this is business live from bbc news with maryam moshiri and ben thompson. reviving zimba bwe‘s economy. the government calls for unity after protests over a failing economy and soaring prices, but can the president deliver? live from london, that's our top story on wednesday the 23rd of january. zimbabwe was once the bread—basket of africa, but the latest fuel protests highlight how millions of lives now suffer with economic hardship. also in the programme: the brexit fallout continues, with sony being the latest firm to announce it's moving its headquarters out of the uk. european markets have opened in negative territory. and we'll be live in davos, where trade disputes are on the agenda amid mouting

worries that they threaten a global economic slowdown. so who will blink first to avoid a full blown trade war? sally is standing by for us there. and netflix fims have been nominated for 15 oscars this year. so is streaming a big threat to the traditional film industry? do you prefer to watch movies at home or are you still a big cinema goer? let us know, use the hashtag #bbcbizlive. hello and welcome to business live. we start in zimbabwe where the president's call for national dialogue has failed to stop what the opposition describe as a terror campaign inflicted by the army. they've been cracking down on protestors who took to the streets a week ago after the government embarked on its latest economic reforms. this a country whose prosperity once meant it was known as the bread basket of africa. but this month the price of petrol and diesel were sharply increased.

the government says it was meant to tackle shortages but instead it means already impoverished zimbabweans now have some of the highest fuel prices in the world. the violent protests that followed have led president emmerson mnangagwa to cut to short his trip to the world economic forum in davos. he had been hoping to raise much needed foreign investment to try and repair decades of economic mismangement. the damage done under the rule of robert mugabe means the country is so short of cash it was forced to ask south africa for an emergency $1.2bn loan last month to try and stabilise the economy — but that was rejected. however zimbabwe already has debts of almost $17bn. so when mr mnangagwa became president little over a year ago he was quick to declare the country open for business but he's struggled to attract foreign investors. his finance minister is still in davos and told the bbc reforming zimababwe‘s economy wasn't an easyjob. we have a plan.

one of the reasons why we're having this kind of situation is because of the plan, which is a reform agenda. there is no reform agenda without paying. so what has happened is this, we are in a situation of disequilibrium and correcting that, that is our road map for creating macroeconomic stability, making sure we create a private sector led economy, as we move towards our vision 2030 of getting an upper middle income status by that year. with me now is nathan hayes, zimbabwe analyst at the economist intelligence unit. let's talk about that progress. because there was a real hope that this could be a chance to turn around the fortunes of the zimbabwean economy. what has changed? zimbabwean economy. what has changed ? the zimbabwean economy. what has changed? the restore the underlying economic picture. there are limited

export opportunities because of yea rs of export opportunities because of years of mismanagement and corruption had little access to foreign capital markets. import, stands at less than a month highlighting severe financial liquidity constraints across the economy. were in the range of things that need to be done, there's a list of changes that need to happen, were ushered the priority be? what needs to be done first? priority has to be getting access to foreign reserves, so getting access to foreign reserves, so that i could could have given them a $1.2 billion loan but they turned them down because they thought the money would just have been spent. there has been a civil warand been spent. there has been a civil war and the country and support and investment is needed for the infrastructure to be viable. we have seen the protests, we're looking at pictures of them now. those are

related to rising fuel prices. but clearly concerns over the wider state of the economy that means people are not able to access many basics. how did we get into this position, how did it get so bad? years of economic mismanagement have left the country with little in the way of economic opportunities. the president has sought to shift blame around for the protests, blaming activists and opposition mps and foreign organisations within the country as well. so as well is that blame game, is there anything he can do himself to change the fortunes of the economy? he has to engage with the economy? he has to engage with the international community again. alone from the imf would help with some liquidity as well as providing confidence to investors, but that could take a long time to come into force. how confident are you that that could happen? it will take a

long time and will be difficult to turnit long time and will be difficult to turn it around because the army is very much in control of the economy, and if he loses their support then he could be ousted, if the army sta rts he could be ousted, if the army starts feeling economic hardship. fascinating, very nice to talk to you. clearly something we'll keep an eye on, so you. clearly something we'll keep an eye on, so thank you for coming in. in other business news: the first criminal trial of senior uk banking executives in the wake of the financial crisis begins on wednesday. the case against four former executives at barclays bank has been filed in connection with the compa ny‘s $16 billion rescue. they are charged with conspiracy to commit fraud, and have all pleaded not guilty. japan is the latest asian country to feel the pain of the global economic slowdown. exports in decemberfell the most in two years because of falling demand from china's manufacturers. the decline comes despite a rise in sales to the us. flights were briefly disrupted at newark international airport in newjersey because two drones were spotted flying nearby. a pilot told air traffic control one of the drones came within 30 feet of his plane.

