us china breakthrough?e have had signs of progress but also worries that he could still take months. lyft‘s $52 million public offering, the rideshare company is set to cruise onto the share market when it lists. good morning asia, hello world, how are you today? glad you could join us for another exciting addition of asia business report, i am rico hizon in singapore. and we start off with the us china trade warand start off with the us china trade war and donald trump's top economic adviser has warned negotiations between the world's two biggest economies could go on for months. his comments come as us trade representative robert lighthizer and treasury secretary steve mnuchin a meeting china's vice premier in beijing. earlier, ispoke meeting china's vice premier in beijing. earlier, i spoke to michelle florian york and robin burned in shanghai and i started by asking if there had been any signs of progress in the negotiations. there is certainly positive talk when it comes to china buying more stuff in t

as the us— china trade war drags consumers. as the us— china trade wardrags on, we consumers.ags on, we have had yet more evidence of the slowdown in the world's second—biggest economy. yesterday, officialfigures world's second—biggest economy. yesterday, official figures showed that the country's manufacturing sector contracted for a third straight month burbury. it is a new three—year low and came ahead of an unofficial but more accurate index due out later today —— third straight month in february. china's economic growth could fall to 6.3% in the first quarter, which would be the wea kest in the first quarter, which would be the weakest level on record. so how was beijing's dispute with washington impacting investment by chinese companies in america? i put that question earlier to a correspondent. we have seen a slight drop off in chinese outbound investment last year. most of it was actually outbound investment into the us, which fell by more than 40% in 2018 as compared to the previous yea rs. in 2018 as compared to the previous years. that is as a result of trade tensio

us. coming up — we've all heard about the china—us trade war, but what about one with india?tial treatment for india. we'll see what that means for business in asia. and before we go, we'd like to leave you with these pictures. kylie jenner has become the world's youngest self—made billionaire — according to forbes magazine. the 21—year—old entrepreneur has made her fortune from her best—selling cosmetics business and her role in her family's long—running reality show keeping up with the kardashians. that's all for now — stay with bbc world news. hello there. all our weather is going to be coming in from the west over the next few days. there is a really strong jet stream tracking right the way across the atlantic and that picks up areas of cloud. this one will arrive on friday to bring some rain. this one here has already brought some rain across most of the uk. those weather fronts are taking the rain further north into scotland. we are seeing some strong winds, especially in wales and the south—west of england. it has been another called night across northern scotland, a t

really important, because the trade wars, people have focused on the impact on china, but clearly there is a big impact on usy clear that both xi jinping and donald trump need to stimulate the economy is on both sides, america and china. so, the 27th of march, just before the 29th. why, what is happening on the 29th? laughter there is a lot going on this month! still to come. it started in a basement in hungary, its founders so skint their diet was largely beans on toast. been there, done that! now the company has won a dozen international design awards. haven't done that! it's maform design and we'll get the inside track from its chief executive. you're with business live from bbc news. first, we mentioned it is busy. shareholders will get a chance to vote today on whether to sell what remains of the regional airline flybe to a consortium that's already bought its planes and other assets. connect airways — which includes virgin atlantic among its backers — is already running flybe. today's vote will decide whether to sell the company that used to run it. joining us with analysis is graham dunn, editor of fl

and our very own china analyst clifford coonan is with us here in the studio good morning clifford so you've spent a lot of time in china you've attended a lot of these people's congresses as they were let's talk about what we just heard there from the premier league he says china is looking for a win win solution in its trade disputes with the us while defending its interests does that sound to you like china is ready to make concessions. it's very hard to say i mean i think china is keen to present a strong image at this party congress so on for a domestic audience it's definitely going to be pushing that message at the same time with that with the number of battles that it's facing at the moment on the tech front diplomatic front it's going to have to come up with some sort of concessions protecting on trade so i think of anywhere we're going to see concessions that will be on trade ok well he also addressed the issue of western companies operating in china they of course feel like they face unfair restrictions let's hear what he had to say on that. sure. we will increase the scope

in the theft of intellectual property by the china government that is not us, the china government doesn't speak for us, we don't speak to the china government. i applaud the united states and others to try and crackdown on the global theft of intellectual property. which has been a disgrace in the last 50 years that we've not done enough about it. i'm glad to see president trump raising that as an important issue in the trade talks. maria: joining right now, a vendor in the technology world, the former chief operating officer at microsoft, managing director -- good to have you on the program. thank you for joining us. >> hi maria. maria: you just heard andy purdy defending huawei but you know, i had to go on with the interview and list at least five or 10 companies that have already sued huawei and settled lawsuits with. including t-mobile, cisco, motorola solutions, microsoft, these have all been issues. and another you at microsoft as coo when steve was the ceo. steve joined me a couple months ago and said to me that china has been stealing ip theft for microsoft that 90 percent of the

