in indian—administered kashmir, a bbc investigation has uncovered allegations of brutal beatings and torture by soldiers. the bbc has been told that soldiers pulled people from their beds, hitting them with rods and administering electric shocks. the indian government denies any mistreatment of civilians. british lawmakers are preparing for a showdown on a no—deal brexit. they're planning to try next week to stop the prime minister boris johnson suspending parliament for several weeks. and this story is popular on bbc.com. the liverpool defender virgil van dijk has been named uefa men's player of the year. the dutchman edged out barcelona's lionel messi and cristiano ronaldo ofjuventus. the women's award went to lucy bronze. that's all. stay with bbc world news.

for more on all our stories go to the bbc news website. the address is bbc.co.uk/news or download the bbc news app. now on bbc news, live to singapore for asia business report. hong kong protests and business — as the city sees the 13th week in a row of demonstrations, we will get the impact on companies. india's economic slowdown, with the growth figures available, what the government is doing to attract investment. happy friday, everyone. welcome to this friday edition of asia business report, live from singapore, with me, rico oy. let's begin with hong kong. this weekend will mark the 13th week in a row of

protests there —— mariko oi. there have been pressures to stop workers from taking part in the demonstrations. the biggest because of the so far has been cathay pacific. two bosses have resigned and some of its staff has been fired. for some, this has been the event that has changed the landscape of businesses in hong kong. i'm corresponded reports. because this is guaranteed by the basic law! what can you do when your personal beliefs can get you fired? in hong kong, they come out to the streets. today, no gas mask saltia masks —— gas masks or tear gas masks here. just ordinary workers trying to make their voices heard. like rebecca tsai, who was fired from herjob at cathay dragon airlines, she says, for supporting pro—democracy protests on her over at social media

profile. we should consider our background, our qualifications, not oui’ background, our qualifications, not our political stands are what we say oi’ our political stands are what we say or what we post on social media. it's not fair at all. but more than that injustice, is the fear that their way of life in this city will change. this is still one of a supposed make great financial cities. for the most part, the protests here a re cities. for the most part, the protests here are limited to the weekend, during the week, people get on with work, get back to business. but there's a new reality emerging for companies here. they are having to adapt to. for decades, multinationals have a lot to hong kong for its stability and access to china. but now they're having to make some difficult decisions about the future. the decision is, does toeing the line with beijing now damage my global market, or do i — doi damage my global market, or do i — do i kowtow now and protect my position on the mainland? that is

the big decision people are making. it's a contrast that veterans here have always understood. alan zeman built this city's iconic entertainment district was that he seen it all: from colonial hong kong toa seen it all: from colonial hong kong to a china — back one. seen it all: from colonial hong kong to a china - back one. i have been in hong kong for over 35 years. i understand these are the rules if you want to do business here, then abide by the rules. but the rules in hong kong have always been different from those in china. that was not what's help hong kong thrive. now many are asking what happens when that line is blurred ? many are asking what happens when that line is blurred? bbc news, hong kong. let's turn our attention to the us—china trade war. raisins has an open fire on hopes of a resolution. —— opened fire. the happen is nikkei open up i%. this follows while street getting a boost with all its

main indices ending more than i% higher. but of course, this is ahead of the latest round of us tariffs coming into effect this sunday, and that conflict is starting to take its toll on some asian countries. and, raising concerns they are heading towards recession. well, earlier i asked img was makeshift as an economist if the slowdown is due to more than just a trade war between the world's to more than just a trade war between the worlds to me just economy “— between the worlds to me just economy —— two biggest economies. between the worlds to me just economy —— two biggest economieslj think everybody globally is a little bit worried. do you invest while this trade was on, off? so there's definitely a factor there, but for number ofa definitely a factor there, but for number of a economies in the region, the father bigger impact is in the electronics industry —— far bigger impact. so the japan and south korea also having somewhat of a trade part, is that having an impact on that particular industry there?m

is. that's affecting some of the key inputs to korea semiconductor business, that doesn't help. neither japan or korea do particularly well at the moment, just wondering if economic weakness is one of the ca ta lysts economic weakness is one of the catalysts behind the nationalist sabre rattling we are seeing. there have been concerns, worries, that other economies make it recession. we talked about hong kong earlier and a lot of economists are expecting recession there, but what economies are heading for the direction? here in singapore we are skirting perilously close, i think we may just skirting perilously close, i think we mayjust avoid one. recent data has been a little bit better, and in electronics areas, it looks like the region is in a bit of a trust. korea is well looking very soft yesterday, they announced a huge fiscal stimulus package so they should avoid it. real economic difficulties across the region. other any kind of winners from this trade war? some people say vietnam is the big winner

of the us— trade war? people say vietnam is the big winner of the us- trade war? vietnam is regularly mentioned. it appears they are picking up some of the china manufacturing, google move —— moving its pixel phone, that'sjust manufacturing, google move —— moving its pixel phone, that's just one of the many incidents of relocation thatis the many incidents of relocation that is happening. malaysia, thailand, there is a bit of that relocation going on there as well. i don't think anyone can be portrayed asa don't think anyone can be portrayed as a winner, it's just losing less than the others. and before we let you go, briefly, any other external factors, brexit, argentina having an impact in asia? brexit is interesting, i don't think it has much of an impact asia or argentina. we aren't seeing the emerging market anxiety that we saw last. that was robert carnell. now to india, it appears the country's latest economic growth because i do out today and the numbers are expected today and the numbers are expected to show that the world's seventh biggest economy's expanding at its lowest pace in more than five years, so the government is rolling out new rules to increase foreign investment

