this is bbc world news. the headlines: the white house has confirmed that president trump held a second, barely publicised meeting with russia's president and a russian translator, no one else, during the 620 summit. mr trump has dismissed as sick suggestions it was a secret or sinister encounter. it is thought the meeting, hours after the formal talks, lasted about an hour. the un's refugee agency, the unhcr, has announced that the death rate of refugees crossing from libya to italy is increasing, and that trafficking is becoming ever more ruthless, with migrants regularly beaten and robbed. the bbc will publish its annual report later, which for the first time will include details of how much the corporation pays its biggest stars. the disclosure involves presenters on salaries of more than £150,000. it is thoughtjust a third of the highest—paid stars are women. now it is time for world business report. chinese and us officials meet

for high—level economic talks, but with president trump considering tariffs on steel imports, can a trade war be averted? and a mammoth task for india's government, as it attempts to find a buyerfor debt—ridden flagship carrier air india. welcome to world business report, i'm rachel horne. also on the programme: united airlines manages a profit, despite boycott threats over the treatment of its passengers. but first: we begin with talks between china and the united states. president trump's 100—day deadline for boosting trade with china has come and gone, and officials from both countries are about to meet in washington to assess what has actually been achieved. mr trump hopes the talks will tackle what he says is an unfair deal.

it all boils down to this — the us buys more from china than it sells. last year the deficit, or imbalance in goods, was $347 billion, and it seems to be rising. at their first meeting, in april, presidents trump and xi set up trade talks, which have already produced some results. both have agreed to expand trade, with china saying it would accept us beef imports, and will increase access for financial services, while in return the us will allow imports of cooked chicken. but many issues are still unresolved. china's factories churned out 73 million tons of steel last month, a record high. us producers have accused china of flooding the market, undercutting american firms. and it has prompted trump to consider slapping tariffs on steel imports, part of the administration's emphasis to increase products made in the usa. samira hussain reports. it is made in america week

in the us, and president trump is promoting it. bigly. when we purchase products made in the usa, the profit stays here, the revenue says here and the jobs, maybe most importantly of all, they stay right here in the usa. that kind of protectionist language is a worry for america's trading partners, including china. these days, though, mr trump's tone is more measured when it comes to china, compared to what was said in the throes of the presidential campaign. we can't continue to allow china to rape our country. they have taken our money, they have taken ourjobs. the turning point in their relationship? when the two leaders broke bread and ate cake. now president trump has referred to president xi as a terrific guy and a good friend of mine.

so, given the political state, what can we expect to come out of the summit when representatives of the two countries meet? i would not expect any big breakthroughs. the most important thing is that the two sides are talking, and so i would expect a fairly amicable discussion, some minor outcomes, and some nice general language that the two countries will work together to strengthen economic relationships, and reduce the trade imbalance, it imbalance. of course, overshadowing the economic and trade issues is the thorny question of north korea. mr trump wants china to exert more pressure on the country. a failure to do so could undermine the strategic dialogues. with me is dr guo yu, principle china analyst at maplecroft. what do you expect to come out of these talks today? well, we expect... the expectation is quite tempered, from our

perspective. we certainly do not see this kind of talks will fundamentally alter the trade imbalance you just mentioned straightaway, and there are three factors supporting this view. firstly, this kind of high—level dialogue is always tending to be more about setting the process rather than making concrete progress. so the two sides will take stock on the 100 day action plan and work out what plan for the next 12 months, where the two teams will work on their particulars. secondly, we will see neither side will give in on the sticky points. washington is certainly not going to recognise china as a market economy yet, nor are we loosing control on hi—tech exports. 0n the other hand, beijing is unlikely to buckle under pressure over steel and aluminium

productions, despite the us administration's investigation. and finally, let's not forget it is a very politically important year for the chinese government, with the 19th party congress scheduled for this autumn. no leader in beijing would like to appear to be giving in too much concessions to the americans. so above all, stability is the name of the game for the chinese government in 2017. now, you mentioned the steel production. that is obviously a huge issue for the us, especially for president trump, and his plan to increasejobs. he is saying that he is considering putting tariffs on steel imports from china. if that happened, what impact could that have on these talks? well, as i said, we don't think beijing would be too much concerned, if we are talking about

exports to the us markets. it only accou nts exports to the us markets. it only accounts for a very small proportion. so if the washington administration slaps an import ta riffs administration slaps an import tariffs on chinese steel, the impact on the chinese steel industry would be rather limited. the impact on american consumers, buyers, that would be another question. what we certainly don't think is that the chinese will give in too much over this point. and certainly, on the back of buoyant economic performance so back of buoyant economic performance so far this yearfrom back of buoyant economic performance so far this year from china, i back of buoyant economic performance so far this yearfrom china, i think they will be feeling fairly confident on the negotiating table. thank you very much for your time. to the highly competitive airline industry now. india's government is facing the mammoth task of finding a buyer for its cash—strapped national carrier, air india. air india hasn't made a profit in over a decade, and is buried under billions of dollars of debt, debt that no potential buyer would want to take

on, and this is something that is going to make privatisation of the company difficult. sameer hashmi sat down with india's aviation minister for this exclusive interview. the maharaja, a royal prince, is the mascot of india's national carrier. and while they were once king of the skies, it has not made a profit in over a decade. a $5 billion bailout by the government in 2012 did not help. today, the airline has a debt of $8 billion. now a committee will decide whether to sell a minority stake, or sell the airline completely. i spoke to the aviation minister, who is on the committee, and began by asking him if the government will write off the debt to sell the airline. you have to be practical in these things. in hindi there is a word that means scapegoat.

