this is business live from bbc news with ben bland and david eades. hands off the wheel. europe steers towards a driverless future. but are the public on board? live from london, that's our top story on thursday 17th may. driverless cars are coming and europe's about to catch up with the us and china in this fast—developing technology. but can questions about safety still be resolved? plus: from tencent to half a trillion dollars. the chinese tech giant unveils record profits thanks to a boom in mobile phone gaming. and we keep an eye on the market is for you as ever. a fairly flat picture across europe at the start of the day. that is how they are looking at the moment. well it's not long until the royal wedding which takes place in windsor on saturday and preparations are hopefully

close to completion. butjust how do you plan a successful high profile wedding? we'll get the insights of an online wedding planner. you can throw in any questions you might want to put to a wedding planner, because we know that weddings can be difficult and very expensive. today we are also asking if it was your wedding, what is the one thing you would spend the money on? let us know. just use the hashtag bbcbizlive. yes, we want to get your comments. i was thinking about it and you can't go far wrong with the cake? big and expensive cake and everyone is happy. we will come onto that later. get your thoughts coming into us. we start with driverless cars. they are on their way, whether we like it or not, and today the eu will unveil its plans to catch up with the us and china in this fast—developing technology. it will include investments in infrastructure as well as

co—operation between member states on rules and ethics. the eu's flagship programme only began last year. l3 pilot is operated by a consortium of car companies led by volkswagen which will test vehicles across ten countries. notjust a catchy name! compare that to the us, where nevada became the first state to permit testing back in 2011. now 21 states have laws governing driverless car testing. china's also investing heavily with plans to launch 30 million vehicles with some degree of autonomy within the next decade. it's set to be the world's biggest market for autonomous vehicles by 2030. the area is not without its controversy of course. in the last few hours us regulators have said they are looking into what could be another crash involving driverless technology. plenty of challenges to be faced.

ozgur tohumcu, chief executive of the automotive consultancy firm tantalum, joins us. thank you forjoining us. it is clear that the eu is way off the pace in some regards. is that necessarily a bad thing, given what we have just heard about the us?m is not a terrible thing but obviously the eu needs to catch up. if you look at what is happening around the world, especially in the us in the last two years and the last three months especially, we know there is a lot notjust in terms of the technology, social imprecations, legal liability, many issues that need to be addressed when it comes to autonomous vehicles. to get a good view of the 360 angle on this is great, but the eu needs to move fast now, having seen a lot of what is happening already. we will get some sense of ethics and rules and what have you.

but ina ethics and rules and what have you. but in a way it has not been depicted as the driverless car future. they are looking at it in terms of road safety, improving targets for detecting the passengers. we will see the third package coming from the eu transport division today. what i expect to see if targets being set, which is a great achievement, i think. this has been pushed by a lot of consumer groups. targets? targets for reducing totality is on the roads. in 2017 there were 25 thousand rd related that allergies across europe. the target is to reduce that by 50% by 2030. and they are going to look at serious injuries as well to look at serious injuries as well to reduce that by 50%. and they want to reduce that by 50%. and they want to start bringing in almost straightaway more of the autonomous vehicle capacity, has standard. exactly. if you think about autonomous vehicles moving into our lives, it will take time but a lot

of things can be done already. if you think about the technology in the cars, there are number of features that are presented as optional in many brands, such as intelligence, intelligent speed assistance, which allows you to detect the speed of the car and to align the speed of the road with that. and emergency braking assistance, like when there is something going on in the road, for the car to break immediately. these are things that would reduce the charities already. you would expect the eu to be there. as always. but would you accept that it will probably also be near the back of the field when we get to the final push? absolutely. in terms of some of the measures that will be lamented, and especially one thing i would like to highlight, in terms of road safety and fatalities, the eu is actually quite ahead in the number of fatalities that you see. but one thing we can do so much better is around air quality and emissions. this is a big problem in

