hello. this is business briefing. i'm david eades. carlo cottarelli, a leading italian economist, has agreed to lead an interim government. but italy's two biggest anti—establishment parties are already saying they'll block him. driving cars off the streets. we look at how paris is tackling the problem of rising levels of air pollution. and let's have a look at the markets for you. the dowjones, forget it. that is on friday. they had a day off yesterday as well. as for the hang seng and the nikkei, down a little bit. perhaps as much a reflection of what is going on in europe, as much as anywhere else. hello. welcome to the programme. italy has been plunged deeper into political crisis after attempts to form a coalition government collapsed. carlo cotta relli is

a former imf economist, and now has the task of trying to form a new government. he became known as "mr scissors" in italy because of his cuts to public spending, however, achieving a majority in parliament will be very difficult indeed. you can see here in yellow and green, the two populist and eurosceptic parties, the five star movement and the league. they so control more than half the seats in the chamber of deputies. and the country has serious economic challenges. as well as rising poverty and high unemployment, it's also got the eurozone‘s second—highest level of government debt, totalling $2.7 trillion —130% of gdp. with me is independent analyst, stephanie hare. well, let's start on mr scissors, shall we, or mr nobody is i think

one of the leaders calls him? he has not got a prayer, has he? does not seem that he has a prayer at all because the two parties that had the largest votes in the match for election, the five star movement and the northern league, have both said they will not support his government. that could lead to re—elections in august. government. that could lead to re-elections in august. and the markets do not appear to have made their minds up over the last 12 hours or so. is difficult for the market to know what to make of this, what we need to see is what campaign platform these parties will contain on over the summer platform these parties will contain on over the summer because that is theissue,is on over the summer because that is the issue, is this new election going to become basically a de facto referendum on whether italy stays in the eurozone all leads? you're right, but that is such a massive, it is almost too frightening to contemplate for those who are least support the idea of that.

absolutely, italians when they uphold, almost unanimously favour remaining in the eu and the euro. they did not campaign in his flat last election in march four to leave the euro, it is not like we've had here in the united kingdom where there was a very open discussion, we are looking to leave the european union, where it was all very sort of over it. this has all happened by stealth. —— overt. the value of the euro has plummeted to a six—month low, for example the government bond yield is getting worse from an italian perspective certainly, do you think this is part of what will be very much a sort of topsy—turvy market response over the next few weeks and months? i mean it is hard to see why they are going to regain a lot of confidence for while? yeah, and we have seen the northern league

actually going up in terms of public support. that is really the question. we have to see also why the other italian parties not able to gain traction with the electorate? that is another thing, it reminds me a little bit of france as well, when we had emmanuel macron. he essentially has annihilated his opposition, and that is sort of what we're seeing in italy, is that the traditional parties are nowhere to be seen in terms of popular support. people are not voting for them. what is it about these two parties? the northern league was until very recently a majority group, and silvio berlusconi is sort of lurking there in the background, kind of being a puppet master. we will see if there is an election, if that has any if there is an election, if that has a ny effect if there is an election, if that has any effect at all. for the moment, thank you very much. thank you. malaysia's new prime minister mahathir mohamad has announced he will scrap the project to build a high—speed railway to singapore. let's go to our asia business hub, rico hizon is following the story.

david. hi. it is going to be a slow train to singapore then. the project has been derailed, david. malaysia is cancelling this important project, that would have dramatically reduce travel times between malaysia and singapore, with about 90% of the rail network set to be in malaysia. well, the project valued by analysts at about $17 billion was out for tender and was expected to be completed by 2026, at prime minister mahathir mohamad who w011 prime minister mahathir mohamad who won a surprise election victory earlier this month says it would be too costly and they will make no money out of it. it is going to cost us money out of it. it is going to cost usa money out of it. it is going to cost us a huge sum of money, we will make fio us a huge sum of money, we will make no money at all from this operation. it is only a short track, it is going to save only one hour by taking this train. david, the

92—year—old leader has made it a priority to cut the national debt and has cut big projects agreed by his lead assessor, that he says are expensive and have no economic benefit. malaysia may have to pay about $125 million to singapore to get out of this project. he estimates that malaysia could cut by almost a fifth of its $250 billion national debt and liabilities by scrapping big projects like this railway line. that is a pretty no—nonsense stars. thank you very much indeed. cities across europe are looking at ways to cut pollution and improve air quality. no city has gone further than paris so far. so is it setting an example for others to follow? theo leggett takes a look. paris is widely renowned for its art, its architecture and its cafe culture, but it is also notorious

for its traffic. the french capital is crowded, its roads are heavily congested, and it varies badly polluted. the paris authorities think there arejust polluted. the paris authorities think there are just too many cars in this town that is the cause of all the pollution, so they would like people to use something lean and clean, like this, instead. we are ina and clean, like this, instead. we are in a situation of emergency and the shift towards clean mobility and the shift towards clean mobility and the diminution of the number of cars ina the diminution of the number of cars in a city like paris is very urgent, so we in a city like paris is very urgent, so we need to do something. paris has already banned older cars on entering the city on weekdays. it wa nts to entering the city on weekdays. it wants to get rid of diesel vehicles altogether within six years and it is offering big incentives for people to travel in other ways. individuals can claim subsidies worth up to $500 each to help them by electrically assisted bicycles. that raises to $750 to pay for

