this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. is europe's economic engine hitting the brakes? germany faces the threat of economic contraction thanks to prolonged weakness in its all important manufacturing sector. almond crisis. how the trade war between us and india is impacting some american farmers. and on the financial markets the big bounce back — trump delaying tarrifs on chinese goods to spare the christmas shopping season is music to the ears of investors worldwide.

europe's largest economy, germany, will release its growth figures for the second quarter in an hour and a half. a global slowdown accompanied by tariff disputes and uncertainty over brexit has impacted growth across western europe which may hit the german economy which is heavily dependent on exports. industrial production fell 5.2% this year — the worst drop in a decade. the german economy is heavily reliant on manufacturing. and challenges to the mammoth carmakers in the country are a big driver downwards. a slowdown in china is hitting sales. new car sales shrank by 2.8% last year in the country — which is the second biggest car market in the world. and tensions between the us and china are having a knock on effect. and then there's the big question mark over brexit. while there isn't a direct impact between germany and the uk — there years of uncertainty has had an impact on investment and sales

throughout europe and britain. christel aranda—hassel, chief european economist — mizuho internationaljoins me now. love to see you. a german exports down 8% in the last year, give us your take on the challenges facing the german economy. germany is one of the most industrially exposed countries in the euro area and on the back of that, that is affecting growth but at the same time, you've got the mystic demand which continues holding up. there is a dichotomy going on in the germany economy with a weak industrial export sector and at the same time the man and woman on the street, i still feeling quite 0k and in fact having real disposable incomes, having real disposable incomes,

having increased. the problem and the big challenge for the economy is how long will it take for the wea kness how long will it take for the weakness in industry and the export sector to eventually spill over into domestic demand. this is the part that we are watching very closely. and the challenges germany faces, the car industry is going through a serious crisis, starting by the emission scandal of some years ago, but the spat between the us and the european union, we generate that means fully, for car exports, do we? we don't at this stage but we will go back to the drawing board and revise growth down further for germany and therefore for the euro area as a whole. if the us truly goes through with imposing tariffs. that's for sure. what can be done about this? of course the european central bank it soon, is expected to

cut the cost but does not going to help jermaine of the lot. what can germany do within? i totally agree, i think the ecb is out of ammunition by now and there's a cut in the deposit rate that will not make any difference. therefore this central bank has been calling for the president has continued to mention, need fiscal stimulus. need... so the german government need to spend money and power its own economy that way and actually, it's got its own rules, hasn't? about budget deficit which are quite strict. it has a debt break, just written into the constitution, sue cannot have a deficit, a structural deficit. it doesn't sound as if you have a lot of leeway about first you have leeway, because you had no series of yea rs of leeway, because you had no series of years of surplus but second, the debt rake gives you leeway when a

country goes into recession or there isa country goes into recession or there is a natural disaster. this is not the case this time round but the recession might be in the making. thank you for your time. really interesting to hear what you think about germany and most are predicting we will see the news of a contraction in the german economy by 0.i% contraction in the german economy by 0.1% when it releases its numbers in a few hours. we will update you. the united states has announced that it's delaying imposing new tariffs on some chinese imports until the middle of december. that sent shares on wall street and in asia higher. let's go to our asia business hub where rico hizon is following the story. lovely to see you back. the markets are celebrating your return as well. of course not, it's all about president trump. fill us in. they are celebrating the latest move by president donald trump, delaying levies on cellphones, laptops, and other consumer goods worth around

150 billion us dollars. that it won't impact us holiday sales will stop see if you take a look at the asian pacific indices, they are all in positive territory, from sydney to tokyo, shanghai and hong kong stop to tokyo, shanghai and hong kong sto p s ha res to tokyo, shanghai and hong kong stop shares of apple suppliers in asia, mostly higher after the technology giants or its stock surge. more than 4% annual trading. but this latest balance hardly clawed back the sizeable losses of stock prices over recent months. about market sentiment remains fragile — but given that that conflict is still far from being resolved. the delay of this tariffs until mid—december is purely for political timing rather than a more substantive change in the us approach to the us china trading relationship. he also have uncertainty around political risk such as the uncertainty —— in hong

kong which keep investors on edge. we will enjoy the green arrows for now. try to deceive preview another prisoner stories. —— let's brief you on other stories. us entertainment giants cbs and viacom have announced that they have finalised their merger plans. the new company will have more than 28 billion dollars in revenue and comprise brands including mtv, paramount pictures and publisher simon & schuster. they will be latest in a wave of media mega mergers driven by the need for companies to restructure for the streaming era. argentina's main stock index has jumped by 10% after slumping by more than a third on monday. the merval rose along with most other latin american markets as fears of a further escalation in the us—china trade war eased. argentina's peso continued its slide on fears that the country's pro—business president will soon be ousted in favour of the populist opposition party. india's smartphone market has seen its highest second quarter