the uk as well, as you know. one thing that will have a side—effect, and a positive one, as these types of things at implement it, we will see omissions being reduced and air quality improving. thank you. we look forward to the package of measures. thank you. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. french energy giant total is preparing to pull out of a billion dollar gas project in iran in the face of renewed us sanctions. total said it will unwind operations by november unless sanctions are waived. washington is reimposing strict sanctions on iran, which were lifted under the 2015 deal to curb the country's nuclear ambitions. french rail workers will begin two more days of strikes against planned reforms by president macron. the shake—up is aimed at making sncf, france's heavily indebted state rail operator, more efficient. there have been 18 days of walkouts since early april, the last on monday, which sncf bosses described as a "very difficult day" with "heavy disruption". brazil's central bank

has surprised markets, ending a run of 12 consecutive interest rate cuts. the bank has kept rates unchanged at 6.5%, saying the decision reflects market volatility in the midst of brazil's recovery from its worst recession on record. the chinese online giant tencent has unveiled record profits thanks to a boom in mobile phone gaming. revenues from social media have also been soaring, helping to make tencent one of asia's most valuable companies, worth around half a trillon dollars. sarah toms is in singapore. this is a massive success story again. that is right. record results, as you said for tencent. they are the owners of the popular messaging app which is similar to

whatsapp. they reported a whopping profit of $3.7 billion in the first quarter, a jump of 61% in net profit. the stocks and shares in the market were soaring today. in hong kong, tencent‘s shares were up just under 5%. these results are way beyond what analysts or investors we re beyond what analysts or investors were estimating. the company attributed the record results to the mobile gaming business and also the growing advertising business. tencent is also known as china's facebook also said that its chat app has 1 facebook also said that its chat app has1 billion news accounts facebook also said that its chat app has 1 billion news accounts for the first time. this is significant because it is a big source of revenue for the company. recently stock had been taking a bit of a hit in the market. before the earnings report came out. analysts were

worried about slowing growth and that the company was trying to spend its way out of trouble as it faced stiff competition from competitors, especially another chinese giant in the market. thank you very much. a mixed picture on the asian markets. the nikkei up but the hang seng down. losses in asian share markets, however, were limited after us equities advanced on wednesday, led by retail and technology shares. here's how europe looks at the start of thursday trading. the key thing globally and politically is talks between us and china to avert a tariff war with a look ahead at wall hearings kim. on thursday a slew of american retailers are all expecting to report their first—quarter earnings and chief amongst them is the world's biggest retailer walmart. the company has been in the news recently because of its acquisition of the indian e—commerce giant and

because it said it was selling a sta ke because it said it was selling a stake in its uk—based supermarket chain asda to sainsbury‘s. investors will be looking for any further information about these international deals at what they say about the health of the company. many are worried that walmart has not transitioned to online shopping effectively enough. investors will be curious to see what walmart has to state when it reports these first—quarter earnings. there are also the earnings of two department store chains, nordstrom and jcpenney. like many retailers around the world, both companies had been struggling as of late, so investors will be keen to see any good news is suggesting that american shoppers are once more returning to their stores. joining us is trevor greetham from royal london asset management. what is catching your eye in the markets at the moment? you have seen a lot of stock market volatility so far this year and what we are beginning to see are signs that

global growth is coming off the boil. 2017 was a strong, synchronise your with europe catching up with america and now europe is slowing down a bit and the uk had the worst gdp quarter in five or six years and the markets are very sensitive to that. the us is doing well. yes, retail sales were very strong and they had tax cuts lately. as a result, people expect the federal reserve to press on with interest rate rises this year, where is elsewhere they are getting cold feet. we missed it in this country. the chinese bank has a quantitive easing policy which means the dollar strengthening again. we are going into a period where the stock market are usually pretty volatile and we seek trading markets for equities and some dollar strength as well. there seems to be a decoupling between the speed of growth in the usa and the rest of the world. between the speed of growth in the usa and the rest of the worldm does feel like that, yes. you have had this very late cycle, this

