>> an all-star lineup. an exclusive interview with -- korvak.rterback between police and protesters leave at least five dead. the >> a surprise contraction from the factory floor. the first in six months. hello and welcome.

london. six a.m. in a warm welcome to the program this thursday morning. ready to deliver the stories that will drive your day. iscrossix-- francine standing by. how tothis question, top 2013? is putting the spin on spain's unemployment picture. >> let's tell you about some very big interviews that are coming up this morning on bloomberg. here's the first hour of "countdown." sorrell and roger carr. will sitne lacqua

down with mario greco. interview with tony blair. >> with all of that in mind, let's head straight out to tebow's work mobile leaders where leadersvos, gathered to meet. will be achols, it cracking day. chasingseven hours [inaudible] >> the speech is important. he speaks later during your show. we should diminish the speech. in itself that is an important moment but he is eating -- meeting with oil executives. ringing his oil -- bringing his

oil minister along with him. talking about maybe going to the third biggest oil company, .otentially going back in iran this is all about connections and the challenge is to ensure -- i sure ceo's that the six- month trial will leave something more lasting and permanent and can lead to return on >> there is a lot of talk about trying to get in there. especially all the major oil companies. not mind trying to meet them. that has been investment in the country so you could torque up your oil production out of a country like iran. oilll know about what distraction does. there is a sweet spot and oil is a lucrative commodity to have

underneath your soil. [inaudible]tand -- we have >> you have massive infrastructure investment and foreign money coming in and companies competing for slices of that. -- the lifting of the sanctions is real. the u.s. administration is going to be here. they have difficult political challenges at home. this idea that this is finally [inaudible]ls will it is hard to ink deals in the cold. great line up of guests. 80 billionaires here and

we see some younger and female billionaires. >> this gets at something that is on the sidelines of the conversations at dominoes -- davos. wealth inequality seems to be talked about so much on the sidelines but this idea that we can fill in stack and entire givesith billionaires an you an idea of how many on the facility. >> we have a chinese and indian and u.s. billionaire. you're going to play james bond. very exciting and we see companies here, their brands, they are trying to leverage off what is happening. just an excuse for me.

>> i am glad you are in one piece. you're fine. looking forward to that. i will send it back to you. we have a great panel coming up and that we have exclusive interviews. watch out for that billionaire hour and then we have the imf managing director a little bit later on today. >> i know as you said you are chasing the iranian president for seven hours yesterday. this is a story you tweeted about yesterday. i gather that air traffic controllers have managed something the diplomats have been trying to achieve for months. and is putting you ran israel next reach other. we are talking about their jets. is because of alphabetical order. this is how they park. i would need to double check. we did check yesterday. they got a lot of attention. >> he would see the 747 parked

on the tarmac at andrews air force base just down from air force one. under sanctions had do they pay for fuel? there must be some international system on how you guess of the plane so you can take it home. >> they have their own. they travelknow if with their own fuel. >> we have great wishers throughout the day. anything can happen at anytime so we will keep you up-to-date with anything fun or a little bit quirky. >> thank you. plan is hardeating enough. you have where they will parked airplanes next reach other. china's manufacturing may contract for the first time in six months according to an early purchasingthe hsbc manager's index. for more on what this means for the world's second-biggest

economy, john dawson is in hong kong. >> good morning. this, 49.6 was the flash pmi reading. below 50 is a contraction. it missed estimates again. this year they work right -- they were quite strong. fell in theions dollar fell. orders are shrinking. global demand is part of that. a strong litmus test here. differentn this situation. strong inflation and a slowdown for china. they -- do they cut rates or do they not? >> john dawson live in hong kong. >> we have been talking about

airplanes but let's talk about the low-cost sector. easyjet will pace its quarterly sales. can the ceo roof further towards the more lucrative is this customer? what are we expecting today? >> expected to rise about eight percent. we get a feeling for what the first half pretax loss we are expecting is going to be. have a loss ino the winter loss -- winter months. it is interesting in terms of the tactics. the chief executive has been paying because they have been working. , more affluent passenger offering flexible last track tickets. track tickets. they are opening brussels and

strasberg flights from london as well. trying to push in to germany and push into france. statistics,at the 20% of the tickets were business-class. they just won an award in the 2014 business travel awards. >> ryanair trying to copy the strategy. the stock is up again this year 13.5%. can investors live up to the stellar performance they have had so far? shares have doubled and they're locked in, we have a dividend coming. march inash and in terms of dividend. to be reducing the holdings.

