:00:03. > :00:13.Those are the latest headlines. Coming up right now, it is the
:00:13. > :00:24.
:00:24. > :00:30.The pound is under pressure in the currency markets following the loss
:00:30. > :00:33.of Britain's credit-rating. And will the next a big name and
:00:33. > :00:43.smartphone speech Chinese? A special report from the mobile
:00:43. > :00:48.
:00:48. > :00:51.phone industry's gathering in Barcelona. In this is World
:00:51. > :00:55.Business Report. Also in the programme, we will
:00:55. > :01:00.explain why it is a critical day for a b p as it heads to court in
:01:00. > :01:06.New Orleans. -- for BP. But the pound has been falling in the
:01:06. > :01:09.currency markets after Britain lost its top credit rating on Friday.
:01:09. > :01:14.Moody's blamed Britain's weaker growth prospects for the downgrade.
:01:14. > :01:20.At one stage in Asian trading, the Countess lowest level against the
:01:20. > :01:26.dollar since July 2010. Some economists say it could fall to
:01:26. > :01:30.parity against the euro and as low as 1.35 against the US dollar. It
:01:31. > :01:36.is also a blow for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne.
:01:36. > :01:40.He celebrated Briton's credit rating as a sign the government's
:01:40. > :01:46.policies were working. Pressure is rising for him to ease off on
:01:46. > :01:49.austerity measures. Here is his reaction to the downgrade.
:01:49. > :01:55.ratings agency has said that Britain has debt problems that have
:01:55. > :02:00.built up over many years. We also have the problem of the eurozone on
:02:00. > :02:07.our doorstep. Many of their exports go there. That is the economic
:02:07. > :02:11.challenge. But they are very clear that if we we can now resolve
:02:11. > :02:21.dealing with the debts, that would make it difficult situation more
:02:21. > :02:22.
:02:22. > :02:26.difficult. This should redouble our efforts. We won't now speak to a
:02:26. > :02:32.hedge fund manager. We have seen a degree of reaction already to the
:02:32. > :02:37.pound weakening. Apart from that, much of the reaction? No. It had
:02:37. > :02:42.been expected that there was a significant risk of this happening.
:02:42. > :02:47.It was the timing that was variable. There is also good news. British
:02:47. > :02:51.exports will become cheaper. We are looking for some way of growth at a
:02:51. > :02:58.time of austerity. The government does not want to increase spending.
:02:58. > :03:06.He exports is one way to go. A weak sterling is actually good news in
:03:06. > :03:11.that regard. That is good news for the government. This is not a
:03:11. > :03:15.problem with sterling. It is the fact that the euro is stronger
:03:16. > :03:21.because of how pessimistic we were. A positive reaction generally to
:03:21. > :03:25.people buying the row. Also, given the American growth story, this is
:03:26. > :03:30.a positive story for the United States. The euro and the dollar are
:03:30. > :03:35.more attractive than it is a story that the sterling is less
:03:35. > :03:40.attractive. A what about the issue of where the pound will head in the
:03:40. > :03:49.future? People are speculating at one poetry five of. That would be a
:03:49. > :03:59.fall. -- 1.35. It is an exaggeration. While you mention
:03:59. > :03:59.
:03:59. > :04:06.July 2010, if you move back another 12 months, we were �1 to $2 before
:04:06. > :04:16.that. These things are volatile. I do not see a downward trend
:04:16. > :04:16.
:04:16. > :04:25.continuing. I do not anticipate that. We might it 48 hours and some
:04:25. > :04:30.reaction upwards. It is already in the markets. There is no extra news.
:04:30. > :04:34.In ten minutes, he will return to talk with us through the newspapers.
:04:34. > :04:39.But first, it is the biggest show in the mobile phone industry's
:04:39. > :04:44.calendar. The Barcelona World Phone Congress is bigger than ever. Apple
:04:44. > :04:48.and Samsung are far ahead of their rivals. Much of the focus is on the
:04:48. > :04:57.battle for third place. Nokia and BlackBerry are trying to regain
:04:57. > :05:00.lost ground. But a Chinese company is the surprise new contender.
