this is business live from bbc news with maryam moshiri and james menendez. prime minister theresa may will continue to sell her brexit withdrawal deal today, as business leaders call on politicians to get behind the plan. live from london, that's our top story on friday 16th november. taking a pounding: sterling suffers its biggest sell—off in more than two years, as political turmoil puts the uk's brexit deal in doubt. plus — apecing order — president xi takes centre stage at the asia pacific summit in papa new guinea — a sign of china's growing influence in the region. the european markets have opened in positive territory. and it's been an extraordinary week dominated by brexit —

we'll try and make sense of it all with our economics expert andrew walker. and coming up, we'll be taking a look at how some of the papers around the world are reporting the brexit story. and, don't forget, you can get in touch with us — just use the hashtag bbcbizlive. hello and welcome to business live. what a week it has been in the uk world of politics. we start with brexit — because as you've been hearing, uk prime minister has been defending her draft agreement on britain's exit from the eu, despite widespread criticism from both pro—leave and pro—remain politicians. in the last hour, she has been selling the plan on a talk radio show in london. david eades is at westminster for us. you were listening in on that talk

radio show. she was answering questions from viewers up and down the country. what was the general feeling we got from that talk radio show segment? in a way it's difficult, because what we heard we re very difficult, because what we heard were very specific problems that individuals based. it might have been about what will happen to my medical supplies when we hit brexit? will i still get what i need for treatment press, there's a big northern ireland question that came up. people wanted to note from northern ireland, what position are we going to be left with? that is like picking through all the details of the difficult then to get an overall picture. i think what is also interesting at this stage, i mean look at the european markets already. they are taking on oxygen and taking on water but not moving very much after the breathless rush of events of thursday. this is a bit more of a calmer uncertainty, a reflection for

the moment. politically as well as for businesses, as to what will happen next. that may well extend into the weekend and it may not be until next week that we get a clearer picture as to where this is all going and then perhaps again the markets will respond to that. at the moment it is reflection, and as he said, theresa may, what stamina. back out on the trail, pushing her case. david, thank you very much indeed. the draft agreement has been broadly welcomed by many in the business world. in the last few hours, the boss of the engineering giant rolls—royce has said politicians must get behind what he called a "practical plan" for brexit. but there are still major questions about the deal will work — let's show you why. the eu is currently the uk's largest trading partner. in 2017, uk exports to the eu were worth over $350 billion — that's 44% of all britain's exports. imports from the eu totalled $435 billion — 53% of all imports into the uk.

the draft agreement aims to protect that — promising a free trade area for goods, with no tariffs or quotas. that eases many of the worries of manufacturing firms — like the car industry. but what about services, which accounted for 40% of uk exports to the eu last year? the draft promises an ambitious arrangement. but britain's huge financial sector fears it won't get anything like the access it to eu markets that it enjoys now. then there is the uk's trade with the rest of the world. it's currently covered by the eu's trade deals. under the draft agreement, britain would be free to make its own. brexiteers say it could do better deals than it has now, and with more countries. but some fear it would simply have less negotiating power. joining us from brussels is eu

trade policy expert, ambassador hugo paemen. a very warm welcome to business live. thank you for being with us. at this stage, given the political turmoil, how much of a risk do think there is of the uk crashing out and we end up with no deal? well, i think you are better placed than i am tojudge this well, i think you are better placed than i am to judge this from the london side. i think here in brussels, there is now this agreement that has been negotiated. i think people are 100% working on the implementation of this agreement. the good thing of the agreement, of course, is there is a transition period so we will have some time, not very much, but there is 21 months more or less to work for the future. now, the other thing is if there is

no agreement at all, i think nobody can no agreement at all, i think nobody ca n force no agreement at all, i think nobody can force the. it will be a kind of catastrophe. —— nobody can foresee. there is not much time between now and march and there are debts and hypotheses people have not foreseen. let's hope there will be disagreement and particularly that the transition period will be used very well, to negotiate quietly, calmly, a very good agreement between the uk and the european union. and that, we have this transition period which gives us some breathing space but isn't very long, given how long trade deals kante, they can ta ke long trade deals kante, they can take many years. will that be possible? i think it is possible for the simple reason that we are today in the single market together, in the customs union. everything is in place. so the thing is, if that's

what the two sides want to replicate this in legislation on the uk's side nationally, and the european union will maintain the existing legislation. so we start from a very good point. we now have two transferred this in the new situation with an agreement between the eu and what the uk will be, which is a third country. but the starting point is very good, so it should, in principle, not be too difficult. just briefly, one quick question, if britain were to crash out and we we re britain were to crash out and we were to revert to wto rules, would suffer more, britain or the european union? well, that is difficult to say. i think that the uk is in a position to defend its interests in the wto,

