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If journalism is the first draft of history, what happens if that draft is flawed?
In 1999, four Russian apartment buildings were bombed.
Hundreds killed, but even now we still don't know for sure who did it.
It's a mystery that sparked chilling theories.
I'm Helena Merriman and in a new BBC series I'm talking to the reporters who first covered this story.
What did they miss the first time?
The History Bureau, Putin and the apartment bombs.
Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
Could US access to Greenland's minerals be the answer to President Trump's territorial ambitions?
It's World Business Express from the BBC World Service.
I'm Leanna Byrne.
China reports a record-breaking trade surplus and Netflix prepares an all-cash offer for Warner Bros.
Yes, President Donald Trump says NATO would be stronger if Greenland were under US control.
Writing on social media, Trump said the Arctic territory was vital for America's missile defence system, calling anything short of US ownership unacceptable.
The comments come as Greenlandic and Danish foreign ministers prepare for talks in Washington with US Vice President JD.
Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
These talks could shape investment, mining and military spending across the Arctic.
Let's hear from these Greenland residents who aren't keen on the idea of the US taking over the territory.
We cannot take our country.
We need to get and stand together and fight for it.
We don't want to be a part of the US and they should leave us alone.
I asked Annie Merrold, Professor of Sustainability and Planning at Aalborg University in Denmark, what she's watching out for in these talks.
What I'll be curious to hear about is whether there's mentioning of mineral and energy resources in Greenland and whether the US state explicitly puts the resources on the table as a theme.
So where do you think Greenland's natural resources come into this?
It plays a major role in the interest from the US side that Greenland is so rich on natural resources.
Resources that are not at this point lacking in the US, because US has a huge mineral production and oil and gas production itself.
But In periods such as this situation, such as the ones that we're facing right now, it's a classic geopolitical power act to try to control the resources available.
So I think definitely, even though they're talking about security as the main issue, that it's also about securing supply for US industries, but also securing that other global powers, such as China and Russia, doesn't access those resources.
The minerals in Greenland is often talked about as potentially promoting the green transition, particularly by Europe, who is interested in the mineral resources for renewable energy industries.
But the same minerals are the ones used for defense technologies, for hi-fi technologies and for space technologies.
The really interesting thing about Greenland's natural resources is that most of them are untapped, aren't they?
So how do we know how much you could generate if you were to drill there?
There has been initial mapping done of many of the deposits in Greenland from the Danish Geological Institute.
But that only gives us an idea about where the potential deposits are located and some kind of idea of the potential size.
But the feasibility of projects mining projects also depends on the kind of technology needed to extract those mineral resources, not only the quality and amount.
It also has to do with the infrastructure in the area, how expensive it will be to set up a production and, of course, of the market value of the minerals at a given time.
So whether it's feasible to extract the resources, that needs to be investigated further by companies in order to to make a proper feasibility study.
That was Annie Meld from Arlberg University in Denver.
So that's the sound of containers being loaded and unloaded at Tianjin Port in China.
And it seems that there's more being loaded onto ships, as China's announced record export numbers and the biggest ever trade surplus in global history of 12 trillion.
But if you're thinking trade surplus, what's that?
Well, here's Andrew Peach to explain.
So let's say Lianaland and Andrewland are trading.
What are you selling?
Well, Liana Land is selling tea and spanners.
Andrew Land buys lots of tea and spanners from you.
They're very good, by the way.
Thank you very much.
Andrew Land makes hair dryers and also sells our world-renowned cabbage crop.
Leanna Land buys a few hair dryers but we grow our own cabbages.
Are they world renowned though?
Leanna Land is importing more from Andrew than it's exporting to Leanna Land, and therefore that is a trade surplus.
Sounds great.
Brings in more cash and creates jobs.
Or not so great, because it might suggest our hair dryer factories aren't competitive and it puts jobs at risk.
And is it as simple as that?
Trade surplus good, trade deficit bad?
Well, there's nothing bad about a surplus, but it could mean slow growth or too much reliance on exports, which of course could dry up.
While a deficit can mean lower prices and attract foreign investment.
Cup of tea?
Only if you buy a cabbage.
All right.
Andrew Peach explaining it all to us there.
So the impact of tariffs from the US seems to have pushed Beijing to do its business elsewhere, with positive results.
Something noted by Wang Jun, who's Vice Minister for Custom Affairs.
Over the past year, the global economic growth has slowed down, with unilateralism and protectionism on the rise, and the international economic and trade order has been severely impacted.
Facing the complex and volatile international environment.
China's import and export still achieved a relatively rapid growth of 38 percent.
Andy Xie is an independent economist in Shanghai, and he says this story, it's about renewables.
On the export side, China's renewable sector renewable energy like solar, wind and EV grew very rapidly.
I expect to continue to rise.
The U.S., it's going the other way because the U.S. is not pursuing renewable energy.
It's blocking Chinese EVs and solar panels.
So its trade with China is actually declining.
Europe is importing some of that.
China is producing renewable energy at a cost lower than hydrocarbon.
China says U.S. export controls are to blame for the surplus.
That's a story that's been going on for several years, but it's been a big story since Trump started the technology in 2019.
China.
China has been a huge importer of chips for a long time and was importing even in the 2000s.
It was like over 200 billion.
It's continued to rise.
2019 really changed this.
China started to invest heavily in the chip sector.
And lastly, China exported a lot of chips because of the investment.
That story is forced on China.
This could be like a $200 billion story.
But it cannot explain 1.2 trillion, you know.
But in terms of global impact, in my view, it's absolutely positive for emerging economies.
So I assume China will step up its investment in emerging economies.
That was economist Andy Xi.
Saks Global, the parent company of luxury retailer Saks Fifth Avenue, has filed for bankruptcy protection as the company struggles with increasing debt and shifting consumer habits.
Saks bought its rival Neiman Marcus in 2024 at considerable cost, and this month saw its chief executive, Mark Metrick, step down, only to see his successor, Richard Baker, also depart two weeks later.
Now, every day there seems to be an update on this story, the Warner Brothers takeover.
The latest is that reports are swirling that Netflix is going to amend its 83 billion deal to make an all-cash offer.
Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
Tell me, Russ, why would they do that?
Netflix is currently offering cash plus Netflix shares plus shares in the cable TV business at Warner Brothers Discovery, which would be spun off onto the sock exchange after the deal were to go through.
The problem here is Netflix shares have started going down.
A rival cable TV business has been spun off by Comcast in America and its shares have gone down.
So that offer may not look quite so attractive relative to the all cash offer from rival Paramount Skydance, which also wants to buy Warner Brothers Discovery.
Yes, we know that.
Also, lots of US bank results in.
Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citigroup, Q4 seem to be good for them.
They were, but the shares are all down.
The numbers were actually good.
Lending is strong.
Lent interest margins are good.
Loan losses are stable.
But the results were good, but no better than expected.
The shares have had a fantastic run, so they're not as cheap as they were.
And the share prices are just getting a little bit worried about President Trump threatening to cap the fees they can charge on credit cards.
All right.
Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
We appreciate you being here.
Thanks so much for joining us.
And that is it from World Business Express from the BBC World Service.
I'm Leanna Byrne.
Have a great day.
And as always, thanks so much for listening.
If journalism is the first draft of history, what happens if that draft is flawed?
In 1999, four Russian apartment buildings were bombed, hundreds killed.
But even now, we still don't know for sure who did it.
It's a mystery that sparked chilling theories.
I'm Helena Merriman and in a new BBC series I'm talking to the reporters who first covered this story.
What did they miss the first time?
The History Bureau, Putin and the apartment bombs.
Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
