Japan's economy ended 2015 on a sour note, shrinking by 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter. It follows years of so-called Abenomics, a set of economic policies championed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Also on the programme: Europe's steel industry is going through a baptism of fire. Losses are racking up and thousands of jobs have been lost in the past six months. Steel bosses and workers are accusing Chinese manufacturers of steamrolling the European market.

Finally, what would you do if the government gave you an income unconditionally? It may sound too good to be true, but in Germany an organisation is handing out just that sum to a handful of people. Participants are picked by chance, but it's not a lottery of the classic kind. It's a trial project to test how a basic income, or a citizen's wage, would work in practice.