this is business live from bbc news with maryam moshiri and alice baxter. the wall street winner — apple becomes the first us company to be worth a trillion dollars. live from london, that's our top story on friday the 3rd of august from its humble beginnings 42 years ago, apple keeps going from strength to strength — but other tech companies are hot on its heels. also in the programme: the top us diplomat is in asia to invest millions and try and make a dent in china's influence in the region. we have the latest from the european markets which are looking pretty good. british airways‘ parent company is on track for growth in 2018, but has been plagued by strike diruption and rising oil prices. we'll look at how the airline industry is faring in

the current climate. the british heatwave has injected $40 million into the economy because of staycations and outdoor dining. so are you spending more because of the heat? is it meals out? new summer clothes? industrial fans? just use the hashtag #bbcbizlive. hello and welcome to business live. a packed and busy programme for you. apple is now the world's most valuable publicly—listed company. shares in the iphone maker closed at a new record high of $207.39 on thursday, meaning it's beat silicon valley rivals amazon and microsoft to be the first us company worth $1 trillion. it is now worth more than exxon mobile, procter & gamble and at&t put together.

apple shares have been rising since tuesday when it reported better than expected results for the three months tojune. but its rivals are hot on its heels. here are the five most valuable us companies by market capitalisation, and you notice that they are all tech or internet companies. and apart from apple and microsoft, none of them existed 25 years ago. staggering numbers. rory cellan—jones, our technology correspondent, is here. it has beaten off all of those silicon rivals. how has apple managed to do this? is it all down to the iphone? i think it is. managed to do this? is it all down to the iphone? ithink it is. back injanuary to the iphone? ithink it is. back in january 2007 i to the iphone? ithink it is. back injanuary 2007 i was in san francisco, when a man in a familiar uniform climbed onstage, the black turtleneck sweater, jeans, steve jobs told us he was going to make history that morning. of course, he

did. he unveiled the iphone. we have been talking a lot this week about a decade of disruption caused by the smartphone. it began, really, in 2007. i have been looking back at the value of apple then, and it was at around $100 billion. 0ver the value of apple then, and it was at around $100 billion. over the last decade or so, it has appreciated tenfold. that is because the iphone has been the single most profitable product ever created. it has been worth more in terms of profit than something like the jumbo jet, just about any other products you can think of. what is interesting is you could say that that year was the year of greatest innovation for apple and not an awful lot has happened since. what they have done is build massively on that single, huge piece of innovation. four years later, that single, huge piece of innovation. fouryears later, steve jobs died, tim cook took over and a

lot of people said can they carry on making such progress? we talk about the success of apple, a phenomenal success , the success of apple, a phenomenal success, the success of the iphone. so much credit put on the shoulders of steve jo bs so much credit put on the shoulders of steve jobs and so much credit put on the shoulders of stevejobs and the english designer. but how much credit should we give the business acumen of tim cook, who took over the helm in 2011? of course, we have also seen huge growth in terms of their cloud storage, selling apps, music streaming etc? what he has done is basically take this extraordinary product and integrate it into an amazing financial machine. apple's whole logistics operation, the way it integrates the chinese manufacturing operation with its design in california, he has made that tick over smoothly. he may not

be the inspirational figure that steve jo bs be the inspirational figure that steve jobs was, be the inspirational figure that stevejobs was, but he has grown a whole new business in services. that leaping up and becoming a business that, on its own, would be a world leading technology business. let's talk about huawei, another big mobile company that has overtaken apple to become... there is the irony, that is the funny thing. in the very week when apple's triumph was complete, it slipped in the rankings from number two to number three. what is more important, being $1 trillion company or slipping in those rankings? obviously being able trillion dollar company. but it raises a little flag. i visited huawei when they were just getting into smartphones. they are a huge telecoms equipment company, that is what their speciality is. they got into smartphones and they said back then we had big ambitions, i was a bit sniffy about it. there they are, at number two. the key point is the average selling price of a huawei phone, the margins on them, we don't

