our top story: president trump defends his candidate for the supreme court, saying that allegations of sexual assault are totally political. judge kavanaugh has said he will not be stepping aside after a second woman accused him of sexual misconduct decades ago. he says he has never sexually assaulted anyone. hopes of a second summit between north korea's leader, kimjong—un, and the us have increased, after the white house anounced futher details will be revealed pretty soon. and this story is trending on bbc.com: the orchestra that chose to play a spontaneous concert for other passengers stuck in geneva airport. their flight to venice was delayed by an hour, so they unpacked their instruments and away they went. that's all. stay with bbc world news. and the top story in the uk: the cabinet has agreed in principle that people from inside and outside the eu should face the same immigration rules if they want to live or work in the uk after brexit.

now on bbc news, live to singapore for asia business report. a deal is signed. president trump reaches an agreement in his first major trade pact since entering office with south korea. in making the most of its glorious sunshine, india's solar industry becomes a hotspot for the world's biggest solar works. good morning, asia, hello, world. it is a tuesday. glad you could join us for another exciting addition of asia business report. i'm rico hizon. south korea and the us have signed the first

major trade agreement of the trump administration, described as a very big deal by president trump. he says the revised arrangement will reduce the revised arrangement will reduce the trade deficit between the two countries. south korean president moonjae—in says it will offer more stability between seoul and washington, especially at a time when both sides are negotiating with north korea. at the bbc‘s business correspondent says the changes are cosmetic. the changes are largely cosmetic. the changes are largely cosmetic. there are not many significant differences compared with the 2012 free trade agreement that had been negotiated between the us and south korea. the key differences have to do with the number of us cars that can be sold into the south korean market, as well as the fact that south korea agreed to a quota when it comes to the amount of steel that it can sell into the us market. as a result, it won't be subject to those steel ta riffs won't be subject to those steel tariffs the trump administration imposed earlier this year. but the key thing about this agreement is

that, while it probably won't do much to significantly decrease the trade deficit between the us and south korea, it does provide the trump administration with an easy when when it comes to the many trade battles it is fighting across the world —— easy win. battles it is fighting across the world -- easy win. let's take a look at the oil markets, and crude prices climbing above $81 for brent crude, its highest level since november 20 14. opec its highest level since november 20 1a. opec leader in saudi arabia and its biggest ally outside the group, russia, have ruled out any immediate increase in output to help cool down the market. well, demand for crude is strong. one analyst says there area number of is strong. one analyst says there are a number of geopolitical issues that could impact supply, including the us sanctions on iran which come into effect this november. the us sanctions are already biting in terms of reducing the amount of

iranian oil which it is supplying the world, and the trade wars are impacting where the crude oil is going around the world. so you are seeing a lot of disruption of traditional trade flows. all right, you were in the middle east last week and you are going to russia next week after this conference. so why are both of these countries ruling out any immediate increase in production? well, they are looking at the inventory is around the world and they are saying that the inventory is have got back to where they targeted a couple of years ago when you saw opec and russia starting to work together —— inventories. so i think the feeling is they have done what they set out to do and prices have stabilised, but they are not yet running away. but the big question now is demand destruction. we have 180 analysts around the world, and what they are doing is looking at every piece of evidence to see whether the demand side of the equation is being

affected by the price. but there is also a lot of switching right now in terms of oil surprises —— oil prices. they are looking at saudi arabia for supply. that's correct, so arabia for supply. that's correct, so the us has made it very clear that it so the us has made it very clear thatitis so the us has made it very clear that it is very serious about these sanctions on iran and the allies of the us around the world, with the threat of also secondary sanctions through the banking system, are switching their supply sources away from iran where they can. no technology is arguably more responsible for shaping the modern internet than google. from its humble beginnings at stanford dorm until now, 1 billion people use its services every month and this month marks 20 years since the company was set up. how did they beat the competition? mark einstein says the company was simply in the right

place at the right time, with the right business model. it came out with the better product, a better search algorithm and they really expanded into the mobile and social media space and the online video space. so i think that has a lot to do with it. is there any company, in your view, or any up—and—coming technology company that can topple google from its lofty perch?” technology company that can topple google from its lofty perch? i think that at this stage of the game where we are seeing internet collectivity and internet users not really growing like they used to, i think it is very difficult. there are competitors out there, like duck duck go, but i think google has gotten so big that the question is are we going to see google broken up because of how dominant they are? google now facing ethical questions, especially amidst this russian meddling in us elections in 2016. how do these companies like google walks a fine line to handle this ethical dilemma the industry faces right now? so i think these big tech

companies have pretty much been living in the wild west in terms of regulation up until very recently, but we have seen the dilemma the industry faces, and the us is now talking about and thai trusts, so i think more regulation of tech giant is something to expect going forward —— anti—trust. is something to expect going forward -- anti-trust. india is a signatory to the paris climate agreement which means 40% of the energy it uses needs to come from renewable sources by 2030. one thing you get plenty of in india is sunshine so the government has set ambitious targets for solar panel generation in the country. india started setting up solar facilities later began compared to china, the us and europe, and is now one of the solar markets in the world. but good recent policy uncertainties hinder progress? our correspondent has more. what used to be dry, barren land in this southern state is now covered with millions of solar panels. this is one of the biggest

