Business Daily

Is medicine about to be transformed by digitisation and artificial intelligence?Ed Butler has his cognitive abilities assessed by a computer app. Thomas Sawyer of the health tech company Cognetivity, which developed the AI-assisted app claims it will help revolutionise the early detection and treatment of Alzheimer's.But pretty soon our wellbeing could be monitored by multiple apps - on our phones, in our bathroom scales, even in our toilets - streaming data back to computerised healthcare systems. That's the vision of Robert Wachter, chair of the department of medicine at the University of California in San Francisco. But he also tells Ed of the many pitfalls that could await us in this data-driven future. Plus Sarah Deeny of The Healthcare Foundation in the UK raises concerns about the sensitivity of some of the data being handled.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Doctor holds a tablet computer showing an X-ray image; Credit: Getty Images)

Israel's military says it struck a thousand targets in Gaza last month, in response to more than 4,300 missiles it claims were fired into Israel. With the latest bout of violence now over, the reconstruction can begin once again.Manuela Saragosa speaks to Samir Mansour, who saw his famous Gaza bookshop destroyed before his eyes. International donors want to help rebuild businesses like Samir's. Elizabeth Campbell, director at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, describes how this can be done without also enabling the Hamas government, which is labelled a terrorist group by the US, EU and Israel.Israel and Egypt maintain a blockade on Gaza that has rendered commerce with the outside world almost impossible. But could the economy have great potential, were the blockade ever lifted? Asmaa AbuMezied of Oxfam points to Gaza’s fledgling startup scene, while Manal White of the social enterprise Zaytoun in London highlights the opportunity for Gazan agricultural exports

This week, two Americans went on trial in Japan, accused of smuggling former Nissan chief executive, Carlos Ghosn, out of the country in a music equipment box. On Business Weekly, we ask why they did it and if Mr Ghosn will ever face Japanese justice. We hear from the broadcaster, author and activist, Gretchen Carlson, about the role she played in the #metoo movement. She sued her former boss at Fox News for sexual harassment and says more has to be done to protect women in the workplace. And how do you deliver bad news? We have a special report on the art of making employees redundant. Do you deliver bad news over Zoom or in person? Or just cancel their work passes? The answer of course is neither - we learn how to do it properly. Plus, as hundreds of prospectors descend on the small village of KwaHlathi in the South African province of Kwa-Zulu Natal, we hear how the discovery of what might be diamonds could potentially transform lives in one of the country's poorest rural areas. Business Weekly is presente

After decades of restrictions, China's leaders want women to have more children. But will a 'three-child' policy prevent a decline in China's population? Ed Butler speaks to Professor Stein Emil Vollset from the University of Washington School of Medicine about the dramatic population declines expected in many countries including China. China demographics expert Yong Cai explains why the declining birth rate will be difficult to reverse. And author and journalist Mei Fong tells us why the one-child policy of the past will make it even harder for Chinese authorities to promote larger families in the future. (Photo: A nurse holding a baby at an infant care centre in Yongquan, in Chongqing municipality, in southwest China; Credit: Getty Images)

Do audiences, sponsors and broadcasters still have the patience for five-day matches? Or is the future now with the shorter one-day and Twenty20 formats?Rahul Tandon speaks to Geoff Allardice, general manager of cricket for the International Cricket Council, about his hopes that the inaugural World Test Championship final this year will reinvigorate traditional long-form cricket, as well as Lalit Beriwala, director of the major cricket sponsor Shyam Steel, one of the tournament's major sponsors.But the world's biggest cricketing nation, India, has moved firmly over to the faster-moving - and more profitable - three-hour T20 matches. We hear from cricket writer Sharda Ugra, player-turned-commentator Deep Dasgupta, and sports business analyst Mudar Patherya. (Picture: Indian batsman Virat Kohli leaves the field after being dismissed in a test match against New Zealand; Credit: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Can technology help victims of sexual harassment feel more confident in reporting their perpetrators?Ed Butler hears how the #MeToo movement inspired Ariel Weindling to start up a reporting app called #NotMe. Meanwhile, Neta Maidev's own experience of sexual harassment eventually led her to create another app - Vault Platform.But can HR departments sometimes be part of the problem? That's the view of Nuala Walsh, founding director of the Global Association of Applied Behavioural Scientists. But Rachel Suff of the UK's Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development takes issue with. Plus, Dr Frances Frei of the Harvard Business School, who has helped a range of US firms reassess their workplace culture, says there's much still to be done. Producer: Nisha Patel(Picture: Woman looking uncomfortable next to a colleague in the office; Credit: Prot Tachapanit / EyeEm)