as the other members are, and there isa as the other members are, and there is a solid basis of wt0 rules and procedures and so on. how this will evolve in practical life, in practical business on a day—to—day basis, i think nobody can foresee. it's a basis, i think nobody can foresee. it'sa minimum basis, i think nobody can foresee. it's a minimum for liberalisation and the wto has other plans to further liberalise the services sector and also in goods and intellectual property, but the wto isa intellectual property, but the wto is a very slow body, so it will take some time before... a sense of new rules will be made in the wto that come close to what today the wto has reserved the european union as a whole. thank you forjoining us from

brussels. eu trade policy expert, hugo paemen. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news... japan airlines will introduce a new breathalyser system at overseas airports after one of its pilots was arrested at heathrow airport for being drunk. katsutoshi jitsukawa was arrested last month after a test showed he was over nine times the legal alcohol limit. the new measures also come after a series ofjapan airlines flights were delayed due to intoxicated pilots. the head of indian online fashion retailer myntra, ananth narayanan, has resigned. it comes just days after his group chief executive stepped down over claims of sexual assualt. myntra, which was bought by e—commerce group flipkart in 2014, could also see cuts to 500 jobs. facebook faces a new controversy over alleged tactics it used to discredit its critics, embarrass rivalfirms and downplay problems at the company. the new york times has published a wide—ranging account of the methods facebook and a public relations firm used to "deny and deflect" criticism. the report has led us lawmakers to call for tighter regulation of social networks.

facebook has denied several of the claims. over to asia now, where markets have had a mixed performance today. it comes as uncertainty mounts around brexit and investors weigh up the future of us—china trade relations. monica miller is in singapore and can tell us more. what has it been like for the asian markets overnight? you could say they are being rather conservative, as they watched the pound tried to climb back after yesterday's tumble and as the brexit crisis continues. japanese markets we re crisis continues. japanese markets were weighed heavily today and that was because their stocks plunged nearly 17% in after hours trading on the nasdaq and that was after the company reported unexpected bad earnings. it specialises in making

video hardware but also digital currency, but process by which computers are used to create bitcoin and other online currencies. they say there is a glut in this chip market and the secondary market and its cutting into their profits. monica miller, thank you. let's take a look at the markets now, hopes of a resolution to the trade war between china and the us helped lift the hang seng. european markets, let's look at them. they have recovered a little bit of the losses we saw. political turmoil in the uk very much a focus. the pound pounded by the brexit and the pound pounded by the brexit and t has recovered a little of its value against the euro. and michelle fleury has the details of what's ahead on wall street today. cable company viacom reports its fourth—quarter profits this friday. its bottom line is likely to be boosted by a strong performance from paramount. the latest mission impossible film franchise is expected to boost profits, and licensing revenue

should also get a lift this quarter. that follows paramount tv‘s launch of tom clancy's jack ryan on amazon prime and maniac on netflix. 0n the economic front, the federal reserve publishes industrial production figures — a key manufacturing indicator. economists are forecasting a 0.2% rise in october. this follows the 0.3% rise in september. even though the sector is benefiting from strong consumer demand and lower corporate taxes, trade tensions with china are a concern. joining us is lawrence gosling, editor in chief of what investment magazine. good to have you with us. good to have you with uslj good to have you with us. i think it will be slightly, on the markets today, certainly in london, i think there will be some traders that hangovers because people would have made a lot of money yesterday shorting the pound. thursday is a

night when people tend to go out. have you got a hangover?” night when people tend to go out. have you got a hangover? i was finishing our magazine yesterday so i was working hard. in all seriousness, fridays are bit quieter. unless we see a significant resignation today, we haven't had one since the programme started, so fingers crossed we get the through the day without upsetting the turmoil will start again next week. brexit isn't the only story in town, especially in terms of what is going on in the rest of the world. china and usa trade resolution. quite a bit of turmoilfor and usa trade resolution. quite a bit of turmoil for italy this week as well. what else is moving the world financial markets? some economic data from germany, the powerhouse of europe. we are so absorbed herewith brexit you forget there is a big world out there. the global economy is beginning to slow down and the politics don't help investors feel confident that the momentum this year can be carried onto 2019. lawrence gosling, good to talk to you. you will be back to run through papers, brexit heavy

newspaper headlines. its been an extraordinary week dominated by brexit — and reaction to the withdrawal deal. we'll try and make sense of it with our economics expert andrew walker. you're with business live from bbc news. back to brexit, and theresa may has said she believes "with every fibre of my being" that her deal is the right one. but how many businesses agree? ben thompson is in edinburgh to find out how businesses are reacting to the draft withdrawal agreement. where are you? good morning. welcome to edinburgh. i'm not making any parallels between how we organise brexit and the fact we are in a brewery, but nonetheless, a lot of businesses

