World Cup hydration breaks give advertisers advantage

**Vishala Sri-Pathma** (0:01)
Coming up on World Business Report, India's richest man Mukesh Ambani files for what could be a record-breaking stop market debut. Plus, we hear how water breaks during the Football World Cup, we're becoming advertising gold mines, and Toy Story is back for a fifth film. Can Disney ever afford to say goodbye to its billion-dollar franchise? That's all to come after the latest world news.

**Fiona MacDonald** (0:31)
BBC News with Fiona MacDonald. American officials say Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have agreed a ceasefire following intense Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon that killed at least 47 people since Thursday. Lebanese media and rescue officials have reported several Israeli attacks since the deal was said to have come into effect. Police in Britain say at least one person has died after two passenger trains collided north of London. Several people are said to have been injured. A major HIV funding programme is being shut down in South Africa by the United States government. The White House said the decision was made after what it says are failures to address its concerns about the treatment of white South Africans.
The Italian Prime Minister strongly repudiated President Trump's assertion. She begged to have her photo taken with them at this week's G7 summit in France. Georgia Maloney said it was an appalling and fabricated claim.
African and Caribbean nations have demanded formal apologies from countries that benefited from transatlantic slavery as well as debt relief and compensation. The demands are part of a 19-point reparation plan endorsed at the end of a three-day conference in the Ghanaian capital.
Norway's government is imposing a near complete ban on primary school children using generative AI tools in the classroom. The Prime Minister said using AI increases the risk that young children skip important steps in their education. Football and in the first of today's matches at the Men's World Cup, the hosts United States have beaten Australia 2-0 in Group D. A little later, Scotland take on the reigning African champions Morocco. History has been made at one of London's most famous green spaces, St James' Park, close to Buckingham Palace. Four Pelican chicks have hatched. All previous St James' Pelicans had been bred elsewhere. BBC News.

**Vishala Sri-Pathma** (2:31)
India's richest man bets big.

**Mukesh Ambani** (2:34)
Ten years ago, Jio began its journey with an audacious dream, to remove digital inequality from India.

**Neel Shah** (2:42)
People are spending more on mobile phones and mobile data in terms of time and money.

**Vishala Sri-Pathma** (2:47)
It's World Business Report from the BBC World Service.
I'm Vishala Sri-Pathma. On the way, Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani files for a blockbuster IPO float. It could be a record listing for the country. Plus, Toy Story returns for a fifth outing. But behind Buzz and Woody lies a billion-dollar franchise Disney simply can't stop playing with.
Now, if you use a mobile phone in India, chances are, Geo has made some inroad into your household. In less than a decade, the company has gone from a new entrant to a dominant force in India's telecoms market. And now it's gearing up for a stock market listing that could make it one of the biggest telecom companies in the world. Asia's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, who chairs Reliance Industries, the group behind Geo, spoke about how the business transformed the industry in India.

**Mukesh Ambani** (3:48)
Ten years ago, Geo began its journey with an audacious dream to remove digital inequality from India. At that time, voice was costly, data was expensive, speeds were poor.
Geo made voice free, made high-speed data affordable, and Geo made digital life possible for every Indian.

**Vishala Sri-Pathma** (4:11)
So Mukesh Ambani there, talking about Geo and its successors. So how do they get so big so quickly? Well, Neel Shar is the co-founder of Counterpoint Research.

**Neel Shah** (4:24)
India market, right, it's a home to almost 1.4 billion population and Geo has become the largest telco in India. 60 to 70% of the population is below 30 years old. So it's the youngest population and the most, I would say, attractive population to global companies who want to enter India. And if you look at over the last 5 to 6 years since the pandemic actually, the consumption of mobile has gone up considerably. So it's an extended arm and I would say people are spending more on mobile phones and mobile data in terms of time and money.

**Vishala Sri-Pathma** (5:02)
And would you say India is in a growth phase relative to say Europe or the United States, where perhaps despite there constantly being change in technology, it's perhaps a bit more saturated in terms of markets?

**Neel Shah** (5:20)
Absolutely. If you look at India, as I said, it's a young market.