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[00:00:04] Now on BBC News. The latest
[00:00:06] business news from across the globe.
[00:00:09] globe. Business Today. Straight talking.
[00:00:19] talking. Iran says it's made a deal deal with Oman over shipping in the
[00:00:23] the Gulf, but its neighbours and
[00:00:24] and the US may not like the terms.
[00:00:28] terms. A reshuffle at DeepMind. Google
[00:00:30] Google shares fall after a shake
[00:00:32] shake up at its AI unit that sees
[00:00:34] sees pioneer Sir Demis Hassabis step
[00:00:37] step aside and payback time. The The Trump administration refunds
[00:00:41] refunds $100 billion in illegal tariffs,
[00:00:43] tariffs, but now it faces a new battle
[00:00:45] battle over its latest import taxes.
[00:00:47] taxes. A top lawyer tells us they
[00:00:49] they are also unfair and fighting fighting fire with tech. We speak
[00:00:53] speak to a company that's using AI
[00:00:56] AI to detect and track wildfires
[00:00:59] wildfires in Greece. All of that
[00:01:02] that to come. In this edition of of Business Today. But we're going
[00:01:05] going to start with the Iran conflict
[00:01:07] conflict and hopes of an agreement agreement to end the deadlock over
[00:01:11] over the Strait of Hormuz, which which has choked off vital supplies
[00:01:14] supplies of oil, gas and chemicals. chemicals. Iran says it has reached
[00:01:17] reached a deal with Oman on shipping shipping through the Straits, and
[00:01:21] and a joint announcement is being being finalised. Well, this follows
[00:01:24] follows promises from President Trump Trump and other senior US officials
[00:01:27] officials that a deal is imminent. imminent. But major questions remain.
[00:01:31] remain. Regional sources have been been telling the Reuters news agency
[00:01:34] agency that the agreement would give give Iran control of ships entering
[00:01:37] entering the Gulf, a situation the
[00:01:39] the US may be unlikely to accept.
[00:01:42] accept. Meanwhile, traffic through through the vital waterway remains remains at a near standstill. As
[00:01:46] As you can see there, the time lapse lapse image from earlier shows how
[00:01:50] how few ships are making that journey.
[00:01:52] journey. For now, oil traders are are taking a rather wait and see
[00:01:55] see approach. The international benchmark
[00:01:58] benchmark Brent crude has been trading trading at around $80 a barrel since
[00:02:02] since reports of an agreement first first emerged earlier this week.
[00:02:05] week. Well, speaking in Las Vegas, Vegas, President Trump reiterated
[00:02:08] reiterated that oil prices will come
[00:02:10] come down once the war in Iran ends.
[00:02:13] 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
[00:02:19] happening if you look today, it's
[00:02:21] 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
[00:02:30] don't have to. But when that oil
[00:02:33] oil and gasoline go down, everything everything else follows. Well, we've
[00:02:36] we've been speaking to Cormac McGarry,
[00:02:38] McGarry, who's the director at security security consultancy Control Risks.
[00:02:41] Risks. He told us their base assumption assumption and advice to clients
[00:02:44] clients is that Iran will retain retain control of the Strait of Hormuz
[00:02:48] Hormuz in some form or other. Did Did the harsh tactical reality of
[00:02:52] of the Strait of Hormuz is that Iran
[00:02:54] Iran has emerged from this war with with almost full tactical control
[00:02:57] control of the Strait of Hormuz. Hormuz. So the long-term scenario
[00:03:00] scenario planning that we're trying trying to do at Control Risks for
[00:03:03] for our clients in all the scenarios,
[00:03:05] scenarios, scenarios we look at realistically, realistically, they include Iran
[00:03:09] Iran maintaining some level of control. control. So what we see in the next
[00:03:13] next few days, if it does actually
[00:03:16] actually emerge into reality, it's it's probably going to be a reality
[00:03:19] reality in which Iran has realistic
[00:03:22] realistic control of the strait. strait. So big question though how
[00:03:26] how would Iran controlling the strait strait go down with its Gulf neighbours,
[00:03:30] neighbours, especially Saudi Arabia? Arabia? Well, Doctor Yousef Alshammari
[00:03:32] Alshammari is the President of the the London College of Energy Economics.
[00:03:35] Economics. He's with us now. And And good to see you again. Maybe Maybe let me start with that question.
