:00:00. > :00:00.The Alternative for Germany party, the AfD, has won seats
:00:00. > :00:00.Those are the latest headlines from BBC World News.
:00:00. > :00:00.Now for the latest financial news with Sally
:00:07. > :00:18.Russia's energy minister is in Tehran to talk oil.
:00:19. > :00:24.But will he be able to persuade Iran to join a freeze on production,
:00:25. > :00:25.just months after crippling sanctions were lifted?
:00:26. > :00:27.America's top transport official backs Google,
:00:28. > :00:30.saying its self-driving car crash last month was not a surprise,
:00:31. > :00:48.Also in the programme: There is more gloomy news about the Chinese
:00:49. > :00:51.economy, and Moody's warns political risk has risen in Hong Kong.
:00:52. > :00:58.Russia's energy minister is due to begin talks
:00:59. > :01:01.in Iran over a potential deal to freeze oil production levels.
:01:02. > :01:04.Last month, a group of countries led by Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed to
:01:05. > :01:07.keep a ceiling on oil output, but only if other producers follow
:01:08. > :01:12.Initially oil prices slipped after the announcement,
:01:13. > :01:18.From record lows of $27 a barrel in mid-January,
:01:19. > :01:22.oil has been steadily climbing, and is now above the $40 a barrel mark.
:01:23. > :01:24.The International Energy Agency says prices have recovered remarkably in
:01:25. > :01:28.the past few weeks, and that lower production in the US is helping to
:01:29. > :01:36.But it is highly unlikely Iran will freeze its production right now.
:01:37. > :01:39.Its Opec envoy described a move as illogical, reportedly saying the
:01:40. > :01:41.country will increase output until it reaches pre-sanctions levels.
:01:42. > :01:43.With me is Richard Mallinson, geopolitical analyst at
:01:44. > :02:07.Good morning, Richard. So how are these talks going today, do you
:02:08. > :02:11.think? Iran definitely wants OPEC to do something to support the price,
:02:12. > :02:15.like all oil producers it has been suffering from low prices at its
:02:16. > :02:19.focus is on bringing production back. It has just had sanctions
:02:20. > :02:23.lifted and the last thing it wants to do is committed to keeping
:02:24. > :02:28.production at what it sees as unreasonably low levels compared to
:02:29. > :02:32.Saudi Arabia and Iraq. And what is Iran producing, as far as we know?
:02:33. > :02:37.There is conflicting data out there, isn't a? There is, the last few
:02:38. > :02:41.months we have seen exports pick up to around 3 million barrels a day
:02:42. > :02:45.compared to around 2.8 million a few months ago but a lot of the numbers
:02:46. > :02:48.which are coming out are very unreliable. We don't know how much
:02:49. > :02:53.of the oil they are currently selling is coming out of tanks and
:02:54. > :02:58.how much is additional pumping from their fields. And just explain the
:02:59. > :03:02.shift in the oil price. Is it as simple as saying we have seen it
:03:03. > :03:07.steadily rise because of the Russia Saudi Arabia discussions in
:03:08. > :03:11.February? I think all the talks and headlines over the last few weeks
:03:12. > :03:15.have helped change the mood at what has really underlined the
:03:16. > :03:19.improvement in prices has been the fact that non- OPEC supplies are
:03:20. > :03:22.starting to fall because of lower investment, lower spending by oil
:03:23. > :03:29.companies, we are seeing the results show up and that is going to
:03:30. > :03:34.rebalance the market. So what is Energy Aspect saying about the price
:03:35. > :03:39.of oil? At the beginning of the year there was a real diversity between
:03:40. > :03:44.$6 a barrel and $60 a barrel. Your thoughts? There are so many views
:03:45. > :03:49.out there at the moment. I think given the rally we have seen we are
:03:50. > :03:51.back to about the right levels for the current market conditions and
:03:52. > :03:54.that probably sees us through for a few months but in the second half of
:03:55. > :03:58.the year I would expect that tightness to really start showing
:03:59. > :04:03.through and prices to rise further past $60 a barrel by the end of the
:04:04. > :04:07.year. Thank you for giving us your take on that. We will keep a close
:04:08. > :04:09.eye on the talks going on in Tehran. Any news coming out of those
:04:10. > :04:11.we will update you. The US ratings agency Moody's has
:04:12. > :04:14.downgraded Hong Kong's outlook to negative, as the territory's
:04:15. > :04:27.political and economic links with Nice to see you. Just fill us in on
:04:28. > :04:33.this news that emerged over the weekend. That's right, Sally. Hong
:04:34. > :04:38.Kong officials are shaking their heads with disappointment by this
:04:39. > :04:45.downgrade by Moody's, and immediately today, they swiftly
:04:46. > :04:49.defended the territory's policy framework for the metals. A
:04:50. > :04:53.government spokesman described the assessment by Moody's as totally
:04:54. > :04:58.wrong and its view from the mainland in the city's policy formulation
:04:59. > :05:02.speculative and subjective. But if you take a look at the report by
:05:03. > :05:06.Moody's, the ratings service said the strong political link in bed at
:05:07. > :05:10.in the one country, two systems policy creates the risk that they
:05:11. > :05:17.will lose some of their independence as China's influence continues to
:05:18. > :05:22.grow. This it said would negatively affect policy effectiveness and
:05:23. > :05:26.credibility in Hong Kong and weak in its institutional strength relative
:05:27. > :05:31.to the mainland. When you speak to analysts they say that Hong Kong is
:05:32. > :05:35.very exposed to any deterioration in China, given that about 60% of the
:05:36. > :05:39.city's bank credit goes to mainland borrowers. With all this fact is now
:05:40. > :05:45.out, we will have to wait and see, Sally, if Rival rating houses SNP
:05:46. > :05:52.and Fitch will follow the weak lead of Moody's -- S
:05:53. > :05:55.In other news: China's industrial output has slowed to
:05:56. > :05:56.its weakest growth since the financial crisis, fuelling
:05:57. > :06:03.Production rose by 5.4% in January and February, the worst since 2008.
