14/03/2016 BBC Business Live

This is Business Live from the BBC with Ben Thompson and Sally Bundock.

Crude politics - will the recovery in oil prices last as key players

try to persuade Iran to join a production freeze?

Live from London, that's our top story on Monday, 14th March.

Russia's energy minister is in Tehran with oil top

But can he persuade Iran to join a freeze on production -

just months after sanctions were lifted.

Also in the programme - China's spending spree continues.

The famous Waldorf Astoria in New York - you'll recognise it

here - has new Chinese owners as the Asia economic powerhouse

This is how Europe looks in the first hour of trade -

we'll have all you need to know for the day ahead.

And there are more than 110 million unexploded mines around the world -

we'll be hearing from company that clears them from conflict areas

And colouring books for adults are seeing a meteoric

rise in popularity - with sales hitting 12

million last year - so are you a fan?

Is the traditional colouring book the antidote to our

Let us know - use the hashtag BBC Biz Live.

We're starting today with oil, as Russia's energy minister begins

talks in Iran over a potential deal to freeze oil production.

Last month a group of countries, led by Russia and Saudi Arabia

agreed to cap their oil output, but only if other producers did

Ill prices fell after that announce: Take a look how oil has risen It has

been rising as you can see, climbing now above $40 a barrel. The

international energy agency says prices have recovered remarkably, in

the past few week, and that lower production in the US is helping to

curb the oversupply. But it's unlikely Iran will agree

to freeze its production Tough sanctions that

all but crippled Iran's oil exports have only just been lifted and it's

keen to get production back online. Its OPEC envoy say a cut

would be illogical - and is reported to have warned

that the country will increase output until it reaches

pre-sanctions levels. Miswin Mahesh, an oil analyst

at Barclays joins us in the studio. So how do you think these talks will

go today? We think that Iran has been clear to the market. They said

we want to reach four million barrels a day, before we agree to

any sort of production freeze, because they know that all the other

members that are convincing them to join have already been producing at

high levels. So it is their turn to make hay while the sun shines as it

were. Yes. They are producing 2.9 million barrels at the moment. How

long will it take them to get to 4,000? They need expertise, they

need investment. So they need 30 billion a year, so get the asets

working again, get that extra million barrel days but they have

done quite well over the last three done quite well over the last three

months even without foreign help in boosting production, the leg, the

final leg will be difficult, just because the way they have shut these

production fields when the sanctions came through was a lot more

difficult than if it was a normal shut down process. In the meantime

Opec and non-OPEC members were going to meet on 20th March. Where are we

headed given that Russia and said were trying to reach an agreement

yeemt? That has been the big disappointment, leading up the rally

has been because of expectation, March 20th we might see not only a

freeze, possibly a cut is what the market thought, and now we are not

even having the meeting because these producers can't agree on a

location, whether it should be in the Middle East or Russia, and our

view is that we will see the next Opec meeting in June and again see

more of the same in December, where people can't agree to cut or freeze.

So what is likely to happen to the price in that case of without we are

just about $40s a barrel, are we going to stay or go up? We think

that prices will be volatile, heading into to peck meeting so we

will see more weakness in the next 30-35 days because refineries have

shut down for maintenance, it is a low period for demand, but going

into the driving season, when gas line is in usage, that is when

demand picks up. We see oil going from 30 to 40, 45 but not above $50

a barrel. I like that, don't you like that? He has nailed his colours

to the mast. Thank you for coming in. We will see whether it comes

We will see whether it comes true, watch this space.

The International Monetary Fund has suggested it supports the decisions

of Japan and Europe to introduce negative interest rates

IMF boss Christine Lagarde says "unconventional monetary policies"

should continue if they are accompanied by structural reforms

Japanese banks have been encouraged to lend out the money to businesses

and household. We have the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England

meeting later. The US ratings agency Moody's has

downgraded Hong Kong's outlook to negative following the tightening

of the territory's political and economic links

with mainland China. It says political risk has risen

in Hong Kong over the implementation of the "one country -

two systems" policy. Plenty of storiesonline. This is an

interesting one. A development in the UK but I am sure it is the case

in other country as well. The number of drivers with tellmatics car

insurance policies has risen by 40%, what is one of those? It is where

you have a black box fitted to your car that monitors your driving. The

idea itself brings down your insurance payments because you have

to stick to the rules of the road and they have a black box to tell

them, so for families where they have teenage children who just pass

their test, saying, teenage boy, girl, it brings down the insurance

policy. What are you suggesting about the driving of teenage boys?

