>> lobo growth. the world bank raises its forecast and says the richest nations will lead to recovery by importing more from developing countries. >> getting personal. the french president's speech on the economy was over, and -- was overshadowed by questions about his personal life. >> and questions about bowling. one year after battery fires grounded the fleet. welcome to countdown. i am mark barton. >> and i am anna edwards.

reporters are standing by across the world. they are ready to deliver the stories that will inform your day. report on thes to president's struggle to keep his private life private. >> and how this veggie may have helped over the holidays. and the private equity firm may be hungry for a taste of one of the top companies. that story ahead. and what it will take to monetize sports franchises. >> some of the big inner views that are coming up on bloomberg television. we are meeting with some of the heavy hitters. first, the ceo of the u.s. team in brooklyn. we will be with him on countdown. ahead is the nba face-off in london against the atlanta hawks. >> and we look at how car racing

is going global with the infinity red bull team. plus, we talk more with the chief commercial officer for the arsenal team. he talks about how he is working to promote the team to win international fan base. >> asian stocks are higher this morning. that after the world bank raises its forecast. it sees the world economy expanding 3.2%. that compares with the june projection of just three percent. the upgrade comes with a warning. developing markets remain vulnerable to tapering in the u.s. >> the french president is trying and failing to escape questions about his personal life. this overshadowed his speech. caroline hyde is in paris. take it away. hour.s been a 24- full of headlines. >> you are right.

i was there at a press conference. it kicks off that -- kicked off at 4:30 yesterday. they got impatient as he tried to sell to the french public how he will turn the economy around. all anyone really wanted to know was what will become of his supposedly first lady. she has been in a long-term him, but notith married. what of the allegations of the affair with a 41-year-old actress question mark -- typically it was the first question that was asked. will she remain first lady? [speaking french] his or her in personal life can go through ordeals.

these are painful moments. i have a single principle. private matters are dealt with in private. no answer coming from the president's first lady. no answer about whether she will remain a first lady. she said she will give an answer by the trip to the u.s. on february 11. the fact that he is not clearly sticking by her -- everybody has bes suspicion that he might finding a new first lady. >> he refused to give much clarity on his personal life? what about on his policy? how was he looking to approve the economy of france? >> there was much more clarity and that respect. the business leaders -- he did init to problems, not just his private life, but in his political life.

they need to tackle the supply side of the economy. france needs to boost its production. he unveiled a new tax law. it is called the response ability packed. -- pact. >> why this packed? -- pact? the time has come to resolve the main problem of france. its production. we must act on the supply side. supply creates demand. we must continue to reduce the cost of labor. >> this is what the european commission has been calling for. they said, you have to cut down on government spending and reduce labor costs. that is what the pact outlined. they will wind back government spending by 60 billion euros. they will simple fire regulation for companies. regulation for

companies. in return, companies have to hire. talks with businesses will start in less than one week. vote -- they hope to vote through the responsibility pact, autumn. airlines is investigating the cause of the smoking battery on a dreamliner. >> you probably think you have heard this movie before. this happened last year as well. there was a failure with the battery pack. that was read designed -- redesigned after the whole global fleet of 787's was grounded. , oneven the technical part invented liquid -- vented liquid through a safety valve. the plane was empty at tokyo

airport, due to fly to bangkok. you can see the drama reflected in the share place -- price moment. >> the old saying smoke without fire may not apply. the investigation is underway. bad news for boeing may be good news for airbus. >> united airlines has canceled a $1 billion airbus order. the carrier says they are no longer needed. there is more need for smaller jets that shuttle people around. the kind that we would use to fly from london to paris or rome. the other side is the commercial aviation. combines space and defense unit. this was put together last year. the --a restructure restructuring that's shaved more than 5000 jobs. we have learn more about that

