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[00:00:02] Now on BBC News. The latest
[00:00:04] business news from across the globe.
[00:00:06] globe. Business Today. MUSIC
[00:00:17] MUSIC Shipping Shipping breakthrough Iran says it's it's reached an agreement with Oman
[00:00:20] Oman on a route through the Strait
[00:00:23] Strait of Hormuz. No comment yet
[00:00:25] yet from the United States. AI reshuffle
[00:00:28] reshuffle Shares in Google fall after
[00:00:30] after the chief executive of its
[00:00:33] its DeepMind company steps aside. aside. This as the tech giant seeks
[00:00:36] seeks to keep pace with its rivals.
[00:00:39] rivals. Payback time. The Trump administration
[00:00:43] administration refunds $100 billion
[00:00:43] billion in tariffs to illegally charged
[00:00:47] charged businesses, but 25 US states states are now suing the White House
[00:00:51] House over new tariffs and fighting
[00:00:55] fighting fires, with technology. technology. We speak to the company
[00:00:56] company that's using AI to detect
[00:00:59] detect and track wildfires in Greece.
[00:01:03] Greece. Live from London. This is is Business Today. I'm Tadhg Enright.
[00:01:07] Enright. Thanks for joining me. Well, Well, let's start with oil and navigation
[00:01:10] navigation through the Strait of of Hormuz. An Iranian spokesperson
[00:01:14] spokesperson says the deal has been
[00:01:15] been reached with Oman on a new shipping shipping route through the strait.
[00:01:19] strait. This follows promises from from President Trump and other senior
[00:01:23] senior US officials that a deal is is imminent to resume safe passage
[00:01:26] passage for ships in the vital Gulf
[00:01:29] Gulf waterway. Uncertainties remain,
[00:01:31] remain, though the Iranians have have stressed that the agreement
[00:01:34] agreement with Oman cannot mean that
[00:01:36] that the strait is safe as long as
[00:01:39] as the US maintains a naval blockade
[00:01:41] blockade on Iranian ports. It's also also unclear whether the US will
[00:01:45] will accept any deal in which Iran
[00:01:47] Iran maintains some control over over the channel. For now, though,
[00:01:50] though, oil prices appear unmoved unmoved by the latest developments.
[00:01:53] developments. A barrel of Brent crude
[00:01:55] crude is currently trading at around
[00:01:59] around $79. West Texas Intermediate
[00:02:02] Intermediate at around $75 a barrel. barrel. Speaking in Las Vegas, President
[00:02:06] President Trump reiterated his promise promise that oil prices will come
[00:02:09] come down once the war in Iran ends.
[00:02:12] ends. When gasoline when oil goes goes down and it's going to go down
[00:02:16] down very rapidly and it's happening happening very soon, already happening.
[00:02:18] happening. If you look today, it's
[00:02:20] it's $75 down to 75. It's dropping.
[00:02:24] dropping. And we may have to send send it up again. We may have to
[00:02:27] to you know what happens when we we send it up, but we hope we don't
[00:02:31] don't have to. But when that oil oil and gasoline go down, everything
[00:02:35] everything else follows. I spoke
[00:02:36] spoke earlier to Cormac McGarry Cormac Cormac McGarry, a maritime expert
[00:02:40] expert and director at the firm Control Control Risks who tried to decipher
[00:02:44] decipher the mixed messages coming
[00:02:46] coming from all sides. Well, in the
[00:02:48] the past 24, 48 hours, there's clearly clearly there's, signals kind of
[00:02:52] of been clearly deliberately leaked
[00:02:55] leaked into the media by both the the US, Iran and probably Oman as
[00:02:58] as well. A lot of mixed mixed signals,
[00:03:01] signals, but they're all indicating indicating that something is about about to happen. So what I want to
[00:03:05] to say is kind of caution. We don't
[00:03:07] don't know exactly what's about to
[00:03:09] to happen, but the indications are are that an agreement is about to
[00:03:13] to be announced that might look something something like this, where if ships
[00:03:17] ships are going to go into the Gulf, Gulf, so westward through the Strait
[00:03:20] Strait of Hormuz, they would enter enter through an Iranian route and
[00:03:23] and then coming out, exiting eastwards, eastwards, they would go through
[00:03:26] through an Oman controlled route. route. So basically one through Iran
[00:03:30] Iran and one out through Oman. But
[00:03:33] But that would involve acknowledging acknowledging that Iran has at least
[00:03:36] least some control over the Strait Strait of Hormuz. And that would
[00:03:38] would be a bitter pill for the US
[00:03:40] US to swallow. Right. Did the harsh
[00:03:42] harsh tactical reality of the Strait Strait of Hormuz is that Iran has
[00:03:46] has emerged from this war with almost almost full tactical control of the
[00:03:49] the Strait of Hormuz. So the long-term long-term scenario planning that
[00:03:52] that we're trying to do at Control Control Risks for our clients in
[00:03:56] in all the scenarios, scenarios we
[00:03:58] we look at realistically, they include
[00:04:00] include Iran maintaining some level level of control. So what we see
[00:04:04] see in the next few days, if it does does actually emerge into reality,
[00:04:08] reality, it's probably going to be
[00:04:10] be a reality in which Iran has realistic
[00:04:14] realistic control of the strait. strait. Yeah. I mean, in that context,
[00:04:17] context, how significant is it that
[00:04:19] that the Houthis that significant
[00:04:22] significant force within Yemen who who are allied with Iran, have been
[00:04:26] been attacking ships elsewhere in in the region, specifically in the
[00:04:29] the Red Sea? Another important channel.