the best-performing european airline. 110%. >> thank you. >> spain's jobless rates expected to remain above what effect percent. when is the outlook for the jobless figure going to get better? >> o you could argue that the outlook is beginning to improve as the economy is beginning to improve. the risk in spain at the moment is you have this structural unemployment with nearly 40% of these jobless people have been out of work for more than two years. you're seeing people who are the sing their jobless benefits. greenaid, there are some shoots in spain at the moment. last night at midnight marks a big milestone for spain. it exited from its bank bailout program. 41 billion. they no longer have access to

the 100r rest of billion that was allocated to them. the other thing worth looking at yesterday, a record 10 billion euros worth of bonds sold. that is good news. bond yields down near a seven-year low. some green shoots. >> it is all going right for spain especially on the bond yields front. thanks. >> stay with us. star panel. francine will be joined by the head of the world's largest advertising agency and the incoming chairman of the largest defense company. stay with us today. ♪

>> welcome back. let's get back to davos where global leaders congregate. >> it is day two. we are joined by the first panel of the day. roger karr.by sir

thank you for joining us. there's a lot of optimism and yet there is a lot to be concerned about. we are not really growing. there's a concern that we are relying too much on federal banks in the markets may be complacent. >> i think the mode is so much more positive. that is something to celebrate. i do think it is important we do not become complacent. there is no doubt the movement positive is slightly but still fragile. the u.k. is a good story, the u.s. is a good story but to keep the momentum going we have to keep focused on real performance delivery. >> are we complacent? rex it is a little bit better. it feels a little bit at her. 50 basis points better. we see that in our budgets. having said that we have been instructed to focus on the big issues. unemployment, health, welfare, climate change,

and the like. water, issues like that. i think we loose sight of the -- lose sight. italy on the bottom. bookends.d u.k., the poland is good. u.s. is stronger. brazil has slowed. colombia and mexico, turkey despite the political situation there. strong for us and we will continue to be. china also slowed and india has slowed. .he key issue if there is no clear majority or congress does not get a majority we have stasis again. >> are we predicting

geopolitical concerns? >> i think you look back and you see that area often the topics we have thought are critical. where we are at the moment is efficient -- a position where we have moved from being concerned about crisis to being concerned about managing recovery. the mindset is different. i do think your point about the geopolitical risk also starts to be different. karen -- iran is moving closer, you look at china and some concerns developing their. like always with the world is up -- never stable. theill consolidation be solution for 2014? >> i would say the biggest risk is clients continue to focus on

cost. finance and procurement has got more power. we have not had significant price inflation since 1990. that -- commodity prices are increasing. they put pressure on the supply chain of which we are part. parts.us is focusing on some companies are not making their numbers and that is due to focus too much on cost and not on the top line. >> what about your industry? >> defense industry is different. the budgets are being managed down quite strongly. in america, the administration is a little better than we had hoped for. it has to be realistic area do everything is about cost management in those markets. in the middle east and australia, there is more a --ity so i think for be bae you have to match the costs

and explore the activity in the architect and there are hot prospects for growth there. >> commercial is doing very well. >> where military. -- we are military. >> you can always wrench out. >> what a good idea. not the first move i would make as chairman. doing well what we currently do seems to be the right thing and the right way forward. >> are your concerns about the structures, -- other kind, the kind that can win accounts,. >> the combination -- we are s 721. the ration we are gaining. there is considerable disruption. -- and clienttion reviews are quite extraordinary. i was in a review with iker

soft. a bigger issue announced in the press is sprint and vodafone media. there are significant pieces of business that are breaking free. and obviously contested. quite inption is not your sense. that consolidation has -- we have two very good -- big companies and a big distance between us. usruption has been with since google was going to eat our lunch. worry. >> 35%l do business is digital. >> any to ask you about work- life balance. -- i need to ask you about work- life balance.

