World Business Report

President Trump and the First Lady Melania Trump have visited central Texas today to survey where flash floods killed 120 people last weekend. As search teams continue to search for more than 160 people still missing, Mr Trump and his wife met families affected by the floods and first responders.Dr Sam Brody, Director of the Institute for Disaster Resilient Texas and a Professor at Texas A&M University discusses how disasters like this might be avoided in the future.Also on the programme, what impact could the 35% tariffs for Canada announced by Trump yesterday have on businesses there and why the post-covid trend of converting office buildings to homes is gathering momentum in New York.

President Trump says he'll impose a thirty five percent tax on imports from Canada... and more if it retaliates. Meanwhile, countries attending the gathering of East and Southeast Asian foreign ministers are threatened with tariffs of up to fifty percent. Andrew Peach hears from a former Malaysian government minister. And it's World Population Day... but what can governments do if their population is getting smaller and older? You can contact us on WhatsApp or send us a voicenote: +44 330 678 3033.

U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to put a 50% tariff on Brazilian imports. Brazil says it will retaliate with a 50% tariff of his own. So what does this escalating trade row mean for Embraer—one of the world’s biggest aircraft manufacturers based in Brazil? And could it make your morning cup of coffee more expensive?Italian chocolate giant Ferrero is buying one of America's oldest breakfast cereal companies, Kellogg's in a $3.1 billion deal. But are people still eating cereals for breakfast? Plus, how are data centres affecting your water supply?

As the UK government targets developing nations with new trade measures, we hear from trade minister Douglas Alexander on whether it can prove to be a workable lifeline for African countries affected by western states cutting their international aid budgets. David Harper speaks to Dr.John Asafu-Adjaye of the African Centre for Economic Transformation in Ghana on how US president Donald Trump's 'trade not aid' policy is being received on the world's second largest continent. Elsewhere we find out how the price of coffee could rise sharply with The White House's threat to put 50 per cent tariffs on imports from Brazil. And will recent cyberattacks and power cuts ensure many countries don't turn away from the old fashioned fall back of cash. The latest business and finance news from around the world, on the BBC.

The big event of 2021 that will shape economies all over the world for decades to come was the COP 26 climate conference in Glasgow in November. The meeting saw a deluge of promises, but what was actually achieved? Martin Webber speaks to Tim Gould, chief energy economist at the International Energy Agency and economist Irwin Stelzer, from the Hudson Institute in the United States.It was another boom year for the pharmaceutical industry as it crafted the vaccines that have saved so many lives. Of the 8 billion coronavirus vaccinations worldwide, one billion have been delivered by the US logistics company, UPS. We hear from Wes Wealer, President of UPS healthcare.And small business owners have had a bleak time for much of the past year. But many of those that have survived now feel optimistic. We hear from the owner of the Aroma speciality coffee shop in Bologna in Italy, Cristina Caroli, about her year.

Covid-19 is set to prompt radical long term changes to how we live and work, so what lessons can be learnt when we eventually emerge from the pandemic? Could the changes in the way we work herald higher productivity and happier people in the future?We hear the stories of the people who managed to thrive during a very difficult year, including the milkman who saw a boom in deliveries and the dancer who found work in South Korea when the London stage went dark.Martin Webber is joined by Professor Devi Sridhar who holds the Chair of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh; economist Roger Bootle, of Capital Economics; Robert Reich, former Labour Secretary under President Clinton; Tomas Philipson, who was Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors under Mr Trump; and actor Thomas Inge who is currentl starring in the musical Cats in South Korea.