Business Daily

Global tourism has lost trillions of dollars during the pandemic, leaving communities who rely on the sector desperate. Now that parts of the world are slowly starting to open up again, Business Weekly asks whether travel can be done safely and sustainably in a pandemic. We hear from an intimacy co-ordinator whose job it is to ensure actors feel comfortable with their sex scenes. She tells us why having someone in their role is vital in the post #metoo era. And menopause has been called the last workplace taboo as women all over the globe drop out of the workforce as they struggle with symptoms. Should businesses give them more support and, if so, in what form should that be? Plus, should we think about trading with aliens? The Pentagon hasn’t ruled out the existence of extra-terrestrials and some people are already thinking about what we could sell them! Business Weekly is presented by Lucy Burton and produced by Matthew Davies.

Shareholders and courts pile pressure on the oil majors. Amid falling demand for oil and targets to cut carbon emissions, what role if any do companies like ExxonMobil and Shell have in a decarbonised world? Manuela Saragosa speaks to Aeisha Mastagni from the California State Teachers' Retirement System - a shareholder in ExxonMobil pushing the company to change its long-term strategy. Lord Browne, former boss of BP, tells us why oil companies need to diversify if they want to survive. And Charlie Kronick from Greenpeace explains why the winds have turned agains the oil industry in recent weeks.(Photo: Oil drilling operations in California. Credit: Getty Images)

There's a bewildering world of milk alternatives. From oats, to tiger nuts, the list of varieties keeps growing but not everyone’s delighted about the march of plant based drinks. Some dairy farmers worry that the rural economy is at risk and just don’t get the hype. Elizabeth Hotson talks to plant-based pioneers, Camilla Barnard, co-founder of Rude Health and Alpro's General Manager Sue Garfitt. We also hear from ex-beef and dairy farmer Jay Wilde who now produces oat milk at his farm in Derbyshire in the north of England. And Carrie Mess, a Wisconsin dairy farmer and speaker on agriculture puts forward the case for cows' milk, whilst Deborah Valenze, author of Milk: a Local and Global History tells us the story behind milk consumption.Presenter: Elizabeth Hotson Producer: Sarah Treanor(Photo of various kinds of plant milk. Photo Credit: Getty Images).

A US government report on UFOs has said there was no clear explanation for the unidentified aircraft, but did not rule out extra-terrestrial origin. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested into searching for signs of alien intelligence. Ed Butler speaks to Lisa Kaltenegger, an astronomer at Cornell University, who has analysed the closest, most likely planets to support alien life. If, or when, we do make contact what could we trade with our new neighbours? David Brin, a science fiction writer and astro-physicist says our culture would be the most easily exchanged aspect of our civilisation. And what about making money on Earth from the continued interest in aliens? Juanita Jennings is the public affairs director for the town of Roswell, New Mexico. The site of the most famous UFO sighting. (Picture: a UFO over the Mojave desert, USA. Credit: Getty Images.)

Women across the globe are leaving their jobs and sometimes careers because they are unsupported at work when they go through the menopause. But could mandated menopause leave re-dress the balance?Ivana Davidovic speaks with Lauren Chiren, who abandoned her high-flying career in finance because her menopause symptoms were so bad she thought she had early onset dementia. Karen Arthur, who also left her job as a teacher due to menopause and now hosts the Menopause While Black podcast, says that women of colour are particularly worried about being sidelined at work.British MP Carolyn Harris discusses her "menopause revolution", while Emily Mutua, an HR executive from Nairobi, says that menopause conversations in Kenyan workplaces are almost non-existent. Plus Tanuj Kapilashrami from Standard Chartered explains what the big multinational bank has in store to support its staff, and Australian professor Marian Baird asks whether some of the menstrual and menopause policies could actually increase discrimination.(Picture: Co-workers having a meeting in the lobby; Credit: Getty Images)

Is crushing office boredom a curse or an opportunity?Manuela Saragosa hears from David Bolchover, a writer who spent years at major insurance firms with almost nothing to do all day, and Tom Hodgkinson, founder of the Idler magazine, on why being idle is so important to the creative process.(Photo: A man relaxing at work, Credit: Thinkstock)

On this edition of Business Weekly, we look at Tokyo 2020 and hear how the organisers of the Olympic Games are trying to get spectators into the venues, whilst trying to minimise the risk from coronavirus. We also take a look at legal challenges brought against employers who are insisting workers have a Covid vaccination before they re-enter the office. We hear from both an international legal expert, and the lawyer representing a group in Texas who want to take their case all the way to the Supreme Court. Plus, we hear how getting the nuance wrong in corporate communications can be costly, and what businesses can do to ensure they respect and understand local cultures. Business Weekly is presented by Sasha Twining and produced by Matthew Davies.

