it's emerged that a dam that collapsed in southern laos killing at least 20 people developed a fault the day before the accident. the south korean firm helping build the hydro—power station said workers unsuccessfully tried to repair the damage and did make attempts to evacuate the area. pakistan is going to the polls in a national election. it's a battle between the party of the former cricketer imran khan and supporters of the jailed former prime minister nawaz sharif. cyclists competing in the tour de france found themselves caught up in a protest by farmers. police sprayed tear gas to disperse the protesters, but it ended up blowing in the face of the riders and the race was briefly halted. the teams eventually got underway again. that's all. stay with bbc world news. and the top story in the uk: the man poisoned in wiltshire last month by the nerve agent novichok has said it came in a glass bottle in an expensive looking box.

charlie rowley gave it to his partner as a present. more from me later, but first, here it is rico. voters head to the polls in pakistan. what economic challenges will the country's new leaderface? china challenges will the country's new leader face? china and challenges will the country's new leaderface? china and india compete over influence in africa as the leaders visit the continent for a meeting of emerging economies. it is a wednesday, everyone. good morning, asia. hello, world. glad you could join us foran asia. hello, world. glad you could join us for an exciting addition of asia business report. i am rico hizon. as we told you newsday

pakistani is going to the polls to elect the next prime minister. it is only the second time a civilian tra nsfer of only the second time a civilian transfer of power has taken place in the country's 70 year history but when it comes to its economy pakistani has its work cut out for it. growth is expected to slow significantly next year and a currency crisis is threatening the economy. earlier i asked a member of the economist intelligence unit what the economist intelligence unit what the biggest challenges are for the new prime minister. ever since 2015, pakistani's import needs have been rising very rapidly, so you will find its current account particularly from the trade account balance heading into a deficit and that has been widening as commodity prices has risen. is it also due to the close relations between the chinese and the pakistani is because a lot of these projects are being built by the chinese and they import

their own labour? yes, definitely, a lot of it is driven by that, i think also the projects haven't quite reflected onto the economic balance of the whole. it has raised growth to some extent, but it hasn't really generated the kind of activity that the chinese and the pakistani authorities had thought. facebook has reportedly secured a licence to set up an office in china in its effort to break into the lucrative market where its website is blocked. for the latest on facebook and china, iamjoined for the latest on facebook and china, i am joined by my colleague katie silva. is it a landmark achievement for facebook? yes, if it happens, it would be the first time, so happens, it would be the first time, so what they are trying to do is open a hub worth around $40 million, they investment, in a city where

alibaba is they investment, in a city where aliba ba is headquartered. they investment, in a city where alibaba is headquartered. they say they want to create an innovation hub. they say it is a hub to support chinese developers and innovators. there seems to be a little bit of a precarious situation because the registration that they had was removed from the website, from the chinese government website. it would be the first formal presence they have had since the website was blocked in 2009 and they, like an number of big giants, have been blocked, so twitter, youtube, they are blocked, what's out since last year was blocked in the run—up to the big government run—up at the time, so they are trying to get into the market they have been wanting to get into for some time. so it might be unblocked sooner rather than later. other tech giants have been making investments in the mainland. yes, google opened a lab in china not long ago and they also have been trying to work with the chinese government to get greater access. we

have seen similar moves from apple. they have modified some of the apps to try to make them more permissible to try to make them more permissible to the chinese government. to try to make them more permissible to the chinese governmentm to try to make them more permissible to the chinese government. it might be good news for facebook stock when the us stock market opens today, and of course they will be reporting earnings numbers for the second quarter. thank you so much for joining us. leaders of the top emerging economies are meeting in johannesburg over the next three days. the threat of growing tensions are topping the agenda. leaders of brazil, russia, india, china, south africa, known as brics, say they wa nt to africa, known as brics, say they want to step up corporation. for china and india close relations with india is increasingly important. 0ur correspondent explains. the indian prime minister says this is important to get a toehold in the

emergencies. due to the proximity the eastern part accounts for almost half of india's exports to africa and that is why the indian prime minister is eager to cement business partnerships here. for years there has been immense chinese investment and india is late. xijinping's tour of africa could be seen as a way of beijing trying to shore up presence on the continent. it is estimated china is pouring $10 billion a year into african infrastructure. for example in rwanda this week the chinese president is said to have signed 15 deals worth millions of dollars. some will say this is absolutely fantastic because after all who else will do it? and yet critics claim that chinese investment comes in the form of

difficult to repay loans which could block african countries into beijing's sphere of influence. the united states has announced a $12 billion emergency aid package to help those hurt by the escalating trade war. farmers will receive their payments or be able to resell access produce to the government. that is because the retaliatory measures by american trading partners targeted the agricultural industry. business reporter paul blake explains why. farmers obsolete, dairy, meat, pork, various other agricultural sectors of the us. many people might be asking why those industries and those centres have been targeted. a lot have strategic value in the us and in many cases the farming community is heavily involved in these sectors have been strong supporters of donald trump, so the idea behind

