this is bbc news. we ll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour as newsday continues, straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk from geneva. i m stephen sackur. this place is home to the world trade organization, the institution whose purpose is to maximise free and fair international trade on the assumption that globalisation is good. so what happens when many governments and people around the world question that premise? well, my guest today is the director general of the wto, ngozi okonjo iweala. will rising geopolitical tensions lead to the weaponisation of trade? ngozi okonjo iweala, welcome to hardtalk. now, you are one of the world s key advocates of ever ngozi okonjo iweala, welcome to hardtalk. thank you, stephen. now, you are one of the world s key advocates of ever freer trade, more globalisation. what s it like to be doing your job when the political tide across the world is running against you? the wto s purpose, the wor
he hated meghan. in a statement, harry and meghan said the tv presenter s comments were not an isolated incident. now on bbc news, it s time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, from geneva. i m stephen sackur. this place is home to the world trade organization, the institution whose purpose is to maximise free and fair international trade, on the assumption that globalisation is good. so what happens when many governments and people around the world question that premise? well, my guest today is the director general of the wto, ngozi okonjo iweala. will rising geopolitical tensions lead to the weaponisation of trade? ngozi okonjo iweala, welcome to hardtalk. thank you, stephen. now, you are one of the world s key advocates of ever freer trade, more globalisation. what s it like to be doing your job when the political tide across the world is running against you? the wto s purpose, the world trade organization, is. its purpose is to enhance living standards, to help create em
scotland s first minister, nicola sturgeon, has condemned a very warm welcome to the programme. a very warm welcome to the programme. scotland s first minister, nicola sturgeon, has condemned the uk government for blocking a piece of legislation passed in holyrood, saying it was a full frontal attack on its parliament. the measure had aimed to make it quicker and easier for trans people to change gender. but the scottish secretary, alisterjack, said allowing the bill to proceed would have a significant impact on equality laws across great britain. here s our political editor, chris mason. this is the ceremonial mace. it represents the scottish parliament s authority. we are seeing it here at the opening of its sixth session the year before last. and next, the crown of scotland, a symbol of royal authority. but power is shared in the uk, and with a rule book. all the laws that are passed here are checked to make sure they don t contradict with laws for the whole of the uk. i
we begin in china where we ve just had a slew of data that shows how deep the impact of both the pandemic and its demographics is having on society and the economy. data from the national bureau of statistics shows china s economy grew by 2.9% year on year for the last three months of 2022. that beat expectations reuters expected the economy to grow byjust1.8%. for the full year growth came in at 3% far below china s official target of 5.5%. excluding the year covid hit in 2020, this is china s worst showing in nearly 50 years. also today, the news that china s population has shrunk for the first time in more than 60 years a change that is expected to have deep economic, social and political implications for china. for more on that let s go to katie silver in our asia business hub. tell us more. that s right. the bi . tell us more. that s right. the big figure tell us more. that s right. the big figure that tell us more. that s right. the big figure that we ve tel
a record low. and in the australian open, andy murray beats italian matteo berrettini in a thrilling five set first round match. hello and welcome to the programme. social media bosses could face jail if they repeatedly fail to protect children from online harm, under new changes to the online safety bill. the prime minister rishi sunak agreed to calls for tougher punishments as part of the legislation after his own backbench mps prepared to vote against the bill. the new legislation begins its final stages in the house of commons today but lucy powell, labour s shadow secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, says the bill doesn t go far enough. we would go further in terms of the measures that take buses would be accountable for so we are notjust looking up the narrow issue of directly causing harm to children which is what really the bill has been massively scaled back to focus on measures that tech buses would be accountable for. so things like viral mi