manus: rewriting the rules of flight. air canada is one of the airlines rewriting the cockpit rules after the investigation into the german wings cross. -- crash. anchor: saudi airstrikes continue. manus: the first major event of the u.k. election campaign.

caroline: welcome to "c ountdown," i am caroline hyde. why he backs the takeover did. -- bid. manus: airlines are adapting new rules in the wake of the german wings crash. caroline. : the french prosecutor suggested the pilot was locked out of the cockpit. manus: under the regulations already in place, a commercial pilot cannot be left alone in the cockpit. easyjet, air canada and norwegian air are among the carriers confirming they will amend their procedures. caroline: it's go to bloomberg's

aviation correspondent. tell us more about this to any cockpit rule that resides in the u.s. >> after 9/11, there were so many rules about 9/11 and they made a firm rule anytime one pilot stepped out, a flight attendant had to step in to make sure they were two people in the cockpit. part of that were if the first were to fall sick, the flight attendant could warn the other. it is not just about terrorism. in europe, the lots are different. it is left to each country and airline in europe to decide how they want to handle it. we have a few airlines saying we are going to have two people in the talk. had another that is the solution long-term. there are many more factors. i don't think it is any less c4 airlines not changing the

policy right away. caroline: give us a sense of what is happening in terms of the actual crash site right now. the investigation is ongoing. people sifting through the rubble. difficult terrain. reporter: one of the problems is the crash is so powerful, everything was smashed to pieces including unfortunately the victims. it will be very difficult to identifying them. they are piecing together pieces of the bodies. they are going to have to examine them for dna to figure out who the body parts belong to and then get active the families so they can repeatatriate the remains. we can see people on the television coming through. it will take weeks or months to finish identifying all the bodies. it is likely they will not find everything.

caroline: a painful and heart wrenching story. thank you very much. manus: saudi strikes against yemen rebels continued overnight as gulf states reached out to members of the u.n. security counsel. elliott joins us from tel aviv. elliott what is the most recent news overnight? beyond the alliance they have already established with some of their neighbors. elliott: the rates have continued on the rebel positions. things like places where weapons have been stored, antiaircraft guns. in terms of the actual mission, it is not clear cut in terms of when saudi arabia thinks it has done enough. they said they will continue bombing until they are satisfied. the advance of the rebels is the

objective, marching on the southern port city of aden. they want to pop up the internationally recognized government. finally they want to prevent instability from yemen spelling over. or perhaps to the rest of the region. it is not going to be obvious when those objectives have been achieved. presumably, saudi arabia will be the one to decide when that has happened. that, or the possibility that some sort of political talks which could lead to some sort of agreement and cease-fire. manus: let's talk about the un's security council and the potential lobbying that has been undertaken in terms of an arms embargo. is that what they are trying to achieve?

elliott: what we understand from arab diplomats, they put out feelers to the security council of the possibility of an arms embargo on yemen presumably to target weapons getting to the rebel groups rather than security forces. even muting the prospect of having international monitors along the southern coast to enforce such an embargo. such a request, were to be carried forward, would mainly be targeted at the prevention of weapons arriving from iran. something that both the rebels and iran deny. it is not really at the stage where are discussing it were about to table it. they are only putting out feelers right now to reduce the possibility the rebel groups are able to rearm and belong the conflict to become something akin to what we have been seen

going on for years in syria. manus: let's see how the story develops. thank you. caroline: continuing on this angle, let's go to saudi arabia. glenn, what is the purpose of the attacks, do we feel? glenn: the minister of state for foreign affairs from the united arab emirates said the point was to bring the houthis back to the table. they feel the only way to carry this out was through a bombing campaign. one is to bring them back to the table. two to, to prevent iranian influence from spreading. caroline: it feels like it could escalate from air attacks.

glen: last night, the coalition spokesman said there were no immediate plans to send troops in. but if there objectives were not achieved from the air, they would consider it. yemen is a difficult place. the rebels, despite lacking air power, are hardened fighters and have been fighting for many years. caroline: part of the ongoing battle between shiite and sunni. from riyadh with the details. manus: last night saw the first of four election related events. here's a little bit more, and she was able to stay up late enough, is anna edwards.

they did not go head to head. many would say jeremy -- anna: they both want in front of a studio audience, but not head to head debate. the question of who won been answered by a poll that came out after the event. a poll saying 54% of those watching said that cameron w on. what did we learn about new policy? i spoke to a guest. he said there were a big holes in the deficit plan for both parties. probably not be for him to talk about deficits and welfare cuts. but that was one of the lines of questioning with cameron. where would he cut spending? david cameron: we have said that

breaks down into spending $5 bil -- 5 billion pounds from cracking down on tax avoidance. we have identified freezing benefits for two years to raise some of the money. the 12 million pounds -- >> 10 billion of which you have yet to explain. >> that compares to 20 billion saved by this government. >> do you know where these cuts will fall? you know and you are not telling us or are you not telling us? david cameron: we know they re will be difficult decisions. anna: ed miliband of labor.

david cameron has promised a referendum on whether we will stay in the european union. but it is not as distinctive -- clear-cut distinction. >> we have to be in out looking country. i have said, and this is unlikely to happen, this is a further transfer of power. it is not likely to happen. that is what leadership is about. saying what your priority is. why would i call a referendum and plunge the eu into two years of debate about some things i do not want to see happen? anna: if there is a transfer of power proposed, there would be a referendum under labor as well. caroline: it seems as if cameron has come out on top. what about the actual men themselves?

anna: the criticism often leveled at david cameron, the character he's -- caricatures painted by the media. people want to find out how in touch he is with ordinary people. the questions opened up about food banks, free food for people who cannot afford to buy their own. the other thing they focused on was zero our contracts. job insecurity. he was asked, could he survive on a zero hours contract? >> if you are a student, and you want to do some part-time work a zero hours contract can work for you. that's why we have not outlined them -- outlawed of them. what we have is exclusive contracts. so no, i could not live on those.

