this is business live from bbc news with sally bundock and ben thompson. in the next few hours, south africa's president could be voted out of office. we'll tell you what it means for one of africa's biggest economies. live from london, that's our top story. it's tuesday 8th august. corruption, recessions and unemployment have dogged south africa in recent years and today the man at the top president zuma could be forced to go in a secret parliamentary vote. and money—laundering allegations that could lead to a theoretical fine of close to $800 billion have lead to the boss of commonwealth bank somewhat unsurprisingly losing his bonus. and markets in europe have started

their trading day. slightly down on their trading day. slightly down on the day and we'll explain why. and we'll be getting the inside track on the surprisingly profitable world of babaysitting and the company that's trying to turn it from a job for students into a global business. we wa nt we want to know today which app could you not live without? let us know. use the hashtag business live. hello and welcome to business live. president zuma of south africa faces a no confidence vote in parliament today and as it's being held in secret there's a real chance that he could be kicked out of office by the end of the day. mr zuma has survived no—confidence votes previously

but this time the stakes, both political and economic, are much higher. mr zuma has been under constant pressure over everything from corruption allegations to a controversial cabinet reshuffle that saw his widely respected finance minister, pravin gordhan fired. that prompted two of the world's leading credit rating agencies; standard and poor‘s and fitch, to downgrade south africa's credit worthiness to junk hugely increasing borrowing costs for the struggling economy. and injune south africa once the continents largest economy fell into a second recession in a decade. and figures out yesterday show the country's unemployment rate remained unchanged at close to 28% in the second quarter. that's about 6.2 million people out of work. drjoachim wehner is

a south africa expert at the london school of economics. nice to see you. welcome to the programme. running through some of the background to this there. it's worth restating why south africa is in this position. the economic picture looks pretty dire right now? that's true. and you have to see it in the context. for 20 years after the end of apartheid, south africa worked extremely hard to establish a reputation for economic credibility and good economic management, for short periods the first finance minister who jacob z uma fired triggered the week in 2015 where south africa went through three finance ministers when the space of a few short days. so mr zuma has put

the credibility of south africa at risk. how much of this can be blamed on president zuma? there are some factors that are out of his hands, one can say, for example the drought. successive droughts in south africa, weak global demand for mining output for example, that is dampening prospects for the mining sector in south africa. but the ratings agencies have emphasised what they see as a major problem is mr zuma's handling of the institutional framework for the economic system and that has done a huge amount of damage in undermining the credibility that so many finance ministers have worked hard over 20 yea rs ministers have worked hard over 20 years to establish. and so the uncertainty that now comes from this vote, interesting that we heard over the weekend the vote will take place in secret, that could affect the outcome significantly? that's very true. it's probably the first time

that there is a realistic chance this might go through, this vote. it's probably not the most likely outcome because the electoral system in south africa is based on close list proportional representation, that means mp who is sit in parliament, it's the african national congress in particular. parliament, it's the african national congress in particulatm we get this vote today and he's ousted from office, the question i suppose is who would replace them? is there a willing candidate, certainly from an economic point of view someone who would restore credibility? i think you have put your finger on credibility? i think you have put yourfinger on the credibility? i think you have put your finger on the right issue credibility? i think you have put yourfinger on the right issue here. getting rid of mr zuma is only the very first step and a few questions arise here — how long can he cling on to power? he's proven himself to be extremely intelligent so it

wouldn't surprise me if he stays until 2019. the second question then arises who will replace him. there isa arises who will replace him. there is a struggle in the anc now. a camp mr zuma's tried to foster, a successoi’, mr zuma's tried to foster, a successor, his former wife who would probably protect him once he leaves office, make sure he's not exposed to legal proceedings or a more reformer camp led by a current deputy president. interesting times certainly as far as the implications are concerned. drjoachim, really good to see you, thank you very much. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the google employee who wrote a memo critical of the firm's diversity initiatives has been fired from the company. a male software engineer argued the lack of women in top tech jobs

