:00:00. > :00:00.Those are the latest headlines from BBC World News. Now for the latest
:00:00. > :00:17.financial news with Alice, in World Business Report.
:00:18. > :00:22.The rising cost of Ebola: We assess the economic impact the deadly virus
:00:23. > :00:30.as it sweeps across swathes of Africa.
:00:31. > :00:31.And happy 100th birthday. We take a trip down the engineering wonder
:00:32. > :00:41.that is the Panama Canal. Welcome to World Business Report.
:00:42. > :00:51.I'm Alice Baxter. As the death toll from Ebola mounts
:00:52. > :00:58.across West Africa, the UN's health agency says the scale of the crisis
:00:59. > :01:01.is "vastly underestimated". Now concern is growing about what the
:01:02. > :01:10.cost will be of the deadly disease to the region's economies. Fear of
:01:11. > :01:13.the virus is having an impact on many of the affected countries,
:01:14. > :01:16.several local markets are empty and traders are prevented from moving
:01:17. > :01:18.around. So, just what is the economic picture on the ground? Our
:01:19. > :01:27.Africa Business Correspondent Lerato Mbele reports.
:01:28. > :01:30.Contagious and potentially deadly. Over the past few months, the Ebola
:01:31. > :01:37.virus has spread rapidly in West Africa. This latest outbreak is the
:01:38. > :01:40.world's deadliest to date. Health workers continue to treat the
:01:41. > :01:46.disease and authorities are trying to contain it. Some borders in the
:01:47. > :01:49.region have been closed and roadblocks have been used to
:01:50. > :01:52.restrict peoples movements in affected areas. Several airlines
:01:53. > :01:57.including British Airways have stopped flights to leap `` Liberia,
:01:58. > :02:03.Sierra Leone and Guinea, with fewer goods coming in. Prices of everyday
:02:04. > :02:07.essentials are rising. Public gatherings have been discouraged and
:02:08. > :02:12.often fear of infection is keeping customers away. Market traders in
:02:13. > :02:18.Liberia say it is hurting their livelihoods. Life is getting very
:02:19. > :02:26.difficult. Now some of us have to move around, right motorbike and do
:02:27. > :02:31.other activities. Now the government says everybody should stay home. How
:02:32. > :02:38.do you go and make your life? They say no markets. It is very bad and
:02:39. > :02:41.difficult. Some firms operating in the affected countries have chosen
:02:42. > :02:53.to evacuate their foreign staff. Others are continuing with business
:02:54. > :02:55.as best they can. Stella has `` Diamond has been undergoing
:02:56. > :03:03.exploration in Sierra Leone. It's not clear how this virus will
:03:04. > :03:08.spread. Can we continue operations as we are? There's a of uncertainty
:03:09. > :03:14.in business at the moment. I was there myself two weeks ago to see
:03:15. > :03:20.first`hand what we put into place. `` a lot of uncertainty. As a result
:03:21. > :03:26.we have been able to ramp up our efforts. There's no figure as to the
:03:27. > :03:36.economic cost yet but it takes livelihoods months to recover. Can
:03:37. > :03:42.you is on high alert. The government in Ghana has hinted at enforcing
:03:43. > :03:50.restrictions on public gatherings. `` Kenya is on.
