this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. general motors says it will close factories and slash thousands ofjobs in north america, as it looks to save money and keep up with its rivals. and talking tough — president trump says he is likely to go ahead with an increase on tariffs imposed on chinese goods from the start of next year. and on the financial market, a mixed day emerging in asia as traders get their heads around the latest trade threats from the us president. so let's get more detail now. car maker general motors has announced plans to halt production at five factories in north america. the moves follow rising costs and slower car sales and come

as the firm focuses on its line—up of trucks, electric and self—driving vehicles. the factory closures will cut more than 1a,000 jobs in the us and canada. gm says it will also close three plants outside north america by the end of 2019. the production cuts come as buyers in north america have turned away from smaller cars to bigger vehicles like suvs and trucks, which now make up nearly 70% of us car sales. rising production costs have also played a part in the decision, including those from new tariffs on imported materials such as steel. the restructuring drew swift criticism from politicians, including from president donald trump. samira hussain reports now from new york. job losses, plant closures, not

exactly welcome news for more than 14 exactly welcome news for more than 1a thousand workers at general motors are month before christmas, but the company says by cutting its workforce 15% it will save $6 billion by the end of 2020, so why are so many billion by the end of 2020, so why are so manyjobs being cut? demand for smaller cars has plunged. people are not buying sedans, instead going for bigger cars like pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles. to be clear, this is not a unique problem to gm. earlier this year ford said it would stop making smaller cars for the american market and it would also cutjobs. and changing customer preferences is not the only driving factor for gm. preferences is not the only driving factorfor gm. tariffs introduced by the trump administration on imported steel, a key material in the production of cars, have cost the carmaker $1 billion. us president donald trump said he spoke with

general motors ceo of mary barr on the phone. well we don't like it, i believe they will be opening up something else, and i was very tough, i spoke with her when i heard they were closing and i said this country has done a lot for general motors, you better get back in soon, that 0hio, motors, you better get back in soon, that ohio, and you better get back in soon. bringing back american manufacturing was a focal point president trump's campaign. a move like this makes it very hard for his administration to claim these jobs are indeed coming back. that was samir hussein in new york. sophie kilvert is senior investment manager at seven investment management and shejoins me now. good morning. hugejobs going. radical action on the part of general motors. but perhaps this is a company that is having to grasp the nettle. things are changing swiftly for the car industry. that is right. it is twofold. americans are changing the cars they buy as

you said. 70% are biting bigger cars which isn't what gm makes. gm has said they are preparing for the future —— buying bigger. does it mean they think the us will slow down? the us economy has been motoring on for quite a few years now, the longest bull market since the global financial crisis. us consumers have been feeling good about the world. is it a signal that things are slowing down and it is the end of that? it is interesting because it is a big number ofjobs, 14,000 because it is a big number ofjobs, 111,000 jobs going across five factories in the united states. as we heard from president trump, he spoke with mary barra, the chief executive, that he was trying to say get back out there. make america great again, expand production and factories. but it is part these policies that have caused some of the pain. it is, that is right. when he came in he said he was going to reboot american industry and make big companies like gm change their

production from overseas back to america, but you are right, some of the steel and aluminium tariffs have cost gm itself $1 billion injust those tariffs, so real problems with the longer term nature of some of the longer term nature of some of the shorter term policies he has introduced. and also we must remember general motors has been around for a heck of a long time. this is a big company with a long legacy. it has huge costs because of that. workers on pensions, that kind of thing. it is quite hard to shift a company of that size and change it in an environment that is rapidly changing with the likes of tesla and the other companies coming into the car industry, apple and google and others. there is huge pressure on gm. that is true and as part of the statement the ceo said they want to concentrate on the electric and autonomous cars rather than the petrol engines. and that certainly pa rt petrol engines. and that certainly part of it, but also they are actually just making a

part of it, but also they are actuallyjust making a car company thatis actuallyjust making a car company that is the right size for where it should be. it has this legacy. it has grown too big. cutting these factories, cutting thesejobs, brings it back to something scalable. and in terms of looking ahead for the us economy and you're saying, you know, are they preparing for the next economic cycle, which would mean people won't buy those new cars, is that what you're thinking as well in terms of looking ahead, 2019, the us economy, what's ahead, 2019, the us economy, what's ahead for the world's biggest economy? we have to look forward at this stage. the global economy has been growing very well over the last 5-10 been growing very well over the last 5—10 years. that has to come to an end at some stage. i not saying it is yet. but certainly growth in the us is not as speedy as it was. that is not saying it is slowing down particularly. there are certainly signs it is slowing a little bit and we have to keep an eye on the future. indeed, absolutely. let's get your take on his comments with regards to uk— us trade. some would

say i'm helpful, some would say he is just calling it as it is, it is not such a great deal. give us your ta ke not such a great deal. give us your take on his intervention. it is an interesting one. he is never one to be shy of saying what he thinks. he has always been slightly negative about any trade deal that theresa may was going to be able to get falling on the side of the real brexiteers i suppose, the likes of borisjohnson brexiteers i suppose, the likes of boris johnson and jacob rees—mogg. he has always been on that side. so ina way he has always been on that side. so in a way these comments are no surprise but they are unhealthy for what theresa may is trying to do at the moment. in the city of london, what we been through the last couple of weeks, what's the feeling with regards to that decision in december? i think it's interesting when we look at yesterday that sterling didn't move tall. we would have expected some move with the deal agreed in europe over the weekend and there wasn't much movement. it went up a little over the course of the day. i think it

