Thanks in. A 22 hours g.m.t. Welcome to the news room from the b.b.c. World Service I'm Danny Gox pro-government forces in Syria and to the Kurdish held territory of Africa in as Turkey says it will lay siege to the area the charge that both the city and the region will be cut off from outside help and the terrorist organization will not be able to bargain with anyone also in Syria the u.n. Warns the rebel held enclave of eastern Ghouta risks becoming a 2nd Aleppo we are looking in from the earth increasing drag the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas calls for a peace conference on the Middle East by the middle of this year and 6 years on from the sinking of the Italian cruise ship the Costa Concordia it's pianist relives the moment that changed his life the beginning of Kaos started when we experienced several blackouts I bumped into an officer and he say we are on a shipwreck that's all coming up after this bill is the end of World News. Omarion Marshall with the b.b.c. News forces loyal to the Syrian government have entered the Kurdish stronghold of Africa in stoking fears of an escalation of fighting along the border with Turkey as they arrived they were met with Turkish artillery fire here's our Middle East analyst Sebastian Asha it's still not clear exactly what the Syrian government intervention into 3 is intended to accomplish the government has made no unambiguous statement about its aims of those state television showed the fighters chanting One Syria as they crossed into the region the Kurdish fighters say Damascus has. Called for help Turkey has denounced a force which is not part of the regular Syrian army as terrorists the bombardment by the Syrian government and its allies of the rebel held enclave of eastern Ghouta has continued for a 3rd day monitors say more than 100 people have been killed for a 2nd consecutive day the Syrian government said rebels in eastern Guta had fired mortars on Damascus killing 6 people and had a right to defend itself unison job reports what we're hearing now from people is that they're trying to hide in basements so that they can take cover from the continuous selling people are pleading for help the u.n. Even made an announcement that this will stop immediately but the last 24 hours have been the worst and that eastern water have faced any years unfortunately for Syrians on the ground for the civilians trapped there the government and Russell have the upper hand what we're seeing today and yesterday is that big escalation from government forces and that's telling us that in this case could be the law of course the words at the end of the situation in eastern water. And the son in law of one of Russia's richest men has pleaded guilty to a charge of lying to federal investigators as part of u.s. Special counsel Robert Muller's probe into alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election Alexander Swan had been charged earlier on Tuesday and appeared at a hearing in a federal court in Washington where Gary O'Donoghue report. As one has admitted withholding or deleting e-mails as well as failing to disclose conversations with the former aide to the trunk campaign Rick gates and another individual only as person Rick Gates is facing criminal charges including conspiracy to lot of money and failure to register as a foreign agent this is the 19th indictment handed down by the special counsel including $13.00 Russians who were charged last week President Trump has expressed his willingness to ban the mechanisms which allow a rifle to shoot in almost automatic bursts the devices known as bump stocks were used by the gunman who shot $58.00 people dead in Las Vegas in October Mr Trump announced that the regulations would be finalized very soon it's believed that Mr Trump's comments on Bob stocks are his 1st definitive policy proposal on gun control you're listening to the latest world news from the b.b.c. The White House says President trumps son in law Jared cushion or can continue in his role as a senior advisor to the president even if he doesn't obtain security clearance it's a question has been operating with a temporary clearance for the past year while the f.b.i. Conducts background checks on him under an order issued on Friday by the White House chief of staff to question his temporary permission is due to expire in less than a week. The Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has called for an international multilateral peace conference on the Middle East to be convened by the middle of this year Mr Abbas told the u.n. Security Council the Palestinians were living in an unbearable situation and the conference must lead to acceptance of Palestine as a full un member state the B.B.C.'s u.n. Correspondent said his remarks were a clear swipe at the u.s. But Washington's ambassador Nikki Haley told President Abbas that u.s. Negotiators were still ready to help the United States stands ready to work with the Palestinian leadership our negotiators are sitting right behind me ready to talk but we will not chase after you the choice Mr President is yours the annual report on the state of Germany's armed forces has highlighted major shortcomings following many years of budget cuts more than 20000 posts or unfilled and many parts of the Navy the Air Force lack necessary equipment for example pilots aren't able to complete their training because of plane shortages and none of the Navy's 6 submarines are combat ready the Latvian defense ministry says the corruption allegations that led to the detention of the country's central bank chief could be part of an operation directed from abroad the ministry said similar operations aimed at influencing the outcome of elections have been seen in France Germany and the United States it didn't say who it believed was carrying out the operation b.b.c. World Service news. You're listening to the newsroom from the b.b.c. World Service I'm Danny Cox We begin with those reports the Turkish troops are fired on pro Syrian government forces in the border region of Africa and it adds another layer to the already deeply complex situation in Syria a month after Turkey launched an offensive against Kurdish fighters whom it regards as terrorists Damascus has now sent forces to the region seemingly to support the Kurds earlier the Turkish president Rajib Tiber to one promise to lease siege to African city and warn others against crossing what he called the red lines of the Turkish nation. Yeah the charge that both the city and the region will be cut off from outside help and the terrorist organization will not be able to bargain with anyone we will show those who want to create a terrorist corridor on Turkey's southern border that it's not an easy task so how dangerous is this latest confrontation Here's our Arab affairs editor Sebastian Usher I think the concern about the escalation is how much the outside forces would have been using proxies in the Syrian war going to be drawn into direct confrontation with each other now the Syrian government is still doing this tightly at arms length