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Hello and welcome to World Business Report from the BBC World Service.
I'm Roger Hearing and on this edition, as Donald Trump decides to send National Guard troops into Chicago, how successful has his previous deployment to Washington been, for business there?
Google wins a major case to avoid being split up, but it must now share data with competitors to open up competition in online searches.
Russia announces a major new gas pipeline deal with China.
And no spend September, the trend that's catching on to try to save your money.
But first, the troops are going into Chicago.
President Trump's announced he will send the National Guard into that city to deal with crime.
He's been threatening to expand his federal crackdown on Democrat-led US cities, and he's already deployed troops into Washington.
In the past hour, the governor of Illinois, J.B.
Pritzker, said Chicago does not want National Guard troops on its streets.
None of this is about fighting crime or making Chicago safer.
None of it.
For Trump, it's about testing his power and producing a political drama to cover up for his corruption.
JB Pritzker.
Well in Washington.
Meanwhile, President Trump pointed to his earlier deployment of National Guard troops to the nation's capital as an example for Chicago.
Washington, D.C., is a safe zone right now.
It's a safe city.
The restaurants are open.
They're booming.
You can't get a restaurant.
New restaurants are announcing that they're going to be open.
This took place in 12 days.
Well, is he right?
Are businesses in Washington, D.C., benefiting from the safer environment?
The president says he's created.
Joining me now is Julia Manchester, national political reporter at The Hill.
Julia, thanks for being with us here on World Business Report.
I mean, you live in Washington.
Is the presence of the National Guard troops there?
In certain areas is it being seen to make things safer and therefore, I suppose, easier to do business in?
Yeah, I've lived in Washington for 10 years and obviously including the coronavirus pandemic where we saw a lot of businesses in Washington, like elsewhere across the country around the world, go under and really struggle.
Over the past decade, there have been waves of crime surges up and down.
But I will say, I'm a bit struck by President Trump's comments.
He said this last week, people are finally going out to dinner in Washington, D.C., etc.
Businesses are opening up.
I don't think that's necessarily a correlation or correlated to the National Guard presence.
Having lived here for so long, and right in downtown DC, I can guarantee you people have been going out to dinner for quite some time.
There have been businesses since the pandemic that have been opening up.
Now, that being said, if you ask Washingtonians, do they feel safer or less safe or more safe with the National Guard and the Metropolitan Police Force federalized?
I think you'd get a lot of mixed answers.
Probably a majority of people would say, no, they don't feel safe.
One thing that's really stuck out to me, I think just anecdotally and in local news here in Washington, is that there's been a push from local activists to warn against getting deliveries Uber, Eats or Grubhub, et cetera using those delivery services, because a lot of the people that are the couriers for those delivery services are being targeted by by Immigration Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE.
So that's something interesting that I've noticed.
And we've seen a surge in that since the deployment.
So it's interesting.
So when you're in the city, do you see troops literally wandering around and armoured vehicles and that kind of thing?
It depends where you are.
So I work right by Union Station, which is the main train station here in Washington, D.C.
And I actually just went over there this afternoon to grab a coffee.
And there are lots of troops, you know National Guardsmen, sort of walking around patrolling you know.
Not necessarily a huge presence, but they are there.
Last week and the week before, there were more tanks placed in front of Union Station.
You've also seen these troops by the National Mall, for example.
That's gotten some criticism because a lot of you know there is the argument that there isn't much crime at the National Mall in Washington DC, that they're being put there for a show.
However, At a hub like Union Station, which is a large population hub, you know a place that has I would argue that Union Station actually has struggled to revive itself since the pandemic.
There has been, you know, more crime there lately.
So that hasn't gotten a notice.
OK.
And I mean I suppose I've certainly seen again anecdotally reports of people saying well, in some places businesses are actually not doing well because people feel intimidated about going in, because they have to go through troop formations and this kind of stuff.
Is there much happening like that?
I have heard that anecdotally, that people are not wanting to go out at night, et cetera.
