i'm kasia madera, with bbc world news. the white house top economic advisor, gary cohn, has announced his resignation. mr cohn was said to have been unhappy with the president's threat to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. the us state department has confirmed that north korea used the nerve agent, vx, to kill the half—brother of kimjong—un in malaysia last year. and this video is trending on bbc.com. remember this photo of a little girl staring up in awe at a new portrait of michelle obama 7 well now the former first lady has met little parker curry and posted this clip saying, "parker, keep on dreaming big for yourself...and maybe one day i'll proudly look up at a portrait of you!" that's all from me now. and the top story here in the uk. military experts in britain are testing the substance thought to have made a former russian spy and his daughter critically ill. now on bbc news all the latest business news live from singapore.

asian markets react to the news that the white house's top economic adviser steps down just hours after president trumps stands firm on steel and aluminium tariffs. and billions of dollars in offshore oil and gas are mocked for east timor. welcomed asia business report live from singapore with me, marika oi. the white house's top economic adviser gary cohn has resigned, reportedly unhappy about the president's proposed tariffs and that it could trigger a trade war. we are already seeing the impact on the market, especially on the us

dollar falling against safe haven currencies such as the japanese yen and swiss franc. mr trump tweeted that he will appoint a new person to the role in the coming weeks. the news of gary cohn‘s resignation came shortly after his comments that the recent dispute he disagree with. the united states has been taken advantage of by other countries both friendly and not so friendly for many, friendly and not so friendly for any friendly and not so friendly for many, many decades and we have a trade deficit of $800 billion a year. and that's not going to happen with me. mr trump is standing firm on the proposed tariffs so i asked oui’ on the proposed tariffs so i asked our business reporter in new york in this latest resignation of gary cohn had come as a surprise. gary cohn has long said he opposed the tariffs

the trump administration has so vociferously defended. he supports free trade, his background, he worked at goldman sacks, he is a democrat. he says he supports pro—business policies and diaz classed with president trump on a whole range of issues. they agreed on the recently passed tax reform but there was not much common ground. when we saw donald trump come out this afternoon saying he wa nted come out this afternoon saying he wanted these steel and aluminium tariffs, it seemed like it was a done deal that he would have to resign. there have been so many disagreements from within his own party as well but we also heard from the aluminium industry which is set to benefit from these tariffs, opposing the move. an industry trade group said they were deeply concerned about the proposed tariffs and they weren't quite sure this was the best way to help the american

aluminium industry. this comes in stark contrast with the us steel industry which is said they support the proposal. what are the most aggressive reactions to the tariffs has come from europe. they are meeting today to discuss how to respond and the european commission said its response would be fully compatible with wto rules. it's already drawn up a target list of 100 us goods worth $3.5 billion in the row has its businesses. electrolux is freezing its us factory investments. the deal to ta ke factory investments. the deal to take over the production company of harvey weinstein has collapsed. it is the latest twist in the long—running saga over the future of the film studio which is on the brink of bankruptcy. last week an investment group gave the green

light on an all women run studio that they have abandoned the venture for now. the first fall in sales for over a decade for lego. it saw strong growth in china but it struggled in more established markets like north america and europe. the firm has diversify then recent yea rs, europe. the firm has diversify then recent years, moving into videogames, a hit movie and amusement parks. let us turn to the fishing in seafood industry in thailand which is worth around $7 billion according to the latest estimates. it employs more than 600,000 people out of which about 300,000 are migrant workers and its latest report, the international labour 0rganisation, or the ilo, said migrant workers were more vulnerable to abuse in the industry. let's get more from jasonjudd from

the ilo live from bangkok. thank you for joining the ilo live from bangkok. thank you forjoining us. tell us about your findings and stories you might have heard from the workers? the ilo, a un agency, has tracked 435 workers in thailand's seafood and fishing industry is everybody from the boat to the processing plant and its big business here in thailand. we found evidence of some progress and some persistent abuses. evidence of progress includes changes in thai law that means the fuel workers on both factories who are under years old. there are high wages for some workers in some of these vessels. we see more fishing workers who have a written contract, for example. the number was very low in 2014, 9%, and

the new number was about 40%. that is evidence of improvement. 0n the other side, we see problems with payment of wages. fishers reported that about a quarter of them are not getting all of their pay. some of it is withheld in part in part in an effort to keep them on the boats. a third of fishers toll is their passports or other documents are kept from them. it means they can't leave when they want to. as tomorrow is international women's day and it will be celebrated here in thailand, we saw the gender pay gap in seafood processing including large factories and small. 0n the whole, we saw that only half of women are paid legal minimum wage but the figure for men is 75%. jason judd, chief adviser at the ilo. after more than a decade of disagreement, australia and east timor have finally come to an agreement over their maritime border in the timor sea. the deal could