around the country are trying to work out what they make of this deal that we heard over the past 48 hours 01’ so that we heard over the past 48 hours orso and that we heard over the past 48 hours or so and what it could mean for them. clearly lots of worries about skills, imports and exports, access to raw materials, about being able to raw materials, about being able to sell overseas. joining us is the boss, john. good morning. you have had a bit of time to digest everything we have heard, 585 pages. what you make of it?|j everything we have heard, 585 pages. what you make of it? i think it's looking pretty difficult, because they are saying no deal is better thana they are saying no deal is better than a bad steel but i think we are looking for an alternative to either of those. i think the difficulty for us of those. i think the difficulty for us is you get currency fluctuations and kits needing to be bought for this place needs to come from europe or america. the staff, many of them are from europe. people in pubs are often from continental europe, so all that creates uncertainty. and what is interesting, with you based in edinburgh, you have gone through two different boats, the

scottish independence referendum and then the eu referendum. you've had quite a lot of uncertainty for the last three years. and we might have another coming along. this business was born out of the scottish referendum, eduardo parlour at sea is the godfather of pop art and the scotsman. we are a multicultural business and with international outlook, we won 70% of our business in exports, all of this looking inward is not good. nice to see you. let me show you around this place. we are talking about beer. 25,000 pints of beer here, not a bad way to celebrate the weekend. just 9000 in these ones here(!)! that they are working out what it means forjobs and skills, clearly a lock for them to co nte nt and skills, clearly a lock for them to content with but from here in edinburgh it is back to you. your‘e watching business live —

our top story... prime minister theresa may will continue to sell her brexit withdrawal deal today — as business leaders call on politicians to get behind the plan. a quick look at how the markets are faring... a pretty dire day yesterday for the pound and for european markets, the pound and for european markets, the pound to the dollar has recovered some of its value today, as investors take breather and consider what could come... 0ne story has dominated the week — and its brexit of course! what a surprise! but reaction to the long awaited draft brexit agreement has split opinion in the world of business and politics ... andrew walker, our economics correspondent, is here. as ever, at the heart of disagreement over this plan is

northern ireland, ireland, the border... and the issue of the customs union. and who remains in it? yes, the backstop, the arrangement that would apply if the negotiations on the long—term arrangement do not produce something that ensures there is no hard border in northern ireland. the backstop arrangement talks about what they call a single customs territory, they were the words used in the d raft they were the words used in the draft agreement. i have to say, that's about a customs union in all but name. in terms of britain's future as a national trade policy the key point is it would not allow britain to levy any tariff that is lower than what is applied by the european union. it cannot strike its own deals at all? not on tariffs and these circumstances, but you can do nontariff barriers and trade in services, investment rules which are often entangled with trade agreements. but there is the real

constraint there. if the backstop does not apply and we managed to get a trade agreement that ensures the backstop is not needed, which both sides incidentally are keen to achieve, the outline political declaration says that we will have something that builds on the idea of a single customs territory. not really clear on whether we would end up really clear on whether we would end up with something that does restrict the uk's ability to offer lower tariffs in negotiations with third countries but there's a distinct possibility it may do. but if it is customs union in all but name enters precise thing that brexiteers do not want. most of them absolutely hate the idea, and that is one of the reasons why the reaction from many conservative members of parliament who are the most die—hard brexiteers has been so vitriolic. absolutely. everyone yesterday was saying there is this plan, you may or may not like it but it is the only one on the table. what do your businesses

think on it? i lay terrified at the prospect of it not getting past and we crash out in march? those businesses with some sort of international trade relationship with the eu, either buying stuff from your report or selling it on the other side of the channel, they are desperate to avoid a no deal. they would dearly love to have this transition period of 21 months all, i suspect, preferably longer that would give them more time to adjust. i think those kinds of businesses, internationally exposed businesses, would see this proposed agreement as being acceptable in the very least that yes, they are absolutely worried about the prospect it may not agree and if not, we could end up not agree and if not, we could end up leaving the eu with no deal. the rolls—royce boss came out today and said this deal was better than no deal and we need to get behind a practical plan. the key thing for many is timing. time is really

running out. for a business, what they need more than anything is to be able to their contingency plans. many businesses are already working on those contingency plans, we have spoken to people in the last few days and none, as far as i know, have made changes in their plans to build on these contingency plans. they do quite like the look of the agreement that has been made, as far as it goes. but, they are not going to bank it or rely on it coming in and being implemented. they are going to continue to prepare for the worst. andrew walker, it's always good to get you on brexit. it is your favourite topic! am sure it is keeping you busy and will do for the rest of today...! let's not scare him! papua new guinea is hosting the asia pacific economic cooperation forum

