this is the business briefing. i'm david eades. no pay day. thousands of us goverment staff won't get their wages today as the budget standoff drags into its fourth week plus — former nissan boss carlos ghosn could face new charges that would keep him injail — 50 days after he was first arrested for alleged financial misconduct and on the markets, stocks edging higher after the chairman of the us federal reserve said the bank will be patient about raising interest rates. sentiment being boosted further by the news that trade talks between washington and beijing are to move up a gear. we start in the us

where for hundreds of thousands of government employees it should be pay day. but they won't be getting a cent, with the budget standoff in congress over president trump's border wall leaving large parts of the federal government without funding. the shutdown is about to enter its fourth week, and on saturday it will become the longest in us history. some 800,000 federal workers will not get paid today or until the crisis is resolved. around half of them have been sent home but the rest — 420,000 — have had to carry on working unpaid because they are deemed essential. this includes more than 1a,000 air traffic controllers. and 51,000 airport security staff remain on duty — not knowing when they'll get paid. this week ratings agency fitch warned that the budget

deadlock could see the usa losing its aaa sovereign credit rating. but for the unpaid government workers protesting in washington on thursday, there are more immediate concerns — like paying the bills. my my husband works out every day to make sure that we are safe as a country and it's terrifying to think that our president thinks of us as pawns. not knowing how long this is going to last, i really have to budget as much as i can and say, how doi budget as much as i can and say, how do i not spend anything for weeks at a time because every day, i don't know when the shutdown is going to end. all we want to do was work, i wa nt end. all we want to do was work, i want to work, i want to serve my country. i've talked to someone and i've asked if i can get a loan for my more cheap —— for my mortgage payment if this doesn't end at the end of january and payment if this doesn't end at the end ofjanuary and if it payment if this doesn't end at the end of january and if it continues longer, i'll have to go into my retirement money. to pay the bills.

the bills keep coming, they don't stop. whether the grocery store, i'm thinking what to have in the freezer, what can i pay for next time, just making sure i use the stockpile that i have and don't make any purchases until i know exactly what the budget is going to be because our budget is blown out of the water, i have no idea how to plan for what is next. a lot of very worried people understandably. david miller is investment director at quilter cheviot. can you paint a bigger picture problem about the shutdown lasting this long. the 800,000 employees have money to spend or don't have money to spend. that has an impact on the us economy but it's jobs they do but also matter hugely. 0thers

have been sent home. people who monitor export licences to administer loans to small businesses. small businesses employ most people. it is not big business which does the employment. then you got the statistics that we all rely on forjudging the health will otherwise of the us economy. on forjudging the health will otherwise of the us economylj assume otherwise of the us economy.” assume this this would assume that this permit request is going to take three orfour this permit request is going to take three or four weeks to come through and they carry on with their operational move for whatever it is, export or import of products, and that's all come to a complete standstill. it's a growing problem. we've had these shutdowns before. but never gone beyond a month. if it looks like it's going to go beyond a month. that slows things down, it

doesn't mean they never happen but it takes time to unwind a problem like this. greasing the wheels of commerce is one thing. you talked about 800,000 people not getting their money. that isn't even a drop in the bucket, is it, in an economy sense? when economists throw around big numbers, $1.5 billion a week in a $20 trillion economy is small in the grand scheme of things. it is cumulative. the other thing that matters is the sentiment which drives decisions. this sentiment is being knocked, and the tears, people will delay and cancel. the sentiment coming out of the federal reserve is that the usa of all countries could lose its aaa rating. is that likely to happen? it may. the rating agencies do try to be a bit

independent. it won't have a particular impact at the end of the scale. i think investors can still regard the us is a good risk. corporate lending, the ratings a much lower, and ticking companies with low ratings into junk status because they are not doing as much business, because of this shutdown, is where the knock—on effect becomes more serious. thanks very much indeed for that. let's stay with that story — because it's notjust us federal employees who are being hit financially by the shutdown. government offices being closed mean vital paperwork is being held up. and that's costing small businesses money — as samira hussain reports from new york. this craft breweries started making beer only three years ago and already they can't make enough to

keep up with demand. so they released a new facility that would allow them to more than quadruple the amount of beer they make. this is the facility will be occupying but until it is open, it's nothing more than a giant ball court. this giant racquetball court is costing michael roosevelt $1000 a day. until the federal government issues in a licence, he can't get this brewery up licence, he can't get this brewery up and running. with the shutdown i have no idea when that licence is going to arrive which means i am paying for the equipment, paying for the lease, paying for utilities and with no expectations are understanding of when i might start to get some revenue. we want to work! this week, federal workers have been taken to the streets in america. we just got a call from the mortgage company today, payment wasn't made. we won't have any paycheques. how this hurts federal workers, that's pretty clear. they are not getting paid. but it's the

knock—on effects on the overall us economy that gets worse the longer the shutdown continues. $3.6 billion in economic losses by this friday is one estimate from a financial research group. if the shutdown continues, within two weeks, the economic it would be larger than the cost of the wall. this here is what that economic loss looks like. all m, that economic loss looks like. all in, michael estimates is invested about $1 million in this new brewery that currently sits idle. right now, there doesn't seem to be an end to there doesn't seem to be an end to the shutdown coming any time soon. samira hussain, bbc news, hackensack, newjersey. let's go to japan now where former nissan boss carlos ghosn could faces new charges in the next few hours. that would mean no end in sight to his detention in a tokyo jail — where he's been for more than 50 days on charges of financial misconduct — which he strenuously denies.

