—— hello. this is the business briefing. a big puff for vaping as e—cigarettes get the backing of the uk parliament, despite warnings from the world health organisation. plus electric shock: tesla founder elon musk under pressure from financial regulators over his plans to take the firm private. and on the markets some relief after a turbulent week — as the turkish lira extends its recovery and china and the us agree to resume trade talks. we start here in the uk where there's been a major boost for the e—cigarette industry. a report by parliament's science and technology committee says vaping is far less harmful than smoking — and should be subject to lighter regulation. it says there's no evidence e—cigarettes encourage young people to take up smoking — and that they could in fact be a key weapon in helping smokers give up.

this could mean rules being relaxed on the advertising of e—cigarettes — and taxes on them being cut. this would further boost an already booming industry. the global market was worth around $15 billion last year. that's just a fraction of the market for regular cigarettes — but it's growing fast. it's a trend big tobacco is well aware of. european market leader british american is investing more than $600 million in next generation vaping products — and others in the industry are following. but it's a hugely controversial issue. the world health organization is urging countries to restrict the sale, promotion, and use of electronic cigarettes after a number of harmful chemicals were found in the vapour. catherine burns reports. while cigarettes burnt tobacco to release smoke, e—cigarettes heat

flavoured nicotine directly to make it in her level paper. experts said e—cigarettes 95% less harmful than smoking, but others worry we do not know enough about the long—term effects. today, a committee of mps is calling smoking a health crisis, and calling e—cigarettes a golden opportunity to save lives. almost 3 million people in the uk use e—cigarettes, and each year, thousands successfully quit smoking. reports say that e—cigarettes should be medically licence, and that company should be allowed to advertise them as a less harmful option. my message to the nhs is to ta ke option. my message to the nhs is to take this issue far more seriously. we cannot tolerate the continued death toll of 79,000 people in england alone every single gear from smoking. vaping is one route to help give up. we should doing more to

uncover it. —— every single year. vaping is relatively new. it has beenin vaping is relatively new. it has been in the uk forjust 11 lives. experts say there needs to be more research into the effects of using e—cigarettes in the long—term. —— 11 yea rs. hazel cheeseman is director of policy at action on smoking and health. iam assuming i am assuming you have anything that stops people smoking grill cigarettes is a good thing. absolutely. i mean the arrival of e—cigarettes has been on the call. we have seen use of tobacco products reduce dramatically. 2 million people are now using e—cigarettes on a regular basis. lots of people have quit smoking using e—cigarettes. at a large number of that, nearly 3 million, and completely switched from using tobacco to solely using

e—cigarettes. so there is a big public health benefit in the uk already from e—cigarettes. public health benefit in the uk already from e-cigarettes. some would argue that it is shifting the addiction from smoking cigarettes to smoking vaping machines or e—cigarettes or whatever, but still there is a nicotine addiction and they will still be harmful chemicals in the smoke. the world health organization has warned against them. be harmful components of tobacco smoke so largely not in a cigarette. what you have in an cigarette. what you have in an cigarette —— e—cigarette is different. most of the harmful chemicals are often not visited all in the e—cigarette vapour, or at all levels. at a research study came out recently fru m py levels. at a research study came out recently frumpy university of birmingham that suggested they could damage the lungs and more research is needed. is it not better to encourage people to quit smoking rather than to transfer their addiction from one element to another? it is not that the products

carried no risks at all. it is likely that over decades there would be some level of risk. but the comparison is the skyscraper at risk with continued smoking tobacco. not using a product altogether would be the best, but that will not work for everybody. however you that the tobacco companies will take advantage of this and push forward with you know, getting into gaping, getting is cigarettes there. already they are trying to put advertising in missing packets? —— e—cigarettes. they would like to market them e—cigarettes. if there should be insults their —— inserts in packets, it should be from the health authority. the tobacco has a history of deception. if they will be so in the product, it is better that they

sell something that will not tell the people that use it. ok, thank you for talking to us this morning. moving on, now. us financial regulators are reportedly pressing elon musk about his announcement that he is planning to take tesla private. mr musk sent tesla's shares soaring ii% on august 7 when he tweeted that he was considering buying back the firm at $420 per share — and that he had secured funding for the potential deal. according to fox business network, the securities and exchange commission has sent a subpoena to the company — one of the first steps in a formal enquiry. paul blake in new york explains. it suggests there is some sort of formal investigation under way, that this is not just formal investigation under way, that this is notjust a routine checkup by the securities exchange commission, the big regulator of the stock market in the us. this goes back to the tweet on august seven where elon musk that he was considering taking it private. he said he had funding secured. that is

to be what people are focusing on. but he had funding secured when he made the announcement on twitter. he has posted a post in recent days saying that phrasing came from conversations he had had with the saudi arabian sorrow and wealth fund, that he had had conversations with them about funding taking the committee back to private. that is the focus of certainly all the attention on wall street and potentially a sec investigation. let's go to asia, now, where markets are getting a boost from the news that china and the us are to resume trade talks aimed at easing tensions between the world's two biggest economies katie silver is following the story in singapore. talk us through whether or not there isa talk us through whether or not there is a feeling that they will be some progress this time in talks between the two countries. i was a generally there is not a great deal of