a ha rd—nosed businessman and an airline, and there is always a scapegoat that can be found. so you need a scapegoat to take up the airline? with all of its debt, we would need about 52,000. if i had that type of money, i could set up an outline. —— airline. i would not have to buy a headache. if you find a buyer willing to invest, given that it is a huge mess, they would one day a huge hand in restructuring, which would involve cutting jobs. that will lead to long—term trouble. there is thinking that taxpayer money is invested in other places. rather than keeping airline afloat. we do if no matter what you do you have political opposition. we could allow aero india to become a written off company unable to discharge its liabilities.

history will not forgive you. in other news: a supposed boycott of united airlines because of the poor treatment of passengers has had little impact on the company's earnings results. united revealed its first financial statement, that included the period after staff forcibly removed a passenger from a plane, and the numbers aren't bad. profits of $818 million for the second quarter is almost 40% higher than the same period last year. sales were also up. daimler has unveiled plans to cut vehicle emissions. it is recalling three million mercedes—benz diesel cars, and installing a software fix on the vehicles. daimler has been under pressure from police and prosecutors, who are investigating the possible manipulation of diesel exhaust emissions. the voluntary fix will cost the company $250 million, and will begin over the next few weeks. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter, i'm @bbcrachelhorne. people living in a village

on the lizard peninsula, in cornwall, will this morning be assessing the damage left by flash flooding. heavy rain and large hailstones bore down on coverack yesterday afternoon. at one point the village was spilt in two by the flood waters. a big clean—up operation is now underway, as our correspondent jon kay reports. how is this for the start of the summer how is this for the start of the summer holidays? a coastguard helicopter winching people to safety in the cornish village of coverack. howells and massive hailstones, wind and thunder, then hours of torrential rain, brought tons of rock and debris down the steep hills. even a garden shed washed down into the harbour. can we assist you at all with some lighting? last night emergency crews were checking on chris. he rents out this seafront

cottage. he couldn't believe how quickly it flooded. it is filled right up. we have the mud and everything to clear, i guess... looking on the bright side, but having to deal with the mess. you don't have to look long on television to see someone worse off than you. no one is hurt, so it doesn't really matter. holidaymakers arriving at their summer destination could not believe their eyes. we never saw this before, so it is really exciting. around 50 properties have been affected, but amazingly, it seems, no casualties. coverack may not feel lucky this morning, but there is a sense here that it could have been much, much worse. coming up at 6:00am on breakfast — dan walker and louise minchin will have all the day's news, business and sport. they'll also have more live from westminster,

following this week's leaks of cabinet discussions to the press, which prompted the prime minister to call for strength and unity from mps. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the white house has confirmed that president trump held a second, barely publicised, meeting with russia's president and a russian translator, no—one else, during the g20 summit. the un's refugee agency, the unhcr, has announced that the death rate of refugees crossing from libya to italy is increasing, and that trafficking is becoming ever more ruthless, with migrants regularly beaten and robbed. time now for our newspaper review. just what's making headlines around the world?

let's start with a story rather close to home. the bbc is to release a list of their highest—earning on—screen talent. many of the uk papers, the guardian among them, are already running a piece about the fact that only a third of the 96 to be named are women. moving on now to the financial times. we heard yesterday how netflix smashed wall street estimates for their subscriber figures. well, a slightly less glowing story about the company execs' uncanny knack for hitting their bonus targets. we'll tell you why that's controversial in a moment. 0n the front page of the telegraph is a story about car manufacturer mercedes. it announces that every mercedes sold in europe in the last six years is to be recalled over a fake emissions results scandal. the times of london has a story about the uk's plans to ban credit card surcharges. that could save shoppers here an estimated £500 million a year.

$650 million. hurrah. back to the financial pages of the guardian who have a story about city firms preparing for brexit. amid uncertainty they're putting their own contingency plans in place to kick in at the end of this year. and, finally, a delightful story in the new york times about a woman who lived in a house—sized washing machine. frances gabe, the inventor of the self—cleaning home, died at the end of last year aged 101. we will get to that in a minute. with me is james hughes, chief market analyst at gkfx, a brokerage firm. good morning. let's get the pain out of the way first, the bbc in the spotlight. yes, later they will publish the annual report.