:00:00. > :00:00.paid tribute, describing his family as extraordinary people. Now on BBC
:00:00. > :00:19.News, all the latest business news, live from Singapore.
:00:20. > :00:22.Japan's biggest carmakers are recalling millions of vehicles over
:00:23. > :00:27.potentially explosive airbags. How will investors react? Sri Lanka's
:00:28. > :00:41.slave island is seeing new developments. Welcome to the
:00:42. > :00:48.programme. Shares in Japan's three biggest carmakers, Honda, Nissan and
:00:49. > :00:55.Toyota, are falling today after they announced a major recall over faulty
:00:56. > :01:02.airbags. Japanese companies are not the only ones affected. Honda has
:01:03. > :01:09.been hardest hit by the problem, forced to recall an additional 2
:01:10. > :01:21.million vehicles. Nissan has recalled 750,000. Mazda has also
:01:22. > :01:25.been affected. The part was supplied by another Japanese company. Other
:01:26. > :01:31.carmakers including Toyota have also issued recalls over the same part.
:01:32. > :01:36.Globally, Japanese manufacturers have recalled a combined total of
:01:37. > :01:38.nearly 7 million vehicles. There have been no reports of accidents or
:01:39. > :01:45.injuries because of the issue so far, however Toyota has one report
:01:46. > :01:48.of a seat cover learning. Japanese carmakers are not the only ones
:01:49. > :01:54.dealing with recalls at the moment. General Motors has recalled more
:01:55. > :01:59.than 17 million cars in the US this year, more than it sold in the
:02:00. > :02:02.previous year. The recalls have involved faulty ignition switches,
:02:03. > :02:07.responsible for over one dozen deaths. General Motors has also
:02:08. > :02:12.issued recalls over seatbelts, transmissions and airbags as well as
:02:13. > :02:24.potential fire issues. Thank you for joining us. Will this affect the
:02:25. > :02:26.Japanese reputation for quality? These problems have occurred in
:02:27. > :02:34.vehicles that are no longer being made. The carmakers are confident
:02:35. > :02:39.that these problems are not in vehicles currently being made. The
:02:40. > :02:46.impact on sales might be limited. The impact on reputation, however is
:02:47. > :02:48.yet to be determined. Other companies that will be kit will be
:02:49. > :02:53.the supplier that made these faulty airbags. In an earlier recall, they
:02:54. > :03:00.took a charge of $300 million, and you can expect similar charges this
:03:01. > :03:07.time around as well. We know that these recalls takes the total number
:03:08. > :03:12.of vehicles recalled to almost 7 million globally. That is a lot of
:03:13. > :03:19.cars. Is this a sign of manufacturing standards going down?
:03:20. > :03:22.Is there just tougher scrutiny? Suddenly the numbers are
:03:23. > :03:26.astonishing, especially when you look at a company like General
:03:27. > :03:30.Motors, with the millions and millions of vehicles it has recalled
:03:31. > :03:34.in one year. It will be alarming to consumers as well. I would say that
:03:35. > :03:38.the quality of vehicles produced today has never been better. It has
:03:39. > :03:43.much to do with the sophistication of many of the small parts and
:03:44. > :03:47.electronics going into cars. A good deal of scrutiny goes into them and
:03:48. > :03:54.people are not willing to tolerate even small glitches that might have
:03:55. > :03:59.been overlooked in the past. Staying with transport, cruise
:04:00. > :04:03.operators are looking to Asia's a growing middle class to increase
:04:04. > :04:10.their business over the past decade. Business is growing 14% annually in
:04:11. > :04:17.the region. Many governments are building new infrastructure to
:04:18. > :04:25.accommodate new cruise liners. The industry is betting on growth in the
:04:26. > :04:28.region. They are supportive of the initiative because they all like
:04:29. > :04:33.tourism, which provides significant economic benefits for their
:04:34. > :04:37.countries. And cruising is very popular around the world, providing
:04:38. > :04:41.high customer satisfaction rates. It is of great value. There is a lot of
:04:42. > :04:47.potential for cruising in Asia, given the population and, as you
:04:48. > :04:51.say, the growing middle class. Where is it coming from in Asia,
:04:52. > :04:58.specifically? We have seen this industry grow by 14% this year. Is
:04:59. > :05:04.it sustainable? I think that it is sustainable. Growth is coming from
:05:05. > :05:07.China and Japan and Singapore, the main areas, but throughout Asia,
:05:08. > :05:11.there is increased interest. The great thing about cruise liners is
:05:12. > :05:17.they are movable assets and we can move them to where there is demand.