[00:03:39] question. What would be the wider
[00:03:40] wider impact on the region? Good
[00:03:43] Good morning Ben, and thanks for
[00:03:45] for having me. Well, I certainly certainly don't think that a deal
[00:03:49] deal of this form will be acceptable acceptable for Gulf countries. I
[00:03:53] I see it as a major win for Iran
[00:03:57] Iran from this conflict. Literally
[00:03:59] Literally the aim of this deal, although
[00:04:01] although it's kind of it could bring bring some sort of some sort of a
[00:04:05] a relief to the market. Possibly Possibly it could allow the shipping
[00:04:08] shipping movement to rise a little
[00:04:10] little bit, but it also gives Iran
[00:04:12] Iran more leverage and moreover,
[00:04:14] moreover, they like an administrative
[00:04:16] administrative role over the strait strait because it's if Iran is going
[00:04:20] going to control the inbound which
[00:04:24] which is going to some somehow have
[00:04:25] have control on all the imports for
[00:04:29] for the GCC countries in the region.
[00:04:32] region. Also on the other hand, also
[00:04:34] also the deal also kind of provides
[00:04:36] provides a Iran with oversight on
[00:04:39] on all ships that is going to exit
[00:04:42] exit the Strait of Hormuz. That again
[00:04:44] again that crude oil, oil and gas
[00:04:46] gas exports. So, I don't think any
[00:04:49] any deal of this form will be acceptable acceptable for Gulf countries because
[00:04:52] because we've heard from, for example,
[00:04:54] example, Sultan Al Jaber, many weeks
[00:04:57] weeks ago that, it's an international
[00:05:00] international waterway and an unrestricted
[00:05:02] unrestricted movement is deeply being being sought by, by the Gulf countries.
[00:05:06] countries. Yes. Sorry to jump in. in. And as you touched on there,
[00:05:10] there, I mean, perhaps unacceptable unacceptable to some Gulf countries
[00:05:12] countries and also maybe ironically ironically also unacceptable to the
[00:05:15] the United States. Is there a way way that the White House can spin
[00:05:18] spin this as a victory? Well, I the
[00:05:22] the situation of the United States
[00:05:25] States is kind of, questionable here
[00:05:28] here because the US has promised promised to bring back the Strait
[00:05:32] Strait of Hormuz into a status quo.
[00:05:34] quo. We've been hearing reports from
[00:05:37] from New York Times and others that
[00:05:38] that the US is running out of the
[00:05:41] the ammunition. The cost of military military escalation in the region
[00:05:44] region is region is rising. Also
[00:05:47] Also adding to that, the energy prices
[00:05:50] prices that and we have mid-term mid-term elections coming up later
[00:05:52] later this year. So I believe the
[00:05:55] the US is is somehow in a in a conflict
[00:05:58] conflict that is trying to gain some some wins out of. But OK. So far
[00:06:02] far I see Iran is a major winner. winner. Really good to talk to you.
[00:06:05] you. Thank you for your insight. insight. Doctor Yousef Alshammari Alshammari there at the London College
[00:06:09] College of Energy Economics. Grateful Grateful for your time. Thank you.
[00:06:11] you. We'll keep a close eye on any any developments there. But also
[00:06:15] also in the Business Today. Shares Shares in Google have been falling
[00:06:17] falling after a shake-up at the top top of the company's AI business.
[00:06:21] business. Demis Hassabis, who's the the chief executive of Google DeepMind,
[00:06:23] DeepMind, is set to become chief
[00:06:25] chief scientist at Google's parent parent company Alphabet. Well, that
[00:06:28] that comes as four of Google's AI AI researchers announced that they
[00:06:32] they were leaving to start their their own companies. Here's our North
[00:06:36] North America business correspondent correspondent Samira Hussain. Google
[00:06:38] Google is under immense pressure pressure as it competes with the
[00:06:42] the likes of Anthropic and OpenAI.
[00:06:44] OpenAI. It is why this big shake-up
[00:06:46] shake-up of their AI leadership has has investors just so nervous. There
[00:06:50] There are worries that alphabet has
[00:06:52] has actually fallen behind in the
[00:06:54] the AI race, even though it created
[00:06:57] created some of the key technologies technologies that are underpinning
[00:07:01] underpinning current AI models. Now Now also remember like other tech
[00:07:04] tech firms, Google continues to spend spend big on AI data centres and
[00:07:08] and such to the tune of somewhere
[00:07:12] somewhere between 195 to $205 billion. billion. That's an awful lot of money
[00:07:16] money to spend on a division of a a company that is going through such
[00:07:19] such a massive shake up. Samira Hussain Hussain now with the latest from
[00:07:23] from New York. Well staying in the
[00:07:24] the US the Trump administration has
[00:07:27] has refunded $100 billion of its its so-called Liberation Day tariffs
[00:07:31] tariffs to businesses after they they were ruled to have been illegal.
