well, a short while ago the latest consumer confidence numbers show the sharpest fall in 3.5 years for february. since august 2021. our north america business correspondent michelle fleury has more. just explain this, because up until now, american consumers have been the bright spot in global economy. but they the globalecgqemy. but they taken the gteheteeeherhy. but they taken fry, why? i the gteheteeenemyrguuhey - taken fry, why?fi have taken fry, why? i think --eole have taken fry, why? i think peeple are _ have taken fry, why? i think people are sort _ have taken fry, why? i think people are sort of _ have taken fry, why? i think| people are sort of wondering whether not this is the

whether or not this is the in whether or not this is the 7 777 in the us first crack in the us economy, which has been pretty strong and very the envy of the and very much the envy of the world recently. the labour market is still in shape, you if??? you are startin- you are startihg to you are starting to see but you are starting to see these concerns taking root, these rflnre="s—tej'—l"dmt if 7 7—7 it these confines—telemenfltf ~~ �* it today's these rflnrems—tekmsrmt— ——~ �* it today's consumer whether it is today's consumer report, came sentieshss'tspeft. whish seine much than in much quicker than expected. it also on the 7 vofa : n from'the . ofmichigan: . of michiganlast university of michigan last friday which sent market slower because it was weaker than expected. a lot of this has to do out response to do with out response to that news cycle right now. people are listening to some of the new policies coming from the new policies coming from the new administration they new administration ended they are how it will are concerned about how it will affect their books or affect their pocket books or whether means rising whether 6 whether it 77 whether it is 77 inflation, whether it is because eggs are more hesaese eggs—ere sestihg res-re �* because they are worried or because they are worried the knock on effect of about the knock on effect of trade policy on their lives... 7£=i of these things are all of these things are to filter through to beginning to filter through to the consumer, so that initial euphoria that we saw about the new coming in new administration coming in and what it might do to unleash

and what it might dcrttzrunleash deregulation and gmwththtwghdetegulatiqnand ta pe, gmwthth mughdetegulationand tape, that gmwththtwghdetegulatiqnand tape, that sort of less red tape, that sort of boosted created a sense of boosted and created a sense of now some of that is replaced by fears. fears being replaced by fears. fears about what it mean for about what it will mean for i their pocketbooks. fizz—i will be viewed in mums: firms-é he it is month two of washington. it is month two of this new as you this new administration, as you said they have put a lot have said they have put a lot of faith in the of faith in growing the economy, making people feel better off. but if you are being kind, you might say this of stuff; 77 of stufffta kes 77 of stuffzta kes 5 j of stufffta kes 5 long; sert sf sty�*ftslu elena if you're being unkind time, if you're being unkind you might all the policies yeumightsayrall the peticies by the house announced by the white house have opposite effect, they have the opposite effect, they will push up prices. it have the opposite effect, they will push up prices.— will push up prices. it was fascinating, _ will push up prices. it was fascinating, just - will push up prices. it was fascinating, just a - will push up prices. it was - fascinating, just a - while fascinating, just a short while ago, one of the trade advisers age she ef the treeeeeyise's w — — — — — —— — the age she ef the tradeadysegr ——— ——r —— — the white house was age she ef the tradeadysegr ——— ”r —— — the white house was us to the white house was on us networks here, and he was t basically trying to sort of reassure wall street, look, if you believe in our policies, give to fright. give us time to take fright. there is a degree of nervousness about how some policies are being the policies are being perceived, but that is not

perceivedrbut that is net them to perceivedr'aut that is net them to or change causing them to pause or change course. and fact, there is course. and in fact, there is speculation about what future executive orders will be coming speculation about what future execl the orders will be coming speculation about what future execl the pipeline, ll be coming speculation about what future execl the pipeline, whether|ing speculation about what future execl the pipeline, whether they down the pipeline. whether they address trade, and of will address trade, and of course we know that donald the same tariffs are trump the same tariffs are still set to come into force against mexico and canada. we against mexica and ca nada. keep against mexicaand canada. keep close eye on that, will keep a ctese eye eh thaterm ~ , ~ ~ ~ to talk to you. to big tech now, and the growing backlash inclusion programmes in the us. today the focus is on apple, who havejust kicked off their annual shareholder meeting, the company's dei programme. the board recommends that shareholders vote against the proposal. catherine howarth is chief executive of the responsible investment charity share action. good to you here, what are we expecting out of this meeting? we said there apple is peopl; a f’flssf e 7 people t; a sea 2 >sss% it— 77 people to vote but we have seen

