Business Daily

In a highly unusual move, the US has stepped in to back Japan's currency, the yen. Donald Trump calls it a "signal of friendship" but what is Washington hoping to achieve? And what does the move reveal about Japan's economy, after years of deflation and ultra-low interest rates? Rahul Tandon and Will Bain assess the intervention with the help of the BBC's "yen geek" Mariko Oi.
Presenters: Rahul Tandon, Will Bain and Mariko Oi
Producer: Gideon Long
You can email the team: businessdaily@bbc.co.uk
(Picture: A woman walks past a stock market indicator board in Tokyo, Japan, 03 August 2026. Credit: EPA/Shutterstock)

Ola Sars has spent two decades helping shape the way music is discovered, streamed and licensed. He co-founded Beats Music, the streaming service that helped lay the groundwork for Apple Music, before launching Soundtrack, a company that provides licensed music to restaurants, cafés and other hospitality businesses. After moving to the US as a child and learning English from scratch, how did he become a music-tech entrepreneur? And was selling his stake in Beats before Apple acquired the company the right decision?
(Photo: Ola Sars, seen from the shoulders up, wears a black jumper and has short shaved brown hair going grey at the sides, blue eyes and stubble growth. He looks at the camera with a neutral expression. Credit: Rickard Croy)
Presenter: Leanna Byrne
Producer: Niamh McDermott
You can email the team: businessdaily@bbc.co.uk

With Europe sweltering in intense heat and demand for air-conditioners soaring, who is making money from supplying them? We follow the supply chain from a factory churning out air-con units in China to retailers across Europe scrambling to secure stock as demand surges. In France, where repeated heat waves have driven sales higher, shoppers have been fighting in supermarkets to get hold of them.
We also examine the cost of powering air-conditioners and the impact their growing use is having on energy prices. How much pressure is Europe's growing appetite for air-conditioning putting on electricity grids?
(Photo: People cool off in the Trocadero fountain by the Eiffel Tower in Paris during a heatwave in June 2026. Credit: Yoan Valat/EPA/Shutterstock)
Presenter: Sam Fenwick  
Producer: Gideon Long

In the second of two episodes, Ed Butler tracks the whereabouts and connections of one of Europe's most wanted drug criminals. Despite denials from the President's family, law enforcement agencies say Jos Leijdekkers is enjoying privileged status in Sierra Leone. The country's Justice Minister responds.

Is China rapidly catching up with the United States in the race to dominate artificial intelligence? Rahul Tandon is joined by Walter Todd in the US and Rebecca Choong Wilkins in Singapore to discuss, following a week of sharp moves in AI-related markets and growing questions over where the next wave of innovation will come from.
They also explore what India's "cockroach protest" says about the growing challenge of youth unemployment around the world.
(Photo: People walk past the Unix AI booth during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China, 17 July, 2026. Credit: Go Nakamura/Reuters)
You can email the team: businessdaily@bbc.co.uk
Presenter: Rahul Tandon
Producer: David Cann