congressional legislation backing protesters in hong kong, despite objections from beijing. the new legislation requires the state department to certify that hong kong retains enough autonomy to justify favourable us trading terms. the islands government says it opposes and regrets his decision. malta's government is in crisis. an investigation into the murder of a prominentjournalist has led to protests outside parliament and a string of resignations. and this video is trending on bbc.com. cows at a farm in russia are reportedly being given virtual—reality headsets to reduce their anxiety levels. the headsets apparently show a unique summer field simulation program. that's all, stay with bbc world news.

more on our website, bbc.co.uk/news, and the news app. now on bbc news, live to singapore for asia business report. trump signsa trump signs a key hong kong legislation. the move backing pro—democracy demonstrators comes in the face of angry objections from china. protests and investments. a trade minister in chile tells me why his country is open for business despite wave of violent demonstrations. good morning, asia, hello, world. yes, it is a thursday. glad you could join us for another exciting addition of asia business report. i'm rico hizon. let's start off with the hong kong protests, because us president donald trump has signed into law congressional legislation backing the pro—democracy protesters. the move

comes despite angry objections from beijing, the us and china had been close to reaching a phase i deal to end their bitter trade war. michael mccarthy joins end their bitter trade war. michael mccarthyjoins me now end their bitter trade war. michael mccarthy joins me now from end their bitter trade war. michael mccarthyjoins me now from sydney. could this impact the ongoing trade negotiations, michael? because a few days ago trump said it was close to fruition. good morning, rico. that is the key issue for markets at the moment, how beijing will respond to what is clearly a provocative move from the president in signing this bill. on the positive side, this is largely a symbolic girl. it merely enables action in the future if the us congress is moved to do so. so if the response from beijing is also symbolic, things might be ok. but if they decide to react by delaying or deferring the current trade talks and the potential for a deferring the current trade talks and the potentialfor a phase i negotiation, the market reaction is very severe. should beijing separate

this legislation signed by donald trump from the ongoing trade negotiations? it's possible they could. there are other responses possible, a number of ways china could react. so it won't necessarily embroil the trade negotiations that are ongoing. the reality is that both sides want an agreement here, and working towards that would be a very sensible move. and in keeping with the longest standing view that china has taken that this is a structural negotiation for the good of both countries. what do you make of both countries. what do you make of the signing of this legislation by donald trump, right before thanksgiving, and when the us market goes on holiday tomorrow?m thanksgiving, and when the us market goes on holiday tomorrow? it can't be typified as anything other than provocative. the reality is that there could be delays now, with much of the us on holiday for effectively four days. it does also lend itself to the idea that, for the white

house, the trade dispute is a political issue, not an economic one. and they might sacrifice the short—term economic interests of the us to their domestic legal considerations, and that of course would be bad news for global markets. this is also a big surprise to the markets, that it was signed today. does this change in any way your market strategy, michael? absolutely. at the moment market sentiment is that optimistic eyes. not only are we optimistic about the trade negotiations, optimistic, and a nalysts trade negotiations, optimistic, and analysts have recently revised up their expectations for growth next year. this directly cuts across that, and given so many markets are at or near all—time highs, once again the potential for at or near all—time highs, once again the potentialfor a at or near all—time highs, once again the potential for a sharp reaction in a market is very real. michael mccarthy from cmc markets joining us from their sydney trading floor. thank you for your insights. this is indeed having a negative effect on the hong kong markets, with the hang seng index down by about 0.5%. well, remember president

trump and xi were expected to meet and possibly sign a trade deal at the summit in chile until the country called it off amid a wave of protest that left 20 people dead. the country's president said that irreparable harm triggered the peso to plunge to a record low. the country has a delegation in asia this week as it tries to attract more investments. its vice minister for trade told me why he sees his trade mission as crucial a amid the u nrest trade mission as crucial a amid the unrest at home. it's a matter of giving information on a daily basis to our stakeholders. so we are here on the basis of that. and that's why we've started this tour with our minister for we've started this tour with our ministerforforeign we've started this tour with our minister for foreign affairs in the 620, minister for foreign affairs in the g20, so we can see firsthand what is the process the country is going through. but the protests continue in the streets, vice minister. we see pictures of chile's armed police

using tear gas, water cannons to disperse protesters. according to human rights watch, grave human rights abuses are taking place. peace and stability are tantamount to new investments. yes, although it is true that the country is working. we had two first rough weeks in october, in the second half of october, in the second half of october, but exports are picking up. ports are working, logistics of working, and the country keeps doing business. so as we take care of protests, in cities, the country keeps doing its business, and for us it is important that we can also convey how the country is working for the rest of the stakeholders. business as usual, as you say, vice minister, but people are in the streets because of income inequality, high living costs and low wages. what is the government doing to address these serious issues? well, a very ambitious social agenda, which includes all of the topics that you had mentioned.

