ursula von der leyen, looking pretty good, ithink. king pretty good, i think. he is really trying to push china's role in what china wants to think of as a new world order, with china at the centre. china's relationships with russia, with saudi arabia, really being key as well. just during the past couple of days, the past day, really, we have seen talks also happening in beijing between saudi arabia and iran, the first direct talks in a very long time. so really, at the moment, beijing looks to be the place where countries go to get things done. xijinping really looks like a very important statesman on the heels of the strip. celia hatton, thank you very much for your analysis. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. what do i like about myjob? everything. i love the fact that i work in a place full of so many interesting, intelligent and innovative people. i love the fact that when i come into work, i know that i'm going to tell a story, or many stories, to viewers both in the uk and around the globe, and i know how imp

president macron invited ursula von der leyen to come l ursula von der leyen to come with him. oking at the different speeches that have been given in beijing, macron is playing the soft part while ursula von der leyen is playing the hard card because she has warned several times china because of the alleged meddling of china and russia or in ukraine so macron is playing this card in order to say we can co—operate with china, we are the biggest chinese partner we have in the economic field so there are ways that we can co—operate while ursula von der leyen was giving some warnings to china. in leyen was giving some warnings to china. ., , , ,, to china. in other business news that _ to china. in other business news that we've _ to china. in other business news that we've got - to china. in other business news that we've got for . to china. in other business| news that we've got for you this morning, samsung electronics reported a likely 96% plunge in first—quarter operating profit. in a preliminary earnings report the will�*s largest memory chip and tv manufacturer estimated its

ursula von der leyen wants to represent _ intend. von der leyen wants to represent the 27 _ intend. ursula von der leyen wants to represent the 27 eu _ intend. ursula von der leyen wants to represent the 27 eu countries, l to represent the 27 eu countries, doesn't she? trade is important in china's economy has really suffered post covid, so what room is therefore trade links improving, not just with the countries she represents but also president macron has got some 50 or so business delegates? taste has got some 50 or so business delegates?— has got some 50 or so business delegates? we will hear a lot of warm words _ delegates? we will hear a lot of warm words from _ delegates? we will hear a lot of warm words from the _ delegates? we will hear a lot of warm words from the business. warm words from the business community but i think the real difficulty is because the eu is... each of the 27 countries have different wants and needs from china. so how is sheila will be able to balance it, the current issue for foreign policy for many

how hard has china come down on your country, and what would you like to hear ursula von der leyen andanuel macron tell xi jinping on that score? >> i do hope president macron and ursula von der leyen made a clear and sent a clear message to the chinese side that those actions has china behaved against litania once they started to advance relations with taiwan, which is e right of each and every country -- it is not about politics but about economic cooperation, about projects of common interest for many countries, globally speaking, but the chinese acted unilaterally in a most aggressive way, sending again a clear message that china is promoting its interest as much as needed. that's why i think we see hey changing china. if we don't mo appropriately and make it very clear and i would say even drop deadlines for china so we might meet china in a different corner. >> many thanks for speaking with us from vilnius. >> the pleasure is mine. >> in france, 400,000 in the streets of the capital, part of yet another national day of action against pension reform. the bill that was passed, rail

really, no talk at the moment of ursula von der leyen, highlighting this divide that china has been tryingally extend a lot of honours to emmanuel macron while leaving ursula von der leyen really isolated. they don't like the things she has been saying, nor the fact she has been highlighting a lot of human rights concerns before and during her trip. and a key focus for macron has been to pressure xi jinping into increasing its pressure on russia to bring an end to its invasion of ukraine. what's your analysis of what progress president macon has made? there has been some criticism he has achieved very little. yes, some have said that they think he has really failed in this regard. i don't know if i share that, really, because i think we just don't know at the moment whether xijinping has really digested the message from emmanuel macron. of course, he knew that it was coming. emmanuel macron said that long before he even left for beijing, this is what he wanted to push for. i think it really comes down to whether we are going to see a phone call between xi jinping and volodymyr zelensky, th

rico boy —— ursula von der leyen. he jinping. rico boy -- ursula von der leyen— jinping. der leyen. he will meet with xi jininu der leyen. he will meet with xi jinping and _ der leyen. he will meet with xi jinping and his _ der leyen. he will meet with xi jinping and his new _ der leyen. he will meet with xi jinping and his new premier. i jinping and his new premier. yesterday around 3pm local time he first met with french residents in the capitol, he also spoke about how the west shouldn't try and reduce diplomatic and economic ties with china, especially because of the rather crucial role that china plays in the war in ukraine. basically what he is hoping to do is persuade china to ask russia, of course, it's ally, to try to bring peace in ukraine. it is meant to say that not many experts are expecting a big breakthrough there. but it is a very tricky balancing act for the french president, because he also wants to push for closer trade and investment ties with china and investment ties with china and he has been trying to push for this accord, the cai, to boost investm

