That's all from the Business Live page for tonight. Join us again tomorrow from 06:00.
Trump administration prepares to ease export rules for US guns
The Trump administration is
preparing to make it easier for American gun makers to sell
small arms, including assault rifles and ammunition, to foreign
buyers, Reuters reports.
Will the government really accept 'No Deal' with the EU?
Chris Cook
Newsnight Policy Editor
PACopyright: PA
One slightly baffling element of the government's Brexit strategy is that it insists it is working on preparing for a "No Deal" scenario.
But I am not sure that they really are.
A lot of memos are being circulated, but not a lot beyond that.
Britain does not seem to be taking the idea of No Deal very seriously.
The government is not currently behaving like it is plausible.
US stocks closed slightly higher, helped by gains in financial, technology and telecom
stocks, but investors stayed
away from making major bets ahead of the outcome of the Federal Reserve's
policy meeting on Wednesday.
The US central bank is widely expected to announce that it
will begin paring its bond holdings, with reductions likely to
start in the coming months.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
rose 39.45 points, or 0.18%, to 22,370.80, the S&P 500
gained 2.78 points, or 0.11%, to 0.11% and the
Nasdaq Composite added 6.68 points, or 0.10%, to 0.10%.
Toys 'R' Us gets funding lifeline
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
The US bankruptcy
judge overseeing the Chapter 11 of Toys 'R' Us said on Tuesday
he would approve the company's request to borrow more than $2bn to help stabilize the largest US toy chain as it
builds inventory for the year-end shopping season.
Toys 'R' Us filed for bankruptcy yesterday, squeezed by online
shopping and discount chains.
The firm was once a dominant player in the US toy market, but has struggled against larger rivals such as Amazon.
The bankruptcy casts a shadow over the future of the company's nearly 1,600 stores and 64,000 employees.
The firm's European operations are not part of the bankruptcy proceedings and Toys 'R' Us says it does not expect any immediate impact on its UK stores.
Pelting Peltz
ReutersCopyright: Reuters
It's a battle of the giants - one a global consumer goods behemoth and the other a legendary billionaire activist investor.
Nelson Peltz has been stalking Procter & Gamble for months, trying to get a seat on the board so that P&G can tackle what he calls "chronic underperformance".
Now, in a somewhat unusual move, P&G has hit back, filing a 100-plus page document with the Securities & Exchange Commission that questions the record of Peltz and his hedge fund Trian.
In short, the report says Peltz has brought little value to some of the companies he's pursued, including Wendy's, Heinz and Mondelez.
Don't expect Peltz to take this lying down.
BA union hits back at pension plans
The biggest union at British Airways, Unite, has issued a statement after the airline said earlier today that formal talks have begun to close its final salary pension and launch a new retirement scheme.
And the union's first reaction is not good. "Wholly inadequate and unacceptable," Unite said in a statement.
However, it did add: "Now that we have finally seen BA's set of proposals, we will study them
carefully and listen to your comments before putting forward our formal
response."
'Abuse and disloyalty'
Rex FeaturesCopyright: Rex Features
FIFA has suspended Caribbean Football Union
president Gordon Derrick (above) from the sport for six years after he was
found guilty of several ethics violations.
Derrick becomes the latest in a long line of football executives sanctioned
by FIFA's ethics committee, which has thrown dozens of people out of the sport.
In a statement, FIFA said the case centred on "alleged conflicts of
interest, offering and accepting gifts and other benefits, mismanagement of
funds, abuse of position and disloyalty".
He has also been fined £23,000.
Twitter and terrorism
TwitterCopyright: Twitter
Twitter says that between the start of August in 2015 and June 30 of this year it has suspended
935,897 accounts for "promotion of terrorism".
The messaging firm's latest transparency report adds that less than 1% of these take-down were because of government requests.
Internet firms are coming under increasingly pressure to tackle online extremist content.
Twitter classified terror-related accounts as those "that actively incite
or promote violence associated with internationally recognized terrorist
organizations, promote internationally recognized terrorist organizations, and
accounts attempting to evade prior enforcement".
Post update
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
As mentioned earlier, the Global Chairman of KPMG, John Veihmeyer, issued a statement this afternoon over the firm's role in South Africa and its links with the billionaire Gupta family. Here's the statement in full, and if you want some background on the affair, see our story from Friday.
