:00:00. > :00:00.takes place next month. Those are the latest headlines from
:00:00. > :00:16.BBC News. Now for the latest financial news, with Sally Bundock
:00:17. > :00:20.and World Business Report. The deal is off ` Rupert Murdoch
:00:21. > :00:24.walks away from his attempts to take over one of the world's biggest
:00:25. > :00:28.media companies. Tough times for Standard Chartered `
:00:29. > :00:40.we find out why profits at the bank continue to dive.
:00:41. > :00:43.Welcome to World Business Report. In a minute, a new twist in the
:00:44. > :00:53.battle of the tech Titans ` Apple and Samsung stop all patent
:00:54. > :00:56.litigation outside of the US. But first, Rupert Murdoch's 21st
:00:57. > :01:01.Century Fox is withdrawing its bid to take over the American media
:01:02. > :01:05.giant, Time Warner. It was only three weeks ago when 21st Century
:01:06. > :01:13.Fox's $80 billion takeover offer was made public. Time Warner immediately
:01:14. > :01:16.rejected the bid and has since refused to negotiate any other
:01:17. > :01:23.deals. Samira Hussain reports from New York.
:01:24. > :01:28.This is a rare public defeat for Rupert Murdoch, a man who has built
:01:29. > :01:35.a media empire over decades. This time, he could not even get his
:01:36. > :01:39.target to the bargaining table. Time Warner is the second largest media
:01:40. > :01:44.company in the world. It owns several popular American cable
:01:45. > :01:48.channels like HBO. It owns a Hollywood movie studio. And, of
:01:49. > :01:54.course, the television news channel, CNN will stop combining those assets
:01:55. > :01:59.with 21st Century Fox's own line up of television channels and a movie
:02:00. > :02:05.studio would have transformed the industry but Time Warner refused to
:02:06. > :02:10.even entertain the idea. The two companies never met to discuss an
:02:11. > :02:15.offer, a bold move for Time Warner, as it walked away from $80 billion
:02:16. > :02:20.in cash and stock. In abandoning the bid, Rupert Murdoch also
:02:21. > :02:24.acknowledged that the market value of his own company had been damaged
:02:25. > :02:28.by news of the planned takeover. I think he felt that he could not get
:02:29. > :02:33.a deal done at the price he was talking about under the terms he was
:02:34. > :02:37.considering. His stock had declined 11% since the deal was announced,
:02:38. > :02:41.weakening his offer, which would have required him to add more cash
:02:42. > :02:46.to the deal, which would have required him to take on more debt.
:02:47. > :02:52.It would have been one of the biggest deals in Rupert Murdoch's
:02:53. > :02:55.long career of dealmaking. Given his reputation for being a determined
:02:56. > :03:00.suitor, the decision to abandon his pursuit of Time Warner has surprised
:03:01. > :03:09.many but the play for big media companies may not be over yet.
:03:10. > :03:12.Arch`rivals Samsung and Apple have decided to drop a series of bitter
:03:13. > :03:19.patent disputes pending in courts outside the United States. Rico
:03:20. > :03:27.Hizon is in our Asia Business hub in Singapore. Rico, this came as bolt
:03:28. > :03:31.out of the blue, didn't it? That is right. It is a twist in the
:03:32. > :03:36.relationship between Apple and Samsung. They have stood down on
:03:37. > :03:42.their respective lawsuits but the fight will continue in US courts.
:03:43. > :03:47.That is the catch. Despite the many cases, internationally, neither side
:03:48. > :03:54.has been able to land the knockout legal blow against the other and a
:03:55. > :03:58.number of judges have urged the two giants to settle their differences
:03:59. > :04:02.out of court. This is the result. Cases being heard in South Korea,
:04:03. > :04:06.Germany, the Netherlands, England, Australia and elsewhere will be
:04:07. > :04:11.dropped. Each accuses the other of infringing on patents relating to
:04:12. > :04:16.their flagship smartphone and tablet products. And Western car makers are
:04:17. > :04:26.having problems in China. What's happening to them? Some big names
:04:27. > :04:29.here have been accused of monopoly behaviour by the Chinese regulator.
:04:30. > :04:42.The carmakers involved are Volkswagen, Audi, Chrysler and
:04:43. > :04:49.Italy's fear. `` and an Italian model. Investigations are taking
:04:50. > :04:53.place as regulators show concern over what they view as I'm fairly
:04:54. > :04:57.high prices for both parts and vehicles in the mainland, which is
:04:58. > :05:04.currently the world's largest car market. `` unfairly high prices.
:05:05. > :05:07.After the pharmaceutical sector, the government is focusing its efforts
:05:08. > :05:12.on the automotive industry. Thank you. The troubled international
:05:13. > :05:16.bank, Standard Chartered, will release its results in a few hours'
:05:17. > :05:18.time and they are expected to make troubling reading. Standard
:05:19. > :05:21.Chartered was one of the very few international banks not to have been
:05:22. > :05:24.floored by the global financial crisis but now, its profits are
:05:25. > :05:29.falling. This year, the bank forecasts they will be 20% down on
:05:30. > :05:34.2013. And according to some newspaper reports, that's sparking
:05:35. > :05:45.discontent amongst shareholders. Jeremy Howell reports.