[00:04:34] channel. It is all part of the picture. picture. Now, we don't want to mistake
[00:04:37] mistake the Houthis for being Iran. Iran. They are allied with each other.
[00:04:40] other. But Houthis don't just do do what the Iranians tell them. The
[00:04:43] The Houthis are pursuing their own own aims and purposes, and that's
[00:04:46] that's a blockade of Saudi Arabia Arabia effectively, is what they're they're doing. It is part of the
[00:04:50] the picture, however, because that
[00:04:51] that that will be part of the pressure
[00:04:55] pressure on the US to concede something something to Iran. It's part it's
[00:04:57] it's all part of that grand strategic
[00:05:00] strategic picture that that is basically basically saying the US cannot control
[00:05:03] control that strait. And then the the broader picture, it cannot control control the strait and the southern
[00:05:07] southern Red Sea at the same time. time. And if it wants business to
[00:05:11] to get back to some form of normal, normal, it's going to have to concede
[00:05:15] concede militarily. And what would would you say, Cormac is different
[00:05:18] different this time as compared with with a few months ago when we thought
[00:05:22] thought we had the outline of a deal deal that would reopen that strait
[00:05:25] strait all over again. I think what's what's different is that so back
[00:05:29] back in maybe two months ago in early
[00:05:31] early June, the MOU was announced announced and we were forecasting
[00:05:34] forecasting that. So the system that that was announced effectively allowed
[00:05:38] allowed some ships to get through. through. We thought Iran would turn
[00:05:41] turn a blind eye. Iran was saying saying that it would administer the
[00:05:45] the strait. We thought they would would turn a blind eye to the fact
[00:05:48] fact that a lot of ships were going going to sail without asking their
[00:05:51] their permission, but Iran shut that that down pretty quickly and started started attacking ships again. And
[00:05:55] And then we entered the round of of violence that we've seen for the
[00:05:57] the past month or so. What's different
[00:06:00] different now is that we know Iran Iran has asserted itself and said
[00:06:04] said if ships sail without its permission, permission, it will attack them.
[00:06:07] them. And there's there's no doubt doubt about it that shipping, getting
[00:06:11] getting back to normal is going to to have some form of normal is going
[00:06:14] going to happen under some form of
[00:06:17] of Iranian regime. To the US now
[00:06:20] now and Donald Trump's administration administration has refunded $100
[00:06:24] $100 billion of its so-called Liberation Liberation Day tariffs to businesses
[00:06:27] businesses after they were ruled ruled to have been illegal. That's
[00:06:30] That's around 60% of all the tariff
[00:06:33] tariff collected by the US government. government. Under the policy. This
[00:06:36] This according to a recent court court filing from US Customs and
[00:06:39] and Border Protection. Meanwhile, Meanwhile, though 25 US states are
[00:06:42] are now suing the Trump administration administration over the latest wave
[00:06:46] wave of tariffs on imports from dozens
[00:06:48] dozens of countries, including Australia
[00:06:50] Australia and Norway because of accusations accusations they weren't doing enough
[00:06:54] enough to tackle forced labour. The The states, all led by the Democratic
[00:06:58] Democratic Party, call these new new tariffs arbitrary, capricious
[00:07:01] capricious and contrary to law. I I spoke to Professor Barry Appleton,
[00:07:05] Appleton, co-director of the centre centre for International Law at New
[00:07:08] New York Law School. He testified testified to the US Trade Representative
[00:07:11] Representative on the use of section
[00:07:14] section 301 and on forced labour labour issues, and he explained the
[00:07:18] the legal complexities of it to me.
