this is the business briefing, i'm sally bundock. facebook faces a grilling about its new crypto—currency, with regulators concerned it could be abused by criminals. and jaguar land rover wins a £500 million loan from the uk government to accelerate the country's electric car plans. and on financial markets, the earnings season is now well underway, with the big us banks taking centre stage. japan has reopened today, and so far, investors are not impressed.

facebook‘s hugely ambitious plan to create its own global crypto—currency has been under growing scrutiny since it was unveiled last month, and in a few hours‘ time, the man in charge of the project will face a grilling from us lawmakers about what the company says is the future of money. facebook says it won't go ahead with the launch of its libra crypto—currency until regulatory concerns are addressed. the digital currency is particularly aimed at the estimated 1.7 billion adults that the world bank claims don't have a bank account. china and india are top of the list. in a bid to convince people that it will be reliable, facebook says the currency will be backed by a reserve of assets, and has set up what it says is an independent body to oversee the currency, the libra association. its 29 members include household names such as uber, visa and vodafone. but central banks have already expressed concern.

last week the boss of america's federal reserve, jerome powell, said libra raises many serious concerns that need to be addressed. and late on monday, us treasury secretary steve mnuchin also expressed his fears, saying libra could be misused by money launderers and terrorist financiers. he added facebook still had more work to do. are you comfortable with facebook launching a currency in the right way? two i didn't say i was co mforta ble way? two i didn't say i was comfortable with them launching a currency. if they want to do it in an appropriate and safe way. but i am not comfortable today. they and others have a lot of work to do before they get us comfortable. dr garrick hileman, head of research at blockchain, joins me now. welcome to the programme. just explain how these digital currencies

work. we can't explain it enough on this programme. it is confusing, isn't it? they are, bitcoin is a digitally native currency which doesn't take physical form, digitally native currency which doesn't take physicalform, like cash. it integrates with digital wallets a nd cash. it integrates with digital wallets and can be programmed to automate payments and to reduce trust in third—party institutions. and it is based on blockchain technology, very different to a traditional bank account where you can trace the money chain, as it were. well, blockchain actually does leave a digital paper trail and a lot of concern about libra and other currencies is are they being used by bad actors? there are digital records of transactions which do allow investigators to police, and we have been successful in actually tracking down on bad actors who use crypto currencies. so from your perspective the concerns of steve mnuchin, jerome powell and others

that libra, bitcoin and other digital currencies could be used for money laundering or buying drugs or even human trafficking, those concerns are not valid? no, they are valid, and certainly people have used crypto currencies for bad things, no question about it. but there are a growing set of tools investigators can use to kind of investigate the trail of transactions on a blockchain, and facebook will be trying to explain that to congress over the next two days, how this can actually help in cracking down on bad actors. david marcus, who will oversee libra for facebook, will be getting a grilling? what has facebook got to do to convince regulators and even the white house that they can go ahead with libra? he has a big task in front of him. there are lots of concerns about facebook? track record on privacy, i think we will see lots of criticism of facebook broadly, a lot of distrust about

whether they can deliver on the promise of helping financial inclusion, and there is a big education gap. i think explaining blockchain technology, its promise, what it can do to help with money—laundering, will be a tall order over the next couple of days for people just trying to land political shots. we should watch this space, thank you for coming in and explaining, and we will keep you across how that progresses in congress later today. the interest in plant—based food that looks and tastes like meat has got investors salivating and entrepreneurs busy trying to cook up new products. but are meat alternatives really the future of food? samira hussain puts the new wave of vegetarian fare to the taste—test. if you like meatless meats or cheeseless cheese, this event is for you. we've got bacon made from mushrooms

that taste just like crispy bacon. so we are a plant—based, fishless seafood. our products are all vegan. we're a vegan—owned brand. last year, sales of plant—based meat substitutes hit $19.5 billion globally. in the next ten years, the market is expected to balloon to $140 billion. it used to be a stereotypical male like me would be happy to go to a steakhouse three times a week. but i realised at some point my own self it's not healthy. as restau ra nts ada pt to people's changing diets, there are solutions being created. fish get theirfishy flavour from eating algae, so we went from the fish to the plants. peter is a vegan and a chef. with the possible foods and beyond meat, we know vegans are going to be here.

it's a no—brainer, unless you have a soy allergy or something like that. we're going after people eating tuna every day. meat alternatives have seen a meteoric rise but critics say some of these plant—based meat alternatives are high in fat, and therefore not very healthy. vegan food and health don't always go hand in hand. i guess the reply to that is, not everything that isn't vegan is healthy either, so ultimately it's up to you to decide what's healthy. the nutritional value might be in question, but interest from investors certainly isn't. food companies believe meatless alternatives are good for long—term health of the bottom line. jaguar land rover has secured a $500 million loan from the uk government to encourage the carmaker to build electric cars in the country. the deal was been signed off by prime minister theresa may, in one of her last big interventions before leaving downing street. let's go to our asia business hub, where rico hizon is following the story.

