:00:00. > :00:00.fires in hot, dry and windy conditions. Those are the latest
:00:00. > :00:15.headlines from BBC World News. Now, for the latest financial news with
:00:16. > :00:26.Alice. Fast`food slow down as low income
:00:27. > :00:32.fast`food workers from 150 US cities and dozens of countries join in
:00:33. > :00:37.protest to call attention to wealth inequality. Japan's growth blows
:00:38. > :00:46.past forecast but will the glow last. Hello there. A very warm
:00:47. > :00:50.welcome to you. With me Alice. Just a moment we'll be live in Singapore
:00:51. > :00:56.talking about some important numbers that have come out of Japan
:00:57. > :01:01.recently. People clearly hitting the shops again there. But protestors in
:01:02. > :01:06.US continue to grow as low`wage workers demand an increase to the
:01:07. > :01:09.minimum wage. On Thursday, American fast`food workers will walk off
:01:10. > :01:13.their jobs in 150 cities. Similar protests are planned in cities all
:01:14. > :01:18.around the world. It's part of an effort to show unity against the
:01:19. > :01:32.growing income inequality in the States. Our correspondent reports
:01:33. > :01:39.from York New York, a city of glitz and glamour, if you have got cash,
:01:40. > :01:46.few other places are better than the Big Apple. But if you're only making
:01:47. > :01:51.$8 an hour, like many of these workers, living here isn't easy. New
:01:52. > :01:55.York has its stereotypes that we make so much money, we don't need
:01:56. > :02:00.it, we're spoiled, we really take advantage of the opportunities that
:02:01. > :02:05.we have here, but we are struggle here as well. Nowhere is the gap
:02:06. > :02:11.between rich and poor more clear than New York. Some are just
:02:12. > :02:16.scraping by. Others are making millions on Wall Street. But this is
:02:17. > :02:24.not just a New York problem. It's an American one. Between 1993...
:02:25. > :02:37.Average income growth for all Americans was 17. 9%. But... Compare
:02:38. > :02:44.that to the bottom 99% who only saw 6. 6% of income growth. Income
:02:45. > :02:49.inequality in America has reached such heights that people like Jese
:02:50. > :02:54.are trying to do their part to spread the wealth. I inherited money
:02:55. > :02:59.when I turned 21 from my grandparents, and I personally felt
:03:00. > :03:02.a disdense between gad grating the from college without debt and having
:03:03. > :03:11.a pot of money that I had personally not dope anything to earn. She has
:03:12. > :03:13.already given away two`thirds of her inheritance, and through the
:03:14. > :03:19.organisation she runs, she's showing others to do the same. But for those
:03:20. > :03:25.who don't have the benefit of an inherit tans or any money at all,
:03:26. > :03:30.moving up is tough. An a lot of people are stuck in a low financial
:03:31. > :03:34.rut, and this tends to last a good part of their lifetime. It's very
:03:35. > :03:41.hard for them to move up economically. Much of what makes the
:03:42. > :03:45.gap between rich and poor so vast is actually systemic, and until some of
:03:46. > :03:51.those issues are addressed, as time goes on, the disparity will get
:03:52. > :03:58.worse putting the quality of life of future generations into question.
:03:59. > :04:05.And you can see more on the world's growing wealth divide on Talking
:04:06. > :04:09.Business with Linda this Friday on BBC World News. Now, Japan's economy
:04:10. > :04:14.grew at the fastest pace in nearly three years in the first quarter due
:04:15. > :04:22.to an increase in spending. Official dat yes showed that the GDP grows
:04:23. > :04:27.somewhat 1. 5% in the January period. 0. 1% of the prior quarter
:04:28. > :04:34.with a figure beat forecasters with 1% growth and was led by a rise in
:04:35. > :04:41.consumer spending up by 2. 1%. Our correspondent joins us live now.