[00:07:20] me. Well, it's kind of complicated.
[00:07:23] complicated. Look, nobody is in favour favour of the use of forced labour
[00:07:26] labour in imports, right, where everybody everybody all the countries have
[00:07:29] have laws that deal with it. The The difference is their laws are
[00:07:32] are different from the way the US
[00:07:34] US does it. The US has put in a reverse
[00:07:38] reverse onus. They've said everything
[00:07:40] everything is deemed to be use of
[00:07:42] of forced labour unless you can prove
[00:07:45] prove it to the alternative. And And so many countries like the UK,
[00:07:49] UK, Australia, Canada have forced
[00:07:50] forced labour laws. But they say
[00:07:53] say you have to only prosecute those those who have an allegation of use
[00:07:57] use of force, Labour and the Americans Americans have imposed a tax on that.
[00:08:00] that. So it's not that there's a a proof of any link to forced labour,
[00:08:04] labour, it's simply that there's there's a difference in the way that
[00:08:07] that everybody's enforcing it. And And that seems pretty unfair. So
[00:08:11] So looking at the specifics of the the case that these 25 individual
[00:08:14] individual US states have taken,
[00:08:16] taken, how strong would you say it
[00:08:20] it is? Well, you know, what's interesting interesting about this is that this
[00:08:23] this is the third time now that something something is going to the US courts,
[00:08:27] courts, if you remember, on the trade trade liberation tariffs, the US US Supreme Court struck that down.
[00:08:31] down. That was the first time anyone anyone had ever used the Iipa tariff.
[00:08:35] tariff. And they said that that was was improper. It wasn't properly
[00:08:38] properly connected. And there was
[00:08:40] was another power owned by the Congress.
[00:08:43] Congress. This area, section 301, 301, is very established. It's been
[00:08:47] been used for over 60 years. The
[00:08:51] The difficulty here is, is that there there was a very shortened period.
[00:08:54] period. There's no link whatsoever whatsoever to the proof of forced
[00:08:57] forced labour that's here. And so so the fairness, the discrimination
[00:09:01] discrimination you'd want to show
[00:09:03] show the rationality is absent. So
[00:09:05] So normally a 301 doesn't have a
[00:09:07] a good shot. But this particular
[00:09:10] particular tariff looks and doesn't doesn't smell right. It just doesn't
[00:09:13] doesn't seem to have the right fit. fit. So I would say that this has
[00:09:16] has a better chance than most to
[00:09:18] to be able to succeed. But it's going
[00:09:21] going to take time. Would you welcome welcome big trading nations such
[00:09:24] such as the United States? More of
[00:09:27] of them doing more to prevent forced
[00:09:29] forced labour, even if it involves
[00:09:31] involves the use of tariffs? Well,
[00:09:35] Well, tariffs are not a very effective effective tool with respect to forced
[00:09:38] forced labour. But A it's not that
[00:09:42] that we're it's not that anyone would would be opposed to the use of tariffs
[00:09:44] tariffs per se if there was actually actually a link. But remember in
[00:09:48] in this case the 59 countries in
[00:09:50] in the EU, the 60 affected participants,
[00:09:53] participants, there's no proof whatsoever whatsoever that they're using forced forced labour. It's simply they're
[00:09:57] they're enforcing it in a different different way. And somehow that doesn't
[00:10:01] doesn't seem to be right. Shares
[00:10:03] Shares in the Google parent alphabet alphabet have been falling after
[00:10:06] after a shake-up at the top of the
[00:10:09] the company's AI business, Demis Demis Hassabis, who's chief executive
[00:10:12] executive of Google's DeepMind, will
[00:10:13] will now become chief scientist at
[00:10:16] at alphabet. If this comes after after four of Google's AI researchers
[00:10:20] researchers announced they were leaving leaving to start their own company
[00:10:22] company with more. Here's our North
[00:10:24] North America business correspondent correspondent Samira Hussain. Google
[00:10:28] Google is under immense pressure pressure as it competes with the
[00:10:31] the likes of Anthropic and OpenAI.
