to audit the federal reserve. plus, alibaba's share price surges after a strong earnings report. can the tech giant keep up with strong competition in artifical intelligence? hello and welcome to business today. billionaire elon musk has been at a conservative conference where he's been speaking about his federal cost—cutting initiative. argentina's presidentjavier milei was also in attendance, during the conference, musk said he's thinking of auditing the federal reserve. he has called for greater scrutiny of the central bank in the past. the trump ally is heading a new government department — known as the department of government efficiency or doge — and has said that "waste is pretty much everywhere". one part of president trump's policy moves since assuming

for more on how his economic agenda has played out so far, we don't it yet in the numbers but it has to engender a greater degree of in us and how are supposed to abroad. how are you supposed to make an investment plan if you meke en investment plan—if you know whether the tariff don't know whetberthe tariff steel and aluminium will be or you will revert to what 25919 or you will revert to whet had before even if he reliant through an ifoiiiioor through on the does not follow through on the tariffs, i believe he is doing damage and is the damage and is affecting the climate, and investment climate, and certainly is the case certainly that is the case but if he follows abroad, but if he follows through on tariffs, then i fear is i; going 2; gomgeto . . . we...

7 is going to throw 5' ”a; goingito'thzrowithe' w z -= into a recession. inflation data coming out of japan. prices accelerated injanuary — putting pressure on households. that could impact businesses — japan's factory activity also survey. alibaba has announced plans to invest more in e—commerce and ai—powered cloud computing. the chinese tech giant reported revenues for the last three months of 2024just above estimates, boosted by strong year—end sales. after a widely publicised meeting between president xi and china s tech bosses, including alibaba founderjack ma. jiong shao barclays bank explained how these developments are good news for the tech giant. are awesome, the best set of results for alibaba

for a very long time of the two i the and " "til? "$5995! highlights the group, and the other is honestly the ai powered cloud businesses, and they double year on andi 7 ’ 593] mm; " ' 593i ifiiifihisi? " ' 593i ifiiifihis'iéiii; " ' year and i think this is the first time for �* business first time for either business to grow double—digit in several to grow double—digitinrseveret so the numbers are e:-= 7 but even 5 but even than the numbers, aliba ba demonstrated their very numbers, alibaba demonstrated their very strong and dominant in aland their very strong and dominant in al and they are the position in al and they are the clear beneficiaries at least in beer esfisflaefise if. lie? ih innings of 5155? 5553755955 5e 1555e ih innings of the ai the ernie innings of the ai revolution in the strong earnings is having an effect on alibaba'stocks. here in asia, its share prcice is up by about 9 percent. stock rose by around 8 percent. citigroup says it will no longer require

the bank follows the likes ofjp morgan and goldman sachs programmes as as corporate america contends with a new business climate under donald trump. ritika gupta has more from new york. citigroup is reportedly rolling back its diversity, the trump administration. the bank will no longer have aspirational representation the bank will also remove requirements to interviewjob candidates from diverse backgrounds. and that's according to a memo to staff from and inclusion and talent management team to talent management and engagement. on his first day in office, donald trump banned dei programmes across the federal level and called on government agencies to investigate companies diversity policies. citigroup facilitates much of the us government's payment network domestically and internationally, making it a majorfederal and it'sjoining a slew of american firms cutting back on diversity initiatives

in the wake of political and legal pressures. large companies like walmart, target and mcdonald's while the president can't actually compel private and some companies have cited those political shifts when scrapping dei programs. pepsico has also joined this growing list after the retail giant forecasted slower sales and profits in the coming year.