anna: the criticism for ed miliband is, is he statesmanlike enough? he comes behind david cameron for suitability for being prime minister. jerry paxton he did a picture of him with vladimir putin. could he crumble? he was trying to paint the picture of being a tough statesman. ed miliband: mi tough enough? yes, i am tough enough. do they want my ideas. my principles, when i have stood not up just to president obama but rupert murdoch. fighting for ordinary people which is what i believe in and why i came to politics. anna: in terms of the overall poll, david cameron wioon. when asked who would be the

best prime minister, david cameron came in at 48% compared to 40% for the labour party. not as big a gap. manus: the papers are going with the view that miliband was more aggressive. versus that of cameron. it is all the nuances of body language. anna: they both seem to shine in different environments. the questioning with the audience, it seemed that ed miliband felt comfortable. manus: did you see him sitting back? a lot of interpretation anna. you will dissected all during your politics show at 11:00 a.m. today.

caroline: let's kick it to the top stories. the bank of japan's key inflation gauge ground to a halt. the boj's measure that stripped out sales tecax showed inflation at zero. the governor said any drop will be temporary and will not stop the bank from reaching its 2% inflation target. the chairman of the italian tire company per really has called on my narrative shareholders to accept the takeover --. >> this project --

[indiscernible] this project will be set aside. i don't see third parties entering. anna: rio tinto's chief executive has warned prices -- the roles would go in several operations including iron alan moon them -- aluminum, and hr. manus: alastair campbell has been on last night. caroline manus cranny. a good night -- dire for dave. caroline: coming up, zero

inflation. japanese inflation grinds to a holt. but what does it mean for the country's recovery from the recession? ♪

manus: welcome back to "countdown." breaking news from chevron. we will bring you those updates. selling down is consistent with

the vestment goals. they remain consistent with moving australia look to find natural gas projects to startups. caroline looked back to japan. -- caroline: look back to japan. that is where inflation rose 2%. if you strip out the sales tax increase, it gives you inflation at zero. you have actually been traveling via tokyo. give us a sense with the feeling is. all this plays into the retail sales declining in tokyo. it seems as if the recession is not being kicked through. guest: one of the biggest problems is structural issues. error economists think now -- o

ur economists think now japan is at its full capacity. it will be inflationary without much growth. there will be a situation where growth will feel quite stagnant. manus: is that going to help this picture? that was the holy grail. guest: it will help the picture. our projection is it will swing the other way. inflation will become a problem. stimulus is inflationary. the bank of japan will continue have to buy bjb's. they have got themselves into a difficult situation. manus: that sounds like a

vortex. they have no choice but to continue on with qe. you are not painting a good picture at all. michael: this is in contrast with when the fed is hiking rates. our peak down the road is 140. caroline: i understand the aging concern, but there is focused to get women into the workplace. are those changes not working? michael: they are working, but they are increasing growth from zero to 0.5% to read they are working on the margin. one of the problems is companies do not want to invest in japan because if they build a factory, they have trouble getting workers to fill the factory. they would rather increase capacity elsewhere in asia.

manus: let's talk about commodities. a huge week for oil, the hugest rally sense february -- since 2011. commodity currencies, canadian dollar and australian dollar, is it a temporary reprieve? the oil, and how it plays into this. michael: geopolitical risk is coming in as a factor. our analysts do look for oil rising over the next year. short-term, the capacity for storage is declining. at some point that will feed to a low oil price. wills being supported by geopolitical risks. medium term, the outlook is buried. that means we are bearish on commodity currencies. the aussie dollar is the one we are most bearish on. it has had the best performance

over the past week for the last couple of years. there is the commodity slowdown in australia. the need for australia to rebalance away from commodities. that will keep it average. -- dovish. manus: you also have aussie dollar -- mexican. michael: we like ozzy max. -- aussiem mex. are not correlated with the dollar view. caroline: how much is china -- industrial profits not looking good. posting profit that is declining. is that feeding into emerging markets, why you are getting out of fx in that respect?

michael: the situation in china is not just the growth is off. the growth they are generating is not as commodities in tents. a lot of growth was building infrastructure, things that demand commodities. now we are shifting to stimulating construction -- consumption growth. that means we have a bearish outlook for commodity prices as well. manus: stock prices crumbling in the u.s.. the fed. other fed governors are saying, -- the market is out of sync with the fed. michael: we think the market has gone too far. we think the market is worried that if they removed the word patients, they wrapped it up in dovish commentary. the market went too far, perceiving it as being too dovish. the fed will be hiking shortly

after the midyear. we have yellen this evening indicating the same signal. people have reduced dollar exposure. caroline: dollar going back up . what would you say about euro-dollar? michael: we are looking for a decline to 104. manus: what is it, is there isa hesitancy to capitulate? michael: there are a lot of eurozone investors who want to move out. that means any rise in euro-dollar gives you the chance to sell euros and by other assets. -- buy other assets. the u.s. is a key region because the growth outlook is strong. caroline: it has been wonderful spaghetti you, if extra just -- speaking to you.

manus: nigeria is up next. at a crossroads. stay with us. ♪

manus: you are watching "countdown." 6:30 in london. let's see how foreign exchange markets are due. 119 20 is where we are. inflation comes in at 2%. below estimates. household spending lowest in 13 years. pimco has a high conviction sell on yen. they said we are going to break

through the 120 level. aging population, the economy maxed out. the bank of japan will have to continue to print money to keep the target from bmp, saying clearly they have a new target. 140. certainly in the longer term. pimco has higher conviction short trade going on as far as this can see his concern. -- as far as this currency is concerned. way below what the market and bank of japan want to get to. euro-dollar, 108. flat to asia. a short position on euro-dollar. hard to get up. we are seeing a repositioning by

bmp para bought. -- bmp. liquidity will come in as the trade comes in. you have ruvell up for the fifth day. dollar down, ruvell up. -- dollar down, rubelle up. the best performing currency of 2015. it is slightly overbought. you could see a little bit of a drawback. the ruble go back to 59 and then reassert itself down to 55. dedicated on the view -- predicated on the view that you have the move with the oil prices related to the's in yemen. that reignites ruble trade.