[00:10:33] OpenAI. It is why this big shake-up
[00:10:35] shake-up of their AI leadership has has investors just so nervous. There
[00:10:39] There are worries that alphabet has has actually fallen behind in the
[00:10:43] the AI race, even though it created
[00:10:46] created some of the key technologies
[00:10:48] technologies that are underpinning underpinning current AI models. Now
[00:10:51] Now also remember like other tech tech firms, Google continues to spend
[00:10:55] spend big on AI data centres and
[00:10:57] and such to the tune of somewhere
[00:11:01] somewhere between 195 to $205 billion. billion. That's an awful lot of money
[00:11:05] money to spend on a division of a a company that is going through such
[00:11:09] such a massive shake up. Still to
[00:11:11] to come here on Business Today beyond
[00:11:14] beyond the cloud could data centres
[00:11:16] centres in space be a realistic solution
[00:11:18] solution to the huge computing demands
[00:11:21] demands of AI around the world and and across the UK?
[00:12:25] that made me feel sick. The big cases, cases, funeral. Home horror. Watch
[00:12:29] Watch on BBC News. This is BBC News.
[00:12:36] News. And you're watching Business Business Today. Well, this summer
[00:12:38] summer has seen some record breaking
[00:12:40] breaking wildfires in France and and Spain and in Greece. Authorities
[00:12:44] Authorities are still battling fires fires there with risks of further
[00:12:48] further outbreaks. Rising temperatures temperatures are making wildfires wildfires more frequent, more intense
[00:12:52] intense and harder to predict. But
[00:12:55] But now satellite imagery and AI
[00:12:57] AI are increasingly helping emergency
[00:12:59] emergency services to detect fires
[00:13:02] fires earlier and forecast how they
[00:13:04] they will spread. Doctor Axel Reiniger
[00:13:06] Reiniger is chief commercial officer officer at OroraTech. It helped to
[00:13:10] to develop Greece's first dedicated dedicated national wildfire satellite
[00:13:14] satellite system, and he's been telling
[00:13:15] telling me how it works. So from
[00:13:19] from space we can continuously monitor
[00:13:22] monitor fires with satellites that
[00:13:24] that measure infrared. So we measure
[00:13:27] measure heat rather than visible visible smoke or flames. And we scan
[00:13:31] scan the Earth's surface surface
[00:13:33] surface looking for heat signatures
[00:13:36] signatures frequently and globally. globally. So with that information
[00:13:40] information combined with weather
[00:13:42] weather vegetation and terrain data,
[00:13:44] data, our AI turns millions of data
[00:13:48] data points into a simple alert and
[00:13:50] and actionable insight like how the
[00:13:52] the fire evolves, where it goes and
[00:13:54] and how important it is. Europe is
[00:13:56] is getting used to more wildfires. wildfires. It's probably going to
[00:14:00] to have to. Other parts of the world world are more accustomed to dealing
[00:14:03] dealing with them. I wonder is this
[00:14:05] this part of that Europe becoming
[00:14:08] becoming more capable of managing
[00:14:12] managing wildfires? Wildfires need
[00:14:15] need to be detected earlier if you
[00:14:17] you want to if you want to act, on
[00:14:20] on a manageable size of the fire.
