this is your business briefing. i'm sally bundock. will the little blue bird sing? we will look at twitter‘s results coming in today. and a long drawn out and bitter takeover battle in the pharmaceutical industry could be nearing its conclusion. we'll be live in singapore for the latest. we have got all those stories coming up, including hopefully look at financial markets. i had to say they will be lower today, following the lead from wall street. so, it's a big day for tech earnings. we will hear from facebook and ebay.

both are reporting their figures. but first out will be twitter. the big question is — can the little birdie do it again? investors are hoping it can keep itself in the black. demand for the stock has been rising since february, that's when twitter announced its first ever quarterly profit in the firm's 12 year history. despite being a favourite medium for the likes of president trump, celebrities and politicians, twitter has been struggling to gain users. investors will be closely watching to see if its number of users — which currently stands at around 330 million — is going to go up. but getting more people on twitter will be a huge challenge for it boss, jack dorsey, who's had to cut back on spending in research and development and marketing in an effort to break even. with me is mike weston, managing director of agillic, a danish marketing automation company. nice to see you again. nice to see you. first of all, what do you

expect twitter to say in terms of money it is making and users? two things really. twitter‘s story has shifted over the last 12 months to one way that they talk about growth in overall numbers, to be focusing on making value from the users that they have got. it is all about how they have got. it is all about how the daily users gone up, that number has been growing for five quarters, we are looking for that to grow again. that is going to show some consistency, that should therefore be backed by a rise in advertising revenue, which would feed into profitability. that is really where they are trying to focus our attention. are you think investors and those who look at companies like twitter have got more comfortable with the fact that twitter will not grow to a degree with users, like organisations like facebook? there was a huge excitement when it came on the scene but then everybody felt

very lacklustre because it became very lacklustre because it became very clear that there was a small group of people that love it but it was not gaining traction. be at and 30 million, a small group, yes, but it isa 30 million, a small group, yes, but it is a viable audience. —— 330 million. there had been a worry year ago that that was declining,. as a business, it starts to look attractive and may be attractive as an acquisition. saturday when he did he now about —— hear more about how they are going to make money. there have been quite a few changes, we can say more on twitter, we are not restricted to 140 characters. in terms of the restriction of data, thatis terms of the restriction of data, that is a big light cloud hanging over lots of these companies, we do not know much about what twitter is doing about that. —— black.

not know much about what twitter is doing about that. -- black. yes, as doing about that. -- black. yes, as do all the big tech giants, twitter are looking at that question. because they hold less users than a facebook or google, for example, will probably feel that they can sail under the horizon a little bit for the time being. i do not know how much they will say about it, i think they will try and keep their powder dry until such time as eve ryo ne powder dry until such time as everyone else's shenanigans get exposed. just briefly, what has the trump effect been, if anything? well, it is interesting, it has made trusted news sources more valuable andi trusted news sources more valuable and i think twitter pays quite a valuable role in that in a way that facebook has moved from that, so that might be part of the key to how twitter re— engages its audience. 0k, thank you very much indeed for coming in. we shall of course tell you what twitter has to say when it releases its latest earnings, and of course, facebook and ebay as well. fifth time lucky? japanese drugs giant takeda has upped its bid

for shire pharmaceuticals to $64 billion, and this time the response was much more positive. let's go to our asia business hub, where rico hizon is following the story. could shire pharmacuticals finally be snapped up by takeda? maybe, just maybe persistence, the board of the irish pharmaceutical company will 110w irish pharmaceutical company will now recommend the $64 billion ta keover now recommend the $64 billion takeover bid by takeda to its shareholders, and if it is successful, this will mark the biggest ever overseas acquisition by a japanese company. takeda has biggest ever overseas acquisition by ajapanese company. takeda has made five offers the shire pharmacuticals which for all previously rejected for being too low, but with the new offer, concern is being expressed that the scale of the takeover by

takeda could that the scale of the takeover by ta keda could put that the scale of the takeover by takeda could put too much pressure on the compa ny‘s takeda could put too much pressure on the company's finances and some investors think they are paying too much. that sentiment plunging shares down over 9% in the trading session. but they have an attractive portfolio, they have treatments for rare diseases and for adhd, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the profitability is higher. it may look expensive in the short term but it will bring good benefits over the longer term, so the uk regular tory deadline for the talks has been set now for may eight, so hopefully on offer will be made and accepted by then. —— regulatory. now let's brief you some other business stories. didi chuxing may go public

