finances for hush money. it's after his former lawyer, michael cohen, told a court mr trump directed him to hand over the money, with the purpose of influencing the 2016 presidential election. china and the us meet for trade talks, with the hope of descalating their dispute over tariffs. and this video is trending on bbc.com: coconut oil's been branded pure poison. one harvard academic says it's one of the worst foods you can eat. the so—called superfood contains dangerously high levels of unsaturated fatty acids. that's all. stay with bbc world news. and the top story in the uk: jeremy corbyn is calling for radical reform of the media with a windfall tax levied on tech giants. more from me later, but first, here

is rico. a second round of tariffs worth $16 billion takes effect today, this time targeting chipmaking equipment in china and some products in the us as both sides raise the stakes in the trade war. and qantas is flying high with record profits on the horizon — we will find out how the australian national carrier is doing this while others struggle. it isa it is a thursday, everyone. good morning, asia. hello, world. welcome to this action packed edition of asia business report. i'm rico hizon. we start in trade and the escalation

between the us and china, as of noon in beijing another $16 billion worth of us imports will be subject to tariffs, the same as the amount in chinese goods that will face tariffs in america. on the us list of items, 279 products mean in the mainland —— made in the mainland which will have 2596 in made in the mainland which will have 25% in import taxes including items like tractor equipment and parts used to make semiconductors and motorcycles. on the chinese side they are raising tariffs on coal from the us, medical instruments and ca i’s from the us, medical instruments and cars and buses made in america. this brings the value of goods facing ta riffs brings the value of goods facing tariffs in each country to 50 billion dollars us and in another $200 billion potentially in the works, all this week the us government has been holding public hearings on implementing more import taxes on chinese products, while at the same time officials from both countries are holding negotiations

to see if they can end the impasse. one trade analyst says it is unclear if president trump is achieving his goal of bringing manufacturing back to the us. partly because it takes a while, so if i wanted to move manufacturing to the us from asia, especially china, it takes eight to 18 months to move factory, or it ta kes a 18 months to move factory, or it takes a while even to take a factory and ramp up production, that's not something you can do overnight and it is not clear that he has the patience to wait for that to take effect, timelines are not working in his favour. what about the asian economies, collateral damage, singapore, the philippines, malaysia, when will we feel the pinch of the rising tariffs? it will ta ke pinch of the rising tariffs? it will take a bit longer, so today for example the $16 billion hit semiconductors, which will hit

singapore, how soon that will trickle, it won't be today, because it just started today. trickle, it won't be today, because itjust started today. so how long will it take? a couple of months before singapore starts to feel that. and that's the challenge, the collateral damage is coming, but when? we heard it from the asian trade centre and companies in the region will start to feel the pinch of the tariffs in a couple of months. well, the bbc asia business correspondent is outside one of the busiest ports in asia, right here in singapore. we heard it from deborah elms, so what are people saying about the possibility of a resolution to the trade disputes? well, rico, standing outside the singapore ports, there is no better place really to feel the impact of the battle between the two giants, the battle between the two giants, the us and china, and what effect it has out here in the asia—pacific

region. ijust has out here in the asia—pacific region. i just want to tell you a little bit about the singapore ports, rico, to help people understand how vital it is that asian countries are looking for some kind of resolution between beijing and washington. something like 100,000 ships passed through singapore ports every single year. nine out of ten containers, rico, make their way from singapore to another country. this is to illustrate that trade has really helped completely transform this region. it has boosted economic growth here and it is one of the main reasons why asia has turned from an economic backwater into one of the most dynamic regions in the world, which is why everyone in this pa rt world, which is why everyone in this part of the world is really hoping some kind of solution is in sight tween officials as they sit down to talk about the trade talks between beijing and washington today. and a lot of economists say this won't have much effect on the us and

china, but the collateral damage will be on the economies like singapore and other south—east asian and northern asian economies is? -- economies? that make sense, a lot of the stuff sent from china to the us, which is seeing tariffs placed on it, it is a fraction right now, it will bring us to $50 billion, it is the threat of $200 billion that could be coming up in the weeks ahead. in the months ahead, i should say. and that's the big concern for companies is an products to china, that they could see many more products now become more expensive to american consumers. that would hit growth out here in this region. thank you so much for updating us on the latest from singapore, karishma, oui’ the latest from singapore, karishma, our very own asia business correspondent. and the trade war with china has caught the attention of officials from the us central bank. according to minutes from the latest policy meeting, the federal reserve officials have warned that

the escalation in trade disputes could potentially have consequential downside risks for real activity. and even though many companies are 110w and even though many companies are now sounding the alarm bells about what the tariffs will do to their business, some companies are in favour of trump's tariffs, especially true for those in the industries which have struggled with unfair chinese competition long before mr trump took office. paul blake sent this report from cincinnati. trade wars are fought on factory floors and this assembly line in cincinnati has become a frontline in the trade war of 2018. they manufacture some 70,000 tyres each year, sending down the edges and adding new trade. i have been doing it for sa years and this is probably the last five that have been the toughest. he says the business is being run over by cheap, nonreusable tyres from east asia. the problem,

