you're watching bbc news at nine with me annita mcveigh — the headlines: trying to break the deadlock, the prime minister is expected to meet labour leaderjeremy corbyn today to try to find a way through this is bbc news from bbc news with the brexit process. theresa may has said she will seek an extension to sally baldock and ben thompson. brexit past the current april the creeping closer to a deal — 12th deadline to allow britain to talks between the us and china leave the eu in a timely and orderly resume today in a bid to end the bitter trade war. live from london, that's our top way. scrapjail scrap jail sentences of under one year, say mps, as a report claims story on wednesday the 3rd of april. prisons in england and wales are in crisis. sharia law comes into force today in the small southeast asian nation of brunei. from now on, people convicted of adultery or homosexuality could be stoned to reports say that a deal is imminent death. regional airline flybe cancels and chinese delegates are in dozens regional airline flybe cancels d oze ns of regional airline flybe cancels dozens of flights this morning washington today to continue those blaming operational trade negotiations. we will talk you through the sticking points left tackle. also in the programme, it is trial time in a scandal that sent

shock waves around the world, with malaysia's former prime minister having arrived in court in kuala lumpur. we will be alive to the scene. and on the financial markets you can see that most markets in europe certainly are having a good session, but london is absolutely flat, and down a touch. the internet revolution is doing the same for sofas, beds and chairs as it did for clothes shopping, but is there still a place to try before you buy? i'm meeting one of the bosses at made.com to discover why they still believe in the power of the high street. so we want to know, would you want to live forever? what would you want to live forever? what would you do with that extra time? use the hashtag, #bbcbizlive. do get in

touch. we would love to hear from you on that point of whether you would like to live for ever and what you would do. let's get stuck in, we have a busy programme as ever. we begin the trade talks between the us and china. they resume today in washington. both sides are said to be nearing a deal with only a few sticking points to overcome. as a show of goodwill ahead of these talks today, the chinese finance ministry said it would continue to suspend tariffs that it on american ca i’s suspend tariffs that it on american cars and car parts. china has also agreed to by a substantial amount of goods from the us. some reports suggest the number could be as high as $1.2 trillion worth, thought to be agricultural products in the main. for the us, be agricultural products in the main. forthe us, the be agricultural products in the main. for the us, the government is pressing for an end to practices and policies that it argues have given

chinese companies an unfair advantage, like including subsidisation of some industries, the limits on access to foreign companies, trying to work in china, and of course alleged theft of intellectual property. let's remind ourselves of those tariff figures, what has happened so far. the us has slapped import taxes on $250 billion worth of chinese goods and china has done the same on $110 billion of american products. those tit for tat tariffs are having an effect not only on trade between those two countries but on global trade as well. let's ta ke let's take you life to beijing and speak to the former minister for commercial affairs at the us embassy and a senior counsellor at the consultancy, the cohen group. looking around this morning, there's suggestions that this deal is 90% done, withjust a couple suggestions that this deal is 90% done, with just a couple of sticking

points. is that how you see it? that is how i see it, and the signal i'm getting is the frequency of the visits of the treasury secretary mnuchin. it seems like the amount of time between visits is getting short. but one warning i would give is that this is not going to be the deal to end all deals. wejust is that this is not going to be the deal to end all deals. we just have too many issues. and i think the main one is that our systems are still going to be so different. the chinese central control, protectionism, preferential loans, for their state—owned enterprises, with western companies based on market forces and privately held. so theseissues market forces and privately held. so these issues are going to continue. is not the deal to end all deals as you say. what are the sticking points in these latest negotiations? because it does revolve around the us dropping those tariffs that it

has implemented already on chinese made goods. yes, the sticking points are, how do we enforce any trade agreement? that would be one area. the chinese don't want the us to get involved in what china feels is its sovereign territory and of course the us wants to be able to monitor china in this trade agreement. in the past, we have had trade agreements and other kinds of ad hoc agreements and other kinds of ad hoc agreements and other kinds of ad hoc agreements and enforcement has been the big issue. another issue you mentioned is the tariffs, china wa nts mentioned is the tariffs, china wants the us to take the tariffs off with the agreement so those are two areas that are areas of contention,

still. sir, at 9096 done but some suggestion that the remaining 10% really will be the hardest bit to get across the line. that is what the perception is. both leaders want an agreement. the us leadership wa nts to an agreement. the us leadership wants to make sure that the us stock market stays buoyant, and the chinese leadership is facing a slowing economy, although in the last quarter there seems to be signs of recovery, but both sides really need this, so they are working hard to come up with something, both sides, to be able to accept, i remember it is not going to solve all of their problems. one for us to watch, good to talk to you, the former minister for commercial affairs at the us embassy. thank you for your time. let's take a look at other business stories. he tweeted

