We look at the possible influence of rich donors on Universities in the United States.

Tesla is pushed into second position in global electric car sales after Chinese rival BYD clinches the top spot.

AND How much do shipping companies stand to do lose after the latest attack by Houthi rebels on cargo travelling through the Red Sea ?

Photo Harvard University Cambridge Massachusetts 2023 Picture Credit Reuters/BryanSnyder

Japan is hit by another earthquake. We hear about the impact it could have on the economy.

We examine microfinance and how it works in practice after a Bangladeshi pioneer of this type of finance is sentenced for violating labour laws.

And the state railway company of Ukraine introduces women only compartments to stop assaults on trains.

As the war continues, we take a look at the state of the Russian economy and what this might mean for Ukraine.

Argentina's new president has announced the South American country will not join the BRICS alliance. We hear about the implications this can have for the inflation-hit nation.

And we listen to the challenges Nigerian businesses face to become more productive.

Ed Butler discusses these and more business stories with two guests on opposite sides of the world: Andy Uhler, Journalism Fellow at the University of Texas Energy Institute and Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy, and Sharon Brettkelly, presenter at Radio New Zealand.

(Picture: damaged residential building after shelling in Odesa, Ukraine. Picture credit: IGOR TKACHENKO/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Nearly nine-tenths of all foreign investment in China’s stock market this year has been pulled out, according to an investigation by Financial Times. We look into the reasons.

US news organisation the New York Times is suing ChatGPT owner OpenAI over claims its copyright was infringed to train the system.

ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs) "learn" by analysing a massive amount of data often sourced online.

The lawsuit claims "millions" of articles published by the New York Times were used without its permission to make ChatGPT smarter, and claims the tool is now competing with the newspaper as a trustworthy information source.

Also, in the programme, we will find out if the Red Sea safe for international shipping and will look at efforts around the world to make workers more productive.

(Picture: The New York Times newspaper and office building, Manhattan, NYC. Picture credit: Getty Images)

Danish shipping giant Maersk has said it is preparing to resume shipping operations through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

We explore the fallout from a ban on some of Apple's latest watches in the US .

AND

We examine why Argentina's new president, Javier Milei has decided to sign a decree cancelling the contracts of seven thousand public sector workers.

(Photo: A Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) container ship crosses the Suez Canal towards the Red Sea Credit EPA/MOHAMED HOSSAM)

We explore the impact of the AI revolution on businesses and the world of work.

President Joe Biden has signed an executive order expanding the US's ability to impose sanctions against Russia.

The idea is to further isolate Moscow from the global economy by applying sanctions to foreign financial institutions that help Russia's military and defence sectors.

Those banks then won't be allowed access to the US financial system.

(Picture: US President Joe Biden during a news conference with Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine's president, not pictured, in the Indian Treaty Room on the White House complex, in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. Picture Credit: Getty Images).

Crucial in the manufacture of many key goods, chips and the materials used to make them, are the subject of an ongoing trade war between China and the West.

On Thursday Beijing banned the export of technology used to extract and process rare earth metals -- a vital component in the chip-making process.

The technology has been added to a list of items that can't be sold abroad for national security reasons.

So what does this mean for the global supply of advanced chips and semi conductors?

(Picture: Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corp.'s inverter board displayed at the Semicon Japan exhibition in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023. Picture Credit: Getty Images).

The CEOs of Warner Brothers Discovery and Paramount have reportedly met to discuss a $38 billion merger – we ask what this could mean for the future of both companies. US consumer confidence is at a five-month high, according to conference Board's consumer index which says confidence has increased to 110.7 this month. We ask how e-scooters, once all the rage, have now been left parked up. And members of the Harlem Globetrotters join us in the studio.

(Picture: A Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. logo is pictured at one of the studio's gates in Burbank, California, U.S., July 5, 2017. Credit: REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo)