05/09/2012 World Business Report

BBC World News. Now for the latest financial news with Sally and World

Business Report. Hello and welcome to World Business Report. Crunch

time for Nokia - new phones are unveiled today. But will they be

good enough to win back customers? Talks restart to end the strike at

Lonmin's South African mine. Is the crisis scaring off international

investors? Hello from Singapore. Resource prices plunge in Australia.

It is being billed as a make-or- break moment for Nokia. Today the

mobile phone maker will unveil its latest smart phones in New York.

They have been developed in collaboration with Microsoft which

has provided the operating software. If these phones fail to connect and

turn on users then questions will be asked about Nokia's future.

Nokia is the fallen giant of mobile phones. Investors have sheered and

the pain. The share price has pulled from $40 to $3 today. A

device rumoured to look similar to this could be their last chance for

revival. It will be the first and set to run on the Microsoft next-

generation operating system. His if this does not work, not cure it is

in a lot of trouble. The customers do not want it, it will be

difficult for them to go forward. Nokia's fate could be suggested in

this building in a trendy part of Manhattan were the product Tonge is

due to take place and a few hours' time. If four-smartphone the US

market is very important, it is also a market where Nokia has

failed to make much impression. It is not as Nokia that needs the

phone to succeed. Microsoft also has yet to prove it can stay

relevant as the focus of computing shifts from PCs and laptops to

smart phones and tablets. There is a lot of good will for Microsoft at

the moment. We're hoping the operating system will knock the

socks off. We will not get a second chance to make an impression.

unclear what a Windows eight phone will do what others can't but it

should be something special because computers are not standing still.

Next week, Apple will up the ante by unveiling a device that sums

they will look like this, the next generation iPhone. Three-way talks

between the unions, Lonmin management and the government are

scheduled to resume today. The government is keen to end the

wildcat strike that's been going on for almost four weeks. But there's

anger among miners after police opened fire on protesters last

month, killing 34 people at the mine, and they are sticking to

their wage demands. Razia Kahn is from Standard Chartered Bank. Good

news that they are talking, are you optimistic this will draw some good

conclusions to lurk we are hearing that the National Union of

Mineworkers are looking to bring forward the wage negotiations.

is despite being locked into a two- year agreement. Something needs to

be done after the tragic events, that is agreed. The need to given

for higher wages. Wildcat strikes have hit a lot of the industry.

Given the severity of what happened four weeks ago, and clearly it is

not resolved, is there enough pressure from all sides to see a

quick resolution. It must be having a damaging impact? There is

absolute the pressure for resolution. But the problem is the

President it must set. Already we have a situation where the

negotiation of wage agreements that had been entered into that was

supposed to have been fixed for some time, obviously, the industry

does not want to be seen as giving in to the demands for higher wages

at a time when there are under pressure from declining margins and

on and an uncertain economic environment. What's affect us all

this hurt on the South African mining industry in terms of the

perception internationally. These events do picked what international

investors think? There are growing concerns for the outlook of mining.

Typical. We have seen a lot of regularity -- regulatory

uncertainty. The very fact that recent events make it more strength

to the discussion around nationalisation will be a concern

to foreign investors. So Arthur Booker already accounts for 80% of

the world platinum reserves. There are not easy options for

diversification from that region. But for gold mining, suffered

because looked from being the top gold producer to fall into place

number six. This is having an impact on the investment the

country expects to receive that is a story we will keep a close eye on

today. Australia's economy is slowing down. In the second quarter

it grew 0.6%. But that's still not bad when you consider how many

European economies, including the UK, are shrinking at the moment.

Rico Hizon is in the BBC's Singapore office. Australia has

been showing signs that things are getting tough? Absolutely, if you

compare the numbers with the Asian economies, if you stack them up

against developed economies, Australia still did welcome the to

the United States, European Union and Japan, up 6.3% in the previous

quarter. Consumer spending and public spending still the main

drivers of quarterly growth. Despite the solid economic

performance, the future is looking a bit more difficult. To to the

falling prices of key exports like iron ore and analysts say the

second up for the will be much more challenging. The growth in the last

quarter will be difficult to replicate. Is to drop a whip rates

steady yesterday at three-and-a- half %. The recent falls and

exports is leading to speculations the Reserve Bank will cut interest

rates in October to keep up the momentum. So on news a row --

Lenovo. To finance their operations the operations they need cash. An

executive shrugged off a share sale, as a reflection of the company's

performance. It said it would not give back the laptop venture and

would be focusing on the Japanese market. The founder of Facebook

will not be selling his shares in the country for another 12 months.

That has and emerged and an official filing posted by the

country this week. Feed X is same weakness in the global economy is

hooting its business. It is making a sharp cut in its profits for the

current quarter. In June, it announced a cost-cutting drive to

boost performance. A hacker groups says it has stolen identification

numbers for hunt -- millions of Apple devices including i-Phones.

It says it obtained the information from an FBI at laptop. Markets

today, headed in one direction. It has been like that most of this

week. A lot of concern about what may or may not happen tomorrow. The