this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. going full force: president trump reinstates major economic sanctions against iran. we'll assess what this means for oil prices. us markets react as the clock ticks down to the crucial midterm elections. samira hussain in new york will give us the lowdown a brand—new trading week with significant losses in asia of the back of reports from the white house that they see little progress when it comes to talks on trade. the us hasjust unleashed what it's calling the "toughest ever" sanctions against iran. it follows president trump's decision to withdraw from the iran nuclear deal. from today all sanctions removed under the deal will be reinstated,

targetting shipping, banking, and the country's all imprtant oil industry. and they'll apply to any country trading with iran. iran is the third biggest producer in the opec club of oil exporting nations, accounting for more that 10% of opec's total output. that works out as roughly 3.4 million barrels of crude oil every day. but goldman sachs says it expects sanctions so slash iran's exports to 1.2 million barrels per day by the end of the year. oil prices have gone up over the last year or so, after several fluctuations a barrel of crude is worth about $15 more than it was a year ago. and less oilfrom iran could make prices go up still further. washington imposed

lesser sanctions on iran earlier this year. so what impact are those measures having on everyday life for iranians? the bbc‘s ali hashem visited isfahan, iran's third biggest city, and he brings in this report a rare glimpse of how businesses there are coping. the heart of iran breasts here, in the czar. people pouring every day to the market. —— bizarre. the/ in it is like the bathroom, it keeps everything together. they are meant to be always busy and they keep the city vibrant with trade activity. if

it is doing well, so is the city. that is how it has always been and isfahan is no exception. in the other ways i can see it in the faces behind me. people here feel cut off. they blame a blend of us sanctions and a downturn as a challenge to these copper and graters. —— and engravers. the assertion make europeans used to buy from us before the sanctions now we do not do any transactions. but there isn't anything we can do but to keep going. —— anything we can do but to keep going. -- translation:. the markets have been left in the middle of a perfect storm. with sanctions

starting to bite, isfahan was among a number of cities that have seen large—scale a number of cities that have seen la rge—scale protests. a number of cities that have seen large—scale protests. the government, in a bit to a vote the crisis, took measures. trading in local currency instead of the us dollars. they also promised subsidies that people are yet to see the impact of these changes on their lives. we will look at the regional press in iran in about ten minutes. china's president xijinping has vowed to speed up moves to open up the country to foreign business and to boost imports. he was speaking at the start of an major import fair in shanghai. robin brantjoins us from shanghai. he once the sound bullish but what

is the mood at this fair? well, if you are in the chinese government you are in the chinese government you would be hugely optimistic in the coming five days because xi jinping conceived of these idea and it is going to be successful. provincial government and state link companies and will together to put in billion—dollar orders. it is to show the world but particularly the white house that china wants to spend more on imports, wants to buy more from foreign companies and that is that wikileaks important as this trade will appease the escalating. —— particularly. but there are no high—level american officials and the word officially and unofficially

from the us was that essentially many see this as windowdressing. the court concern of structural inequalities— preferential treatment at, theft of ip as well. we have tangible announcement from the president. will they do more to open up president. will they do more to open up markets and lower tariffs? looking at education and medical services — particularly good for the uk because they are strong in basic as. but it is opening up at china's pace and it does not deal with the concerns that donald trump has. now let's brief you on some other business stories: italy's budget will be the focus of a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in brussels later on monday. the eu says the italian government's spending plans are unaffordable, and is demanding a new budget be submitted by november the 13th. but so far rome is refusing to comply. most uk businesses are worried

there won't be enough skilled workers to filljob vacancies according to a new survey. the bosses' organisation the cbi says four out of five firms expect to increase the number of skilled vacancies in the coming years and most will either boost or maintain investment in training. but two thirds of those surveyed think skilled vacancies will get harder to fill. uber has launched a membership scheme called ride pass, for passengers in five us cities. the deal allows passengers to avoid price surging, when costs rise at rush hour and other in—demand times. the fixed—fare plan is being trialled in major us markets for the company including los angeles and orlando. the us midterm elections are just one day away. the last time the us

went to the polls was to elect donald trump, in 2016. that was an election that caught many, including the stock market, by surprise. until a couple of months ago, stock prices have soared during the trump administration. so what are investors expecting this time? the bbc‘s samira hussain has the scoop from new york. we have seen technology suffer, the industrials have suffered, does it give an opportunity in bonds and gold? that is the question. sometimes it takes longer for the market to snap back. i don't think the election has anything to do with the market. depending on who you ask people are either nervous or not at all about upcoming elections. traders can agree that with the exception of a couple of rough patches, us markets have been on the rise since the donald trump election. when the markets were hot, the president talked about it a lot. and he even took credit for it.

