and will reveal the winner of the global competition. hello. let's start with the crossover between diplomacy and economics. chinese president xijinping has kicked off his first trip to europe in five years. he's arrived in france and will make stops in serbia and hungary later this week. the visit comes as some countries in europe are taking action over what they perceive to be anti—competitive practices by china. our business reporter david waddell has more. joining me now is mabrouk chetouane, head of global market strategy, natixis investment managers. xi and his team have been publishing op—eds in french newspapers ahead of his visit, describing their relationship

as a model of peaceful co—existence. what does he want from the visit? good morning and thank you for the invite. the chinese administration has a twofold agenda. normalising the relationship with europe. europe has lodged a sequence of blow with china and some practices of trade. and on the political side, with the ukraine and russia block and the european countries are, let's say, quite upset by the fact that now some companies in china are supporting... , russian companies are supporting the russian war effort and this is clearly a problem. the second thing is

clearly the huge and massive trade imbalance between europe and china which is something that the french president as pointed out as something that needs to be dealt with in the short term. figs needs to be dealt with in the short term-— short term. as we were mentioning _ short term. as we were mentioning and - short term. as we were mentioning and you - short term. as we were - mentioning and you alluded to that, several european countries and in fact the european union itself is unhappy with things like the subsidies which china gives to its electric car makers, the european commission is planning some kind of response to that. how concerned do you think they are in china about potential eu tariffs? other chinese cars sold here a sideshow to the whole market?— whole market? this is a big issue for— whole market? this is a big issue for the _ whole market? this is a big issue for the chinese - whole market? this is a big issue for the chinese ev - whole market? this is a big . issue for the chinese ev sector because we have to keep in mind that the european market is the biggest market for the chinese

electrical vehicles. that chinese prediction is 38 million units while in the us are only producing 10 million units. and in europe 1.5 million. there is this massive supply of electrical vehicles which is something extremely important for the chinese economy. and to avoid excess capacity which could mean interfering with the sector. in that, if there is an increase in tariff or let's say a trade war between europe and china on this specific topic, it will clearly shift this sector which is now a massive sector for the chinese economy and especially for the 02 motive sector chinese economy and especially for the o2 motive sector so the chinese administration is

clearly concerned —— automotive sector. we also need to have in mind something extremely important about what happened in the last decades where solar panels, the prices of the chinese solar panels have completely destroyed this industry in europe and clearly, what european countries want to know is they want to avoid this thing happening now with the evs sector. thing happening now with the evs sector-— thing happening now with the evs sector. ., ~' , ., , . evs sector. thank you very much forjoining _ evs sector. thank you very much forjoining us. — evs sector. thank you very much forjoining us, chris _ evs sector. thank you very much forjoining us, chris reed. - it's the start of a difficult week for argentina's president javier milei who's facing continued public opposition to his controversial policies. a massive transport strike today is intended to disrupt almost all forms of transport — no trains, underground, planes or shipping will run. there is another general strike planned for this thursday

and these follow months of ongoing strikes over the country's economic performance. president milei promised an economic reform, a chainsaw to the previous government's policies as part of his "shock treatment" plan. argentina is now facing one of the worst economic crises in decades, with inflation and poverty continuing to rise. live now to mariano machado, principal americas analyst at verisk maplecroft. thank you forjoining us today. let's talk about the transport strikes today, the general strikes today, the general strike on thursday. how serious and how disruptive are they going to be?— going to be? thank you for havin: going to be? thank you for having us _ going to be? thank you for having us it _ going to be? thank you for having us it is _ going to be? thank you for having us it is always - going to be? thank you for having us it is always a - having us it is always a pleasure to be held. as you said, javier milei's platform resonates with large sections of the population but that does

not means it does not antagonise stakeholders. we are seeing different types of strikes and demonstrations taking place. this week we're about union led demonstrations. they will be disruptive, especially today but on thursday, the second general strike taking place, that will be an interesting process to observe because depending on the degree we might see if the tide is turning in terms of javier milei's overall popularity. javier milei's overall popularity-— javier milei's overall popularity. the tide is turning- _ popularity. the tide is turning. talk - popularity. the tide is turning. talk to - popularity. the tide is turning. talk to us - popularity. the tide is turning. talk to us a l popularity. the tide is l turning. talk to us a bit popularity. the tide is - turning. talk to us a bit more about that. strikes do not necessarily meant you do not have the support of the public. they voted for him. are they as

