the steel deal that's going cold: joe biden is close to blocking the japanese takeover of us steel according to reports, potentially putting thousands of us jobs at risk. markets on edge: fears over a us recession grow again as newjob openings fall to a 3.5—year low. also on the programme, we'll have a special report from bangladesh on how the country's bustling textile sector is navigating political turmoil. and the happiness recession: we look at why uk workers are so disengaged, costing billions to the country's economy. see if we can cheer you up then shall we. live from london, this is business today. i'm sally bundock. we start in the us where shares in united states steel plunged

on wednesday following a report the white house is preparing to formally block nippon steel's $14 billion takeover bid. people familiar with the matter say a decision could be made as soon as this week. the move would be highly controversial and critics say it would lead to job losses and could chill foreign investment in the us. for more, here's our north america business correspondent ritika gupta in new york. nippon steel's $14 billion bid to acquire united states steel has been caught in the crosshairs of an election year, and in the crucial swing state of pennsylvania, where us steel is based. us presidentjoe biden has long pledged that the iconic american company, headquartered in pittsburgh, should remain domestically owned and run. presidential nominees kamala harris and donald trump have also both committed to keep us steel american, though any move to block the deal could potentially be

subject to litigation. proponents of nippon steel's bid say the us shouldn't reject a bid from a company based in an allied country such as japan, especially one that could create an entity with the scale to compete with china. if the deal is successfully blocked, the fate of us steel is unclear. the company warned that it would imperil thousands ofjobs if the deal falls through. it may also close plants and even move its headquarters out of pittsburgh. more now from mariko oi in our asia business hub. she has been on this for us throughout the week. the next episode then. nippon, has it reacted to this latest development?- reacted to this latest development? reacted to this latest develoment? , , ., development? yes, they have. they have _ development? yes, they have. they have released _ development? yes, they have. | they have released statements even though it is still based on thoughts they are planning to block the deal. both companies said they haven't received any formal update but they did stay that they didn't believe the acquisition both

national security lists and according to the white house a panel reviewing the proposed merger for national security reasons has not sent its formal recommendation to the president. if the report is true, mr biden would be blocking the deal despite what we discussed yesterday, which is nippon steel shoring that the senior leadership and will be operated by its us unit based in new york. us steel repeated that japan is one of the closest allies while nippon steel also said it strongly believes that the us government should appropriately handle procedures on this matter in accordance with the law. so indicating possibly that if president biden was to block the deal, it would end up there. if the deal, it would end up there. , . , the deal, it would end up there. , ., , ., there. if this falls through, ou there. if this falls through, you mentioned _ there. if this falls through, you mentioned the - there. if this falls through, you mentioned the fact - there. if this falls through, | you mentioned the fact this could become a legal battle, but what was it in forjapan, nippon steel? i but what was it in forjapan, nippon steel?— but what was it in forjapan, nippon steel? i would say the im act nippon steel? i would say the impact on _ nippon steel? i would say the impact on growth _ nippon steel? i would say the

impact on growth who - nippon steel? i would say the impact on growth who would i nippon steel? i would say the i impact on growth who would be far less compared to the impact on us steel, which, as you have heard, has warned ofjob losses as well as possible factory closure. at the japanese company has been looking to go overseas, it faces a slowdown in demand at home, and this deal would give a large foothold in the us where infrastructure spending is rising. also, nippon steel is currently the world was a fourth biggest steelmaker, and by buying one, it hopes to become the world government number 21 compete against the biggest, which is a chinese steelmaker. the $15 billion it offered is double of previous offered is double of previous offer that us steel had from its american rival, level and cliffs, and way more than us steel's market when the deal was announced last year. the deal received all regulatory approvals from outside the us and a green light from its shareholders as well, but as we have been saying, the timing is very tricky with us presidential election is looming and from president biden from the interview given

mr trump has also vowed to block the deal, he could take it off the table altogether. 0k, thank you. i'm sure we will speak to you again soon as this continues. let's stay in the us, where it's turning out to be a rather dicey week on the markets as a slew of economic data gets published. on wednesday, the labor department released a report showing us job openings fell to a 3.5—year low injuly. analysts say this bolsters the case for an interest rate cut later this month. so, is the us economy holding up? i'm joined now by pete earle, senior economist at the american institute for economic research. lovely to see you. we also had the book up which gives you an insight into what is going out right across the us, that looks fairly negative and the headlines are reading stagnation, declining us