:05:46. > :05:51.Voice`over: 150 years, Standard Chartered bank. During the darkest
:05:52. > :05:54.days of the financial crisis, Standard Chartered excelled among
:05:55. > :05:58.the world's fastest`growing economies. While the international
:05:59. > :06:02.banks struggled to survive, it doubled its revenues. Dividends paid
:06:03. > :06:07.to shareholders increased constantly. But in 2012, Standard
:06:08. > :06:12.Chartered was found to have violated US sanctions aimed at Iran's nuclear
:06:13. > :06:19.programme and it was heavily fined. Meanwhile, the bank's profits began
:06:20. > :06:26.to fall, leading to a slump in its share price. When the financial
:06:27. > :06:30.crisis started, big foreign banks withdrew. Standard Chartered filled
:06:31. > :06:34.that gap. It was a huge opportunity. The foreign big banks are back as
:06:35. > :06:38.well as local banks that have upped their game. The spotlight has now
:06:39. > :06:45.fallen on Standard Chartered's leaders. According to the UK's
:06:46. > :06:47.Financial Times, shareholders are privately complaining about the
:06:48. > :06:55.performance of the chief executive and the chairman. The bank's board
:06:56. > :06:58.has moved quickly to support them. The chief executive has been there
:06:59. > :07:02.for a long time and knows the business well. The business is going
:07:03. > :07:05.through a lot of changes, especially regulatory changes, and that means
:07:06. > :07:08.you need to have operators who know the business very well and can
:07:09. > :07:14.explain why their return on capital is there. I do not think wholesale
:07:15. > :07:17.changes are the right answer. The leadership of the bank will now be
:07:18. > :07:20.wanting to restore confidence among investors to head off any future
:07:21. > :07:24.revolt will stop you would expect that would include an announcement
:07:25. > :07:31.about a major change in strategy. So far, none has been made. Instead,
:07:32. > :07:34.the bank seems to be trusting in a general rise in global economic
:07:35. > :07:40.conditions to restore its profitability and secure its
:07:41. > :07:45.future. And when we hear from Standard Chartered, we will let you
:07:46. > :07:47.know about those numbers. In other news, British Airways has
:07:48. > :07:51.suspended flights to and from Liberia and Sierra Leone until the
:07:52. > :07:54.end of August amid concerns over the Ebola outbreak. The airline normally
:07:55. > :07:56.has four flights a week from London Heathrow to Freetown in Sierra
:07:57. > :08:00.Leone, with a connection to Monrovia in Liberia. BA said the move was due
:08:01. > :08:03.to the deteriorating public health situation in the two West African
:08:04. > :08:12.countries. Customers can get a refund or rearrange their flight for
:08:13. > :08:15.a later date. A US security firm is reporting that a Russian group has
:08:16. > :08:18.hacked 1.2 billion usernames and passwords from more than 500 million
:08:19. > :08:22.e`mail addresses. Hold Security is describing the hack as the largest
:08:23. > :08:24.data breach known to date and says the stolen information came from
:08:25. > :08:32.more than 420,000 websites, including virtually all industries
:08:33. > :08:34.across the world. President Barack Obama says US
:08:35. > :08:37.companies have pledged $14 billion of investment in Africa in areas
:08:38. > :08:40.including energy and infrastructure. The announcement came at the first
:08:41. > :08:44.US`Africa leaders' summit, which is attended by over 40 African heads of
:08:45. > :08:46.state. The summit is an effort to strengthen US relations with Africa,
:08:47. > :09:01.as China increases its investments on the continent.
:09:02. > :09:04.A lacklustre day today on the markets, partly because of what
:09:05. > :09:09.happened in the US yesterday and helpings ended on Wall Street. Japan
:09:10. > :09:17.are down 1% again. Hong Kong down by 0.6%. In terms of what happened on
:09:18. > :09:27.Wall Street, the standard impose 500 closed at a more than two `` the
:09:28. > :09:30.stock market closed at more than a two`month low. The services sector
:09:31. > :09:35.has grown at its fastest pace since 2005. That has renewed concerns that
:09:36. > :09:39.interest rates in the US will be going up sooner rather than later,
:09:40. > :09:45.and that has markets worried today. Don't forget, it is August and many
:09:46. > :09:50.people are away, and trading can be volatile. That strange summer
:09:51. > :10:01.season. I will see you soon as we talked through the papers. `` talk.
:10:02. > :10:10.Plans to make rigging energy markets a criminal offence are being
:10:11. > :10:12.outlined by the government today. Under the proposals, anyone found
:10:13. > :10:16.manipulating wholesale energy prices or using insider dealing could face
:10:17. > :10:17.jail terms of up to two years. Our industry correspondent John Moylan
:10:18. > :10:18.has