[00:07:34] illegal. It's around 60% of all the the tariff revenue that was collected
[00:07:37] collected by the government under under the policy, according to a
[00:07:40] a recent court filing from US customs. customs. Meanwhile, 25 Democrat led
[00:07:44] led states are suing the Trump administration administration over a new wave of
[00:07:48] of tariffs on imports from dozens dozens of countries. They're accused
[00:07:51] accused of failing to tackle forced forced labour, while the states say
[00:07:54] say that the new tariffs are, quote, quote, arbitrary, capricious and
[00:07:58] and contrary to law. We've been speaking speaking to Professor Barry Appleton,
[00:08:01] Appleton, who testified to the government government over the issue about the
[00:08:05] the legality of those new tariffs.
[00:08:06] tariffs. Well, it's kind of complicated.
[00:08:09] complicated. Look, nobody is in favour favour of the use of forced labour
[00:08:12] labour in imports, right, where everybody everybody all the countries have
[00:08:15] have laws that deal with it. The The difference is their laws are
[00:08:19] are different from the way the US
[00:08:20] US does it. The US has put in a reverse
[00:08:24] reverse onus. They've said everything everything is deemed to be use of
[00:08:28] of forced labour. Unless you can
[00:08:30] can prove it to the alternative.
[00:08:32] alternative. And so many countries countries like the UK, Australia,
[00:08:35] Australia, Canada have forced labour
[00:08:36] labour laws. But they say you have
[00:08:39] have to only prosecute those who who have an allegation of use of
[00:08:43] of forced labour. And the Americans Americans have imposed a tax on that.
[00:08:47] that. So it's not that there's a a proof of any link to forced labour.
[00:08:50] labour. It's simply that there's there's a difference in the way that
[00:08:53] that everybody's enforcing it. And
[00:08:54] And that seems pretty unfair. Elsewhere,
[00:08:57] Elsewhere, Africa's richest man has has told the BBC about his plans
[00:09:00] plans to build a new oil refinery refinery in Kenya, which he says
[00:09:04] says will help African countries countries become energy self-sufficient.
[00:09:07] self-sufficient. Nancy Kacungira Kacungira caught up with him in Lagos
[00:09:09] Lagos and began by asking how advanced
[00:09:12] advanced those plans really are. are. We're really planning something
[00:09:15] something very big within the African
[00:09:18] African continent and a lot of people people say, well, does the refinery
[00:09:21] refinery in East Africa, does it it make sense? It makes a lot of
[00:09:25] of sense because the refinery is
[00:09:26] is not only for Kenya. That's why
[00:09:29] why we are calling it East African
[00:09:32] African refinery, you know. So that
[00:09:35] that can serve a lot of countries countries up to even Egypt. How much
[00:09:38] much do you expect the East African African refinery to. I think we.
[00:09:42] we. Thought it was going to cost cost 17 billion, but it's going to
[00:09:44] to cost much. It will cost less than
[00:09:46] than that. We are looking at about
[00:09:50] about 15.5, $16 billion. Why will will it cost less than you originally
[00:09:54] originally anticipated? Because this
[00:09:56] this one will be faster. So in terms terms of financing costs will be
[00:09:59] be less. And then also you know,
[00:10:04] know, we are wiser as a company then
[00:10:07] then that when we built this one one because we are just learning
[00:10:10] learning when we built the one here. here. So that is really what is helping
[00:10:13] helping us. So in terms of timing,
[00:10:16] timing, we'll be able to build in
[00:10:18] in less than four years. So the location
[00:10:21] location is decided. What about the the financing. Are you looking at
[00:10:24] at cash debt equity. Yeah. Well we
[00:10:25] we at. All that you know equity and
[00:10:29] and debt. So 30% is going to be equity.
[00:10:34] equity. And then 70% will be debt. debt. But we know we don't have any
[00:10:38] any problem raising the money. So
[00:10:41] So what do you see as the impact
[00:10:43] impact that this refinery could have have on energy security. Not just
[00:10:47] just to have a massive impact really,
[00:10:49] really, and then also it guarantees guarantees the countries getting
[00:10:53] getting their own products that are are not going to live hand to mouth.
