:00:00. > :00:00.Those are the latest headlines from BBC World News. Now for the latest
:00:00. > :00:16.financial news with World Business Report.
:00:17. > :00:22.Hong Kong markets fall as protestors stand up against police warnings and
:00:23. > :00:30.tear gas so the hang seng falls to a three`month low. Back to Work: Air
:00:31. > :00:32.France pilots call off their strike. But a deal still hasn't been struck
:00:33. > :00:43.with the unions over Welcome to World Business Report,
:00:44. > :00:45.I'm Sally Bundock. Also in the programme we take a look at whether
:00:46. > :00:51.Modi will successfully persuade America's millionaires to invest in
:00:52. > :00:53.India. As you have been hearing, pro democracy protests in Hong Kong are
:00:54. > :01:00.becoming increasingly widespread despite police firing tear gas into
:01:01. > :01:03.crowds. The main business district was paralysed ahead of the morning
:01:04. > :01:08.rush`hour and some businesses have asked their employees to stay at
:01:09. > :01:11.home. Standard Chartered and several other banks have suspended some of
:01:12. > :01:18.their operations with bank branches and ATMs out of action. The news has
:01:19. > :01:22.sent Hong Kong shares to their lowest level in nearly three months.
:01:23. > :01:29.Now let's cross over to our Asia business hub and speak to Sharanjit
:01:30. > :01:32.Leyl. It's quite a strong reaction but no
:01:33. > :01:37.surprise given what's going on in Hong Kong. That's right, you've
:01:38. > :01:42.pretty much set and it up. The hands saying falling in reaction to this
:01:43. > :01:46.weekend protests `` Hang Seng. The biggest crackdown on the city since
:01:47. > :01:54.it was returned to Chinese rule. Police using tear gas after
:01:55. > :01:59.protesters. They blocked off traffic in that crucial CBD as well. It is
:02:00. > :02:04.home to the world's fifth`largest stock market. The hang saying, as we
:02:05. > :02:09.mentioned. And the Hong Kong Central bank saying 16 branches of banks
:02:10. > :02:14.have suspended their operations today. So banking shares are taking
:02:15. > :02:19.a big hit over there in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong listed shares of the
:02:20. > :02:25.likes of HSBC, Standard Chartered, Hang Seng Bank have been sold off.
:02:26. > :02:32.The Hang Seng down 2% at the moment, 460 point bass there. And
:02:33. > :02:38.the closure of some of the city's busiest roads. That caused chaos for
:02:39. > :02:43.commuters trying to get into work. The Hong Kong dollar also taking a
:02:44. > :02:49.hit. There's also concern that this might lead to a long`term impact.
:02:50. > :02:54.Fitch ratings, the head of its Asia`Pacific soaring ratings, said
:02:55. > :02:58.the protests are unlikely to impact the creditworthiness of Hong Kong in
:02:59. > :03:02.the short term but would be negative if it had a wide enough scale and
:03:03. > :03:05.lasted long enough to have a material impact on the economy or
:03:06. > :03:10.the financial stability of Hong Kong. But of course Fitch saying
:03:11. > :03:18.that is unlikely to happen. There are also other concerns. Analysts I
:03:19. > :03:23.spoke to said this could spook Chinese tourists who contribute a
:03:24. > :03:27.lot to consumer spending and consumption in Hong Kong and that
:03:28. > :03:31.could be hit during the upcoming long weekend, Hong Kong celebrating
:03:32. > :03:38.a national day holiday this Thursday and Friday. Thanks very much.
:03:39. > :03:45.That talk about Air France. Pilots have called off a strike that has
:03:46. > :03:48.lasted for two weeks and cost the airline hundreds of millions of
:03:49. > :03:52.dollars. But as the pilots prepare to take to the sky's again, their
:03:53. > :03:54.union says they are still yet to reach an agreement over Air France's
:03:55. > :03:58.plan to expand its budget subsidiary, Transavia. Chloe Hayward
:03:59. > :04:02.reports. After 14 days and thousands of
:04:03. > :04:08.cancelled flights, Air France pilots have finally agreed to end their
:04:09. > :04:11.strike. Up to 50% of flights are now expected to operate on Monday with
:04:12. > :04:15.services gradually returning to normal from Tuesday. But the cause
:04:16. > :04:19.of the strike action and the resulting street protests still
:04:20. > :04:28.remain unsold. The pilots want the airline to cancel its plans to
:04:29. > :04:31.expand the subsidiary Transavia `` unsolved. They also want similar
:04:32. > :04:37.contracts for all across the board. But the boss made it clear on Sunday
:04:38. > :04:41.that meeting such demands was not an option. TRANSLATION: We're now going
:04:42. > :04:45.to get down to the developer and of Transavia in France on the scale
:04:46. > :04:49.planned. We're going to create 1000 jobs in France, including 250
:04:50. > :04:53.pilots. We are finally going to be able to face up to the competition
:04:54. > :04:59.from low`cost companies on an equal footing. This reform is vital. But
:05:00. > :05:04.unions hope talks will be calmer and more productive now pilots are back
:05:05. > :05:08.at work. Air France has agreed to expand its Transavia operations only
:05:09. > :05:12.within France as a concession to the unions. But it insists it must have
:05:13. > :05:17.the right to vary employment contracts for those working at the
:05:18. > :05:23.low`cost subsidiary. The walkout has cost Air France up to $350 million.