:03:51. > :03:54.Hyundai Motor's South Korean workers have voted to strike for a third
:03:55. > :03:58.consecutive year after annual wage talks broke down. Rico Hizon in our
:03:59. > :04:08.Asia Business Hub in Singapore has been following the story. What more
:04:09. > :04:12.do you have on this story? Negotiations between management and
:04:13. > :04:20.the union have yet again hit a dead end. This is over wage and benefit
:04:21. > :04:23.issues. One, the union demands bonuses and other benefits to be
:04:24. > :04:30.integrated into the basic pay, which would result in raising the basic
:04:31. > :04:33.salary. But you and a's management won't give in. They made it clear
:04:34. > :04:39.that they won't accept the union's demand. `` hi your date's. It is
:04:40. > :04:45.under pressure to reach a deal with workers. General Motors are to new
:04:46. > :04:55.times last month, including a demand that fixed bonuses to be counted as
:04:56. > :04:59.basic salary. A Korean company has also struck a similar agreement in
:05:00. > :05:05.July. So much pressure at the moment on Hyundai. Labour strike would put
:05:06. > :05:11.a lot of pressure on the automaker, which is also struggling with the
:05:12. > :05:15.effects of the strong currency against the US dollar, eroding
:05:16. > :05:22.export profits. During the summer strikes last year, Hyundai along
:05:23. > :05:27.with Kia suffered a combined loss of 70,000 vehicles, worth hundreds of
:05:28. > :05:31.billions of dollars. Hyundai doesn't want that to happen again. Watch
:05:32. > :05:33.this space if the strike does push through and if it `` an agreement is
:05:34. > :05:43.reached at the 11th hour. Thank you. It was the engineering miracle of
:05:44. > :05:55.the age, but mired in scandal during its conception. The Panama Canal
:05:56. > :05:59.opened 100 years ago today. For decades, it was run by the US, but
:06:00. > :06:03.at the end of 1999 it was handed over to the Panamanians. More than a
:06:04. > :06:05.million ships have passed through the 80 kilometre canal, which today
:06:06. > :06:09.handles 5% of the world's maritime trade. But what does the next
:06:10. > :06:21.century hold for the waterway and the small Central American country
:06:22. > :06:24.that now runs it? When the Panama Canal was built it was considered a
:06:25. > :06:28.huge feat of engineering. What is perhaps more injured `` amazing is
:06:29. > :06:35.that little has changed. This is one of three gates. This is about 27
:06:36. > :06:40.metres high. It is absolutely massive. Originally these gates were
:06:41. > :06:42.operated by G is but are now operated by hydraulics. That's
:06:43. > :06:48.pretty much the only thing that's changed. `` by gears. The big
:06:49. > :06:52.difference now is that people here are in charge, the Panamanians. Eric
:06:53. > :06:59.is a maintenance engineer. He started as an apprentice 26 years
:07:00. > :07:03.ago and is proud of the way Panama has turned the strategic waterway
:07:04. > :07:11.into a more profitable business. People really doubted it but we
:07:12. > :07:18.really did it. The other people feel may be angry because they don't have
:07:19. > :07:22.the canal. But it's a tight squeeze. Of the bigger ships. Global trade
:07:23. > :07:26.has grown considerably in the past 100 years. The canal has now been
:07:27. > :07:30.expanded to allow supertankers to pass through. It has been plagued by
:07:31. > :07:36.delays and legal disputes. finished at the end of next year, it
:07:37. > :07:41.will more than double the capacity of ships passing through. It is a
:07:42. > :07:44.massive project. These gates will be put into the newly expanded canal.
:07:45. > :07:49.They've come all the way from Italy on a specially designed ship and
:07:50. > :07:53.they weigh 3000 tons each. Instead of removing the gates and
:07:54. > :07:57.maintaining them elsewhere, because they are so big people will be able
:07:58. > :08:00.to get inside them and they will be maintained on site. The hope is the
:08:01. > :08:05.extra income will filter down to more Panamanians. The country is one
:08:06. > :08:10.of the most unequal in the world. Around one third of people here live
:08:11. > :08:14.in poverty. We have a very modern economy but the political system
:08:15. > :08:18.isn't very modern or plural. We need to deepen our democracy in order to
:08:19. > :08:25.have more integral economic growth and social growth. The past century
:08:26. > :08:28.has brought wealth to this small country. Beyond the canal, financial
:08:29. > :08:36.services and property are booming industries. But the next 100 years
:08:37. > :08:40.are uncertain. Panama can't afford to be complacent.
:08:41. > :08:43.In other news, Australia's third largest bank, Australia and New
:08:44. > :08:52.Zealand Banking Group, ANZ, is on track to post its sixth year of
:08:53. > :08:56.record profits. ANZ saw nine month cash profit rose by 8% to about $5
:08:57. > :08:59.billion and said it was set to meet its full year financial forecasts.
:09:00. > :09:03.This comes after the lender cut costs, lowered bad debt and saw
:09:04. > :09:06.stronger growth in Asia. Shares in Warren Buffett's Berkshire
:09:07. > :09:14.Hathaway have surpassed $200,000 for the first time. That values the firm
:09:15. > :09:19.at an estimated $326 billion. The company's shares have long been the
:09:20. > :09:22.most expensive stock in the US. Mr Buffett has never split the
:09:23. > :09:30.company's class A shares, although there are cheaper class B shares
:09:31. > :09:33.that are priced at $134 per share. Asian shares got off to a lacklustre
:09:34. > :09:37.start on Friday, but were still on track for a winning week, while the
:09:38. > :09:45.euro remained close to nine`month lows after downbeat data.
:09:46. > :10:04.I will be back for a look at the papers shortly.
:10:05. > :10:06.We will review the international press in a