this is business briefing. i'm maryam moshiri. from online bookseller to global retail giant — amazon delivers another huge jump in sales. and makes the world's richest man even richer! plus, a historic moment for the two koreas. but what will it mean for business in the region? we'll be live with our reporter in seoul. and on the markets... strong results from technology companies boost shares in the us and that positive mood is continuing in asia, markets in south korea at a one—month high on optimism about that historic peace summit. we start with amazon. 20 years ago it was an online bookseller, today it's a global online retail giant that will deliver you almost anything, from groceries to tv shows to cloud computing services. and it's getting bigger by the day.

its shares have hit a new record high in after—hours trading, after a staggering set of financial results. amazon made sales of $51 billion in the three months to the end of march — up 43% on the same time last year. profits more than doubled. that was much better than wall street was expecting. last week it told shareholders it now has over 100 million amazon prime subscribers. they pay around $100 a year to get benefits, including free delivery, tv and music services. it's been a highly successful way of locking in customers. amazon's shares have doubled over the past two years to more than $1600, valuing the company at over $730 billion. and making founderjeff bezos the world's richest man. but not everyone is a fan, asjoe miller in new york explains. hammers and has been in the

headlines for all the wrong reasons recently. —— amazon. donald trump has gone after the company, accusing it of abusing the postal service at the big small vendor is out of business. the giant remained tightlipped throughout the tirade and thursday's results provide its best response. all major parts of the business are doing well and amazon even appears to have benefited from the occupant of the oval office. its tax bill is significant —— significantly lower in no small part due to legislation passed by the trump administration and the good news keeps coming for chief executive jeff bezos, and the good news keeps coming for chief executivejeff bezos, who was recently crowned world ‘s richest man. his campaign to move the company from being a low margin retail outfit to a much more lucrative subscription service is paying dividends at. although not without cost. its operating expenses soared by more than 40% as the company spent tens of billions

investing in warehouses and delivery services, on buying the whole foods supermarket chain and on original video content, including the lord of the rings miniseries and eight steven spielberg production. none of this will bother investors, especially ifjeff this will bother investors, especially if jeff bezos this will bother investors, especially ifjeff bezos continues to line their pockets. sarah quincy is a research analyst at enders analysis. these are bumper results for amazon. where is that growth coming from?m was really amazing results from this quarter and the growth is coming from many areas. amazon is doing well across the board. amazon web services is definitely a key component that contributed to this great profitability. lots of other areas to two. —— too. in terms of international expansion and amazon

prime membership. they have by justifying —— been diversifying, where do you think it is coming from and what can they do in the future to get people to sign up to it? based on the fact that the web services is so profitable, there is a lot of area for them to grow into new, international retail. as well as the fact that they are looking into healthcare, video content and new innovation in their devices, such as the new acquisition of ring. it is looking to diversify into that area, home security and that is must. you think it is going to be able to carry on growing at the pace it has been because this is an incredible pace of growth, isn't it? you think it can carry on doing that in the same way it is doing now? ——

do you think. yes, i think if it continues at the growth it is out and really find all of these new areas, including growing their apparel internationally and really improving the sort of amazon prime delivery worldwide, then it really can. so good to talk to you, thank you very much indeed. now to our top news story, the historic summit between the leaders of north and south korea. it has raised optimism in the business world that the region could get an economic boost from the thawing in relations. one of the factors that has brought kim jong un to the table is the desperate state of the north korean economy, its worst since the end of the korean war in the 1950s. mariko 0i is in seoulfor us. the economy is very much a big factor in bringing these two countries together. indeed. of

course, there are many factors that probably bought kim jong—un to the negotiating table, but as you say, the state of the north korean economy most likely play a huge part as well. of course, there have been in un sanctions in the past but as we have been reporting, china didn't comment on properly but this time they did and it really had an impact on the country ‘s economy, exports mainly to china fell off sharply and asa mainly to china fell off sharply and as a result, people and the country ‘s elite really started to feel the impact of the sanctions, so practically giving kim jong—un no other options but to come back to the negotiating table so that he can hopefully get these sanctions lifted. that is not to say that it should undermine the significance of this summit, given how pensions were so this summit, given how pensions were so highjust late this summit, given how pensions were so high just late last year to the two lea d e rs so high just late last year to the two leaders meeting today and we are expecting the second bit of the summit starting fairly soon, with

the two leaders planting a tree together. the fact that there two leaders have beenjoking about together. the fact that there two leaders have been joking about how moonjae—in‘s has leaders have been joking about how moon jae—in‘s has been leaders have been joking about how moonjae—in‘s has been waking up early just because of moonjae—in‘s has been waking up earlyjust because of north korean missile test and kim jong—un saying i won't interrupt your sleep. those checking conversations that those two lea d e rs checking conversations that those two leaders have managed to have todayis two leaders have managed to have today is definitely significant, but it is definitely the economy that played a huge role in bringing him back to the negotiating table. thank you very much a. —— very much. let's stay in asia. amazon is not the only technology firm to report soaring earnings. internet search giant baidu is often called china's answer to google, it has seen profits jump some 23%, despite a crackdown by regulators. rico hizon is following this for us in singapore. this is a big story in asia right 110w. this is a big story in asia right now. a similar set up to google and

