Wall Street awaits Facebook results

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Social network Facebook has reported that total quarterly revenue rose 26% to $15.08bn, beating analysts' average estimate of $14.98bn.

But it warned that it could face up to $5bn in losses related to a US privacy investigation

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The S&P 500 declined in the day's trading, after ending the previous day with a record and the Nasdaq slipped after reaching an all-time high earlier in the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.22% to 26,597.05, the S&P 500 lost 0.22% to 2,927.25 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq dipped or 0.23% to 8,102.02.

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Government ministers are calling for a "full and proper" investigation after high-level discussions about the UK using Huawei technology were leaked.

The government has approved the supply of equipment by the Chinese telecoms firm for the UK's new 5G data network despite warnings of a security risk.

It is believed the decision was taken at a meeting of the government's National Security Council on Tuesday.

One minister said leaking from the council was "simply not acceptable".

Kellogg'sCopyright: Kellogg's

The Daily Mail has an unusual story this evening about a customer discovering that 500g boxes of Kellogg's Fruit n Fibre cereal are being sold in Tesco in Hereford for an epic £7 per box.

Considering that 750g boxes of the cereal are priced at £3 online, the differing prices came as quite a shock for customer Oli Headley, who discovered security tags on the boxes as well.

TNMOCCopyright: TNMOC

One of the co-designers of a machine later recognised as the world's oldest working digital computer has died.

Richard "Dick" Barnes helped to create the Harwell Dekatron, which was first put to use in 1951 by Britain's fledgling nuclear research establishment.

He was also involved in the 2.5-tonne machine's restoration, which saw it switched back on in 2012.

Mr Barnes died aged 98 on 8 April, The National Museum of Computing said.

A climate protest that has disrupted parts of London for nine days is to end on Thursday, organisers say.

Police cleared Extinction Rebellion's final road block in Marble Arch earlier and arrested 22 people, bringing the total to 1,088 since protests began.

Specialist equipment has been deployed in Parliament Square to remove protesters camping in trees.

Makeshift camps at Oxford Circus and Waterloo Bridge were removed earlier in the week.

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Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have faced tough questions from frustrated MPs about why they are still failing to remove hate speech on their platforms.

Facebook was challenged on why copies of the video showing the New Zealand mosque shootings remained online.

Meanwhile, YouTube was described as a "cesspit" of neo-Nazi content.

All three said they were improving policies and technology, and increasing the number of people working to remove hate speech from their platforms.

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The number of personal insolvencies in Scotland rose by 5% in 2018-19, news figures show.

Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) reported there were 4,862 awards of bankruptcy compared to 4,644 during 2017-18.

PTDs rose year-on-year from 5,958 to 7,917. A PTD is a legally-binding arrangement where those in debt can make reduced payments over four years.

The statistics also show an increase in approved debt payment through the Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS).

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Senior US Department of Justice (DoJ) officials are considering a requirement that Goldman Sachs plead guilty over its role in the Malaysian 1MDB corruption scandal, as part of a potential settlement, sources have told the FT.

If this comes to pass, it will be the toughest penalty that the DoJ could impose on the bank.

Goldman spokesman Jake Siewert told the FT: “We do not believe that such a charge would be warranted by the facts of the case or the law, particularly because senior management was unaware of the criminal activity by [former Goldman Sachs banker] Tim Leissner and his associate who took extraordinary efforts to hide their part in the illegal scheme from management, compliance, and legal functions at the firm.”

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Easyjet has banned the sale of nuts on flights to help protect passengers with allergies.

The airline will also ban passengers from eating nut products if somebody on board has an allergy to them.

Nut policy among airlines differs. British Airways and Ryanair, ask passengers to refrain from eating peanuts if a fellow passenger has an allergy.

At present there are no rules governing the serving of nuts during flights.

PACopyright: PA

McDonald's is being called on to stop its roll-out of paper straws in the UK and Ireland, amid claims that they "dissolve" in drinks.

The fast food giant is switching from plastic to paper straws at their 1,361 restaurants after customer pressure.

An online petition calling for a return to plastic straws has so far garnered more than 35,000 signatures.

McDonald's say they are "doing the right thing" while a supplier said customers need to "compromise".

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Earlier, Boeing's chief executive Dennis Muilenberg spoke to investors.

