it follows kim jong—un's secret trip to beijing earlier this week. a chinese envoy has also been sent to seoul to brief the south korean government. british police say they've found a high concentration of a nerve agent on the front door of the former russian spy sergei skripal. they now think he and his daughter may have been poisoned at home. and this video is trending on bbc.com. it's the tale of gipsy the cat, who spent three days stuck on top of a power cable in phoenix in arizona. the pet resisted all attempts to entice it back down to earth, before eventually a volunteer climbed up the pole to rescue it. gipsy was then re—united with its family and some much—needed food! that's all from me for now. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk: the controversial decision by the parole board to release the serial sex offenderjohn worboys has been overturned by the high court. the move led to the resignation of the parole board's chairman. now on bbc news all the latest business news

live from singapore. north korea's surprise visit to beijing has south korean investors optimistic, the gaesong industrial park may reopen soon. and changing things up, a start—up is aiming to transform traditional farming waste in india. good morning, asia. hello, world. it's thursday, glad you could join us it's thursday, glad you could join us for another exciting addition of asia business report, i'm rico hizon, and we start with easing tensions on the korean peninsula and one of china's top diplomats is expected in south korea today. he will be briefing the country's

president on north korean leader kim me‘s surprise leader with china prost boss president xi and that meeting is seen as precursor to the meeting is seen as precursor to the meeting with moon jae—in meeting is seen as precursor to the meeting with moonjae—in and kim jong—un next month. south korean business owners are hoping warmer relations between both careers will eventually lead to the gaesong industrial complex reopening for business again. i am joined by lisa, will it happen? possibly. iwant business again. i am joined by lisa, will it happen? possibly. i want to review background on the manhandling this political dance, here's a south korean councillor, a master of international relations. he handles very delicate political issues between china and other nations so he will be meeting with moonjae—in later today and he will give him a brief on the details of the surprise talks between xi jingping and

brief on the details of the surprise talks between xijingping and kim jong—un. investors are very excited about it. south korea isjust adding to open up and yesterday shares of korean companies that operate in the gaesong industrial park surged on the news of the meeting between north korea and china, as well as timmy‘s pledge to denuclearise —— kim jong—un‘s. they are hoping they can revisit the factories and reopen the facility, that for many years has been a symbol of inter— korean cooperation. it wash at two years ago after north korea fired its fourth nuclear and long—range missile test that it was shut. 124 companies operating there have been affected, producing everything from porcelain, textiles, electronics and many other products —— it was shut. we are also seeing pushes from pyongyang as well. 54,000 north korean workers are employed by these

companies, meaning that it's an important source of wages. kaesong is important to the economy, it is believed to have generated $100 million in revenues each year. apart from diplomacy between china and south korea, north korea is also talking about may be meeting up with japan, russia and other governments and this could basically boost isner is in the gaesong industrial park. thank you very much for that update. just days after giving up its southeast asia in business, uber may 110w southeast asia in business, uber may now look to do the same in india. the us ride hailing giant is in talks to merge with indian rival hola. they have common ground, japanese technology giants of bank is the largest shareholder in both companies. according to reports, deal talks have been taking place around 12 months now. speaking of

softbank, it'sjoining around 12 months now. speaking of softbank, it's joining forces with saudi arabia to build a $200 billion solar panel plant. the project is expected to be able to produce up to 200 gigawatts of power and is part of the saudi arabian drive to depend less on crude oil to generate energy. the first phase of the project will start this year and is expected to be completed by 2030. airbnb e has e—mailed hosts in china to say it all start sharing information with chinese government agencies within a matter of days to comply with regulations —— airbnb the. chinese strict rules on residency requires tourists and visitors to read your details with the police about where they are staying within 24 hours of arriving —— to register. concerns are meaning the activations. packing your bags for a work trip or a holiday, for many travellers that suitcase is

likely to be a samsonite. profits soaring for the world's biggest luggage manufacturer last year but is there turbulence ahead? we spent two minutes with the chief executive and asked him about moving its manufacturing base back to the us. i think the sourcing is a much more complex and long—term strategy that we would not like to deal with based upon one particular president's policy, presidents come and go, there are tariffs in and ta riffs and go, there are tariffs in and tariffs out. it's more guided about being closer to the sector, so we've been struggling america and how we can manufacture a products there but quite honestly, one of the challenges we face now in the us is the skill set that you need, the kind of labour that you need, are more available in the us. where else are you looking to expand production

and what are the challenges you face? it's not only guided by the cost side but also by the fact you wa nt to cost side but also by the fact you want to be closer to the market. there's a growing interest on the pa rt there's a growing interest on the part of consumer for the newness. the customer wants all the time new products so when you follow a quick products so when you follow a quick product cycle, you want to move the manufacturing back to the key sectors. we have a large manufacturer in europe, we extend that to what we sell in europe. what is the next big thing in luggage? what can we expect to see in the future? lines are obsessed about the weight issue is so light weight is one of the biggest virtues. —— airlines. but luggage is becoming bigger so you are wheeling it for longer and longer so wheeling is becoming more important. i've no doubt in the next couple of years there will be something where you can talk to your luggage and the luggage can communicate back to you,