a big rise in profits. fantastic profits. 0ne analyst described baidu's earnings as destroying expectations. its stock price is up by around 7% in after—hours trading. the search engine's net profitability nearly tripled in the first quarter after they spun off their radio business and listed in new york at the end of march, raising two and a quarter billion dollars. baidu is tried to reposition itself from a heavy reliance on the search engine business, to technologies used in al business, to technologies used in al business, from autonomous driving to facial recognition, which china's government wants to become a leader in. last year dispose of its delivery business and is going to get rid of its financial services arm and this is why they try to focus on artificial intelligence and

so focus on artificial intelligence and so far they have been successful in it. good to talk to you, thank you very much. now let's brief you some other business stories. microsoft's profits soared 35% to $7.1; billion in the three months to the end of march, boosted by growth in cloud computing. more and more companies are shifting their it systems to offsite data centres via the cloud. microsoft's azure product is now number 2 in the market after amazon's aws. toy giant mattel says barbie has seen her best sales growth on record, up 24% in the three months to march. her popularity has helped cushion the blow of the collapse of toys r us, which was mattel‘s biggest customer — meaning overall revenues were down but better than expected. a european court has ruled that lionel messi, the world's top earning footballer, can trademark his own name. the barcelona and argentina striker fought a seven—year fight to be able to use his name on sports goods. his original application was challenged by the spanish cycling brand, massi, which argued that the names

were too similar. and now, what's trending in the business news online this morning. the wall streetjournal — last—ditch effort to dodge trade fight as merkel visits us. it says european officials expect the white house to make good on its threat to impose higher tariffs on steel and aluminum from eu countries. the financial times is covering brexit developments. may under renewed tory pressure over customs union. more pro—european conservative mps speak out in signs of growing rebellion. and bloomberg has an eye watering detail from the latest jump in amazon's share price. jeff bezos just added $12 billion to his fortune. and don't forget, let's us know

what you are spotting online. use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing up next, newsbriefing. we'll take you through the stories making headlines in the global media today. lots of stories, including the visit of angela merkel to washington and also the latest on the possible sale of the iconic wembley stadium. that is it from the business briefing. the home office has come under fire again after 35 nhs trusts accused immigration officials of putting patient safety at risk by blocking visas for a hundred indian trainee doctors. the overseas medics were offered jobs as part of a post—graduate training scheme but they have now been refused permits, prompting angry calls for the decision to be overturned. 0ur health correspondent dominic hughes reports.

for the past nine months, this doctor has been working in the nhs, helping overcome a shortage of qualified as. —— doctors. highly skilled and motivated, she is studying to improve her own knowledge for when she returns home. she is part of the respective host graduate training scheme that has 110w graduate training scheme that has now fallen foul of home office these rules and that could cost the nhs badly needed staff. if there are people who are willing to help and grow, they are not out for your jobs, they arejust grow, they are not out for your jobs, they are just willing to learn and willing to help you out for the crisis. help us help you. a letter sent on behalf of 35 nhs trusts

training scheme says the decision will affect care and safety and run errors. expensive locums will be needed to normally filled by trainees. and given the pressures, it is almost impossible to understand. the home office says that around a third of the available visas already go to the nhs in some roles such as emergency medicine, protected and never refused. but the employers organisation believes that at least 400 doctors visas not on the protected list have been turned down since december. dominic hughes, bbc news. coming up at six o'clock on breakfast — charlie stayt and louise minchin will have all the day's news, business and sport. they'll also have more on financial literacy. the chief economist of the bank of england says it should be part of the national curriculum. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: the south korean president moonjae—in and the north's leader kim jong—un have concluded the first round of talks

at their summit in the demilitarised zone between the two countries. it's the first such summit in more than a decade and the first time a leader from the north has visited the south since the end of the korean war. the american comedian and entertainer bill cosby has been found guilty of drugging and molesting a woman at his home in philadelphia. now it is time look at the stories that are making the headlines in media across the world. we begin with the korean herald which shows south president moonjae—in and north korean leader kimjong—un at the beginning of their historic day—long summit meeting inside the peace house at the north—south korean border. the hill looks ahead to another meeting this time in washington where us president donald trump is hosting german chancellor angela merkel. unlike the lavish state occasion put on for the french president emmanuel macron, this is expected

to be more of a low—key, down—to—business visit. the telegraph leads with the news president trump will finally be making a visit to britain and according to the paper will also meet the queen however its believed the president will largely avoid london amid fears of mass protests. the gulf news focusses on troubled deutsche bank, which is cutting back bond and equities trading after a dramatic drop in quarterly profit of 79%. and finally according to the sun, uk football fans are outraged at the english football association's plan to sell wembley stadium to business tycoon shahid khan in a stunning £1 billion deal. supporters are worried that the current owner of the american football team the jacksonville jaguars will prioritise nfl matches over international england fixtures.