this is business live from bbc news with sally bundock and rachel horne. the tax crackdown steps up a gear — as the european commissions sights luxembourg and amazon. live from london, that's our top story on wednesday october 4th. could the giant online retailer be forced to pay back millions in back taxes? what is the european commission going to announce? we will have the latest. also in the programme — from bad to worse — yahoo says all of its three billion accounts have been hacked — but no passwords or card details were compromised. but what does that mean for horizon who took over the company earlier this year? and a mixed day for the markets so far, we will explain why.

and we'll be looking at formica — which you might think is retro — but the laminate is still being actively used around the world. with hacking in the headlines, we wa nt to with hacking in the headlines, we want to know— have you been a victim of hacking? how did it affect you? let us know . use the hashtag bbcbizlive. hello and welcome to business live. if you watch us regularly you will know it is action packed. let's get cracking with what the european commission is likely to announce today. later today the european commission is expected to announce the result of its probe into member states‘ tax deals with multi—national companies. who will it name and shame today? it's going to be luxembourg. it has been accused of offering illegal tax breaks to amazon. the decision is not against the retail giant itself, but against luxembourg,

which can be forced to present amazon with a bill for the alleged back taxes. the case echoes a similar ruling against ireland, not long ago, forcing it to claim 13 billion euros, or $15.3bn, from apple. a decision which has been appealed by both the country and the company. rachel, over to you. thank you sally. our business reporter theo leggett is here. what is amazon thought to have done wrong? when we think about amazon we think of one company but it is a network of one company but it is a network of companies within a corporate structure. the european commission has been looking at this corporate structure in luxembourg were most of

its european operations are based. especially how payments are channelled between luxembourg's main operating company which deals with sales across europe and a tax—exempt partnership owned by its parents in the united states. luxembourg's operating company makes royalty payments to this tax—exempt partnership. as a result, its tax liability in luxembourg is reduced. amazon hasn't done anything wrong. it has done something illegal. it has a letter, known as a comfort letter from the luxembourg government is saying these arrangements are fine under luxembourg law. the european commission are saying, wait a minute. if you look at arrangements other companies have in luxembourg this is not the same, therefore this constitutes illegal state aid. so

luxembourg will have to recover the money potentially from know this is we know this is why is the commission getting involved, is there not the next element that jean—claude juncker was prime minister of luxembourg? he's working against his own government's decisions, in a way. the european parliament has in the last couple of yea rs parliament has in the last couple of years become increasingly frustrated with national governments. it can't stop them competing to attract businesses, for example by offering lower tax rates. it doesn't it has. why is the commission getting involved, is there not the next element thatjean—claude juncker was prime minister of luxembourg? he's working against his own government's decisions, in a way. the european parliament has in the last couple of yea rs parliament has in the last couple of years become increasingly frustrated with national governments. it can't stop them competing to attract businesses, for example by offering lower tax rates. it control over tax law in that way. so it came the idea of using state tax law. 0k law in that way. so it came the idea of using state tax law. ok for companies to make taxes provided those arrangements are also offered to other companies. it is a way of providing for large deals offered to international is to countries that give them lower taxes provided those arrangements are also offered to other companies. it's a way of providing for large deals offered to international is to attract the commission feels unfair. what about the apple case in ireland. this is the apple case in ireland. this is the big one the commission feels unfair. what about the apple case in ireland. this is the big one. commission rules against amazon,

which it hasn't yet, that could mean their bill of several million the case of apple it was 13 billion euros, a huge number which has now been appealed. other cases are in the case of apple it was 13 billion euros, a huge number which has now been appealed. other cases place against companies like starbucks and fiat, french energy group, or mcdonald's. i am sure you will tell us mcdonald's. i am sure you will tell us about those cases, thank you, let's take a look at some of the other thank you, stories making the news. yahoo has said all of its 3 billion user accounts were affected in a hacking attack dating back to 2013. the company, which was taken over by verizon earlier this year, said an investigation had shown the breach went much further than originally thought. the stolen data did not include passwords in clear text, payment card or bank account data. french energy group, or mcdonald's. iam sure french energy group, or mcdonald's. i am sure you will tell us about those cases, thank you, we are asking youtube

