:00:00. > 3:59:59headlines from BBC World News. Now for the latest financial news with
:00:00. > :00:19.Sally and World Business Report. As Crimea votes to join Russia,
:00:20. > :00:21.markets await international reaction, including potential
:00:22. > :00:27.sanctions by Europe and the United States. Chinese e-commerce giant
:00:28. > :00:29.Alibaba confirms plans to list its shares in America, in a bid to
:00:30. > :00:41.become a more global company. Welcome to World Business Report.
:00:42. > :00:44.I'm Sally Bundock. Also in the programme: We look at the next
:00:45. > :00:53.destination in the search for rare earth minerals - the deep ocean.
:00:54. > :00:55.First, the people of Crimea have spoken. Following a much disputed
:00:56. > :01:01.referendum, an overwhelming 95.5% of voters have supported joining
:01:02. > :01:04.Russia, according to officials. So what happens next? Well, US
:01:05. > :01:07.President Barack Obama has warned Russia it rejects the result and is
:01:08. > :01:12.ready to impose sanctions on Moscow over the crisis. And EU foreign
:01:13. > :01:17.ministers meet today to consider their next steps. At the moment, the
:01:18. > :01:22.sanctions discussed only target individuals through asset freezes
:01:23. > :01:26.and travel bans. But, the West could eventually move to sanction Russian
:01:27. > :01:30.companies. So who will be most disadvantaged? Europe ranks as
:01:31. > :01:35.Russia's biggest trading partner, accounting for around 41% of all
:01:36. > :01:39.trade. Exports to Europe are dominated by crude oil and gas. In
:01:40. > :01:46.fact, European countries import 84% of Russia's oil exports. In 2012,
:01:47. > :01:53.Russian goods and services exported to the EU totalled $317 billion. In
:01:54. > :02:00.return, European companies sold $210 billion of goods and services to
:02:01. > :02:03.Russia in 2012. So, can either side afford to lose the other as a
:02:04. > :02:14.trading partner? Nina Schick is an analyst at Open Europe, which is an
:02:15. > :02:18.independent think tank. Good morning. It is the result we were
:02:19. > :02:22.expecting. What do you expect the foreign ministers of the EU to talk
:02:23. > :02:26.about today? Already last week, before the referendum went ahead,
:02:27. > :02:32.the EU and US made very clear that it would be illegal and further
:02:33. > :02:35.steps would be taken. We are now talking about targeted sanctions
:02:36. > :02:41.against individuals. We don't know who they will be. But there are some
:02:42. > :02:46.suggestions that they could be targeted at people close to Mr
:02:47. > :02:49.Putin. But President Putin himself and the Foreign Minister will
:02:50. > :02:54.probably not be on that list. We are talking now about these freezers and
:02:55. > :03:02.asset bands but not economic sanctions on Russia, the country as
:03:03. > :03:05.a whole. -- visa bans. Not only to the Russian economy but also to the
:03:06. > :03:12.links between the EU and Russia to the EU. The US is saying similar
:03:13. > :03:17.things. To what extent has this hurt President Putin? The US has already
:03:18. > :03:23.taken targeted sanctions on Russian individuals. The EU will move into
:03:24. > :03:27.that today, I suspect, when the foreign ministers meet in Brussels.
:03:28. > :03:32.To this extent, it is still largely symbolic. Where it will start
:03:33. > :03:36.hurting Russia is if they start hitting some of the oil and gas
:03:37. > :03:41.companies on which Russia is so dependent. In the short term, I
:03:42. > :03:45.would say the EU and US have a limited amount they can do it with
:03:46. > :03:49.regard to sanctions. But if this becomes a more prolonged conflict,
:03:50. > :03:53.and I think the tipping point would be if Russia decides to move its
:03:54. > :03:59.troops further into eastern Ukraine, but if it stops short and Crimea is
:04:00. > :04:03.the tipping point, I think all we will see is individual sanctions,
:04:04. > :04:10.targeted sanctions, at Russian individuals. If Russia was to go
:04:11. > :04:16.further west or into eastern Ukraine and stop Crimea, do you feel that
:04:17. > :04:25.what Russia has gained is greater, in terms of that access to the Black
:04:26. > :04:29.Sea and all of that? That is more of a benefit to Russia than the loss of
:04:30. > :04:37.face politically on a international level and the sanctions? Of course
:04:38. > :04:42.Crimea has always been important politically to Russia. It has
:04:43. > :04:46.belonged to Russia for many years. Even the ethnic population is
:04:47. > :04:51.actually majority Russian. So, if Russia were allowed to get away with
:04:52. > :04:57.Crimea, as it were, if it became a de facto Russian state, then Mr
:04:58. > :05:02.Putin would clearly have 'won' in this instance. Thank you for coming
:05:03. > :05:07.in. We will keep a close eye on events here. And we will keep you
:05:08. > :05:14.up-to-date. Let's talk about some corporate stories and the time it --
:05:15. > :05:20.Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba has said it will float its shares in
:05:21. > :05:24.the US. It says it will make it a more global company. It is the
:05:25. > :05:31.biggest technology offering since Facebook in 2012. Ali Moore is in
:05:32. > :05:39.Singapore. It is finally confident, what we thought for some time. Tell
:05:40. > :05:44.us more about what it means. For those not familiar with Alibaba, I
:05:45. > :05:49.should point out how big it is. The group is the world's largest online
:05:50. > :05:54.retailer. We are talking 500 million customers and some 800 million
:05:55. > :06:00.product listings. Absolutely enormous. It is expected to raise
:06:01. > :06:05.$15 billion, which would make it the biggest IPO since Facebook. A-League
:06:06. > :06:08.club has turned its back on Hong Kong and it has done that for a
:06:09. > :06:14.simple reason. -- Alibaba has turned. Its top executives will be
:06:15. > :06:17.able to retain control of the company in New York. Even after
:06:18. > :06:22.listing, they can nominate the majority of the board. That wouldn't
:06:23. > :06:28.happen in Hong Kong. It has a very strict one share, one vote
:06:29. > :06:30.principle. They did speak to officials and regulators but
:06:31. > :06:35.ultimately the talks went nowhere. The real problem for Hong Kong is it
:06:36. > :06:38.is walking a fine line that when keeping up its reputation and
:06:39. > :06:43.potentially being perceived at changing -- as changing the rules.
