reminder of the top story that we're tracking for you this hour moscow has welcomed a proposal from u.s. president joe biden to extend the u.s. russian nuclear arms control treaty by 5 years the accord which caps the number of nuclear weapons each country can deploy is set to expire in 2 weeks time. sic around of next year business update with stephen beardsley and i'll see at the top of the hour. it's about billions. it's a dollar or. it's about the foundation of the new order going to the silk road. china comes to expand its influence with this trade network going so.

china is promising its partners rich. putting there's a sharp morning whoever except money from the new superpower will become dependent on it china is going to lead to europe. starts feb 19th on d w. google threatens the police search engine from australia as a stooge over publishing rights heats up we'll explain how things got this far and why other countries are paying close attention to what happens. also on the show the pandemic has trapped 400000 barriers on their ships around the world what will it take to get them back to their families can keep shipments moving will ask an expert's opinion. and cleaning out your closet during the pandemic will show you how discarded shirts or shorts can be turned into. something more useful. globe

welcome to the show. it's good to have you with us a world without a google search engine might be hard for some of us to imagine but could soon be a reality for $25000000.00 australians about the novel threat the tech giant is now making in a dispute with the country over publishing rights. australian news outlets one google to pay them a fee or face a hefty fine for publishing their content in its search engine a corresponding law was drafted in december google says that's unacceptable and it retaliated at a hearing before the australian senate. the principle of honor st did linking between websites is fundamental to and coupled with the unmanageable financial and operational risk if this version of the card would have become law it would give us no real choice but to stop making. this would be the 1st time that google had

pulled out of men tire a continent but australia isn't taking it lying down. to strive you. rules for things you can do in a strike that's done. it's done by our government and that's how things work here in stride and people who want to work with that. you're very welcome but we respond to threats google has a lot to lose if australia goes ahead with its demands other countries could follow europe has long post a challenge for the tech company after months wrangling with french publishers on thursday google finally agreed a payment framework for including their content on its search engine. google also making news in a different part of the world its parent company alphabet announcing friday it was shutting down its balloon based wireless internet project designed to bring internet access to remote parts of the world including kenya the loon as it's called what debuted in 2013 was launching self navigating balloons in kenya as

recently as last year after partnering with local company telecom alphabets of the loan program was no longer sustainable part of the problem customers in rural areas couldn't always afford the necessary 4 g. phones to connect. over to the u.s. now with joe biden's expected signed new executive orders friday and of ensuring worker safety during the pandemic and expanding emergency benefits for americans amid a flurry of executive orders the new directives would allow workers to claim unemployment benefits if leaving their job over fears of catching the virus as well as improve collective bargaining rights for federal workers and other order would expand food subsidies biden has made economic recovery a priority of his administration while also seeking to expand the federal safety net for the unemployed. biden is also pushing a $1.00 trillion dollars stimulus to cushion the pandemics plough and i asked

former u.s. labor secretary robert reich if that was enough i believe we need to reach deeper and farther and be bolder in terms of restructuring the economy creating a brand new economy in many sectors if we're talking about green technologies wind turbines and solar panels and the rest if we're talking about medical technologies the importance of changing our health care system if we're talking about education that is not just a matter of technology but a matter of restructuring our educational system all of that requires fundamental change and also fundamental reform and i believe the by demonstration needs to be as bold as is possible former u.s. labor secretary robert reich is there for that full interview you can go online dot com slash business now it's not just washington celebrating the inauguration of joe biden but much of europe meters there hope to benefit from an administration likely

to withdraw tariffs and probably eager to mend ties but could they be getting ahead of themselves here's our financial correspondent chelsea lately. from trading floors to corporate boardrooms hopes are sky high across europe for the newly inaugurated the us president traders hope that joe biden and his democratic led congress will unleash trillions of dollars worth of stimulus and for an economic boom that will set off a buying spree of european goods. businesses and officials in brussels meanwhile hope that the era of twitter diplomacy and trade wars are in the past this. on the 1st. proposal to the new u.s. president elects built a new. challenger europe for america and for a better world. european stocks have been riding high on the wave of optimism with

the records being set across the continent in spines november election victory. for markets getting ahead of themselves the fate of europe's relationship with the new u.s. administration is likely going to be defined by a very trying to be an issue china biden wants to enlist the help and pushing back against china's trade tactics that europe has been less willing to court conflict with china and december the e.u. signed a landmark investment pact with china despite a plea by biden to hold back until his presidency was in full swing. the e.u. is in a very tough spot many european leaders do you share the u.s. concerns about china's economic policies and its human rights violations but by picking sides in the u.s. china debate europe risks potentially alienating crucial sources of investment and trade. while the u.s. remains europe's largest trading partner in 2019 early data from last year showed