:04:42. > :04:45.Good to see you, Rico. The bottom`line was Japanese consumers
:04:46. > :04:52.were spending. They went on a shopping spree buying cars. They
:04:53. > :04:56.took to shopping malls to purchase banlts, appliances, furniture,
:04:57. > :05:01.clothes, just anything they could afford before the consumption tax
:05:02. > :05:05.was raised on the 1 April. Alice, con susms was indeed a major
:05:06. > :05:12.catalyst before the sales tax was raised from 5 to 8%. New investment
:05:13. > :05:18.by businesses also gave the economy a major lift. Well, gift credit as
:05:19. > :05:24.`` give credit to the Japanese prime minister. It has helped the economy
:05:25. > :05:29.grow father, but concerns remain whether this recovery is durable. We
:05:30. > :05:33.speak to economists, they warning spending may slow down now that the
:05:34. > :05:37.April tax hike has been introduced and they say where the con susms tax
:05:38. > :05:43.now at 8%, the bottom`line is it will make a whole lot of things more
:05:44. > :05:52.expensive. So we're expecting this will slow down the economy this
:05:53. > :05:58.quarter. Thanks. Now, launching a new Smartphone in one of the world's
:05:59. > :06:05.most populous nations is always a challenge. Motorola is venturing
:06:06. > :06:09.into tough territory in India as it launches a new Smartphone. We met up
:06:10. > :06:14.with the corporate Vice President in the Asia pacific and asked him why
:06:15. > :06:19.the phone would work in India. One thing that we have seen is that the
:06:20. > :06:24.great or high quality mobile Internet experience hasn't been
:06:25. > :06:30.available to a lot of people around the world. So we're starting to
:06:31. > :06:35.welcome a lot of people who are currently on a phone, po tern
:06:36. > :06:39.usually poor Smartphone experience and join Motorola. India is a highly
:06:40. > :06:42.competitive market. If you get your price point right, the rewards are
:06:43. > :06:47.huge, but also things can go wrong very easily here. So what do you
:06:48. > :06:51.expect with your new launch? I think every international vendor is here
:06:52. > :06:56.as well. So obviously very exciting marketplace. We have enjoyed
:06:57. > :07:00.tremendous success over the last three months. And I think that is
:07:01. > :07:07.because we have a very clear strategy. We try to focus on
:07:08. > :07:10.android, very simple, very fast devices. And also make devices that
:07:11. > :07:15.keep better `` keep getting better all the time. If we continue to do
:07:16. > :07:20.that, we bring those to the consumer at attractive price points, we can
:07:21. > :07:24.be extremely successful. You have recently changed ownership, you're
:07:25. > :07:30.now a Chinese company. What's it like to operate them? We're h not
:07:31. > :07:32.the Chinese business yet, the acquisition will be finalised
:07:33. > :07:38.hopefully later this year, so we continue to operate as two separate
:07:39. > :07:42.companies. I'm excited, and I think the entire Motorola team is excited
:07:43. > :07:47.because we have built a lot of momentum in Motorola over the last
:07:48. > :07:53.12 months in terms of our comeback to the market and I think company
:07:54. > :07:57.has made it clear. The brand is very important reason, and the
:07:58. > :08:01.engineering and the people. How easy is it continue to innovate if your
:08:02. > :08:06.ownership keeps changes? The team is the same. I think the Motorola focus
:08:07. > :08:11.is where we'll look at our engineers. We're trying to address
:08:12. > :08:15.the key in the most critical consumer pinpoints and try to give
:08:16. > :08:21.an experience to the consumer than is better than anybody else. That
:08:22. > :08:30.doesn't change. What this enables us now, we'll get the better reach on a
:08:31. > :08:35.global level. Talking to the corporate Vice President of Motorola
:08:36. > :08:41.Asia pacific region. Look at other news now ` striking mines ` a
:08:42. > :08:51.reported to be `` strikers of mines are refusing to return to work in
:08:52. > :08:56.South Africa's platinum belt. Works have gotten together in the
:08:57. > :09:02.north`west trying to break a month's long strike. The cessation of mine
:09:03. > :09:08.workers says it's telling strikers to remain steadfast and be peaceful.
:09:09. > :09:14.Britain's Finance Minister has again insisted that a currency union after
:09:15. > :09:21.Scottish independence will not work and has been ruled out. That this
:09:22. > :09:25.would only happen if the UK stayed together. Time new to look at how
:09:26. > :09:29.Asian markets are getting on. For the most part, stocks have drifted
:09:30. > :09:33.lower on Thursday's robust growth. Japan was off set by US markets
:09:34. > :09:42.pulling back from record levels. Although we can see there the hang
:09:43. > :09:45.senge in Hong Kong actually in positive territory. OK, from me and
:09:46. > :09:51.the team that's all for this hour, if you like to get in touch. I'm at
:09:52. > :10:08.BBC World News. I will be back to look at the papers in just a moment.
:10:09. > :10:17.We may read the words of austin, dic Kens from a book, but the original
:10:18. > :10:20.manuscripts are usually locked out. Well, that's about to change. With
:10:21. > :10:21.the British library