:00:02. > :00:06.headlines: A Greek tragedy in the making. Antonis Samaras has only
:00:06. > :00:16.days to prevent his country from running out of money.
:00:16. > :00:18.
:00:18. > :00:21.Japan's last ditch attempt to push through its finance bill.
:00:22. > :00:25.The head of the European Central Bank has supported German plans for
:00:25. > :00:33.a new currency commissioner, which would have the power to veto
:00:33. > :00:41.budgets set by European governments that broker strict spending
:00:41. > :00:51.guidelines. -- that violate street spending guidelines.
:00:51. > :00:54.
:00:54. > :00:59.-- strict. Thank you for joining us.
:00:59. > :01:04.The working group meeting today - what is going to be top of the
:01:04. > :01:08.agenda? Greece. We are coming close to decision time again. Greece is
:01:08. > :01:13.running out of money and they require this next tranche of the
:01:13. > :01:17.bail out very soon. The Troika in Athens has found that Greece is
:01:17. > :01:22.very far along the way on its reform promises and fiscal cuts but
:01:23. > :01:27.there are still some serious issues remaining. First, labour-market
:01:28. > :01:31.reforms in particular. Second, how to finance a potential two-year
:01:31. > :01:39.extension of the programme, which would cost extra money which would
:01:39. > :01:44.have to come from somewhere. When will we see some deals done
:01:44. > :01:49.and announced regarding this two- year time frame? Last week, the
:01:49. > :01:55.Greek Finance Minister told parliament that the two extra years
:01:56. > :01:59.had been agreed upon but that was denied by the Troika. This working
:01:59. > :02:04.group meeting today is probably not high ranking enough to announce
:02:04. > :02:09.major decisions. Eurozone finance ministers will meet on Wednesday
:02:09. > :02:13.and that might be when the announcement is made. It still
:02:14. > :02:18.might not be in the final decision. That will be up to the leaders. In
:02:18. > :02:24.terms of running out of money, we now understand that this is a
:02:24. > :02:31.flexible matter. But November is definitely when they must make a
:02:31. > :02:41.decision. We will receive a decision some time... There is also
:02:41. > :02:45.talk about restructuring the debt, which Germany is not keen on.
:02:45. > :02:53.questioning about how to finance these next two years... There are
:02:53. > :02:59.different ways to provide the money. One would be lower interest rates.
:02:59. > :03:07.One would be to provide more money. The Troika would prefer to cut the
:03:07. > :03:12.official public sector debt. It is likely that they will find
:03:12. > :03:16.some compromise were the official sector will have some of its debt
:03:16. > :03:26.forgiven, some interest rates will be cut and more additional money
:03:26. > :03:30.
:03:30. > :03:35.found. Thank you.
:03:35. > :03:40.From one debt crisis to another, Japan's national debt as a
:03:40. > :03:43.proportion of its income is nearly twice the size of Greece's.
:03:43. > :03:49.Spending has ballooned to cover reconstruction of areas devastated
:03:49. > :03:59.by last year's tsunami and the shutdown of most of the country's
:03:59. > :04:01.
:04:01. > :04:05.nuclear facilities. There has been political infighting,
:04:05. > :04:13.delaying any possible solution to the problem.
:04:13. > :04:20.Thank you for joining us. First, or explain how critical this
:04:20. > :04:25.is and what it means for the Japanese economy.
:04:25. > :04:35.On the one hand, this is irregular procedure in the Japanese
:04:35. > :04:40.government. It runs out of tax money every fiscal year. -- this is
:04:40. > :04:44.a usual, regular procedure in the Japanese government. The problem is
:04:44. > :04:49.that they need new legislation to make arrangements and they need a
:04:49. > :04:54.parliamentary agreement for that legislation. At this point in time,
:04:54. > :05:00.with political tensions as they are, this is a difficult issue. How will
:05:00. > :05:05.politicians find any middle ground? The opposition party is trying to
:05:06. > :05:11.use the opportunity to finally put out the government. The
:05:11. > :05:15.government's approval rating is at its lowest point in history. The
:05:15. > :05:19.opposition certainly has the opportunity to ask for fresh
:05:19. > :05:24.elections. The government is trying to stick to its plans. Further
:05:24. > :05:29.financing is desperately required. The economy is already heading to
:05:29. > :05:33.recession. We have low demand from China and the rest of the world
:05:33. > :05:38.economy. Also problems internally. Domestic support from the
:05:38. > :05:43.government is very critical. All eyes are on the Bank of Japan
:05:43. > :05:51.because the government has not been able to get its act together.
