plus, the rise of hands—free driving, can the technology be trusted or is it a threat to road safety? hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. japan has make industrial giant has defended its proposed acquisition of the united states�*s second biggest steel producer. the deal was agreed in december but the white house said last month that the company should remain in domestic ownership. nippon steel�*s incoming president has called for its deep roots in the united states to be recognised. here he is, the new president of nippon steel tadashi imai. he takes that post today and on the top of his intray a tricky assignment — the $14 billion

purchase of us steel. a deal has been agreed, but it's united these two — president biden and his predecessor, president trump. donald trump has said he will block the deal if he is reelected later this year and president biden last month noted it has been an iconic american steel company for more than it century. and he said it's vital for it to remain an american steel company that is domestically owned and operated. in common with many countries, the white house sees steel as critical to national security. there are concerns aboutjobs in a company which employs 22,000 people, 1a,000 in the us alone and the iconic status cannot be overstated. at one time, us steel was both the biggest steel maker and the world's first billion—dollar corporation. for nippon steel, mr imagi argues that his company's deep roots in the united states be recognized. the japanses firm has about 4,00 employees, it also has about 2000 steel patents in north america, whilst most us makers have about 200 each.

he has argued that nippon is the most useful partner for us steel, seeking to grow in the united states. and promised to move the company's headquarters to pittsburgh where us steel is based. but these arguments may not hold little sway with the two men seeking first to court the american public in the months ahead. turning to china. the new fracturing. it separates growth from contraction. even as a crisis in the property sector remained a drag on the world's second—largest economy. just last month us southeast asia has found itself a key battleground in tensions between the world's two largest economies. both china and the us have stepped up their investments

in the region. just last month, us commerce secretary gina raimondo visited the phillippines and thailand — pledging over a billion dollars in spending in manila — and saying the us wants to deepen economic engagement in the indo—pacific. meanwhile, china's investment in the region rose by more than a third last year. 0ne provider who is measuring this is vistra — which helps companies set up operations and hire staff when they expand internationally. it's chief executive told me why the region is attractive to investors. southeast asia has been a region of relative stability and therefore relative attractiveness for inbound investment. i attractiveness for inbound investment.— investment. i guess interestingly, - investment. i guess i interestingly, because investment. i guess - interestingly, because we are across the world but we have a particular strength here in asia and we are starting to see an increased demand for support for those essential services for those essential services for new entrants and especially clients who might have less familiarity with the region. from may be new locations. what sectors do — from may be new locations. what sectors do you — from may be new locations. what sectors do you see _ from may be new locations. what sectors do you see getting - sectors do you see getting traction in the region? fissia

sectors do you see getting traction in the region? asia is a market _ traction in the region? asia is a market where _ traction in the region? asia is a market where there - traction in the region? asia is a market where there are - traction in the region? asia is| a market where there are very interesting demographic features. 70% of our 280 million strong population now is middle—class and that is a market that many clients will see as being a good bet going forward and in terms of this industries, indonesia— thailand for example, backing investment i would say. the interest from chinese investors, for manufacturing and refining of nickel, for example.- nickel, for example. what is our nickel, for example. what is your outlook _ nickel, for example. what is your outlook for _ nickel, for example. what is your outlook for the - nickel, for example. what is your outlook for the rest - nickel, for example. what is your outlook for the rest of. your outlook for the rest of the year?— your outlook for the rest of the ear? , ., the year? clients are getting used to the _ the year? clients are getting used to the broader- the year? clients are getting used to the broader macro i used to the broader macro situation and starting to explore their risk investment for the contracts. that is the regional certainty and i mentioned indonesia and the

reselection there. that has created some increased certainty in that country. that will continue to push appetite for investing up into the region which is to continue for the rest of the year.— the rest of the year. looking at some other _ the rest of the year. looking at some other data - the rest of the year. looking at some other data points i the rest of the year. looking | at some other data points we are looking out for this week. on tuesday we will find out how south korea's inflation fed in the much of march. the semiconductors are helping the company. 0n semiconductors are helping the company. on thursday, we will find out how trade is going in the world's largest economy. china has accused the us of protectionism, particularly when it comes to renewable energy and electric vehicles. and on friday, the reserve bank of india is expected to keep interest rates on —— on hold at its meeting. the country has the highest growth rate at the moment and inflation up around the 2.5% range. staying in india, tax authorities there have served notices seeking

