this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. president trump has delivered his state of the union address and calls it the hottest in the world period, the us economy. those are his words. we look at his claims. and who will lead the world bank? president trump is set to nominate david malpass today, a man who has criticised the institution, calling it inefficient. and on the markets: it is lunar new year. many are not working and are on holiday. many markets are closed. these two are open and slightly higher. president trump has delivered one of the cornerstones of the us political calendar — the state of the union speech. it is a wide reaching address to the joint houses of congress

where the president sets out his policy agenda. he started with the economy. the huge audience is listening to what he has to say. injust over two what he has to say. in just over two years since the election, we have launched an unprecedented economic boom, a boom that has rarely been seen before. there has been nothing like it. we have created by 20 million newjobs. and, importantly, added 600,000 new manufacturing jobs —— 5.3 million. something they said was impossible to do. the fact is, we are just getting started. there was more

added to that. let's get more on this with michelle fleury who's in new york. this is a huge audience for him. an important moment for him to say how well he has done for the us economy ahead of the elections in 2020. was he right in all the claims that he made, can he take the credit for this boom, as he has put it?|j made, can he take the credit for this boom, as he has put it? i think with an eye towards 2020 he was quite right, he is keen to show of his accomplishments in america. if you look at it, the economy was better off than it was two years ago. i think i took some liberties when he talked about this job figures you just heard about. —— i think i took. if you look back to his inauguration, january 2017, millionjobs have been created his inauguration, january 2017, million jobs have been created since then, not 5.3 millions. —— 4.9 million. similarly with

manufacturing. not as many as he said. for more context to this, if you look at the pace of manufacturing jobs being created, they are slower than, for example, if you go back to the i990s. the other thing he talked about was the pace of growth in america, saying it was double and growing exponentially, saying it was the hottest economy in the world. but look at china, india, latvia, poland, all of their growth rates higher than the us. he is right about his accomplishments, but not quite as much as he was claiming. let us look about china now. for you andi let us look about china now. for you and i and for anyone in global financial markets that traits that with china is number one on people ‘s minds. let us listen to what he had to say about that. one priority is paramount, reversing decades of calamitous trade policies. so bad. we are now making it clear to china that after years of targeting our

industries and stealing our intellectual property, the theft of oui’ intellectual property, the theft of ourjobs and wealth has come to an end. but i don't blame china for taking advantage of ours. i blame oui’ taking advantage of ours. i blame our leaders and representatives for allowing this travesty to happen. interesting comments there. michelle, what is the president proposing to do about this coming forward , proposing to do about this coming forward, given the fact that we have had trade representatives meeting in washington from both china and the us. yes, i was following the strait talks in washington. if you look back at what america has done they have raised tariffs on chinese goods, in that sense donald trump ‘s approach appears to have brought the chinese to the table, negotiations and expect will move to china.

america is calling for an end to certain practices. at this point it is too early to say what the outcome will be. i think, given his desire for a political win, he will take any concession oi’ for a political win, he will take any concession or any deal and tried to declare it a victory, so you might see, for example, progress on enforcement issues rather than structural changes from china. that might be something that the americans would accept an declare as a winfor americans would accept an declare as a win for them. the other thing he talked about on trade as well as the north american free trade agreement, he called for lawmakers to give him the authority to impose tariffs on single products to match those of ta riffs single products to match those of tariffs imposed on american goods. this is important because it would potentially put the us in violation of certain global agreements, agreements it has with the world trade organisation. at the moment it does not seem that is likely to go anywhere. you have people within his own party who have expressed their discontent with this legislation.

you also have lawmakers trying to put forward proposals that would give him less power to impose tariffs. that will be one to watch. just quickly, michelle, a word from you when his suggestions about women in the workplace, the fact that there are more than happy for a long time and how he felt that. well, i mean, if you looked at this speech it isa mean, if you looked at this speech it is a big piece of theatre and you have members of his party standing up have members of his party standing up to applaud. there was a question going into this evening whether the democrats would stand up to applaud. this particular point, when he talked about the fact that you have huge progress in terms of the number of women filling jobs, he specifically referenced the number of women in congress, which is higher than it has been in the past. that drew huge applause from the democrats and get them on their feet and have them charging usa. the other thing he mentioned wasjerome powell, you may recall he has criticised and warned that was a

threat to the us economy in the past. it was not something that came deny. jerome powell got this time. thank you, michelle. talk about what it means for the world ‘s biggest economy. we talk about something else president trump is expected to do today, wednesday. david malpass is currently the under—secretary of the treasury for international affairs but has been an outspoken critic of big multinational organizations like the world bank. so why would the us tap someone who thinks the world bank is inefficient? samira hussain has the answers former chief economist at bear stea rns, early former chief economist at bear stearns, early donald trump support, and now david malpass may add world bank president to that list. but malpass has previously questioned these big institutions and has characterised the world bank as big and inefficient. he has also been very critical of the bank lending

