this is business briefing. i'm sally bundock. media wars. could comcast swoop in and break up the $52 billion deal between fox and disney? plus, an expensive day's shopping for wal—mart, as it makes a $16 billion push into india, buying control of online retailer flipkart. and on the markets, wall street surges — as crude hits its highest in more than three years — energy stocks are the big winners thanks to president trump abandoning the iran nuclear deal. we start in the us, where 21st century fox, the media empire controlled by rupert murdoch, has been updating investors about its latest results. but it's been refusing to comment on reports it could be the target of a multibillion

dollar bidding war. it's all part of a huge shake—up in the global entertainment industry, as more of us abandon traditional cable and satellite tv packages in favour of streaming services like netflix. let's show you some of the details. 21st century fox has agreed to sell its entertainment business to disney for $52 billion. it has told investors it will try to get shareholder approval this summer. but there could be a spanner in the works — in the form of us cable giant comcast, owner of nbc and universal pictures. it made a rival bid in shares worth $61; billion — that was rejected in favour of the disney deal. but it's reported that comcast is trying to raise the money to come back and outbid disney with cash in a hostile takeover. comcast is already taking the fight to disney and fox. it has made a $30 billion bid for 61% of sky,

the european pay—tv group. fox owns the rest and has been trying to buy the stake itself. meanwhile, netflix is reportedly spending $8 billion on original programming this year — a huge challenge to the established players, as joe miller reports from new york. despite reporting marginally lower profits than expected, rupert murdoch's 21st century fox is not short of admirers. the company is feeling two separate advances from disney and its us rival comcast. both want to beef up their movie and tv businesses to stave off the beast thatis tv businesses to stave off the beast that is netflix. thereafter fox franchises like x—men and advertise well as sports networks. the question is, what are they went to

pay for it? comcast is reportedly ready to offer $60 billion, about a billion more than disney. it may need fox more than the mickey mouse owner. the us cable business is lovely because of competitors like at&t and youtube tv that offers streaming bundles that are cheaper than a traditional cable package. any takeover may depend on how us regulators look on at&t‘s proposed ta keover of regulators look on at&t‘s proposed takeover of time warner. if that deal is blocked comcast may decide that taking on fox and the us justice department is hardly worth the time. that is joe the time. that isjoe mellor based in new york. amy—jo crowley covers the technology and media business for the dealreporter. good morning. time warner and at&t, whether they can come together, it is quite critical as to where we had nextin is quite critical as to where we had next in the story. i think it is

quite key. the ceo of comcast said he is waiting to see if the us federal, if that decision on it will be overturned by the district court next month, and, yes, if they do it set a precedent for comcast to follow through on its bed for fox's assets. as well, the white house is watching this really closely. president trump has been quite vocal on time warner and at&t, and some of the others. it is a fan of fox, but not so with some of the others. give us not so with some of the others. give us the background on all of this. as i mentioned earlier, a lot of this is to do with the disruption netflix has caused. it is not as netflix any more, there are many players in the market things like apple tv and others who want a piece of the action. correct. the media landscape is shifting. with millions of consumers cutting the cord and

opting for netflix, traditional media players are scrambling and battling for entertainment assets. 0ne battling for entertainment assets. one of the there is a scarcity of assets, so time warner being acquired acquired by at&t, that is a prize asset. after that, there are smaller assets in the market, like lions gate, they don't have the scale. there is a lot of money around. there are big players. we have rupert murdoch in there. we have rupert murdoch in there. we have comcast, et cetera. it is a tough question to ask you, but who do you think the winners and losers will be? bass is the golden question. i think it clear from previous reports that rupert murdoch is quite keen on a deal with disney, the ceo and he had been chatting quite regularly. before christmas he turned down the far, the stock offer

by comcast, which was higher than disney's offer, as well. there is also a legacy to play for. there is talk of james murdoch also a legacy to play for. there is talk ofjames murdoch being on the board of disney going forward, while rupert murdoch and his other son ta ke rupert murdoch and his other son take control of his music empire. so i think take control of his music empire. so ithinki take control of his music empire. so i think i is veering towards... 0n the question therefore is, we'll disney increased its offer and what do shareholders think? because comcast‘s offer is, whereas disney's is more stock. we are going to have to watch this space. thank you very much, amy—jo crowley, for coming in and giving us your take on this situation. more detail on that story on our website. to dig deep if it is of interest to you. we swiftly take you to india. let's go to india now, where us retail giant wal—mart is making its biggest ever investment. it's taking a majority stake in indian online retailer flipkart. the deal will put walmart head

to head against rival amazon in one of the fastest growing online retail markets in the world. from mumbai, yogita limaye reports. $16 billion, that's the price walmart is willing to pay to gain a foothold in india's promising online retail sector. it is buying a 77% sta ke retail sector. it is buying a 77% stake of indian firm flipkart. they said both be maintaining their breath and operating structures, but what will it mean for india's e—commerce sector. flipkart has the largest market share of all online retailers in. it has attracted high—profile investors in the past. but it has been struggling with losses. they tie up with walmart will allow the firm access to more funds and will allow it to expand into areas like groceries, which is set to be the next big battleground for online in india. for walmart it isa for online in india. for walmart it is a route into this country. it has been trying to expand into india for yea rs been trying to expand into india for years but has come up against

