our top story: china's president xi will visit north korea on thursday, the first trip by a chinese leader to pyongyang for m years. this was the scene in pyongyang on wednesday. before leaving, mr xi said he was willing to work with mr kim to draw up a grand plan for stability in the region. the leader of a sex cult in the united states who treated women as sex slaves has been found guilty of racketeering, forced labour, sex trafficking and child pornography. and this video of a police news conference in australia is doing well on our website. when it was interupted by a man fleeing from police. detective darren edwards drew on his past rugby player experience to execute the perfect tackle. that's all. stay with bbc world news.

much more on all of our stories on oui’ much more on all of our stories on our website and you can get in touch with me and the team on social media. now on bbc news, live to singapore for asia business report. xijinping in north korea. is china trying to use pyongyang as a pawn in the trade war? losing patience. why dropping a keyword signal is the us federal reserve is ready to cut rate. —— rates. hello and welcome to asia business report. i am sharanjit leyl asia business report. i am sharanjit leyl. as we have been discussing newsday, china's xijinping is due to arrive in north korea later today as he starts a two day trip. it is the first visit by a chinese head of

state in m years, and it marks the deepening diplomatic ties between beijing and pyongyang. our business reporter has been taking a look at the economic relationship between the economic relationship between the two countries. beijing is by far the two countries. beijing is by far the most important trading partner for pyongyang. in a way it has helped sustain kim regime because basically china doesn't want it to colla pse basically china doesn't want it to collapse because it would mean an influx of refugees pouring into its border. so between 2000 and 2015, bilateral trade increased tenfold, peaking in 2014. but as you can see here, in recent years, trade growth has slowed because of tougher international sanctions, which beijing opposed for many years, until 2017, that is. that is when china started taking some measures to squeeze it economically after many missile test and the biggest nuclear test by north korea. beijing

suspended fuel cells, and it really worked. remember, kim jong—un suspended fuel cells, and it really worked. remember, kimjong—un took suspended fuel cells, and it really worked. remember, kim jong—un took a train to see xijinping in march 2018. it was his first foreign trip, just one month before north korean exports to china fell by 95% from the previous year. some say the weak economy forced kim jong—un to reach out to seoul and washington. all in all, chinese imports from north korea fell by 88% last year, while exports dropped by a third. the two leaders have since met another three times, all preceding north korean summits with the south or the united states. as for xijinping, closer ties with north korea help china manage its relationship with the united states, and the timing is interesting, because the chinese leader is scheduled to meet president trump in osaka at the g20 summit injust one president trump in osaka at the g20 summit in just one week. so president trump in osaka at the g20 summit injust one week. so is china using north korea as leveraged in the trade war talks? this is the response from beijing. translation:

you asked whether china is using president xi you asked whether china is using president xi '5 state visit to the dprk as some kind of leverage. i must say people with such an idea just overthinking. so are we overthinking? what do you think? i still think the timing is interesting. it is indeed, but what a great response from the foreign minister there. patience, a great response from the foreign ministerthere. patience, it seems, is no longer a virtue at the us federal reserve. while it has held interest rates steady, it has dropped that keyword from its statements, and that is important because it strongly suggests that the world's most influential central bank will cut the cost of borrowing next month. the bbc‘s samira hussain has the details. at their last meeting in may, the federal reserve felt that the labour market was strong, inflation was near its 2%

objective, consumer confidence was also strong, and it seemed that the trump administration was close to inking a trade agreement with china. asa inking a trade agreement with china. as a result, america's central bank was unanimous in its decision to keep interest rates unchanged, and to exercise patience when considering any further moves to the federal funds rate. but considering any further moves to the federalfunds rate. but injust a few weeks, the mood has shifted. nearly half of all voting members 110w nearly half of all voting members now believe there should be at least one cut to interest rates this year. fed chairjerome powell says they could be some risks to the economy ahead. growth indicators around the world have disappointed on net, raising concerns about the strength of the global economy. apparent progress on trade turn to greater uncertainty, and our contacts in business and agriculture report heightened concerns over trade developments. these concerns may have contributed to the drop in business confidence in some recent surveys and may be starting to show

through to incoming data. so while the fed has kept interest rates unchanged, they now seems almost no doubt that the next move will be to cut them. and that could happen soon. let's take a look at those asian markets now, and how they are reacting to all of that. you can see the nikkei 225 gaining by half a percent, extending on those gains made yesterday when asian markets ended on a five—week high. of course, those us stocks also pretty much higher, the us dollarfell following the fed's moves. an investment strategist gave me his reaction. if you take the big picture, this is the asian century. we have a growing class of consumers investing and spending differently and companies increasingly serving them. in an asian context, that is great. what is of course happening along the way is the us is

increasingly discomfited by the move are unipolartoa increasingly discomfited by the move are unipolar to a multipolar world and part of that is expressed through trade tensions. so the big picture is great and along the way we are getting speed bumps, and that is what the fed is in essence reacting to. you mention speed bumps, is there anything institutions like the fed can do to mitigate the slowdown being brought on by the trade tensions? absolutely, it is notjust the fed, this is the chinese central bank in central banks around the region reacting not in response to what has been happening in economies over the past few months but what might happen because of this squeezing of trade as a result of policy. right, but can they do enough? because the whole point is that they can only just tweaked certain policies. really, ultimately, it is a global trading system. businesses are being impacted. well, businesses are being impacted. well, businesses are being impacted. i think you are understating the importance of interest rates on anyone who borrows, invests or uses money, frankly. it is true that they are mitigating a deeper issue, so we

