Business Daily

Was the NotPetya attack, that struck Ukraine and then the world in 2016, a portend of potentially devastating cyber-wars in the future?Ed Butler goes back to ground zero of that sophisticated cyber attack to speak to Oleh Derevianko of the Ukrainian cybersecurity firm ISSP, and Valentyn Petrov who heads Ukraine's information security service. How did a piece of malware allegedly designed by Russia to devastate the Ukrainian economy go on to infect the computers of multinational corporations such as shipping firm Maersk and pharmaceutical Merck?Are such state sponsored attacks becoming more commonplace? And why has Russia - widely accused of being one of the worst perpetrators of such attacks - just passed new legislation to defend itself from a cyber attack in the future? We hear from Bryan Sartin, head of global security at US telecoms conglomerate Verizon, and Emily Taylor of the international relations think tank Chatham House.(Picture: Malicious computer programming code in the shape of a skull; Credit: solarseven/Getty Images)

With the sea level rising and storms strengthening thanks to climate change, will much of the world's most valuable real estate find itself underwater?Justin Rowlatt visits London's main line of defence against the sea - the Thames Barrier - a hugely expensive piece of engineering that will need to be replaced by an even larger barrier later this century, according to its operator Steve East, and coastal risk manager Cantor Mocke.The oceans will eventually rise by two metres at the very least, says climatologist Ben Strauss of US think tank Climate Central, putting many of the world's great cities at severe risk of inundation. The giant global real estate investment firm Heitman has been looking at which properties in its portfolio are most at risk. Company strategist Brian Klinksiek tells of his fear that the market has yet to price in the cost of the giant storms of the future.The biggest city in the world vulnerable to the rising waters is Shanghai in China, and flood risk researcher Qian Ke of the Delft University of Technology explains the work she is already doing with the Shanghai city authorities to prepare for the coming storm.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: People are taken ashore in a boat after being rescued from their homes in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005; Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Getting more disabled people into the workforce. Manuela Saragosa speaks to Rich Donovan, a trader who forged a successful career on Wall Street with cerebral palsy. Alice Maynard, a business advisor on inclusion in the UK explains the challenges still facing disabled people at work. And blind skateboarder Dan Mancina talks about his career.(Photo: Wheelchair user at work, Credit: Getty Images)

In Mozambique, Cyclones Idai and Kenneth did tremendous damage to the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in March and April. The country is still trying to get the crisis under control, as flooding, cholera and poor food and aid provision continue to threaten lives.Dorothy Sang is Humanitarian Advocacy and Campaigns Manager for Oxfam, and gives Ed Butler the view from the ground in Mozambique. Thoughts are turning as well to the future, as the economy based largely on subsistence farming and tourism attempts to rebuild. Rebecca Nadin of the Overseas Development Institute speaks to Ed about whether, and how much, reconstruction is actually possible, given that climate change is expected to cause more natural disasters to occur.(Picture: A flooded street of the Paquite district of Pemba, Mozambique on April 29, 2019; Credit: Emidio Jozine/AFP/Getty Images)

Is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tinkering with the reservation system nothing more than a bid to grab votes in the general election?India has long had a system of positive discrimination to enable people from lower castes to get political representation, government jobs and university places. But as Rahul Tandon reports, the Prime Minister's decision to broaden the quotas to include anyone from an economically deprived background, irrespective of caste, has proved divisive among voters.Ed Butler speaks to Ashwini Deshpande, economics professor at Ashoka University, who claims that Modi's move won't even help the underprivileged group it purports to. Plus former governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Raghuram Rajan, gives his considered opinion of the successes and failures of five years of economic policy under Modi.(Picture: An Indian voter queues to cast her vote; Credit: Money Sharma/AFP/Getty Images)

