who have committed to recycling 0.5 billion coffee cups 3 year by 2020 in a landmark act to tackle plastic waste. and finally, in the new york times, fast—growing eastern european economies are struggling to solve severe labour shortages and having to turn to robots instead. some companies are finding offering higher wages and subsidised housing still doesn't help, so they are now trying to replace people with machines wherever possible. so let's begin. with me is fiona cincotta, who's a senior market analyst at city index. the back. starting here with this story about the world trade system and risk of being torn apart according to the imf. a few moments ago, we talked about this ongoing tit—for—tat between the us and china. we do not want to call it a war, do we? tell us what is happening here. the imf is saying

this is coming at a time that the global economic system is expanding and growing at a rate that has developed the system of trade between countries, increased protectionism and increased flooding with trade was not actually going into trade wars is going to actually pull this apartment is in danger of breaking up this growth which has been divided since the financial crisis. they are calling it a phoney war, do you think that is what is going on here, donald trump grandstanding, wanting to be seen to be taking tough action but not really wanting to follow through on its? it could be so as well, that it is in order to get what he wants. was he ever really thinking about taking that action on trade? perhaps not, what may be to get what he wa nts not, what may be to get what he wants from china in trade relations. as long as the protectionism does

not go in and we do not move towards trade wars, the global outlook is still looking very strong and very robust. they also talk about the uk here, predicting that growth by 2023 here, predicting that growth by 2023 here in the uk could actually outstripped that of the eurozone, given that we get a decent deal with brexit. yes, there are so many uncertainties still would exit that it is so difficult to predict, everything does depend on will we get a good deal, will we not? and so thatis get a good deal, will we not? and so that is the big thing here. 0k, let's move on to the financial times, talking about sterling here. bets on a rate rise next month, tell us more bets on a rate rise next month, tell us more about this on. so basically, the pound has been trading at the strongest level versus the dollar since the brexit referendum, when it actually plunged quite sharply. so the idea here is that investors and traders are actually believing that the bank of england is going to hike interest rates next month, which is boosting the pound. yesterday, we

had date on which said showed that wage growth was actually higher than inflation in february. —— showed. again, it is pointing to a stronger economy and a stronger consumer as well and obviously, stronger consumer is something that is going to make the bank of england feel more comfortable about raising rates. though the pound is strong against the dollar but really weak against the dollar but really weak against the dollar but really weak against the euro? it has, it has value increased against the euro but not to the same level. i mean, we're only talking about sort of and ii month high versus the euro, where as against the dollar is much stronger. talking in more detail is all about an expected rate rise here in the uk next month, and this is despite the outlook for the uk in the short term actually looking quite subdued. that's right we must remember that inflation is still well above the bank of england's 2% target rate, inflation reading reaction going to get a little bit later this morning. analysts a re get a little bit later this morning. analysts are thinking that it is

going to be around 2.7%, which is still a long way off target. let's have a look at mashable here, this is the starbucks story that we are covering. what is your analysis on how they are handling this? part of yourjobis how they are handling this? part of yourjob is to look at how companies deal with crises of this nature. do you think that closing all 8000 of the us stores for an afternoon is really a solution to this issue?m is going to be the cost to them in this day and age, it is really unacceptable and given the ambience of coffee chain is meant to provide to its clients, this is not what starbucks want to be seen to be providing. so they need to take action, there are allegations that this has been happening in other branches as well, this is not limited incidents so yeah, something needs to happen is. we have been asking our viewers for a view on

this, whether it is an overreaction or too little too late. 0ne this, whether it is an overreaction or too little too late. one said that this was pr spin by starbucks, another said that this was not a starbucks issue, it is an american issue, racial training starbucks issue, it is an american issue, racialtraining is starbucks issue, it is an american issue, racial training is needed because that country teaches people to be racist and xenophobic. we've also had this in saying that, hang on, just finding it here, get a grip, the same thing happened to white person, it would never make the news. keep your thoughts coming m, the news. keep your thoughts coming in, ijust want to ask the news. keep your thoughts coming in, i just want to ask that issue because we've had quite a mixed reaction saying that this is pr spin, people kind of see through this now and actually it is not going to change anything long—term because underlying all of this is real racial tensions within the country, but as a company, do you think they can hopefully do this initiative, park it and move on? why they going to be tainted by this long—term? they going to be tainted by this long-term? i think they do need to do something, they could not not do

anything. it is a huge amount of money that they are losing, they are investing a massive amount of money into this and the education is clearly needed, so that is the only way that they can see the move this forward and there is obviously a massive pr spin on this as well. but ido massive pr spin on this as well. but i do think they actually are seeing this as something that needs to get done. all right, let's have a look about the next story in the independent, talking about improving the environment. costa coffee, another coffee company, talking about recycling half a billion disposable coffee cups the year by 2020. that is not long way in, is it? how are they going to do it? 2020. that is not long way in, is it? how are they going to do mm is the bit inside coffee cups that is the bit inside coffee cups that is waterproof that actually makes them not recyclable, costa coffee had decided to set really ambitious targets to sort of address this