certainly hearing that from ursula von der leyen during her time from ursula von der leyen during hertime time in china but at the same time trying also to maintain a degree of beneficial economic and even people to people ties. it is going to get harder and harder i think for european leaders to pull this off especially as the war in ukraine drags on. in off especially as the war in ukraine drags on. in terms of china as a — ukraine drags on. in terms of china as a powerbroker, - ukraine drags on. in terms of china as a powerbroker, what are your thoughts on that? because we saw pictures yesterday of saudi arabia and around's foreign ministers in that big breakthrough meeting. is this how the rest of the world should not deceive china now, how it wants to be seen as a global powerbroker? it is certainly — a global powerbroker? it is certainly how _ a global powerbroker? it is certainly how china - a global powerbroker? it 3 certainly how china wants to be seen. i think there has been a bit of overreach and there is still a lack of capacity or even will in china to be able to really step

the french president and the president of the eu commission ursula von der leyen will leave for chinathey expect to arrive in beijing and to meet with the president xijinping and other top officials as well. a business reporter has more. it seems like european leaders these days just can't get enough of china, just last week we saw the spanish prime minister there, we saw the spanish prime ministerthere, now we saw the spanish prime minister there, now we see ursula von der leyen and we see emmanuel macron. the obvious reason why they are going is of course trade. china is europe's second—largest trade and investment partner. 2—way trade reached more than $860 billion in 2021 and that is why macron is travelling with dozens of top company executives. what makes trade even more urgent right now is a timing. europe is emerging from a very painful breakup with russia and itjust can't afford to lose another important trading partner whereas for china, europe is only growing in importance at a time when ties with the us are souring. but for europe this is about more than just trade. europe

von de leyen�*s words describe the relationship between europe and china? frankly, very accurate. i think this is a very good speech by president ursula von derexpect from china relations. the problem is, inaudible with president macron inaudible with president macron inaudible in china, it will be very hard the messages to cai. inaudible --xi very hard the messages to cai. inaudible ——xijinping. i'm inaudible --xijinping. i'm “ust inaudible --xi jinping. i'm just looking _ inaudible --xijinping. i'm just looking here in the last 30 minutes or so, the financial times has published an exclusive interview with the president of the european commission and she is talking specifically about beijing and russia and she says here, she is concerned by chinese possession of friendship with russia stop she says china is in a position to influence russia in a constructive way and therefore they have a responsibility. you cannot be in between, you cannot be half for the international order. just how much do you think the war in ukraine is going to effect the meetings and the talks today because my we have seen before inaudible where it has played a role.

it is quite interesting as well, the relationship between a manual map on an ursula von der leyen, theyd cop with ursula von der leyen taking a harder line with china whereas macron being a bit more friendly, as it were. it is interesting their manoeuvres and they are officially on separate trips but travelling together? separate trips but travelling touether? , , together? yes. it is interesting - together? yes. it is interesting that - together? yes. it is - interesting that president more demonstrations are expected over controversial pension reforms. talks between the french prime minister and unions resulted in deadlock, nationwide protest against the pension bill now into a second week. the government of emmanuel macron intends to increase the retirement age from 60 to 264 years. legislation has been approved from the french senate. frank has a pay—as—you—go pension system whereby co—workers pay for people who are retired, but thatis for people who are retired, but that is proving to be fairly difficult. the country has a huge 17 million pensioners. the government feels people nee

to china now, where french president emmanuel macron and eu commission president ursula von der leyennping and other top officials. last week, ursula von der leyen made a speech, where she said relations between the eu and beijing had become strained and that europe needed to "de—risk" diplomatically and economically with china. the comments were not taken well by chinese officials, prompting concerns about a proposed economic plan between the two sides. mariko 0i has been followin the story from singapore. i spoke to her a little earler. president macron is landing today at around 3:30pm local time. he will first be meeting with french residents in the capital, beijing, who of course have been affected by the covid—i9 restrictions. when he does meet with chinese leaders though tomorrow, there is of course a lot to discuss, from trade, human rights, to taiwan and of course russia's invasion of ukraine as well. for president macron, who has been facing rather embarrassing pension protests back home, embarrassing pension protests at home, he is hoping to land some economic victories. he

with ursula von der leyen taking the tough stance.ent directly or indirectly to russia, because we all know arming the aggressor would be against international law and it would significantly harm our relationship. let's talk to moritz korner — a german member of the european parliament — part of the parliament's delegation for relations with china. welcome to the programme. the west wants china to use its influence with president putin to end the war in ukraine but have you seen anything today to suggest that is a realistic prospect? at}! anything today to suggest that is a realistic prospect?— anything today to suggest that is a realistic prospect? of course there was ho -e realistic prospect? of course there was none from _ realistic prospect? of course there was hope from this _ realistic prospect? of course there was hope from this visit _ realistic prospect? of course there was hope from this visit by - was hope from this visit by president macron and ursula von der leyen to convince fishing to really play it more constructive ro

