this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. nissan without ghosn. the japanese carmaker‘s about to release its first set of earnings since its once all—powerfulformer chairman was arrested. and getting a head start — we'll find out how girl scouts is trying to boost the number of women in science and technoloy. and on the markets a big jump forjapan‘s nikkei 225 as the yen weakens versus the dollar and on optimism about trade talks between the us and china. the japanese carmaker nissan is about to deliver its first set of earnings since the arrest its former—chairman carlos ghosn. he remains in custody in tokyo, on financial misconduct charges. nissan is expected to book ghosn‘s pay —

which it says was underreported — totalling around $82 million as an expense for the year to the end of march. the car giant is also feeling the effects of weaker demand in china, where new car sales declined in 2018 for the first time in 28 years, sliding 2.8% to just over 28 million vehicles. as for the us, nissan's sales there plunged 19% injanuary. the company is cutting as many as 700 workers at its mississippi factory due to slowing truck and van sales. anna—marie baisden — head of autos at fitch solutions. nice to see you again. tell us what you are expecting. we are expecting at lower profits from them for 2018. i think you have just highlighted a lot of the challenges facing them. it's not just about lot of the challenges facing them. it's notjust about guy lot of the challenges facing them. it's not just about guy and lot of the challenges facing them. it's notjust about guy and arrest,

that was november, it hasn't had much time to make an impact in terms of sales. we must highlight brexit as being an big issue for them. they run the plant in sunderland and the uk. three in every cars produced in the uk are made by nissan. yes and we heard that they are not going to make the new xtrail here. another reason is because of it is diesel engine and that is under way at. saint ghosn‘s arrest, it is a fragile alliance. —— since ghosn‘s arrest. we're looking at how they will division themselves in the future with the japanese side

wanting more say on how this alliance operates in the future. all reports are saying it is a tense relationship at the moment because there are still major appointments to be made a specially at nissan. i think they would like more of a say on who is appointed. this is an interesting time as the results come out because nissan has already —— a lwa ys out because nissan has already —— always had their share of results. that's one of the things they wanted to have more say in the alliance. maybe more results week and that argument. but it does look like the three big car names have much more clout in the global industry to time when they needed. all carmakers are suffering at the moment but what about these reports that they are perhaps collaborating to develop autonomous ca rs perhaps collaborating to develop autonomous cars in the future. perhaps collaborating to develop autonomous cars in the futurem perhaps collaborating to develop autonomous cars in the future. it is interesting. it is one of the levels

of having an alliance. you can share the cost and if this is true and they have a deal, it is big news because they have some of the more testing miles under their belt. and it's all about looking to the future. and it is about how planet friendly they are. this is one of the big problems all carmakers are having. when we get the numbers from nissan, we will update you. all markets are now open across asia— yesterday japan was closed for a national holiday. the week before, they were closed

for the lunar celebrations. let's go to our asia business hub where rico hizon is following the story. japan in particular having a good session. it is the best performing market this tuesday in asia. so far so good across the board. benchmark indices are in mostly positive territories as investors watch very closely a crucial us china trade negotiation under way in beijing. according to results, there are satisfaction expressions across the progress good news for market sentiment. top level negotiations are set for a thursday and friday as the deadline gets closer for a deal to prevent a sharp rise in us duties on billions of dollars of chinese goods which could slow the global economy. washington is demanding far

reaching changes from beijing on what it says are on fair commercial processors including barriers to foreign companies in chinese markets and all of these developments are pushing the asian stock market's gaining traction in midday trading. now let's brief you on some other business stories. the uk government is being sued for its decision to charter firms to run extra ferries in the event of a no—deal brexit — including one with no ships. the channel tunnel operator eurotunnel says the contracts were decided in a secretive and flawed procurement process. the uk's department for transport says it acted transparently and competitively. south africa is facing some its biggest power cuts in years. the heavily indebted state firm eskom has slashed thousands of megawatts from the national grid — after several generators unexpectedly went offline. fixing the struggling firm

presents a big challenge for president cyril ramaphosa — who faces elections in may. all taxi and private hire drivers here in the uk could face additional criminal record checks under new government proposals. a consultation has been launched on new licensing guidelines to better protect vulnerable passengers. last year a government report found that current laws regulating drivers were not fit for the modern world. girls as young as five years old are learning about cybersecurity with help from the girl scouts of america. scouts can earn badges and patches by participating in various activities. the bbc‘s cody godwin joined some of the girl scouts of northern california