government rules on foreign ownership in brick and mortar retail. with india's e—commerce market projected to grow by nearly one third, $250 billion this year, there is a lot of potential. another american company, amazon, is the second largest e—commerce player in india. with the deal this country now becomes the new battleground for the amazon versus walmart fight. 0ne many people here, flipkart has been the homegrown brand that they are proud of. its founders have been the poster boys of e—commerce in india. now the company that was started in a small flat in bangalore just over a small flat in bangalore just over a decade ago is set to become american owned. in doing so it still made history as one part of the largest e—commerce still in the world. that's yogita limaye. let's go to asia now, where the price of crude oil has continued to rise after wednesday's surge — this of course following president trump's decision to pull out of the iran nuclear deal. 0ur singapore bureau

editor maura fogarty is following the story. nice to see you. the black stuff is going up and up. this could have an inflationary effect. it certainly is. what is interesting about the numbers today is the fact that it just shows you how skittish the market is. but notjust on political concern, but on supply concerns in the market as well. in the asian trading session we are seeing us crude numbers, the brent futures as well, both very solidly above the $71 level. we have not seen prices trade above that level in three yea rs trade above that level in three years time. they think it was 2014 when we last saw crude prices above $71 per barrel. you mentioned the geopolitical issues coming from president ahmad is scrapping of the iran yately gilbert there are numbers coming out that says numbers fell —— coming from president

trump's scrapping of the iran nuclear deal. it is flowing through to the stock markets. particularly in the energy sector. thank you very much indeed. another story in the uk. royal bank of scotland has reached an agreement in principle with the usjustice department to end a long running investigation into its role in the 2008 financial crisis. it has agree to pay $4.9 billion to settle civil claims over its sales of mortgage—backed securities between 2005 and 2008.— although further details have still to be negotiated. that is a big dealfor rbs in the uk. more of that on the website. that is your business briefing. in the uk, consumers are being

warned that food could become much more expensive after brexit if a trade agreement isn't reach. that's according to a new house of lords report. the committee says that the tariff on imports is likely to rise, and that it had "no doubts" that this would lead to price rises at the checkout. our environment and rural affairs correspondent claire marshall reports. half the food we eat is imported. 30% of this comes from the european union. the uk is now negotiating its own trade deals, but it is not clear what the terms will be. according to the lords report, if there is no agreement, there could be severe rises for shoppers. if we apply the equivalent of european tariffs then, on average, that is some 22% on food prices that are imported. not all of

that would go on food prices itself, but it obviously would have a major affect on the price of food. the report also warns that if there is no trade agreement we could see more things like this. it advises there is not the staff, it systems, or infrastructure. britain's ports could be choked. we went to eight truckstop near wiltshire. at the moment, a two—minute delay at customs leads to a 17 mile tailback. it seems more cheques will be needed, does that worry the truckers? we need a bit of commonsense in the haulage industry. i'm hoping you would brexit we might get some commonsense around the rules already in place. are you worried about changing rules than? not at all. it won't make any difference whatsoever. we will still be here. it is a little bit on the line. asa be here. it is a little bit on the line. as a driver i don't think you will see much change really. the department for the environment as it is considering how it will best manage border checks and controls without impacting the smooth flow of

trade. it will respond to the report in due course. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: three americans released by north korea are on their way home. they'll be met by president trump when they arrive at the andrew's air force base, outside washington. there's been a large explosion and more spewing lawa at hawaii's kilauea volcano — 2,000 residents have been evacuated — authorities warn more eruptions are likely. let's look at some of the stories in the media. we start with an extraordinary front page. this is north korea's state newspaper. as you can see, a picture front and centre of the us secretary of state,

mike pompeo, and the former military man shaking the hands of the north korean leader kim jong—un. man shaking the hands of the north korean leader kimjong—un. this is the paper that north koreans are more than likely to read today. usually it is filled with anti—american rhetoric. today it is full of appreciation for their deep interest in dialogue. the straits times of singapore has a picture of a celebrating mahathir mohamad, who has made a dramatic political combat. the former malaysian prime minister one a majority, defeating the party that has been in powerfor more than 60 is. a standard avintia leads with the huge business story that they are day jesting, the fact that they are day jesting, the fact that walmart is acquiring a 70% sta ke that walmart is acquiring a 70% stake in the biggest e—commerce marketplace flipkart. in the uk, the sun looks at the health of the actress dame barbara windsor. in an

emotional interview with her husband,it emotional interview with her husband, it is revealed that the star of eastenders and the carry on films has been diagnosed with alzheimer's. and finally, the independent, should schoolchildren be punished for not caring about the environment? a uk private school has warned pupils who bring plastic water bottles, one use only bottles, to school could be reprimanded in a similarto wait if to school could be reprimanded in a similar to wait if they are caught smoking. things like nonbiodegradable cups will be viewed as antisocial behaviour. so let's begin. with me is cornelia meyer, who's ceo of the mrl corporation. cornelia, let's get stuck in.