:00:00. > :00:09.This is Business Live from BBC News with Alice Baxter and Ben Bland.
:00:10. > :00:12.The weed killer conundrum - EU health experts are due to vote
:00:13. > :00:15.on whether or not to extend the licence for glyphosate over
:00:16. > :00:19.Live from London, that's our top story on Wednesday
:00:20. > :00:39.The industry say it's harmless and necessary
:00:40. > :00:46.for farmers but opponents claim it's carcinogenic.
:00:47. > :00:48.Also in the programme, China's Communist Party
:00:49. > :00:50.unveils its new top leadership with no obvious successor among
:00:51. > :01:02.We'll find out what it means for the economy.
:01:03. > :01:07.Of course, we will bring you up to date with the latest from the
:01:08. > :01:08.markets. Following a healthy run in Asia overnight, European markets
:01:09. > :01:11.have opened. Once the leader in smartphone
:01:12. > :01:13.technology, Blackberry left the handset game last year
:01:14. > :01:15.to focus on software. We'll be speaking to
:01:16. > :01:18.the Chief Executive about the move. And a handwritten note containing
:01:19. > :01:22.Albert Einstein's formula for happiness has fetched
:01:23. > :01:26.$1.3 million at auction. So, we want to know -
:01:27. > :01:31.what's your secret to happiness? Apart from watching BBC Business
:01:32. > :01:35.Life, of course! A two-year row over whether to ban
:01:36. > :01:52.the use of a common weed killer EU health experts are due to vote
:01:53. > :01:58.on whether to extend It's a chemical used by farmers
:01:59. > :02:04.and gardeners across the world To give you an idea,
:02:05. > :02:10.residue of the chemical has been And it was discovered in the urine
:02:11. > :02:19.of three-quarters of Germans tested, The reason this is worrying
:02:20. > :02:25.for some are the links A study in 2015 by the World Health
:02:26. > :02:36.Organisation's Cancer Agency found that it was probably
:02:37. > :02:38.carcinogenic to humans. Monsanto - which discovered
:02:39. > :02:40.the chemical and owns the Roundup brand -
:02:41. > :02:44.insists it is safe. The other issue is
:02:45. > :02:46.what could replace it. Several farmers unions
:02:47. > :02:47.have threatened lawsuits if the licence is not extended
:02:48. > :02:50.because they would have With me is our Economics
:02:51. > :03:11.Correspondent Andrew Walker. As Alice was mentioning, there is a
:03:12. > :03:15.lot riding on this decision? Yes, glyphosate is the most widely used
:03:16. > :03:19.pesticide and it is very important for farmers as it is currently
:03:20. > :03:22.practised, particularly in the European Union. There have been a
:03:23. > :03:27.number of estimates about potential economic costs if they were unable
:03:28. > :03:31.to use it. One study suggested ?1 billion per year would be the cost
:03:32. > :03:38.to British farmers. Other studies in France suggested even larger costs
:03:39. > :03:44.for French vine growers and cereal farmers. So, yes, a lot at stake,
:03:45. > :03:48.quite apart from the potential losses for the suppliers. Monsanto
:03:49. > :03:53.is one you mentioned. But there are other businesses that use the
:03:54. > :03:58.glyphosate in pesticides. It is also worth mentioning that the ability to
:03:59. > :04:02.use glyphosate is one of the key selling points of certain types of
:04:03. > :04:08.genetically modified crops, because they are resistant to glyphosate,
:04:09. > :04:12.which means that the soil around them can be sprayed with this
:04:13. > :04:21.pesticide, with this herbicide, and they survive intact and don't have
:04:22. > :04:26.to deal with competition from weeds. The politics behind this are
:04:27. > :04:29.interesting. The European Commission seems to be in favour of renewing
:04:30. > :04:33.the license, but the European Parliament sits on the other side of
:04:34. > :04:38.the fence? The European Parliament yesterday passed a resolution
:04:39. > :04:43.calling for glyphosate to be phased out over five years. The European
:04:44. > :04:46.Commission originally proposed a ten year renewal. They are now accepting
:04:47. > :04:49.it is likely to be shorter than that. In a meeting happening today
:04:50. > :04:53.they are looking for something between five and seven years. It is
:04:54. > :04:59.striking, they could come in principle, go ahead and simply do
:05:00. > :05:04.this if they wanted to. But they want to ensure that the member
