this is business live from bbc news, with ben bland and vishala sri—pathma. president trump has called it a "catastophe" and has threatened to pull the us out of it. now, can the world trade organisation reform itself? live from london, that's our top story on wednesday, 24th october. trade ministers from the wto are meeting to try to make it more effective in resolving trade disputes. but absent from the talks — both the us and china, who are deep into a trade war. also in the programme... the eu says it's open to dialogue with italy, after ordering rome to rethink its 2019 budget plans, in an unprecedented move. european markets opening higher — shrugging off some of the uncertainty investors have felt in light of the situation in italy, us trade tensions,

and the mounting pressure on saudi arabia. and, there are high hopes for the cannabis market, after canada became the first 620 country to legalise recreational use. we'll get the inside track on what else the plant offers as we're joined by the boss of the first uk company to produce a soft drink containing cbd — the non—active element of cannabis. today we want to know, how protective are you of your data? tim cook is at a conference in brussels. that some data security so how concerned are you about what apps track you are and what data companies hold on you? let us know — just use the hashtag #bbcbizlive. some of you already getting in touch. thank you for those and keep them coming. hello, and welcome to business live. we start with trade — the world's two biggest economies have been slapping each other with tariff after tariff over the last few months

in their escalating trade war. meanwhile the world trade organisation — the body that's supposed to referee this fight between the united states and china — has been left on the sidelines in urgent need of reform. that's why canada is hosting a meeting of like minded countries to try and make that happen. but neither the united states or china will be there, despite being at the forefront of global trade tensions. the us has hit china with tariffs on $250 billion of imports and beijing hitting back to the tune of $110 billion. the wto itself has also been in president trump's crosshairs. he's described it as a catastrophe and threatened to pull out altogether because he thinks it treats the us unfairly. and it's notjust words. the us has hobbled the wto's dispute resolution body by blocking the reappointment ofjudges. only three of the seven seats are currently filled — the bare minimum for it to function.

today's meeting will look at making the wto more effective in solving disputes — something it currently struggles with because any of the 164 members can veto proposals for change. at a speech in london last week the head of the world trade organisation admitted that change was needed. joining us is kuangyi wei, head of strategic research at parker fitzgerald. thanks forjoining us. this meeting will kick off in a few hours‘ time. the two big guests missing from the table, us and china. big economies to be missing from this meeting. how releva nt ca n to be missing from this meeting. how relevant can the meeting be?l really interesting question. the key thing about donald trump‘s issue, it‘s not really about the wto being a rule—based international trade system. it is also the us and china‘s growth model. you can‘t have

your cake and eat it. you can‘t enjoy the liberal trade order on one hand and exercise state capitalism on the other. it‘s a deep—rooted concern and i don‘t think the summit in the next couple of days will resolve that by improving the dispute settlement system. more importantly, with two big players missing from the discussion, i think it raises the interesting question of whether the wto can reform itself into a more effective body in triangulating between the us and china, or will the trade war between the countries derailed the wto as an organisation. president trump's criticism has brought us to question wto rules and the organisation itself. it has been around for a while and this is version 2.0. we have a digital economy now and the world has changed considerably in the last 70 years. the wto it itself has been clear about the need to

modernise some rules, in particular when it comes to multilateral negotiation. in terms of taking that toa negotiation. in terms of taking that to a dramatic context of us going through brexit negotiations ourselves, it adds a bit more complexity to the uk. in a post—brexit scenario, the uk wants to become a global britain so do you sit on the side of the table with 13 like—minded countries, including the eu, or do you sit on the other side with the us and china exclusive of the discussions? some people have said they are concerned with noises coming from president trump threatening to pull the us out of the wto altogether. others have said it‘s the opposite, by threatening to do it he is focusing minds and pushing the wto to turn itself into a much more effective body even though people have known this has been needed for many years. though people have known this has been needed for many yearslj wouldn‘t try to guess at what his

true intention is. but that is a possibility. i think the wto is in need of reforms and modernisation and the rules currently in place are from the early 1990s. this morning it was mentioned on a bbc interview bya it was mentioned on a bbc interview by a representative. that meeting will be starting in around five or six hours. let‘s take a look at some of the other stories making the news. eu economics affairs commissioner pierre moscovici says he‘s open to a constructive dialogue with italy over its budget plans. that‘s what he told the italian newspaper, la republica, when asked whether the two were at loggerheads. the european commission rejected italy‘s d raft 2019 budget on tuesday, saying it brazenly broke eu rules on public spending, and asked rome to submit a new one within three weeks or face disciplinary action. profits at barclays bank fell in the three months from july to september because of billions of dollars worth of fines and legal costs.