fiscal stimulus, the trump tax cuts late last year, boosting growth. fiscal stimulus, the trump tax cuts late last year, boosting growthm there is this slowdown, which markets are sensitive to and hinting at, why is oil on the rise? if there isa at, why is oil on the rise? if there is a slowdown, up logic would suggest that oil prices would fall because there is less demand. and when the dollar is strong be oil prices usually weak so it is a puzzle. i think there is the unrest being stirred up in the middle east by the us president and partly the fa ct by the us president and partly the fact that the growth is coming off the boil, but it is still strong, so we are seeing a drawdown in inventories like jet boil. pushing $80 a barrel. will that keep going? i think so but it was $185 a barrel ten yea rs i think so but it was $185 a barrel ten years ago so this is relatively low inflation. we think the business cycle trundles on. even if we don't feel so lucky at the pumps already.

thank you. and thanks for getting the memo about wearing a blue tie! it's the countdown to the royal wedding. meghan and harry tie the knot on saturday. but how do you make sure that things go smoothly on the big day especially when it's such a high profile event? we'll find out from a wedding planner. you're with business live from bbc news. the uk government has revealed plans to slash the maximum stakes on fixed odds betting terminals from £100 to £2. joining us now with more on this is our business correspondent theo leggett. that is a big move. what led to the decision ultimately to go for the £2 option? let's look at what fixed odds betting terminals actually are. they are gaming machines which you will find in they are gaming machines which you willfind in high they are gaming machines which you will find in high street but mike is that allow you to wager on the results of various games. —— high street bookmakers. and simulated

horse racing, always with fixed odds of winning. the problem is that you have a £100 maximum bet and you can place a new bed every 20 seconds, and campaigners say this encourages people to spend a lot of money very quickly and also that the machines are highly addictive. that has been backed up by a government report so the concern is that this leads to welfare problems, mental problems and social problems, and that is why the government wants to reduce the maximum stake. earlier this year the gambling commission recommended that the stake could come down from £100 to £30, and it seems the government is willing to go further than that. there will be some within the gambling industry saying that this will lead to the closure of some betting shops and it will mean damaging job losses. absolutely and they are already saying it. the chief executive of william hill has spoken this morning. it is serious news. william hill get half of its

retail revenues, revenues from shops, from fixed odds betting terminals. as a result of this news, onceit terminals. as a result of this news, once it is in place, operating profit will be reduced by between £70 million up to £100 million. 900 shops up and down the country, more than one third of the shops that it currently has, maybe at risk of closure. some of them will be making losses and some of them will be at risk of closure the short—term. across the industry as a whole, it has been suggested that there are 20,000 jobs at risk. for the industry this is very serious indeed but nevertheless the government seems to believe that the social issues outweigh those considerations. plenty more on that story on the business live web page. you're watching business live.

our top story — europe is about to catch up with the us and china over driverless car technology, and will annouce new rules over ethics and investments in infrastructure. a quick look at how markets are faring. the picture across the main european indices at the start of thursday trading. putting that dull stuff aside! and now let's get the inside track on the wedding industry. surprise, surprise! well there is some kind of wedding going on here in the uk on saturday. and even though it will be just one of 260,000 weddings here this year it will be a big affair, costing much more than the average $24,000. that's without the

honeymoon, by the way. in total a whopping $13.5 billion is spent on weddings every year in the uk, and the industry involves 139,000 small businesses. hamish shephard is the founder of bridebook.co.uk and co—founder of the wedding venue hedsor house. that's in buckinghamshire can not farfrom that's in buckinghamshire can not far from where harry and that's in buckinghamshire can not farfrom where harry and meghan that's in buckinghamshire can not far from where harry and meghan are tying the knot. just down the river thames. you can't ignore this wedding and the preparations. this is your business. it's part of you thinking, i wish i could get my hands on that one? definitely, it will be one of the most iconic weddings in history and we expect 3 billion people to be watching it. unlimited budget and thousands of deaths. i think for the average wedding, they don't have the luxury