:05:05. > :05:08.states are onside, because it is so politically sensitive. We had a
:05:09. > :05:12.petition signed by more than 1 million Europeans presented to the
:05:13. > :05:17.EU this week calling for no extension. I was speaking to
:05:18. > :05:20.somebody from the European Crop Protection Agency earlier who said
:05:21. > :05:25.there is very little evidence that it is carcinogenic. That is one of
:05:26. > :05:28.the big issues that has made this so controversial? Indeed. There are a
:05:29. > :05:31.couple of European agencies, one looking at food and one that
:05:32. > :05:38.chemicals, that have concluded glyphosate is probably OK. The main
:05:39. > :05:45.report against it is from, as Alice mentioned at the beginning, from the
:05:46. > :05:50.WHO's Cancer Research Agency, which thought it was probably carcinogenic
:05:51. > :05:53.to humans. That is based to a large extent on evidence from animal
:05:54. > :05:59.experiments and evidence looking at DNA damage in human cells. At the
:06:00. > :06:03.very least, it is fair to say that the scientific community does not
:06:04. > :06:04.regard it as established fact that it is dangerous. OK, thanks very
:06:05. > :06:09.much. Let's take a look at some of
:06:10. > :06:13.the other stories making the news. French carmaker PSA Group says it's
:06:14. > :06:15.seen its revenue rise strongly after it added Opel-Vauxhall sales
:06:16. > :06:18.numbers for the first time and increased deliveries
:06:19. > :06:23.in Europe and Latin America. The maker of Peugeot and Citroen
:06:24. > :06:28.cars saw a revenue rise of 31 percent to $17.6 billion
:06:29. > :06:30.in the third quarter Shares of Chipotle slumped more
:06:31. > :06:38.than 8% in late US trading after the Mexican food chain
:06:39. > :06:42.missed earnings expectations. The company has struggled to win
:06:43. > :06:44.back customers after at least two food safety scares
:06:45. > :06:50.and a hacking attack. The last pack of UK-made cigarettes
:06:51. > :06:53.has rolled off the production line The Japanese firm JTI which took
:06:54. > :07:02.over Gallaher in 2007 announced the closure of its Ballymena
:07:03. > :07:07.plant in 2014. More than 800 people
:07:08. > :07:13.were employed at the factory. China has revealed its new senior
:07:14. > :07:16.leadership committee but broke with tradition by not including
:07:17. > :07:18.a clear successor to What does it mean for the future
:07:19. > :07:39.of the Chinese economy? Just bring us up-to-date with what
:07:40. > :07:50.has been happening, and what does this all mean for the economy? Five
:07:51. > :07:55.new faces. What we now have is the upper echelons of power, the seven
:07:56. > :08:05.person body, filled now with people who are loyal to President Xi and
:08:06. > :08:08.what he wants to do with the economy. It continues to grow at a
:08:09. > :08:12.rate that many in the West would envy, but the rate is slowing and
:08:13. > :08:15.the government needs to deal with changes to big state-owned entities
:08:16. > :08:26.that employ millions of people but are struck down by terrible
:08:27. > :08:32.inefficiencies. Xi Jinping made it clear that he wants market reforms
:08:33. > :08:35.to remain in place, but he wants few of them but more of them,, the
:08:36. > :08:39.state-owned entities. We are not good to see sudden reforms that mean
:08:40. > :08:40.big bankruptcies and more privatisation. That is not going to
:08:41. > :08:43.happen. Asian shares outside of Japan edged
:08:44. > :08:50.higher on Wednesday, while US Treasury yields
:08:51. > :08:52.and the dollar got a lift following a report that Republican
:08:53. > :08:54.senators were leaning towards John Taylor to be the next
:08:55. > :09:02.Federal Reserve chief. That is a name you might hear a lot
:09:03. > :09:05.more than the future. But, Tokyo's Nikkei share average
:09:06. > :09:08.dropped for the first time in 17 days in choppy trade on Wednesday -
:09:09. > :09:11.it looks like there's been some investor profit taking
:09:12. > :09:13.following the recent record run of consecutive daily
:09:14. > :09:15.gains helped this week by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's
:09:16. > :09:24.coalition winning Sunday's election. Meanwhile, here in Europe,
:09:25. > :09:37.stocks have opened Wednesday. Fairly mixed, but it is only really
:09:38. > :09:39.the London FTSE 100 that is slightly down.
