this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. a change of direction for apple — the tech giant is set to enter the streaming market, but is it too late to the party? and with brexit talks still up in the air, we'll be taking a look at the uk government's all—importa nt contingency plans. and on the markets: day of heavy declines, especially in tokyo. japan experiencing probably its worst day of 2019.

in a few hours from now, apple is expected to unveil a number of new services at its head offices in calfornia. they are expected to include a new tv subscription channel and a revamped news service. with iphone sales slowing, apple has been looking at ways to divesify. they've recently been on a $2bn spending spree, signing up stars such as oprah winfrey, for original content. however, the streaming market in particular is a very competitive industry. the top player in the industry is currently netflix, who spent around $12bn on their own content last year. let's get more on this story now, and cross to our north american technology reporter, dave lee, who's in san francisco for us.

the invitations have gone out, and they just say it the invitations have gone out, and theyjust say it is showtime. what are we expecting to be announced? theyjust say it is showtime. what are we expecting to be announced7m is not a very well—kept secret that apple has been working on this tv and film service, and we are expecting it to be something of a mixture of new stuff that apple has created with some of those names you mentioned, we are hearing names like steven spielberg, jennifer aniston, jj abrams, but as well as that original stuff that apple has been working on we are also expecting it to be something of a portal to other services, so big channels like hbo will be as we understand it available on apple's tv service. so you will be able to subscribe through apple and access that content through apple and access that co nte nt for through apple and access that content for an additional fee. as you say, this is something that is very important, because with iphone

sales, the growth of sales slowing, there is a lot of pressure for apple to diversify, making sure it has other ways of making money. this is one of the biggest issues they have had to deal with. it is a big deal for them because they have two prove they can be a big player in the industry and become about more than just selling devices. thank you for now, dave lee outside apple's headquarters. many of you have been in touch with your opinions, we will cover some of those shortly. asian stocks have seen a sharp sell—off today, with japan's nikkei down over 3 per cent. that's because traders are concerned about global trade tensions between the us and china and something called an inverted yield curve. well to explain what that is, our asian business reporter mariko oi joins us now.

an inverted yield curve gets people very excited or otherwise. just put us very excited or otherwise. just put us in the picture. how many viewers do you think we just lost saying, that sounds very technical? it is technical, but it is important, because it has correctly predicted almost all the us recessions that have ever occurred in the 20th and zist have ever occurred in the 20th and 21st centuries. it is a very reliable indicator. it is the difference in the yields between a ten year treasury bond and a two—year treasury bond. usually you get compensated more the longer you wait to get your money back. so the ten year bond should be more than that of the two—year bond, but that

is reversed, meaning investors are willing to be paid less to wait longer, because they have less confidence in the us economy. the last time it happened was before the globalfinancial last time it happened was before the global financial crisis, and that is why we are seeing these drops on the market. so, investors are quite spooked at the moment. and the future that predict how the trading session starts has predicted that the market will go down again today when it opens. over a thousand days after the eu referendum, and it is still not clear how britain will leave the eu or even if it will at all. at the end of last week the eu granted the uk a short extension to article 50, but only if theresa may can get her twice—defeated deal through parliament this week. but even a temporary extension cannot rule out a no—deal brexit. so far the uk government has set aside more than £2 billion, or $2.5 billion, in additional funding across 30 government departments with 5,000 staff to co—ordinate preparations for a no deal brexit.

and if talks remain deadlocked, the uk government could decide to activate operation yellowhammer, the code name for the government's contingency planning. it covers 12 at—risk areas, including borders, transport, healthcare and security. environment secretary michael gove says it's time to back theresa may's deal. this is not the time to change the captain of the ship. i think what we need to do is chart the right course, and the prime minister has charted that course by making sure we have a deal that honours the referendum mandate and allows us to leave in a way that means we can strengthen our economy and take advantage of life outside the eu. i'm nowjoined by yael selfin, who's

a chief economist at kpmg. talking about operation yellowhammer, as it is known, government departments have no choice but to prepare for every single eventuality, including no deal. indeed, we don't know what is going to happen at the moment and it is important for governments and businesses to prepare for all of the potential scenarios. and that is extremely time—consuming, i know people within the civil service, within certain departments in government, working from 7am to 11pm every day. we could leave within a matter of weeks. indeed, it is possible preparations could have been done a bit earlier and started a bit earlier, but they take a lot of time. resources that government and businesses may have wished to spend elsewhere. there is this