:05:51. > :06:01.is your outlook for the economy? How will the eurozone debt crisis
:06:01. > :06:04.affect matters? Will China's growth also affect
:06:04. > :06:10.matters? We were also hoping that domestic demand would be stronger
:06:11. > :06:14.this year, particularly on government spending for
:06:14. > :06:19.Reconstruction and trying to keep the economy together. The problem
:06:20. > :06:24.now is because of the political situation this is extremely
:06:24. > :06:29.unlikely. The Bank of Japan will meet tomorrow and basically, the
:06:29. > :06:38.situation is the same as in Europe and the US. Quantitative easing.
:06:38. > :06:42.Hopefully this will have a good effect on the economy.
:06:42. > :06:48.Staying with Japan, shares in Honda fell 6% today after it warned of
:06:48. > :06:53.lower profits due to anti-Japanese protests. The company made just
:06:53. > :07:02.over $1 billion in the three months to the end of September. Sales in
:07:02. > :07:06.China fell 40% because of violent protests sparked by a territorial
:07:06. > :07:11.dispute. Honda says it expects the anti-Japanese sentiment to continue
:07:12. > :07:17.for some months. Heathrow Airport is Europe's
:07:17. > :07:21.busiest, handling 17 million passengers per year. But its
:07:21. > :07:30.operators are struggling to make a profit. In a few hours, Heathrow
:07:30. > :07:36.Airport will release its latest quarterly results and it is
:07:36. > :07:41.expected to be posting serious losses.
:07:41. > :07:45.Heathrow Airport's operators used to be called the British Airport
:07:45. > :07:50.Authority. They have been told to take control of so many UK airports
:07:50. > :07:56.- Gatwick, Edinburgh and Stansted - they have decided to call
:07:56. > :08:03.themselves simply Heathrow. Can they pull themselves back into
:08:03. > :08:08.profit? In the first half of this year, they made a loss of $110
:08:08. > :08:12.million. Debt accrued to $17.7 billion. The interest paid on that
:08:12. > :08:16.debt was $600 million. Heathrow is not increasing revenue from
:08:17. > :08:21.passengers fast enough to keep up with the interest charges.
:08:21. > :08:27.Passenger numbers have tended to grow at 2.5% per year, roughly in
:08:27. > :08:34.line with growth in real GDP. He from hopes that growth will
:08:34. > :08:40.continue and increase. -- Heathrow hopes. How can the company ramp up
:08:40. > :08:46.activity at the airport? At peak times, aircraft land once every 45
:08:46. > :08:50.seconds. It is already operating to the limit of its capacity. Heathrow
:08:50. > :08:55.Airport's directors want to build a third runway but the UK government
:08:55. > :08:59.has deferred a decision on this contentious issue until after the
:08:59. > :09:04.next election. In the meantime, City, Gatwick and Birmingham have
:09:04. > :09:07.been offering their plans to the government on how they can take the
:09:07. > :09:12.future increase in air traffic, which Heathrow Airport will
:09:12. > :09:17.seemingly be unable to handle. But Heathrow hopes it can expand its
:09:17. > :09:22.capacity just a little bit more. Heathrow group's a grand plan is to
:09:22. > :09:26.reconfigure the output's layout so that its terminals are lined up
:09:26. > :09:30.neatly, sitting at right angles to the runway. This will make more
:09:30. > :09:36.efficient and profitable use of the space available but the rebuild
:09:36. > :09:46.will require yet another issue chunk of borrowing from its
:09:46. > :09:49.
:09:49. > :09:54.creditors. -- huge chunk. These are the markets at the moment.
:09:54. > :10:04.There is absolutely no trading today later in the New York Stock
:10:04. > :10:13.
:10:13. > :10:19.Exchange, which is closed because of Hurricane Sandy.
:10:19. > :10:25.The government has announced it was spent another �315 million for work
:10:25. > :10:29.on a new series of nuclear-armed submarines. The new submarines are
:10:29. > :10:35.supposed to maintain Britain's policy of nuclear deterrence but
:10:36. > :10:39.not everyone is happy with the decision.
:10:39. > :10:48.The British submarine firing a Trident missile in the Atlantic
:10:48. > :10:53.last week - just a test, the first in three years. This is one of four
:10:53. > :10:58.ageing submarines based on the Clyde, which maintain the UK's
:10:58. > :11:03.nuclear deterrent. They will be replaced over the next decade at a
:11:03. > :11:13.cost of between �10,000,000,000.- 1474760187 pounds. The Ministry of
:11:13. > :11:21.
:11:21. > :11:27.Defence -- a cost between �10 billion... And �20 billion. �3
:11:27. > :11:32.billion has been set aside for their design.... Kicks the Liberal
:11:32. > :11:36.Democrats and the coalition are keen on cheaper alternatives. The
:11:36. > :11:40.Scottish government is keen on removing the system if Scotland
:11:40. > :11:46.votes for independence. One in five people working in the UK are paid
:11:46. > :11:51.less than the living wage, the amount needed for a basic standard
:11:51. > :11:56.of living. These findings also suggest that low-paid workers are
:11:56. > :12:05.feeling the worst effects of a harsh economic climate.
