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Mexico's cartels are thriving, and finding innovative ways to smuggle drugs across the border into the US, despite law enforcement and the pandemic.Ed Butler speaks to Dr Irene Mia of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, who says the closing of borders due to Covid has provided the cartels with a surprising shot in the arm, as they have proved far more adept at keeping their product flowing than many other legitimate international export businesses. Speedboats, tunnels, even catapults have been deployed to get methamphetamine and fentanyl into the US.And that's not all. The cartels have diversified, into people smuggling, wildcat mining and crude oil theft among other things, according to the Mexico-based author and journalist Ioan Grillo. And they aren't the only ones. In Brazil, a narcotics gang called First Capital Command has become so powerful that they have effectively replaced the government in some parts of the country, according to Marcos Alan Ferreira of the Federal University of Paraiba.(Picture: Mexican Federal Police officers patrol Iguala, Guerrero state, Mexico; Credit: Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images)

Demand for beauty tweakments - small changes to your appearance – as opposed to full on face changing plastic surgery, is soaring. Hours spent on video conferencing has forced people to constantly scrutinise their appearance, so what exactly are people having done and how much does it all cost? Elizabeth Hotson speaks to tweakments fan, Eddie Wunderlich, a personal trainer and stylist at the Dop Dop salon in New York and we hear about the importance of appearance at work from Dr Stefanie K. Johnson, an associate professor at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business. Dr Hazel Mycroft, a senior lecturer in social psychology at the University of Exeter talks through the thought processes of having tweakments done and Elizabeth visits skincare guru Sarah Chapman, in her Skinesis Clinic in London to see what exactly customers want.. (Photo: LED light treatment,. Credit: Elizabeth Hotson).Presenter: Elizabeth Hotson Producer: Sarah Treanor

On this edition of Business Weekly, we look at the gaming industry’s biggest deal so far, as Microsoft stumps up nearly $69bn to buy Activision Blizzard, the company behind mega-games including Call of Duty and World of Warcraft. We hear how Microsoft wants to increase its slice of the gaming sector. Mobile stock trading apps have been booming in popularity during the pandemic, opening the door to millions of new, often young, or first-time investors. For many in the finance sector it is great news, but there have been questions raised about whether people always know the amount of financial risk they are taking on. Also, we focus on China’s economy, and hear what impact the ‘zero Covid’ policy and approach has made. Plus, we stop and smell the roses of the global flower industry - and follow one supply line from Kenya to Amsterdam to find out how green the sector really is. And as the original Winnie the Pooh book falls out of US copyright, we hear what potential new adventures might be in store for the “bear of very little brain”. Business Weekly is presented by Sasha Twining and produced by Matthew Davies.