:06:44. > :06:47.That doesn't mean there won't be changes because the Chief Executive
:06:48. > :06:52.issued a statement today, saying the exchange does need to find ways to
:06:53. > :06:56.make its market more competitive. He says the listing committees work on
:06:57. > :07:01.shareholding structures didn't start because of Alibaba and it won't end
:07:02. > :07:04.because of it. So, even though the exchange does get most of the
:07:05. > :07:10.listings by mainland Chinese companies, the fast-growing
:07:11. > :07:14.technology companies are clearly too big to ignore. Thank you. Other
:07:15. > :07:16.stories, UK telecoms giant Vodafone has reportedly reached a deal to buy
:07:17. > :07:19.Spanish cable operator Ono. According to various media reports,
:07:20. > :07:22.the deal is worth 7.2 billion euros, that's $10 billion, and could be
:07:23. > :07:25.formally announced today. It would mean that an initial public offering
:07:26. > :07:31.by Ono, which was approved last week, would not go ahead in Madrid.
:07:32. > :07:41.Ono is Spain's second biggest provider of broadband internet and
:07:42. > :07:44.pay television. Rare earth minerals, used in all
:07:45. > :07:47.sorts of electronics, from flat screen TVs to smart phones, are in
:07:48. > :07:50.great demand, which has put a strain on existing supply chains. But now
:07:51. > :07:54.there's a new frontier in the rush for valuable minerals - the bottom
:07:55. > :07:57.of the sea. In the future, vast quantities of gold, copper and rare
:07:58. > :08:02.earth metals will be extracted from the seabed of the world's oceans.
:08:03. > :08:06.Prospecting operations are planned in the Pacific, but the actual home
:08:07. > :08:10.of the organisation with the task of controlling the new industry is in
:08:11. > :08:24.the Caribbean. Nick Davis reports from Jamaica.
:08:25. > :08:28.Making a living from the sea isn't new, especially for people in this
:08:29. > :08:31.part of Kingston. But beneath the waves, some are calling for a much
:08:32. > :08:35.bigger catch. On the seabed, rocks have many precious minerals come up
:08:36. > :08:39.which are essential for the electronics that are part of
:08:40. > :08:46.everyday life. Now, high-tech engineering will be used to harvest
:08:47. > :08:50.parts of the seafloor, using giant machines that act like vacuum
:08:51. > :08:57.cleaners, drinking and sucking at rocks thousands of metres
:08:58. > :09:01.underwater. Much of the survey data we have was collected in the 70s and
:09:02. > :09:07.80s. It's really the commercial dynamic that has changed and the
:09:08. > :09:12.technical dynamic that has changed, that starts to make this look like
:09:13. > :09:16.an attractive option. The UN international seabed authority is
:09:17. > :09:23.based in Kingston and controls who gets exploration rights. Since 2001,
:09:24. > :09:26.they have given out 13 mining licences are there has been a rush
:09:27. > :09:31.of late, with another seven ready to be issued. Those interested and who
:09:32. > :09:38.can put together the resources, finance and technology will be able
:09:39. > :09:41.to get as much of it as they want. These are the remains of a famous
:09:42. > :09:47.pirate city in the 17th century. Now, a Burmese are hoping to use the
:09:48. > :09:53.latest in technology to see what spoils they can creep around the
:09:54. > :09:57.world. -- now people are hoping. Government organisations have bought
:09:58. > :10:02.the licences, from countries like China, India, Russia, Japan and
:10:03. > :10:09.South Korea. Exploration in the Pacific, mid Atlantic and Indian
:10:10. > :10:14.oceans. Because this area of the ocean is controlled and managed by
:10:15. > :10:17.the UN through the international seabed authority, it takes away some
:10:18. > :10:22.of the political aspects that are much more commonly associated with a
:10:23. > :10:33.-- with terrestrial mining. The surge in mining for gold and copper
:10:34. > :10:41.and China taking much of the market is encouraging the boom. But will
:10:42. > :10:52.damage seabed ecology? That's World Business Report.
:10:53. > :10:58.A new plan to get children learning about Shakespeare at the earliest
:10:59. > :10:59.opportunity is beginning this week in thousands of schools across