And that's, like I said, purely anecdotal from a handful of people.
However, I live in a pretty highly populated neighborhood with lots of restaurants and bars in Washington DC.
And even though I've seen pictures of troops you know in the neighbourhood from time to time, it's not something I've noticed firsthand.
You know, I'm not saying they're not there.
I just haven't seen them and I've been out and about quite a bit.
So a lot of this is, you know, being shared on social media and we're seeing it there.
I haven't seen it myself.
Well, we shall see what happens.
We'll see what happens in Chicago too, and see if the same situation prevails there, if and when the troops go in.
Julia, thank you so much for being with us.
Julia Manchester there on the line.
Now let's turn our thoughts towards matters tech, because Google has won a major antitrust legal case in the US.
It's not going to be forced to sell off its Chrome browser and Android operating system.
But the judge in Washington has ruled it must share data with its rivals in order to open up competition in online searches.
At the same time, Google has said previously it plans to file an appeal, which means it could take years before the company is required to act online on any of this ruling.
Well, joining me now is North America technology correspondent Lily Jamali.
Lily, thanks for being with us.
First of all, this case, what was it all about?
This case was a really big deal here in Silicon Valley because it was the first major antitrust case that we've seen at this scale since Microsoft more than 20 years ago.
So all eyes were on this case was The dominance of online search, where we learned during the course of this case that you know, Google dominates 90 percent of all online search queries.
Was that going to be broken up?
And in this case, as you just laid out, that's not going to be the case.
They will not be forced to sell off Google Chrome, which was sort of the biggest, you know sort of the most negative outcome that Google was facing here.
That's what the U.S.
Department of Justice had asked for.
And I think the bigger picture here was was this really the beginning of a major regulatory crackdown?
Because a number of companies here are facing antitrust cases of this ilk.
The decision that this isn't a legal monopoly in online search was a big deal last year, but this remedy, which is the second phase of these trials, sort of walks that back a little bit in the eyes of a lot of observers.
Because they just have to share data with rivals.
That's essentially what he said.
Now does that mean that I don't know any other search engine?
It's hard to imagine which other search engines really would be.
There have to be able to have what they've got.
Yeah, I mean.
The reason we can't name that many of these competitors really speaks to just how hard it is to break into online search.
So I think of a company like DuckDuckGo, which has made a valiant effort.
You know advertising in different corners.
And they do actually have been able to gain some traction among a certain type of Internet user group that's very committed to privacy, but they have a tiny share of the search market compared to Google.
And, as you said, the judge here is saying that Google will now have to hand over search results to these qualified competitors.
So That's a big deal.
This ruling restricts payments that Google uses to ensure that its search engine gets a prime spot on places like Apple Safari and Mozilla's Firefox.
That's another really important part of this case, because what we learned during the course of this trial is that ended last year is that Google was spending well over 20 billion on these deals with different companies, Apple getting the lion's share of that money.
Even in Silicon Valley, $25, $26 billion is not chump change.
So he is restricting those payments, and that's a big deal.
And briefly, Lily, I mean, Google have said that they're going to appeal.
Is all this going to be up for grabs again in a few years' time?
Yeah.
Well, we are awaiting a statement from Google.
I expect that to come down at any moment.
They haven't issued a statement just yet.
But, as you said, these things drag on through the legal channels in this country for years sometimes.
We know that they're going to appeal.
So in terms of what this means for the consumer, it might be a couple of years before we really get a good sense of that.
Lily, thank you so much for being with us once again.
Lily Jamali there, a North America technology correspondent.
Now it looked like an assembly of the alternative world order the leaders of Russia, China and North Korea together in Beijing.
Now it's officially for a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Asia.
But these are nations increasingly at odds with the U.S. and Europe in trade as well as politics.
One concrete gain for Russia so far is an agreement with China to build the Power of Siberia II pipeline.
That's a gas project they say could reshape global energy flows.
Russia's pipeline gas monopoly Gazprom, said the two sides had signed a legally binding memorandum of construction on the long-awaited pipeline.
