this is worklife from bbc news, with ben bland and karin giannone. the us brings in a ban on flavoured e—cigarettes — as the vaping industry faces a growing health backlash. live from london, that's our top story on thursday the 6th of february. us regulators hope to "clear the air" by banning the sale of mint and fruit—flavoured vaping products from today. also in the programme — the art of a deal. british foreign secretary dominic raab travels to australia as the uk looks to secure trade agreements after brexit. plus — cleaning house.

airbnb tidies up its image ahead of a $30 billion stock market listing this year. we hear from one of the founders. and we'll be getting the inside track from the boss of china's largest online travel agent. she'll be telling us how the deadly coronavirus is affecting their operations. and bp's new chief executive posted on instagram about his first day in the role. so today we want to know — would you follow your boss on social media? and would you let them follow you? let us know — just use the hashtag #bbcworklife. hello and welcome to worklife. if you are tweeting us about that, be careful, your boss may be following your tweets! we start with vaping — it breathed new life into the tobacco industry —

but it's now being choked by global backlash. from today, fruit and dessert flavoured pods for e—cigarettes are banned in the us. they've been blamed for a surge in use by teenagers — as concerns grow about the health effects. according to us health officials at the centers for disease control — 60 people have died and more than 2,700 have been hospitalised from respiratory illness linked to vaping. the industry has seen a fortune go up in smoke — or rather be "vapourized". e—cigarette makerjuul was one of the most valuable startups in the us — valued at $38 billion in 2018. that's now been slashed by two thirds to $12 billion. us tobacco giant altria invested heavily in juul and has to write off billions — you can see how that has hit the share price. it's notjust the us where the vaping industry is under pressure — argentina, india, brazilare among the countries to announce bans. shane macguill, senior head of tobacco research,

euromonitor is with me now. how much of a setback is this for the industry? i think it's going to cause immediate disruption. we talked yesterday about having to dispense with stock and flavours they won't be able to sell. it's going to cause disruption to supply chains. i think that the tobacco industry over the longer term, robert b this will be in some ways an advantage because it means bear will be a more restricted market, higher levels of compliance. that is interesting. there could be potential for tobacco companies. this is just fruit and dessert flavoured pods but there is a wider range of products. there are other flavours available and will continue to be available like tobacco and menthol flavours. there are product types like the open system products which tobacco companies are less prevalent in but could look at using

maclean moving into those product types. i think the key is that this flavour ban isn't something that has immediate cause in terms of use but over the longer term, tobacco control has looked at flavours and whether that is something attracting younger consumers into the category. i think this is part of a longer term trend as well in terms of flavour restriction. i suppose the difficulty is, with something like this, if there is no consistency across national borders or even state borders, people will potentially go from one place to another and still be able to get hold of them. that is true. it's not something we've seen a lot of in the illicit trade. i think the sort of restrictions could provoke it. if you look at these products being restricted in the us, consumers already using this type of product and prefer these types of products, could they then go and try and

achieve that elsewhere? we do a survey in a number of countries around the use of nicotine products, one of those is the usa and we ask questions around if your preferred flavour was restricted, what would you do? there is a big proportion of consumers, 30%, who say they would continue to look to use the same product but sourced in other ways, in other ways the illicit trade or other types of flavour product. people would still try to get those fruit flavoured, dessert flavoured pods elsewhere? i think so. we're seeing that effectively, in the market currently in the us as supply has dwindled becausejuul is pulling back, we are seeing those less compliant, grey area manufacturer is beginning to supply the market with mango flavour, etc. thank you. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. china plans to halve tariffs on 1,717 goods it imports from the us as the country faces the fresh challenge of the coronavirus. the tariff cuts, which cover

$75 billion of us goods coming into china, will take effect on 1a february. that's a valentine's day. the two countries have been stuck in a long—running trade war with both imposing tariffs on imported products. a partial resolution was agreed last month with china promising to boost imported us goods by $200 billion. electric car maker tesla has become the latest firm to warn of disruption from measures to contain the coronavirus. deliveries within china of tesla's model three vehicle would be temporarily delayed, a company executive said following an extended production shutdown. tesla's $2 billion "gigafactory" in shanghai is seen as key part of founder elon musk‘s global growth ambitions. ride—hailing firm uber has been issued a permit by the department of motor vehicles in california to test self—driving cars on public roads. it comes nearly two years after one of uber‘s self—driving cars was involved in a fatal crash in arizona. uber scaled back its autonomous car

operations following the incident. british foreign secretary dominic raab is an australia as part of a trans—pacific tour to discuss trade deals now that the uk has left the eu. shaimaa khalil is in southern highlands in new south wales, one of the regions hoping to do more trade with the uk. dominic raab is there, tell us, give us an dominic raab is there, tell us, give us an overview of the negotiations. i think first off, this is a significant moment, more than anything because of the objects and the timing of it. this is dominic raab‘s first major ministerial trip just after brexit, a message from the uk that this is the first look at global britain in action,

