on into wednesday, we are between weather systems. at clear from the south—east in the cold clear conditions in its wake with more wind and rain pushing into the north and west later on. this is bbc news. the headlines: new details have emerged about the allegations which led to sir michael fallon‘s resignation as defence secretary. the journalist, jane merrick, has said that she contacted downing street to claim he had once tried to kiss her. she decided to name him because of his apparent lack of contrition. labour has called on all the main political parties to agree a new independent system to tackle sexual harassment at westminster. it comes ahead of a meeting planned by theresa may with opposition leaders on monday, to discuss proposals for fresh grievance procedures for staff and mp5.

there's been a major purge in the government in saudi arabia. ten royal princes, among them, several senior ministers, as well as dozens of former ministers, have been detained in a campaign to stamp out corruption. the crown prince appears to have sidelined powerful rivals. sport now. here's james pearce. i'll have some fa cup goals and premier league results for you injust a moment, but let's start in scotland, where celtic‘s unbeaten run in domestic matches now stands at a british record 63. that beats their old mark that had stood for 100 years. in his 50th league game in charge manager brendan rodgers named an unchanged team for only the second time. afterwards he paid tribute to his players. it means everything. it is an incredible feat by the players, and an incredible example of

professionalism and playing and creating high standards every day. they faced everything. going behind in games, playing on dodgy surfaces, astrotu rf su rfa ces, in games, playing on dodgy surfaces, astroturf surfaces, going behind in games, semifinals, finals. so, they faced everything, and i think they deserve everything they get for it. premier league west ham manager, slaven bilic, is sounding like a man who's expecting the sack. liverpool have piled the pressure on him with a 4—1 win at the london stadium. west ham were made to regret missing an early chance, as two liverpool goals in two and a half minutes put jurgen klopp‘s side in charge. mohamed salah scored twice and alex 0xlade—chamberlain got his first goal for the club. it leaves west ham one place and one point above the relegation zone. i cannot talk about application, about the attitude, and all of that, and the determination and about the effort, especially not today. the

players tried, but it is not working at the moment. a lack of concentration, definitely. but it is not the effort. and it is not the application. elsewhere in the premier league, the early kick—off between stoke and leicester ended in the draw, a home win for huddersfield against west brom. bournemouth scored in stoppage time to beat newcastle at st james park, which mean they climb out of the relegation zone. another away win for burnley. they beat southampton 1—0 at st mary's. brighton are up to eighth in the table after beating swansea, i—0. the swans have dropped into the bottom three. there were 27 fa cup first round ties today. and three league sides have come unstuck against non—league opposition. oxford city will be celebrating after the club's first win in the competition over a league side. they're 56 league places below league two colchester but matt paterson's header early in the second half was enough to put them into the second round. national league maidstone united pulled off a shock with a convincing 4—2 victory over

league two cheltenham. the fourth goal here from delano sam—yorke. national league boreham wood who came from behind to knock out league one side blackpool. 2—1 was the score. dan holman with the 88th minute match winner to give the home fans at meadow park a memorable victory to celebrate. england have their first win at the rugby league world cup. it was far from convincing against lebanon but after their opening defeat against australia it was very important. the lebanese are the lowest ranked team at the tournament. england led 22—6 at half—time. they were poor after the break but tom burgess went over to seal a 29—10 win. the victory, though, was marred by an allegation of biting. the claim was made by lebanon captain robbie farah against england winger, jermain mcgillvary. ulster narrowly beat the proia‘s worst team the southern kings in an amazing 12—try match in port elizabeth. with the score at 36—all and just three minutes remaining, robbie diack powered over for the visitors. the win means ulster regain second place in conference b. elsewhere, edinburgh beat 0spreys 37—10 at myreside,

securing a bonus point thanks to magnus bradbury‘s last minute break through. that's all the sport for now. dubai made its name as a global hub oi’ dubai made its name as a global hub or trade and travel and for tourism. it used the proceeds of oil to transform its economy. but as that trade shifts from west to east, what does that mean for the economies of that region? iv gulf country is ready for life after oil? —— are the. we will find out in this week's talking business. located between asia and europe, the

united arab emirates has been a natural hub for international trade. from the old wooden dowells that still ply the waters of the gulf to the vast containerships of cargo from around the world. this port in dubai and also the 17 million containers a year. that is expected to ship 22 million next year. these containers used to travel from east to west. full of goods made in asia are like cars, computers, and clothes. but a shift in global demand means a change in direction. asia and china in particular are booming markets for exporters. and for the golf, that means oil. china is now the world's largest importer

