When India's Prime Minister is asking citizens to drive less.
You know the economic pressure is mounting.
It's World Business Express from the BBC World Service.
I'm Liana Byrne.
While conflict rattles the Middle East, Saudi Arabia's oil giant Aramco is making even more money.
And one of the world's biggest pop stars, says one of the world's biggest tech companies used her face without permission.
So India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is asking people to make some pretty big changes to their daily lives, as high oil prices and tensions in the Persian Gulf squeeze the economy.
He's encouraging people to work from home when they can use public transport, cut back on overseas travel and even avoid buying gold for the next year to help save foreign currency reserves.
People across India are already feeling the impact.
May Thomas is in Mumbai and she told us earlier what it's been like there.
I don't own a car, but I obviously take Ubers and auto rickshaws.
And in Bombay, it's a lot more standardised.
For example, when I was in Bangalore, When I tried to ask a rickshaw driver to take me from one suburb to another suburb, he said that he only plied in this one area because of the fact that he doesn't have as much fuel.
Well, I've also been speaking to Yoti Malhotra, editor-in-chief of India's oldest newspaper, The Tribune.
It's very, very unusual for the prime minister to say things like you should work from home, conserve petrol, don't travel so much.
He's even said, don't take holidays abroad so much this summer.
And he's used the C word, which is COVID.
A COVID-like situation is on the anvil.
And yes, absolutely, everybody's taking it very seriously.
We all know what happened during COVID.
Economy completely, almost shut down.
Labourers migrants, went back home from the cities, to their villages.
I live in Punjab, now in Chandigarh, so I see all around me the wheat crop has been harvested.
A few weeks ago.
It's waiting to be bought.
But already in a week or so, in a couple of weeks or so, the rice will be transplanted.
So it's a whole cycle.
And if this is what the prime minister is warning, then I think India is in for some trouble.
I also was just reading just now that gold India is a major importer of gold, about 74 billion annually.
And the prime minister is warning that Indians should not import so much gold, basically in the hope that he can sort of reduce the import bill, I think.
We're in the middle of wedding season, aren't we?
And that's quite a big deal in India.
It is a big deal in india because indians love gold and they buy gold uh all the time for one reason or another, not just for weddings.
It's also a sign of protecting yourself, in the sense that you know you buy gold and you hoard it.
And yes, indians are hoarders.
In 1991, when the economy was in such poor shape, India sent 100 tons of gold to the Bank of England.
And that was the safety net, if you like.
So for the prime minister today to say to Indians to conserve the buying of gold, is a sign.
There's no ban yet.
Right now, what the PM is saying is to the people is that you have to voluntarily, you know tighten your belts.
And I think people will follow something.
We don't know how things are going to unfold.
But yes, these are difficult times, I think.
That was Yotimal Hotra, Editor-in-Chief of The Tribune in India.
It was a cheerful welcome for the French President, Emmanuel Macron, by arriving to meet Kenyan President William Ruto in Nairobi as part of an African visit aimed at renewing France's engagement with the continent after years of strained ties with former colonies.
The talks will focus on infrastructure, renewable energy technology and trade, as France looks to strengthen its footprints in East Africa.
I think we have a common fight, a common battle together of investment, which is to build our strategic autonomy for Europe and Africa.
And if we build it together, we will be much stronger.
For President Ruto.
The meeting is another step in positioning Kenya as a gateway for global investors into Africa.
We have young people with the right skills.
We have the right infrastructure in terms of internet connectivity and we have a very enterprising and entrepreneurial population.
The future is about technology.
The future is digital, and AI is going to be at the center of it.
Our senior Africa reporter, Richard Kugoe, has more.
The French President, Emmanuel Macron, met his Kenyan counterpart, William Ruto, in Nairobi after arriving from Egypt for a major France-Africa summit.
The two leaders first held talks at statehouse, where France and Kenya signed 11 agreements aimed at boosting cooperation in energy, transport and infrastructure.
The deals include construction of an electricity control centre, renovation of a hydroelectric power dam and modernisation of Kenya's railway network.
Speaking at the opening of the jointly hosted summit in Nairobi, President Macron said Africa needs investment and economic opportunities to become more sovereign, rather than continued dependence on aid.
He acknowledged that European nations had previously lectured African leaders saying that approach no longer reflects what Africa wants or needs.
The two-day summit brings together nearly 30 Africa heads of state and marks the first high-level France-Africa meeting to be held in an English-speaking African country.
Analysts say Paris is trying to redefine its relationship with the continent after strained ties with former colonies, including Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
French officials say the summit signals a new era focused on investment and business partnership rather than traditional aid.
Richard Kagoe there.
Let's turn to the markets now.
Saudi Arabia's state giant Aramco has reported a sharp rise in profits, despite the conflict in the Middle East.
Jane Sydenham is Investment Director at Rathbones Investment Management.
Jane, what does this tell us about the current state of the oil market?
Well, I think all of the oil major stocks are reporting pretty significant increases in their results because of the sharp rise in the oil price itself.
But the concern with Saudi Aramco, of course, is it's right in the Middle East.
It has restrictions, of course, of shipping out oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
But they've actually done pretty well because...
The pipeline that runs sort of east-west to the Red Sea port of Yanbu is working at absolutely full capacity.
So they're managing to get 7 million barrels a day of oil out that way.
And that's definitely helping them.
So they were able to put their dividend up, their balance sheets still in a good state.
One more for you, Jane.
British Steel is set to be brought into public ownership.
What should we make of that?
So this is I mean partly.
It's a reflection of further rises in costs, particularly energy, at the moment.
But we've got to remember this goes back quite a long way.
There have been several government interventions.
The sort of first major one was in 2019, where the government put some 600 million into the company.
The difficulty is, you know, British Steel really struggles to compete on a cost basis with countries like China that have incredibly low costs of production.
But at the same time there's an understanding that you know there's a need to preserve the jobs domestically and also that this is a strategic industry problem and helps with national security.
So it has other importance, not just the worry about low cost.
Okay, Jane Sednam, thank you so much.
The pop star Duleepa has filed a 15 million lawsuit against Samsung, accusing the tech giant of using her image in television packaging in the United States without her permission.
According to the lawsuit, photographs of the singer's face appeared prominently on boxes for a number of Samsung TV models.
The BBC has contacted Samsung for comment.
And finally, the first official museum dedicated to the Beatles will open in London next year.
The seven-storey exhibition will be housed in the band's former headquarters, where they played their final gig, on the roof, in 1969.
Sir Paul McCartney explained how it'll work.
Well, you go in on the ground floor and there's sort of memorabilia and stuff like that.
And then you work your way up through the building until you get to the top.
Then you can go out on the roof and pretend to be a beetle.
Sir Paul McCartney, ending today's edition of World Business Express from the BBC World Service.
I'm Leanna Byrne.
Thanks so much for listening.