bikes, public transport or car sharing scheme is they scrap their own cars 01’ sharing scheme is they scrap their own cars or motorbikes. and small businesses can claim up to $11,000 to help them buy electric vehicles. but the city's actions have attracted some determined opposition. julian represents a car drivers's lobby group. i asked in if he thought paris had declared war on motorists. yeah, yeah. and not only in the city of paris, it is also at the national level and maybe the european level. —— julien. the national level and maybe the european level. ——julien. it the national level and maybe the european level. —— julien. it is like you have to by cars to make sure that the economy works but don't use them. nevertheless, the clampdown on cars in paris will continue on whether french capital leads, other cities are expected to follow. so residents, commuters and businesses in urban areas in europe may have to learn other ways to get

around. now let's brief you opn some other business stories. a truckers' strike in brazil appears to be continuing, that's despite a government decision to lower diesel prices. many road blockades have been removed, but a handful of drivers' unions are still holding out. brazil's sugar industry says that hundreds of mills in the south — producing almost all the country's ethanol — have halted for lack of fuel. meat producers say 70 million chickens have perished for lack of feed. the owner of pret a manger is set to sell the uk—based sandwich shop chain for $2 billion to jab holdings. that's according to a report in the financial times. the private investment group is taking on beverage giant nestle by rapidly acquiring companies linked to the coffee market. talking of coffee, every starbucks in the united states will be closed today so its 175,000 us employees can receive training in how to avoid racial bias. this follows the arrest last month of two black men in a branch, as they waited for

a business meeting. that is pretty much it for business briefing this hour. before we go, let's have a quick look at the markets for you. i talked about the dowjones, closed last friday. that is half a call, no attention. the nikkei and the hang seng both down. the career situation is encouraging, the european, italian situation is not. sugar, crude up a little bit. that is the latest, you're right up to date. news briefing is coming up next. youtube has deleted just over half the music videos

the metropolitan police has asked to be taken down because they incite violence. the music involved is known as "drill" and it often features hooded and masked gangs threatening each other. the bbc‘s andy moore reports. drill music like this is the key is not only of glamorising violence but of contributing the real crime. this video was used in evidence in a recent murder trial. hundreds of tracks are available on social media, some had been viewed over a million times. they often feature hoarded and masked gangs making violent gesture and gestures. the met police commissioner cressida dick said the videos were used by real gangs to taunt each other and have been linked to at least one attack. she called on internet companies to show social responsibility. scotland yard is

asked youtube to take down a twin 50 and 60 videos it leaves raise the risk of violence. the company said it had removed more than 30 clips which were found to be in violation of its policies, or broke the law. youtube, which is owned by google, said it shared the deep concern that many felt about this issue and was continuing to work constructively with experts. one in 25 primary school children in england aged ten to 11 is severely obese — that's according to data analysed by the local government association. height and weight measurements show the number of children classed as severely overweight rose from 15,000 in reception to 22,000 by the time they leave primary school. the lga said that the figures are a "wakeup call". ministers insist their childhood obesity plan is "comprehensive". coming up at 6am on breakfast, charlie stayt and naga munchetty will have all the day's news, business and sport.

this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: new revelations about the russian spy poisoned in the uk. his doctor tells the bbc he didn't think sergei skripal or his daughter would survive. italy's two main populist parties call for peaceful protests, after an unelected, pro—eu technocrat is chosen as prime minister. who should own the land in south africa? the governing anc is under pressure to confiscate white property and hand it over to the black majority. time not to have a look at the stories making headlines in media across the world. let's start with the financial times. it's leading with the political and market tensions in italy, as the president put forward a former imf official to run a technocratic government.

arab news is reporting on how iran is under pressure from enemies, as much as allies, to withdraw its alleged militias from syria. the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov said only syrian army troops should be on the country's southern border. the japan times is looking at the ongoing international labour organisation's conference, aimed at setting the first international rules to end violence and harassment in the workplace. an investigation by the guardian reveals the shocking extent of forced marriages, and large scale domestic and sexual servitude, across the united kingdom. the times front page includes the news of chelsea football club owner roman abramovich flying to tel aviv to acquire israeli citizenship, which would enable him to travel to britain without a visa. finally, france 2a is looking at le spiderman — or the malian migrant who rescued a child from a balcony in paris and is now looking to be rewarded with french citizenship. if he wants it, it should be added.

so let's begin. with me is director of seven investment management, justin urquhart stewart. good to have you here. thank you. this is a little bit of groundhog day on this italian story, but gets worse, doesn't it? this is so important, because it is notjust political enters what is happy with the parties, but it is political, financial, and structural, both to the eu and the eurozone itself. this is the third largest economy in the eurozone, and it is not so much they immediately pull out, but the loss of confidence in the