of middle eastern oil. but the booming economy means goods and services as well. and most of those passed the reports like this. so, let's talk about some of those issues raised. with me is the president of the us— uae business council responsible for business links between the two countries. this is the chief executive and head of trade and finance. 0ne this is the chief executive and head of trade and finance. one of the biggest transporters of shipping containers. and the president and chief executive of ge gulf, responsible for strategy here in the gulf. welcome. and forjoining us. perhaps i could start with you. you have a great insight into where trade is coming from and where it is going to. what does the data tell you about how it is changing? global

trade has been consistently growing steadily since world war two. the past few decades have seen a real exponential growth. the last 60 yea rs has exponential growth. the last 60 years has led to this, and low transportation cost. everything you touch from when you wake up in the morning, a cup of coffee, going to bed, it has come from somewhere else in the world. that has given rise to value chains. everything consumed in one country, parts of it or all of it is usually made elsewhere. we think of trade in terms of containers and goods being shipped around the world. many people know ge as the company that makes commercialjet engines. and also shipping people around the world. where is the demand forjet engines telling us about where people want to be in the world? if you look at the way the economy has evolved, 40 years ago when ge first started off

in this region, i could describe this region as more of a recipient of technology. that has transformed into a assembly and further into manufacturing and then research and development and now innovation and inventing things that can be exported. if you look at the statistics as far as uae and us trade is concerned, it is staggering. a more than $20 billion surplus from the us to the uae. you have been doing this a while and things must have changed. we had a $25 billion surplus year in and year oi'i $25 billion surplus year in and year on for the last 5—6 years. the uae is the largest export market in the region for the us, is the largest export market in the region forthe us, largerthan india, turkey. this is the hub as we we re india, turkey. this is the hub as we were talking about, with goods brought in and additional services

added to that before they go onto something else. i want to talk quickly about your council itself, the uae us business council. it was built from controversy. it bought up the ports of p&0 that angered people. we started to get more information and statistics. i refer to the relationship is having three legs added to the stool. trade is the most important and vibrant. legs added to the stool. trade is the most important and vibrantlj legs added to the stool. trade is the most important and vibrant. i am interested in this idea of the new silk road from china. certainly, from the leadership in china, they wa nt from the leadership in china, they want these new trade routes to be what does that mean for your business? as a shipping company, 150 of our trade routes come through this region. it is part of the diverse investment we have away from

oil. talking about pharmaceutical, and getting away from conventional oil. added into the mix what we have heard from the white house of late about protectionism and wars going on, america being first. what is that mean with trade booming in this region? de facto away with talk of protectionism? first of all, the trade is pretty much one—way. not much goes on to the uae at this point we don't get much energy from the uae, mosque is the other way to china andjapan the uae, mosque is the other way to china and japan in places like that. —— most. there is some steel and aluminium. we are going to give the wall down for things going outward from the us to many of these countries going forward. i worry about, you know, storm clouds on the

horizon, if you will in the future. and i think the talk in washington, i think the talk of protectionism fa ns i think the talk of protectionism fans the talk of protectionism around the world in general. and thatis around the world in general. and that is the trend line i worry about. do you worry about that when you suddenly see talk of protectionism about those walls going up? does that worry you? the writing on the wall is pretty clear. wherever in the world we have seen bilateral trade agreements, free trade practices, policies, the growth has been much higher than the global economy growth rate. the pacific alliance, the eu, 7.5, mexican trade outperforming the largest economy, and brazil. protectionism is the reality of the

world. fight protectionist measures are being rolled out by the developing world a week. but today's world is about opening doors, not closing. we talk about the gulf cooperation council, but in some respects, it doesn't actually deliver too much in terms of agreement. each country is doing something different. different industries. are they competing? no, they are compliment in each other. even though the progress is not as much as we want, there is progress. we have been at the forefront. but i think that has encouraged other countries. it is a big focus area for saudi arabia and a focus area for saudi arabia and a focus area for kuwait etc. there is a sense of collaboration and each country encouraging each other to move

towards a certain sector.|j encouraging each other to move towards a certain sector. i would say with regard to the gcc, the cooperation in the past two years has increased so they are even more close. the vat added by the end of the year is a good example of that. for the first time there will be a g gcc wide new standards are being put in place. it is part of closer cooperation between the gcc organisation. and in today's globalised world, it is not entirely up globalised world, it is not entirely up to governments and corporation between countries to build this movement to the next level. it is also for corporations and individuals and businesses to play a role and make this all work together. when we look at the region, we talk about cooperation twin countries here. one issue right

now is the blockade as far as traders concerned, and politics. what does that mean for the region? there's no getting around that this isa very there's no getting around that this is a very serious problem and it is a political problem which now has economic dimensions as well. most companies have found a way to be quiet about what they're doing and continue the business, continue the movement of goods and services, they may have changed some of the ways and directions they're bringing the goods and services in but they are doing the business that needs to be done to move the diversification forward. from a purely practical point of view, what does it mean for how you operate? maersk is a global company that operates in 130 countries and it's important for us, like any other big corporation, but we are totally compliant with any regulations or laws, and likewise in this case, we stop moving cargo to