:09:40. > :09:41.And Samira Hussain has the details about what's ahead
:09:42. > :09:46.Earnings continue on Wednesday with Coca-Cola reporting
:09:47. > :09:51.Now, while it is best known for soft drinks it seems bottled iced coffee
:09:52. > :09:57.Its rival, PepsiCo, reported a drop in soda sales in North America.
:09:58. > :10:00.That could be an indication that Coke have gained some market share
:10:01. > :10:17.Now, the world's biggest playmaker saw an increase in total
:10:18. > :10:20.That was really led by more single-aisle 737 jets.
:10:21. > :10:22.But fewer higher valued widebody deliveries.
:10:23. > :10:24.Finally Visa, the world's largest payments processor
:10:25. > :10:27.Now, with consumer spending rising, people were using the payment
:10:28. > :10:33.That means this past quarter will likely have been a good
:10:34. > :10:43.Richard Dunbar is Investment Director at Aberdeen
:10:44. > :10:55.Good to see you, nice to have you on the programme. Some healthy earnings
:10:56. > :11:00.reports from the US, helping to push the Wall Street stocks to a new
:11:01. > :11:08.record high? Indeed, probably a good job. We are seeing reasonably good
:11:09. > :11:16.results from the likes of Caterpillar, GM, it is a reasonable
:11:17. > :11:21.result. Next, the generally good results from banks in the US. Tell
:11:22. > :11:25.us what is happening with UK earnings? More mixed. There has been
:11:26. > :11:30.a well-publicised drop in the pound and the pressure that puts on the
:11:31. > :11:32.consumer. We have the likes of Whitbread yesterday, companies
:11:33. > :11:37.finding it more difficult to make progress in the UK and more broadly
:11:38. > :11:40.in Europe. Things are a little bit more difficult and that is what we
:11:41. > :11:45.are seeing in the results coming through. I mentioned earlier that
:11:46. > :11:55.finally that slight dip we have seen in Tokyo, after the huge consecutive
:11:56. > :12:00.run of daily gains? Week now have a strong government, a weaker yen,
:12:01. > :12:07.positive for exporters. Now the focus is back on what Prime Minister
:12:08. > :12:11.Abe is going to do. The tax policy, interest policy and trying to
:12:12. > :12:15.restore or improve some of the governance around the Japanese
:12:16. > :12:18.corporate sector. We are going to focus on that. That is why the
:12:19. > :12:23.market has weakened back to real life, if you like. That is where the
:12:24. > :12:26.real challenge lies, the big structural reforms that seem to be
:12:27. > :12:29.quite slow to actually come into practice? Cutting interest rates,
:12:30. > :12:32.reducing tax is quite straightforward. The whole
:12:33. > :12:35.restructuring, the changing governance, the change in the wake
:12:36. > :12:41.Japanese companies do business, it is a very positive change. What we
:12:42. > :12:49.have seen so far has been taken very well by markets. It is much more
:12:50. > :12:52.difficult than the first two that he helpfully fired. We're going to talk
:12:53. > :12:57.about the Albert Einstein note that fetched more than $1 million at
:12:58. > :13:02.auction about happiness. Have a think about what your secret to
:13:03. > :13:05.happiness is. I have been told the secret to happiness is champagne,
:13:06. > :13:10.champagne and more champagne. That is one of the market guests. That is
:13:11. > :13:11.Ron Jeremy, good to know that you are watching even when you are not
:13:12. > :13:12.doing the markets. Still to come, Blackberry's comeback
:13:13. > :13:15.- but without the iconic handset. We'll be speaking to