such parks in the world. thousands of farmers leased out fields they struggled to grow crops in, allowing power companies to harvest energy instead. several firms power companies to harvest energy instead. severalfirms have set power companies to harvest energy instead. several firms have set up pla nts instead. several firms have set up plants here. this one belongs to a finnish company. firm's boss tells me that india contributes a significant chunk the total solar power added in the world. in india alone, around 50 gigawatts would be added. so that is huge. and it is not just large solar farms. added. so that is huge. and it is notjust large solar farms. rooftop installations are also proving popular. in a country where electricity from traditional distribution networks is often unreliable and patchy, it would make sense for factories to have their own solar energy on the rooftops. but the point at which this went from being an idea to something executed in reality was about three

yea rs executed in reality was about three years ago, when the cost of power generated from the sun became cheaper than that from additional energy sources. these solar panels we re energy sources. these solar panels were set up about a year ago. they power the factory below. nearly 90% of the machines here work on electricity generated from sunlight, manufacturing fertiliser bags. the company's manufacturing fertiliser bags. the compa ny‘s power manufacturing fertiliser bags. the com pa ny‘s power costs manufacturing fertiliser bags. the compa ny‘s power costs have manufacturing fertiliser bags. the company's power costs have gone down by one third. now, while solar energy might be cheaper in the long—term, it costs a lot of money to set up a power station. firms they need more support to make the switch. —— firms say they need more support. translation: banks do not give loans for these plans. they turned me down saying it is not a tried and tested activism. i finally funded it myself, but not everyone has that kind of cash available. recently the government also announced that it plans to impose duties on imported solar panels.

nearly 90% come from overseas, while domestic panel makers could benefits, costs will rise for a majority of players who rely on those imports. it could cast a shadow on a set that requires companies to make large investments and take big risks. in other business news, singapore has slapped right hailing companies grab and uber with fines after concluding their merger in march had driven up prices. uber sold it local business to rival grab prices. uber sold it local business to rivalgrab in prices. uber sold it local business to rival grab in exchange for a sta ke to rival grab in exchange for a stake in the company. grab says it welcomes the regulator's decision. before we go, a recap of our lead story at this hour. president trump and south korean president moon

jae—in signing a free trade agreement hailed as a milestone in trade. mr trump said the revised arrangement would reduce bureaucracy and increase prosperity in the us and increase prosperity in the us and south korea. and before we go, here is a quick look at the markets. let's start off with the asian markets. the nikkei 225 down by 50 points and the all ordinaries lower by four points. most of them on holiday murder on monday. this is after wall street shares fell overnight, as tariffs on an additional $200 billion of chinese imports kicked in. thank you for investing your time with us. i am rico hizon. goodbye for now. this is bbc news. the top stories this hour: donald trump's supreme court nominee, brett kavanaugh, says he won't step aside after another allegation of sexual misconduct. hopes inrease for a second summit between north korea's leader, kimjong—un, and the us. the white house says further details wil be announced pretty soon. an inquest has heard that a teenage

girl died after eating a baguette sold at a branch of pret a manger with no allergy information on display. natasha ednan—laperouse, who was 15 and had numerous allergies, collapsed on a flight from london to nice injuly 2016. unknown to natasha, the baguette she had bought contained sesame seed, a detail not mentioned on the packaging. our correspondent dan johnson reports. for the ednan—laperouse family, this was always going to be a difficult day, as the coroner examined the distressing final moments of their daughter's life. natasha was described as mature, very careful and cautious. she had food allergies from being a baby, and the family shopped and cooked strictly, to keep her safe. but, back injuly 2016, natasha bought a baguette from the pret at heathrow airport. now, like all of their sandwiches, there is no full list of ingredients, because they are made in—store.

they are not shipped in. there are notices on the shelves that say people with allergies should talk to the staff, but there was no direct warning on the packaging that this contained sesame seeds. natasha said her throat was itchy, so she took antihistamine medicine before boarding the british airways flight. 20 minutes in, she said she felt sick, before red blotches appeared on her stomach. herfather, nadim, gave her an adrenaline injection, but her symptoms got even worse. natasha said that she still couldn't breathe, mr ednan—laperouse's statement said, and she desperately looked at me. she said, "daddy, help me, i can't breathe." despite the help of a doctor who was on the plane, and paramedics on the ground in nice, she couldn't be saved. his statement said, i was stunned that a big food company like pret could mislabel a sandwich, and this could cause my daughter to die. even the family barrister,

who read it on behalf of mr ednan—laperouse, got upset and had to pause. natasha's death has left questions about food labelling and allergy warnings. could she have survived if on—board medical care had been better, or if the flight had diverted to land sooner? danjohnson, bbc news, west london. shares in thomas cook fell by nearly 25% after the firm blamed the summer heatwave for a drop in its annual profit forecast. thomas cook said many customers had put off booking holidays abroad, choosing to stay at home injune and july to enjoy the sunshine. the duke and duchess of sussex showed off their sporting skills when they took part in netball exercises at loughborough university. prince harry and meghan markle joined british tennis star laura robson, athlete paula radcliffe, and met with apprentice coaches ahead of the coach core awards. the scheme gives sports coach training to 16 to 2a—year—olds who aren't in education or employment. now on bbc news, sport today. hello, i'm chetan pathak and this is sport today,

live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: luke modric! the man who led croatia to the final of the world cup is crowned fifa's men's player of the year. brazil and orlando pride's marta picks up the top prize for the women. and ahead of the start of this weekend's ryder cup, tiger takes his return to form to paris. hello and welcome to the programme. he's won three champions league titles in a row and guided croatia to their first world cup final injuly, now luka modric has been named the world's best male player at the fifa football awards. the real madrid midfielder beat his former teammate