negotiators from the us are in china for the latest round of talks aimed at resolving their ongoing tradeade representative robert lighthizer are meeting china's vice premier liu he for a full day of negotiations on friday with both sides warning there's still a lot of work to be done. five of the uk's largest airlines are facing legal action which claims pilots and cabin crew are regularly exposed to toxic fumes during flights. the unite union says legal notice has been served in 51 cases, the majority of which are against british airways — as well as easyjet, thomas cook, jet2 and virgin atlantic. the airlines say that previous studies found no proof of long—term ill—health arising from cabin air quality. the wealthy sackler family is facing new charges it fraudulently transferred billions of dollars from purdue pharma, the firm it owns that makes opioid painkillers — to protect the funds from litigation. purdue is facing thousands of lawsuits over how it marketed 0xycontin. the family say it "strongly" denies the allegations and will "vigorously defend against them". and now — what's t

now, this is a clear nod to the us—china trade war.ll be enough to represent some sort of breakthrough remains to be seen. however, that is something that is being put before the delegates here at the annual national people's congress. the hall of the people in beijing, stephen mcdonald. meanwhile in washington, president trump has toughened the us trade stance against india. in a letter to congress he said he intends to end preferential treatment for the country. the deal allows $5. 6 treatment for the country. the deal allows $5.6 billion worth of indian exports to enter the us duty—free. for the latest, let's cross over to delhi and the bbc‘s business correspondent davina gupta. i we likely to see countermeasures from india? well, rico, i'vejust heard that well, rico, i've just heard that the indian ministry will organise a news conference two hours from now, highly unusual move for the indian commerce minister to address the media here, just in the morning around nine o'clock local time, so we will see what countermeasures india is

as us and china negotiators prepare forfresh trade months. are for fresh trade negotiations this week, intellectual property remains a key sticking point. two weeks ago if beijing approved a new law it says will better protect foreign companies. but it is also pressure from domestic businesses that has forced china to act. this was the scene of a very modern crime. two years ago in a plastics recycling factory on the southern outskirts of shanghai, someone stole a horde of intellectual property and got away with it. one of my it managers copied 10,000 pages of my entire company's profile, including our technology information, our customer list, our purchasing and supply information, everything, and our formulas. 10,000. and he is establishing another company. frank's story is increasingly common in china. some of the original idea behind is 25—year—old firm stolen by an insider, and he feels he has no recourse. today, any people in a company, very easy to steal. it is not, we worry about people outside to steal our information. what i worry is

i've got to go out to have you with us china's economy is taking center stage at the annual meeting of the country's national people's congress around three thousand delegates from across the country are in beijing for the vent in the opening session china's premier league cut the growth target to its lowest in nearly three decades that is partly due to a trade dispute with the u.s. least said beijing would continue to push for a resolution to the dispute. beijing's new airport it's set to be the world's largest when it opens later this year china's leadership often uses political advances an occasion to flaunt its successes to the media and it's a welcome distraction china's economy is burdened with the consequences of its trade dispute with the u.s. municipalities and state run companies are struggling under high levels of debt addressing china's national people's congress premier league chang issued a warning. we face a complex and serious situation as well as challenges foreseeable and other was that are greater in number and in the us. we also announced market reforms aimed at lev

national security advisor john bolton says china uses bribes and shady deals for its expansion and huge loans to hold african countries captive to its demands china seeking to establish itself as a string puller in africa. well i think that china's relationship with africa has been maintained on a very sound foundation for many decades and i think that oppose the african country as a whole as well as. a china we have appreciated such kind of very good economic politico and relationship i think that nowadays the swedish about much more comprehensive include the even wider spectrum of the people to people dialogue as well as many other cooperation on those. sustainable economic development of climate change as well as i think both sides also agree that they should china would help africa as a whole to invest more into those a sustainable security capacity beauty so in that regard i think that this relationship is based upon the quality and based upon the now going to be innovation into those domestic internal fares of each others and. in this kind of relationship is also carried out in a