from an interview. he said he is open to merge the space business. he has contemplated taking full control of the missile business. putting news coming out of the sector. >> thank you very much. >> later we will hear from burberry on the third quarter performance. what is the big news for burberry? >> you will not get any answers. it is technology. takeover. transition. you have 300 attendants that can put up your profile at any time. that is before they can make a match, technologically speaking. they win. pick in the order of the most adept brands. it is year 34 burberry in terms

of winning. there is apple. they have already worn -- it will be a tough one for them. margins will be hard to sustain. in terms of a reference point, at 7:00 or 8:00, retail sales. is rising. -- it is rising. digitsales rose by double in the first half of the year. they are set to outperform their peers. >> it has been a tough period d forbe a. tough perio european luxury? >> when we use the word luxury, there is hard luxury and soft luxury. the watched seems to be picking up a bit better.

we have moderation in terms of what china is doing. the yen is weakening. goldman sachs said we will see continued pressure in china. this is a new regime. the people getting a beautiful rolex or diamond. luxury, the overall group, it actually lagged markets for the first time in five years. if you believe that the chinese boastravel, you may will yourself against the generic. >> thank you, we will see you later. >> coming up on the "countdown" -- nba basketball goals global. we have more on the big game that is coming. -- will this deal, will? i like your use of language.

it is unclear. it would put one of the biggest in chinaquity buyers with the u.k. biscuit maker. this is a chinese private equity firm. they manage $7 billion. examining a bid for the u.k. based biscuit maker. we will tell you all about the potential bid, what it means, will it happen, and what it will do to the markets. for now, i will hand it over to my colleague. >> the nba is coming to europe. we will look at the game coming up tomorrow when the brooklyn nets take on the atlanta hawks here in london. and more broadly, the globalization of sports. the starts at 7:30 this morning and that countdown. the ceo of the brooklyn nets. he is leading the charge to take the franchise outside the u.s.

to global markets. later, we will look at it from the perspective of formula one. >> thank you very much. reiterate, don't miss our interview with yormark. ryan will be there. >> coming up, the world has look to asia for growth. our next guest says the tide is turning. find out why he expects the asian growth engine to stall. in the latest world bank report. ♪

companyfor today's news. general motors has appointed a new chief financial officer. they also said they will a point a dividend of 0.30 cents a share. the u.s. government stepped in to save the automaker back in 2009. they are selling one million shares in an offer of square. that is according to people with

knowledge of the deal. and china's biggest smartphone maker says sales gained eight percent. they are the largest maker of equipment for phone numbers -- equipment. ."o "countdown abouty are concerned emerging markets and asia. our next guest sees that asian growth engine become in the world's weak spot. steve. me is thanks for joining us. raising thenk growth forecast to 3.2% from three percent. do you concur? >> not really. in both 2012 and 2013, asia was about 60% of all growth.

they pointed out that china has slowed down. account balance for these nations has moved from a surplus before the crisis of five percent to seven percent to zero percent. is that the news euro and the u.s. gain relatively. we are losing very quickly the momentum from the engine of growth. >> the world bank is bringing down -- they are bringing down the forecast for china, brazil, india. these brics in the wall seemed to be crumbling. >> if you travel to these countries -- is a proactive strategy. you haven't indonesian financial anister -- you have indonesian financial minister declaring that a little bit of

the crisis would be good because it would give him a mandate for reforms. you have i posco minister saying that we will have subpar growth. dia's ministeri saying that we will have subpar growth. i noticed that seven regions in china have lowered their for crest -- growth forecasts by one percent. the risk is that this will spill into europe in terms of less export. has been from the likes of germany, france, spain, even the u.k. >> what is the read from the credit numbers out of china? theit growth declined in second half by the most since 2003? that is a good thing -- what is the impact on growth? >> it is a good thing for the balance. i think what is most interesting

in terms of pricing the shanghai composite and also overall growth is that in these conditions where you see slower growth, the lyrical lead -- the political leadership is concerned about lower growth. it creates strains on the ability of being able to create new jobs, which is a big part of being a planned economy. that will allow the money market rates to increase. everything being equal, this is the first time in the crisis where china is not proactively helping the rest of the world but is distracting from the rest of the world. a big surprise could be that someone might germany would see a dramatic fall in export sector. chinese produce cars take over. and don't forget iron ore. prices.ad a new lower >> i wanted to ask about where commodity prices are going and