"I sincerely apologise for what went
wrong in KPMG South Africa. This is not who we are.
KPMG International undertook an investigation, with the help of independent
legal advisers, which found a number of failings in a report prepared for the
South African Revenue Service (SARS) and in the decisions made, over time, to
continue working for the Guptas. KPMG South Africa made serious mistakes and
errors of judgement in these engagements.
"As a first step, significant actions were taken last Friday including the
appointment of Nhlamu Dlomu as the new CEO of KPMG South Africa. She immediately
issued an apology to the country. Nhlamu represents the best of KPMG, and has
proven to be a strong and effective leader.
Other actions included the announcement of significant governance reforms and 8
partners leaving the firm. Further appropriate steps will be taken if any new
information comes to light.
"The work on these specific engagements is not reflective of the quality of
KPMG's work in South Africa over many years, or indeed the work we do for
clients globally.
We are determined to learn from the failings that we have found in these
specific client activities. In particular, we will further strengthen the
monitoring of which clients we choose to work with and how we handle potentially
sensitive client engagements.
"The public, our clients and our 200,000 people across the globe rightly expect
us to demonstrate that we consistently hold ourselves to the highest standards.
We are committed to making sure this happens."
Wall Street holds onto gains
US stocks are holding onto their gains, helped largely by risers in telecom shares. Trading remains lacklustre, however, as investors await the Federal Reserve's policy meeting.
The US central bank, which begins its two-day meeting on
Tuesday, is widely expected to announce on Wednesday that it
will begin paring back its stimulus programme.
While an interest rate increase is not expected, investors
will closely watch Fed Chair Janet Yellen's views on inflation,
which remains stuck below the Fed's 2% target rate.
"People are in wait-and-see mode," said Brad
McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial.
The Dow Jones, which notched up its 41st record high this year, was up 0.16% at 22,368 points. The Nasdaq was very slightly ahead at 6,460.6, and the S&P 500 was also fractionally up at 2,506 points.
Fiat recall
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is recalling 494,000 medium and
heavy-duty Ram pickup trucks worldwide because of a water pump
that could overheat and potentially cause a fire.
The recall includes 2013-2017 model year Ram 2500 and 3500
pickup trucks with 6.7-litre diesel engines, including 443,000
vehicles in the US.
Fiat Chrysler said it is not
aware of any injuries related to the issue, but has reports of a
small number of fire-related incidents. The company will inspect
and potentially replace the water pump.
Amazon bomb review
AFPCopyright: AFP
Amazon is to "review" how products are presented on its website, following revelations about bomb-making ingredients for sale.
A Channel 4 investigation found the retailer's algorithms grouped together household ingredients that when combined could make a lethal bomb.
Less than a week ago, a home-made explosive device was detonated on a London Underground train.
Amazon said it now intended to display products "in an appropriate manner".
KPMG apologises for S Africa failings
The chairman KPMG has apologised after the global accountancy firm became embroiled in a political scandal involving South Africa’s billionaire Gupta family, which has close links to President Jacob Zuma.
KPMG's top team in South Africa left on Friday after an internal review, and the firm has lost audit clients.
John Veihmeyer said today: "I sincerely apologise for what went
wrong in KPMG South Africa. This is not who we are...The public, our clients and our 200,000 people across the globe rightly expect us to demonstrate that we consistently hold ourselves to the highest standards. We are committed to making sure this happens."
BA pension plan readies for take-off
PACopyright: PA
British Airways has started a formal consultation on plans to close its final
salary pension scheme and launch a new one it said would benefit more than half
its staff.
The airline said this afternoon that its proposal was aimed at addressing the "significant and
growing" funding deficit faced by the company's defined benefit scheme, the New
Airways Pension Scheme, which would be closed to future accrual.
From next April, it is proposed that all employees would be members of the new
scheme.
Since 2003, the airline said it has pumped £3.5bn into NAPS, but the
deficit, resulting from record low interest rates and increased life expectancy,
had risen to £3.7bn by March this year.
Steve Gunning, British Airways' chief financial officer, said: "Our proposal
today, very importantly, will help secure the benefits our colleagues have
already earned in NAPS, and also offer better terms to colleagues in our
existing defined contribution scheme.
"In addition, it will allow us to continue to invest in products and services
for our customers to strengthen the business for everyone."
