:00:12. > :00:15.Welcome back to BBC News. A summary of the main international stories:
:00:15. > :00:18.A statement carried by North Korea's KCNA news agency says the
:00:18. > :00:23.country will carry out a third nuclear test aimed at the United
:00:23. > :00:27.States. The threat comes after a UN resolution condemning North Korea's
:00:27. > :00:32.recent long-range rocket launch. American Defence Secretary, Leon
:00:32. > :00:35.Panetta, is expected to end a ban on women serving in combat. The
:00:35. > :00:38.move overturns a 1994 rule stopping women from being assigned to small
:00:38. > :00:43.ground-combat units. It means women could be available for hundreds of
:00:43. > :00:45.thousands of front line positions and commando jobs. A day after
:00:45. > :00:48.British Prime Minister David Cameron promised an EU referendum,
:00:48. > :00:50.he'll address leaders from the diplomatic and business worlds
:00:50. > :00:53.later on Thursday, at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. He's
:00:53. > :00:56.expected to call for greater international cooperation on tax
:00:56. > :00:59.evasion. A French woman who was sentenced to 60 years in a Mexican
:00:59. > :01:09.prison on kidnapping charges is on her way home after the Mexican
:01:09. > :01:11.
:01:11. > :01:14.Supreme Court ruled that her trial was tainted. Those are the latest
:01:14. > :01:20.headlines will stop. Now, the latest financial news with World
:01:21. > :01:25.Business Report. Hello and welcome to World Business Report. Has the
:01:25. > :01:30.shine been wiped away from Apple? Record sales figures for the tech
:01:30. > :01:37.giant but investors don't seem happy. We'll have the latest from
:01:37. > :01:40.the World Economic Forum in Davos. We'll find out what one business
:01:40. > :01:50.leader thinks of David Cameron's proposal for an EU Referendum in
:01:50. > :01:50.
:01:50. > :01:55.the UK. Apple reported another set of record sales figures on
:01:55. > :02:00.Wednesday. The tech giant sold 47.8 million iPhones and 22.9 million
:02:00. > :02:05.iPad tablets. But, despite the numbers, investors were still
:02:05. > :02:08.disappointed. In after hours trade, shares slumped another 10%, wiping
:02:08. > :02:15.$50 billion off its value, after what's been a tough few months for
:02:15. > :02:25.the firm. But, what has worried the markets? Ben Thompson has been
:02:25. > :02:25.
:02:25. > :02:30.finding out in New York. For many, Apple is the company that can do no
:02:30. > :02:36.wrong. Each new product is launched with a fanfare. There's no shortage
:02:36. > :02:43.of loyal customers spending hundred dollars each time. Why are
:02:43. > :02:49.investors nervous? The share price could tell the story. Look at this.
:02:49. > :02:54.The shares hit $700 in September when it launched the iPhone five
:02:54. > :02:59.and since then it's all the way to under $500. That's the first time
:02:59. > :03:05.its Dunn in one year. Many investors fear that the best days
:03:05. > :03:09.but Apple may be behind him. That's partly thanks to the rivals who
:03:09. > :03:13.have caught up with their innovations. With little difference
:03:13. > :03:23.between smartphones and what they can do, many are reluctant to pay
:03:23. > :03:29.the premium for an Apple product. We newspeak about $500? Nadir would
:03:29. > :03:35.not take it. May be I would use it but otherwise have done it. That is
:03:35. > :03:41.reflected in the sales numbers. In that third quarter, manufacturers
:03:41. > :03:48.sold 181 million smartphones. Google's and draw it was installed
:03:49. > :03:53.on 75%. The Apple system was on me on 15%. Apple may sell pure
:03:53. > :03:58.handsets but it earns more money on each sale and despite the share
:03:58. > :04:00.slump it's a hugely successful business. Does the problem might
:04:00. > :04:07.would-be investors and their expectations rather than Apple
:04:07. > :04:13.itself? It's a fantasy world in which apple moves without friction
:04:13. > :04:18.at the speed of light up would and one would breaking records they
:04:18. > :04:25.deliver blockbuster products aren't out of thin air of but in reality,
:04:25. > :04:29.despite being a mammoth successful company and they need to invest and
:04:29. > :04:34.spend and grow and expand and they need to spend money and that eats
:04:34. > :04:38.into the products. Investors are used to record sales and soaring
:04:38. > :04:44.profits. They have increased competition and maintain the growth
:04:44. > :04:48.and it will not be easy. Just as Wall Street expects, that may be
:04:48. > :04:52.harder still. We've been reporting this week from the World Economic
:04:52. > :04:59.Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It's an opportunity for ministers,
:04:59. > :05:02.business leaders and policy experts to meet in a relaxed atmosphere.