shows this deal has a long way to go. all right, sophie, thank you so much. let's stay with the president. us president donald trump says he is likely to go ahead with an increase on tariffs currently imposed on chinese goods at the start of 2019. let's go to our asia business hub, where rico hizon has been following the story. lovely to see you,. sally! this is what the wall streetjournal is reporting about what he had to say about the us — china trade war. reporting about what he had to say about the us - china trade war. -- good to see you, rico. making noise once again before the meeting with china's xijinping on once again before the meeting with china's xi jinping on the sidelines of this week's g20 summit in argentina. yes, the statement came from the wall streetjournal, and he is threatening to push ahead with an increase on tariffs currently imposed on chinese goods at the start of 2019. an donald trump said that he would hit the rest of chinese imports to the us with ta riffs if chinese imports to the us with tariffs if talks fail. that could be

half $1 trillion, sally, in total. ta riffs half $1 trillion, sally, in total. tariffs on $200 billion of chinese goods will increase 25% from 10%. and the tariffs were first imposed in december and and the tariffs were first imposed in decemberand mrtrump and the tariffs were first imposed in december and mr trump is not quite optimistic on the outcome of these talks with president xi jinping saying it was highly unlikely that he would agree to beijing's request to hold off on the tariff rise. he said apple iphones and laptop computers imported from china would maybe also be subjected to tariffs. he launched a trade war with china this year, sally, which has seen the us hit about half of all chinese imports into the us with tariffs. and china has retaliated, but has less wiggle room to manoeuvre as the us buyer is much more from china than it exports from the mainland —— buys. we will have to wait and see those developments in buenos aires between president xi jinping and president trump, sally.

thanks a lot, rico, see you again soon. now let's brief you on some other business stories. italy's government says it will stick to its high—spending budget plans, setting up a potential stand—off with the european union over its deficit. the european commission has already threatened italy with fines unless the plan is revised. the italian government says it will end poverty by trebling the previous government's planned budget deficit. a study claims prime minister theresa may's brexit deal —— we still have time to look at markets really quickly. i mention the fact, and rico mention the fact, that the comments to the wall street journal about trade have unnerved investors, but also we have a fall in technology stocks yet again because of concerns about what new ta riffs because of concerns about what new tariffs in the new year might mean for the likes of apple and co. experts are warning that thousands of cancer patients are dying

unnecessarily each year, because the health service in england has failed to make the improvements needed. the health foundation, which campaigns for better treatment, says more needs to be done to close the gap in survival rates between the uk and other comparable countries. here's our health correspondent, nick triggle. 0ver over the last 20 years, there have been four national cancer strategies. each has promised the best care for england. but the health foundation has said while there had been progress, the nhs was still lagging behind. its analysis shows that only on breast cancer have the health service managed to actually close the gap with the best performing systems. the report warns the lack of progress is costing lives. each year 135,000 people die from cancer. but 10,000 of those could be prevented if care was as

good as in other nations. the think tank wants to see better access to tests a nd tank wants to see better access to tests and scans to speed up diagnosis, but it said services were being undermined by a lack of staff and equipment, which is delaying how quickly patients are seen. the government has already said it aims to tackle this. last month the prime minister promised the number of cancers being diagnosed early what would increase from one in two to three in four over the next ten yea rs three in four over the next ten years thanks to the extra funding being provided to the health service. the department of health and social care said more details would be unveiled in the long—term plan for the nhs which is expected to be published soon. nick triggle, bbc news. now, this is a story we will discuss in more detail in a moment, the burden on police forces in england and wales because of a national crisis in mental healthcare, a watchdog has warned. the inspectorate of constabulary says officers are being left to pick up says officers are being left to pick up the pieces and respond to tens of

thousands of incidents. something we will look at further, it is in the press today — we will talk about it ina press today — we will talk about it in a moment. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: president trump has warned britain the brexit deal could damage us—uk trade, in a fresh blow to prime minister theresa may. ukraine has imposed martial law after sunday's naval clash with russian warships off the coast of crimea. protests across france against fuel price rises enter a second week. president macron prepares to address the nation. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the global media. we begin with the telegraph, like most uk papers today, it's leading woth president trump's warning that britain won't get a trade deal if theresa may's brexit

deal goes through. the other main story is that the police are now having to handle a call on mental health—related issues every two minutes. the guardian looks at workers in britain who have had the weakest real wage growth among the advanced nations in the g20, according to data from the united nations. the independent says according to a report by the institute of fiscal studies, more than 130,000 men are enrolling on university courses each year that leave them worse off in terms of future earnings early in their careers than non—graduates. the financial times leads with us carmaker general motors, who are ceasing production at seven plants around the world and laying off thousands in an effort to slash $6 billion in costs. and finally, the quartz website asks

will china's gene—edited babies push bioethics into a dark new era? this follows claims by a group of scientists in china that they have helped bring to life two genetically—edited babies. the goal was to modify the twin girls's genes in order to prevent hiv infection and avoid aids. with us is bev shah, chief executive and founder of city hive. is an agent of cultural change within the natural service is set. welcome back. let's start with this story, front page of the daily telegraph. many others have got this story and on the front page, including the bbc. it has a stack