The video streaming service Netflix has announced a major push into Africa, with original series commissioned from around the continent.Netflix had already commissioned its first Nigerian original movie with 2018’s Lionheart, and a number of new projects have been announced, including the Zimbabwean musical animation Tunga. Ed Butler speaks to screenwriter Godwin Jabangwe about how he based it on the legends he heard as a child. Meanwhile Mahmoud Ali Balogun, a veteran Nollywood filmmaker, explains why he thinks Netflix will be good for the country's content creators. It won’t necessarily be smooth sailing for Netflix, however, as high data costs and poor connectivity mean many African viewers won’t get the same experience as those in more developed regions. Ed speaks to South African media analyst Arthur Goldstuck, and Hassana, a young Netflix user in north-western Nigeria.(Picture: the Netflix logo; Credit: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

This global food staple used to account for half of some people's income. Dr Kaori O’Connor a food anthropologist at University College, London, explains how it became central to so many of our diets. Plus we’ll hear from Dominique Anract, President of the National Confederation of French Bakers who explains some of the rules of the bread industry. Renowned chef, Francisco Migoya tells us about recreating Roman loaves, and we hear from James Slater from Puratos who uses ancient grains to develop modern flours. Kevan Roberts spills the secrets of gluten-free baking and consultant Azmina Govindji tells us that carbs are not an evil that needs to be avoided.

Housework and caring - is technology about to transform this essential but overlooked part of the economy?Manuela Saragosa speaks to Ai-Jen Poo, director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance in the US about why workers in the home still aren't valued, and to Megan Stack, author of Woman's Work, about the power employers have over domestic help. Professor Diane Coyle from the University of Cambridge explains why domestic work often isn't included in GDP figures.(Photo credit: Getty Images)

The campaign for a four-day working week is gaining traction, particularly in the UK. Manuela Saragosa hears from Lorraine Gray, operations director at Pursuit Marketing, a company that has already made the switch from five to four days. But Ed Whiting, policy director at the charity Wellcome Trust, explains why they decided against the change after a major consultation. Asheem Singh, director of economy at the Royal Society of Arts, warns that a shift to a four-day week could result in a two-tier economy.(Photo: A pin placed in a calendar, Credit: Getty Images)

Foxconn is causing a political headache for President Trump, as the Taiwanese manufacturer fails to deliver on a promise to build a 13,000-employee factory in Wisconsin.The LCD screen plant - which was intended to hire 13,000 local blue collar workers - was heralded by the US president as a win in his struggle to return manufacturing jobs to America. But while the Wisconsin authorities have spent millions of dollars preparing the ground, Foxconn itself has obfuscated.Ed Butler investigates what went wrong, and what it says more broadly about President's Trump's ambition to revitalise the US manufacturing sector. The programme includes journalist Josh Dzieza of The Verge, Harvard Business School professor Willy Shih, and chief economist Megan Greene of Manulife Asset Management.(Foxconn CEO Terry Gou (L) at the groundbreaking for the Foxconn computer screen plant in Mt Pleasant, Wisconsin, in June 2018; Credit: Andy Manis/Getty Images)

As India holds elections, getting decent jobs is top of the agenda for most young voters, as the BBC's Rahul Tandon discovers.Most Indians still live in rural areas, and on a trip to the village of Burul just outside Kolkata, Rahul hears the fears of students at a local high school at their lack of meaningful career prospects. Employment could be a key factor in deciding whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds onto power when the election results are announced on 23 May.One reason for the paucity of jobs could be the difficulty entrepreneurs face creating them in the first place - that's the view of Srikumar Mishra, who founded the dairy business Milk Mantra in Odisha in southeast India. Meanwhile 16-year-old Taneesha Dutta expresses her frustration at the lack of autonomy people her age are permitted, both by their government and by their parents.(Picture: Students in Burul high school interviewed by Rahul Tandon)

What does the video-sharing site needs to do in order to stop inadvertently promoting dangerous conspiracy theories and extremist content?Alex Jones's InfoWars channel (pictured) - which among other things propagated the lie that the Sandy Hook school shooting in the US was faked - has already been banned from YouTube, although his videos still find their way onto the site. Meanwhile the social media platform has also been clamping down on the vaccination conspiracists blamed for causing the current measles epidemic, as well as the far right extremists said to have inspired terrorists such as the New Zealand mosque shooter.But is the tougher curating of content enough? Or does YouTube's very business model depend on the promotion of sensationalism and extremism by its algorithms? Ed Butler speaks to Mike Caulfield of the American Democracy Project, former Youtube engineer Guillaume Chaslot, and Joan Donovan, who researches the Alt Right at Harvard.(Picture: Screenshot of an Alex Jones InfoWars video on YouTube, taken on 29 April 2019, despite the banning of his channel by YouTube)