There is a new job on film sets, a job that has grown out of the #MeToo movement. Manuela Saragosa speaks to Ita O’Brien, the woman who created the guidelines for the role, about why every film set needs an intimacy co-ordinator.Could their inclusion as members of the production team become a legal requirement? We hear from Elizabeth Wagmeister, Variety magazine's senior correspondent in Los Angeles.Producer: Sarah Treanor and Benjie Guy(Photo: Actors Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan in the film Fifty Shades of Grey. Credit: Alamy)

Big Tech companies such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft are moving into AI healthcare services in a big way. But can we trust private, for-profit, companies to use our data properly? Prof Allyson Pollock, director of the Newcastle University Centre for Excellence in Regulatory Science in the UK, tell the BBC's Ed Butler she is alarmed at the rate healthcare services are being privatised in the country. And Nicholson Price, Professor at the University of Michigan School of Law in the US, warns that the stakes are different when tech companies collect healthcare than say marketing information. But Dr Robert Wachter, Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, says that though these concerns are real, it may be a price we have to pay for better healthcare in the future.Producers: Frey Lindsay, Laurence Knight.(Image credit: Getty Creative)

Communicating with people from different cultures is a potential minefield. We’ll discover what can happen when things get lost in translation and we’ll also get some tips on how to avoid major clangers and embarrassing faux pas. We hear from Nazir Ul-Ghani, the Europe, Middle East and Africa director of the software tool Workplace from Facebook and Roger Kreuz, a professor of psychology at the University of Memphis, tells us what can go wrong when companies try to expand into new territories without doing their homework. Plus, we get insights from Lisa Thorne, founder of TogetherGlobal.com who helps personnel in international banks better understand their colleagues in different countries; she also tells us about an unfortunate misunderstanding of her own in 1980s Tokyo. Plus, Jab Borgstrom, worldwide chief creative officer of advertising giant BBH Group, explains how his language skills and dyslexia help him approach communication in a very unique way. Plus Bibek Shrestha from NIC ASIA Bank in Kathmandu, Nepal, tells us how a simple greeting can say a thousand words.Presenter: Elizabeth Hotson Producer: Sarah Treanor(Picture of people talking via Getty Images).

Is medicine about to be transformed by digitisation and artificial intelligence?Ed Butler has his cognitive abilities assessed by a computer app. Thomas Sawyer of the health tech company Cognetivity, which developed the AI-assisted app claims it will help revolutionise the early detection and treatment of Alzheimer's.But pretty soon our wellbeing could be monitored by multiple apps - on our phones, in our bathroom scales, even in our toilets - streaming data back to computerised healthcare systems. That's the vision of Robert Wachter, chair of the department of medicine at the University of California in San Francisco. But he also tells Ed of the many pitfalls that could await us in this data-driven future. Plus Sarah Deeny of The Healthcare Foundation in the UK raises concerns about the sensitivity of some of the data being handled.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Doctor holds a tablet computer showing an X-ray image; Credit: Getty Images)

Israel's military says it struck a thousand targets in Gaza last month, in response to more than 4,300 missiles it claims were fired into Israel. With the latest bout of violence now over, the reconstruction can begin once again.Manuela Saragosa speaks to Samir Mansour, who saw his famous Gaza bookshop destroyed before his eyes. International donors want to help rebuild businesses like Samir's. Elizabeth Campbell, director at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, describes how this can be done without also enabling the Hamas government, which is labelled a terrorist group by the US, EU and Israel.Israel and Egypt maintain a blockade on Gaza that has rendered commerce with the outside world almost impossible. But could the economy have great potential, were the blockade ever lifted? Asmaa AbuMezied of Oxfam points to Gaza’s fledgling startup scene, while Manal White of the social enterprise Zaytoun in London highlights the opportunity for Gazan agricultural exports.Producer: Frey Lindsay(Picture: Samir Mansour stands before the remains of his bookstore in Gaza; Credit: Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images)