reaching across the other side of the world, looking to make new deals with old friends, away from the eu. as it figures out, its relationship and its trade deal with its biggest business partner the eu, it is looking to expand here in australia. this means a great deal for australian business. i'm in an area thatis australian business. i'm in an area that is famous for agriculture, winemaking, those industries will be looking closely at any potential agreements. we know that beef exporters are going to look closely at expanding into the uk. it was quite a bit of the market when the ukjoined the quite a bit of the market when the uk joined the eu. quite a bit of the market when the ukjoined the eu. they are quite constrained in what they are able to export to the uk currently because of the restrictions. now this is no longer the case they can expand but crucially for them, they can diversify from the asian market, especially now that the economic impact of coronavirus. the potential ofan impact of coronavirus. the potential of an opening into a uk market is watched with a great deal of

excitement here. still a lot to iron out, how much is going to be exported, what exactly is going to be exported, how that's going to affect agriculture in the uk. but both parties made it very clear that they wanted to show people they are open for business elsewhere in the world. thank you very much. let's have a look at the markets. asian markets rallied again thursday despite the china virus claiming hundreds of lives and infecting tens of thousands, with investors welcoming strong us jobs data and beijing's decision to slash levies on us imports. equities gained across the board on building optimism that the outbreak, which has spread to more than 20 countries, can be contained and the economic impact limited. global stocks extended their recovery on thursday, cheered by record closes

in wall street benchmarks. europe taking its cue from the strong performance in asia overnight. oil prices rose for a second day amid unconfirmed reports of possible advances in combating the coronavirus outbreak in china. that could cause fuel demand to rebound in the world's biggest oil importer. it's the most highly anticipated share sale of 2020 — home rental app airbnb could be valued at more than $30 billion when it lists on the stock exchange. valued at more than $30 billion airbnb says it plans to run its businesses not just for investors — but for all stake holders — as the firm's co—founder explained to michelle fleury. at airbnb we have committed to serving all of our stakeholders. we've specifically enumerated five of them — which are our guests, our hosts, employees, shareholders and the communities in which we operate. and to further formalise that, we've actually defined specific principles in metrics

by which we are going to serve our stakeholders so we can hold ourselves accountable over time. i mean, someone listening right now, a degree of scepticism. they are just going to say, ok, this is a lot of nice words and lofty goals. but, i mean, how do they measure that? this is where i think it's really important to be explicit to enumerate exactly what it is, what are the impacts that we care about and how are we actually going to measure them. one example, with our host community, our hosts are making significant income on the platform and we want to make sure that they are succeeding ever more each year. so, one of the metrics is what percentage of our hosts are earning more on the airbnb platform each year than a year before. you're planning to go public, or you're hoping to go public this year. are you not worried that some investors are going to look at this and say, hang on a second, i don't want to share the top table, as the capital providers, i don't want to have to share equal billing with the other stakeholders.

to be clear, i don't think it's actually zero—sum between the interests of the stakeholders. certainly there are some trade—offs in the short term, but i actually think in the long term we'll create the most value by creating a business that aligns everybody‘s interests. time now for our daily look at some of the newspaper and website stories which have caught our eye. joining me is cassie werber, a journalist at quartz. welcome. we are going to start with the guardian's story about berkeley is facing fresh investor revolt over fossil fuels. i found is facing fresh investor revolt over fossilfuels. i found this interesting because there has been a lot of pressure from investors in divestment from fossil fuels. this is one of the first times i've seen it directed at a bank and barclays is the biggest underwriter and the biggest funder of fossil fuel companies in europe. it is facing quite a lot of pressure from green groups as well as from its investors

110w. groups as well as from its investors now. we saw at some point last year norway's sovereign wealth fund saying it wasn't going to invest in fossil fuels any more. people said is it taking a stance on the basis of ethical and green considerations andi of ethical and green considerations and i think they came back and said, if you look at the longer term, actually, the return is better if you are investing in renewables because that is where the future is. investors have to look in a very long—term way because they are talking about pension funds and very long dated investments. they are now looking to the banks, which up to this point in some ways have been seen this point in some ways have been seen as this point in some ways have been seen as perhaps a bit more neutral, they just provide funding. seen as perhaps a bit more neutral, theyjust provide funding. and now theyjust provide funding. and now they are getting some heat from these very powerful investors. the investor forum which brought this, which has reportedly brought this to ba rclays, controls

