18/05/2016 BBC Business Live

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

Nigerians take to the streets in protest against government plans

to raise the price of fuel by two-thirds.

Live from London, that's our top story

Nigerian trade unions say they'll ignore a court ruling and strike

as planned after the government ups fuel prices by 67%

Shares in Suzuki slump as it becomes the latest carmaker to be

embroiled in the Japanese fuel testing scandal.

20 restaurants, 23 swimming pools and a slide that his ten stories

high, Aaron is on the list of the biggest cruise ship in the world,

joins us live and he will talk to the boss of real Caribbean. Also,

would you ever consider a cruise holiday? Is your idea of holiday

heaven or holiday hell? Get in touch.

A very unscientific office poll puts it at 50-50. Keep you comments

coming in. We start today in Nigeria -

where unions are expected to strike today - despite a court ruling,

banning any industrial action. The protest comes a week

after the government announced it would raise the price

of petrol by two-thirds Politicians hope cutting fuel

subsidies will help to address But why is one of the largest

oil producers in Africa struggling to meet the demand

of its own population? The global slump in oil prices has

taken its toll on the country's economy and it means the US dollar

is buying a lot more That's all too evident here -

and it means Nigeria's buying power struggled to get the US dollars

needed to import the REFINED fuel the Nigerian government wants

to raise the price from 43 US cents With me now is Spencer Welch, an oil

analyst with IHS, based in London. Another element for Nigeria is a tax

on some of their key oil production areas. Talk us through what is

happening. The government was subsidising the price of fuel and

that was making it an economic to import fuel so there were petrol

shortages, so they have removed the subsidies and that has caused prices

to go up and unhappiness in the country. One of the reasons for

removing the subsidy was they were struggling to pay those because of

lack of revenue, that has become worse in the last month or so with

militant attacks, so the production has been reduced by about 40%, a

significant trap in revenue to the country. Add that the other elements

and you a serious problem. It's mostly military attacks but not

solely, they have been operational problems. Oil makes up 10% of

Nigerian GDP, 50% of government revenue and 90% of export sales so

yes, it's a serious problem for the country. It is a country which is

very reliant on oil. That has been a problem that Nigeria has faced for

many years, while the price was always headed higher, I guess there

was not the incentive for the government to. Diversify. Nigeria

are trying to diversify their economy as are other countries which

are reliant on the price of oil but it takes time, that's their biggest

natural resource. It is starting to increase, but it has a long way to

go. In terms of the applicant what's your thinking? In terms of the

strikes, it's good to take time, the government was forced to remove the

subsidy, they really couldn't afford to carry on doing that, so the

country needs to get used to be higher oil price. In terms of the

military attacks, that is a complex situation, hard to resolve, but they

need to do that. Quickly, cruise ship holiday, holiday heaven or

holiday hell? Heaven. Keep your comments coming in. We will talk

through them later. A bill that would allow the families

of 9/11 victims to sue the Saudi government has passed a key hurdle

in the US Senate. The bill, known as the 'Justice

Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act' now moves to the House

of Representatives. could cause his government

to withdraw US investments. US inflation rose at its fastest

pace in three years last month, The Consumer Price Index

was up 0.4% last month, the biggest one-month rise

since February 2013. A build-up in inflation could see

the Federal Reserve raising interest Japan's economy grew

by 1.7% in the first The better-than-expected growth

was thanks largely to higher government spending which offset

weakness in exports. Analysts are worried

about the outlook for consumer spending, which is critical

to Japan's economy, accounting A rare pear-shaped vivid

pink diamond set a world The "Unique Pink", weighing 15.38

carats and mounted on a ring, It was sold to an Asian private

collector bidding by telephone. I am expecting its arrival next

week! The pink Panther is interested as well. Hello Tulisa, watching us

on a cruise ship, in this is Canal, she says holiday heaven. Lisa says

it certainly is holiday heaven. I never say, holiday heaven if you are

offering to pay. No is the answer. In Asia, Suzuki is the latest

carmaker to be drawn into What more can you tell us? Over the

last couple of minutes we have been seeing reports coming out of Suzuki,

it appears they have raced a statement in which they have

confirmed that there were improper testing methods used in some of

their cars, but they have denied that they cheated when it came to

mini plating the fuel economy data. What that means is that is coming

against the backdrop of Japanese auto-makers being put under the

spotlight, and the scrutiny after Mitsubishi motors recently admitted

it had manipulated its fuel economy data, making some of its vehicles

appear more efficient in terms of fuel than they actually were. As a

result, the Japanese transport Ministry ordered all of the

auto-makers in the country to come up with results or investigate

whether or not they had been compliant with the country, with

Japan's fuel economy laws. These comments are reflecting results of

that investigation, I'm sure there will be more to come stop we will

keep you up-to-date. You have been looking as well at the US tariffs on

steel coming in from China? Yes, 522% is the amount of tariffs that

they have slapped on Chinese steel. This is part of what the US has been

doing over the last couple of months as the US the industry has suffered

from what they say is China's dumping of steel into US markets.