This week, two Americans went on trial in Japan, accused of smuggling former Nissan chief executive, Carlos Ghosn, out of the country in a music equipment box. On Business Weekly, we ask why they did it and if Mr Ghosn will ever face Japanese justice. We hear from the broadcaster, author and activist, Gretchen Carlson, about the role she played in the #metoo movement. She sued her former boss at Fox News for sexual harassment and says more has to be done to protect women in the workplace. And how do you deliver bad news? We have a special report on the art of making employees redundant. Do you deliver bad news over Zoom or in person? Or just cancel their work passes? The answer of course is neither - we learn how to do it properly. Plus, as hundreds of prospectors descend on the small village of KwaHlathi in the South African province of Kwa-Zulu Natal, we hear how the discovery of what might be diamonds could potentially transform lives in one of the country's poorest rural areas. Business Weekly is presented by Lucy Burton and produced by Matthew Davies.

After decades of restrictions, China's leaders want women to have more children. But will a 'three-child' policy prevent a decline in China's population? Ed Butler speaks to Professor Stein Emil Vollset from the University of Washington School of Medicine about the dramatic population declines expected in many countries including China. China demographics expert Yong Cai explains why the declining birth rate will be difficult to reverse. And author and journalist Mei Fong tells us why the one-child policy of the past will make it even harder for Chinese authorities to promote larger families in the future. (Photo: A nurse holding a baby at an infant care centre in Yongquan, in Chongqing municipality, in southwest China; Credit: Getty Images)

Do audiences, sponsors and broadcasters still have the patience for five-day matches? Or is the future now with the shorter one-day and Twenty20 formats?Rahul Tandon speaks to Geoff Allardice, general manager of cricket for the International Cricket Council, about his hopes that the inaugural World Test Championship final this year will reinvigorate traditional long-form cricket, as well as Lalit Beriwala, director of the major cricket sponsor Shyam Steel, one of the tournament's major sponsors.But the world's biggest cricketing nation, India, has moved firmly over to the faster-moving - and more profitable - three-hour T20 matches. We hear from cricket writer Sharda Ugra, player-turned-commentator Deep Dasgupta, and sports business analyst Mudar Patherya. (Picture: Indian batsman Virat Kohli leaves the field after being dismissed in a test match against New Zealand; Credit: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Can technology help victims of sexual harassment feel more confident in reporting their perpetrators?Ed Butler hears how the #MeToo movement inspired Ariel Weindling to start up a reporting app called #NotMe. Meanwhile, Neta Maidev's own experience of sexual harassment eventually led her to create another app - Vault Platform.But can HR departments sometimes be part of the problem? That's the view of Nuala Walsh, founding director of the Global Association of Applied Behavioural Scientists. But Rachel Suff of the UK's Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development takes issue with. Plus, Dr Frances Frei of the Harvard Business School, who has helped a range of US firms reassess their workplace culture, says there's much still to be done. Producer: Nisha Patel(Picture: Woman looking uncomfortable next to a colleague in the office; Credit: Prot Tachapanit / EyeEm)

Five years ago she successfully sued her former boss at Fox News, Roger Ailes, for sexual harassment. Now, American broadcaster Gretchen Carlson tells Ed Butler about how she helped kick off the #MeToo movement, why major American companies continue to gag employees and protect workplace predators through non-disclosure agreements, and how she is fighting in Washington DC to make the working environment safer for women.Producer: Nisha Patel(Picture: Gretchen Carlson; Credit: Stephanie Cowen)

The UN has predicted it could take two years for the world job market to recover from the Coronavirus pandemic. The hardest hit could be young jobseekers, who had almost got a foot in the door before it closed. We’ll hear from young people around the world, who have found their employment prospects shattered by the pandemic. We’ll also hear from Guy Ryder, Director-General of the International Labour Organisation, about how the pandemic could exacerbate inequality around the world. At the same time, Mamta Murthi of the World Bank breaks down how progress for young women in the workplace could be rolled back by decades. Finally, Daniel Susskind from Oxford University, explains why those lost jobs might never come back.Producer: Frey Lindsay(Image credit: Getty Creative)