was due to biological differences between men and women. google's chief executive responded by saying the contents of the memo are fair to debate but some of what was written had crossed the line. a scottish comic book company has been bought by streaming giant netflix. it's the first ever acquisition by netflix but they haven't said giw much they paid for the firm. millarworld is run by the scottish writer mark millar with his wife lucy. the deal gives netflix access to a host of new characters to develop films, tv series and children's shows. the worlds biggest hotel chain marriott is going to team up with alibaba to tap into the growing number of chinese tourists. marriott international says the joint venture will allow chinese travellers to book rooms using alibaba's travel website and pay with alipay. australia's commonwealth bank has scrapped its bosses bonus

for damaging the bank's reputation amid allegations it broke money—laundering and counter—terrorism financing laws... hywel griffith is in sydney, australia. hywel, this could be a humongous fine. tell us more about this story? absolutely. some of the numbers here are staggering. the bank is accused of over 53,000 breaches of anti—money laundering laws and each one of those could potentially carry a $14 million us dollarfine. it's accused of not making proper checks on intelligent money depositing machines, the hole in the wall where you can put money in as well as take it out. customers are able to put in up it out. customers are able to put in up to 200 high value notes but the checks weren't being made, as they we re checks weren't being made, as they were meant to be, on the provenance on the where that money was going to, so the money could be

transferred domestically or internationally without the checks being made. the bank argues it's down to a single coding error, saying they should only really face one fine. it's all going to be decided in a federal court of claw. what has already been decide suicide the bank's chief executive and board members are going to suffer somewhat. the chief executive losing his bonus for this year, as will the senior executives and the board members taking a cut in their pay. but potentially the cost could be much greater in future, some a nalysts much greater in future, some analysts predicting the whole decade of growth for the bank wiped out if they face the maximum fine. sounds very, very costly indeed. for now, thank you very much. let us show you how the day went in general in the asian markets. japan taking a breather from the ten—year highs it reached yesterday, whereas hong kong up reached yesterday, whereas hong kong up nearly half a percent. that is the night before, the dow still

going up—and—up above 22,000, way above that now. it's quite interesting how thatjust doesn't seem to end, that run on the share markets in the united states. let's move on to europe very quickly. lots of earnings coming out in europe still. note as busy as last week. standard life reporting a rise in profits, also we have asos talking about expansion in the us in atla nta. about expansion in the us in atlanta. retail sales falling though in the uk, so a flat day, if not a downbeat day for europe. and michelle fleury has the details about what's ahead on wall street today. jane foley will join jane foley willjoin us later and people will be tuning in to see what is said. her message is likely to emphasise that whilst the economy may not be overheating, the recovery in the us is strong enough for it to

consider another rate hike this year. but will incoming economic data reinforce that argument? two pieces to watch this tuesday is the case schiller house price index. uber‘s search for a new ceo meanwhile continues, after the resignation of the ceo last week. there are a few in the running. joining us is jane foley, senior currency strategist, at rabobank. good morning, jane. we picked this story up in bloomberg. it's an interesting problem to have. warren buffett has too much money. why is that news, we knew that already? ! but what is he going to do with it. this is a problem. this is a company that doesn't pay dividends. he is a pilot of cash. cash doesn't earn

much in terms of return. his problem is where to invest. there is a small pool of companies he'd be willing to consider. he's made the point that it would be much more fun if the phone were to ring and business propositions were to fall his way, but as it stands, there is some difficulty trying to know where to put all of that money. lovely to have that problem. this graph shows how he's managed to rack up the money. 99.7 billion dollars at the end of the second quarter. he's got all these great businesses making money but he's notoriously picky? but you have to remember he's been doing this for the best part of 50 yea rs doing this for the best part of 50 years so doing this for the best part of 50 years so this is a long—standing investment but that is exactly right. he's very picky. some companies he owns are really well—known ones, apple is another one. he's been known to invest also in utilities. texas and rail road area in utilities. texas and rail road are a couple of them. very picky,

