Business Matters

A key indicator called the inverted yield curve has some economists worried that a recession could be on its way. We unpick the jargon and weigh up how likely it is that the US economy is about to go into reverse. Also, we hear about the secret talks between Venezuelan President Maduro and the Trump administration and we get the latest from Hong Kong. Plus, as President Trump calls the Danish Prime Minister "nasty" for not wanting to sell Greenland to the United States, we take a look back at the long history of purchasing foreign lands. Finally, are your bookshelves a a feature of your home? We hear from a man who curates books for celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow. Presenter Fergus Nicoll is joined by guests Enda Curran and Rhonda Sharpe. PHOTO: Getty Images

Former US Republican senator Jon Kyl says he has spent the last year compiling a report into how the algorithms on the site work, that’s machine code that can supposedly predict what you might like to read or see, and he says Facebook has “significant work to do” in order to satisfy concerns it has an anti-conservative bias. So how much weight is this report being given? Also in the programme, Pakistan says it intends to take the dispute over Kashmir to the International Court of Justice, which comes two weeks after India removed the special status of the portion of the disputed territory it controls. Plus, the government in Colombia has passed a law allowing large scale cultivation of cannabis plant – for medicinal purposes – and it has just started selling licences to those who want to process and export them. We hear from one company, MedCann. And we look at the controversy surrounding the decision by Duke and Duchess of Sussex, otherwise known as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, to take four private jets in the past 11 days. While Elton John has jumped to defend their environmental credentials, we ask what is actually carbon tax that was paid to offset the damage done by flying. PHOTO: Facebook, Getty Images

Twitter and Facebook block what they described as a state-backed Chinese misinformation campaign against protests in Hong Kong. Chinese telecoms giant Huawei gets a temporary reprieve - but are US sights now being set on France? And the business of gold - we find out how the precious metal is being bought wholesale to try and beat the next global recession. We discuss all this live with Jason Abbruzzese, Senior Tech Editor at NBC News in New York, and Jodi Schneider, Senior International Editor at Bloomberg in Hong Kong. (Image: 'Free Hong Kong' graffiti during the demonstration. Credit: SOPA Images/ Getty Images)

After months of street protests in Sudan intermittently curtailed by extreme violence on the part of the military government and its paramilitary allies, a new, semi-civilian government is to be sworn in this weekend. We hear from Dr Sara Abd-al-Jalil, a representative of the Sudan Professionals' Association. Greenland has said it is "not for sale" after President Donald Trump stated that he would like the US to buy the world's biggest island. We get analysis from Dan Drezner, Professor of International Politics at The Fletcher School at Tufts University, Massachusetts. The Medoc region of south west France has one of the largest expanses of forest in Europe. It's a a magnet for tourists in the summer months, when the risk of fire is at its highest. The BBC's Susannah Streeter has been out on patrol with the fire crew who are the forest's eyes and ears. Following changes to the US tax code and the phenomenal profitability of companies like Apple, many US companies have been boosting their value by using share buy backs. The BBC's Ed Butler has been looking at the issue. A new type of fuel is being tested in the Netherlands that claims to be able to reduce green-house gas emissions by 80% compared to traditional fossil jet fuel. The BBC's Anna Holligan reports from Rotterdam The Hague airport. And joining us in the studio are Peter Ryan in Sydney; he's the ABC's Senior Business Correspondent. And political reporter Erin Delmore is with us from New York. Pic description: Protests in Sudan Pic credit: Omer Erdem/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Stock markets around the world have stabilised, after fears of a slowing global economy and the US-China trade war sparked a big sell-off on Wednesday. We get analysis from Cary Leahey of Decision Economics in New York. On Thursday the Hong Kong government unveiled a $2.4 billion package to support a slowing economy as escalating political protests and the prolonged U.S.-China trade war weigh heavily on the Asian financial centre. Our reporter Leisha Santorelli explains what the rescue package hopes to acheive. The UN Security Council is scheduled to meet on Friday behind closed doors to talk about Kashmir. We ask Indian Kashmiri author Mirza Waheed what he would say to the diplomats, if he could get back into the region. And we look at the hype around 3D printing and why it hasn’t lived up to its reputation – it turns out the machines used too much electricity, the materials were expensive and sometimes printing items took far too long. All this and more discussed with our two guests throughout the show: Tony Nash, Chief Economist at Complete Intelligence in Houston, Texas. And Mehmal Safraz, Co-founder of The Current PK and and an analyst at Geo TV's Report Card, in Lahore. (Photo: A trader gazes up at the New York Stock Exchange. Credit: Getty Images.)