the lender — which is one of britian‘s biggest — made a pre—tax profit ofjust over $4 billion. a settlement with the us authorities over the mis—selling of financial products before the 2008 crash cost the bankjust over $1.8 billion. deutsche bank‘s latest set of earnings suggests the lender continues to struggle to boost its balance sheet. the bank posted a 65% decline in net profit to around $263 million in the third quarter. the german lender is trying to bounce back from three consecutive years of losses and a run of negative headlines earlier this year. and this is quite a revolutionary story... millions of commuters are forced to contend with asia‘s monster traffic jams each day. a german aviation firm belives the region should look to the skies for a solution. test flights of a hover—taxi will take place in singapore next year —

with the support of the government. sharanjit leyl is in singapore... tell us more. where is she... there she is. we can see her now. hover taxis, what‘s the thinking behind these? as you said, it‘s really fascinating that they are looking to try to trial this next ear. what‘s really interesting about this new technology is that the german firm doing this, it‘s called the volocopter. the aircraft look like helicopters and the taxis look like helicopters and the taxis look like helicopters and the taxis look like drone technology. they ta ke look like drone technology. they take off and land vertically. they can fight two people for distances of less tha n can fight two people for distances of less than 30 kilometres. trials will start next year. the first public demonstration took place in dubai last year. singapore is seen to bea dubai last year. singapore is seen to be a city, it‘s behind me, and

it‘s a perfect test—bed for new technologies because of its compact size and openness to innovation. the trials are aimed at verifying whether these volocopters can operate in singapore‘s urban environment, bearing in mind things like heat and humidity and where they can land. what‘s interesting about these new transport solutions, they are announced the same week uk—based dyson, best known for vacuum cleaners, has chosen to build its new electric car here in singapore. looking at the markets. generally speaking asian stocks turned higher on wednesday. propping up sentiment despite wall street‘s overnight losses. tokyo stocks shedding their earlier losses to end the session higher on wednesday. some bargain hunters supporting the markets. on

the european markets, a fairly upbeat picture at the start of the trading day, shrugging off the global worries that have been troubling investors so far this week about us earnings, the italian government finances and us trade tensions and mounting pressure on saudi arabia over the death of journalist jamal khashoggi. the three main indices on wall street finished lower on tuesday. let‘s look at the details of what‘s ahead. some big companies are reporting earnings on wednesday, including boeing and ford. more people are travelling by air, which is pushing aircraft sales higher and that will likely give boeing a lift. of course, investors will be looking to see if there is any mention of trade tariffs hurting the plane—maker‘s operations. tariffs have already hurt ford motor company, which is expected to report a fall in profits. also hurting the company is rising steel and aluminium costs and weakening sales in china and in europe. other companies that will be reporting on wednesday include tesla, microsoft and at&t. joining us is mike amey,

managing director and portfolio manager at pimco. today and during the week, italy has been a massive story, particularly about their bond yields. they have had their budget rejected by the european commission. not a huge surprise. how are markets reacting? markets, particularly italian markets, are very nervous. the reason is, you have the situation whereby the italian government wants to spend some money, bluntly, and raise minimum income levels. the european union is basically saying to the italian government, we don‘t think you have the money to do this. you have a stand—off between the sides and the bond market in the middle reflects where the italian government can borrow money, that cost has been steadily going up over

