this is business briefing. i'm sally bundock. march of the yuan. president trump vows to combat "predatory investment"— amid growing concern about china's acquisition of foreign technology plus — landed in debt. australia's banks are accused of unfairly forcing farmers from their homes as part of a wide ranging enquiry into misconduct in the sector. in the financial market, they are not sure which direction to turn. japan is low and hong kong is high as investors tried to read between the lines on the policies in the white house. we start in the us where president trump has said he supports tougher restrictions on foreign investment, amid growing concerns that china is buying up sensitive us technology. markets have been rattled this week

by fears that trade tensions could escalate from tariffs on goods — to curbs on international investment. so have they? mr trump wants to combat what he calls the "predatory investment practices" that threaten america's leadership in technology, national security and future prosperity. so — there will be more power and scope for the committee on foreign investment in the us to block transactions. but for now — no specific rules limiting investment by china. that's being seen as a victory for treasury secretary steve mnuchin. the us is not alone. the european union has been looking into curbing certain foreign takeovers — especially by state—controlled companies — after concern from germany, italy and france. in germany for instance, investments by china havejumped from $124 million seven years ago to over $14 billion last year. paul blake in ny has more.

it has been a rough ride for wall street so far this week as they have tried to make sense of what the drug administration was planning when it comes to the subject of china. market here on monday would do, and tumbled, on the news that the resident was considering a two prong approach, a major attack on chinese companies importing to america and vice—versa. are confusing set of m essa 9 es vice—versa. are confusing set of messages on tuesday left investors are scratching their head, nervous about what was being hatched out in washington. by wednesday was clear the president was taking a softer approach, promoting new legislation that would boost panel the refuse foreign investment here in the us. the decision is a victory for moderate voices in the white house who are trying to prevent an ongoing trade dispute with china from

spiralling into a full on trade war. it also comes at a time when the us and other countries around the world are growing increasingly wary of china's burgeoning economic influence around the globe. with me is arnab das, global market strategist at invesco asset management. good morning. lovely to have your here. paul started there by saying that investors around the world are scratching their heads. are you? with president trump, i am always scratching my head. i could hardly help that. i do think that there is something interesting, something interesting happening which has happened before, a very strong and new york approach, quite loud rhetoric and noise and then a toning down. not necessarily a change in the underlying object all the means. but, like with the te, that company where they went hard and fast and

then stepped back. —— zte. where they went hard and fast and then stepped back. -- zt e. they did not step back because they almost offered to rescue a. as a consequence of the us actions it was looking at many job consequence of the us actions it was looking at manyjob losses and it suddenly became an issue and donald trump was coming to the rescue at one point. as a result of personal dialogue and the chinese president. having said that, this issue of trade tension, and the underlying concern about technology transfer and the acquisition of technology, that continues. this is a pattern that continues. this is a pattern that emerges. what about the curbs on international investment? by china in particular into the us? i think there is a nice softening of the tone. that the underlying issue is still the. instead of maybe having some strong rules that seek to target china, there is the general case—by—case approach which

they have always operated. every day i feel like we have to explain a new layer of communication that comes from the white house or via donald trump's twitter account. how are you working through this in yourjob with your clients? you will invest huge amounts of money for your client. how do you play this one? or do you just hope that in the long—term this will alljust sort itself out? where are you at? there is an increase in the signal to noise, all the noise to signal ratio. there is a lot more noise through tweets and the rhetoric generally. americans often like to say that the presidency is a bully pulp and. and we certainly have a bully in the pulp. there is an increase in the noise, you just need to step back from that and try to pass out what is the real underlying national interest and national strategy. briefly, are you concerned about the state of the global economy? i think there is the noise

and there is a signal that trade tensions generally, notjust with china, but with europe and japan have been stepped up and that is usually a challenge that the world economy responds to by slowing down. all this uncertainty will have an effect on cutbacks to investment around the world and slow that down. there is a particular issue when you have diverged in. where the us is motoring along and the rest of the world is already slowing down. it is a concern. thank you so much for coming in early, we do appreciate it. that was quite interesting and we have more on that later in the news review because it has also been into the papers. let's go to australia now because an inquiry into the country's banks has heard evidence of farmers being unfairly forced from their homes, after becoming loaded with large debts. the royal commission into financial services is investigating allegations of misconduct across the sector. farmers leaders say the impact on some rural customers has been devastating. from queensland, hywel griffith reports. working on the land has been henry's

life and livelihood. the son of a farmer, he had two properties and wa nted farmer, he had two properties and wanted to expand to help his son. his bank financed a third farm that in the deal to buy more cattle fell through it pulled the plug and henry lost everything. they wanted their money back yesterday and they couldn't care less who they hurt or what. so we lost everything. we were more or less put off properties, we could not even take food of the properties. as payment is a, the bailiff came in, we were given 30 minutes to pack a few things and move. henry works as a car taken for another farmer. move. henry works as a car taken for anotherfarmer. he move. henry works as a car taken for another farmer. he says that his bank mismanaged his business. the bank mismanaged his business. the bank told us it will not discuss individual customers but says it