this isn't the regular army this is a militia trained by Iran which is going in a convoy and it's unclear exactly what the aim in the scope of its mission is to wipe e.g. The Kurdish militia has welcomed it as supporting its battle against the Turkish incursion but there is a. Another way of looking it at it which is perhaps that for the Kurds certainly who are facing this this this big attack but also perhaps for the Turks who may have bitten off more than they can chew the needs to be some way to get out of this situation perhaps by putting Syrian government forces in that area and bringing the Kurds back from the front line that might to some extent satisfy the Turks and stop. Their incursion from escalating further because they threatened to go after us 3 further east to other Kurdish cantons and that is where they could come into direct confrontation with the u.s. The u.s. Has supported the Kurds in the battle against i-s. Us troops are imaginary but not enough 3 bit further over in a town called Man bridge now prisoner the one who we heard there who uses very strong language of course has said that they will go after there as well so the u.s. Has essentially said that it respects Turkey's right to self-defense the Turks see the Kurdish militants as terrorists but that it thinks that told them that they must show restraint but I don't know quite how many cards the u.s. Has to play at the moment in doing this so it is a very very dangerous and combustible situation as I say the unknowable in them is what the Syrian government is actually doing that if they do actually stop fighting on the side of the Kurds I think that potentially is a big escalation further south on the outskirts of the capital Damascus Syrian government forces have carried out some of the heaviest bombardments in recent years on the rebel held enclave of eastern Ghouta activists say that in 3 days of airstrikes and artillery fire over 200 people have been killed in Geneva the u.n. Children's agency expressed outrage at the casualties among the enclaves children saying it had run out of words is all Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen. Residents of eastern Ghouta say that this is as bad as any bombing they've endured since the area rebelled against the regime of President Bashar al Assad not long after the beginning of the war 7 years ago. Mohammed addle who lives there told the b.b.c. That it was devastating we have a very very hard time yesterday and today morning was the hardest I can tell you people are very scared all of them in a basement if they have a basement we're trying to manage things but their heart Eastern Ghouta is the last rebel held enclave in and around Damascus it's controlled by a number of armed Islamic militias some fighters I met there said they wanted Syria to be as Islamist as Turkey Others though are extremists who belong to a group with its roots in Al Qaida the regime denies it has attacked civilians it says it's trying to liberate Eastern Ghouta from terrorists pro regime media in Syria say that a major military operation might be underway a soon as next week one said hell had opened its doors to the militants the b.b.c. Has been told that there are talks on so-called safe corridors for civilians but wider diplomatic efforts to end the killing are not making progress the un envoy to Syria Stepha de Mistura has warned that the fight for eastern Ghouta could be as bloody as the battle for Aleppo he didn't want to go back for more people we are looking in front of us increasing tragedy bottom line if we haven't learned something from a little time to actually avoid it or is the Assad regime is moving against Eastern Ghouta to seal its victory around the capital. Elsewhere in Syria there's still a great deal of bloodshed and instability with some of the world's strongest military powers involved the war in Syria is changing but it is not over Jeremy Bowen from near quarter Camp David to handshakes in the Rose Garden the United States long had a significant involvement in the Middle East peace process so there were eyebrows raised at the United Nations on Tuesday when the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas called for an international peace conference rather than American led negotiations some are seeing it as a snub only move and you know. We met the president of the United States Mr Donald Trump 4 times in 2017 and we have expressed our absolute readiness to reach a story peace agreement we repeatedly reaffirmed our position in accordance with international law the relevant un resolutions and the 2 state solution on the basis of the 967 borders and get this administration has not clarified its position is it for the 2 state solution or for the one state solution the u.s. Ambassador to the u.n. Nikki Haley gave this response the Palestinian leadership has a choice to make between 2 different paths there's the path of absoluteness demands hateful rhetoric and incitement to violence. That path has led and will continue to lead to nothing but hardship for the Palestinian people or there is the path of negotiation and compromise history has shown that path to be successful for Egypt and Jordan including the transfer of territory that path remains open to the Palestinian leadership if only it is courageous enough to take it well the u.s. Ambassador did offer an olive branch assaults telling the Palestinian leadership that u.s. Negotiators were ready to talk but adding We will not chase after you our correspondent Nick Bryant who's in New York told me what this all means for relations between the United States and the Palestinians the very sour immediately after not much about delivered his remarks he left the chamber to ringing a pose for marriage supporters in the room the Israeli ambassador accuse him of running away and no longer being part of the solution but part of the problem and he wasn't in the room to hear Nikki Haley's remarks either she said that all talking points and undeveloped concepts that she was referring to this idea of a multilateral mechanism which would damn play American involvement that approaches always fail she said and then as you say she added in this dramatic gesture that the u.s. Negotiations negotiators with sat behind him prepared to talk but we will not chase after you and of course it added to the sense that he'd already left the room and what made her remarks all the more dramatic was the presence in the chamber a president from son in law Jared Krishna who's been assigned with what looks like an ever more difficult job of forging Middle East peace the Palestinians seem to want to bypass the u.s. Suggesting they're no longer on his Broca's But could anyone else step in. Well that's a problem we had about his call for this new multilateral mechanism that includes all the members the permanent members of the Security Council and this international peace conference held by the middle of the year as you say that's significant because the Americans have traditionally been the mediators between the Palestinians in the Israel is a