this is business live from bbc news with ben thompson and maryam moshiri. france calls new us sanctions on iran ‘unacceptable', as the trump administration goes after firms with ties to the country's revolutionary guard. live from london, that's our top story. as the us pressures iran with new sanctions over ‘malign activity‘. the french foreign minister says europeans shouldn't have to pay for the us decision to withdraw from the deal. also in the programme, there may be one million bicycles in beijing, butjudging by these pictures it looks like the wheels may have come off the bike rental craze in the country? we have a special report. can apple hit the magical $1 trillion mark? it's currently worth

a cool $960 billion. we'll get the inside track on that and the week's other top tech stories later in the programme. and as china buckles under the weight of all those rental bikes, we want to know are the city bike rental schemes good news or bad? are they a clean way to commute orjust more city clutter? let us know, use the hashtag bbc biz live. hello and welcome to business live. the french foreign ministerjean—yves le drian has condemned the us move to re—impose sanctions on foreign companies trading with iran as unacceptable. several french firms including airbus, total and renault have signed billion dollar agreements with iran since the nuclear agreement. however all could now face us

sanctions if they don't wind up their investments by november. yesterday, the us also imposed sanctions on six people and three companies it says have ties to iran's elite military force, the revolutionary guard. our economics correspondent andrew walkerjoins me now. good morning. this is a story that keeps changing. six individuals targeted here, six firms. it's not a lot and it won't make a huge difference, it's more the headlines they get out of it. the headlines are part of the appeal but this is looking at specific issues that the us treasury say they are concerned about may have the cooperation of the uae in these measures they are taking. this is not about the nuclear programme. this is about the iran revolutionary guard and they

say that the people they are targeting, including currency exchange dealers and the arabian financial system has strong links with dubai they are targeting individuals because they reckon they are being used as a kind of front for collecting money that the iranians national guard would use to use its proxy operations around the region. so this is places like yemen, syria, lebanon, where the americans think the iranians contribution to the political situation has been very malign. we often talk about how much effect sanctions actually have and whether they are sanctions on train or financial penalties —— on trade. this is about cutting off the source of finance and talking about not letting them act ‘s pace —— places.

it is about dollar funding which the americans allege use money to finance operations across the region. cutting off the dollar financing, if it were to be successful would be a significant line in the sand for these organisations but then they would have the opportunities to look at other currencies as a source of funding but it does make it more difficult. this is distinctly separate from the nuclear issue but tied up with the idea that president trump wants a hard line and he is taking it seriously. there were suggestions in president trump's position ahead of the nuclear sanctions where he often made comments about iran's wider affairs across the region. so he does have a focus that has not been on the nuclear question. one we will watch. andrew, thank you. one breaking line

in the last few minutes, reuters announcing that the iranian foreign minister has said he will travel to moscow on may the 14th to meet his russian counterpart. the news agency report cites a russian official saying that tehran will be approaching russia to discuss this issue on may the 14th and we will cover that here on bbc news. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. air france—klm says traffic fell 2.6% last month, blamed on a wave of strikes over pay and conditions. last week the chief—executive resigned from the franco—dutch group amid growing worries over its future. air france needs to cut costs to keep up with leaner rivals in europe, including its sister company klm, but it's facing resistance from unions representing its pilots, cabin crews and ground staff. music streaming app tidal has been accused of inflating audience figures for albums

by beyonce and kanye west — unfairly boosting their royalty payments. tidal denies the allegations saying the data has been stolen and manipulated. tidal is part—owned by jay z, beyonce's husband and a long—term friend of kanye west. the mayor of london, sadiq khan, has announced plans to ban junk food advertising on the london transport network as part of a drive to tackle child obesity. the policy would cover underground stations, buses, bus shelters and some overground rail stations. let's go to wall street now, where it was a very big day for this guy — the man on the left. he's 35—year—old drew houston, chief executive of dropbox, the tech company he founded with his friend arash ferdowsi. since floating in march and the shares have surged 50%, valuing dropbox at almost 13 billion dollars. thursday saw their first set of results since

the company floated. dropbox has benefited from the rush to cloud computing, using the internet to store your data remotely rather than on your own computers. it lets users share digital files over the net. dropbox has 500 million registered users, most of them have signed up for free. but only 2% of those pay for the premium service — a number dropbox is trying to grow. it's a huge potential market. global revenues from cloud services are expected to be worth $160 billion this year, soaring to $277 billion by 2021. but that also means some very big rivals. microsoft, amazon and google are all rapidly growing their cloud computing businesses. with me isjohn detrixhe, reporter at quartz. nice to see you. we ran through the issues for dropbox and it strikes me it isa

