this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. the uk government warns businesses to prepare for more custom checks and higher food prices if a no—deal brexit occurs. the head of the us central bank, jerome powell, warns that global pressures may have a negative impact on us growth. and on the markets: you can see the dow ended the day slightly down and it is pretty mixed in asia with japan slightly down and it is pretty mixed in asia withjapan up slightly down and it is pretty mixed in asia with japan up nearly 0.5%.

let's dig a bit deeper. the uk government has published a report on the impact of a no—deal brexit on business and trade. the report warns that some food prices could rise and more customs checks are likely, which could cost businesses an extra £13 billion a year — in dollars, $17.2 billion. currently, 30% of the uk's food is imported from mainland europe. the document repeated earlier analysis that a no—deal scenario could leave the uk economy 6.3 to 9% smaller within the next 15 years. some businesses have already made their own contingency plans. barclays bank says it will move $128 billion worth of clients‘ assets to dublin if there's no brexit deal.

that gives it an example of what some are doing. ford has also warned a no deal would cost it $800 million, forcing it to cutjobs at its plants in the uk. bank of england governor mark carney believes the lack of a smooth transition could have a real negative effect on the uk economy. if we come back in may, if there is no deal, no transition, i guarantee you the path of gdp in our forecast will be materially lower than it is in this forecast, the seborrhoeic forecast which issues there is a deal and a smooth transition. joining me in the studio now is lesley batchelor, who's a director general at the institute of export and international trade. lovely to see you again. you have looked at report. what did you make of it? there is no real news in there. it is good to see it in one place i suppose and good that we are beginning to highlight it all, although it feels a little bit late.

it does feel a little bit late. i thought there was nothing i haven't heard before. in terms of predictions on how much the economy will shrink, we have heard that before. but what does worry me is the fact they keep saying to us, the uk government and the bank of england, many companies are not getting ready for a no deal and worried about that. i think the thing that worries me is they think there will be a new way of doing things and there really isn't. we are going from one way to a second way of doing things. it is standard stuff. wto, a lot of businesses have been dealing with them for a long time. there isjust new paperwork, different paperwork that they had to get their heads around. they are the companies that have two trade with europe only and not currently dealing with wto rules. worried about the number of companies not thinking all preparing for a no deal? we are very worried. we know

there is 148 hours and businesses trading only with the eu. that means they have to get themselves ready. i am sure a lot of them have because they business people and they had to understand what is going on. we are running training courses and all sorts of things to help them understand the paperwork, and the numbers are very, very low. when we ask them, they say, we're not what will happen. but actually we know there will be wto rules, we know how they work. you think they are in denial? i think a lot of people are hoping it willjust not happened. to remain would be ideal. this deal, we definitely need a deal. no deal is not an option. i am glad that at last parliament is talking in that way. what you think might happen? i know it is hard to predict. much is going to be absolutely critical, isn't it? —— march.

going to be absolutely critical, isn't it? -- march. businesses are moving. the iod did an interesting report saying 15% of businesses have already moved, another 15% have lands. this is going on and on. it will not stop at the end of march. it will be a slow process and i think people will start moving. where it is best for them as a business. thank you for your time again this morning. there is a lot more detail on our website that report. some of those warnings and predictions. take a look if you wish to. let now go to the united states. the head of the us central bank, jerome powell, has been speaking to congress and he's warned despite the current strength of the us economy, challenges lay ahead. our north american business correspondent michelle fleury has more. on the first of two days of testimony to us lawmakers, the head of america's central and painted a

rosy picture of the economy even as he warned of lurking dangers. while we view current economic conditions as healthy and economic outlook as favourable, over the past few months we have seen some favourable, over the past few months we have seen some crosscurrents and conflicting signals. the chair of the us federal reserve outline some of those crosscurrents and conflict in signals that the bank is monitoring. growth has slowed in some majorforeign monitoring. growth has slowed in some major foreign economies, particularly china and europe, and uncertainties elevated around some unresolved government policy issues including brexit and ongoing trade negotiations. back in january the federal reserve stepped back from its plan to gradually raise interest rates. it followed a wobbly december in which stock markets were choppy and there was slow growth in china. given these headwinds, mr powell reiterated their position that it could afford to be patient. with muted inflation pressures in some of the downside risks we have talked about, this is a good time to be

patient and watch and wait and see how the situation evolves. as well as monetary policy, mr powell addressed a range of economic questions ranging from a low inflation level which is below their 296 inflation level which is below their 2% target to public debt which he says was on an unsustainable path. mr powell is due back on capitol hill this wednesday when he appears before the house financial services committee. now, the leaders of the us and north korea are set to meet in vietnam later today. in this, their second nuclear summit, donald trump is likely to highlight the opportunities of opening up the north korean economy to international investors. at the same time, kim jong—un will be taking a close look around him at a country that has transformed itself since the end of the vietnam war in 1975. mariko oi explains. when the vietnam war ended in 1975,

