Trade talks calling progress in trade talks calling progress in trade talks. Lets get started, then. Frances government is set to unveil details today of its programme to reform pensions. It comes as commuters have been dealing with transport chaos amid a series of widespread strikes. So, what could the changes entail . At the moment, france has a retirement age of 62, which is one of the lowest in the developed world. Some Railway Workers can even retire as young as 52 years old. France has 42 different pension schemes at the moment. The government would like to unify them into a single system. If the government is unable to push through the reforms, one independent forecast warns france could be facing a deficit of 18 billion by 2025. The Prime Minister of france, edouard philippe, is hopeful the countrys influential trade unions cancel future strike action when the proposals are announced later today. Translation a new next wednesday i will present the entirety of the governments plans at the council, which is the social dialogue and mediating body. That way the debate can then concentrate on clear proposals which will take into account proposals from the unions that will guarantee justice, solidarity and strengthening of the Pension System for the french people. Well, to talk through what is at sta ke, well, to talk through what is at stake, iamjoined well, to talk through what is at stake, i am joined by well, to talk through what is at stake, iamjoined byjulian well, to talk through what is at stake, i am joined byjulian howard, who is an investment director at gam london limited. What are your thoughts on this . The reality is that the french Pension System is in deficit to the tune of 50 billion euros. So there is no way a better deal is going to be announced today. It will be one of the worst deals. Evenif it will be one of the worst deals. Even if the retirement age doesnt change much, the reality is french people will have two work longer to fix that deficit. And they will be getting less in retirement as well, presumably . Unless they can work for this much more extended period, either way you will have to put in more to get less. How do you see this playing out . Presumably unions will not be happy with the proposals when they are outlined later today oi when they are outlined later today or do the unions have a sense of the crisis within the french Pension System . Crisis within the french Pension System . I think there is some limited awareness, particularly some sympathy for what was once called the special regimes, the workers at the special regimes, the workers at the paris opera, the metro and the ss ef, where the retirement age is between 50 53. So i think there is some sympathy for that, but i dont think there is the appetite for these big reforms and to put up with his big reforms. The france playbook is usually france is a country founded on revolts, so the playbook is that these things have high public support which then wanes as it gets violent. I think this one will go for longer because the unions negotiate most peoples contracts. We have seen the protests over the last week or so, and we mentioned this caused chaos for commuters, but not just mentioned this caused chaos for commuters, but notjust commuters, it is for many, many people. Some schools were closed, the eurostar flight, schools were closed, the eurostar flight, transport, everything was impacted by this. How long can the french government stay strong, do you think . The Economic Impact is serious. The french Retail Consortium has warned the next two weekends are going to be the biggest of the year, and retailers rely on decemberfor of the year, and retailers rely on december for 20 of sales. Hotel bookings are down by io . This is being taken very seriously and we will have to see if the government concedes. Do you think there will be some compromise in the end . Concedes. Do you think there will be some compromise in the end7m interesting the french government has offered to look at subsidies for french retailers, so suggesting they are stocking the armoury and are going to fight this one out. I think it could go for quite some time. Julian, thank you very much indeed, julian, thank you very much indeed, julian howard, there. Now lets talk about the world trade organisation, because the trade body no longer has enough judges to Settle International trade disputes. Thats after the United States blocked the appointment of two newjudges, claiming they were being treated unfairly by the wto. The bbc asked the director general of the group how big of a blow was this to the global trade system. Its clearly a big blow because the regular way that the disputes are conducted in the wto is completely paralysed at this point in time. But that doesnt mean dispute settlement is stopped. In fact, members can still resolve their disputes to consultations, panels and they are thinking about other mechanisms such as arbitration or good offices of the director general. So there are a number of things that can be done that will be a stopgap solution while we are trying to fix the situation of the regular channel. That is do the upper that is through the upper late body appelate. We have more information on the bbc news website. You can see the detail, trade a huge issue in business at the moment in daily moving markets given what is happening between china and the us at the moment. Injust under an hourfrom now, saudi aramco will be making its stock market debut in riyadh. The state oil company will be raising a record 26. 6 billion, which will means the overall Value Company will be an eye watering 1. 7 trillion. Lets get more on this story now from our middle east Business Reporter sameer hashmi, whos in dubai for us. Its good to see you. So finally we have arrived after years of speculation about this listing . That is right. Almost four years actually, because in 2016january the grounds announced that they would be launching the ipo in the next couple of years. There were a lot of delays but it is finally happening. 25. 