in love with him as they were at election time? it in love with him as they were at election time?— at election time? it is very important _ at election time? it is very important to _ at election time? it is very important to make - at election time? it is very important to make a - at election time? it is very - important to make a difference here. we're talking about union driven demonstrations like was today on on thursday, they are perceived as structure, stakeholder driven type of incidences and, yes, that might not reflect popular support. but we had an unstructured demonstration a couple of days ago in terms of the slashing of university funding which for argentina is a key identity trade and one of the sole paths into a better future, trade and one of the sole paths into a betterfuture, that trade and one of the sole paths into a better future, that was largely organic and unorganised bait middle class people. so what seeing now is what we expect these structured approaches to possess, these

organic typewriters are also taken place we might be witnessing a change in his popularity. witnessing a change in his popularity-— witnessing a change in his --oulari . ., ., ., popularity. the international community _ popularity. the international community was _ popularity. the international community was aghast - popularity. the internationali community was aghast when popularity. the international. community was aghast when he pledged to scrap the argentina central bank, to adopt the dollar is argentinian currency but he's doing that now. how much more of this kind of radical proposals have been watered down or abandoned? in principle, we are seeing a 2—faced government. one is of the digital government that continues to pledge for these radical reforms and continues to speak that language and on the other side we have the analogical government forced to negotiate everything either through congress or in different incidences so the average of these two narratives is what we're seeing here. in terms of abandoned though, that might not be the case but in terms of deployment and implementation, the pace extremely slow compared to original expectations. mariano

machado, _ original expectations. mariano machado, thank _ original expectations. mariano machado, thank you _ original expectations. mariano machado, thank you for - original expectations. mariano | machado, thank you forjoining us today. today marks 30 years of the opening of the channel tunnel linking england france. it laid the tracks for the eurostar train to shuttle passengers from london to paris and beyond and eurotunnel vehicle and freight shuttles between folkestone and calais. our transport correspondent katy austin has been taking a look at impact the connection has had, and what's next. a moment in history — 30 years ago today queen elizabeth and french president mitterrand officially opened the new connection between their two countries which made an idea dreamed up centuries earlier a reality. since the queen made her journey through the channel tunnel, 480 million passengers have done the same. these days 400 trains speed through it each day. we're now going at about 120kph which is roughly 75mph and we're coming up to the middle of what is still the world's longest undersea tunnel.

driver martin has been here since the beginning. people have this concept that it's just straight through to france and it's totally not. the tunnel itself is up, down, around the corners and everything. it's no straight lines at all. so you know this tunnel like the back of your hand? absolutely. yeah, yeah, like a second home really. building it was an exceptional feat of engineering. there are actually three tunnels — the one i'm standing in right now with my high—viz and my hard hat, isn't for training, it's used for ventilation, access for maintenance and evacuating people in an emergency. we're now on the france side and the uk is 32 miles that way. the tunnel carries a quarter of trade between the uk and the eu. plus plenty of holiday—makers whether on the eurostar to paris and beyond or using the car shuttle to reach somewhere like letukai, an hour's drive from the calais terminal. drove down to folkston, jumped on the tunnel, half—an—hour; calais,

a0 minutes down the coast. perfect. nice and easy. no problems at all. you have done that before? yep, we have been to latukai three times, we have always come through the tunnel. tunnel tourists help keep the wheels moving for small businesses including this one. translation: i drive a little train, lots of english people come on the weekend, in cars, in the shuttle, it's very good. 20,000 visitors are english visitors _ 20,000 visitors are english visitors. it 20,000 visitors are english visitors. . ., ., 20,000 visitors are english visitors. _, ., ., visitors. it could mean a loner visitors. it could mean a longer holidays. - visitors. it could mean a longer holidays. an - visitors. it could mean a | longer holidays. an extra visitors. it could mean a - longer holidays. an extra round of aolf. longer holidays. an extra round of golf- it _ longer holidays. an extra round of golf- it is _ longer holidays. an extra round of golf. it is more _ longer holidays. an extra round of golf. it is more business - of golf. it is more business for us _ of golf. it is more business for us and _ of golf. it is more business for us and more fun for them. the tunnel�*s financial journey hasn't always been smooth. it opened £2 billion over budget, at one point

