this is business briefing. i'm sally bundock. the world's largest retailer looks to offload control of asda here in the uk in a move that could create the country's biggest supermarket chain. after years of courtship, america's third and fourth biggest mobile phone companies are finally walking down the aisle in a $26 billion deal. and on the markets in asia, japan and china are closed today for a public holiday as investors continue to digest the ongoing earnings news and north korea's denuclearisation pledge. the us retail giant walmart is in talks to ceded control of its uk unit asda as part of a tie—up with supermarket chain sainsbury‘s. —— the us retail giant walmart

is in talks to cede control of its uk unit asda as part of a tie—up with supermarket chain sainsbury‘s. we're expecting to get more detail on the potential $13 billion deal over the next few hours. the combined group would have 2,800 stores and would make up more than 31% of the grocery market — slightly ahead of the current leader, tesco. with me isjoseph sternberg, europe editor at the wall streetjournal. you and i were discussing this a little earlier. quite interesting actually, quite a few viewers have beenin actually, quite a few viewers have been in touch with us about this story, one of whom isu works at asda oi’ story, one of whom isu works at asda or sainsbury is busy city all seem to do or sainsbury is busy city all seem todoa or sainsbury is busy city all seem to do a lot more about this than we do, the staff at the two companies. this is a big story in the uk, isn't it? it is, because this is this process of how is the economy going to continue adapting to changes were seenin

to continue adapting to changes were seen in the past few years. earlier we spoke about the cost pressures these companies face as food, clothing, electronics, a lot of the things they sell have become more expensive as the pound has weakened. at the same time it's still a competitive market. even though the market share may appear small, the german discount retailers like aldi and lidl are having a downward paul on prices and so i think as a group two and sainsbury are trying to adapt to that. how will it change the two supermarket brands, as it were? are you think customers will notice the difference, or not?” don't think we have insight on that yet and it will depend on how they maintain them, whether they are two separate brands trying to appeal to different segments of the market or maybe combine some of their technological capability on the back end that the customer does not see, oi’ end that the customer does not see, or whether they decide they want to create a single brand with the same offer to customers across the country. from walmart's perspective

asa country. from walmart's perspective as a global retailer, the biggest, what is its thinking with regards to the uk market? the real lesson is even they company like walmart isn't immune to market pressures and that should be encouraging and i think it should be encouraging and i think it should also be encouraging the competition regulators who are a lwa ys competition regulators who are always worried about if you have a company that is too large, can they squeeze out competitors. the reality is in squeeze out competitors. the reality isina squeeze out competitors. the reality is in a market like this one, you cannot escape. and something we have not mentioned is the word amazon. to what extent is the online giant like amazon having impact on walmart, sainsbury, asda? what is the interesting, it is difficult to define what the market is anymore. if the grocery market as the bricks and mortar store that you drive up to on and mortar store that you drive up toona and mortar store that you drive up to on a saturday morning and do your weekly shop orders the grocery

market now encompass a lot of these online retailers who are only selling groceries and has a lot of competitive implications for the company and also record three information —— regulatory information —— regulatory information and watchdogs. thank you, joseph, come back, things are busy this morning. we will have the news briefing in ten minutes but in the meantime, some of the news. after years of courtship, america's third and fourth biggest wireless providers are finally walking down the aisle. t—mobile is buying sprint for $26.5 billion in stock. it's a victory forjapan‘s softbank, which is a majority owner in sprint. it's been trying to merge the two us telcos for a while. let's head to our asia business hub in singapore and sharanjit leyl. nice to see you. softbankjust keeps cropping up in the headlines all the time. talk about its connection here. as you say, it is a very big

deal at $26.5 billion and as you set as well it has been seen as a triumph for the pan's softbank but also a bit of a step back and i will explain why. softbank is the majority owner of sprint, the billionaire japanese founder of softbank acquired sprint in 2012 and has since tried to take on at&t and verizon, the leading us mobile companies, at sprint has been burdened with heavy debt and has really struggled with it. now with t mobile, the fast—growing telecommunications firm, this could potentially create a giant with about 100 million customers that would be able to go head to head with at&t and verizon. softbank owns about 80% of sprint but this is where he is going to have to take a step back because his control, the softbank control would be relinquished under the terms of the merger announced just on sunday. softbank would own 27% of the combined company which would be

named t mobile and softbank would only have four of the 1a seats on the compa ny‘s board only have four of the 1a seats on the company's board of directors. having said that, as you said a triumph as well is a step back but nonetheless though we have regulators in washington who will be scrutinising this merger. it will essentially mean that us wireless market is down to just three carriers and mergers like this have been of course rejected in the past on the ground that it creates monopolies went off course as we all know, more competitors, much better for consumers like us. thank you. now let's brief you some other business stories. the chairwoman of australia's largest listed wealth manager, amp, has resigned following alleged misconduct revealed by a royal commission. the inquiry was told the firm charged thousands of clients for advice they never received. amp's legal counsel has also resigned. and separately,

a financier is backing a class action lawsuit against the firm. the marvel studios superhero movie avengers: infinity war has set a new record for global box office sales on its opening weekend. industry observers say it took in $630 million. the takings in north america alone amounted to $250 million — a record for the region. jailing people for unpaid debts has been made illegal in countries —— that is our twitter question, of course, the marvel studios film. the bill talk about that some more later. but before we will talk. yet today in 2018, many americans are now being sent to prison for debts. it's a trend that started in the wake of the financial crisis, when local and state governments tried to make up for tax revenue shortfalls by issuing more