Imagine losing your home, your job or your reputation, all because of a computer error. We speak to people who say that's exactly what happened to them.Kim Duncan and her children lost their family home in the US after Kim's bank Wells Fargo mistakenly said she didn't qualify for a loan modification she needed to keep up with her repayments. Meanwhile in the UK, the Post Office is being litigated by former employees who were fired and in some cases went to prison after being accused of fraud - they claim because of a bug in the Post Office's accounting software.Manuela Saragosa asks computer science expert Lindsay Marshall of Newcastle University whether glitches like these are unavoidable. Do they have to be so damaging, and are they likely to become an ever more common bane of our lives?(Photo: Businessman sitting in a data centre looking frustrated. Credit: AKodisinghe/Getty Images)

Do rent controls and the expropriation of apartment blocks provide an answer to the increasing cost of housing in the rich world?Such radical measures are being considered in many of the world's biggest metropolises, as more and more residents find themselves being priced out of their home cities.Manuela Saragosa speaks to Tom McGath of the Berlin-based campaign group Deutsche Wohnen Enteignen, who wants the city authorities to seize ownership of housing from the German capital's biggest landlords. But leading urbanist Richard Florida of the University of Toronto says there are better ways of tackling the shortage, not least taking on the "not in my back yard" brigade.(Picture: A banner put up by tenants in Berlin protesting against the sale of apartments; John Macdougall/AFP/Getty Images)

Are markets and companies beginning to grasp the threat of global warming? Ed Butler speaks to Meryam Omi, head of sustainability and responsible investment strategy at Legal and General, a major investor, about divesting from companies that contribute to climate change. And Jeff Colgan, director of security studies at the Watson Institute, Brown University, in the US, tells us why he thinks sectors like insurance, property and oil and gas are overpriced given the threat of climate change. Bjorn Otto Sverdrup, senior vice president for sustainability at Equinor, Norway's state-back oil company, outlines what changes his company is making.Producer: Laurence Knight(Photo: Climate change protesters in London, Credit: Getty Images)

Periods. We rarely talk about them but half the world's population will have to manage menstruation for a good chunk of their lives. For some women, their monthly period brings shame and stigmatisation, as they are forced out of their communities. Others simply can't afford the products they need to carry on with their lives. Ruth Evans reports from Nepal on some of the challenges and the solutions being developed, to help improve the lives of millions. We also hear from Janie Hampton, of World Menstrual Network, who's calling for drastic change in the way periods are managed, not just in poor communities but in the developed world, too.(Photo: A Nepalese woman steps out from a 'chhaupadi house' in the village of Achham, Nepal. Isolation is part of a centuries-old Hindu ritual where women are prohibited from participating in normal family activities during menstruation and after childbirth. Credit: Getty Images)

Jane Wakefield reports from the Ted conference in Vancouver. (Photo: Social media app icons, Credit: Getty Images)

Jane Wakefield reports from the TED conference in Vancouver, Canada, on the businesses shooting for the stars. Chief Executive of Rocket Lab Peter Beck shares his concerns about the amount of space junk being left in orbit. Former astronaut Nicole Stott explains why an ill-fitting space suit can be a big problem. And Assistant Professor of Astrophysics at University of Arizona, Erika Hamden, tells us why space exploration is suddenly cool again. (Photo: An astronaut in space, Credit: Getty Images)

