you're watching bbc news at nine with me, carrie gracie — the headlines: theresa may under pressure ahead of a cabinet meeting this morning as mps prepare hello. to vote on taking control of the brexit process. we have to think our way through this problem. it's simply not enough to say, "if we throw the prime this is business live minister overboard, things will be all right", from bbc news, with because it really won't change anything. cleared of collusion. sally bundock and ben thomson. the president claims complete exoneration after the special council finds no it's another crucial week evidence of his election campaign in the brexit saga — conspiring with russia. as pressure grows on theresa may to retain control of her deal. live from london, that's our top there was no collusion with russia. the most ridiculous story on monday 25th march. thing i've ever heard. there was no collusion with russia. the extraordinary lengths criminals go to smuggle contraband into prisons — these drugs and mobile phones were sewn into the insides of three dead rats. so what next for brexit and the prime minister, theresa may? the prime minister remains under pressure as mps are expected to debate possible alternatives

to the government's brexit plan. and 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 european markets look like this following a downward session in asia. we will explain why, and what's happening. and saying it with flowers — we'll be getting the inside track on the new trend for sending flowers in a box through your letterbox. and apple's spent billions signing up stars such as oprah winfrey for its expected tv offering — so we'd like to know are you excited — will you subscribe or do you think apple is too late to the party. let us know, use the hashtag bbcbizlive. hello, and welcome to business live. as always, a lot to get through. we will start, as always, with brexit. prime minister theresa may

is expected to update ministers on her brexit strategy when she chairs a meeting of her cabinet in just a few hours. it comes after a weekend of speculation about her leadership and claims of a plot to oust her — something senior ministers have denied. there have been suggestions that naming a date for her departure as pm could boost support for her brexit deal. let's go live to westminster now for the latest with our correspondent, jonathan blake. jonathan, a turbulent weekend. lots of ministers denying there is that plot to oust her, but nonetheless pretty turbulent and a pretty busy week for her. another very busy week and a lot of pressure on the prime minister, you are right. after that weekend of reports of cabinet ministers plotting to oust her, no sooner were ministers plotting to oust her, no sooner were they out there than those two key figures david lidington and michael gove denied that they were trying to replace the prime minister, and they came out in support, again, of herand her brexit deal. but i'm sure it will be a tense meeting of the cabinet this

morning, when theresa may sits down with her top team, and there is a big decision to be taken at that point. how much control does the government tried to exert over the brexit process from hero? at this stage, despite that last—ditch attempt by the prime minister to bring on tony brexiteers at chequers over the weekend, it looks like there is not the support for her deal to pass at the second time of asking —— brexit process from hero nine. there will be an attempt to set up parliament time later in the week for indicative votes, votes in various different outcomes to the brexit process to try to find the majority. the government may well try to manage that process itself in the hope that it can regain some form of control and potentially then in the hope if there isn't a consensus around any one of those options, mps may decide that after

all theresa may's option is for them the least worst choice, and they will back it after all. but a lot to happen before that. absolutely, jonathan, good luck. busy week ahead. jonathan blake, our correspondent. let's get more on all of this. dr volker treiber is deputy chief executive of the association of german chambers of industry and commerce. hejoins us from he joins us from berlin. hejoins us from berlin. thank he joins us from berlin. thank you for being on the programme. as we head into another critical week for the negotiations, give your take on how german businesses are getting ready? the german business cycle is going downward, and we are worrying more about this uncertainty going into another round, and the more we worry, the more worry about business trading in the uk is, and

uncertainty is poison for trade and investment. we are very much worried, so many questions still. as you say, so many questions and very few a nswers, you say, so many questions and very few answers, and no clarity on what might happen in the next few weeks. if there is a no deal, though, europe will be impacted by that not as hard as the uk according to estimates, but germany could be hit pretty ha rd estimates, but germany could be hit pretty hard being one of the biggest exporters in the eu? you are right. that's the reason why we would like to prevent any form of a disorderly brexit, but on the other hand it is clear that the german business community really sticks to the european union. we have already conducted another survey among our member companies, conducted another survey among our membercompanies, and conducted another survey among our member companies, and the result is that 85% of german entrepreneurs say

