:00:00. > :00:17.France in focus - as competition narrows to become the next
:00:18. > :00:19.president, we look at the challenges facing one
:00:20. > :00:27.We visit farmers struggling to cope after the government withdrew
:00:28. > :00:37.the majority of bank notes from circulation.
:00:38. > :00:41.Also in the programme: Facebook likes London.
:00:42. > :00:44.and will add 500 new staff next year despite Brexit.
:00:45. > :00:56.Politics in Europe could be set for a big shake-up next
:00:57. > :00:59.year with two of the continents biggest economies holding elections.
:01:00. > :01:01.Germany votes for its chancellor in September,
:01:02. > :01:04.with Angela Merkel saying she will run for a fourth term.
:01:05. > :01:07.But first, France will pick a new president in the spring.
:01:08. > :01:09.Overnight Francois Fillon and Alain Juppe came top
:01:10. > :01:11.for the centre-right Republicans party, while former president
:01:12. > :01:22.But what challenges will the new French president be facing?
:01:23. > :01:30.Last week the government lowered it's growth expectations for 2016
:01:31. > :01:32.as a whole saying it expected just 1.4%.
:01:33. > :01:34.France's independent fiscal watchdog says the figure is optimistic.
:01:35. > :01:38.remains stubbornly high at 9.7% - this a problem for current
:01:39. > :01:41.President Francois Hollande who has repeatedly said he would not run
:01:42. > :01:44.for a second term in 2017 if unemployment didn't decline
:01:45. > :01:47."significantly and credibly" by the end of his first.
:01:48. > :01:48.The former economy minister, Emmanuel Macron,
:01:49. > :01:52.He's proposing ditching France's 35-hour working week for young
:01:53. > :01:56.people in a bid to give them more experience.
:01:57. > :01:59.And another big shake up has been pitched by another
:02:00. > :02:01.candidate - Marine Le Pen of the far-right Front National.
:02:02. > :02:03.She wants a referendum on whether France should
:02:04. > :02:14.With me is Philippa Malmgren, founder of the DRPM Group and a top
:02:15. > :02:28.It is good to see you. There is so much to discuss and we can't cover
:02:29. > :02:31.it all, but France and Germany next year, Holland as well, and the
:02:32. > :02:37.referendum in Italy a few weeks away. That is right. Everywhere we
:02:38. > :02:41.are seeing a similar pattern which is, people have been in a lot of
:02:42. > :02:45.economic pain and they were willing to take that pain based on the idea
:02:46. > :02:49.that eventually it would get better and now it has been too long, so
:02:50. > :02:52.they have ran out of patience and we are seeing this in the US,
:02:53. > :02:57.explaining the election of Donald Trump, it was a lot of the force
:02:58. > :03:01.behind Brexit and now we are seeing these forces unfolding in Europe.
:03:02. > :03:05.And France has had a really difficult few years in the run-up to
:03:06. > :03:09.the election next year because it has had multiple terrorist attacks
:03:10. > :03:21.which are absolutely horrendous and enormous in their impact, the
:03:22. > :03:25.economy has been struggling, it has been the poor cousin in Europe for
:03:26. > :03:28.many years, that has been a real problem, and pushing through labour
:03:29. > :03:31.reforms, there has been strike action affecting the country. Yes.
:03:32. > :03:34.Absolutely. It is a similar pattern to other parts of Europe as well,
:03:35. > :03:37.and many countries have been showing their resistance to the current kind
:03:38. > :03:41.of economic strategy which is perceived to be led by the EU, so we
:03:42. > :03:45.saw the Hungarians almost vote out of the EU, not quite, but very
:03:46. > :03:50.close, and the Italians on December the fourth will vote as well, so I
:03:51. > :03:53.think we should not be surprised to see a little bit more
:03:54. > :03:59.antiestablishment, anti- orthodoxy approach. A very similar feel to
:04:00. > :04:02.what was going on in the US and it is interesting that Marine Le Pen
:04:03. > :04:07.was one of the first to congratulate Donald Trump and it seems to give
:04:08. > :04:11.her the mandate as well, Brexit and what happened in the US. She is
:04:12. > :04:16.picking up on a fight where there seems to be a global movement, it is
:04:17. > :04:20.not just a local thing, and I don't know that it is really true. Of
:04:21. > :04:24.course, what do Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen have in common, not
:04:25. > :04:31.much, but the sense that they are outsiders, but they are coming in to
:04:32. > :04:35.displace a long established party political leaders is important. And
:04:36. > :04:39.the question is can they deliver the economic promises that they are
:04:40. > :04:43.putting forward to the voters? I think of all the British and
:04:44. > :04:48.Americans have the greatest chance of delivering on the promises, Trump
:04:49. > :04:53.and Theresa May, but in France, I am not so sure, a lot of changes would
:04:54. > :04:58.be required. And difficult ones too. Thank you so much for coming in.