, but only when there are suitable conditions, said the head of the european commission ursula von der leyen at a briefing after the meeting with the leader of china, i will remind you that von der leyen and macron had talks with dimpin today. as part of his three-day visit to beijing, a massive attack on israel was launched at least 100 rockets in the country of lebanon. this is reported by the local media, this is one of the most powerful shellings in recent times. there are flights about the victims , the media do not report at the moment, they note that the country's leadership is holding an urgent meeting, some publications also write that israel has already retaliated against the outskirts of one of the cities in the south of lebanon meanwhile, the russians are preparing for defense in the temporarily occupied mariupol near the azovstal plant, the russian invaders have begun to clear rubble for the further construction of their fortifications. this was reported by the city mayor's adviser, petro andryushchenko, according to his words. through postmos and the left bank embankment, it ha

mr macron isjoined on this visit by european commission chief ursula von der leyen, as well as a largeiness delegation to try and bolster trade ties. isabel hilton is the founder of the nonprofit organisation china dialogue. yesterday the strip was very much about pressure related to ukraine, today they are talking business —— this trip was about ukraine. what have we heard?— this trip was about ukraine. what have we heard? ., have we heard? there are some good news for airbus, _ have we heard? there are some good news for airbus, a _ have we heard? there are some good news for airbus, a contract _ have we heard? there are some good news for airbus, a contract for - news for airbus, a contract for about 100, and edf news for airbus, a contract for about100, and edf and news for airbus, a contract for about 100, and edf and the chinese counterpart, the chinese nuclear company, will collaborate to build offshore wind so that's cgn and edf who are all partners who have collaborated on things like hinkley point, the troubled somerset nuclear power plant still under construction. that sort

and china rolls out the red carpet for emmanuel macron, ursula von der leyen. on the agenda, trade and ukraine. hello and welcome to asia business report. before we get to our top stories in the business section today i want to remind you of our main story on the bbc news channel. in the past hour we in hearing from the former us president donald trump after he pleaded not guilty to sa criminal charges and a new york court. mr trump is accused of falsifying records and paying hush money to hide damaging information during the 2016 election. lots more of course on the bbc website is always and continued coverage right here on bbc news but away from that story and what could be one of the us' largest product liability settlements. johnson &johnson has proposed paying almost $9 billion to settle lawsuits alleging the company's talcum powder is because cancer. the new move seeks to resolve all current and future claims. samaria hussein has more. johnson &johnson has been dogged for years by claims that it talcum powder causes cancer. in 2021 it in newjersey brought

i think ursula von der leyen data say that.e of the solutions she is proposing it are in line with economic solutions we are looking at and the u.s. in terms of making sure that you are protecting interests in your country against chinese coercion. she referenced the need to look at investment screening mechanisms, if technology is fallen in the wrong hands. a lot of the policies are in line. the question is whether the eu will feed them through together or if there is a diverse and -- divergences. >> how did that speech go down in beijing? it's a pretty sharp and pointed speech. fairly critical of china. >> i think the view from china would be that europe is sticking out a separate position, the key phrase here that was used is de -risking not de-coupling. cannot blindly follow the qs going off a -- the united states going off a cliff. this a false choice, it is presented as a false choice between a more security oriented state versus one that is committed to trade and investment. i think china's pursuing both. it recognizes t

to china now, where french president emmanuel macron and eu commission president ursula von der leyenvon der leyen made a speech where she said relations between the eu and beijing had become strained and that europe needed to "de—risk" diplomatically and economically with china. the comments were not taken well by chinese officials, prompting concerns about a proposed economic plan between the two sides. live now to mariko 0i in singapore. mariko walk us through the expectations for this meeting? president macron isn't landing today at around 3:30pm local time. ——is landing. it will be meeting by those affected by covid—19 restrictions. when he meets with chinese leaders tomorrow, there is of course a lot to discuss from trade to human rights to taiwan and of course russia's invasion of ukraine. for president macron, who has been facing rather embarrassing protest at home, he is keen to push forward what is known as the cai, the comprehensive agreement on investment, which is in a god which if ratified would be citrate and relations between the eu and china. —— which is basically an

and also the head of the european commission ursula von der leyen.bout the underlying met de president of thai mine. trying to move the issue forward, especially on economic and trade matters, pushing china to do what it can regarding the situation in ukraine. mr macron is also discussing the ukraine conflict whilst in china. our correspondent hugo bachega is kyiv. he says ukraine still doesn't view beijing as a possible peacemaker in the conflict. well, i don't think there's any expectation here that china could emerge as a trusted mediator in this conflict. remember that weeks ago, president xi was in moscow shaking hands with president putin. they were talking about the no limits partnership between the two countries. russia... china has not condemned russia's invasion of ukraine, has not criticised president putin for his actions here. and he has actually put forward a peace proposal that has been dismissed by the ukrainians, by western countries, as being a plan that favours russia, in other words, consolidates russia's gains in this country. so