No one wants to be told they’ve lost their job, or that their entire department is disappearing, but the way that message is delivered can have consequences - both in the short term and sometimes years into the future. We hear the best techniques for delivering negative tidings; and some clangers. Elizabeth Hotson gets tips and advice from Heather McGregor, entrepreneur author and Dean of Heriot Watt Business School, hears about a very awkward conversation from former Chairman of the airline Jet Blue, now Stanford professor, Joel Peterson, and from Neal Hartman, a professor at the Sloan School of Management at MIT, specialising in communications and leadership. Presenter: Elizabeth Hotson Producer: Sarah Treanor(Picture: Woman on a laptop with a headache. Credit: Getty Creative)

Earlier this week the FBI, in conjunction with the Australian authorities, used an encrypted messaging app to swoop in and arrest more than 800 suspected criminals. On Business Weekly, we look at how they were able to crack global organised crime groups by running their own messaging service, putting it on bespoke phones and handing them out, through undercover officers, to the criminals themselves. We also look at the booming business of ransomware. Hackers are making millions from demanding Bitcoin payments from companies - so how can this new kind of cyberwarfare be stopped? Plus, Turkey says it will no longer accept waste plastic from other countries. So, where will our plastic end up? Business Weekly is produced by Matthew Davies and presented by Lucy Burton.

Why do some of the super rich describe themselves as frugal? Is it something about the inner psyche that makes us natural savers or spenders? Elizabeth Hotson speaks to Dolly Parton, who despite earning millions, doesn’t particularly enjoy spending it. We also hear from Karam Hinduja, banker and scion of the billionaire Hinduja family. Tech entrepreneur, Richard Skellett tells us why he sees being wealthy as a responsibility, plus we hear from big savers, Tim Connor and Francesca Armstrong. We're also joined by Sarah Fallaw, author of The Next Millionaire Next Door, Rachel Sherman, author of Uneasy Street: The Anxieties of Affluence and Elin Helander, behavioural economist, neurologist and Chief Scientific Officer at Dreams, a money-saving app. Producers: Elizabeth Hotson and Sarah Treanor. (This episode is a repeat from 10 Aug 2020)(Picture: piggy bank via Getty Images).

Ibrahim Diallo got his first computer when he was five, which triggered a lifelong passion for programming. He has worked as a software engineer in the US for 12 years. A Guinean citizen, who went to French school in Saudi Arabia, and now lives in California, Ibrahim says he can count on one hand the number of black people he has worked alongside. He shares his experience of being a black programmer in the US with Vivienne Nunis. (Photo: Ibrahim Diallo at his office in LA. Credit: BBC)

Hackers are making millions from ransomware attacks. What can be done to stop them? Ed Butler speaks to professional ransomware negotiator Kurtis Minder, about the increasing professionalisation of the ransomware business. Kimberly Grauer, head of research at Chainalysis explains why following the bitcoin trail may be the best way of bringing ransomware gangs to justice and Vishaal Hariprasad, boss of cyber insurance company Resilience, tells us why the ransomware threat means there needs to be a stepchange in how companies view cyber security.(Photo: Illustration of ransomware attack, Credit: Getty Images)

The Nobel prize-winning economist and professor of psychology Daniel Kahneman focuses his latest research on the high cost of inconsistent decision making. In Noise, co-authored with Oliver Sibony and Cass R Sunstein, he looks at why humans can be so unreliable, and what can be done about it. He tells Andrew Marr that people working in the same job often make wildly different judgements, influenced by factors like their current mood, when they last ate, even the weather. He argues that ‘noise’ is distinct from bias and has been neglected by organisations and businesses.Gillian Tett is editor-at-large for the Financial Times and is also focused on transforming the world of business. But whereas Kahneman uses the methods of psychology, Tett argues for anthropology. For over a century anthropologists have immersed themselves in unfamiliar cultures, studying the hidden rituals at play. In her book Anthro-Vision, Tett uses similar techniques to reveal the underlying structures and human behaviour in our modern world – from Amazon warehouses to Silicon Valley to City trading floors.Ann Cairns is the executive vice chair of Mastercard, which has hundreds of offices worldwide. She explores how psychology and anthropology can help to manage the company’s fortunes and employees through times of flux and change. Cairns started out as a research scientist before developing an interest in offshore engineering, becoming the first woman qualified to work offshore in Britain. She moved into banking in the late 1980s and joined Mastercard in 2011.This programme is excerpted from Radio 4's Start The Week with Andrew Marr: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000w4nb(Picture credit: Shannon Fagan via Getty Creative)

