this is your business briefing. i'm sally bundock. the polls open in zimbabwe in half an hour. we take a look at the country's troubled economy and what reforms the government should put in place. the price of a trade war. bmw says its suvs, made in the us and sold in china, will be more expensive because of the new tariffs. in financial markets in asia have started the week in rent as investors prepared for one per week ahead of central bank action. zimbabweans go to the polls for the first time in 30 years, many in the country feel there

is a real possibility for change. you'll probably remember that robert mugabe left office earlier in the year, giving way to emmerson mnangagwa, who's pledged to turn around zimbabwe's beleaguered economy. over the past ten years, it's been on the ups. growth in the country last year was a respectable 3.4%, but it's projected to fall to 2.8% this year and part of the reason for that is cash shortages. it is as simple and basic as that. in 2008, zimbabwe had the second highest hyperinflation in the world — it was then just shy of 80%. that meant that prices doubled nearly every 2a hours. the zimbabwean dollar was ditched and currency was brought in line with the us dollar, but that's caused long—term stability issues. the economy is still largely dependent on farming.

over two—thirds of the working population are employed in the agricultural sector. but mr mnangagwa has said zimbabwe is "open for business" and has taken steps to try and open up both domestic and foreign investment in the country. let's get the view of dr theo acheampong, senior analyst with ihs markit, who joins me from aberdeen. thank you for being on the programme. just tell us about the outlook of the economy for zimbabwe. it has been a really difficult period of time with new government, what are people saying about it now? i think the new government, emmerson mnangagwa taking over after robert mugabe was taken out in the military ousting last november, things started shaping up quite positively. in the seven or eight months in the run—up to the election, we have had a new budget that has been passed

and the government has removed the legislation requirement in the law, they do not require a 51% national local equity route by and in getting access local equity route by and in getting a ccess oi’ local equity route by and in getting access oi’ coming local equity route by and in getting access or coming in as an investor. that then means that for people coming outside into the country to invest in other areas like agriculture or in mining, or in manufacturing, you do not necessarily need to have had a 51% local zimbabwean dissipation. in addition to that, we have also seen new commitments coming from the international monetary donors, but thatis international monetary donors, but that is conditional now on the outcome of a fruitful and a successful election today. the election is actually going quite well, as we are anticipating, it is going to open up the economy for new rounds of finance, including the

donor inflow and the ability of zimbabwe to deal with multilateral, as zimbabwe owes the imf 120 billion. as zimbabwe owes the imf i20 billion. can ijust, sorry, i do not wa nt billion. can ijust, sorry, i do not want to. pacemaker can ijust billion. can ijust, sorry, i do not want to. pacemaker can i just ask a question. you said as we anticipate, what you mean that? you mean if emmerson mnangagwa is elected or dimming of the opposition leader gets in? —— can ijust ask your question? zimbabwe is actually, whether emmerson mnangagwa winds, they still have two engage with the international creditors. this is the first opportunity in a very long time for zimbabwe to fix the economy

and there is a clear commitment on both sides of the political divide to deal with the economic challenges that face the country, and that includes having a clear macro fiscal way to deal with the currency issues. 0k. thank you very much indeed forjoining us. we really appreciate your time. so that some on some of the critical issues facing zimbabwe. as we have mentioned, the polls there open in around about 25 minutes's time. people have been queueing since about 2am this morning, so there's great anticipation there. we'll keep you updated on how it goes. german carmaker bmw says it will raise the prices of two of its crossover suvs, that are made in bmw factories in the us and then exported to china. this is to cope with the additional cost of tariffs on us car imports into the world's biggest auto market. let's go to our asia business hub,

karishma vaswani is following the story. nice to see you. so we are starting to see at a very practical level now what these tariffs mean. yes, i think what you are starting to see now is the rhetoric actually turning into reality for companies, and if you take the case of bmw, the german carmaker says as as monday it will start raising the retail price on the seb models by 47%. analysts that i have been speaking to says that is a marginal increase at best. —— suv. what this shows is that bmw is actually willing to take on the costs itself and absorb those costs, this is because of increased competition among the luxury brands

in china. it has been hit by these additional chinese tariffs on american car imports because it moved some of its production to china. remember, actually, beijing 0pendoc it's carmaker market to foreign car makers this year by removing all tariffs from cars imported to china, except that the us because of this ongoing trade war between washington and beijing. what it did was slap an additional 25% tax on us carmakers last month, effectively putting a 54% tax on all us made cars entering china. holiday giant thomas cook has announced it will stop selling trips to animal parks that keep killer whales. the firm says more than 90% of its customers are concerned about animal welfare.

