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Episode details

World Service,25 Nov 2014,55 mins

What can be done to prevent terrorist groups demanding ransoms for taking hostages?

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What can be done to prevent terrorist groups demanding ransoms for taking hostages? The British government is tightening the law around handing over payments from hostage insurance policies, after estimates show that Islamic State received millions of dollars in the past year alone. And, the University of Texas has just bought the archive of Nobel Prize winning author Gabriel Garcia Márquez - we ask his eldest son why the family decided to sell the work outside of his native Colombia. As talks are extended between the US and Iran over the country's nuclear ambitions, we look at what the continued sanctions mean for the Iranian economy. The BBC's Chloe Arnold reports from Poland, as the country continues to see thousands of its citizens leave each year and migrate to other EU countries. Also, how many apps do you have on your smartphone? With over six million now in one major app store, we ask software developers from across the world if there could be a day when no more can be written. The BBC's Rahul Tandon joins us from Calcutta to round up the big stories India is talking about. And, our regular commentator Lucy Kellaway reflects on her past career as a Foreign Exchange trader and the often colourful language she was party to hearing. Our guests are Ben Gilbert of the technology website Engadget, on the line from New York, and David Kuo in Singapore from business website, The Motley Fool.

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