the stock market is hitting an all—time high record. we have a record, it is an all—time high record. the stock market is up almost 300 points. the day after mr trump was elected, the floor of the new york stock exchange was like being on a highway during rush hour. investors and pollsters got it wrong. what can we expect with these elections? election night has variety and we expect volatility. if investors have learnt anything from 2016 it is that absolutely anything can happen. the most likely outcome is the democrats win the house and the republicans keep the senate. however, what the polls are telling you is that there is probably a 60% chance that that will happen. that tells you there is a 40% chance of something totally different from happening. that makes it hard for president trump to claim soaring

markets on the campaign trail. depending what happens on election day, he might not even have markets to point to. asi as i have mentioned, we will have special coverage of the us mid—term is on bbc news. we have seen heavy losses in asia, mainly because of comments coming from the economic adviser to the white house really downplaying any potential for a quick deal to the trade tensions between the us and china. as well, i would imagine nervousness with the mid—term is happening this week as well as other events. that's it for the business briefing this hour. people should take

greater responsibility for managing their own health, and more should be done to prevent illness. that's according to the government's new long—term plan for the nhs in england. in a speech later today, the health secretary, matt hancock, will say the aim is for people to have five more years of healthy, independent life by the year 2035. here's our health editor, hugh pym. the help and social care secretary will say ten times more public money is spent on treating disease than preventing it and that this does not stack up. matt hancock will point to a new strategy to england next year including measures encouraging employers to help improve the health of their staff, including getting those off sick back. the government wa nts to

those off sick back. the government wants to see digital dark ology used to predict illnesses, allowing doctors to target sections of the population and gino sequencing playing a role in preventing future roles. —— geno the health foundation think tank welcomed the focus on prevention by said the latest budget documents suggested they be another cut in spending on public health and staff training in england next year. so many of you have been in touch on twitter about so many graduates seemed too little payback ford the huge debt they receive from further studies. as i mentioned, there is a

huge conversation about that and what you think about the value of further education. take a look when you have time. the latest headlines: american sanctions on iran's oil industry have been reimposed. it follows president trump's decision to pull out of an international agreement aimed at curbing tehran‘s nuclear ambitions. the other signatories say they remain committed to the nuclear deal. floods have killed 12 people on the italian island of sicily at the end of a week of extreme weather, which has now been responsible for the deaths of 30 people. local authorities say the cost of repairing the damage is likely to be more than a billion euros. the french prime minister, edouard philippe, has arrived in new caledonia for talks with local politicians in the wake of sunday's independence referendum. 56% of those who took part in the referendum voted to remain part of france.

the pacific island, near australia, has been a french colony for more than 150 years. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with main story in the gulf news. it looks at the us sanctions on iran that are coming into force today, saying they're bound to take a heavy toll. to the guardian here in the uk. it claims more than 1,500 of the country's top lawyers have signed a letter urging theresa may to back another brexit referendum. staying in the uk and the metro in london. this is a free paper many people read when they move around the capital, and they'll read its this morning. —— they'll read this this

morning. it reports on soaring knife crime in the capital as four fatal stabbings take place in five days. nigeria's business am newspaper now. a really interesting story. a social credit score that'll be given to everyone in china — frivolous spending and anti—social behaviour, like dropping litter, affecting your result, and penalties can include travel bans or your children not getting into your preferred school. and finally buzzfeed on scientists' latest attempts to tackle space junk. a big conference in australia will look at plans to fire lasers at some of the tens of millions of pieces orbiting the earth as experts warn they‘ re endangering critical satellites.