our top story. votes are being counted in pakistan's general election after millions of people made their way to polling stations. early results suggest that imran khan could be the next prime minister which has been rejected by the oppositon who say the election is rigged. the greek authorities say 80 people are now known to have died in wildfires around athens, making them the deadliest ever recorded in the country. and the debate about life on mars is back in the headlines today. now scientists from the european space agency say they have detected a lake of liquid water under the martian ice. stay with bbc world news. and the top story in the uk. more than 60 vulnerable children who were at a hospital for mental illness in derbyshire were physically or sexually abused after being sedated with an experimental drug, according to a major

police investigation. the offences are said to have taken place between the 1940s and 1970s at aston hall hospital. now on bbc news, live to singapore for asia business report. facebook shares plunge as the company's facebook shares plunge as the compa ny‘s earnings facebook shares plunge as the company's earnings disappoint investors. and is the us— eu trade war over? if you believe these two men, it is. but will eu member states oblige? good morning, asia. hello, world. it is thursday. glad you could join us for another exciting addition of asia business report. we start off with facebook and you would think the jump of 42% in its revenue is pretty impressive but not for this social media giant.

for the first time in years, its revenue felt —— fell short of investor expectations and shares tumbling in after hours trading by 20%. that is $44 tumbling in after hours trading by 20%. that is $41; per share. now facebook stock at $117. its other shares closed at an all—time high before the closing bell and its market soared to $630 billion. the firm is facing a backlash for its handling of fake news and privacy. i asked our technology reporter if this after hours fall is a knee—jerk reaction. some investment allah this — — a na lysts reaction. some investment allah this —— analysts are calling it a knee—jerk reaction. the highest it's ever been to facebook —— facebook before these earnings dropped. it began plummeting and that decline got worse when facebook held in early —— an earnings call and they told investors that she get used to

this kind of quarter because they don't see, for the rest of the year, reve nu es don't see, for the rest of the year, revenues growing any more healthily than they are right now, below what investors had originally hoped. shares as you mentioned, down more than 20%. that seems a very big jump, considering that although it is below what investors had hoped, all in all, it's not a bad quarter for the company. you mentioned year—on—year, up 42% and and sales are strong, user growth is growing but slightly slower than expected. but a terrible quarter but investors have very high expectations of facebook, how it can perform throughout the year and for once, the first time since 2015, facebook didn't meet those expectations and that's why we are seeing mr matic slump in share price. yesterday, one of our major stories in asia was basically china and facebook closing

a deal. setting up an innovation hub. it looks like this morning, china has cancelled it. mystery surrounding this one. we heard, as you mentioned, facebook saying it was making small inroads into china. they are not available in china. the service is blocked in mainline china but we know they have ambitions in the country. now, it doesn't seem like that is going as planned. i'm sure we will hear more about that $0011. sure we will hear more about that soon. david lee there in san francisco. is the trade war over? according to donald trump and the european commission president, they came to an agreement to avoid it. speaking together, with jean—claude juncker, he said they have a big day. we want to strengthen this trade relationship to the debate to the benefit of all european and american citizens. it is why we are

greeted a first of all to work together to zero tariffs, zero nontariff barriers and zero subsidies on nonauto industrial goods. thank you. will the member states oblige, to what the two men agreed to. i asked paul blake in new york if there is any details of the so—called deal. york if there is any details of the so-called deal. this feels more like the start of the negotiation and concrete deal. a hastily organised press c0 nfe re nce concrete deal. a hastily organised press conference held outside by the two leaders. the key point in the eyes of the europeans seem to be the us will not move ahead with tariffs and automobiles. this automobile tariff threat has gone —— drawn great concern from europe but also in the us groups the chance to impact usjobs in the us groups the chance to impact us jobs in in the us groups the chance to impact usjobs in republican voting districts of the donald trump

showing himself to be unpredictable, the threat of car tariffs will loom large over future discussions between the us and the eu. it's early days and what these talks will look like remains to be seen but there is a sense here that we are back from the brink of a breakdown in the world's biggest trading relationship. while president trump might think he has avoided a trade war, tariffs are worrying the water giants. ford posted disappointing results with revenue ofjust over $1 billion down from 2 billion last year. it is another ripple effect of the trade spat. qualcomm said it would drop its offer to buy nxp semiconductors because it failed to secure regulatory approval from china against the backdrop of widening trade tensions. the three biggest us airlines are combined with a chinese demand to change how they refer to taiwan. china instructed 44 international carriers plus other companies not to refer to

