i'm ben thompson. let's start in france, where the chinese president xijinping has kicked off his first trip to europe in five years. he's been meeting with president emmanuel macron at the elysee palace, along with the head of the european commission ursula von der leyen. the visit comes as some countries in europe are taking action over what they perceive to be anti—competitive practices by china. france backed a european commission anti—subsidy inquiryu into chinese electric vehicle imports. china subsequently launched an anti—dumping investigation into brandy which was seen as targeting france. on economic issues, i think the message by france is on reciprocity and addressing asymmetries. france has a trade deficit of about 50 billion euros with china. i don't think this time you should expect any french concessions on what you call now the economic security agenda, the investigation

going on on chinese electric vehicles and the problems of lack of reciprocity in terms of access to public markets. i don't think that france should be expected to move on that. on the contrary, on the anti—dumping investigation on brandy, i think that the line of argument on the french side will be that it does not make sense to dump a luxury product on which one has a quasi—monopoly. but i think what france seeks with the trip is really balance, inviting von der leyen and stoltz even, if chancellor scholz even takes the invitation, tells you that france prioritises eu unity on these issues and that this visit will not be primarily about french business interests in china such as nuclear energy, luxury products or agricultural products. we will keep you up—to—date with any

new developing lines coming from that meeting. the danish giant maersk says disruption to container traffic in the red sea is worsening because drone and missile attacks on ships by yemen's houthi rebels are reaching further offshore. maersk said it estimated the industry had lost between 15 and 20% of its capacity on the far east to mediterranean and northern european routes. it said it had added container capacity and was sailing faster on the route around southern africa to offset some of the disruption, but that means it's using a0 % more fuel. joining me now is larsjenson — ceo at shipping consultants vespucci maritime. good to have you with us. talk to us first of all about what is happening, those drone attacks are able to get further out to sea, is it destructing more ships or reaching the ships trying to avoid those attacks? it’s reaching the ships trying to avoid those attacks?— reaching the ships trying to avoid

those attacks? it's reaching further out. those attacks? it's reaching further out- within — those attacks? it's reaching further out. within the _ those attacks? it's reaching further out. within the last _ those attacks? it's reaching further out. within the last week _ those attacks? it's reaching further out. within the last week we - those attacks? it's reaching further out. within the last week we have l out. within the last week we have seen a ranging into the indian ocean. the problem there is prior to these attacks, it was basically free passage from africa up to some of the key route in the southern parts of the arabian peninsula. those routes are now compromised forcing chips to take a detour and that soaks up more capacity. soaking up more capacity _ soaks up more capacity. soaking up more capacity and _ soaks up more capacity. soaking up more capacity and adding _ soaks up more capacity. soaking up more capacity and adding extra - more capacity and adding extra costs. it's difficult to put real numbers on it at the moment because we don't know how long this will go on for, but what is your assessment of how disruptive this is? this on for, but what is your assessment of how disruptive this is?— of how disruptive this is? this is a very significant — of how disruptive this is? this is a very significant disruption. - of how disruptive this is? this is a very significant disruption. we - of how disruptive this is? this is a i very significant disruption. we are at a break even that we have enough ships in the world to deal with these disruptions. we are not in pandemic level territory but we cannot handle more disruptions. it seems that there is no end in sight to these attacks. we know the houthi lever meeting a making a speech

vowing attacks would get worse. do we have any options?— we have any options? there are no 0 tions we have any options? there are no options apart _ we have any options? there are no options apart from _ we have any options? there are no options apart from continuing - we have any options? there are no options apart from continuing to i we have any options? there are no| options apart from continuing to go around africa, taking longer detours. we have literary presence forfour detours. we have literary presence for four and a detours. we have literary presence forfour and a half months detours. we have literary presence for four and a half months trying to protect shipping in the region and we can see this has done nothing to change the frequency and success rate of the attacks on merchant ships. rate of the attacks on merchant shi s. �* ., , rate of the attacks on merchant shis. �* , ., ~' ., rate of the attacks on merchant shis.�* ., ~' ., ships. always good talk to you. chief executive _ ships. always good talk to you. chief executive at _ ships. always good talk to you. chief executive at the - ships. always good talk to you. chief executive at the shipping | chief executive at the shipping consultant. in the uk it's a public holiday today, which means many people might head out to a pub. but in the last year alone, more than 500 closed, according to the british beer and pub association. today, though, the brewing giant heinkenen is hoping to buck that trend, investing £39 million in hundreds of its uk pubs and reopening 62 that had previously been closed. let's speak to our business reporter vishala sripathma.