The Chinese government is pleading for young people to have more babies. On Business Weekly we ask whether this new “three-child” policy will help reverse the ageing population. You can’t send babies out to work, so does the nation face a demographic time bomb? Plus, the growing industry of forensic genealogy is cracking decades old murder cases. Our reporter asks how much privacy do we have to surrender - and is it worth it? And as the US marks 100 years since the Tulsa Race Massacre, we head to a more recent place of protest and trauma: Minneapolis. The president of the Federal Reserve of Minneapolis tells us he wants to do more to fight racism and inequality, but a black businesswoman from the city says she’s not seen many signs of equality. And is the boozy power lunch back? Business Weekly is produced by Matthew Davies and presented by Lucy Burton.

Mei Xu is a Chinese American entrepreneur who made it big in the US by setting up a global candle business. She grew up in Chairman Mao's communist China, but was educated at an elite school, where she learnt English with the aim of becoming a diplomat. That was until the pro-democracy, student protests of Tiananmen Square in 1989. After that she managed to get a passport out of China and went to the USA, where she set up her multi-million dollar business. What does her story tell us about the state of the American economy and the growth of China as an economic superpower?

The World Bank has declared Lebanon's to be "enduring a severe and prolonged economic depression" and said it is one of the worst economic crises since the mid-19th century. As fuel and food supplies dry up, and cash reserves dwindle, Lebanese economic columnist and former bank executive Dan Azzi warns "Armageddon" could be just around the corner for the country. Meanwhile Diana Menhem, economist and managing director of advocacy group Kulluna Irada, explains how the country's economic got into such a state. And we'll also hear from Joumana Saddi Chaya, of the lighting design and manufacturing company PSLab and Aline Kamakian, owner of the restaurant Mayrig in Beirut, on trying to run different businesses amid the increasing chaos.Producer: Frey Lindsay(Picture: People queue with their cars to buy fuel in Beirut, Lebanon on June 01, 2021. Picture credit: Wassim Samih Seifeddine/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The rise of electric vehicles could see traditional service stations closing across the planet over the next two decades, and replacing pumps with fast chargers is unlikely to save them. Justin Rowlatt speaks to one entrepreneur hoping to profit from the rollout of EV chargers in every home and parking space, Erik Fairbairn of Pod Point. Meanwhile Isabelle Haigh, head of national control at the UK's National Grid, explains why she is confident they can meet the electricity demand from all these new vehicles.Across the Atlantic, another entrepreneur - Sanjiv Patel of National Petroleum - says the writing is clearly on the wall for his chain of 25 gas stations in California - but maybe not for a while yet. But could he turn them into restaurants or use them to hold séances? That's the fate of one petrol station in Leeds that is now an arts centre. We hear from its owner, Jack Simpson.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Abandoned gas station along old Route 66 in the California desert; Credit: Lynne Rostochil/Getty Images)

In the US - but increasingly in other countries too - cold case murder, sexual assaults, and unidentified person cases once thought unsolvable are being cracked thanks to the proliferation of public genetic databases. But with this success come deep worries for our DNA data. Ivana Davidovic talks to Brett Williams, the CEO of Verogen - the owner of GEDMatch consumer DNA database - about their business decision to cooperate with the police, privacy concerns and new opportunities opening up in countries like Mexico and Vietnam. We also hear from Tina Franke, whose daughter Christine Franke was murdered in Florida in 2001. She speaks of her relief at the unexpected progress in the investigation after almost two decades. Professor Andrew MacLeod tells us about his project - in conjunction with King's College London - to harness forensic genealogy to identify perpetrators of sexual violence in the aid industry. And law professor Natalie Ram explains the pioneering legislation being brought in the US state of Maryland designed to regulate the industry much more tightly.PHOTO: Forensic scientist collecting evidence/Getty Images

In Africa, malaria is far more widespread than Covid-19 - so what would it mean to African economies if it was eliminated? We speak to the man whose team in Oxford devloped an effective vaccine for the disease. Mice have overrun parts of Australia ruining crops and testing sanity. We learn about the effect this plague of rodents is having on the rural economy. We hear why Amazon has bought the iconic MGM Studios - and what it means for both Amazon customers and cinema lovers. Plus, our reporter heads to San Francisco to hear how the city’s Chinatown has coped with both Covid-19 and an increase in anti-Chinese race hate crime. As shops are boarded up and tourists stay away, what plans are there to rejuvenate this historic area? Business Weekly is presented by Lucy Burton and produced by Matthew Davies.