and fro from qatar, we are moving it from elsewhere. companies have found it hard to ensure business goes on but not to the same scale, it has a huge economic impact as well outside of the political. thanks row much for now. that's how changes in global trade are reshaping the business landscape in this region —— thanks row much for now. but what about the other concern here, the price of oil? —— thanks very much for now. prices have fallen considerably over the last two years and that causes concern for the governments of this region that rely on it to meet their spending commitments. so other governance here too reliant on oil? i've been finding out that the governments here. many countries across the gulf have been diversifying their economies but progress has been mixed —— so are the governments here too reliant. there is a gateway being

created through aviation to africa and europe. creation of tourism, financial services and banking has helped create new sources of income. but there are still challenges, cutting red tape and improving education and skills are key. that could determine how well economies here cope with life after oil. let's talk about some of those issues with my guests here today. maybe i can start with you, diversification in the region clearly a big focus, we have heard announcements from various countries in the gulf, what does diversification mean for countries here? there's two things we could talk about here, emoji diversification and economy diversification. for energy diversification. for energy diversification —— energy. looking at the uae, a country that's been 99% dependent on gas as a source of fuel, it has now progressed a lot in

terms of diversifying their portfolio, particularly around bringing solar energy into the mix and coal as well with the 2.4 gigawatts hassey and project. that is one aspect. the other aspect in terms of economy diversification, a lot of what we had spoken about before, which is looking at innovation, building entrepreneurship, ecosystem, allowing for innovation not only with trade but all sorts of services and the smart by initiative and bringing digital into the day—to—day lives of the citizens in uae. each country in the region concentrating on different things, in dubai, you look at the tourism and financial services and banking, it is not easy to compare like—for—like because all these countries are doing different things but who's made the most progress in the gulf?”

things but who's made the most progress in the gulf? i wouldn't wa nt progress in the gulf? i wouldn't want to say that one are doing more progress than the other but i like to see them as all complementing each other. i think there's a lot of similarities in these countries and there's a lot they learn from each other. as you mentioned, yes, dubai... there's advancement in terms of bringing digitisation, positioning dubai as a smart city. but then also in abu dhabi, and the industrialisation of the whole oil and gas markets and the servicing of the oil and gas fields and being more efficient there, driving efficiency there as well, and then renewable energy, which we see also across the border, so you see the demand, for example, among saudi, a great place for wind technology as well, whereas you may not have so many wind opportunities here in the uae and you see solar panels being flourished more here. they all come ferment each other in a very cohesive white. danny, we heard in that piece about how important it is

to address some of the challenges, those challenges being skills and education and cutting red tape. when you're dealing with american businesses here, is it as easy as the authorities would have us believe to set up and operate in the guh? believe to set up and operate in the gulf? it's got a lot easier. the uae in particular is constantly trying to be on the cutting edge of business reform because it wants to be the place where foreign companies set up first to establish their beachhead if you will in the region and then broaden out to other countries as their business grows. the uae makes great efforts to cut down on the red tape but there's still more things that can be done. they're working on a company ownership law and other measures that will come in the years ahead, but the uae and saudi arabia and other countries have made great progress in this area and will continue to do so. is that progress fast enough? we talk about life after oil, we seen the big fall in the price of oil and revenues falling and governments in the

region have to balance their books, is that change coming quickly enough? it is but we have to think about how quickly a society can take change and we have to make it palatable for the people. just 40 yea rs palatable for the people. just 40 years ago, i've only really been travelling in this region for 30 yea rs, travelling in this region for 30 years, and 40 years ago the difference... the economy was 90% dependent on oil revenue. they've turned that on its head. today the economy is 30% dependent on oil revenue in the uae and the diversification strategy has resulted in the economy being 70% of all these other verticals, that's a huge change to occur in such a short period. and it will continue. and the leadership here, who has a great vision, will continue to work with the people to bring them along in that regard but it's got to be at the pace they can be comfortable with and that can be achievable. and sustainable. it strikes me diversification will be about trade policy, about the role of a country in the world and how it sees either

competitors or trading partners, what do you see of that with your business? i think clearly like danny said, the leadership has made it very clear and the change has been massive, especially over the last three decades. there's definitely manufacturing but trading has huge potential. uae is the third—largest trading hub to singapore and hong kong. maersk themselves do about 25% of exports and imports into the uae. a good start has been made. the change has had different stages of progress depending on how the change was brought in. i think leadership has made there in ten very clear, that it has to be a diversifying economy. danny, when we talk about the diversification of these economies, there's always an underlying issue about jobs. economies, there's always an underlying issue aboutjobs. we know this region has a huge young