So, is the pipeline a big deal?
I asked Anastasia Shapochnina, who is president and co-founder of the Paris-based think tank Eastern Circles.
This would be a breakthrough.
It's something.
Power of Siberia 2 with capacity announced capacity of 50 billion cubic meters would be truly, for Russia, an important improvement.
But first, I want to really put it into perspective.
And first because the announcement came from Russia, the CEO of Gazprom, Alexei Miller.
It was not and has not yet been confirmed by China.
Second.
So we do not know which type of agreement they have signed, if it is an MOU, the Memorandum of Understanding, which means pretty much nothing, or is it a construction agreement?
We don't know, second, what prices we are talking about.
And third, we do not know what China is ready to buy and how.
Is it ready to buy it?
Is it ready to buy them all and sign a contract for all of it via long-term contracts or spot?
Or is it ready to buy as much as it needs when it needs it, which changes everything for Russia?
One thing we know is that the prices and this Russia said and confirmed are going to be much lower than European prices, even if it's built ever is going to be added 50 billion cubic meters to 38 existing billion cubic meters, plus 6 billion cubic meters of power Siberia, which is going to be an extension, plus 10 planned billion cubic meters or more of Eastern Link.
That brings us to 104 billion cubic meters total, if ever, power of Siberia 2 is being built.
That is still about a third less than what Russia had sold to Europe before 2022.
So Russia is still catching up and is very far from catching up.
And China is far from replacing Europe as a gas market for Russia.
That's really interesting, that sort of balance, as you say, the comparison between what they lost in Europe.
But is this, if it does go through, if it is more than just a Russian announcement at this point, can it expand beyond that in the end?
I mean, could this be the first phase of a rather bigger project later on that could balance what happened with Europe?
It would allow Russia to literally what the Russians call sit on a pipeline, basically turning China on the one hand and Europe on the other hand to Russia's advantage.
Because it would, in theory and this has to be still confirmed with the route and the length of the pipeline, it would connect Yamal fields, for example oil and gas fields, to China.
And these are the same fields which have sourced gas to Europe previously.
That means that if ever geopolitically, in the long run, the relations between Russia and Europe warm up, China is going to find itself hostage to being basically sourcing gas from the same fields.
And Russia then would be able to play with the price.
China will keep trying and will keep actually its geopolitical leverage vis-a-vis Russia via its long-term policy of diversification of supply.
And where does most of that supply come from?
Is it LNG?
Where is China getting the majority of its gas from now?
Actually, Russia's main competitor when it comes to pipeline gas is Turkmenistan.
China built a direct pipeline from Turkmenistan back in 2010, which China financed itself.
Then, of course, it has also LNG supplies from sources you know, from Qatar, for example, and other sources, through LNG.
However, this shows you the big contrast also between China and Russia, between Turkmenistan and Russia, with China's willingness to finance the project also.
And the second reason why the power of Siberia hasn't been acceptable to China is because financially it has long been decried as not so much viable project in the long run.
Anastasia Shapokchina there speaking to me earlier.
And what then of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, also in Beijing?
He made a very rare trip outside his country for the ceremony and the parade in the Chinese capital.
So what does he stand to gain for his beleaguered economy?
Dr Edward Howell is a lecturer in international relations at the University of Oxford, who specialises in North Korea.
Well, we know that Kim Jong-un doesn't like flying.
He's taken a 20-hour train journey to get to Beijing.
And I think actually, given what we have seen with North Korea, Russia and China in terms of their relationship, I think no.
I think Kim Jong-un's visit only highlights Pyongyang's strategy at the moment, which is to try and ensure that it reaps as many rewards from any states it possibly can.
And Russia and China are Pyongyang's two greatest supporters.
And I think North Korea wants to keep China on side as well, because China has been North Korea's largest economic benefactor for over two decades now.
But at the same time it also wants to ensure it benefits from the Ukraine war and its heightened cooperation with Russia.