:06:04. > :06:05.The Bank of Japan has started its two-day policy meeting.
:06:06. > :06:08.In a surprise move in January, the central bank adopted negative
:06:09. > :06:11.interest rates for some deposits, in an attempt to encourage Japanese
:06:12. > :06:15.Later this week the Federal Reserve and the Bank
:06:16. > :06:21.The International Monetary Fund has suggested it supports
:06:22. > :06:23.the decisions of Japan and Europe to introduce negative
:06:24. > :06:26.IMF chief Christine Lagarde says unconventional monetary
:06:27. > :06:28.policies should continue if they are accompanied by structural
:06:29. > :06:40.Huge but peaceful protests have been taking place in cities across
:06:41. > :06:42.Brazil, to demand the resignation of President Dilma Rousseff.
:06:43. > :06:44.The opposition accuses her of mishandling the economy
:06:45. > :06:46.and involvement in a massive corruption scandal, which has also
:06:47. > :06:59.Last month Google revealed that one of its self-driving
:07:00. > :07:03.The incident highlighted just one of the fears people have
:07:04. > :07:05.about autonomous vehicles, the other being that cars without drivers
:07:06. > :07:10.Our North America technology reporter Dave Lee spoke to the US
:07:11. > :07:11.transport secretary about the impact self-driving
:07:12. > :07:33.I think there is no question that driverless technology presents a lot
:07:34. > :07:39.of potential for disruption on a number of fronts. And it is unclear
:07:40. > :07:45.to me now exactly how that future unfolds. What I do know is that we
:07:46. > :07:49.have the potential to reduce 80% of the crashes and accidents that
:07:50. > :07:55.occur. That is not to say that there won't be disruptions along the way.
:07:56. > :08:00.Recently the Google car crashed into a bus and it was the first time that
:08:01. > :08:03.Google accepted that it was the fault of the on-board computer, that
:08:04. > :08:10.it made the wrong call in pulling out on that bus. Is that a setback
:08:11. > :08:16.for the tech ology? Well, it is not a surprise that at some point there
:08:17. > :08:20.would be a crash. -- technology. Of any technology that is on the road.
:08:21. > :08:24.But I would challenge one to look at the number of crashes that occurred
:08:25. > :08:28.on the same day that were the result of human behaviour. I think the
:08:29. > :08:33.question here is and comparing the automated car against perfection, I
:08:34. > :08:38.think it is a relative comparison to what we have now on the roads, which
:08:39. > :08:42.is you and I and our eyeballs. Whenever we do a story about
:08:43. > :08:46.driverless or self driving cars everyone says but I love driving, I
:08:47. > :08:51.love to be out on the open road. How do you feel about that, personally?
:08:52. > :08:55.I think there will be an appetite for those of us who have grown up
:08:56. > :09:00.driving vehicles to continue to have fun doing that, but no, my kids
:09:01. > :09:05.don't know what a typewriter was. This generation of kids doesn't
:09:06. > :09:09.remember what it was like the role of a window in a car because all
:09:10. > :09:17.cars have automatic Windows today -- to roll up a window. Quite
:09:18. > :09:17.interesting cars have automatic Windows today --
:09:18. > :09:21.to roll up a window. Quite interesting to hear his take on the
:09:22. > :09:24.future for cars. Looking at market is very briefly, the week started on
:09:25. > :09:28.a bullish note following a strong close in Europe and the US on
:09:29. > :09:33.Friday. Lots of Central Banks meeting this week, the bank of
:09:34. > :09:36.Japan, the Federal reserve, the Bank of England, and there is a lot of
:09:37. > :09:41.momentum behind the thought about what central banks will do the best
:09:42. > :09:46.global economy. So it is all about getting back into markets this week,
:09:47. > :09:51.it would seem so far so good. Japan closes in around about 20 minutes'
:09:52. > :09:53.time. That is it from World Business Report. Stay with us, you are with
:09:54. > :10:02.BBC World News. The High Court is expected to decide
:10:03. > :10:05.today on a legal challenge from the Government, seeking to ban a one-day
:10:06. > :10:08.strike tomorrow by sixth-form Ministers say the dispute,
:10:09. > :10:11.which is about the funding of colleges, is political, rather
:10:12. > :10:15.than being a genuine trade dispute.