:05:18. > :05:21.What about the headlines? We have seen the tragic ferry disaster in
:05:22. > :05:27.South Korea and we also have events like the Costa Concordia sinking in
:05:28. > :05:32.2012. Doesn't this put people off from taking cruises? Those were very
:05:33. > :05:37.unfortunate cases, of course, but in general, cruising is a very safe
:05:38. > :05:42.vacation with high customer satisfaction. Historically, it is
:05:43. > :05:49.safer going from one port to another. Really, we think that
:05:50. > :05:55.growth will continue and is sustainable. Japanese Prime Minister
:05:56. > :06:00.Shinzo Abe is expected to unveil several new measures aimed at
:06:01. > :06:07.boosting growth in Asia's second largest economy today, including
:06:08. > :06:10.cutting corporate tax and legalising the casino industry. The South
:06:11. > :06:13.Korean government is looking to sell its stake in one of the country's
:06:14. > :06:18.biggest financial companies for the first time. The government holds a
:06:19. > :06:24.50% stake in the bank, worth $4.5 billion, but they have had trouble
:06:25. > :06:28.privatising the lender. South Africa's longest ever work stoppage
:06:29. > :06:32.has officially ended after unions reached a deal with platinum mining
:06:33. > :06:37.companies. Tens of thousands of workers will receive a 20% increase
:06:38. > :06:42.to their basic wage. They have been on strike for the past five months,
:06:43. > :06:46.affecting South Africa's economy and the earnings of mining companies.
:06:47. > :06:54.Oracle is buying Microsystems for more than $5 billion. It is its
:06:55. > :06:59.first acquisition in five years. The chief executive hopes that it will
:07:00. > :07:07.help Oracle boost flagging growth. Oracle makes software and hardware
:07:08. > :07:11.for restaurants and hotels. Google has plans for its own domain name
:07:12. > :07:16.registration service. It is testing a service which will allow consumers
:07:17. > :07:20.to search and purchase or find an transfer a domain names to the
:07:21. > :07:25.business. Since the end of the civil war, the physical face of Colombo
:07:26. > :07:30.has been radically changed as part of what Sri Lanka calls
:07:31. > :07:33.beautification. Long`standing low income areas are being demolished to
:07:34. > :07:40.make way for prestige developments. One such area in the city centre was
:07:41. > :07:45.known as a slave island. We report on a vanishing way of life. It is
:07:46. > :07:49.like a small Sri Lanka in the beating heart of the city. Slave
:07:50. > :07:55.island, Muslim, Buddhist, Christian and Hindu. Everyone jostles
:07:56. > :07:59.side`by`side. Life is lived on the streets and in the alleyways. Most
:08:00. > :08:04.people do not have much money but they value their way of life. This
:08:05. > :08:09.woman from the ethnic Malay minority watches the world go by. She was
:08:10. > :08:13.born in the same 2`room house which now shelters her large family. She
:08:14. > :08:19.is unhappy, because it has been earmarked for demolition.
:08:20. > :08:26.TRANSLATION: I want to go. I want to stay here. But many nearby houses
:08:27. > :08:32.have already been demolished. After decades of war, the government says
:08:33. > :08:36.it wants a Colombo that can rival Singapore and it intends to liberate
:08:37. > :08:39.these lands for commercial purposes. In recent months, entire streets of
:08:40. > :08:44.those traditional neighbourhoods have been flattened, resulting in
:08:45. > :08:48.this. Luxury high`rise flats and hotels have come up, like these,
:08:49. > :08:57.already mushrooming elsewhere in the city. Here in a suburb of a more
:08:58. > :09:02.modest flat for people evicted from slave island, we meet one family
:09:03. > :09:06.that was displaced some years ago. He says it is nice because their old
:09:07. > :09:09.neighbours have also moved here but they received no payment for their
:09:10. > :09:14.old house, only a small amount towards rent. Some human rights
:09:15. > :09:19.campaigners say the people of slave island are being unwillingly forced
:09:20. > :09:22.out with no consultation. Because the urban development authority is
:09:23. > :09:26.run by the powerful Defence Ministry, people seem to fear
:09:27. > :09:33.protesting. But some say the movement from houses to flats is a
:09:34. > :09:36.natural one. People will move to that situation. It happened in
:09:37. > :09:42.Vietnam, it happened in Singapore and in many other countries. It is a
:09:43. > :09:47.normal process. In a positive move, one developed has promised to build
:09:48. > :09:53.flats for the locals were their old houses were `` one developer. That
:09:54. > :09:55.will help them keep something they treasure about slave island, its
:09:56. > :09:59.centrality. Although its architectural heritage and unique
:10:00. > :10:09.and sea are still passing into history. `` unique atmosphere are
:10:10. > :10:16.still passing into history. Looking at the Asian markets, now. Of
:10:17. > :10:21.course, as I mentioned, many investors are focusing on the
:10:22. > :10:30.Japanese prime minister 's policies aimed at boosting growth there,
:10:31. > :10:43.which will be unveiled later today. Thank you for watching.
:10:44. > :10:45.An Egyptian court has sentenced three Al Jazeera journalists to
:10:46. > :10:54.seven years in jail, sparking international outrage.
:10:55. > :10:58.As Michael Schumacher continues his recovery, there are concerns his
:10:59. > :10:59.medical records may have been stolen and offered for