When you talk about the economic benefits, is this in a sense, a client relationship with both Moscow and with Beijing, that Kim Jong-un, in effect, is coming to say what he needs to say to keep the flows of aid and economic connection going?
So the economic relationship is the foundation, but there's obviously something much more in this day and age.
So yes, we know that North Korea wants to ensure it keeps China on side so that China can continue to help North Korea engage in ship to ship and port to port transfers of coal, crude oil, petroleum in order to evade sanctions.
And we know that North Korea wants to keep Russia on side, because North Korea has gone all in by sending approximately 14000 troops to Russia, pledging to send more.
And I wouldn't be surprised if Kim Jong-un says to Putin that he will send more in the future.
In return, he has received cash, food, crude oil, but crucially, missile and military technology.
And that's what he wants the most from Russia.
But what this meeting, this multilateral meeting, highlights is twofold.
Firstly, Kim Jong-un has an opportunity to try and sell weapons with leaders of other states.
We know the Iranians are present.
We know the Pakistanis are present.
But secondly, this is a clear signal to the West that, even though North Korea, Russia and China aren't in a formalised alliance, the solidarity between them in their opposition to the US, to the US's allies and to the US-led international order is very clear.
So there is a clear ideological component to this as well.
But the relations I mean.
Obviously they're rosy between Beijing and Moscow at the moment, but in the past there have been rivalries.
Is it North Korea's intention really to keep both on side?
And I suppose if there is a future split to make sure it's on the right side of that split.
So this is similar to what Kim Il-sung did during the Cold War, during which time there was the infamous Sino-Soviet split, and Pyongyang was straddling this boundary and trying to ensure that it managed to gain economic benefits from both.
There is an element of this here at the moment, but I think what makes today's developments and 2025 much more different is is that, particularly on the part of Russia's relationship with North Korea, North Korea came to Russia's assistance by providing artillery and missiles at a time of Russian need.
This is basically an inversion of the Cold War relationship, when North Korea was dependent on Russia and China.
Now we're seeing as if this relationship has been turned on its head, particularly in relationship to North Korea's ties with Russia.
And so I do foresee the relationship between North Korea and Russia evolving, expanding and changing, even if the Ukraine war were to end.
Dr Edward Howell.
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You're with World Business Report from the BBC World Service.
Let's have a quick look at what's been going on in the markets.
Mandy Hsu is head of derivatives market intelligence at SIBO in New York.
Mandy, thanks for being with us.
First of all, I suppose that decision of the US court about Donald Trump's tariffs being illegal.
The markets really hadn't had time to react to that because of Labor Day until today.
How did they feel?
So surprisingly, markets have actually not reacted very much to that headline.
And I think it's because of the fact that this is not the final decision.
As we know, obviously, this is going to the Supreme Court.
When they will take it up and how they will decide is still to be seen.
So I think investors are waiting for kind of that final decision.
And then overall, what we've seen over the past few weeks is just investors growing more and more desensitized to any tariff-related headline, whether positive or negative.
So I think what we're seeing now is just a continuation of that trend.
Okay.
And Mandy, I suppose the big headline really in company news today was Kraft Heinz.
They're no longer going to be one company.
And various people have been saying things about that.
What's behind it?
What's going on?
Yeah.
So I would say it's interesting because if you look at the stock reaction, investors are taking it pretty negatively.
The stock is down almost 7% today.
It's the worst decline since 2022.
And in the derivatives market we've seen very elevated option volume two times the average and really led by puts so pretty bearish activity.
And that's you know.
I would say unusual for the stock where we typically see more calls, trade or more bullish activity go on.
I think if you step back the broader themes, obviously this is company-specific news, but the broader theme, something we've been highlighting, is that while kind of volatility for the broader market has been fairly tame, we have been getting pretty sizable volatility single stock moves right.
Whether it's Kraft Heinz, whether it's NVIDIA, you know, on the back of earnings MA, corporate action, et cetera.