analysts have never been so far apart in terms of what the price of oil is going to do. well it is sunshine, the ruble makes hay. caroline: let's move to the top stories on bloomberg. the pay package will put her among the highest-paid cfos in the industry. on top of a $60,000 annual salary, she will get a $5 million signing bonus and a $65 million stock grant this year and in 2016. the world's biggest distiller plans to boost chinese sales by focusing on consumers.

the demand force or it's purchased as gifts has been hit or the government's frugality drive. registration of the model s four to has law in china dropping. -- the model s for tesla has been dropping in china. down from hundreds per month during last year pass fourth quarter. -- last year's fourth quarter. manus: nigeria is a country in crossroads. the elections to determine whether it is cheese its potential or descends into chaos. here is a take for what is at

stake. reporter: nigeria is at a crossroads at the moment. the country that had the fastest growth this century, became the biggest economy on the content. if u.n. projections are to believe -- they believed, it will become the third-largest nation in the world, overtaking america by 2050. this could make it the next india. the election is pitting north against south korea and the pdp has never been out of power since the military -- north against the south. the pdb has never been out of power since 1992.

the road we are on started out when the governing party in nigeria, the pdp split. that was caused because the leader, goodluck jonathan, did not hand over leadership. nigeria is a country with a delicate balance between the north and south. roles are alternated between the north and south korea the leadership of the governing power is no different. the central bank governor challenged the government's over corruption. the third point was oil's collapse, which had a major effect on nigeria, which relies on oil for 90% of exports. the worsening situation with boko haram come which caused a delay to the election. we are already seeing the risks before our eyes. there has been a massive investor exodus. it was one of the favorites of

emerging markets a year ago. now you are seeing lots of investors pulling out money. basically because, first of all, oil is bad news. secondly, they don't know which way the elections are going to go in terms of the violence that could happen. manus: for more on the elections our correspondent joins us from legos. it will be a tight race. the two candidates, it is amazing. goodluck jonathan has never been out of power and he does not want to lose his grip. whereas we have a dictator trying to oppose him. what is the thinking? reporter: you are right. this will be the tightest race ever we have seen sense military rule in 1999. jonathan, who has ruled that

nigeria for five years, he has been associated with major reforms. he has been criticized for not managing corruption and failing to stop the bloody insurgency of boko haram in the north. the other candidate, a former military ruler from 1983, he ruled the country for 1.5 years. he is known for his strict campaign against indiscipline and corruption. he was criticized for brutality, crackdown on freedom of speech. also, he jailed a lot of politicians. a lot of people observed that he ran against and jonathan good luck in 2011 and lost.

many observers think this time around, it will be a close race. manus: how important is the lack of fiscal prudence by jonathan? many people say he squandered the oil boom. is that part of a day to day reality for nigerians? reporter: definitely. corruption is a major issue in nigeria. we have seen it impact our infrastructure. we have serious problems with infrastructure in the power sector. galvan talked about the fact that the former central bank governor came out and exposed a lot of money that was being stolen in the oil sector. when the new president takes office, there are a lot of

issues nigerians are looking to him to address. such is the fact that we are seeing falling oil prices impacting nigeria, which is africa's biggest oil producer. the government relies heavily on oil revenue for spending. 18% against the dollar in the last six months. these are all heavily weighing on the economy. the next president, and also do not forget boko haram. that has -- definitely the next president has a lot on his hands. manus: thank you for joining us from lagos. caroline: let us know what you

want to hear about. if you want to discuss the nigerian election more. we will be covering many things throughout the show. interestingly talking english rugby. what makes for a successful world cup on and off. all eyes on hong kong. back in a minute. ♪

manus: in the business of sports segment, the second part of mark barton's interview with the english league ceo for rugby. a pivotal year as english hosts the world cup. mark started asking what makes a successful world cup? mark: what constitutes a successful world cup, both on and off the pitch? >> we see three major objectives. first, you wanted to be fantastic. people come to world cups and they want memories. they want to look at fantastic rugby and have fun coming to

fantastic stadiums. i would also like england to win, i am biased. we are doing all we can for england to win. as a consequence, more people are involved in rugby. whether you are refereeing coaching come alone during. -- coaching, volunteering. hopefully more people will get involved as a consequence. getting more people involved in rugby is what it is all about. mark: if england does not advanced beyond their group, is it deemed a failure? ian you want to achieve: all your objectives. england is doing well is an important one. but it is a world cup. it would be financially, we believe, a great success.

and a great success for growing the game. those two objectives will be met. regardless of how england does. for all sorts of reasons, you want england to do well. he went the home nation to do well. we are hoping to do just that. mark: can you put a figure on what the world cup is worth to the economy and to you? ian: in terms of the overall economy, we are looking at an investment of 2.2 billion. that is the investment. beforetween 400,000-500,000 visitors. what is the third biggest sporting event in the world. there are is the olympics, the

football world cup, and the rugby world cup. there are 48 matches. it has a significant impact. we've got a number of games in wales as well. that is a huge positive. for us, we want to be great hosts. we want it to be a great event. we want england to do well. we have had to pay certain guarantees to keep the gate in the first place. mark: ticket sales, 2.5 million tickets have to be sold. are we there yet? ian: ticket interest has been phenomenal. we had over 650,000 people