Nothing, I am saving saying it is out there The use of them, it makes

it clear there up from 12,000 thousand fitted back seven years

ago, 500,000 fitted in cars so it makes it cheaper. Quickly, a look at

Asian markets. They are having a good session. It is following on

from how we left things off in the US and Europe on Friday, we will

talk about the European markets in a moment. There you go. Aussie shares

hitting a two month high today. It shows that China's spending power

remain despite the slow down in the domestic economy.

Fill us in. As you mentioned, the Chinese economy is slowing down, but

it looks like the companies still have a lot of cash to spend. So they

have been on an acquisition see from and the latest one is a company

called, an insurer. Most people will never have heard of it but it a big

company, with lots of divisions is everywhere. It is very politically

connected to the highest level of Chinese Government. They are

reportedly paying $6.5 billion for a luxury hotel collection to add to

their already big holdings, including the Waldorf Astoria, and

this is the piggest deal for US prime property for them. They have

also tried to buy other firms as a Portuguese bank. That wasn't able to

go through because it was considered an important bank and there are

objections to that. Overall the Chinese firms have done a lot of

deals this year, it is only March but there has been $84 billion

spent. Compared to last year there was 108 well of Chinese acquisition,

by the time we hit the end of 2016 we will see more deals coming

through. Good stuff. Thank you. More from you later in the week. A quick

look at the number, you can see that is the state of play in Asia.

Interesting we we have news from machine orders in Japan. Not hugely

exciting but it gives an indication of the state of the economy. They

were up 15%. If we can look at Europe as well. We saw them at the

start of the programme. This is what Europe is looking like in the first

hour of trade, in London, Frankfurt and Paris. Markets are back up but

it will be a week dominated by activity from central bank, we will

talk about that in a moment. Michelle has a look at what is

happening on Wall Street today. Americas seen tram bank concludes a

two day policy meeting this Wednesday, and while no action is

expected it will still be significant. Investors want to know

what the fed thinks about the country's employment and inflation

prospects. As things stand there is a gap between what the fed and the

markets think will be the projected number of rate hikes this year. This

Monday's calendar may be light on economic news but the rest of the

week is busy with retail sales and inflation readings lined up. On

Tuesday, the US Senate is planning to hold a hearing on driverless car,

it will feature testimony from Google. General Motor, Lift and

others. That is Michelle of course.

Joining us is David Buik from Panmure Gordon.

Happy new week as it were. Busy week this week, Michelle touching on some

of the issues we heed to watch in the States. We had a rolest coaster

reception to Mario Draghi's situation last week where he

introduced a wider package of assets to be bought. When you think of the

gyration for both European stocks and the FTSE to lend, to end the

week below the plimsoll line is unusual. This week we will have more

stability. Why? When Janet Yelland gets up to speak, I think she will

tell you absolutely no chance of any interest rate change for March, but

if anybody thinks that it is off the agenda for June they maybe run, if

the date is is good, the employment, the number of jobs and the wage

inflation, she may feel she is justified to do so. Going over to

Japan, we will just have play it again Sam. The negative interest

rates and much as I take my halt off to the wonderful lady who sits at

the IMF who is outstanding, I don't believe that quantitative easing in

the long-term is good. The European Union was late with it, and if they

had done it seven years ago maybe. She stresses that it has to come

with structural reform. That is the drum she keeps on beating when it

comes to this. You know and I know it won't. The jury is out. She is

pushing that agenda very hard. I understand that. She is very good

but the rubble is politically these things never work how you think they

will. David, quickly, two big D-Days today when it comes, this week we

should say when it comes to take over and merger, one the Sainsbury's

home retail group bid and Stock Markets. The London stocksening

changes with doish. Tomorrow is the trading statements and the figures

will be less awful than expected. But the real thing is will they have

paid enough for Argos? 1.3 billion is on the take, we know that Stein

Hoff of South Africa have upped the ante, I think the CEO of Sainsbury's

wants this. It is time out on Friday but I think it will be renewed.

