this is the business briefing, i'm sally bundock. another bad call for huawei. its finance chief is arrested over alleged iran sanctions—busting, threatening to inflame us—china trade tensions even further. plus: higher prices in the pipeline. opec set to cut oil production to pump up the cost of crude, despite warnings from president trump. and, on the markets, asian shares and us futures tumble on the arrest of huawei's finance chief. the us was closed for the funeral of president george hw bush. we start in canada, where there is yet more controversy around chinese telecom giant huawei. the global chief financial officer, meng wanzhou, has been arrested at the request of us authorities, and now faces extradition there, on suspicion she has violated american sanctions on iran. the company has said it is not aware of any wrongdoing, but it is certain to further inflame trade tensions between china and the us, as dave lee in san francisco explains. there is going to be a hearing on

friday in canada, and that would essentially see ms meng extradited to the us. we understand she faces charges that she violated us sanctions with iran. we have known for some time that the us department ofjustice has for some time that the us department of justice has been for some time that the us department ofjustice has been looking into huawei and its activities in relation to iran, but we haven't seen any relation to iran, but we haven't seen any more relation to iran, but we haven't seen any more detail about anything that they potentially may have found. i think that is going to become more clear at that hearing on friday, huawei saying they have had very little information. they have said as faras very little information. they have said as far as they are aware, ms meng hasn't done any kind of wrongdoing, and added in a statement earlier that it complies with all sanctions on the market is that it operates. but this but, of course, is going to heighten tensions between the us and china —— this move. as cfo of huawei, ms meng was one of the leading business figures in china so it will be interesting

to see the fallout this creates. in 2017, another chinese company, zte, not as big a still influential, was fined $1.2 billion by the us for breaking trade sanctions with iran and north korea. zte acknowledged the finding and said they apologised and that they wouldn't do it again. that is an enormous fine for the company over breaking those sanctions, and i think many people are looking at this situation now with huawei and wondering if the same kind of threat could face that company as well. let's get the latest reaction now from china. robin brant is our correspondent in shanghai. china has set a bit more about what it thinks about this move. well, the embassy in ottawa has described this asa embassy in ottawa has described this as a breach of human rights and has called for the canadian authorities to release ms meng immediately. that

is very unlikely to happen. make no mistake, though, this isn'tjust a move against the person or company, and huawei is a hugely successful telecoms company. this is a very aggressive message being sent from president trump's administration, in particular the justice president trump's administration, in particular thejustice department, to china. and of course it comes at a crucial time in the ongoing trade competition between these two countries. this arrest was made, there were varying reports at the time that president xi and trump we re time that president xi and trump were sitting opposite each other in buenos aires, or shortly afterwards. and there is already talk on social media about canadian chinese citizens on the mainland who may be targeted. china has a record in kind of tit—for—tat actions like that. but as i said this was hugely significant, not just because but as i said this was hugely significant, notjust because it is a sign of the new, aggressive posture from president trump's administration in terms of challenging chinese firms involving

allegations of ip theft or iranian sanctions, but the timing. this trade war, there was signals of maybe a rapprochement. we got those postponement of escalations in paris coming yesterday, but now this is a very distinct move from president trump's administration which targets, as i said, notjust the person 01’ targets, as i said, notjust the person or company by the country. and just quickly, it is being felt on financial markets, chinese companies down over 3%. on financial markets, chinese companies down over 396. that is because there could be a fear that others will be next. does it mean the end to the trade war? you know, all these kind of move is being seen asa all these kind of move is being seen as a portent of a more aggressive posture from the united states and the impact that may have on the prospect of a trade war escalating further. thank you very much indeed. let's talk about oil now, because higher prices could be on the way after the opec group of exporting nations, together with allies including russia, agreed in principle to cut

the amount they produce. the deal comes ahead of two days of talks at opec‘s headquarters in vienna, where the details will be finalised. here is what is worrying them. crude has slumped by $20 a barrel since october on concerns about the health of the global economy and the trade war between china and the us. the usa, saudi arabia and russia are all producing oil at record levels. a move to cut is likely to infuriate president trump, who took to twitter earlier on wednesday to urge opec to keep up production levels, saying the world does not want to see, or need, higher oil prices. saudi arabia, the de facto leader of opec, has been pushing for total production to be cut by at least 1.3 million barrels per day, or 1.3% of global output. others think that is far too much. the amount, and how it will be shared out, will be negotiated over the next two days, as oman's oil minister told reporters. did you recommend a cut? the cuts,

yes, but we haven't discussed the number. is there are a number? not yet. work in progress. we call it a reduction. a reduction of how much? this is uncharted territory! abhishek deshpande is head of oil market strategy atjpmorgan chase. he is in vienna for the opecm meeting, and joins us via webcam. —— opec. good to have you on the programme. now, the devil is in the detail. we get the impression that opec intends to cut production, but who were cut and by how much? can they agree on

