this is the business briefing, i'm sally bundock. us tech gaint apple sees iphone sales tumble 17%, while china's slowing economy takes a bite out of its profits. the future is private — the words of facebook boss mark zuckerberg, as he tries to make the world's biggest social network more personal. we have a special report from san jose. and on the markets, time to breathe. most are closed in asia, as japan celebrates a new emperor and others are marking labour day. but it will get busy later, as the trade talks in china continues and the us central bank

wraps up its rate setting meeting. we start with apple, and news that iphone sales suffered a steep fall, and that china is taking a big bite out of its profits. revenue fell 5% to $58 billion betweenjanuary and march — not as bad as the previous quarter's14%. iphone revenue totalled $31.05 billion. that is down 17%. now, injanuary, ceo tim cook highlighted economic weakness in china as a key factor in declining iphone sales.

revenue in china fell 21% year—on—year. apple is up against local rivals offering cheaper rival phones, and the country's economic growth is slowing. with sales slowing, apple is shifting towards services. recently it unveiled its tv+ streaming service, though that has yet to launch. and what about its massive cash pile — $130 billion at the end of 2018? well, apple is returning a slice of that, another $75 billion, to shareholders. lacklustre news about sales, so why did apple shares rise on tuesday? from new york, samira hussain explains. three months ago, apple shocked investors by issuing a profit warning. smartphones have always been a big moneymaker for the tech giant, but sales of iphones have been slowing, that was certainly made clear

with this latest earnings report. profit and revenue were both down. so why are investors feeling so upbeat? well, it has to do with the company's forward guidance, what it expects to see in the next three months. apple is indicating that its revenue will be higher than what was initially expected. investors are taking that as a sign that it believes sales of iphones will again pick up. apple also expects that demand for its services will also speed up, and contribute to revenue in the next quarter. much of this year, at a splashy event in california loaded with celebrities, apple unveiled several new services. apple tv, apple news+, and apple credit card. and this is where the company believes the future is, that as sales of iphones and ipads may ebb and flow, the services will continue to be a constant revenue stream. ivan mazour is chief

executive of ometria. welcome to the briefing. give us your take, then, on these results from apple. are you concerned, or are you not particularly worried? from apple. are you concerned, or are you not particularly worried ?|i am actually quite excited. we are getting used to hearing the story of a drop in sale and a drop in revenue, especially around the iphone itself, but what we saw in the past couple of months and especially a couple of weeks ago is a dramatic refocusing of apple is accompanied toward services, which we see as being in line with an industry shift overall. we all now have all the products we want. we are have all the products we want. we a re less have all the products we want. we are less excited about upgrading to are less excited about upgrading to a new phone, whether it is a new iphone or a phone which cost half the price and does the same thing. but what we are looking for is experiences and apple has just rolled out four brand—new ones to try and lure consumers to have a stronger relationship with them. will they lure them? i think they will, you look at tv plus, going up

against netflix, and disney is about to launch a big one, but looking at games, news and even the credit card, the credit card offering has such amazing cashback that they are already able to get a huge number of people in the us to switch away from their providers. this is something that apple has always done very well, hasn't it? apple is a cultural experience. it is not a product. we don't think about apple is just our phone, it kind of permeates our world, doesn't it, in so many ways. i think they are kind of continuing in that theme. it is a bit like when you go in the apple store, it is about an experience, you don't feel like you are shopping. you are hanging out with apple people. exactly, and the risk they face is we are more used to having experiences with apps, so here it might be instagram, and in china it is harder, because everyone is on wechat. by putting these services backin

wechat. by putting these services back in they are saying here other things can only get from us, from apple. they have 390 million subscribers across their services and they think that will be 500 million by next year, and they have the relationship with the customers and they can continue to give experiences that customers truly love. it is that whole issue of whether you want to be controlled or not. thank you for coming in. facebook has been mired in privacy problems, but the new mantra from chief executive mark zuckerberg is the future is private. the boss of the world's biggest social media firm told the f8 developers' meeting that it is focusing on more intimate connections for its 2.3 billion users. our north america technology correspondent dave lee reports from san jose.

private is the future of facebook, according to mark zuckerberg. he said that in the past but at this event, he offered a few more details of exactly what that future might mean. it starts in the short term with a complete redesign of facebook‘s main service. there's going to be more emphasis on groups, more emphasis on private interactions, things that facebook the company can't even read itself, messages between users talking about whatever they like. and the big news is, it will no longer be blue. but facebook is going to have to show that this is more than simply a paintjob to avoid some of its current problems. mark zuckerberg did say during his speech that the company didn't exactly have a great reputation for privacy right now, but that it was working hard to regain some of that trust. of course, this is going to be a pretty big ask. it's got to do that while being seen to innovate. there is a room here full of thousands of developers looking to see what they can build on facebook, and how facebook is staying ahead of the competition.