:12:05. > :12:12.Coming up: Breakfast. Taking a look at what is happening across the
:12:12. > :12:22.Atlantic with Hurricane Sandy. That is from six o'clock this
:12:22. > :12:22.
:12:22. > :12:26.morning. This is BBC News. The headlines:
:12:26. > :12:31.President Obama has told Americans to take Hurricane Sandy very
:12:31. > :12:34.seriously as it approaches the east coast of the US. Michael Bloomberg
:12:34. > :12:43.has ordered the evacuation of thousands of people from low-lying
:12:43. > :12:49.areas in New York City. This is a serious storm. My first
:12:49. > :12:55.messages to all the people across the eastern seaboard, the mid-
:12:55. > :12:58.Atlantic going north - take this very seriously and follow the
:12:58. > :13:02.instructions of your state and local officials because they are
:13:02. > :13:05.going to be providing you with the best advice in terms of how to deal
:13:05. > :13:10.with this storm over the coming days.
:13:10. > :13:14.In Ukraine, the governing party of President Viktor Yanukovych has
:13:14. > :13:20.claimed victory in parliamentary elections. His party has received
:13:20. > :13:24.25% of the rate - are not enough to take the overall majority.
:13:25. > :13:28.A Greek magazine editor is due in court in a few hours, charged with
:13:28. > :13:36.violating privacy laws after publishing the names of around
:13:36. > :13:38.2,000 people who were allegedly hold private bank accounts in
:13:38. > :13:48.Switzerland. San Francisco has won the World
:13:48. > :13:58.
:13:58. > :14:01.Now it is time for our newspaper review where Sally and I look at
:14:01. > :14:05.the stories making headlines around the world. Hurricane Sandy is on
:14:05. > :14:12.the front page of the China Daily. Thousands of flights have been
:14:12. > :14:15.suspended as America prepares for one of the worst storms in years.
:14:15. > :14:21.With just over a week to go before the US presidential election, the
:14:21. > :14:24.Times reports on key battleground states for the two candidates.
:14:24. > :14:27.Lloyds reform bid to axe sales incentives is the headline in the
:14:27. > :14:31.Financial Times. The Moscow Times reports on Aeroflot's plans to
:14:31. > :14:35.start a low cost airline. The head of the European Central Bank, Mario
:14:35. > :14:38.Draghi, has said he would support proposals to give the EU the power
:14:38. > :14:47.to veto the budgets of member countries. That story in the South
:14:47. > :14:50.China Morning Post. The Guardian reports American television network
:14:50. > :14:54.NBC has bought the rights to show English Premier League football in
:14:55. > :14:58.the United States for three years. To discuss these, Sally and I are
:14:58. > :15:08.joined by Michael Hewson, a senior market analyst from CMC Markets.
:15:08. > :15:16.Welcome to the programme. The China Daily, Hurricane Sandy, someone
:15:16. > :15:19.describing it as once in a century weather phenomenon. Of course we
:15:19. > :15:25.can look at the financial implications, but it is a reminder
:15:25. > :15:30.of how powerless we are in the face of Mother Nature. One of the things
:15:30. > :15:35.about this year, the huge weather events we have seen. You look at
:15:35. > :15:43.Spain, you look at the drought. The weather seems to be getting an
:15:43. > :15:48.awful lot worse. This one is closing the New York Stock Exchange.
:15:48. > :15:58.It could be interesting. intruded a conversation about
:15:58. > :16:09.
:16:09. > :16:16.climate change? That has kind of died down. -- has it triggered.
:16:16. > :16:26.it also brings up nuclear power. That is Brom -- probably the
:16:26. > :16:29.
:16:29. > :16:35.cheapest option. Japan has bandit, Germany has. -- banned it. Where
:16:35. > :16:40.are our energy needs going to come from? I would mention the US
:16:40. > :16:49.presidential election. It could work in President Obama's favour.
:16:49. > :16:59.It could make him look presidential. Commander In Chief. That the 18th
:16:59. > :17:07.
:17:07. > :17:12.is in the Times as well. -- in the Times. This remote state of Ohio is
:17:12. > :17:20.very important. No presidential candidate has taken the race
:17:20. > :17:27.without Ohio. All the networks are covering it. It is going to go to
:17:27. > :17:34.the wire. The weather problems could impact of voting. Are you
:17:34. > :17:42.surprised how quickly this race has changed? Five weeks ago people were
:17:42. > :17:47.saying this is Obama's Toulouse. It is now neck-and-neck. -- to lose.
:17:47. > :17:52.Yes, it has surprised me. A lot of people in the financial markets did
:17:52. > :17:59.not rate Mitt Romney. Despite the fact on Friday we saw a very good
:17:59. > :18:08.GDP number. What is key is the latest jobs report out on Friday.
