this is the business briefing. i'm ben bland. back from the brink: president trump and eu chiefjean claude juncker agree a deal to head off a trans—atlantic trade war. plus losing friends on wall street: facebook shares slump as much as 24% as revenue and user growth disappoint investors. and on the markets that deal on trade helping asian shares follow the us higher, taking a global stock market rally into its fourth day. hello. we start in washington, where president trump and european commission president jean claude juncker have agreed a deal to head off a trans—atlantic trade war. tensions have been escalating since the us slapped taxes on imported steel earlier this year, causing the eu to retaliate,

and threatening the jobs of millions of workers from european factory floors to farmers' fields in the american mid—west. president trump and his supporters though will see the deal as a vindication of his aggressive strategy. let's show you some of the details. the us and eu have agreed to work toward zero tariffs, zero non—tariff barriers, and zero subsidies on non—auto industrial goods. they will boost trade in chemicals and medicines. and europe will step up imports of us liquefied natural gas as well as soybeans. they have also agreed not to impose any new tariffs while talks are taking place. the us has been threatening to slap a tax of 20% or more on imported cars and parts. a move that could add at least $10,000 to the price of a european car in the us. the us exports nearly $300 billion worth of goods a year to the eu. but europe exports about m40 billion to america.

and it's that $140 billion trade imbalance that president trump has argued is so unfair. paul blake reports. this feels more like the start of the negotiation rather than a concrete deal. the details were hard to come by from the hastily organised press conference held at the white house by the two leaders. the key point, i think, at least in the eyes of the europeans, seems to be that the us will not move ahead with tariffs on automobiles imported from the eu into the us. at least during negotiations. as long as we are negotiating, we will hold off further tariffs. this automobile tariff threat has caused great concern in the us as well as the us. it could affectjobs in republican voting districts of the us. the

threat of car tariffs will loom large over future discussions between the us and the eu. we will also result the steel and aluminium tariff issues and we will resolve rideau street tariffs. —— retaliatory karas. —— tariffs. and there is a promise from the eu to buy more soy beans and liquefied natural gas. the united states and the european union together account for more than 830 million citizens and more than 50% of the global gdp. in other words, together, where more than 50% of world trade. if we cannot, we could make the world a more prosperous place. it is early days and what these talks will look like remains to be seen. but there

isa 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. let's get more on this story. paul hofheinz is president of the lisbon council think tank in brussels. he was there. there he is. no, he joins us from brussels. paul, good to see you. believe me, it is good to see you. believe me, it is good to see you. with what we heard from donald trump and the european commission president, do you think it goes far enough to reassure those who were worried about what seemed to be an escalating trade row? let's say we all hope so. what was interesting was the abrupt about—face. going into this meeting, we we re about—face. going into this meeting, we were hearing lots of negative discouraging rhetoric. at one point, jean—claude juncker called the us moved stupid. the us, in the form of

the president's tweeds, were far from polite. we were told that a trade war was coming and to be discouraged. but it turns that there was a positive narrative let him behind the scenes. at the end of the day, that proved to be the vastly more important one. they have laid down some principles here for a future trade agreement which, if they could actually strike it, will be far reaching and world altering, andi be far reaching and world altering, and i dare say, particularly for those whose support trade and believe it is made the world a better and more prosperous place, it isa better and more prosperous place, it is a good thing. then need to show they mean it and they are ready to compromise and that they are ready to move ahead. but it is potentially afar to move ahead. but it is potentially a far reaching deal whose foundations were laid yesterday. that said, is there not a danger that this gives the indication to donald trump that an aggressive strategy, these kinds of threats of tariffs, can result in him achieving

what he was as a better deal for the us, and potentially encourage him to adopt more of this kind of very aggressive strategy is based at the problem being that even before ta riffs problem being that even before tariffs are closed, it hits shares in car producers before the tariffs even come. and don't forget the farmers in the midwest. you put your finger on the problem. there was certainly that risk that this kind of behaviour will be encouraged and incentivised. we have seen a lot of this behaviour over the last — beaudesert, a year and a half? that we have not seen a lot of results like this. the korean deal turned out to be largely empty. but this seems to be possibly a turning point. when it is all over, we can forget about the clumsy process that brought us here. in particularfor

the millions and millions of people who live in the united states, in europe, and the rest of the world. this touches people's jobs, europe, and the rest of the world. this touches people'sjobs, lies, and livelihoods. and i think it could be a good thing. and that is an important point. it could seem political and distant, but it affect people on a very real level. thank you forjoining us. let's stay in the us. facebook has been losing friends on wall street in a major way. its shares slumped as much as 24% after growth in earnings and user numbers disappointed investors — and its finance chief warned that slowdown will continue. that wiped as $150 billion off the stock market value of the company. our technology reporter dave lee reports. facebook is typically a company that exceeds the expectations of its investors. indeed, before these earnings were announced, the stock price facebook was at all—time high.