Pepe fights back
Matt FurieCopyright: Matt Furie
The artist who created Pepe the Frog has issued several takedown notices against alt-right commentators he accuses of stealing his work.
The cartoon frog has been hijacked by nationalists, says Matt Furie.
The figure has been used to accompany hate speech.
Lawyers for Mr Furie have contacted both individuals and sites such as Reddit and Amazon, where images featuring Pepe have been posted, on the grounds of breaking copyright law.
But one recipient, Mike Cernovich, described the action as "frivolous".
FTSE 100 closes higher
BBCCopyright: BBC
Marks & Spencer led the FTSE 100 higher, up 3.53% on the back of industry data showing that some retailers are seeing stronger sales. Travel company TUI was the biggest loser. Its shares fell 2% on reports of cost-cutting.
The FTSE 100 closed up 0.23% at 7,270 points. The mid-cap FTSE 250 finished 0.5% higher at 19,535.4.
Equifax must 'pay for mistakes'
EPACopyright: EPA
Massachusetts Attorney
General Maura Healey has filed a lawsuit against credit
reporting firm Equifax following a breach that exposed personal
data on up to 143 million people, 3 million in Massachusetts.
"We allege that Equifax knew about the vulnerabilities in
its system for months, but utterly failed to keep the personal
information of nearly three million Massachusetts residents safe
from hackers," said Healey said in a statement.
"We are suing
because Equifax needs to pay for its mistakes, make our
residents whole, and fix the problem so it never happens again."
Equifax faces dozens of legal claims over the breach, which the US Federal Trade Commission is investigating.
Social security numbers, birth dates, addresses and driving licence numbers were exposed.
Does Ryanair have a pilot shortage?
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary insists the airline's flight cancellations are not due to pilot shortages. But some current and former pilots say otherwise.
Who's right? The BBC's transport correspondent tries to answer this question in this article.
Mobile merger?
Shares in US telecoms groups T-Mobile and Sprint are rising on fresh reports of merger talks. T-Mobile, up 4%, and Sprint, up 5%, are the third and fourth biggest mobile firms in the US.
They have been the subject of merger talk before amid analysts' expectations of further consolidation in the telecoms sector.
Earlier this year, Japan's Softbank said it was interested in a deal with T-Mobile, which is 64%-owned by Germany's Deutsche Telekom.
Live Reporting
Russell Hotten
All times stated are UK
Get involved
PACopyright: PA 
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images 
ReutersCopyright: Reuters 
Rex FeaturesCopyright: Rex Features 
TwitterCopyright: Twitter 
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images 
AFPCopyright: AFP 
PACopyright: PA 
Matt FurieCopyright: Matt Furie 
BBCCopyright: BBC 
EPACopyright: EPA 
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Latest PostGood night
That's all from the Business Live page for tonight. Join us again tomorrow from 06:00.
Trump administration prepares to ease export rules for US guns
The Trump administration is preparing to make it easier for American gun makers to sell small arms, including assault rifles and ammunition, to foreign buyers, Reuters reports.
Will the government really accept 'No Deal' with the EU?
Chris Cook
Newsnight Policy Editor
One slightly baffling element of the government's Brexit strategy is that it insists it is working on preparing for a "No Deal" scenario.
But I am not sure that they really are.
A lot of memos are being circulated, but not a lot beyond that.
Britain does not seem to be taking the idea of No Deal very seriously.
The government is not currently behaving like it is plausible.
Read more here.
Wall Street edges up as US Fed meeting in focus
US stocks closed slightly higher, helped by gains in financial, technology and telecom stocks, but investors stayed away from making major bets ahead of the outcome of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting on Wednesday.
The US central bank is widely expected to announce that it will begin paring its bond holdings, with reductions likely to start in the coming months.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 39.45 points, or 0.18%, to 22,370.80, the S&P 500 gained 2.78 points, or 0.11%, to 0.11% and the Nasdaq Composite added 6.68 points, or 0.10%, to 0.10%.
Toys 'R' Us gets funding lifeline
The US bankruptcy judge overseeing the Chapter 11 of Toys 'R' Us said on Tuesday he would approve the company's request to borrow more than $2bn to help stabilize the largest US toy chain as it builds inventory for the year-end shopping season.
Toys 'R' Us filed for bankruptcy yesterday, squeezed by online shopping and discount chains.
The firm was once a dominant player in the US toy market, but has struggled against larger rivals such as Amazon.