the company which runs it nearly went bust, predicted passenger numbers were never reached but eurotunnel became profitable. more recently, new challenges — the pandemic and brexit meant putting millions into new systems to deal with additional customs rules. what's next? well, the boss here wants more trains running, that could include for the first time rivals to eurostar running passenger services. new companies have said that they want to launch new services within the five next years in the tunnel. we're very confident that within the ten next years, there will be a doubling of the direct connection between london and europe. before then changes on the way for people crossing the channel. eurotunnel is building an area to cope with the broader system starting this october. we were the first film the machine that passengers

will use to register fingerprints and a photograph. instead of having their passports the crossing time will be extended by five to maximum seven minutes per customer and as we are extending the number of lanes, there will be no delays. nothing. the cost of all these £70 million. the tunnel�*s 30—year history has already proved eventful and it's far from the end of the story. let's get some of the day's other news now. the acclaimed investor warren buffet has told shareholders in his berkshire hathaway fund that his successors are ready to take over his job. speaking at its company's annual meeting, the 93 year old announced that vice chairmen greg abel and ajit jain will take over the company in the future. buffet also announced that his firm sold its entire stake in paramount global at a loss, and cut its investment in apple by 13 percent. the growth in demand for petrol could be cut in half this year, according to a series of analysts

speaking to the financial agency reuters, driven by the shift to electric cars both in china and the us. the consultancy wood mackenzie predicts growth of 340,000 barrels a day compared with 700,000 last year. the international energy agency points out that china, which was once the world's driver of gasoline demand, will account for more than half of all electric vehicle sales this year. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

to asia now, where people are bracing themselves for yet another hot summer. last year was the hottest year ever, and 2024 looks no better. suranjana tewari is following the story from our asia business hub in singapore.

what does the future hold? it is just about what does the future hold? it isjust about keeping cool. is just about keeping cool. countries across asia are on guard for more severe heat. experts are warning that the extreme weather could lead to a cocktail of health hazards for workers in this region. we know that last year was the hottest on record but based on what happen in april of this year, we saw similarly hot and dry weather for many countries in the south and southeast asia with temperatures topping 40 celsius in many cities and extreme weather as well. schools in bangladesh have now reopened after being close. thailand's capital bangkok has been abnormally dry with barely any rainfall in april and in china we saw days of heavy rain battering parts of the southern province of guangdong, that

cause multiple dives and more than 110,000 people were forced from their homes. why is this happening? this is partly field by the el nino weather pattern but scientists also say climate change is causing more frequent severe and lengthy during summer, during the summer months rather. many people have died across the region and experts also say that he could exacerbate inequalities, widening a learning gap between developing and developed nation with so many schools closed end of the tropics as a result of the weather. intense heat waves have also affected business, water shortages and frequent power cuts have hit the keep sectors in bangladesh, accounting for more than 80% of exports and supplies. accounting for more than 8096 of exports and supplies.— exports and supplies. thank you very much- _ and now, something for the footwear lovers among you. this weekend the world

championships of shoemaking entered its fifth year here in london. the competition, aimed at preserving the fine art of hand crafted shoe making, attracted 25 submissions from 12 different countries. and you can see the winning shoe on your screen now. the mission for the competitors was to make a leather soled loafer of smooth light brown calf leather. the jury consisted of some of the world's foremost bespoke shoe makers. and here is the winner of this year's competition, it is ken hishinuma, ajapanese shoemaker, who runs the brand khish the work, based in yamanashi prefecture. japan featured heavily in the competition with the second price also going to a shoemaker from the country. unfortunately ken can'tjoin us — perhaps he's out clubbing in his cobbled creations right now — but let's instead go to the co—organiser of the competition, jesper ingevaldsson.

