Today business presenter Dominic O'Connell tweets:

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Sterling is trading near a five-week low as lingering worries about Brexit prompted investors to sell the pound. 

The currency was knocked late on Thursday after Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he expected Article 50 to be triggered early next year - a claim later denied by Downing Street.

It continued to fall on Friday, losing more than 1% to touch $1.2915 - just over a cent higher than the three-decade low of $1.2798 hit in July in the wake of the shock Brexit vote.

Sterling is down 0.2% today at $1.2947 despite a subdued dollar.

The poor sods on Monarch's Twitter feed are having another busy day cutting and pasting, sorry, carefully crafting responses to passenger queries about the airline's financial position. 

Rory Cellan-Jones
Technology correspondent

Cellebrite is an Israeli company that helps police forces gain access to data on the mobile phones of suspected criminals.

Its staff were rumoured to have helped the FBI to crack an iPhone used by the San Bernardino shooter.

Now Cellebrite tells the BBC that it can break through the defences of just about any modern smartphone. 

The firm has been showing off its technology to British customers. I was invited to a hotel in the Midlands where police officers from across the UK had come to see equipment and software that first extracts data from suspects' phones, then analyses how they interact with others.

Travel Weekly reports, external that United Airlines declined to comment on suggestions that it has placed Boeing 747 aircraft at certain destinations in Europe with the same schedule as Monarch.

Some commentators have contended that the planes have been drafted in to repatriate passengers if Monarch was unable to fly them back to Blighty.

Monarch, which was founded in 1968, carries almost seven million passengers annually from five UK bases to 40 destinations. 

A quick look at Monarch's most recent accounts, external shows the airline has been enjoying some success in turning business around. 

Revenue declined 14% to £655m in the 12 months to 31 October, 2015, but it reported a pre-tax profit of about £26m - quite a bit better than a loss of £210m the year before.

It put the improvement down to a "significant restructure", which included ending flights from East Midlands airport.

Tucked inside the notes, though, is a mention of "material uncertainty" due to external financing not having been agreed.

An aviation blogger tweets:

Not a great start to the week for the London market: the FTSE 100 is about 0.8% lower at 6,855 points as trading gets underway.

InterContinental Hotels has the wooden spoon thus far, down 3.8%, while MediClinic International is the biggest riser, up 0.9%.

B&Q owner Kingfisher is down 2.2% after UBS downgraded the chain from "buy" to "neutral". The bank's analysts see increased competition in France, with other DIY chains more popular than its Castorama and Brico Depot brands.

Shares hit a two-year high of 387p last week and are trading at 374.5p today.

Image source, PA

Aldi says it will spend £300m on tarting up its UK stores over the next three years.

The new format will revamp its booze, fresh produce and baby and toddler displays and significantly increase the "chill space". We presume this refers to food, rather than being somewhere to relax after some light nightclubbing.

More than 100 stores will be refurbished next year, and another 70 new stores will be opened to add to the 659 already trading. Aldi wants to have 1,000 UK stores by 2022.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

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The BHS brand is brought back to life later this week as an online store. 

New managing director David Anderson and his team will hope it's more successful than the rebirth of Woolworths, which was revived as a website by Littlewoods before closing last year.  

The new managers see some value in the BHS brand, says retail consultant Richard Hyman. They've had the opportunity to look at the deck of cards and only pick up the ones that are attractive, he says. 

Customers may also have a "residue of goodwill" towards BHS after the massive amounts of negative coverage it has received, Mr Hyman adds

Image source, PA

Some slightly cheerier aviation news today: easyJet says Kate McWilliams has become the world's youngest commercial airline captain at the ripe old age of 26.

She began flying aged 13 in the air cadets before embarking on a training programme at CTC Aviation in Southampton on her 19th birthday. 

In May 2011 she joined easyJet as a first officer and was recently elevated to the rank of captain after passing the airline's command course. She is based at Gatwick airport.

Ms McWilliams says: "I do now get asked how old I am on an almost daily basis, which didn't used to happen when I was a first officer. Usually that question comes from the cabin crew but sometimes passengers ask too. When I tell them I'm 26, most people are pleasantly surprised and impressed with my achievement at such a young age."

