this is your business briefing. i'm sally bundock. prepare for chaos — a two day strike is set to cripple flights and rail services in france. president macron says he's not backing down from his economic reforms. work now, family later. we look at how one company in india is helping female workers strike that balance. and as the markets begin a brand—new trading week, you can see the picture is fairly negative at the moment. we will explain why. workers in france are staging a number of strikes which could affect thousands of travellers around the country. the walkouts are part of a wider series of industrial action as president emmanuel macron

attempts to carry out an ambitious programme of economic reforms. pilots, cabin crew and ground staff at air france have planned strikes on monday and tuesday. previous walkouts have forced the airline to cancel 30% of flights. meanwhile, workers at france's national train operator are also planning industrial action. 4.5 million passengers use the network every day and unions are opposed to reforms which will see an end to sncf‘s monopoly over passenger rail travel. the planned strikes will provide a real test of emmanuel macron‘s presidency. during his election campaign, he pledged to modernise the french economy and cut 120,000 public sectorjobs. we have with us gilles moec, chief european economist at bank of america merrill lynch. nice to see you again. we were talking about this just before going on airand you talking about this just before going on air and you are saying it is spring, there is always strike

action some sort that this year, it is different because of macron‘s massive economic reform plans and the added effect that that has. yeah, it is a more interesting test than usual because this is happening against the backdrop of economic reforms in france, probably the most comprehensive package of reforms we have had in a long, long time, actually. this is about reform of the railway system, the status of employees, opening up the competition, france's more traditional conflict over pay, and for the time being you do not have this kind of convergence of industry reaction that we saw, for instance, in previous big moments of social rebellions in france against reforms, as was the case in 95, also about ten years ago. for the time being, it is a test but things have

not got to the boiling point, to the kind of boiling point is that we have seen several times in france. geared to see that in the coming months, that we would get to that similar sort of warning point or not? —— do you foresee that. how is emmanuel macron trying to manage his electoral promises? i do not think it is going to get to the situation that we had in 95, first of all, we have already had a series of tests. the labour reform system has been reformed quite thoroughly last year and that did not trigger much of a protest, the budget for this he was actually quite ambitious, a lot of changes were done, a drop in the corporate tax, for instance, which was a big moment as well, and it seems so was a big moment as well, and it seems so far that public opinion in france is gradually accepting what is going on. there may be questions about the speed, about the details, but it does not seem to be creating a kind of united front. the labour

movement seems to be quite divided actually on this issue as well, which is an important point. to talk as to what will happen next and talk as to what will happen next and talk as though the impact on the french economy because we have talk for many, economy because we have talk for any economy because we have talk for many, many months and years of the stubbornly high employment rate, it was francois hollande's thomas to bring that down, part of the reason why said not run again. where are we without? it has improved, it is now 996. without? it has improved, it is now 9%. now it sounds very high but french standards, is actually quite a number. growth has come back to the best performance in six year. the very important economic point to just about to make, just elaborate on that. the most important economic reform has already been made, it is going to give companies the ability to fine tune working conditions depending on where we are in the cycle, the instance. it is not something that is going to be tested

immediately because now it takes negotiation at each level, branch level as well, to understand the details of these agreements. it is something we are going to see in the next two to three years, but fortu nately next two to three years, but fortunately the cycle is actually fairly strong, the fiscal situation is improving, so they have a bit of time to work through these social difficulties and while we work for the —— wait for the impact of those labour market reforms to actually trickle down into the economy. thank you forjoining us. we'll keep you updated on how things are going in france over the next couple of days. remember the trans—pacific partnership — the massive free trade agreement that was supposed to bring together nearly half the world's economies, including the largest, the united states? that was until president trump backed away from that. well, one of the original members of the tpp was new zealand. its new prime minister, jacinda ardern, in an exclusive interview with lucy hockings, spoke out

about the us potentially rejoining. if the united states wish to rejoin, that would trigger another process. so, look, it is not a matter of them putting their hands up and saying we are back, it would be quite a process for entry. there are a number of countries that are interested , number of countries that are interested, what i am keen to see is to get the tpp as it stands under way, and for all those countries that are interested to join, we undertake a process with all of them. jacinda ardern, the prime minister of new zealand. there is a lot more on that interview on our website and there will be more on bbc news in the hours ahead. striking a balance between life and work is a challenge for many around the world, especially women who would one day like to have children. a few years ago, when facebook and apple announced they would cover egg freezing for their employees, critics attacked the policies,

saying they were encouraging women to delay motherhood until it's convenient for the company. but that hasn't deterred one indian company, which is introducing the same benefits. from mumbai, suranjana tewari reports. this hotel is one of mumbai's most iconic landmarks, now the company that runs it has introduced a landmark benefit its staff. as city area of the tata group, the hotel chain plans to pay its female employees to undergo fertility treatments, part of a policy aimed at promoting women in the company. it could be a late marriage for women or they would refer to delay the conception part of it. ivf treatment supports them to focus on their jobs, treatment supports them to focus on