What's the best way to help sex workers? We hear the cases for full decriminalisation, versus abolition of what's often dubbed the world's oldest profession.In the Netherlands - a country with some of the most liberal laws on prostitution - a petition is due to be debated in parliament that calls for it to be made illegal to pay for sex. The initiative, spearheaded by young Christians and feminists, has sparked an outcry with many claiming it would actually make life harder for the sex workers it is intended to help, as the BBC's Anna Holligan reports.It's a controversy we bring back into the BBC studio. Ed Butler hosts a fiery dispute between the British feminist and journalist Julie Bindel, and the Nevadan sex worker-turned-PhD student Christina Parreira, who wants her profession to be treated in law just the same way as any other. Plus Professor Prabha Kotiswaran of Kings College London explains why it doesn't make much difference what the law says, if it is arbitrarily enforced by the police.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: A group of sex workers and supporters are seen holding a banner during a demonstration in Amsterdam, Netherlands; Credit: Ana Fernandez/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

How the country’s young businesses are making a mark in fashion, beauty, music and tech.Vivienne Nunis speaks to Humayun Haroon, co-founder of digital music platform Patari; Shameelah Ismail, chief executive of GharPar, a start-up that offers beauty services in the home; Myra Qureshi head of Conatural Beauty, Pakistan's first organic skin and haircare range; and fashion designer Umair Sajid.(Picture: Humayon Haroon, co-founder of Patari at the company headquarters in Lahore, Pakistan)

How the decline of the local newspaper industry is affecting democracy. Manuela Saragosa speaks to Ken Doctor, former newspaper man and now analyst at his own company Newsanomics, about the scale of decline in local news, particularly in the United States. Researcher Meg Rubado explains how the lack of a local news source is affecting local elections, and Penny Abernathy, professor in journalism and digital media economics at the University of North Carolina, explains why deep cuts are down to a new breed of newspaper owner. What's the solution? In the UK, we hear from Megan Lucero, director of Bureau Local, a project part funded by Google to help local journalists collaborate on stories and share resources.(Photo: a newspaper press in San Francisco, Credit: Getty Images)

Are fake news and rumours still proliferating on Whatsapp in India? And is this being exploited by candidates as the country prepares to go to the polls?Pratik Sinha, director of AltNews.in, is fighting an uphill struggle trying to debunk the misinformation and outright deceit they claim can still spread like wildfire among India's 200 million Whatsapp users.But is fact-checking even the right way to tackle the problem? Or is it just closing the barn door after the fake horse has already bolted? Manuela Saragosa speaks to one sceptic, Rinu Agal of the Indian online news site thePrint.Meanwhile, Dr Sander van der Linden of the Social Decision-Making Lab at Cambridge University is working with Whatsapp on a possible solution that he believes will inoculate users against viral propaganda.(Picture: Boys use mobile phones in Delhi; Credit: Nasir Kachroo/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

With Disney and Apple launching their streaming services to rival Netflix, will they struggle to get subscribers, when the market is getting increasingly saturated? Or will people just keep switching and cancelling subscriptions depending what shows are on offer? Presenter Regan Morris is also looking into whether the likes of Netflix have encouraged more diversity among writers and programme-makers who actually secure commissions. We hear from Connie Guglielmo, editor in chief of CNET News; Piya Sinha-Roy, senior writer Entertainment Weekly; Franklin Leonard, film executive who founded the Black List, a networking platform for screenwriters and film and TV professionals and Luke Bouma, founder of Cord Cutters NewsPHOTO: Disney sign, COPYRIGHT: Getty Images

India will spend billions of dollars on its general election this year, much of it illegally. Rahul Tandon visits a political rally in Kolkata where many participants have been paid to attend, while Ed Butler speaks to an 'election agent' tasked with recruiting those crowds, often for different political parties at the same time. James Crabtree, author of the book The Billionaire Raj, describes the extent of illegal election funding in India, and what can be done about it.(Photo: BJP supporters at an election rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Dehradun, India. Credit: Getty Images)

Should galleries take money from the likes of big oil? Ed Butler speaks to Jess Worth of the UK pressure group Culture Unstained, and Claire Fox, director of the UK's Academy of Ideas. And British novelist, art critic and broadcaster Sarah Dunant explains the well-established history of cash and corruption in the arts. Hong Kong billionaire philanthropist James Chen says donors need to engage with the issues.(Photo: Protesters outside the National Portrait Gallery in London, Credit: Getty Images)