applying for tickets for one game here. the nominal demand across the country. it is an 11 venues, newcastle, brighton, exeter. around 39 of the 48 games have been pretty much sold out. the others are small numbers of tickets. we are delighted with the tryst. there is always a fantastic interest in great sporting events. the rugby world cup is a great sports event. mark: you awarded a extension to 2020 before this took place. if england were to be knocked out early and did not progressed beyond the group, would you regret that contract extension? ian: i love the hypotheticals of what might happen. as far as we are concerned,

stuart and his team are doing a great job. just -- not just on the pitch but off the pitch. it is important that we feel a connection with those on sunday morning. they have done a fantastic job connecting with the country. we will get great support. we play all but one of our matches here. we will have a fantastic homeland vantage with great support. stewart and the coaching team have deserved that. too often in sport short-term the gain is what prevails and we want to show we are planning for the future. manus: ian ritchie with mark barton. stay with us after break. ♪

caroline: it is a reliable companion to a good meal. would you become trouble putting your money into fine wines? a six bottle case sold for 64,000 pounds this week well over the estimate. for a taste of this more unusual asset class, let's bring in our guest. lovely to have you. talk to us about the asset

class. it seems burgundies are going through the roof in terms of price point. what got this going? guest: the fact that there is a low quantity of these particular products. people drink them. over the course of the time there are less of them. not just in the u.k. but around the world. individuals drinking them from ship -- from china, the u.s., all across europe. manus: there is a lovely piece about the shop where you go in for the tasting experience. what is the unique proposition you bring to the marketplace? sebastian: we are constantly sourcing the rarest and finest products across the globe. whether from private sellers or collectors. we provide the trade.

it is extremely exciting for us. anybody looking for something specific something old, we are there to provide it. we are effectively prior to retail if you like. great pricing and great products. caroline: give us the example of some of the most extraordinary models. -- models. -- bottles. sebastian: when you think about 1945-1946, just after the second world war. incredible. some 19 20's champagne to a 1928 domperidone. caroline: what would that taste like? sebastian: it is ok.

very sherry like. as a collector's piece. manus: you are constantly seeking sources, whether private sellers, boxes of wine. how does this make money? why come to you? what can i expect to be charged on a case, and average case? sebastian: we will give you a guide as to will it -- thought we would look to sell it for. unlike most areas we say, look if you have wines you want to sell, we will approach the market. manus: there is discretion. sebastian: we are not in your face. it is more about if you have

collections you are looking to value up we can do that for you. especially some of the rarer products. some people do not know they are so rare. we can help individuals do that. caroline: what would be the one dream bottle to get your hands on? sebastian: vintage champagne. the 1960's, 1970's, 1980's. the 1928 is the best vintage for dump arian on -- dom peringon. can align: still money in it. manus: get the check book, i am off to the winery. caroline: wonderful to have you on the show. manus: countdown continues. we are going to discuss cameron.

i very own anna edwards to talk about it. -- we have our very own anna edwards to talk about it. and also the german wings tragedy. ♪

manus: flight -- rewriting the rules of flight. that amid ongoing investigations into copilot's role in the fatal german wings crash. caroline: saudi airstrikes on yemen continue as golf straight -- gulf states reach out to the u.n. manus: david cameron beats labour in the first major tv event of the u.k. election campaign.

caroline: welcome to "countdown ." also, coming up, in a bloomberg exclusive, -- why he backed the 7.4 billion euro bid from chemchina. manus: saudi strikes continued as they reached out to the un security council about an arms embargo. what is the most recent news overnight between these air attacks and the news perhaps on ground troops etc.? elliott: at the moment, there is no plan to send ground troops in. the situation is an aerial campaign at the moment. we know the bombing campaign has continued for a second day. they are ill targeting military installations, anti-aircraft

guns, to stem the advance on the port city of aden. the gulf states see the hand of iran behind this. they do not want to see iranian influence extending more onto the arabian peninsula. they do not want instability to spillover. they say they want to prop up the internationally recognized government of the president. almost things quite a laundry list of objectives for this mission by saudi arabia. the huttis have been making headway militarily. they were not keen at sitting down at the negotiating table to work out a peaceful settlement. perhaps with the saudi fighter jets overhead bombing them, that might pushes closer toward some kind of political solution. manus: tell me more detail on this reaching out or lobbying a

better word to the un security council in regards to arms embargoes. elliott: it is very early stages. they are putting out feelers to the un security council about the possibility of adding some kind of arms embargo on yemen. it would not be as straightforward as it sounds even if the security council is minded to go down that route. for a start, you have got security forces there some of which that are loyal to the president. and you have rebel groups in places such as the capital. and in adaen as well. if you're going to stop arms getting into the country completely that will deprive the armed forces, the security forces of the government arming as well. the feeling of what lies behind this is the belief from saudi arabia and is allies that iran is behind this. they do not want to see iranian weaponry friday's way towards

herbal gross which might prolong this conflict or at least this mission that saudi arabia has embarked upon. so, that would seem to be what they are getting at. that it is early stages. the u.n.'s security council -- just putting out feelers to see if this is something that might come about. if it does they need to discuss who would monitor the arms embargo. very early stages, putting out feelers the moment. manus: thanks for the roundup. caroline: let's get the angle from saudi arabia with glen carr ie. give us a sense of what saudi arabia say the purpose of the attacks on yemen is. glen: i think it is what elliott mentioned. they want to bring the huttis to the negotiating table and bring peace. they want to prevent the iran ians from extending their influence. the prince said earlier this week that this saudis would take

all necessary measures to bring peaces. they seem to be moving up to that commitment. the question that comes to mind is what can they really achieve? air power is difficult to enforce a solution on the ground. they have not been clear entirely about whether objectives are, other than the broader picture of let's get the negotiating going and stop the iranians. we need to hear more specifics in terms of what they want to achieve, what the timelines are, and how long they think the bombing campaign will go on. yesterday they said they would carry out the mission as long as needed to reach their goals, but we do not know exactly what they are. caroline: outline, it is not just a bombing campaign. potentially ground troops, too. would that intensify the situation even further? glen: yes. it would intensify the situation in yemen. it is a very typical place to fight. the yemenese have a history of