point made there very forcefully by Nikki Haley. Is that going to get off the ground Well no and other members of the Security Council pointed that out Britain for example spoke and said the United States was an indispensable nation when it came to Middle East Pete's peace talks and that really does reflect the reality the Palestinians may want a new multilateral mechanism but the Americans won't buy that and crucially nor the Israelis Nick Bryant in New York you're listening to the newsroom from the b.b.c. World Service and Marion has some other stories from on his desk the president of the motives have to tell ya mean has extended a state of emergency by another 30 days despite international consent about the impact on democracy opposition politicians said the move was unconstitutional the president 1st Acad an emergency in the modis 2 weeks ago claiming that the opposition was trying to stage a coup the Dutch police officers trade union says the country is losing the battle against drugs crime a report compiled by the association alleges lack of resources means that 90 percent of drugs gangs are being given free reign the trade union says 2000 new jobs must be created to address the situation. The manner of one of the Italian island of Sardinia as most popular beach areas is considering banning towels and large beach bags to protect its white sands and Tonio D'Anna has suggested that this it is to love Pelosi beach higher chairs and mats to help prevent erosion of the sand to use you're a person a big surge in cases of measles which the World Health Organization says is a tragedy after a record low in 2016 last year the number of cases increased 4 fold with more than 20000 people affected and 35 deaths experts say that people shunning vaccination is part of the problem is a health reporter Michelle Roberts the World Health Organization says 15 European countries had large measles outbreaks in 2017 cases were highest in Romania Italy and Ukraine and run into the thousands low immunization coverage is to blame say experts vaccines can stop the disease but too few people are getting this protection against an illness that can be deadly the w.h.o. Says there have been stock shortages in some countries such as remain and Ukraine another issue is vaccine hesitancy in recent years Italy has seen an anti vax movement spreading conspiracy theories about the safety of measles vaccines largely based on one discredited medical research paper published 20 years ago in response the government in Italy recently made it compulsory for children to be vaccinated against measles and 11 other common illnesses before they start school the World Health Organization recommends 95 percent of the population should be immunized to prevent measles outbreaks Michelle Roberts it's 6 years since 32 people died when the Italian cruise ship the Costa Concordia capsized off the coast of Tuscany in the aftermath the ship's pianist and the moment the alter was so traumatized that he struggled to play his beloved piano but now he's created an album shaped by his . Ariens he spoke to the b.b.c. About his music and the nights that changed his life forever. I was performing in the very cozy bar called Marvin the Costa Concordia took a sudden and started lifting and I literally fell off my bangs and even the piano was torn from the safety locks the beginning of Kaos started when we experience and several blackouts people started railing around the tilting rooms bleeding from poles holding broken teeth in their area in their hands was a nightmare scenario I bumped into an officer and I grabbed his arm he was very agitated what was going on why didn't you speak to me I mean he whispered in my hear and he say we are on a shipwreck and you better run for your life I want to escape so I pass through this broken embarkation gate and I found myself holding very tightly to a loose way NJ hanging from from a crane facing the dark waters of course some hours later and helicopter got the fix on me eventually very small rescue boat was sent. Part of me sank with the shape at the beginning my vision was very blurred so I was on the edge of nervous breakdown I had to face my survivor's guilt my mental scars this music cycle Colin or landscape is the main healing therapy I adopted and for me it was like opening my eyes for the 1st time he told resulted as my being affected be reborn and Italian was saying I meet a man now he's beautiful. Former Costa Concordia pianist and him oh man Yatta You've been listening to the news room from the b.b.c. World Service. Well support from the b.b.c. With me Alice to Ross coming up in the next 10 minutes Leno Messi ends his goal drought against Chelsea as boss a loner and a Champions League draw when they needed him most That's always the difference with that man when he's team made him he usually provides any good took in the season the combined North and South Korea hockey side and their Winter Olympic campaign with defeats in Kong Chang and Tiger Woods is named as a vice captain of the U.S.A.'s Ryder Cup team My goal is to make the team but whatever happens or the course of the season I will continue to do whatever I can to help us keep the cup I'm excited about the challenge but 1st the football where Chelsea have been held won all by Barcelona and the 1st leg of their Champions League last 16 tie at Stamford Bridge will be on twice hit bosses would work before opening the scoring himself but Leonore Massey's late April eyes that means Chelsea need to get a result in the new camp against the Barcelona side that's only lost once in 39 matches the former Chelsea midfielder Andy Townsend was part of the B.B.C.'s commentary team at Stamford Bridge in recent seasons in the Champions League Barcelona with that attack in prowess that they've had before come up a little bit short I've often get themselves too much to do off the person like they were always going to trade a little bit carefully here there's not been the happiest ground for over the years so quite rightly they they they might show see the ultimate respect the way that they set up or what about the guy in the 1st half but again it will be a different boss and I'm sure in the new camp in a couple weeks well that time might still be in the balance the other Champions League last 16 match played on Tuesday looks all but over before the 2nd leg the B.B.C.'s Rob Schofield is with me and watched what was a one sided match robbers' by Munich thrashed Tass 5 nil in Germany yes by an all but through to the course of finals after 90 minutes at the alley ounce the game changed after just 15 Bashir reduced to 10 men defend it you must feed. Shown a straight red card holding down Rob 11 dusky who was clear through on goal then the right started to for Thomas Miller one for Kingsley Coleman and another 2 for $11.00 ski lates on a bit of a statement this by and they're ruthless efficient best they've put a marker down to Europe's slightly more glamorous teams Rob thank you very much that's Rob Schofield live with me here in the b.b.c. Studio the 2nd leg of both