Not everyone can be special, so should we embrace our mediocrity?In a programme first broadcast in August 2016, Manuela Saragosa investigates the appeal of being average. She talks to mediocrity advocates and bloggers Krista O'Reilly-Davi-Digui from Alberta in Canada, and Mark Manson in the US. But what happens when whole societies embrace mediocrity at the expense of excellence? Italian philosopher Gloria Origgi explains the concept of "kakonomics'" - the economics of being bad.(Picture of men holding balloons via Getty Images)

Will the craze for the cryptocurrency started as a joke end in tears? We delve into the world of Dogecoin and ask why people are investing and what the consequences might be. We hear why amateur investors, Vicki Richards from Philadelphia and Erik van der Zanden in the Netherlands, decided to buy Dogecoin. Plus, Kevin Roose, a tech columnist with the New York Times explains why the last year of financial trials and tribulations have made cryptocurrencies attractive to some seeking to make a fortune. And David Gerard, a cryptocurrency sceptic and author of Attack of the 50ft Blockchain, tells us why he thinks the crypto boom will turn to a bust. (Photo of visual representations of digital cryptocurrencies, Dogecoin and Bitcoin. Photo by Yuriko Nakao for Getty Images).

Does it pay for vicitms to complain? Ed Butler speaks to Emi Nietfeld about her experiences at Google who says she suffered this for years and claims it eventually forced her to quit her job. (Picture credit: Getty Images)

San Francisco is home to the oldest and largest Chinatown in North America. But with boarded up businesses and an upsurge in anti-Chinese attacks, the past 14 months have been some of the toughest this community has faced. Will this historic and bustling quarter of San Francisco recover?Vivienne Nunis meets Yiying Lu, a graphic designer from Shanghai who recently made the city her home. She's working with many local businesses to bring visitors back. We also hear from celebrity TV chef Martin Yan on the unifying power of food, and from local business-owners combating racist stereotypes perpetrated by the former US president.Producer: Sarah Treanor(Picture: San Francisco police officers patrol Grant Avenue in Chinatown; Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The International Energy Agency has added its voice to those calling for the end of fossil fuels. The dramatic intervention from the body which helps keep global oil supplies moving is music to the ears of many scientists and environmentalists. Shareholder activists too are pushing from within companies for an energy transition so we ask what the future looks like for the oil and gas sector. Why are some companies resisting the call to go green faster and harder? We’ll look at what happened to the autonomous driving revolution we were all promised. Are driverless cars ever going to be more than an experiment? The hospitality sector may be opening up across the world once more, but who is going to be waiting the tables and cooking the meals? Many staff who were laid off in the first wave of the pandemic have since found new jobs or even moved countries creating a huge staff shortage. And all work, no play? Our workplace commentator extols the virtues of a little play at work. Business Weekly is presented by Lucy Burton and produced by Clare Williamson. (Image:Oil field, Azerbaijan, Credit: BBC)

A new vaccine could help eliminate the disease. What would that mean for African economies?Manuela Saragosa speaks to the man who led the team behind the new vaccine, which has demonstrated a startling 77% effectiveness in recent drug trials. Adrian Hill of Oxford University's Jenner Institute says it is the culmination of 20 years' work - but how was it all funded?Research suggests malaria has been one of the biggest factors that historically held back African economies, according to Obinna Onwujekwe, professor of health economics at the University of Nigeria. But the big pharmaceutical companies have had no commercial interest in developing a vaccine, says Els Torreele of University College London.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Mosquito; Credit: Getty Images)

Faster price rises are coming as countries recover from the pandemic. But how painful will it be for consumers and the global economy? Mohamed El-Erian, economic adviser and president of Queens' College, Cambridge, thinks central banks are already behind the curve when it comes to keeping inflation in check. Others believe the pandemic's impact on prices is largely temporary. Dana Peterson of the US Conference Board explains why. We also hear from restaurant owner Luke Garnsworthy. Now that England's third lockdown has mostly lifted, customers are itching to spend and he can't find enough staff for his kitchens. But, he says raising prices and wages isn't an option for him.Picture: stock photo of a sad piggy bank and stack of coins (Credit: Getty)