would much rather that economies and companies and earnings were doing well in and of themselves, but central banks can certainly help if there is a headwind along the way. in other news making business headlines, apple has reportedly asked its major suppliers to assess the cost implications of moving 15% to 30% of their production capacity from china to southeast asia. according to the nikkei asian review, the request is a result of the us— china trade war, but a deal between washington and beijing wouldn't lead to a change in the company's decision. at this week's paris air show, one of the big themes is electrification. 0n the upside, electric motors should be both quieter and cleaner than traditional engines. the downside is that batteries are heavy and don't carry anywhere near as much energy as fossil fuels. carry anywhere near as much energy as fossilfuels. some carry anywhere near as much energy as fossil fuels. some companies believe they can make the technology

work for small planes, at least. the bbc‘s theo leggett has been talking to one of them. how is this for unusual? a new electric claim from israeli manufacturer eviation, it has some wacky aerodynamics, it is funny shape, it has these long wings over here which come out here, to the engine. to me it looks like it is the wrong way round, but a p pa re ntly is the wrong way round, but apparently this arrangement reduces drag, very important if you are running off batteries. i am going to go under here, and if you would like tojoin me go under here, and if you would like to join me around go under here, and if you would like tojoin me around here, we can talk tojoin me around here, we can talk to the man who is responsible for it. pleased to meet you. likewise. tell me, why have you built a battery—powered plan? tell me, why have you built a battery-powered plan? ok, so we have built this plan because it makes sense. it is a smarter way to fly the regional distance. it makes it cheaper to operate, it actually makes for that... is the driving force. the fact the plane is electric as the driving force between what used to be the shape of

a plan and what we believe, and you can see how beautiful it is, right? this is not just can see how beautiful it is, right? this is notjust design, this is form follows function. and it is wide and flattened because you have lots of batteries down the side of it. they are not underneath there? lots of batteries all over the place, mostly in the nose, but most importantly the fuselage is very flat and wail like, because it is a lifting body. 20% of the left of the plan is generated by the fuselage. so the body is a big wing. but why batteries? batteries are heavy and eve ryo ne batteries? batteries are heavy and everyone says they don't carry enough energy. well, everybody is right. they don't carry enough energy for something. the question is what is the mission you are trying to fly? we can fly the alice 640 miles, that is a good enough mission and a long enough range are quite convincing business case. we can do it with batteries and we want to do it with batteries, because it opens up the design space. as you

mentioned, we can put electric motors at the wingtip and be more efficient. but most importantly, especially for the commercial aviation industry, its especially for the commercial aviation industry, it'sjust a cheaper way to go. the direct operating cost of this aircraft is roughly one fifth of that of a similarly sized, similarly performing aircraft. so one shift. there is no other way to lose that, let's say, cost paradigms other than going electric. thank you very much, and there you have it. it all comes down to money in the end. you might not see a commercial airliner powered by batteries anytime soon, but for small plans, it seems to make sense. and with that we bring you to the end of this edition of asia business report. thanks for watching. our top stories: north korea prepares to receive president xijinping, the first visit by a chinese leader to pyongyang for 14 years. the leader of a cult in the united states who treated

women as sex slaves is found guilty of all charges against him. excluding children from school who have not been vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella is being considered by the health secretary — that's as the government tries to tackle an increase in the numbers of children in england contracting the diseases. the uptake of the mmr jab has fallen for the last four years , as our health editor hugh pym reports. he was funny. he used to make up dances, make up songs. gemma's son sam had measles at the age of three. he hadn't had the injections because of other health problems. earlier this year, he developed a rare brain disorder, sspe, linked back to the measles virus. he died in hospital. it's left a six—year—old—sized hole. even at the hospital, he had the nurses laughing and... yeah, it's hard.

measles is highly infectious. this little girl was too young to be vaccinated. she recovered in hospital. some families, perhaps influenced by false claims about vaccine safety, are refusing jabs, and now there have been calls for them to be mandatory. the idea of a compulsory vaccination system is now part of the debate. other countries, other european countries, are moving there, and some states in america are moving there. but i'd rather we didn't do that. historically, we've had very high vaccination rates in the uk. persuasion doesn't always work. this gp and others in west london was told by officials to contact parents about vaccinations, after measles outbreaks at local schools, but there wasn't much response. we suspect that it's not a strong enough message, perhaps, to convince people who are very convinced that they don't want the vaccine to then change their mind. it is a balance between educating, encouraging, but also not insisting.

and gemma has this message for parents. it's not alwaysjust about your family. vaccinating your child, if they can be vaccinated, you could help save another parent from burying their six—year—old. 0r younger. 0ur health editor hugh pym reporting there. the bbc has learned the uk's against gambling firms are offering a ten increase in the amount they put towards tackling problem gambling. ina towards tackling problem gambling. in a letter to the government, the company said it would also consider reviewing the tone and content of their adverts. now on bbc news, sport today. hello, this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: heart—break for scotland

as a controversial penalty retake sees them knocked out of the women's world cup by argentina. captain fantastic, as kane williamson steers new zealand to victory over south africa at the cricket world cup. and french open champion ashleigh barty returns to the court as she gets her grass court season under way with a win in birmingham. hello and welcome to the programme, where we start with the footballing news that scotland have been knocked out of the women's world cup after a stoppage time penalty for argentina saw the match end 3—3. twice within 48 hours a spot kick was saved and twice it was ordered to be retaken — and when converted — it shattered the dreams of shelley kerr and her side. watching was jim lumsden. this was argentina's third world cup in scotland's first, but the competition looked to be growing on

the scots. less than