know them really, but we know that it is absolutely tiny compared to what apple is making from every phone. but they are a huge and growing presence. briefly, the other big tech story of the week, google, somewhat backtracking on previous state m e nts somewhat backtracking on previous statements in that it is now forging ahead into the chinese market. is it agreeing to self censor? this is a huge mystery. a very interesting story. it has been reported from a couple of sources that it has a plan to introduce a search app and possibly a news app that would accord with chinese censorship plans. for a company that has always said don't be evil, that is its watchword, it has played that down a bit lately, it will meet a lot of internal opposition. google staff are passionate about the ethical mission, as well as external examinations. it is not at all clear it will go ahead, but it is a mark of how desperate they are to have

some kind of presence in china, where the ethical code, until now, is basically kept them out. where the ethical code, until now, is basically kept them outlj where the ethical code, until now, is basically kept them out. i guess the chinese market is too big to ignore. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. cbs has beat wall street's quarterly revenue estimates at a time when its chief executive faces allegations of sexual harassment. the media company whose shows include the hit sitcom the big bang theory says advertising revenue during the three months tojune rose slightly to $1.3 billion. general motors is asking for an exemption to a 25% tariff on the cars imported from china on its buick envision suv, which is assembled in china. the envision accounted for about 19% of buick brand sales last year in the united states. dutch brewing giant heineken has entered into a $3.1 billion partnership with china's crh beer company, which controls the country's largest brewer, china resources beer. the two companies are hoping together to crack the growing market for premium brands in china. us secretary of state mike pompeo

is on a five—day tour of south east asia to tout the us economic and political commitment to the region. he is in singapore today where he will be attending the asean summit. karishma vaswani is there and joins us now. what exactly is the us hoping to gain from this summit?” what exactly is the us hoping to gain from this summit? i think it is very much about demonstrating the us's commitment to this part of the world. remember, head of the gathering here in singapore, mike pompeo was in malaysia today, meeting with the new prime minister there. they spoke about trade, they talked about counterterrorism. in fa ct, talked about counterterrorism. in fact, head of the entire trip, mr pompeo talked about the us commitment to this region. what he showed by doing this, or certainly

what he pledged to the asia—pacific region was $130 million worth of new investments in things like technology, digital infrastructure and energy. the us is saying, do business with us, asia. the other partner that you have out in the region, which is china, spending billions of dollars on building roads, ports and highways through the one belt, one road programme, it is raising this issue of can you really trust them? mr pompeo was not explicit in naming china in some of his remarks when he announced the $113 million—dollar investment, but positioned the us as the vast superior moral partner in all of this, as concerns countries that don't have what the us says is an ethical code of doing business. many asian countries have looked at $130 million and, i think, privately they will say they are very sceptical

about how much of a commitment that is. let's ta ke let's take you to the market in asia. mixed, but feeling more positive following the lead on wall street tech stocks. still worries about a potential trade war between china and the us, having been stoked midweek by president trump. european stocks, banking stocks are helping lift sentiment in europe. they are looking beyond any worries over trade and looking ahead to some strong results, and also, of course, expecting later jobs strong results, and also, of course, expecting laterjobs figures out strong results, and also, of course, expecting later jobs figures out to the us. i am sure that is what paul blake will be talking about when he gives us details of what is ahead on wall street today. well, data drives the day he in the us, with the us labor department announcing jobs numbers for the month ofjuly. now, wall street is expecting that figure to come in at about 190,000, with the unemployment rate dropping tojust 3.9%. that's a lower figure than 213,000 that the us economy added injune, but it's still impressive, and illustrates just how healthy the us job market currently is. we'rejoined by simon derrick,

chief markets strategist at the bank of new york mellon. a little bit more analysis on what is going on with markets. simon, let's begin by talking about the governor of the bank of england, mark carney. he has been making news again already this morning, on the airwaves to the bbc, talking about the risks of a no—deal brexit. let's cast our mind back to yesterday, when he was also taking centre stage. raising uk interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point. do you think about was right in doing so? it was a unanimous decision. you think about was right in doing so? it was a unanimous decisionm was. surprising son? the fact it was so was. surprising son? the fact it was so strong, yes. some people thought maybe a couple of members of the monetary policy committee would vote against it but it was unanimous. the