he says, is china is subsidising the low—cost imports, allowing them to be sold at the same price as his rebel tyres. given the choice between nu or a refurbished thai consumers will go for the cheap import —— between a new or refurbished tyre. we want to see something happen so that we are on a fair playing field. he is so worried that he took his concerns straight to the top. so what's this? president trump, i will not tolerate unfair practices that harm american workers, farmers, ranchers and businesses. to many, donald trump's policies can sound like a trade based temper tantrum but for blue—collar workers it is the us president standing up for their livelihoods. the obama administration grappled with the tyre issue before donald trump came to power but the message seems to play well with trump's political

base, but what about the broader public? they're being used for political gain and not for appropriate economic purposes. what we need to do is help out with foreign relations more than trying to basically tax the country and prosperity. indeed, a recent study found nearly half of americans believe tariffs will be bad for the country in the long—term, but with mid—term elections around the corner president trump looks to be shoring up president trump looks to be shoring up support among the working class base and that means more tariffs are coming down the line. the australian national carrier posted almost a 15% rise in annual profitability with healthy returns across all sectors of its business despite a rise in jet fuel. from sydney, phil mercer explains the tailwinds giving our lift to the airline's strong results. it has been a big yearfor the

flying kangaroo as it has faced up to the twin challenges of stiff competition and higher fuel prices. the company has renewed its partnership with emirates and switched from dubai to singapore, it is hard for its second london service. —— its hub. one of the headline moments was the non—stop services from perth in western australia to london. there were concerns at the time that passengers may find the 17 el non—stop journey too tiring and they would miss out on stopovers in asia and the middle east —— 17 hour. qantas says that the route is performing well and above expectations. in recent times, qantas, australia's national carrier, has been boosted by its domestic services and also its budget flights. qantas is almost 100 yea rs budget flights. qantas is almost 100 years old. back in 1921, the fleet

consisted of two biplanes. it has 110w consisted of two biplanes. it has now become one of the major players in the ultra competitive global aviation industry. all right, and that was phil mercerjoining us from sydney. let's have a quick look at the markets now and we start with the markets now and we start with the us, record—breaking day for the s&p 500, but it closed lower at the end at 2861. thank you so much for investing your time with us. i'm rico hizon. sport today is coming up next. this is bbc news. the top stories this hour: he did nothing wrong. there are no charges against him. the white house remains defiant as donald trump rides out one of the most turbulent days of his presidency. the world's two biggest economies talk, but can officials find a solution to the growing trade war? a suspected illegal gun factory has been uncovered on an industrial

estate in east sussex. if more doctors are not trained as radiologists the experts who treat diseases within the body then the whole service could collapse according to the royal college of radiologists which says a sort each of staff has led to growing delays with patients across the uk. —— shortage of staff. it says there could be delayed scan results for some patients. our health editor has more. it's a vital part of the work of the nhs — scans to diagnose and check for a range of different conditions. but now there are warnings there are not enough experts to analyse them and patient care is being affected because of delays. carol is worried about her mother maria, who is in constant pain because of swollen feet and ankles. over six months, there have been a series of delays with scans and follow—up appointments, and it's still not clear what's causing the problem. you just can't get through to people. it's answer phones. you're just banging your head against a brick wall most of the time.

i just want to see some light at the end of the tunnel, really, get her some treatment, and hopefully give her a bit more quality of life. last week, some patients in the north of scotland like louise were told they might have to travel further for specialist radiology because of the shortage of experienced staff. she has cancer and is at risk of infections and sepsis. she is worried that urgent care may be harder to get. it's terrifying. it's terrifying as a patient to think that on the occasion where there'll be another infection, i don't know where to go. it estimated the workload reading scans has gone up 30% over five years, but the number of consultants in england is only up 15%. in scotland, wales and northern ireland, there's been no increase at all. the nhs around the uk now has to spend £116 million a year on overtime or outsourcing

of the work — double what it was five years before. leading members of the medical profession now say that a shortage of senior radiologists capable of interpreting the most complex scans and carrying out important procedures is causing delays for patients. delays which they say are unacceptable. i can't overestimate how worrying it is, in that i do really feel that the entire service will collapse if something isn't done about training more radiologists in the uk to fill the vacant consultant posts. both the scottish government and the department of health and social care covering england said more specialist radiology training places were being created. leaders in the field are yet to be convinced enough has been done. hugh pym, bbc news. that is it from me. mike embley is

here in 15 minutes' time, but now it is time for sport today. see you $0011. hello, this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme... top footballers in spain could strike over a plan to stage la liga matches in the usa. the promised land on the horizon, ajax with one foot in the champions league group stage after beating dynamo kiev. olympic champion, joseph schooling, wins singapores first gold at the 2018 asian games as he dominates 100m butterfly. hello and thanks for joining us on sport today. footballers in spain have not ruled out the possibility of strike action over plans to stage at least one top—flight league match in the united states per season for 15 years. real madrid captain sergio ramos and barcelona vice—captain sergio busquets were among the high—profile players