what that does for the inflation outlook. >> it re-outlines -- reemphasizes the deflationary trend. to spite the fact that they have -- the producer prices continue to go down. that is exported into europe. at the same time, high unemployment rate and excess capacity continues. the big thing for me in terms of new rings relative to what we are seeing is this proactively seeking lower growth. to some extent, also the bank of toland, you saw that we got -- >> stay with us. more on the ecb. more on the eu parliamentary elections. 2000 and 14. next. ♪

>> welcome back to "countdown," i am mark barton. >> steen, let's talk about france. is battlingt questions about his private life. could he make the case that an alleged affair would be good for the economy so he would talk

about something else? >> anybody like the president best when they are in a crisis. his approach yesterday was very balance. asking of -- instead of for initiatives that cannot be follow-through, he is restarting the reform programs. chance.king a it could be positive for france. if there's one country in the world that needs reforms, it is the french. >> one chart i enjoyed is the chart comparing the s&p 500 over the last two years to that back in 1928 and 1928. you mirror both charts. what is worrying too many if you are a chartist in you believe in the link between the two is that 1929 is the klein of

30% in the benchmark index. are you worried that the current s&p will mirror this performance? >> i am worried that we are the most optimistic in this crisis in terms of expectations. 30%not a -- worried about a decline. this is what you expect every 5- 6 years. as we talk about the early -- as we talked about in the early segment, countries are in a better position. if we can create some sense of urgency for the reforms, to implement some of the good things but commission has done in terms of europe, the u.s. getting their the schoolhouse in order, if we can create the sense of urgency with the stock market drop, that would be good. whatever -- it does not matter in terms of its ability to tell

us anything about the economic strengths or weaknesses. >> lots of a -- economists glaze over the topic. do think they have significance? >> what you need to watch is in northern europe. this concept of wilfork tourism. the fact that new migrant workers from bulgaria or romania can go to any country in scandinavia where they have access to benefits from day one. if that becomes a central piece of discussion, and i see that increasing in the u.k., you could have an ironic political effect. almost like the tea party in the u.s. they agree on disagreeing with the government. that woman to could be very strong. if people are threatened for their livelihood, their ability to get a job, you increase the

north and south of but also the west and east divide. we are ines happen, for a very exciting. . >> lots to come.

ho>> london -- irgan in

am mark barton in london. the world bank raises its growth forecast. -- thehington post lender is-based predicting the global economy will grow this year. this followed a conflict with the biggest shareholder over the 3 billion euro offer. they are seeking to boost the world's largest bank to avoid nationalization. and the british labour party is expected to charge a chancellor.

chris leslie has tabled the cop pay senior staff bonuses. welcome back. i mark barton. >> and i am anna edwards. asian stock markets are higher. that is the global -- world bank raises its growth forecast. we have the details. bankoptimism for the world comes with some conditions. the asteriskith that we are in taper mode. it says, not everybody is prepared on an equal footing as

it were to defend against the smooth and orderly unwinding of qe. let's go with the upside. austerity supplementing recovery. we will get growth on a global races, 3.2%. the world will grow at double the rate is here that it did two years ago. however you chop that up, at a global level, the richest nations will spearhead that. they will grow that -- grow at around two point two percent. the message seems to be coming from europe. >> you are right when you mentioned that japan is unchanged. 1.4%. europe, 1.1%. backup from originally -- they said it would grow 0.9%.

