this is the business briefing. i'm victoria fritz. the international car industry grapples with the threat of tariffs from president donald trump. we check out the mood at the new york auto show. and check out who's behind the wheels of these sleek, luxury cars on dubai's roads. and on the markets. a lot of markets are shut for the easter holiday.

welcome to this slightly car focused edition of business briefing. to begin with, german carmaker mercedes benz is pushing ahead with its ambitious plans to grab a bigger share of the us car market. that's despite the threat of new tariffs being held over the international car industry by president donald trump. michelle fleury reports form the new york auto show which opens today. the global car business, setting out its store in the big apple. with lots of the usual glitz and polish. threatening to take the shine of proceedings is donald trump. hosting his resentment about the car companies in america. they barely

ta ke companies in america. they barely take agricultural products but they can sell mercedes—benz and they can sell anything they want in our country. if it doesn't change, were going to tariff all of the cars and everything else that comes in. the us boss of mercedes—benz brushed off the presidential thread for now. there is always some uncertainty, the —— the economy, we will see what's going to happen, if you're in business you always have to deal with volatility, with things you don't know, with things that could change. we will take it as it comes and there's no point in speculating about it this time. mercedes—benz as long as volkswagen, might be a german company but it's creating more opportunities for american workers. it states that help to elect the us president. the point that we are keen to drive home. the overall investment will create up to

600 additionaljobs in this area. other voices in the industry sounded more alarmed. japan, like europe faces the prospect of different —— difficult trade negotiations with the trump administration. toyota ‘s boss admitted new tariffs on cars threatened by trump could be very damaging. if the tariffs happen on the auto industry, quite frankly, that's pulling the pin out of the grenade and i don't believe the us economy can run out of the room fast enough to protect itself. a sentiment echoed by auto analyst, michelle. we think is a good possibility this will go into effect, if they do, vehicle prices will rise substantially and that will rise substantially and that will cause vehicle sales to fall. it could well push the economy into a downturn. car buyers here i still busy asset but its address of the current us government that could put a hard rake on the global car

industry. now to india's jet airways. employees of the troubled airline held a demonstration in delhi, over unpaid salaries — one day after the carrier halted operations, as it failed to secure emergency funds. india's oldest private airline had been facing massive financial losses due to high fuel costs, and stiff competition from low—cost airlines. my colleague devina gupta sent this report from delhi. at its peak, jet hours was operating nearly 120 planes and 600 flights daily. but now with over $1.2 billion debt, the management has shut its operations temporarily and is employees are forced to come on the street to demand their salaries and other financial dues. people are using the savings, whatever they have, some people who have not been

able to afford things are mortgaging their properties and selling the cars. it's been years and years, we never thought we would leave it this way. we are lost, we don't know where to go from here basically. way. we are lost, we don't know where to go from here basicallylj still where to go from here basically.” still believe that we are going to sail this boat. the government believes in us and make the bidding process as soon believes in us and make the bidding process as soon as possible. it's not just these employees process as soon as possible. it's notjust these employees but thousands of passengers stranded because of funding. the indian government is in the carious position. it's election time and it can't afford a sinking business which is impacting thousands ofjobs that lead to negative voter sentiment. for now the airlines has invited investors to bump in money and thrive it but until then, these employees and their families are staring at an uncertain future. now let's brief you on some other business stories. pinterest shares surged nearly 30% on its debut day at the new york stock exchange.

—— london. shares opened above the initial price of $19 per share, and closed just above $24 dollars. that values the online scrapbook company at around $16 billion. but that was somewhat overshadowed by another tech listing. the video conferencing startup zoom surged 72% in its market debut after an ipo which raised more than $350 million. zoom was founded in 2011 by former webex head engineer eric yuan. it provides software for video conferencing on different devices. nissan will cut global production by about 15% up to march 2020, as it shifts away from the aggressiveexpansion campaign promoted by former chairman carlos ghosn. this according to a report in japan's nikkei newspaper. nissan says that the report is not based on its announcement and that it would not comment on speculation. nintendo shares jumped 13% in early tokyo trade today, a day after china's tencent won

a key approval to begin selling nintendo's switch console in china, the world's largest games market.the kyoto—based games maker has been hampered by chinese regulations and the search for a partner in its efforts to bringits hybrid home/portable switch console to china. let's return to our car theme now. afterfocusing on male buyers for decades, top—of—the—range automakers are finally turning their attention to women. a number of luxury brands now employ a female advisory board to help them design cars attractive to women. one place where female drivers are already shaking things up is the uae. vivienne nunis reports on a car club with a difference that's turning heads in dubai.

