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Episode details

World Service,19 Aug 2022,26 mins

China cuts off factories as drought worsens

World Business Report

Available for over a year

Authorities in China have turned to desperate measures as temperatures rise and river levels fall. A national drought alert has been issued, and factories have been shut down in an attempt to save energy. Journalist Arjun Neil Alim explains how it's affecting Chinese citizens and workers, as well as the country's economy. In Pakistan, the economic situation is growing more severe. As Islamabad pleads for a bailout from the IMF, former banker Yousuf Nazar says the worst may be yet to come. Swetha Ramachandran, investment director at GAM Investments, has the daily market update. We'll hear about the world's first permanent disposal site for nuclear waste which is being built deep below the Finnish soil. There's also bad news for Thailand's instant noodle lovers, as the popular staple food could be about to rise in price for the first time in more than a decade. (Picture: A parched section of China's Yangtze river basin. Credit: Getty Images).

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