[00:14:21] fire. Once fires get beyond a certain
[00:14:25] certain size, there is no control. control. So the earlier you can detect
[00:14:28] detect a fire and even predict where
[00:14:30] where fires are likely to happen,
[00:14:33] happen, you can put forces on the the ground, be prepared and react
[00:14:36] react when the fire is still manageable. manageable. And this is where we
[00:14:39] we need to get to go. Obviously there's there's like also in the prevention
[00:14:43] prevention part that we need to do
[00:14:45] do things like, removing vegetation
[00:14:48] vegetation early enough, etc. Is
[00:14:51] Is there a risk that this kind of
[00:14:53] of technology could promote maybe maybe some complacency about climate
[00:14:56] climate change that we rely on technology
[00:14:58] technology to help mitigate its worst
[00:15:01] worst impacts? No, we are currently
[00:15:05] currently using in firefighting, firefighting, often technologies technologies that are, you know,
[00:15:09] know, 100 years old and we just need need to catch up and use what, what
[00:15:12] what we have at hand, to, battle
[00:15:17] battle wildfires, with the appropriate appropriate means. OK. And setting
[00:15:20] setting up systems and infrastructure. infrastructure. This is like roads
[00:15:23] roads and bridges and, and IT infrastructure. infrastructure. This is something
[00:15:27] something that every country should should have. To Africa now where
[00:15:30] where it's richest man, Aliko Dangote Dangote has been speaking to the
[00:15:34] the BBC about his plans to build build a new oil refinery in Kenya,
[00:15:38] Kenya, which he says will help African
[00:15:39] African countries to become more
[00:15:42] more energy self-sufficient. My colleague colleague Nancy Kacungira caught
[00:15:45] caught up with Mr Dangote in Lagos Lagos and asked him how advanced
[00:15:49] advanced the plans are. The plans
[00:15:51] plans have actually gone very far
[00:15:54] far with Kenya and because what we
[00:15:57] we are trying to do really is to
[00:15:58] to try and make sure that, you know,
[00:16:02] know, most African countries we make
[00:16:04] make them self-sufficient in their
[00:16:08] their own, you know, energy needs,
[00:16:11] needs, energy needs fertiliser and
[00:16:13] and co. So going back to your question,
[00:16:16] question, how far we've gone, we've
[00:16:18] we've gone very far. And I think
[00:16:21] think by latest by October we'll
[00:16:24] we'll be doing, groundbreaking once
[00:16:28] once we break ground, we will start
[00:16:31] start the construction very soon. soon. We are really planning something
[00:16:35] something very big within the African African continent. And a lot of people
[00:16:39] people say, well, does the refinery refinery in East Africa, does it
[00:16:43] it make sense? It makes a lot of of sense because the refinery is
[00:16:46] is not only for Kenya. That's why
[00:16:49] why we are calling it East African
[00:16:51] African refinery. You know, so that
[00:16:54] that can solve a lot of countries countries up to even Egypt. How much
[00:16:58] much do you expect the East African African refinery to. I think we thought
[00:17:02] thought it was going to. Cost 17 17 billion, but it's going to cost
[00:17:04] cost much. It will cost less than
[00:17:06] than that. We are looking at about
[00:17:09] about 15.5, $16 billion. Why will
[00:17:11] will it cost less than you originally
[00:17:13] originally anticipated? Because this
[00:17:15] this one will be faster. So in terms terms of financing costs will be
[00:17:19] be less. And then also you know,
[00:17:24] know, we are wiser as a company. company. Then that time when we built
[00:17:28] built this one because we are just just learning when we built the one
[00:17:31] one here. So that is really what
[00:17:33] what is helping us. So in terms of
[00:17:36] of timing, we'll be able to build build in less than four years. So
[00:17:40] So the location is decided. What What about the financing. Are you
[00:17:43] you looking at cash debt equity.
[00:17:44] equity. Yeah. Well look at. All that
[00:17:47] that you know equity and debt. So
[00:17:50] So 30% is going to be equity. And
[00:17:55] And then 70% will be debt. But we
[00:17:57] we know we don't have any problem problem raising the money. So what
[00:18:01] what do you see as the impact that
[00:18:03] that this refinery could have on
[00:18:05] on energy security? It's going to to have a massive impact really.
[00:18:09] really. And then also it guarantees guarantees the countries getting
[00:18:13] getting their own products that are are not going to live hand to mouth, mouth, you know, they are leasing.
[00:18:17] leasing. And then, you know, the
[00:18:18] the refinery is there. It's for them.
[00:18:22] them. Finally, data centres are becoming becoming hugely controversial. They
[00:18:26] They are vast, noisy, consume a huge huge amount of natural resources
[00:18:29] resources and are widely seen as as bad neighbours to those who live
[00:18:32] live around them. But we are going going to need many more to power
[00:18:36] power the age of artificial intelligence. intelligence. So could launching
[00:18:39] launching data centres into space
[00:18:41] space be a viable solution? Elon Elon Musk's SpaceX thinks so. It's
[00:18:45] It's planning its own so-called Orbital Orbital data centres. Next we're
[00:18:49] we're going to hear from another another technology company called
[00:18:52] called Orbital that also believes believes space could be the next
[00:18:55] next frontier for AI. Its founder, founder, Yuen Poon, has been telling
[00:18:59] telling us about the reasons for for putting data centres in space.
