:00:00. > :00:00.Now for the latest financial news with
:00:00. > :00:18.Japan wants G7 leaders to start shovelling the cash to boost
:00:19. > :00:25.But Germany and the UK still say austerity,
:00:26. > :00:35.McDonalds set for another king size grilling at its annual meeting
:00:36. > :00:42.today, as fast food workers demand a bigger portion of pay.
:00:43. > :01:00.Stay with me. I will give you an exciting snapshot of all good news
:01:01. > :01:02.in business and money. In a moment -
:01:03. > :01:04.could the fairy tale be over? Alibaba reveals its accounts are
:01:05. > :01:06.under investigation. We start in Japan, where leaders
:01:07. > :01:10.of the G7 group of nations are gathering in Ise-Shima,
:01:11. > :01:11.in the mountains south west Up for discussion - terrorism,
:01:12. > :01:17.the refugee crisis, tensions with China over territorial
:01:18. > :01:20.waters and Britain's EU referendum But top of the agenda is this -
:01:21. > :01:30.fears over global economic growth. The IMF has revised
:01:31. > :01:33.down its world growth forecasts The economic picture is
:01:34. > :01:48.getting worse, not better. Should governments be splashing
:01:49. > :01:58.the cash, spending more money to Or is austerity the way to go -
:01:59. > :02:12.cutting back and spending less? On one side you have the UK
:02:13. > :02:15.and Germany who believe that the only way to a sustainable economy is
:02:16. > :02:20.by spending less, something that they argue makes them more resilient
:02:21. > :02:27.to future financial shocks. On the other side you have Japan,
:02:28. > :02:30.which has been spending billions to It has been calling on its G7
:02:31. > :02:34.partners to commit to doing the same, saying cuts lead to
:02:35. > :02:36.stagnation and recession. The United States, Canada,
:02:37. > :02:50.Italy and France all agree. Is there any hope of a deal to boost
:02:51. > :02:53.public spending? Asia business correspondent Karishma
:02:54. > :03:05.Vaswani is at the G7 summit Great to see you. This is the same
:03:06. > :03:16.old arguments, isn't it? Japan says to spend, but their new kind of go,
:03:17. > :03:20.hang on, Japan? -- then you kind of. Japan spent a lot of money to boost
:03:21. > :03:24.the economy and it didn't work. I am not sure Japan is the right one to
:03:25. > :03:30.send this message! You are absolutely right. The fact that
:03:31. > :03:35.Japan has provided all set for the solution as a remedy for global
:03:36. > :03:41.growth almost seemed hypocritical, if you look at the state of Japan's
:03:42. > :03:45.economy. 25 years of low or no growth, low wages and prices. It
:03:46. > :03:53.really is a pretty dire situation for the Japanese economy. But Prime
:03:54. > :03:58.Minister Abe says his big plan to boost growth in Japan through
:03:59. > :04:02.monetary policy and fiscal stimulus, and structural reforms, he is
:04:03. > :04:08.betting this will turn the economy around. Pivotal to about is the fact
:04:09. > :04:11.that he is of the opinion that if you cut interest rates, remember
:04:12. > :04:16.Japan cut them to below zero earlier this year, then eventually people
:04:17. > :04:19.and companies will be forced to spend and prices will go up and you
:04:20. > :04:24.will start to see the engines of the economy rolling again. But he has
:04:25. > :04:28.received some criticism for this at home, which is why he is so keen to
:04:29. > :04:33.get this backing from his partners at the G7 so that they can say,
:04:34. > :04:37.look, he has got it right and this is the way forward to fix all of the
:04:38. > :04:41.problems in the global economy. But you and I both know that what
:04:42. > :04:46.happened. We had some inkling of that at the finance meeting of the
:04:47. > :04:49.weekend, when none of them could get together and decide what the way
:04:50. > :04:54.forward is. So all they said was that each country to its own and we
:04:55. > :04:59.will just keep doing what we've been doing. So I don't expect to see any
:05:00. > :05:04.surprises. We will talk to you in the next hour. Keep across whatever
:05:05. > :05:07.is going on or whatever is not going on! Thank you.
:05:08. > :05:10.We are also in Oak Brook Illinois, the head quarters of the world's
:05:11. > :05:19.For the third year running the company's annual meeting is
:05:20. > :05:25.being hit by protests over pay and conditions.