How ten years of conflict have destroyed the country's economy. As Syria prepares for largely symbolic elections to re-elect its President Bashar Al-Assad next week, we look at how ten years of conflict have destroyed the country's economy. Ed Butler looks at the growing evidence that Syria's government is now building its income around a multi-billion dollar trade in narcotics. He speaks to Syrian economist Jihad Yazigi, editor in chief of the online publication The Syria Report, Martin Chulov, The Guardian newspapers' Middle East editor and to Elizabeth Tsurkov, a fellow at the New Lines institute in Washington specialising in the Levant. (Picture credit: A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) walks through the debris in the old city centre on the eastern frontline of Raqa on September 25, 2017)

When it comes to pandemic preparedness the United States was once one of the world’s best prepared countries. Today it has one of the world’s worst Covid mortality rates. So what went wrong? The financial journalist and writer Michael Lewis of The Big Short fame, has investigated and has published a book called The Premonition. It’s a real life, deep-dive account of how American public health officials warned about the impending Covid pandemic but were ignored by US authorities. (Picture credit: Getty Images)

Why hasn't the autonomous car revolution happened yet? A few years ago industry figures were predicting driverless cars would take over our roads by the end of the 2010s, but so far there's no sign of them. Justin Rowlatt speaks to Oliver Cameron from Cruise - a company testing driverless cars on the streets of San Francisco, and to industry analyst Sam Abuelsamid from Guidehouse Insights about the technological and regulatory challenges that still exist. UK transport minister Rachel Maclean explains why governments are enthusiastic about the technology, but need to put safety first.(Photo: An autonous Cruise car on the streets of San Francisco. Credit: Getty Images)

As the vital Colonial Pipeline in the US comes under cyberattack, Business Weekly hears how vulnerable infrastructure and companies are to being hacked. We take a look at the dirty business of car battery recycling - it’s an increasing health hazard in developing countries, as the lead acid seeps into people, plants and animals. We also hear from religious leaders who explain how the pandemic has affected the spiritual and religious life of their churches. And as the European Super League saga continues, we take a look at the finances driving the clubs’ desire to form a new league. Plus, should bamboo be used to make cricket bats? Business Weekly is presented by Lucy Burton and produced by Matthew Davies.

Calls are rising for a waiver of patent protections on Covid-19 vaccines - but would it do anything to accelerate their rollout in the developing world?Manuela Saragosa speaks to an advocate of the "People's Vaccine" campaign, which aims to end the control of the major pharmaceutical companies. Els Torreele of University College London says much of the research and development of these vaccines was publicly funded anyway, and the need to negotiate patent agreements prevents other companies from rapidly scaling up vaccine production.The need to speed up the rollout is testified to by the South African professor of vaccinology Shabir Madhi, who points out that his own country has yet to begin immunising the general public. But Thomas Cueni of the global pharmaceutical industry body, the IFPMA, says they are already on course to vaccinate the world within a year.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: A man is vaccinated at a hospital in Nairobi, Kenya; Credit: Robert Bonet/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The chief scientist for the World Health Organisation acknowledges the frailty of the official numbers. Ed Butler speaks to Anthony Masters, the statistics ambassador for the UK's Royal Statistical Society who explains that one way to try to count the number of deaths is through excess deaths figures. But in countries like India there aren't very reliable national mortality statistics to start with, and there's often a long delay in delivering the latest numbers. One man who's done as much as any to sift through the data available is Murad Banaji, an Indian-born mathematician based at the University of Middlesex in the UK. He says the Indian death toll could be between three and eight times higher than the official data. (Picture: A relative of a Covid-19 patient cries in New Delhi, India. Picture credit: Raj K Raj/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

The recycling of lead acid batteries poses a growing health hazard in many developing countries.Vivienne Nunis looks at the case of Bangladesh, where a cottage industry has sprung up all over the country, with old car and auto-rickshaw batteries being burned in unsafe conditions, poisoning the surrounding land, animals, plants and people. Researcher Bret Ericson says that hundreds of millions of children across the developing world have dangerously high blood lead levels, risking damage to their developing brains. Andrew McCartor of the anti-pollution activists Pure Earth explains why the economics of battery recycling make it such an intractable problem, while Adam Muellerweiss of the major global battery manufacturer Clarios explains what he thinks needs to be done to make recycling a fully closed-loop process, as it is in the developed world. Plus industry journalist Christian Ruoff explains why the rise of electric vehicles does not spell the end of lead acid batteries.(Picture: Used batteries piled up at a recycling plant in Russia; Credit: Peter Kovalev\TASS via Getty Images)

