this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. great expectations. will apple deliver the bumper profits investors crave following the launch of its new iphone? also other new devices. there are days to go before us sanctions on iran come into affect, but will india be one of the countries that will suffer from falling iranian oil supplies? —— into effect. and on the markets, you can see that the share market rally continues and the pound has jumped on reports of eu market access for uk banks after brexit. a mixed picture in asia. the world's most valuable company, apple, is due to reveal how much money it's made in the last three months.

strong financial results that could boost not only the business itself but also the wider tech sector and global stock markets. apple, maker of the iphone, ipad and mac computers has a stock market value of a mind—bending $1.03 trillion. that means it makes up 4% of the us stock index, the s&p 500, containing the biggest us firms, and about 11% of the nasdaq, the index of us leading tech companies. its peers, amazon, google and facebook, all posted mixed results for the period ofjune to september, which spurred investors to sell off tech shares leading to a very turbulent 0ctoberfor share markets worldwide. so what is apple going to say? well, a key thing to watch for is its performance in china, where revenues rose i9%

to nearly $10 billion in the previous quarter. but goldman sachs predicts a fall by as much as 15% in the three months to september. earlier this week, apple launched it's latest range of computers and ipads. the boss, tim cook, explained why people might be inclined to help the company boost sales during the all important christmas period. the all—new macbook air, thinner and lighter, now with touch id and this beautiful retina display. and our most loved mac is now our greenest mac. and the new mac mini, it's the lightest and most mac mini ever. and

the new mac pro, with great features, and the most powerful chip with ever created. tim cook, the boss of apple, with his exuberant explanation of those new products. mike weston is managing director of the marketing firm agillic. good to see you. the results, will apple deliver in terms of the high expectations this time? it does have to go above and beyond, doesn't it? a very simple answer, almost certainly yes. we're expecting them to post yet another double—digit growth year—on—year on their profits and on their sales when they report later today, and that means that they are a year and a half into double—digit growth year—on—year, which is a huge turnaround considering they seemed to be struggling a couple of years ago, didn't they? for me the big story is not so much about the refresh on the

mac air, it's about the new ipad, the ipad pro, which costs nearly £2000 if you want to spend that, and people are spending that in droves, as well as the phones. they're shifting everybody into the ios system rather than the mac os system. what's interesting, a few yea rs system. what's interesting, a few years ago there was this sign of wea kness years ago there was this sign of weakness with apple, there's a lot of conversation then about the fact they are too expensive, all these much cheaper phones were coming out. 0thers much cheaper phones were coming out. others were coming to the fore and undercutting apple in a major way, but it would seem apple swinging further in that direction when you look at the cost of these new products. people are willing to pay, with the new iphone x coming out a year ago, everybody with the new iphone x coming out a yearago, everybody said, with the new iphone x coming out a year ago, everybody said, what, $1000 for a phone? but people are paying the money. and happily. suddenly apple has become a

mass—market luxury good, a luxury good people are very keen to be seen within the streets. 12 months ago i remember the conversation is being £1000 for a phone, remember the conversation is being £1000 fora phone, i'm never spending that and now we're happily spending that and now we're happily spending 20% more. it's the cult following, the strength of brand people are proud to brandish, but goldman sachs highlighting weakness in china. the issue with china—us trade, that could impact apple? in china. the issue with china—us trade, that could impact apple7m could, that's the cloud on the horizon for them. at the moment apple and its peers aren't being attacked in the trade war, they're almost getting a bye—bye as that escalates and so long as that continues, you're going to be reasonably happy with apple but that's a threat because the market, as you said earlier, is huge for them there. -- bye. we will have to leave it there and thanks for coming in to give us an analysis on apple and their results. we will tell you how they did for

those three months up until september. the pound has strengthened after reports the british prime minister theresa may has struck a tentative deal with the european union on financial services after brexit. the agreement would give uk companies continued access to european markets and allow the continued exchange of data. let's go to our asia business hub, where shara njit leyl is following the story. the pound always sensitive to any brexit news but todayjumping quite a bit? absolutely, sally, you said it! it first jumped in a bit? absolutely, sally, you said it! it firstjumped in asian trade, a signa it! it firstjumped in asian trade, a sign a lot of asian investors think this report might be the much—needed good news for the uk economy after so after so much uncertainty over brexit. the pound rose as much as .6% against the dollar in the asian trading hours following the report by the times, but british and european negotiators

had reached a tentative agreement on a future partnership on services as well as the exchange of data. we knew the pound had been losing quite a lot, some 3%, against the us dollar in the last three weeks, that's as investors worried about how brigid would manage an orderly exit from the european union. we saw the pound rising against the yen this morning and the swiss franc —— britain. traders saying it is hard to make a call on where the uk pound could be heading next, whether this euphoria over a newspaper report is set to last. headlines about brexit seem both optimistic and pessimistic, they say, and until march the 29th, the day britain is set to leave the european union, and even beyond, its fate seems determined by the vagaries of the determinations and outcome of brexit. thanks, sharanjit. we will keep an ion that too. —— an i on that.