issues for dropbox and it strikes me it is a simple business. before we would be scrabbling around for usb sticks, cds, but now you just up load the data to the internet in the cloud and you can get it wherever you are, but they've managed to make money, crucially. not as exciting as a californian company that makes spaceships, but it is a useful and viable service. sending a photo to a friend orfamily viable service. sending a photo to a friend or family might viable service. sending a photo to a friend orfamily might be too big to e—mail, and it's a great way to share video and photographs. they have found a way to monetise that which is probably only slightly easier than going to mars. how did they make money from this?‘ easier than going to mars. how did they make money from this? a small percentage of their users do pay, mostly businesses and because they have the subscription income, that's what they are doing. in the first quarter, the first results since the ipo they have grown subscribers and revenue. talking about the ipo in march, it's the first set of results

since then. how does that set up the same for other tech firms in the future? others could just get their money from venture capital rather than going for the ipo? so how does it change things? it's important for wall street because there's so much money available in venture capital. this appears to be a very successful ipo. shareholders have been rewarded and there is that reason for other companies to raise it and it shows there's massive demand for these kinds of companies. it's clearly showing a very viable source of fundraising for tech companies. brief word on what happens next. how do they continue to make money? we touched on cloud computing, a huge and growing business and they want a bigger slice. they do, and they have massive competition. they have to deal with the likes of apple and google who have similar services. this is an 11—year—old kabila has never turned a profit. john, thank you very much. —— ii—year—old company. asian shares rallied on friday

as investors cheered us—north korean steps to further ease tensions on the korean peninsula. in europe it's looking like a calmer end to a busy week. and joe miller has the details about what's ahead on wall street today. after a welcome week in the green for us stocks, investors will hope the us labor department doesn't spoil the party on friday. the bureau is scheduled to release closely—watched data on export and import prices for april. import prices are expected to increase 0.5% for the month after it remained unchanged in march. export prices are likely to have risen 0.3% compared with a similar increase the month before. elsewhere, news and information services company thomson reuters is expected to report first—quarter results before the markets open. the company recently struck a $17 billion deal with private equity giant blackstone, which now has a controlling stake in reuters' lucrative financial terminal business. joining us is maike currie,

investment director, fidelity international. yesterday was the day where potentially we were going to get a rate rise from the bank of england and then all of the mood music changed, and then they said they wouldn't do it. but the most interesting stuff was in the detail about growth forecast and inflation reports. things can change quickly ina reports. things can change quickly in a month because in mid—april there was a 90% probability that we would see a quarter of a percent rise. if we look into the detail of what the bank of england said yesterday, one, global growth is slowing but uk growth has slowed significantly and inflation expectations have been reined in the key thing the fragile consumer and we can see that with retail sales as the high street is struggling and with the housing market cooling because the housing market is a key

driver of how affluent or well off we feel, and all of those factors have given the bank of england caused to pause. so will we see a rate rise? probably not. it could change dramatically in the second half of the year. a complete u—turn. let's talk about oil prices because iran is in focus with the sanctions process. what is the impact on the price of oil? it has hit a four-year high this week. it has eased off slightly but we steal secrets at $77 per barrel. again, it means petrol prices going —— but we still see oil prices going —— but we still see oil prices at $77. that puts more pressure on uk consumers who already tightening the purse strings. pressure on uk consumers who already tightening the purse stringslj pressure on uk consumers who already tightening the purse strings. i know you'll come back and talk to us about some of the stories in the newspapers. still to come... stream of social consciousness. spotify drops r kelly from its playlists on the day it

unveils a new ‘hate content and hateful conduct‘ policy. we will explain what that could mean. you're with business live from bbc news. ito—somethings are almost twice as likely to be renting their home from a private landlord than 10 years ago. that's according to new research published today by the bbc. our personalfinance and consumer affairs reporter, kevin peachey, joins us now. talk us through the figures. talk us through the figuresm shows that generation rent is moving into middle age. the proportion of 35 to aa—year—olds renting privately has doubled in the last ten years and it is a significant rise amongst those in the late 40s and early 50s. really, clearly there is still a higher level of young people in rented accommodation but this shift from owning over to renting is

happening across all working age groups. what are the implications of this? it does fundamentally change the way we view housing and getting on the ladder and staying on the ladder? it does. clearly there are short—term implications when we look at how insecure jobs are, the income squeezed, which might suggest there might bea squeezed, which might suggest there might be a further shift towards renting and there's a particular issue with accidental renters, people in middle age owing to divorce or redundancy have had to leave their homes and are struggling to get back onto the market. there is an issue for those people. clearly there is a lifestyle choice for others. they want to move and go around as they please and it's easier in the rental sector, but the long—term implications are that if the shift continues as people get older and move into retirement, how will they pay the rent? will they rely more on the benefits system?