it, but we have seen other firms throughout the dei out of fume thffiyshfflit the pe'fiet’fif window. i f'ffi�*s thfiasas. fig 5537553 window. ., , . to comfortably win, and apple to comfortably win, and for this shareholder proposal to be roundly by the to be roundly rejected by the vast majority of shareholders today. that, vating'taday; having said that, are absolutely right that you are absolutely right that there has been a big flurry of very high profile enhancements from large companies in from'ta'rge'cqmpanies in the of donald trump? executive wake of donald trump? executive orders and banning dei policies fared—ere eh?— lif'e’f': “5�*551’725 " "" ..... a federal government in a federal government agencies. many companies thinking, especially those that thinking. especially those that a of business with the have a lot of business with the federal government, abolishing 7575531383556; 7 ' fizabahdoningi” �*diversity, and abandoning their diversity, equity and inclusion policies. that does not go down well with consumers, it does not down consumers, it does not go down well with employees, and it is = -e:: arisky ithink quite a risky path. i think apple will be rewarded for having taken out to policies that they put defend policies that they put in place over the last few e -77777 77 7777777 7 7 years. i would expect shareholders to support them.

what is your take on why firms are doing is it purely to are deihg this? ls it perety'te ' ,. ' " s'" themselves the 7 trump administration, donald trump administration. might mean they get more and are government contracts and are seen more favourably by the white house? or is this, we white house? or is this, and we have heard this rhetoric ”the; 7 7 ”the; [367777 7 77 the; on initiatives before, these dei initiatives have served their purpose and work as well as they are going to? a lot of companies are it is built into what we saying it is built into what we we do need do, we do not need specific targets... l do, we do not need specific targets- - -— targets... i think it is a bit of targets... i think it is a - bit of both, - targets... i think it is a - bit of both, good| little bit of both, good progress has been made but there is much progress still to there is much progress'stitt ta made in making sure that be made in and making sure that all employers actually do 7 7775115 77 7 7775115 t7h7e777777 77m 77-- achieve what it can within a given what your race, given company. what your race, ethnicity, gender, you have got a chance to be successful in company. we are not completely 77wor71derfu7l7 77 77 77wor71derfu7l7wor7ld,77 77 wonderful world, perfect in wonderful world, perfect equity. i think there is more to be done that was to be done and that was in the fact that e had these policies. "fine—e“ hasj these “*"es 7 l, m ' as, there "fine—e' he:j these “*"es 7 l, m ' as, there are “"":a"e' had the'e :*"ee 7 r” w , we there are people that

“"":a"e' had the'e :*"ee —e ,,, w , we there are people that do not like that. there is a backlash it, donald has bagklashjt. donald trump has a standard therefore absolutely a standard therefore that of diversity, th7at7re7iection of diversity. and inclusion. it is equity and inclusion. it is contentious right now and very contentious right now and at the business is at the business community is caught in that group where caeqht in. that dress at where stand. it is not popular to stand. it is not popular with consumers nor employees to what 7 what was 7 what was supposedly her in area principles in this'area dntit recently. principles in this, —. - ' recentl . �* just being 7 just being naive arn ljeet lasing naivehere'? 'e ,, 'e "e 'e e' will do what is best businesses will do what is best their bottom if they make money from 77 7 7m7ake7 money from it 777 7m7ake7 m77o7n7ey7from it7they can make money from it they will do it. whether means will do it. whether that means aligning themselves with the white house or with our consumers intentions, they just 77 77777777 7 just makes them a do just what makes them a profit. l do just what makes them a rofit. ~ , 7, do just what makes them a rofit. ~' , 7, ., profit. i think there is a lot of that, — profit. i think there is a lot of that. you _ profit. i think there is a lot of that, you i seeing - of that, you are seeing companies, and apple is probably one of them, that are holding dei policies holding onto their dei policies because they seek fi7nancial long—term financial advantage in that. they think it would go down very badly. and it would, with had their global consumer base, to currently abandon its heee t�* ea'ssehtt'a ele—“- ite' " " "' "' and commitments in principles and commitments in