taiwan as a non— chinese territory. moving down to australia and television broadcaster nine says it has purchased fairfax media in a deal worth 1.6 billion us dollars. joining a slide from sydney is simon atkinson. how significant is this media deal in australia? it's caused quite a shock, nobody was expecting this announcement. it fell a couple of hours ago and it's been taken. titles like the sydney morning herald, the age, the australian financial review, a name that will disappearfrom financial review, a name that will disappear from the media financial review, a name that will disappearfrom the media landscape. this new combined company is going to be branded nine so a lot of journalists and formerjournalists who are bemoaning the loss of this historic name. what it really means

isa sign historic name. what it really means is a sign of how both these companies are needing to adapt in kind of a changing age. when advertising revenue you get from newspapers is nowhere replicated from those on line offerings. fairfax has been made —— making cuts the years, hundreds ofjobs have gone, its newspaper titles, for example. nine is billing this is an exciting moment for the media industry in australia and sees it as a new opportunity to take on rivals in the country. whether or not those of fairfax deal they are essentially being taken over will be quite unhappy about it. consolidation in australia's media industry. simon atkinson, thank you. south korea, an overworked lawyer who was putting in nearly 100 hours of work per week every week for about six months

finally decided he needed a timeout. solitary confinement came to mind that led him to setting up a facility in the countryside outside of soul. visitors to the centre check themselves in with access to phones emails and other distractions of modern life. solitary confinement, a special way in south korea. that is of a quick look at the markets. currently, japan is down by 30 points. australia, 31 and the hang seng gaining 258. thank you forjoining us. this is bbc news the top stories this hour. votes are being counted in pakistan's election — early signs suggest that imran khan could be the next prime minister. searching for the missing — after the dam collapse, laos' prime minister confirms at least a hundred and thirty people are unaccounted for.

a police report has found evidence that more than 60 children at a hospital in derbyshire were drugged before being sexually abused. police say the crimes were committed at aston hall hospital in the 1950s, 60s and 70s — and that kenneth milner, who was a psychiatrist there, would be questioned under caution were he alive today. the inquiry spoke to more than a hundred witnesses — many of whom said they were stripped and injected with a so—called truth serum, putting them into a zombie like state, unable to move. sophie long reports. aston hall psychiatric hospital in derbyshire. some patients described it as pure hell. some who are patients there is children claim they were drugged into a zombielike state before being stripped and abused. i arrived at aston hall

thinking i was going to get an escape route from the remand hall. i went from hell to armageddon or armageddon to hell, i'm not sure. doctor kenneth millner ran the hospital from 19117 until the mid—1970s. he is accused of injecting sir —— children with truths, and now discredited drug, before sexually abusing them. derbyshire police say they recorded 115 witness statements. 65 people claim they were abused at aston hall over three decades. for them, today's report is significant. this isa today's report is significant. this is a massive day. after 46 years, make that 48 years of battling to be believed, it's a life changing experience. but they can't replace your childhood. they can't take away the use of pain, cashbacks, questions, unanswered questions, lying there at night saying why haven't i melt somebody else this

has happened to? it's important our safeguarding agencies which have contributed to the review acknowledged the pain and great distress suffered over many years by those who have now bravely come forward to report that they were abused at aston hall between the 19505 and 19705. and by those in may, for whatever reason, be able to do so. doctor milner died in 1975. in their report, derbyshire police say if he were alive today, he would be questioned over allegations including rape and child cruelty. so the long, bbc news. now on bbc news sport today. hello, this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre.

coming up on this programme: geraint thomas extends his lead in the tour de france as the finish line nears. serena williams claims discrimination, saying she's the most drug tested american tennis player. and england name their team on thursday for the opening test against the top—ranked india. hello and welcome to the programme where with four stages to go at the tour de france, geraint thomas has control of the race. he's now almost two minutes clear of the dutchman tom domoulin — while the defending champion chris froome has slipped to third overall. wednesday's mountain stage was won by colombia's nairo quintana — but thomas finished 3rd to extend his overall lead. we thought stage 17 might be a decisive one. short and 65 kilometres, but packed with three brutal climes of. it