will there be more strain on the benefits system to help them pay for that rent, or will they simplyjust have to keep working for longer to make the payments? very interesting story. we touched on that story from the bank of england and there is more details on the business live page. the bank needs a clear strategy according to one member. he said the bank has flip—flopped in the past. also mixed messages for the bank which talks about forward guidance brought in by mark carney to get as across what they were thinking but if the plan keeps changing and the fundamentals keep changing, then we question the use of forward guidance. you're watching business live — our top story... the french foreign minister has condemned the us move to reimpose sanctions on foreign companies

trading with iran as unacceptable. a quick look at how markets are faring. not looking great. not moving a whole amount. much of what we saw yesterday, certainly by the bank of england, factored into the markets. and now let's get the inside track on this weeks big tech stories. rory cellanjones is our technology correspondent. it has been a big week for tech? it has been a big week for tech7m is always a big week. when do you get downtime because even at home you are hounded by alexa and syria. what about this new google assistant, where you can book a hair appointment or a restaurant booking. this was a demo. this was quite an

extraordinary demo as to where automated assistance are going. and they demonstrated a facility where you could book an appointment and what was scary was how realistic the sound of this automated bot was. what was scary was how realistic the sound of this automated bot waslj sound of this automated bot was.” am calling to book a hair appointment for a client. i am looking for something on may the 3rd. which one is the real one? that is the extraordinary thing. 3rd. which one is the real one? that is the extraordinary thingm 3rd. which one is the real one? that is the extraordinary thing. it is creepy. the human at the hair salon didn't sound much more human than the machine. everybody went wow! they had built into the bot all the speech mannerisms. are we happy with

the situation when you don't know if you are talking to a human or a bot? i get that all the time. how far away from that are we? that was a demo, it was unclear under what circumstances it will stage. i was speaking to somebody outside and they said, what if you ring up and you want to intervene and say, i a lwa ys you want to intervene and say, i always have tanya do my hair. you cannot veer off the script. let's talk about spotify. it is going to stop you getting r kelly's music in playlists and recommendations? r kelly, controversial musician, accused of sexual abuse. he denies all of the charges, but he is a big figure in

the whole #metoo movement. it is under the hateful conduct which they say states and artist's behaviour may change the way they promote them. his music is still there, but it is not put into playlists and not recommended and it will be toned down for the user's experience. you won't come across his music. it is spotify basically taking an editorial, moral stand and people are beginning to ask, how far does it go? how far does it go? it is just r kelly at the moment, but the serious matter is, there are lots of artists who have controversies in their pasts. he has put out a statement saying there is nothing in his music that is hateful, his lyrics are about love. how father will they take this? is it

is less w that? l ’ ml-l,§,-- last week's results, which since last week's results, which we re since last week's results, which were pretty good. they weren't amazing, but they reaffirmed the market's believe this company could head for the trillion dollar mark. the share price dipped a bit in anticipation of the results. it has climbed every day since and it has

now got to something like $957 billion in terms of market capitalisation. they have all this money and they don't know what to do with it? they are handing out to shareholders, they are repatriating some. it is such an important stock for the market. it moves in mysterious ways, it is quite difficult to interpret why a perfectly solid set of results, not amazingly spectacular should have continued to head towards the trillion dollar mark. i am sure you will keep a very close eye on it, thank you very much, rory. the humble bicycle has been a mainstay of chinese life for decades. but in the past few months, mountains of discarded bikes have been piling up across the country. the authorities in many chinese cities have been impounding rental bikes that they say are clogging up city streets. john sudworth reports from beijing. it could be mistaken for a field of flowers.

