this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. another week, another dispute — us trade representative robert lighthizer is in brussels for talks with european union trade chief cecilia malmstrom and alibaba has announced the successor to its charismatic leaderjack ma. we are live to the region to find out who it will be. and on the markets... many faltering from eight days in a i’ow many faltering from eight days in a row as the us president raises the sta kes row as the us president raises the stakes in the heated trade dispute with china. later today, high level trade talks between the european union and the united states take place in brussels, with the aim of resolving the on—going trade dispute.

us trade representative robert lighthizer will meet eu trade chief cecilia malmstrom to discuss how to build closer trading ties. let's see how the dispute began: in march, the trump administration hit the eu with increased import tariffs, which included 25% on steel and 10% on aluminium. the eu retaliated by increasing tariffs on $3.1 billion worth of us products, such as bourbon whiskey and motorcycles. however president trump and european commission president jean—claude juncker agreed to a trade truce injuly, which included the us not implementing its threat of raising tariffs on european cars. however disagreements remain. the eu wants to scrap car tariffs permanently as part of the trade deal —

a proposal that trump rejects. in response the us has pushed for agriculture to be included in negotiations, which is a no—go for brussels so far. let's get more on this story with luisa santos, director of international relations at business europe. how hopeful are you we will see progress this week? we think the two sides have an interest in avoiding a trade war. we are each other‘s biggest trading partners and we are positive and we think we can make some progress. i think it would eat in the interest of both businesses from europe and the us to improve trade between us by festival eliminating tariffs on some goods and when we enter each other‘s

markets. what could be the real o bsta cles 7 markets. what could be the real obstacles? there is an understanding on both sides to what a meaningful change agenda —— trade agenda could mean. the us wants to include agriculture. but this means we would also have included topics important to us, access to public queue and market the instance. —— procurement. if we have a more targeted agenda we may make progress faster rather than including more topics. donald trump and jean—claude younger talked about zero tariffs and zero subsidies in july, will be get to that point was make we hope we can. it will not be

easy. in the past, it was difficult to make progress. but the situation has changed and i think the us does not want to have a trade war with all its partners. you mentioned china at europe is also a big trade partner. i think there is an interest in pursuing a positive agenda and having results. thank you for your time. we will keep a close eye on how negotiations ago today.. alibaba has announced its succession plan after its chairman, jack ma, announced his retirement from the firm he co—founded in 1999. let's go to our asia business hub where shara njit leyl is following the story. nice to see you. who will feeljack ma's shoes, they are quite big shoes

to fill? they are indeed big shoes to fill? they are indeed big shoes to fill. before we get to the likely successor, in fact, the confirmed successor. lots of conflicting reports over the weekend on the timing ofjack ma's expert but it has now been confirmed he will step down ina has now been confirmed he will step down in a year. daniel zhang, currently the chief executive, has been named as the person he will be handing the reins to. alibaba is the most valuable company. it shares almost doubled last year. daniel zhang will become executive chairman exactly a year from now. this one year handover period is aimed at a smooth transition. jack ma was previously an english teacher. he has since seen alibaba become huge.

he will remain director until its annual shareholder meeting in 2020 topjack annual shareholder meeting in 2020 top jack mahrez said annual shareholder meeting in 2020 topjack mahrez said that daniel zhang has shown superb talent. he has been with alibaba for ii zhang has shown superb talent. he has been with alibaba for 11 years. alibaba listed has been with alibaba for 11 years. aliba ba listed in has been with alibaba for 11 years. alibaba listed in new york in 2015, in what was then the biggest public shareholding. thank you. around the world, a boom in construction is driving up demand for builders. men still make up the majority of workers in the trades but a growing movement is calling for more women to fill these well—paid skilled posts. let's take a look. i just turned six and i like to sing. i like tojog and i like to build. i want to be an architect and make, like, robots. sometimes girls don't

care about building. theyjust do what people say they are supposed to be doing. the minute i have tools in my hands it felt... it empowered me. almost like i became a superwoman. i started this programme because i wished there was one when i was growing up. i became a plumber by accident and i fell in love with it once i started doing it. the women's building will be a space that is for justice, liberation and a quality.