relatively diverse in that sense but only a small amount of companies. we'll be back soon. really interesting stories to discuss with you later. if you are a parent, stay with us. still to come: intercontinental hotels group has just reported an 8%jump in half year operating profit and we've been speaking to their new boss. you're with business live from bbc news. retailers experienced slowing sales last month as households reined in their spending amid mounting pressure on their finances. according to the latest figures from the british retail consortium and kpmg, sales grew by 0.9% injuly, down from 1.1% for the same month last year. theo leggett is in our business newsroom. they came from a strong set of

figures last year so this year it's ha rd to figures last year so this year it's hard to keep up? yes, last year was particularly strong. 0n the surface, these figures from this year don't actually look too bad. they are showing slow but steady growth throughout the year. what is worrying is, if you look beneath the surface because nearly all of the growth was accounted for by sales of food. in fact over the past three months taken as a whole, nonfood sales have declined and when it comes to food sales, it's not about more food being sold, it's about prices going up as well. that is accounting for the increase. the broad picture there is not so good. the brc has a warning in all of this as well, saying that because real wages are declining, there is a smaller pool of consumer wealth out there to draw from and there's a lot of competition among retailers. that is where it gets political because the brc says given the outlook for consumers is so tough, the government needs to make sure it keeps tariff free trade with the eu asa keeps tariff free trade with the eu as a priority in brexit talks. pretty much everybody is talking

about what they want from brexit talks at the moment but that is the brc‘s take on it. talks at the moment but that is the brc's take on it. also the issue of online versus high street, bricks and clicks, you have got to be be successful if both in this environment where it's getting tougher in terms of people spending? absolutely. that is what the best retailers are doing. 0ver absolutely. that is what the best retailers are doing. over the past month, in—store shopping and online retailing grew. if you look over the past three months, a slightly longer time frame, then in—store sales have declined and declined by a reasonable margin, whereas online sales have gone up by about 8% in the same period, so online sales still growing. for the rest of the business news, you can check out the web page. asos spending $40 million on a new

warehouse in atlanta. you're watching business live. our top story: the south african president, jacob zuma, is facing one of the most testing episodes of his rule. the speaker of parliament has announced that a no confidence vote being held today. this is a secret ballot. pauline says, "i could live without them all, but twitter keeps me posted on a variety of stuff." another viewer says "bbc news." another viewer says "bbc news." another viewer says fit bit." what do you use the most? twitter and the bbc news app, of course. i'm a weather app person, but then you

have a dog and i have to walk regularly. we use apps to solve all sorts of day to day problems. food delivery, taxi services and shopping. but would you trust an app to find someone to look after your children? making sure children are looked after while you're working is a big concern for parents. 0ne charity found that 75% of parents would assess their childcare before taking a newjob or promotion. the same survey found 30% of parents say they feel burnt out on a regular basis. some extra help can, of course, help with that. for many parents, the biggest issue can be finding childcare at short—notice. yoopies is a new start—up hoping to change all of this. it's a website which connects parents with on—demand verified babysitters. we have the boss with us. benjamin thank you very much of thank you very much indeed for coming into business live. tell us how this

started. you're not a parent, are you? i'm not, buti started. you're not a parent, are you? i'm not, but i have three sisters and when i finished my studies two of them had become a mother. i the couldn't have a proper dinner with them, there were always childcare issues. i realised they only had two choices. either they rely on expensive agency or a local newspaper that was not trusted enough to find a great sitter so then i realised there was a huge opportunity to create a trustworthy environment for baby—sitting, childcare and home care services. let's talk about that trust. 0bviously let's talk about that trust. obviously the website then makes it easier to do verification checks, criminal record checks, how does that work? all the sitters are verified are dbs checked. we verify their id and we use the power of online social media for our usersment people can link their yoopies account to with their facebook account and they can see

