prime minister yingluck shinawatra. she's accused of negligence over a scheme to subsidise rice which benefited voters in her party's rural heartlands. yingluck shinawatra denies the charges and has asked the court to show kindness. the politician, who was thailand's first female prime minister, could face up to 10 years in jail if found guilty. the white house insists relations are good between donald trump and the republican leadership after he criticised seniorfigures in the party. and this video is trending on bbc.com. a woman in massachusetts has come forward to claim the biggest single—ticket prize in us lottery history. waiting for her was a cheque for more than $750 million. she says she's already handed in her notice at work. that's all from me for now. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk: net migration is down to its lowest level for three years.

many feel they're no longer earning enough here. now on bbc news, all the latest business news live from singapore. to jail or not to jail. we will soon learn the fate of the de facto leader of samsung, jy lay. it could be 12 years. and the latest earnings report for qantas. what will it take to keep the competitive edge? good morning, asia. hello, world. this is asia business report. i am sharanjit leyl asia business report. i am sharanjit leyl. thank you forjoining me. it is friday. a south korean court is expected to pass its ruling in a corruption case revolving around the de facto boss of samsung. he has beenin de facto boss of samsung. he has been injail since february since

been injail since february since been charged in a scandal leading to the outing of the former president of south korea. i am joined live from seoul in front of the courthouse. what are we expect today? well, he will be presented behind me in court. prosecutors have asked for a 12 yearjail sentence for him. the big charge is bribery. he is accused of donating to organisations run by the close friend of the former president in return for favours that would pave the way for him to become the boss of the samsung group. there are also charges of embezzlement, hiding assets overseas, perjury. we will hear today whether he is found guilty of all of those charges. it is quite significant how large a sentence he will get if he is guilty. a significant sentence. if he is put behind bars, what are the future plans of the company?

especially who takes over next? this isafamily especially who takes over next? this is a family run conglomerates, run by his family ever since being founded in the late 1930s. his father was incapacitated after a heart attack a few years ago. he has two sisters in the management of different parts of the group. samsung has not put out a formal plan according to if he goes to jail. that is because they denied the allegations against him, saying he did not bribe anyone or seek any favours. whatever happens today could potentially have a huge impact on samsung as well as the south korean economy. after all, it is the largest conglomerates in the country. that is correct. it accou nts country. that is correct. it accounts for almost a fifth of the economy. it is the biggest company in the country. concerning samsung, they don't seem to be dented by the trial. they had record profits in

the last quarter. this verdict is not just about samsung. the last quarter. this verdict is notjust about samsung. there are large conglomerates dominating the south korean economy. in the past, many of the head of this company group have been pardoned saying it will be an economic impact. now we have a new government which has promised to clean up the economy. if jay y lee gets a strong sentence today, they are saying it will be a strong message to the large conglomerates. 0k. watching the verdict due later in the afternoon in the hour. a major overhaul of qantas has paid off. in the last two hours, they posted their second—best profit ever, slightly ahead of a nalyst profit ever, slightly ahead of analyst estimates. it cut staff by more than 5000 and reduced costs by

$2 billion to achieve that higher efficiency. i asked an analyst how the company plans to hold on to those gains. you have raised the right points. this is the first step in becoming future proof. it is not cost savings, it is about setting the stage for being successful in the stage for being successful in the future. it comes from a cost basis. what is yet to be found out is whether they can drive a premium against other carriers. that can only come through better service quality, high value, and taking values into the international market from their national market. there is speculation from unnamed sources they may also announce today along with their result is what could we the longest flight in the world. that is the non—stop sydney to

london route. it will be shorter because it usually has a stop. what could that mean for qantas?” because it usually has a stop. what could that mean for qantas? i like the idea. time—saving is something business travellers would value. what does it mean for the airline? they could charge a higher premium on the tickets. that comes with more energy efficiency and fuel efficiency. that has to come together. if they can do this, i believe this could be a successful route. a 20 hour flight. i don't know if i want to do that. what does qantas need to do to stay competitive? what advice do you have? offering free meals on a 20 hourflight, have? offering free meals on a 20 hour flight, what could have? offering free meals on a 20 hourflight, what could drive success in the long—run is giving a premium across all of what the airline has to offer. that starts had been qantas, being a streelman.

