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Live Reporting

Mary-Ann Russon

All times stated are UK

  1. Good night

    BBC Testcard

    That's it for today on Business Live - thanks for reading. We'll be back bright and early at 06:00 on Wednesday.

    Do join us then for all the latest breaking news and analysis from the business world.

  2. Fed monetary policy language needs updating

    US Federal Reserve

    San Francisco Federal Reserve President John Williams says the Fed's current statement and its description of loose monetary policy has "served its purpose".

    The Fed's monetary policy language was sufficient through the years of crisis recovery, but it now needs revisiting.

    "That language still works today," Mr Williams said.

    But as interest rates approach neutral, a point that could be reached this year or in early 2019, he said: "We will have to come up with something at some point...That will be a committee decision about how best to describe where money policy is positioned."

  3. Wall Street closes lower

    Bull and little girl sculptures in Wall Street

    Wall Street has closed lower as stocks slid on inflation fears and a perceived lack of progress in the US-China trade talks.

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at 24,706.75, a fall of 192.66 points or 0.77%.

    The S&P 500 closed down 25.6 points or 0.94% at 2,704.51.

    The tech-heavy Nasdaq was at 7,351.63 having lost 59.7 points or 0.81%.

  4. Welsh roastery Coaltown Coffee named in Lonely Planet list

    Coffee grounds and a cup of coffee

    Looking to taste the perfect cup of coffee and Carmarthenshire might not be the first place that springs to mind.

    Ammanford's Coaltown Coffee has been named one of the UK's best roasteries and cafes by travel guide Lonely Planet.

    Scott James began roasting specialty coffee as a garage enterprise in 2014. It is moving to bigger premises to supply 200 cafes in July.

    "We are really proud," he said.

    Mr James was inspired to set up the business sourcing coffee beans from suppliers around the coffee-producing world after helping his parents, Jennie and Gordon, to run a coffee shop in the town up until 2008

    Read more here.

  5. London looking to introduce more car-free days

    London traffic

    London Mayor Sadiq Khan is looking to reduce air pollution in Britain's capital city by introducing more "car-free" days where vehicles will be banned from certain areas or roads.

    “The Mayor already supports a number of car-restricted days for annual events in London, and he has asked City Hall officials to consider additional opportunities for car-free activities as part of his Healthy Streets vision,” the Mayor's office said.

    “The Mayor is determined to do everything in his power to protect the health of Londoners and prioritise walking, cycling and public transport and reduce Londoners’ dependency on polluting cars.”

    Mr Khan has brought forward the introduction of an ultra-low emission zone, and has already introduced additional charges on most vehicles entering central London.

  6. Another fatal Tesla crash being investigated

    Tesla car interior

    A fatal crash involving a Tesla electric car in Switzerland is being investigated by police in Bellinzona.

    “We are deeply saddened by this accident, and we are working to establish the facts of the incident and offer our full cooperation to local authorities,” Tesla said in a statement, according to Bloomberg.

    “Tesla has not yet received any data from the car and thus does not know the facts of what occurred, although it appeared to be a high-speed collision.”

    Elon Musk posted a series of tweets on Monday criticising the media of its coverage of Tesla accidents.

    He was particularly upset that a Tesla accident in which a woman in Utah broke her ankle when her car slammed into a fire engine at 60 miles per hour was front page news, but other horrific car accidents featuring automobiles by other car makers did not merit the same level of media scrutiny.

  7. Number of EU workers in Britain falls

    Workers walk across London Bridge

    The number of European Union citizens working in the UK has fallen for the first time in eight years, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

    ONS said that 2.29 million people from other EU countries were working in Britain in the first three months of 2018, down 1.2% from the same period in the previous year.

    However, the number of Bulgarian and Romanian nationals have risen, increasing by over 19.8% in the last 12 months, since nationals from these two countries have only been able to work freely in the UK since 2014.

  8. House to vote on biggest rewrite of US financial laws

    President Trump signs an order to review the Dodd-Frank act in February
    Image caption: President Trump signs an order to review the Dodd-Frank act in February

    The House of Representatives will likely vote on a Senate bill that rewrites some important banking laws next week, sources told CNBC.

    The Dodd-Frank reform act was passed in 2010, two years after the global financial crisis, by the Obama administration to decrease various risks to the US financial system.

    The Trump administration wants to repeal the act, as it believes the bill harms the competitiveness of US firms compared to their foreign counterparts, and therefore economic growth.

  9. Thomson Reuters shifts foreign exchange arm ahead of Brexit

    Thomson Reuters building in Canary Wharf

    Thomson Reuters, which operates trading systems for financial institutions around the world, is moving its foreign exchange derivatives trading business to Dublin from London.

    The company said it was moving so that post-Brexit it would still be regulated by European Union rules and could continue to sell into the EU.

    The company has set up an Irish company and will employ staff there.

    However, it said no jobs would be lost in London as a result of the move.

  10. What are the financial advantages of being married?

    Video content

    Video caption: Martin Lewis told BBC Radio 5 live about the financial advantages of being married.

    Ahead of the royal wedding on Saturday, money saving expert Martin Lewis has been explaining the financial benefits of being married, on his regular Monday lunchtime slot on BBC Radio 5 live.

    He told Anna Foster about the marriage tax allowance, assets in a will, pensions and inheritance tax and inherited ISAs - all of which can apply to people who are married or in a civil partnership.

  11. Grenfell Tower: Safety clearance for fridge-freezer model

    Grenfell Tower

    No product recall is required for the make of fridge-freezer blamed as the origin of the Grenfell Tower fire, an investigation has concluded.

    The independent review assessed that the Hotpoint FF175B model posed a "low risk" and did not need modifications.

    Consumers are being advised that they can carry on using the model as normal.