pave the way for major oil and gas developments and east timor desperately needs them to develop its economy. for more, i'm joined by timothy mcdonald who has been to the country. how significant is this dealfor east timor? country. how significant is this deal for east timor? this is really as big as it gets. we are talking about something that will clear the way for development projects which could be worth in the order of $40 billion. east timor really does need this revenue. it has other oil and gas projects but they are running out but they are responsible for funding 90% of the government budgets without it, they could be in quite a bit of trouble. 0n the other hand, what this treaty doesn't do is guarantee that those are going to happen. the oil and gas companies actually want to know what country they are drilling in, which is fair

enough. it doesn't guarantee it because there is still a big sticking point and that has to do whether they are going to process the gas and oil. east timor wants to do it on shore. the companies don't know if they want to do it offshore 01’ know if they want to do it offshore or in darwin. very interesting. thank you. the annual list of the world's richest billionaires, tim andi world's richest billionaires, tim and i are not on it but forbes released the latest list and topping it for the first time is this man, the founder and boss of amazon, jeff bezos, worth $112 billion. here in asia, the founder of wechat in china, which isjust crossed asia, the founder of wechat in china, which is just crossed the 1 billion accounts mark. he is at number 17. and jack ma, the chief

executive of alibaba came in at number 20 but donald trump has dropped quite a number of places this year. donald trump has fallen 2-2 this year. donald trump has fallen 2—2 spots, his fortune is down $400 million and that is primarily due to retail markets in new york city being down but it is also in part duty is very polarising personality. we've definitely seen some of his licensing and merchandising businesses take a hit. you are seeing some places around the world ta ke seeing some places around the world take down the trump name. it's definitely losing a bit of its lustre. let's retake -- recap our top story which is the sudden resignation of gary cohn and asian markets are already reacting to his resignation. let's show you the boards. all markets are in the red. also, interestingly, shares in

japan's defence equipment companies are japan's defence equipment companies a re lower after japan's defence equipment companies are lower after tensions on the korean peninsula appeared to have eased after news of the apparent willingness by north korea to halt nuclear tests. all this after wall street had a volatile session all because of continued uncertainty over us trade policy. there has been some impact on the currency market as well. that is it for this edition of asia business report. thank you for watching. the top stories this hour. donald trump's top economic aide, gary cohn has resigned in protest at the president's threatened trade wars. the us state department has confirmed that north korea used the nerve agent, vx, to kill the half—brother of kimjong—un, in malaysia last year. thousands of people in parts of the uk have spent a fourth day without water after pipes that

froze last week burst as temperatures rose at the weekend. water companies have continued work to restore supplies to homes and businesses in london, kent, sussex and parts of wales. emma simpson reports. a sussex country pub with lots of beer, but no running water. not today. i'm really sorry. that's all right. they've been saying sorry to customers since saturday, 200 lost bookings, and counting. how much is this all going to cost you? probably £6,000, £7,000 so far. it's devastation, we can't open and we've lost food. we've lost our revenue, you know. down the road, yet more emergency supplies for households in need. 0h, we're managing. you know, we're british, aren't we! they were helping themselves in west wales, and there are still thousands without water in london.

here's the problem — just one of many burst pipes still being repaired. no quick—fix, but progress is being made. the big freeze has put an enormous strain on the water network, but critics say the water companies should be investing much more in improving ageing infrastructure and making the system more resilient. south—east water will invest £450 million into its infrastructure from 2015 to 2020. we're dealing with an unprecedented event here due to the weather, where we've seen a 25% increase in burst and water demand over a couple of days. back at the pub, the chef's cleaning, not cooking. they just want to know when they can re—open. this ale won't keep if it's not soon, yet more money being poured away.

emma simpson, bbc news, wadhurst. the body of a woman who'd been stabbed has been found in herfamily home in south west london. the discovery was made an hour after the bodies of her husband and two boys — aged 7 and 10 — were discovered at the foot of cliffs in east sussex. police say they're not looking for anyone else in connection with the investigation. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i'm @bbckasiamadera time now for all the sports news in sport today. hello, this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: cristiano ronaldo scores again as holders real madrid moved through to the champions league quarter—finals. new zealand fight back in the fourth one day international after jonny bairstow hammers 138 for england. and frenchmanjonathan ivair has won

stage three of the paris—nice as luis leon sanchez took the overall lead. hello and welcome to the programme, where we start with the champions league news that holders real madrid and liverpool are the first teams through to the quarter—finals, after respective aggregate wins over paris st germain and porto. real went through 5—2 on aggregate, with cristiano ronaldo scoring — making it a goal in every game he's played in the competition this year. when marco veratti was sent off it appeared all hope was lost, but minutes later edinson cavani scored to level it on the night, before casemiro made sure of the result and their place in the last eight. translation: i think it all went well, we had a good