not to immediately remove cyber-stalking apps from their phones as that could increase the risk of physical violence.

What was really at stake at the COP26 negotiations in Glasgow, and how much have the politicians done to avert a climate disaster?Justin Rowlatt speaks to two researchers on the frontline of the climate crisis. Carrie Lear, professor of earth sciences at Cardiff University, explains why she fears the Antarctic ice sheet could melt far quicker than people assume, inundating coastal cities around the globe. Meanwhile Professor Daniela Schmidt of Bristol University says the chemistry of the world's oceans is changing so fast that it could take marine ecosystems millions of years to recover.Given how high the stakes are, how significant was the progress made in the latest iteration of climate talks? Justin speaks to sustainability expert and veteran climate diplomat Rachel Kyte, dean of the Fletcher School of international affairs at Tufts University in America.(Picture: Globe balanced on the edge of a shelf; Credit: Getty Images)

Why is the black community still so poorly represented in leadership positions? We speak to the changemakers who are doing something about it. Kike Onawinde used to represent Great Britain in the javelin before setting up the Black Young Professionals Network, which is all about connecting ambitious future leaders. Jean-Marc Laouchez is the President of the Management Consultancy firm Korn Ferry Institute in Paris, who says the main reason why things are not changing is because of the established power structure. Abdul Karim Abdullah, is a clinical trial manager for a pharmaceutical company in New York. He founded the culture festival, Afrochella, to celebrate African culture, food, music, art and fashion. Najah Roberts is the founder and CEO of Crypto Blockchain Plug in Los Angeles. It’s one of the first African American owned over the counter cryptocurrency exchanges in the US. She says a big problem for African Americans is that they have been prevented us from acquiring wealth and that virtual money could change all of that.(Picture of boardroom meeting. Picture credit: Getty Images).

In Business Weekly, we take a look at the splitting up of a 129-year old behemoth. General Electric announced that it will divide itself into three separate companies. Does this mean the end of conglomerates that span several sectors and make a multitude of diverse products? Also, the former finance minister of Afghanistan tells us that the Taliban takeover was due in no small part to massive corruption within the government. We take a look at the row over the increasing amount of raw sewage that's being allowed to flow into the UK's rivers. Also in the programme – the sale by Elon Musk of some of his shares in Tesla, after asking his Twitter followers whether or not it was a good move. And as the German media giant, Axel Springer, announces plans to force managers to tell HR departments if they start a sexual relationship with a subordinate, we take a look at the difference between American and European corporate cultures. Business Weekly is presented by Matthew Davies and produced by Philippa Goodrich.

Are Hong Kong's days as a major financial centre now numbered? The end of the pandemic has seen renewed economic growth. But some say tough anti-Covid rules and anti-protest laws are undermining what was once Asia's leading financial hub as thousands of people leave the territory. Ed Butler speaks to Edward Chin, a HK hedge fund manager who's now temporarily moved to Canada following the security crackdown. Tara Joseph, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong tells him recruiting foreign workers into the territory is now proving much harder. Vera Yuen, a business lecturer at the University of Hong Kong, says wealth management services for the Chinese are providing big growth for territory. And Mike Bird, the Hong Kong correspondent of the Economist magazine says both the Covid restrictions and the national security law may start to really hurt Hong Kong in the longer term.( Pic: Sunrise at Victoria Peak,Hong Kong Credit: Jun Chen / Getty)

The former finance minister from the collapsed Afghan government, Khalid Payenda, tells Ed Butler that it was brought down by rampant corruption at a very high level. He served for six months from the beginning of this year and says that by the time US forces left and the Taliban began advancing, most of Afghanistan's supposed 300 thousand troops and police didn’t exist. He says phantom personnel were added to official lists so that generals could pocket their wages. Many Afghans feel enraged by the failures of the US-backed government and they say it abandoned them in their hour of need.( Pic: Man counting money at a market in Afghanistan Credit: Bloomberg Creative )

Will Africa’s economic development be held back for the world’s net zero climate targets? And could banning investment in their fossil fuels do more harm than good? Tamasin Ford speaks to NJ Ayuk, the executive chair of the energy industry lobby group, Africa Energy Chamber who says the decision is a disaster for countries in Africa and to W.Gyude Moore, a Senior Policy Fellow at the Centre for Global Development and Liberia's former Minister of Public Works who says Africa can’t catch up without fossil fuels. Dr Olumide Abimbola, is the Executive Director of the Africa Policy Research Institute, a Berlin based think tank that works on Africa policy issues. He’s in Glasgow for the climate talks and Tamasin asked him whether there’s a fear the EU Green deal could restrict goods from Africa. And Adenike Oladosu, one of Nigeria’s youth delegates in Glasgow says people in her country do want to go green but it’s just not affordable.Pic: Smoke emerging from chimneys Credit: Alexandros Margos/Getty

Sewage entered British waters for around 3 million hours in 2020 in over 400,000 pollution incidents. Hugo Tagholm, chief executive of Surfers Against Sewage tells Tamasin Ford why this is happening. Public pressure for the government and water companies to do something about this is mounting, particularly since it's become known that privately owned water companies in England paid their shareholders almost $80 billion in dividends over the last 30 years. WaterUK represents all of the water and sewage providers across the UK. We hear from their director of policy, Stuart Colville. Is tougher legislation the answer? Sweden faced similar problems with their sewage system more than fifty years ago. Peter Sörngård, an environmental expert at the Swedish Water and Waste Water Association explains how they dealt with it.Producer: Benjie Guy(Picture: a sewage outflow pipe discharges sewage into a river. Credit: BBC.) sewage spewing into British waters went viral on social media. The country’s Victorian era sewage systems are struggling to cope. We find out what’s being done about it and look to Sweden where they seem to be getting things right.

As global leaders jet out of Glasgow, leaving the hard bargaining to their delegates, Business Weekly looks at what the pledges made so far really mean. Will rich countries be able to support the financial demands made of developing nations to help them transition away from fossil fuels? And what did activists make of Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s promise of reaching net-zero by 2070? Also on the programme, we hear why some people enjoy trophy hunting - and whether it can ever be a useful tool for conservation. And as an inquest names a haul of Anglo-Saxon coins one of the biggest ever found in England, we ask what happens to treasure after it’s discovered. Business Weekly is presented by Lucy Burton and produced by Matthew Davies.

Central Banks around the world are introducing digital currencies and last month Nigeria became the first African country to launch one - the eNaira. But what is a digital currency and how are Nigerians reacting to theirs? We hear from people on the streets of Abuja. Tamasin Ford speaks to Rakiya Mohammed, director of information security at the Central Bank of Nigeria. Chinwe Egwim, chief economist at Coronation Merchant Bank in Lagos, explains why the eNaira has been introduced and the benefits it could have. Digital currency expert Josh Lipsky of the Atlantic Council puts the launch of the eNaira in the context of the others that are springing up all over the globe. Producer: Benjie Guy. (Picture: the eNaira mobile phone app. Credit: enaira.gov.ng)