and jesper i believe you have the winning shoe there. you obviously bagged yourself a pair. can you hold it up for us and explained to us what is so special about it? i and explained to us what is so special about it?— and explained to us what is so special about it? i mean, these are literally _ special about it? i mean, these are literally some _ special about it? i mean, these are literally some of _ special about it? i mean, these are literally some of the - are literally some of the finest piece of footwear that you can find now and back in the day. this is ken hishinuma's share which have some special features like this construction, decorative stitching, horseshoe healed, very thin fine layers and very fine soul stitching and a lot of complicated things done very neatly. of complicated things done very neatl . , ., .,

neatly. tell us more about the horseshoe _ neatly. tell us more about the horseshoe healed. _ neatly. tell us more about the horseshoe healed. i've - neatly. tell us more about the horseshoe healed. i've never. horseshoe healed. i've never seen anything like that before. is it comfortable? is it designed to make a gentleman of smaller stature to look taller perhaps? smaller stature to look taller erha s? , , , smaller stature to look taller --erhas? ,, , ., smaller stature to look taller --erhas? ,, , . ., perhaps? the issues are not meant to — perhaps? the issues are not meant to be _ perhaps? the issues are not meant to be used, - perhaps? the issues are not meant to be used, of- perhaps? the issues are not| meant to be used, of course, but you can see this on foot where people are wearing as well. one of the winning shoes in a previous competition had this horseshoe healed and we consider that it will become popular in future contest but it is a unique looking special thing. and this again is a bit high as well. so thing. and this again is a bit high as well.— thing. and this again is a bit high as well. so the shoes are not designed _ high as well. so the shoes are not designed to _ high as well. so the shoes are not designed to be _ high as well. so the shoes are not designed to be worn, - high as well. so the shoes are not designed to be worn, they too special for that, are they uncomfortable?— too special for that, are they uncomfortable? why is that? the main thing _ uncomfortable? why is that? the main thing with _ uncomfortable? why is that? the main thing with this _ main thing with this competition is to push their craftsmanship and, like, 100 years ago for making contests were a common thing and it is something that a lot of shoemakers participated in. if

you go to shoemakers some of the best shoes are made for competition we wanted to bring that back with the world championships of shoemaking, to push their craftsmanship and shoemakers to make some amazing stuff that that they might not do for customers. an interest in the craft. the top three shoes would go on a world tour to be showcase for shoe lovers. took us more about the craft and why you set up the competition. why do you think the old shoemaking competitions of the bygone age filled by the wayside, got a worn out? —— fell by the wayside. wayside, got a worn out? -- fell by the wayside.- wayside, got a worn out? -- fell by the wayside. this type of cro- fell by the wayside. this type of crop as — fell by the wayside. this type of crop as i — fell by the wayside. this type of crop as i was _ fell by the wayside. this type of crop as i was existed - fell by the wayside. this type of crop as i was existed but l of crop as i was existed but had made shoes and bespoke shoes were a much bigger thing 100 years ago and back further.

nowadays it is not mass produced issues, more of a luxury thing but in recent years, especially in recent areas, more and more people are appreciating this craft. the shoes are basically made with the same technique used 100— 150 years ago for the best shoes. handmade, very fine craftsmanship and nowadays you want to make display shoes and all that when you push yourself all that when you push yourself a bit but without the contests, you do not take it to the next level and that is what we wanted to do.— level and that is what we wanted to do. ., ., ., , ., wanted to do. you are hoping to reinvigorate _ wanted to do. you are hoping to reinvigorate the _ wanted to do. you are hoping to reinvigorate the craft _ wanted to do. you are hoping to reinvigorate the craft of - reinvigorate the craft of shoemaking. i noticed he had 25 entrance. not a massive number. —— you had. how would you describe the state of the craft right now? how many people are

out there right now creating these kind of creations and do you think there could be more if more attention were paid to it? , ., , ., ., , it? yes, that is what we hope for. it? yes, that is what we hope for- there — it? yes, that is what we hope for. there are _ it? yes, that is what we hope for. there are thousands - it? yes, that is what we hope for. there are thousands of i for. there are thousands of great shoemakers around the world and so this is sort of the cream of the crop we're seeing at that shoemaking contests, especially in the highest positions, but everything to be done to sort of promote theirs. we need this type of contest. we have websites, youtube channel, instagram which help. often, people who spend the money to acquire a pair of bespoke shoes or otherfine made shoes, they really appreciate it and they come back feed, for sure. but now we're _ come back feed, for sure. but now we're looking at pictures