dues over $400 million to the country's principal opposition party. in protest on sunday, the party and other opposition leaders held a massive rally accusing the ruling pgp of misusing central agencies to intimidate india's opposition ahead of elections that started month ——. the congress party calling this tax terrorism by the ruling pgp saying that authorities have reopened eight years of the party's tax returns deliberately ahead of elections. the congress party saying they will fight this legally but also taking on the fight outside the courts as well. on sunday, the congress along with other opposition parties won a rally in delhi to protest what they call the pjp's intimidation tactics. the congress party complains that the tax agencies have already frozen

$16 million of their funds saying all of this is making it hard for the party to spend on campaigning ahead of elections. several non pjp leaders find themselves being investigated in corruption cases. some have been arrested. including the sitting chief minister of delhi. 0pposition parties say all these cases are politically motivated. but despite their allegations, the congress party has failed to get any relief from the courts or even a tax tribunal, a fact that the bjp is using to ravish all these allegations. the bjp added that the party should fulfil its tax obligations rather than play politics ahead of elections. we were promised self driving cars, but the dream of flying driverless cars and robo taxis seems to be running late. it turns out it's technically harder than expected. instead we see more hands—free driving systems on our roads, and there is a difference, most major car—makers offer them, but is it safe? michelle fleury reports from new york. the road to the cars of the future is

bumpier than we thought. one stop on thatjourney is hands—free driving. i think this is my ride. hello. are you cody? michelle, nice to meet you. i got to see gm's super cruise in action. out on the roads of new york city. we are turning on super cruise, green indication on the wheel and we can take our hands off the wheel. tech that literally takes the driving out of your hands. it's especially nice on long road trips. so that was fun — seeing the system in action. but there were so many words out there at the moment like driverless, auto pilot, hands—free, and it's sowing a lot of confusion in the minds of the public. these are not self driving vehicles. these are partial driving automation systems that are intended to assist you and make some of the driving a little more convenient.

new testing by the insurance institute for highway safety found that many of the use hands—free systems don't do enough to monitor driver's behaviour. the findings were a little disappointing. out of the 14 systems we tested, 11 of those received poor ratings from us. a couple of miles uptown is the new york auto show, one of the industry's great display of its ideas for the future. none of the brands here earned a top rating. only one got an acceptable score — the lexus team—mate. growing concerns over these systems led to this exchange with the head of america's travel safety regulator. if it's only designed to be operated in a certain type of environment, it should be limited to those environments. to raise awareness, general motors has launched a public education campaign. the us car giant wants to make it clear what is and isn't allowed when driving hands—free. we want to gain their trust, we don't want to outpace them to where they don't trust the technology. the technology is meant

to support the driver and prevent car crashes and injuries, an ambition that won't be realised if the humans behind the wheel become distracted. michelle fleury, bbc news, new york. personal data remaining —— belonging to 43 million customers of at&t has been leaked online. the company said information including addresses, social security numbers and passcodes published on the dark web. the telecom giant's wireless 36 network covers 290 million people across the us. more news for you on asia business report tomorrow. bye for now.

hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm jane dougall. liverpool are top of the table after a tense day in the battle to win the premier league. arsenal lift the league trophy after a late goal against chelsea — stopping them from winning the quadruple.

and he can't stop winning, jannick sinner takes the title in miami. hello and welcome to the programme, where we'll start in the english premier league as liverpool have moved to the top of the table after their 2—1 victory over brighton. the visitors took the lead through danny welbeck afterjust two minutes, but goals from luis diaz and then a winner from mohamed salah gave manager jurgen klopp's side all three points. in games against brighton, we were never close. so today, calm, chasing them in the right moments, so many good things for a football coach.