    Whirlpool, which owns the Hotpoint brand, said consumers could be reassured. It sent its sympathies to the families of those who died.

  12. Ryanair cuts check-in to two days ahead of flight

    Ryanair aeroplane

    Ryanair is cutting its check-in time window from four days to 48 hours for passengers without reserved seats.

    It said the changes to online check-in would take effect from 13 June.

    Ryanair said that even after the change, the check-in window was still double that of many of its rivals.

    The airline said the move will give customers who have paid for reserved seating more time to pick their seats. Those customers will be allowed to check-in up to 60 days before flying.

  13. Airbus: 'Boeing is continuing with illegal behaviour'

    Airbus A380

    In response to the WTO's ruling that the European Union paid billions of dollars in illegal subsidies to Airbus, the aerospace manufacturer said the ruling fails to fix the harm done to its rival Boeing.

    Airbus has a similar case against Boeing awaiting a ruling from the WTO. The accusations, rulings and appeals have been going on for 14 years.

    "Of course, today’s report is really only half the story – the other half coming out later this year will rule strongly on Boeing’s subsidies and we’ll see then where the balance lies," said Airbus' chief executive Tom Enders.

    “The result is simple: Airbus pays back its loans, Boeing pays back nothing and continues to exploit the generosity of the US taxpayer.

    "Despite Boeing’s rhetoric, it is clear that their position today is straightforward healthy: they have half the market and a full order book, they have clearly not been damaged by Airbus repayable loans.”

  14. London closes slightly ahead

    London Stock Exchange

    London shares have closed slightly ahead, after a positive day where the FTSE hit a four-month high thanks to rallying oil majors.

    The FTSE 100 closed 12 points or 0.2% up to 7,722.98, led by British housebuilder Taylor Wimpey, which rose 0.1% to 202p and Easyjet, which climbed 0.6% to £17.41.

    Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 was flat, ending just 16 points or 0.08% lower to 20,784.92. The fallers were topped by specialist healthcare company BTG, which dropped 10.9% to 591p.

  15. US wins right to impose sections on EU imports

    An Airbus aeroplane

    The Word Trade Organisation has made a landmark ruling over illegal EU subsidies to Boeing and Airbus, which will enable America to impose billions in retaliatory tariffs on EU imports.

    The WTO's appellate body upheld a 2016 ruling that the EU had failed to comply with requests to remove $18bn in subsidised financing that was inconsistent with WTO rules.

    “President Trump has been clear that we will use every available tool to ensure free and fair trade benefits American workers,” said US Ambassador Robert Lighthizer.

    “This report confirms once and for all that the EU has long ignored WTO rules, and even worse, EU aircraft subsidies have cost American aerospace companies tens of billions of dollars in lost revenue. It is long past time for the EU to end these subsidies.

    "Unless the EU finally takes action to stop breaking the rules and harming US interests, the United States will have to move forward with countermeasures on EU products.”

  16. Brexit: What can UK learn from other external EU borders?

    Video content

    Video caption: Technology can streamline EU borders but they are not frictionless.

    As the British government continues to debate the kind of customs relationship it wants with the European Union after Brexit, one question looms large: how will it solve the Irish border problem?

    One of the most difficult issues in the entire Brexit process is how to ensure that there is no return to a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, once that border becomes the external border of the European Union, of its single market and its customs union.

    That is what has been promised: no physical infrastructure or checks of any kind at the border.

    An open border is a vital part of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement which underpins the Northern Ireland peace process.

  17. MPs in a bind over GDPR data law

    Rory Cellan-Jones

    Technology correspondent

    Shredding a piece of paper

    Across the UK, small businesses are in something of a panic over GDPR. And among those worried about whether they will be ready for the new data protection laws are 650 firms based in Westminster.

    I am talking about MPs - and there is worrying evidence that they and their staff may be getting poor advice.

    The issue was raised in the Commons yesterday by Labour MP Chris Bryant.

    He tweeted this: "Just raised a point of order on the ludicrous exaggerated advice to MPs on the General Data Protection Regulation that we should delete all casework information from before June 2018."

    Read more here.

  18. Uber: 'We do the right thing, period'

    Women riding in an Uber

    Ride hailing app taxi firm Uber has decided to remove a clause that requires victims of sexual harassment or assault to use mandatory arbitration to settle claims.

    In the past, victims were required to enter into confidentiality agreements that prevented them from speaking publicly about the facts surrounding any sexual assault or harassment.

    Uber says its new chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi is focused on doing "the right thing".

    "Moving forward, survivors will be free to choose to resolve their individual claims in the venue they prefer: in a mediation where they can choose confidentiality; in arbitration, where they can choose to maintain their privacy while pursuing their case; or in open court," Uber wrote in a blog post.

    Uber will also publish a safety transparency report that will include data on sexual assaults and other incidents that occur on the Uber platform.

  19. Facebook details scale of abuse on its site

    Facebook swearing image

    For the first time, and under intense pressure, Facebook has released internal data on the scale and nature of its abuse problem.

    Many numbers are headline worthy: violent content is up dramatically and hate speech is slipping through large cracks - but there appears to be a tightened grip on terrorist propaganda.

    There are also key statistics missing, such as how often Facebook removes something incorrectly or leaves something up that should be deleted.

    The report also lacks data on the total amount of abuse posted to its network - but the reason for that is straightforward: Facebook simply doesn't know.

  20. 'People are dying on the doorsteps of prosperity'

    Large US companies are being pressured to contribute more to local communities, as impoverished neighbourhoods are often on the doorsteps of large fancy campuses.

    Seattle wants firms like Amazon and Starbucks to pay taxes that can be used for affordable housing, but will it work?

    View more on twitter