give us a sense of what heineken have said because it reverses the trend of all those closed as we have seenin trend of all those closed as we have seen in recent years, they seem to think there is life yet in the pub model? . �* , , think there is life yet in the pub model? ., �* , , ., , model? that's right. they have seen an opportunity _ model? that's right. they have seen an opportunity here. _ model? that's right. they have seen an opportunity here. suburban - model? that's right. they have seen an opportunity here. suburban areasi an opportunity here. suburban areas across the uk, because of the pandemic, have seen more people work from home. they don't necessarily have the restaurants and pubs that city centres often offer people so heineken see this is a captive market for them, hence why they are investing. what they are doing is opening 62 uk clubs that have closed in recent years and will put around £40 million in investment in those pubs. they are not the only ones, greene king another big pub chain in the uk doing the same thing investing in breweries, another brand called star group. quite a few

people in the industry doing the same and the hope is the problems they faced during the cost of living crisis, where people didn't have much disposable income and that impacted the likes of pubs and restaurants because they were not spending in them as much, and also, during the pandemic, they were closed, they are hoping to recuperate some of those losses and capture some of that spending power backin capture some of that spending power back in the great british public love for beer.— back in the great british public love for beer. cheers to that. we will talk later. _ love for beer. cheers to that. we will talk later. thank _ love for beer. cheers to that. we will talk later. thank you - love for beer. cheers to that. we will talk later. thank you very - will talk later. thank you very much. 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 singapore. countries across asia are on guard for more severe heat and rain, with experts warning that extreme weather could lead to a cocktail of health hazards for workers in this region. we now know that last year

was the hottest on record and april of this year has been similarly hot and dry for many countries in south and southeast asia, with temperatures topping 40 degrees celsius in many cities. schools in bangladesh have now reopened after being closed. thailand's capital, bangkok, has been abnormally dry with barely any rainfall in april. and in china, we've seen days of heavy rainfall battering parts of the southern province of guangdong. that's caused multiple deaths and forced more than 110,000 people from their homes. so why is this happening? well, it's partly being fuelled by the el nino weather pattern. scientists have said climate change is causing more frequent, severe and lengthy heat waves during summer months as well. many people have died across the region and experts have warned that heat could exacerbate inequalities, widening a learning gap between developing and developed nations as a result

of those school closures. intense heat waves have also caused water shortages and frequent power cuts, hitting the key apparel sector in bangladesh, for example, which accounts for more than 80% of exports and supplies retailers like h&m, walmart and gap. a new study has found that schemes like carbon offsetting and deforestation—free certification schemes have largely failed to protect trees or alleviate poverty. the international union of forest research organisations found such initiatives had only made limited progress, with the scientists behind the report urging a "radical rethink". let's speak to one of the lead authors of that report dr constance mcdermott, from the environmental change institue at the university of oxford. thank you for being with us on the programme. give me your sense of why you think these schemes have failed. thank you very much. it is important

to realise that global and urban markets where commodities like palm oil, cocoa and coffee are major drivers of deforestation. the reason we have seen them driving deforestation is major issues with governments in terms of their capacity to manage land sustainably in terms of access to alternative options, alternative sources of economy. so the problem is really that we are not addressing these major underlying problems around governance in the countries that are affected by these global markets. simply coming up with alternative markets that often don't deliver anywhere near this same kind of resource is not enough to address the underlying problems with governance in these countries. i