—— with being. —— australian. and what are the benefits do they have against middle eastern carriers etc? they have done this in local routs, donating food to food banks, spending money on carbon offset programmes. i think they need to improve a lot on that. speaking to me earlier. there has been an additional $3 billion of investment from softbank into wiiwork. they have already made almost one half billion dollars from investing in the new york—based company as they set up shop in china, south korea, japan and elsewhere in southeast asia. they rent out office space to individuals and small companies like start—ups. have you heard this? in this world, nothing can said to be certain except death and taxes. those are the words of benjamin

franklin. they are still true in today's society. in many societies, death and taxes are given. but in some places, they are not applied. i tax is good for business? —— are taxes. in this series, two tax experts have gone head—to—head to argue the pros and cons. experts have gone head—to—head to argue the pros and conslj experts have gone head—to—head to argue the pros and cons. i would say inheritance tax is could be the economy. it puts money into the treasury. —— is good for the economy. but inheritance tax has built—in benefits for businesses. economy. but inheritance tax has built—in benefits for businessesm doesn't raise that much money. half per cent of doesn't raise that much money. half percent of gdp. doesn't raise that much money. half per cent of gdp. now you get a tax

for only those people without knowledge to pay for accountants to hide it for them. if people see 4096 of what they leave will effectively be taken by the revenue, it does not encourage them to live their lives and spend. that is good for the economy. i think inheritance tax is marginal to business. it does remove potential investment capital from the economy. relatively small businesses is what we are talking about. a few hundred pounds is something you could invest in a business. it could be reinvested. something you could invest in a business. it could be reinvestedlj business. it could be reinvested.” don't think it takes away from business. you could put it in the business. you could put it in the business. if someone has a lot of cash, it will have that 40% inheritance tax. if they invest it in their children's business, that

is then converted into something exempt. the regime can encourage investment in the business.” exempt. the regime can encourage investment in the business. i think inheritance tax should be abolished. for the amount of revenue it raises for the treasury, it isn't worth it. i don't think it should be abolished. it makes its contribution to the treasury. it is an awful lot better than some of the alternatives, effectively paying more tax during your lifetime when you should be enjoying your money and what you have earned. a contentious discussion. if you want tojoin in, get in touch with us on #businessofdeath. people will be watching the president of the european central bank today. they will be listening for hints of shifting interest rate plans. representatives of international

banks from 40 countries are all attending this conference in the us state of wyoming. these are the markets. the nikkei gaining slightly. that is because of a wea ker slightly. that is because of a weaker yen helping exporters. australia is not benefiting from the fa ct we australia is not benefiting from the fact we saw qantas reporting stellar results. in fact, they are slightly lower as well, those qantas shares. wall street ended flat. and that is it for this edition of asia business report. thank you so much for watching. these are the top stories this hour. verdicts are due in thailand for the former prime minister. the white house insists that relations are good between donald trump in the

republican leadership after he criticised senior officials in the party. a new play at the edinburgh fringe festival tells the remarkable story of a transgender asylum seeker from egypt who's making a new life for himself in scotland. eloise dickers reports. the last time i've seen my mum i was in a girl's body, i looked like a girl. adam felt he couldn't live freely in egypt. they will harass, they might even torture, they will kill for that, because it's just something not normal, not normal. he sought asylum in a country that would allow him to live as a man. i left egypt so i can be who i am. ta—da! once in scotland he started reassignment surgery. they take a skin graft from your arm. skin that they took from your arm with the nerves and artery they form it into a penis. i stopped having periods the moment i got on testosterone, so that was like four years

ago, that was ages ago. that's history now. i can hardly remember that. this year, life changed dramatically again. he got married. it's something that just a few years ago he could never have imagined. her name is toni. she's pretty cool. she's not superficial in the slightest. she managed somehow to see through all that and just see me as who i was. with the help of the national theatre of scotland, adam has now turned his extraordinaryjourney into play. who knew you were transgender in egypt? nobody. let me rephrase. how many of your friends knew you were transgender? none. it's had its premiere at this year's edinburgh fringe festival, where it's received 5—star reviews. female adam is played by neshla caplan, and the real adam is played by adam himself.

he hopes that the play will inspire others like him to speak out. i had my inspirations from people on youtube, showing the me the before and after, and that really gives me hope. he did it, he did it, he did it, why can't i? really hope that i give the light to somebody else. a fascinating young man there. don't forget, you can get in touch with me. it is time for all of us what news in sport today. —— all of the sport news.

hello, i'm steven wyeth. live from the bbc sport centre, this is sport today. coming up: reaction to the champions league draw, including a tough start to their defence for real madrid. unfinished business: zlatan ibrahimovic agrees to rejoin manchester united. and bowing out with a victory: four—time olympic champion mo farah wins his final race on the track. welcome to programme. the elite of european football now know who they'll face in the group stage of the champions league. they don't come much bigger than holders real madrid, who are part of what looks the toughest group. joining the spaniards in group h are german powerhouse borussia dortmund, and tottenham, runners—up in the premier league in may. monaco went all the way to the semi—finals last season,