>> [inaudible] icons in the business world. do you have any kids? have you found any stress? do not enjoy what you're doing, the business can be a very difficult place to be. fundamentally what else would you want to do? you are engaged with great people, there is opportunity, it is interesting and it is actually stimulating. there are sometimes a slight , positive a basic experience to have the privilege of running these large businesses. you do what you enjoy. rex exactly. >> thank you for running us this morning. >> do you enjoy what you're doing? >> i do. i am out it 4:00 a.m. in the snow and the cold. thank you so much for great conversation.

coming up, anna will be talking to the generale ceo. and in the 10:00 hour, three billionaires coming up in the program. an indian billionaire, a chinese billionaire, and the billionaire from the u.s.. >> we will stay tuned. i know what it is like in the cold. you have to laugh. >> thank you. more from francine in just a moment. acurity was tightened in platinum mine. the strikes will affect the world's largest putnam producers. -- platinum producers. we are getting updates through the morning. are now happening. >> the number of the day is

$550, the average monthly wage of a platinum mine. when we talk about these union 20 to double pay we have to think about it. we are coming off a very low base. acte say it could imp [inaudible] members may walk out over pay. 44 people lost their lives. we do not want a repeat of that. if you look at the global supply of platinum, you could have three quarters of supplies disrupted. it is slowly taking higher and clicking higher. >> can the mining companies absorb these kinds of wage hikes ? ing increase they are askign rate ofigger than the inflation. >> when you think about platinum mining you have to think about

what they do. it happens deep underground and it is very labor intensive which makes it expensive as well. you look at labor costs, 40% of the overall cost for a platinum company. it is hard for them to absorb. it is not as simple as saying higher wages, we might have to make cuts. this is very politically sensitive. an unemployment rate of 25%. you do not just go out there and sat evil. it makes a big difference. this is the largest private- sector employer in the company. images of 2012 that remind us, 44 people died and the police are already ahead of this event ramping up their presence in the area just to prevent those things from happening again. rex the have to work the security and they have a bit of a different approach. you cannot go in hard. >> the strikes could happen .igger if gold mine workers were allowed to use drake -- to

strike as well. >> that could happen later this month. today it is worth clarifying it is all about the platinum mines. >> thank you. the latest on those mining stocks, we will keep an eye on that story as it develops throughout the morning. >> guess where we are heading next? francine will be chatting with the head of italy's biggest insurer. generali.o of ♪

rex reason the bloomberg top headlines. antigovernment protests in ukraine turn deadly. police were granted new powers to disrupt and demonstrators. two bodies with gunshot wounds were found at a point set up by activists. five had died. china's manufacturing maker tracked for the first time in six months according to engage released i hsbc. was belowinary rating a final figure of 50.5 in december. they signal extra stresses for the world's second-biggest economy. anda's government opposition committed to their

first peace talks. they continue to disagree about whether president assad will fit into a future transition government. the meteor said he will meet with the new -- with the sides again today. >> hello and welcome. >> it is 6:31 a.m. in london. and data loss -- in davos. is in davos.ua marioning me now is greco. there is a lot of talk about the fact that this will be so much at her. the first davos in five years

were we do not have a crisis to deal with. are you feeling people are a little too optimistic customer to have to go -- optimistic? >> i think no one misses the crisis. this has been a long time and we're happy that we are coming back to normality. the world system has proved it can be very resilient and it passes the crisis. things are not solved yet. fore's a lot more to do countries and companies. we are making progress and it is much better -- a much better in parliament and mood than in the -- an environment and mood than in the past years. you thinking there is me, that aagging

crisis could come back in any moment? >> market had been inflated with a lot of liquidity. things have to get under control. fundamentally what we need is to reactivate growth. particularly in europe. europe has been patient. it is getting better but nothing has been really solved for good. and we need forward progress from europe and particularly from southern europe. spain has made progress but france and italy need to make more. >> you have to strengthen your capital position and selling off assets. are there any acquisitions insight? what are your priorities? would you sell something else? >> we have plenty of time because our strategy goes to

