this is business briefing. i'm ben bland. tesla unleashes the beast. but will the electric truck transform road transport, or prove too heavy a load for the company? plus — tax relief for president trump, as his $1.5 trillion reform plan clears the house of representatives. but it could be short lived as the debate moves to the senate. and on the markets: asian markets have built on the previous day's gains. they head into the weekend on a positive note, as traders were buoyed by news from the us that donald trump's tax cuts have moved a step closer. we'll take a look at that and the other market moves later. asa

as a mentioned, it has proved positive for the markets. president trump's plans for the biggest shakeup of trump's plans for the biggest sha keup of the trump's plans for the biggest shakeup of the country's tax system since the 1980s took a step further on thursday. the house representatives voted to pass a broad package of tax reforms being pushed by the president. he says they will boost the us economy, but critics on the democrat side call them a give—away to big business and the wealthy. some republicans are also concerned about the cost, almost $1.5 trillion. well, the debate now moves to the senate, where the republicans have just a narrow majority. the bbc‘s samira hussain explains. taxes. americans don't like paying them and most agree that the tax system is broken, but fixing it, well, that's not easy. the president says he wants a tax code that so simple you could fire lit on a postcard. the republican party has

control of the us congress, which means they could pass a new tax plan with just a simple majority. means they could pass a new tax plan withjust a simple majority.“ there's anything that unifies republicans its tax reform. we've been looking for the opportunity to do this literally for years. the problem? republicans do this literally for years. the problem ? republicans can't do this literally for years. the problem? republicans can't even agree on a tax plan among themselves. lawmakers in the house wa nt to themselves. lawmakers in the house want to cut the number of tax records to four and cut outjust how much people can write off for having a mortgage. the senate plan removes the tax americans pay if they don't buy health insurance. that means some 13 million americans could end up some 13 million americans could end up without any coverage. that plan also means cut to the local tax rate permanently. the tax rate for individuals is temporary. so what do they do now? republicans in the house and senate will have to combine their plans. but if the last few months are any indication, that won't be easy. one place that will

be watching the fight really closely is the us stock market. it goes up when tax reform might actually happen and falls when those plans hit a roadblock. so if president trump wants to keep dragging about the rise of the stock market...“ hitan the rise of the stock market...“ hit an all—time record high today, over 20 2000. and keep his promise to supporters, his party is going to be some —— to have to come to some sort of agreement. switching to the west coast now. in the last hour or so electric car maker tesla has unveiled its latest venture. founder elon musk hopes to take on the road transport business as he has the car industry, with this — an electric powered big—rig truck it calls the tesla semi. there it is in the darkness. it has four electric motors, one for each rear wheel. mr musk says it has a range of 500

miles when it's fully laden at highway speed. he says a 30 minute charge will give it a range of 400 miles. range will be a big concern for truckers, who can get as much as 1,000 miles out of a full tank of diesel. then there's the cost. we don't have a price yet, but reports say the batteries alone cost $100,000, making this a much more expensive proposition. but mr musk says it will work out 20% cheaper per mile to run than a diesel truck. michael coren is technology reporter for the online news service quartz. hejoins me via webcam from san francisco. good to see you. you are an expert on these matters. what is your verdict on what you see? well, elon likes to surprise and always overpromise and sometimes overdeliver and i think this time he did, in terms of the milage no one expected 500. they also didn't expected 500. they also didn't expect a 30 minute charge. so that was quite a surprise. and the fact

that he's got the price down 20% less tha n that he's got the price down 20% less than the average diesel, which remains to be seen on the field, would be pretty significant. this design is very sleek, probably the nicest looking truck that anyone has seen on nicest looking truck that anyone has seen on the road. but is that really where the focus should be, given that people who should be buying them, the companies, would be more worried about the cost? and if the batteries are $100,000 alone it will be incredibly expensive. right. this is an incredibly low market business, maybe 5%. so what you are looking for our lifetime cost. can tesla essentially bring down the costs over the five — six years, or even longer. a sleek truck is not going to impress a fleet owner with a few thousand of these. what will make the difference is that few pennies for mile that he can save

for some of these owners and that remains to be seen, if they can pull that off. you mentioned elon musk's tendency to throw in a surprise and this was about unleashing the beast, as he calls it, but he also unleashed the beast‘s little brother, little sister, a little roadster. that was the original tesla car. this was the first product that tesla sold. they've been promising that he would read release it. —— rerelease. they are already going through getting the model out, so this could be more marketing or it could be another pa rt marketing or it could be another part to the industry. we'll see. 0k, thanks very much indeed. over to singapore now. it seen a huge jump it seen a hugejump in exports it seen a huge jump in exports and

that's bose —— roads well for the economy. mariko oi is looking at the story for us. as you mentioned, a hugejump in exports in october. in fact, the biggestjump exports in october. in fact, the biggest jump in 2.5 exports in october. in fact, the biggestjump in 2.5 years, after a surprising contraction in september. i think economies are looking at last month's figure as a 1—off blip and this is definitely good news, especially because shipments to china actually jumped by especially because shipments to china actuallyjumped by more than 50%. that basically means of course china is singapore's big as trading partner and it's a key trading partner and it's a key trading partner for many asian economies and that means demand from china for those products remain strong. electronic exports remained wicked and some other products. some economies are slightly sceptical about that. —— remained weak. economies are slightly sceptical about that. -- remained weak. let me brief you on other business stories.