the two parks that it will stop selling tickets to as a result are seaworld in florida, and loro parque in tenerife, in spain. that is our twitter question today. should those holidays become a thing of the past? do get in touch, we will discuss that in about five minutes's time. japan's retail sales climbed more than expected injune due to increased spending on fuel, appliances and cosmetics, in a positive sign households are growing more confident in the economy. theyjumped upi.8% in annual retail sales. asa as a teenager in the 1980s, clem chambers created some of the world's first computer games but his firm did not last long enough to reap the full rewards. now he has switched to doing business on block chain. the lesson he has learnt, he says, is to treat this as a marathon, not a

sprint. it have to be prepared for a marathon when you start business. if you think it is a sprint, you're going to end up in a very bad way very quickly. we were the first generation of computer game people in the uk and it's an incredibly difficult business, it still is. it's so obvious. one of the things i learnt, in particular, was that things that you see are going to happen very soon, take a lot longer to happen. you've got to be prepared to be in for the long haul. block chain will be a noticeably larger industry than everything

we know about the internet today. we are really four or five years before the real explosion, the real "bubble" of the block chain happens. when you start a business, you've got to realize you're going into a marathon. most people tell you how painful it is, and what an agony it is and how exhausted they were and how much hard work they put in, but somehow there's an excitement and an adrenaline attached to that. that is very much like starting business. pearls of wisdom there from clem chambers. that is your business briefing. for many, the thought of moving to

the countryside is peaceful, idyllic, all about quality of life. yet for many the reality is very different. people in rural areas feel they are a lot more isolated than a decade ago, according to new research. hi, my name is molly and i have lived here for most of my life. it isa have lived here for most of my life. it is a lovely place to live. there isa it is a lovely place to live. there is a great sense of community, which i really love. my name is tory and i worked here. without the hub, the community would be very, very sad. it is without a doubt a complete focal point and we all very of it. is easy to see, on a day like today, why would be so appealing to live

somewhere like here. but increasingly, those in rural communities say they are feeling left out and invisible. there is no bars. there is no bus at all. there is no train. the nearest train is in brampton and even that is not go to brampton, it goes to brampton junction you have got a 20 minute walk. travel is not the only concern. weak mobile phone signal and broadband speeds just some of the challenges of rural living. but what about the future? in many rural areas, job prospects are limited and young people often have no choice but to leave. i have got a daughter who is 15, i think she is really keen to go to the city, not the she does not love living here because she does, she loves walking and she does love the countryside but i know that she definitely does want to experience living in the city. this is the briefing from bbc news.

here are the headlines: polls open in zimbabwe in just a few minutes, the country's first presidential election of the post—mugabe era. 12,000 firefighters are battling to control the wildfires right across california. at least six people have been killed. russian prison guards have gone on trial after secret footage showed them viciously beating inmates. human rights groups say it exposes a culture of institutionalised violence. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we start with an article on the front page of the daily telegraph. it says theresa may's kamikaze no deal approach to leaving the european union. the may has been accused of scaremongering and

deliberately highlighting the negative consequences for the uk living. also, you can see we have got the front page of the natural times which is looking at the news that deutsche bank has shifted half its euro clearing activities from london to frankfurt. this is what it saysis london to frankfurt. this is what it says is the latest sign of european cities winning business from the uk ahead of the exit. now, onto the honolulu advertiser. it is leading to the california wildfires that have forced thousands of people from their homes. they say it shows no sign of stopping at the moment. this is one we are looking out now bbc website, is twitter question today. the holiday giant thomas cook announcing it is stopping trips to holiday parks that keep wales over concern about animal welfare. many of you have been in touch about that story, we will mention your tweets ina story, we will mention your tweets in a moment. this is the back page of the mirror but he is all over the

place today. geraint thomas flies the flag for wales. he has been enjoying his tour de france triumph, which is a first for wales. he is on many front pages this morning. let's start with a story about brexit, we have the ceo of century takeback. let's get stuck in. mps are not in parliament but brexit is still on the cards. the same headline, kamikazes say brexiteers.