that any friends or friends of friends who already have recommended a baby—sitter. friends who already have recommended a ba by—sitter. so friends who already have recommended a baby—sitter. so we check the word of mouth and we put it on the internet. this started in france. you've spread across a lot of europe. you've bought a uk in the uk find a ba by—sitter. com. europe. you've bought a uk in the uk find a baby—sitter.com. sour aexpanding here as well. it is a really, really crowded market, not just apps like yours, but many other facebook pages or websites or online services that provide everything you need if you are a parent including baby—sitters. need if you are a parent including baby-sitters. sure, but we do provide a comprehensive service that goes from finding the perfect match to online booking and payment. we assist with all government assistance. so basically you can find a perfect sitter within ten minutes. we only have five persons of our best sitters that are selected for emergency care and we provide all the rest. so the people can find trustworthy people easy.

how do you make sure you get your money for your services provider? i jumped on your website this morning andi jumped on your website this morning and i searched for a baby—sitter for me and gave it a test and a great baby—sitter was matched me and gave it a test and a great ba by—sitter was matched to me and gave it a test and a great baby—sitter was matched to me and i sent her a message and she is a mile away from my house, i can meet her for a coffee and decide what i want andi for a coffee and decide what i want and i don't have to pay you. most of the times usually you want to talk toa the times usually you want to talk to a few of them and we are charge a monthly fee for people to actually get... i haven't met her yet. if we get... i haven't met her yet. if we get on, i don't really need to pay you a fee, do i? you have to pay a fee at first to get unlimited contacts with our baby—sitters, our nannies on the website. so you will have to pay first £30 and then you can actually meet with her and have great childcare for your kids. not

just about its childcare. it will let you find other things. your plan is to roll out into the workplace as well? exactly. this is interesting. it might moon you could get food delivered to our desk and book a massage or get someone to take your dry cleaning and laundry. that's pa rt dry cleaning and laundry. that's part of the challenge of the productivity. if we are all busy maybe being able to do that at the office? it is a difficult thing to improve your work—life balance when you are in the company, imagine your child is sick, you need to do a lot of things and companies need to attract and retain talent. so we provide the platforms for cans and for the employees in order to find great childcare and food delivery and everything in a one stop shop platform where they can find trust within the company because you can find a great profile that's been recommended by your co—worker. find a great profile that's been recommended by your co-worker. sally is laughing because this is what i want! ben is thinking, 0k, want! ben is thinking, ok, i have my

massage, they deliver my bacon sandwich to my desk. you're living in havana! i have to talk to the bbc then for you! thank you for your time. it is great to meet you today. let's turn from booking babysitters to booking hotel rooms. the company behind brands including crowne plaza, holiday inn and intercontinental says operating profits were up 8% in the first half of this year. but the amount of money intercontinental hotels group makes per room, a really important measurement in the hotel business isn't growing as fast as it was. the new boss is keith parr and he's been telling me why. this industry grows two ways — by adding rooms and by growing revpar and so we saw a softer second quarter in revpar as did the rest of the industry principally driven by the united states. that's a lot it do with the shifting of the easter holidays and also some slowlying in some of the oil markets. additionally we have a big renovation programme going on in the us to add in new guest rooms and public space design for our holiday and express brand and that's been a bit of a headwind in the us, but we're seeing strength

through our markets like europe with revpar up over 6%. we saw revpar up in china, over 4% leading to revenue growth in china of 10% and profits at 15%. so on a global basis, we're seeing real strength in a number of markets. it's what underpins our strong performance in terms of earnings growth. he was at the company for 25 years and it was interesting to talk to him. i asked him what would you do if you are the boss and he is the boss and he had a very kind of slick answer, john terryjust keep the strategy." i was hoping for something really radical. you never get that on results day. that's why they have to do the inside track. jane is here. this is a story we picked out of the washington post. china, not president trump, is suddenly helping american steel. president trump probably takes credit for it, but it is other