tweet us about this story. we will dig deeper into bit later in the programme. we about this later in the in the president trump says puerto rico's massive debt will have to be wiped out. the island, which earlier this year filed the biggest bankruptcy in us municipal history, is struggling to regain economic stability in the face of a 72 billion dollar debt load and near—insolvent public health and pension systems. ford's new boss has outlined plans which he says will make the us car giant "fit" to compete in a changing industry. the firm says it will shift resources from traditional cars to suvs and trucks, while investing in electric power and tech services. the firm will also automate its manufacturing processes more to help to cut costs by $14 billion. more about this later in the that means that human beings are going and more machines are taking reading between the lines i think that means that human beings are going and more machines are taking we will wait for the announcement on now there's a story about ofits board has put months passing a series of measures to shore up corporate governance. the whole issue is two problems. the

new ceo has managed to get the board to agree to move forward. we are looking towards an investment by a japanese bank and what is interesting is, this is the first time they have given a date for a float. they say they want to become a public company by the end of 2019. if that goes ahead, the japanese bank should invest shortly and we will see what happens when uber finally floats. the world bank has raised its economic growth forecasts for developing east asia and pacific for this year and 2018, but added the generally positive outlook was clouded by risks such as rising trade protectionism and geopolitical tensions. karishma vaswani is in singapore. karishma, what more can you tell us. the outlook for eastern asia is rosy, including china and the regions are expected to grow by 6.li% this year. a slight uptick from

gloucester. it will keep growing, says the world bank, next year, a higher assessment than what was made for 2016. guess what could affect those growth prospects. the bank normally outlines financial and economic risks, this time it has made the unusual move of outlining a geopolitical risk. in particular, not far from singapore, the geopolitical risk. in particular, not farfrom singapore, the one on the korean peninsula. the report outlines things like trade in east asia being affected if a real armed conflict happens there. that makes sense because of how central the region is to shipping and manufacturing. the other issues that would come up as a result of an armed conflict in the region would be increased insurance costs for ships moving cargo in and out of the region. some real concerns about what a conflict in the korean peninsula could mean for economic

growth in the region. those concerns are everywhere. thank you, karishma. that is the story, the great unknown in the korean peninsula. let the good markets in asia today. this is australia. down nearly 1%. hong kong was up by not .74%. and a good date forjapan. another record—breaking night on wall street, share markets in the usa going up and up. we'll talk more about why in a moment. let's show you europe. yesterday the dax was closed for public holidays, open for trading again today. the next picture in the uk, the ftse 100 next picture in the uk, the ftse100 posted by tesco coming up with stronger sales than expected. shares up stronger sales than expected. shares up 296 stronger sales than expected. shares up 2% which is encouraging because retailers worldwide are struggling but in the uk struggling very much because of the movement in the pound ever since britain voted to leave

the european union, it has really squeezed our retailers. we'll talk more about markets in detail in a moment, first look ahead to the day on wall street. google is expected to unveil a new version of its pixel phone this wednesday, exactly one year after it launched the original. there are no longer content to provide an operating system. it means that google also wants to make the hardware in september, the firm agreed to pay over $1 billion for access to smartphone expertise from access to smartphone expertise from a taiwanese manufacturer, htc. pepsi reports its third—quarter earnings, while americans are drinking less soda, it's international businesses have grown. slumping commodity prices and weak farm income must have taken their toll on monsanto, the seeds and agrochemicals company