:05:00. > :05:07.It is the week when the mobile phone industry descends on
:05:07. > :05:11.Barcelona. Here and around the world, smartphone sales have
:05:11. > :05:15.increased, while less clever mobiles have gone out of fashion.
:05:15. > :05:24.If you stop people and ask about their phones, two friends stand out.
:05:24. > :05:30.Apple. Samsung. IPhone. Samsung. For iPhone. IPhone. Samsung.
:05:30. > :05:35.Samsung. The race is beginning to increase. Apple and Samsung have
:05:35. > :05:41.moved way ahead. Between them they control more than half of the
:05:41. > :05:45.market. The rest are left looking for third place. Nokia and
:05:45. > :05:55.BlackBerry believe it is theirs by right. They now face a serious
:05:55. > :06:00.challenge from China. It is more than just a name. The first big
:06:00. > :06:08.warned she saw a company still unknown to many. They claim they
:06:08. > :06:12.have the world's fastest smartphone. It is a huge force in telecoms
:06:12. > :06:16.equipment. It has built a mobile- phone business in the past few
:06:16. > :06:23.months that became detoured biggest player in the smartphone market.
:06:23. > :06:27.The Chinese company knows there is work to do go. A will have to spend
:06:27. > :06:34.a lot of money on marketing and educating us that this brand,
:06:34. > :06:39.although it does not of HTC or Samsung, is just as good.
:06:39. > :06:43.This firm has a different challenge. The new BlackBerry phones look very
:06:43. > :06:47.smart. The need to win back customers who lost faith in the
:06:47. > :06:51.brand. Will this kind of message were? We have focused on making
:06:51. > :06:56.sure we are bringing to the market a different value proposition.
:06:56. > :06:59.Extremely focused on the experience for the end-user. They have a
:06:59. > :07:05.coating that makes phones waterproof and virtual reality
:07:05. > :07:08.glasses. All sorts of products are battling for attention. The
:07:08. > :07:13.industry is getting more sophisticated. But making money is
:07:13. > :07:18.becoming harder. There is a lot at stake for BP
:07:18. > :07:22.today as it heads to court in New Orleans. The company is facing the
:07:22. > :07:26.US justice department and five US states who accuse the company of
:07:26. > :07:32.gross negligence in his response to the Gulf of Mexico will Mac spill
:07:32. > :07:38.in 2010. BP has accepted criminal responsibility for the explosion
:07:38. > :07:42.that killed 11 people. Daniel Jones explained why this case is so
:07:42. > :07:48.important. The United States government is saying that BP was
:07:49. > :07:56.grossly negligent. It is able to make that case and BP's exposure is
:07:56. > :08:02.going to be roughly in the $16 billion range. BP is saying that
:08:02. > :08:06.they were only guilty of negligence, not gross negligence. If they are
:08:06. > :08:12.able to make that case successfully to the court, then the maximum
:08:12. > :08:16.penalty drops down to roughly $4 billion. A lot of money at stake.
:08:16. > :08:26.Turning attention to China now, where fuel prices are higher and
:08:26. > :08:27.
:08:27. > :08:33.there are signs that factories are Talk us through some of the stories
:08:33. > :08:38.today. They are saying that they are going to raise the retail price
:08:38. > :08:43.ceiling for gasoline and diesel from Monday. That is today. This is
:08:43. > :08:50.all in response to increases in global oil prices. Starting today,
:08:50. > :08:55.gasoline prices will rise by $48 per tonne. Diesel just under that.
:08:55. > :08:59.The increases are the first one that come as something of a
:08:59. > :09:02.surprise for many speculating that the government would delay price
:09:02. > :09:06.rises because there are current fuel demands that remain high.
:09:06. > :09:11.Hundreds of millions of people continue to travel home after the
:09:11. > :09:17.lunar new year. But these higher prices are effective of the rises
:09:17. > :09:25.in the oil prices. We also heard about manufacturing grows. The HSBC
:09:25. > :09:33.gauge of manufacturing showed a rise of 50.4 for February.
:09:33. > :09:36.Having a look at the markets now. Any news out of China about their