question is, why would they hike rates yesterday when we've got brexit to come and when inflation is slowing down? i think it's about giving a degree of stability for the bank. if you perhaps have something u ntowa rd bank. if you perhaps have something untoward happen later this year, england need to start cutting rates again to support the economy. there is this idea that maybe they need a little bit more ammunition. it was a sensible thing to do. if you are going to do it at all, you need to do it this month, because it is a period of relative quiet on the political front. we are period of relative quiet on the politicalfront. we are in parliament to recess, the economy is doing relatively well at the moment. it was a sensible move. again, we listen to on this morning and he already expressed concerns that maybe if things go wrong with brexit and maybe there are... you know, there are going to be bumps in the road for the economy. broadly speaking, expectations are no further interest rate rises this year? absolutely not. i assume if we

are talking about where we go next year and everything goes well with brexit, we might only be talking about one rate hike next year. the reality is that we have an economy moving along pretty well, but nothing like the other economies of europe and the us, a more modest pace of rise, and rate hikes is the right thing for us. still to come: are airlines up for a turbulent ride ahead? rising oil prices and strikes in europe could cause problems. we'll look at what's ahead for the industry in the second half of the year. you're with business live from bbc news. royal bank of scotland is on course to pay its first dividend in ten yea rs, to pay its first dividend in ten years, despite seeing a 5% fall in half—year profits in three months to june. but that money will not be paid until the billion settlement with the us department ofjustice

over mortgage securities is completed. simon jack has over mortgage securities is completed. simonjack has been speaking to rospa to, the boss. —— ross mcewan. speaking to rospa to, the boss. -- ross mcewan. was a good day to announce a profit, with another £1 billion for the department of justice. and £1.8 billion of profit as well. that has been good for us considering what we have gone through. what is happening in the marketplace is a lot of things have weighed on the share market, particularly bank stocks, talk of trade wars, brexit itself, what will be the outcome for the uk, other things that are bearing down on stock. the other good thing for us was the announcement of the intention to pay a dividend, the first one in ten years. that is good news for our investors as well. we start to see some return coming through for the stock, no matter what the share price. clearly the

biggest shareholder is the taxpayer. just on that point, rbs obviously is a very different bank that it was ten yea rs a very different bank that it was ten years ago, much more uk focused, much more business and personal banking in the uk. is there a sense that companies that are very exposed to the uk economy, like you are, are suffering because of the uncertainty brexit, that is what investors are scared about? there are certainly ways in which it is weighing down on the stock, but itjust means we have to be very stable, very high capital levels, very strong liquidity to make sure that no matter what happens to brexit we are able to look after our customer base. let's ta ke let's take you to the website, the business live page has all of your latest business news, including this line from mark carney. he has been in the building and talking to the today programme, talking about the future for rate rises. he says the

financial expectation for rate is 31.5% over the next three years. so not as high as previously, in the last few decades. more on that on the website. your're watching business live. british airways owner iag has posted a 6% rise in quarterly profit and says it's on track for growth in 2018 despite a number of financial disruptions. the rising cost of fuel has had a dampening effect on most airlines' profits in the last few months, and the owner of ba, aer lingus, iberia and vueling isn't any different. fuel unit costs for the quarter went up 6.7%. air traffic controller strikes was another reason that profits came in under expectations. a number of airlines, including aig, have taken the matter to the european commission

and are looking for a legal solution. john grant is an aviation expert atjg aviation consultants. thank you forjoining us. what is your take on these results? i suppose it is a lot of positivity for iag? it is solid, not spectacular, but iag is so large and has so much mass that it is a steady eddie performer in the market and has done it again. good numbers, but almost a continuation of the sort of performance we have come used to seeing from this company. that is notwithstanding these major challenges out there in the market, the ongoing strikes, the rising cost of fuel. if those problems continue to be there, are we going to continue to see these sorts of numbers? i think we will. they are very well—placed in terms of capacity and market position. if you look at heathrow, nobody asked can