there was major disruption over christmas at london's gatwick airport where drone sightings grounded hundreds of flights. the chief executive of sportswear giant adidas says that the impact of brexit on the european economy is his company's biggest concern. kasper rorsted told cnbc that it was often discussed as an isolated event, but it will actually have "very severe consequences in the long term". the company has seen falling sales in europe which makes up nearly a third of its total. staying with brexit fallout. sony is to move its european headquarters from the uk to the netherlands. the japanese company says it will help it avoids customs issues tied to britain's exit from the eu. sharanjit leyl is in singapore. this is pretty disappointing for britain, isn't it? sony not the first company to do this. what has

it been saying? just the latest big name to say it's moving because of brexit. despite the move, sony is reassuring uk staff saying that it will not be shifting personnel from its existing uk operation and it is the latest japanese company to flag this move to the continent in response to brexit. its rival panasonic has already moved its headquarters to amsterdam mostly because of tax issues and japanese banks, the likes of nufj, they have all said they plan to move their main you european bases out of london. a number of japanese car—makers, the likes of honda and toyota have expressed concern over the impact of a hard brexit. they are the impact of a hard brexit. they a re pretty the impact of a hard brexit. they are pretty much echoing their prime minister, shinzo abe, expressing concern over no—deal brexit on a

recent trip to the uk, saying that it could hurt japanese companies which employ up to 150,000 people within the uk, as we all know, the uk is very much on course to leave the european union in march, but the two sides have yet to strike a deal. let's ta ke two sides have yet to strike a deal. let's take a look at some other news in asian markets. those weaker than expected trade figures impacted japan's nikkei. continued concern over the china—us trade war still playing on the minds of investors. the dow dropped last night. european markets: burberry saw a rise in sales in last quarter of 2018 brushing off concern over chinas slowdown in growth, shares down 1.5%. metro bank shares have dropped 27%

after the lender reported four year resulted 2018, and a jump in underlying profit but said that growth has softened in the final quarter. a disappointing news from metro bank. and michelle fleury has the details of what's ahead on wall street today. be partial us government shutdown enters its 33rd day and wall street is focused on company results. ibm shares rose sharply after the technology company reported stronger than expected revenue in the fourth quarter. stronger sales in its cloud and services businesses help offset pressure from a strong dollar. procter & gamble is likely to report a drop in second—quarter revenue. kimberly—clark's fourth—quarter profits expected to drop. both struggling with rising raw material costs. four is scheduled to report this fourth—quarter profit. the american car—maker is in the middle of restructuring and has warned that

results would come in below wall street expectations. that is michelle with the latest on what will happen on wall street later today. let's now turn to davos, where uk trade sectretary liam fox is currently trying to drum up support for trade with the uk after brexit. he warned that quick deals with the uk could be harmed by attempts to block "no deal". some countries do not yet believe that no—deal is a possibility. 0ne of the reason that myself and other ministers are here is to convince other countries that no—deal is a genuine possibility and they must prepare because of the do not there could be a break, even if it is a temporary one, in the trading relationship that we have with those countries on a preferential basis. of course we can trade with them on a wto basis but that is not as favourable to either side so getting them to understand that no—deal is possible is vital, and when people say no—deal simply won't happen, or

the period will be delayed, it actually diminishes the impetus for some of these other countries to come to that agreement for the united kingdom, so we're being very meaningful in the messages that we put out. joining us is michael hewson, chief market analyst, cmc markets. you were listening to that. liam fox touting these potential trade deals that could be done after brexit to give the uk options as far as trade is concerned but two big things, they need to be negotiated and they are not necessarily big trading partners currently. we need to know what the relationship is going to be postmaster 29th. we are no clearer on that than we were three weeks ago, three months ago or post the referendum. parliament is gridlocked. ultimately it is in the purview of parliamentarians to resolve this issue. and they appear not to be incentivised to do anything so talk on trade relations

is putting the cart before the horse a little bit. we need a transition agreement to start to put some of these deals in place. we are on course to leave the european union in march with no—deal at the moment. what what are people in the city saying? gap to prepare for no-deal because that is the default position. and be as prepared as you can be. but sometimes with respect to the scare stories that we have heard since 2016, it is difficult to see the wood for the trees. yes there will be disruption, the biggest question is will it be short term or long—term? we don't know because we don't know the big relationship will be. we touched on trade in the programme earlier, with japan. japan trade exports slowest since 2016. big trading partner china and the us. we saw chinese exports declining substantially to japan, to the