[00:10:56] mouth. You know, this and then you you know, the refinery is there.
[00:10:59] there. It's for them. Now let's return return to AI because it's proving
[00:11:03] proving to be a useful tool in tackling tackling this summer's record. Wildfires
[00:11:07] Wildfires in Europe, coupled with
[00:11:09] with satellite imagery, artificial artificial intelligence models are
[00:11:12] are now being used to help emergency
[00:11:14] emergency services to detect fires
[00:11:17] fires earlier and forecast how they they could spread. We've been speaking
[00:11:20] speaking to Doctor Axel Roenneke, Roenneke, who's from OroraTech, which
[00:11:23] which helped develop Greece's first first national wildfire detection
[00:11:26] detection system. He's been telling
[00:11:28] telling us how it works. From space.
[00:11:31] space. We can continuously monitor
[00:11:35] monitor fires with satellites that
[00:11:36] that measure infrared. So we measure
[00:11:40] measure heat rather than visible visible smoke or flames, and we scan
[00:11:43] scan the Earth's surface surface.
[00:11:46] surface. Looking for heat signatures
[00:11:49] signatures frequently and globally. globally. So with that information
[00:11:52] information combined with weather
[00:11:54] weather vegetation and terrain data,
[00:11:57] data, our AI turns millions of data
[00:12:01] data points into a simple alert and and actionable insight like how the
[00:12:04] the fire evolves, where it goes and
[00:12:07] and how important it is. Wildfires
[00:12:11] Wildfires need to be, detected earlier earlier if you want to, if you want
[00:12:15] want to act, on a manageable size
[00:12:17] size of the fire. Once fires get
[00:12:19] get beyond a certain size, there
[00:12:22] there is no control. So the earlier earlier you can detect a fire and
[00:12:25] and even predict where fires are
[00:12:27] are likely to happen, you can put put forces on the ground, be prepared
[00:12:31] prepared and react when the fire fire is still manageable. And this
[00:12:34] this is where we need to get to go. go. Further implications there of
[00:12:38] of AI. Let me show you what's on on the BBC News website right now,
[00:12:41] now, including news of those who who maybe got involved in SpaceX
[00:12:44] SpaceX earlier. The story there of
[00:12:45] of one man who joined in 2009 partly
[00:12:49] partly paid in stock. Those shares
[00:12:51] shares now worth a pretty cool $23
[00:12:54] $23 million. That lock up period period for regional investors or
[00:12:57] or original owners of shares to sell.
[00:13:00] sell. Now coming open. So more details
[00:13:02] details there on the BBC News website website bbc.com slash. That's your
[00:13:06] your Business Today. See you soon.
[00:14:23] life savings to marry a woman they've they've only met for a minute. To
[00:14:25] To find out why. Join me Laura Bicker
[00:14:28] Bicker here on BBC News. Here at
[00:14:35] at BBC Verify, we use forensic investigative investigative techniques and tools
[00:14:39] tools to fact check stories, verify verify information and counter disinformation
[00:14:43] disinformation using data analysis analysis and the latest technology. technology. Our journalists examine
[00:14:46] examine the evidence and get to the the facts. Watch our BBC Verify reports
[00:14:49] reports on the BBC News channel or
[00:14:51] or go online to find out more.
[00:15:17] A Cambridge professor who's been the subject of media scrutiny
[00:15:20] scrutiny after claims of plagiarism plagiarism has resigned hours after
[00:15:23] after Cambridge University said it it would investigate his qualifications
[00:15:26] qualifications and honourary appointments. appointments. Professor Jason Arday
[00:15:29] Arday has been the subject of many many questions in the media in the
[00:15:33] the last few weeks. Our culture correspondent correspondent Noor Nanji joined me
[00:15:36] me earlier with more about what happened. happened. Well, I think it's fair
[00:15:40] fair to say this has been a very very messy and for some people, quite
[00:15:43] quite uncomfortable story. As you you say at the centre of this Professor
[00:15:46] Professor Jason Arday, a very prominent prominent Cambridge academic and
[00:15:49] and in fact the youngest ever black black professor at Cambridge when
[00:15:53] when he joined back in 2020 2023.
[00:15:56] 2023. Now he has been at the centre centre of this row over