:05:02. > :05:07.One issue under the spotlight is sure to be David Cameron's EU
:05:07. > :05:10.referendum proposal. The British Prime Minister is due to speak in
:05:10. > :05:13.Davos later this morning. One European business leader who
:05:13. > :05:15.understands why Mr Cameron has made this proposal is Axel Weber, the
:05:15. > :05:25.former head of Germany's central bank and current chairman of Swiss
:05:25. > :05:28.
:05:28. > :05:38.bank, UBS. As power is centralised in Europe, what he says his but he
:05:38. > :05:39.
:05:39. > :05:44.wants a binary choice. You in or are you out? That is a sensible
:05:44. > :05:49.proposition. As a European, pro- European, I hope the British
:05:49. > :05:52.population decides when the boat comes up that they see the benefits.
:05:52. > :06:01.Joining us from Davos now is Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of the global
:06:01. > :06:08.advertising group, WPP. Many thanks for joining me. It's a very cool
:06:08. > :06:14.morning. We just had their about thoughts about the proposal for the
:06:14. > :06:21.referendum. What do you make of this? Politically I understand the
:06:21. > :06:27.Prime Minister and his predicament. Maybe 16% of the poll's more from
:06:27. > :06:32.the Conservatives from Labour or he is in a political predicament to
:06:32. > :06:38.deal with., a business point of view, economically, it cannot be
:06:38. > :06:45.good news. At best, if you put a gloss on it will be neutral but at
:06:45. > :06:49.worst it will be negative in terms of uncertainty. There's enough
:06:49. > :06:53.uncertainty in the eurozone and the Middle East and China has a soft
:06:53. > :06:58.landing and the US deficit dealing with their debt crisis which is the
:06:58. > :07:03.biggest issue. Now we have added another problem and Middle East
:07:03. > :07:09.which is unpredictable and another one now with this referendum and we
:07:09. > :07:14.have to referendums, the one in Scotland at more uncertainty. At
:07:14. > :07:19.referendum, somewhere between 2015 or 2018 add more uncertainty and
:07:19. > :07:24.the multinationals have about to Turin dollars sitting on the ballot
:07:24. > :07:29.sheets and what we need do is talk about growth and employment and how
:07:29. > :07:34.we get the youth at work because 50% of the youth population does
:07:34. > :07:39.not have a job. We need to reduce the uncertainty. That is the
:07:39. > :07:46.problem. From a business point of view it's not easy. With luck have
:07:46. > :07:50.good terms, just like anybody else, we'd love that but we welcome the
:07:50. > :07:57.referendum but its 2015 all 2000 a team with the election in between
:07:57. > :08:02.and it's too much uncertainty. speak about the worry in five years
:08:02. > :08:07.and uncertainty. Yet, you have decided recently to move your head
:08:07. > :08:13.quarters back into London after four years in Ireland. Within the
:08:13. > :08:18.context of these debates, about the issue of corporation tax at, do you
:08:18. > :08:24.still view London as a good place to do business? I do. The
:08:24. > :08:30.Government has done a good job to deal with Paddy deficit. A good job
:08:30. > :08:36.to put the long-term plan together for the economy. Talking about the
:08:36. > :08:39.uncertainty, we moved back because precisely of the uncertainty and
:08:39. > :08:44.taxation on overseas profits. Under the Labour government there was a
:08:44. > :08:50.threat of a double taxation or overseas profits and that's why we
:08:50. > :08:57.and other companies have moved. The agenda is a wider issue. And one
:08:57. > :09:02.point, we did some polling online with the system at our company and
:09:02. > :09:06.it was interesting last night that the sample said they like the Prime
:09:06. > :09:11.Minister and his speech and the content and interestingly, it there
:09:11. > :09:17.was a referendum today they would be a vote to go out. That would
:09:17. > :09:22.distress many people. That would affect people with investments in
:09:22. > :09:27.the UK and that a posers everybody. This debate, which is very welcome
:09:27. > :09:33.to, a strong debate, open and democratic, the sooner that takes
:09:33. > :09:39.place the better. As I said, we have five is now of uncertainty and
:09:39. > :09:44.that's the last thing that we need. Briefly, we will get the chance to
:09:44. > :09:52.hear David Cameron later on and what do you hope to hear from him
:09:52. > :09:59.and you hope to get out of Davos this year? Davos is a good talk
:09:59. > :10:08.best and probably rightly, it's a chance to air their views and have
:10:08. > :10:13.a debate and talk with incredible form last 43 years. He wants us to
:10:13. > :10:20.be more optimistic and days Abbey more optimism and growth in the
:10:20. > :10:27.economy and I don't believe that 2013 will be any different to 2000
:10:27. > :10:34.well. We may see some growth of about 3% with inflation about 5%
:10:34. > :10:39.and if advertising stays about the same level, that gives us another
:10:39. > :10:47.room to manoeuvre. We do see a few positive signs and the most
:10:47. > :10:50.depressed economies in Spain with some good restructuring reforms and
:10:50. > :11:00.measures will be good. The Italian elections will create uncertainty
:11:00. > :11:01.