activity, activity flat in most districts. what is going on? yes, for the last two years, the fed's reports that come out monthly have been mostly neutral. they've been coming at a little less enthusiastic than the national numbers, but today's record which covers august was generally gloomy with nine of the 12 district report to the fed either flat, showing flat or declining growth, and while that solidifies the case of the fed will cut next week, it is still not enough to swing the pendulum decisively from say 25 to a 50 basis point cut. we pendulum decisively from say 25 to a 50 basis point cut.— to a 50 basis point cut. we had this “obs to a 50 basis point cut. we had this jobs news _ to a 50 basis point cut. we had this jobs news out _ to a 50 basis point cut. we had this jobs news out as _ to a 50 basis point cut. we had this jobs news out as well, - this jobs news out as well, which was also pretty negative. we have the payroll numbers out on friday. by the end of the week we should have a real picture of what is going on in the us economy, and for some, they are worried.— they are worried. yes, definitely. _ they are worried. yes, definitely. the - they are worried. yes, definitely. the biggest they are worried. yes, - definitely. the biggest factor right now determining whether we see 25 or 50 basis points next week will be the report

tomorrow morning essentially. rising to 4.3%, 4.4%, it is likely we will see 50 basis point cut. if we see less than that, if wet drops to 4.2, 25 basis points. even so, the market seems to think there will be 100 basis points, 1% cut by the end of the year, which shows a lot of people are very concerned about the state of the us economy right now. what do you think the fed will do this year? what is your money on in terms of how far interest rates will go down? i think they will do the full 1% because us credit card companies are seeing 30 and 90 day late payments rising, so relief would help consumers. the biggest beneficiary of a rate cut would be the us government self because we are $35 trillion in debt, they will soon be paying over year to service the debt, so a lot of either on the bed and a lot of

relief will be hard, not even necessarily to consumers but to the government itself if they cut rates as much as possible. 0k, thank you. get your take on things in the us. more than a quarter of advertisers are planning to cut spending on elon musk�*s x over concerns about the social media platform's content and trust in the information disseminated. that's according to new research from kantar. advertising revenue has fallen sharply since musk bought the site then known as twitter just under two years ago. let's get more on this with chris beauchamp, chief market analyst at ig. chris, how worrying is this, if a quarter of advertisers decided to quit next year? they often live or — decided to quit next year? they often live or die _ decided to quit next year? they often live or die by _ decided to quit next year? they often live or die by this, - decided to quit next year? tie: often live or die by this, for facebook it is still very true.

it is a major headache. the chief executive has been trying to turn it around for months to little success. with a company with that leads servicing, it is a major headache because it is a major headache because it is eating into revenues that will make life a lot harder to expand the business, and it is a question of is it going... inaudible she tends to make progress. situation isn't going away. progress. situation isn't going awa . ~ , ., ., away. ok. we seem to have problems — away. ok. we seem to have problems with _ away. ok. we seem to have problems with our _ away. ok. we seem to have problems with our line - away. ok. we seem to have problems with our line with | away. ok. we seem to have i problems with our line with you but we will persevere because you are back with us, which is great. what is interesting about this, i think, and give me your view on this, as to what extent will elon musk and others who have invested in x bankroll the social media platform when it is not going to be making money? for the time being — to be making money? for the time being it _ to be making money? for the time being it looks _ to be making money? for the time being it looks like - to be making money? for the time being it looks like to - time being it looks like to continue to go with it, given

the money put into it, given the money put into it, given the rate it gives them in the political have to gives them. that is the reason why he is pushing forward because, yes, it is a major headache, but it makes him a player in the media world and the political world, and at the moment that outweighs the problems they are seeing in terms of decline. it seeing in terms of decline. it will be interesting to see what happens next year if they do see a huge loss in advertisers, and also the year after a us election. in the run—up to the us election, you can understand why x is busy, it has a lot of traffic, a lot of interest. but both election, we wonder what things will look like there. yes, this is the problem. it is a cutthroat battle in the uses of the social media world. some try to take away the business and that won't go away. the keeping be can they maybe moderate this once the election

is out of the way? and they maybe change the tone of the website, bring advertisers back. the full in numbers means a charge less which makes them more attractive in some ways. there is a balancing element. it will not be resolved any time soon. as long as elon musk stays in charge, the problems are not going away. fik. stays in charge, the problems are not going away. 0k. thank ou. are not going away. 0k. thank yon have _ are not going away. 0k. thank yon have a — are not going away. 0k. thank you. have a good _ are not going away. 0k. thank you. have a good day - are not going away. 0k. thank you. have a good day and - are not going away. 0k. thank you. have a good day and we i you. have a good day and we will see you soon. let's bring you some other business news. shares fell more than 6% to less than $17 which is lower than what they were worth at the start of the year. the share price which hit a peak in april during the former president's criminal trials has fallen more than 70% from its highs. although scrapped its goal to sell electric vehicles