So this you know idea of a lot of volatility at a single stock level, high dispersion, but because these are all stock-specific drivers, the overall index volatility being actually quite muted, is something that we, you know, we think is interesting and it's been, you know, a theme that we've seen this year.
Mandy, thank you so much for being with us.
Mandy Xu there.
Now, is your bank balance a little stretched right now?
Are you wondering where it all goes?
Maybe you should be involved in a trend.
It's been blowing up on social media.
It's called No Spend September.
You mustn't buy things, and it's surprisingly popular.
It is that time of year where we reset our dopamine levels by doing No Spend September.
You guys know I did this challenge last year, but this year I want to make it even harder.
September always feels a fresh start to me.
From summer to fall i like resetting my life.
I feel like around this time.
So i figured a good challenge would be the no spend september.
I saw it on tiktok from somebody else doing it.
I thought i'd give it a try.
It is september 1st and i have decided to do a no spend september.
If your bank account is screaming for a break from the damage done this summer, take this as a sign to join my frugal but still chic no spend september.
These are my rules.
I've decided i'm gonna try and do no spend september.
Don't believe this is entirely possible.
So essential spends only, which means really trying to spend money on food and fuel.
I may or may have not gone a little bit overboard with the spending last month.
And now I'm having to partake in no spend September.
Say it with me.
No spend September.
Right.
Who's with me?
Well, I've been talking about this to Stacey Francis of Francis Financial.
No Spend September, it's a social media trend.
You'll see it all over Twitter Instagram, Facebook and more, but it's really about going through, looking consciously at what you're spending and cutting out the non-essential purchases.
But why do that in September?
For many people, September is almost like the kickoff of a new year.
Kids are going back to school.
People are coming home from vacations.
Maybe even their summer was a little lighter.
Often during the summer, we're maybe spending a little bit more, having fun.
And September, I think about it more as like we're getting back to business.
And you're cutting out certain things.
I mean, what kind of things do people cut out?
You've got to still buy food, of course.
You've still got to buy food, but you don't necessarily have to buy the quiche that they make for you.
That might be 10 pounds, 12 pounds where you can make it for yourself, maybe four pounds.
But for a lot of individuals, it's not so much overspending at the grocery store, although you can.
It's more the going to Costa Coffee.
It's going to the Starbucks, getting, bless Avente, coffee.
Things where money just fritters out without us really realizing it, adding up to potentially big credit card debt down the line.
So there aren't rules as such.
It's more just try and cut back where you can and cut your bills.
It is, but I will tell you there are three key things that are going to help you be successful.
Number one is to actually get real, real savvy about what you're actually spending.
It's like jumping on the scale to see what you weigh.
Track your spending, see what you're really spending, because that's going to give you a huge amount of information about where you can cut back and maybe, where you're spending money that doesn't really serve you.
Number two.
Once you do that, Take a look at what is doable for you to really step back and the areas where you might be able to save a lot in cash and make a commitment.
Tell a friend, tell a family member so that you have accountability.
And number three, make sure that you start to see progress.
Use those dollars to potentially pay down some credit card debt, maybe put into your retirement.
Maybe you have an ISA, you have a TESA.
In America, we have 401ks, IRAs, and start to get that money to start to work for you as well.
But Stacey is the popularity of this and it has been hugely popular.
Do you think it's answering the fact that a lot of people actually do find it pretty hard to make ends meet most of the time?
The majority of people find it difficult to make ends meet, especially now where we are in a situation where inflation has really been skyrocketing over the last couple of years.
What it costs to buy an egg today versus several years ago is significantly more, and that's just for basic food, let alone.
You put on top of that housing clothing, automobiles and petrol.
All these things take a really big bite out of our paychecks.
And for a lot of people, they're literally going from one week to another with maybe 50 or 30 pounds extra, leaving them really financially vulnerable.
Stacey Francis on No Spend September.
I hope you will spend some of September at least listening to World Business Report.
But that's it from us for now.
From me and the rest of the team, bye-bye and thanks for listening.