and the airlines can communicate with your luggage so you can walk into the airport and dump your luggage. you can co—ordinate with the help of your smart phone the flight the help of your smart phone the flight you're taking, so you can dump itand flight you're taking, so you can dump it and the airline knows where to pick it up and where to take it. it isa to pick it up and where to take it. it is a bit further down the road, though. ramesh tainwala talking to the bbc‘s there toms and in india we've been looking at the agricultural industry this week. the sector employs nearly 50% of the population but a lack of efficiency means the majority of crops are spoiled and farmers are left in dire poverty. now a start—up in a southern city is changing the traditional farming southern city is changing the traditionalfarming model. this barn has been with the family for generations but they were struggling to make ends meet until a start—up

came along and changed their fortune —— this farm. it connects local farmers to customers prepared to grow vegeta bles customers prepared to grow vegetables of their choice. since the family started partnering with the family started partnering with the start—up to grow multiple crops, their income has grown by 3000% to $4200 per month. we get a fixed amount per month, meaning we don't have to worry about money, money, money. agriculture provides the most number ofjobs in india, but the sector is not as productive as it could be. farmers are also often weighed down by heavy debt, crop failure and bad weather. the situation is so bad for thousands of farmers that they are forced to commit suicide across england every year. it is this sad statistic that planted the seed for the founder —— across india. statistic that planted the seed for the founder -- across india. we do a partnership with the farmer, they

run the show on the ground in the field, we are responsible for marketing, technology and customer service and we do a 50—50 share at the moment. it's not only dividing livelihoods for the older generation of farmers, it's tapping into the younger population. for this couple living in the city, weekdays are spent amending images and chasing deadlines. through the app they can access a virtual version of their farm remotely and choose the vegeta bles farm remotely and choose the vegetables to grow. they pay around $40 every month to grow fresh, organic vegetables. this is a 600 square feet place with 19 veggies growing, we started this two months back and at that point in time they we re back and at that point in time they were little stapling is and you didn't know what they would turn into. it was stressful, but we spend quality time with our plants, nurturing them. since its launch last year, it has 400 customers

across five farms. with the advantages of technology, farming is no longer confined to those in rural areas and the younger generations in the city are also getting to taste the city are also getting to taste the fruits of their labour. let's look at the asian stock markets and currently the nikkei 225 up markets and currently the nikkei 225 up by markets and currently the nikkei 225 up by 251 points due to the weakness of the japanese yen against the us dollar, which is benefiting the export sector. unfortunately the all 0rds down by 7.5. thanks for investing your time with us, i'm rico hizon, sport today is up next. the top stories this hour: kim jong—un‘s secret trip to beijing sparks a fresh wave of diplomacy as chinese officials head to south korea to brief its president. police investigating the uk nerve agent attack say the victims first came into contact with the poison at their home, possibly on the handle of theirfront door. an orchestra musician who suffered a life—changing injury

to his hearing at the royal opera house has won a landmark high court judgment. chris goldscheider was playing the viola during a rehearsal. he was sitting directly in front of the brass section when noise levels exceeded 130 decibels. clive coleman reports. chris goldscheider was a virtuoso viola player, seen here at the royal albert hall in 2005. but his brilliant career came to an end in 2012. he suffered acoustic shock when he was placed directly in front of the brass section at a rehearsal at the royal opera house's famous pit — a space smaller than this one. so, if you sit there... if i'm a trumpet player or a horn player... i would have been this close to you. and what sort of noise can the brass section generate? well, in this instance, it was near 130 decibels, which is a jet engine sound.

the noise had a devastating effect on chris's hearing. i suppose the nearest analysis is if you imagine, for a normal person to walk on normal ground. then you imagine walking barefoot on grass. chris sued the royal opera house and today won his case — the judge ruling that musicians are entitled to the same protection as any other worker. it's just being a very difficult time. i've suffered an injury, lost my career. lost everything i had worked for. so this is a fantastic moment to have an acknowledgement of my injuries. hopefully, as i said, prevent anyone else being hurt. today's ruling is huge. this is the first time that a judge has examined the music industry's legal obligations towards musicians and it's the first time that acoustic shock has been recognised as a medical condition that can be compensated by a court. in a statement, the royal opera house said it was surprised and disappointed by thejudgment.

some 60% of musicians say they have suffered hearing loss. this case will send shock waves through the music industry. for chris goldsheider, playing in an orchestra is a distant memory. clive coleman, bbc news. time now for all the sports news in sport today. hello there. i am tulsen tollett and this is sport today at life on the bbc sport centre. coming up on this

programme, australian steve smith and david warner banned for year, while cameron bancroft receives nine months of the ball tampering scandal in africa. french open champion 0stapenko moves through to the semifinals for the fourth time. and the women's champions league semifinals. hello there and welcome to the programmer we start with the cricketing news that has been dominating world sport over the past few days and that is to do with the ball tampering that occurred during the third test against south africa last weekend. australian steve smith and david warner had been banned for and david warner had been banned for a year, having also being relieved of the indian premier league contracts. and bancroft