fighting. as we witnessed in 2009 when they saudis fought a brief war with the huttis. it was a difficult fight. it took a long time to retake some of the territory the huttis had ceased. it would be very, katie to insert forces in the country. the saudis have made it clear they would only do it if necessary. i think they probably do not want to get entangled on the grounds in a yemensesese civil war. caroline: glen carey in riyadh. manus: airlines in europe and canada are dried-up rules of the wake of the german wings crash that killed 150 people in southern france. caroline: yesterday the french prosecutor suggested the copilot locked the pilot out of the car before to literally crushing the plane. manus: under the regulations in

place in the u.s., a commercial pilot cannot be left alone in the cockpit. eqasyjet air canada and norwegian air are among the kerry is to confirm they will amend their procedures. caroline: for more, let's go to our aviation correspondent andrea rothman in paris. how does the copilot's role change view safety in the cockpit now? andrea: i think first off we have to consider this is a one in a million case. it's extremely rare. it has never happened in the western world better copilot or any pilot has lost a completely and then something like that. i do not think it should change our view of the copilot or of the pilot. that said, it makes us realize was again how foldable we are as ashley in -- especially in an aircraft to the psychological well-being of the two people in the front. we have to be careful to make sure, the airlines need to

be careful to make sure the people are psychologically screened and that either pilot can watch the other for signs of weakness and call management if something looks to be wrong. that said there is a very, very rigorous screening in place at both european and u.s. and asian airlines. caroline: much investigation going into the background of the copilot right now and his mental state. but could we putting it up that -- might we ever see a day where there are no pilots and cockpits? we are thinking about driverless cars. driverless planes the next up? andrea: yes i do think it is conceivable. it will not happen in our lifetime. on the military side, we have drones flying all the time without people. you have subways that operate without people. ecologically it is difficult for the passenger to accept the idea of getting into a plane that has no pilot in it --

psychologically, it is difficult for the passenger. it is visible to have a plane flown without a live pilot. 85% of the time flights are on automatic pilot in the pilot is not having to do all that much. but i think it is probably going to be many decades before you actually consider letting planes fly without any person sitting in the cockpit. that said again, i know airlines are pressing manufacturers to look at ways of taking the profit -- tyhehe cockpit more automated. they could have one pilot in there instead of two. caroline: thank you very much. helping us look forward to this great tragedy. manus: last night, we saw the first of four election related television events. prime minister david cameron, ed miliband getting a growing from audience members. here with more is our very own political lady of the house. anna edwards. who won?

anna: crude question. straight in there. david cameron won, according to the "guardian" poll that was taken. they selected 1000 people who promised to watch the whole thing and give their verdict as to who won. that was the result -- 54% said that cameron won. 46% said miliband. there is still some holes. still many days away from the election on may 7. there are lots of things we do not know. we were looking to fill in gaps about policy maybe. around the deficit. i spoke to mark littlewood. he said still there are things we do not know about how the conservatives want to cut spending and how labor wants to put up taxes. i was interested to see if we have got clues on that. this is david cameron on welfare cuts. prime minster cameron: that breaks down into 13 billion that needs to be saved and government departments, 12 billion and welfare and five alien from

cracking down on tax evasion and aggressive tax. when it comes to the welfare, we identified freezing in work benefits like unemployment for two years to raise some of that money, but the 12 billion - >> 10 million of which you have yet to accept. prime minister david cameron: that compares to 20 billion that was saved by this current parliament on welfare. this is within the range of what we can do. >>reporter: do you know where these cuts will fall? i do not mean to be rude, but do you know and you are not telling us or do you not know? prime minister david cameron: we know there will be difficult decisions and we will have to go through every part of the welfare budget. caroline: for ed miliband it was inducing what he said about europe. miliband, the labor of the later party has not promised to referendum on the question of whether the u.k. should day in europe. david cameron, he has promised

a referendum. this was ed miliband explaining. milbaiband: when the want to tackle climate change, we have to be an outward looking country. it is not my priority. i have said this is a transfer of power from britain to the eu. but it is not likely to happen. that is what leadership is about, saying what your priority is. i do not want us to leave the eu. why would i call a referendum in 2017 and plunge the country into two years of debate about some do not want to see happen? anna: edd miliband selling out about whether there would be a transfer of power from the u.k. to the eu, that it would be a referendum. caroline: that has been the concern of the this is community, the uncertainty. what about the uncertainty surrounding the personalities? to be get any clarity on what these guys are like? anna: one of the criticisms leveled at david cameron -- he

is well prepared the conversation comes back to how in touch with normal people are you? that is why jeremy paxman decided to start the conversation with questions about food banks emergency food from people who cannot afford to buy any. then he moved on to zero hours contracts contracts considered by some to be less secure than others. many are campaigning to end these contracts. david cameron was asked, could you survive? cameron: some people choose zero hours contract heard if you are student and you want to do's and part-time work, zero hours contracts can work for you. that is why we have not outlawed them. what we have outlawed is exclusive zero hours contracts. no, i could not live on one of those. anna: what we learned about ed miliband and the polling he comes behind david cameron on readability for being prime minister. just how statesmanlike can you be?

this was him trying to prove his statesmanlike credentials. miliband: mi tough enough? -- am i tough enough? the thing i have learned most in this job is be yourself. that is what i am. people have to decide. do they want my ideas? do they want my principles when i stood up to not just to president obama but rupert murdoch, the energy company's, the banks, fighting for ordinary people? which is what i believe in, what i came into politics for. anna: david cameron did come out on top on the question of who won. who would be the best prime minister? this giving hope to the labour camp. the same poll found 40% said camera. 40% said miliband. which is not a bad gap. manus: where are you with the twitter sphere? i sendt out alastair campbell had an assessment.