shipments on record. almost 37 million handsets were sold between april and june, up close to 10% on the same time last year. us almond farmers spent millions of dollars cultivating an appetite for their products in india. but an ongoing trade dispute between the two countries threatens to cost them that market. so farmers may have to decide if they want to absorb the cost or risk losing indian customers. zoe thomas reports. indians have developed a taste of violence. last year, india imported more than $500 million worth of the night. most of which came from the united states. but with the us and india an outing tariffs as part of a tit—for—tat trade well, these elements would become unaffordable. ever since donald trump started an

outing tariffs, a converse ever waiting for consumers to feel the impact. typically when tariffs are pleasa nt impact. typically when tariffs are pleasant good, dust records, it's passed off to consumers. suppliers are now absorbing those costs. but that i'd not be sustainable for long. so will consumers be willing to pay a higher price? we have defined an alternative.” to pay a higher price? we have defined an alternative. i won't be able to buy it if the price increases. 80% of able to buy it if the price increases. 8096 of the world 's arm and is come from california. this means farming armours on the sam and his grandfather did but the trade was casting a shadow of his industry. it is difficult to know the repercussions of the going to happen but ultimately it because god just because less product to be shipped and displaced into other markets. it has a price consequence will stop finding new markets may not be so easy. armoured farmers are already feeling the pain of increased terrorism china. we lost

about 50% of our exports going into china. india imposed tariffs in retaliation for the us drawing its preferential trade status. leaders from both countries have said they wa nt from both countries have said they want a deal. but so far dogs have not edge the tension. and for ta riffs not edge the tension. and for tariffs pressuring farmers to choose between using a key market or increasing the prices, they're likely to keep feeling the effects of the trade. docking about the reasons why we are seeing gains, we've got a man stretched across the screen behind me, let's hope they're going to get some market numbers. that's it for the business briefing this hour.

the teenage climate change campaigner greta thunberg is preparing to sail across the atlantic to attend a summit at the united nations in new york. the 16—year—old activist is travelling on a 60—foot yacht. how do you get to new york without any co2 emissions? this is how. but greta thunberg isn't anxious. i might feel a bit seasick, and it's not going to be comfortable, but that i can live with. the malizia is all about speed. look at her, she's just a giant sail attached to a superlight carbon—fibre hull. she basically bounces

through the wave, sometimes dives right through them. it is a very... woah! ..very rough ride, it's a very wet ride, to be honest, i'm not sure that i could take two weeks of this. but there are also no carbon emissions. the entire journey will be under sail and all the electricity will be generated by solar panels and turbines. if we're honest, one person giving up flying doesn't make any difference in a world of eight billion people. so what is the point? i mean, the point, ithink, is to sort of create an opinion. if i stop flying you don't only reduce your own carbon footprint but also that sends a signal to other people around you that, i mean, the climate crisis is a real thing and that also pushes a political movement.

the voyage will take two weeks. greta's team say they haven't yet planned how she's going to get back from america. justin rowlatt, bbc news, plymouth. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: after days of violent protests and thousands of cancelled flights, calm descends upon hong kong airport. but can it last? a year after genoa's deadly bridge collapse, they're rebuilding the crossing. but can they ever rebuild trust? now, it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with the financial times

and a reprieve from the us for china! president trump has announced he will delay imposing tariffs on certain goods imported from china until december to protect shoppers. the south china morning post, and this photo, which is all over the media, of the moment a police officer pulls out his gun after being cornered by some protesters at hong kong international airport. "ozone pollution is as bad for the lungs as a pack of cigarettes a day," warns the times. it looks at a study carried out over 18 years that draws a link between car emissions and the destruction of lung tissue. "commuters priced out by new hike in railfares" is the headline in the guardian. a 2.9% increase in railfairs is due to be confirmed today, says the paper, which would mean the overall cost of train travel has risen by 46% since 2009. and, finally, the sun focuses on another health warning with a major study suggesting

social media is damaging children's mental health. it says the study of 10,000 children found checking facebook, instagram and snapchat weekly means the risk of suffering "psychological distress" is up to 20%. not checking weekly. i would say they are checking minute by minute. with me is james hughes, chief market analyst at the brokerage firm axitrader. let's get started. the market rally, the relief rally following trump's announcement that they would delay tariffs, they would go on the first of september, now mid december. this is so the christmas shopping spree is so the christmas shopping spree is not hampered. yes, according to donald trump, he is helping our shoppers by delaying this. but he says this of course comes after a very good call with china, where his words, yesterday. when everything that we hear around the