the weeks as markets get nervous about what the end point will be. the weeks as markets get nervous about what the end point will hem isa about what the end point will hem is a vicious circle, they need more money but higher bond yields means the cost of borrowing is higher. it's the cost of borrowing is higher. it‘s a tricky balancing act. the problem the italians have, they have a large amount of debt outstanding and the challenge is if the cost of borrowing keeps going up it makes it harder to pay that money back, making it harder to give that money to the lower income people, which is what they want to do. so they have a difficult balancing act to do. they claim if they spend the money now growth will be stronger and it will give them more money to pay the money back. the eu taking a different stance. they don't want to implement austerity measures in italy, and that is what european commission want them to do. exactly, so you have big challenge on what is the right way to get yourself out of a week growth environment. do you spend money, or do you protect your finances? italy having a debate that

many other countries have had in the last ten years. but it is very much live for them at the moment. you will be back later in a programme. see you later. still to come... has this british company stolen a march on coca cola in putting a cannabis extract in drinks? it‘s botanic lab, whose boss joins us live. you‘re with business live from bbc news. britain will "pay the price" of a no—deal brexit because complicated new border controls may not be ready in time, a government watchdog has warned today. but the government says it‘s confident of striking a "good" deal with the eu for as frictionless trade as possible. our economics editor, kamal ahmed, joins us now. this is interesting, a reference to the complications involved at the

border in terms of queues and spot checks. and how that will impact daily life. i suppose you only really notice a border when it stops working. the national audit office says that if there is a no deal, and as you say the government does not wa nt as you say the government does not want that, but if there is no deal thenit want that, but if there is no deal then it warns preparations are not in anyfit then it warns preparations are not in any fit state at the moment. it has two big areas to focus on. one is business preparedness and it says the number of businesses that will have to to fill out customs declarations if there is no deal and britain will have to trade on world trade organisation rules would go up by the tens of thousands. and the number of customs declarations that would have to be signed and checked by her majesty‘s revenue and customs would go from 55 million today to 260 million, showing some of the change in the workload and paperwork that will be needed to cross borders

into the european union. it also warns on security, saying that one of the big issues will be how secure the border will be, given the huge amount more work that will need to be done by the borderforce authorities. it suggests that given that the government has admitted that the government has admitted that whatever happens in a no deal scenario, it will be sub optimal, that not enough work has been done, it means organised crime could target the borders of britain and into the rest of the european union, meaning a route for smuggling, and revenue not being collected. we will have to leave it there, thank you for joining have to leave it there, thank you forjoining us. we have been hearing about lots of problems with border controls with regards to brexit, and lots of you have been getting in touch on social media. you can read about the warm

weather which has boosted sales of heineken, do visit the website. pint in the sun, sounds good! you‘re watching business live. our top story: the world trade organisation is meeting in canada to discuss reform of the 23—year—old body whose aim is to resolve global trade disputes. absent from the talks will be both the us and china, who‘re embroiled in a trade war. now, dope, weed — call it what you will — the legalisation of cannabis is picking up pace around the world. earlier this month, canada became the first industrialised country to legalise the drug for recreational use. it‘s also legal in nine us states, and its medical use is allowed in 30 countries around the world. so, it‘s not surprising that the legal marijuana market is attracting increasing attention. last year, the global market was estimated to be worth around $7.7 billion. the vast majority of sales, some 90%, were in the us. but the global market is forecast

to get even higher — estimates suggest it could hit $30 billion by 2021. well, our next guest has high hopes for this growing industry. she‘s the boss of botanic lab, which is the first company in the uk to produce a soft drink containing cbd — the non—active element of cannabis. botanic lab founder rebekah halljoins us now. hi, rebekah, thank you forjoining us. so, the first question is, i mean, where did you get the idea to do this? you saw a gap in the market, how did use goat that out? well, the foundation of botanical app has always been creating interesting drinks from functional plant ingredients —— how did you scope that out. cannabis has a cultural relevance as well. it has a lwa ys cultural relevance as well. it has always been on our radar, and we have been watching closely what has been happening with the use of cbd across the globe are particularly in