that 85% of german entrepreneurs say that the integrity, the four freedoms of the european, the integrity of the single market, it is of higher priority than any potential damage out of a disorderly brexit or out of brexit in general. how important is the uk, as a market, in terms of future trade? we know obviously in the uk that many big german brands are extremely prevalent. yes, absolutely. the united kingdom is our sixth most important trading partner in the meantime, but prior to the brexit decision it was our fourth most important trading partner. especially our export volumes are on the retreat in the last half year, in the last year, 2018, we experienced a minor 6% in our export

volume. but this is only the prelude —— a minor 6% —— minus 6% to stop we would like to limit the damage that undoubtedly will come, but the uk will remaina undoubtedly will come, but the uk will remain a very important trading and not to forget investment partner. our second largest foreign direct partner all over the world —— foreign direct partner. thank you, dr volker treiber, from the association of the german chambers of commerce. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news...

boeing has invited more than 200 global airline pilots, technical leaders and regulators to an information session on wednesday as it looks to return the 737 max to the skies. the meeting is a sign that a planned software fix is nearly ready — though it will still need regulatory approval. the biggest fraud trial in british history begins today. american firm hewlett—packa rd is sueing the former boss of software company autonomy for more than $5 billion, after it was bought by hp in 2011 for $10.5 billion. the former chief executive of autonomy, mike lynch, is accused of misrepresenting the finances of the company during takeover negotiations — allegations he strongly denies. uber is close to buying its rival, middle eastern ride—hailing firm careem for $3.1 billion. according to reports, the deal is expected to be finalised later this week. uber is looking to increase its presence in the middle east, ahead of its stock market debut next month, which is expected to value the firm at around $120 billion.

if you know stock markets and watch them, you will know it has been a very difficult start to the week. asian stocks have seen a sharp sell—off today, with japan's nikkei down over 3%. worried about the situation between the us and china. and something called an ‘inverted yield curve'. christine hah is following the story from singapore. why has this got investors spooked? to explain this, the yield on the us treasury bond has now fallen lower than the yield on the us three year treasury bond, well usually it is the other way around and when it

flips it indicates investors are very pessimistic about the shorter term future. nine times out of ten this has happened in the past 64 yea rs, this has happened in the past 64 years, a us recession has followed within 24 months. the last time we saw this yield curve it was just before the global financial crisis. investors are essentially betting history will repeat itself. of course there are many other factors, the european data being leaked this week, the us and china trade war —— trade war, as you mention. we are now seeing us stock markets falling, us futures indicating a weaker opening tomorrow, global bond markets falling. unless we see something change very soon, perhaps a positive turn with the trade talks, then we are likely to be looking at a very much bleaker global growth outlook. christine, thank you. if you love a bit of a yield curve, there is much more on that online. as christine says,

confirmation of those numbers from asia. remember us trade representatives and the us treasury secretary are off to beijing for talks scheduled to start on thursday, while a chinese delegation will visit washington next week. in europe — another week with brexit front and centre. the pound fell as ministers tried to contain the fall out of this weekend's reports of a coup against the prime minister to force her to step aside in the brexit negotations. senior ministers say that was not happening. no clarity on that yet. but it could be a big week. the eu has also refused to give any further concessions on that deal, and will only consider a short extension to brexit if ministers support the deal. that is a big, big if.

more on that in a moment but first michelle fleury has the details of what's ahead on wall street today. us—china trade talks are expected to resume this week to end a year—long dispute between the world's two largest economies. negotiators will converge in beijing before heading to washington the following week in what is being viewed as a final push to establish a deal by late april. talks hit a rocky patch after mr trump's failed hanoi summit with the leader of north korea. the chinese became concerned that donald trump might try to corner their leader with demands at mar—a—lago. so they are pushing for a deal to be locked down before the two presidents meet face—to—face. don't be surprised if markets ebb and flow as information drips out. meanwhile, the economic calendar is light this monday, but it does pick up with the final reading of gdp due out later in the week. a busy week ahead in the us, then. richard hunter is head of markets at interactive investor.