money to china, which he says it does not need, and especially troubling, given the harsh learning practices tiny users with other countries. we in case repeatedly with china on our trade and investment concerns and the problems caused by their one build one road initiative, which often these countries with excessive debt and poor quality progress —— oneself on road. despite his cruisers and, through his role at the treasury department, malpass significantly increased america ‘s contribution to the world bank to $13 billion, albeit with conditions attached arbilla the world bank is committed to meaningful route —— reforms to vegas lending countries in need and agree to other reforms. will countries coalesce around the american pick or will they try and put forward their own candidate? the latter option seems unlikely, but we will know for sure next week when nominations for a new president close. samira hussain, bbc news, new

york. now let's brief you on some other business stories. the house of the mouse has reported first—quarter profit that beat analysts' estimates. walt disney said its earnings were helped by higher customer spending at its us theme parks and resorts, as well as strength in its media network business. apple's head of retail, angela ahrendts, is leaving the iphone maker almost exactly five years after taking the role. her move to apple in 2014 from being the chief executive of the luxury fashion brand burberry was seen as a major coup for the tech giant. she will be replaced by long—time apple executive deirdre 0'brien, currently vice president of people. let us look markets. quite a few in asia are closed today as they continue their new year celebrations, the year of the pig,

of course. it is a fairly muted session. japan and australia are currently up. japan we have about 20 minutes to go still. volumes are very light. although these markets are open still others are not at work any sentences as ever. japanese shares have been headed higher. we have the s&p, the broader market, technology shares, they were the winners on wall street overnight. they are doing better in asia as well. that is business briefing. up next, newsbriefing — we'll take you through the stories making headlines in the global news media today. council tenants in england,

scotland, and northern ireland owe local authorities over £300 million in rent arrears, new figures show. the amount owed to councils has increased by a quarter in just four years, with the introduction of the new benefits system universal credit being blamed for the increase. the government says no—one single factor is causing rent arrears to rise. david rhodes reports. look at me. look at my cardigan. lisa, a mum of three, ozil council — your lisa, a mum of three, ozil council —— your council over £1000 in unpaid rent. she says universal credit has pushed into debt. you don't know what is coming next with universal credit. i was out of debt in 2017 and sincei credit. i was out of debt in 2017 and since i got on universal credit last year i have nearly lost my house twice and then ijust... universal credit is designed to make

claiming benefits in plan to help people back into work. of the 1.5 million people in great britain see up million people in great britain see up to six benefits merged into one monthly payment. but four years ago councils were owed around 250 in pounds by current tenants. glassey that figure had climbed to over £300 million. the welsh government does not collect in parable figures to the rest of the uk. the government said there is no—one single cause why rent arrears build up and that many peoplejoin why rent arrears build up and that many people join universal credit with pre—existing housing debt, adding that 500 social landlords have recently signed up to a scheme that can arrange direct rent payments and help recover arrears. david rhodes, bbc news. more on that story and others on brea kfast more on that story and others on breakfast at six o'clock. that is with louise minchin and dan walker. there will also have theresa may ‘s day ahead. —— they will also have.

this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: president trump has used his annual state of the union speech to appeal for a compromise deal that will get his border wall with mexico built and reform the us immigration system. he said america would continue working towards a new trade deal with china, but warned beijing that what he called the theft of american jobs and wealth had come to an end. he also revealed that he's set for another summit with north korea's kimjong—un in vietnam later this month. now, it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. the state of the union address, lots of reaction. we begin with the washington post, and us president donald trump who, in his state of the union address,

called for more bipartisan cooperation, as well as warning democrats not to investigate him or his administration. let's look at other stories now. the guardian leads with brexit and uk prime minister theresa may insisting there was "no suggestion" she would leave the eu without an insurance provision to protect against a hard border in northern ireland. bbc news online reports the new york red carpet opening of liam neeson's latest film has been cancelled amid a row over his comments that he once wanted to kill a random black man after a friend was raped. 0n independent sister paper the i paper's front page, under proposed new legislation, tech companies would become liable for the pictures and videos they distribute. the move comes as public anger grows over images suicide and self—harm online and on social media sites. and finally, the mail 0nline the number of uk young adults consuming alcohol to harmful levels has plummeted as women lead the way

in drinking less. however, there is still much concern for older boozy baby boomers who are still pushing up drink—related hospital admissions. with me is bev shah who's chief executive and founder of city hive. we chatted earlier that the state of the union address, we talked about the union address, we talked about the women represented in congress, applauding what he had to say about the number of women who work, historically high number of women in congress. but when the washington post