time because ot high interest rates, persistent inflation and potential tariffs on imports into the us. as resilient and focused on value going forward. to each person on board a plane that crash—landed in toronto on monday. the accident. investigated delta's spokesperson said germany will head to the polls this weekend of voters' minds. and so business leaders are turning to global talent start—up association. i would say we have a talent shortage the key a talent shortage in the key sectors like ai, software

development, but also sales, teachers, marketing, sales, teachers, and germany is electricians and germany is dependent on immigration and that such such bad news with that is such such bad news with the afd sending a signal the afd we are sending a signal to the world that we don't want you here and think should you here and i think we should be saying, choose europe, choose germany, we are happy for everyone who comes to help us because the jobs we will see in the industries and technologies we want, we need peopieee we re {xiii peopfeegfwe fa {xiii people of the 7 people of the ways will ewiiiélie’si” ' " " the; 19:25!” " ” : thezbest ideas in n there} 19235515! ” have the best ideas in the world but they won't happen and hope that narrative will i hope that narrative will definitely change after do ou have an ho-e eterwtiee whatever 24:24; :: 7777 whatever the new that whatever the new looks like that they government looks like that they have got that message they to j to prioritise 5 j to prioritise education, 7 need to prioritise education, whether that is shittee fihsth; thet e or upscaling, the workforce �* the future. prepared for the future. it is clear in every _ prepared for the future. it is clear in every study - prepared for the future. it 3 clear in every study you see and every politician knows it, and every politician knows it, and now a matter of acting and it's now a matter of acting upon it because knowing it is one thing that if a visa still

takes over three months you takes over three months if you apply in germany, if we take so long to from long to accept degrees from other countries and want to have people reskilling to our it's realistic any degrees, it's not realistic any longer. is degrees, it's not realistic any loner. , ., ., longer. your report is one of few longer. your report is one of - few bright _ longer. your report is one of - few bright spots - longer. your report is one of - few bright spots for - longer. your report is one of - few bright spots for the l the few bright spots for the german economy now and the tech is one �* the german economy now and the tech is one �*the drivers of is one of the big drivers of economic growth. 11% increase in new start—ups just last year. driving that? year. what is driving that? what is behind the thing is the crisis times one thing is the crisis times entrepreneurial times because when capital flow as when capital doesn't flow as much as in good times, when you have to think about the have to think harder about the solutions, that is when seletiensg thet is hen—ewewwwww are solstionse. thet is when . ~ ~ , are at their look back in best. if you look back in history sap was found during the crisis in the 70s, companies were other large companies were founded after the lehman crisis in 2000 type —— 2009, so i think it is one factor but the

other one is that found —— do not wait for founders do not wait for politicians. founders have an noliticiens. founders heve en 7 e w. ww ww w ww and team ooliticiens. founders heve en 7 e w. ww ww w ww and team they want idea and the team and they want to change the world and they want to make a new business happen then they start off, happen and then they start off, and this happened in 2024 when the economy was so low over here. really a great sign here. it's really a great sign because it that she will because it shows that she will have downturns always have downturns with entrepreneurs who are eh’é’r’e”. ww w 'w and you can see more of that interview and find weekend right here on bbc news. on friday. james bond now rests with amazon — its mgm studios has taken creative control of the film series. stepping back. the major shake—up could mean fans won't have to wait as long for a new film, or potentially a spin—off series.

for more on the direction that amazon will take the beloved film franchise — you can head over to our website or the bbc mobile app. the british parliament's plans to allow whisky distilled backlash from scottish leaders. when the malt grains are mashed, fermented, and distilled in the same site in scotland. dollar export industry for the territory. the scottish government said that it will quote "protect the identity and the character of scotch whisky" thanks for watching.

tonight, the army's apology, the rubiales verdict, and an update after liam payne's death. was partly caused by how the british army handled her complaint about sexual assault. gunnar beck filed a complaint against a senior colleague after he forcefully tried

to kiss her at work social. to drop the allegations. as a minor incident. a personnel boss has apologised, saying the army next to the middle east, where hamas, which runs gaza, israeli hostages. and her kids, were killed in an israeli airstrike. roger norris have been dropped. they're accused of selling the singer cocaine before

he died in argentina. and here is 10 seconds of tula 2. getting ready to meet the public for the very first time. that's you all caught up now. see ya. hello. welcome to sportsday. i'm hugh ferris. our top stories. spain's captain backs a court's decision to find luis rubiales guilty of kissing her international team—mate without consent. favourites india are up and running in the champions trophy. and saturday's world heavyweight title fight is off after ibf champion daniel dubois is taken