:00:00. > :00:19.The AT and Time Warner mega merger may be one of the biggest deals
:00:20. > :00:27.of the year, but will it get past the competition authorities?
:00:28. > :00:30.A cash shortage in India could force the Central Bank to cut interest
:00:31. > :00:34.rates today, as the economy is hit by last month's plan to abolish 500
:00:35. > :00:57.Japan's Softbank says it will invest $50 billion in US businesses.
:00:58. > :01:01.Rico will have the details in just a moment.
:01:02. > :01:05.We start with the media mega-deal that could end up being one
:01:06. > :01:08.of the biggest corporate takeovers we've seen this year.
:01:09. > :01:11.In October, the US telecoms giant AT announced plans to buy
:01:12. > :01:15.entertainment group Time Warner for $86 billion.
:01:16. > :01:18.The deal would be a merger of AT's distribution power
:01:19. > :01:24.But it is far from signed and sealed.
:01:25. > :01:28.In a few hours, the bosses of both companies will appear before a US
:01:29. > :01:32.Senate committee dealing with competition issues.
:01:33. > :01:36.AT is the world's biggest telecoms company, according to Forbes.
:01:37. > :01:39.Last year it posted revenues of $146.8 billion.
:01:40. > :01:42.Its mobile phone business has just over 133 million customers in the US
:01:43. > :01:48.And AT has TV channels with 37.7 million subscribers
:01:49. > :02:08.across the Americas, two-thirds in the United States.
:02:09. > :02:10.They're hoping the tie-up will help them add to that,
:02:11. > :02:13.by offering Time Warner's vast content, including the CNN news
:02:14. > :02:15.channel, and HBO, which makes international hit programmes
:02:16. > :02:17.like The Sopranos and Game of Thrones.
:02:18. > :02:20.It also owns Hollywood's Warner Bros movie studio.
:02:21. > :02:23.However, President-Elect Donald Trump has said he intends
:02:24. > :02:34.Here he is speaking on the campaign trail.
:02:35. > :02:45.As an example of the power structure I am fighting, AT is buying Time
:02:46. > :02:48.Warner and thus CNN, a deal we will not approve of my administration
:02:49. > :02:59.because it is too much concentration of power in the hands of too few.
:03:00. > :03:00.CLAPPING. The plot thickens. With me is Simon Griffiths,
:03:01. > :03:08.a partner at the law firm Irwin First of all, what Donald Trump had
:03:09. > :03:14.to say there, he said he is not on board. He is not on board. He made
:03:15. > :03:22.those statements in it is burger, a small town of a dozen people, where
:03:23. > :03:25.a highly symbolic war was fought. He made a statement attacking big
:03:26. > :03:32.business and other things on the same day that AT announced its
:03:33. > :03:37.proposed take over of Time Warner. What was unusual is that that was a
:03:38. > :03:43.Saturday. Normally, big transactions are not announced on Saturdays.
:03:44. > :03:49.Before the trading day begins, normally, I guess. Monday, first
:03:50. > :03:53.being. What do you make of that? Are you saying he will not try to block
:03:54. > :03:59.this when he becomes president in January? Since he has made those
:04:00. > :04:02.statements he has not repeated them and they do not appear on his
:04:03. > :04:09.website. His contract with the American voter which he announced at
:04:10. > :04:13.Gettysburg does appear on the website. Since then, he has
:04:14. > :04:17.announced the appointment of advisers on competition issues and
:04:18. > :04:23.they have spoken calmly on these issues. And AT itself is saying
:04:24. > :04:28.that it expects the merger to go through. So we will talk about
:04:29. > :04:33.competition authorities. Do you think they will have to give up much
:04:34. > :04:37.to have this Galahad? Both companies are large but they do different
:04:38. > :04:43.things. They do almost entirely different things. -- go ahead. These
:04:44. > :04:49.are huge businesses coming together. That is what has been rejected. If
:04:50. > :04:53.the authorities were to acquire something to be sold, it is
:04:54. > :04:59.difficult to predict now what that would be. In terms of this going
:05:00. > :05:03.ahead, the biggest merger in 2016, you think it will not be difficult
:05:04. > :05:08.for the two companies to come to an agreement with the authorities? I
:05:09. > :05:13.don't think so. It will be at least 10-12 months before the transaction
:05:14. > :05:19.is completed. That is because of the legalities and the details. It takes
:05:20. > :05:26.time. The legalities in the States, the authorities in Panama, China,
:05:27. > :05:30.Brazil, Mexico. A lot to do. Thank you very much indeed for coming in
:05:31. > :05:39.and giving us your thoughts on all of that. And of course, we will give
:05:40. > :05:42.you and I on how all that pans out. -- an eye in on how that all pans.