optimism. the announcement was made yesterday by china's commerce ministry. they say that these ongoing negotiations were at the us invitation. we basically noted that the chinese vice, as minister will be making a meeting with washington. this is the first sincejune. the clu b wa nts a this is the first sincejune. the club wants a lot. he wants a package. he wants an alleviation of the trade deficit, to lower import tariffs, and juicy protection of us intellectual property. he is asking a lot. seeing a great deal of ongoing conversation. they have not met since june. the ongoing conversation. they have not met sincejune. the problem with this negotiation, while it is good, as that in the right direction, if you have not heard of either of the men involved, that is the problem. by men involved, that is the problem. by sending these lower level representatives to haggle, really, to see if high—level representatives will meet down the line. it is positive news, but perhaps little is

expected in the wake of results. positive news, but perhaps little is expected in the wake of resultsm is talking about talking about talking. they give very much —— thank you very much indeed. —— in the way of results. now let's brief you on some other business stories. hundreds of google employees have written to the company to protest against plans to launch a "censored search engine" in china. they said the project raised "urgent moral and ethical questions" and urged the firm to be more transparent. google, which has never spoken publicly about the plans, declined to comment. all staff at chipotle's us mexican grill restaurants are to be retrained in food safety procedures after a series of food poisoning incidents. the latest outbreak in powell, ohio was caused by a bacteria that occurs when food is left at unsafe temperatures. over 600 people that ate at the restaurant during four days injuly suffered food poisoning. and now what's trending in the business news this morning. on business insider air france—klm's next ceo is going to be an air canada executive and french unions are furious.

benjamin smith is the first non—frenchman in the role and has a reputation for tackling unions. on the wall street journal "sec probes tesla over model 3 production disclosures" — it says regulators began investigating last year whether tesla inc misled investors about its model 3 car production problems, according to people familiar with the matter. on the new york times a backlash to microtargeted advertising on facebook is growing. and don't forget, let us know what you are spotting online — use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. that's it for the business briefing this hour. but before we go, here are the markets. a bit of respite with the turkish lira upholding its value slightly. and trade talks between the us and china. more from me in a few minutes. ten of england's most challenging

prisons are to be given a total of £10 million to improve security and living conditions, as part of a government drive to tackle drugs and violence in jails. ministers also want to raise leadership standards by sending prison governors to military—style staff colleges. our home affairs correspondent danny shaw reports. how to stop drugs getting into prisons. here is one way. hmp leeds is one of ten prisons where sniffer dogs are being brought in to reduce the amount of drugs smuggled in by prisoners, visitors, and staff. new su bsta nces prisoners, visitors, and staff. new substances such as spice have caused health problems and sparked violence

in prisons, volatile places at the best of times. the atmosphere is good. but like everything and anything, things can change. the dynamics of a jail, the dynamics of a wing, can change overnight. maintaining prison buildings is important, too. the government is investing in a programme to replace windows and improved perimeter security to stop drugs being blown in by drones or the owner of the girls. grabbing hold of the drugs and stopping them getting in in the first place is absolutely vital if we are to turn around violence in prisons. and unless we do, you cannot get prisoners into education. if you cannot get them into education work, you cannot analyse around. and you cannot turn their lives around, you cannot protect the public. it is the relationship between prison officers and prisoners that is key to a stable prison, as well as leadership skills. that is why the ministry of defence has been asked for help in setting up a training scheme for

prison governors, similar to that of senior members of the armed forces. it is the latest in a series of initiatives to improve living conditions and security. the government has promised improvements within 12 months. danny shaw, bbc news. coming up at 6:00am on breakfast: charlie stayt and rachel burden will have all the day's news, business and sport. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: former us presidents havejoined tributes paid to the soul singer aretha franklin, who has died at her home in detroit at the age of 76. barack obama said she had helped define the american experience. spain is marking the first anniversary of islamist attacks in and around barcelona that left 16 people dead. three days of commemorations began in ripoll, where an imam radicalised a number of young men behind the killings. italy's transport ministry has begun investigating the private operator of the motorway bridge that collapsed in genoa on tuesday, killing at least 38 people.

the company has 15 days to demonstrate it met all its obligations. now it is time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in international media, and as you can well imagine, one person makes newspaperfront pages around the world. aretha franklin's death dominates across europe and america, including of course her home city. the detroit free press has a special edition dedicated to the musician. it also highlights her civil rights activism and points out her classics are climbing up the charts one again. to other stories now, and the telegraph here in the uk, and are eu officials being bugged by the british over brexit? yes, the paper claims. some are concerned that intelligence services are getting their hands on secret negotiation documents. the financial times now, and it has got the latest on the turkish lira, sliding again after the us put yet threatened turkey with more tariffs, halting its currency‘s recovery this week.

staying with the us, and cnbc reporting trump's military parade has been postponed, just hours after they reported the latest costing was $90 million dollars, almost $80 million more than was claimed just last month. and finally — the south china morning post with something you probably won't see at a military parade just yet. that is a sky scooter. inspired by a cartoon as a child, one inventor sold his flat to turn it into a reality. so let's begin.