:00:00. > :00:00.World News. Now for the latest financial news
:00:00. > :00:20.and World Business Report. Accused of bribery, Chinese police
:00:21. > :00:27.accuse a British executive at the drug maker GlaxoSmithKline of
:00:28. > :00:30.ordering staff to bribe doctors. Back to work, South Africa's longest
:00:31. > :00:42.and most costly strike could finally end today as platinum workers look
:00:43. > :00:49.set to return to the mines. Welcome to World Business Report. In
:00:50. > :00:59.a minute we'll be heading live to Johannesburg to hear the latest on
:01:00. > :01:01.the miners strike. Accusations of bribery. Chinese
:01:02. > :01:04.police have accused a British executive at the drug maker
:01:05. > :01:07.GlaxoSmithKline of ordering his staff to bribe doctors in China. At
:01:08. > :01:10.a police briefing in Beijing, Chinese officials claim GSK's former
:01:11. > :01:12.head of Chinese operations, Mark Reilly, and two other executives,
:01:13. > :01:21.had ordered staff to commit bribery that bought in 'illegal revenue
:01:22. > :01:24.worth billions' of yuan. In July GSK was accused of allegedly funnelling
:01:25. > :01:26.up to three billion yuan, that's $500 million, through travel
:01:27. > :01:34.agencies to facilitate bribes to doctors and officials. GSK has tried
:01:35. > :01:36.to distance itself from the accusations in China, saying
:01:37. > :01:53.previously that it has zero tolerance for bribery. They claim to
:01:54. > :01:57.have zero tolerance for bribery and yet the second bribery charge being
:01:58. > :02:01.brought against an art of China. That is right. I just attended a
:02:02. > :02:09.briefing with investigators from China's economic crimes unit. They
:02:10. > :02:14.laid out their investigation, the findings of a ten month
:02:15. > :02:18.investigation very clearly, blaming GlaxoSmithKline from it impossible
:02:19. > :02:23.sales targets set by its London headquarters, through to its former
:02:24. > :02:27.China general manager, who ordered sales representatives to bribe
:02:28. > :02:34.hospitals, doctors and medical associations. Investigators have
:02:35. > :02:38.been pointing to a widespread systematic bribery used through the
:02:39. > :02:47.company. How is GlaxoSmithKline reacting to this latest accusation?
:02:48. > :02:51.They have not issued a response yet. It all along, they have been
:02:52. > :02:59.defending itself, saying that any problems with bribery were down to
:03:00. > :03:05.rogue employees. They took matters into their own hands to achieve
:03:06. > :03:08.sales targets. They have been distancing itself from these
:03:09. > :03:13.allegations through this 10`month investigation. It will be
:03:14. > :03:17.interesting to see how they respond to these quite, high`handed, very
:03:18. > :03:26.intense allegations that have come out from the Chinese police bureau
:03:27. > :03:29.today. Today South Africa's longest and
:03:30. > :03:32.most costly strike could finally come to an end. Platinum miners in
:03:33. > :03:35.South Africa have been striking since January demanding that their
:03:36. > :03:38.basic salary be more than doubled. The four`month strike has halted 40%
:03:39. > :03:46.of normal global platinum production. The producers say the
:03:47. > :03:49.strike has to date cost them $1.6 billion in lost revenues and
:03:50. > :03:54.employees have lost nearly $800 million of earnings. However, now
:03:55. > :03:57.the three main producers have made an offer directly to employees,
:03:58. > :04:03.side`stepping the AMCU union, which they say will see workers return to
:04:04. > :04:07.the mines on Wednesday. Lonmin, Implats and Anglo American say that
:04:08. > :04:10.many of the miners that live in the Eastern Cape have returned to the
:04:11. > :04:16.area, adding that most miners want to return to work. The South African
:04:17. > :04:20.police has deployed additional officers to the platinum belt as
:04:21. > :04:24.well anticipating a flood of workers today. So will we see a majority of
:04:25. > :04:30.the 70,000 strikers return to work today? That's a question for Lerato
:04:31. > :04:43.Mbele, she's live in Johannesburg for us now.
:04:44. > :04:47.If those workers return to work today, where does that leave the
:04:48. > :04:51.unions in South Africa? The big question is whether they will return
:04:52. > :04:54.to work. The mining companies have indicated that loopholes they have
:04:55. > :05:00.conducted, text messages they have received, and as you say, workers
:05:01. > :05:04.coming in their numbers back to the platinum mining area, the indication
:05:05. > :05:07.is that there is a willingness and they will buy workers to return to
:05:08. > :05:11.work, but last night it was characterised by writing and protest
:05:12. > :05:16.a lot of the supposedly reluctant workers who are locking their
:05:17. > :05:21.colleagues from coming back to work. That situation of violence and
:05:22. > :05:24.intimidation generally sets the tone for what is going on in the platinum
:05:25. > :05:28.belt, and whether or not workers can physically go back to work today is
:05:29. > :05:35.something that remains to be seen. It is quite tense, the situation in
:05:36. > :05:40.the area at the moment. As I was asking before, where does
:05:41. > :05:44.it leave the very powerful unions, such as AMCU, the producers have now
:05:45. > :05:52.approached the workers directly, trying to get them back to work.