ofa wedding, they don't have the luxury of a luxury budget or their granny owning a castle. we help out over a third of uk couples to plan their wedding, go through that emotional journey. most couples do not have a wedding planner, so having the experience of planning such a big day, we are there to help. having to make sure every single base is covered, it's as strong as its wea kest covered, it's as strong as its weakest link. in terms of effort in putting it together, its a big demand. exactly, we have a range of tools working people through every step of the check list, finding the photographer, the venue, the florist. there are 139,000 small businesses in the uk in the wedding industry. it employs over half a million really talented people and we love working with them, connecting all the couples with these great suppliers. you have a

venue as these great suppliers. you have a venue as well. you have been involved in some pretty high profile weddings involving royal families, some of the popular royals of the world. tell us a little bit about some of the costs that, into these events and also what people are looking for. they can be very bespoke and they must want to control what you want to control as well. it's a difficult balance. the average cost of the uk wedding is £18,000, about $211,000. average cost of the uk wedding is £18,000, about $24,000. from that we look at where couples look to celebrate their individuality first up celebrate their individuality first up we have had weddings where the groom has surprised the bride who is interested in dinosaurs. we had a robotic velociraptor on the dance floor. how romantic! hopefully harry and meghan will have a dinosaur in the wedding! you could say old—fashioned. the wedding! you could say old-fashioned. it's where people are looking for what is special to them.

we have had weddings where the couple have started with a huge english tea party on the lawn and then moved into a ballroom for a midwinter theme of snow machines and christmas. we will get to the cake ina minute. christmas. we will get to the cake in a minute. some of the high profile weddings. 0n security, it's critically important, we know security would be massive on saturday. a lot of high profile weddings could perhaps want their own security retinue. that impacts immediately on the mood and environment. and they presumably tell you what to do. exactly. i was at windsor castle on tuesday this week. there is security everywhere, but on a wedding, on the big day, you wanted hidden away. not every bride dreams of sniffer dogs, so it should be in the shadows. but it's a high—profile event, balancing privacy and security, and the royal wedding has a huge global interest.

you have a delicious looking cake, the top tier wedding cake. i will go through some tweets, we have asked you this morning where you would splash out and where you would prioritise spending and where you would save money. 0ne tweet says, i would save money. 0ne tweet says, i would spend the money on jewellery, outfits and food, music. jerome says prioritise the spend a honeymoon. another reviewer says, i wouldn't rule splashing out on a scrumptious ca ke rule splashing out on a scrumptious cake but i would also splurge on a first—class team of photography and filming. i suppose everyone has their own ideas of what they prioritise, what is most important to them. where do you find people are most prepared to rein it in because costs can spiral. the cost ofa because costs can spiral. the cost of a wedding breaks down into three parts. a third will always be the venue, a third is food and drink, and the final third is all the other

items, the photography, the forestry and the make—up artist. that's where couples move the money around. we see two thirds of couples have no budget, or have gone over their budget. that's where they are prioritising. the florist has a lot of variability. somebody like the photographer, that's an essential. and what is this? let's get this right. it's identical to harry and what is this? let's get this right. it's identicalto harry and meghan's royal wedding cake, lemon and elderflower. very exciting, and hopefully it tastes as good as it looks. it will not change? there was a rumour that we would get a lemon and ginger. —— lemon and gin. a rumour that we would get a lemon and ginger. -- lemon and gin. it's not a lemon and gin. a great brea kfast. not a lemon and gin. a great breakfast. thank you for coming in. another key question coming up. not

quite as exciting at the moment, but... who will take over from mark carney as governor of the bank of england when his term ends next year? raghuram rajan, former chief of india's central bank and now a professor at the university of chicago, has been widely tipped as a possible replacement. but speaking to our economics editor kamal ahmed, he was tight—lipped about any potential move to london. look, i am very, very happy with myjob at chicago booth. i love academia. that's where i'll leave it. but no plans to consider coming here? i have no plans. but you're not ruling it out? look, all i can say is i'm very happy with my currentjob. joining us is trevor greetham from royal london asset management. quite a lot of interesting stories in the papers. we picked out one from the washington post, we mentioned it earlier, the french oil

