大象传媒

US employers added a shade over 150,000 jobs in January but that positive number was seen by some analysts as further evidence of a deceleration after months of impressive gains. President Obama welcomed the latest data, but he also called for caution. We called up the Chicago based economist Diane Swonk who has advised the US central bank in the past.

The fall in global oil prices has hit Venezuela hard. Diminished income has hit imports and there are shortages of some crucial household goods. But when the Health Minister Luisana Melo was asked about the lack of toothpaste - she said people were brushing their teeth too often - and the habit of over-brushing could be blamed on malicious dentists and aggressive capitalism. We hear from journalist Grace Livingstone in the capital Caracas.

Carnival in Brazil is usually a four-day celebration - a time to get out in the street, make a lot of noise, maybe have a small glass of something fortifying. But it's also a time of recession, double-digit inflation and high unemployment - so while places like Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo are still planning de luxe parades, dozens of smaller cities have cancelled carnival. The 大象传媒's Daniel Gallas reports from Cabo Frio.

Football fans everywhere are counting down the hours to Superbowl Sunday. Kickoff is early evening San Francisco time. More than 100 million Americans will be watching. The half time acts will be Coldplay and Beyonce - and Lady Gaga will sing the Star Spangled Banner. Rick Horrow is the Visiting Expert on Sports Business at the Harvard Law School - he spoke to us from the NFL's own headquarters hotel in downtown San Francisco.

Presenter Fergus Nicoll will be joined throughout the programme by Colin Peacock, from Radio New Zealand in Wellington.

(Picture credit: Getty)