of those ties are in 3 weeks time on Wednesday it's the 1st leg of severe against Manchester United in Spain and also shocked other nets against Roma elsewhere Manchester City and we're going to have been charged with failing to control their players during Monday's f.a. Cup match there will be no punishment though for Man City's Sergio Aguero for his all to cation with a fan after their one nil defeat. Now to the Winter Olympics while the knockout phase of the ice hockey competitions is taking shape and the combined Korean team have played their final game in Pyongyang they were beaten $61.00 by suede and finished bottom of the 8 teams taking part b.b.c. Ice hockey commentator Seth Bennett says it's been an incredible journey for the thing these are all about small milestones and the emotion of that seem and to see where they've come from from just a few weeks ago where there was so much discontent and so many questions about how they were going to cope with all of the 12 North Korean players thrown together the end of their game there were pictures of these players hugging and kissing and generally being emotional about what happened through the course of this Olympic Games and how a united Korean team that seemed to really capture the imagination of the nation so that that has been a huge things for Winter Olympic ice hockey the other thing is that actually they're looking at extending the tournament in the future and one of the things they discussed was whether a united Korean team could become almost a permanent fixture within that as a as a sign as a symbol of peace and unity and what sport can do for for the whole of the issues that have particularly within that region by elsewhere in the world this dreamy an ice hockey player which meanwhile has become the 2nd athletes fail a test at the games yet tested positive for for not are all which can be used to treat breathing difficulties. Russian officials have said a criminal investigation has been opened into how the bronze medalist Kara Alexander Krystle niche he tested positive for male Dhoni and out the Winter Games he denies knowingly taking any banned substance with more details from young Chang b.b.c. Correspondent Alex Capstick in a statement on the Russian curling federations website Alexander Crystal Netsky who want to bronze medal with his partner in the mixed event at the Olympics said he was shocked by the positive test and that he had never knowingly committed a doping violation the result of a 2nd sample has also shown traces of the prohibited drug bill Donia the Court of Arbitration for Sport is now free to hear the case he was competing for the neutral way our team because Russia is suspended from the Olympics over a doping scandal the head of that delegation m.p. On Chang said deliberate use of a banned substance had not been proved and the Russian Olympic Committee would investigate the matter the i.o.c. Must decide later this week whether or not to lift the suspension on Russia and allow their athletes to March under their national flag at the closing ceremony of the Winter Games the 1st 2 rounds have taken place in the women's bobsled why not Geria and Jamaica were both making their debut the United States player of the Mayas Taylor and Lauren Gibbs set the day's fastest time the Nigerian Jiro of u.s. Based Akumal Maggie and so on out a gun are the 1st Africans to take part in a bobsled event at an Olympics they finished last and 20th but are back in action on Wednesday and hoping to make a difference to how people perceive the sport. I think it means more than just sports in athletics general I mean our whole entire goal not only to inspire but effort to promote a positive image for major and I think that we did just that minute gives people something to be proud of something to celebrate and I'm glad that today we're all able to celebrate it I hope we can look at all the winter sports and I hope this outing for us you know can show everyone that we're here to be competitive you know just with a little bit of time and a little bit more opportunity to actually learn about the sport and get experience I think that we can be just as competitive as everyone else will make his woman have had a troubled build up with a dispute. That bumps lead when that German coach shoved me quite brave woman Carey Russell and pilot Jasmine friend that's a Victorian finished 17th and 19th in their 1st 3 runs I'm pretty proud of the runs today they were consistent and I know there's little things that can be improved runs are never going to be perfect so I'm looking to keep brief today see what I can improve on tomorrow and start again tomorrow Kyra a week spin of the up and down I guess with training and some of the politics behind the scenes that were difficult there were 8 no not even for me because. I have talked to separate myself from stuff that's not my job and my job is to be here and that's my focus to just slide and go back. And. Revise what we did in the day on stuff like that. I'm just enjoying the moment right now on Sunday Jasmine I mean Jamaica's got a proper tradition involves like how important is it for you to be here continuing and it really means a lot and at the end of the day as much as we're not exactly happy where place is today we know there's a bigger picture out there and we're the 1st women's team for our islands and the 1st women's team in the Winter Olympics and that's a that's a trailblazer and I'm hoping for the future to build upon that that's what barriers are made to be broken and we're going to take that positive and use it as motivation for tomorrow to get better and elsewhere France's greatest Olympian of all time out in full card one I 3rd gold medal in trying his 5th overall as Francois in the biathlon mixed really. Now in the last hour Tiger Woods has been named as a vice captain for the USA Ryder Cup. The Ryder Cup is incredibly special to me I am thankful to once again serve as a rider Cup vice captain and I think Jim for his confidence friendship and support my goal is to make the team but whatever happens over the course of the season I will continue to do whatever I can to help us keep the cup I'm excited about the challenge well it's normally a non-playing role but Woods did float the idea of a playing voice captain last week Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk appears not to have ruled out the idea so I'd like to do what's best for Tiger I want to do what's best for the team and and that would be a bridge that we would would cross when we got there. If he could be valuable 'd as a player I mean I'm sure we would want him flying on this team but there's so much time to go I think the good news bad news for someone like Tiger Woods is he's played now what 3 or 4 events. For now is your latest b.b.c. Sport this is the b.b.c. World Service the news for most shortly after this 2 women with a shared experience the title of 1st lady you kids by virtue of men like we all and privileged there's a lot of responsibility that comes with that I have to deal with both practical things