but then it became clear that for the first time since 2015, facebook was going to fall short on revenue growth and user growth compared to what a nalysts growth and user growth compared to what analysts had expected. 0n growth and user growth compared to what analysts had expected. on a conference call with investors, mark zuckerberg warned them to it raced themselves. this could be a partner could last until the end of year. mark zuckerberg planes data privacy concerns, complies with new homes in regulation, and movement from passive enjoyment of the platform to a more engaged nature of use, which could affect advertising. it seems that people are not leaving the services in droves as some have suggested. facebook could find it more difficult to make quite as much money from them as it has up until 110w. now let's brief you on some other business stories. shares in the top us car makers have fallen after their latest results revealed the impact of trade tensions on their businesses.

ford and general motors lowered profit forecasts for 2018, citing higher steel and aluminium prices caused by new us tariffs. fiat chrysler also slashed its 2018 revenue outlook, after sales in china slumped as buyers postponed purchases. australia's fairfax media, owner of the sydney morning herald and tv broadcaster nine entertainment, have announced plans to merge. it's the first deal under a controversial new media ownership law passed in september last year which removed restrictions preventing media companies from owning newspapers, radio and television stations in the same city. let us look at what is trending this morning. 0n the wall street journal,

more of africa finds itself in china's debt. chinese president xijinping has signed a slate of investment deals during a weeklong tour of africa, feeding into concerns over ballooning levels of indebtedness to beijing. 0n wired, china blocks qualcomm's attempt to buy dutch chipmaker — the $38 billion takeover of nxp needed approval by china as it does a lot of business there. wired says it's a symptom of trade tensions with the us which has blocked several chinese takeovers. and that is it for the business briefing. stay with me for the newsbriefing coming up next. here in the uk, the met office says friday could be the hottestjuly day ever.

but after weeks of dry weather, and resulting parched land, torrential downpours are now also forecast in some areas — with the risk of flash flooding. danny savage reports. the heat is rising again. the land is cracking up. and trains are running slow in places over concerns about rows extending and buckling. the trend is expected. deluges which could see a swing to another extreme of british weather. it will not be that useful rain that everybody wa nts. that useful rain that everybody wants. it could create run—off and local flooding. so wants. it could create run—off and localflooding. so downpours wants. it could create run—off and local flooding. so downpours causing localised flooding, and that could cause problems. gin and tonic? sangria? cause problems. gin and tonic? sangria ? that cause problems. gin and tonic? sangria? that is not all that was on offer at this care home. the concern was that keeping the elderly hydrated. if you don't drink enough, it can cause infections, which can

then cause hospital admissions. so then cause hospital admissions. so the advice for hot weather is not nanny state? no, because some old people will not do it. especially if you are on your own, you will not be getting up to get the drift. out in the countryside of north yorkshire, this is what some of the rivers look like. the upper reaches have nothing in them. if you take a closer look at the riverbank here, you conceal this debris. each is where the water got to in the winter and early spring. that make it shows where. what is left is just how high the water got. now if you compare that to now, the difference is extraordinaire. mile after mile of this riverbed is completely dry. an awful lot of rain will have two fall over the skills to get the water flowing again. and nobody will be surprised if the uk's record high temperature is broken over the next 48 hours. danny savage, bbc news, north yorkshire. this is the briefing

from bbc news. my my name is ben bland. the latest headlines: as the devastation is greece becomes apparent thejob now is to identify the victims of one of europe's deadliest wildfires. president trump and eu chiefjean claude juncker agree a deal to head off a trans—atlantic trade war. the count continues in pakistan's general election — early signs suggest that imran khan could be the next prime minister. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with uk paper the independent. its front page says britain is hoarding food, medicines and blood in case of a no—deal brexit. pm theresa may says people should take reassurance and comfort that contingency plans are in place. the times' front page is leading with the new trade deal between the eu and us. president trump hailed a new phase

of relations with the bloc, after both sides agreed to reduce trade barriers and increase trade in sectors like chemicals, medical products and soybeans. staying with that story, in the financial times, and despite an ease in trade war tensions, car makers general motors and fiat chrysler are cutting profit forecasts — citing tariff pressures. on new zealand website stuff, a pioneering move from the nz government, after legalising a new form of leave from work for victims of domestic violence. the first—of—its—kind entitlement comes into effect next year and promises to lead to increased productivity and lower turnover. and finally in the guardian, are you applying sunscreen correctly? probably not, according to scientists. this article those in the sun should opt for a higher spf as too many of us spread the stuff a little too thinly. with me is maike currie, an investment director

at fidelity personal investing. good to have you with us again didn't let's begin with the independent. this has come in, this idea of the uk stockpiling food and so idea of the uk stockpiling food and so on, it has caused some ridicule in some quarters. i suppose it highlightsjust in some quarters. i suppose it highlights just how seriously the government is concerned about the potential of deal brexit. government is concerned about the potential of deal brexitlj government is concerned about the potential of deal brexit. i do find it slightly ironic that the pm is saying to take reassurance and comfort from the fact that we are