ursula von der leyen taking a tough stance.rovide any military equipment directly or indirectly to russia, because we all know arming the aggressor would be against international law and it would significantly harm our relationship. moritz korner is a german member of the european parliament and part of the parliament's delegation for relations with china. of course, there was hope from this visit by president macron and president von der leyen to convince beijing to really play a more constructive role in bringing russia to end this brutal war. but unfortunately, i think this whole did not really come through. today we see that the press conference, she was not really open to that. and even looked a little bit annoyed that macron was talking so long. so i think we will not see a big change in the policy of china towards russia and the war in ukraine. i mentioned president xi concentrating his thoughts on economic issues, warning against the west weaponizing and politicising economic issues. now emmanuel macron is taking a larg

macron invited von der leyen tojoin him on this apart. regard to china. macron on the other hand is much more soft when it comes to these things and i think those differences were very noticeable, and i think the chinese picked up on it as well. macron was very much even the red carpet treatment in beijing on arrival, von der leyen flew commercial and was greeted by a junior minister at the airport. so there were real differences in that also. it there were real differences in that also. ., , there were real differences in that also. . , , also. it really interesting. it, they are _ also. it really interesting. it, they are going _ also. it really interesting. it, they are going to _ also. it really interesting. it, they are going to put - also. it really interesting. it, they are going to put out i also. it really interesting. it, they are going to put out a i also. it really interesting. it, i they are going to put out a new economic security strategy and if they are on a collision path with france and germany, you want going to get that

today, von der leyen warned beijing against any such action.se we all know arming the aggressor would be against international law, and it would significantly harm our relationship. the china talks were met with some skepticism in ukraine. our correspondent hugo bachega has more on the resonse from kyiv. ukraine was one of the main topics on the agenda as president macron visited president macron visited president xijinping in china, and tried to convince him to put pressure on president putin to end the war here. questions remain as to whether china is serious about engaging in meaningful efforts to end the conflict in ukraine, or whether china has the power to put any pressure on president putin. here in kyiv, a senior adviser to president zielinski said any discussion about any possible role for china can only happen after conversations between president zelenskyy and xi jinping, we know both leaders have not had any conversation since the beginning of the war. invasion, a deal brokered by chinese officials have seen around and saudi arabia

not only the french president travelling but the president of the european commission, ursula von der leyens european commission, ursula von der leyen, is going to beijing as well and that is important because of the one hand, of course, every head of state and government that has economic ties with china wants to go there, to reinforce them, but on the other hand, macron said and rightly so that china and europe have an international agenda so it is good that the european interest is represented also by the european commission president, at a time where china has tried to position itself as a broker between russia and ukraine. of course, europeans look at this with some scepticism because china is not neutral. at the same time, europe needs to work with china on global issues that are pressing at the moment, such as climate change.— pressing at the moment, such as climate change. how significant is the timin: climate change. how significant is the timing of _ climate change. how significant is the timing of the _ climate change. how significant is the timing of the trip? _ climate change.

macron and von der leyen have different issues von der leyen pushed a new focus on economic security focusing on the risks related to that relationship. the trade relationship is very large. it has been heading in a bad direction from the point of view of europe. growing and growing trade deficit with china i think macron is very much focused on reengaging with china. trying to put pressure on china to lean on vladimir putin to arrive at a peaceful resolution of the war and as you said in the introduction, he has over 50 ceos with him. he is focusing on reengagement rather than de-risking >> interesting turn of events. i want to talk about ukraine when it comes to ukraine for the french president and an commissioner, what do they want? china is inserted itself in the situation coming up with plans and talking to russia about it what do they want to see from china? >> i think the top priority is really convincing china to play a more constructive role in bringing about an end to the conflict that involves leaning on president vladimir putin and using china's influence. china obviously

urszula von der leyen last week called for eu oversight on european exports and investments in china.acron, though, reiterating that he does not want to decouple the european and chinese economies. >> and so in a way, we had to do risk our economy -- we had to derisk our economy and not be totally dependent. we should not dissociate and separate thinking that in the long run, we have nothing to do together anymore. >> next, switzerland has ordered credit suisse to cut or cancel some 50 million to 60 million euros worth of bonuses. the order comes in the wake of the lender's emergency state-arranged takeover by rival ubs last month. wednesday, ubs held its first shareholder meeting since that merger in which it acquired credit suisse for around 3 billion euros, a fraction of its precrisis value. the takeover has angered credit suisse shareholders and swiss taxpayers for whom the rescue could end up costing around 260 billion euros. a swiss regulator says the nation would have faced a nationwide bankrupt -- bank run if credit suisse would have been allowed to go bankrupt. the euboea ceo