stuff within the family and everything changed you know fight spirit I went out of the building with my wife again and that was a really good time to contemplate by myself you just accept your blindness and then there's no looking back on that pool and matching talent I wanted to become an elite gymnast so that our fire is more hours so then I had to start homeschooling I grew up you know I'm a new system for me to Gnostics was a door opener to the world I'm keen check I need and each week we bring together 2 women from different parts of the world united Viacom inflate the conversation listen online or subscribe to the podcast at b.b.c. World Service dot com. B.b.c. World Service Hello this is World Business Report today while Mart shares drop 10 percent on Wall Street has the Main Street giant abandoned its online battle with them as India opens up its coal sector to foreign investment and local private investment but is there a contradiction with India's promises to go green and later in the program e-sports have video game companies are willing the faithful with live stadium advance b.b.c. News with Marion Marshall President Donald Trump has expressed his willingness to ban the mechanisms which allow a rifle to shoot in almost automatic bursts the devices known as bump stocks were used by the gunman who shot 58 people dead in Las Vegas in October it's believed Mr Trump's comments on Bob stocks his 1st definitive policy proposal on gun control an attorney for a leading New York law firm has pleaded guilty to lying to the f.b.i. As part of the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Muller into alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election Alexanders who on used to work for Paul man of Ford who was charged in the u.s. Russia probe earlier there's been a 3rd day of bombardment in the rebel held enclave of eastern Ghouta by Syrian government forces and their allies the u.n. Is warning of the risk of a 2nd Aleppo the northern city subjected to a vicious siege a year ago Syrian government forces also entered the Kurdish stronghold of African in the north of Syria on Tuesday the United States ambassador to the un Nikki Haley has told the Palestinians that rejecting a u.s. Role in peace negotiations will get them nowhere Her comments came after the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas told the Security Council that a multilateral peace conference on the Middle East should be convened by the middle of this year. The Vatican cleric leading investigations into sexual abuse has started hearing testimony from victims in the Chilean capital Santiago Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta is looking into accusations that a bishop appointed by Pope Francis covered up crimes against children Queen Elizabeth has attended London Fashion Week for the 1st time in her 66 year reign the British monarch sat in the front row of a runway show by the up and coming designer Richard Quinn she presented him with an inaugural British design award he said the experience had been sorry will be receiving news. Hello welcome to World Business Report This is Fergus nickel today Wal-Mart sees its worst on the share market in more than 2 years following some disappointing results on line growth for Wal-Mart has actually diesel aerated and given Wal-Mart is currently positioning itself directly against Amazon in the u.s. Retail sector has caused some investors to become alarmed that this is becoming something of an uphill challenge for the biggest retailer on earth India's coal sector is open for private and foreign investment as the government ends a state run monopoly on mining and we'll have a special report from Spain on the growing number of political corruption scandals . Well. We feel like being deceived I mean unemployed and it's because of their governments corruption that's still to come here on World Business Report him live Tuesday's closing bell on the New York Stock Exchange ending a trading day in which shares in Wal-Mart's the world's biggest bricks and mortar retailer were down 10.18 percent it followed some disappointing financial results for the last 3 months of 2017 including of course the crucial holiday period Brian Roberts is the co-author with Natalie Burge of the 2012 book Wal-Mart key insights and practical lessons from the world's largest retailer What does he think prompted Wal-Mart struggle more street primarily the main issue here was that they spooked investors by warning that you know full year earnings for the coming financial year would be lower than expected and that the markets never like having that you know those expectations on the mind so that was the primary driver of that but I think what also raised a few eyebrows and decreased the stock price was that online growth for Wal-Mart has actually diesel aerated over the key 4th quarter for over the year as a whole and given Wal-Mart is currently positioning itself directly against Amazon in the u.s. Retail sector is called Sun So investors become alarmed that you know this is becoming something of an uphill chair. For the biggest retailer on earth and Doug McMillan the chief exact had already said that Wal-Mart had been investing more in its own website been trying to lure in new customers by making it cheaper online and that still didn't work head to head with ams there are concerns that by pitching itself against Amazon and by acquiring a number of different specialist businesses to try to take on you know this fierce competitor to Wal-Mart is kind of not positioning itself for failure but certainly setting itself a very very stern challenge because look elsewhere around the business the actual brick and mortar operations themselves are holding up pretty well both in America around its various international operations as well so this might be one of those days when you look at the stock market reaction I think it might be slightly overstated or that expectations were simply set a little a little too high you know that's really addressed to what you say about bricks and mortar because that's another phrase used by Doug McMillan he said and I quote When you get out to Oklahoma out in the middle of the country it just makes more sense to invest in the the Wal-Mart brand in the bricks and mortar people are going to go online Yeah I think that's very very true and it's worth remembering Wal-Mart's heritage you know being starting off in Arkansas law and expanding throughout the south and serving you know rural communities often overlooked by the biggest uplift retailers of the time you know people like c. Is for example which is slowly dying a death that you know Wal-Mart that it's very fundamental foundations of success were serving as rural communities I think what it has realized as well and also what lots of e-commerce retailers like Amazon are realizing is that having a physical footprint is actually quite useful when it comes to being an e-commerce business as well because having that is a cool presence means that shoppers can pick up deliveries they can return items they