nice to see you. good news for jaguar land rover. absolutely. this loa n jaguar land rover. absolutely. this loan guarantee is a huge boost for jaguar land rover, which is a unit ofan indian jaguar land rover, which is a unit of an indian company, just over a week after announcing a new range of electrified cars that will be manufactured at a facility in central england. so the car company will be investing hundreds of millions of pounds, transforming its site near birmingham after previously committing to electrified options of all new models from 2020. so the first electric vehicle off the production line will be the ninth generation of its flagship xj saloon, and this guarantee tojlr by the uk export finance agency was granted to support the design, manufacture and export of electric

cars, and this news will definitely safeguard the jobs of thousands of workers and provide a much—needed boost for the british automotive industry which has been rocked by job cuts and planned closures, also brexit, a slowdown in china and flagging demand for diesel powered vehicles taking its toll onjaguar land rover over the years. and they announced earlier this year they would/ a500 editions worldwide to c0 nse rve would/ a500 editions worldwide to conserve cash. hopefully with this loa n conserve cash. hopefully with this loan guarantee they will not happen to —— have two. —— have to. now let's brief you on some other business stories: it looks like boeing may be about to rebrand its troubled 737 max plane, after pictures emerged on twitter showing a ryanair plane with a different title. boeing was due to deliver a 737 max plane to the budget carrier. however, the pictures show its name has been replaced by 737—8200.

brazilian mining giant vale has announced it will pay compensation of $106 million to workers affected by the deadly collapse of the brumadinho dam injanuary. in total, 2a8 people lost their lives in the fatal incident. vale said the deal also involves individual compensation for moral and material damages, including job stability and other benefits, for a certain period of time. and france's largest luxury goods group, lvmh, has anounced it has bought a minority stake in the british fashion house set up by stella mccartney. this announcement comes just months after the designer, known for her animal—friendly ethics, ended a long—term partnership with the conglomerate's arch—rival, kering. lvmh owns fashion labels including givenchy, louis vuitton and christian dior. no financial details have been made public yet. that is your business briefing.

another quick look at financial markets, japan down by almost 1%. food banks in the uk are expecting their busiest summer ever, as they struggle to deal with ever—increasing demand. the trussell trust, which runs a network of food banks, says demand soared by 20% last summer. it is expecting a similar increase this year when the school holidays start. andy moore reports. morecambe bay food bank, just one of the centres that delivered 1.6 million food parcels across the country last year. they are gearing up country last year. they are gearing upfor country last year. they are gearing up for their busiest time of year, the summer school holidays, when they prepare lots of food parcels

especially for children. during the school terms, the children are actually getting the school meal during the day, at school. so obviously during school holidays there is in the provision for the extra meals, and that puts an extra strain on the families. extra money needed for childcare can also put pressure on poorer families during the holidays. trussell trust is launching an appeal for funds and food donations. it is also calling for changes to policy. the main issue that we see, which we are calling for a change with, is the five—week weight that people have to endure until they get their first universal credit payments. it is big, structural measures that the government needs to address in order to put an end to this crisis. the government says families on universal credit can get advance payments from day one, so no—one has to wait. it also says 95% of claimants are paid in full and on time. the man tasked with working out how to improve britain's railways says a new, largely independent body

should be created to oversee the entire network. keith williams, the former chief executive of british airways, is due to publish his final recommendations in the autumn. his review follows criticism of the way the franchising model is run. coming up at 6:00am on breakfast, dan and steph will have all the day's news, business and sport. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: four democratic congresswomen told by president trump to go back to their countries have described his comments as a racist attempt to distract from his failing policies. more than 50 hours of surgery, and extraordinary skill — the great 0rmond street team start a series of operations to separate these twins. now it's time to look at the stories that are making

the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with the washington post, which looks at the reaction around the world to president trump's controversial, racially charged tweets. one british politician branding the comments 1950s racism straight from the white house. in the middle east, the palestinian authority called them an insult to the concept of american rule of law. bbc news online looks at facebook‘s planned cryptocurrency, libra, and warnings that it could be used by money launderers and terrorist financiers. that is according to us treasury secretary steven mnuchin. the financial times reports on a boost for the uk's electric car industry, or at least forjaguar, after prime minister theresa may signed off a loan guarantee worth £500 million. money to help britain's biggest carmaker invest in its future. the daily mail headline, "toxic threat to babies in womb",

highlights a report by british mps that babies are at risk of being pre—polluted by toxins in everyday household items before they're even born. and finally, 50 years after the launch of the apollo 11 moon mission, the new york times reveals how three reels of original footage of the landing bought forjust $200 are expected to sell at auction for more that $1 million. so let's begin. with me is james hughes, chief market analyst at the brokerage firm axi trader. starting with the washington post. sadiq khan, london's first muslim mayor. justin trudeau, the prime minster of canada. it is a long list. unfortunately, it is not