:00:01. > :00:11.credible. Those are the latest headlines, now
:00:11. > :00:15.
:00:15. > :00:19.it is time for World Business Report.
:00:19. > :00:24.Welcome to World Business Report. Global food prices are on the rise
:00:24. > :00:27.after severe droughts in the US and Russia and a lack of sunshine in
:00:27. > :00:32.Europe. As the US Republican Party tries to
:00:32. > :00:42.swing the political debate back to the economy, exactly what are their
:00:42. > :00:43.
:00:43. > :00:46.economic plans? Officials from the G20 group of
:00:47. > :00:52.nations will decide this week whether to call an emergency
:00:52. > :01:02.conference on food prices. The cost of corn, wheat and so we have
:01:02. > :01:08.soared over the last couple of months -- soy.
:01:08. > :01:11.In Europe, a lack of sunshine is also producing poor harvests. There
:01:11. > :01:16.will be significant price rises in the months to come.
:01:17. > :01:25.At any hint of a dry spell, you up's cereal farmers have been
:01:25. > :01:28.scrambling to finish the harbour's -- Europe's.
:01:28. > :01:34.The only relief for many farmers is that they have been able to sell
:01:34. > :01:40.their grain at a higher price than usual. The price will save the day
:01:40. > :01:45.for us, no question. The world prices rising almost daily. We are
:01:45. > :01:48.riding on the back of that. While farmers might be delighted to see
:01:48. > :01:53.cash being funnelled into their pockets, consumers will not be so
:01:53. > :01:57.happy. Wheat prices are up, even though the quality of the harvest
:01:57. > :02:02.is down. To give you a better idea of that, we can look at some of the
:02:02. > :02:09.grain from last year's harvest. You might be able to see that they are
:02:09. > :02:13.very fact and swollen. Great for making flower. If you look at some
:02:13. > :02:20.of the grain from this year's harvest, you can see they're very
:02:20. > :02:26.thin, not good for making flower. The real worry is the impact that
:02:26. > :02:32.these prices could have on consumers all over the world. While
:02:32. > :02:35.some regions of Europe has been getting too much rain, other parts
:02:35. > :02:39.haven't been getting any. America is under pressure to reduce the
:02:39. > :02:46.amount of corn that goes into ethanol production. Russia is under
:02:46. > :02:56.pressure not to impose an export Supertext captions by Red Bee Media
:02:56. > :03:00.
:03:00. > :03:06.- www.redbeemedia.com.au. Consumers are set to suffer -- ban.
:03:06. > :03:09.A lot of staples will become a lot more costly. Even if the G20 does
:03:09. > :03:17.decide to convene an emergency meeting on a food crisis, it's hard
:03:17. > :03:21.to see what practical measures it could take. Russia, despite its
:03:21. > :03:27.membership to of the WTO, could decide to store up all its grain
:03:27. > :03:30.for itself. The Republican National Convention
:03:30. > :03:34.was supposed to open later today but the arrival of Tropical Storm
:03:34. > :03:37.Isaac has forced it to be postponed until Tuesday. The event is
:03:37. > :03:44.supposed to be about nominating Mitt Romney and emphasising his
:03:44. > :03:49.plans for the economy. As the party heads towards the election, it is
:03:49. > :03:58.keen to turn the campaign focus back to the economy. What are the
:03:58. > :04:02.Republicans' economic plans? I am joined by a market strategist. As I
:04:02. > :04:06.was saying, last week Mitt Romney focused quite strongly on social
:04:06. > :04:12.issues. This week, whenever the conference gets going, we're
:04:12. > :04:16.expecting to hear him move on to the safer ground of the economy.
:04:16. > :04:20.Executive competence has always been the core theme of his campaign.
:04:20. > :04:25.I think he has had a huge problem getting his message across. Those
:04:25. > :04:30.people who live away from the coastlines tend to vote Republican.
