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Business Weekly: 22/05/2021 May 22, 2021

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The International Energy Agency has added its voice to those calling for the end of fossil fuels. The dramatic intervention from the body which helps keep global oil supplies moving is music to the ears of many scientists and environmentalists. Shareholder activists too are pushing from within companies for an energy transition so we ask what the future looks like for the oil and gas sector. Why are some companies resisting the call to go green faster and harder? We’ll look at what happened to the autonomous driving revolution we were all promised. Are driverless cars ever going to be more than an experiment? The hospitality sector may be opening up across the world once more, but who is going to be waiting the tables and cooking the meals? Many staff who were laid off in the first wave of the pandemic have since found new jobs or even moved countries creating a huge staff shortage. And all work, no play? Our workplace commentator extols the virtues of a little play at work. Business Weekly is presented by Lucy Burton and produced by Clare Williamson. (Image:Oil field, Azerbaijan, Credit: BBC)

Lifting the burden of malaria May 21, 2021

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A new vaccine could help eliminate the disease. What would that mean for African economies?

Manuela Saragosa speaks to the man who led the team behind the new vaccine, which has demonstrated a startling 77% effectiveness in recent drug trials. Adrian Hill of Oxford University's Jenner Institute says it is the culmination of 20 years' work - but how was it all funded?

Research suggests malaria has been one of the biggest factors that historically held back African economies, according to Obinna Onwujekwe, professor of health economics at the University of Nigeria. But the big pharmaceutical companies have had no commercial interest in developing a vaccine, says Els Torreele of University College London.

Producer: Laurence Knight

(Picture: Mosquito; Credit: Getty Images)

The new inflation threat May 20, 2021

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Faster price rises are coming as countries recover from the pandemic. But how painful will it be for consumers and the global economy? Mohamed El-Erian, economic adviser and president of Queens' College, Cambridge, thinks central banks are already behind the curve when it comes to keeping inflation in check. Others believe the pandemic's impact on prices is largely temporary. Dana Peterson of the US Conference Board explains why. We also hear from restaurant owner Luke Garnsworthy. Now that England's third lockdown has mostly lifted, customers are itching to spend and he can't find enough staff for his kitchens. But, he says raising prices and wages isn't an option for him.

Picture: stock photo of a sad piggy bank and stack of coins (Credit: Getty)

Syria: Failed state or narco-state? May 19, 2021

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How ten years of conflict have destroyed the country's economy. As Syria prepares for largely symbolic elections to re-elect its President Bashar Al-Assad next week, we look at how ten years of conflict have destroyed the country's economy. Ed Butler looks at the growing evidence that Syria's government is now building its income around a multi-billion dollar trade in narcotics. He speaks to Syrian economist Jihad Yazigi, editor in chief of the online publication The Syria Report, Martin Chulov, The Guardian newspapers' Middle East editor and to Elizabeth Tsurkov, a fellow at the New Lines institute in Washington specialising in the Levant. (Picture credit: A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) walks through the debris in the old city centre on the eastern frontline of Raqa on September 25, 2017)

Pandemic preparedness May 18, 2021

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When it comes to pandemic preparedness the United States was once one of the world’s best prepared countries. Today it has one of the world’s worst Covid mortality rates. So what went wrong? The financial journalist and writer Michael Lewis of The Big Short fame, has investigated and has published a book called The Premonition. It’s a real life, deep-dive account of how American public health officials warned about the impending Covid pandemic but were ignored by US authorities. (Picture credit: Getty Images)

What happened to driverless cars? May 17, 2021

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Why hasn't the autonomous car revolution happened yet? A few years ago industry figures were predicting driverless cars would take over our roads by the end of the 2010s, but so far there's no sign of them. Justin Rowlatt speaks to Oliver Cameron from Cruise - a company testing driverless cars on the streets of San Francisco, and to industry analyst Sam Abuelsamid from Guidehouse Insights about the technological and regulatory challenges that still exist. UK transport minister Rachel Maclean explains why governments are enthusiastic about the technology, but need to put safety first.

(Photo: An autonous Cruise car on the streets of San Francisco. Credit: Getty Images)

Business Weekly: 15/05/2021 May 15, 2021

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As the vital Colonial Pipeline in the US comes under cyberattack, Business Weekly hears how vulnerable infrastructure and companies are to being hacked. We take a look at the dirty business of car battery recycling - it’s an increasing health hazard in developing countries, as the lead acid seeps into people, plants and animals. We also hear from religious leaders who explain how the pandemic has affected the spiritual and religious life of their churches. And as the European Super League saga continues, we take a look at the finances driving the clubs’ desire to form a new league. Plus, should bamboo be used to make cricket bats? Business Weekly is presented by Lucy Burton and produced by Matthew Davies.

Who should control the vaccines? May 14, 2021

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Calls are rising for a waiver of patent protections on Covid-19 vaccines - but would it do anything to accelerate their rollout in the developing world?

Manuela Saragosa speaks to an advocate of the "People's Vaccine" campaign, which aims to end the control of the major pharmaceutical companies. Els Torreele of University College London says much of the research and development of these vaccines was publicly funded anyway, and the need to negotiate patent agreements prevents other companies from rapidly scaling up vaccine production.

The need to speed up the rollout is testified to by the South African professor of vaccinology Shabir Madhi, who points out that his own country has yet to begin immunising the general public. But Thomas Cueni of the global pharmaceutical industry body, the IFPMA, says they are already on course to vaccinate the world within a year.

Producer: Laurence Knight

(Picture: A man is vaccinated at a hospital in Nairobi, Kenya; Credit: Robert Bonet/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

What is the real death toll in India? May 13, 2021

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The chief scientist for the World Health Organisation acknowledges the frailty of the official numbers. Ed Butler speaks to Anthony Masters, the statistics ambassador for the UK's Royal Statistical Society who explains that one way to try to count the number of deaths is through excess deaths figures. But in countries like India there aren't very reliable national mortality statistics to start with, and there's often a long delay in delivering the latest numbers. One man who's done as much as any to sift through the data available is Murad Banaji, an Indian-born mathematician based at the University of Middlesex in the UK. He says the Indian death toll could be between three and eight times higher than the official data. (Picture: A relative of a Covid-19 patient cries in New Delhi, India. Picture credit: Raj K Raj/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

The dirty business of old car batteries May 12, 2021

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The recycling of lead acid batteries poses a growing health hazard in many developing countries.

Vivienne Nunis looks at the case of Bangladesh, where a cottage industry has sprung up all over the country, with old car and auto-rickshaw batteries being burned in unsafe conditions, poisoning the surrounding land, animals, plants and people. Researcher Bret Ericson says that hundreds of millions of children across the developing world have dangerously high blood lead levels, risking damage to their developing brains.

Andrew McCartor of the anti-pollution activists Pure Earth explains why the economics of battery recycling make it such an intractable problem, while Adam Muellerweiss of the major global battery manufacturer Clarios explains what he thinks needs to be done to make recycling a fully closed-loop process, as it is in the developed world. Plus industry journalist Christian Ruoff explains why the rise of electric vehicles does not spell the end of lead acid batteries.

(Picture: Used batteries piled up at a recycling plant in Russia; Credit: Peter Kovalev\TASS via Getty Images)