This is not that significant if you look at the amount of money involved

with this particular ruling, only about 200 million dollars worth of

Chinese steel that it affects that it is coming against the backdrop of

the US elections are a hot topic this year. Thank you. A quick look

at the numbers. Japan's stronger-than-expected

growth data and then the U.S. In the UK,

we get the latest unemployment and wages data from the UK economy

hot on the heels of yesterday's weaker than expected

inflation numbers. We'll talk more about that

in a moment, but first let's check in on Wall Street -

Michelle has the details. Curious about the red Federal

reserve things? Investors will get an insight on Wednesday with the

release of minutes from the April policy meeting. Last month the Fed

at the door open for a hike in June. The minutes may help clarify what is

driving their thinking. Wednesday is also a busy day for corporate news.

So far retailers have been struggling to adapt to changing

consumer habits. We will target. One area consumers seem to be spending

more on is fixing up their homes and investors think this will lift

first-quarter profits at a home improvement store. And all the major

tech companies hold conferences, these have become huge events that

routinely see major announcements. Google's three-day event will kick

off. Thanks to Michelle. I believe we have people going to that Google

event. Joining us now is Justin

Urquhart-Stewart, he is the Director Cruise ships? I would rather not. I

prefer proper sailing. When you get wet! You go on those things, you get

vertigo! Less talk about financial markets. A big day for UK data, hot

on the heels of yesterday's inflation data, what are we

expecting? We are close to technically full employment, that

doesn't mean everyone being employed but it'll probably level out, the

figures would we say the same overall but maybe people claiming a

bit more. We have record numbers of people being employed, really good

figures. The inflation figures look low but if you look at the core

figures you will see in the service sector, we do have inflation. So

although interest rates won't be going up soon, Mark Carney is

looking at that and saying, it is there he warned that they will be

more inflation later in the year. When do you think Janet will make a

next move? Looks as though there is more inflation, it as that will be

brought forward and you see the reaction on the market, to come

further forward. It looks like this summer. The US dollar is up but as

every currency in the world, oil prices going up as well. The herd

has moved in one direction. On that basis, be careful. But the line we

should look at, inflation is going up, look at the price of gold, you

can see where the concerns are. Those rates are going to go up

sooner than later so long as the data continues to back it up. The

data changed, the market changed, and she changed. We will see you in

a minute. Aaron will be live

on board the biggest Yes, she may look like a shopping

mall in California but you are right, I am on the world's biggest

cruise ship and we are about to interview the CEO and President of

Royal Caribbean talk about the challenges facing this $40 billion

industry will stop You're with Business

Live from BBC News. Sales at fashion label Burberry

are down 1% over the last year March and pre-tax profits fell

?29m to ?415.6m. Chief Executive

Christopher Bailey has described the trading

conditions as "challenging". He'll also have his eye

on the company's share price - it's down more than a third

in the past 12 months. Nivindya Sharma is a Retail Analyst

at Verdict Retail. just assess these figures, because

there is a lot to take in. Sales down 1%, not hugely promoted on the

face of it but it's the profit figure which is once again suffering

because of a slowdown in China. Yes, I think the slowdown was coming, we

all knew it was going to happen for burglary. There is another problem

is they have had. That put the figures in context, nasty was a

really good year for burglary. -- Burberry. That is where the profit

figures come into play because that is where Burberry has really

struggled and that is the focus they have to put on. If you look at the

recent results, talking about cost efficiencies, how they will improve

processes, cut costs. It is like a wake-up call for the Petar because

let's face it, they are very few years of strong growth. -- a wake-up

Burberry sees better times ahead. Burberry sees better times ahead.

Burberry is a brand that has been exposed more to China than other

brands so it has been hit quite hard. It is doing well in Japan. On

mainland China, it hasn't done badly compared to Hong Kong and Macau. You

have to look at where your profit is, where are your best performing

stores and push the effort there. It does need to focus more in Japan and

look at other areas. Our top story - tensions

are running high in Nigeria. Trade unions say they'll ignore

a court ruling and carry out The government plans to hike

the price of fuel by two thirds in response to a shortage

of petrol. The world's largest cruise ship has

arrived at Southampton ahead It's nearly 1,200 ft long and cost

a billion US dollars to build. It can carry 6,780

guests and 2,100 crew, and took more than two-and-a-half

years to construct. So who better to take it for a spin,

but our very own Aaron?? Show us what is there, because

frankly at the moment it looks like a shopping wall. You took the words

right out of my mouth. It looks like I'm somewhere in California in May

shopping wall but believe it or not I am on the world's largest shopping

-- largest cruise ship. You mentioned all the passenger numbers

and the cost, one and a half billion dollars, four and a half years in

the making, and these ships just get bigger and bigger. 24 million people

this year alone will hop on board and cruise the high seas. It is the

horror -- fastest-growing industry and has been for a long time. The

fastest industry within the travel sector and the fastest-growing in

terms of around the world is my neck of the woods, Australia, New Zealand

and the Pacific region. Let's speak to this CEO of Royal Caribbean.