factors at play. this is an interesting story. it does help correct the misconceptions that were out there since the trump presidential campaign and particularly that very little of chinese steel goes to the us. trump was talking about china dumping steel in the us. this report says only 1% of us steel comes from china, but perhaps a big reason for this story is that china is shutting down some of its very dirty plants. they are producing less steel, but china is using up a lot of steel. china is using up a lot of steel. china is using up a lot of steel. china is the biggest consumer of commodities in the world. it absorbs iron ore and coal which make steel and it's doing a lot of construction. making a lot of buildings, residentialand construction. making a lot of buildings, residential and roads and this is one of the ways it's doing it is taking up a lot of debt. but it's absorbing a lot of these materials itself. the front of today's telegraph. british children

must spend more time online so they can save the country says spy chief. he was perhaps making parents feel less guilty. it is all about balance. he said that maybe if we area balance. he said that maybe if we are a little bit behind in terms of our digital rivals and therefore, allowing children to explore the web more helps increase those skills which might be good use or good for the country in the longer term, but of course a lot of people said, no, no, it is the equivalent ofjung food for china etcetera, etcetera. jane, what app can you not live without? i like a bit of whatsapp. for me, it's the newspapers. interesting. thanks, jane. nice to see you. dominic says, "whatsapp. staying in touch with friends and family." yeah, i use that one a lot too. we will see you tomorrow. bye— bye. good morning. the unpleasant weather

continues across england and wales. this morning we have had heavy rainfall around. throughout this afternoon further heavy showers expected, but there will be a few sunny spells and they will be confined to northern and western parts of the uk, but this weather front towards the east will give us some heavy rainfall this afternoon across parts of lincolnshire and east anglia. towards the south—west, still the risk of heavy and thundery showers into wales as well, but the really heavy rain will be across parts of east anglia, through the east midlands, up towards lincolnshire and yorkshire. some torrential downpours perhaps for a time during this afternoon. it could cause some localised flooding. the far north of england, into scotland and northern ireland, here is where you have the best of the weather really. some dry spells with a bit of sunshine. just one or two showers scattered around and temperatures

about 16 to 20 or 21 celsius. through this evening and tonight, we will continue to have quite a few showers across england and wales, but driest for scotland and for northern ireland and with some clear spells temperatures could get down into fairly low single figures. elsewhere, temperatures about 13 or 14. into wednesday, we have got this area of low pressure and a weather front. still affecting the south east of england, but high pressure behind me here is starting to move in from the west. so that means scotland, northern ireland, northern and western areas of england and wales will have a fine day on wednesday with sunshine, but that rain continues across central and south—eastern areas, well into the afternoon across the far south—east. again some torrential rain and very unpleasant day to come here in the south east tomorrow, but further west, feeling pleasant actually with sunshine and some light winds. for thursday morning, the rain will still be with you across the far south, but it clears away and then we are looking at plenty of dry weather on thursday. probably the driest day of the week. temperatures

up driest day of the week. temperatures up to 17 or19 driest day of the week. temperatures up to 17 or 19 celsius. that's because high pressure is still there, but you notice then that we've got the weather fronts which are slowly moving in for friday. things going downhill on friday. weather fronts spreading south and eastwards bringing showery rain towards northern and western parts particularly on friday. i think towards the south east not too bad on friday with sunny spells. temperatures here 19, 20 celsius, but turning cooler further north and west. more details, of course, on the website, but that's it from me. bye— bye. hello it's tuesday, it's 9 o'clock, i'm victoria derbyshire, welcome to the programme. experts tell us that some women not seeking treatment early enough is leading to preventable deaths. the full exclusive report shortly. i don't know how long this woman was hiding cancer. her breast was rotten. also on the programme — the 20—year—old british model

who was allegedly held captive by a gang in italy was told she would be sold in the middle east "for sex", according to her lawyer. she was told that people were there