don't want for whatever reason which means that shoppers are able to interact with the retail brand however they wish to and so I think the demise of stores has been very over documented in the pictures of being written far too soon there's no doubt for me that the future of all for retail is a combination. Of a very strong incredible online presence matched with these physical locations which which are very very useful when it comes to are underpinning an e-commerce business so when we reported on the trials and tribulations of toys r us we talked about Amazon being a sector killer premature perhaps to talk about Wal-Mart in those terms of very much so I think now with Wal-Mart you're looking at a very sophisticated multichannel business a very adept at selling online as well as in-store and also one with an exposure to lots of interesting you know so-called emerging markets overseas and also some mature markets like Canada and the u.k. So it's a formidable business with very strong financials and I think when we do look at perhaps some of the electricals retards booksellers and people like toys r us we can see that they're not to spectrums of Amazon or Wal-Mart or the retail sector that's changed around the whole so I fail to keep pace with that change and where a lot of those those businesses which are struggling or or of disappeared altogether weren't perhaps adventurous enough to explore the online opportunity when it 1st started so for a number of retailers who are struggling at the moment they're playing catch up when really they should have foreseen the opportunity from online retailing and forge their own presence or made some significant partnerships so you know what one feels for the people losing their jobs at the stores being closed as retires around the world struggle a lot of that misfortune is of their own making south thanks to Brian Roberts So that's the retail experts perspective what about the market expert well from Mark c. Miss trading in New Jersey Wal-Mart or earnings was a drag on the Dow industrials there's a good part of the morning where the Dow was down much more than the s. And p. And the Nasdaq and then things started to slide little bit in the afternoon next think a big factor was Friday with the markets rally over the past week and then which are not able to pick up that momentum and I think a combination of some. Technical levels with the war more news on top of that really can I just got us moving lower throughout the day today so Wal-Mart drags the Dow Jones down as a constituent parts of that bigger index how can it help engineer recovery at a corporate level and in the bigger picture. Well I think right now in general as far as you know our our recovery here are on the decline I think it's going to take some time I think we're in what the call backing and filling is we really done a good job in a very short period of time of retracing half the losses and now I think there's going to be a bit of a couple of weeks at least I'd like to see a couple of weeks of just kind of you know a little bit of back and force and try to find you know some levels but I think you know as we get through the next few weeks with. Some more inflation data and then a Federal Reserve meeting next month I think probably until we get through that period of that meeting next month the markets probably going to tremble sideways thanks to Mark Kepner as always see a closing numbers for Tuesday the Dow Jones that one percent drop 24964 London the Footsie 100 pretty much flat land on the day 7246 European bourses bit more up and down the Dax up CAC own up b.b.c. Global 30 down you can find all the data is gets to b.b.c. News dot com click on business click on market data the coal industry in India is experiencing its biggest shake up since nationalization in the 1970 s. The government in Delhi is opening up the sec to Milan and private and foreign companies to bid for the mines in an auction coal accounts 13 quarters of India's power generation and the country plans to produce 1000000000 tonnes of it by 2022 the idea now is to make cope more efficient by ending the new monopoly that's been enjoyed by the state owned Coal India for decades my colleague Vivian Yunus has been hearing from the B.B.C.'s so Anjaana to watch in Mumbai India has had a long history of mining coal butt. Domestic coal production has not been very efficient and has not been able to keep pace with demand the state run Coal India which produces more than 80 percent of India's coal has consistently failed to meet targets it's hoped that this move will help to cut imports and boost local production called most minister said this is an important reform and will ensure affordable and reliable supply of coal he also added that it would allow Indian and foreign companies to mine coal that means we could see the likes of b.h.p. Rio Tinto Glencore and Anglo American investing in India very soon cola cans for 70 percent of India's power generation and India has a target to produce 1000000000 tons by 2022 so that kind of investment is much needed here and at the same time huge swathes of the Indian population still don't have access to power is there a hope that by improving coproduction that will help lift them out of poverty that's what the government is hoping one of the aspects that it didn't mention in today's statement was that coal mining areas would direct and in direct employment often coal my mines are in underprivileged parts of India especially in the east of the country so one of the ways that the government is hoping to do that is by changing the way that coal mines are auctioned So this new rule would completely change that and there would be no restrictions as far as price restrictions all revenue generated will also be given to state governments where the coal mines are which is very different from the current process India's had a lot of coal scams and because there's been administrative allocation that means the government's allocated the coal mines as I understand it India's existing coal mining infrastructure is very dated and it's hard. That this investment will be able to modernize their systems that's what the government is hoping as well as hoping that by bringing foreign players in the technology will be cleaned up but of course India is in a. Difficult position it's signed up for the Paris agreement and it wants to move the country to greener technology but it's also got all these coal mines and a lot of electricity depending on it and it wants to make it sector more efficient ironically India has been named as the global host of World Environment Day here in June so many people are concerned about the environmental impact especially since India has invested so much in other more environmentally friendly forms of energy like solar power and wind power but the other issue is the loss of money for the government from the core sector the previous system had a lot of restrictions there was only certain types of companies who were allowed to bid for certain types of mines so the government will be hoping