Are millennials working too hard? Ed Butler explores the cult of modern professional success and how it's affecting millennial workers. We hear from millennial business owner Lucy, author and entrepreneur Margaret Heffernan, researcher at the University of Bath in the UK Thomas Curran, and Ryan Harwood, head of the media company One37pm.(Photo: Young people work on laptops, Credit: Getty Images)

Does the proliferation of microphones in our mobile phones and home smart speakers mean that anyone can eavesdrop on us?Manuela Saragosa hears from the BBC's own technology correspondent Zoe Kleinman about a creepy experience she had when her phone appeared to listen in on a conversation with her mother, and how it led her to discover how easy it is to hack someone's microphone and spy on them. That's exactly what Dutch documentary film maker Anthony van der Meer did, when he purposely let his phone get stolen so he could use it secretly to record the thief. Cyber-security expert Lisa Forte says these stories may be the tip of the iceberg, with everyone from governments to big tech firms to hackers and cyber-criminals potentially listening in on our private conversations.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Outline of a mobile phone visible in the back pocket of a woman's jeans; Credit: Yuri Arcurs/Getty Images)

Cryptocurrencies are on the rebound, but does the case for investing in them make any more sense?Manuela Saragosa hears both sides of the argument. Jay Smith is a long-time player in the markets for these digital tokens, and is a popular player on the electronic trading site eToro. He explains why he believes Bitcoin and its ilk have a long-term future, even though he doesn't personally subscribe to the libertarian ideology that most of his fellow investors share.However, cold water is poured on this vision by sceptic David Gerard, author of a book called Attack of the 50ft Blockchain. Plus Angela Walch, a research fellow at the Centre for Blockchain Technologies at University College London, says she thinks the crypto craze is a symptom of the broader rise of populism since the 2008 financial crash.(Picture: A visual representation of the digital Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin; Credit: Chesnot/Getty Images)

The British prime minister looks for a new deal to solve the deadlock over Brexit. Ed Butler hears from Jill Rutter, Brexit programme director at the Institute for Government in the UK, and Tom McTague, chief UK correspondent for the website Politico. Yanis Varoufakis, the Greek former finance minister who negotiated with the EU over Greece's bailout deal, tells us where Theresa May went wrong.(Photo: Theresa May delivers her latest speech, Credit: Getty Images)

The rise and fall of Indian jeweller Nirav Modi, arrested in London and accused by Indian authorities of a massive fraud. Ed Butler speaks to Mick Brown, a journalist at the UK's Daily Telegraph who has covered the story, and James Crabtree, author of the book The Billionaire Raj.(Photo: Nirav Modi at his office in Mumbai in 2016, Credit: Getty Images)

Voice assistant apps like Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant are about to transform the economics of the web.Nearly a quarter of all households in the US and in China already have a smart speaker in their homes, allowing them to play music, order a delivery or find out the news, all by simply talking to their computer. Meanwhile an estimated 2.5bn smartphones now carry these wannabe AI oracles.Manuela Saragosa asks Silicon Valley analyst Carolina Milanesi whether this new technology could one day rival the conversational prowess of the ship's computer on Star Trek. And what kind of vision do the likes of Google, Apple and Amazon have for it? Meanwhile journalist and author James Vlahos explains why he thinks their advent is bad news for anyone who wants to maintain any visibility on the internet. And we put his criticisms to one of the major players - Andrew Shuman from the team behind Microsoft's Cortana voice assistant.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Amazon Echo Sub subwoofer; Credit: Philip Barker/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

Rome's decision to sign up to China's One Belt One Road initiative has proved controversial both at home and among Italy's closest allies.Washington DC and Brussels are both sceptical of the true intent behind Beijing's programme for financing major overseas infrastructure projects, ostensibly to enhance China's trade routes. President Xi Jinping's recent invitation to Rome to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Italian government - an initiative spearheaded by the little known Italian economy minister Michele Geraci - has caused consternation.Manuela Saragosa gets the view in Washington DC from Jonathan Hillman of think tank the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. And the former Italian foreign affairs minister Giulio Terzi Sant'Agata explains why many of his compatriots are worried about the contents of the that memorandum.(Picture: Italys Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte greets China's President Xi Jinping at Villa Madama in Rome; Credit: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images)