you look very calm, compared to where we are in the whole brexit drama. it is only monday morning. come back to me on friday. richard, what do you make of all this, and the markets? yellow like the ftse 100 was down 2% on friday, quite a wea k 100 was down 2% on friday, quite a weak performance —— 100 was down 2% on friday, quite a weak performance -- yes, the ftse 100 was down. one thing to keep an eye on, whether this... 100 was down. one thing to keep an eye on, whether this. .. what does this mean, the inverted yield curve, explained by christine? the bond market tends to be more pessimistic than the equity market anyway, so inevitably some investors will be looking in that direction. that being said, i think probably since december there have been concerns that sooner or later the us recession will come. it's been leading the way in terms of the global recovery story. i think even going back to december, the likelihood was that we should be ok in 2019, but there was a possibility

of recession in 2020. i'm not totally convinced any of that has changed. there is not enough weak economic data through from the states yet to say a recession is right on top of us. we heard from a guest at the start of the programme in berlin, and in germany everyone is watching for signs of recession, which could be a concern for the euro zone given the situation with brexit, but also domestic issues? that's right. for so many years after the financial crisis the big concern in the eurozone as a whole was around debt. we know about the situation with greece, portugal and so forth. probably two years ago that started to move towards hopes around growth, and of course that is something of the centralised economic recovery we saw last year. but with a big powerhouse in europe, germany, starting to stutter, quite apart from any business it does or doesn't do with the us in the future -- uk in doesn't do with the us in the future —— uk in the future, that tends to be almost done aside from any other problems europe might have had, and

if it is struggling that is quite a concern in time for the euro itself. all right, richard, thank you for now. richard will be back a little later with his thoughts on some of the stories coming in, including at my apple subscription tv... you can let us know your thoughts on that, using the hashtag bbcbizlive. but first... say it with flowers — we'll be getting the inside track on the new trend for sending flowers in the post... we will speak to the chief executive of one company sending them through the post. you're with business live from bbc news.

first, though, just over a year after buying first utility, royal dutch shell has rebranded the british household energy supplier and is now switching all its customers to renewable electricity this week. the move poses a challenge for uk s long—standing retail power suppliers whose profit margins have come under pressure lately due to intense competition. colin crooks is the chief executive, shell energy — the new branded name for first utility. good morning. why are you making the move? shell has been active in building upa move? shell has been active in building up a power base over the yea rs building up a power base over the years and when we ask our customers they say they do care about renewable energy, and we care as well because we are very much subscribed to the ambitions of the paris agreement. we are proud to come today not only with a change of name and colours, but this bold statement of renewable electricity for all our customers as standard. talking through the logistics, how difficult has this been to pull off? a big effort from all of the team,

but from the point of view of sourcing renewable power, that is something we do through our shell trading division, and it is truly pa rt trading division, and it is truly part of shell's longer term strategy to build up our business which has to build up our business which has to be based on largely renewables. some might say, you are a massive oil giant, shell, drilling in places they perhaps would not like it too. a bit of green washing, no? absolutely not. we were very much a gas company as well as oil, and going forward we need to become a very large power business and that is what we intend to do. in the uk, it is the first opportunity we have in the world to have the consumer facing business, and that is why we are very much excited about meeting what consumers say they want, and we ca re what consumers say they want, and we care about as well, renewable power, and also offering them discounts on fuels at our service stations. colin i fuels at our service stations. colin , good to speak to you, colin crooks there, the chief executive of the newly named utility company, shell

energy. and someone else has changed their name... what's in a name? majestic, shares dropping on the news, and full details of branch closures and job losses to come in june. rebranded as naked, majestic. your‘re watching business live — our top story... yes, we will keep you across every twist and turn of theresa may's cabinet meeting, and the ongoing brexit situation. but first...