china's overall trade surplus, the difference between what china sells abroad and the amount it buys, which so infuriates the ussident, shrank dramatically to $4.12 billion in february from just over $39 billion the previous month. but analysts caution that china's trade figures early in the year can be distorted by the timing of the lunar new year holidays, when businesses either rush out shipments or scale back output before shutting down for an extended break. jeremy thomson—cook, chief economist at worldfirst, joins me now. happy friday. not so happy for china. what is going on? no, a big dip in chinese trade. looking at february data is always tricky in china because most businesses are kind of shut for ten days to two weeks, so you will see them shouted, you will not see much action. over the course of january and february, if you put those two months together to kind of bland that out, it shows a very large fall for such a large economy. absolutely, and as you say, you are right to point out that we do need to smooth out the data and look over a wider period of time, but these are february year—on—year f

it is also reported uncertainties over the us heiner —— us— china trade relations as clouding the areaeen the us and china enter a fresh round of talks later this week, the issue of intellectual property have proved more difficult. china announced a new law recently that it would be better protected but as we report from shanghai, it is support from domestic at home that was forcing china to act. two yea rs that was forcing china to act. two years ago in a plastics factory on the outskirts of shanghai, someone stole a horde of intellectual property and got away with it. one of my it managers copied 10,000 pages of my entire company's profile including our technology information, our customer lists, our purchasing and supply information, everything. after that make our formulas. everything. 10,000. then he moved to establish another company. his story is an --is not uncommon in china. stolen by an insider that he feels he has no recourse. today, any people in a company, very easy to steal. now we worry about people outside to steal oui’ worry about people outside to steal our informatio

maybe some hope over the us and china trade talks as well.are doing 0k. at the moment global growth is growing, although it is moderating, but the world is not too bad and maybe we do not need that safe haven just at this moment in time. we will look at the papers with you later. thank you. thank you. still to come... in the age of digital media how does a 90—year—old record brand keep up? we speak to the boss of decca records about keeping the brand relevant. you're with business live from bbc news. kingfisher, the owners of bm.) and screwfix, have reported like for like sales down 1.6% for the last 12 months. screwfix sales increased 10.3% but it wasn't enough to offset a 2.8% decline in the diy giant b&q. thomas slide is an analyst from mintel. do you think they have got anyway of rebalancing it so the gains at screw effects cou nterbala nce rebalancing it so the gains at screw effects counterbalance the b&q pulse? what we are seeing is a clear shift in the way people shop for diy from this big box format. it is clear that people are shift

negotiators from the us are in china for the latest round of talks aimed at resolving their ongoing tradeary steven mnuchin and us trade representative robert lighthizer are meeting china's vice premier liu he for a full day of negotiations on friday — with both sides warning there's still a lot of work to be done. five of the uk's largest airlines are facing legal action which claims pilots and cabin crew are regularly exposed to toxic fumes during flights. the unite union says legal notice has been served in 51 cases, the majority of which are against british airways as well as easyjet, thomas cook, jet2 and virgin atlantic. the airlines say that previous studies found no proof of long—term ill—health arising from cabin air quality. china's tech giant huawei says it made record revenues last year, despite controversy around the world over the security of its products. sales of its smartphones soared — it may be on track to leapfrog apple and samsung to become the world's market leader this year. christine hah is in singapore. it's doing well despite these issues and controversies over s

beijing's new airport it's set to be the world's largest when it opens later this year china's leadership often uses political advances an occasion to flaunt its successes to the media. and it's a welcome distraction china's economy is burdened with the consequences of its trade dispute with the u.s. municipalities and state run companies are struggling under high levels of debt addressing china's national people's congress from a leak a chuang issued a warning. we face a complex and serious situation as well as challenges foreseeable and otherwise that are greater in number and in. size. also announced market reforms aimed at leveling the playing field for chinese and foreign companies this bid to diffuse u.s. complaint has made delegates more optimistic that the trade dispute with the u.s. could soon be resolved only issues that you and the u.s. astonishing to get used to each other i think there is growing trust between the people and the governments of both countries. china has announced a further increase in defense spending up seven point five percent on the previous year with this china hopes

well there are warnings that hong kong does risk being hurt by deteriorating us—china relations and it me ask you, much has been made of the trade tensions between china and the us and that trade flows through hong kong. there are concerns over the chinese telecoms giant huawei and its investments and involvement in sensitive parts of western economies. what is your view on that? do you think that will affect hong kong, or are that? do you think that will affect hong kong, orare you that? do you think that will affect hong kong, or are you going to be protected from that?” hong kong, or are you going to be protected from that? i think it would be foolish to say that we... 0ur would be foolish to say that we... our economy is linked with china today. what happened between the trade talks between the us and china will have an effect on hong kong either directly or more likely indirectly. yes, sure. ijust hope that they will manage to work out something, because it is certainly not in the interest of both china and the us to escalate any more of these so—called trade tensions. and the us

