Chinese Yuan Receives IMF Backing

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The International Monetary Fund has recognised the Chinese renminbi - or yuan - as one of the world's elite currencies by adding it to the Special Drawing Rights basket. For China, it is a milestone that should pave the way for broader use of the renminbi in trade and finance - securing China's standing as a global economic power. So what is the SDR all about? A question for Patrick Chovanec at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs University - formerly of Beijing's Tsinghua University - and he is chief strategist at Silvercrest Asset Management in New York. A BBC investigation has uncovered evidence of corruption and bribery at British American Tobacco, one of the UK's biggest companies. The current affairs TV programme Panorama found that the firm paid bribes to politicians and civil servants in countries across East Africa. The BBC's Richard Bilton has the story. Tuesday is day one of a new era for the Financial Times, following its purchase by Nikkei Inc of Japan over the summer - we speak to the FT's Chief Executive. And as world leaders gather in Paris for the first day of the COP 21 climate change summit, we ask people in Uganda if they are already feeling the effects of climate change. Our guests Elmira Bayrasli, co-founder of Foreign Policy Interrupted and visiting fellow at the New America Foundation in New York and Madhavan Narayanan, columnist and tech writer on the Hindustan Times in Delhi, join us throughout the programme. (Photo: Chinese currency notes Credit: Getty Images)