:00:19. > :00:25.This is BBC News. The headlines: The Australian via services New
:00:25. > :00:30.South Wales is facing one of the most dangerous days in its history
:00:30. > :00:34.-- Australian Rural Fire Service. Conditions are described in the
:00:34. > :00:39.most populous state of Australia as catastrophic. The Afghan president
:00:39. > :00:47.is expected in Washington later today for a meeting with the future
:00:47. > :00:51.of his country will be discussed. The man accused of carrying out a
:00:51. > :00:55.mass shooting in a cinema in the US state of Colorado has appeared in
:00:55. > :01:00.court for his pre-trial hearing. James Holmes is accused of killing
:01:00. > :01:04.12 people in the attack. The Venezuelan government has released
:01:04. > :01:09.more information about the condition of President Hugo Chavez.
:01:09. > :01:16.He is said to be in a stable condition in a hospital in Havana.
:01:16. > :01:26.He went to Cuba for an operation for his cancer -- for cancer
:01:26. > :01:27.
:01:27. > :01:34.treatment. Time for World Business Report.
:01:34. > :01:44.For the headlines: Technology lovers gather in Las Vegas for the
:01:44. > :01:49.annual Consumer Electronics Show. Smartphones and tap let's --
:01:49. > :01:55.tablets take Samsung to record profits in the 4th quarter of 2012.
:01:56. > :02:05.Anglo American is expected to name a new chief executive. He will take
:02:06. > :02:08.
:02:08. > :02:10.on one of the toughest jobs in the industry.
:02:10. > :02:17.The international Consumer Electronics Show, the largest trade
:02:18. > :02:23.show of its kind, begins in Las Vegas today. Recently, mobile
:02:23. > :02:27.devices have dominated. This year, half of the revenues from consumer
:02:27. > :02:36.electronics will come from mobile connected devices, smartphones,
:02:36. > :02:41.tablets, mobile computers and so on. But not everyone is there. Apple
:02:41. > :02:45.and Microsoft will not be at the event, hosting their own gatherings
:02:46. > :02:50.at a time that suits them better. Our correspondent, on the other
:02:50. > :02:58.hand, is definitely there. Everything looks very glamourous.
:02:58. > :03:06.What is happening this year? It is a glamourous place, yes. Welcome to
:03:06. > :03:10.Las Vegas. Pretty lively at the moment. Livelier than ever this
:03:10. > :03:17.week, when this huge trade show descends on the time. Hotels will
:03:17. > :03:21.all be full. There will be all sorts of new products unveiled. The
:03:21. > :03:25.show begins in a few hours' time but there have been some preview
:03:25. > :03:35.events where I have been able to look at some things and identify
:03:35. > :03:38.
:03:38. > :03:41.some of the main themes of this year.
:03:41. > :03:46.It is the freshest, most colourful place on earth, the place where
:03:46. > :03:51.America comes to party. But for one week in January, it is also the
:03:51. > :03:59.world's technology hot spot. The Consumer Electronics Show is coming
:03:59. > :04:07.to town. From sat nav two parking sensors, all sorts of new
:04:07. > :04:12.technology has entered cars in recent years. Now, the basic
:04:12. > :04:18.driving experience could be about to change. Toyota has been testing
:04:18. > :04:26.this vehicle that can effectively drive itself. Unlike Google, which
:04:26. > :04:32.has been testing its own vehicle, we will still be behind the wheel.
:04:32. > :04:36.You cannot see a day when I will be able to let the car to the work?
:04:36. > :04:41.would prefer you did not do that. I would prefer if you drove and the
:04:41. > :04:46.car made you a better driver. ideas fighting for attention. This
:04:46. > :04:52.could be the future of television - ultra-high definition. Amazing
:04:52. > :04:57.pictures at an equally amazing price. Wearable technology is a
:04:57. > :05:02.popular thing like these new glasses. I can watch a video or
:05:02. > :05:08.anything from my phone. They also have a camera looking out at the
:05:08. > :05:14.World and giving the information. As I Walker, I can ask which way to
:05:14. > :05:21.my hotel. It will give me directions. This is one way to get
:05:21. > :05:27.the phone to measure your polls and other vital signs. -- heart rate.
:05:27. > :05:34.This sense that tells you when to water your plants. And a smart
:05:34. > :05:37.spoon to help you eat slowly. Some of these will be successful and
:05:37. > :05:47.others will not. Technology continues to invade every area of
:05:47. > :05:50.
:05:50. > :05:58.our lives. Just in the last couple of hours, two of the main players
:05:58. > :06:03.in this industry, Sony and Samsung, have held huge press conferences.
:06:03. > :06:08.There are thousands of journalists here. Samsung is doing well and
:06:08. > :06:12.Sony is struggling, but both are unveiling a large television sets,
:06:12. > :06:16.promising that they will be hugely influential in the coming year. We
:06:16. > :06:21.will have to wait and see if those products will be of interest to
:06:21. > :06:27.consumers. One thing we have heard is that the electronics industry is
:06:27. > :06:36.still experiencing difficult times as a whole. Thank you. We look
:06:36. > :06:41.forward to hearing more from the event. And if you want more details
:06:41. > :06:51.about what is happening, you can follow our correspondent on Twitter.
:06:51. > :07:09.
