this is business briefing. lam i am david lam david eades. from pundit to policymaker — trump picks cnbc‘s larry kudlow as his new economic adviser. but will the president tune in to his free market views, or switch off? plus, negative energy: britain talks tough over the poisoned spy. but with russia pumping 11 million barrels of oil a day — and more than a third of europe's gas — do economics talk louder? and on the markets, stocks continue to fall on fears of a global trade war — as president trump talks about fresh tariffs on chinese goods. we start in the us, where president trump has picked his new top economic adviser — replacing gary cohn who resigned last week in a disagreement

over steel tariffs. larry kudlow will be a familiar face to many in the business world as a pundit on financial channel cnbc. but his appointment has been a surprise to many — given his passionate support of free trade and his criticism of mr trump's recent moves — asjoe miller in new york explains. in his trademark shirt and cufflinks, he has been a fixture on financial television for more than a decade, and a reliable cheerleader for american business. a consistent proponent of lower taxes and free markets, larry kudlow made his name as an investment banker, before working in the reagan administration. at one point, he strongly denounced donald trump's behaviour, and has criticised the white house for its attacks on free markets, including the latest tariffs. but in his usual perch on

cable television on wednesday, he appeared to row back on his previous position, and said he was broadly in agreement with donald trump's economic agenda. it was a performance that no doubt pleased the president, who wants worked alongside larry kudlow, and was reportedly won over by his television presentation skills. let's get more on that story — the appointment is being closely watched in asia. leisha santorelli is in singapore. he has that a few things to say already. i am wondering how he is being interpreted across asia at the moment. asian markets are not reacting that positively. but i have to say that donald trump really knows how to keep his name in the headlines. the reasons why we are seeing in so many areas is that there is concern over the revolving door politics in the white house.

yesterday, we sought to listen leave —— we saw rex tillerson leave. so there are concerns about the free—trade matters and the dramatic approach will be. he is a ready clash with donald trump over several things, including his tariffs on steel and aluminium. we have seen larry kudlow take jabs at china. he has basically said that china needs to be held to account for this huge trade imbalance. and the trouble administration is trying to see that imbalance narrowed by $100 billion approximately. 0ne imbalance narrowed by $100 billion approximately. one of the things we know about larry kudlow is that he likes a strong us dollar. 0n cnbc on wednesday, he said a great country needs a strong currency. this is in line with what previous administrations believed in. it means that they have more buying power for means that they have more buying powerfor asian goods. means that they have more buying power for asian goods. so that is positive on the asia side. but

again, the big worry comes down to possible new tariffs on china and whether this will leave us facing a global trade war, particularly if the drug administration brings a new restrictions or tariffs to do with intellectual property. —— trump. restrictions or tariffs to do with intellectual property. -- trump. and we don't how much impact that will have. thank you very much indeed. let's move to russia, now, because as you've been hearing, the row over the poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter in the uk has been deepening. russia has denied all involvement. but on wednesday uk prime minister theresa may announced the biggest expulsion of russian diplomats since the cold war — as well as the potential freezing of russian state assets. the power and importance of russia's energy industry though could mean further economic sanctions are limited. russia produced almost 11 million barrels of oil a day last year — making it the world's top producer. it's also the biggest exporter of natural gas to the eu,

supplying almost 40% of the region's gas. and it's hugely important for companies here like bp. almost a quarter of its profits in 2015 came from its stake in russian oil giant rosneft. that's despite the company being under western sanctions since russia's annexation of the crimea in 2014. let's get more on this story. 0tilia dhand is vice president of teneo intelligence. ijust wonder i just wonder whether ijust wonder whether — are mean theresa may has made simple steps there. but really, none of them are significant in terms of how you could really hit russia where it hurts. good morning, david. yes, of course. this is a whiz been a concern when it comes to sanctions on russia, that in fact what could hurt the russian economy is hitting oil and gas. this is exactly what europe is dependent on. —— this has

a lwa ys europe is dependent on. —— this has always been. we are seeing the reaction to potential sanctions already so far. even in the energy sector sanctions, these are based on new and commercial projects, not conventional production. you are sitting in brussels. next week, all the eu leaders will be meeting there. is it remotely conceivable that they would coalesce around any thought of having a little jab at areas involving oil or gas? is very limited, the appetite for additional economics actions against russia, particularly in energy. in this case, this incident will probably postpone any prospect of easing pressures on russia. but i would not see the prospect of additional measures being imposed. we are expecting the russian ambassador to the uk to lead us towards recovered

three measures. the prime minister has said there is another raft to go on diplomatic measures if the russians go further. —— retaliatory measures. presumably, that will ratchet up the sense that if it is not well or gas, are there other areas in which one could have a go at the russian economy. what do you think? in the first place, russian sanctions tend to be reactive and reciprocal measures imposed on them. so we would not expect any big measures beyond whatever the response is needed from their point of view to the measures that were imposed on russia. 0bviously, of view to the measures that were imposed on russia. obviously, there area imposed on russia. obviously, there are a presidential elections on sunday, so there might be a more vocal response, and more noise around it, but we would not expect any significant deviations from the established policy trend. now, that said, obviously, there are areas where the russian economy can be hit