On the grounding of Boeing 737 Max planes, he said: “Nothing is more important to us than the safety of the flight crews and passengers who fly on our airplanes. We know every person who steps aboard one of our airplanes places their trust in us. And we are committed to earning and re-earning that trust and confidence.”

Bank of America analyst Ron Epstein asked Mr Muilenburg whether the fatal plane accidents were caused by a "slip through" Boeing's engineering division.

Mr Muilenburg replied: "There is no technical slip or a gap here.

"Again, as I mentioned we know that both accidents were a series of events and that is very common to all accidents that we've seen in history, and what we know is that in this case, there was an erroneous angle of attack information that came into the airplane from multiple causes…

"...but we also know there are areas where we can improve, and that is the source of the software update here. But there was no surprise, or a gap, or unknown here, or something that somehow slipped through a certification process - quite the opposite."

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London shares have ended mixed, after gains on Tuesday due to soaring oil prices were off-set by mining firms being dragged down by concerns China will soon be reducing its demand for metals.

The FTSE 100 closed 51.3 points or 0.7% lower to 7,471.75. The losers were led by corrugated packaging giant Smurfit Kappa, which fell 4% to £23.22.

The FTSE 250 ended 85.7 points or 0.4% ahead to 19,993.67. Top of the winners was gold mining firm Centamin, which jumped 12.8% to 90p after reporting that it had unearthed more gold in the first quarter of 2019 than expected.

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The tech-heavy Nadaq Composite has hit a new all-time record high.

The index is now up 16.8 points or 0.2% to 8,138.36, after closing at a record high on Tuesday following positive earnings results from technology firms.

eBay is currently top of the Nasdaq, rising 5.1% to $38.55 after reporting net income of $518m for the first quarter of 2019 on Tuesday and raising its profit and revenue forecast.

Semiconductor maker Applied Materials is also up 3.8% to $45.49, followed by another semiconductor firm Analog Devices, which has climbed 3.3% to $117.87.

GettCopyright: Gett

Boeing has said it still does not know how the crisis over the safety of its 737 Max 8 jets will affect its profits.

In its latest set of results, Boeing said that due to the uncertainty over when the plane would be allowed to fly again, it could not forecast profits for this year.

A fall in 737 deliveries has already led to a $1bn drop in revenues.

In March a Max 8 belonging to Ethiopian Airlines crashed, killing all 157 passengers and crew.

It was the second crash involving a Max 8 jet in five months. The two disasters prompted aviation regulators round the world to ground the aircraft.

Boeing shares are now up 1.6% to $380.18.

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Gambling firm Paddy Power has told the BBC what its odds are on who will become the next Bank of England governor.

Here's the complete list:

• Andrew Bailey 4/6
• Raghuram Rajan 4/1
• Sir Dave Ramsden 11/2
• Ben Broadbent 9/1
• Jon Cunliffe 9/1
• Shriti Vadera 14/1
• Dame Minouche Shafik 16/1
• Andy Haldane 16/1

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Trade association techUK has welcomed an announcement that the cyber security arm of GCHQ, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), will increase its collaboration with the private and public sectors in order to share information about potential cyber-security attacks.

“[GCHQ head] Jeremy Fleming’s speech today is an important acknowledgement that the NCSC can do more and scale its capability in sharing time-critical information with industry," said techUK's head of cyber Talal Rajab.

"Making the UK a safe place to do business online requires a collective effort from all – government, private sector and individuals – and techUK welcomes GCHQ’s efforts to make this a reality.”

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Wall Street shares have opened flat, weighed down by mixed results from firms like Boeing and Caterpillar.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is 55.7 points or 0.2% lower to 26,600.66. Top of the losers is mining equipment maker Caterpillar, down 2.9% to $137.85 after reporting disappointing construction equipment sales for the quarter.

The S&P 500 is just 0.1 points or 0% ahead to 2,934.06, led by Anadarko Petroleum, which has jumped 11.3% to $71.20 following a takeover offer by Occidental Petrolem to buy Anadarko for $38bn.

And finally, the tech-heavy Nasdaq is 14 points or 0.2% down to 8,106.83. Satellite radio broadcaster Sirius XM heads the losers, falling 4.3% to $5.89 after reporting a 44% drop in quarterly profit due to its acquisition of Pandora Media.