does not take sale process is likely u nless does not take sale process is likely unless there is a prior history —— and has a prior history of supporting agribusiness. farmers have traditionally depended on lasting and strong relationship with local bank managers, who understand the business and no—one can take a long time to get a return on investment. what this royal commission has shown is that after the global financial crash, that patients will then and many relationships broke down. austria's big banks have been accused of failing the farming industry, repossessing properties instead of helping farmers to make the business work. it is part of the home and pa rt work. it is part of the home and part of the psyche. if they are to lose that source of income that they rely on from the bank to run that farm and to carry on the business, thenit farm and to carry on the business, then it is a huge loss for them. the royal commission has put bank executives in the hot seat. one of the largest, anz, admitted had

wrongly forced some farmers from their homes. you say you did not act calmly —— fairly and reasonably? you say the bank did not act fairly and reasonably? yes, i think that is correct. after a lifetime in farming, the only asset henry has left is his truck. he hopes the royal commission will help bring a change in the landscape. now let's brief you on some other business stories. us regulators have cleared walt disney's plan to buy most of 21st century fox, removing a final barrier to the $71.3 billion deal. they have, though, demanded the sale of fox's regional sports networks in the us, because of competition concerns. the deal still needs approval in other countries to go forward. apple and samsung have finally settled a seven—year—long patent dispute, bringing to an end the long—running battle over the design of their rival smartphones. the terms were not disclosed. but it comes weeks after a us jury

ordered samsung to pay apple $539m in damages for copying features of the original iphone. the us supreme court has shut off a key revenue source for labour unions, ruling that public sector unions cannot charge non—members fees to fund collective bargaining. the 5—4 ruling overturns a four decade—old precedent and deals a blow to organised labour in the us, a traditional pillar of the democratic party. and now — what's trending in the business news this morning. on cnbc — ex treasury secretary larry summers praises china's state investment in tech, saying it doesn't need to steal from us. from bloomberg — right wing groups declare a new, potentially final war on america's unions. and from business insider, goldman's ceo—in—waiting just released his first electronic dance single.

david solomon — who is widely tipped to replace lloyd blankfein — is also a dj in his spare time, using the name d—sol. he already has over 425,000 monthly listeners on spotify. and don't forget — let's us know what you are spotting online — use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. prince william concludes his tour of the middle east today with a visit to some of the historical and religious sites in eastjerusalem. on thursday, he met palestinian president mahmoud abbas in the first official british royal visit to the occupied west bank and also expressed hope for "lasting peace" between israelis and palestinians. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell has more. he has met young people from both

sides, israeli and palestinian. and last night, in eastjerusalem, prince william spoke of their hopes. iam prince william spoke of their hopes. i am struck by how many people in the region want lasting peace. this is only too evident among the young people i have met. they long for a new chap to be written in the history of this region. a chapter that will secure them a prosperous future and will ensure that there are enormous talent can flourish. on william's final day he will see some of the historic bases in and around the old city ofjerusalem, beginning on the mount of olives and moving on to the garden of gethsemane. you will be a chance to learn more about a city that occupy such an important place in thejewish, islamic and christian faith. all in all it will

be an intense reminderfor william of the complexities of this. and this region, where different cultures, religions and politics have such a tendency to collide. we will have more on that visits later on. coming up at six o'clock on breakfast, steph mcgovern and naga munchetty will have all the day's news, business and sport. plus the pangolin — the most trafficked animal in the world. scientists have come up with a new technique to help tackle the poaching of the pangolin, a mammal whose scales are used in chinese traditional medicines. a team at portsmouth university has come up with a way of taking human finger prints off seized scales that could help identify the criminals behind the illegal trade. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: eu leaders are meeting in brussels shortly. they're set to focus on the divisive issue of migration. president trump has begun the search for a successor to a key member of the us supreme court who's standing down after three decades.

german footballers and fans are trying to come to terms with their shock world cup exit. the final places in the last 16 will be decided today. now to look at the papers and social media. we begin with the independent and the european council. president donald trump has told eu countries to prepare for "worst case scenarios" as relations with the us under donald trump rapidly deteriorate. while in the gulf news, us president donald trump said he supported tougher restrictions on foreign investment in sensitive technology, as well as export controls on those goods, but he stopped short of imposing specific restrictions on china. in the ft, entertainment giant, walt disney, won the us government's blessing for its $71 billion acquisition of 21st century fox's movie studio and cable channels. on the mashable website, microsoft founder, bill gates,

expressed his admiration for technology tycoon elon musk‘s artificial intelligence research company, open ai. mr gates hailed the development of artificial robots trained to work together and defeat humans at video games as a big deal, because their victory required teamwork and collaboration, a huge milestone in advancing artificial intelligence. the sun's headline takes a swipe at german football fans who were left traumatised following their 2—0 defeat against south korea in the world cup by giving the english dictionary meaning of the word "schadenfreude." while germany's sueddeutsche zeitung takes an unsurprisingly more sympathetic view of germany's loss with a picture of the crestfallen