but look closer... this is a crop, not of plants, but of metal and rubber. thousands, upon thousands of bikes, impounded. bike sharing has taken china by storm. unlocked with a wave of a phone, they can be hired or off hired anywhere. but the innovative technology has brought with it a frenzy of speculation. chinese cities have been deluged with bikes, millions of them. backed with huge investment, dozens of companies have been fighting for market share, resulting in block pavements... ..and a random sprinkling of abandoned bikes almost everywhere you look. in some cities, the authorities have had enough. the extraordinary thing is,

many of these bikes are brand—new, hardly used at all. forget stock—market bubbles and property bubbles, forget the dot—com bubble, this is one with wheels on. this is china's bike sharing bauble. this is china's bike sharing bubble. photos of other bike mountains have been popping up online. here is one in another city and this is shanghai, yes, those really are bikes down there. you have been sending us your m essa 9 es you have been sending us your messages about this. great move because it is a cleaner commute if you rent these bikes. or is it cluttering up the city. you great infrastructure so you can have a positive commute into the city. rodney says, great idea, i use them

but the problem is overcrowded public transport so we are forced to use alternatives. but you do need the space for bike rentals. to keep your views coming in. let's return to our paper stories. this is an interesting one, it is in the wall streetjournal, a shortage of pilots in china causing a problem. they are going to train them themselves, which i thought they would do anyway, but they said they would do anyway, but they said they can get pre—trained pilots and they can get pre—trained pilots and they have got to teach them from scratch? it is a global issue there are too few pilots as more people choose their travel. we saw this with airlines like ryanair and emirates, basically having to cancel flights because they don't have been of pilots. this has gone hand in hand with the fact that the renumeration of pilots has come down, the status of being a pilot has changed. it is very expensive to train them. does it mean pilots can

demand more money? yes, that is the truth and in china they are offering enhanced salary packages and all sorts of incentives to attract them and looking at buying aviation schools. a quick word on goldman sach's and apple—macro teaming up for a new credit card, this is in the wall streetjournal? for a new credit card, this is in the wall street journal? apple and goldmans are looking at launching a credit card as apple looks to expand its businesses into services and goldman wants to get a foot into the retail banking sector. is there anything apple isn't going to do?m is disrupting every industry. have a great weekend. thank you for your company today, we will be back on monday, same time, same place. goodbye. the weekend is nearly upon us and

one thing i can certainly say it is not going to be anywhere near as warm as last weekend. for today, it isa warm as last weekend. for today, it is a chilly start with sunshine across eastern areas, but towards the west there is a bit more cloud around. this is the satellite imagery and the bright lights of the cities and towns and clear skies towards eastern areas but further west we have this massive cloud swirling around an area of low pressure. with that, this were the front is bringing us outbreaks of rain and it'll push east clubs. eventually spreading into west wales, and the cloud increasing and there will be some sunny spells.

things are 4pm and turning back towards western scotland. 12 degrees in stornoway. sunshine around the moray firth, 17 degrees. rain across northern ireland, the isle of man and western areas of wales, devon and western areas of wales, devon and cornwall. further east, some sunshine and those temperatures could be as high as 16 to 19. as cold front will move eastwards overnight, bringing outbreaks of rain, but in the area of low pressure is going to stick with us as we go through the weekend. the further west you are towards the south—western part of england there is the risk of showers towards saturday and late in the day, rain moving its way into south—east england spreading north in tours lincolnshire. elsewhere, it should be dry on saturday with some sunshine. filling pleasant in the sunshine. filling pleasant in the sunshine with temperatures above 1a, 19 celsius. the area of low pressure is with us into sunday and bisla the front is around eastern areas. there is still some uncertainty exactly

where the cold front will be and where the cold front will be and where the cold front will be and where the associated rain will be with it. it could be further west and it could be further east, but at the moment we think there will be outbreaks of rain across eastern england which will eventually clear away and becoming more confined to scotla nd away and becoming more confined to scotland in the afternoon. further west again, the risk of heavy showers here. but in between there will be sunny spells and temperatures 1a, 16 degrees. 12 degrees lower than it was last week. next week it will be largely settled, high—pressure starting to develop so lots of dry weather and there should be bright weather around as well. that is all from me, goodbye. hello, it's 9 o'clock. i'm chloe tilley. welcome to the programme. we're talking to the 30—year—old woman with multiple sclerosis who might have to go into a care home — because her council can no longerfind carers to help her live independently. after this programme made more than 800 attempts to get an mp to talk about why they voted for cuts to bereavement payments, finally a conservative mp tells us

he will look at the issue. there are specific circumstances, and we need to look at this. this is broadly welcome because it helps more people that are disadvantaged. we can hear the full interview in a few moments time. junk food advertising could be banned on the london transport network in an effort to tackle obesity in children. our plans are to ban the