for their historic summit. the white house says it hopes the meeting will begin a process that will lead to pyongyang giving up its nuclear weapons. north korean state media says the summit will discuss a permanent and durable peace and denuclearisation on the korean peninsula. germany's chancellor angela merkel has called president trump's abrupt withdrawal — by twitter — from an agreed g7 communique, sobering and depressing. it was the latest barb in a day of recriminations after the g7 summit in canada. iraq's prime minister says a fire in warehouses storing election ballots due to be recounted, was an attempt to harm the democratic process. it's the first indication the government thinks the fire was deliberate. and the top story here in the uk: the former conservative chancellor ken clarke has called on tory mps to "rescue" theresa may from her leave—supporting ministers, by voting against the government on the eu withdrawal bill on tuesday.

a highly anticipated summit here in singapore will attempt to diffuse tensions on the korean peninsula that will open up the north korean economy? a former member of the british parliament turned her attention to help other women break the glass ceiling. ‘s iton monday, everyone. the start ofa ‘s iton monday, everyone. the start of a brand new trading week. laid you could join us for another exciting edition of asia business report. we start with kim jong—un and donald trump. they are here in

singapore for an historic summit aimed at defusing nuclear tensions on the korean peninsula. if the meeting goes well it could possibly have an impact on the economy of the reclusive company —— country as well. our business correspondence ta kes a well. our business correspondence takes a look at the economy of north korea. north korea is changing its image. it wants less of this and more of this. and if this week's summit with donald trump goes well, its economy could be on the fast track to development. out as a function now? —— at how does it function now? —— at how does it function now? —— at how does it function now? there is not much we know about north korean economy apart from its capital city, pyongyang. pyongyang itself is in a separate bubble from the rest of the country. how do people make a living in pyongyang? in theory, north

korean are paid for the work they do. but thejob market korean are paid for the work they do. but the job market there operates quite differently from many other economies. there is a system of political and social classification which determines what jobs you can do and how much you get paid. the higher your status, the better your job paid. the higher your status, the better yourjob and your paid. the higher your status, the better your job and your chances paid. the higher your status, the better yourjob and your chances of getting good education and housing. most of pyongyang's consumer classes spend their wages on things that you andi spend their wages on things that you and i would spend our money on. groceries and household appliances, toiletries, that sort of stuff. if it is not available in the shops, it can be found on the for whoever has the cash. as for what money is used in north korea, by all accounts the dollar. the euro, the chinese yuan a rtefa ct dollar. the euro, the chinese yuan artefact currencies. exchanging them is another matter. most of that activity is done in the black

market. and while there are banks and atms, it is not clear how much ordinary citizens get to use them. the banking system exists for the regime and state owned enterprises. one thing that may surprise people about the communist regime is the healthy bloom of private business. boast a little shops, restaurant and cafe ‘s. it is likely that these businesses will need to pay some sort of tax to the regime from the profits and it takes connections to get a licence in the first place. but there is a start—up culture. so if your image of the north korean economy if this or this then it may be worth remembering it is more developed than you think, even if only for the privileged people of pyongyang. lets find out more about the economy now. i spoke to a sink

tank representative and i asked what and where north korea needs new investments. physical infrastructure and, transport, high—speed, highways. lifelines, better lifelines. a better power grid. education. and don't forget tourism. that country is beautiful. it is now planning to establish a massive scale resort development next to a missile facility. so their nuclear arsenal can be a tourist attraction afterwards. can north korea absorb so afterwards. can north korea absorb so much investment in one go? do they have the manpower, the senior

management, then middle management, to be able to partner with large multi national companies? that is a good point. compare to east german cases. south korea is a very developed economy. they share the same language and culture. they share the some extent the same economic develop an stage. and china is doing the same thing in the poorer zone of the economy. they are good at lifting this part to a higher economic development. but for the north korean is, what must they do on the ground in terms of investment rules and regulation in accepting these new investments from overseas? president trump is already cutting a deal with north korean is about compliance is an manpower and

education. so they are making the foundation to receive a massive technology and money gift for opening up the country. and that was a formerjapanese opening up the country. and that was a former japanese politician opening up the country. and that was a formerjapanese politician now with a think tank group. angela merkel says that europe will implement countermeasures against us ta riffs implement countermeasures against us tariffs on steel and aluminium. that move comes as the us continued to trade barbs with its allies. larry cutler has accused the canadian prime minister of making polarising state m e nts prime minister of making polarising statements on trade policy that has risked making mr trump will week ahead of the singapore summit with kim jong—un. from hollywood

ahead of the singapore summit with kimjong—un. from hollywood to ahead of the singapore summit with kim jong—un. from hollywood to the top boardrooms around the world, the gender pay gap has become a hot button issue. focusing on the fact that men make up the majority of higher paid jobs. earlier i spoke to a former cabinet minister and board chair of britain's largest headhunting firm. i asked if there had been any progress in terms of gender equality and narrowing the gender equality and narrowing the gender pay gap? 30% of gender equality and narrowing the gender pay gap? 3096 of the women i now mps and when i was an mp it was 396. now mps and when i was an mp it was 3%. so a big change. on boards we have had an extraordinary change. there were 11% in 2011 and now it is 28%. there has been a great campaign to get women on boards and persuade business to set best practice and have a toolbox of how to get there. what about middle management? from this change on the board level we