that by improving revenues in an underperforming sector it will be able to reallocate those funds to developing more environmentally friendly forms of power that's baby sister and Janet wiring in Mumbai you know with World Business Report were available in Hong Kong on th k. Radio 4 on night 7 to 99 f.m. Across southern Michigan through our friends at w m u k m 102 point one f.m. To Spain next where a turned of corruption scandals has been plaguing the Popular Party prime minister money on overhaul this week an ongoing parliamentary commission on corruption will interrogate a key witness businessman Alviro Perez has been jailed for his part in the scheme so public works contracts given to companies in return for bribes and he is expected to be asked about his close relationship with the popular party but as more and more cases reach the courts it's clear that it isn't just the party that's been affected by scam. Is Guy Hedgecoe no reports from Madrid. On walking up a hill towards the central square of Portugal Seoul where hundreds of demonstrators are heading to carry out a demonstration against political corruption in particular the demonstrating against the governing popular party which has been mired in a slew of corruption scandals over recent years. We are demonstrating against. The corruption of the government because see order a fuse like he's been like gauge years. Of cases for action every day on t.v. . And with feel like. We're being deceived I mean unemployment and it's because of the government's corruption it's the government's hand also some companies big companies that they are working together and and that's liberal and because they are not investing in. People they are keeping all the money between the company send a government. Voters get out when Israel gave. This news headline is about Operation Punic a probe into an alleged scheme implicating members of the Popular Party regional government in Madrid in which lucrative public contracts were awarded in return for bribes and El Pais newspaper says that senior members of the governing party of placing over 50 such investigations the biggest one includes claims the party ran an illegal cash fund financed by corporate bribes for years with the knowledge of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy Mr Rowley denies the allegations in Spain their political party are like criminal organization they are the a region of the corruption Simona Levy is a member of x. Net a group of activists who campaigned to bring to justice the politicians and bankers they believe caused Spain's recent economic crisis I think it was really bearable that with 25 percent unemployment and when all the crazy send the problem that we had in Spain these people they were not paying for wood they were doing they were not fund responsible for for what they were doing but the tide does seem to be turning x. Net has helped bring to justice Roderigo Ratto who was chairman of Bank here a lender which required a massive bailout in 2012 former economy minister and managing director of the i.m.f. Mr rattle could face a prison sentence for several financial crimes. But corruption scandals aren't confined to Madrid or to the popular party in January former managers of the plough the a concert venue in Barcelona were jailed for using it as a front for false invoicing also jailed was the former treasurer of conversion the dominant political party in Catalonia in recent decades. John Munoz has written a book about corruption he says the ability of parties like accomplished the Popular Party and the socialists to accumulate political strongholds in certain areas of the country helps explain the abuses of power so the Alamo sic a scandal if it's one of the most representative cases of course in Spain in certain regions some political parties became the power so through the front companies they call laundry lots of money corruption in general is it costing the country a lot of money yeah absolutely I mean the costs billions of euros but here in creating lots of poverty actually in corruption makes as weak as a community for sure and if not the everybody is trying to get the best for everyone else it makes this country weaker in all the ways and you can imagine. Spain's economy has been enjoying steady growth since 2013 leaving the trauma of the recent recession behind but as more and more politicians face the music for their past misdemeanors the extent to which corruption has been holding the country back is becoming increasingly apparent. Hedgecoe reporting from Madrid the government of Venezuela has launched its own crypto currency it's called the petro as that name suggests it's backed by the country's vast oil reserves and the price of the petro will be pegged to the price of a barrel of crude oil the decision to launch the virtual currency comes as Venezuela faces huge economic challenges severe good shortages devaluation of the real currency and hyperinflation then as well is also subject to economic sanctions by both the United States and the European Union the government to Caracas a knowledge is that the petro is designed to get round these sanctions so will it work Vivian's been talking to our regular economic commentator Roger Bootle founder of Capital Economics are mixed dream lead up for that it will work in any meaningful sense whatsoever with the original idea equipped occurrences that was famously big Cohen was think of you know interesting one to say to get away from central banks and government control of money here we've got a government it seems actually issuing this particular crypto currency I think this is really a way of trying to get people to subscribe hard money for what will turn out to be I think probably a dodgy money critics in Venezuela say that there isn't really a crypto currency productive forward Frale of oil but Petro will be backed by Venezuela's oil reserves do you agree with that argument then. Well we don't know what being backed by the oil reserves actually means in the 1920 is after the great Piper inflation in Germany the German central bank issued a currency that was supposedly backed by all the land in Germany wall or did that mean it don't have to be backed meaningfully by something a currency has to be really convertible into it always suggesting that people are going to convert this currency in some sense into oil I don't think so I think this is just a worthless p.r. Expression Are you concerned then that it seems to be relatively easy for various governmental or anyone else for that matter to just announce that they have created their own crypto currency and after investing. I think is a big difference between something like bit Cohen on the one hand and currency crypto or otherwise issued by a government in serious financial straits the way that Venezuela is they've got different sorts of dangers when the bill is way down the column is collapse hyperinflation this is it's a pretty disastrous situation and it's not going to be solved by just coming out with some new fancy currency even if you got the word