germany is propelling. surplus.such a big the air propelling the recovery. -- they are propelling the recovery. europe is where america was 1.5- 2 years ago. how do you find your legs? not sure which way to go. >> i have no idea what that looks i can >> interesting what you said about germany. steen was saying, watch out. ae exports could be hurt by slowdown in spending. specifically, automakers. >> that is fairly logical. >> and brazil and india and mexico. >> when they talk about the someoping markets -- people, emerging markets are not created equal. luxury is not all equal. people -- brazil, india, and

turkey were pacers in terms of foreign exchange. we talked about it a lot last year. china will slowdown. i will leave you with this. the budget healing in the u.s. is a good one. in japan, the reforms may disappoint. question the sustainability of the recovery in japan. >> thank you very much. >> the french president is trying and failing to escape questions about his personal life. they overshadowed the speech about the economy yesterday. european is this correspondent caroline hyde is in paris to discuss the political hopes and private fears. mark, you are right. try -- he tried to fend off questions about his private

life. he did outline some measures he will take to improve the french economy. i'm about to be just -- joined by a director at the institute. frederick, i know this is not your area of expertise. were you frustrated by the lack of clarity given with regard to his personal life? are you worried this will distract us from the economic clarity we are getting? >> the key question is about economic clarity. i don't think the president's private life will do anything for the future of france. the key is the economy. >> you are not distracted by watching for the gossip? >> not at all. remainvate life should private. >>) >> let's talk about the economic issues. -- align some -- he did outline some steps.

30 billion euros being rained back in spending. what was new? he clarified the economic policy line. i will be for the first time ever since he was elected. -- clearly chose a supply-side. he stated he is a pro-business president. this is new. same with the employment and growth. by this and created not government. this is new. this is not what we heard before. this is really the newest part of his speech. seeing as well that the levels of the book spending are too high and need to be decreased. levels of public taxation and spending are too high and need to be decreased in >> this

is a bit of a u-turn. what needs extra clarity? any more areas that you need to hear about? when he is not clear is talks about curbing public spending. the 50- will find 80,000,000,000 euros. that depends how you count the cuts. where we you find those -- that is unclear. what is the action plan behind finding these? responsethe pact of ability -- the responsibly place-how will it take in terms of control and checks and balances question mark >> where would you like the ?pending cuts to come he said there was waste in the health care department. when you think we should be

drawn away from it? >> 60% of public spending is health care. huge -- huge i cuts are waiting. as well is in the local communities in the region's. all the organizations. >> efficiency? >> efficiency, productivity. retreat.ld give more weight to private- public partnerships. or to private companies. you say that more clarity is needed in some of the statements he has made. riers also have to be bar in terms of what he needs to carry out.

he is making a u-turn. he promised to tax the rat should -- promised to tax the rich. now he is trying to woo the businesses. huge level of distrust with the business community. we can think that the speech can probably not reverse the trend. i think the bigger us -- the biggest barrier is a political barrier. -- this is why he has said he will propose the votes to parliament in may. it is a measure of a political u-turn. it needs to be supported by his mp's. fight that is today -- that we can consider to

be one in advance. -- won in advance. the latest thing is to completely invent the welfare -- reinvent the welfare state. 60% is in welfare. this is a huge project to be undertaken her. >> he needs credit ability from the business community and from his own politicians. that is one help. popularity is around 24%. it has not really changed since his private affair. probably, it cannot go any lower. what needs to be done is really to take action now. >> frederick but they give a much. he comes from the institute here in france.

back to you guys in london. >> thank you. caroline hyde live in paris. >> it up and "countdown," the heads of all -- head of the largest advertising reveals his secrets. ♪

> >> time for today's company

news. japan airlines is investigating what caused a area on a knowing 77 to smoke during preflight maintenance. this comes a year after a battery flyer on a jet led to grounding of the 787 fleet. airbus executive says he is open to merger talks for the space unit. he would also contemplate taking control of the missile business. -- that leds airbus to the loss of 5800 jobs. >> and the sales come in below estimates. whileales are up 10% international sales are down three percent for casino. >> will come back to countdown.