theirjobs, stay focused on their jobs, build their careers and whenever they want to, they can go for natural conception or even ibf. at this clinic in a hospital in mumbai, one round of ivf costs roughly $4000 but in other centres, that figure can go up to $6,000. state schemes and medical insurance almost never covered the fertility treatment. the cost can be a heavy burden but for women like this, it was the emotional pulsatility treatment that was the most overwhelming. when you hear that the treatment has failed, it is very disturbing physically, emotionally, financially, from all sides. it is very difficult to face that situation. she got pregnant with twins on herfirst situation. she got pregnant with twins on her first round of ivf but that was after several years of trying naturally and after many rounds of other fertility treatments

they will. if my employer was providing for the cost of my treatments, we would have definitely considered my timing is also, so that all of the kids would be very different and easy for me. women working in india are often torn between societal pressure to have children and pursuing their careers, but doctors whom i agree that infertility is on the rise. they say people are choosing to have children later in life at obesity, smoking, alcohol and stress at work or play a role too. she says that by paying for ivf, egg and sperm freezing and artificial insemination, their female employees need not worry about starting a family later in life. —— the company. allowing them to have the best of life both at work and at home. what do you think about that story? to get in touch, i would love to have your views on that as well. now let's brief you on some

other business stories. uk prime minister theresa may is facing a week of fresh parliamentary battles over brexit, as clashes centred on staying in a customs union with the eu. on wednesday, it suffered defeat on the eu withdrawal bill in the house of lords, when peers voted in favour of staying in the customs union. so as a result of that, mps will get a chance to debate the proposal on thursday. the uk consumer campaigner martin lewis is suing facebook for defamation. the moneysavingexpert founder says at least 50 fake ads bearing his name have appeared on the social media platform, causing reputational damage to him. facebook says misleading ads are not allowed and any reported are removed. a quick look at the markets. it is fairly muted trade at the start of the new week but it edged slightly lower after following wall street on friday. the yen versus the dollar

has helped tokyo to a degree. people keeping an eye on trade discussions and geopolitical tensions. that's your business briefing. a woman from blackburn has been named as one of the four british people killed in a coach crash in saudi arabia. 70—year—old raj begum hussain died, alongside three others also from lancashire, while on an islamic pilgrimage from mecca. 12 others were injured. phillip norton reports. community in mourning forfamily members and friends who in the middle of the two week mecca tour. a

tour that ended in tragedy. they booked this trip in blackburn, but coach collided with another vehicle and exploded into flames. four were killed, 12 injured. is the first time something like this has happened, it is very upsetting, especially the people who have passed away. if you see the remains of the bus, isjust passed away. if you see the remains of the bus, is just a passed away. if you see the remains of the bus, isjust a metalframe is left. nothing else is left of it. six people remain in hospital in saudi arabia. 0ne six people remain in hospital in saudi arabia. one of the injured is said to be young girljust five or six years old. the injuries is said to include severe head, leg and facial injuries. 0ne to include severe head, leg and facial injuries. one of the victims was named by herfamily as 70—year—old raj begum hussain. she travelled with her sister. her family were too upset to talk to me on camera but they said she was a loving mother of six and a grandmother 13. she will be sorely missed by all family and friends.

three days of mourning is now taking place in the towns where victims lived. raj begum hussain's family has thanked well—wishers for their support. coming up at six o'clock on breakfast: charlie stayt and naga munchetty will have all the day's news, business and sport. they'll also be live to westminster to talk to health secretaryjeremy hunt about new plans to help children in england living with alcohol dependant parents. this is the briefing on bbc news. the headlines: a manhunt is underway in tennessee, after a shooting at a restaurant in nashville left four dead. police say the suspect, travis reinking, may still have access to guns. as he prepares to head to the us, president macron of france has called on donald trump not to scrap the iran nuclear deal. now it is time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in media

across the world. we begin with the french paper le figaro. it's covering president macron's three day state visit to the us. macron, the paper says, is hoping to sway donald trump on several issues, including the iran nuclear deal. the times is reporting on how british prime minister theresa may is facing calls from brexit—supporting ministers to abadnon her plans for a customs deal with the eu. the front page of the financial times looks at some of the contentious parts of the upcoming eu budget, including shifting billions of euros in funding from central and eastern europe towards southern states, like spain and greece. the guardian online pages includes a report on former new york city mayor michael bloomberg, who has said he will write a $4.5 million cheque to cover this year's us commitment to the paris climate agreement. the daily telegraph leads

with the call from british doctors, urging ministers to do more to tackle child obesity, including banning fast food outlets from opening within 400 meters of every school. and finally, the independent front page has a picture of mo farah, who broke the british record when he came third in yesterday's marathon. it was the hottest ever in terms of temperatures. so let's begin. with me is liam booth—smith, chief executive of independent think tank, localis.