its girl power meets horsepower. this club, entrepreneurs who can work hard and afford a car. these women are serious about cars. especially supercars. a driver a portion. this is thought to be the world ‘s first supercars —— superca rs club run world ‘s first supercars —— supercars club run for women, by women. less fast imperious, more fast and fashionable. the designers talked about ferrari. more women in the regionjoining the talked about ferrari. more women in the region joining the workforce, female spending power is increasing.

i started with toyota than bmw, then a ford mustang and noah lamborghini. i need a lot of saving up to do it. these women arejust these women are just a interested in driving these cars on the road, today they're having a go on the track. and no ordinary truck. this circuit hosts formula 1 racing. the gazelles were founded as an alternative to the male dominated kaizen. how have been reacted? i think after two years they understand that we are drivers just like them and we enjoy this just as they do. men in my life actually borrow my car. my uncle boris my car sometimes. more than 70 members meeting regularly, the gazelles stand out. they would be in your

rea rview stand out. they would be in your rearview mirrorfor stand out. they would be in your rearview mirror for long. further down the road, the gazelles have plans to expand to saudi arabia where female driving was recently legalised. breaking down barriers while trying not to break the speed limit. i fancy myself one of those. let's have a look at the markets, lots of them are closed because of the easter break. we've got lots of us earnings, and we've also got updates from tesla on the autopilot software. plenty coming up next week. quite a finish to the

campaigners have accused local authorities of practicing social cleansing by misusing powers that allow them to issue fines for rough sleeping, begging and loitering. the charity, liberty, claims councils are using public space protection orders to unfairly target vulnerable people as sangita myska reports. public space protection orders were first introduced to the home office in 2014. to tackle antisocial behaviour and specific areas. the orders can be issued to bound activities as wide—ranging as sleeping rough, leaving belongings outside in public, begging and even

urban game such as free running. prosecution can also include a fine of up to £100. civil rights groups now claim the orders are being used by two widely by cash—strapped councils, keen to remove the poorest people from the neighbourhoods. new figures suggest that in 2016, the number of fines issued by councils stood at 1906. by 2018, that number had jumped. the body representing local authorities says psp owes are selective and subject to scrutiny. there i wonder —— there are a number of ways councils can tackle antisocial behaviour raised by local communities which can ruin people ‘s quality of life, home businesses. the home office in the statement said these should be used proportionately to tackle antisocial behaviour. are not used to target specific vulnerable groups. it added

it had given councils clear guidance on how orders should be issued. coming up at six o'clock on breakfast charlie stayt and naga munchetty will have all the day's news, business and sport. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: democrats in the united states say the mueller report on russian election meddling is a damning verdict on president trump's behaviour, showing that he lied repeatedly. as climate protests in london enter a fifth day — activists are warned not to target heathrow airport over easter. a 29—year—old woman has been killed following disturbances in northern ireland, police have called it a terrorist incident.

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 who say special counsel robert mueller who described 11 instances in which donald trump or his campaign engaged in potential obstruction ofjustice and suggested congress might prosecute these acts as crimes. the straits times reports orth korea is demanding that us secretary of state mike pompeo no longer take part in any further talks involving its nuclear weapons program. pyongyang says it wants someone who is "more careful and mature in communicating. the independent ipaper leads with the curent wave of climate change demonstrations. it says extinction rebellion — the uk group behind the week—long protests has confirmed it would be

targeting heathrow airport at the start of the bank holiday weekend. the mail online says a close confidant of the french billionaire who pledged e100 million towards the restoration of notre dame has called for such donations to be 90 per cent tax deductible. the suggestion was made by former french culture ministerjean—jacques aillagon. critics say the effect of such a policy would be to shift most of the bill to french taxpayers. and finally there's good news for dog owners in the sun. they are according to latest research more fitter than other people as they tend to take longer walks and are four times more likely to meet exercise guidelines for a healthy life. so let's begin withjoel kibazo. let's talk about the report. this