麻豆约拍

Twenty-one million people in 16 areas of France begin a new month-long Covid lockdown. The 麻豆约拍's Hugh Schofield in Paris tells us about the likely impact on businesses in France, and the government's deficit. Plus, the first face to face meeting between the new US administration and top Chinese officials has ended in Anchorage, Alaska. We hear from the 麻豆约拍's State Department correspondent Barbara Plett Usher who's in Anchorage. Also in the programme, there is a new phase of international port diplomacy, where major economic powers are helping to construct ports to help establish commercial and military footholds around the world. The 麻豆约拍's Ranga Sirilal in Colombo describes India and Japan's assistance to Sri Lanka for a port there. We hear from Cobus Van Staden, senior China-Africa researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs about a Chinese loan deal for Bagamoyo Port in Tanzania. And Cristina Maza, a freelance journalist who has been covering a deal between Sudan and Russia for military access to Port Sudan on the Red Sea, discusses what is in it for the two sides.

(Picture: A lone pedestrian walks near the Louvre in Paris. Picture credit: Getty Images.)