nothing quite says "i love you" like a bunch of flowers — or "i'm sorry", for that matter. and with the uk marking mother's day this coming weekend — the domestic flower market can expect a bit of a boost. and the market for flowers and plants is worth about $2.9 billion in the uk alone. so on average brits spend around $47 a year on plants and flowers. it's the second largest import market for flowers and plants in the european union. but whilst online ordering is ‘blooming', what happens if you're not home to receive them? well, a number of firms now let you have them posted through the letterbox instead. but how does it all work? our next guest has come up with a pretty revolutionary way of making that happen, without ruining the flowers, the important bit! aron gelbard, founder and chief executive of bloom & wild, joins us now. you've brought the two, and this is what i find interesting. in that

vase, that essentially fits in the box, and it's not a very big box? not very big, 60 centimetres long. about 3.5 centimetres thick and 18 centimetres wide. you know those dimensions very intimately because you have measured a lot of letterboxes ? you have measured a lot of letterboxes? i have. one of the first things i did starting the company was going around with a ruler and a notepad and literally measured thousands of letter boxes to figure outjust how big we should make our box. i've got a dog. he would probably eat that if it came through my letterbox. it is a nice sturdy box. i don't know if it would survive. but tell us about how you came up with this idea. you are not the only company that does this, but the only company that does this, but the first to market? yes, the creators of letterbox flowers. i used to get snack boxes from a company through my letterbox and i thought it was a really good idea, andi thought it was a really good idea, and i had had trouble sending flowers to friends and family in the past and wondered if it could be

easier through the letterbox, like the snacks. speak us through some of the snacks. speak us through some of the science behind this. looking at the science behind this. looking at the box is there, as we said, you have mentioned the dimensions, but it also has to be pretty sturdy, has to cope with the rigours of the british postal system. that's right. the box is pretty sturdy, and we have gone through lots of alterations of it. it is ventilated with holes at either end, really important for keeping the flow in good condition in transit, and for more delicate flowers we protect them with many nets around their heads, like a small version of the sort of net you would put around the christmas tree putting it in your car, which means they are protected and compressed in transit and don't get bashed about. isn't half the joy of getting a bunch of flowers, getting it in something like that vase, it looks impressive, looks pretty cool when it arrives on your doorstep. in a box, you have to do half the work yourself. you do. we do offer traditional hand tied flowers as well, but over 90% of

what we sell is letterbox flowers, and it turns out people love the process of actually arranging the flowers themselves. two joyce, process of actually arranging the flowers themselves. twojoyce, the i°y flowers themselves. twojoyce, the joy of looking at the bouquet, but you also get to arrange your own florets —— two joys. that is not what we anticipated when starting the company, and we thought it would be people gifting it primarily. mothers day is your biggest day for sales, on sunday. i am sure you breathed a sigh of relief when moved to april the 12 for brexit, but still a big issue because most of the flowers in these boxes are imported and put together in lincolnshire? yes, we do source some from the uk but also some from overseas, the netherlands and kenya, countries like that, well they might not having any uncertainty this week over a supply... what is your plan if there is disruption? element we source if there is disruption? element we source from lots of different countries, and therefore there are lots of different shipments —— countries, and therefore there are lots of different shipments -- yes, we source lots of different shipments -- yes, we source from. if it is a no deal,

after brexit, we hope because there are after brexit, we hope because there a re lots of after brexit, we hope because there are lots of different sources of suppliers there will be at least some available, and worst comes to worst, we may need to ask customers to a cce pt worst, we may need to ask customers to accept a small number of substitutions. good luck with that. they are beautiful flowers. they are really nice, ben, take note. ok, i will let your boys know. for the weekend. yes! ok, moving on to apple... apple is expected to unveil a number of new services at its head offices in calfornia later today. the company is expected to include a new tv subsricption channel and news service — that will work with top talent like oprah winfrey and steven speilberg. as iphone sales slow, apple has been looking at ways to divesify. dave lee has more from cupertino, california. yes, well, it's not a particularly well kept secret that apple's been working on this tv service, this tv and film service, and we expect it to be something of a mixture of new stuff that apple has created, with some of those names you mentioned. we're hearing names like steven spielberg, jennifer aniston, jj abrams — the highly acclaimed sci—fi producer.