:04:30. > :04:34.He has got a captive audience there. Without being offensive in any way,
:04:34. > :04:39.the intelligentsia tend to be around the coast and they vote
:04:39. > :04:47.Democrat. There is money in that area. They tend not to be listening
:04:47. > :04:50.to carefully to what Mitt Romney has to say. I think what is
:04:50. > :04:55.significant is, not so much the running partner for the Republican
:04:55. > :04:59.nomination, but the fact that he has got an agenda. We may not like
:04:59. > :05:03.it, but we are going to have to listen to Mitt Romney. What he's
:05:03. > :05:11.saying is that the level of debt in the United States is completely
:05:11. > :05:15.unacceptable. Let's talk about Paul Ryan, his running mate and that
:05:15. > :05:19.strong statement that Mitt Romney has made by choosing him as his
:05:19. > :05:27.running partner. They have put themselves forward, haven't they,
:05:27. > :05:32.as the duo that are making tough economic decisions? There or that
:05:32. > :05:37.axing public spending and taxation while Obama is apparently not.
:05:37. > :05:40.is more of an emphasis. What Paul Ryan is saying, as I am
:05:40. > :05:45.understanding it, is that there is a 16 trillion dollar budget deficit,
:05:45. > :05:50.which is unacceptable. He insists that over the next four years they
:05:50. > :05:57.cut it by five trillion dollars, and Obama is saying they will cut
:05:57. > :06:02.it by four trillion dollars. Obama has already made it very clear that
:06:02. > :06:05.defence is not high on his agenda, whereas the Republicans basically,
:06:05. > :06:09.their mantra is that the defence of the United States is the most
:06:09. > :06:17.important thing in the world, therefore spending on defence will
:06:17. > :06:22.probably go up. What is likely to happen is that most people think,
:06:22. > :06:28.and I think it right, that when we have this debate - we have had Ron
:06:28. > :06:31.Paul, who has been a real irritant to the Grand Old People's Party,
:06:31. > :06:36.for the fact that he is saying that he insists that the Federal Reserve
:06:36. > :06:42.tells everyone what is going on. He wants total transparency. They're
:06:42. > :06:52.all saying "Galway, you are irritating us". He has got his son
:06:52. > :06:58.
:06:58. > :07:02.there, and his party there -- go away... His message will be heard
:07:02. > :07:05.and it will make a very interesting debate. I suspect that what will
:07:05. > :07:10.happen at the end of the day is that President Barack Obama will
:07:10. > :07:16.probably be re-elected, but the problem is that he has had a rotten
:07:16. > :07:20.relationship with Congress, which has not done him any favours.
:07:20. > :07:27.mentioned defence spending - Mitt Romney has pledged to make it one
:07:27. > :07:32.of the foremost things they do. Absolutely. Many thanks for your
:07:32. > :07:41.thoughts. Shares of Samsung have taken a
:07:41. > :07:45.tumble today. They had indeed taken something of
:07:45. > :07:50.a tumble. They have suffered their biggest fall in a single day after
:07:50. > :07:54.the US jury found the technology giant to have copied designs from
:07:54. > :08:01.Apple. That was a decision from last week. The South Korean
:08:01. > :08:05.company's shares fell as much as 7.5%, the most since October 2008.
:08:05. > :08:10.The company was ordered to pay just over a billion dollars in damages
:08:10. > :08:15.to Apple. Samsung says it will appeal that verdict. Fears are that
:08:15. > :08:19.the case may not rest there. Samsung might be in for potentially
:08:19. > :08:23.even more losses. Apple has said it will seek an injunction to block
:08:23. > :08:28.sales of Samsung products in the United States at a court hearing
:08:28. > :08:38.next month. One of the big concerns for Samsung is whether Apple will
:08:38. > :08:43.target the Galaxy phone, which was not the case of that trial. This is
:08:43. > :08:49.Samsung's best selling smartphone. It is included in a US ban of sales,
:08:49. > :08:59.that will give Apple a key advantage in the market. Today's
:08:59. > :09:03.
:09:03. > :09:07.sell-off in the market in Korea has wiped off some $12 billion.
:09:07. > :09:14.Some of the business stories: Fires continue to burn their Venezuela's
:09:14. > :09:21.because oil refinery after a deadly explosion earlier on Saturday.
:09:21. > :09:27.Officials from the Venezuelan state oil company said they have that
:09:27. > :09:33.situation under control now. The number of dead is up to 41. More
:09:33. > :09:35.than 80 others were injured. A prominent Italian bank has
:09:35. > :09:39.confirmed it is co-operating with an American investigation into a
:09:39. > :09:46.possible breach of sanctions. The bank is thought to have brought
:09:47. > :09:51.sanctions against Iran, according to reports by the Financial
:09:51. > :09:58.Times.... This news follows similar