[00:19:02] space. It's basically getting a tremendous
[00:19:04] tremendous amount of energy and scale scale and we have five times the
[00:19:08] the amount of solar energy that can can be captured in orbit as on the
[00:19:12] the planet's surface in a sun synchronous
[00:19:14] synchronous orbit, you get 24/7 sunlight
[00:19:18] sunlight and we really are just running
[00:19:20] running out of room energy. The interconnection
[00:19:23] interconnection queues are clogged clogged up and to basically just
[00:19:26] just get to the next era of AI. We
[00:19:28] We do need to start tapping into,
[00:19:31] into, solar energy up in space. But
[00:19:34] But Earth's orbit is already full
[00:19:36] full of satellites, perhaps not full, full, but there are certainly plenty
[00:19:39] plenty of them up there. And perhaps
[00:19:41] perhaps are they a different prospect prospect to, to data centres? Aren't
[00:19:45] Aren't they more bulky? How would would you plan to build them and
[00:19:49] and get them up there? Not quite
[00:19:50] quite actually. I think we only have
[00:19:54] have about 14,000 satellites in orbit. orbit. A remarkably small number
[00:19:57] number actually 12,000 of them are are Starlink, which were just launched
[00:20:01] launched in recent years. There are are many, many orbits. And there
[00:20:04] there are six degrees of freedom freedom of orbits. And we're, you
[00:20:07] you know, there's a lot of space,
[00:20:09] space, different altitudes. So there's, there's, there's a lot of, potential
[00:20:13] potential there for being able to to capture a tremendous amount of
[00:20:15] of energy. Now you've talked about,
[00:20:17] about, as you say, building potentially potentially thousands or launching
[00:20:21] launching thousands of these individual individual little data centres into
[00:20:23] into space. Are we at risk though, though, of just pushing our problems
[00:20:27] problems off the planet because space
[00:20:29] space junk space litter is another another problem of the modern age.
[00:20:33] age. Yeah. It's something that we
[00:20:35] we need to manage. But you know,
[00:20:37] know, there's relatively, barren barren space and it's pretty calm
[00:20:41] calm up there. So, you know, with,
[00:20:43] with, with proper, collision mitigation,
[00:20:48] mitigation, technology and there's, there's, there's just plenty of space
[00:20:50] space up there to be used. No space
[00:20:53] space left for us. That's Business Business Today. You can get the latest
[00:20:56] latest business stories and economics economics news not only here but
[00:20:58] but throughout the day online. Just Just follow the business section
[00:21:02] section of the BBC News website or or our app. You can catch section of or our app. You can catch all the
[00:21:06] the latest details there. MUSIC
[00:21:23] MUSIC
[00:21:32] Grand Central Station is one of
[00:21:34] my favourite New York City structures.
[00:21:37] structures. It's a glorious reminder reminder of the golden age of American
[00:21:40] American railroads. It also provides provides the setting for some early
[00:21:44] early scenes in what many people
[00:21:46] people regard as one of the greatest greatest American thrillers of all
[00:21:49] all time. The picture North by Northwest,
[00:21:53] Northwest, an American thriller, thriller, yes, but directed by a
[00:21:56] a British filmmaker, the master of
[00:21:58] of suspense Alfred Hitchcock. Top
[00:22:02] Top US film critic Bilge Ebiri told
[00:22:04] told me he's such an ardent fan of of North by Northwest that he's seen
[00:22:07] seen the film at least 50 times.
[00:22:10] times. Do you know this man? MUSIC
[00:22:19] MUSIC
[00:22:21] Look North by Northwest from 1959,
[00:22:24] 1959, the pinnacle of Hitchcock's Hitchcock's American filmmaking career.