:04:59. > :05:00.Let's have a look at some other big stories, and a big interesting one
:05:01. > :05:04.here. Facebook says it will expand
:05:05. > :05:07.its presence here in the UK by 50% when it opens its new London
:05:08. > :05:10.headquarters next year. It will hire 500 additional
:05:11. > :05:12.employees, including engineers, marketers, project
:05:13. > :05:22.managers and sales staff. Facebook says the United Kingdom
:05:23. > :05:26.remains one of the best places in the world to be a technology
:05:27. > :05:30.company. The majority of the 500 additional staff will be based at
:05:31. > :05:35.its new London headquarters set to open in 2017. Many of the roles will
:05:36. > :05:39.be highly skilled engineering jobs. The UK hosts the company's largest
:05:40. > :05:43.engineering base outside of the United States. There has been some
:05:44. > :05:47.speculation following the UK referendum vote to leave the EU that
:05:48. > :05:51.international companies may reconsider their investment
:05:52. > :05:57.decisions. Facebook's announcement comes just a week after Google said
:05:58. > :06:02.it will spend $1.2 billion on a new London headquarters and the creation
:06:03. > :06:06.of 3000 new jobs by 2020. Facebook's latest news appears to be another
:06:07. > :06:08.endorsement of Europe's biggest financial centre.
:06:09. > :06:11.It's been almost two weeks since the Indian government suddenly
:06:12. > :06:13.withdrew most of the bank notes in circulation.
:06:14. > :06:15.It's caused a cash crisis across the country.
:06:16. > :06:18.In rural areas the situation is particularly bad -
:06:19. > :06:21.large numbers of people there don't even use banks let alone have access
:06:22. > :06:26.So how can India's villages become part of the 'cashless economy' that
:06:27. > :06:27.Prime Minister Narendra Modi hopes to create?
:06:28. > :06:51.When winter sets in it is time to plant the onion crop. Fields like
:06:52. > :06:57.this would usually be packed with farmers, but now there is no cash to
:06:58. > :07:01.pay their wages. TRANSLATION: There are very long queues at banks so my
:07:02. > :07:06.employer says he doesn't have cash to give me. He will pay me in a few
:07:07. > :07:13.weeks but we need money to buy milk and food for my children. Cash is a
:07:14. > :07:17.lifeline for rule India. A major reason is that most villages in the
:07:18. > :07:21.country don't have easy access to banking services. To reach out to
:07:22. > :07:26.rural parts of the country where there are no banks, the plan is to
:07:27. > :07:30.deploy banking correspondents, people who will travel to villages
:07:31. > :07:35.providing financial services. I'd even if everyone were to get access
:07:36. > :07:40.to a banking account, how could cashless transactions then be in
:07:41. > :07:44.short? Well, perhaps less, a mobile phone, could be the answer. At one
:07:45. > :07:54.village in the western state they are trying it out. Eight kilos dal.
:07:55. > :07:59.Customers can make payments by sending a text from their mobile
:08:00. > :08:01.phones. It was set up by the private bank and village authority.
:08:02. > :08:05.TRANSLATION: They don't keep cash on hand here so if you want to buy
:08:06. > :08:09.anything you do it using their mobile phones. That is why everyone
:08:10. > :08:15.in the village is happy with the announcement. We have not been
:08:16. > :08:19.affected. The number of mobile phone users in the real India has been
:08:20. > :08:24.growing rapidly and cellular networks are slowly reaching even
:08:25. > :08:30.the remote areas of India but it is not an instant solution. For now the
:08:31. > :08:36.few banks that cater to rule areas are struggling to cope with a cash
:08:37. > :08:37.crisis. -- rural areas. And for these villagers there is no easy
:08:38. > :08:38.escape. Leaders from Asia-Pacific nations
:08:39. > :08:41.have closed their annual summit in Peru, pledging to
:08:42. > :08:44.support global trade. The 21 nations said
:08:45. > :08:47.they are committed to open markets and fighting against all
:08:48. > :08:49.forms protectionism. In a statement they encouraged
:08:50. > :08:51.signatories of the Trans-Pacific Partnership to continue supporting
:08:52. > :09:14.it, despite fears it may not That is a big message, isn't it,
:09:15. > :09:18.sent in the direction of Mr Donald Trump, the President-elect. In deed,
:09:19. > :09:23.I think it's fair to say that the fate of the TPP dominated much of
:09:24. > :09:28.the summit. Of course, these leaders worked hard for many years to come
:09:29. > :09:33.to an agreement only for US President-elect Donald Trump, as you
:09:34. > :09:38.mentioned, wanting to scrap it. They came out, as you mentioned, saying
:09:39. > :09:43.that they would continue to support free trade. Whether or not that
:09:44. > :09:47.means it without the United States remains unclear. It was a slightly
:09:48. > :09:54.tricky meeting for President Obama who said he continues to support the
:09:55. > :09:59.TPP. China has been quick to take advantage of the situation. It is
:10:00. > :10:04.not part of the TPP and it is pursuing its own free-trade deal
:10:05. > :10:08.known as the RCEP, and so that might actually possibly replace the TPP
:10:09. > :10:12.should it actually get scrapped by the next President. All right,
:10:13. > :10:17.thanks a lot, good to see you, Mariko. Let's have a look at the
:10:18. > :10:22.market so you can see how the brand-new trading week in Asia is
:10:23. > :10:26.going and you can see the price is up over 1% in anticipation that OPEC
:10:27. > :10:31.will agree to a supply cut deal and they have a meeting very soon, so
:10:32. > :10:33.oil is sensitive to that. That is all from me for now. I will see you
:10:34. > :10:42.soon. An influential group of MPs has
:10:43. > :10:45.issued a warning that the number of Royal Navy's warships
:10:46. > :10:48.is "woefully low."