this is the business briefing. i'm ben bland. the united states and japan meets for talks aimed at salvaging their $200 billion trading relationship. ikea opens its first, huge, store in india. but will they be able to sway shoppers who are not familiar with the diy approach? and on the markets, asian investors on thursday largely brushed off china's tit—for—tat response to donald trump's latest tariff threats, with most markets rising, but concerns about the impact of an all—out trade war are keeping optimism in check. the united states and japan are strategic allies with plenty let's start by talking about the

move by swedish furniture giant ikea, opening its first store in india. the mega retail plus dining outlet will occupy about 400,000 square feet, or 13 acres of space. the store took years to launch. while india is a huge market, will the build—it—yourself concept take off there? we spoke to the ikea global chief just before the store opened. when you purchase something from ikea, whether it is a table or a

chair, it comes to in a flatpack. you take out the parts and assemble it yourself. that is not something indians are used to do. because of the availability of cheap labour here, you have worked man or carpenters who can come to your home and assemble your furniture. that is something ikea has had to adapt. we will argue with our customers and ask that they consider he do it yourself method. that is to save money. but we are not naive. in other markets we offer services for home delivery, installation and building. we assume it will be slightly more in india. everyone is hungry when they shop and ikea know that. which is why they have restau ra nts that. which is why they have restaurants in their store. here in india, the famous meatballs will be available but keeping in mind hindu sensitivities, these meatballs will be made of chicken and not bf. and going a step further, there will

also be indian food available. in fa ct, also be indian food available. in fact, this will be the biggest ikea restau ra nt a nywhere fact, this will be the biggest ikea restaurant anywhere in the world, seating 1000 people. let's get more on this story. yogita limayejoins me now from the store in hyderabad. from my experience, putting together a piece of diy furniture takes time. 0pening a piece of diy furniture takes time. opening a store seems to take even longer. why have they not done this

until now? ikea has taken a flat bit of time to come into india, even though the consumer market here has been right for a while. i asked its global chief executive why and he said there will while waiting for a couple of things to one was for government policy, which changed in 2012, which allowed 100% foreign direct retail. the other development they had been watching closely is they had been watching closely is the growth of the e—commerce sector here. even as they develop this brick and mortar residence in india, they want to be online as early as 2019. this massive store, 400,000 square feet, literally opening to the public for the very first time in india as we speak right now, at 10am local time. in india as we speak right now, at 10am localtime. audio in india as we speak right now, at 10am local time. audio cuts out i'm

afraid the link seems to have let us down. i wonder if there are many people in the area on the phone, calling each other to say meet me for some chicken meatballs. we will try and speak to her again a little later on. the united states and japan are strategic allies with plenty of shared interests. but the world's first and third biggest economies are not getting along quite so well when it comes to trade. it's something they're going to tackle at crucial talks in washington later today. last year they sold each other more than $200 billion worth of stuff. aircraft, cars and machinery are amongst the biggest sellers. but it's not an even relationship. the us bought nearly $69 billion more goods from japan than it sold them last year and that's something president trump wants to change. and us trade tariffs could help. whilst their stated aim is to address national security concerns a 25% tariffs on cars and car parts is being considered by washington and it's something

tokyo is desperate to avoid. it doesn't charge any tariffs on car imports. however last yearjapanese companies invested $34 billion in the united states, which is an almost 80% increase on the year before. that accounts for 26,700 jobs with many in the car industry. if a picture wasn't uploaded, did it even happen? that's the feeling amongst many today — especially millennials — and it's something businesses are increasingly taking note of. this is perhaps no more so the case than in the tourism and hotel industry. in fact, some hotels are so conscious of it, they are making deliberate choices in design to look good on the ‘gram, as katie silver reports. forget instagram as just a marketing

tool. for some hotels, forget instagram as just a marketing tool. forsome hotels, it forget instagram as just a marketing tool. for some hotels, it is now an integral part of their business. every decision we make, we make sure we think of instagram.” every decision we make, we make sure we think of instagram. i am at a hotel g in downtown singapore. berrow dream catchers. a local art exhibition and a vintagejim. it has been deliberately designed with a different customer in mind. travellers these days, especially young travellers, they are not into luxury amenities. they are looking for a space that is cosy and gives them good photos for the instagram feed. that is what we try to do during the process of construction and design. and it seems to be working. a number of high profile instagram users have uploaded pictures of themselves here. one of theseis pictures of themselves here. one of these is isabel tan, whose account

