大象传媒

With sales of $51 billion in the three months to March, shares in the internet retail giant hit a new high in after-hours trading. We got reaction to that and the rest of the day on Wall Street from Cary Leahey of Decision Economics, in New York. Also, we hear from entrepreneur James Longcroft about a biodegradable alternative to the plastic bottle. As China continues to exert its authority in the South China Sea, Bill Hayton tells us about the material losses being suffered by Vietnam and the Philippines. A corruption probe has begun into the affairs of French billionaire Vincent Bollor茅. It centres on allegations that one of his companies undercharged for work in African election campaigns in exchange for lucrative contracts elsewhere. Harriet Agnew from the Financial Times has the view from Paris, while the 大象传媒's Lameen Konkobo tells us how the allegations have led to fresh protests in Togo. Plus. we meet Nirpal Adhikari, a Nepali architect who's aiming to build affordable, earthquake resistant homes. And amid concerns that intelligent loudspeakers like Amazon's Alexa are making children sound rude, the company has developed a child-friendly version which encourages the use of please and thank you when giving commands. James Davies of the child-focused research agency Childwise tells us why he welcomes the move.

(Picture: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Picture credit: Getty Images.)