that the message from a newly created and verified twitter account. mr ghosn is currently free on bail after being arrested last year as he prepares for his trial on charges of financial misconduct. he denies the charges. has boosted the cost of a brexit favourite, the gauge of the country cosmic avocado prices have surged the most in almost a decade as buyers consider the latest statement from the us president. that comes as prices for mexican avocados jumped 34% earlier this week. and the british prime minister is to ask the european union for another delay to brexit, to give her more time to reach an agreement in parliament. theresa may has said she will try again to reach a compromise with the leader of the labour oppositionjeremy a compromise with the leader of the labour opposition jeremy corbyn, which has angered many senior

figures in her own party. you might be familiar with the high—profile corruption trial of the former malaysian prime minister which is now under way. he is accused of stealing billions of dollars from as sovereign wealth fund. let's talk to jonathan dollars from as sovereign wealth fund. let's talk tojonathan head who is at the court. so, jonathan, he has arrived and, as the trial under way? yes, it is under way, we have had two delays, the defence tried to donate over strong opposition from the prosecution, and thejudge said the opposition from the prosecution, and the judge said the trial has to start with the first witnesses for the prosecution. this is one of what are expected to be several trials, each of them taking many weeks to complete. this is a very complex case. many malaysians when he lost

power in an election last may and was quite quickly charged after that expected to see the former prime minister behind bars. he has been out on bail. excuse the funder, we have a thunderstorm here. he has been out campaigning with his supporters, but finally they are seeing him in the dock looking low— key. seeing him in the dock looking low—key. he was greeted by some supporters at the court, just nodding when the charges were read out. seven out of 42 charges related to asa out. seven out of 42 charges related to as a subsidiary of 1mdb from which he is alleged to have siphoned off, taken more than $10 million into his personal bank account, but the charges are very complex and the malaysian authorities hope that by breaking these trials up into these smaller sets of charges, that will understand the details and will be able to show that they are putting the prime minister through a transparent process. prg —— mackie argues that the charges are politically motivated. it is going

to ta ke politically motivated. it is going to take a great deal longer to hear interesting detail about what went wrong with 1mdb. and the thunder seems to be apt for this story. thank you very much, jonathan, outside the courtroom in kuala lumpur where that trial has got under way. let's have a look at the markets in asia. japan and hong kong and the others, south korea, australia, it was a good session. and a lot of this is to do with the optimism about those trade talks that we have already said will take place later in washington. there is real hope amongst investment houses, traders, etc, that we will finally see a breakthrough in the trade spat between the us and china that has been going on for quite some time. let's now look at europe. london is not as enthusiastic, it is pretty flat, you can see germany, up over 196 flat, you can see germany, up over 1% right now. we have heard from some companies today in terms of

their earnings, the automobile association in the uk, f0t0me, coming out with earnings that disappoint. not good news coming in of companies based in the uk today. let's have a look i had to the day on wall street. samira hussain is doing that for us. it on wednesday we should get a sense of how many workers us companies higher than a month of march. figures are expected to show that the private sector added 170,000 jobs last month after hiring 183,000 workers in february. this employment report is a precursor to the monthlyjobs report thatis precursor to the monthlyjobs report that is released by the commerce department. it is usually an early indicator of what we can expect to see on friday. also happening on wednesday, the institute of supply management report is likely to show that it it is purchasing managers'

index for slightly for the month of march. simon french joins us now. we need to talk about brexit, don't we? what are the markets make of what we heard yesterday? sterling, the pound has been the bellwether for better negotiations has gone up about 1% at the announcement yesterday that theresa may was going to reach across the island work with the but overall, compared to some of the moves we have seen in recent months, it is fairly muted, because there is some certainty that this will take us some certainty that this will take us down a some certainty that this will take us down a process. some certainty that this will take us down a process. i describe it as three—dimensional chess, and it may be that some alternative brings support to the prime minister's withdrawal deal, therefore markets are trying to work out which way mps will move. they are not the only ones. we are all trying to figure it out. let's talk about other things

going on. the oil price has been sneaking up, it is at a four month high, and their speculation about what 0pec might do. high, and their speculation about what opec might do. otic, whether they are comfortable with the slightly higher prices and will put ina slightly higher prices and will put in a production top, there is uncertainty over supply from venezuela, but this is a market where forward buying is key. if the tree took start to get a boost in resolution incorporates do not want to be on the wrong side of higher oil prices then, so they are buying into the futures market right now and that is boosting the increase we have seen since the middle of december, a straight line to the prices today. and higher prices can have a global impact, notjust in oil producing countries. it is key for consumers in oil importing countries. lower oil prices are like a tax cut, so actually the effects are on consumer spending in the uk,