crypto attached to it the private sector developing crypto card says things like that coincident Alamo altogether I'm concerned about that I'm concerned because I think all sorts of people can be drawn in thinking they're going to make easy money but in the end of course there is no real basis for the value of something like Bitcoin it can be everything or nothing at all stations in-between so I think it becomes a speculative instrument some people make lot of money in it and some people lose a lot of money in away from the risk there of losing money the governor of the Bank of England Makani has deep concerns about Bitcoin and as he mentioned that's the biggest crypto currency the most popular one in the market. He says it's failed to be a legitimate current thing because it is neither a medium of exchange nor a store of value he's got bigger concerns the need other than years ago bigger concerns I'm am and I think I'm concerned about the same things the point about store value it is a store of value it is a very bad store for you. It's very bad store value because its price fluctuates so enormously almost being a medium of exchange it's simply not a very efficient medium of exchange it does function to some degree but I am deeply skeptical about the whole thing because we have something similar to the central idea of currencies it's called Gold we've known for a long time about what the difficulties and dangers and problems are of using gold on the other hand cryptic currency proponents would argue that the governor of the Bank of England would be against cryptic currencies like big because it's not in his interest for that to be a viable alternative currency because that represents a threat to the current financial system any economist of any merit will know the history of financial bubbles will recognise what's been happening to go in as precisely one of those compared to go the difference is that at least gold has some intrinsic value now the gold price can take off and get to silly levels but in the end there's a way of bringing it down to earth there's no such equivalent way with a crypto currency. A Capital Economics according to a u.s. Market research company called super data one in 3 people on the planet play video games on my computer. That's around 2 and a half 1000000000 people make that gaming competitive and you have the phenomenon of e-sports And as Andy ular of Marketplace on American Public Radio has been finding out in California it's just exploded becoming a $1500000000.00 business. Very good at the blizzard arena in Burbank California lots of young people sit staring at a massive video screen overhead they're watching 2 tins of 6 professional players that will each other in a video game hold over watch the players direct online heroes who must save their world from chaos it's loud camera angles are fast and unsettling but the audience feels it seamlessly most don't know or even care that they're sitting in the very sound stage where Johnny Carson and Jay Leno filmed The Tonight Show for more than 40 years they are totally consumed with what's happening on stage by. Actually drove like 19 hours to get here history it like wanted to stop forgot about it Devin Reynolds and a few friends drove down from Seattle and just got into town Reynolds plays overwatch a lot he's 20 and studying psychology in college but says he really wants to be a professional e-sports play that's eventually the goal like I'm working on like coaching slash playing for a team worked their way up so this is a great experience good to see you to see how the players interact and how much they're talking in which players talk to most things like that is very interesting let's see from it interesting to Reynolds and his friends but they play the game they're super fans but what's the wider business model for the Overwatch league Scott Johnson who produces a podcast about e Sports says it's a lot different from that of traditional sports everything's kind of flipped in a weird way and the end game therefore is a little murky in f.l. Franchises. For example make big bucks more than half of their revenue from t.v. Deals not so much from building and maintaining stadiums Activision Blizzard The company that owns overwatch calls itself an entertainment company but at its core it's a video game producer Scott Johnson says the folks at Blizzard just need to keep selling games and they need to have players keep getting excited about this game in Blizzard's mind that's all you need to be a big cash generator for pretty infinite amount of time 10000000 people around the world watch the 1st week of the Overwatch league online so overwatch already has a captive audience and Blizzard's already monetized ads for those live streams for a video game competition in person experience seems secondary blizzard is the siding to take this way further and as a result they're putting way more on the line including buying their own arena and they're trying to make this as big as mainstream as possible these days only ever watch games are played in Burbank but the plan is that the games we played in the 12 franchise cities like in traditional sports night Mansour is the commissioner of the ever watch league if you're a a local auto dealer you have no reason to sponsor a global Eastport we were there was a team and dollar as a team and you since even Boston like you actually might have a reason to get involved lots of us dreamed of playing professional sports quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys or center fielder for the Yankees some kids still have those dreams but many others like 16 year old Tyler McCormick thinks e-sports of the Future Me my friend Adrian is down there we ran from school today right as we got a school response. It's it's unimaginably fun you can argue that e-sports are already mainstream in places like China and South Korea here in the u.s. Big names like Robert Kraft who owns the New England Patriots and Stan Kroenke who owns the l.a. Rams have invested in teams take me on to the video game anyone thanks to and the eula at Marketplace That's it for this edition of well Business Report thanks to you for listening if you joined us late we'll have the podcast up and running pretty soon and I'll be back at 1 o'clock g.m.t. With business masses live on the b.b.c. World Service with the news is next. This is the b.b.c. World Service where our look at the generation gap in China continues I don't know how to talk to my songs because I never talk to my mom true special life but my parents they will just stay like what they are exploring the effects of decades of change we are taking place in a war China's generation gap b.b.c. World Service dot com slash documentaries and it's b.b.c. World Service dot com is witness we go back to 988 when one of America's best known evangelical preachers Jimmy Swaggart made a public praise from the pope could give news of the chord with a prostitute the program now b.b.c. World Service dot com slash witness the ballroom is next here on the b.b.c. World Service.