is likely to turn in a loss for the fourth quarter. its first in seven quarters. the company known for its genetically modified seeds is being bought by bayer from germany. joining us is james bevan — chief investment officer at ccla investment management. thank you forjoining us. we will start by talking about the federal reserve. there will be a new head in february, janet yellen and is currently in position. president trump has been given a short list of possible candidates, who else is on the list. he has indeed been interviewing. the front runner in terms of what people are expecting is kevin walsh, an interesting character, he was an early and young member of the fed when he was just 35, from 2006-2011 member of the fed when he was just 35, from 2006—2011 sodhi has been there and done it and been very critical of fed policy. he has talked about wanting to lower the inflation target to 1% from 2%,

getting rid of quantitative easing, raising interest rates. so this will be big if he makes the grade. the other three candidates, apart from janet yellen wanting to be re—elected, gary coleman, part of tea m re—elected, gary coleman, part of team trump and jerome himself whose pa rt team trump and jerome himself whose part of it that is not yet appointed. were false and got sta nley appointed. were false and got stanley fisher, the deputy head, stepping down. a potential game changer in the terms of the way things are done. it is clear that walsh is not necessarily trump's favourite because he is more likely to be hawkish, that means he would like to raise rates earlier whereas trump likes or like approach keeping the economy moving along. there's been a spike in us car sales in

september, the highest for 12 years, because of hurricane damage. this is a breath of life for the car industry, it was clearly worrying because people keep cars so much longer than hitherto. a lot of people are now waiting to buy electric cars. this is obviously a significant positive thing for the car industry and the conviction industry because however damaging it is from a people point of view for the economy it will mean a lot of money. james bevan, you'll be back to discuss the papers at the end of the programme. we are receiving your tweets about yahoo, about hacking. keep them coming. what does it mean for yahoo, taken over by verizon, it seems 3 billion accounts were compromised, pretty much all of them. you are with business live on bbc news. as i mentioned tesco

shares riding high in london today of the back of their latest results. pre—tax profits going up to £562 million. that's the first six months of the year. that compares to just £71 million from the same time the year before, quite a shift. tesco says fresh food in particular performed well. our business correspondent emma simpson has spoken to tesco's chief executive who says he's happy the results. i would describe them as a strong set of results, i am pleased with what we've delivered this year, the hundred thousand more customers shopping with us driving the results which are today. it shows the turnaround is firmly on track. which are today. it shows the turnaround is firmly on trackm which are today. it shows the turnaround is firmly on track. it is pretty much three years since you took charge. when is it going to be job done? when is that turnaround going to be complete.

job done? when is that turnaround going to be completelj job done? when is that turnaround going to be complete. i suspect it is neverjob done. in a businesslike tesco there's always more you want to do. we set ourselves a medium—term ambition for 1920 and we showed today we firmly on track do it. the business is improving on every single measure yet i suspect it is neverjob done, there will a lwa ys it is neverjob done, there will always be something we want to do better. how much of your sales growth is down to inflation? a small amount is down to inflation, all our customers are experiencing inflation now but we have done our best to mitigate that so inflation in tesco is 1% below that of our peers. our prices are sharper in this first half year versus the market. what is the average rate of inflation you are typically passing on to customers? in the market it's between 2.6 and 2.3% depending on the category and we are 1% below that. how much are your input costs

rising? our input costs are rising more and that is because of changing commodities around the world but we are finding ways to mitigate that without needing to pass it on to customers. it is part of is reducing our own cost but also finding more efficient ways to run the business. we tried to offset that are not increased prices for customers and we have managed to do that. that was the chief executive of tesco after they're quite successful figures have come out. but tops tiles share prices down after a rather warning. you're watching business live. our top story: the tax crackdown steps up a gear — as the european commission sights luxembourg and amazon. and now let's get the inside track on one company that may bring visions of 1950's dining rooms! the iconic formica table may feel