by 2030, coming amid a slowdown in sales growth for electric cars globally and concerns about cost and infrastructure. the swedish automaker had been the first among traditional carmakers that an pledged that complete switch to electric vehicles. still to come, the happiness recession. we look at why uk workers are so disengaged, costing billions to the country's economy. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

you are with business today. it is a tricky time for the ev industry with a slowdown in sales growth around the world. as we have been reporting, volvo has just announced it is scrapping its goal to sell only evs by 2030. in the uk, the issue of electric vehicle charging points frequently

arises among those considering theirfirst ev. now, the car maker vauxhall has launched its electric streets of britain campaign, and has identified more than 11,500 streets across the country where the public want councils to install on—street charging. let's speak now to the managing director of vauxhall uk, james taylor. good morning to you, james. good morning to you, james. good morning. i good morning to you, james. good morning.— good morning to you, james. good morning. i must admit, i am wondering _ good morning. i must admit, i am wondering we _ good morning. i must admit, i am wondering we want - good morning. i must admit, i am wondering we want the - am wondering we want the council to install all these charging points which would be brilliant, but they have a long list of other issues to sort out by potholes and many of them, some of them are bankrupt. them, some of them are bankrunt-_ them, some of them are bankrupt. them, some of them are bankrut. , , , , bankrupt. yes, this is why we start of the — bankrupt. yes, this is why we start of the campaign - bankrupt. yes, this is why we start of the campaign a - bankrupt. yes, this is why we start of the campaign a year. start of the campaign a year ago because, clearly, if we're to have this transition to an all electric future, we need to ensure the infrastructure is in place to support that, and

clearly council to have many other priorities but it is encouraging to see year after we started that campaign that there is now 15,000 on charges provided and councils plans for a further 8000 over the coming year. it is progressing now, which is great news. any year. it is progressing now, which is great news. any news or are you _ which is great news. any news or are you getting _ which is great news. any news or are you getting any - or are you getting any inclinations from the new government as to how they might encourage this or help out? we have a budget coming up. there is a significant _ have a budget coming up. there is a significant amount - have a budget coming up. there is a significant amount of- is a significant amount of funding available through the levi fund already, 400 billion pounds available to local councils to access and local provision —— £400 million. people want the convenience, we have just commenced research which shows that we think we need charges with a four minute walk away people live, and today, only around 20% of people have that charger within the four minutes. find

people have that charger within the four minutes.— the four minutes. and when it comes to _ the four minutes. and when it comes to the _ the four minutes. and when it comes to the charges, - the four minutes. and when it i comes to the charges, obviously we need them installed, we need them there, what happens when they break or they are not working? do we have the technology and the skills to fix them?— fix them? yes, i think probably oriainall fix them? yes, i think probably originally going _ fix them? yes, i think probably originally going back _ fix them? yes, i think probably originally going back a - fix them? yes, i think probably originally going back a few- originally going back a few years in terms of the reliability of the charges were sometimes questionable but there has been new legislation since, a lot of work being done and if you look at the latest statistics, it is far more encouraging in terms of availability, we start to get technology such as booking those charge points and having that reassurance it will be there when you actually need to charge the car. it is progressing at a good pace. what are your goals at vauxhall? we mention volvo scrapping its goal to sell tv only by 2030. what are your targets? only by 2030. what are your tarrets? . , only by 2030. what are your tarrets? ., , ., only by 2030. what are your tarrets? . , . ., targets? clearly have the zero emissions _ targets? clearly have the zero emissions mandate _ targets? clearly have the zero emissions mandate in - targets? clearly have the zero emissions mandate in the - targets? clearly have the zero emissions mandate in the uk, 22% of sales to be fully electric and the great news is

vauxhall as well on course for that. it is available as a fully electric vehicle now. we are really well—positioned to give customers a choice so that they can make a choice for them on whether they want a petrol or diesel car or indeed a van or diesel car or indeed a van or they want an electric car, and that choice is really important and that is why the campaign is important because 14% of households don't have offstreet parking and it is important they have that choice to make the transition to electric. to make the transition to electric— to make the transition to electric. . ., , ., ~ to make the transition to electric. . ., , ., ,, , ., electric. 0k, james, thank you for our electric. 0k, james, thank you for your time _ electric. 0k, james, thank you for your time this _ electric. 0k, james, thank you for your time this morning, - for your time this morning, very early. for your time this morning, very early-— now, let's head to bangladesh — it's been one month since the dramatic ousting of prime minister sheikh hasina. since then, bangladesh's clothing factories that supply to big fast fashion brands like h&m, zara and hugo boss are limping back to normality.

