you're watching bbc world news. i'm babita sharma. our top story: dramatic developments in two separate court trials in the us, involving figures who have been close to president trump. a jury finds his former campaign manager, paul manafort, guilty of eight charges relating to tax and bank fraud. president trump calls it a "witch—hunt". and in new york, the president's former lawyer, michael cohen, pleads guilty to tax evasion and election campaign finance violations. we'll have all the latest developments here. stay with us. and this story is trending online on bbc.com. danny boyle has announced he'll no longer be directing the nextjames bond movie. he's blaming "creative differences" for his decision. the next bond film is due for release next year. stay with us. more to come here on bbc world news. remind of course on that breaking news, paul manafort and michael cohen being found guilty. —— a

reminder. now on bbc news, live to singapore for asia business report. us stock index s&p 500 touches a record high and is on track to surpass its longest ever bull market run, but with will scandals plaguing president trump stop its meteoric rise? and we take a look at sorghum in china. never heard of it? well, it isa in china. never heard of it? well, it is a crop but it is now in the firing line between the us and china as trade tariffs take hold. good morning asia, hello world, it is a wednesday. glad you could join us for another exciting midweek edition of asia business report. i am rico hizon and we start off with us stocks. as we can see here, at the

broader s&p 500 index, containing the us‘s biggest companies, hit a record high overnight during the session and could hit a milestone. however, it is down slightly in after—hours trading after president trump's former campaign chief and personal lawyer faced legal troubles. despite the slip, the s&p 500 is on its way to its longest—running bull market in history. to explain just what it means, our reporterfrom history. to explain just what it means, our reporter from the york. what is the bull market, you ask? well, there is no formally accepted definition but it is widely believed to be when the market rises 20% from a trough, the opposite of course being a bear market. as of thursday, the s&p 500 will have been rising for 4353 days, the longest since the dot—com boom of the 1990s. expect

some quibbling about definitions on the new york stock exchange. some quibbling about definitions on the new york stock exchangem sta rts the new york stock exchangem starts today, talks back on between the united states and china to stave off escalating trade tensions between the world's two largest economies. chinese and american officials are meeting in washington, dc to try to find some solution around trade tariffs that two have inflicted on each other. it is the first time the two sides are talking directly in nearly three months. trade tariffs from both sides are due to hit this week and that is the second round of tariffs to take effect, but president trump has threatened to raise the number 200 million dollars worth of tony's goods. a good outcome would be a sort between donald trump and xi jinping later this year to discuss the escalation, but it is as you mentioned good news that they are talking at all. when you see these ta riffs talking at all. when you see these tariffs having a direct economic impact, especially these $16

billion? so the direct impact of the $16 billion and $34 billion that you have already seen imposed, we think they will be relatively modest but they will be relatively modest but they should be coming through as we speak, as the tariffs get imposed, you will see slight economic impacts. we do think that is relatively modest as compared to the potential impact you would see from ta riffs potential impact you would see from tariffs escalating up to $200 billion worth of goods, as has been discussed. do you think president trump would be distracted by what has happened overnight with his inner circle, his two former advisers being charged in court, michael cohen paul manafort? donald trump always seems to have a lot on his plate. i think he will keep his focus on trade for now. you say that the $16 billion worth of tariffs will have a modest impact on trade, what about the $200 billion? yes, thatis

what about the $200 billion? yes, that is where the imposition of tariffs, the trade war, does become more meaningful. asia's small open economies like singapore, malaysia and thailand also going to be disproportionately affected because they are very integrated into the global economy. the trade war between the us and china often focuses on the threat to american planes and cars or chinese electronic goods, but at the centre of the dispute is a huge trade in crops. china has targeted new ta riffs crops. china has targeted new tariffs on american farmers in states that are politically important to president trump, but at the same time it is a country with a lot of mouths to feed and not enough good farmland. our correspondent reports from china's north—east. there is a war going on down there, trade war. and the ammunition is spread across the vast fields of north—east china. this is sorghum. most people have probably never

heard of it, but this crop is crucial for beating china's heard of it, but this crop is crucialfor beating china's pigs, ducks and chickens. i need so much of it that it buys a lot from the us. —— china need so much of it. of it that it buys a lot from the us. -- china need so much of it. the trade war between china and the us has not had an impact on agriculture in this area, not at all. that is about to change because china has just hit us sorghum with a 25% tariff, which should mean more demand for the farmers growing it here. translation: last year, the profit for sorghum was rather then from saudi. we've heard some conflicting stories since we got here from farmers and traders. some say the cheaper imported american sorghum has hurt business, but others say there has been no change really, it is still very profitable. what you see around me in the field though is that china is currently

unable to produce enough of this crop to meet its own needs, so as china hammers american farmers in this crop trade war, it needs its own to grow more and it is notjust sorghum. soya bean is crucial. without it to feed china's pigs, there is no pork on the table, but most comes from america. the issue now is that imported sorry from the us is cheaper and the prices of our soya beans are lower than the cost of growing them, so the enthusiasm for people is low and they do not grow grow soy. —— soy. for people is low and they do not grow grow soy. -- soy. weaponising crops is a delicate balance for china. it is a long, long way from being self—sufficient, and this is a serious business. china's national drink is made for sorghum. tariffs aimed at american farmers could mean aimed at american farmers could mean a more expensive night out here. in the war between washington and