get there and it has very good, solid yields, the operation is very successful and they are expanding with low—cost, along for operations throughout europe. they are a really solid player. they are almost teflon in terms of their position, untouchable, very strong. if we see oil prices increasing significantly, we all know as consumers when we travel we are going to pay more to travel. what about brexit? people have been talking about the airline industry, the issues it will face when we do leave the european union. iag, is it one of those companies that will be affected, or not so much? not so much. there is a lot of rhetoric around. some of it is stoked up by a vociferous irish airline. ultimately, we are an island economy and air travel is absolutely essential. it is not covered by wto treaties, but those of us within the industry feel there will be a solution. whatever day

brexit occurs, the 1st of april, we will not be in a position where there are no flights. you hit the nail on the head, mark carney was talking about the potential problems ofa no talking about the potential problems of a no deal. when it comes to trade, we talk about trade wars and we can fall back on wto rules. no such fallback position exists for the aviation industry? no, but there area the aviation industry? no, but there are a series of relationships. aviation as an economic catalyst is crucial for many countries. there is no reason to expect it will stop us from flying. norwegian destinations are very much in focus. what is it about norwegian that fits so well with iag? why is it so important?m isa with iag? why is it so important?m is a very large, pan—european, low—cost airline with a solid network. you know, it's got a presence at gatwick. that could be quite nicely consolidated with a

british airways operation. that would work well. what we have seen over the last two matter years is british airways following norwegian into long—haul markets. they've gone to fort lauderdale, they've gone to california, following norwegian. it would make a lot of sense for that to be scared back to just one airline operating, because you tend to make more money when that happens. talking about budget airlines, we had one of the darker clouds within the set of numbers? 0riginally clouds within the set of numbers? originally a spanish —based airline, they have to micro herbs in paris, one at charles de gaulle, and they have one in rome. bosch they have two herbs. they fly over french airspace and get it more than anybody else. the other irony in this is that air france are one of the poorest performers in europe at the poorest performers in europe at the moment, they are being impacted by these strikes. air france cannot afford that. british airways and iag

have been complaining about strikes for a while and want to take legal recourse. how much impact hazard had? 20 million in the case of welling, you could probably double that for ryanair. it's also the operational disruption at this time of year. operational disruption at this time of yea r. crews operational disruption at this time of year. crews are out of hours, they are in the wrong places, airlines are maximising assets on flights as much as possible. suddenly, they are being compromised by this action. a huge impact. very good to talk to you. in a moment we'll take a look through the business pages, but first here's a quick reminder of how to get in touch with us. stay up—to—date with all of the business news as it happens on the bbc business live page. there is analysis from our team of editors across the globe and we want to hear from you as well. get involved on the web page. business live, on tv and online.

simon is back to look through the papers. simon, let's begin with this story in the guardian about amazon. huge company, posting huge profits, 2.5 billion in the recent quarter. and yet its tax bill is down to 11.5 billion. how does that happen? it's important to separate the headline from the details. that profit number is the us company, this tax bill is purely on the uk logistics and warehouse business. so, that's not even the whole of the uk retail business. there is no suggestion whatsoever here that what is

happening is untoward. there is no suggestion that there is any old corporate tax structures in there. 0ne corporate tax structures in there. one of the reasons why there may be a reduction is in terms of how they are paying their staff. there is increased share payback there. it's obviously an unfortunate headline for amazon, at a time when there is a continued focus on the payment of corporate tax by companies like that, and at a time when amazon is actually sitting there in becoming involved in public procurement, it is getting involved in local authorities. there is going to be pushed back. it is an easy target for people. at a time when we are a lwa ys for people. at a time when we are always talking about the impact of business rates and increasing rents for a lot of high street staples out there, here in the uk, this is essentially a policy issue, isn't it? because amazon repeatedly said that we are not doing anything illegal here, we always pay the taxes we are expected to pay. they have actually said this time around as well, if you are looking at this, we pay tax on profits, the profits