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, Getty Images

Richard Hyman, a retail consultant, says German supermarket chain Aldi is still somewhat underestimated.

Although the budget chain's UK sales of £7.7bn last year are dwarfed by Tesco's £37bn, it is expanding quickly and is closely watched by rivals.

"Aldi is the business that sets the competitive agenda in UK food retailing. It has done for the last couple of years," Mr Hyman says. "They are a fundamental, pivotal player."

Jerry Scott, a Business Live reader, has landed at Manchester airport on another airline. He says staff on his flight told him:

"Monarch engineers were tipped off at 3pm yesterday and went and got their tools before they were to be impounded. Planes at Manchester and Birmingham on remote stands and watched over by security."

This is of course an unconfirmed report, but we will keep you informed as and when we know more. 

If you work for Monarch and want to tell us how you're feeling today, get in touch: bizlivepage@bbc.co.uk

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Monarch's first flight of the day - an 0535 departure from Gatwick - took off as scheduled, Today business presenter Dominic O'Connell says.

"So perhaps Monarch has lived to fly another day, certainly while these talks about new investment are continuing."

The airline has been particularly hard hit by the terrorism impact to Turkey and Egypt - two of its most popular destinations.

Airline industry sources have told Dominic that extra planes are on standby in the big Mediterranean resorts if the airline does hit turbulence.

Image source, Getty Images

Aldi has posted a 12% rise in sales in the UK and Ireland to £7.7bn for the year to 31 December. 

That compares with a 0.4% rise for sales in the UK grocery sector over the same period, according to Kantar Worldpanel figures.

The German supermarket said it won 761,000 new customers in the UK last year, giving it a record 6.2% slice of the UK grocery market.

Aldi has managed to double UK revenues in just three years, given the total for 2012 was £3.89bn.

Image source, AFP

Major oil producing countries are meeting this week in Algeria to discuss how to boost flagging oil prices. 

So will they find a solution? Colin Smith, an analyst at Panmure Gordon, thinks not. 

"Saudi Arabia is the lynchpin to all this," he tells Today. 

Weaker members of Opec are desperate for higher prices, but the Saudis want to ensure their high-cost oil is not displaced by low cost oil, namely US shale.

They also want non-Opec countries - principally Russia - to take part, but historically Moscow has gone to these talks without participating.

Brent crude is up nearly 1% today to $46.28 a barrel after heavy falls on Friday, but is likely to fall back if a deal isn't struck in Algeria.

Monarch Airlines has been in talks with the Civil Aviation Authority overnight. 

We do not know exactly why that is the case, but there is considerable discussion on aviation blogs, external that planes operated by other airlines have been lined up to bring back passengers from holiday destinations this week.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

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David Ebstein, from accountants EY, is discussing research which shows almost half of bank customers still want face-to-fact contact in branches. 

EY also found that a third of customers don't trust a bank if it doesn't have a branch.

Mr Ebstein tells Today that high street banks are in a difficult position. The branch network is their biggest cost base and fewer customers are visiting them, but at the same time customers say they still want the option of doing so.

Dominic O'Connell
Business Presenter, BBC Radio 4 Today programme

Monarch Airlines said this morning that it was in talks to secure new financial backing. 

“To weather tougher market conditions and to fund its ongoing growth, Monarch expects to announce a significant investment from its stakeholders in the coming days.”

I understand the new money will be needed to fund the Civil Aviation Authority's requirement for the renewal of its Air Travel Organiser’s (ATOL) licence.

Image source, AP

Asia's stock markets have fallen at the start of the new trading week after last week's rally sparked by the US and Japanese central banks' decisions to keep rates on hold. 

The region's biggest market, the Nikkei 225, was down 0.9% as investors sold off shares in exporters - hurt by a stronger yen - and energy stocks were dragged down by lower oil prices. 

In China, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.8% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was down by 0.7%. 

Analysts say oil prices will have a big influence on the direction the markets take for the early part of the week. 

Opec is due to meet for informal talks, with hopes that members will agree on a production freeze. A failure to do so could push prices lower. 

The Kospi in South Korea is down 0.6%, while Australia's ASX 200 is flat.