look at your report and you make it really clear as well that we view forests as a commodity, somewhere particularly when it comes to being a carbon sink, somewhere that will remove carbon from the atmosphere, rather than the wider impact of what that forest does in terms of ecology and biodiversity. we see it as somewhere that will suck up the carbon we produce and it becomes a commodity. carbon we produce and it becomes a commodity-— commodity. yes, it does and it's so im ortant commodity. yes, it does and it's so important in _ commodity. yes, it does and it's so important in thinking _ commodity. yes, it does and it's so important in thinking about - important in thinking about addressing deforestation to realise that forests are much more than carbon, but also that governance is much more than simply finance. you have, forfinance to be much more than simply finance. you have, for finance to be effective, it needs to be and channelled effectively. incentivising by offering payments for carbon is not gone to address those issues. haifa offering payments for carbon is not gone to address those issues. how do we view our —

gone to address those issues. how do we view our forests? _ gone to address those issues. how do we view our forests? the _ gone to address those issues. how do we view our forests? the good - gone to address those issues. how do we view our forests? the good news | we view our forests? the good news is that there — we view our forests? the good news is that there are _ we view our forests? the good news is that there are a _ we view our forests? the good news is that there are a lot _ we view our forests? the good news is that there are a lot of _ is that there are a lot of approaches that work. countries for example such as brazil, when the national government made an effort to stop deforestation, it was actually effective for a number of years because the strategies that were adopted were created by countries that knew their local contacts. same can be said for a lot of local and grassroots initiatives that can be very effective in keeping forest cover and of course indigenous communities as well. if we spend more time listening and seeing what is working and then working with the key actors, to co—design approaches in each country appropriate to the context, this will really help enhance the effectiveness of international efforts. . , effectiveness of international efforts. . _ , effectiveness of international efforts. ., i, , ., efforts. really briefly, how optimistic— efforts. really briefly, how optimistic are _ efforts. really briefly, how optimistic are you - efforts. really briefly, how optimistic are you that - efforts. really briefly, howl optimistic are you that there efforts. really briefly, how- optimistic are you that there is a better solution and we can enforce it? i better solution and we can enforce it? ., ., , , . ., better solution and we can enforce

it? ., .,, , . ., ., it? i am optimistic that there are better solutions. _ it? i am optimistic that there are better solutions. but _ it? i am optimistic that there are better solutions. but i _ it? i am optimistic that there are better solutions. but i think - it? i am optimistic that there are better solutions. but i think we | better solutions. but i think we need to think outside ofjust enforcing or that we, any one country or the world is going to enforce it. 50 country or the world is going to enforce it— country or the world is going to enforce it. ., ., ~ ., enforce it. so good to talk to you. time is tight _ enforce it. so good to talk to you. time is tight but _ enforce it. so good to talk to you. time is tight but great _ enforce it. so good to talk to you. time is tight but great to - enforce it. so good to talk to you. time is tight but great to get - enforce it. so good to talk to you. time is tight but great to get your insight. thank you forjoining us. you are up to date, we will see you very soon, goodbye.

hello from the bbc sport centre. we'll start with formula one where after more than 100 races and 15 podiums, lando norris is finally standing on the top step by claiming victory at the miami grand prix. he was quick to praise his mclaren team after a race that owed a little to luck, but also saw a large helping of out and out pace to beat max verstappen. lydia campbell reports.

the miami grand prix has only ever seen one winner so when max verstappen started from poll on sunday, most fans were expecting another routine victory for the three—time world champion. but this race turned on its head. 29 laps in when kevin magnussen and logan sargeant came together causing the safety car, allowing lando norris to capitalise. and thanks to a clean restart, norris now only had one focus, keep verstappen at bay. no simple task up against the man who has dominated formula 1 over the past few years. but this was norris's day, driving with a combination of pace and panache to cross the line for his first race win. �* , , ., ., , ~ cross the line for his first race win. , ._ ~ ., cross the line for his first race win. , ~ .,., win. i'm 'ust proud really. a lot of --eole i win. i'mjust proud really. a lot of people i guess — win. i'mjust proud really. a lot of people i guess doubted _ win. i'mjust proud really. a lot of people i guess doubted me - win. i'mjust proud really. a lot of people i guess doubted me along |

win. i'm just proud really. a lot of. people i guess doubted me along the way, i've made mistakes over the last five