:13:16. > :13:17.the Chief Executive about how the company's doing now it's left
:13:18. > :13:19.the hardware market. You're with Business
:13:20. > :13:36.Live from BBC News. Lloyds Banking Group profits soared
:13:37. > :13:38.9% to ?2 billion in it's An upbeat trading update
:13:39. > :13:42.from the bank called Theo Leggett has been
:13:43. > :13:58.going through the numbers. It does generally seem to be good
:13:59. > :14:05.news. What's interesting is the reaction from shareholders. As you
:14:06. > :14:08.can see, the Lloyds share price did dip 1.5% on opening. This is largely
:14:09. > :14:12.because the results are slightly lower than expectations. That is
:14:13. > :14:15.because expectations were so high. Lloyds had a very good first half of
:14:16. > :14:22.the year. The last quarter has also been very good. Figures massaged
:14:23. > :14:25.edit by the fact that we have a big allocation for payment protection
:14:26. > :14:30.insurance. Even so, if you look at the figures over the past nine
:14:31. > :14:35.months, pre-tax profit of ?4.5 billion, up 38% on last year. It is
:14:36. > :14:38.generating profits. The government has sold the final tranche of
:14:39. > :14:46.shares. Things are looking up for this bank, I think. What is behind
:14:47. > :14:48.the profit growth? If you listen to the chief Executive, simply that
:14:49. > :14:54.they have a prudent approach to investing. That the UK economy has
:14:55. > :14:59.remained largely resilient. Also worth noting that these results
:15:00. > :15:05.don't contain any new provisions for PPI, payment protection insurance
:15:06. > :15:10.compensation. In July, ?700 million was put aside for compensation, but
:15:11. > :15:13.this time there is nothing put aside, even though it is still
:15:14. > :15:17.getting a lot of applications. Getting out of the way is a
:15:18. > :15:20.significant moment for the bank, as well as the fact that earlier this
:15:21. > :15:34.year the government back are out. It is putting crisis in previous good
:15:35. > :15:41.-- bad management behind it. Lovely stuff, thank you. Plenty of
:15:42. > :15:46.stories updated throughout the day on the website. On there at the
:15:47. > :15:51.moment, the fashion retailer jigsaw, talking about their marketing
:15:52. > :15:55.campaign, with the chief executive saying it is not political, just
:15:56. > :16:02.about basic humanity and values for us, saying we are a brand that
:16:03. > :16:05.relies on a multitude of diversity, fabric from Italy, people from
:16:06. > :16:10.Germany, people from Japan. We are showing that very few of us are 100%
:16:11. > :16:14.British. More details of that on our website.
:16:15. > :16:20.Our top story, the weed killer conundrum.
:16:21. > :16:23.EU health experts will vote on whether or not to extend
:16:24. > :16:28.Industry says it's harmless and necessary, but opponents claim
:16:29. > :16:40.Now, let's talk about something a little bit different, shall we?
:16:41. > :16:41.A full QWERTY keyboard, Blackberry Messenger and access
:16:42. > :16:46.At the start of the decade, the Blackberry smartphone was as
:16:47. > :16:55.But following the rise of both Apple and other Android-based rivals
:16:56. > :16:58.the company's share price has since plummeted over 80%.
:16:59. > :17:01.Last year, Blackberry took the landmark
:17:02. > :17:04.decision to stop manufacturing the handsets which the company
:17:05. > :17:08.Instead, the business is now focusing on online services
:17:09. > :17:10.such as cyber-security and driverless car technology.
