World Business Report BBC Podcasts

The economist Thomas Piketty – author of international bestseller Capital in the Twenty-First Century – joins Roger Hearing to discuss the upcoming French elections, as fears of a far right election win make markets nervous.
We also take a look at the world’s second largest economy, China. Its premier Li Qiang is on a visit to Australia to try to repair a fractured relationship that has caused major problems for trade. Meanwhile China seems poised to impose tariffs on EU pork - is this just retaliation for tariffs on Chinese electric cars?

In their closing statement - G7 leaders have issued their starkest warning yet to China over its support for Russia, attacking Beijing for “enabling” Russia’s war in Ukraine, and threatened more sanctions if Beijing keeps transferring material used by Moscow’s defence industry.
Smartphones outnumber people now, according to the World Economic Forum. We talk with 'The Phone Lady' who's business aims to help people overcome their phone phobia.
Our Europe Correspondent Nick Beake reports from Munich after hosts Germany have won their opening game of the 2024 European Football Championships, with a huge 5-1 win over Scotland.
We also discuss America's third largest bank - Wells Fargo - after they fired more than a dozen employees following allegations that some were faking keyboard activity to fool the firm into thinking they were working.

South Africa's newly formed national unity government need to get the economy growing again. We hear from entrepreneur and outspoken critic of the ANC Rob Hersov on what can be done.
Meta has halted its AI models in Europe after the Irish privacy regulator told it to delay its plan to harness data from Facebook and Instagram users. We look at what happened and why.
Also, Devina Gupta turns to Venezuela where Presidential elections are set for July 28. Edmundo Gonzalez, a little-known former diplomat has been chosen by various parties to be their candidate after the most prominent opposition leader had been barred from running.

South Africa's main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), says it has agreed a deal with the governing African National Congress (ANC) to form a government of national unity. How will it change the economy?
Also, in the programme, Rahul Tandon finds out why Japan is become very popular tourism destination and how it affecting local businesses.

The U.S. Supreme Court has backed Starbucks challenge to a judicial order to rehire seven Memphis employees. They were fired as
they sought to form a union. Presenter Devina Gupta examines the implications of the verdict.
Disney and Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida agree to end a feud over $17 billion in planned development at Walt Disney World. Disney say the deal will fuel new investment.
New York has passed a pair of proposed laws that aim to make social media less harmful to children. We hear what the legislation might mean if it is signed off by the State governor.

The G7 is a group of the world's most powerful and economically advanced democracies, and G7 leaders have now arrived for a summit in Italy. Top of the agenda is a plan to use fifty billion dollars in interest from frozen Russian assets as a loan for Ukraine.
And Russia penalised by new Western sanctions - this time aimed at the Moscow stock exchange. But will any of it really hurt the Russian economy?
Roger Hearing also finds out why Spanish restaurant workers under pressure because everybody eats so late.