Five years ago she successfully sued her former boss at Fox News, Roger Ailes, for sexual harassment. Now, American broadcaster Gretchen Carlson tells Ed Butler about how she helped kick off the #MeToo movement, why major American companies continue to gag employees and protect workplace predators through non-disclosure agreements, and how she is fighting in Washington DC to make the working environment safer for women.Producer: Nisha Patel(Picture: Gretchen Carlson; Credit: Stephanie Cowen)

The UN has predicted it could take two years for the world job market to recover from the Coronavirus pandemic. The hardest hit could be young jobseekers, who had almost got a foot in the door before it closed. We’ll hear from young people around the world, who have found their employment prospects shattered by the pandemic. We’ll also hear from Guy Ryder, Director-General of the International Labour Organisation, about how the pandemic could exacerbate inequality around the world. At the same time, Mamta Murthi of the World Bank breaks down how progress for young women in the workplace could be rolled back by decades. Finally, Daniel Susskind from Oxford University, explains why those lost jobs might never come back.Producer: Frey Lindsay(Image credit: Getty Creative)

No one wants to be told they’ve lost their job, or that their entire department is disappearing, but the way that message is delivered can have consequences - both in the short term and sometimes years into the future. We hear the best techniques for delivering negative tidings; and some clangers. Elizabeth Hotson gets tips and advice from Heather McGregor, entrepreneur author and Dean of Heriot Watt Business School, hears about a very awkward conversation from former Chairman of the airline Jet Blue, now Stanford professor, Joel Peterson, and from Neal Hartman, a professor at the Sloan School of Management at MIT, specialising in communications and leadership. Presenter: Elizabeth Hotson Producer: Sarah Treanor(Picture: Woman on a laptop with a headache. Credit: Getty Creative)

Earlier this week the FBI, in conjunction with the Australian authorities, used an encrypted messaging app to swoop in and arrest more than 800 suspected criminals. On Business Weekly, we look at how they were able to crack global organised crime groups by running their own messaging service, putting it on bespoke phones and handing them out, through undercover officers, to the criminals themselves. We also look at the booming business of ransomware. Hackers are making millions from demanding Bitcoin payments from companies - so how can this new kind of cyberwarfare be stopped? Plus, Turkey says it will no longer accept waste plastic from other countries. So, where will our plastic end up? Business Weekly is produced by Matthew Davies and presented by Lucy Burton.

Why do some of the super rich describe themselves as frugal? Is it something about the inner psyche that makes us natural savers or spenders? Elizabeth Hotson speaks to Dolly Parton, who despite earning millions, doesn’t particularly enjoy spending it. We also hear from Karam Hinduja, banker and scion of the billionaire Hinduja family. Tech entrepreneur, Richard Skellett tells us why he sees being wealthy as a responsibility, plus we hear from big savers, Tim Connor and Francesca Armstrong. We're also joined by Sarah Fallaw, author of The Next Millionaire Next Door, Rachel Sherman, author of Uneasy Street: The Anxieties of Affluence and Elin Helander, behavioural economist, neurologist and Chief Scientific Officer at Dreams, a money-saving app. Producers: Elizabeth Hotson and Sarah Treanor. (This episode is a repeat from 10 Aug 2020)(Picture: piggy bank via Getty Images).

Ibrahim Diallo got his first computer when he was five, which triggered a lifelong passion for programming. He has worked as a software engineer in the US for 12 years. A Guinean citizen, who went to French school in Saudi Arabia, and now lives in California, Ibrahim says he can count on one hand the number of black people he has worked alongside. He shares his experience of being a black programmer in the US with Vivienne Nunis. (Photo: Ibrahim Diallo at his office in LA. Credit: BBC)

Hackers are making millions from ransomware attacks. What can be done to stop them? Ed Butler speaks to professional ransomware negotiator Kurtis Minder, about the increasing professionalisation of the ransomware business. Kimberly Grauer, head of research at Chainalysis explains why following the bitcoin trail may be the best way of bringing ransomware gangs to justice and Vishaal Hariprasad, boss of cyber insurance company Resilience, tells us why the ransomware threat means there needs to be a stepchange in how companies view cyber security.(Photo: Illustration of ransomware attack, Credit: Getty Images)

The Nobel prize-winning economist and professor of psychology Daniel Kahneman focuses his latest research on the high cost of inconsistent decision making. In Noise, co-authored with Oliver Sibony and Cass R Sunstein, he looks at why humans can be so unreliable, and what can be done about it. He tells Andrew Marr that people working in the same job often make wildly different judgements, influenced by factors like their current mood, when they last ate, even the weather. He argues that ‘noise’ is distinct from bias and has been neglected by organisations and businesses.Gillian Tett is editor-at-large for the Financial Times and is also focused on transforming the world of business. But whereas Kahneman uses the methods of psychology, Tett argues for anthropology. For over a century anthropologists have immersed themselves in unfamiliar cultures, studying the hidden rituals at play. In her book Anthro-Vision, Tett uses similar techniques to reveal the underlying structures and human behaviour in our modern wor

