this is business briefing. i'm sally bundock. bumper profits from the parent of google that saw its strongest sales in almost four years, higher pricing for online ads and the boost from president trump's tax reforms. and as the world goes high—tech, more of the silver generation are picking up a brand—new language — coding. and on the markets: you can see it is a day of gains so farfor you can see it is a day of gains so far for asia you can see it is a day of gains so farfor asia despite a you can see it is a day of gains so far for asia despite a flat finish on wall street. let's unpack what alphabet revealed in terms of how the company is doing. alphabet, the owner of google and youtube, had a good start to year.

net profit jumped 73%, compared to the same period last year, to $9.4 billion in the first three months of 2018. this was, in large part, due to higher advertising income from online ads. but here's a very interesting fact — the company's effective tax rate dropped from 20% in the first quarter of 2017 to 11% this quarter. this was due in part to a new accounting method for unrealised gains in alphabet‘s investments in start—ups such as uber and airbnb, as well as president trumps tax reforms. with me is ivan mazour, chief executive of ometria, which is a company that helps retailers better understand their customers to increase their sales. good to see you. you have been looking at all of this and taking into account the way google is changing how it reports its results. talk us through the changes and the impact. the interesting thing about the changes is the aspect of

strategy that they signify. there we re strategy that they signify. there were three changes that didn't affect the numbers but they affected the positioning of nest, which moved from the other section to the other revenue section. this is a company that rule owns. it was an acquisition by google, now alphabet, and it is a thermostat for smart homes, and as this move, they are likely to move into something like an overall google home ecosystem. that is a device that allows you to do that. they want their customers everywhere to have google home. they own a bit of arab mp, a bit of uber. that is playing a part in boosting alphabet‘s overall numbers. there is the question of how big this company is becoming an influence on our lives and what regulators make of that. i believe they have seven different product lines and

properties that have over a billion registered users, registered customers, for seven different aspects of the world have that any interactions between google and individual consumers. so a lot of the large technology companies that are still privately held, they will have even more influence. these changes are mainly regulatory changes, so there are no profits realised through uber. that is still a private company. in terms of google's reach, do you think the future looks like for google? there area future looks like for google? there are a lot of questions about to what extent it and facebook dominates the advertising market and also the question of what it does without data. it seems, because the third change in the report signals they are even going to have more influence in the day going forward. the way that google handles the third—party advertising, and

actually, when you look into what they are doing to handle the new regulations, they have actually agreed that their approach for handling them is that they will become a data controller of all the data they collect across all of other sites. if you and i come to a website we think we're interacting only with the owner of that website, the bbc or something like that, but actually we will be signing up to the policy where we are directly disclosing and giving permission to google to do whatever they want with that data. quite a scary thought, really. it is actually highlighted because it is very similar to what these large companies have in doing for now. for the first time, it is ina for now. for the first time, it is in a privacy policy which we can read, but it doesn't take away from the power they alone and the ability to have these relationships, which is the dream of every other brand. thank you for your time. thank you

for unpacking and three's results. it throws up so many more questions which will be debated on this programme and others —— alphabet. the squeeze in some other business stories. the world's second largest maker of memory chips, sk hynix, has reported a 77%jump in profits, but the markets don't seem to be that happy with the stock. it would seem it is hard to impress markets. let's go to our asia business hub where rico hizon is following the story. what you have to do to get a stock uplift? i know! 77%? that what you have to do to get a stock uplift? i know! 7796? that would really impress us. at the share price insult trading is down by around 3%. despite its hugejump in first—quarter numbers, it was just short of the last quarter's record. strong demand help offset weakness in the smart phone space. it is the

second largest memory chip maker at behind samsung electronics, and the group expects continued growth in demand from global internet data centres, while growth should slow in mobile chips as the smart phone market continues to mature. they've are rising and devices add more firepower to process large amounts of streaming data, while some prices have fallen due to off—season lack of demand. they say its shipment had fallen from the previous quarter of two to weak mobile demand and fewer production, even those are demand remained robust. if you look at the industry data, it reveals worldwide smart phone chip runs shrank for the first on last year with high—end brands coming under increasing competition, especially from the likes of the low—cost chinese manufacturers. it looks like the