like a treasure of the past, but the firm says the laminate material is still very relevant today. formica was invented in the us over 100 years ago, in 1913. it gained popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, thanks to its wipe clean, heat resistant properties. formica is now owned by new zealand firm fletcher building, which has recently invested £40 million into the firm's european plant in the north east of england. we have got the european boss with us, peter rush, who is in charge of the european operations. welcome to business lives. now, tell us about the european operations. as we have just mentioned, a big investment in the north of england. that was before the uk decided it would leave the european union, so where does that leave formica? formica is a global business, so we are spread

across the three main continents. half £1 billion turnover, and in terms of europe, europe is a key region for us. the investment really is in new technologies, so it is in new plant and equipment, but new techniques to enable us to produce the latest models of formica laminate. when it comes to the logistics, you have most of your operations in newcastle in the uk so what does it mean when we separate? in terms of europe we are well—placed. we have two facilities in the uk and three in mainland europe. newcastle and newton aycliffe in the uk, then finland, spain and germany so we are well—positioned for anything brexit might throw at. your parent company is in new zealand and you have pla nts is in new zealand and you have plants in north america. do you see brexit is a concern for your company or brexit is a concern for your company oran brexit is a concern for your company or an opportunity? and think it is a

bit of both. i think most businesses in the uk will be saying that. the opportunities for us are very much around the devaluation of the pound. because you export so much? export that it means our competitive products coming into the uk are expensive. we are the only laminate manufacturer here in the uk so for us manufacturer here in the uk so for us that is a real point of difference and strength. brexit has that opportunity. the downside is around raw material input costs. we buy a lot of our raw materials and dollars and the pound is weak against the dollar so our costs have gone up against the dollar so our costs have gone up as a against the dollar so our costs have gone up as a result, but the investment is very much around efficiency gains and so one which will enable us to offset some of the increases in raw material costs. let's talk about the laminate, because we'll think about kitchen worktops but that is a small part of your business? kitchen worktops account for 10% of our business. you made the comment at the beginning

about kitchen worktops in the 50s, around six out of ten kitchens in the uk still have some formica laminate in them. that is still something we will invest in. but 90% of our business is elsewhere in what i would call commercial areas. most people coming into work in the morning will see our products eight or nine times, either in the train, the car, the kitchen, retail outlets and fast food outlets. are you talking cupboards and work services? any services, desks, in fast food outlets the countertops will be formica laminated. how are you affected by events around the recession? when a country or a region like europe goes through a tough time, are you diversify it enough that you can ride that storm orare enough that you can ride that storm or are you massively affected by it? there is no doubt we are affected by a recession. any slowdown in what i would call commercial spending would have an impact on formica in terms

of the few buildings that are built, the less laminate that is sold. but you do not watch the housing market like a hawk because it is 10% of your money coming in?... in terms of the retail outlet, that is true. and briefly, peter, the most exciting thing which has happened in your industries you have invented fingerprint proof surfaces? the big thing about surfaces is you have to keep cleaning them and buffing them up. we have launched a product called infinity which is anti—fingerprint and it is antimicrobial. you can heal the surface with temperature so it is a really good product. is it even potluck press? how have you tested it quite back that but if it —— is it quite back that but if it —— is it even hoddle proof? it is toddler proof. i can hear those people who

bust their laminate saying, bring it on! let's just talk about peaches in beijing, what are we talking about you are wondering. in the suburbs of beijing, peach farmers are turning to technology to help with the labour—intensive picking process. take a look at this. translation: we started growing peaches in 1958. my father and grandfather were both peach farmers. during peak season our workers don't have time to eat lunch. translation: peaches come in different sizes and colours. some may have scars or wormholes. translation: peaches come through this way. the camera inside will send information to the terminal and the terminal will send a set of statistics

chip micro computer the single chip microcomputer then controls these five cylinders and pushes the peaches into the right baskets, using the mathematical calculations. the machine has great potential. if we continue to work on it, it may become a movable robot. i don't think that day is far when we have robots like this. james is back to look through the papers. we promised we would dig deeper into the story about yahoo. what is going on? the parent of yahoo which is now verizon, has had to admit that rather than a million accounts which had been hacked and they had already disclosed that, it is probably 3 million. the company is very clear that a lot of these accounts had never been used and that is one of