The bankruptcy casts a shadow over the future of the company's nearly 1,600 stores and 64,000 employees.
The firm's European operations are not part of the bankruptcy proceedings and Toys 'R' Us says it does not expect any immediate impact on its UK stores.
Pelting Peltz
It's a battle of the giants - one a global consumer goods behemoth and the other a legendary billionaire activist investor.
Nelson Peltz has been stalking Procter & Gamble for months, trying to get a seat on the board so that P&G can tackle what he calls "chronic underperformance".
Now, in a somewhat unusual move, P&G has hit back, filing a 100-plus page document with the Securities & Exchange Commission that questions the record of Peltz and his hedge fund Trian.
In short, the report says Peltz has brought little value to some of the companies he's pursued, including Wendy's, Heinz and Mondelez.
Don't expect Peltz to take this lying down.
BA union hits back at pension plans
The biggest union at British Airways, Unite, has issued a statement after the airline said earlier today that formal talks have begun to close its final salary pension and launch a new retirement scheme.
And the union's first reaction is not good. "Wholly inadequate and unacceptable," Unite said in a statement.
However, it did add: "Now that we have finally seen BA's set of proposals, we will study them carefully and listen to your comments before putting forward our formal response."
'Abuse and disloyalty'
FIFA has suspended Caribbean Football Union president Gordon Derrick (above) from the sport for six years after he was found guilty of several ethics violations.
Derrick becomes the latest in a long line of football executives sanctioned by FIFA's ethics committee, which has thrown dozens of people out of the sport.
In a statement, FIFA said the case centred on "alleged conflicts of interest, offering and accepting gifts and other benefits, mismanagement of funds, abuse of position and disloyalty".
He has also been fined £23,000.
Twitter and terrorism
Twitter says that between the start of August in 2015 and June 30 of this year it has suspended 935,897 accounts for "promotion of terrorism".
The messaging firm's latest transparency report adds that less than 1% of these take-down were because of government requests.
Internet firms are coming under increasingly pressure to tackle online extremist content.
Twitter classified terror-related accounts as those "that actively incite or promote violence associated with internationally recognized terrorist organizations, promote internationally recognized terrorist organizations, and accounts attempting to evade prior enforcement".
Post update
As mentioned earlier, the Global Chairman of KPMG, John Veihmeyer, issued a statement this afternoon over the firm's role in South Africa and its links with the billionaire Gupta family. Here's the statement in full, and if you want some background on the affair, see our story from Friday.
"I sincerely apologise for what went wrong in KPMG South Africa. This is not who we are. KPMG International undertook an investigation, with the help of independent legal advisers, which found a number of failings in a report prepared for the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and in the decisions made, over time, to continue working for the Guptas. KPMG South Africa made serious mistakes and errors of judgement in these engagements.
"As a first step, significant actions were taken last Friday including the appointment of Nhlamu Dlomu as the new CEO of KPMG South Africa. She immediately issued an apology to the country. Nhlamu represents the best of KPMG, and has proven to be a strong and effective leader. Other actions included the announcement of significant governance reforms and 8 partners leaving the firm. Further appropriate steps will be taken if any new information comes to light.
"The work on these specific engagements is not reflective of the quality of KPMG's work in South Africa over many years, or indeed the work we do for clients globally. We are determined to learn from the failings that we have found in these specific client activities. In particular, we will further strengthen the monitoring of which clients we choose to work with and how we handle potentially sensitive client engagements.
"The public, our clients and our 200,000 people across the globe rightly expect us to demonstrate that we consistently hold ourselves to the highest standards. We are committed to making sure this happens."
Wall Street holds onto gains
US stocks are holding onto their gains, helped largely by risers in telecom shares. Trading remains lacklustre, however, as investors await the Federal Reserve's policy meeting.
The US central bank, which begins its two-day meeting on Tuesday, is widely expected to announce on Wednesday that it will begin paring back its stimulus programme.
While an interest rate increase is not expected, investors will closely watch Fed Chair Janet Yellen's views on inflation, which remains stuck below the Fed's 2% target rate. "People are in wait-and-see mode," said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial.
The Dow Jones, which notched up its 41st record high this year, was up 0.16% at 22,368 points. The Nasdaq was very slightly ahead at 6,460.6, and the S&P 500 was also fractionally up at 2,506 points.
