BBC在线收听下载:美国考虑终止对印度优惠贸易国待遇

Hello, I'm Eileen McKue with the BBC News.

India has played down the impact of an end to its preferential trade status with the United States after President Trump announced that he intended to scrap the program. The Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan said the move would have a minimal economic impact and that Delhi was keeping retaliatory tariffs out of its talks with the US. Devina Gupta is in Delhi. This means that from here on now these goods will have to be under a duty and big exporters will have to shell out more money and in India the Commerce Secretary pointed out although it's about export 5.6 billion dollars, but the economic impact of that will only be about a hundred and nine million dollars. So it's not so significant if we look in terms of trade. But yes, thousands of jobs are at risk here in India.

A Japanese court has granted bail to the former automobile executive Carlos Ghosn who's been detained for more than three months on charges of financial misconduct. Merica Oria is in Singapore. The decision came as a surprise because in Japan bail is rarely granted unless you confess to the crimes you're accused of. And this is in fact his third request for bail. But he's recently changed his legal team and they've managed to succeed in getting him bail. It's not cheap though. A bail is set at one billion yen which is almost nine million US dollars, one of the highest in fact in Japan. Prosecutions are now appealing the decission. Remember he's facing allegations of financial misconduct. He's accused of underreporting his salary. He's also accused of transferring his investment losses onto Nisson all of which he denies. Merica Oria reporting from Singapore.

Wet winters are no longer a guide to the intensity of California wildfires. A study by international climate expert shows climate change is one of the factors ensuring that major fires can now happen in any year. Paul Rincon reports. Last year was California's most destructive wildfire season. Winter rains have been a guide to the intensity of fires in California for hundreds of years, but a new study shows that's no longer the case. More vegetation and dry conditions due to global warming now mean any year can have large fires. More effective efforts to tackle wildfires over the twentieth century mean this now more dry wood to burn regardless of a wet winter. As hot and dry conditions become more common globally, researchers say we can expect the number and intensity of wildfires to increase around the world. Paul Rincon reporting.

BBC News.