raising minimum wages, talking about pensions, tax reforms, means to address also the living costs, and also at the end of the process, a roadmap for a new constitution that is widely agreed among all political sectors in chile. but does the government have the money to be able to subsidise the needs of the people, or are you planning to basically tax the elite, which basically tax the elite, which basically comprises about 33% of the economy's wealth? well, the tax reform has two goals, taxing the richest, at the same time incorporating and including incentives for smes and investments. so these are permanent investments and we are generating permanent income over the future as well, through this tax reform also but of course, everybody knows that politics and politicians talk a lot about reforms, but when our people really going to feel the equality in

their incomes and lower living costs ? their incomes and lower living costs? well, immediately, because the government has sent these bills right away the congress is in full mode of discussing this. the matter that the president cancelled the meeting has to do with that full attention to the social agenda in chile. so for instance, starting december, all of these changes will be enacted. rodrigo yanez, chile's vice trade minister. tata steel has announced job cuts as part of plans. two—thirds of their marine management and office—based roles. 1600 positions are also set to go in the netherlands, and 350 others around the world. for more detail, let'sjoin our around the world. for more detail, let's join our correspondent in mumbai. so why is tata steel making these cuts now? well, rico, we knew these cuts now? well, rico, we knew thejobs were going these cuts now? well, rico, we knew the jobs were going to go. now we know how many and exactly where. and

the compa ny‘s ceo know how many and exactly where. and the company's ceo for europe said that the company can't stand still as the world is changing, and that really pointed to the global slowdown in the drop in demand for steel. tata steel's india business is also hurting because of the economic slowdown here, because demand has dropped for things like cars, and so automakers are not buying as much steel as they were. steel has also pegged to how much steel is being made in china and production is down there because of the slowdown and ongoing tensions with the united states. but tata steel has been trying to restructure its business for the last two years, and it almost cut a deal with a german company earlier this year, but that blocked by europe's competition commission, saying it would produce two largest steel maker, and that had some effect on the market. so most of thejobs maker, and that had some effect on the market. so most of the jobs are going to go in the netherlands, as you say, and manyjobs also to go in

the uk, and unions there are very unhappy with this decision. in the netherlands, also, there was a guarantee that jobs would netherlands, also, there was a guarantee thatjobs would be secure until 2021 at least. so there is going to be a lot of news coming out of this, a lot of going back and forth over this decision. but tata steel is adamant that it needs to restructure its business in order to survive the current economic climate. majorjob cuts at tata steel. thank you so much for your update, joining us from our mumbai bureau. the european central bank's new president is pushing for tackling climate change to be part ofa tackling climate change to be part of a strategic review of its aims. the plan underlines christine lagarde's goal of making the issue a, quote, mission—critical priority for the bank. jack dorsey has tweeted said to be leaving the continent for now. africa will define the future, especially the

bitcoin one. not sure where, yet, but i will be living here for 3— six months mid 2020. grateful i was able to experience a small part. and that is how he ended his twitter is how he ended his to experience a small part. and that is how he ended his twitter message. let's have a quick look now at the markets. as you can see, basically the hang seng index with that signing of legislation by donald trump, which benefits the hong kong democracy protesters, down by 0.7%. virtually unchanged for the nikkei. the all ordinaries up to 0.3%. thank you so much for investing your time with us. i am rico hizon. sport todayis with us. i am rico hizon. sport today is coming up next. this is bbc news. the top stories this hour: defying beijing, president donald trump signs into law congressional legislation backing protesters in hong kong. malta's government in crisis. an investigation into the murder of a prominentjournalist leads

to protests and a string of resignations. nine out of ten of the managers who run council services for older nine out of ten of the managers and disabled people say they fear that the care system in england will not be able to cope over the winter. our social affairs correspondent alison holt has been to meet a woman in her 40s for whom the care system is a lifeline. have you got my water bottle there? thank you. nina is a7, and has multiple sclerosis. she knows all too well the pressures on the care system in england that are reflected in today's survey. she has onlyjust moved into this specially adapted flat, where she gets the help she needs. thanks, tracy. but, in the summer, she was living in a small room in a nursing home for elderly people. she spent ten months there because there was nowhere else for her to go. it was amazing how quickly i became sort of institutionalised,

really, and used to the care. the person that i should be, in this bed, is an elderly person with alzheimer's or dementia, and i should be out in the community, living an independent and much more normal life. now trying to live that more independent life, she is using her pension and money from selling her old flat to pay for the care she needs. it will run out within weeks, and nina worries her council won't be able to provide her with enough support. ridiculously, i feel guilty for needing that much help. i feel guilty for asking the council for the level of help that i want, because i know that they haven't got the funds. demand from an ageing population, staff shortages and financial difficulties for councils lie behind the problems. even with some extra government money, the people running services say their level of concern is unprecedented. i don't think i've seen it this bad,

and i think this is a result of continued short—term action, so rolling over of money, or little bits of money for winter, or here and there, and i think the cumulative effect of that over four or five years has led to this position, where there's almost unanimity now about the worry and concern. those worries are about a care crisis in england, but many of the pressures are felt across the uk, and for nina, the need to fix the problems facing her and many others is now urgent. alison holt, bbc news. hello, i'm chetan pathak and this is sport today from the bbc sport centre. coming up on the programme: the holders liverpool are held by napoli as their wait continues to qualify for the knockout stages of the uefa champions league. messi scores in his 700th game for barcelona as they guarantee their place in the last 16.

and with reports of athletes sleeping on the floor, organisers of the southeast asian games are in a race to be ready for saturday. welcome to the programme, thank you forjoining us. the european champions league holders liverpool missed the chance to reach the knockout stages with a game to spare after being held at home by napoli. a win for either side at anfield would have seen them go through. it was napoli who took the lead midway through the first—half with a goalfrom dries mertens. but dejan lovren equalised for liverpool in the second half, a point each though means that nothing will be decided until the final round of matches in two weeks' time and liverpool have a tricky trip to salzburg. and the situation, if i didn't a nswer and the situation, if i didn't answer before, it's still open. some quys answer before, it's still open. some guys think they are already through, but they have to play again. a lot

of people around liverpool