:05:43. > :05:45.A cash shortage in India could force the Central Bank to cut interest
:05:46. > :05:49.rates today, as the economy is hit by last month's plan to abolish 500
:05:50. > :05:53.That's roughly 80% of the bank notes in circulation.
:05:54. > :05:56.But there are concerns that the move have could derailed India's growth,
:05:57. > :05:58.and last month the rupee sank to a record low.
:05:59. > :06:06.There is no doubt the shortage of cash here in India will have an
:06:07. > :06:10.impact on the economy. And that is why the Reserve Bank of India's
:06:11. > :06:18.decision on interest rates is being watched very closely. Economists
:06:19. > :06:22.expect there will at least be a pay cut in the main lending rate. People
:06:23. > :06:27.have cut back in spending in the last two months. This has hit
:06:28. > :06:34.businesses across the board. One of the sectors feeling the ban on high
:06:35. > :06:38.currency value notes is the auto industry. Some are already reporting
:06:39. > :06:45.a decline in sales. But for people, the rate cut could bring good news.
:06:46. > :06:51.Interest rate on loans is at 90%, making it expensive for people to
:06:52. > :06:55.borrow. Low interest rates could help boost demand. There has been
:06:56. > :07:00.widespread criticism the implementation of the ban on those
:07:01. > :07:05.currency notes was mishandled. Javid was directed at the Governor of the
:07:06. > :07:09.Reserve Bank of India. -- much of it. He will hold his first press
:07:10. > :07:14.conference since the policy was introduced almost a month ago. And
:07:15. > :07:17.he could have tough questions over the authorisation and execution of
:07:18. > :07:21.some of these decisions. But most of all, people will be looking for an
:07:22. > :07:31.answer on how much longer they will have to wait for this cash crunch to
:07:32. > :07:36.get over. BBC News, Mumbai. He will update us when we get news of the
:07:37. > :07:38.Central Bank action in India. Now for some other news.
:07:39. > :07:40.Shares in the Japanese technology firm Softbank have risen
:07:41. > :07:43.to their highest level in over a year in Tokyo trading,
:07:44. > :07:48.This all comes on news that Chief Executive Masayoshi Son said
:07:49. > :07:51.he will invest $50 billion in US businesses following a meeting
:07:52. > :07:56.with US President-Elect, Donald Trump.
:07:57. > :08:00.I believe he went to Trump Tower. It did the share price could.
:08:01. > :08:13.Tell us more. $50 billion is a massive number, creating 50,000
:08:14. > :08:16.jobs. Unexpected and the huge commitment. But look at the details.
:08:17. > :08:21.They are lacking on where the money will go and how it will benefit
:08:22. > :08:24.American businesses overall. The Wall Street Journal is reporting the
:08:25. > :08:30.investment would come from the $100 billion investment fund that
:08:31. > :08:34.Masayoshi is setting up would be Saudi Arabia sovereign wealth fund
:08:35. > :08:38.and other partners. Some analysts are saying that Masayoshi could
:08:39. > :08:47.invest heavily in start-up companies in America. Or maybe the US telecoms
:08:48. > :08:54.company Sprint were SoftBank has a majority stake could have moods with
:08:55. > :08:59.mobile. We were not given a timeline of the investment. If you look at
:09:00. > :09:04.SoftBank, it is a diverse company that also has stakes in Alibaba, the
:09:05. > :09:10.e-commerce giant in China. It has also stepped up investments in areas
:09:11. > :09:15.like a shipping design company in America. That was Japan's largest
:09:16. > :09:22.ever outbound deals. At this point, think is yet clear where the $50
:09:23. > :09:26.billion will go on to 50,000 jobs will be created. We will have to
:09:27. > :09:32.wait and see. Sally. A great headline. Pushing up the share price
:09:33. > :09:33.without any detail whatsoever. Thank you. Other news now.
:09:34. > :09:35.Australia's economy has shrunk, as businesses, consumers
:09:36. > :09:38.and the government all cut back on spending.
:09:39. > :09:40.The contraction threatens both the first recession in a quarter
:09:41. > :09:43.of a century and the country's triple-A credit rating.
:09:44. > :09:45.Gross domestic product fell 0.5% in the third quarter,
:09:46. > :09:47.only the fourth negative reading since Australia's last
:09:48. > :09:54.The US Supreme Court has sided with Samsung in the South Korean
:09:55. > :09:59.company's long-running patent fight with Apple.
:10:00. > :10:09.That is all from World Business Report. But the Santa Rally is
:10:10. > :10:13.occurring on all the markets. If you don't know what that means, you can
:10:14. > :10:18.tweet me and I will tweet you back. I will see you later. Goodbye.
:10:19. > :10:21.It could take almost half a century for a government manifesto pledge
:10:22. > :10:24.to get more disabled people into work, to be fulfilled.
:10:25. > :10:27.A report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Disability