the economy was in tatters. today it is one of asia's fastest—growing economies. check out how it has grown over the last three decades. since 2000, the economy has expanded atan since 2000, the economy has expanded at an average pace of 6.6%. and what kim jong—un at an average pace of 6.6%. and what kimjong—un might like is at an average pace of 6.6%. and what kim jong—un might like is this. vietnam's communist party achieved this while retaining absolute power. so, how was it done? it opened up its economy in 1986. the reforms mean renovation and it led to a big change in the agriculture sector and the country which used to import rice is now one of the world's biggest rice exporters. it went on to set up a foreign investment rule. normalise its relationship with the world and privatised many of its state—owned corporations. and it paid off. in 1994, us president bill

clinton lifted trade embargo against vietnam. a year later, vietnam joined the association of southeast asian nations. in 2007, vietnam became a member of the world trade organisation. while kim jong—un became a member of the world trade organisation. while kimjong—un has been meeting a lot with the chinese president she's in thing last year, because of its size, vietnam may be an example for north korea to learn from —— xijinping. now, let's brief you on some other business stories. the us court of appeals has rejected an appeal by thejustice department against the $80 billion merger between at&t and time warner. the court ruled the deal was unlikely to reduce competition despite concerns from the justice department, who believe the merger could lead to higher prices for consumers. fiat chrysler has announced plans to invest $4.5 billion into the state of michigan, which will create 6,500 newjobs. the carmaker said it will build the first new assembly plant in detroit for almost three decades.

it is a boost to the area after general motors announced it would shut two michigan sites as part of a wider restructuring plan, leading to the loss of 14,000 jobs. weight watchers shares dipped over 30% in after hours trading after the firm announced declining subscribers for a third quarter in a row. despite a heavy recent advertising campaign, the company ended the fourth quarter with 3.9 million subscribers, down from 4.2 million the quarter before. you would think it is the prime time of year for you would think it is the prime time of yearfor weight you would think it is the prime time of year for weight watchers. let's show you the markets. it is quite interesting. after the jarreau powell statement in congress that michelle was talking about, asian

markets were boosted a little by what he had to say. perhaps he was not as pessimistic as some had predicted —— jerome. i not as pessimistic as some had predicted ——jerome. i will see not as pessimistic as some had predicted —— jerome. i will see you ina predicted —— jerome. i will see you in a moment. soon we have the news briefing. but first, this story. over 3,000 patients were banned from seeing their gp in england last year as a result of their violent or threatening behaviour. the bbc has learnt that the patients were instead placed on a special allocation scheme where they are seen in secure medical practices where there's often a police presence. our reporter david rhodes has been to one surgery where staff have been given self—defence training. patients come to this surgery in west yorkshire for help about the

star psa they are being subjected to rising levels of verbal and physical abuse. it is almost on a daily of bases, verbal abuse. it is a growing issue. others trying to explain things to a chap, make sure he got the medications. he said he was coming to kill me. completely aggressive, screaming, shouting and thenl aggressive, screaming, shouting and then i transfer the call to the manager for him to take it from there. it had to close the practice and phoned the police. an increasing demand for gp services and patients except on to be treated straightaway at some of the causes behind the rising levels of abuse. such is the concern of staff that this practice, eve ryo ne concern of staff that this practice, everyone has undergone self defence classes. staff said they want that, s0 classes. staff said they want that, so they can have all sorts of strategies and techniques for dealing with these issues. over 300 million gp appointments to race in england last year and figures from the nhs show that over 3000 patients are on the special allocation scheme, a registerfor violent or

abusive patients. these patients are prevented from seeing their local gp and receive treatment at secure medical practices. what we can't tolerate its physical aggression or serious verbal aggression that puts our frontline staff at risk, and we must always act to protect our staff members and ensure that patients know when they have crossed the line. nhs england said it had recently introduced a zero tolerance strategies to protect nhs workers. you are with the briefing. let's remind you of our main story is this hour. george pell, the senior catholic cleric convicted of sexually abusing two choirboys, has had his bail revoked at a court in melbourne. donald trump has been meeting with his vietnamese counterpart in hanoi ahead of his summit with north korean leader, kim jong—un. the nigerian election commission has declared that president muhammadu buhari has won

another 4—year term in office. now, it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. let's see how the press is dealing with them. we begin with the financial times. it's among many of today's papers leading with theresa may doing what she didn't want to, admitting she could delay brexit rather than leave the eu next month. and on the front page of the japan times, kim jong—un arriving in hanoi for talks with president trump, and that's our top story. it is looking at the situation with regards to how that second summit is likely to go. but also, next to that, a major earthquake is likely in the next 30 years. finally, a really interesting piece on the bbc website. why is the tech show full of men?

that's the tech show in barcelona, of course — more on that to come. we have a team there. and we have other people there. we will talk about them in a minute. they have noticed the lack of women bear. —— there. but first, let's move on to the daily telegraph. it is reporting that the uk's high street favourite, m&s, is preparing for an online fightback. and finally, the daily mail reports that global radio is to cut many local regional radio shows in favour of a more streamlined version. global radio is a huge organisation which operates many commercial radio stations across the united kingdom. so, let's begin. with me is priya lakhani, founder and ceo of century tech, a uk—based education technology platform. let's get cracking. many papers, online, social media, they are all discussing brexit or the time, but yesterday was a very busy day, lots

of headlines and loss for us to