there have been more takeover approaches for media giant 21st century fox. according to reports comcast, owner of nbc universal and the biggest cable tv operator in the us, has expressed interest in buying assets, as has verizon communications. last week it emerged that walt disney had held talks with fox. media companies are looking at mergers as more people ditch cable in favour of streaming services like netflix. norway's government has been told its massive state—run fund should drop its investments in oil and gas stocks. norges bank manages norway's $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund on behalf of the government. it said the step would make the country "less vulnerable to a permanent drop in oil and gas prices". norway is western europe's biggest oil and gas producer. german industrial group siemens has announced plans to cut around 6,900 jobs worldwide, mostly in its fossil fuels division. it said global demand for large turbines produced by its power and gas division had fallen dramatically. half of the jobs will be lost in germany, while 1,100 will go in the rest of europe and 1,800 in the us.

and now, what's trending in the business news this morning. forbes is among those reporting that bitcoin reached an all—time high on thursday, surpassing $7,800 for the first time, despite the sharp fall at the beginning of the week. the economist magazine says we are facing a bitcoin "bubble". in the financial times, japan business group chief calls for more foreign workers. the head of the country's chamber of commerce says companies are blaming poor performance on lack of skilled workers. from bloomberg, uk seeks help from german business for brexit trade deal. it reports how brexit secretary david davis has asked business leaders in germany to help force the pace in the deadlocked negotiations. don't forget, you can get in touch

with us via the hashtag bbc—the—briefing. that's almost it. before we go, a look at the markets. asian shares rose on friday. strong us earnings. that brightened the mood, even though investors noted that many more hurdles must be passed to reach a final deal on the tax cuts. the end of the week saw heavy selling, fuelled by profit—taking and dealers' worries that may be a rally in recent weeks had gone too far, pushing about —— evaluations to hire. —— too high. the prime minister is due to hold talks with the president

of the european council, as she seeks a significant step forward in the brexit negotiations. before leaving the uk, brexit secretary david davis warned that putting politics above prosperity in the negotiations was not a "smart choice". laura kuenssberg explains. it is almost as if david davis tonight told the rest of the eu, it's not me, it's you, warning them not to put their political priorities, the political sanctity of the eu, ahead of the livelihoods of the eu, ahead of the livelihoods of their people and put that in the way of a good deal between britain and the rest of the eu that keeps oui’ and the rest of the eu that keeps our trade links going. i think that betrays the frustration felt in some parts of the uk government at what they see as a pretty hardline approach being taken particularly in berlin and in paris. but its provocative to come here to the eu's powerhouse to make that case. it also provocative to say it's the other side has to be more flexible

when a consensus in this and other european capitals is that it is for britain to be the one who compromises, for britain as a matter of urgency in the next couple of weeks to make a promise that we are prepared to stamp up our —— a bit more cash in order to get on with all of this. but on that crucial issue there was no new offer in david davis's hans tonight. he was reticent and pretty silent on that vexatious issue. what he was clearer on, which could cause a bit of trouble at home, was that the european court would be the one charged during a two—year transition period after we leave the eu. there isa period after we leave the eu. there is a small but noisy group of brexiteers on the tory backbenchers for whom that's not acceptable and that could cause trouble at home. laura kuenssberg reporting. and coming up at 6am on breakfast, charlie stayt and naga munchetty will have all the day's news, business and sport. join them for that.

this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: with president mugabe still under house arrest, a senior us official says washington is hoping for a new era for zimbabwe after the military takeover. despite growing calls for his resignation, and a power struggle over who should succeed him, the 93—year—old president is refusing to step down. saudi arabia has denied that it's imposed a blockade on yemen, where millions of people are facing famine. the saudi foreign minister has told the bbc the blame for the crisis lies with local houthi rebels. the un says thousands of civilians will die unless aid is allowed into the country. the british prime minister is due to attend an eu summit in sweden, where she'll once again call for talks to begin on a post—brexit trade deal. the european council, is expected to tell theresa may, there's no guarantee negotiations will begin next month, unless the uk clarifies what it's prepared to pay. now it is time look at the stories

that are making the headlines in media across the world. we begin with the toronto star and un secretary general antonio guterres who said saudi arabia's failure to reopen key yemen airports and sea ports is reversing humanitarian efforts to tackle the crisis affecting the impoverished country. next we turn to the independent and bank of england governor mark carney who said the brexit vote has slowed the uk economy and britain has now fallen from the top of the g7 leaderboard to near the bottom. the china daily focusses on driverless vehicles and swedish car maker volvo who unveiled its new self—driving truck in beijing. volvo said china's booming e—commerce sector will over great opportunities for autonomous delivery vehicles. meanwhile, futurist website the verge asks whether tesla's much heralded launch of an all—electric truck will be received favourably considering the lack of infrastructure currently available for electric vehicles.

finally, the new scientist reveals how astronomers have sent a radio message to a neighbouring star system, one of the closest known to contain a potentially habitable planet. however, if we are lucky enough to get a reply, we will have to wait up to 25 years to receive the return message. it would still be quicker than the replies i from some friends. so let's begin. with me is priya lakhani, who is a successful entrepreneur and founder and ceo of century tech. what message would you ask to alien life out there? we will share