stephen carroll joins me for that. hi there, stephen. we start with the ongoing trade talks between the u.s. and the european union, and the hopes of the deal that seems to be fading. the french trade minister said abandoning the talks over the transatlantic the most likely option. negotiations seems probable due to what he says is the current mindset in the united states. come afternts greenpeace leak the text from the negotiation which shows significant divisions between the two sides. catherine: we are heading to berlin now, where it is becoming a lot harder to find an apartment if you want to go there for a short break. wholen: they rented apartments on site without special permission. the apartment is meant to help keep parties open. it is a big change from on of your's most popular tourist deprivati destinations. has sweptmenon that across berlin. on shore rentals. that came to a. this weekend. a disaster for people like stefan, who manages just 15 rentals. doug: we created a business that works really well. it has employed several

supervision in business news with stephen carroll. time now for the press review. florence villeminot has been reading the papers this morning. let's see which you highlights for us. article that you pulled out is on the state of the syrian economy. flo: this is a very interesting angle that talks about, you can see on the front page of "the the street journal." inside mangled economy. in wartime syria, economic survival frequently trumps both policies and ideology. .hose prayed across frontlines you have the islamic state group trading with the syrian regime. they are all trading with the kurds as well. some of the most dangerous commercial transactions in the world are all made possible face to a band of gutsy truck drivers. they make it all happen by crisscrossing the battlefields to bring food, oil, cars, appliances, even livestock. "the wall street journal" interviewed some of the truck jobs about the challenges they face. they face air bombings from the syrian regime, but also in islamic state territory they are facing calls to grow beards. cyril: the refugee

time now for our business news with stephen carroll. hi, stephen. you're starting with a court ruling that will dramatically change the way cigarette tax looks. stephen: to new rules will require bigger health warnings and ban flavored cigarettes. the repeating court of justice and -- it also as more regulation to the sale of electronic cigarettes. cigarettes will have to be in plain boxes with health warnings covering at least 65% of the packaging. the manufacturers argued that the rulings was disproportionate, but the court says they are in line with efforts to protect public health. genie: to china, where apple has oft the battle over the use the name "iphone." the judgments that apple had failed to prove that apple was a famous brand in china. the name was registered for handbags, mobile phone cases, and other goods. apple had applied to trademark iphone for computer and software related goods in 2002. they started selling the product in china in 2009. genie: to google and itself driving car project. stephen: google's parent company has --the pa

. >> stephen carroll joins the onset for the latest business news. starting with the price of oil which has hit a new benchmark. >> this has been one of the biggest stories in the business world over the past two years after hitting a 12 year low. injust over $31 a barrel january. now seeing the benchmark rise above $50 for the first time in six months. the recovery is being driven by a number of different factors. the $50 benchmark for the first time this year. hasprice of rent crude oil risen 80% since it hit a 12 year row of $20 per barrel in january , defined earlier predictions. but it remains its -- below its 2014 peak. higher oil prices have been driven by higher demand worldwide. china india and russia together use about 100 million barrels more every day that they did last year. in the u.s. months of cheap led to using record amounts of fuel. supply disruptions in several oil-producing countries have sent prices up despite higher production in iran and saudi arabia. supply ofe biggest oil to the u.s., -- wildfires in canada, the biggest supp

stephen carroll, thank you for that. you are watching "france 24." next half-hour hour, security forces are using a new tool to control unlawful drones. that with eagles. more on that coming up after the break. ÑÑ ú (bell rings) philil: since time in memoriala, human beings have chosen to live in religious- or spiritually-based commmmunities. today, with the dramatic rise of the religiously unaffiliated, both in the e u.s. and in europ, long-standing attitudes towards spiritual communities appear to be changing. in this "global spirit" program, we will visit a community of zen buddhist monks in santa fe, new mexico and a community of youth activists in new york city. we will experience how a new and sophisti

business news for you now with stephen carroll.u are starting with trade talks between the eu and united states and greenpeace has got its hands on a draft of the text under discussion. >> the environmental ngo has obtained hundreds of pages of confidential documents that were late from the talks over the transatlantic trade and investment partnerships. they show the two sides are far apart on an agreement, in particular, greenpeace has highlighted several issues were it says environmental protection is at risk. eu trade commissioner says the papers are near -- merely negotiating positions and that no eu trade agreement would reduce protections of consumers or the environment. >> it is said to be the biggest world trade deal in history. from tt ipments negotiations and at a major deadlock. the u.s. and europe will be -- with the ambitious trans atlantic trade partnership signed off the end of the year. according to the top-secret files, the main disputes are food safety and food labeling, protected food names or geographical identi

it is time now for our business update with stephen carroll. you have been talking a lot about the strikes in france getting underway. lots of different groups are striking for different reasons, but they are all causing disruption. thehen: we will start with international train network. three companies are beginning strikes this evening, rolling strikes. of high-speed60% trains will operate, while only 40% of suburban trains and around a third of intercity trains will run. this will be the eighth day of industrial action on the railways since the beginning of march. sparedo far has been disruptions in the previous strikes. it could be affected from thursday, though. did saysport minister earlier they are not expecting too much disruption. genie: there has also been another issue with oil refineries, which caused a huge disruption for motorists. shortageshere are from petrol stations around france. it is mostly the paris region, the north and the west, that are affected. the situation is improving. 20% of stations are reporting some sort -- som

i am joined by stephen carroll. you are starting with news of a swiss bank that has landed itself in hot water. stephen: it certainly has. the private bank bsi has been ordered to shut down operations in singapore for breaching anti-money laundering rules there or switzerland has begun charges against the bank. the singaporean authorities said it is the worst case of gross misconduct they had ever seen. they have already been fined 100 million euros over for to identify dubious transactions over four years. to greece next. main subject of finance ministers taking place in brussels later, helping to unlock 11 billion euros in bailout money, after capping a series of tax rises over the weekend. the meeting would tackle the controversial subject of debt relief. mark thompson report. reforms for much needed cash. the latest round of deeply unpopular tax increases and privatizations resulting in angry demonstrations. but the signs going forward are positive. >> the measures are not pleasant because the people of this coun