which has reportedly brought this to barclays, controls about 18 trillion in assets. it is an extremely powerful group and ba rclays in assets. it is an extremely powerful group and barclays will have to listen if institutional investors are bringing this to its attention not just campaigners. investors are bringing this to its attention notjust campaigners. what have berkeley said publicly? they have berkeley said publicly? they have said that they will review it and makea have said that they will review it and make a statement in due course. they haven't come out with anything strong publicly. privately there are some reports that they are pushing back against this judgment. of course, they are a big funder but they also put money into green bonds and renewable energy as well. there is some argument from berkeley is that they are doing good as well. the big thing they've been under pressure about is big investors and other banks saying they don't want it funder tasks and projects. it looks like they will come out with their own climate plan. we've got another story about matches in a box

company casper having their valuation slashed. it is going to start trading in new york this morning. it had evaluation last year ofa morning. it had evaluation last year of a billion making it a unicorn company and that has been slashed to under $500 million. it is very disappointing ipo for casper. they are ina disappointing ipo for casper. they are in a very saturated market now and that is one thing. there have been a huge amount of copycat companies that have done the same thing is market themselves online and delivered directly to customers and delivered directly to customers and cut out the whole mattress salesman bit. the other thing around these mattresses they sell online, there has been a whole fuss about influences endorsing them. kylie jenner was one of the early influences that posted about casper.

investors in the company had included kevin spacey, leonardo dicaprio said it has been quite celebrity driven. it's quite difficult to sell something like a tangible experience online if you can't try it. they've found other ways to do it and are now marketing themselves as a sleep and wellness company but it doesn't seem to be flying with investors. thank you. when you're buying a mattress, i still like going to the shop, testing it out and then getting funny looks as you lie on it. you just enjoy that part? the danger is you drift off in the middle of the shop. if you've done an early shift perhaps. some are to spend the afternoon in central london. laughter still to come. we find out the turbulence caused by the deadly coronavirus. we'll be hearing from the boss of china's largest online travel agent to find out how the outbreak is affecting her company. you're with worklife from bbc news.

the average household's water and sewerage bill will drop by about £17 a year in england and wales. water uk — the industry trade body — said the average annual bill will fall by 4% to £396.60 from 1st april. guy anker is the deputy editor of money saving expert. unheard of, bills going down. yes, you don't hear it much. it is a small rise, didn't people will be jumping for joy. it small rise, didn't people will be jumping forjoy. it is a good triggerfor people to jumping forjoy. it is a good trigger for people to see what other savings they can tap into on their water bills. the key thing to talk about, and this applies in england and wales, is whether you can save switching from a rated system to a water metre. with rates your bill is

based on the size of your home. with a water metre you basically pay for what you use. as a rough rule, if there are more rains in your home than people, it is worth checking if a water metre can save you money. do you think the cut is big enough? people will still be paying more than a pound a day for water. only the water companies truly know if it is big enough, they are pretty to their own balance sheets. if you're struggling with your bills, and it isn't big enough for you, there is help available from the water companies so i would urge people to be proactive and get in touch. they have special tariffs, they might be able to pick you on a payment plan. this applies to any type of bill, gas, electricity, anything. if you're struggling to pay them. water uk says this contrasts with the large rises in other areas. is water

asa large rises in other areas. is water as a utility affair comparison?” don't think you can compare across utilities because they are all subject to different costs. the likes of gas and electricity, broadband, you can actually switch and save on those. with water there are few options, that's why i was mentioning the water metre option for people in england and wales. if you are on a water metre, hopefully it will encourage you to use less which is of his figured for the environment as well. thank you. you're watching worklife. a reminder of our top story — the us brings in a ban on flavoured e—cigarettes — as the vaping industry faces a growing health backlash. over 560 people have now died as a result of the coronovirus outbreak and there are reported cases in over 20 countries.

the world health organization has declared the flu—like virus a global emergency. major airlines have suspended flights to mainland china, and many big firms like google and starbucks have closed their chinese operations. tourism has been hit too. china's new year is a time when millions travel and it's often dubbed the world's largest migration — where hundreds of millions of people visit their families. but with the coronavirous outbreak, the travel industry is suffering, jane sun, chief executive of ctrip, is with us now. welcome to the programme. give us a sense of the impact coronavirus is having. it is a challenging time. however, ourfirm having. it is a challenging time. however, our firm has having. it is a challenging time. however, ourfirm has been trained to deal with this kind of crisis. if we look back to sars, return and

cancellation were significant but the rebound was tremendous once the virus was under control so we are positive. even if you are incurring financial losses, you expect when things return to normal that will be... rebound strongly, that is our belief. what lessons where they're from sars, what did you learn from that which has put you in a position to deal with the current situation? 0urteam to deal with the current situation? our team has agreeable sos programme when things like this happen. within minutes, our team reach out to customers and make sure they are very well helped, comforted and their orders are either delayed or changed according to the timeline. we also have a network to reach out to our partners in making sure everybody is in line. our team worked extremely hard during this challenging time. as a travel agent, if people have booked with you, for example to travel within china or