emmanuel macron and ursula von der leyen made xi jinping in beijing. meanwhile, house speaker mccarthy assures taiwan's president that ties with the u.s. remain strong. it's basically your friday, unless you trade u.s. treasuries or are an fx trader, a whole lot of you who have two more days to go. but for so many of us, this is the last day of the week. how much risk you want into a long weekend when we know how much can change during the span of a normal weekend, a la a bank going under and one acquiring it. we had a american data reigniting fears of recession. what has that resulted in safe haven buying? specifically, treasuries and the dollar. 10-year yield at a new low for the year, the lowest since september, just below 3.3%. usually when we get yield compression, you get weaker dollar. that's not the case this time, the dollar strengthening amid concerns over the economy. bloomberg dollar has gains of .1%. standard chartered says this is because we are on the other side, the growth scare that results in buying dollar as a safe haven, which is wh

of france with 50 important businessmen, and the president of the european commission, ursula von der leyenived, ursula von der leyen rather less warmly received because she's critical of china's position on russia and in fact in general, and the relationship between the eu and china. indeed, this is a very difficult line to tread for, simply because of china's rather opaque role in this war. indeed, china is providing substantial support to russia. if you look at the trade figures, trade has increased hugely. it's trying to position itself as the peacemaker at the same time. china's been picking up the slack on a lot of energy exports and it's been sending drone supplies and digital information, which is used in the front line. so, china tries to say it's neutral, but actually, it sactions tell you something different. it's trying to position itself as the peacemaker at the same time. but there's very little sign that it's exercising any influence on putin, so it's a pretty hollow claim. unless china can put some action behind that plan, then it's going to lose credibility. there's uncerta

of france with 50 important businessmen, and the president of the european commission, ursula von der leyen rather less warmly received because she's conspicuously more critical of china's position on russia and in fact in general, and the relationship between the eu and china. the former first minister of scotland nicola sturgeon has vowed to "fully cooperate" with police after the arrest of her husband, the snp�*s former chief executive — during an investigation into the party's finances. in her first public comments since peter murrell�*s arrest, ms sturgeon said recent days had "obviously been difficult" as she gave a short statement outside the couple's glasgow home. there is obviously nothing i can say about the ongoing investigation. much as there are things i might want to say, i'm not able to do so, other than to say that as has been the case, there will continue to be full cooperation. the last few days have obviously been difficult, quite dramatic at times, but i understand that is part of a process. there's uncertainty about access to a widely used abortion pill in the united st

of france with 50 important businessmen, and the president of the european commission, ursula von der leyened, ursula von der leyen rather less warmly received because she's conspicuously more critical of china's position on russia and in fact in general, and the relationship between the eu and china. the operator of ukraine's electricity network says russia has launched more than 1,200 missiles and drones at its energy facilities so far during the war. the operator described it as the largest attempt ever to destroy a european country's energy system. on friday, ukraine said it could start exporting electricity again, having overcome what it called �*the most difficult winter'. it's waterproofs for both players and patrons at augusta right now as the masters plays catch up in the bad weather. after completing round two earlier... the field is trying to get through the third round in the rain with groups of three and off split tees. that means half have started on the first... the others from the 10th. so far leader brooks koepka has extended his advantage overjon rahm. they started two apa

as emmanuel macron and ursula von der leyen wrap up their trip to china, have they got what they wantedrom xi jinping? hello and welcome. let's get more on passengers travelling through dover being warned they'll face delays, as millions of travellers are expected to make the crossing between france and the uk this weekend. contingency plans have been put in place to avoid a repeat of last week, which saw drivers waiting more than 1a hours. earlier i spoke to our correspondent simonjones, who started by telling us how things are looking in dover. it's already very busy this morning at the port of dover. we're told traffic turning up at the moment will face a wait of around 90 minutes to get through french passport controls that take place here on uk soil. also some issues on the other side of the channel. coach traffic there is facing a wait of around two hours to try and get back to the uk. but overall, the port is hoping for a much better situation than we saw last weekend, when some coach passengers talked of delays of 12, 13, 1a hours to try and get on board ferries. the port insist

you talked about the fact that ursula von der leyen is there.e business community there as well, underlining the fact that this is as much a trade visit as it is a political one. how do you think it's been going? well, i think certainly there was no expectation, that this would tie everything up neatly with the bow. up neatly with a bow, but i think certainly, there has to be some disappointment that, in the public statements issued thus far, we haven't seen any sign from president xi that he's really moving towards wanting to intervene or more publicly shifting china's rather ambiguous position on ukraine. of course, it has claimed that it is neutral in this, but i think certainly, nobody geopolitically really believes that to be the case. i think certainly, there were some hopes that there could have been a softening of language or a coming—together. we haven't seen that yet. what's interesting, you note there the presence of the business delegation, this is all part and parcel of, i think, the motivation on both sides to meet. certainly, the