Can the continent remove trade barriers and create a billion-person internal market? That's the hope of the African Continental Free Trade Area, but a year on from its initial signing, many obstacles remain.Nearly all of Africa's 55 nations have signed up to the initiative, yet the most populous country Nigeria remains a hold-out. And there still remain huge logistical barriers to free trade, as Will Bain discovers when he speaks to frustrated truckers on the Zambia-Botswana border.Ed Butler speaks to Ghana's minister for trade Alan Kyerematen, as well as Pearl Uzokwe of the African conglomerate Sahara Group, and Alex Vines of London-based think tank Chatham House. (Picture: Trucks drive along the Ethiopian side of the Ethiopia-Eritrea border; Credit: Michael Tewelde/AFP/Getty Images)

It is only 100 years since women in the UK were first allowed to practice law. Women now make up more than 50% of lawyers in many parts of the world, but why are so few in the top jobs? Katie Prescott speaks to Dana Dennis-Smith, who has collated the stories of women in the law over the last century. Farmida Bi of Norton Rose Fulbright, a huge international law firm, speaks about her journey from non-English speaking Pakistani child to global leader in her profession. We also hear from Shana Knizhnik, co-author of Notorious R.B.G: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, about one of the most iconic women in the US legal profession.(Photo: A statue of justice. Credit: Getty Images)

The lucrative business of 'essay mills' - companies that will write your university assignments for you. Chris makes thousands of dollars a year writing essays for fellow Chinese students struggling with English. Gareth Crossman from QAA - a UK education standards agency - says technology is facilitating the growing problem of essay mills. (Photo: A stock image of a classroom assignment, Credit: Getty Images)

The economy of Russian occupied territories in Ukraine. Ed Butler reports on the people living between western Ukraine and the eastern occupied territories including the city of Donetsk, and the flow of goods and people across an active front line.(Photo: Russian servicemen near the Crimean town of Dzhankoy, 12 miles away from the Ukrainian border, Credit: Getty Images)

How is the Scottish city of Aberdeen coping with the UK's imminent exit from the EU? It is home to the country's oil and gas industry, as well as some 5,000 fisherman.Katie Prescott speaks to local businesspeople in both industries, who are increasingly anxious at the complete lack of certainty about what will happen when the UK does eventually leave - albeit that the date of departure has now been postponed by a few more weeks beyond 29 March.How will European fishing quotas and access to British waters be decided post Brexit? And what will happen to Aberdeen's oil production, particularly as the flow of fossil fuels from under the North Sea begins to run dry? Aberdeen is the most vulnerable city in the UK to Brexit, according to Andrew Carter of research group, the Centre for Cities.Producer: Sarah Treanor(Picture: Fish at the Aberdeen fish market; Credit: BBC)

Would a Universal Basic Income help solve inequality or make it worse, and would it protect us from robots taking our jobs?Finland has just completed a two-year experiment in doing just that. Manuela Saragosa speaks to one of the grateful recipients of the pilot project, freelance journalist Tuomas Muraja. A similar approach has already been taken for many years by some charities in the developing world, as Joe Huston of the GiveDirectly explains.So how does it work? Anthony Painter of the Royal Society of Arts in London says the financial security it provides allows people to be more creative and invest more in themselves. But Professor Ian Goldin of Oxford University is sceptical, saying there are more effective and affordable ways of helping those most in need.(Picture: Money falling on people; Credit: stocknroll/Getty Images)

To follow the world's headlines these days - from fake news to murderous terror attacks, from disease pandemics to global warming - you might be forgiven for thinking the world is becoming a pretty scary place. But is it really? Harvard University cognitive psychologist and author Steven Pinker tells us that is measurably not the case. As he argues in his new book Enlightenment Now, we are in a golden age of human existence.But, David Edmonds meets academics who are putting Pinker's ideas to the test, concluding that with climate change and overpopulation, there is a 10% chance of humans not surviving the 21st Century.(Photo: Activist at a climate change protest in Spain. Credit: Getty Images)