of the patina aspect, people putting unique painted creations onto the shoe. tell us more about that craft and whether they shoes will ever get worn?— get worn? exactly. that is a cuite get worn? exactly. that is a quite common _ get worn? exactly. that is a quite common thing. - get worn? exactly. that is a quite common thing. a - get worn? exactly. that is a quite common thing. a bit l quite common thing. a bit basic. this is the winning issue of world championships of shoe shining and shoe world championships of shoe shining and shoe patina, from france. we had both the world championships of shoe shining and shoe patina and world championships of shoemaking. the shape of the shoe, the pattern and so on, it is very advanced technique with these strokes going from dark to very light colour. complicated things to make this.- light colour. complicated things to make this. and what do these issues _ things to make this. and what do these issues cost? - things to make this. and what do these issues cost? for- things to make this. and what do these issues cost? for the | do these issues cost? for the atina do these issues cost? for the patina they — do these issues cost? for the patina they are _

do these issues cost? for the patina they are regular - do these issues cost? for the patina they are regular ready| patina they are regular ready to wear shoes for about £250, if you look at these issues, the bespoke shoes, they cost around maybe £4000. £4000! time is a . ainst around maybe £4000. £4000! time is against us — around maybe £4000. £4000! time is against us but _ around maybe £4000. £4000! time is against us but we _ around maybe £4000. £4000! time is against us but we have _ around maybe £4000. £4000! time is against us but we have to - is against us but we have to leave it there for your expensive shoes. but thank you forjoining us on bbc news. more on the top of the hour. hello. so far, this bank holiday weekend has been a decidedly mixed affair. some spells of warm sunshine but also some really heavy downpours. we saw some flash flooding in parts of eastern scotland during sunday. you can see the showers and thunderstorms that erupted here through the day. quite slow—moving, actually. not much wind to push these showers and storms along. one or two locations had close to half a month's worth of rain in the space ofjust a few hours. we are currently in the grip of this fairly weak and fairly

flabby area of low pressure, so not much wind with that low to push the showers around. where they do crop up again on bank holiday monday, they will be heavy, quite slow moving, but with some spells of sunshine in between. this is how we start the day. the southern half of the uk seeing some areas of mist and fog, some sunny spells developing but some rain across the southeast of england and east anglia. northern ireland and scotland keeping quite a lot of cloud. still with some hefty showers across some central and eastern parts of scotland. by the middle of the afternoon, parts of east anglia and the southeast seeing outbreaks of rain. elsewhere through the southwest of england into wales, the midlands and northern england, that mix of sunny spells and heavy, possibly thundery showers — those showers quite slow—moving — but the sunniest spot seeing highs of 19 or 20 degrees. more cloud for northern ireland, but largely dry. still some hefty showers across southern and eastern scotland. further north and west, something drier and, in places, a little bit brighter. now, as we head through monday night, the showers should slowly but surely fade away in most locations. we'll keep some fairly large amounts of cloud, perhaps some mist patches here and there.

temperatures generally holding up between six and ten degrees. now, more showers in the forecast for tuesday but they shouldn't be as widespread and, on the whole, they shouldn't be quite as heavy. so, mainly fine to start off. some fairly large amounts of cloud, spells of sunshine, too. some of those showers getting going through the day, particularly across parts of england and wales. but in the sunny spots, those temperatures again up to around 20 degrees celsius. that is a sign of things to come because as we head deeper into the week, high pressure builds a little more strongly. we'll still see frontal systems to the north of the uk, so a bit of rain at times, particularly across parts of scotland. but further south, it stays mostly dry. some spells of sunshine. temperatures climbing, seeing highs of around 21, 22, maybe 23 degrees.

good morning. welcome to breakfast withjon kay and nina warhurst. our headlines today... john swinney�*s expected to be confirmed as the new leader of the scottish national party later after a potential challenger pulled out of the race. prime minister rishi sunak admits last week's local elections were "bitterly disappointing" for the conservatives, but the party can still come together and make progress.

gizza job. tributes are being paid to the actor bernard hill, who has died at the age of 79. good morning. after 110 attempts, lando norris is a formula one race winner. the british driver takes the chequered flag at a dramatic miami grand prix on a day to remember for maclaren. and good morning. we will see some spells of warm sunshine around today, but also spells of heavy downpours and some thunderstorms too. all the details of the bank holiday weather later in the programme. it's bank holiday monday, the 6th of may. our main story... john swinney is expected to be confirmed as the next leader of the scottish national party after his last potential competitor pulled out. this means mr swinney is also the most likely candidate to replace humza yousaf as scotland's first minister.

our reporter ben philip has the latest.