The Chinese government is pleading for young people to have more babies. On Business Weekly we ask whether this new “three-child” policy will help reverse the ageing population. You can’t send babies out to work, so does the nation face a demographic time bomb? Plus, the growing industry of forensic genealogy is cracking decades old murder cases. Our reporter asks how much privacy do we have to surrender - and is it worth it? And as the US marks 100 years since the Tulsa Race Massacre, we head to a more recent place of protest and trauma: Minneapolis. The president of the Federal Reserve of Minneapolis tells us he wants to do more to fight racism and inequality, but a black businesswoman from the city says she’s not seen many signs of equality. And is the boozy power lunch back? Business Weekly is produced by Matthew Davies and presented by Lucy Burton.

Mei Xu is a Chinese American entrepreneur who made it big in the US by setting up a global candle business. She grew up in Chairman Mao's communist China, but was educated at an elite school, where she learnt English with the aim of becoming a diplomat. That was until the pro-democracy, student protests of Tiananmen Square in 1989. After that she managed to get a passport out of China and went to the USA, where she set up her multi-million dollar business. What does her story tell us about the state of the American economy and the growth of China as an economic superpower?

The World Bank has declared Lebanon's to be "enduring a severe and prolonged economic depression" and said it is one of the worst economic crises since the mid-19th century. As fuel and food supplies dry up, and cash reserves dwindle, Lebanese economic columnist and former bank executive Dan Azzi warns "Armageddon" could be just around the corner for the country. Meanwhile Diana Menhem, economist and managing director of advocacy group Kulluna Irada, explains how the country's economic got into such a state. And we'll also hear from Joumana Saddi Chaya, of the lighting design and manufacturing company PSLab and Aline Kamakian, owner of the restaurant Mayrig in Beirut, on trying to run different businesses amid the increasing chaos.Producer: Frey Lindsay(Picture: People queue with their cars to buy fuel in Beirut, Lebanon on June 01, 2021. Picture credit: Wassim Samih Seifeddine/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The rise of electric vehicles could see traditional service stations closing across the planet over the next two decades, and replacing pumps with fast chargers is unlikely to save them. Justin Rowlatt speaks to one entrepreneur hoping to profit from the rollout of EV chargers in every home and parking space, Erik Fairbairn of Pod Point. Meanwhile Isabelle Haigh, head of national control at the UK's National Grid, explains why she is confident they can meet the electricity demand from all these new vehicles.Across the Atlantic, another entrepreneur - Sanjiv Patel of National Petroleum - says the writing is clearly on the wall for his chain of 25 gas stations in California - but maybe not for a while yet. But could he turn them into restaurants or use them to hold séances? That's the fate of one petrol station in Leeds that is now an arts centre. We hear from its owner, Jack Simpson.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Abandoned gas station along old Route 66 in the California desert; Credit: Lynne Rostochil/Get

In the US - but increasingly in other countries too - cold case murder, sexual assaults, and unidentified person cases once thought unsolvable are being cracked thanks to the proliferation of public genetic databases. But with this success come deep worries for our DNA data. Ivana Davidovic talks to Brett Williams, the CEO of Verogen - the owner of GEDMatch consumer DNA database - about their business decision to cooperate with the police, privacy concerns and new opportunities opening up in countries like Mexico and Vietnam. We also hear from Tina Franke, whose daughter Christine Franke was murdered in Florida in 2001. She speaks of her relief at the unexpected progress in the investigation after almost two decades. Professor Andrew MacLeod tells us about his project - in conjunction with King's College London - to harness forensic genealogy to identify perpetrators of sexual violence in the aid industry. And law professor Natalie Ram explains the pioneering legislation being brought in the US state of Ma

In Africa, malaria is far more widespread than Covid-19 - so what would it mean to African economies if it was eliminated? We speak to the man whose team in Oxford devloped an effective vaccine for the disease. Mice have overrun parts of Australia ruining crops and testing sanity. We learn about the effect this plague of rodents is having on the rural economy. We hear why Amazon has bought the iconic MGM Studios - and what it means for both Amazon customers and cinema lovers. Plus, our reporter heads to San Francisco to hear how the city’s Chinatown has coped with both Covid-19 and an increase in anti-Chinese race hate crime. As shops are boarded up and tourists stay away, what plans are there to rejuvenate this historic area? Business Weekly is presented by Lucy Burton and produced by Matthew Davies.