this is the business briefing. w fir“: asian stocks are up. they have followed wall street's friday rally. friday, of course, was when the us government shutdown was temporarily us sanctions against the world's second—biggest aluminium producer, russia's rusal, have been lifted. the us treasury made the announcement late sunday evening. on 6 april last year, sanctions were imposed on seven

oligarchs and 12 companies, including rusal, en+ and eurosibenergo, all owned by oleg deripaska, because of what it called malign activities around the globe. a few days after the announcement, rusal‘s share price plummeted. it lost more than 40% of its value, and the company is worth half of what it was before those sanctions were introduced. on 16january of this year, a vote to stop those sanctions from being lifted was narrowly defeated in the senate, with 11 republican senators siding with their democrat counterparts. those opposed argued lawmakers should wait for the findings of the mueller investigation into russian interference in the 2016 us presidential election. sanctions against mr deripaska are not being lifted, and his stake in the companies has been reduced. the sanctions, they are both political, of course, but economic as well. and they seemed to be very divisive within the us, and then outside of it. kim gittleson, our business reporter, joins me now. first of all, explain to me why the

treasury has lifted these sanctions now. so this has been an eight-month negotiation, there has been a frantic effort to get these removed, because as you mentioned rusal is such a big player and the aluminium market that it had a huge impact on the price of the metal. we saw it spike almost immediately after the sanctions were announced. so there are essentially three parts to what the treasury has said. the first is of course that mr deripaska has reduced his holdings in these companies, he is now not a majority stakeholder in any of them, he doesn't have voting rights any more. the second thing is that companies have agreed to appoint new members to their board of directors, and they are independent, perhaps more western leaning, and the third thing is they will be subject to more oversight and sharing more information with treasury officials to demonstrate to them that they are willing to work with us authorities going forward. these sanctions were extremely divisive both within the us in extremely divisive both within the usina extremely divisive both within the us in a political sense and

worldwide. of course, us lawmakers wa nt to worldwide. of course, us lawmakers want to see that the trump administration will punish russia for what it sees as interference in the 2015 presidential election. they we re the 2015 presidential election. they were worried that president trump was going soft on vladimir putin, so it was important to them that the trump administration did something like this. the second thing, of course, is that because the aluminium price surged, that affected businesses around the world, manufacturers, carmakers and many countries, so many of america's closest allies didn't like the impact it was having on global markets. you have the sort of two differing forces at home. they wa nted differing forces at home. they wanted the sanctions abroad, and they were asking them to be removed, so they were asking them to be removed, so it was a tough line for the trump administration to walk. so what is the reaction being? we saw that the share price in rusal, trading in hong kong, has surged more than 5% suggesting investors are happy with this move. en+, the parent company

of these firms, lost almost half of its value when the sanctions were announced, it was one of the biggest companies the us government had ever announced sanctions again, and will —— against. we saw en+ saying it was a game changer for the —— against. we saw en+ saying it was a game changerfor the company, but of course you have seen us lawmakers are not happy with this. we saw a tweet from democratic law makers, saying it represents yet another step in undermining the sanctions which president trump has obstructed at every opportunity. russian aggression remains unabashed. tell us aggression remains unabashed. tell us what you really think! so we will see how it plays out once lawmakers wa ke see how it plays out once lawmakers wake up this morning and have time to digests the full degree to which these have been lifted. you very - indeed. the shock resignation which lends to developing with many wondering who will be the next to lead the insitution. sally bundock caught up with its chief executive, kristalina georgieva, the bulgarian economist

who is currently its interim president. she spoke exclusively to the bbc in davos about trade tensions, global slowdown, and her role at the bank. we have been, throughout our history, very clear that opening economies is good for growth, good forjobs, good for poverty reduction. what we see now is that trade tensions add to uncertainty that drags the world economy down. we very much hope that this uncertainty will be resolved. when the big countries sneeze, the small countries catch and ammonia. so it is so very important that we see a clarity that trade benefits everybody, and it benefits actually poor people in rich countries, as well, by bringing consumer prices

down forfamilies well, by bringing consumer prices down for families to meet their needs. what about the independence of the world bank? many argue it is organisation that really is by the united states, is lot of criticism about the fact that the donald have - final have final on if bank final— 7 , onf , f is; ~ if bankfithe— , onf , f is; ~ an owned by 189 they all nations. they are all represented permanently on our board of debates assure. .. . ., .. ,. debates the assure. .. . ., .. ,. debates the asst of .. . ., .. ,. debatt our the asst of .. . ., .. ,. debatt ( subscribes scof. . . ., .. ,. debatt ( subscribes to if. . . ., .. ,. debatt ( subscribes to it. . . ., .. ,. shareholder also subscribes to it. the increase .. . .. shareholder also subscribes to it. the increase package the capital increase package has priorities that are so very clear. more in fragile countries, more for gender equality, more to tackle climate change. we are all united to do what is best for our developing

