this istthe business briefing. i'm sally bundock. us sanctions against russia come in to force today following the poisoning of the skripals in the uk. what impact will this have on the russian economy? and have you heard of sorghum? a crop that's now in the firing line between the us and china as trade tariffs take hold. in our special series on trade, we'll explain all. a fresh set of us sanctions against russia are due to come into force today. they're the result of a former russian spy and his daughter being poisoned by a chemical agent in the uk earlier this year. under these terms, nothing can be sold that could have a potential

national security purpose — so this includes things like gas turbines and certain electronics. these sanctions came after it was determined that chemical or biological weapons have been used, breaching international law and this has specific procedures that don't come into force with other economic deterrents. further and tougher sanctions could be put into place if russia doesn't allow external verification that it's no longer producer those sorts of weapons. and that seems unlikely. you may remember earlier in the year 2a russians and 1a companies were targeted for allegedly meddling in the 2016 election and other ‘malign activity‘. shares in oil giant gazprom and aluminium producer rusalfell sharply at the time. senior economist, central

and eastern europe, oxford economicsjoins me now. we describe the sanctions that have come into force, they sound specific but what impact will the health? many sanctions are already in place but they are working on a case—by—case basis. experts are still allowed sort of broad reaching. the change from the current situation is quite minimal. this is more symbolic in terms of what is happening in washington on what is happening in washington on what is happening in washington on what is happening in russia. i think so, given we have to broad streams

of sanctions happening. one, coming from the congress, where the congress is really trying to cou ntera ct congress is really trying to counteract any signals potential rapprochement coming from trump and the administration is showing it can be tough on russia. these are coming from the administration and they are quite limited and are trying to show there can be a second round. that there can be a second round. that the formulation were they say limiting trade to a minimum, this is quite vague and i think at the moment, it's being used more rather than an actual plan. when the incident happened in salisbury, it was a huge story, had big implications were russian diplomacy with europe, the united states. many

people reacted with a strong words. russia continues to deny using chemical weapons. what impact did think this will have on russia? will it make any change? these sanctions, i really don't think so. there is a context of much broader sanctions happening. those are sending signals to russian businesses, to foreign investors and they are really having an impact. those are the sanctions that were put in place when russia annexed crimea. they are deducting half a percentage point from russia's grow each year. but even the beginning of this year, have

caused the rouble to sell off. they are causing foreign investors, russian debts, they are already having an impact. all right, thank you to coming in. we appreciate you making sense of the story. malaysia says it has cancelled two big infrastructure projects because it doesn't have the money. let's go to our asia business hub, where rico hizon is following the story. what is going on in malaysia? the malaysia in government are having some major cash problems. the malaysia prime minister is basically cancelling these china— backed projects. they are basically shelving them, particularly these

big—ticket items because the economy is currently debt ridden and they can't afford to finance these projects at this point. the projects include rail projects in thailand and kuala lumpur for and include rail projects in thailand and kuala lumpurfor and a couple of gas pipelines and mr mahathir is try to reduce malaysian‘s debt. it is pa rt to reduce malaysian‘s debt. it is part of beijing's belts and wrote initiative which was instigated two yea rs initiative which was instigated two years ago by the ex— prime minister razak and xijinping. mahathir said he discussed during his visit to beijing. mahathir also bowed to discuss what he called unfair infrastructure projects which were authorised by his predecessor. interesting. let's continue with our

special coverage of the situation of global trade with regards to the trade war going on between the us and china. we are looking at agriculture today. china is targeting new tariffs. it is a country with a lot of mouths to feed and not enough good farmland. there is a war going on down there, a 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 crucialforfeeding china's pigs, ducks and chickens. china needs so much of it that it buys a lot from the us. translation: 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 larger than from soy. 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's notjust sorghum. soy bean is crucial. without it to feed china's pigs, there is no pork on the table, but most comes from america. translation: the issue now is that imported soy from the us is cheaper and the prices of our soy beans are lower than the cost

of growing them, so the enthusiasm for people is low and they do not gi’ow 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, baijui, is made from sorghum. tariffs aimed at american farmers could mean a more expensive night out here. ryanair passengers who have received compensation for cancelled and delayed flights have been charged extra fees after banks rejected the cheques. several people said their bank had returned cheques they had received from the airline because they were unsigned. rya nair has apologised and blamed the problem

on an "administrative error". facebook and twitter say that they each removed about 300 accounts, stopping underground misinformation campaigns from iran and russia. mark zuckerberg says his company has shut down more than 650 pages, groups and accounts as part of its battle against fake news, ahead of elections in the united states and elsewhere. that's it for the business briefing this hour. up next, newsbriefing. the number of english sites on the national heritage list has

reached 400,000 for the first time, with the head office of bike manufacturer raleigh in nottingham to be the latest to be given protected status. it isn't just buildings that are listed though. the catalogue includes battlefields, shipwrecks and landscapes. lizo mzimba has more. the duchess goes on to birmingham to open a new airport which is cost well over £250,000. the building opened almost 80 years ago by the duchess of kent was the original terminal at what was later to become birmingham airportand terminal at what was later to become birmingham airport and has now been given listed status as an outstanding piece of 1930s art deco architecture. the number of listed sites is reached 400,000 in england thanks to the latest additions. the criteria are quite right ranging. architectural merit and quality. sometimes engineering and

innovation. other times, an amazing story to do with the community. or just the sheer beauty of space or a place. other buildings to newly listed include birches squatters cottage in shropshire, and our rarer example of the agricultural accommodation that was common in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. the former raleigh cycling company had this in nottingham which has an exterior decorated with panels showing children holding bicycle parts and tools mimicking a production line. and more recent buildings like plymouth's theatre royal which was opened in 1982 and is seen as a striking and sophisticated example of 20th—century design. being listed means a site receives special protection, hopefully ensuring that it can continue to be appreciated and enjoyed by future generations. this is the briefing from bbc news.

the latest headlines: donald trump is facing a huge test of his presidency after his former lawyer, michael cohen, admitted breaking election finance rules. and in a separate trial, the president's former campaign manager, paul manafort, has been found guilty on eight charges of tax and bank fraud. thousands of venezula ns flee their country as its economic crisis intensifies. inflation could reach 1,000,000% by the end of the year. let's take a look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. it can imagine that in america, it is pretty busy right now with those stories that broke regarding those

two key players. we begin with the washington post and us president donald trump's former lawyer, who said he coordinated with the then candidate to pay off two women before the 2016 presidential election. the politico website looking at president trump's former campaign chair, paul manafort, who has been has been found guilty on eight charges of tax fraud, bank fraud and failing to disclose foreign bank accounts. other stories. the independent reports the european union's chief brexit negotiator michel barnier has warned that the eu will not be swayed by a "blame game" in the british press over who is responsible for a potential no—deal bexit. the financial times says us stocks have hit an all—time high, as the market edges towards setting the record for the longest—ever bull run. and now, let's go from bulls to cows, according to the swiss dairy association, switzerland's famous cows have become too fat for their own

good and now they are pushing farmers to raise smaller cows, which consume less feed and don't take up as much space. cornelia is desperately trying not to burst into laughter here. cornelia meyer, who's ceo of mrl corporation, a business consultancy. and a swiss lady. and the uk lady. and a swiss lady. and the uk lady. and a swiss lady. and the uk lady. and a uk citizen. let's talk about the situation in the united states. president trump, there is as ever very strong opinions on both sides as to how damaging this is or not, as to how damaging this is or not, as the case may be.