china on course to overtake the u.s. for the top spot. washington may be celebrating a new era but that doesn't change the global backdrop of the world economy is being shaped by the battle between china and america for supremacy and europe is caught in the middle. it will take more than just a fresh face in the white house to change that. or into the high seas now shipping is essential for world trade but spare a thought for the crews who operate those ships particular particularly in times like these and since the pen demick began many sailors have been stuck in quarantine on their ships they can't go home and they're not being paid of the international crew change system is in crisis and this dire situation applies right now to about 400000 seafarers worldwide but according to the international chamber of shipping if something isn't done that number could rise to as high as a 1000000 now the international labor organization rolled in december that many

governments have disregarded basic seafarers rights by violating the maritime labor convention of 2006 that guarantees mariners the rights to access health care as well as return home and of course have annual and shore leave now the international chamber of commerce is demanding that seafarers receive priority code 1000 vaccinations so they can finally leave the misery of the last year behind them. so for example if i was need to be recognized me wanting them to respect right to travel and transit without unnecessary restrictions and for this fine me to become reality what needs to get new technologies and supplies confidence that seafarers who are passing through a narrow boarding a ship correctly are doing alright because housing good they're from very union which represents some of those seafarers time now for a look at some of the other business stories making news. and south africa's

struggle against corruption president several run oppose a has signed a law requiring political parties to disclose donations of more than 100000 round about 5400 euros anonymous donations are still possible although the law does prohibit donations by foreign states until now south africa had no regulation at all on private political party funding. frustration across nigeria as millions try to switch to a new national rather a national identity number have a february 9th deadline if they don't register in time telecom operators say they'll block their mobile phones and critics say the process is slow complicated and even dangerous as applicants are forced to wait in large crowds. the value of bitcoin has plunged fueled by fears of stricter regulation under president biden cryptocurrency has been trading at just over $25000.00 losing more than 10 percent in a single day it shut almost a quarter of its value since record highs earlier this month. a lock down measures

have been a disaster to many sectors of the economy including brick and mortar fashion stores and by the end of the winter a half 1000000000 pieces of apparel could have gone unsold that detail coming from the berlin fashion week which is taking place digitally this year so what happens to a lot of that unsold inventory take a look. the coronavirus pandemic lock down time to get rid of clothes. this one or that one right the 2nd spatter that yes that. it comes to one of our dares meyer a lot of effort she wants to sell some of her clothes and donate others. i hardly ever sort out old clothes i don't buy things because i've run out i just buy because i think they look nice i still wear all of it and enjoy clothes shopping. something shoppers can't do in traditional brick and mortar stores these

days usually these merchants sell between $10.15 fashion articles per day now it's all just gathering dust on store shelves. most of it i hope will get stored and we can take it out next year or in the fall. and that won't work with everything or fashion loses value quickly the trendy or the goods are the less i can still sell them next year kind of nice and. some fashion retailers are now hoping that lots of people will sort out their old clothes during the corona pandemic and buy new ones but in collection points for used clothes like here in the berlin textile port a steady stream of textiles has been arriving since the 1st lockdown. you've got how many people have had a long time to look around at home and get rid of things they don't need they've given us so much of that stuff it's always a challenge to find ways of doing good with it plus. every german sorts out an

average of 15 kilos of old clothing per year much of it is damaged dirty inferior quality or not appropriate for the needy they could be turned into rags or clothes hangers they're made out of things that couldn't be used otherwise that would have been for a while now the chemical engineers been making clothes hangers and of these otherwise useless textiles that she gets here in the harbor. we take it from them but we also work with sun fashion brands that may have defected goods or returned goods that they cannot sell we collect it and then turn into a material which is basically a alternative to plastic so by this we solve 2 environmental problems at once we solve the plastic waste problem asari textile waste problem and then also the plastics problem meaning that you never need crude oil or fossil fuels to produce plastics. brassy use dell looking for investors for her startup she wants to use

these low quality textiles with a high price to content to produce furniture. and that's it for me and the business team here in berlin as always to check us out online dot com slash business you'll find more about these stories and others i'm seeing beardsley is watching. in mexico many push over lunch us right now in the world climate change is an awful story this is my pleasure feelings from just one week. before it can really get. we still have time to ask i'm going to. the. guy on neal and i'm game you know is that 17 trillion land on him or killed

worldwide each year but it's not just the animals little suffering that's tomorrow if you want to know how a way flicked of the priest and the huntress changed us as we think is listen to our podcast on the green funds. this is the w.'s a show coming up today concerns on it's the was largest covert 19 vaccination drive . questions arise in india about the efficacy of from north korea to develop vaccine as a company goes ahead but even izing frontline temp care workers walked off in subs and what is the government doing about them plus. i guess it's the world's 1st cohort of artists locked out.