duncan kennedy has more. this is business briefing. the us government has filed a lawsuit to try to stop the multi—billion dollar takeover by the american telecoms giant at&t of the media group, time warner. expectations are high for easyjet‘s full year results. has the low cost carrier benefited from its competitors misfortunes in what has been a tumultuous year for the industry. and on the markets — hang seng up nearly 1.25% — following big push across asia and that in response to the us. nikkei up as well — carmakers toyota and subaru. dowjones up a third of a percent. the us department ofjustice will sue to block a proposed 85 billion dollar takeover

of time warner by at&t. time warner is the parent company of the cable news network cnn, which has been the target of continual criticism by president donald trump. regulatory concerns around the deal have ramped up in recent months and now the usjustice department is filing a lawsuit to block the merger, saying it violates rules governing fair competition. samira hussain reports from new york. this is a deal that has always made sense for the two companies. at&t is one of america's leaving more —— telecom operators. owning the news and entertainment properties of time warner would give it a big competitive advantage. based on president, like com cast‘s takeover of nbc which went through in 2010, this at&t merge and looked like it

would be accepted by regulators. as $0011 would be accepted by regulators. as 50011 as would be accepted by regulators. as soon as it was announced in 2016, then presidential candidate donald trump made it clear that he did not like it. mrtrump trump made it clear that he did not like it. mr trump has also been quite clear about his deep dislike so quite clear about his deep dislike so the news coverage of cnn, which is owned by time warner. responding to the news that mr trump'sjustice department is going to try to block the deal, at&t‘s boss did not hold back from the politics of the situation. i do want to address the elephant in the room here. there has been a load of reporting and speculation whether this is all about cnn. and, frankly, i do not know. but nobody should be surprised if the question keeps coming up. because we have witnessed such an abrupt change in the application of an anti—trust law here that the bottomline is that we cannot and will not be party to any agreement that would even be of the perception

of compromising the first amendment protection‘s of the press. so any agreement that results enough for orbiting —— forfeiting control of cnn, be that directly or indirectly, isa cnn, be that directly or indirectly, is a nonstarter. the d0] denies any suggestion that the deal is being blocked because of the president's animosity towards cnn. they say the at&t and time warner would simply have too much media power. the company is clearly determined to challenge that view. easyjet is reporting full year earnings later. expectations are that the airline will report an uptick in numbers the company is looking to expand — having put in offers to buy parts of the now defunct airberlin and alitalia airlines. it's been aided by the collapse of rival monarch earlier in the year, especially on some key routes and of course its main rival ryanair is dealing with the fallout of a disastrous scheduling malfunction that led to the cancellation of around 20,000 flights — and shaved millions from its bottom line.

this will be the last time chief executive carolyn mccall reports earnings for the airline. she finishes the job on december first before taking up a new role as ceo of itv television here in london. with me is oliver clark, senior reporter at flightglobal. thank you very much forjoining us. what do you think? i think they will post a nice healthy profit. they expect something within the region of around $400 million. and what would you put most of that profit down to? is it benefiting from the misfortunes of others? is it their own work? where is the breakdown? there is a negative impact on in currency fluctuation. they expect a higher benefit from lower fuel cost. fuel cost is one thing. honestly, monarch is gone and they had been on

some good routes. we have seen the ryanair debacle. they some good routes. we have seen the rya nair debacle. they have some good routes. we have seen the ryanair debacle. they have done well on their own profits getting through that, but none the less aid yoghurt mess for ryanair and that plays neatly doesn't it? it really helps easy to. they said in their expectations for today's profit that they are struggling with an impact of yield due to overcapacity in the market. losing one of their competitors in the uk market and sets them. the problem is the ryanair could easily lead sets them. the problem is the rya nair could easily lead to passengers choosing to fly to easyj et. passengers choosing to fly to easyjet. but it is not as simple as saying ryanair easyjet. but it is not as simple as saying rya nair is easyjet. but it is not as simple as saying ryanair is on a downward spiral at all. that is not the case. nonetheless, what is it at the thing to do is be on an upward trend. is hoping to grow and die out now, whether that be alitalia or air berlin. that sends out a clear message. the viewing the industry is

that consolidation will continue in europe in the market. easyjet is well—placed to take part in that process because they are a big player. they have already put in a bid for alitalia and that will give them more italian coverage. air berlin, they are taking part of its operation. they are in a good position. and consolidation is a lovely word. it sounds warm and friendly but it does lead to far fewer airlines out there. how far will they go, do you think? people such as ryanair‘s chief executive, they talk about that you will probably see three or four big groups in europe. love times are, ryanair, easyjet groups in europe. love times are, rya nair, easyjet and groups in europe. love times are, ryanair, easyjet and maybe a couple of others to beat you could easily expect more airlines to disappear over the coming months and years. expect more airlines to disappear over the coming months and yearsli think over the coming months and years.” think those figures will be out seven o'clock out i'm so not much