the region, and they are worried about going there because of coronavirus, what is your policy? do you give them a full refund? yes, we give them a full refund making sure they do not have any worries. i think that's the right thing to do, for them to wait until the situation calms down. these orders are not disappearing, it is rather delayed. you control around 60% of china's online travel bookings in terms of value. that is an enormous market, an enormous number of trips to organise. how is it managing with that particular crisis? it is a huge challenge but a great opportunity as well. as the gdp per capita is increasing, chinese tourists are bringing greatjob increasing, chinese tourists are bringing great job opportunities increasing, chinese tourists are bringing greatjob opportunities and buying powers to each country they

visit. it's very good for the local economy and i think during this critical moment, lots of countries have shown their support to china. i think the good work eventually will be paid off. are your staff worried at the moment? we are having very tight control for sanitation, work at home programmes, just to make sure everyone stays safe. you have over 30,000 staff. correct. around the world. we were talking about cathay pacific has suspended 90% of its flights to china and is asking staff to take unpaid leave to deal with the drop in demand. are you considering similar measures? we are making working at home progress so i think staff are still working very ha rd think staff are still working very hard although they are at home. you we re hard although they are at home. you were talking about the size and potential of the chinese travel market, tell us how you see that, once this immediate crisis is over,

where do you see it heading?” once this immediate crisis is over, where do you see it heading? i think the demand is huge because the gdp per capita is still there, government incentives will come up. also we are working with our partners to come up with promotional programmes. so people will have a wonderful time to release their anxiety. getting slightly off topic, we we re anxiety. getting slightly off topic, we were talking earlier about the new chief executive of bp, talking about his first day on instagram and we are asking people whether they would follow their boss on instagram. would you post about a standard working day? actually we have trip moment so whenever we go we post beautiful pictures are our social network. so other viewers and

travellers can fully utilise these assets. thank you very much. we did ask you whether you would follow your boss on social media. remember they may be reading these messages! we are going through them very quickly. of course the problem is if they've maybe had a bit of a late night out and they are not performing to full stand at the next morning, their boss will know why. exactly! it is a question of being discreet. indeed. that's it from worklife today.

there will be more business news throughout the day on the bbc live web page and on world business report. we'll see you again tomorrow. good morning. it's been a pretty chilly start to the day. we've had some frost across england and wales and also some dense fog patches around. just like yesterday, today isa around. just like yesterday, today is a quiet day. largely drive it some sunny spells as well. high pressure still in charge at the moment. it's keeping things really quite settled. the fog will lift and it may stick around as low cloud into the afternoon. lengthy spells of sunshine for many, maximum temperature is about 7—9 but feeling chillier than that. through tonight there is a chance of fog patches

developing but we will seen see temperatures dropping away. a chance of some frost as we head into friday morning. 0n of some frost as we head into friday morning. on friday the wind will pick upa morning. on friday the wind will pick up a bit. any fog clearing away fairly quickly and some sunshine across fairly quickly and some sunshine a cross m ost fairly quickly and some sunshine across most areas of england, wales and scotland. 0ne across most areas of england, wales and scotland. one or two spots of rain pushing in and maximum temperatures on friday about 5—9. 0n friday night, the weather system moving east which will bring one or two spots of rain. quiet going into the start of the weekend. the saturday morning after release some cloud, there will be plenty of sunshine. then we will see heavy rain in northern ireland and the west of scotland. later saturday we will start to see gales developing around these western areas and throughout the night rain and strong

winds transferring eastwards. this is all linked into storm ciara. storm ciara is going to bring some very strong winds, likely to be some disruption and damage possible over the weekend. stay tuned to the forecast and your local bbc radio stations will have some details as well. is beginning to sunday, this is storm ciara. lots of white lines across the uk. really strong winds expected. not just around across the uk. really strong winds expected. notjust around the coasts but inland. gusts of 60—70 mph. higher than that around exposed areas and scotland. if you're travelling or got anything planned on sunday, those could be quite significant winds. bye—bye.

you're watching bbc news at nine with me, geeta guru—murthy — the headlines: scotland's finance secretary derek mackay quits hours before the budget — he admits he acted "behaved foolishly" in messaging a 16—year—old boy on social media. the government wants to rush through new rules in less than three weeks in a bid to prevent a terrorist from being automatically released early from prison. thejustice secretary insists it's not a knee jerk reaction. it's not muscle—clenching, "we're tough, this is all about punishment". this is about public protection. it's the first of a government to get that right, and that's what we're doing. president trump is cleared of abuse of power and obstructing congress after an impeachment trial which bitterly divided the united states. china says 563 people have now

died from coronavirus —