:00:00. > :00:14.She enjoys her horses, I wonder if Sally does!
:00:15. > :00:16.Crisis in Venezuela, President Maduro threatens to seize
:00:17. > :00:18.closed factories that have stopped production after he declared
:00:19. > :00:25.One of the oldest names in telecommunications, Cable
:00:26. > :00:28.Wireless, is being snapped up in a multi-billion dollar deal by one
:00:29. > :00:40.But is this good news for its customers?
:00:41. > :00:58.Also in the programme...
:00:59. > :01:06.More news on China's slowing growth, we will fill you in later.
:01:07. > :01:08.Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has threatened to seize factories
:01:09. > :01:10.that have stopped producing goods, and to jail their owners.
:01:11. > :01:13.The country is in the grip of a severe economic crisis.
:01:14. > :01:15.In a speech to supporters in the capital Caracas,
:01:16. > :01:18.he said Venezuela had to recover the means of production,
:01:19. > :01:24.Well, it has the world's largest oil reserves but
:01:25. > :01:28.its economy has been severely hit by the fall in global oil prices.
:01:29. > :01:30.The International Monetary Fund estimates that this year
:01:31. > :01:35.Venezuela's inflation will rocket to 720%, that is more than double
:01:36. > :01:39.the previous year and no surprise then that the
:01:40. > :01:51.There are now severe shortages of food, medicines and basic goods.
:01:52. > :01:58.Our South America correspondent Daniel Gallas has more.
:01:59. > :02:05.Average Venezuelans have grown used to getting by without some staple
:02:06. > :02:09.food items and also some essential things such as toilet paper. But now
:02:10. > :02:13.they are having to ration out water and electricity as well. The
:02:14. > :02:17.government of President Nicolas Maduro says the producers are the
:02:18. > :02:21.ones to blame. They are according to him trying to sabotage the economy
:02:22. > :02:24.by halting production and trying to drive prices up. That's why
:02:25. > :02:28.President Nicolas Maduro is threatening to seize many of these
:02:29. > :02:35.companies and get them back to producing but the producers on the
:02:36. > :02:38.other hand say the government is the one to blame with currency controls
:02:39. > :02:43.and its price freeze. One example is a beer company, Poehler, which has
:02:44. > :02:48.halted its production of beer. The government says it is trying to
:02:49. > :02:54.sabotage its economy but Poehler says it can't import some necessary
:02:55. > :02:57.ingredients. Venezuela is one of the wealthiest countries in the world
:02:58. > :03:02.because of its oil resources but due to the fall in global oil prices,
:03:03. > :03:04.now this economy is on the verge of a catastrophe. Daniel Gallas, BBC
:03:05. > :03:12.News, Sao Paulo. You can follow Daniel on Twitter and
:03:13. > :03:13.also online. Lots more on that story on the BBC website.
:03:14. > :03:15.Cable Wireless, one of the oldest names
:03:16. > :03:18.in telecomunications, with roots going back to 1852, is being bought
:03:19. > :03:22.Liberty Global have snapped up what ammounts to the remaining part
:03:23. > :03:25.of C, a business with a strong presence across
:03:26. > :03:33.Its an acquisition vital to Liberty Global's media ambitions.
:03:34. > :03:39.But who are they, and what do they hope to achieve?
:03:40. > :03:41.Liberty Global is already the world's largest international
:03:42. > :03:43.cable company, with 27 million customers in 14 countries.
:03:44. > :03:46.It's controlled by billionaire Chairman John Malone.
:03:47. > :03:48.Nicknamed the Cable Cowboy after a string of
:03:49. > :03:52.complex deals in the telecoms and media sectors in the US.
:03:53. > :03:54.Liberty Global is one of the world's largest broadband
:03:55. > :04:05.It has many subiduary companies around the world, including Virgin
:04:06. > :04:08.Media in the UK, and Ziggo, the largest cable operator
:04:09. > :04:12.in the Netherlands and Unitymedia in Germany.
:04:13. > :04:15.The firm is also looking at a potential bid for the mobile network
:04:16. > :04:18.O2 after its takeover by rival operator Three was blocked by the
:04:19. > :04:21.With me is Andrea Salvato, head of mergers and acquisitions
:04:22. > :04:33.Good morning. Good morning, Sally. A big day for you as a company,
:04:34. > :04:36.finally getting hold of the assets of Cable Wireless in Latin America
:04:37. > :04:44.and the Caribbean, explain why you wanted to move in? Multiple
:04:45. > :04:48.reasons. Primarily it's a very high-growth business which is very
:04:49. > :04:53.well positioned to meet pent-up demand for its services across the
:04:54. > :04:57.region. Secondly it adds tremendous scale to our existing businesses in
:04:58. > :05:01.the region, we have to our existing businesses in the region, we have
:05:02. > :05:05.two in Puerto because in today's environment it's necessary to do
:05:06. > :05:11.that to innovate and invest for customers. You are getting bigger
:05:12. > :05:15.and sprawling across the globe in a more prevalent way, many customers
:05:16. > :05:20.watching might think is that better for me all worse for me? In terms of
:05:21. > :05:24.the competition, is their strong competition? Very strong competition
:05:25. > :05:30.and for our customers hopefully it is exciting news, when we have made
:05:31. > :05:33.these acquisitions we have tended to accelerate innovation and
:05:34. > :05:38.investment. Virgin Media is a good example in the UK, shortly after we
:05:39. > :05:41.bought it we announced a ?3 billion investment programme to expand the
:05:42. > :05:47.network to 4 million homes. Hopefully we can do the same. Strong
:05:48. > :05:52.competition is important because it allows you to get through into a
:05:53. > :06:00.market where there is a lot of regulation and competition issues. I
:06:01. > :06:05.think if you step back and look at it, the primary Route one reason for
:06:06. > :06:08.doing this is the region has a lot of pent-up demand for our products.