issue and it is something that we as consumers we really expect to do today, recycling is a massive part of our society, we all drink a massive amount of coffee. they need to invest money into this and that is what they are planning to do. this article is saying to allow coffee companies to do more, well, why aren't they? is itjust coffee companies to do more, well, why aren't they? is it just that it is too expensive? yes, cost has been a factor. i think that social presses at massively increasing and companies do see this as something that they need to move forward with. —— social pressures. i do hope so, i think it is something that other companies need to do and also, companies need to do and also, companies are going to take a slight heat from that we need to protect the environment. let's talk about the environment. let's talk about the new york times, talk about the world we live in. this is an interesting story, but the czech republic having to use robots because they do not have the people there to do the jobs they need, tell

us there to do the jobs they need, tell us about this. the czech republic has become a hub for low—cost manufacturing. there is a huge amount of business that is being sent there and unemployment levels there are extremely low at 2.4%, and they just cannot there are extremely low at 2.4%, and theyjust cannot get the there are extremely low at 2.4%, and they just cannot get the staff to fill the orders. they having to turn orders away because there are not the staff to fill those orders, so the staff to fill those orders, so the alternative that they are looking at is moving to robots in order to be able to complete these orders. is the really interesting twist on the sort of take over the robots issue because we often hear stories about how we fear losing jobs to robots could hear, actually, they having to bring robots in because they are losing the staff and really, it is impacting the economy, they have not had as big growth as they had hoped for because of this issue. yeah, this is going to move the economy forward, rather than those fears that it is going to put people out of work and they won't be able to spend their money. this is exactly the reverse of what we always feared, they are going to

be able to boost the economy because more people will be able to work. do you think the idea that more robots will take over our work because they are cheap and fast is more likely to happen in this? i think it depends on the country, it very much depends on the country, it very much depends on what sort of level the country is looking at, whether it is low—cost manufacturing or higher levels of technological expertise, but in this particular case, yes, it is definitely the way forward for them. a very interesting take on it. really good to have you with us, thank you so much for taking us through the new stories and the headlines. thank you. for me and the rest of the team, it is goodbye. we will see your little later. —— you a little. hello there. the temperature on tuesday was just

over 20 celsius in dorset but temperatures are going to rise higher than that over the next few days. this was the scene in cambridgeshire, where we enjoyed a good deal of sunshine and warmth as well but with more sunshine, and the winds becoming lighter and pushing away the rain, the temperatures will be rising even higher. and talking of rain, there was some of that on tuesday across some western parts of the uk. wales was quite cloudy, some rain from to time. it came from that band of cloud there. that has been weakening, and the rain petering out as the cloud has thinned. but this is the thicker area of cloud and that is heading its way some heavier rain in northern ireland early in the morning, spots of rain through the irish sea. it all clears up towards the north—west of scotland, allowing more and more sunshine to develop widely. the winds still southerly, not as strong. it will feel warmer and temperatures will be a shade higher. 18 in the central belt. 2a or even 25 now in the south—east of england. still that rain towards the north—west of scotland,

could come back into northern ireland, western scotland for a while overnight, then that tends to peter out. we're left with cloud through the irish sea, a little bit misty here as well. 0therwise further east, clearer skies, lows of 9 or 10 degrees. that band of cloud there is a very weak weather front. and scotland, that cloud should break up. still rather misty and cool around some of these western coasts, so not quite the sunny skies here. widely getting into the high teens in scotland and northern ireland. inland england and wales, low 20s. 26 possible in the south—east of england. that's probably the peak of the heat on thursday. the really high temperatures get pushed away into central europe. we start to get more of an influence from the atlantic. so instead of the southerly, we're picking up more of a west to south—westerly. still a warm day, though, on friday. and a lot of dry weather too. maybe some showers coming into the north—west of scotland but otherwise some good spells of sunshine around and those temperatures, just a little bit lower than they're likely to be on thursday but still pleasant in the sunshine. this time, it could be rather misty around the coasts in the english channel and around

some north sea coasts as well. high pressure building in across the uk. going to keep these weather fronts at bay for the time being. so the fine weather continues into saturday. again, some areas of misty low cloud in the morning perhaps. that should tend to break up more in the afternoon, allowing the sunshine to develop more widely. temperatures a little bit lower by this stage, mind you. the air‘s not quite as warm, but it's still going to be a warm one for the london marathon on sunday. hello — this is breakfast, with louise minchin and dan walker. a woman dies after being partially sucked from the window of a plane at 30,000 feet. it happened when an engine exploded on a us passenger jet flying to new york. we hear first hand of the horror experienced by those on board. good morning — it's wednesday 18th april.

also this morning: fresh questions for theresa may over the windrush scandal as the government defends the destruction of identification documents. "grit, grace, brains and beauty". tributes to the former us first lady, barbara bush, who has died at the age of 92.