that is becoming more and more difficult when it has so many other distractions that it needs to deal with. it needs to do a lot to keep its position as the biggest social network in the world. this big privacy push comes as regulators worldwide try to thrash out new rules for what is said and shared online. facebook‘s boss admitted, albeit with a light—heartened tone, that trust in the social network was low. now look, i get that a lot of people aren't sure that we are serious about this. i know that we don't exactly have the strongest reputation on privacy right now, to put it lightly. but i am committed to doing this well, and to starting a new chapter for our products.

what do you make of that? are you one of the billions of facebook users? tell us what you think about facebook right now, what he had to say, your take on where they are at. from trust to trade — us treasury secretary steven mnuchin said he hopes to make substantial progress with chinese negotiators in the next two rounds of trade talks. the world's two largest economies are back at the negotiating table in beijing. we are hearing donald trump has dropped a key demand that china halt alleged instances of commercial cyber theft. rico hizon is following the story. nice to see you. so it would seem that both sides are doing all they can to try to get a deal. that is the impression we are getting. that's right, sally, and president trump is looking to ease up on his cyber theft demands, which is essential issue in these ongoing negotiations. in a bid for a swift trade deal with china. and a news

report, sally, says the us is set to accept a watered—down security pledge from beijing, to reach an agreement during the summit. and you mentioned robert lighthizer and steven mnuchin, well, they are in baiting for less than 48 hours to give a final push to this us— china trade negotiation, in order to sign a deal in late may orjune. trade negotiation, in order to sign a deal in late may orjune. thank you very much indeed. now let's brief you on some other business stories: argentine trade unions staged a 24—hour nationwide strike on tuesday against president mauricio macri's austerity programme. protestors partially shut down government offices, schools, banks and airports, as opposition to macri's belt—tightening policies. this wednesday, unions will rally at the presidential palace, joined by opposition party politicians. a big deal in the energy business. warren buffett‘s investment fund berkshire hathaway has backed occidental petroleum's $55 billion bid for rival shale firm

anadarko petroleum. buffett says he will invest $10 billion to finance the deal. it is a rare move by the financier into shale production. that is your business briefing. i will see you in a moment. the news briefing in a moment. children's services in england are at breaking point, according to a group of mps. the housing, communities and local government committee says more government funding is needed to plug an expected financial gap of more than £3 billion a year by 2025. our correspondent simon jones has the details.

four—year—old daniel, murdered by his mother and her partner. baby peter connolly, who died at his home after months of abuse. opportunities we re after months of abuse. opportunities were missed by the authorities to help them. such tragic cases have led to a rise in people reporting concerns about children. housing, communities and local government committee says supporting vulnerable young people is one of the most important duties that local authorities provide, but he is warning that finances are increasingly stretched. warning that finances are increasingly stretchedlj warning that finances are increasingly stretched. i think they are ina increasingly stretched. i think they are in a desperate state, they are at crisis point. local authorities across the country of all political persuasions are overspending this financial year around about £800 million over budget. between 2017-18, million over budget. between 2017—18, councils in england spent £8.8 billion on children's social care. the committee says the government needs to increase core grantfunding by government needs to increase core grant funding by more than £3 billion a year by 2025. the number

of children in care has increased from 60,000 to 75,000 over the past decade, and the cost of looking after them has risen sharply. mps on the committee worn early intervention services have been cut, and families must often reach crisis point before they receive help. the government says it has put an additional £400 million into adult and children's social care this year, and millions more will be spent to help keep more children at home safely with their families. more on that story and our other top stories at 6am on breakfast. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: nicolas maduro makes a defiant speech on venezuelan television, as opposition protests against him continue. a new era begins injapan, as emperor naruhito formally acends to the throne.

—— ascends. us tech gaint apple sees iphone sales tumble i7%, while china's slowing economy takes a bite out of its profits. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with the japan times, which dedicates its whole front page to our top story, the abdication of emperor akihito. now onto the financial times, and riots on the streets of venezuela, as opposition leader juan guaido urged supporters to take to the streets and force nicolas maduro from power. the guardian has a story on brexit, and anger atjeremy corbyn from members of his own party, who are calling on him to unequivocally back a second referendum.

—— referendum. the daily telegraph reports on a ground—breaking scheme trialled in the north of england which teaches parents to say no to their kids and cut obesity. more on that later. and from obesity to meat—free burgers. the bbc website looks at the plant—based burgerfirm beyond meat, and asks if there are enough people out there ready to switch to plant—based burgers. with me is eileen burbidge, co—founder and partner at passion capital. here on bbc world news, we are looking intensely at this long celebration in japan, attend looking intensely at this long celebration injapan, attend a public holiday which is unheard of there. japan dance looks at the

abdication, and