:05:53. > :05:58.AMCU has dug its heels in, insisting that they want 1200 US dollars as a
:05:59. > :06:00.basic wage before they even discuss benefits and allowances. What the
:06:01. > :06:05.mining companies have done, negotiate directly with the workers
:06:06. > :06:10.and offered them a revised offer of 10% plus benefits. If workers to
:06:11. > :06:16.return to work, it obviously does incapacitate, in many ways, AMCU. It
:06:17. > :06:22.weakens them significantly, because it means they have not negotiated
:06:23. > :06:26.adequately for the workers, and they have not negotiated in a way that
:06:27. > :06:30.empowers Labour over management. Everything depends on whether or not
:06:31. > :06:33.we see mine workers returning to the shaft today, and then we will know
:06:34. > :06:42.whether AMCU has lost the moral ground, as well as the fighting
:06:43. > :06:45.power, to negotiate further. It's no secret the electronics
:06:46. > :06:49.business is a tough one and perhaps no company has been feeling the pain
:06:50. > :06:53.more than the Japanese giant Sony. Just how much red ink is being spilt
:06:54. > :06:55.at Sony will become clear in a couple of hours time when the
:06:56. > :06:58.company announces its latest earnings, but analysts are expecting
:06:59. > :07:04.a full year loss of more than $1 billion. Sony's chief executive
:07:05. > :07:11.Kazuo Hirai has reportedly offered to forego his bonus for the second
:07:12. > :07:14.straight year. Ashleigh Nghiem explains why Sony, once an
:07:15. > :07:27.indisputable market leader, is now struggling.
:07:28. > :07:32.Sony was once the king of consumer and electronics, but it has fast
:07:33. > :07:36.been overtaken by competitors such as Apple and Samsung. It is expected
:07:37. > :07:38.to book annual losses of close to $1.3 billion, despite ongoing
:07:39. > :07:42.restructuring of the firm, plans to cut 5000 jobs, and the $1 billion
:07:43. > :07:49.sell`off of its headquarters in Manhattan. The big drag on its
:07:50. > :07:53.bottom line has come from its TV and personal computer divisions.
:07:54. > :07:57.Prompting Moody 's to cut their credit rating to junk status this
:07:58. > :08:02.year. Part of the losses have been put down to one of costs linked to
:08:03. > :08:07.its decision to exit the PC business, and sell off its brand of
:08:08. > :08:11.computers. It has threatened to ditch its television division as
:08:12. > :08:16.well, a fiercely competitive set with slim margins. But so far the
:08:17. > :08:19.firm is resisting the move, and has split the unit into a wholly owned
:08:20. > :08:25.subsidiary. It could prove to be a executives, who could be forced to
:08:26. > :08:33.forego their bonuses for yet another year. Some may now be asking, why
:08:34. > :08:37.Sony is so different to other gadget makers, such as Panasonic and sharp,
:08:38. > :08:44.both of them have turned their fortunes around, and are back in the
:08:45. > :08:50.black after huge losses last year. A quick look at some of the news.
:08:51. > :08:56.The US authorities are seeking more than $3.5 billion from BNP Paribas
:08:57. > :09:00.to resolve state and federal investigations. The French bank is
:09:01. > :09:04.under investigation is for its dealings with sanctioned countries,
:09:05. > :09:07.including sedan and Iran. It could be the largest penalty for a
:09:08. > :09:13.sanctions violation ever and it is still being negotiated.
:09:14. > :09:18.Danone is in talks with Nestle and other potential buyers over the
:09:19. > :09:22.disposal of those of its medical nutrition division. Its eyes and
:09:23. > :09:28.expansion of its baby food business. It stands to raise up to 5
:09:29. > :09:32.billion euros from a sale. Britain's top share index hit its
:09:33. > :09:37.highest closing level since December 1999. The new higher was helped by a
:09:38. > :09:41.surge led by housebuilding stocks which have risen sharply this year
:09:42. > :09:46.on the back of a booming property market in the UK.
:09:47. > :09:54.Valeant Pharmaceuticals says that it will improve its $47 billion offer
:09:55. > :10:00.to buy US drugmaker Allergan. The maker of the Botox antiwrinkle
:10:01. > :10:06.treatment. They rejected the offer, but Valeant Pharmaceuticals says
:10:07. > :10:10.that it will announce a new offer on the 28th of May. It will hold a web
:10:11. > :10:14.cast for Allergan shareholders, therefore bypassing the board.
:10:15. > :10:35.That is all for this hour. We would get to the newspapers in a
:10:36. > :10:37.short while. First, a 59`year`old man has been arrested on suspicion
:10:38. > :10:38.of