that today and tomorrow?|j and by how much? can they agree on that today and tomorrow? i think what we are definitely seeing is that there is generally a consensus that there is generally a consensus that there is generally a consensus that the opec and non— opec members do see that the markets are oversupplied and there is a consensus that there needs to be a cut. the levels definitely matter, though, because that is where there is still... it seems there is disagreement. in our own analysis at jp morgan, we feel the cut needs to be one to1.3 jp morgan, we feel the cut needs to be one to 1.3 million barrels per day and in addition to that, russia adding more. we feel those are the levels of cuts required to balance the market at this point. however, if 0pec the market at this point. however, if opec was to recommend those level of cuts, we would perhaps see prices recovering at least by $5 or $10 in oui’

recovering at least by $5 or $10 in ouropec recovering at least by $5 or $10 in our opec scenario, which could possibly get a reaction from the united states if opec was to go down that route and that could become a sticking point. i am guessing, going on past behaviour, that they will get a quick tweet from president trump, depending on what they decide to do. let's talk about the politics of this. because we have a very vocal us president saying what he thinks. he wants the tabs open, he wa nts thinks. he wants the tabs open, he wants lots of oil in the markets right now. and then you have got obviously russia involved with opec here, so that seems to be leaning towards more production cuts, and then you have the likes of qatar saying they are leaving opec. then you have the likes of qatar saying they are leaving opeci com pletely saying they are leaving opeci completely agree. i think this meeting has become completely political, more political than the previous meeting they had and what makes it very interesting is that you have got the involvement of another non— opec player which is not participating in that meeting,

which is obviously the united states, making it very difficult for the members to basically come up with a firm decision, especially saudi arabia, which is leading the opec group, and also happens to be a close ally of the us. you will most definitely see that the us will make an objection if there was more than an objection if there was more than a really large level of cuts, which would basically prop up prices at this point. and that is definitely going to get noticed in the us, as you rightly said. the us has taken a very keen interest in oil as the us is trying to keep oil prices well capped. ican is trying to keep oil prices well capped. i can say that the markets are oversupplied, so why should oil prices go up? thank you for your time. i hope it goes well for him in vienna on opec watch, as it were. let's look at financial markets,

ignore that figure on the dow, it was closed for the funeral of former president bush. it will reopen later today but you can see heavy losses across the board, in asia, as investors get their head around all these latest developments with regards to huawei. i will see you soon. the cost of student accommodation has increased by more than a third since 2012, with the average annual rent now exceeding £6,000, according to student housing charity unipol. it also found that private landlords own half of rooms available to students across the uk. our consumer affairs correspondent colletta smith reports. two stu d e nts

two students in leeds living very differently. flats in any‘s block cost u p differently. flats in any‘s block cost up to £450 a week. this is a king—sized bed, which is so nice to come to, because when i come here i just feel so comfortable, and i don't feel like i'm losing out on any of my home comforts, because i know a lot of accommodations have single beds. ella nor is paying a quarter of that. everything you need in here. bed, desk, plenty of storage space and it is bigger than most uni rooms. i've got a make-up station on my desk area with all the home liberty. one this is where all the hard work happens, then. yes. half of all student accommodation is now owned by private developers like naveen. i think developers are really think they need to up their game or get out of it, basically. they are primarily about education. they are primarily about education. the housing is something that by

default they sort of did. there have been big changes in standards tschudin digs as well. the vast majority are now ensuite, with prices up 6% in university owned halls in the last year alone. the average rent now eats up 73% of the full student loan, and the organisation which carried out the survey is worried lots of students will be priced out. there needs to be an expansion of accommodation in the middle market and at the lower end. so, you know, we need more premier inns and travel lodges, rather than hilton ‘s. premier inns and travel lodges, rather than hilton 's. whether by choice or necessity, students are splashing out more on a home away from home. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: the french government has abandoned plans to raise fuel taxes, at least for another year, following weeks of violent street protests. the global chief financial officer of chinese tech giant huawei has been arrested in canada and is facing extradition to the us.

now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. ido i do not believe i have not said the word brexit yet in 45 minutes. we begin with the times which leads with the cabinet and its ministers who are urging uk prime minister theresa may to delay next week's crucial brexit vote, amid fears that she is facing a defeat so catastrophic that it could bring down the government. the new york times looks atfacebook, who are accused of using the mountains of data it collected on users to favour certain partners and punish rivals. this allegedly gave companies such as airbnb and netflix special access to its platform, while cutting off others that it perceived as threats. meanwhile the mail also focusses what it calls the disturbing scale of the personal data being harvested and traded by multinational companies. it says health details,

children's voice recordings and copies of passports can be all be at risk when customers tick an online consent box. the guardian says global carbon emissions which will jump to a record high in 2018, according to a un climate report. the results dashed hopes of a plateau of recent years would continue to be maintained. accrdong to scientists, emissions are now heading in the opposite direction to the deep cuts urgently needed in order to fight climate change. and in keeping with helping the environment, the times asks why not hire a christmas tree this december? customers at a farm shop in the uk can now choose a tree and instead of throwing it away after the festivities they can return it so it can replanted and then hired again by another family next year. the sharing economy. i don't know,

just different innovative ideas to help the planet.