2015. fortunately we are ahead of our plans and we are trying -- we have time to focus so we will sell it. we would not look for acquisition and we said we would be disciplined and we would favor discipline. we want to improve the sustainability of the strength of generali. once this is done we will move on with the new plans. >> are you [inaudible] business.here to do meetings all day long with the customers and we will do that today. >> what our client asking you come a do they want guarantees or want to know more about your business? >> the biggest challenge for all provide services to customers. it is a different world. the world is changing.

the world is getting more integrated. and challenged by the work need tons, and we service them and an appropriate way. >> you think 2014 will be a good year, are you expecting high things? >> i expect it is a tough year but a normal year. a year where the world is coming back to normality. things have to do -- be done very well. it is a tight year. it will not be a nice journey. there will be much more normal than in the past year. to catch up every couple of months. six months ago we were talking about that fact that a lot of companies -- is this gone or is there concern that because you have strong's -- opposition. may hurtability companies such as yours. >> it really depends. what italy needs is a shakeup.

and a strong reform program. change in sectors like the labor market in italy. do not thinkso we this is a style -- a sign of instability. promising.ng to be >> we are asking our executives how you deal with stress. onre is a panel discussion meditation. we have a lot of tech companies here saying i want to work for myself. do you have any tips? >> just be cool. do what you like. if you do what you like you're going to be fine. spend time with your family and the people you love. >> thank you.

we have more interviews coming up throughout the day. also a panel with the iranian president. we will be speaking to the [inaudible] in 10 minutes we will head for an interview with the former u.k. prime minister, tony blair. i will hand it back to you in london. >> thank you. she informs me she can still feel her fingers. >> unlike yesterday. quentin tarantino will not be working on a new film and we will tell you why. it is all in today's newspapers. ♪ >> time for today's company

news. microsoft could allow customers to have their data stored foreignthe u.s. -- customers. and cutting jobs. the head of technology was among

those let go. the move is part of a plan to keep full ownership. for as spurning a push partial sale of the unit. u.s. regulars are said to start scrutinizing berkshire hathaway. council is evaluating which non-buying financial companies could threaten stability if they were to fail. welcome back. >> 6:41 a.m. in london. picksor look at the top from today's newspapers. our european business correspondent caroline hyde is here. francine is in davos. or shaking his head. >> we picked the same story.

bible thatd of a everyone has. this is a program for the world economic forum annual general meeting. at 9:00 a.m. we have a workshop. >> it is on meditation. this is a workshop, a goldie hawn meditation workshop. it is how we deal with stress. ceo's this to morning. we had the lloyd's ceo. this morning. cool.greco just said be stress ofot have the making acquisitions. it to the conversation.

el-erian of pimco saying he struggled with work life balance. finance whenn someone is resigning it is because of legitimate reasons. >> the one session, we have great sessions. we have the iranian president. this is the davos paper. abouth telling us here theired to allow customers to switch off to disconnect from that funny 4-7. will live.how he when you meditate they say it will help you live longer. >> facebook could die out like the bubonic leg.

-- plague. researchers are a socially -- assimilating social media and by desert of users could facebook. they are using google search as a way of predicting that facebook is going to die out. facebook is not going to kill these people. >> it is not. the growth curve should be compared to epidemics. by 2017.die out >> thank you. our newspapers? do not miss francine's interview with tony blair. ♪

>> we're live in davos all m orning. to you., over >> thank you. we are joined by the former prime minister of the u.k., and envoy to the middle east area and tony blair, the one and

only. thank you for joining us. talk to me a little bit about what the last two weeks it has been huge for the middle east. it ran is getting closer to being accepted by the international community. do you think it will go the full way? but we have an agreement on nuclear arms by the end of this year? >> i think so but it depends on tother iran will take a step give up nuclear weapons and step back from being a threshold state. i think we should not be in any doubt the real deal is that they step back from that threshold. the indications are serious -- implications are serious for the region. instabilityn more in a region already stable. it is good that the rhetoric has changed and good that there is a reaching out. i am happy to give the time and