the united states. the amounts of cannabis in yourdrinks, the united states. the amounts of cannabis in your drinks, how large is that dosage? and how much would it have an effect on somebody? to be clear, we use the bd in our drink, which is one of the many compounds of the cannabis plant, ours is derived from hemp and is illegal here in the uk. we use two mg of hemp derived cbd in our drinks, 2—5 mg is recommended for health maintenance. we are not intended to treat chronic illness or anything like that, we are creating a recreational soft drink. when it comes to the imagery that you use, that must be quite tricky, because, you know, if you use cannabis imagery, that will appeal to some, but for others it would put them off completely. yes, i think our brand has always been somewhat divisive. pa rt has always been somewhat divisive. part of being a sort of pioneer of doing new things in an industry like drink is it that you have to do things that are out of the norm. our

market is renee drinks for people looking for something that is different and new, so our consumer is not afraid by the branding that we use, it is also rated them to be provoking the conversation. —— to be provoking the conversation. —— to be provoking the conversation. —— to be provoking the conversation. encouraging that conversation i don‘t think is a negative thing, and casting the very interesting plant ina casting the very interesting plant in a different way to how it has been cast in the past is an interesting read to be taking. have you seen a change in attitude towards cbd and when you first hearted? if you look at my parents generation, they would have been horrified, but now they are much more aware of what cbd is, what its users are, they see it in the high street in places like holland and barrett, i think the conversation is changing around that. in terms of the drinks market, we are looking at a health conscious generation that do not drink alcohol is much, health

drinks are on the up, so you can move into this market as well, are you looking to capitalise on that a bit more? absolutely. we see the nonalcoholic drinks market is a huge opportunity for us, that is what pa rt opportunity for us, that is what part of this range is about. the 20—something generation are drinking less alcohol for lots of different reasons, and they are demanding options that are interesting, tasty and low in sugar and don‘t contain alcohol, there is certainly an opportunity for brands like us to provide this option for us. you set this business up yourself, what was the biggest challenge? so many challengers! establishing a business, i have the greatest respect for anybody who does it, funding is always challenging, it is difficult to gain traction as a small brand. in food and drink, it is easier than in most other areas because there is an attitude of the consumer, there is more trust in smaller brands in food and drink. wondering is the most difficult

thing and getting the business to move and grow and find good ibo, there are always challengers. thank you, rebekah hall. —— finding good people. with this cbd, you have to be very clear about the labelling, the amount of it that you have in the amount of it that you have in the drinks. i think labelling and the drinks. i think labelling and the regulation around cbd is something that will grow and the conversation will continue, i think it will change over time. thank you very much. 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 the day‘s business news as it happens on the bbc‘s business live page. there‘s insight and analysis from our team of editors right around the globe. and we want to hear from you, too. get involved on the bbc‘s business live webpage at bbc.com/business. on twitter, we‘re @bbcbusiness. and you can find us on facebook, at bbc money. business live — on tv and online. what you need to know, when you need to know.

what other business stories has the media been taking an interest in? mike amey from pimco joins us again to discuss. hi, michael. let‘s take a look at this aurier bout carrack adverts. some of the big car—makers, nissan for example, they have been criticised for the adverts for encouraging fast rising. and potentially they face bans. -- fast driving. the advertising standards agency has pulled up three of the major car brands for potentially, you know, selling an image that is not necessarily one that you would like, either driving very quickly or kind of in an aggressive way. and the challenge, of course, is that you want your car brand to sound exciting and something that people

desire, but at the same time, you know, you have to recognise the fact that aggressive driving is something which i think we all struggle with. there are constant challenges for the coal industry at the moment. there are constant challenges for the coal industry at the momentm was really interesting the joys of ko im for the advert —— the choice of palin for the advert. it has the words, rage, rage. locala choice of poem. it is a poem traditionally read at funerals, it is bizarre!m is very unusual, i must admit. my understanding is that that particular advert was to try and encourage people to step out of their comfort zone and do something exciting, that was the intention. i think a challenging use of poem, i would say. but that is the problem with advertising, you need to make something which is unusual and people will remember, but remember for the right reasons rather than getting yourself in trouble with the