wasn't great. what have you got? anna: i have got some great stats from twitter. 94.7% of uk twitter traffic last night was about this. manus: twitter works with tv. anna: it does with live events. the most read about moments was at the end because it made it onto vine. it became a vine clip. but that was an interesting bit where the microphones are still up. and jeremy paxman said, are your it ed? ed said are you? this got picked up on twitter. david cameron got more mentions then ed miliband. manus: top trend on twitter -- #battlefor number 10. anna: which is a very long hashtag. manus: nice pictures there. caroline: at least there is

engagement. anna: exactly. manus: i've got my polling card. twitter sphere. anna, thank you. i'm sure you will dissect it in the politics show at 11:00 a.m. today. join us on twitter. i'm there. i'm going to retweet these pictures on the 2#battle for number 10. caroline: coming up, we are talking zero inflation. japanese inflation grinding to a halt. what does it mean for the nation's recovery from recession? that next. ♪

manus: top stories on bloomberg. the bank of japan's key inflation gauge grounds to a halt as consumer spending slumps. consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2% in february. the boj's measure that strips out last year's sales tax increase shows inflation at zero. the bank of japan governor has said that any drop in prices will be temporary and won't stop the bank from reaching its 2% inflation target. in an interview with bloomberg the chairman of the italian car company correlli has called on its shareholders to accept chemchina's takeover. >> we can see the prices fair.

the transaction is based on - -the project. this project, if someone steps in -- and so, anybody that enters [indiscernible] i don't see any interest in third-party's entering into this. manus: the ceo has warned staff the company is set to cut jobs in response to falling commodity prices. sam walsh says the roles would go in several operations including iron ore and h.r. caroline: for more, let's bring in the j.p. morgan asset manager portfolio manager. i want to kick off with japan because you have been traveling around asia. your hopeful in terms of

japanese economic coverage -- recovery. we have got household goods spending and retail spending going down. inflation at zero. spell out how the economy is recovering. >> the thing we like about japan is a accommodative monetary policy. we wanted to be around these levels. it means the bank of japan remains in play. the+++

here. contrast that with relatively sluggish economy. there are some parts of the labor market beating signs of tightness. as a whole, the economy is sluggish. way to see those 30third arrow affects come through. restructuring in any economy is difficult. it does not mean there cannot be a decent asset allocation trade. manus: from that trade, and before he came back from the break you were saying that people have a gloaming view about growth. -- a gloomy view about growth. the whole movement at the moment is central-bank diversions. growth is 2.5% and the united states of america. 6% growth in china. where do i reach -- am i being pushed for yield? where or how do i place the money? guesta; one of our: core positions to be overweight, high yield equities globally. one of our core views continues to buy european equities. we think the dividend yield is attractive. when you think about diversion policy from central banks, the ecb are all in. we look at the excess liquidity in the region. 230 billion yesterday. that is going to explode. if i can build a portfolio of stocks which are yielding 4%, i think that is attractive. i'll be rewarded with huge

flows. caroline: we have seen a huge move and european exporters, carmakers leading up to the dax rally. have we missed that boat? where else can we see -- can you see high-yielding stock opportunities? talib: the euro has outperformed up double-digit returns. i think it has further to go. the reality is the diversions of economic policy, the diversions of central-bank policy means that this rally hsa got further to go -- has got for the to go. it has reached a point where you think that valuations have become overblown. we are a long way from that. i think that is positive. across our global business, we are pro risk here. manus: i was running to some of the more market wraps from the u.s. and asia. there is this expectation we will go into a q 1 reporting

season, it will be the first contraction in earning since 2009. so in a relative sense, the u.s. we've sort of cracked from those real highs. the u.s. markets coming off. balance it out for me. rotorazer talib: we do see earnings growth slowing in the u.s. it is not unusable that people start to recycle that cash into other more cyclical markets. but in markets where you have a tailwind of central-bank policy. 9 years since we seen the federal reserve raise interest rates. we think it is going to happen this year. that will have an effect on the economy. that will have an effect on the dollars. it is hard to see a massive earnings surprise in the u.s. we have been chewing our u.s. overweight to move across into europe and across into japan.

i think that trend is only in a 70. -- in its infancy. caroline: u.s. yes, japan yes. emergent markets, no. talib: people push the argument that you need to split emerging markets into commodity, and commodity exporters. we remain negative on commodity exporters. even among importers, the reality is if you believe the dollar rally continues and believe that at a reserve continues to raise interest rates at a modest pace i am not sure that the easing measures we have seen are going to get financial conditions easy enough. to my mind you can make the case for some emerging markets you are making a liquidity play. i would argue it is easier to do that in europe and japan. the market dynamics look cleaner. manus: i am drilling delmore. you've got health care and insurers and reits reinvestment trust. this goes back to income and income generation.

what kind of a yield, u.s. and european health care? talib: it depends on portfolios. we are disturbing 4.6% in a more flexible fund. one of our most favorite overweight, health care stocks have done amazingly well. we think you are buying growth without economic cyclicality. you're buying after the pretty strong moves, a reasonable given dividend yield. that is something think has got legs. caroline: great have you on the show. think you very much. -- thank you very much. talking all about how europe and japan. manus: coming up, it has been a volatile week. oil, well, that has been escalating. we've got issues around the arabian peninsula. we'll take a look at the crude markets, the ramifications for your trading day. wrap up all the moves in these oil markets across the week.

oil west texas intermediate for the day is trading at $50.83. all of that to come after the break on "countdown." ♪

manus: welcome back to "21st century television." welcome back to "countdown." bnp paribas saying get ready for $10. -- for $140. it will force the bank of japan's hand. pushing dollar-yen up to $140. the economy is at its maximum level. the dollar general he has had th at shine taken off it. inflation is nowhere in japan.