space for the negotiation to succeed. it is important that we do not mistake the fact that easingnts to have a full of the sanctions and wants to be accepted into the international community. that is on the table provided they understand that the price of that is to step back from where they are. that stepping back can be measured in clear step so we know what we need to achieve. that is the tough negotiation and the one upon which everything really hangs. >> do businesses have to put also?re on iran >> they want to do business but in order to get the sanctions properly eased it requires action from iran. we have been through this with them over the years where they have reached out and appeared to moderate their position and the international community wants to avoid a further conflict in the we're going to be

careful that all the time we are very clear. this is what it means. if you wish to get acceptance from the international community it is there and it is on offer but you have to step back. step back from where you are. >> should they have invited iran to the talks? if the issuehink is whether they attend or not. the issue on syria is how do you create the situation in which assad actually feels under pressure to reach a consensus and agreement for a different way forward to syria. i'm afraid he will -- he is under no pressure on the ground in syria to do that. sedition pressure. it isn't not inconsiderable achievement to get people to talk on syria. the test is there going to be -- is there going to be sufficient exercise to agree on a new way

forward for syria and the options for syria are all pretty difficult and ugly. >> the mood here has significantly changed when you talk about global growth. have concerns that [inaudible] of a're not in a situation crisis. for a lot of people out there this talk of recovery seems quite remote from their lives. they are feeling enormous pressure and there is still very high unemployment. some of these countries are thatg pain on a scale virtually since the second world war, countries have not made these big cuts in budgets, spending, and benefits the highe and there are still levels of unemployment. we are in a better position than

we were. everything should get subordinated to growth and jobs, that is the key. get the youth to work if they have never worked? tot can governments do change that? >> which is why growth and jobs is the key. you need the macro policies that are going to stimulate the growth but you also need to make sure that in the labor market you have flexibility that you are allowing his this is to hire young people. levels of youth unemployment that are over 20% and sometimes as high as 50%, those are serious indicators. we can if people feel see the way forward, we hang on in there and we can see away forward, it will be good and europe can recover. feel that they're going to have to go through several more years of this with

uncertainty at the end. you a lyrical issues. the downside risk is probably more political and economic. i watched carefully the european elections. you could get a curious phenomenon which is a lot of right wing anti-european parties fighting and winning the seats in the european parliament. >> will britain still be in the eu in 2018? >> i hope so. forill be disastrous britain to leave europe. there are uncertainties around that. on the other hand the long-term case for britain and europe and for europe is so strong. >> what happens if the unthinkable happens? >> we have to think about it. for me it is very simple. in a world in which you have got these huge powers, china and becoming and yet, even a country like indonesia, that world will

develop in the 21st century. the case for countries like britain and france and italy and germany to come together and exercise influence collectively, it is obvious. where ie for europe and am in full agreement with the u.k. government is europe does have to reform. there are things that europe can do on energy. to take one example. it could make the industry a lot more competitive which could help the consumers in europe. when it comes to reform in europe, i am absolutely in favor of it. that would be better advocating that reform. not something threatening exit. >> what is your biggest concern for the world? the -- ifd about there is one thing they are most

concerned about aside from growth in the middle east, is that. >> that is possible. the feelings on both sides of very strong. very strong nationalist feelings in both sides. you feel that these two countries will realize so much is at stake, that isn't -- it is not worth threatening the stability and the order of the world. you have risk on the economy as we have seen and the middle east it self. there is a big situation of uncertainty. you travel to china? >> i spent a lot of time in china. the most important thing is the decisions that were taken at the committee in november for the economy. i think that gives a huge new lease of life to reform and china.and growth in the leadership was strong enough to manage the situation with japan, realizing the strong

feelings on both sides. china keeps on growing and that is the benefit to china and the world. >> i never quite got it together to meditate cap really. >> how have you dealt with stress? >> the way i dealt with the is to realize what really matters and what does not. likenk we come to a place davos i do think you're really privileged. you think about the people with measurable and challenged lives. it seems a bit of an indulgence when you realize how lucky you are. if you have a proper appreciation of your true

significance in the scheme of things, all that -- those things that seemed difficult and impossible seeming little less threatening. minutes. back in a few ♪

>> arriving at the world economic forum. he said he is and that most to -- davos to tell leaders iran has changed. clashes failed and between for testers leave some dead. >> the first in six months. hellow an and