about 66% of uk gdp as consumer spending so therefore what we pay for oil at the pump is a big determinant of that. it does filter through, even though we talk about these big headlines. simon will be back looking at some of the stories later. find out if he wants to live for ever. do you want to live forever? i definitely do not. the point of this is that the drugs will help you not get any of the scary stuff that happens in old age. which is good. business live, with ben and sally. lots more to come. the internet is remaking furniture shopping. i've been finding out how one company is bridging the gap between online, i'll be speaking to the creative director at made.com to

find out what the future holds. this is business life on bbc news. the airline flybe has cancelled 2a flights this morning on the first day of its summer timetable. the airline was struggling and was recently ta ken over airline was struggling and was recently taken over by airline was struggling and was recently ta ken over by a airline was struggling and was recently taken over by a consortium that included virgin atlantic. let's talk to clodagh rice, a northern ireland business reporter. hundreds of passengers in belfast have been affected by this. we know that the cancellations have been hitting passengers across the uk. everybody is asking what is going on at flybe, and as you mention, an interesting point about all of this is timing. and that is because this is the first week of the airline's summer timetable. the winter timetable ended at the end of march. this is the first timetable that has come into effect since this takeover. so

let's remind ourselves of the background. last month, flybe was brought up by a consortium made up of virgin atlantic, and he had spun, cyrus capital, it was bought for £2.2 million last month, and as we know, the regional airline had been struggling. flybe said it had been hit by brexit related uncertainty which had led to weaker customer demand. it said it had been impacted by the weakness of sterling. there are many questions asked about the time of the takeover, what would this mean for staff, what would it mean for passengers, and it is obvious that there are lots of teething troubles already this week. and bring us up to date what this will mean for those passengers. what have they been told? will mean for those passengers. what have they been told ?|j will mean for those passengers. what have they been told? i got a statement from the airline last night. we were hoping to get more up—to—date information this morning. they have confirmed that a small number of flights from belfast city airport were cancelled, they said for operational reasons. they have

advised passengers to try and rebook on alternative flights and say that they are entitled to a full refund on this. they have sincerely apologised for any inconvenience caused. to you, clodagh rice in belfast with the latest on flybe. more on the bbc business live page. the board of the uk retailer super dry quit yesterday as the original chairman returned a year after stepping down. let's have a look at the financial markets in europe. they have been trading for almost 50 minutes. the ftse 100 they have been trading for almost 50 minutes. the ftse100 hasjoined those other green arrows on the screen. germany doing rather well this wednesday. now, you have heard of fast fashion, but how about faster and at chequers just like the internet revolution on clothes shopping it is now doing the same for sofas, beds and chairs. the

global market for furniture is worth more than $1180 billion each year. it is growing by more than 5% a year. some experts say it to be worth more than $700 billion over the next six yea rs. than $700 billion over the next six years. made.com focuses on online. last year its sales surged by almost one third. so i went to meet the creative director of the company, annabeljack and asked how important physical stores are to try before you buy, especially when it comes to furniture. they are important. you are right to point out that the customer journey starts online are right to point out that the customerjourney starts online and in our case it finishes online, but that human interaction with the brand is incredibly important so we know that our customers do you want the coming, and touch and feel products, and try out an extending table or sofa bed, but also they can get more from our showroom, they can speak to

get more from our showroom, they can speakto an get more from our showroom, they can speak to an assistant and get design advice. and they can use the latest technology to help generate their shopping experience a little bit more. white—matter of the trend on the high street is clothing store is moving online, but you are still very committed to these. there are many and you have a big high street presence. the high street presence is very important. whilst we are seeing retail going through a tough time at the moment, the in—store experience is still relevant for consumers today, because they want that touch point with the brand. so you come in—store, you find something you like, then you go back on the website and you order it. in a website way. absolutely. a lot of customers are starting their shopping experience online today. the store provides that additional trust. it might provide a duration for you, and you could get some help

from an assistant, but you are then making that transaction either in—store through one of our touchscreens, or with an assistant who will have their own tablets, and then you make that transaction back at home. white—matter looking around the store, i see those qr codes, they look a little bit retro, late 90s technology, but you have brought them back. why? when we opened our first showroom back in 2012, we put qr codes on everything and to be honest at that time people were not using them at all. and in this latest show in which we opened in december, we brought them back. they are used, because on your phone today, you just open up the camera and you can use the qr code and that p°p5 up and you can use the qr code and that pops up very quickly now. the product information, so you can then look straight into the product and get that information on your phone,

so all of the products in the showroom have a qr code and we think thatis showroom have a qr code and we think that is a useful customer experience today. white—matter you use social people to do your marketing and promotion for you, by posting pictures. how important is that for the brand? it has got to be authentic. and in the last year we had 10,000 posts from people buying made.com furniture and posting it on instagram or other social media platforms, because they are proud of the design that they have curated at home, and they are genuine ambassadors of the brand, and that is really important to gain trust with consumers. but also a brilliant outlet for them to say, i am a designer and i'm proud of what i treated at home. the 2017 figures suggest you are on the edge of breaking even, because you had a lot

