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Episode details

World Service,22 Feb 2017,26 mins

South Korean Women Predicted to Live Longest

World Business Report

Available for over a year

It's predicted women in South Korea will be the first to have an average life expectancy of 90. Stephanie Studer is bureau chief for The Economist in Seoul, and tells us what's behind South Koreans' longevity. Meanwhile in Russia women are forecast to die on average a decade earlier than South Koreans. Dr Alexey Bessudnov is a lecturer in sociology at the University of Exeter, and explains the situation in Russia. Also in the programme, South Africa's finance minister Pravin Gordhan has outlined his country's spending plans, and the BBC's Lerato Mbele in Johannesburg fills us in on the details. Planemaker Airbus has taken a $1.8 billion charge on its A400M transporter plane, and the BBC's Theo Leggett tells us why. As banks in the City of London contemplate what the future holds after Britain leaves the European Union, the BBC's Benjie Guy has been finding out about London's financial district's colourful past. Plus we talk to Geoffrey Ball, who developed an innovative implant technology to treat his own hearing loss. (Picture: A Korean woman. Picture credit: Getty Images.)

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