giant total threatening to pull out of its gas project in iran. this is the business response to the political tensions at the moment between the us and iran. this is because america has talked about secondary sanctions. sanctions on companies that do business with iran. total is doing business with iran. total is doing business with iran and they have made a big deal of the fact 90% of their financing comes from us banks, but it shows you how difficult it is in business to deal with these uncertain to these, these what you might call trumpian uncertainties. if total pulls out you could feel the card is crumbling. it will affect other countries aside from iran in a big way. classic trumpet, go in with both feet big, backpedal quietly after the media attention, and there

is no obvious strategy anyway. they are giving it until september, soy bit of wiggle room. in the financial times, are poorer countries leading the way in getting women into technology? doing a betterjob, it seems, in getting women into science, technology and mathsjobs. it's an unexpected thing, but countries like algeria, 40% of the stem subjects are studied by women. it's hard to get an even crack in countries weather isn't gender equality for stop people go to a very meritocratic subject like computer programming. trevor, thank you. we'll see you soon. there will be more business news throughout the day on the bbc live webpage and on world business report. we'll see you again tomorrow. it was a rather chilly start this

morning, but many of us rewarded with some sunshine. many will keep the sunshine into the afternoon and it will feel quite warm as well. but there will be some cloud building into the afternoon. it will feel fresher along the north sea coast with the onshore wind. i suspect the cloud building the most across the north midlands, scotland and northern ireland. elsewhere keeping blue skies with temperatures up to 15-18, blue skies with temperatures up to 15—18, maybe 12 or 13 on the north sea coastline. through this evening and overnight, we will keep clear spells, and that means it will turn quite chilly. like last night, temperatures getting down into fairly low single figures, two and three celsius in northern areas, five or six further south. but it will be lower than those temperatures suggest in the countryside. 0n temperatures suggest in the countryside. on friday, a lovely and sunny start to the day for many of us. cloud into scotland, northern

ireland, outbreaks of rain pushing the outer hebrides and the highlands. temperatures similar to today, 16—18dc, and feeling quite warm. sunshine, and chile along the north sea coasts. 0n warm. sunshine, and chile along the north sea coasts. on saturday, a weather front moving to the north—west of scotland, a bit more cloud here. elsewhere on saturday, clear spells. again, a chilly start to the day, but for the royal wedding, temperatures by lunchtime up wedding, temperatures by lunchtime up to 15, and into the low 20s by the afternoon in windsor. in glasgow for the scottish cup final, plenty of dry and sunny weather. sunshine aplenty and temperatures for pretty much all of us getting into the high teens and low 20s. it will feel much warmer in the next few days. for the fa cup final at wembley, temperatures around 20 celsius. dry weather and a glorious scene, i suspect. going into sunday, a little

bit cloudy across scotland and northern ireland, and some outbreaks of patchy rain. england and wales, under the dry day, bright with sunshine. temperatures getting pretty high, 20—22, perhaps 23 celsius. fresherfurther north, 12 degrees in the north—west and elsewhere in scotland, temperatures in the low teens. hello. it's thursday. it's 9 o'clock. i'm victoria derbyshire. welcome to the programme. it's been announced this morning that the maximum stake on fixed odds betting terminals will be slashed from £100 to £2 to try to tackle an addiction which can devastate lives. i just went to the counter and i said 500. i lost that in the space of a few minutes. thousand, lost that. thousand, lost that,

and another thousand, until i had no more money in my bank account. the move is being welcomed by campaigners but the gambling industry says it means thousands ofjobs will be cut. let us know your experience if you work in a betting shop or you use these machines. what's going to be the impact of this reduction? also — trying desperately to repatriate the bodies