let's strenuously denies. get over to mariko 0i who is following let's get over to mariko 0i who is following this price. what is the latest then? it is time in detention is due to run out, what are they doing now? the latest charge he could face in a few hours is called aggravated breach of trust which is aggravated breach of trust which is a lot more serious than what he has been charged with which is under reporting his income by some $18 million. this new charge, he is accused of transferring private investment losses on to nissan and accused of making quite a hefty payment to a saudi businessman who allegedly helped to cover up those losses. of course, on tuesday, when he made his first public appearance since his arrest in mid—november. he denied all the charges, but nevertheless, we are still expecting him to be indicted in a few hours because his detention expires today without charge. prosecutors will probably indict him but experts say

thatis probably indict him but experts say that is highly unlikely that it will be approved because of the seriousness of the allegations and that means he could stay in jail for many more months to come until the first trial. now let's brief you on some other business stories. president trump has pulled out of the world economic forum in davos later this month because of the ongoing us government shutdown. us secretary of state mike pompeo and treasury secretary stephen mnuchin are still expected to attend the gathering of world business and political leaders in the swiss ski resort. angry shareholders of the retail store debenhams have forced the chief executive and chairman off the board of the struggling retailer — in a move led by billionaire sports direct owner mike ashley. despite the coup — the company says ceo sergio bucher will remain in his role and that it has full confidence in his plans to turn around the business. it comes as the department store

chain revealed another plunge in sales. and now — what's trending in the business news this morning. 0n wired — lawsuit claims google covered up sexual misconduct. a shareholder lawsuit filed thursday claims that alphabet‘s board of directors, including larry page, sergey brin, and eric schmidt, covered up sexual harassment by numerous google executives. from business insider — ford's shuttle—van company chariot is shutting down this march. the car giant paid $65 million for the startup in 2014 — which allows you to book seats on a shuttle bus via an app. it launched in 9 us cities and london but didn't take off from cnbc — goldman raises gold forecast for 2019 on recession fears, sees 10% gain. and don't forget — let is know what you are spotting online — use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. that's it for the business

briefing this hour but before we go, here are the markets. asian stocks creeping up to 5—week highs the government has performed a second u—turn on its flagship benefits reform, universal credit. the work and pensions secretary, amber rudd, has scrapped plans to extend a limit on benefits for families with more than two children. she's also confirmed that a vote by mps, on moving three million existing benefit claimants onto universal credit, will be delayed. 0ur political correspondent, nick eardley reports. the government's slammed cheek ——

flagship benefit reform has been controversial, dogged by delays in its roll—out. 0pponents controversial, dogged by delays in its roll—out. opponents of universal credit satyrs left some worse off and has forced others to use food banks to make ends meet. the new work and pensions secretary amber rudd has placed a list of concerns. i know there are problems with universal credit despite its good intentions. i've seen them for myself, i will be listening and learning from the expert groups in this area it is such good work. i know it can be better. today she will set out how she intends to address some of them. plans to extend the policy which limits of its claims to two children will be scrapped. they will still apply to children born after april 2017 but not to those born before. plans to move 3 million people onto universal credit have been delayed. instead, 10,000 will be moved to the government can study the impact. in a pilot scheme look at more frequent payments after complaints some were

being left short. amber rudd says universal credit does work for the majority of people but she will acknowledge today it needs to offer flexibility. for opponents, they say the measures announced don't go far enough and have called on her to scrap the 2— child benefit completely. nick ea rdley, scrap the 2— child benefit completely. nick eardley, bbc news. for that story and more breakfast is coming up at six o'clock with charlie stayt and naga munchetty — they'll have all the day's news, business and sport. plus more on andy murray's impending retirement. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: a tearful andy murray has told reporters next week's australian open could be his last tournament — he said he was in too much pain after hip surgery. the german chancellor angela merkel has praised her greek counterpart alexis tsipras for leading his country out of a very difficult period after nine years of austerity. at least 16 people have been killed in severe winter weather in parts

of central and eastern europe. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. and — as so often — we start with brexit. namely, a story in the guardian, which quotes the confederation of british industry — or cbi. it says a no—deal brexit could have profound economic consequences with the uk's gdp shrinking by up to 8% — putting thousands ofjobs at risk. next we turn to gulf news, which is reporting on mike pompeo's tour of the region. in a speech in cairo, the us secretary of state said america was determined to rid syria of iranian influence. the financial times has more worrying news about the state of the american economy.