:11:01. > :11:11.but we hope that Mario Monti will make progress. The stock to bad
:11:11. > :11:30.
:11:30. > :11:33.Now for some more news from the UK. A backlog of more than 16,000
:11:33. > :11:35.unresolved immigration cases has been discovered by inspectors at UK
:11:35. > :11:39.Border Agency offices. Some of the cases involved people who'd been
:11:39. > :11:42.waiting up to a decade to find out if they could stay in the UK with
:11:42. > :11:51.their husbands or wives. The Home Office says it's taking action to
:11:51. > :11:57.deal with historical applications. Now this to more backlogs adding to
:11:57. > :12:02.16,000 unresolved cases. This 40,000 applications by people
:12:02. > :12:08.seeking a review on a refusal for their husband or wife. Immigration
:12:08. > :12:12.inspectors found the load was rising by 700 each month among
:12:12. > :12:18.confusion and 2,000 people wait for any decision at all and some go
:12:18. > :12:22.back a decade. Await such a long time, even if it's a complex case,
:12:22. > :12:28.it's outside any standards that we have. It should be addressed
:12:28. > :12:34.urgently. The report found that children involved were rarely
:12:34. > :12:37.conceded and too many appeals were heard. A Home Office says the
:12:37. > :12:46.backlog has been clear since an inspection but the change in rules
:12:46. > :12:49.may prevent a repeat of this large back wall. -- back clock. Coming up
:12:49. > :12:53.at 6am on this channel, Jon Kay and Louise Minchin will be here with
:12:53. > :12:55.Breakfast. As well as all the day's news, business and sport, we'll be
:12:55. > :12:58.talking to movie star Jessica Chastain on Hollywood's recent take
:12:58. > :13:01.on the tough female lead. We'll be looking into whether or not it
:13:01. > :13:05.might be time for you to think about switching your energy
:13:05. > :13:15.supplier as this winter's icy weather pushes up fuel bills.
:13:15. > :13:18.
:13:18. > :13:20.There's all that and more from 6am this morning. The headlines: North
:13:20. > :13:29.Korea warns of more nuclear tests and long-range rocket launches,
:13:29. > :13:36.responding to what it calls The United States Defence Secretary
:13:36. > :13:39.is expected to end a ban on women Mexico overturns a controversial
:13:39. > :13:46.ruling condemning a French woman to 60 years in prison on kidnapping
:13:46. > :13:55.Despite record profits and huge iPhone sales, Apple shares slump
:13:55. > :13:58.wiping $50 billion off the Now it is time for our newspaper
:13:58. > :14:06.review where Alice and I look at the stories making headlines around
:14:06. > :14:11.the world. Let's begin with the times and the business community
:14:11. > :14:16.backs the British Prime Minister called for a referendum on the EU
:14:16. > :14:22.and Angela Merkel is ready to talk. That's on the front page of many of
:14:22. > :14:28.papers. China talks about the warning at the World Economic Forum.
:14:29. > :14:36.They say that senior officials advise against undue optimism that
:14:36. > :14:38.the worst of a financial crisis is over. The International tribune
:14:38. > :14:42.pleads with the House of represented in the US with
:14:42. > :14:51.President Obama and the showdown over the legislation allowing the