trade—off that people have had to make over the last two years. summer saying it is all to play for, and extremely important week for the prime minister, she will try to get her deal through parliament again. what are you expecting at kpmg, what are you preparing for? we are preparing people, and contingency plans around suppliers and contracts, et cetera. but for us, the priority in some ways is our clients, and then being ready for the different scenarios. what we see on the ground is at quite a lot of businesses are not fully prepared for the different scenarios. some of them are too small to spend so much time on all these different scenarios. so, businesses are not com pletely scenarios. so, businesses are not completely prepared for that. and

your point of view as chief economist at kpmg, just what mariko oi was saying about the inverted yield curve, there is a lot of concern about the outlook for the global economy, and the uk going through this is extremely concerning, isn't it? absolutely, this is very bad timing. we had to downgrade our forecast of growth in the uk because we saw the first half very wea k the uk because we saw the first half very weak for the uk because of all the uncertainty and the brexit preparation, or lack of preparation, if you like. thank you for your time. now let's brief you on some other business stories. uber is close to buying its middle eastern ride—hailing rival careem for $3.1 billion. according to reports, the deal is expected to be finalised later this week. uber is looking to increase it's presence in the middle east, ahead of its stock market debut next

month, which is expected to value the firm at around $120 billion. deutsche bank's compliance department has blocked efforts from senior officials to sell shares in the german lender, while discussions over a merger with commerzbank continue. according to the financial times, the german government is keen for the two banks to merge, which would create the eurozone's second—largest lender. and turkey's banking regulator says its investigating jp morgan for allegedly advising clients to short the lira. the move comes after the turkish lira fell by 6.5% last friday after a report from the us investment bank on turkey's economic outlook. jp morgan has declined to comment on the matter so far. that's it for the business briefing this hour, but before we go, here are the markets.

japan down still over 3%. this will probably be its worst day of 2019. a0 schools across britain are to take a stand on road safety and air pollution over the next two weeks, by closing their streets to cars for one day. air pollution is linked to thousands of deaths in the uk every year. tim muffett reports. st luke ‘s primary school in

brighton, home time. people double park, leave there engine is running, pa rents park, leave there engine is running, parents do it. it is always so busy at drop—off and pickup time with cars whizzing around. it is a big issue for most schools, creating problems outside the school in the morning drop—off, and outside during the pickup. there is a lot of double parking, it is dangerous for the children crossing. several cars will park up here and i have to go over and tell them to move on. for one day, the surrounding streets are being closed to traffic. almost a0 other schools across the uk are doing the same. more than 30,000 people in the uk die every year because of air pollution. the authorities want more air pollution metre brought in, and drivers to be

banned for leaving their engines running while waiting outside schools and hospitals. it is challenging, but in a good way. i think the biggest effect would be on the health and well—being on families. for children particularly, in terms of physical well—being and mental health as well. the one-day traffic ban is part of the big pedal campaign, launched today by walking and cycling charity. short—term alteration many hope will have a long—term impact. coming up at six o'clock on breakfast dan walker, and louise minchin will have all the day's news, business and sport. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: the investigation into alleged links between donald trump's election campaign and russia has cleared the president and his team of colluding with moscow. there've been reports of voting irregularities

in thailand's election, after preliminary results showed a pro—army party taking a shock lead. two senior conservatives touted as possible caretaker leaders have said they fully back theresa may ahead of another crucial week for brexit and british politics. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with the sun — british prime minister theresa may's leadership and its untenable future. the newspaper has given the pm an ultimatum — that she must announce today her resignation as soon as her brexit deal is approved and britain is out of the eu. staying in the uk, and in the guardian we see pictures from the weekend's country retreat of talks between theresa may

and leading hard brexiteers. they met to discuss the brexit deal, but it broke up without agreement — putting immense pressure on may's leadership. next to the financial times, reporting on the fallout from the 22—month probe into president trump's russian links by special counsel robert mueller. the democrats have vowed to continue the investigation — saying they'll take their fight to the supreme court if the report isn't released in full. and a humbling story from kenya on bbc news online, where a rural science teacher who gives 80% of his salary to support poorer students has been hailed the world's best teacher. he rose to the top from 10,000 nominations and wants to use his exposure to promote science education. and finally in the times newspaper in london, a study has claimed to have found for the first time