population and finding enough jobs for that population is going to be a key issue. how do you make sure the economy diversifies while creating those jobs, where will those jobs come from? in the uae what's been a great advancement is putting a minister of youthin advancement is putting a minister of youth in place, it's a lady and she is in herearly youth in place, it's a lady and she is in her early 20s. that's given a voice to the youth of the uae. and it's really incorporated into the vision of the uae and where we want to take this country next and how do we incorporate the youth and make them also accountable to that strategy? i think once you have that engagement and that dialogue, the more empowerment you give to the youth, the more likely that you would take them into consideration as you draw your employment

strategy. it starts with education. it starts with education. the uae and the region as a whole is really focused on providing opportunities for their youthin on providing opportunities for their youth in all of these sectors and areas going forward. where education is important, skill development is equally as important. it is fair to say you're worried about how these new technologies might be a threat tojobs, but if you're able to create skills for the new age technologies then you create new, different kind of jobs. technologies then you create new, different kind ofjobs. again, the intent in the leadership here is very clear. aviation has been a huge growth area for countries of the gulf, be that emirates, etihad or qatar airways. we've also seen problems with the open skies agreement. and there's that perception that the rest of the world is willing to brace the region as long as it doesn't go too far. and the open skies dispute about whether gulf carriers could operate in the united states and what

landing slots it would get was a real issue, has that gone away?m hasn't gone away. the three major us airlines continue to lobby in washington for relief my continue to lobby in washington for the trump administration to put some sort of restrictions on the gulf carriers. but i have to tell you, the real development came when the gulf carriers decided that the indian market was one that they could access and transport thousands, millions of indian visitors to the united states and europe with one or two flights as opposed to having to ta ke two flights as opposed to having to take three or four flights, to change to get all the way back to california. that's where this really started. again, dubai and abu dhabi and doha being a hub between east and doha being a hub between east and west. just this week saudi arabia announced a $500 billion fund for a multicountry free trade area, all sorts of industries, creating thousands of jobs. does all sorts of industries, creating thousands ofjobs. does the gulf see

that as an opportunity or does it see that as a huge threat? because someone see that as a huge threat? because someone else is doing something may be that they're not. the gcc countries want saudi to be successful, they do not want saudi to fail. there's been a great study of the successes here and how they can be educated elsewhere in the region. this is a huge commitment by the new crown prince and its commitment with egypt and jordan again, as you said, to make it an international city and it is new and it's a big development and i think there's a big chance it will succeed. when you hear those announcements, or an announcement of such scale and scope and ambition, what does it mean for your business? i think it's an exciting thing, very exciting. for us it gives us clarity on where these countries want to go. it's very important for us to understand the needs of our customers. at the end of the day these governments and organisations are customers. how important is

private sector investment versus the support from the government? we've seen the saudi arabia announcement will involve a lot of sovereign wealth money but also private investors, large and small, how does that makes? do you need the boost from the government to get these things going and then it falls to the private sector? i think it's a partnership and it always makes sense to have that healthy partnership between government and the private sector. that's what we've seen in the uae and i think it would work very well in saudi as well. uae leaders say all the time they want skin in the game by the international companies that come here, they don't want people just coming here selling their wares, they want international companies to come here, invest and be part of the ecosystem. thank you, all, fascinating discussion. danny, vipul and dalia, thank you for your time. thank you to you for watching. that's all we've got time for on

this edition of talking business, but we'll see you again very soon. bye— bye. hello there. pa rt part two of the weekend looking dry and brighter than part one. showers to begin with but in the afternoon the sunshine will be widespread and old for all. some shouts to start with will be heavy in the west with wintryness over the higher ground but in the afternoon they will be confined to coastal areas to the west and south—west and in the east, with most places dry that it will be cold, eight to ten or 11 at best. then bonfire night into sunday evening and it looks like it will be a dry and a cold one for most, a few showers in western and eastern coastal areas but it will really be cold. you will wrap up. as you head deeper into the night it turns

really cold, central, northern and eastern areas potentially with temperatures down to —5 or —6. we start monday on a frosty one for many with a little bit of mist and fog around as well. hello and welcome to bbc news. there's been a major purge in the government in saudi arabia. ten royal princes, among them several senior ministers, as well as dozens of former ministers, have been detained in a campaign to stamp out corruption. crown prince mohammad bin salman, who's in charge of the new anti—corruption committee, appears to have sidelined powerful rivals. it seems the heads of the saudi national guard and navy have been replaced. we'll bring you more on that as we get it. we stay in saudi arabia because state media there says the military has shot down a missile over the capital, riyadh. officials believe the weapon was fired from yemen,