trend is going down in the coming quarters. thank you so much. thank you for the update. isn't there an old saying about old dogs and new tricks? well, in singapore, senior citizens are putting that myth to rest by learning how to code computer programs. the training courses are designed to modernise skills and keep older brains sharp, all with a bit of fun thrown in. take a look at this. i never learnt this sort of thing when i was younger, so i find it interesting. i want to learn and experience new challenges. somehow make new friends and learn some knowledge. teaching seniors is not very

different from teaching any other age group. when you are able to get them interested in engaged, they will find it interesting. i think it isjust i think it is just wonderful seeing how their eyes sparkle when they are able to understand what is going on and they see that they are making progress and they are accomplishing something. if they do find something that they can be good enough and be able to train other people or even create apps as a new career, sure, why not. they are fearful of technology because they are not aware of how technology can help in

their daily lives. and when you have one skill set, you are a tool in the toolbox, and then you can use it for other purpose. the learning is really a journey, not only challenging themselves, but at the same time keep them very occupied. you mustn't via technology. if you fear technology, you were not move forward. interesting. let's take a look at some other business stories. the world's biggest oil exporter, saudi aramco, says it plans to trade as much as 6 million barrels of oil a day. thatjump in volume would put it among the top buyers and sellers of the black stuff. if it reaches its target, it would rival the world's biggest bigestt trader, vitol group, which trades around 7 million barrels a day.

european regulators will launch an in—depth investigation of apple's planned $400 million purchase of shazam, the music recognition app developed in the uk. the european commission said an initial probe found apple may encourage shazam users to switch to its own music streaming service following a takeover. apple music has about half as many paid subscribers as spotify, the world's biggest streaming platform. a quick assessment of the financial markets. i am told... no. a quick assessment of the financial markets. iam told... no. we a quick assessment of the financial markets. i am told... no. we have got the numbers for you. i think i have changed their mind. you can be things are higher across the board in asia will partly because we have a stronger dollar. most currencies are at down. we have growth numbers out of the us later this week, uk growth figures, lots going on. the dollar getting stronger in anticipation of higher rates in the

us. i will see you in a moment. the life and legacy of the murdered black teenager stephen lawrence will be commemorated every year on the 22nd of april, the anniversary of his death. the prime minister said the day will be known as stephen lawrence day. there are more details. few crimes in recent times have had such a profound or a long—lasting impact. 25 years after the murder of a young black man, prince harry and meghan markle came to remember the life of stephen lawrence. the lesson of the stephen lawrence case,

as relevant today as it was in 1993, was set out by stephen's mother, doreen. justice should work for everyone, no matter what the colour of yourskin, no matter what your ethnicity, no matter what your background. as you know, stephen was attacked and killed because he was black. the lawrence family's fight forjustice was praised in a message from the prince of wales, read to the congregation by prince harry. i remember, too, just how deeply moved i was by the determination of stephen's family, to build something positive from a tragedy they endured applause. stephen's life and the hope it has inspired will henceforth be remembered every year on the anniversary of his death. the prime minister announced that the 22nd of april would become stephen lawrence day.

for a family which has endured so much, from stephen's murder, the flawed early stages of the police enquiry and the escape from justice of some of his killers, the news that there will be an annual commemoration of his life was welcomed. nicholas witchell, bbc news. this is the briefing from bbc news. the headlines: a van has ploughed into pedestrians at high speed in toronto, killing 10 and injuring 15 more. officials say the incident was deliberate, but there are no wider national security implications. french president emmanuel macron is set to start wide—ranging talks with us president trump on his first state visit to the us. 0n the agenda are trade, syria and the iran nuclear deal.

there've been widespread celebrations in armenia after people power forced the country's unpopular prime minister to resign. the opposition leader says he'll start talks on the transfer of power tomorrow. now it's time look at the stories that are making the headlines in media across the world. we begin with canada's globe and mail, and toronto where a van driver has killed at least 10 pedestrians in what police say appears to have been a deliberate attack. officers are questioning the driver, who's 25 years old and has been identified as alex minassian. the guardian leads with a pledge from the uk home secretary amber rudd that britain's windrush generation will be granted british citizenship. she added caribbean migrants would acquire the status

they deserve at low cost and with proactive assistance through the process. meanwhile, an investigation by the independent has revealed black students seeking a place at university are 21 times more likely to have their applications investigated for suspected false or missing information than their white counterparts. the telegraph business section says the world risks a full—blown oil shock within months as various geo—strategic crises come to the boil and saudi arabia hints crude oil prices could $100 a barrel. and, finally, on the front of the the times, like many uk