time now for the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. turbulent times for boeing. today, the aviation giant will appear at the senate to face tough questions on its 737 max plane. and counting the cost of tragedy. we take a look at what impact vale‘s recent mining disaster is having on local communities. and for stock markets today, it's a mixed picture in asia, as traders continue to weigh the disappointing economic signs and what central bankers might do about that.

so the pressure is on aviation giant boeing. company executives and officials from america's aviation regulator are due to testify before the us senate in washington on the faa's certification of the boeing 737 max. there have been two fatal crashes since october. so questions will focus on why the regulator, the faa, agreed to certify the planes in 2017 without requiring extensive additional pilot training. meanwhile, the us department of transportation will establish a special committee to examine the close relationship between boeing and the regulator. boeing is this week briefing airlines on software and training updates for the max. aviation officials from across the world will be attending

the meeting in renton, washington, where the plane is built. any fixes to the max software must still get approval from the us federal aviation administration and eventually from governments around the world. to make matters worse for boeing, the airline southwest was forced to make an emergency landing late yesterday evening at orlando airport. that's after its 737 max plane suffered engine problems. the 737 max is boeing's best—selling plane, with orders worth more than $500 billion globally. but it's the ethiopian airlines 737 jet crash on the 10th march which spooked the public. shortly afterwards, boeing chairman dennis muilenburg released this statement. as the facts in the accident become available and we understand the necessary nextep, we are taking

action to fully reassure airlines and their passengers of the safety of the 737 max. we regret the ongoing challenges the grounding has caused for our customers and the flying public. i'm nowjoined in the studio by peter morris, who's the chief economist at ascend by cirium. good to see you again. so, a really important day for boeing today. what do you think might happen? well, i think it is going to be a case of taking evidence and so, that will not really be clear. it is not going to get any significant outcome overnight but what you're going to see is that the ongoing process of the airlines as to what is being done and i think the airlines are going to be the toughest question is offi going to be the toughest question is off i some extent, because they know all the elements that concern them and they are going to not hold back

in asking the questions. you think there are questions to be asked about the relationship between boeing and the regulator? well, certainly, this is the second time the process has been called into question. i mean you had the 787 incidences with the batteries and so on and again, the same kind of issues arose. people saying well, surely this should have been spotted beforehand, and i think there were a couple of things this time, for example, they found after the ethiopian crash, they sent them to the french authorities who examination, rather than the perhaps more normal situation of sending them to the faa and again, the canadian and european authorities have said that they will want to certify this again themselves, and again, that is a bit of a change because there was a mutual reciprocity insofar as the faa took what they suggested and vice—versa, so what they suggested and vice—versa, so you what they suggested and vice—versa, so you are what they suggested and vice—versa, so you are starting to see a bit of a concern about something that was supposed to be just we have put new

engines on the aircraft and often 90, engines on the aircraft and often go, and people are realising it was a lot more complicated than that. go, and people are realising it was a lot more complicated than thatm isa a lot more complicated than thatm is a lot more complicated and it could take some time to sort the issues out, i.e. software, pilot training and everything else. in the meantime, passengers's lives of extremely heightened about this type plan, i mean last night's emergency landing ofa plan, i mean last night's emergency landing of a south—west 737 max does not help. yes, i think that is supposed to be related to engine issues and perhaps that is something that can happen on any plane, but when you look at the hundred and 50 odd aircraft and you had two crashes, has clearly been concern all the way down the line for the passengers, and indeed in the manufacturers well. absolutely, thank you so much for coming in and we shall keep an eye on how that healing does go on later today in the senate. -- as well. this week, brazilian mining giant vale will announce its 2018 results.

it's been a difficult year for the miner, after one of its dams burst injanuary killing 308 people. as a result, mines across the country are being shut due to safety concerns. daniel gallas reports on how the closures are affecting local communties. emergency siren just two weeks after brazil's deadliest mining disaster, warning sirens went off in a nearby tourist district. the warning, it turned out, was a false alarm, but the town has yet to recover. macacos is a popular destination for wealthy tourists seeking adventure and fine food. now, no—one wants to come here. in a matter of hours, all reservations were cancelled, residents fled their homes,

and it is now a ghost town. the few left behind are business owners, who want vale, the mining giant responsible for the dam, to pay compensation. this woman put all of her savings into a cafe and property here in macacos. translation: my cafe was my dream. today i've had to close it, and i don't know what will happen to it now. i keep thinking, did ijust lose my entire dream overnight? it's like someone came and snatched it all away from me. mining companies like vale are decommissioning their old dams, but change is slow and costly and there are dozens of them across state. —— of them across the state. over there, we can spot two tailing dams just like the one which broke in brumadinho. they are in the process of being decommissioned, but that will take a few years to happen. meanwhile, everyone here is worried about the future.

