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Verizon to buy AOL for $4.4bn

US telecoms giant Verizon agrees to buy AOL in a deal worth $4.4bn - we ask what's in it for both sides. Plus, how the US housing crash is leading to a bourbon shortage.

US telecoms giant Verizon offers $4.4bn dollars for AOL, giving one of the oldest names in online tech a new lease of life. We ask what's in it for both sides.

The US bourbon industry is facing something of a crisis, and it's partly down to the US housing market crash of eight years ago. The lumber industry that used to provide construction materials has been decimated, leaving distillers struggling to find the white oak barrels needed to store the drink. Meanwhile, demand for bourbon is soaring - inside the US and abroad. We speak to a bourbon barrel maker, as well as industry expert Fred Minnick.

As British Prime Minister David Cameron reshuffles his cabinet following last week's election, we discuss why the national vote boiled down to a basic question of trust in economic management.

Theo Leggett has a special report on how London transport bosses are cashing in on the property boom below street level.

And US President Barack Obama decides the newest presidential library will be in Chicago - will it just be a hugely expensive vanity project? Dave Shaw, from our sister US station Marketplace joins us from Washington to discuss. We're also joined throughout the programme by Catherine Yeung, of Fidelity Worldwide Investment in Hong Kong.

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55 minutes

Last on

Wed 13 May 2015 00:05GMT

Broadcast

  • Wed 13 May 2015 00:05GMT

Podcast