the french president, emmanuel macron, and the head of the european commission, ursula von der leyen,o reset relations. traveling with a 50 strong business delegation, on the agenda for the trip is talks around ukraine as beijing's refusal to condemn russia over its invasion of ukraine has soured relations with europe. but in a speech, macron warned that europe must not separate from china economically. have a listen. translation: we must not be naive. our european — translation: we must not be naive. our european union _ translation: we must not be naive. our european union are _ translation: we must not be naive. our european union are taking - translation: we must not be naive. our european union are taking this - 0ur european union are taking this step of sovereignty establishing trade events instruments that are necessary for our credibility to stop the eu must also be voluntarily committed to having a trade relationship with china and our economies must never be fully dependent and this is what china wants with the eu and us but we must not separate ourselves that would separate

the aim is— von der leyen a few weeks ago. the aim is to _ von der leyen a few weeks ago.mple, there will be green lanes, _ for example, there will be green lanes, as — for example, there will be green lanes, as it— for example, there will be green lanes, as it is known for goods, that'll— lanes, as it is known for goods, that'll be — lanes, as it is known for goods, that'll be arriving in northern ireiand, _ that'll be arriving in northern ireland, and just staying here, not travelling — ireland, and just staying here, not travelling into the republic of ireiand, — travelling into the republic of ireland, the eu's single market. so, no checks— ireland, the eu's single market. so, no checks on— ireland, the eu's single market. so, no checks on goods moving within the uk, that— no checks on goods moving within the uk, that is— no checks on goods moving within the uk, that is basically what the british— uk, that is basically what the british and irish government, and the eu _ british and irish government, and the eu is— british and irish government, and the eu is offering fo

president macron has been there with the president of the european commission ursula von der leyen.o bring russia to its senses over the war in ukraine and china and russia recently said their friendship has no limits. we are expecting the meant to speak shortly and perhaps some kind of formal declaration. and we will keep following that story. here in the uk, the port of dover says ferry operators are trying to reduce the number of coaches that will be travelling to france on good friday in an attempt to avoid a repeat of heavy congestion seen on the weekend. the port says a temporary border control infrastructure will also be installed to help process coaches if needed. 0ur transport correspondent katy austin is at dover and has more now on those new plans. the port authorities say that they and everyone else involved here recognise that what happened last weekend was a horrible situation, particularly for school children and elderly people trying to set off on their trips. some coach passengers said they were stuck for 12 hours before they could finally board their ferries. the r

for ukraine, and this once again demonstrates support accordingly, so we understand that ursula von der leyene head of the european commission, and why is french president manuel macron traveling with her, why, for example well, i don't know the chancellor of germany olafleiti of the constitution. so it's like different formally visits so uh and they are moving according to their internal programs ursula fund for inna as the head of the european commission their own program president macron seems to have his own, but we understand that this coincidence did not just coincide in time and space, we understand that the president will take care of everything and go to strengthen, so to speak , the positions of the european commission. neither the representative of the european union nor the president of france, respectively, but in principle the main issues that have already been announced have been announced for discussion, this is, firstly, the russian-ukrainian war and from the side of the french president and on the part of ursula fund, the thesis will be clearly expressed that any help from c

mr macron is joined on this visit by the european commission chief ursula von der leyen, as well as atry and bolster trade ties. there's good news for airbus, a contract for about 100 of them, and edf and the chinese counterpart, the chinese nuclear company will collaborate to build offshore wind so that's cgn and edf who are old partners and have collaborated on things like hinkley point, the troubled nuclear plant in somerset thatis troubled nuclear plant in somerset that is under construction, so it's encouraging, it's not particularly new. airbus will be pleased to get some purchase in the market because the chinese aviation market is the biggest there is and airbus and boeing have been in competition for decades over who gets to dominate. boeing had its troubles in the last few years but the difficulty now is china is developing its own domestic fleet, its own domestic model so that market may be coming to an end but for now they've got it in a hold so that will encourage the businessmen with emmanuel macron on this trip. this businessmen with emmanuel macron on this tri -. , , b

ursula von der leyen has also joined him on the trip.ld use its close links with russia to resolve the conflict. translation:— russia to resolve the conflict. translation: ., ., , , ., translation: china has proposed a eace translation: china has proposed a peace plan _ translation: china has proposed a peace plan and — translation: china has proposed a peace plan and we _ translation: china has proposed a peace plan and we have - a peace plan and we have welcomed it, but do we agree with it in its entirety? no. but it is interesting. shows willingness to commit to resolving the conflict and so if it is not a peace plan, it is a desire to have responsibility to try build a path towards peace and a hope to be able to participate in initiatives that are useful to the ukrainian population. let's cross live _ the ukrainian population. let's cross live to _ the ukrainian population. let's cross live to asian _ the ukrainian population. let's cross live to asian now - the ukrainian population. let's cross live to asian now and - cross live to