countries, and it doesn't hurt that we are a client driven organisation. we do what people expect from us. now,jim we do what people expect from us. now, jim yong kim left abruptly. it was a surprise. it was reported that he felt he would get a lot more done if he went into the private sector. does that not reaffirm what many say that the world bank —— what many say, that the world bank is not releva nt? say, that the world bank is not relevant? well, people have voted with their pocketbooks. they give us more so we can with their pocketbooks. they give us more so we can do with their pocketbooks. they give us more so we can do more. we with their pocketbooks. they give us more so we can do more. we have the largest fund for the poor in our history, $75 billion, and i am absolutely confident that the collea g u es absolutely confident that the colleagues we have in very dangerous locations in afghanistan and iraq that are watching us right now, they know they have the trust of the shareholders to do theirjobs, and

my trust. more worrying data out of china on monday. let's go to our asia business hub, where rico hizon is following the story. when there is worrying data out and about, you are the guy to explain it to us. what is going on in china? well, you know what, over the past week it has been the growth report revealing is the lowest in almost 30 yea rs, followed revealing is the lowest in almost 30 years, followed up by exports dipping, particularly to its major economies. this is indeed showing that the mainland economy is heading south. now, earnings at china's industrial companies shrank for a second straight month in december on slowing prices and sluggish factory activity, and the downbeat data points to more troubles ahead for the country's vast manufacturing sector, already struggling with a

decline in orders, job layoffs and factory closures due to a bitter dispute with the united states, and china's economic growth slipped to 6.6% last year, the weakest expansion in 28 years, stoking fears ofa expansion in 28 years, stoking fears of a sharp slowdown if the current us- of a sharp slowdown if the current us— china trade talks failed to stop further tariffs being implemented after a 90 day truce which ends on the first of march. profits in december declining, weighed down by wea k fa cto ry december declining, weighed down by weak factory prices, and soft market activity, chinese small and mid—sized enterprises continuing to contract in the fourth quarter of last year despite a flurry of supported government policies. so we can expect more weak economic numbers coming out of china in the weeks and months to come. numbers coming out of china in the weeks and months to comem numbers coming out of china in the weeks and months to come. it is not looking good, is it? now let's brief you on some other business stories: donald trump has said chances are less than 50—50 that congress will come to a deal to avoid a second shutdown in three weeks, when the current funding expires.

in an interview with the wall streetjournal, china's envoy to the european union warned that excluding chinese tech in an interview with the financial times, some western governments, led by the united states, have barred the use of the chinese company's equipment afteri strong close for wall street on friday, the- seng is up afteri strong close for wall street on friday, the - seng is up very the nikkei is down. a crowdfunding campaign set up

by the family of the missing and until — they are looking at this as a missing person, a missing plane. and until they're satisfied, that's the mode that we are in. an extensive three—day search of the english channel was called off by the authorities in guernsey on thursday, despite pleas from sala's family to continue. since then, more than 300,000 euros have been raised online by players

and fans alike. in the welsh capital earlier, cardiff city women paid tribute to the missing men, and outside the cardiff city stadium, fans continue to reflect and show their support. it's overwhelming how many fans have left tributes to him. the chances of finding anybody alive now is ridiculous chances. but like i said, it's a bit of closure for everybody, i suppose. cardiff city says it is holding an internalinvestigatioa to fly from nantes to cardiff last monday evening, a journey which has brought about some of this club's darkest of days, as a new privately funded search for the footballer and the pilot begins. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: the un has renewed warnings about the threat of famine in yemen, as a ceasefire between the government and houthi rebels comes under pressure. ahead of tuesday's brexit vote, ireland has ruled out changes to the part of the british prime

minister theresa may's deal, which aims to avoid checks on the irish border. now let's look at the stories that making headlines in the media across the world. we begin with the telegraph. the paper details claims made by the former foreign secretary, borisjohnson, that theresa may is seeking a "freedom clause" from brussels that could save her brexit deal. the independent also leads on brexit, but takes a different angle. they lead on the results from a poll that shows students backing for labour is falling as their support for a second referendum grows. —— students's backing. the race for tech power is on the front page of the new york times. it reports that the us is pressuring allies to freeze out chinese companies like huawei, in a race over the sg networks that will change the internet as we know it. the daily mirror leads on its own investigation into social media sites. it reports that disturbing images and online posts promoting self—harm can be easily accessed.

campaigners are also calling for internet giants to be held to account, it adds. bbc online are carrying this story on their science page: researchers have genetically modified chickens to lay eggs, which contain drugs they say can help treat conditions such as arthritis and diabetes. and finally, health concerns over fitbit data is on the front page of the times. the paper reveals that patient worries over their health app readings are putting pressure on already overstretched gp services. with me is kulveer ranger, who's senior vice president strategy and communication at atos. to the brexit. the borisjohnson and homes. what is he saying here? —— let's talk about. rose johnson, a former brexit secretary, especially basically giving the prime minister did support on one side of the fence

so we say, because did support on one side of the fence so we say, because this time tomorrow, there will be votes in the house of commons. there are nine amendments being proposed to the deal was rejected by parliament at this point, we do not know how many of those will be voted on it is clear that a couple that probably will be will be looking to tie the hands of the prime minister by taking an ideal option off the table for her, but also by saying what is going to happen about the irish backstop issue? and here, boris johnson in this column in the daily telegraph, and on the front page, is saying this clause must be amended so saying this clause must be amended so that there is an option to take it out. it has a sort of end point to it, and that is the