:18:08. > :18:12.If that is a good number it could swing it to Obama. Is there a
:18:12. > :18:19.candidate that the financial markets would prefer? Would they
:18:19. > :18:24.prefer another four years of an Obama Administration? Mitt Romney
:18:24. > :18:31.has gone on record as saying he wants to replace Ben Bernanke. That
:18:31. > :18:37.could have impacts on the Fed's monetary policy. If the Fed decides
:18:37. > :18:41.it wants to hold back, it could adversely affect equity markets. I
:18:41. > :18:47.think the status quo is the preferable option rather than the
:18:47. > :18:52.unknown of Mitt Romney. Let's be honest, he is a bit gaffe-prone. I
:18:52. > :18:58.recall the comments he made in London about the Olympics. That did
:18:58. > :19:08.not go down too well. We will have DC. Not long to wait now. The
:19:08. > :19:15.
:19:15. > :19:19.Financial Times, Lloyds Bank and the reforms. -- have to see.. It
:19:19. > :19:29.has cost the banks dearly, they are looking to mitigate that. They have
:19:29. > :19:37.set aside �4 billion at Lloyd's. Replacing the practice of selling
:19:37. > :19:42.and rewarding customer service. How are they going to do that? This PPI
:19:42. > :19:48.thing, they estimate the final bill will be �15 billion. Three times
:19:48. > :19:53.the original estimates. I think Barclays is due to report later
:19:53. > :19:59.this week it will have to increase its provisions as well. It is not
:19:59. > :20:09.just addressing this problem, it is a PR exercise. The banks are really
:20:09. > :20:19.
:20:19. > :20:29.suffering at the moment on a multitude of fronts. LIBOR as well.
:20:29. > :20:30.
:20:30. > :20:39.Let's look at the Moscow Times. Aeroflot will unveil a plan to have
:20:39. > :20:48.a carrier between London and Moscow. Budget carriers could be going neck
:20:48. > :20:57.and neck? Yes, Easyjet were looking to open a Moscow route from around
:20:57. > :21:02.�125 return. It is a competitive market. Aeroflot, it has got a bit
:21:02. > :21:10.of a reputation. I am not sure I would like to fly with them. Can I
:21:10. > :21:20.say that? You just did. Before Aeroflot can become a low-cost
:21:20. > :21:21.
:21:21. > :21:30.carrier, there needs to be a change in the laws in Russia. They have to
:21:30. > :21:35.change the requirement to feed passengers and four baggage.
:21:35. > :21:43.think you have to pay for baggage on Easyjet. I do not think that is
:21:43. > :21:49.an issue. Most of them are doing it. Let's look at what Mario Draghi has
:21:49. > :21:54.been saying. He did an interview with a German magazine. I was
:21:54. > :22:02.looking at 20 yesterday and there were dozens of comments about this.
:22:02. > :22:06.-- at Twitter. He agrees with Germany on the idea that European
:22:06. > :22:13.officials will be able to veto it national government budgets if they
:22:13. > :22:19.are not sticking to the rules. Very controversial. Hugely controversial.
:22:19. > :22:27.There is a massive democratic deficit already. You are already
:22:27. > :22:33.seeing polarisation in Spain in respects to EU demands. You have
:22:33. > :22:40.got an election in Catalonia next month. That could be a vote on
:22:40. > :22:47.succession. That is a key thing. They are going to have to change
:22:47. > :22:52.the treaty. Germany wants it. will ask you very quickly, for
:22:52. > :22:58.someone who travels back and forth across the Atlantic, are you
:22:58. > :23:02.pleased you can watch the English Premier League on the NBC? Let's
:23:02. > :23:12.hope they do a better job than the Olympics. There was a lot of
:23:12. > :23:22.negative feedback about that. $250 million. Absolutely. Good stuff.
:23:22. > :23:25.
:23:25. > :23:31.That's it. That is the newspaper That's it. That is the newspaper
:23:31. > :23:35.review. After a bit of a mixed weekend, this week promises some
:23:35. > :23:38.pretty typical autumnal weather. We see some rain, especially in the
:23:38. > :23:42.south. It is breezy as well. Brighter towards the northern half
:23:42. > :23:45.of the UK. The satellite image shows the cloud moving further
:23:45. > :23:50.southwards overnight. Clearer skies in the north and the west. That
:23:50. > :23:54.will continue on Monday. In the morning it is a fairly damp and
:23:54. > :24:02.mild in the south. 4-6 degrees. It is cooler further north. A touch of
:24:02. > :24:07.frost. It is rather mild and rather grey as we begin in the south-east.
:24:07. > :24:11.A few spots of drizzly rain. 8-9 degrees. The rain quite persistent
:24:11. > :24:14.across the southern counties of England. One or two light showers
:24:14. > :24:18.for the Channel Islands and some heavy rain across Devon and