we pay tax on profits, the profits we make in the retail at the moment isa we make in the retail at the moment is a tough space, that is where we are. remember, this is the delivery, it is not the full retail numbers. the retail actually gets reported through luxembourg. let's talk about the heatwave. i've been desperate to talk about this all morning, because i have been talking about it in earlier programmes. the express papers website says the economy in the uk were getting £31 billion heatwave roost, thanks to brits on staycation, buying garden furniture, barbecues, food, staying in the uk. i wish i had a staycation this year because the weather is great. there is nowhere as beautiful as some parts of the uk when the weather is good. absolutely. i havejust come back from cornwall and it was fantastic for two weeks. the weather was absolutely great. wait a minute, have you been on holiday? did we not mention that? breaking news. it

turns out, far from mention that? breaking news. it turns out, farfrom being dour northerners, we are all actually mediterranean and love the sunshine. we were talking about the negative impacts of the beast from the east, we sat here and did nothing. who could forget that? this is the opposite side. it goes sunny and we love going out, spending money, having a drink and those good things. i wanted to buy a fan. i got garden furniture. i am propping up the economy! we have one in every single room of our house, it's great. and the world cup as well. i do so much forjoining us. enjoy the warm weather. enjoy it whether it is warm weather. enjoy it whether it is war or not so warm weather. enjoy it whether it is war or not so warm, warm weather. enjoy it whether it is war or not so warm, in some parts of the world it is winter. that is all for now. join us again soon. goodbye for now. join us again soon. goodbye for now. hello. we continue to see contrasts

in our weather at the moment. while there is some rain in the forecast through the day, many areas will remain dry, there will be some good brea ks remain dry, there will be some good breaks in the cloud, allowing for lengthy spells of sunshine. the hot and humid conditions continue in the south and east, and here temperatures will be peaking. that is because we are seeing that warm, hotair is because we are seeing that warm, hot air working its way up from africa, really affecting the south—east. the further north and west you go, it is a little bit cooler. low pressure is not too far away here. that will certainly feed in more cloud to parts of north—west in scotland. a bit more in a way of sunshine to eastern parts of scotland, then we have this area of rain working its way into northern england. heavy at times, it does gradually start to ease and clear as we head to the afternoon. it is like a dividing line between pressure conditions in the north and out of

the south—east, where we still have that heat. today, we could see temperatures hitting highs of around 32 celsius. a little bit fresher the further north and west we go. 0ne 32 celsius. a little bit fresher the further north and west we go. one or two showers to parts of eastern scotland, which could be sharper and thundery as we head towards this evening. 0therwise, thundery as we head towards this evening. otherwise, it is a largely fine, dry night. it will remain muqqy' fine, dry night. it will remain muggy, particularly towards the south—east corner. temperatures not dipping much lower than 20 celsius, a lwa ys dipping much lower than 20 celsius, always a little bit more cloud and more comfortable for sleeping, the further north and west you go. into the weekend, high pressure continues to build out to the west. it will excuse a more north—westerly flow, so excuse a more north—westerly flow, so gradually, as the weekend goes on, we will lose some of that humidity. hanging onto it through much of saturday, down towards the south—east. here, once again, the best of the sunshine. most places remaining dry to saturday, some decent spells of sunshine in temperatures ranging from about 29 celsius down to the south—east, to the middle high teens the further north and west you go. sunday is

another fine, north and west you go. sunday is anotherfine, dry north and west you go. sunday is another fine, dry day, north and west you go. sunday is anotherfine, dry day, with plenty of sunny spells on offer. always a bit more cloud to parts of scotland, where we will see the rain edging in before the day is done. temperatures pared back a little on where they are today, but temperatures still doing well. that continues to be the trend as we head into the start of next week. the temperatures, the heat, continues down towards the south—east, the further north and west you go, there's temperatures a little bit fresher. hello. it's friday, it's nine o'clock. i'm reeta chakrabarti, welcome to the programme. we'll have reaction to the election results in zimbabwe. the man who replaced robert mugabe after he ruled for almost 110 years has been declared the winner. but that's being disputed by the opposition. we reject the results. the results have not been verified. we'll speak to zimbabweans both here and in zimbabwe to find out their hopes and fears for the country's future. sepsis deaths in hospitals

in england have risen by more than a third over two years, according to new nhs data. the severity can't be understated. we hear about other conditions such as cancer and what to do in a situation where someone has a stroke, but with