macron of france, 50 important businessmen, and the president of the european commission ursula von der leyenly received, ursula von der leyen rather less warmly because she's conspicuously more critical of china's position on russia and in general and the relationship between the eu and china. this general and the relationship between the eu and china.— the eu and china. this is a very difficult line _ the eu and china. this is a very difficult line to _ the eu and china. this is a very difficult line to tread _ the eu and china. this is a very difficult line to tread for. - the eu and china. this is a very| difficult line to tread for. simply because of china's opaque role in this war. ., , , ., this war. indeed, china is providing substantial support _ this war. indeed, china is providing substantial support to _ this war. indeed, china is providing substantial support to russia. - this war. indeed, china is providing substantial support to russia. if. substantial support to russia. if you look at the trade figures, trade has increased hugely. china's been picking up the slack on a lot of

meanwhile, emmanuel macron and the eu chief ursula von der leyen are in beijing, and will meet the chineseresident on thursday. we'rejoined by susan thornton, former us acting assistant secretary of state, to look at the big picture on a very busy day of diplomacy. hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. we begin tonight in california where speaker kevin mccarthy has become the most senior elected official to meet a taiwanese president on us soil in decades. here's taiwanese persident tsai ing—wen meeting mccarthy and a group of bipartisan lawmakers near los angeles earlier today, despite objections from china. mccarthy stressed the need to speed up arms deliveries to taiwan. china — which has long considered taiwan as part of its country — denounced the meeting, accusing the us of seeking taiwanese independence. it comes on the heels of other high profile summits, including then—speaker of the house nancy pelosi's trip to taiwan last year. speaking after the meeting, mccarthy responded to warnings from china of escalating tensions. my my first message to china, there is no need for retaliation but th

french president emmanuel macron and european commission president ursula von der leyen met for talksints — china's tacit support for the war in ukraine. von der leyen said president xi expressed a willingness to speak to ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky. french president macron urged beijing to talk sense into russia over the war in ukraine and to help negotiate for peace. translation: the russian aggression in ukraine has ended decades of peace in europe. i know i can count on you to bring russia to its senses and everyone to the negotiating table. but we need to find a lasting peace. that is to say, a peace that respects internationally recognised borders and avoids any form of escalation. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. the weather for the easter weekend is looking for many of us. temperatures are creeping up. particularly easter sunday looks to be warm in southern areas. it's all changed by the time we head into easter monday, more unsettled thanks to this area of low pressure. the high pressure dominates the scene for good friday. it starts off chilly with fros

as emmanuel macron and ursula von der leyen wrap up their trip to china, have they got what they wantedrom xi jin—ping? and the biden white house releases a report blaming the chaotic afghanistan withdrawal on the trump administration. more now on one of our top stories — and police in northern ireland are warning of the possibility of public disorder linked to the 25th anniversary of the good friday agreement over this easter weekend and into next week. events begin today, and wednesday sees the us presidentjoe biden visiting belfast. he won't address lawmakers there, as the government assembly is still suspended. so a quarter of a century after the agreement, political tensions and obstacles are still present, as emma vardy reports. news of the troubles in northern ireland became a nightly refrain during the decades of bloodshed. a huge ira bomb rocked central belfast. the aftermath of another bombing in northern ireland high street. 27 soldiers are still in hospital. i rememberjust being struck by the sense of tension in the city, with barbed wire everywhere and soldiers everywhere.

we've got emmanuel macron and ursula von der leyen in china. we have the imf curtain raiser.ll look forward to that. this is going to be interesting. be interesting to see what the big set pieces look like, interesting on the ukraine front. i think that will define the relationship between europe and china, how china plays that story because that is important to europe right now. alix: at the same time you have kevin mccarthy meeting with taiwan leaders in california. that just puts extra tension on all this conversation. will get back to that question of the day, can europe keep china and the u.s. happy. we are joined by -- senior institute research fellow. her area of expertise is in geopolitics and trade. pretty much the perfect person to talk to about this. can europe keep both sides happy? >> she was in washington not a long time ago and was an presented a joint front with biden which was presenting a very good future for closer cooperation on the transatlantic side. head of the trip to beijing she delivered a speech last week presenting -- clarifying the european track