longer to wait. officials from china and pakistan are meeting today to discuss closer economic ties. let's go to our asia business hub where rico hizon is following this story. big business and trade. two countries who have been analysed since 1951. pakistan was one of the first nations to recognise china and it goes to show the close relationship between the two countries. trade amounts to almost $13 billion a year and most of it is chinese exports to pakistan. pakistan has always —— also been roped into the one. one road initiative which sees the mainland investing up to $55 billion over the next five years. at hull china's aid towards a hydroelectric dam has been rejected. is the relationship facing challenges? we spoke earlier with an honest it is

said the issue is a little more com placated. the situation was a lot more nuanced than that. number one, if you look at the nature of the project, the solar projects are always controversial. there are issues with the impact on local population and local environments. these have been reason enough to derail these project. more importantly, this project is specifically occurring on a piece of disputed territory between pakistan and india. and despite some issues, the china pakistan economic corridor will be meeting today to finalise long—term plans for economic integration between the two countries. thank you very much rico. good to see you. now let's brief you on some other business stories. the last big procedural hurdle to the completion of keystone xl pipeline was cleared on monday — when five members of the nebraska public service commission voted three to two to approve an amended route through the state.

but opponents have promised to tie the project up in court for years and transcanada is still studying its commercial viability. colorado regulators on monday fined uber $8.9 million, saying the ride—services company allowed 57 people to drive for it although they lacked valid driver's licenses or had committed other offences that would have disqualified them. uber said it recently discovered an error in its background check process and was working to correct the issue. and now — what's trending in the business news this morning. the financial times has the story of how fed chairjanet yellen will quit not only her post but also the fed board after powell is sworn in. bloomberg: trump administration ends protected immigrant status for about 60,000 haitians living in us. after 2010 quake and, broadway is booming says the wall streetjournal.

halfway through the 2017—18 season, ticket sales for shows are up by 18% over the previous season. and don't forget — let's us know what you are spotting online — use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. that's it for business briefing this hour. but before we go — here are the markets. significant rises across asia. the dowjones is where it started from. a rosy outlook at the moment. police in dorset say that three people, who'd been arrested

in connection with the disappearance of the teenager gaia pope, have been released from their investigation and will face no further action. the 19 year—old's body was found on saturday afternoon near the town of swanage. a police spokesman said that after a postmortem examination they had concluded that no—one else was involved in her death. duncan kennedy has more. from the town that had helped search for gaia, today came a place to remember. in the briefest of words, the most heartfelt condolences. for the most heartfelt condolences. for the teenager they had hoped would return. gaia had been missing for 11 days and her body was found on saturday. her father sank the local community for their help and spoke of gaia's magnificent soul and overflowing spirit. the loss of her, in one way, is immeasurable. we will

treasure her and honour are always. and i say, gaia, you are not in pain any more, my darling. we love you. i love you. hundreds of people had surged the hills above swanage. police say there is nothing to suggest someone else was involved in her death. herfamily suggest someone else was involved in her death. her family have suggest someone else was involved in her death. herfamily have been left distressed over the time it took to discover her. three people were arrested and released during the enquiry. detective said today the three would face no further action. out of the father of one of those detained says the police when too far. dorset police said today their investigation may have caused distress to some individuals but they had an obligation to explore every possible line of enquiry. gaia's family say they now want to be left to grieve in private. this is the briefing from bbc news.

the latest headlines: angela merkel‘s political future hangs in the balance after the failure of coalition talks. there could be another election. the human rights group amnesty international has described the situation of rohingya muslims in myanmar‘s rakhine state as a form of apartheid. zimba bwe's governing party is expected to begin impeachment proceedings against president mugabe on tuesday. now it is time look at the stories that are making the headlines in media across the world. we begin with the washington post, a story we've been covering in business. the us department ofjustice suing at&t to try and block its $85 million bid for time warner. there are concerns the trump administration's criticisms of cnn could be playing a part. to the financial times. the fallout from germany's coalition talks collapsing yesterday.

how the financial markets responded to the news out of europe's biggest economy. next, for the independent online. the latest brexit news out of the uk. british prime minister theresa may agreeing to a £40 billion brexit divorce bill to try break the deadlock. french publication le figaro also looks at brexit with paris announced as the new home to the european banking authority once the divorce is finalised. online, for the business insider, a look at bitcoin — the virtual currency which the publication says was laughable two years ago but has now hit an all—time high. and finally we turn to associated press with an online article about pope francis, who has called on police to show "mercy" during traffic stops. and that's also our twitter discussion this morning. you can have your say on that. with me is geraint anderson

who is an author, former stockbroker and newspaper columnist. let's begin with an american city story of sorts. this is the washington post take on the justice department stepping in over this proposed merger between at&t —— at&t, which is a