this is to pressure the farmers who are this is to pressure the farmers who a re key this is to pressure the farmers who are key constituents of donald trump and the pressure triples up from there to the white house. in other news making headlines, president trump's daughter ivanka is closing down herfashion trump's daughter ivanka is closing down her fashion brand. trump's daughter ivanka is closing down herfashion brand. she separated herself from the company when she entered the white house a year ago by she reportedly grew frustrated by the restrictions on the company to avoid possible conflict of interest. sales have soared in the year of the 2016 presidential elections. did you know that this, lithium, is in hot demand by the world's biggest country. this white, silvery metal is crucial to making rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles and china records most of the facility. but new players are trying to break into the market. this part zimbabwejust

outside the capital used to be known for its rich soil, but did a bit deeper and you'll find something that could prove far more valuable. 0ne that could prove far more valuable. one of the world's largest deposits of lithium. it is the first big lithium development in africa within the current lithium boom. it's going to create about 150 to $160 million us of income a year, which is critical, and create 250 jobs in phase one. phase one of the project will see the lithium or extracted and refined into concentrates. but mining firm prospect resources has bigger plans for the zimbabwe operation. it wants to convert the extracted material into lithium carbonate, and much more valuable product that is used to make lithium iron batteries, which relies on a complex chemical process. the company has built this pilot plant to show investors it can be done.

and this is the final product, pure lithium carbonate, which is sold to lithium carbonate, which is sold to lithium battery manufacturers around the world to service growing demand for electric vehicles. the value upgrade is from an average of $600 at time up to between 14 and $25,000 at time up to between 14 and $25,000 a time. a massive advantage. a tantalising prospect for an economy thatis tantalising prospect for an economy that is crippled by a severe shortage of foreign currency. not surprisingly the government that took power last year has been a big backer of the lithium project. it is ona backer of the lithium project. it is on a charm offensive to convince foreign investors that zimbabwe is now a safe bet. there is peace, good operating systems in the country in terms of exports, imports, banking transactions. zimbabwe is open for business. many international investors say they are waiting to

see if this month's election is free and fair before committing to developments like the lithium plant. if they can be persuaded projects like this could be part of a much larger recovery. let's have a quick look now at the markets before we go andjapan is look now at the markets before we go and japan is off to a flying start in wednesday trading. the nikkei gaining 121 points. the business after us equities closed on highest leathers after a bet, parent company of google, had smashing results, boosting expectations of the great earnings season “— boosting expectations of the great earnings season —— on the highest after alphabet. this is bbc news. the top stories this hour: it's emerged that a dam that collapsed in southern laos, killing at least 20 people, had developed a fault a day before the accident. the people of pakistan will go to the polls in a few hours to choose their next prime minister. hundreds of thousands of troops have

been deployed to secure polling stations. despite rain in some parts of the uk yesterday, it won't have escaped your notice that the heatwave continues for many of us, and it's due to get hotter, peaking on thursday or friday. sian lloyd has been taking a look at some of the businesses that are winning and losing in the heat. it is only three of us, ruby. breakfast alfresco for this family from lincoln, camping on the gower peninsula. the recent spate of good weather is enticing more visitors like them to holiday closer to home. we usually go to spain on holiday, don't we? we have a family holiday abroad, but this year, we have come back here. it feels like we are abroad anyway, doesn't it? it's been a bumper yearfor bookings, with every pitch taken. we haven't, i'm afraid. we're fully booked, i am afraid. they are having to turn customers away for now, but the campsite's owners say the heatwave will benefit the business in the longer term.

people now, they have had such lovely weather, they are booking for september and october, and we are already receiving a lot of enquiries. they want to book early for next year because people now think this is the weather for the uk. sales of ice cream and sunscreen have soared, but there has been a dip in sales on the high street. you have to look and see, 0k, the forecast is this weather. what can we do to make sure we get families and footfall in our city centre and through our doors? high street shops hope the sales will warm up in time for christmas, but this farmer says it's too hot for christmas. there is a bit of burning on the edge. you can see the trees just wilting. 30,000 christmas tree saplings have died in the dry weather. i'm doing rain dances, praying for rain, looking at the forecasts and just keeping an eye on things at the moment. 0n the beach, they are toasting the sunshine and hope for more days like these to come. sian lloyd, bbc news, swansea. mps have voted to suspend

the democratic unionist party's ian paisleyjunior after his failure to declare two family holidays paid for by the sri lankan government. his suspension lasts 30 days and he will be absent from some key votes on brexit, reducing the government's working majority. fracking at a site in lancashire has been given final approval by the government. the shale company cuadrilla has been given permission to go ahead with the controversial process at the site in preston new road. the company says fracking will bring economic benefits but opponents fear it will cause environmental damage. that is it from me. mike embley is here in 15 minutes. don't forget, you can get into with me. it would be great to hear from you. we will be great to hear from you. we will be back at the same usual time on newsday. now, of course, time to catch up with the sports news on sport today. see you soon. hello, this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: drama at the tour de

france but protesters, hay bales and tear gas couldn't stop geraint thomas from keeping the yellow jersey tokyo insists it will use the latest in technology to combat the heat if conditions are too hot in the japanese capital for the 2020 olympics. and austrian dominic thiem returns from injury winning his first match at the german open. hello and welcome to the programme where it's been a rather eventful day at the tour de france. several riders had to receive treatment for tear gas after police attempted to clear protesters who'd used hay bales to cause an obstruction along tuesday's route. among those affected, team sky's overall leader geraint thomas — who holds on to the yellowjersey. tom fordyce and rob hales were watching.