:06:09. > :06:14.When you look at the number of people who have pay television, it's
:06:15. > :06:22.much lower than the equivalent in Europe so over time you would hope
:06:23. > :06:27.that an broadband would converge. 02 and Three cannot team up because of
:06:28. > :06:30.their merger being blocked, now owe to a possible acquisition from your
:06:31. > :06:36.point of view? I wish I could comment but I can't. We are very
:06:37. > :06:42.happy with our mobile strategy in the UK. That's all you're going to
:06:43. > :06:47.say on that. Unfortunately. Fair enough. Is Europe one of the most
:06:48. > :06:51.difficult markets in the world to penetrate in terms of the
:06:52. > :06:55.competition and tight regulation? I don't know, I can't compare it to
:06:56. > :06:59.every country around the world but Europe is very competitive. It's
:07:00. > :07:02.important to understand that competition doesn't just come from
:07:03. > :07:07.the traditional providers, it also comes from the likes of Netflix,
:07:08. > :07:10.Google and Apple. We will be watching closely. Thank you for
:07:11. > :07:15.coming in from Liberty Global. A company on the move.
:07:16. > :07:23.A few more signs of slowing growth in China. Figures from the weekend
:07:24. > :07:28.showed industrial output dropping 6% in April compared to one year ago,
:07:29. > :07:34.down from March. Sharanjit Leyl has the latest in Singapore. What is
:07:35. > :07:39.going on? As you say, you mentioned industrial output, a whole load of
:07:40. > :07:44.other figures out, retail sales, fixed asset index, they all grew
:07:45. > :07:48.much more slowly than expected in April, which is another strong
:07:49. > :07:53.indicator China's economy remains weak. Some of the stats, retail
:07:54. > :07:57.sales and fixed asset income, all of that up over 10%, they sound
:07:58. > :08:01.impressive but they have missed forecast and policy measures don't
:08:02. > :08:04.appear to be working to help give those numbers a boost. The
:08:05. > :08:09.government has cut interest rates six times since late 2014, they have
:08:10. > :08:14.lowered reserve requirements, which is the proportion of funds banks
:08:15. > :08:18.must try to put aside to boost the economy. We also saw the fall in
:08:19. > :08:22.industrial production, that is due to mining and steel production
:08:23. > :08:26.either stalling or going backwards in April. It all suggests, Sally,
:08:27. > :08:31.the massive financial stimulus package China unleashed earlier this
:08:32. > :08:36.year appears to be losing its being. We will keep an eye on that.
:08:37. > :08:38.Thank you, Sharanjit -- lose its thing.
:08:39. > :08:41.Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world, plans
:08:42. > :08:43.legal action against Volkswagen over its emissions scandal.
:08:44. > :08:46.Norges Bank Investment Management is one of the VW's biggest investors.
:08:47. > :08:49.The fund says the legal action will take place in Germany.
:08:50. > :08:52.Nigerian unions have called for an indefinite general strike to
:08:53. > :08:53.begin on Wednesday unless the government reverses
:08:54. > :08:59.The slump in crude prices has hurt Africa's biggest oil producer
:09:00. > :09:02.causing a severe shortage of foreign currency which is needed
:09:03. > :09:08.There are reports the investor Warren Buffett is backing
:09:09. > :09:13.a consortium which is bidding for Yahoo's core internet assets.
:09:14. > :09:16.The head of Berkshire Hathaway is among a group that includes
:09:17. > :09:20.Dan Gilbert, the billionaire founder of Quicken Loans.
:09:21. > :09:23.Last month the search company, which has been hit
:09:24. > :09:32.by falling advertising, shortlisted about ten potential buyers.
:09:33. > :09:35.A brief look at the markets in Asia so you can see how the trading week
:09:36. > :09:44.has begun. The news out of China not phasing
:09:45. > :09:49.investors at all in Asia. Japan up strongly, as is Hong Kong. The price
:09:50. > :09:50.of oil, nearly $49 a barrel, that has really boosted the energy stocks
:09:51. > :09:57.today. That's everything from me for the
:09:58. > :10:04.time being. I will see you in a few minutes for the papers.
:10:05. > :10:06.More than half of those seeking a diagnosis for dementia have delayed
:10:07. > :10:10.going to their GP by at least a year according to a survey carried
:10:11. > :10:15.The charity says nearly two thirds of people fear a diagnosis