as they earned their first cybersecurity patch. these are some of the first girls to earn our patch. 0ne these are some of the first girls to earn our patch. one of the girls is nine years old and has been a girl scarred for five years old. didn't know about cyber security when i came here. the girls here range in age from 5—12 and they and the patch age from 5—12 and they and the patch a participating in an activity relating to cyber security. the way they are teaching the girls these skills is by doing hands—on activities. for instance, the one they are working on now is about protecting an egg from a fall but it tra nslates protecting an egg from a fall but it translates how to protect your data and keeping it safe. the egg represent something. something important like your password or a banking details will stop the goal of the activity is to not let the eighth break or in security terms, present —— prevent security information from being stolen. jennifer participated in this activity. and what did teach you? to

keep things locked. so burglars don't get your things. you don't wa nt don't get your things. you don't want anyone finding out your password and breaking into your ipad. the patch comes from a partnership with a silicon valley based cyber set your to company. element they are in assets with the girl scouts in america providing them with the curriculum and the tools necessary to actually teach them about security and cyber security that will enable them to get this badge. the girl scouts will be offered 18 different cyber security badges for the girls to earn. this is about getting more girls interested in stem. fields usually more interesting to boys. girls interested in stem. fields usually more interesting to boysm is an important issue around equity

and making sure that girls have all of the same opportunities. of course, infinite —— silicon valley, many of the jobs here are in the tech industry search with programmes like these, is the future going to look of it a bit more female? when i grow upi look of it a bit more female? when i grow up i want to be a singer but if that doesn't work i want to be someone who is like an engineer person who does coding. an archaeologist. and author and they wa nt archaeologist. and author and they want to be a teacher and i want to bea want to be a teacher and i want to be a scientist. i want to be president of the united states. doctor or a teacher. a medical scientist. event. there are so many good options. that's it for the business briefing this hour last year, there were nearly 2 million complaints from people

across the uk who said their rubbish wasn't being collected by the council. that's according to a bbc freedom of information request. responses from more than two hundred authorities suggest the number of complaints has increased by a third since 2014. but the local government association says councils collect over 99% of bins without complaint. 0ur correspondent david rhodes has the details. piled high and going nowhere. life for residents on this street in leeds has been pretty grim for weeks. jono it's been about three to—li weeks. as you can see, it's overflowing full stop ——it has been about 3— four weeks. overflowing full stop ——it has been about 3- four weeks. it is disgusting and we have seen rats everywhere. since we filmed this week, leeds city council that they have come back to cat —— collect these bins but last year 1.8 million

complaints were made about rubbish being uncollected and figures from councils across the uk show the number of complaints has increased by one third since 2014. waste collection teams go out in all weather, bad winters coupled, making it easierfor residents weather, bad winters coupled, making it easier for residents to complain online can contribute to more complaints. there are warnings that budget cuts are now making the job harder. there is considerably less money. i think every year from that, we have been saving money. local government association said 99% of bins up collected without complaint and councils will also receive extra funding in the coming year to provide all services. moron—mac and the top story. that is brea kfast. moron—mac and the top story. that is

breakfast. —— more on that story. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: as president trump rallies support for his border wall in texas, republicans and democrats say they've reached a possible deal that could avoid another government shutdown. the bahraini footballer freed from a thai jail arrives back in australia, where he has refugee status. the japanese carmaker nissan is about to release its first set of earnings since its once all—powerful former chairman, carlos ghosn, was arrested. so let's look at some of the stories that are making the headlines in the global media today. we begin with the financial times, who lead with brexit. the paper says the slowest uk growth in a decade has set

chancellor philip hammond a major challenge, as he expects negotiations with brussels to "go to the wire." politico is looking at negotiations from washington between democrats and republicans, saying they've reached a deal in principle that would avert another government shutdown at the end of this week. the i focuses on the state of the media in the uk and a new government—backed report, which calls for a regulator to oversee tech giants, like facebook and google, to ensure that their news content in trustworthy. the south china morning post has a story on its front page, warning hong kong will finally pull the plug on analogue television services by the end of next year — meaning 180,000 lower—income households will have to switch to digital sets. and last but by no means least, the guardian features a story on an offshore windfarm on the yorkshire coast, which will supply its first power to the uk electricity grid this week. when complete, it will be one of the biggest in the world, powering over1 million homes

and covering an area five times the size of the nearby city of hull. speak to the beat. —— that is big. with me is eileen burbidge, who's a partner at passion capital and a tech entrepreneur. to the genre already, brexit, the mental times. speaking about how the chancellor is already preparing for the worst, i spoke to him about davos about his concerns and at the time, your is spent in his prostration about how the two sides within westminster do not seem to come together. since then, of course, theresa may has been on a tour. yeah, i think what the