:17:11. > :17:29.. Welcome. Good to see you. John, when he took over at Blackberry,
:17:30. > :17:33.charged with turning the company around, what did you pinpoint as the
:17:34. > :17:38.main problems that led to its demise from the dominant position it once
:17:39. > :17:42.held? Well, we obviously were losing money and market share. You pointed
:17:43. > :17:47.out a little bit earlier that we have some strong rivals that came
:17:48. > :17:55.kind of out of nowhere, so with that, we were missing the then
:17:56. > :18:01.trend. That was the issue we had to face. As I was saying earlier, you
:18:02. > :18:04.took the decision about a year ago now to stop producing the formerly
:18:05. > :18:08.ubiquitous Blackberry handset. Do you look back now at the decision
:18:09. > :18:15.with regret, do you think it was the right thing to do? Well, first of
:18:16. > :18:21.all, we didn't really leave the bones behind. We licensed to others
:18:22. > :18:25.to build all these iconic things you mentioned. It is regret for only
:18:26. > :18:30.that we used to do everything, from putting it together, but now we have
:18:31. > :18:36.other people doing it. We licensed it and we manage the brand. I think
:18:37. > :18:41.the good days of the phone could yet come back but Blackberry will get a
:18:42. > :18:47.royalty payment however broadly they sell the phone. So your focus is now
:18:48. > :18:51.very much on software and interestingly moving into the
:18:52. > :18:55.driverless car technology said. It strikes me that almost every day
:18:56. > :18:58.another company says they are going into driverless car technology. I
:18:59. > :19:03.enter such a competitive field rather than focus on what you are
:19:04. > :19:08.known for, cyber security, and just do that thing really well without
:19:09. > :19:14.getting distracted? Wonderful questions. First of all, a car also
:19:15. > :19:24.needs cyber security. Especially an autonomous driven car. It is very
:19:25. > :19:33.packable. -- it is very easy to hack. So we are applying that
:19:34. > :19:43.technology to cars. Secondly, we happen to own a company which is the
:19:44. > :19:46.largest car software company, delivering 60 million cars software.
:19:47. > :19:52.When I came into the company, I looked at all the assets, what do
:19:53. > :19:57.you do well? So I said I will look at what we do well rather than what
:19:58. > :20:04.you don't do well and cars happen to be one of the areas where we were
:20:05. > :20:09.dominant. Although we embed software and sell through others, providing
:20:10. > :20:14.it to the car manufacturer, you will see us getting a bigger and bigger
:20:15. > :20:17.footprint. But are we right in thinking that you are perhaps not as
:20:18. > :20:21.bullish as others in the market in thinking it may be longer than we
:20:22. > :20:26.think before we see the driverless cars on our roads in a mainstream
:20:27. > :20:30.way? Yes, I think there are a lot of problems to be solved and most of
:20:31. > :20:38.them are not technological. Some of them are cost structure but a lot of
:20:39. > :20:42.them are at Government level. We need to define how safe car must be
:20:43. > :20:47.before it is allowed on the road. There are a lot of different things.
:20:48. > :20:52.You can have a car driving along by itself as well as cars being driven
:20:53. > :20:58.by people like us. Mistakes be made. A decision needs to be taken in a
:20:59. > :21:02.split-second, so I think the public policy, the whole insurance market,
:21:03. > :21:11.who is liable, everything has got to change, so it is not as simple as me
:21:12. > :21:16.giving you a car. I could build you a car by 2021. I'd like to get back
:21:17. > :21:22.to your question earlier. I think the car market is heat so huge that
:21:23. > :21:27.it requires many players. So it is far from exaggerated.
:21:28. > :21:35.John, just very quickly, do you think Blackberry has had its glory
:21:36. > :21:42.days because it can never reproduce the dominant it had in that sector?
:21:43. > :21:46.It was king, wasn't it? It was, but as I say, every car has security and
:21:47. > :21:53.we manage that every day, so I think that is a dominance. John, thank you
:21:54. > :21:57.very much indeed. John Chen, chief executive at Blackberry.