the features, people open internet accou nts the features, people open internet accounts and they often put them on the shelf and ignore them. there is now an expectation that real financial loss has come out of this in terms of credit card or confidential information disclosures. so verizon are not thinking this is a disaster that we took over yahoo and we are regretting this? this story meant they got yahoo cheaper? whether or not they can make a real success of yahooin not they can make a real success of yahoo in the context of competing with alphabet which is the owner of google, it is still an unknown. they did get a $350 million discount on the price because of the two major hacks which yahoo has experienced. in a sense they have had a discount on the price. let's have a look at the tweets now. we asked you if you have ever been hacked ? tweets now. we asked you if you have ever been hacked? leonard said an account hacked which led to facebook

being hacked since deleted yahoo accounts. chris langridge said his accounts. chris langridge said his account was hacked a few years ago. he believes every time he reset the password the account was hacked again. a lot of people saying they have experienced it. james, have you been hacked? i have had regular attem pts been hacked? i have had regular attempts but luckily, they don't get three. this is obviously tempting fate! you have got to be really on the ball? you do. how often do you change passwords? not as often as i should, i am a little slack. we have a company which forces you to change passwords. it is irritating because you end up with multiple different passwords. i know! it is worth it. that's it from business live today. we'll see you again tomorrow. bye— bye. good morning. we will have some wet

and windy weather over the next 2a hours. this morning it is pretty windy across the far north of scotland. those wins will ease down. you can see the weather front which is gradually moving southwards, bringing some wet weather this morning will stop that rain spread southwards into northern ireland, into the north—west of england and into the north—west of england and into the north of wealth as well. some sunshine first thing this morning across southern areas. it has been quite chilly start. there will be more cloud developing into the afternoon. spells really rather than nice sunny spells. still, in some shelter, in the sunshine, temperatures 1a to 16 degrees. some rain moving into north wales, north—west england and heavy rain into northern ireland and the west of scotla nd into northern ireland and the west of scotland this afternoon. it will stay dry and bright across the north—eastern quadrant of scotland

into the afternoon. through tonight we will see a developing area of low pressure moving its way from west to east. that will bring gales across central areas and heavy rain as the low pressure system moves away. for thursday morning, pretty wet weather across southern thursday morning, pretty wet weather across southern areas. some thursday morning, pretty wet weather across southern areas. some strong winds as well. as that clears away by late morning into the afternoon, lots of sunshine across the uk. one or two showers in western areas. still fairly the breeze it might feel quite cool. in the sunshine and shelter, temperatures 16 or 17 celsius. friday morning will be a chilly start. temperatures in towns and cities into single figures. in the countryside there could be a grass frost to start off the morning. friday will be a bright start stop after a chilly one, temperatures up to 1a to 16. more rain starting to move its way in here. that is associated with the

next weather system which will move infor next weather system which will move in for the weekend. through into saturday, this weather system moving through. bringing outbreaks of rain spreading southwards and eastwards. the rain will be quite patchy toward southern and eastern areas. more persistent and heavy at times across scotla nd persistent and heavy at times across scotland and northern ireland. a little bit breezy as well with highs around about the average for october. bye—bye. hello, it's wednesday, it's 9 o'clock, i'm victoria derbyshire, and chloe tilley, welcome to the programme. spain's northern region of catalonia — which includes barcelona — could declare independence from the rest of the country in a matter of days, according to its leader. translation: no society should accept the status quo it does not want, against its will, through force and beatings. we'll have the details and also get reaction from the capital madrid. everybody stay down, stay down! police in las vegas release a video of the immediate aftermath

puncheon of sunday's shooting and confirm that gunman stephen paddock placed before beginning his deadly attack. and helped as many people as i could over the rails, i was piling them on the stage and within seconds the