beijing has veered into the foreign exchange sphere, with washington accusing china of manipulating its currency this week. china's currency has shared almost 10% of its value against the dollar since the trade dispute began to escalate in april. it has made goods in these countries cheaper, but an economist says she does not believe chinese officials are manipulating the one. do not look just at the yuan and are manipulating the one. do not lookjust at the yuan and the euro, you look at the broader currency, he will see that most of the currencies's fall against —— currencies's fall against —— currencies fall against the us dollar, doesn't mean that all other currencies are manipulated ? dollar, doesn't mean that all other currencies are manipulated? i don't think so, it is a strong dollar phenomenon. so what does it mean

donald trump calling china currency manipulator? i do not know what gauges he used, but now we have trade war escalation. on the 23rd of august, we will have another $16 billion of tariffs on china, there isa billion of tariffs on china, there is a trade war escalation on europe, we have emergency market incidents. there are lots of things happening in the market. it is notjust the word manipulated that can explain all this. from the us and china to venezuela, where the south american country has a new currency as it tries to prop up its struggling economy. the new currency is worth 100,000 in the old currency. the inflation rate could hit 100,000% later this year. the move comes as

thousands of people leave the country fleeing food shortages and increasing crime rates. facebook says it has shut down accounts and pages to deal with cyber campaigns from iran and russia. the move comes ahead of elections in the us and elsewhere. malaysia's prime minister says he will shelve the china backed projects worth a total of $22 billion into the south—east asian nation can afford to pay for them. the project includes a railway connecting malaysia's is close to southern thailand and kuala lumpur, and two gas pipelines. the prime minister is trying to reduce malaysia's national debt, which has ballooned to some $215 billion. before we go, let's take a look the markets once again. the japanese markets once again. the japanese market in early trade is down by 25

points and the all ordinaries index losing 24 points. and this continues as president trump blame the us central bank for its higher than expected interest rate policy and of course today, china and the us start trade talks to try to save both countries from higher tariffs. thank you so much for investing your time with us. i am rico hizon, sport today coming up next. this is bbc news. the top stories this hour: president trump's former campaign chief paul manafort has been found guilty of eight charges, including bank and tax fraud. in a separate case, president trump's former lawyer michael cohen has pled guilty to violating campaign finance laws. much more on that to come.

oxfam has been left tens of millions of pounds by a british businessman, who was killed along with members of his family, in a plane crash in australia on new year's eve. richard galpin has the story. the tragedy last new year's eve near sydney, a seaplane taking british tourists on a sightseeing tour of the area had crashed into a river, killing everyone on board. the business and richard cousins was head of one of the world's the largest catering companies. with him in the plan were his two sons, edward and william, and his fiancee emma bowden and her daughter. mr cousins was known for his humanity. what was not known was that he changed his wheel using a special clause, so tens of billions of pounds would go to oxfam if he and his children died together, leaving his children died together, leaving his brothers with £1 million each. the common tragedy clause is just a clause stipulating who the

beneficiaries will be if your immediate family were to all pass away at the same time, so it is also called eight wipe clause and could also be known as a disaster scenario clause as well. at the oxfam offices today, there has been astonishment at the money they will now receive. it could be the biggest amount ever given to oxfam by an individual donor. in a statement, the aid agency said... and it could not have come at a more important time. oxfam is reeling from a scandal which has led to cuts in government funding and a drop in donations, after some staff working here in haiti following the earthquake eight years ago were accused of sexual misconduct. clearly, any charity that receives a donation of that size, it is going

to make an incredible difference to the causes that they are working on. soa the causes that they are working on. so a donation of this size to oxfam is going to be incredibly important andi is going to be incredibly important and i suspect will be something that sustains them for a number of years. and that is an extraordinary turnaround for oxfam, which in the wa ke turnaround for oxfam, which in the wake of the sexual misconduct scandal has been planning cut of £16 million, mainly through job losses. hello, this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: psv come from behind to take control of their champions league destiny at bate borisov. boltinho. usain bolt looking to secure his first professional football contract, he's on trial at the central coast mariners in new south wales. liu xiang swims her way into the history books, the 21 year old breaks the 50 metre backstroke world record at asian games.

hello and thanks for joining us on sport today. three former european cup winners were in champions league action on tuesday, all playing in the first leg of the play—offs, which is the last qualifying round before the group phase. they include psv eindhoven who came from behind to win at bate borisov where finnish strikerjasse tuominen put the home side in front after only 9 minutes. psv turned it round with two goals either side of the break. it was their mexican winger hirving lozano who put them in front for the first time. in a frantic finale, alexandr hleb equalised for the bela russians before donyell malen won it for psv in the 89th minute.