he and ursula von der leyen is expected to meet with the chinese leader on thursday.et closed lower after signs that the labour market was listening. the tech heavy nasdaq fell for a third straight losing section after the latest private payroll supports shows slowing job growth investment. for months now, _ job growth investment. for months now, wall - job growth investment. fr?" months now, wall street has been taking good news about strength about the job market is a bad sign. that is because a tight market means more inflation and means to the fed has to keep raising rates. good news about the economy, high employment has been bad news for the stock market. for better or worse, that relationship seems to be changing. bad news about the job market, is once more proving bad news for the stock market. on wednesday, there was data aboutjobs in the us that showed companies are creating fewerjobs than were expecting. this came after a report on tuesday showing the number of job openings was in the client. to be clear, the us still enjoys historically low levels of unemp

now he is going with ursula von der leyen. >> there is one other person i'm thinking of.hat is ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy. it wasn't that long ago that president xi met with russian counterpart putin. all of these presidents are meeting. there was concern that china may look to somehow get involved in the war or maybe potentially supply russia with represents. -- with weapons. that hasn't h n't happened if it did, that would escalate where do they draw the line in the interests to keep china dialogue going and continue to stay loyal to ukraine and mr. volodymyr zelenskyy's efforts to combat russia? >> that was difficult. what is at stake is the difficulty of drawing the lines with china and meeting with china and issue beyond ukraine we talk about tiktok and semiconductors and all of the relationships. the negativity to china. we see what happened with russia and depending on another power for energy and now with china for supply chain issues. the talk in europe and france is naive with china it recalibrates the relationship there. france had issues with the

today the focus will turn to china just as european commission president ursula von der leyen and emmanuelarrive in beijing to meet xi jinping. let's get to our european correspondent maria tadeo who was at nato headquarters in brussels. historic yesterday with finland joining nato. how significant is this shift in policy? maria: yes, it was a historic day in many ways and very emotional for the finnish delegation. the moment that we caught yesterday with the white and blue flag going up here at nato headquarters. the finnish president was saying this is the start of a new era. the way this has been framed beyond the politics, it is a historic shift in policy and this is a move that will benefit both finland and nato. they are well trained and this is a win-win situation. this is what the secretary-general said yesterday. two things to look forward to. one is the swedish bid for nato. the two countries wanted to enter at the same time. that is not going to be the case. yesterday both nato secretary-general in the finish resident repeated that sweden has to join as soon as possible. we are

the idea was to have macron and european commission president ursula von der leyen going together, andhortly fired -- followed by the german foreign minister. mr. burrell unfortunately got covid so he was unable to travel. but the real disaster is that von der leyen and french president emmanuel macron had very different takes on china. so in the end what we are faced with is that europe does not look like standing in unity but is sending extremely different big nose to beijing. the question of course now is how is the german foreign minister going to position germany. brent: what do you think she is going to say that will differ from what we heard from the french president last week? tim: i think that she will certainly make clear, as she said in her statement today, that europe is deeply concerned about east asian security, including the fraction of taiwan. i think also she will be very clear that we as europeans demand from china not to deliver any weapons, not deliver ammunition of a significant scale to russia. and here i think she is very clear in the differences that percepts --

ursula von der leyen brought up the matter with china's premier in beijing. >> our trade relationships increasingly imbalanced. over the last 10 years the european union's trade deficit has become -- has more than tripled. it reached almost 400 billion euros last year. we discussed that because this trajectory is not sustainable. the underlying structural issues need to be addressed. simone: she is accompanying emmanuel macron on his trip to china. airbus will double production of its best selling single aisle jet in china. it is a bold bet on the future demand for air travel and aircraft orders in one of the world's biggest aviation markets. the move in china is part of airbus's plan to increase production. that is your bloomberg business flash. guy: let's carry on our conversation with the airbus story and bring in bloomberg's aviation reporter. there was hope, i would imagine, at airbus that we would see the ceo go with emmanuel macron and that would result in big orders. we understand they were hoping to sell a-350's. instead they just spent money on a new plant. >> i think that i

meanwhile, emmanuel macron and the eu chief ursula von der leyen are in beijing, and will meet the chinesea very busy day of diplomacy. hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. we begin tonight in california where speaker kevin mccarthy has become the most senior elected official to meet

thatis to turn your attention china that is where the french leader emmanuel macron and ursula von der leyen are expected to arrive later today for a three—day visit. they are expected to meet with the chinese president and his new premier. earlier i spoke with the car spender the president of eu commerce in china and he explained how they are viewing the visit. ., ,., u, the visit. two political leaders. _ the visit. two political leaders, most - the visit. two political leaders, most of - the visit. two political leaders, most of the l the visit. two political- leaders, most of the ceos have not been here for a long time. to reconnect with their stuff and meet people outside this delegation, to get a feel for the country again. it's not just politically challenging today to explain why you are in china, given the ukraine situation and taiwan but also economic headwinds are here and the market is far too important to neglect there is no second china and hence the business leaders come over to get a feel for the market again.— for the market again. there is no second _ for the market again.