[00:22:27] career. Listen to me. I had nothing nothing to do with it. And also I I think it's kind of the pinnacle
[00:22:31] pinnacle of a particular kind of of studio filmmaking that Hollywood
[00:22:35] Hollywood specialised in. Automatically Automatically means a rising sales. sales. North by Northwest follows
[00:22:39] follows an ad executive named Roger
[00:22:41] Roger Thornhill, played by Cary Grant,
[00:22:44] Grant, who is mistaken for a spy
[00:22:48] spy by some nefarious figures. And
[00:22:50] And they're convinced that he's this this other person and they try to
[00:22:53] to kill him and he winds up going
[00:22:58] going on this cross-country adventure adventure trying both to prove his
[00:23:02] his innocence and also to flee from from the authorities. North by northwest
[00:23:05] northwest had a huge impact on me me because in some way it treats
[00:23:09] treats a lot of Hitchcock's deeper deeper themes about guilt and accusation,
[00:23:13] accusation, while also framing it
[00:23:16] it within this incredibly exciting,
[00:23:19] exciting, delightful, charming adventure
[00:23:21] adventure plot. Well, here we are
[00:23:23] are again. Yes. One of the most famous
[00:23:26] famous sequences in this film is
[00:23:28] is the crop duster sequence. It occurs
[00:23:30] occurs about halfway through the the film. Cary Grant's character
[00:23:33] character has been told that he's he's going to meet somebody out in
[00:23:36] in the middle of nowhere on this this highway road. There's nobody
[00:23:39] nobody around for miles and miles
[00:23:41] miles of flat, blank expanse. And
[00:23:44] And then, of course, he sees this
[00:23:46] this little plane appearing in the
[00:23:48] the distance, you know, dusting crops crops and you realise that the plane
[00:23:52] plane is there to kill them. They
[00:23:58] They start to fire at him and he
[00:24:00] he runs away. It's an sequence when
[00:24:04] when I think about what makes American
[00:24:07] American cinema so special I have
[00:24:09] have to think about the Hollywood Hollywood system and the kinds of
[00:24:13] of films it made possible, the kinds kinds of scale it made possible,
[00:24:16] possible, the kind of stardom, the
[00:24:17] the kind of charm it made possible.
[00:24:21] possible. And to me, North by Northwest Northwest really kind of stands at
[00:24:25] at the very top of that. You know,
[00:24:28] know, it is Hollywood firing on all
[00:24:30] all cylinders, maybe for one of the
[00:24:32] the very last times. It's a great
[00:24:36] great example of a studio film. It's It's a great example of a master
[00:24:40] master filmmaker at the height of of his powers in the studio system,
[00:24:43] system, working with one of the great great stars of the studio system
[00:24:46] system to create something so beautiful
[00:24:50] beautiful and so magnificent, right right as the studio system is essentially
[00:24:54] essentially about to collapse. But But the thing that they create together
[00:24:58] together becomes this work that is is so influential and that winds
[00:25:01] winds up influencing all the filmmakers filmmakers that come after not just just American filmmakers from all
[00:25:05] all over the world. But if we ever ever get out of this alive, let's
[00:25:08] let's go back to New York on the
[00:25:10] the train together. All right. Is
[00:25:13] Is that a proposition? MUSIC
[00:28:59] MUSIC
[00:29:02] My dad was a farmer who worked for for the government in New Zealand,
[00:29:05] Zealand, but he also had a radio
[00:29:07] radio talk show for farmers. He patiently
[00:29:10] patiently listened to every conflicting conflicting account
[00:29:16] Conflicting account of what was and wasn't working before reporting reporting back. I was bored stiff stiff by talk of yields and rotations,
[00:29:20] rotations, but that was really influential influential to how I approached my
[00:29:23] my journalism. Building trust by
[00:29:25] by taking the time to understand understand a situation clearly before
[00:29:29] before reporting a story in a 24
[00:29:32] 24 hour news cycle, patients can can be so frustrating, but it's a
[00:29:36] a crucial tool. I don't rush to be
[00:29:39] be the first. I strive to get it
[00:29:41] it right. I'm Lucy Hockings on BBC
[00:29:44] BBC News Now.
[00:30:10] Live from London. This is BBC
[00:30:12] News with me Kasia Madera. Iran says
[00:30:15] says a deal with Oman on a shipping shipping route through the Strait
[00:30:18] Strait of Hormuz is in its final
[00:30:20] final stages. Israel says two of
[00:30:22] of its soldiers have been killed killed in southern Lebanon as it
[00:30:25] it resumes strikes on
[00:30:39] private investors. I'm Tadhg Enright Enright and coming up in business. business. Shares in Google have fallen
[00:30:43] fallen after the chief executive executive of its DeepMind division
[00:30:46] division stepped aside. This, as
[00:30:47] as the tech giant seeks to keep pace
[00:30:50] pace with its rivals. Also coming
[00:30:52] coming up, we're going to meet the
[00:30:54] the 97-year-old woman who successfully successfully broke her own world
[00:30:58] world record to become the oldest