of capital expenditure. we are next with a big growth plans? we are seeing fantastic growth continue, in the uk market we did 100,000,020 18, that was 34% growth year—on—year, and accelerated growth from 2017 which is at 29% year—on—year. europe continues to grow quickly, 40% growth last year. in 2019 we introduce four new territories, so we are going to be adding portugal, denmark, sweden and italy. simon, back with us to look through some of the stories in the newspapers. let's talk about this news from facebook. quite a big week in terms of those announcements from apple about creating a new sort of magazine subscription service. facebook saying it may pay for some of the news that it puts on its website. saying it may pay for some of the news that it puts on its websitem is facing a big bill if it wants to pay for your content, isn't it?

is facing a big bill if it wants to pay foryour content, isn't it? ! you got to take this story in the context of this being the teenage yea rs context of this being the teenage years from facebook where it is coming under pressure from regulators worldwide to limit the amount of fake news, so clearly, it is trying to produce a space for curated news, for news that comes from, i guess, curated news, for news that comes from, iguess, registered curated news, for news that comes from, i guess, registered news providers, and the question, i guess, is how the payment works for the user, so much as the provider. these, they say that their costs are going up, the number of people they are hiring to police this information and what is going on in countries like india, or it is the cost of buying news, it is all about facebook having to pay more for what it does and they decide to charge us for that. the other matter and there isa for that. the other matter and there is a question for investors in the facebook story, which is whether they would be focusing on the growth

potential of facebook, but there might be some margin squeeze, which is the sting in the tail. if that has to increase the cost base that is where you see the profit guidance pared back. that'll be the thing, the next update that investors will focus on. now we have a story in the telegraph this morning which says that wonder drugs that target zombie sales could reverse the ageing process prevent diseases. there is no good living to a ripe old age if we then have also sought problems. this could solve all of that. it is healthy additional years people are interested in. some of the testing that they have done on mice suggests a 30% increase in longevity and potentially good years. there is a question of whether you want that kind of thing because one of the great, i think, kind of thing because one of the great, ithink, opportunities kind of thing because one of the great, i think, opportunities is to try to experience different life

cycles, but the commercial opportunities are huge. lots of drug companies will be looking at this with interest. the commercial opportunity will be enormous. drugs companies will be looking with interest, but also those who have huge selling, other ones, cancers, outside of these various things they will be thinking that and other sectors, financial markets, insurance companies will be looking at this. we asked people at the start of the programme if they'd like to live for ever, and one viewer said i might but i will see you else is going to. carol said, no thank you, sally. imagine the state of the planet if we lived any longer. don makes the point that we have discussed, not live for ever but for longer, if one can live in their best body age. and that is the crucial thing, being able to live at

the peak of your life. simon, thank you. what is your best body age? that is the question for another day. see you soon. good morning. it is quite messy, complicated picture weather—wise across the uk today. we have an area of low pressure sitting out in the north sea. it is throwing these weather fronts to the west and bringing quite a bit of snow across scotla nd bringing quite a bit of snow across scotland and northern england, 5—8 centimetres over higher ground, and that will continue before easing out during this afternoon. rain at lower levels will push westwards into western scotland, northern ireland, showers in wales and the southwest continuing, and also some showers in the south—east of england which could be heavy. 0therwise, sunny spells in northern england later. quite strong, gusty winds, up to 60 mph in the north of scotland. whilst

the temperatures on the thermometer might say between six and 9 degrees it will feel more chilly than that across scotland and northern ireland. tonight, that area of low pressure d rifts ireland. tonight, that area of low pressure drifts to the south—west. you can see the air rotating, more persistent rain coming into the north and east of scotland. there will be some lengthy clear spells and temperatures could drop to freezing, if not below. during thursday, that area of low pressure is down towards south wales and south—west england. you can see these weather fronts wrapped around it. still giving more rain across northern scotland and some hill snow associated with that. to the south—west, most of the showers during thursday, rotating around that area of low pressure. for central, eastern and northern england, it will be largely dry on thursday. maximum temperatures around seven and 9 degrees. by the

end of the week those temperatures rising a bit, so not as cold, largely dry, and there will also be a bit of sunshine. that area of low pressure will drift south and west during friday. it will start to draw ina during friday. it will start to draw in a south or south—easterly wind. that is a difference to the northerly wind from today for example. there will still be some showers towards the south—west of england, wales and northern ireland, eastern and northern parts should be largely driver sunshine on friday and you can see those temperatures coming up, at around 12 to 16 degrees on friday. the weekend looking settled but eastern coasts could still be a little bit chilly. goodbye.