Boish? I think they will win it, but there is no such thing as a joint

merger. OK, we will see you sown. He is coming back. Conflict clean up.

We will hear from a firm that helps combat the lethal aftermath of

conflict in Africa and the Middle East. It is a firm that clears more

than 45,000 unexploded bombs and mines over the last ten years. You

are with Business Live from BBC News.

First this is not the sound of music but listen to this line. How can you

solve a problem like youth unemployment? The Government says it

wants to increase the number of on the job training schemes but the

question is whether they are really effective. Steph sat down with

Ofsted's Paul Joyce and asked him about their recent review of the

schemes to mark National Apprenticeship Week.

We saw some shocking practise during the resee, ranging from some

apprentices who went aware they were on apprenticeship programmes, we saw

some that received very little to no training in their job role. Any

particular sectors then that are worse than others? The best practise

is where present us thes are in industries that have a long history

of apprenticeship programmes so areas like construction and

engineering, but, in other sector, like retail and customer services,

they were probably the sectors where experiences were less positive.

Where we have been trying to recruit present tipses in jobs that really

you, I and many members of the public wouldn't recognise as an

apprenticeship. While there are job like coffee making and cleaning,

while very important, you would probably question whether they need

the knowledge, skills and experience to call that an apprenticeship.

Have you seen any changes, since this review? Yes, the colleges and

the private training providers that run apprenticeship programmes are

starting to make some change, and are taking onboard some of the

messages in our report, which is pleasing to see. Who is responsible

for making sure that these apprenticeships are good enough? The

skills funding agency that fund the colleges and the providers, take

take some oversight view of provision. It is very important for

apprentices if they have concerns to raise that with their employers. It

can be daunting though for young person to complain about their

employer, they might lose their job? Sure, that is a really good point.

They should speak and raise concerns with their supervisor, the next

course of action would be to raise any concerns or issues they have

with their provider. This is a qarng from the Chief

Executive of Tesco calling on the Chancellor ahead of the Budget, cut

business rates or jobs will be lost. Russia's energy minister

is in Tehran to try to persuade Iran to join a freeze on production just

months after sanctions were lifted. Long after the guns have fallen

silent and the tanks have stopped moving, war still leaves

behind a deadly legacy. In war-torn countries around

the world, there are more than 110 million

unexploded landmines. They kill and injure

thousands each year. And they deter travellers, restrict

trade and stifle economic growth. The Development initiative was

set-up in 2005. So far, it's removed and destroyed

more than 1400 mines It's managing director

is Hugh Morris who set Hugh Morris joins us

in the studio now. Hugh nice to see you. Welcome to the

programme. Some staggering figures when it comes to how much you have

been able to do to remove these devices. Talk us through how

difficult it is to do that. You are working in some very difficult

conditions in very difficult places and it is a very dangerous job? It

is a drop in the ocean really what we've managed to achieve. There is a

lifetime's work to be done still. Often the biggest challenge is the

remoteness of the areas, the difficult poor lines of

communication. So actually, when you actually get to the minefield, it is

probably one of the easiest tasks is to get cracking with the job, but it

is the back-up, getting the teams on the ground, getting the teams

trained up and into position is the biggest challenge. These countries

that you operate in, Africa, the Middle East, many of them have been

ravaged by war for years and years. So their economies are in a real

state and many watching might think, you know, is it actually the job of

a private company that makes profits to do something like this? Should it

not be an organisation that is set-up by maybe non-governmental

organisation that's not making money in this process, does that make

sense? It does, indeed. We compete regularly against six or seven other

commercial organisations, but there are a number of NGO that is we work

alongside and sometimes compete against. I think there is a place

for both of us. The commercial aspect is aimed to get the job done

quickly as economically as possible and hand the land back to the people

to actually start conducting other business so mine action should

always be seen as a short-term obstacle to development and the

commercial aspect of it is equally important, I think, to the sort of

NGO side of life. How has the environment changed in which you

operate? A lot of the mines that you're dealing with have been there

for a very long time. Technology is changing, the way that warfare is

carried out is changing. Does it mean that you're constantly having

to change how you operate and the way in which you remove these

devices? Absolutely. We are always looking for new technologies and new

techniques to undertake the task quicker and more efficiently.