but the country's new interim government faces long term economic challenges that will take years to fix. nikhil inamdar has this special ground report from dhaka. back up and running after political turmoil roiled the world's second—largest source market for ready garments. at this company, workers are in a race against time to finish up these christmas sweaters. the big concern at garment factories like these is not so much the short—term monetary losses, but it's really the reputational damage that bangladesh may suffer on the international stage. and the worry now is that long—term political instability could mean cancelled orders and supply chains relocating to other parts of the world. this man, whose family founded this export unit 20 years ago, is worried. translation: bangladesh doesn't have enough dollar reserves. -

how will we pay for imports of yarn from india and china if we don't have forex? customers aren't able to visit for order placements either because they aren't getting travel insurance. we might see a hit in the spring—summer season if there is a loss of confidence about the economy. outside the garment factories, these students were part of the dramatic protests that brought down sheikh hasina's government. they've all been unemployed for more than two years. translation: the government should encourage the youth - to join the private sector. we are hopeful because the new leader is an entrepreneur himself. translation: right now, | we do not get the right skills from our universities to get private jobs. we need to be better trained. bangladesh's failure to do this comes into sharp focus at this deserted it park. an ambitious project launched in 2015,

it was meant to house thousands of skilled techies who would help the country diversify and reduce its overreliance on garments. ten years on, it's almost completely empty. we have been investing in physical infrastructure, but how much we have invested in human infrastructure, right? human resource are the raw material of this industry. from the new government, we need proper planning and investment in developing the right human resource. on the streets, there's still simmering anger against the previous regime for all that's been lost. but this young nation of 170 million people has now pinned its hopes on a new interim government. it has a monumental task ahead. nikhil inamdar, bbc news, dhaka. now, before you go, i have got a question for you. are you unhappy at work?

iam smiling! well, if you're british, you are far from alone. according to a new report from the management consultancy gallup, nine out of ten british workers are either not engaged or actively disengaged — a statistic which sets the uk behind the european average of 13% engaged employees. and it's costing the country a lot of money — £257 billion per year according to gallup. so, why are uk worker so unhappy and how can this �*happiness recession' be reversed? i'm joined now by mark price, the author of happy economics and an expert on the financial and societal impact of disengagement at work. hello to you, mark. good morning- _ hello to you, mark. good morning- i _ hello to you, mark. good morning. i know- hello to you, mark. good morning. i know it - hello to you, mark. good morning. i know it is - hello to you, mark. good j morning. i know it is data hello to you, mark. good - morning. i know it is data and statistics, _ morning. i know it is data and statistics, so _ morning. i know it is data and statistics, so what _ morning. i know it is data and statistics, so what do - morning. i know it is data and statistics, so what do you - statistics, so what do you think? what is your reaction? i

think? what is your reaction? 1 think? what is your reaction? 1 think directly the data is right. six years ago i said up a digital platform, 10,000 people a week go to the platform, take our happy at work tests and what we see from that, dated across 106 countries and more than 100,000 companies is that we would take 23% are unhappy. but where the tire hits the road is that what we are able to measure is flight risk, the percentage of people that are going to leave an organisation and well being risk, the people who have a well being risk and therefore are a higher level of sick absence. at the moment in the uk, the average figure, and i had averages, but the average figure is 28% of uk workers will leave their currentjob in the next six to nine months, and 30% had poor well being at work. the figure for the bbc, because it is 100,000 companies

on our list, the biggest currently for the bbc, 22% flight risk in the bbc and 28% well being risk. the bbc is much better than the uk average, still one in five people in the bbc are likely, highly likely to leave in the next six to nine months and 28% of some kind well being issue. now, there is a huge cost of that because if you think about the cost of recruitment, replacing those people, if you think about the cost of covering sick leave, that is where the economic value is. so for the uk, which has much lower engagement score or happiness scores at europe or america, the costs of therefore consequentially hire. the report is right, directionally we are doing less well than other countries around the world, and it is having a greater economic impact on the country and companies than elsewhere in the world. tell me, elsewhere in the world. tell me. how — elsewhere in the world. tell me. how do _ elsewhere in the world. tell me, how do we _ elsewhere in the world. tell