there's just a few days left until us sanctions on iranian oil exports are due to come back into force. and whilst the impact will be felt worldwide few countries will be as hard hit as india, which is tehran‘s second biggest export market. the fall in oil supply is pushing global prices up. it's an effect that's being magnified by the falling value of the indian rupee as devina gupta reports from delhi. picking up groceries for a customer. this kolkata—based start—up provides a delivery service using bikers around the city. just a year old, the business thrives in keeping their costs low. but with petrol and diesel prices increasing, the compa ny‘s founder is worried. with the fuel price increase, our cost has gone up by 22 rupees per person because bikers are asking for a hike that much. it is not feasible for us to use gas.

the future looks grim. the indian currency, the rupee, has fallen over 15% this year, making important foreign oil more expensive. —— importing. now, as the us sanctions on iran take effect in november, there are fears of a temporary supply gap. as india imports 10% of its oil needs from iran. as far as iran is concerned, if the whole of it goes off market and it's not substituted by the other producing companies then it may have some impact. the government—run oil companies have told the bbc they are going ahead with their purchases from tehran in november. experts say they could face difficulty as the us bars india from paying for this oil in us dollars. these sanctions are unilateral by the united states, not multilateral, like the last sanctions. nevertheless, the us

is putting a lot of pressure on countries, and because of the dollar payment system, it's what makes the sanctions work. the indian government is in a tight spot. even as the global crude prices soften, high taxes on fuel have kept the costs up, and that has spooked prices as well because a majority of the commodities are transported by roads here. last month, the government did cut a part of the fuel taxes, but that was at the cost of their own annual revenues. so if there's any further disruption in the oil supply, prime minister narendra mohdi's administration will have very limited options, just months away from general elections. now, let's brief you on some other business stories. ryanair is changing its baggage policies from today, meaning passengers who want to take anything more than a small bag on board must now pay. only those paying about $7 for priority boarding will be able to take a small suitcase of up to 10kg in the cabin.

that option is cheaper than the $10 charge to check in a 10kg bag. ryanair says the changes are intended to reduce flight delays. uk business leaders are sounding more optimistic over brexit and the economy after a meeting with the chancellor and the prime minister. theresa mayjoined philip hammond at london's guildhall to reassure business leaders that their concerns mattered. after two years feeling sidelined, bosses said they were encouraged to be back inside the tent when it comes to talks about the uk's economic future. sales of jaguar land rover cars have fallen sharply, a quick look at the markets and it's proving to be a mixed day today. most markets are higher and we saw on wall street, again a positive end

to the day, so that's encouraging but japan, the telecoms stocks are the big losers. that's the business. al pesce is back with us in a moment for our newsreading —— alpesh. —— news briefing. specialist doctors in the uk can now prescribe medicinal cannabis to patients for the first time. the change in the law came in response to a campaign on behalf of severely epileptic children, but patient groups warn many people are likely to be denied access to the medicine. david rhodes has this report. harry has a rare form of epilepsy, but this ten—year—old is full of life. this syringe here is... at the

moment, harry's parents can legally buy non—medical low strength cannabis oil, which costs over £300 per bottle. they say without the oil, harry was having potentially fatal epileptic fits every day. harry was dying before our very eyes. we spent days where he just lay on the sofa, he didn't go to school, he couldn't do anything so you were with him really 2a hours data. as harry grows up, his parents say he may need stronger medicinal cannabis products, the reason they wa nt cannabis products, the reason they want him to have a prescription but local doctors say at the moment harry won't qualify. the nhs says the cannabis products will only be prescribed for a small number of patients in exceptional circumstances were licensed remedies, medicines won't work and specialist doctors say patients will only be given medicinal cannabis as a last resort. for the small number of patients where i have run out of other options, where this is

something worth trying, absolutely, it's great it's there as an option but it's not the miracle drug that it's sometimes portrayed as. taking or supplying cannabis for recreational use is still illegal across the uk, and the government says it has no plans to legalise cannabis use more widely. patient groups and charities have already called the new prescribing guidelines restrictive, which will leave many families still searching for a long—term medical solution. david rhodes, bbc news, north yorkshire. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: a national inquiry has been launched in france to find out why clusters of babies have been born with missing limbs. indonesian divers have retrieved the black box from the lion airjet that crashed into the java sea earlier this week with 189 onboard. now it's time to look at the stories making the headlines across the world. we begin with the independent,

and a harrowing front page image and story on yemen. a ten—year—old boy suffering from severe malnutrition. the british government has backed american calls for a ceasefire in yemen, where half the population is on the brink of famine after four years of war. theresa may said she wanted to bring about a political deal between the warring sides. in india's business standard, it looks at rankings for countries where it's easiest to do business.