for pimco, that is something to tick over in your mind. they say that there are macro challenges in asia. inflation is unlikely to reach anything higher than 1% by next year. we just said the inflation data. if used about out the sales tax this currency is of course you're looking at 0%. there is a cap at 120. that is your dollar-yen story. the ruvell has gone from 0 to hero, -- the ruble has gone from 0 to zero the best-performing currency. let's show you the year to date. dollar down. ruble rising. it has been on a tear. up for the fifth day. the best performing currency in 2015. here wea re are reasserting itself.

it was overbought in those five days. it's an indicator it was overbought and oversold. you are going to see retraced back towards 59. that is the view. it will reassert its downtrend down to double nickels or 55. caroline: thank you. let's check in on our top stories this hour. google will pay a new financial officer more than $70 million after she joins the tech giant in may the pay package will put her among the highest-paid cof's in the industry -- the highest-paid cfo's in the industry. she will get a $5 million signing bonus. and $5 million in stock grants. deaggio expects it business in china to return to growth next year. it plans to boost chinese sales by focusing on consumers that purchase alcohol for their own

consumption. ivan menendez says the demand first year at as gifts has been hit for by the government's frugality drive. tesla. registrations of its model shave have halved last month. a research firm says tesla imported 63 of the all electric cars last month. that is down from hundred spur month during the last year fourth quarter. manus: greece races towards this monday deadline, the country must admit reforms to european officials to unlock over 7 billion euros of frozen bailout funds before it goes i suppose, under more pressure. let's get to athens for me. very good day to you, sir. this is almost armageddon-like

countdown. they have got but the paperwork in on monday. then the process of discussion about whether the paperwork is good enough begins in earnest. guest: we have to present a set of reforms by monday. then there will be a euro working group on tuesday. and a euro group on wednesday to discuss these forms. we not heard much details on this lease. their some talk that the highest income tax bracket will be increased in order to finance the allegation of the lowest one. vat will be probably heightened for some goods. at some specific -- there is not much details on the front end of the reforms, but we know they have to address issues onthe f the fiscal gap that extends from 2014 into this year.

is calculate around 8 billion euros. they have to percent reforms on privatization and on -- they have to present reforms are privatization. it is make or break time for greece. where almost in the 72 hour countdown. manus: give me a sense of how greeks feel about this situation. many people in greece have so very little to use. the youth, 50% are unemployed. we see the images of the real level of austerity in your country. do they support him? are they behind him? vassillus: i think people have understood that they cannot have the whole pie for for themselves. they have to give something back to their creditors. of course, austerity can be less -- at the end of the day, the predilection rhetoric of the

current government cannot dance. it does not bode well at all with creditor needs. i think the greek people are ready to go for a compromise. otherwise, there will be a huge clash. it will be more severe on unemployment and recession. manus: let's see with the paperwork delivers to the institutions on monday. in athens thank you. caroline: you can join us in the conversation on twitter. let us that we think of the show. is it more about greece? is it about the uk election and the face-off -- not quite battlea vs. miliband and cameron but with paxman in th emiddle. paxman is trending in the middle. for the actual winner of the night -- cameron it is.

manus: according to polls. three more to go. ♪

manus: authority said yesterday that the german wings crash was not an accident. the 20 year old german copilot crashed the airbus a-320 killing

all 150 people on board. investigator searched his apartment and home yesterday looking for clues regarding his motivation. saudi arabia has pledged to continue airstrikes against rebels in yemen to prop up the countries sunni government. jets continue to bomb the capital as early friday morning. a saudi spokesperson says that strikes will continue as long as necessary. raarab nations have reached out to the un security council about a resolution calling for an arms embargo. 12 people have been hurt in a building collapse in lower manhattan. it is not know what caused the collapse. the local media say there was an explosion. unconfirmed report saying more people may be trapped in the rubble. fire broke out in adjacent building and more than 100 firefighters were sent to the scene. caroline: let's check in on the

oil markets. a volatile week with crude posting its biggest weekly jump since 2011 all on conflict in yementhe. oil has trimmed some gains. let's talk commodities. joining us is bloomberg intelligence -- flip. also joining us is a capital strategist and head of investment. phillip i want to start with you because, yemen, what is it, the 39th supplier of oil? be the geopolitical -- theit's spiking oil higher. phillip: the threat is twofold. on the one hand you have the pinch point the entry to the red sea which ships needs to p ass to approach the suez canal to bring oil from the gulf to the mediterranean. but the mor more important

threat from this cominge is the rerbbels are shiites. the saudi government is sunni. the eastern province of saudi arabia, there is a shiite majority. the sauadis are concerned that the rebellion may expand into the eastern side where the oil fields are located. if the rebellions rates into the eastern provinces of saudi arabia, this could be a threat to global oil supply. manus: i want to bring into the conversation because you see geopolitical events like this, we cover this yesterday p we are reflecting 24 hours later. -- where we are reflected 24 hours later. how to market, markets got unsettled through this. crud had been spikinge higher but this really popped it again. guest: it is like the politics

-- it never went away. it has come back again on the horizon. having said that, if you are in stocks, you had a bad time over the last few months. we know that. so, there have been cases building up of long energy stocks. if there is any big instability and talking about -- let's not forget it is a proxy war. which is very interesting because the u.s. is about to strike a deal with iran. that should bring extra oil supply back onto the market. and it could take the oil back down to $20. the perfect scenario. inflation goes out the window. we are really talking about -- depending on which way the pendulum swings. caroline: talk to us hypothesize. this is all sheer speculation. you outline clearly that this is sunni versus shiite. how likely do those concerns

become a reality that we could see disruption with saudi arabia? philip: the southern border of saudi arabia is much more open to infiltration from terrorist because it is basically does it. it is not like the northern borders which have much better-- are much better guarded against iraq and other threats in the region. and this is why saudi arabia has reacted this strongly against this development. manus: have you readjusted your overall -- yet ready readjust for 30 bucks oil. everyone has got to readjust to a new paradigm. here we are. inside and suddenly we are up 70% in five days. for an asset manager, it's not an item in isolation. you have readjusted your portfolios. you're not shaken to the corea?