but as well as that original stuff that apple's been working on, we are also expecting it to be something of a portal to other services, so big channels here like hbo, for example, will be as we understand it available on apple's tv service, so you'll be able to subscribe through apple and access that material for an additional fee on whatever apple happens to a charge for this service. that was dave lee, who will update us later, i'm sure. we have richard back. what do you make of this, apple launching this today, this tv subscription service, big stars like oprah winfrey providing original co nte nt ? oprah winfrey providing original content? i think we need to sit up and take notice. a very interesting statistic, looking at the likes of netflix, for example, 140 million subscribers as things stand. apple devices worldwide goes to 1.4 billion, so immediately they have something of a running start. like my apple is said to be putting something like $2 billion, may be

more “— something like $2 billion, may be more -- but apple is said. not close to the $12 billion netflix put in last year in just one year in original content. yes, dipping their fairly big toe into the water. it will also be a question of how much original content apple has, and inevitably i should imagine they will do it forfree inevitably i should imagine they will do it for free to start with, just to entice and get the numbers up just to entice and get the numbers up and running before they think of making subscriptions. richard, nice to see you, and thanks for all your comments as well, sending them in this morning. this one,"too late, without a doubt. " on the question of kat my apple being too late to the party was in another, hoping this will revolutionise —— on the question of apple being too late to the party. this could be a game changer. it could be. that's it from business live today. we will see you again tomorrow.

goodbye. hi there, good morning. it's been a rather chilly start to the day, but for many of us a clear start — lots of sunshine at the moment throughout the uk. throughout this week it stays mostly settled, and that means it's going to be dry with some brightness and some sunshine coming through at times. high pressure dominating the weather at the moment. a the weather at the moment. few showers associatt mostly a few showers associated with this, mostly clearing away, and for most of first night is dry and bright with that sunshine. temperatures getting to about 10—13 celsius but with an onshore wind on eastern coasts perhaps a bit chilly, eight

are 9 degrees. then more cloud will start to spill in from the north—west. still some showers moving into western scotland, but the further south you are the skies will be clearest for longest and thatis will be clearest for longest and that is expected to turn quite chilly. there could be a touch of frost first thing tuesday morning across southern areas, and mean further north, beneath blankets of cloud temperature is staying about 5-7dc. cloud temperature is staying about 5—7dc. tuesday, lovely start in the south with some sunshine, but the cloud will increase a bit into the afternoon. still, though, some bright and sunny spells into many parts of england and wales, more cloud today. still cloudy for northern ireland and scotland. still some outbreaks of rain in the west of scotla nd some outbreaks of rain in the west of scotland but that will be quite localised and patchy. maximum temperatures, about 11—14dc. this is our area of temperatures, about 11—14dc. this is ourarea of high temperatures, about 11—14dc. this is our area of high pressure into wednesday, diverting these fronts away to the north. keeping things settled, and with that high—pressure the area rotates around in a

clockwise direction, bringing some warmerair clockwise direction, bringing some warmer air from clockwise direction, bringing some warmer airfrom the clockwise direction, bringing some warmer air from the south—west. —— the air rotates. more sunshine compared to tuesday, but still cloud in northern scotland and northern ireland, then temperatures starting to creep up a bit by wednesday, 13-15, to creep up a bit by wednesday, 13—15, perhaps even 16 celsius in the south—east. even in the north—east of scotland, 14 or 15 degrees, then for the rest of the week we will keep those dry, settled conditions. some sunny spells, and temperatures by friday potentially at 17 or 18 degrees in the south of england, so some proper springlike weather on the way. bye—bye.