in the capital port moresby. chinese president xijinping was the first world leader to arrive there on thursday. china is stepping up its presence in the region, which has traditionally been the sphere of influence of us ally australia. 0ur asia business correspondent karishma vaswani is there and sent this report vt. the chinese president is in papa new guinea for a state visit ahead of attending a pack which is being held in port maurice b. china has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in papa new guinea. many people have told me that without china's help, apec may not have been held in the capital papa new guinea but this new friendship is raising concern in other quarters, namely with australia and the united states of america. they see beijing's cheque—book diplomacy as a way for china to insert more influence in a pa rt china to insert more influence in a part of the world which is geo— strategically very important to them. so what can we expect over the

next few days? perhaps more trade and aid deals for papa new guinea but also from the united states, australia and japan, this country has just become the latest battle ground between the west and china. let's have a look at the coverage on papers and websites. lawrence gosling from what investment magazine joins us again to discuss... in the daily mail, this is interesting, the wording, things have changed at the daily mail! they talk about preening tory supper tours, which is fantastic. the whole language, it seems extraordinary —— supper tours. they are not holding back. jacob rees—mogg in particular, getting both barrels from the daily mail. he will not be sending them a christmas card this year. it is

interesting. they see broadly that the deal book prime minister has come up with is pretty much the best the uk is going to get. and we need to move on, in many ways. it echoes a lot of uncertainty, that the businesses are talking about. with the wall streetjournal, they talk about the best bad brexit deal. i was reading the financial times on the way in, their line is this is a dealfor the way in, their line is this is a deal for nobody. therefore the way in, their line is this is a dealfor nobody. therefore it the way in, their line is this is a deal for nobody. therefore it should be scrapped. i'm just interested, two big financial papers taking a different approach. absolutely, this is the wall street journal. a different approach. absolutely, this is the wall streetjournal. a us business view of the deal. we are obsessed here. it is interesting to see how countries outside look at it. the wall street journal are thinking about investment banks and it is probably the best deal in context. the description of some of the politicians it talked about,

they talked about mrs may's wonky cabinet. there is no great regard for the politicians in this case. and the times of india, a more measured approach? very balanced, if you wanted an impartial summation of what has happened in the last couple of days, go online and look at the times of india. it is calm and an appropriate view given their place in the world. lawrence gosling, it is so good to have you with us. it has been a very busy day, and i'm sure it will continue being busy throughout this friday. join us for all of the latest coverage on the brexit turmoil. that's all 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. good morning. yesterday,

temperatures in the highlands got up to 18 degrees, a remarkably warm day for mid—november. 0ver to 18 degrees, a remarkably warm day for mid—november. over the next few days, it will be chilly but a murky start of the day. mr bloke cloud, patches of fog. —— mist and fog. it stays cloudy in many parts of england and wales during the afternoon. the best of brightness developing towards western parts. some shelter toward south—western england and west wales. some brighter skies and sunshine through here. temperatures of 14 degrees, a degree or so lower than yesterday. in northern ireland and scotland, the best of the sunshine, particularly in northern and western parts of scotland. temperature is not as high as the 18 degrees yesterday, more like 13 or 14

degrees. through tonight, a lot of cloud in england and wales, spreading further north. a largely dry night, cloud is thick enough in places to produce spots of drizzle here and there. a damp start on saturday morning. but, another mild night. through the weekend, this big area of high pressure is with us and brings a south—easterly wind. it also brings in some drier air and clear spells through continental europe. that extends in all parts on saturday. a lot of sunshine into the afternoon. temperatures down by a degree or so, 11—13d. sunday morning, a chilly start. chillier than we have been used to recently. temperatures of 2—5d, but plenty of sunshine on sunday. a sparkling day in many parts. dry as you can see, not much going on. wind from the

south—east. temperatures 10—12, 13 degrees. similar to saturday. then it gets much colder into next week. you can see we it gets much colder into next week. you can see we have it gets much colder into next week. you can see we have colder air locked in place across europe. that will move in across the uk. by monday and tuesday, all of us are under the influence of cold air. maximum temperatures on monday and tuesday at 7—10d. a fair amount of cloud into next week. some breaks in the sunshine from time to time but much colder, you will notice that. goodbye. you're watching bbc news at 9, with me, annita mcveigh. the headlines: the prime minister has been on radio this morning, defending her position and arguing for the brext deal to be passed by mps. we're out of the customs union, we're out of the single market. we're out of the common agricultural policy, we're out of the common fisheries policy. that's what i think people voted for. will you be resigning today, mr

gove? michael gove is considering his position in cabinet, after rejecting the prime minister's offer to make him brexit secretary. i'll have all the latest reaction to this story here at westminster. and i'm chris rogers. our other stories this morning... the number of people unaccounted for, after california's deadliest ever wildfire has more than doubled, to over 600. the author and women's rights campaigner who's accused a senior