"countdown."ck to a bid foronsidering united biscuits. he joins us from hong kong with the details. >> good morning to you. it would be a big deal. it is unclear whether it will happen. the company us that is possibly looking at the u.k. based snack baker, united biscuits. they areld that holding informal talks with owners. it is unclear whether this will move forward. says itese manufacturer is not involved in any talks to buy united biscuits.

it is speculated that could be part of any potential bid. they have a history of linking chinese companies with acquisitions. that's the speculation here. perhaps a chinese buyer could be interested in getting in on this detail if it happens. they declined to comment in this case. it just goes to show the consolation in the sector, the global sack food -- snack food sector. and also the rising prominence of chinese companies. hony capital has nearly $7 billion. we will be watching this closely to see if any potential detail emerges in the space. >> zeb, thank you very much. could the future of united biscuits be written in a fortune cookie? that? you like >> i did. --y also make

>> the orange one. >> a big name in england. if you are looking to jumpstart your career, you might want to check out the new book from bloomberg's eddie lou. -- betty liu. she asked some of the biggest players in business how they got ahead. an executive for the biggest advertising company. >> the biggest difference is personal. if you give birth to an idea, and you start something from scratch, like we did 28 years ago, it is a personal thing. make a reputation for yourself in an industry you enjoy. -- people sayople

you should switch from opportunity to opportunity. but my father said, you should stick with the industry you enjoy. then go off and do something on your own. don't just try to make money. it doesn't work that way. don't do something you are ill at ease with. to can supply that principle advertising or marketing or corporate strategy. deep as opposed to broad, i think that is important. consistency. >> go on. [laughter] said,ike the bit that stick with the same company. don't switch around. >> build a reputation. when you are ready, when you hit male menopause, then you can move.

i am still waiting for male menopause. >> i'm not trying to get rid of you. but he did suggest that come the age of 40, you can start looking. >> i like that. >> the austrian open is eating up -- stay tuned. ♪

>> welcome back i am anna edwards, . >> time for look for the topics from today's newspapers. ryan chilcote sitting to my left . let's start with you, carolyn. .> i was there with all the pomp and circumstance, the red velvet and gold. this man took to the stage. the friends resident -- the french president. it is on all the newspapers. saying, we now need action. talk of helping businesses. reducing charges in terms of payrolls. cutting back in government spending. here is a british paper.

journal -- the european edition. a new agenda for france. there he is amidst the red velvet at the palace. this detailed more about the economic story, what we can do at aduce the unemployment 16 year high. trying to make a more business friendly environment here in france. which has the highest tax in europe. the first question from the france -- press was of course about his private life to read hisanted to know about first lady and will she remain the first lady. >> the front pages of the english press dominated by the french president. >> something entirely different

on page nine of the times. beauty surgery at for children dropped after sexism outcry. >> i am outraged just by the photograph. >> they are asking kids to slice open faces and stomachs to make them slim and beautiful. -- this is for nine- year-olds and older. >> it's ok then. >> the problem is that the app itself, the name was something along the lines of plastic surgery for barbie. >> it is encouraging you to do it to an animated picture. >> apparently, it says that the girl -- no diet will help her. it introduces children to the word label suctioned.

liposuction.ion -- it is supposed to be a joke for adults. but kids are finding it because of the word barbie. i would not have thought my daughter would have ended up there. it is just bizarre. >> it has been dropped or band? >> apple controls the app store. tennis and ever play 42 degrees celsius? >> i probably have. >> it is hot and sweaty. one tennis player at the austrian open collapsed. he fainted. 43, 4, 5 hours. he said, it is dangerous. he warned that someone could die. said, i put the water bottle

down at the court and it started melting. it was like a oven. it is pretty hot, like you are getting in a frying pan. the experience of those temperatures is like walking tray hairdryer. -- walking through a hairdryer. >> i like this story. popstartarist goes from to fizzy pop star. a certain vintage, you may remember him. the bassist from blur. britpop ago as the swept britain. he has applied for a trademark -- a trademark for the term britpop. he wants to apply to drinks.

i'm sure they will not all be in it. >> now he makes cheese. >> the second hour will be back. ♪

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