Are chemical elements critical for the modern economy in dangerously short supply? It's a question that Justin Rowlatt poses a century and a half after the Russian chemist Dmitry Mendeleev published the original periodic table.Justin speaks to two chemists - Andrea Sella of University College London explains the significance of Mendeleev's scheme to the modern world, while David Cole-Hamilton talks us through an updated version of the table he has just published that highlights chemical elements that could run out within the next century unless we learn to make better use of them.However, perhaps we don't need to worry just yet, at least not for two of those red-flagged elements. Thomas Abraham-Jones describes how he happened across the world's biggest reserve of helium in the African savannah, while Rick Short of Indium Corporation explains why the metallic element his company is named after is in abundant supply, so long as you don't mind sifting an awful lot of dirt for it.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Manuscript of Mendeleev's first periodic system of elements; Credit: Science & Society Picture Library/SSPL/Getty Images)

As the UK parliament votes to delay Brexit beyond 29 March, businesses brace for yet more uncertainty. But will the EU even be willing to grant a delay?Manuela Saragosa speaks to companies on both sides of the English Channel. British Barley farmer Matt Culley says he now has to plant his coming year's crop with no clue whether or how he will even be able to export his produce to breweries in Germany come harvest time. Meanwhile Chayenne Wiskerke, who runs the world's biggest onion exporting operation from the Netherlands, expresses her exasperation that with two weeks to go, every possible outcome - from delay, to cancellation, to the UK leaving without any agreement at all - remains on the table.But fear not says David Henig, director of the UK Trade Policy Project at the European Centre for International Political Economy. He explains why he thinks a year's delay is the most likely outcome.(Picture: A pro Brexit supporter holds up a placard that reads 'Just Leave' outside the Houses of Parliament; Credit: John Keeble/Getty Images)

The brewer has been accused of complicity with Africa's murkiest politics, and of failing to protect female brand promoters from sexual harassment. But can a company really separate itself from its political environment?Manuela Saragosa hears from the Dutch investigative journalist Olivier van Beemen, whose book Heineken in Africa makes multiple accusations against the company, including collusion with the regimes of Burundi and DR Congo. Plus Heineken provides its response.But is it a case of damned if you do, and damned if you don't? When a company finds that it cannot control what is happening on the ground in a politically challenging country, should it simply pull out of the country altogether? Human rights lawyer Elise Groulx Diggs of Doughty Street Chambers gives us her view.(Picture: Heineken logo on a beer bottle; Credit: Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

A continued political crisis in the UK means more uncertainty for businesses. We hear from the boss of a manufacturing company in Birmingham and Nicole Sykes, head of EU negotiations at the UK business group the CBI, as well as the BBC's Rob Watson in Westminster and Adam Fleming in Strasbourg.(Photo: A protester carries an EU flag in London, Credit: Getty Images)

Ed Butler reports from Ukraine ahead of the presidential elections scheduled for the end of March. With endemic corruption and ongoing conflict with Russian-backed rebels in the east, what verdict will the voters give to the President Petro Poroshenko? Ed Butler speaks with MP Serhiy Leschenko who's recently left Poroshenko's Solidarity faction over concerns about corruption and nepotism.Other candidates include the former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko and comedian and actor Volodymyr Zelensky. Olesia Verchenko from the Kyiv School of Economics says she has doubts about all of them.And Deputy Minister of Health Pavlo Kovtoniuk explains measures taken within the healthcare service to clean up its act.This programme was produced by Anna Noryskiewicz.PHOTO: Anti-corruption protest in Kyiv, Ukraine. Copyright: Ed Butler, BBC