in the country. india's opening its doors to a host of foreign brands. we picked three products. to explain how these new rules are a game changer. until now, retailers like h&m and uniqlo had to source at least 30% of their materials from india. that was difficult. they were either unavailable or of lower quality. now those rules have been relaxed, making india an easier place to manufacture, and i will also boost exports. companies like ikea can now expand faster, since the changes make it easier to set up factories here. and that means more jobs, too. you can soon buy apple products online, the new rules allow single brand retailers to set up online stores without having to set up online stores without having to set up physical stores first. apple can

now import high—quality components more easily, and third—party manufacturers like fox, and can also start making the latest iphones here. —— aux —— foxconn was at the us—china trade war shows no sign of letting up. all of this is a drive to drive investment, manufacturing and jobs, to drive investment, manufacturing andjobs, and to drive investment, manufacturing and jobs, and kickstart india's sluggish economy. lets now update you with other business news making headlines this morning, because new figures show japan's industrial output has opened by much better than expected, i.3% output has opened by much better than expected, 1.3% in output has opened by much better than expected, i.3% injuly. manufacturers also expect a rise by the same amount this month but you fall back in september. the us economy, meanwhile, expanded by 2% in the three months tojune, a touch lower than the initial reading and well below president trump's b %

target. economists say the ongoing trade war with china could also darken the economic picture for a third quarter. —— 3% target. staying in america, let's take a look at what to expect today on wall street. he is the bbc‘s your business reporter. on friday, the university of michigan's consumer sentiments index comes out of the month of august. it is not expected to have changed much from the previous month. but because two—thirds of the us economy depends on consumer spending, how confident people feel about their economic outlook is a vital piece of information. so, a lot of people will be paying attention today. also happening on friday, campbell's soup will be reporting your earnings, and on its investor day, it said it would focus on improving recipes and the qualities of their soup is about as for shelf space in supermarkets that

stock various brands and organic options. investors will mainly keep an eye on the company's soup business, which has been struggling. elsewhere in the world, the uk and the european union are said to step up the european union are said to step upa the european union are said to step up a brexit talk. they will be meeting twice a week to discuss a new deal. this follows a backlash from mps and opponents of a no—deal brexit against the prime minister's decision to suspend parliament next month. that's it for this edition of asia business report, thank you so much for watching. ruth davidson has resigned as leader of the scottish conservatives after eight years in the job. she urged borisjohnson to strike a brexit agreement with the eu before the end of october. she's been a vocal critic of the prime minister's approach

to brexit but she said her decision to step down was primarily for personal reasons after she became a mother last year. there's some flash photography in this report from our scotland editor, sarah smith. anyone who had come to hear ruth davidson denounce borisjohnson and his brexit policy was in the wrong place today. she admits they don't entirely agree, but she believes he is trying to avoid a no—deal exit. i stared him right in the eye and i asked him outright, look, i need to know are you actually trying to get a deal or not? and he categorically assured me that he was. i know that what would help further would be for people who want to avoid no deal to come out and say if a deal is brought back to parliament that they would back it at this time in the way they have failed to do three times already. let the eu know you will pass a new deal, she urged like—minded mps.

while explaining the genuine, personal reasons that why, as a new mum, she's stepping down. i have to be honest where the idea of getting on the road to fight two elections in 20 months would once have fired me up, the threat of spending hundreds of hours away from my home and family now fills me with dread. and that is no way to lead. ruth davidson played a large part in helping to elect 13 scottish tory mps at the last election, up from just one and keeping the conservatives in power. in the current political turmoil, there is a chance the conservatives might soon find themselves trying to defend newly won seats like berwickshire, roxburgh and selkirk, without their greatest electoral asset at the helm. they might even have to fight an election before they've chosen a new leader. she's given us a very good platform but i'm not lacking in ambition for the scottish conservative party, i believe there's more to do, there's more mps we can elect. his constituents say they'll miss her.

i thought she did a lot for the conservatives, because they had nothing here at all. her motives for stepping down, still a topic of debate. i think that she was going to stand down anyway, because of her commitment with the baby and so on. i don't think she gets on with boris, i don't think she agrees with him. but who does? whether or not they get on, the prime minister will be wondering if he's lost an electoral asset or got rid of a thorn in his side. sarah smith, bbc news, melrose. for more brexit stories, go to the bbc news website. now on bbc news: sport today. hello, i'm eleanor roper and this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on the programme: news of shock defeats for simona halep and petra kvitova at the us open. the draw for the group phase of the european champions league is made in monaco, with three former champions thrown together

in one group. and we look ahead to this weekend's belgian grand prix, as the formula i championship returns after a four week break. hello and welcome to the programme. we start with tennis and news of a shock defeat for simona halep at the us open. the number 4 seed and wimbledon champion was beaten by taylor townsend in a three—set thriller. halep won the first set 6—2, before townsend took the second. halep was then forced to come from a "mini—break" down in the third set tie—break. but townsend, who'd squandered two match points earlier, rallied again, and the american, who's ranked 116 in the world, won the tie—break — and the match — to seal her place in the last 32. the number 6 seed petra kvitova is also out. it's after she lost 6—4, 6—4 to world number 88 andrea petkovic. the two—time wimbledon champion, who's been struggling with an arm