01’ where the russian economy can be hit or perhaps the close circle around vladimir putin can be hit. and that would be freezes or travel bans on the political and economic elite, and other sectors that are crucial to the russian economy, such as mining. they give very much -- thank you very much forjoining us, 0tilia dhand. now let's brief you some other business stories. consumer goods giant unilever could be set to abandon its uk headquarters in london in favour of rotterdam. according to sky news there will be a formal announcement later on thursday — but unilever has refused to comment. the anglo—dutch company has been reviewing its dual—headed structure since rejecting a takeover by kraft—heinz last year. toys r us has filed to wind down its us business and sell off or close all us stores after failing to find a buyer or reach a restructuring deal with creditors. up to 33,000 us workers could lose their jobs following the bankruptcy of the giant toy store chain — one of the largest ever in the retail business.

all uk stores will close in the next six weeks. singapore is the most expensive place for expats to live in the world for the fifth year in a row — according to the annual cost of living index from the economist intelligence unit. paris and zurich take joint second place followed by hong kong. and now, what's trending in the business news this morning. from the financial times, google, facebook, and apple face ‘digital tax‘ on eu turnover. a levy proposed by brussels will tackle tax avoidance by taxing revenues rather than profits, raising some 5 billion euros a year. as for wired, theranos and silicon valley's "fake it til you make it" culture, referring to the much—hyped blood testing startup which has been charged with an "elaborate

years—long fraud". its young ceo elizabeth holmes has been forced to give up control of the firm and ordered to pay $500,000 for misleading investors. and quartz picks up on the global cost of living index — saying london has slumped to 30th most expensive city for expats — its lowest in more than two decades — thanks to the post—brexit fall in the pound. 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 we fall we go, let's look at the markets. —— lots of uncertainty with the musical chairs that donald trump has been playing. —— but before. a clean air fund financed by the motor industry is among

a raft of measures being proposed to cut pollution in an unprecedented report. four committees of mps say ‘poisonous air' is causing 40,000 deaths a year and are urging the government to tackle what they call a national health emergency. they are also demanding a faster phase—out of petrol and diesel cars — currently set for 2040. roger harrabin reports. the air in many of britain's cities is officially underfed to breeze. and the mps are angry that despite a series of court cases, the government has not cleaned it up. the young are particularly at risk, and the mps' report has received support from unicef, which says that britain's children deserve to breathe clean air. the government plans to end the sales of diesel and

petrol only vehicles by 2040, but the mps say it is inadequate. india will do it ten years earlier. they see the government should work with local councils to stop pollution related deaths. this really needs to be stamped out. we need to improve it. that is why the whole report talked about bringing government, local authorities, together, not just here in london, but across the country. the government says it is looking beyond cars to smokers, others, and wood stoves to meet the target later in the year. experts are warning that at least 300,000 extra university places in england will be needed by 2030 to keep up with demand for degrees. the higher education policy institute says the places will be needed because of a boom in the number of young people and an increase in the number of students going into higher education. it says that this demand will put pressure on the public purse. coming up at 6am on breakfast, charlie stayt and louise minchin will have all the day's news, and they'll be talking to foreign secretary,

borisjohnson, about the expulsion of 23 russian diplomats after last week's nerve agent attack in salisbury. you are watching the briefing on bbc news. i am you are watching the briefing on bbc news. iam david eades. these are the latest headlines. the us has condemned last week's nerve agent attack in the uk as "a russian crime". moscow has again denied involvement. britain has expelled 23 russian diplomats, about a third of those based in the uk. researchers in the us say they have found particles of plastic in some of the most popular brands of bottled water. an average of ten plastic particles per litre were discovered, each larger than the width of a human hair. now it is time look at the stories that are making the headlines in media across the world. we begin with the independent and prime minister theresa may who has ordered 23 russian embassy officials to leave britain in the biggest number of diplomatic expulsions since the cold war.

meanwhile deutsche welle focusses on upcoming russian elections asking whether voters have little choice but to remain with current president vladimir putin. the times world section says democrat conor lamb's apparent victory in a congressional district where president trump stormed to victory in 2016 is an ominous sign facing republicans in november's us midterm elections. the telegraph business section reports former wall street economist larry kudlow is us president donald trump's new top economic adviser. he replaces gary cohn, the former goldman sachs executive, and finally in the guardian, if your finnish you could be forgiven for feeling on top of the world as the country is crowned the happiest place to live on earth. the top four places are were all taken by scandinavian nations, with finland followed by norway, denmark and iceland. so let's begin.

with me is iain anderson who's founder of the international communications agency, cicero group. good to see you again. we have to start with the big story of the moment. the independent focusing on some of the remark, one thatjumped out for me was this unprecedentedly crude revocation that is being described at, in terms of the way theresa may is responding as well. theresa may is responding as well. the rhetoric is ramping up on this story, david. i believe there were about 60 russian diplomats in london,