united states, to europe. japan is exports to china dropped 7% for the third quarter, the japanese economy contracted by 2.5%. it is likely to contracted by 2.5%. it is likely to contract again in due form. the global economy is slowing down. the imf is slightly late to the party because investors have reasoned that the economy is going to slow down and it coincides with the ncb constraining as quantitative easing programme. they have got a meeting tomorrow. i don't think they are going to be anywhere near as positive as they thought they would be at the end of last year. we are ona be at the end of last year. we are on a class —— we are on the cusp of a slowdown, the question is, how big is it? this worry is reflected in the markets, isn't it? the china us trade talks were not going so well,

and that is a surprise, this will be and that is a surprise, this will be a long drawn—out saga. coming off the back of a decent rally for european and asian markets since the beginning of the year, and this uncertainty, this really the uncertainty, this really the uncertainty is a symptom of a little bit of profit—taking as we head into the end of the month. still to come. we'll be live in davos, where our very own sally bundock is for us. you have heard from the international trade secretary liam fox. i was talking to him moments ago. we will be hearing from more bosses with their views on brexit. you are with business live on bbc news. in the uk the retailer whsmith has reported a stable set of figures this morning, despite another fall in sales at its high street stores. sales on the high street were down 2%, but the firm's travel and airport shops continued to do well.

richard perks is director of retail research at mintel. it isa it is a familiar tale, the high seeing another decline, but stores at railway stations and airports doing really well. this isn't a high—street problem this is the strategy from the company. the high streets are selling products that are all on the decline, books have stabilised, stationery is moved, news is shifting online and smith sees its future in travel not on the high—street, it just sees its future in travel not on the high—street, itjust doesn't seem to be investing in the high—street at all. i wonder if that the right way to go. i can see the appeal of the travel business, it is great, but they should be protecting the high—street as well. they should be protecting the high-street as well. looks like two separate businesses, doesn't it? won on the high—street that is seemingly suffering from a lack of investment,

just in the store environment, the fixtures and fittings versus what are fixtures and fittings versus what a re often fixtures and fittings versus what are often quite nice stores and shopping centres, the book shops, or at railway stations and airports. they have done a good job on the travel side and they have a little technology business which they have bought in the us, to complement it. they are doing a good job. but they seem they are doing a good job. but they seem to be neglecting the other side of the business when it may not have much potential. it could surely do better than it is doing at the moment. richard, thank you very much. we have much more on those stories, including on wh smiths, and more on the website, including the latest on patisserie valerie, with

17 of those cafes closing, 900 jobs at risk but that leaves it with 130 outlets, and 2100 workers. a lot of concern about what happens next for them and for theirjobs. they are hoping to sell this as a going concern, if there is any bidder. details on the bbc business live page. your're watching business live — our top story violent protest across zimbabwe, as the government calls for unity despite millions living in economic hardship. davos may be missing some key players, like donald trump and theresa may — but there's still a lot for the delegates there to talk about. brexit and the trade war between the us and china just a couple of the big issues this year. and sally bundock has been tackling them with some

big names in business. she's in davos for us. how has it been? it is really cold right now. i can tell you that much. it is going to be another glorious day, and another extremely busy day. liam fox has a veryjammed agenda. talking to as many people here as he can about trade with great britain. greg clark is here, the business secretary. he is chairing a panel right now. he's discussing technology, how that can bridge the citizenship gap. the business secretary is here, the international trade secretary is here, so although theresa may is not here, the message that britain is open for business is being sold heavily here this year. today will have a european feel about that, because we have a lot of keynote speakers here from europe.

angela merkel, the german chancellor, is one of the keynote speakers this afternoon. also pedro sanchez, the spanish prime minister, the leader of italy, giuseppe conti, all speaking today. very much a european feel. i've been talking to business leaders about lots of things and one is the chief executive of a huge real estate property company globally, jll. it has 80,000 employees around the world. he is german. i wanted to get his take on brexit. have a listen to what he had to say to me. it is hard to give a precise outlook. there's lots of turmoil in the world. we are most concerned about the us — china relations, how they are developing. for the time being there is good momentum in the economy and we hope that will continue. there is still a chance that we will have a positive 2019, as long as these disruptions

do not come too much into play. what about brexit, are you concerned about brexit, are you concerned about that? for every european and every supporter of liberal western democracy, brexit can only be a complete disaster. so we hope that the extent of that disaster is minimised bya the extent of that disaster is minimised by a controlled brexit which is done on a contract and not in an uncontrolled hard brexit. you are german, you live in germany, and you are quite concerned about the impact on europe's biggest economy if there is a disorderly brexit. absolutely. the german— uk trade relations are very strong. there's lots of stuff going back and forth across the channel. if we have an uncontrolled, hard brexit then there are no rules and if there are no rules that creates massive disruption and that will have repercussions on all of the economies and very much on the german one, as well. for your