Mike, you are sitting on, is this a jack? Why is there a jaguar on this

ship? Why not. It's what we do. We like to give people a great time.

Royal Caribbean has five of the biggest ships in the world so now

you have six of them with this one as well. This is a beast, in a nice

way. Why do you keep going bigger and bigger? We have 25 ships in our

feet in total, including six of the largest ships in the world and we

were very proud to take delivery of Harmony of the Seas. We build them

because people want and experience. It is packed with experiences and

innovation. That is why we do it. Can I just interject there. Do

people really want all this on board? You are on see -- at sea with

nearly 9000 people. Do people really want that? What about a 4000

capacity ship? We have 4000 capacity ships but this ship is pretty much

sold out all summer and all winter and that is testimony to the fact

that people want this. You spent 1,000,000 and a half... Sorry, I

meant 1,000,000,000 and a half. I wish it was 1,000,000 and a half.

Where Yuri that money? The life of the ship is 25 years and it is

around ten to 15 years that we start to see investment returned. Correct

me if I am wrong but most of your revenue comes from the Americans,

doesn't it? Are you confident in the global economy that you can still do

that? We had the financial crisis, the downturn, your industry got hit

during that. Are you confident, looking at America, where we are not

seeing double-digit growth? The US economy seems to be in good

strength. The UK is a good market for us as well. Australia, China and

Asia-Pacific is doing really well as well. We feel good about what we are

seeing in terms of demand and certainly in the United States,

demand is really strong. Let's talk about some of the challengers, shall

we? The industry itself doesn't have a great track record when it comes

to being environmentally friendly. I know ships are getting greener but

we were looking at some of the sums and I have got them here. On an

average one-week cruise of about 6000 passengers, it can generate

880,000 litres of raw sewage. A lot of that is dumped at sea, isn't it?

We have incredibly environmentally friendly programmes and I would say

our company is a leader in this space. This ship is the most energy

efficient ship in the industry and we are very proud of that. In terms

of environmental management, we are really focused on stewardship and we

are leaders in terms of managing waste except except. When you think

about it, it's 6000 people go on vacation, wherever they go in the

world, waste is created. You have to be realistic about it. The way we

manage it is far superior to what you would see in other vacation

destinations. I want to speak to you about improving the image. There

were many within your position in the industry he said, what we

haven't done is sold our message to non-cruisers well enough. That is

one of the challenges. Trying to show people how incredible this

vacation experience is. I've seen mentioned at the beginning of this,

the growth of this industry is outstanding. That is because people

have a great vacation. It is a quality experience. It is difficult

to explain how incredible this experience is and that is one of the

challenges in terms of our marketing, communication and word of

mouth. Word of mouth is the most important way of expanding to people

how incredible this is and to try it. I have got to wrap it up but can

I just quickly say, he is the godmother? The godmother, by the

way, is somebody who cracks a howl -- a bottle of champagne against the

hull of the ship. We have not named her yet. It is a secret that we will

announce it in the next three or four weeks. He is a little tip in

its south. I've been doing my sums. A lot of people retire at sea, so

you think about it, when we need help and care and go into a home,

the thousand ?500 is how much it costs on land. -- the thousand ?500

is how much it costs on land. How much would it cost on a ship? ?3000.

Can you ask him, can I be the godmother? We are taking all

applications and I think Sally is great, so she has a great chance.

That's not what you told me before we went to her! ' guys. I am going

to have plenty more throughout the rest of the day. Coming up next, we

will be on Victoria Derbyshire's show. Lots of you sending in

messages saying, holiday heaven if Aaron stayed on board because he's

my reason to get up on Friday morning.

Let's just reintroduced Justin who is back and has been in joining that

with us. -- enjoying that with us. I don't want to go on a shopping

centre that floats around the place. If they had specialist things, like

specialist history things, I would go. Ken in Armitage says, Sally, it

is cold to Newcastle without pressure, I would love to go on a

cruise, but they charge single is 90% cost of two people sharing. It

depends who you are as to how cost-effective it is. Many people

are saying it is too expensive and they afford it. Some of the cabins

are inside and don't even have a portal. Mum not my idea of fun.

Let's look at the news now. HSBC saying Saudi Arabia is in stagnation

and decay. It is being very out there about its views of Saudi

Arabia. It is highlighting quite rightly the issue around Saudi

Arabia. It is a one track -- one trick pony and only has oil. What is

it going to do? It has said it will diversify within four years. As have

other countries, I remember Mr Putin saying that, and it doesn't happen.

When you look at Saudi Arabia, what is their USB going to be? It will be

very difficult to do, particularly with such a young population. That

will cause a lot of problems over the coming years, particularly in a

country which has been universally subsidised over the last few years.

They are used to getting free electricity, free rents, and that

the mind that were difficult. Justin, as always, thank you so

much. Nice to see you. That's it from

Business Live today. There will be more business news

throughout the day on the BBC Live webpage and on World Business

Report. Good morning. What a difference a

Day makes. We have got a lot of rain in the story today. That will have

an effect on the temperatures as well. Some of the rain will be heavy

at times as it continues to push its