110w this change on the board level we now have the gender pay gap reporting. results have been coming through and people are concerned that still it is the man in the top jobs earning more. the issue now is how do you analyse that. why is that? the majority of women —— undergraduates are women with good degrees. what happens? business and women and hr departments are wondering why they lose the women? how can they promote them? are we using the best talent because with an ageing population we must have the best people at the top of business. gender equality and the gender pay gap has now been a major issue front and centre because last week the head of qatar airways said that he, that only a man could do hisjob. one that he, that only a man could do his job. one of that he, that only a man could do hisjob. one of our most that he, that only a man could do his job. one of our most successful business women in the uk was the chief executive of easyjet. when she was there she said that the men are getting paid more because they are the pilots and the women are the

cabin crew. she said right click i will recruit more women pilots. is the gender pay gap narrowing?m will recruit more women pilots. is the gender pay gap narrowing? in due course, as they come through if you can help women get to the top jobs they will then get the necessary pgy- they will then get the necessary pay. it is not help women. it is helping business. and what isn't needsis helping business. and what isn't needs is the top talent. and people point in their own image. someone who looks just like them. the skill is to ask what we need tomorrow, what needs to be in the pipeline was to mark and many talented women are coming through. weight you think in asia, new zealand and the philippines, are doing well? —— why do you think? gender parity with a 12.5% to the gdp. we need women. here in singapore we have a female president and a female minister for manpower. their own new summits

being conquered and we need to make a comprehensive in asia and around the world. a quick look now at the markets. flat or lower in early monday trade. this is after the war of words between the us and its g7 allies. with president trump accusing justin trudeau of engaging in bad faith politics. the top stories this hour. on the eve of the historic us—north korea summit, donald trump says he feels "very good" about the talks. both he and kim jong—un are in singapore. north korea says the summit will discuss de—nuclearisation and a permanent and durable peace. the football world cup gets underway

in russia on thursday, with the hosts taking on saudi arabia in moscow. while thousands of fans will travel to the country, billions will be watching around the globe, giving russia a golden opportunity to boost its image, after several recent diplomatic controversies. our moscow correspondent steve rosenberg has more. a russia's singing grandmothers are ona a russia's singing grandmothers are on a mission to give russia a friendlierface for the on a mission to give russia a friendlier face for the world cup. these bubbly babushkas have penned a world cup anthem. and produced a video to go with it. the message to foreign football fa ns— video to go with it. the message to foreign football fans— mac you have nothing to fear from russia. i won't scare you , nothing to fear from russia. i won't scare you, and says. i will hug you,

kiss you, sing and dams for you. russians will leave and smile at you. ahead of the world cup, train conductors here have been taught to forget the frowns and provide foreigners big shiny smiles to match the big shiny stadiums built for the tournament. russia's reputation of the world stage, however, is not so impressive. a global sporting event of this scale is the perfect stage for a host nation to promote itself to the world and boost its image. russia knows that right now it has an image problem. locked in a diplomatic war with the west, they have been accused of everything from meddling in elections to carrying out a nerve attack —— agent attack in salisbury. became football bring russia in from the cold?” in salisbury. became football bring russia in from the cold? i believe that when you do good things for the world... our reputation is not as

good as the things we do. this should help us to get a better reputation for russia. it is already creating excitement. especially among these schoolchildren, enjoying among these schoolchildren, enjoying a pre— world cup treat, a visit via russian soccer stars. even if the world cup does not boost russia's image abroad, at home russians are proud to be hosting the world ‘s most famous festival of football. and that kicks off on thursday. time 110w and that kicks off on thursday. time now for sports news. hello. this is sport today live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: rafael nadal makes it a record extending 11th french open title in paris as he defeats

dominic thiem in the final. ferrari driver, sebastian vettel, regains the formula 1 world championship lead with victory in canada. and dj is top of the shots again. dustinjohnson moves back to world number one with a 6 stroke victory in memphis. hello, and welcome to the programme. there is plenty to talk about. we start with the tennis news that rafael nadal made more history in paris on sunday. he won a record extending 11th french open title after beating dominic thiem in the final, and a 17th grand slam title overall with only great rival roger federer ahead of him on the list having won 20. patrick gearey reports. this is the red