:00:02. > :00:12.in court in central London later. Those are the latest headlines.
:00:12. > :00:19.
:00:19. > :00:24.Time for all of the latest financial news.
:00:24. > :00:29.Portugal's austerity row deepens as the government councils today's
:00:29. > :00:34.public holiday. Unions called for a day of action. Can China bring home
:00:34. > :00:39.the bacon? US regulators sue over a multi-billion-dollar bid for one of
:00:39. > :00:49.the country's top meat producers. - - sue over.
:00:49. > :00:51.
:00:51. > :00:57.Welcome. More volatility on the markets. The Nikkei is falling ever
:00:57. > :01:01.per person at the moment. In Portugal, today would be a
:01:01. > :01:05.normal -- a public holiday. But under austerity measures, the
:01:05. > :01:15.holiday has been cancelled by the government. Two Mark Zuckerberg,
:01:15. > :01:16.
:01:16. > :01:21.Portuguese unions are planning a day of action. -- to mark the start.
:01:21. > :01:24.The protesters are accusing the government of treason, calling for
:01:24. > :01:32.them to step down. Many think the austerity measures are not working.
:01:32. > :01:40.On Wednesday, there was a 2.7% forecast for economic decline.
:01:40. > :01:45.Worse than the 2.3% envisaged by the government.
:01:45. > :01:50.Thank you for being on the programme. Today will be a tough
:01:50. > :02:00.one. People need a break, they need arrest when times are hard. Good
:02:00. > :02:09.
:02:09. > :02:15.morning. Yes. Iowa do not think it affects the competitiveness or
:02:15. > :02:19.pocket -- productivity. This is a minor aspect relative to our
:02:19. > :02:26.austerity measures that have taken place. Give us your perspective on
:02:26. > :02:29.how the process of austerity is going. We hear from the outside of
:02:29. > :02:36.that things are getting more difficult and worse in Portugal.
:02:36. > :02:44.From your point of view, how is the process going? Disastrously. Our
:02:44. > :02:52.country has regressed. Back to before we entered the Europe. In
:02:52. > :02:58.terms of employment, internal demands, which is the level of
:02:58. > :03:04.consumption of the Portuguese people. We are going back really
:03:04. > :03:10.quickly. Investment is falling at very high rates. There is
:03:11. > :03:16.bankruptcy, unemployment growth. Employment falls faster than
:03:16. > :03:20.unemployment. Our young people are emigrating. Do you think the
:03:20. > :03:27.austerity measures imposed by you or international creditors are not
:03:27. > :03:34.working? When Portugal was first spelled out, the EU, the IMF, they
:03:34. > :03:44.were pleased with Portugal's progress. And the Portuguese people
:03:44. > :03:54.were kind of onboard. It seems sentiment is changing. Yes. It was
:03:54. > :03:54.
:03:54. > :04:03.incorrectly designed from the beginning. The crisis was mistaken
:04:03. > :04:08.by the policy makers. They identified it as a budget crisis.
:04:08. > :04:16.One problem is the government is spending too much, the other is a
:04:16. > :04:25.country is trying to match its supporters. Spain's budget was in
:04:25. > :04:34.surplus when the crisis hit. But all of these countries, Greece,
:04:34. > :04:40.Spain, Portugal, it is a result of external imbalances. It is
:04:40. > :04:50.targeting the wrong problem. It is incorrect medicine to treat the
:04:50. > :04:55.disease. It is not working, it is aggravating the problem. Thank you.
:04:55. > :05:00.We will keep an eye on that story as the day progresses. Let's have a
:05:00. > :05:07.look at the markets. In Asia, we are seeing turbulence and we are
:05:07. > :05:11.seeing a big sell-off. We probably predicted this would
:05:11. > :05:16.come at some point. Today is the day.
:05:16. > :05:19.Very a rough day for the Asian markets. Worries that the US
:05:19. > :05:28.central bank could face at his stimulus programme sooner then most
:05:28. > :05:34.people expected. The biggest loser so far this Thursday is a Japan. It
:05:35. > :05:44.is down by 3% in late trade, below it the key 14,000 level after this
:05:44. > :05:54.drop in US stocks. The currency has been appreciating and it is hurting
:05:54. > :05:54.
:05:54. > :05:57.export stocks. The Philippines is not having a
:05:57. > :06:05.good day despite encouraging news about its economy.
:06:05. > :06:12.Bad to right. Down by 2.5%. It the look at the GDP numbers, it
:06:12. > :06:22.expanded by a robust 7.8%, compared to the same period last year. It is
:06:22. > :06:26.Asia's fastest-growing economy, better than China. The strong
:06:26. > :06:30.performance is basically being attributed to the manufacturing and
:06:30. > :06:35.construction sectors, as well as an increase in government and consumer
:06:35. > :06:39.spending. There is a downside. While the economy maybe booming,
:06:39. > :06:43.poverty and unemployment remained big challenges. Critics say the
:06:43. > :06:50.growth is not trickling down to the masses and the Danes are only
:06:50. > :06:55.benefiting the country's elite. Thank you. It would be the biggest
:06:55. > :06:59.ever Chinese take over of the US firms. Shares for this company has
:06:59. > :07:06.surged almost 30% on the news it has agreed to be bought by a
:07:06. > :07:12.Chinese rival. The Chinese company is offering a $4.7 billion for the
:07:12. > :07:18.company, including debt. The deal would be worth $7 billion. What is
:07:18. > :07:23.behind this? The Chinese eat twice as much pork, per tapper, then the
:07:23. > :07:33.Americans. They have -- that had been frequent food safety scandals
:07:33. > :07:37.
:07:37. > :07:43.example, the 2011 scandal about a band Chemical been found in the
:07:43. > :07:48.pork. The deal maybe controversial in the US.
:07:48. > :07:54.It does have to pass hurdles in the US. If you look back in the past,
:07:54. > :08:01.this has not always gone smoothly. One example that stands out is back
:08:01. > :08:06.in 2005, a Chinese oil company made a bid for an American company.
:08:06. > :08:11.There was huge political backlash. That bid was withdrawn. This deal
:08:11. > :08:16.is very different. Where you as seen here and what we're talking
:08:16. > :08:20.about is giving Chinese consumers access to US pork. If these two
:08:20. > :08:26.companies can convincingly make the case that this is about US pork
:08:26. > :08:30.being exported to China, and not Chinese port coming into the US,
:08:30. > :08:37.given that Bath have been concerns about through the security, this
:08:37. > :08:40.maybe able to go ahead. -- Chinese pork. Other be as the stories - US
:08:40. > :08:45.banks made more money between January and March than in any
:08:46. > :08:50.quarter since records began, according to America's Federal
:08:50. > :08:56.Insurance Corporation. Is comes despite less profit from a
:08:56. > :09:01.loan, -- loan interest. Banks are facing if you're bad loans and they
:09:01. > :09:04.are making more money from fees. She did beat the gears from Spain
:09:04. > :09:14.are expected to show the recession has deepened in the first three
:09:14. > :09:18.months of this year. -- GDP figures from Spain. Spain is struggling
:09:18. > :09:22.with 27% unemployment. More than half of young people are out of
:09:22. > :09:25.whack. John when Gebbie says his band will
:09:26. > :09:31.play their performance in Madrid next month for free, in solidarity
:09:31. > :09:34.for Spaniards who are suffering under the economic crisis. He says
:09:34. > :09:44.any proceeds from reduced tickets will go to the workers to help
:09:44. > :09:45.