Why plans for a European Super League won't go away. Ed Butler speaks to James Montague, author of the book The Billionaires Club: The Unstoppable Rise of Football’s Super-rich Owners, about why creating a Europe-wide league of the richest clubs made so much sense to football club owners with backgrounds in US sport. Spanish football journalist Semra Hunter explains why for Spanish clubs, the ESL is seen as the only way to guarantee their financial survival. And Keiran Maguire, accountant and lecturer in football finance, tells us why the swift collapse of the ESL plans could prompt owners to sell up.(Photo: Fans protest outside Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United, Credit: Getty Images)

Paying extra to offset your carbon emissions may sound like a good idea. But does planting trees or paying to save a rainforest actually reduce your carbon footprint? Travel writer Manchán Magan and climate scientist Thales West explain why they're sceptical. We also hear from one of America's leading airlines, United, which is increasing the number of flights powered by waste products and old cooking fat. United's head of global environmental affairs Lauren Riley tells us more.Photo: A plane casts a shadow over a forest (Credit: Getty)

On this edition of Business Weekly, we look at the battle between the makers of one of the world’s biggest computer games, Fortnite, and the world’s biggest tech company, Apple. The court case could have implications for how app stores and payment models are run in the future. We also take a look at the jewellery sector and hear two different tales of sustainability - from those selling diamonds made in a laboratory and those digging them out of the ground. Plus, we head to campuses in the United States, where universities cash in on the popularity of college sports, while the players themselves - the students – rarely see a penny for their efforts. That is quickly changing, but perhaps too rapidly for some observers. Business Weekly is presented by Sasha Twining and produced by Matthew Davies.

Scientists, artists and some of the world’s biggest companies are carving up the visual spectrum, and claiming certain colours as their own, so who does have a right to use the colours of the rainbow? We explore the ongoing rift over the worlds “blackest black” Vantablack, which was created by engineering firm Surrey Nanosystems, and can only be used by the artist Anish Kapoor. Contemporary British artist Stuart Semple argues that creativity should not be limited by commercial agreements, while Surrey Nanosystems executive Ben Jensen explains that the material is not suitable for general use. Author Kassia St Clair explores the meaning and history of colour, and we hear how interpretations of colour have changed from Julie Irish, an assistant professor specialising in colour, at the College of Design in Iowa.Note: Surrey NanoSystems has clarified their material Vantablack isn’t toxic, as described by one speaker in this programme, but can be an irritant.This programme is a repeat from January 2021.(Picture of a colour splash via Getty Images).

What next for China's giant tech companies? Ed Butler speaks to China watcher Richard McGregor at the Lowy Institute in Sydney about why China's leaders have clipped the wings of Jack Ma, the country's most famous business leader and founder of the tech giant Alibaba. Chinese tech sector analyst Rui Ma argues that closer regulation of China's giant tech companies will be good for competition, while Rebecca Fannin, author of Tech Titans of China, worries about the impact on innovation. Eswar Prasad, economics and trade policy professor at Cornell University in the US, outlines the challenge China faces in balancing its desire for control over its tech entrepreneurs with its need for innovation and growth.(Photo: Jack Ma pictured in Paris in 2019, Credit: Getty Images)

The car industry is preparing to go fully electric sooner than you might imagine - and not just because of the climate crisis.Justin Rowlatt speaks to Bjorn Annwall, head of Volvo Cars in Europe, about why his company is one of a string of major carmakers to rush out plans in recent months to electrify their business. They intend to stop selling internal combustion engine cars as soon as 2030. What's driving it is the rapid improvement and collapsing cost of the batteries at their heart, according to Madeline Tyson of the clean energy technology research group RMI.But how willing will people be to give up the glamour and roar of their engines for the silent speed of electric vehicles? Norway-based researcher Schalk Cloete fears that despite the technical advances, their limited range remains a deal-killer for many families. But EV fanatic and former Top Gear presenter Quentin Willson says give people a couple of days' test drive and they will soon be won over.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Electric car logo; Credit: Lya Cattel/Getty Images)