In India experts and parents increasingly question whether the country's education system is fit for purpose.With huge emphasis placed on college entrance exams and academic degrees - like engineering, medicine or law - Rahul Tandon explores what consequences that has on children's overall development. He visits an unorthodox school that uses Harry Potter to develop critical thinking, and he asks whether the economy would be better served by encouraging vocational training.(Picture: Students seen coming out of the examination centre at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan School in New Delhi, India; Credit: Getty Images)

In a world designed by men for men, women often come off worst, sometimes with fatal consequences.Manuela Saragosa speaks to author Caroline Criado Perez about the gender data gap - the fact that everything from smartphone health apps to lapel microphones is designed with a male body in mind, and how for example cardiovascular problems in women go under-diagnosed because the female body is treated as "atypical".This blind spot for women is built into our work environments in large part because the people designing those environments are mostly men. So how do we get more women into positions of power? The answer, according to organisational psychologist Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, is not to ease the way for women to reach the top, but rather to make it more difficult for so many incompetent over-confident men to do so.Plus, Kathryn Colas, founder of consultancy Simply Hormones, explains how the affect of the menopause on women in the workplaces is only just beginning to be recognised by employers.(Picture:

Is the US sugar industry's relationship with politicians, from Florida to Washington DC, just a little bit too sweet?Gilda Di Carli reports from the Sunshine State, where the newly elected Governor Ron DeSantis has vowed to take on the sugarcane lobby, which he blames for impeding efforts to tackle the gigantic algae blooms that have blighted Florida's rivers and coasts.Meanwhile Manuela Saragosa speaks to Guy Rolnik, professor of strategic management at the Chicago Booth School, about two of the industry's wealthiest and most politically connected magnates, Alfy and Pepe Fanjul. Plus Ryan Weston of the Sugar Cane League - which represents US growers including the Fanjuls - explains why he thinks the industry gets an unfair rap from the media.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Sugar cubes on black background; Credit: tuchkovo/Getty Images)

Are health services around the world wilfully blind to the problem of dangerously long hours being worked by junior medics?Vivienne Nunis speaks to doctors in Australia and America about how tiredness and depression are not only ruining their lives, but also pose a threat to the safety of patients going under the knife or receiving prescriptions. And it's a worldwide problem - as Sydney-based doctor Yumiko Kadota discovered when a blog she wrote attracted similar stories of exhaustion from Colombia to Poland. Author Margaret Heffernan says the culture of many health systems is one of wilful blindness to the physical limits of human employees, while the campaigning American medic Pamela Wible MD explains how it is driving many hospital staff to suicide.(Picture: Exhausted surgeon resting his head on operating theatre table; Credit: Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Our appliances are getting increasingly difficult and expensive to mend, in some cases by design. So should consumers demand the right to repair?Ed Butler speaks to those campaigning for manufacturers to make it easier for us to fix our electronics goods - with everything from tractors to phones to baby incubators in their sites. Clare Seek runs a Repair Café in Portsmouth, England, a specially designated venue for anyone who wants to get their stuff to last longer. And Ed travels to Agbogbloshie in Accra in Ghana, one of the places where our mountains of e-waste end up being pulled apart and melted down for scrap.The programme also features interviews with Gay Gordon-Byrne, executive director of The Repair Association; Kyle Wiens, founder of iFixit; intellectual property lawyer Jani Ihalainen; and Susanne Baker, head of environment and compliance at techUK.(Picture: Broken iPhone; Credit: Edmond So/South China Morning Post via Getty Images)

Should the collection of vast genetic databases be dominated by private companies such as 23andMe or Ancestry.com?In the second of two programmes looking at the businesses riding high on the boom in home DNA testing kits, Manuela Saragosa looks at how the enormous head start these companies have over public sector DNA research initiatives may be skewing medical research. Will the profit motive drive these companies to wall off their databases, and give access only to pharmaceutical companies capable of developing lucrative new drugs that mainly benefit the predominately wealthy, white customers who send in their DNA samples in the first place?The programme features interviews with Kathy Hibbs of 23andMe, Mark Caulfield of Genomics England, and Kayte Spector-Bagdady of the University of Michigan Medical School.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Woman's cheek being swabbed; Credit: AndreyPopov/Getty Images)