? manish: i invest more in oil services. if there is a cut in capital expenditure, i am not so much concerned about the stock. so. i'm happy to hold that. if you're into other major oil stocks, then you would take a longer-term deal. if oil goes -- everyone suffers because inflation numbers are going to go down. it also gives you comfort the fed is not going to raise rates. caroline: do you have a view on where oil prices will go? do you think this is temporary? philipp: what is clear is that volatility is not going to go away quickly because as we discussed there is no many moving parts with iran opec, with these insurgencies. so, it is just going to be

volatility. but what is also clear is that it is more important not where the oil pri but how long it is going to bece, there. if there is a deal with iran, more oil in the market, this comes from storage. because iranian production has come down a lot you to sanctions, and will not be able to wrap it up that quickly again. so, ok, the initial effects of the iranian agreement will be supplemental to oil supply but that it will trickle down again. caroline: what about the u.s.? shale could come back online. that seems to be where everyone was supplied to come out of. philipp: with the u.s. everything's hinges on the decision will they start exploiting oil on a larger scale? right now it is marginal. there are laws in place that prohibit crude oil exploitation out of north america. so, let's see how this develops.

manus: gents, let's draw line under the oil debate for now. number intelligence -- thank you very much. manish, you're going to stay with us. we will get into some of the details on your recommendations after the break. you are looking at live shots from london. the question is -- what will equities do their? paris up 8.5%. dax up at 11.941. stay with us. ♪

manus: manish is still with us, head of investments. we talk about oil. you're happy to hold some of those oil services names. europe. gabriel stein talks about money supply on monday. give us the bull case for europe. manish: we saw the lending numbers come out yesterday. very good. you are seeing the lending to nonfinancial companies the real economy, has gone up to 11 billion in february numbers. this is a very strong number. there is volatility but if you

roll out a volatility and take the average, there is a strong number since many years. vc money being lent to the real economy. on the flip side, you see that are used to holding these free assets is covered bonds, are at a negative number. caroline: but is it the right parts of the real economy? are we getting access in cash? once again, the big, strong safe corporate -- manish: i think we will look beyond the numbers and see if that is the case. when you look at money supply and money velocity -- [indiscernible] we have not seen this before. there is a negative number. now we are seeing a positive number. i'll go ahead and make a point that if the inflation number picks up greater than it -- quicker than expected -- manus: are you do going to kill off everybody's hope? that is like a death knell.

caroline: we are hearing that more and more. manus: if things pick up, they will not go the full quarter of q.e. manish: if it does we will think about whether they want to run the one trillion next year. manus: if they step back -- manish: it is too early. manus: you have lit a fire appeared american equity markets are shaken to the core over, they are almost breaking out in sweat over a 50 basis point hike. p imagine what kind of a tailspin equities and have they did not run the full course -- can houyou.imagine . manish: the narrative is still the same. semantics has not changed. if you do not have a sustained inflation, the basis is going to go out. it is semantics. the narrative has stayed the

same. since last year, i am a believer that the raise in rates is coming in september. 25 aces point in the u.s. it will be low and steady it is not going to spook the market. coming back to valuation, people talk about it.lenses that we are talking about the risk is very high. if you look at the yield on stocks, the 10-year german finance, there is no huge gap. you can say it is because of q.e. that you can also argue and say that the rates are not going to go up. there is a case for long equities. caroline: which equities? manish: i'm underweight in the u.s. and underweight in europe. equal weight in japan. in the u.s. since 2009 it is the first time we have seen a bad start. it is understandable if you have a strong dollar that should weigh on earnings.

when you have europe and japan to make your returns from, even starting from a low base, then the flow is going to shift. we are not seeing a bearish u.s. economy. still growing at 1.7%. if you look in spain, spain grew at 1.4% last year. they are going to grow at 2.4%. europe has a positive case to be made -- not least because you are starting from a low base. for the first time since 2011, we are seeing more of word raises in earnings than downward. consumer discretionary big part. have to go into that. if you want to seek safety, going to health care. it gives you the earnest. and financials time and again we talk about valuations low. given that finances are being used by -- like an atm by governments to raise money.

that aspect is still -- taxes and litigation. you have got to keep care. manus: you have just added in litigation. who are the most litigious? manish: in the u.s., we saw citibank and bank of america. here we have barclays. for me there is only one peripheral bank which i hold which is sao paulo, which has done very well. i hold barclays. but then you have to understand that the real economy picks up banks will be the beneficiary. manus: great to have you with us. you lit a bit of a torch for caroline and myself. great to have you. caroline: next up it is "on the move." oil is in focus as crude flies

back from its earlier highs this week. they will be talking economy-- commodities a looking at that u.k. election debate we had yesterday between cameron and ed miliband. trending on twitter. stay with us. ♪

jonathan: good morning. welcome to "on the move." i'm jonathan ferro. real euro weakness kicking in in the last hour. futures a little bit firmer as well. dax futures up around 80 points. ahead of the open, let's get straight to your morning grief brief. grinding to a halt. inflation comes in at zero%. japanese retail sales come in below estimate. the government has until monday to submit a list of reforms to

secure more bailouts. saudi arabia pledges to continue strikes for as long as necessary. futures a little bit higher as we go into the open. over the next hour, the president to have bundesbank and mark carney also speaking. i'll bring you to highlights. for now, manus cranny at your market hope. manus: it is really aggressive back-to-back declines on the stoxx 600. a couple of things that just caught my eye. deposits are at a 10-year low in greece. in february deposits dropped by 5%. 23 billion euros were pulled out of greek banks. you are reaching that break