gender segregation at work is arbitrary and we need to open up the labour sector to anyone who wants to fill anyjob, not based on gender. tools and tiaras, what a movement! now let's brief you on some other business stories: japan's economy expanded a lot faster than a preliminary estimate in the second quarter. it grew by 3% in the three months between april and june. the data represented a quick turnaround after a series of eight consecutive quarters of growth ended in january—march, interrupting a winning streak not seen since the heady days of japan's "miracle" boom of the 1980s. the head of us media giant cbs, les moonves, has resigned with immediate effect after allegations of sexual misconduct. cbs had been investigating

mr moonves since allegations appeared in the new yorker injuly, and fresh accusations from six more women appeared on sunday. mr moonves denies the allegations, calling the latest "appalling". china's annual consumer inflation accelerated to 2.3% in august. that's the fastest pace since february this year and beating expectations. the producer price index, a gauge of industrial profitability, increased 4.1% in august, slowing somewhat compared to the previous month. interesting to digestive the market news from both china in terms of inflation and japan in term of growth. japan bucking the trend because most of the markets in asia

in the red.japan because most of the markets in asia in the red. japan with the news that it it, me is doing better than most people believed in the second quarter is in the green. still dominating the sentiment on global markets is concerned on trade with the heat picking up on conversations between washington and beijing. looking at commodities... the price of oil heading up yet again. plenty more to come on the briefing including a return of cornelia and a look at what is in the global news media agenda. we ask you at the beginning of the

programme about the view of the yea rs programme about the view of the years that middle—aged drinkers should have drink free days. two thirds of regular drinkers say cutting down on their drinking is harder than improving diet or exercise, that's according to a poll by public health england and drinkaware. they've found one in five of uk adults are drinking above the chief medical officer's guidelines and are launching a campaign for people to have drink free days. jenny kumah reports. dryjanuary, dry january, if you dryjanuary, if you did it, maybe a distant memory or you may be thinking of going so before october. today sees the launch of a health campaign witha today sees the launch of a health campaign with a different approach. rather than promoting the idea of taking a whole month of alcohol, it is encouraging people to have more alcohol free days. abstinence

programmes can be beneficial but we also know that people can come off those programmes and go back to old habits quickly so we are trying to suggest that we take more drink free days on a regular basis as well so that we can count down and drinking overall. the more you drink, the greater the risk to your health. overall. the more you drink, the greater the risk to your healthm is that simple. two thirds of drinkers find cutting down on alcohol harder than improving diet or exercise. 0ne alcohol harder than improving diet or exercise. one in five drink more than the recommended 1a units a week. around six glasses of wine or six pints of beer. health experts say if you are raising too many glasses, you are also raising the risk of illnesses like cancer and heart disease. we will share your views in a

moment. coming up at 6am on breakfast, jon kay and naga munchetty will have all the day's news, business and sport. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: the swedish general election has left the two main political blocs almost tied. the anti—immigrant sweden democrats have won about 18% of the vote. but both of the main blocs have refused to govern with them. protesters from the german far—right and their anti—fascist opponents have marched in the east german town of koethen, where a 22—year—old man died after a street fight with afghan migrants. two afghans have been arrested. novak djokovic has won the us open tennis, beating juan martin del potro in straight sets. it's his second successive grand slam tournament win, and makes him equal third on the list of all time grand slam winners.

—— mail winners. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with the guardian and the swedish general election, which has left the two main political blocs almost tied, with the anti—immigration party making gains on its previous results. the ft says the eu is preparing to give its brexit negotiator, michel barnier, new instructions to help close a deal with britain. the move is seen as an attempt to help bolster theresa may as she comes under pressure from hardline brexiteers within her goverment. 0n the reuters website us and eu trade chiefs will hold a first meeting in brussels today to pursue closer transatlantic ties after us president donald trump agreed to drop his threat of tariffs on eu cars. next, do you yearn for a shorter week's work? the independent reports on comments made by the leader of

britain's trade union movement, frances 0'grady, who has called for the power of technology to be used to give workers a four—day working week. and finally if you had an extra day off, would you be able to refrain from spending it downing alcohol? the telegraph says acording to public health england middle aged drinkers should abstain from drinking for a number of days each and every week. so let's begin. with me is cornelia meyer, who's ceo of the mrl corporation, a business consultancy. cornelia, let's get started with the sweden election. the guardian talks about the deadlock for the main parties, as the