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- [00:01]
O'Reilly
Check engine light on. Take the guesswork out of your Check engine light with O'Reilly Variscan. It's free. Ask for O'Reilly Veriscan today.
- [00:14]
Unknown Auto Parts Speaker
Auto parts.
- [00:17]
Nick Qureshi
France's far right leader Marine Le Pen convicted of embezzlement. Live from the UK this is the Marketplace Morning report from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Nick Qureshi standing in for Liana Byrne. Some breaking news for you in the last hour. A court in Paris has convicted the National Rally political party leader Marine Le Pen of embezzlement. The French far right politician had been accused of misappropriating European Union funds to finance the work of her political party. Prosecutors want her to be jailed and barred from office, which could stop her running in the 2027 presidential election. Now, stock markets in Asia have fallen ahead of President Trump's planned announcement of another wave of tariffs. Japan's Nikkei 225 index closed down more than. Here's the BBC's Faisal Islam.
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Faisal Islam
President Trump says Wednesday will be Liberation Day and negotiators in other governments believe the extent of import taxes will be down to his personal judgment. The president's top trade advisor, Pete Navarro, has claimed tariffs will raise huge revenues. He said the 25% levy on all car imports could raise $100 billion a year on a trade worth $240 billion. He also stated the planned tariffs overall could raise $600 billion a year, about a fifth of the value of total goods imported into the US that was Faisal Islam.
- [01:42]
Nick Qureshi
President Trump's tariff threats aren't just about trade. Amid efforts to secure a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, Trump has said he could levy an additional 50% tariff on any country that buys Russian oil if he feels Moscow is delaying a deal. More on this from the BBC's James Lambdale.
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James Landale
Russia's economy is not strong at the moment and the cheap energy that is being bought by China and India is doing a huge amount to fuel Russia's economy and its war effort at the moment. You've got to remember that we're talking, you know, 30, 40% of the economy is now devoted entirely to fighting this war in Ukraine. So as a war economy, it needs to be able to sell its fuel and its energy overseas so it can buy foreign currency, so that it can then trade in other goods, especially weapons and dual use items such as drones.
- [02:37]
Nick Qureshi
James Landau there onto the numbers. Gold has hit another record high on course for its biggest quarterly gain in nearly 40 years, boosted by concern over Donald Trump's tariff plans and Chinese tech giant Huawei says profits fell by 28% last year, tumbling to $8.63 billion. Company puts it down to heavy investment into research and development. Here with the marketplace Morning Report. And through the Tricks of the Trade series, our US colleagues have been looking at how marketplaces work in all their forms. This week, Liana Byrne will be bringing you the sounds of UK markets where food, cars and flowers are traded.
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Suzie Ball
Here's a trick I picked up today. If the flowers aren't the right hue, you can always paint them. That's exactly what wedding florist Suzie Ball from Peckham Rye will be doing to her hydrangeas later.
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Nick Qureshi
Because they're not quite in season, we've got to paint them a little bit to get the colour right for the event. There you go. You can hear more from Liana at London's new Covent Garden flower market tomorrow, a cryptocurrency company is planning to roll out mini power plants to rural villages in Africa in order to bring electricity to remote parts and mine for Bitcoin. The BBC's Joe Tidy has been to the remote mine on the Zambezi river to see one project in action.
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Philip Walton
24 hours a day, this container full of powerful computers crunches through complex mathematical problems to earn bitcoins as part of the global volunteer mining network.
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Unknown Auto Parts Speaker
This noise means we're making money.
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Philip Walton
That's Philip Walton, the American Kenyan co founder of Gridless, the company that runs the mine containing 120 machines. It's an odd place for a high tech crypto operation, but it makes sense as the electricity is so cheap here as it comes directly from the site's hydroelectric power plant. The bitcoin mine has been a major boost since it was installed in 2023, as it makes use of excess electricity every day.
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Unknown Energy Speaker
We were wasting over 50% of the energy that we could generate, which also meant we're not earning from that. What we lacked was an institutional a major user of power in the area. And the extra revenue, important to say, has also helped us keep the prices down for what we charge the local people, which is also very important.
- [04:55]
Unknown Community Speaker
The plant has received a huge amount of investment and will soon be expanding. They hope to sell any excess energy eventually back to the grid. So Philip and team have got to hit the road and find a new place as perfect as this.
- [05:08]
Philip Walton
As well as searching for sites with excess energy, Gridless is now hoping to start building its own mini grid energy plants with its bitcoin mine as the first major tenant.
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Unknown Community Speaker
I'm sure you'll have critics who will.
- [05:21]
Philip Walton
Worry that the community want the energy.
- [05:25]
Unknown Community Speaker
But you'll favour the mine.
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Unknown Auto Parts Speaker
The truth is that bitcoin mining doesn't pay very high prices for electricity. If we think of ourselves less as a bitcoin miner and more as an energy producer, then bitcoin becomes one buyer that has a price they're willing to pay. The community is another buyer that will pay a higher price.
- [05:44]
Philip Walton
The mission to get electricity to isolated communities is a monumental task in Africa. A 2022 estimate from the International Energy Agency suggests 600 million people on the continent are without power. But because of bitcoin's reputation, some companies and authorities remain uncomfortable with including it in electrification projects. Globally, the industry is estimated to use as much energy as a small country like Poland. The environmental impact has long been a concern too, but according to analysts, there are signs that could be improving with more of the mining giants moving to sustainable energy mixes. I'm the BBC's Joe Tidy for Marketplace Now.
- [06:25]
Nick Qureshi
Do subscribe to our podcast search for the global edition of Marketplace Morning Report on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get yours in the uk. I'm Nick Qureshi with the Marketplace Morning Report from the BBC World Service. Thanks for listening.
- [06:46]
Janeli Espinal
If there's one thing we know about social media, it's that misinformation is everywhere, especially when it comes to personal finance. Financially Inclined from Marketplace is a podcast you can trust to help you get serious about your money so you can build a life you've always dreamed of. I'm the host, Janeli Espinal, and each week I ask experts important money questions, like how to negotiate job offers, how to choose a college that you can afford, and how to talk about money with friends and family. Listen to Financially Inclined wherever you get your podcasts.