as early as this year. the wall streetjournal says china's ride—hailing giant is in talks with investors about a share sale. it is hoping to raise around $80 billion, which would make it one of the biggest technology listings in history. it's big us rival, uber, is also considering an ipo, but that is unlikely to take place before 2019. the it fiasco at the british bank tsb is heading for a fifth day, with angry customers still locked out of their accounts and unable to make payments. the bank said it would take down its mobile app and online banking "for a few hours" on tuesday and hoped to restore services by the afternoon. but it now looks unlikely the issues will be resolved until later wednesday. the month of april is one of the busiest months of the year for tourism in japan. more than 2.5 million people arrived injapan in april last year, many hoping to participate in what's known as "hanami", the practice of viewing cherry blossoms — a long—standing japanese tradition of welcoming spring. so what is all the fuss about? take

a look at this. well, this is my eighth hanami. we have lived here for six and a half yea rs. every yea r, have lived here for six and a half years. every year, it was an event and something very special and then this was the first time we've come back specifically. my husband decided to retire and instead of buying something bigger and more, we decided to put an emphasis on experience without teenage sons. it isa experience without teenage sons. it is a very important time, a crucial time teenagers and we wanted to reconnect with them and opened our eyes to the world and maybe change their dna for the future. six months ago, we were checking the maps, we we re ago, we were checking the maps, we were checking the future, we were checking the estimates for when

would be picked hanami season, and it is today. —— the weather. during the periods of march to may, thatis during the periods of march to may, that is when the cherry blossoms come out and we do see an increased demand during this period actually, a20to demand during this period actually, a 20 to 30% increase year on year. when hanami starts, at the ice cream gets flavoured, be sake, everything becomes cherry blossom flavoured. it is everything in society for those two weeks of the hanami viewing i think is magical

because you witness a whole community come together, it is part of who the japanese people are, at their heart. it allows them to let loose, to be free one—week eu, but it is very ephemeral. —— one week a year. interesting, isn't it? the newsbriefing is up next. we'll take you through the stories making headlines in the global media today. we're going to take you through views on the bromance between president macron and president trump. stay with us on the briefing. the british system for fire testing building materials

is inadequate and underestimates the ferocity and spread of real flames, according to a study commissioned after the grenfell tower disaster. the association of british insurers says tests are failing to reflect how cladding and insulation burns in the real world. our home affairs correspondent tom symmonds reports. it is called bs8414 in the jargon, standard test to prove the materials used on buildings are safe. they set light to a stack of wood and measure what happens. the government did this test after grenfell tower but today's report says the test itself is failing. why? because it does not ta ke is failing. why? because it does not take account of what happens in the real world , take account of what happens in the real world, what happens on buildings like this. the association of british insurers commissioned their own test of the test. they switch 20% of the would use to start

the fire with plastic, which often fuels real blazers. result, test fire which was 100 degrees hotter than the standard test with wood. another example, in this test, the panels were installed from bottom to top between them. the fire barely get started but on real buildings, the facades to have gaps, either by design or poor workmanship. look what happened when that was tested, oxygen driving the fire upwards. we are shocked by the findings, they demonstrate just how out of date the current testing regime is and how important it is to take account of how these building materials are used in practice, not as how they perform under lab conditions. after the tragedy here, the government asked a senior engineer to review building regulations and testing, she will report soon. the insurance industry wants one of her findings to bea industry wants one of her findings to be a rethink of you're with the briefing

from bbc news. here are the headlines: president trump and emmanuel macron have agreed to work towards a new deal with iran, to curb its nuclear and missile programmes. the parents of a severely ill british boy are going to the court of appeal in their battle over his future care and treatment. now it is time look at the stories that are making the headlines in media across the world. we begin with the irish times and us president trump, who has branded the iran nuclear past as "insane" and "ridiculous". his comments come as french president emmanuel macron urges him to stick with the 2015 deal. meanwhile, the new york times takes

a humourous slant at the us and french presidents' relationship, calling it "le bromance" as both leaders shared kisses and embraces as well as intimate personal grooming. in the independent, eu politicians are demanding that guarantees are given to european citizens living in the uk after brexit and not suffer the same fate as the victims of the current windrush scandal. the gulf news looks at how china's importers of wheat are suffering due to the current trade dispute with the us. there are concerns among chinese firms that increased tariffs are inflicting real financial pain on china. and finally the verge website says whatsapp is banning anyone under 16 years old from using its app in europe. the moves comes as the social media giant raises its age limit for users by three years just as the european data privacy rules start kicking in on may 25th.

so let's begin. with me is andrew tuck who is editor of monocle, a global news and business magazine. starting with the irish times, looking at the iran nuclear pact, it says insein, ridiculous. they are talking about a third way now. it would seem that president emmanuel macron has managed to twist his arm. what is this article saying?m macron has managed to twist his arm. what is this article saying? it says yes there was a discussion, a third way. become placated the thing is that this is notjust a deal between france and the us, it also involves the eu, germany