area. but are this area. but there are companies that think, goodness me, that of on to ori - inal original policies 7 7 original polic7ies w7oul7d be our original policies would be that we lose huge government that we lose hdge government so there is a bit of sense of the business a sense of the business being in a pickle community being ina pickle . eee e e e this. community being iris-pickle , a..- a ,, , . this. ~ community being inaepielcle , a..- e ,, , . this. ~ community being inepicicle , ea c ,, , . this. ~ 7, i , over this. we will watch this very closely. _ over this. we will watch this very closely, thank - over this. we will watch this very closely, thank you - over this. we will watch this very closely, thank you very| very closely, thank you very good to have you much, alwaysgood to haveeyou us. one of asia's largest banks says it expects to cut 4,000 roles over the next three years as artificial intelligence dbs is singapore's biggest bank and employs more than 40,000 people. it says, in the next three years, ai will replace about a tenth of its workforce, primarily temporary related to the technology. jane foley is head of fx strategy are at risk. there is a consensus out there that suggests that it is data and therefore, if we look at the financial services

perhaps it's not surprising that one could be taken away. and we've got to put this in the context of what's and from that point of view, perhaps we need so, so many firms actually can do with less staff. and it's that recurrent theme isn't it? but this will be about reskilling and

in on the game, work out how to use this tech and they could find that there are newjob opportunities. well, this is it. that many people will have to have. you know, going through the labour market during their career will have to be about adaptability. i mean, quite frankly, if we look back in and it will be the same, but potentially at a faster pace. so adaptability, the possibility perhaps of different types of skills coming to the fore, to have human contact. those who have specific trades, for instance, will continue —— specific traits, for instance, it will to instance, it will continue to be very much in demand. but certainly some of the jobs related to data processing, but also maybe some manufacturing assembly lines.

for instance, those are also replacing jobs to. and other games, according to a 2022 pew research centre survey. administration could be a boon for the industry, with but what's the biggest driver of betting in the us? he's been telling our north american business correspondent, ritika gupta. it was our super bowl as well as the super bowl for the nfl. day of the year. but there's a lot of other great events coming up too, like march madnessjust around the corner. for draftkings. you see the competition? do you think that this space is too crowded? i don't think so.

so i don't think it's too crowded. you've also got competition from wall street firms now trying to get into the sports betting space. what are your thoughts on that? i think you're referring to the cftc regulated definitely a new space and something that if it evolves in a way that makes sense for us, we could look at as well. or deregulation and the tax policies? i do. i mean, a lot of our action is at the state

in i think 28 states now, there are opportunities, it was put in place to stop illegal betting back in the 60s you just mentioned with the cftc regulated markets. a pro kind of business approach. just time to tell you... tesla sales plummeted in europe injanuary, he backed the far—right afd party ahead of the country's elections sunday. hi —— of germany's elections on sunday. 45% less than the same period in 202a.shares of tesla more all of stories/ business, but that is your

today. see you soon.

welcome back, you are bbc news. what he called the biggest sustained increase in uk defence spending since the cold war. a "generational response". income to 0.3%.

welcome here to the programme. your reaction to this announcement? l your reaction to this announcement? ., , 7 announcement? i am completely blindsided, _ announcement? i am completely blindsided, to _ announcement? i am completely blindsided, to be _ announcement? i am completely blindsided, to be honest. - announcement? i am completely blindsided, to be honest. i - —— there might be some thought there might be some changes coming in the spring the statement this caught the statement but this caught me totally off guard. i think is wrong decision. it is it is the wrong decision. it is absolutely the right decision to support our troops, our forces have been underfunded forces have been underfunded for decades if i am quite honest. and when we look around the world, the number of conflicts is ever—increasing, so the more support we can give them the better. but to do to them the better. but to do it the backs of the it off the backs of the when the very money it off the backs of the is when the very money it off the backs of the is therefore very money it off the backs of the is therefore early money which is therefore early to keep people intervention to keep people safe in their home, but also to keep governments operating safe in their home, but also to keep go' around its operating safe in their home, but also to keep go' around the iperating safe in their home, but also to keep go' around the world, g safe in their home, but also to keep go' around the world, to properly around the world, to try and prevent some of the drivers that force people to leave their homes, it seems a

decision. ,, .,