standards agency is. the old dirge with advertising, —— the old adage with advertising, —— the old adage with advertising, —— the old adage with advertising, any kind of publicity. this is something that has got us talking, a new painting on auction at christie is, it is rather unique. it‘s been painted by an ai, an artificial intelligent robot. have we got an image of it? no, i don‘t think we have. it‘s not the most amazing piece of artwork. let‘s have a look and see we can find it. that will be a very interesting market dynamic here. the painting itself has been created by a french group, i believe, who have used artificial intelligence to look at existing portraits and then ask the ai at existing portraits and then ask the a! machine to produce a portrait which has the same characteristics of the human one. now, if you go through enough iterations, eventually the ai through enough iterations, eventually the a! portrait believes that it has got the same characteristics as one painted by a human. if we can... if you can look

on the website, you can see it there. the key challenge is, what is there. the key challenge is, what is the value of an ai produced painting relative to a human one was white quys relative to a human one was white guys been trying valiantly -- i have been trying valiantly to get it to appear on the ipad! this sketch is as close as you can get! have a look on the website it‘s the anyway! as close as you can get! have a look on the website it's the anyway! ben bland bashing the artist market, which one will get the higher price?! —— crashing the artist markets operate we are also talking about the data collected on apps. thank you for all of your tweets. am saying that it doesn‘t offer you a jot, and some saying you have to be careful about what you use your phone for. it‘s a very divisive sub jack. —— subject. that‘s it from business live today. there will be more business news throughout the day on the bbc live web page and on world business report. we‘ll see you again tomorrow.

hello there. we have changes in the weather to come the end of the week. before then, it‘s much the same, really. cloud through this morning will break up and give us some sunshine, berdych lever further south and east you are. further north and west, more cloud and really the pressure pattern hasn‘t changed very much from yesterday. this big area of high pressure feeding in the cloud primarily across north—western scotland, northern ireland, north and west wales. some of that cloud streaming through the midlands into the south—east. why this afternoon, that disappears. southern and eastern parts having the best of the sunshine. further north and west, it remains cloudy. wane and drizzle in the north—west of scotland, rainaud does have —— reynet not as heavy if it has been in recent days. through tonight, the rain intensifies over time. otherwise, cloud moving its

way across many areas tonight. temperatures getting down to about 6-9, temperatures getting down to about 6—9, perhaps 10 degrees in the central belt. jarring thursday, we have got this weather frontjust across the north. —— during thursday. high pressure still holding on to many parts of england and wales, it cloudy day on thursday compared to the day. breaks in the cloud towards the east of the higher ground and eastern england. the rain getting heavier across the west of scotland, eventually into the far north—west by thursday evening. temperatures down by a few degrees, 14 temperatures down by a few degrees, 1a or 15. that‘s nothing compared to what‘s going to happen on friday. you can see by the blues here using right across the uk, that weather is coming all the way from the arctic. so, a distinctly chilly feel on friday. we lose some cloud across the south—east, some showers coming in around coastal areas, moving the

way further inland. snow over the top of the grampians. by day, temperatures will be much lower. they will be about nine, 10 celsius in northern parts, is 11 degrees towards the south. that factor in a fairly strong northerly wind and it will feel colder than those temperatures suggest. as for the weekend, we keep the northerly wind, lots of sunshine and a few showers around. temperatures 8—10dc, still below the average for the time of year. that‘s it from me. bye—bye. hello. it‘s wednesday, 24th october, it‘s 9am, i‘mjoanna gosling, welcome to the programme. today a group of westminster mps attempt to force the government to reform northern ireland‘s strict abortion laws and overturn its ban on gay marriage. campaigners say 28 women are forced to travel from northern ireland to england for an abortion each week. others like denise, whom we spoke to earlier this month, are forced to continue with pregnancy even when the child is not going to live.

everyone was asking, "when is the baby due?" everyone wanted to share in the good news. but we knew we weren‘t preparing just for a birth, we were preparing for a death. we speak to one of the mps who is leading the demand for change. people who survive cancer as children face a financial "life sentence", having to always declare their past illness on things like travel insurance and mortgage applications, a charity has warned.