Obviously the traditional humanitarian mine action is still

very prevalent. There is many, many years, a lifetime of work to be done

out there, but we have had to deal with the threat from IEDs and this

changes the environment because we are now moving into areas that are

not necessarily post-conflict. The main battle might be over, but there

is still groups, factions that are still fighting in the area. So we're

going into countries now where we have to watch our backs, look at

security, and this ups the price and the risk. You also were careful to

call your company the Development Initiative because you want to sort

of get the message out there that you are for development. You employ

a lot of local people, don't you, for example in Sudan where you have

been operating for something like ten years, you have employed people

in Sudan for that ten year period? Absolutely, yes. The focus is on

local capacity building. Often we're the first into an area post-conflict

and nobody has a job after conflict. So sometimes we are the first

employer. So we look to hire as many locals as possible. Obviously the

expertise come from internationals. But a lot of our deminers in Sudan

for example have been with us for eight or nine years. They are highly

experienced. They would be able to travel elsewhere with us to conduct

mine action in other countries. We have got to leave it there. Hugh

Morris, thank you very much for coming in. So many more questions

we'd like to ask, but time has run out yet again.

There has been a lot of fuss in the media when one of Google's

self-driving cars crashed into a bus.

It highlighted just one of the fears people have

Our North America Technology reporter - Dave Lee -

asked the US transport secretary whether he's worried

It is not a surprise that at some point there would be a crash of any

technology that is on the road, but I would challenge one to look at the

number of crashes that occurred on the same day that were the result of

human behaviour. I think the question isn't comparing the

automated car against perfection, it is a relative comparison to what we

have now on the roads which is you and I and our eyeballs and our

brains. Let's look at the stories making the

headlines in the media. Starting with this one in the Financial

Times, Brazilians take to the street in anti-Government protests. The

corruption scandal really hitting the mark there with people's

opinion. In Canada, Ontario is piloting a programme that will give

free money to citizens for well, doing nothing. It is the type of

social safety net called basic income. It is an idea that is

generating attraction. Colouring books for adults. A big business

apparently. 12 million were sold in 2015. I don't mind a bit of doodling

myself! David Buik from Panmure Gordon

is joining us again to discuss. Do you like to doodle? I love

doodling. Em are talking and... Do you like to doodle? Yes. Do you have

an adult colouring book? No. If anyone is watching and would like to

send me one, please do. You could get inundated. I will get one as

well. Up from one million sold in 2014 to 12 million in 2015, and it

strikes me this is just a huge fightback against our ever connected

digital electronic lives, it is paper, it is pencil, it is old tech,

but it is brilliant. I think it is a fabulous innovation, but it will

last five minutes! It is not an innovation, it is a colouring book

for adults! Two in their 30s got them for Christmas, day five,

haven't got to page three yet. There is hi-tech stuff if you look at the

stuff. That's not hi-tech. The designs are. It is something to do

with the design. It is colouring pence and a page!

Let's move on, shall we? When my colouring arrives, I will let you do

one. Brazilians take to the streets in anti-Government protest... Hang

on, I have got a lot to say on this, but I have only got 30 seconds. 3.6

million people were on demonstration against... People. As much as any

high flying Brazilians can be, against Dilma Rousseff's Government.

Her coalition partners are unhappy with some skullduggery with a huge

organisation in Brazil. Their economy is in rags and the point I

wanted to make Sally and Ben was I think Brazil have got more front

than Brighton Pier to consider hosting the World Cup two years ago

and the Olympic Games this year when their country is hanging in rags. I

think it is a political disgrace and however much high-profile it gives

them, you hope it stimulates the young people, this costs billions

and billions of dollars. I have no idea. The bill for both of them is

$50 billion. Over three million people, all making their stand,

asking for change. Absolutely. They feel they have had enough. In a

peaceful manner. When you go on and on. It says something. They are

saying we feel we have got austerity, but these people are

trampled on. David you did it! Sorry! Well done. No need to

apologise. That was Business Live. Thank you for your company today. We

will see you same time, same place tomorrow. Bye-bye.

Hello there. The up and coming week is looking quiet thanks to high

pressure. We saw lots of sunshine