:21:58. > :21:58.Yes, that is very interesting. Thank you.
:21:59. > :22:01.In a moment we'll take a look through the Business Pages but first
:22:02. > :22:04.here's a quick reminder of how to get in touch with us.
:22:05. > :22:10.The businesslike pages where you can keep up-to-date with all the gay's
:22:11. > :22:18.breaking business news. We will keep you up-to-date with insight and
:22:19. > :22:22.analysis from people worldwide. Get involved on the BBC's web page and
:22:23. > :22:40.on social media. First, let's read through some of
:22:41. > :22:44.the tweets you have been sending in because of the back of one of the
:22:45. > :22:47.paper stories we have been looking at today about Einstein having
:22:48. > :22:52.written this note about the secret to happiness and it being sold for
:22:53. > :22:58.$1.5 million, we asked you what your secret to happiness was. One from
:22:59. > :23:02.Barlow, finding another of Einstein's handwritten secrets. That
:23:03. > :23:07.would make him happy. From back then, good company, good sleep and
:23:08. > :23:12.good wine. Derek says not caring what others think about you. Ray
:23:13. > :23:16.says family, food and football. And Jerome says sunset over the Thames.
:23:17. > :23:24.Remember to appreciate the little things in life. Very good points.
:23:25. > :23:35.Richard, your million-dollar secret to happiness. A free putt on the
:23:36. > :23:37.golf course. I think shopping for handbags and shoes and never feeling
:23:38. > :23:43.bad about yourself. How about you? I think focus on what
:23:44. > :23:48.you have rather than what you haven't got. It's so cheesy, isn't
:23:49. > :23:53.it? So much nicer than my response
:23:54. > :24:05.though. Getting back to the article, what did you make of it? I
:24:06. > :24:15.suppose we are going to focus instead on the situation in Dubai,
:24:16. > :24:20.we have clients in Dubai, I have friends who do business in Dubai and
:24:21. > :24:24.I have spent there myself. It is a place we can do business but it is a
:24:25. > :24:27.different way of doing business, a different culture and a different
:24:28. > :24:32.way of running a country, both in Dubai and in the broader Middle
:24:33. > :24:37.East. Because this particular article in the independent follows
:24:38. > :24:44.the arrest and subsequent release of 27-year-old electrician Jamie Haran
:24:45. > :24:47.who was arrested in Dubai for public indecency and then this article was
:24:48. > :24:52.written by the former managing director of Leeds united following
:24:53. > :24:57.his experience of working in Dubai. Yes, he was trying to transact in
:24:58. > :25:02.the football market, trying to buy assets into Dubai and ended up in
:25:03. > :25:06.jail rather like Jamie Haran. There are obviously different experiences
:25:07. > :25:09.people have of doing business in Dubai and the broader Middle East
:25:10. > :25:13.and experiences are mixed but the culture, governance, the way of
:25:14. > :25:22.running the country's, it is all difference. I was reading the
:25:23. > :25:24.article on my way into work this morning and it goes into a lot of
:25:25. > :25:29.detail about the experience of trying to get help and how difficult
:25:30. > :25:33.it was. There are sensitivities, aren't there, as people don't want
:25:34. > :25:40.to risk offending local customs and cultures but equally with this
:25:41. > :25:47.example of, what was his name again, the Leeds united chap who was there,
:25:48. > :25:51.he was just there to take a case to court and it went rather sour. A
:25:52. > :25:55.really interesting article. Well worth a read. Richard, really good
:25:56. > :25:55.to see you. We will see you again soon.
:25:56. > :26:04.Thank you again for all of your tweets. We have so many this
:26:05. > :26:14.morning. We will see you again soon. But by Finau. -- goodbye for now. It
:26:15. > :26:17.is another mild start to the day across the south-east of England but
:26:18. > :26:21.here we have got a bit of cloud and one or two spots of rain. That
:26:22. > :26:25.should clear away and for most of us today it should be dry with good
:26:26. > :26:26.spells of sunshine as well.