:05:26. > :05:28.The Fight for 15 campaign is demanding a minimum wage
:05:29. > :05:31.of $15 an hour, childcare and the right to join a union.
:05:32. > :05:34.McDonalds has already pledged to raise workers average pay to $10
:05:35. > :05:45.by this year, that's in its own restaurants.
:05:46. > :05:48.The boss recently said higher pay was helping to retain staff and is
:05:49. > :06:01.boosting customer satisfaction. It is becoming an annual ritual,
:06:02. > :06:04.protesting outside McDonald's Chicago headquarters is something
:06:05. > :06:10.not on the menu. The $15 minimum wage and the right to form a union.
:06:11. > :06:14.Gregory has been involved with this campaign since 2012, when even
:06:15. > :06:18.members of his own family were sceptical. Now he says the national
:06:19. > :06:24.attention and support has been remarkable. That was something that
:06:25. > :06:31.we didn't see before. It has been a huge surprise for the global workers
:06:32. > :06:34.who started this. We kept pushing, now everybody is in favour. Along
:06:35. > :06:41.the way there have been successes. Some of the country's largest
:06:42. > :06:44.low-wage employers, Walmart, Target and McDonald's, have announced a
:06:45. > :06:48.small pay increases. The boss of the fast food giant recently told
:06:49. > :06:50.investors the mood had not turned out to be bad for business. -- the
:06:51. > :07:06.move. But a former McDonald's CEO warned
:07:07. > :07:11.employees could be replaced by robots if the minimum wage went up,
:07:12. > :07:19.lending support to critics who argue higher wages may lead to job losses.
:07:20. > :07:23.Fight for 15 began here in New York four years ago and it has led to
:07:24. > :07:29.wage increases in Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. But the
:07:30. > :07:30.protest outside McDonald's are a reminder that this issue is far from
:07:31. > :07:37.settled. We will keep across that story for
:07:38. > :07:39.you. Let's return to Asia now where
:07:40. > :07:42.there are worries about China's Shares in Alibaba Group fell almost
:07:43. > :07:47.7% in New York on Wednesday after the online retailing giant
:07:48. > :07:49.said its accounting practices were Rico Hizon is following this for us
:07:50. > :08:09.in Singapore. Good to see you! Here is a company,
:08:10. > :08:12.just reminding people, when this Chinese giant chose New York to go
:08:13. > :08:18.public, to go on the stock market, it was the biggest as we call it
:08:19. > :08:24.flotation in history, wasn't it? That's right. And when you list in
:08:25. > :08:28.the US you have to be more transparent than any country around
:08:29. > :08:31.the world and right now they are being investigated by the US
:08:32. > :08:36.security and exchange commission. At this point it isn't divulging what
:08:37. > :08:43.they are investigating, but Alibaba has drawn the regulators' attention
:08:44. > :08:46.in the past over fake goods on its website and analysts are concerned
:08:47. > :08:52.about its use of financial measures that don't comply with generally
:08:53. > :09:01.accept that accounting principles. -- generally accepted. Alibaba says
:09:02. > :09:03.it is operating with authorities and is providing greater financial
:09:04. > :09:11.information in its latest annual report. Everyone knows the face of
:09:12. > :09:17.Alibaba. They have investors around the world. The company's affiliate
:09:18. > :09:20.are involved in mobile payments, financial services, television and
:09:21. > :09:27.film production. It holds stakes in car sharing services, discount
:09:28. > :09:32.shopping website operators. At the moment investors are very concerned
:09:33. > :09:38.about the company's investigation, growth prospects, amid the economic
:09:39. > :09:43.slowdown. We will have to watch this space, regarding the investigation.
:09:44. > :09:50.Good on you. I wonder if there are any regrets about going to New York!
:09:51. > :09:54.Talk to you soon. He was saying Hong Kong, New York. Perhaps Shanghai.
:09:55. > :10:00.Brent crude has risen above $50 a barrel. That's for the first time in
:10:01. > :10:05.something like seven months. Asian shares are struggling. They are
:10:06. > :10:10.worried about US interest rates. Could we see a rate hike next month,
:10:11. > :10:11.June? And of course the slowing Chinese economy.
:10:12. > :10:14.Don't forget you can get in touch with me and some
:10:15. > :10:24.I will be back to take a look at the papers.
:10:25. > :10:28.NHS spending on private ambulances for 999 calls in England has