Fiat recall
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is recalling 494,000 medium and heavy-duty Ram pickup trucks worldwide because of a water pump that could overheat and potentially cause a fire.
The recall includes 2013-2017 model year Ram 2500 and 3500 pickup trucks with 6.7-litre diesel engines, including 443,000 vehicles in the US.
Fiat Chrysler said it is not aware of any injuries related to the issue, but has reports of a small number of fire-related incidents. The company will inspect and potentially replace the water pump.
Amazon bomb review
Amazon is to "review" how products are presented on its website, following revelations about bomb-making ingredients for sale.
A Channel 4 investigation found the retailer's algorithms grouped together household ingredients that when combined could make a lethal bomb.
Less than a week ago, a home-made explosive device was detonated on a London Underground train.
Amazon said it now intended to display products "in an appropriate manner".
KPMG apologises for S Africa failings
The chairman KPMG has apologised after the global accountancy firm became embroiled in a political scandal involving South Africa’s billionaire Gupta family, which has close links to President Jacob Zuma.
KPMG's top team in South Africa left on Friday after an internal review, and the firm has lost audit clients.
John Veihmeyer said today: "I sincerely apologise for what went wrong in KPMG South Africa. This is not who we are...The public, our clients and our 200,000 people across the globe rightly expect us to demonstrate that we consistently hold ourselves to the highest standards. We are committed to making sure this happens."
BA pension plan readies for take-off
British Airways has started a formal consultation on plans to close its final salary pension scheme and launch a new one it said would benefit more than half its staff.
The airline said this afternoon that its proposal was aimed at addressing the "significant and growing" funding deficit faced by the company's defined benefit scheme, the New Airways Pension Scheme, which would be closed to future accrual.
From next April, it is proposed that all employees would be members of the new scheme. Since 2003, the airline said it has pumped £3.5bn into NAPS, but the deficit, resulting from record low interest rates and increased life expectancy, had risen to £3.7bn by March this year.
Steve Gunning, British Airways' chief financial officer, said: "Our proposal today, very importantly, will help secure the benefits our colleagues have already earned in NAPS, and also offer better terms to colleagues in our existing defined contribution scheme.
"In addition, it will allow us to continue to invest in products and services for our customers to strengthen the business for everyone."
Pepe fights back
The artist who created Pepe the Frog has issued several takedown notices against alt-right commentators he accuses of stealing his work.
The cartoon frog has been hijacked by nationalists, says Matt Furie.
The figure has been used to accompany hate speech.
Lawyers for Mr Furie have contacted both individuals and sites such as Reddit and Amazon, where images featuring Pepe have been posted, on the grounds of breaking copyright law.
But one recipient, Mike Cernovich, described the action as "frivolous".
FTSE 100 closes higher
Marks & Spencer led the FTSE 100 higher, up 3.53% on the back of industry data showing that some retailers are seeing stronger sales. Travel company TUI was the biggest loser. Its shares fell 2% on reports of cost-cutting.
The FTSE 100 closed up 0.23% at 7,270 points. The mid-cap FTSE 250 finished 0.5% higher at 19,535.4.
Equifax must 'pay for mistakes'
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has filed a lawsuit against credit reporting firm Equifax following a breach that exposed personal data on up to 143 million people, 3 million in Massachusetts.
"We allege that Equifax knew about the vulnerabilities in its system for months, but utterly failed to keep the personal information of nearly three million Massachusetts residents safe from hackers," said Healey said in a statement.
"We are suing because Equifax needs to pay for its mistakes, make our residents whole, and fix the problem so it never happens again."
Equifax faces dozens of legal claims over the breach, which the US Federal Trade Commission is investigating.
Social security numbers, birth dates, addresses and driving licence numbers were exposed.
Does Ryanair have a pilot shortage?
Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary insists the airline's flight cancellations are not due to pilot shortages. But some current and former pilots say otherwise.
Who's right? The BBC's transport correspondent tries to answer this question in this article.
Mobile merger?
Shares in US telecoms groups T-Mobile and Sprint are rising on fresh reports of merger talks. T-Mobile, up 4%, and Sprint, up 5%, are the third and fourth biggest mobile firms in the US.
They have been the subject of merger talk before amid analysts' expectations of further consolidation in the telecoms sector.
Earlier this year, Japan's Softbank said it was interested in a deal with T-Mobile, which is 64%-owned by Germany's Deutsche Telekom.