me, how do we sort - elsewhere in the world. tell me, how do we sort this out? you mention the bbc in statistics and we have staff surveys here, we have discussions here about culture, about how to make us happier, more engaged and more fulfilled in the workplace so we do not leave. how do we fix this? clearly, here, as you say, statistically at the bbc we are better than average but still high up there the number of people happy or who are ready to leave. it people happy or who are ready to leave. , to leave. it is true. the important _ to leave. it is true. the important point - to leave. it is true. the important point to - to leave. it is true. the | important point to make to leave. it is true. the . important point to make is there is a coronation between happiness and the economic and financial impact of companies. if you look at what creates it, there are six different factors and i haven't got time to go through them, and they all vary. but there are a number of things that create the atmosphere but i think the most important thing is every individual has to take responsibility for their happiness at work. it is not just a management issue. that management will make us happy. what we need to do is give the information to every employee

to understand wife either are or are not happy and help them to improve. ultimately, that is the solution. my view in the uk is when we talk about productivity, the first thing we all lead to is big infrastructure project saw investments, and that is important, but the bottom line is we are not managing people in the uk well enough. we have got a huge number of accidental managers, 82% of people that managers, 82% of people that manage in the uk have not had management training in how to get the best from people. most companies simply get more from their people because they encourage them to do more, they are happy at work, more committed.— are happy at work, more committed. , , committed. sorry, ifind this fascinating. _ committed. sorry, ifind this fascinating. you _ committed. sorry, ifind this fascinating. you set - committed. sorry, ifind this fascinating. you set 82% - committed. sorry, ifind this fascinating. you set 82% of. fascinating. you set 82% of managers are accidental. we are out of time. thank you for sharing your thoughts with us is morning. thank you as well for your company. is morning. thank you as well foryour company. i hope is morning. thank you as well for your company. i hope you are happy at work and have a lovely day.

hello. we're expecting a real mix of weather over the next couple of days. for some northwestern parts of the uk, it's going to turn sunny and very warm, but further south for southern england and south wales, we're expecting some heavy rain. perhaps in one or two locations, a month's worth of rain in just a couple of days — that could cause some disruption. it's all because low pressure is continuing to swirl to the south of us, this band of rain here becoming quite slow moving, particularly, i think, across the southwest of england. but around that area of low pressure, we're drawing in some humid air, so further north and west with some sunshine it will feel very warm. now, during thursday, these southern parts of england and south wales will see some rain at times — that rain turning heavy and persistent in the southwest later on. further north, a lot of low cloud, mist and murk, some spots of drizzle, but the best of the sunshine where you get some shelter from the breeze, western scotland and northern ireland.

temperature—wise, well, maybe along some north sea coasts just 15 or 16 degrees, but elsewhere, 18—21 with a slightly more humid feel. but as we head into the evening, this heavy rain affecting southwest england, clipping into south wales, and overnight, it looks like we will see more rain pushing along the south coast. so with that rain really totting up, there is the risk of flooding, some disruption. further north, largely dry, some mist and murk and low cloud for north sea coasts. quite a muggy start to friday morning. more rain through the day on friday across southern england, perhaps pushing northwards into south wales and the midlands, perhaps east anglia as well as we go through the day. further north, well, still some areas of low cloud, mist and murk for some northern and eastern coasts, but further west, some good spells of sunshine, and look at the temperatures — liverpool at 26 degrees, parts of western scotland at 25 degrees, so feeling warm and quite humid. into the weekend, our area of low pressure continues to swirl to the south of us, throwing

some showers northwards. still quite a lot of mist and murk and low cloud. could be some fog around to start saturday morning. should see some spells of sunshine and, again, in the sunshine, feeling very warm with those temperatures, perhaps up to around 25 degrees. into sunday, more of the same, really. some showers, particularly in the south. some sunshine, too. still feeling warm and muggy.

good morning, welcome to breakfast with charlie stayt and naga munchetty. our headlines. survivors and bereaved families from the grenfell tower disaster say they're still waiting for justice after a damning report into the deaths of 72 people. at the end seven years passed, we still have no justice. we have to fight again. i don't how many years it will take. with confirmation all 72 deaths were avoidable many families want criminal proceedings to begin as soon as possible but there is frustration as to how long it could take. a 14—year—old boy is charged with the murder of 80—year—old bhim kohli, who was attacked in a park while walking his dog. water company bosses could be banned from taking bonuses and even sent to jail under

new regulator powers aimed at reducing pollution.