:05:24. > :05:27.An amount that means simply having their planes back in the skies will
:05:28. > :05:34.not mark the end of their financial woes.
:05:35. > :05:37.Now, on his first official visit to the US, Indian prime minister
:05:38. > :05:40.Narendra Modi received a welcome normally reserved for rock stars ` a
:05:41. > :05:43.sold`out appearance at New York's Madison Square Garden on Sunday. In
:05:44. > :05:46.addition he has taken centre stage at the United Nations General
:05:47. > :05:50.Assembly. But today, the focus is business. Prime Minister Modi is due
:05:51. > :05:53.to attend meetings with business leaders from several of the Fortune
:05:54. > :05:58.500 companies, including Boeing, Pepsico, Google, General Electric
:05:59. > :06:07.and Goldman Sachs among others. His aim? To persuade them to invest in
:06:08. > :06:11.India. But relations between the US and India have not been easy, even
:06:12. > :06:13.though Modi says India is open for business, business leaders want
:06:14. > :06:15.intellectual property protection to be strengthened and new commitments
:06:16. > :06:21.that Indian trade and investment barriers against a wide range of US
:06:22. > :06:30.industries will be dropped. But will his efforts work?
:06:31. > :06:35.Looking back at why and how he came into power, it was under Hope and
:06:36. > :06:39.claims that he is going to bring the economic resurgence back in India.
:06:40. > :06:43.For that to happen he needs investments and he needs companies
:06:44. > :06:48.to come back. Investments in infrastructure, energy extra. What
:06:49. > :06:51.he is doing here is telling American CEOs that India is open for business
:06:52. > :07:01.again and that's why he's meeting them. I am joined by Prashant
:07:02. > :07:05.Sawant, Senior Economist at risk advisory company, Maplecroft. How
:07:06. > :07:15.receptive is big business to his message? India's Prime Minister's
:07:16. > :07:22.visit to America has come at an interesting time. Standard and
:07:23. > :07:29.pause, the credit rating agency, revised India's outlook from
:07:30. > :07:33.positive to negative. He is carrying that face with him to strengthen
:07:34. > :07:39.economic ties with him. The US remains India's major trading
:07:40. > :07:45.partner, it is the highest destination for India's exports.
:07:46. > :07:53.Strengthening ties make sense for India's economy, especially to
:07:54. > :07:56.increase foreign exports, which are essential to kick off these
:07:57. > :08:05.infrastructure projects. That is why the US companies will be looking to
:08:06. > :08:09.get involved in India's economy. Especially for foreign investment,
:08:10. > :08:15.that is very much welcome in sectors including retail, also defence and
:08:16. > :08:19.insurance, and the financial sector. Let's talk about some of the
:08:20. > :08:23.concerns. You mentioned retail. I know we covered it as a story, some
:08:24. > :08:27.of the difficulties big foreign retailers had when they wanted to
:08:28. > :08:31.set up shop in India. What's happening with regards to some of
:08:32. > :08:36.the trade barriers? Are they coming down? When it comes to the retail
:08:37. > :08:43.sector there is still a lack of policy clearance. The people in the
:08:44. > :08:51.party are saying different things at different levels. Modi, with his...
:08:52. > :08:55.He is showing he is pro`business, he wants to welcome foreign investment
:08:56. > :09:00.in India. But the dark state within his party is holding him back at the
:09:01. > :09:06.same time. There's also another important angle, the state, which is
:09:07. > :09:15.also a very dominant player when it comes to doing business in India. I
:09:16. > :09:19.wonder... There are five states in India and it will be interesting to
:09:20. > :09:23.see how he deals with that when it comes to doing business in India.
:09:24. > :09:38.Interesting, thanks very much. We will keep an ion his visit. Russian
:09:39. > :09:40.energy giant Rosneft says it's discovered oil with its US project
:09:41. > :09:43.partner Exxon Mobil at a controversial well in the Arctic.
:09:44. > :09:46.Drilling was completed in record time but questions remain about how
:09:47. > :09:49.quickly the well can be developed. The boss of Rosneft says it could
:09:50. > :09:53.access up to 100 million tons of oil at the site. However, despite the
:09:54. > :09:55.size of this find, Exxon says it will "wind down" the project
:09:56. > :09:58.following US sanctions against Russia over its actions in Ukraine.
:09:59. > :10:01.SoftBank is in talks to buy DreamWorks Animation, the company
:10:02. > :10:04.behind the Shrek and Kung Fu Panda films. If the Japanese group seals a
:10:05. > :10:06.deal it would take control of Hollywood's largest independent
:10:07. > :10:09.animation studio. Its being reported the European Commission will accuse
:10:10. > :10:11.Apple of prospering from illegal tax deals with the Irish government
:10:12. > :10:15.later this week. The Financial Times says Brussels will unveil details of
:10:16. > :10:17.a probe that could result in the iPhone maker being fined several
:10:18. > :10:19.billions of euros. The European Commission's investigation claims
:10:20. > :10:21.the tech giant benefited from illicit state aid after striking
:10:22. > :10:24.backroom deals with Ireland's authorities. Apple maintains its
:10:25. > :10:43.Some of the day's UK news now. Last break any laws. That's
:10:44. > :10:45.Some of the day's UK news now. Last year the UK suffered one of