one hour's drive from macacos lies this town. towns like this would be entirely wiped out if the nearby tailing dams broke, but even if the feared disaster never happens, the town is already suffering because it depends on iron ore royalties to pay for its expenses. translation: our initial reaction was grief, but now we're desperate. there's no way our life can go back to what it was. we're going to have to make cuts in education, health, street cleaning. two—thirds of our money comes from mining. the accidents in brumadinho and mariana took away lives, destroyed communities, and left permanent scars on the environment. vale says it is fully committed to undo the damage. in the meantime, the fallout from the disasters continues to blight lives throughout the state. cathay pacific has announced its buying low—cost carrier hong kong express for $628 million.

cathay has been looking to increase its presence in asia's budget travel market, which is currently dominated by low—cost chinese airlines. joining us now from singapore is rico hizon. this is quite a booming area, isn't it? the budget airline business on your part of the world? and this acquisition, sally, by cathay pacific is a crucial piece of business that is missing from its operations and this will also give them additional lending spots in hong kong, which is home to asia's busiest international airport. this will also provide cathy with a new revenue source as the region's emerging economies allow more people to fly. —— cathay pacific. the hong kong carrier had a very challenging 2018 after posting its first loss in march of last year. low—cost carriers have been eating into cathay pacific's market share as leg

expand with long haul flights and bypassing the need to change in hong kong. cathay pacific is said to be more than a decade behind singapore airlines in entering the business and meeting the demand for shorter roots, and need met in part by these low—cost carriers. roots, and need met in part by these low-cost carriers. thank you. -- a need. now let's brief you on some other business stories. apple has recieved a major boost in its long—running dispute with chipmaker qualcomm. that's after a us court ruled that apple hadn't used qualcomm's modem chip patents illegally. if apple had been found guilty, several models of the iphone may have been barred from the us. venezuela's government has told workers and students to stay at home as the country faces a second day without electricity. hospitals, public transport, water and other services have been affected. president nicolas maduro's government blames the power cuts on an "attack" by the opposition, led byjuan guaido.

a quick look at markets. of course, all attention is on brexit in london today as mps consider lots of different ways of leaving the european union and also, we have got trade talks resuming tomorrow between the us and china. these are commodities, you can see the price of oil edging higher. that is your is and is briefing. —— that is your business briefing. let's bring in more detail now on a story i mentioned earlier. far—right extremists in britain are accessing terrorism material published online by isis, according to security officials in whitehall. the bbc has learnt that neo—nazis and otherfanatics have been studying methods of attack shared by jihadists with their followers on the internet.

our security correspondent frank gardner reports. mourning the dead in new zealand after far mourning the dead in new zealand afterfar right mourning the dead in new zealand after far right extremist attack that took the country in the world by surprise. univision, the security service m15 has been stepping up its surveillance of right extremist. whitehall officials want a startling discovery. they say propaganda manuals put out on the internet by islamic state are being studied by british right—wing extremist ‘s. they may be ideological enemies but they share an interest in graphic violence. in 2017, the government and the extremist group national action, but since then, splinter groups have emerged, largely disbarred with little or no cooperation between them. counter—terrorism offices across the intelligence agencies using a similar range of techniques to

monitor their activities as they would againstjihadists, but what they fear is a repeat of the kind of violent attack on these was the worshippers in north london in 2017. far right extremism has been described as the fastest growing domestic threat to uk security. a british man has been arrested in australia, after allegedly trying to flee the country on a jet—ski. police say the 57—year—old is wanted on drug charges and was trying to make the 90 mile trip to papua new guinea. the man was thought to have been armed with a cross—bow and carrying enough fuel and supplies to make the journey. coming up at 6am, breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. this is the briefing from bbc news. the headlines: british mps are set to vote on a range of alternative brexit plans, as speculation mounts about theresa may's future. and after america's worst measles

outbreak in decades, authorities in new york state ban unvaccinated minors from public places. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with the guardian and brexit. it's normal now on the briefing. there's no avoiding it i'm afraid. especially on a day when theresa may will face backbench tories as the house of commons prepare to vote on alternatives to her deal. staying with the eu, and a story on the front of frankfurter allgemeine. euro mps pass a new internet copyright law that mean internet giants — like google — will have to pay

a fee to re—direct links from news websites. and now to the financial times. it leads on the landmark legal case of the drugmaker purdue pharma who have agreed to pay out $270 million for their role in the opioid crisis. staying with the ft and a story that's big here in london — uber‘s founder has bought 100 kitchens across the capital, expanding its reach into the fast—growing food delivery market. finally we take a look at the front page of the times it focusses on the car industry and new technology that will be fitted in all new cars that make speeding a thing of the past! so let's begin with eileen burbidge, co—founder and partner at passion capital, an early—stage venture capitalfirm, joins me now. the guardian, the front page. it says the headline, theresa may under

pressure to step aside