has almost 250,000 followers. she shared her secrets for what makes a hotel will look in her posts. the arctic, the location and if i am wearing something bright i feel like it would not go with certain sorts of backgrounds. are most popular post are all about luxury and escape is. people love a good brexit in bed shocked. it looks so simple but you have to wake up early because it depends on whether sunrises. having a lot of food, for example, if you are in malaysia you can showcase the food there and the room at the same time. the travel company, expedia, has studied this across asia. they found 55% of millennial is book based on what they see on social media. i think that is a good opportunity for bands —— branston low bridge in ways they want to promote their brand or for the travel industry to promote destinations and properties. new

zealand's lake was one of the early pioneers of this strategy. their social media campaign was so successful it made a tree in the famous and is credited with helping them start a tourism boom in the south island. it is a is success that companies around the world would like to replicate. now let's brief you on some other business stories. the pound has fallen below $1.29 for the first time in almost a year on continuing worries britain will leave the eu without a trade deal. sterling also hit a nine—month low against the euro, and was down against the yen and swiss franc. bank of england governor mark carney said on friday the chances of a no—deal brexit were "uncomfortably high". yet another escalation in trade tensions between the us and china. beijing has said it will impose tariffs on $16 billion worth of us goods on the same day that america plans to begin new import taxes — also on $16 billion worth of chinese goods.

both will take effect on the 23rd of august. you may remember both countries have already added tariffs to $34 billion of one anothers' goods. a quick look at the markets before we go. asian investors on thursday largely brushed off china's tit—for—tat response to donald trump's latest tariff threats, with most markets rising, but concerns about the impact of an all—out trade war are keeping optimism in check. i will see you soon. the results of an independent investigation into historic child sex abuse at two roman catholic boarding schools during the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s, will

be published today. the english benedictine monasteries at ampleforth in north yorkshire and downside in somerset have apologised for past failings. the report is based on evidence given at public hearings in december. our news correspondent richard lister reports. good morning, everyone. 0vertwo months last year, the independent enquiry into this child sexual abuse, held hearings into historical abuse, held hearings into historical abuse at two roman catholic schools. did you ever consider telling the police? i considered the possibility but, again, it was rumoured. father leo chamberlain, the headmaster of ampleforth school in yorkshire during the 19905 was a student there during the 19905 was a student there during the 19905 was a student there during the 19605 and 705. that was a period when this man, was abusing boysin period when this man, was abusing boys in ampleforth's prep school. it

was jailed for two years in 2006 after admitting 20 assaults. another month, gregory carol, wa5 after admitting 20 assaults. another month, gregory carol, was jailed in 2005 offences against boys there. police say there are enquiry expo5ed three other paedophiles at the school but they had already died. the other school focused on by the enquiry i5 down5ide, near bath. six month5 here either assaulted children or viewed abu5e images between 1960 and the early 2000. one was richard white who was given a five—year sentence in 2012. both school5 say conference if reform5 have been put in place since the abu5e scandals and have been put in place since the abuse scandals and safeguarding children in their care is paramount. however, today, the enquiries chair is expected to rebuke the roman catholic church for failing to tackle the problem years earlier. this is the briefing from bbc news.

the latest headlines: the us is imposing fresh sanctions on russia over the nerve agent attack on the former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter in the english town of salisbury. the state department and the cia have concluded that moscow used lethal chemical or biological weapons — violating american and international law. evacuations continue in one of portugal's most popular tourist regions as wildfires blaze out of control. the fires have been burning for five days in the southern algarve region. more than 1000 firefighters and soldiers have been called in to try and stop the flames from spreading further. the family of a murdered maltese journalist launch a formal request urging the government to properly investigate her death. it's time now to look at some of the stories that are making the headlines

across the world. we begin with the times and the united states, which is going to impose new sanctions on russia, after concluding that it was responsible for the salisbury nerve agent attack. the gulf news says china has confirmed it will impose 25% tariffs on an additional $16 billion worth of imports from the us from august 23. the guardian leads with the pound, which has slumped to its lowest level against the dollar and the euro this year, after growing fears that britain is in danger of crashing out of the european union without a deal. 0n the bloomberg website, swedish home furnishing giant ikea is finally opening its first store in india. the world's largest furniture retailer will open its hyderabad store later — the first of 25 that it plans to open in india by 2025. and finally, are you looking for an alternative to the many different fitness apps currently on offer? well, if you would rather not move

at all, then maybe the couch potato app is the one for you. users are rewarded for doing nothing, and the anti—step tracker rewards you for the amount of time you spend lying down. as more inactivity is tracked, your on screen potato avatar will grow bigger and bigger and pass higher and higher levels of laziness. i cannot quite see how that works but we will delve into that at the moment. with me now is priya lakhani, who's founder and ceo of century tech — a uk based education technology platform. let's get straight into this with the times. the us imposing, planning these