6 billion is what they will be raising, breaking the record of alibaba, which raised 25 billion in 2014. If you talk to a nalysts, billion in 2014. If you talk to analysts, there is so much the port for this ipo that it could touch a valuation of 2 trillion in the next few days. They have extending the trading hours for aramco so that it stabilises. There will be Strong Demand locally and they expect the share price to go up in the coming hours. That 2 trillion number is what the crown prince is really wanting, but this is only a portion of the company being listed, it is by no means the whole thing. Its just 1. 5 of the total company that is being sold. So its really a tiny portion. But, sally, just forthe audience, to give a sense to the audience, to give a sense to the audience, the initial plan of aramco was to raise funds from across the globe and they had plans of going to the United States and europe to raise money, but they cancelled those plans after investors in those countries and regions started raising questions about the valuation. They had concerns about the long term Growth Prospects of aramco, that is when aramco shifted strategy and started focusing on local investors and friendly allies in the gulf, like the arab emirates and kuwait who are pumping and money. This region is giving support to this ipo at this stage. You know, aramco says it will list on the International Stock exchange at some time, they havent given a timeline, but if that happens that would be a litmus test to see really how strong oi litmus test to see really how strong or how valuable this company is from a global perspective. Sameer, we will speak to you soon. I know you are on aramco watch all day. Now lets brief you on some other business stories. Hsbcs private bank has agreed to pay 192 million fine to authorities in the United States, after admitting it helped some us customers hide more 1 billion in assets from tax authorities. The bank says it has already set aside funds to cover the penalty. The fine will end multi year investigations by the Us Department ofjustice into the banks activities between 2000 and 2010. The us, mexico and canada have finalised a trade deal that will replace the 25 year old north American Free trade agreement. Representatives from the three countries signed the pact in mexico. They met hours after democrats in us Congress Said they would support the deal. But the deal still needs approval by legislatures in the three countries before it can move forward. A new york state judge found Us Oil Giant Exxonmobil not guilty of misleading investors over the true costs of Climate Change regulations. A lawsuit brought by the new York State Attorney general claimed exxonmobil investors were defrauded by as much as 1. 6 billion. The case was the first of several similar Climate Change lawsuits to come to trial in the us. So we have the aramco listing of course which is causing excitement, and the Federal Reserve meeting wrapping up in the us later today. So that is the focus of attention for financial markets. More now on the story were asking you about this morning, that being that food packs should display how much exercise a person would need to do to burn off the calories contain in the product. Uk researchers say this will help us have a more healthy diet. Our health correspondent, dominic hughes, has the details. What about labelling that tells you the type and amount of exercise you need to burn off those calories . We know the public consistently underestimate calories was that if you ask them how many calories are in the food, they often underestimate. So we would like to see physical activity calorie equivalent labelling because it gives meaning in terms of context to the exercise required to burn off that food. Lets put together a lunchtime meal deal. A chicken and bacon sandwich, roughly 445 calories, would require 42 minutes of slow running. A chocolate bar, 229 calories, we need 22 minutes of running. Wash that down with a medium motor coffee and that is 290 calories and 28 minutes of running mocha was up thats over an hour and a half of running. It is believed such a labelling system could save 200 calories per person per day. Even small reductions in the calories we consume can make a big impact across the whole population. Experts say this is a simple, cheap measure that could make a real difference to the obesity crisis. Dominic hughes, bbc news. This is the briefing on bbc news. The headlines unsung suit she is expected to tell the International Court ofjustice that there is no evidence of genocide in her country, myanmar. She is arguing against a case brought by the gambia. New Zealand Police say volcanic activity is preventing them recovering the remaining eight victims from mondays fatal eruption on white island and the tremors are increasing. Dozens of people were rescued but many are badly burned. President trump has urged the us senate to try him quickly, now that Democratic Party leaders have unveiled the two articles of impeachment against him. They charge mr trump with abuse of power and obstruction of congress. Now its time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. We begin with the times and the final poll before tomorrows general election in the uk. It suggests the lead is narrowing for borisjohnsons conservatives. The ft now, and Saudi State OilCompany Aramco goes public today, the worlds biggest flotation, the crown prince has encouraged local investors to buy in as he tries to a 2 trillion target. The Daily Telegraph business pages cover trouble at ted baker, the retailer. Its chief executive and chairman have left after it warned of a plunge in profits. Greeces ekatharini reports on a project called rebrain, the countrys attempting to reverse the brain drain by promising a guarenteed salary to workers whove gone abroad. And finally, the metro among many with new calls for Food Packaging to say how much exercise would be needed to burn off the calories inside. Im told for a glass of white wine, a medium sized glass, youre looking ata20 a medium sized glass, youre looking at a 20 minute run. Food for thought james hughes, chief market analyst with scope markets, is here. So lets begin. James, your back. Good morning, yes. We have this story as do many others, on the front of the times, the youguv poll, the last four we go to the ballot box, which says the lead the tories had a few weeks ago has gotten smaller and smaller