industry, real estate, property, you area industry, real estate, property, you are a huge company all over the world. what are the biggest challenges for you? for the biggest —— for the time being the biggest challenge is getting enough talent into the organisation. we employ 90,000 people worldwide, we need lots of talented people as we have been growing strongly. going forward we are concerned about technology, ai, the world is going digital, how thatis ai, the world is going digital, how that is changing our clients and our own world. why is it difficult to find the right talent? we need open—minded people who are bilingual with great ethics and great focus on client services and those people have choices, everyone is looking for the same talent so it is a tough labour market across the world. this must be driving up wages. you must be offering better deals to get the

right talent. absolutely, wages are coming up, but professional services you have to pay your own employees significantly more money and clients do not want you to increase the fees to them so that is the squeeze that we are all in. that was the ceo of jll. later i'll be off to the facebook headquarters to talk to the european boss facebook and after that, i got to interview matt damon, the hollywood star, about why he's here in davos. it is a tough life, soiam here in davos. it is a tough life, so i am going to hand back to you, andi so i am going to hand back to you, and i will see you later! it is a toughjob and i will see you later! it is a tough job and somebody has to do it, sally. warm. thank you. and say hello to matt damon! another star is here, michael hewson. he is talking about the movies, not matt damon, but the movies industry. we have been asking viewers to talk about

netflix, which has been voted for 15 oscars including for its film roma. would you rather see a film in the cinema or at home? going to the cinema or at home? going to the cinema is inexperienced, the sound is better in the cinema, you have 3-d, but is better in the cinema, you have 3—d, but with netflix you can watch it when you like. if you are viewing it when you like. if you are viewing it at home you don't have the distraction of people chomping popcorn and eating smelly food. that is annoying! there is something about the competition that goes with it. so much content is being created and that is good because we as consumers, as viewers, we get a better product. the convenience of it as well, from netflix, from

amazon prime, there is room for both mediums, streaming and cinema but if cinema wants to stay relevant they have got to make it more of an experience. that is what they are doing. and the cost has an affect with cinema. one viewer has written in to say that cinema is extortionate. angela says, streaming makes movies available, if we are not in the us, theatres nearby show them and it is much more expensive. i love the cinema, i love the whole experience. thank you very much were joining us, michael. good to have you on the programme. have a great day whatever you're up to. there is more coverage on the website. goodbye. good morning. after yesterday's

extensive wintry showers across the uk, this morning the risk is ice. temperatures falling well below freezing last night. watch out if you're travelling this morning. some wintry showers to come today, primarily across parts of wales, the south—east of england, and some snow across the west of scotland. we have some fog this morning. mainly across the greater manchester area towards east and cumbria. that will lift. foremost, a dry day with more sunshine to yesterday. not quite as bad with that slow moving its way through, and temperatures reaching six celsius. thicker cloud in northern ireland and through tonight, showers moving their way back through. wintry showers towards the north—western parts of england, north wales and into the midlands, but again, widespread frost across

scotland, and much of england. so we start of those they with the risk some ice. during thursday, we have this warm front sitting out towards the west. it will make slow progress eastwards. i of it, it is still cold enough for some wintry showers on thursday morning towards the south—east of england. so watch out for some ice and frost in the morning. sunny spells across the east on thursday. towards the west, that warm front moving in bringing cloud and rain. and you will notice temperatures up to around nine celsius. in the east, still quite chilly. that warm front continues moving east as we go into friday. this area of high pressure sits behind it and within this, we have mild air. so that area will push his way through the uk during friday. just the far north of scotland holding onto those colder conditions. during friday any precipitation will be rain rather than sleet or snow. and there will

be quite a bit of cloud throughout the day. the big difference on friday is, those temperatures. up to around seven, eight celsius, and 11 degrees in northern ireland. for the weekend, becoming chilly again. that could be some rain on saturday but looking dry on sunday. the best temperatures will start to creep down as we go into next week. that's all from me. have a good day. goodbye. you're watching bbc news at 9 with me, annita mcveigh. the headlines: britain's most senior counter—terrorism officer warns that right—wing extremists could exploit what he describes as the "febrile" atmosphere around brexit. survivors of violent and sexual crime are being re—traumatised by the process of claiming compensation, according to the victims‘ commissioner for england and wales. the search for the plane carrying footballer emiliano sala resumes in the channel. he reportedly sent a message

expressing concerns about the aircraft. former chancellor george osborne likens leaving the eu without a deal to playing russian roulette with the uk economy. airports trial new drone detection systems, in the hope of avoiding future major disruption. and serena williams is knocked out of the australian open after missing four match points against karolina pliskova.