and larger fines for things like traffic violations. the bbc‘s kim gittleson reports. last year, this woman spent nearly two months injail after she fell behind on payments for a $2000 traffic violation. doing my 57] in dell, all a family member, i had my 40th birthday, i son had a birthday, his 17th. it was easter, i missed my granddaughter‘s first easter. his 17th. it was easter, i missed my granddaughter's first easter. she knew she could not pay the fine while supporting six children and three grandchildren i didn't expect the outcome to be so severe. two months injail? for a ticket?” think it was ridiculous. and she is not alone. here in lexington county if you cannot pay your traffic to get, an increasing number of citizens are being sentenced to jail

time. it is what rights groups have called a modern day debtors prison. it isn't just happening called a modern day debtors prison. it isn'tjust happening here. in fa ct it isn'tjust happening here. in fact the american civil liberties union says debtors prisons now exist in15 us union says debtors prisons now exist in 15 us states. from the pacific northwest to new england and even the deep south, google are being jailed simply because they don't have money. so why would you lock someone up because have money. so why would you lock someone up because they cannot pay? well, there is an incentive. local governments rely on these fines and fees and such for part of their municipal expenses. we asked officials he in lexington county if thatis officials he in lexington county if that is why they were jailing people but they declined to comment. because it is illegal to jail people who cannot afford to pay. and that is why people like amy have filed a lawsuit. amy spent 21 days injail away from her two daughters after she could not pay a ticket for six and $50. i feelthat i was she could not pay a ticket for six and $50. i feel that i was unfairly

treated and the main outcome is i don't want another family that is in my situation to have to go through what i went through. for now, though,, what i went through. for now, though, , many americans what i went through. for now, though,, many americans continue to be punished simply for being poor. kim gittleson, bbc news. and now, what's trending in the business news this morning. the ft reports that apple, the world's most valuable listed company, is expected to return $100 billion to shareholders as it prepares to redistribute its repatriated overseas profits. bloomberg says tsb bank here in the uk is still struggling to fix its technical problems. it says as of last night, its internet banking service is only operating at about 50% capacity, meaning only half of those trying to log in would be able to. so many of you have been in touch with us about that story and the battle you have had.

and on our own website, a telsa driver here in the uk has been banned from driving after he moved into the passenger seat of the car while it was on autopilot. that is driverless at another level and we are not quite there yet in the uk. and don't forget, let us know what you are spotting online — use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. let's just bring you more on our top story this hour — the resignation of amber rudd. as we've been reporting, she'd faced increasing calls to quit over the so—called windrush scandal after it emerged that caribbean immigrants, who'd been living in britain for many years had been told to go back to the caribbean. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg says attempts to keep her in post had run out of steam. it isa

it is a big moment for any government to lose its home secretary and it is after all one of the great offices of state that in these peculiar times, it is an even more uncertain path of action. amber rudd's departure will upset the very delicate balance in the cabinet over brexit. you will remember every time theresa may has moved ministers around, there has always been the calculation who was on the remains side in the referendum and who was on the brexit side. amber rudd was a powerful remain voice inside the cabinet and her departure will upset the balance and put a very senior figure on the backbenchers who was on that side of the argument. the second very important factor here is while amber rudd was in place at the home office, she was entering the m ista kes home office, she was entering the mistakes that were made over the windrush generation and this recent confusion over immigration at who

was in charge there before at the home office, before amber rudd took up home office, before amber rudd took up her position there? the prime minister herself of course theresa may. labour has suggested in recent days that amber rudd was somehow protect in her as a human shield. but of course was denied by the government but now, amber rudd has gone from thatjob, it may well be that the opposition party tries to point the criticism over this whole issue more pointedly at the prime minister herself. that is laura kuenssberg, our political editor, giving us the analysis on the resignation of amber rudd. so much more detail on that story at six o'clock on breakfast. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: the british home secretary amber rudd has resigned after weeks of pressure over the government's treatment of long—term migrants from the caribbean. protesters have been showing their support for armenia's main opposition leader,

days before a new prime minister will be chosen. china's foreign minister, wang yi, is to visit north korea this week, following the landmark summit between the leaders of north and south koreas on friday. the world's largest retailer looks to off—load control of asda here in the uk in a move that would create the country's biggest supermarket chain. now it's time look at the stories that are making the headlines in media across the world. we begin with the times, and britain's home secretary amber rudd has resigned after growing pressure about her knowledge of targets to deport illegal immigrants. leaked documents showed that ms rudd set a target to increase the number of deportations, despite her denials. the financial times announces that brussels is planning to propose tough powers to cut funding to countries such as poland and hungary where judicial independence is under threat, but will leave them on the hook for billions of euros in eu budget commitments.

the japan times says that north korean leader kimjong—un has vowed transparency, as he plans to shut his country's nuclear test sites next month. he's inviting foreign experts and journalists to view the dismantling. china daily focuses on the meeting between chinese president xi jinping and indian president narendra modi. it says both leaders have agreed to open a new chapter in their relationship after the informal summit.