:07:09. > :07:14.And you can go to our website as Samsung is also in the news for
:07:14. > :07:17.different reasons today. It says it is expecting to make a record
:07:18. > :07:24.profit for the three months to the end of last year, powered by
:07:24. > :07:30.growing sales of its smartphones. It has estimated $8.3 billion - 90%
:07:30. > :07:36.more when compared to the same time the year before. It will be the 5th
:07:36. > :07:41.quarter in a row of record profits for Samsung. Great to see you. Good
:07:41. > :07:47.news for Samsung and yet, their share prices are falling in South
:07:47. > :07:55.Korea today! It seems even these great results are not enough for
:07:55. > :07:59.investors. Well, they are basically looking at a not particularly
:07:59. > :08:04.brilliant year for Samsung. But looking at the numbers in 2012,
:08:04. > :08:10.particularly from October to December, the projected earnings
:08:10. > :08:15.are phenomenal. They say they sold more than 500 handsets per minute.
:08:15. > :08:21.60 million smartphones in one quarter. Those sales numbers
:08:21. > :08:26.continue to outpace their rivals Apple and HTC. Demand also
:08:26. > :08:32.increased for the flat screens they manufacture for mobile devices. The
:08:32. > :08:38.handset division doubled compared to one year ago. But despite those
:08:38. > :08:42.numbers, industry watchers are forecasting that is a run of record
:08:42. > :08:48.profits may end between January and March, 2013. This is what has
:08:48. > :08:54.affected the stock price on the Seoul market today. Investors are
:08:54. > :09:01.concerned that Samsung's momentum May's low in the first half of the
:09:01. > :09:04.year. -- may get smeller. The smartphone market is nearing
:09:04. > :09:12.saturation point. Some analysts disagree, saying it will be another
:09:12. > :09:20.record year for the technology guides -- giant. Smartphone sales
:09:20. > :09:25.may yet to double to 32 million units. And these are just the
:09:25. > :09:31.figures from October to December. The full 20 told figures will be
:09:31. > :09:37.unveiled on 25th January. -- 2012 figures. Anglo American is expected
:09:37. > :09:41.to name a new chief executive. Some members of the financial press say
:09:41. > :09:46.they may confirm this as soon as today but the Australian man will
:09:46. > :09:53.take on one of the toughest jobs in the industry. He began his career
:09:53. > :10:02.as a trainee mine worker and was a prominent figure in South Africa's
:10:02. > :10:12.mining industry. He is expected to use his experience to help smooth
:10:12. > :10:17.Anglo-American's half in South Africa. -- path. This is a very
:10:17. > :10:23.important deal. Some have been looking for Anglo American to
:10:23. > :10:29.change leadership for quite a while. That is correct. Unfortunately, the
:10:29. > :10:37.company failed to focus. Anglo American fell behind the curve with
:10:37. > :10:42.BHP and Rio Tinto. It has 40% of the world's plan and production.
:10:42. > :10:48.Even though this man is Australian, he has suffocate in his blood. He
:10:48. > :10:56.will do -- South Africa. He will do an excellent job. There were two
:10:56. > :11:01.other contenders and people talked about them but I think this is
:11:01. > :11:10.perfect casting and the market will approve. Very quickly, I will tell
:11:10. > :11:17.you why. Unfortunately, Anglo American did not focus. Tarmac,
:11:17. > :11:22.they sold that. They put it out of the portfolio, which was
:11:23. > :11:27.desperately important. Some hope that if he takes on the job, he
:11:27. > :11:31.well-diversified Anglo American away from South Africa to a degree
:11:31. > :11:40.because there is too much focus on that arm of the business. -- he
:11:40. > :11:46.will diversify. It is only a few months ago that... They are very
:11:46. > :11:54.committed there. If they can spread their wings and try to get a
:11:54. > :11:59.toehold in Australia, so be it. But it will take time. Thank you. We
:11:59. > :12:05.will be backing a few minutes to talk about the morning papers. But
:12:05. > :12:09.first, looking at the markets in Asia. Continued profit-taking today.
:12:09. > :12:14.We had a strong rally last week. It was a volatile week with the new
:12:14. > :12:21.year break but generally speaking, there is some profit taking. Shares
:12:21. > :12:31.have had a large rise in the last week will say. I will be back
:12:31. > :12:34.
:12:34. > :12:38.Ministers will vote later on plans to reintroduce -- introduce real
:12:38. > :12:44.turn cuts to benefits and tax credits. The proposed 1% annual
:12:44. > :12:48.increase for the next three years will be below inflation. The
:12:49. > :12:52.government says benefits should not increase faster than wages. The
:12:52. > :13:00.Labour Party and some Liberal Democrats will vote against the
:13:00. > :13:03.idea. The government says welfare spending has to be cut. It hopes to
:13:03. > :13:09.save �4 billion by halving the increase in most benefits to 1%
:13:09. > :13:13.over the next three years. That means a cut in the value of
:13:13. > :13:19.benefits such as jobseeker's allowance to be low inflation. Tax
:13:19. > :13:24.credits will go to people who are in employment but in modest incomes.
:13:24. > :13:28.Labour says that 60% of those affected are not employed and are
:13:28. > :13:33.struggling to get by and so will vote against these plans. At a time
:13:33. > :13:37.when we are cutting taxes for the richest in society, we are
:13:37. > :13:40.punishing the most vulnerable in society and those who are doing the
:13:40. > :13:50.right thing, these drivers and stragglers who David Cameron says
:13:50. > :13:54.
:13:54. > :14:01.he is fighting for. -- strivers and strugglers. The prime minister is
:14:01. > :14:08.challenging Labour to say why benefits should raise at a faster
:14:08. > :14:13.rate than wages. What would you cut? Schools, health, defence,
:14:13. > :14:19.social care? That is what we have to ask. It is time for the Labour
:14:19. > :14:23.Party to stop constantly indulging in opposition for opposition's sake.
:14:23. > :14:33.The government will win the vote but the argument over welfare
:14:33. > :14:39.
:14:39. > :14:46.spending will continue into the You are watching BBC News. The
:14:46. > :14:51.headlines: The Australian fire service says that NSW is facing one