wto gave us china in its current form. they're considered in wto a developing nation. we put an end -- we let them know, we're not going to stand for that. we let the folks over at the world trade oranization know we're not going to stand for that. so think of it. china, india, these are all considered developing nations. we're not a developing nation. they have a big advantage over us. why didn't people come out strongly against that in past administrations? they should have. that's a tremendous advantage. we are not allowing that to p happen. maria: let me ask you -- >> we advised them we're not going to stand for that. maria: let me ask you about social media. you said many platforms censor conservative speech. >> i hate the concept of regulation on media. you talk about the world collusion, the collusion between the democrats and these people, it's ridiculous. it's hard to believe i won. if you think about it, i had facebook, google, twitter, everybody against me. i have the media's almost totally against me. and yet i won. 306 to 223. people can't p even believe i

events at the opening session china's premier league chunk cut the growth target to its lowest in nearly three decades he also announced a rise in military spending. well with us in the studio is china. clifford coonan who spent a long time in china as a correspondent clifford the national people's congress you've seen this many times before they're often described as a rubber stamp parliament if that's the case what can we learn from watching their deliberations well in fifteen of these. parliaments they are indeed. decisions are made there which are already agreed weeks in advance however they give us a very valuable insight into how decisions are going to be made. into how the commies party's thinking and what direction it sees the world's second largest economy heading so that's a very useful indicator if not a great example of democracy in action all this talk about the economy is really center stage at this meeting chinese president xi jinping warned in january about a complicated and grim international conditions for the country's economy now the g.d.p. figure has been ratched down a little bit the growth target has been lowered what are the implication

and time now for a quick break but stay with us because one returned to china trade continues to percolate but is it at a. oiling point peter schiff the c.e.o. of euro pacific capital and conservative commentator steve walz join us plus artes brunch abor reports in an emerging chinese economy that will surprise you and as i noted at the top of the shelf he may have a drone as we go to break here the numbers the closing bell will be back in a flash. just manufacture consent to stick to the public will. when the ruling classes protect themselves. with the financial merry go round be the one percent of. the time we can all middle of the room sick. leave room. so what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy sunday shouldn't let it be an arms race on all sides clearly a dramatic development only really i'm going to resist i don't see how that strategy will be successful very critical time time to sit down and talk. welcome back. there is weapons manufacturing and purchasing news today involving the country of turkey u.k. car and jet engine maker rolls royce says they wil

and on the markets, asian markets are up as optimism prevails over the china—us trade talks, while attentionurns to the federal reserve‘s next policy meeting this week. it's been the talk in german financial circles for months. now it's out in the open. germany's two largest banks could become one. formal talks are to be held between deutsche bank and commerzbank. 0nce two of the mightiest lenders in the land, both have their problems and have found it hard to grow. combined, the two would cover a fifth of germany's high street banking business. a merger could result in massive cost savings, in particular by closing branches. the german union for the service sector, verdi, opposes the deal. it's warning that in a worst—case scenario, up to 30,000 jobs would be cut. deutsche bank stressed that any merger will not be rushed. it is important to us that we will only engage in a transaction if it makes economic sense and therefore it is his plan, a good integration plan and together with commerzbank we will evaluate this, go through due diligence and only when the results are they will we make a

worried about the situation between the us and china. curve'. christine hah is following the story from singapore. why has this got investors spooked? to explain this, the yield on the us treasury bond has now fallen lower than the yield on the us three year treasury bond, well usually it is the other way around and when it flips it indicates investors are very pessimistic about the shorter term future. nine times out of ten this has happened in the past 64 yea rs, this has happened in the past 64 years, a us recession has followed within 24 months. the last time we saw this yield curve it was just before the global financial crisis. investors are essentially betting history will repeat itself. of course there are many other factors, the european data being leaked this week, the us and china trade war —— trade war, as you mention. we are now seeing us stock markets falling, us futures indicating a weaker opening tomorrow, global bond markets falling. unless we see something change very soon, perhaps a positive turn with the trade talks, t

fizzled out, as investors now wait for evidence that there is actually a trade deal between the us and china begin with the us president, who says he intends to end india's preferential trade treatment under a program that allows $5.6 billion worth of indian exports to enter the united states duty free. trump, who's vowed to reduce us trade deficits, has repeatedly called out india for its high tariffs. let's go live to delhi now, where devina gupta has been following the story. devina, just tell us how the system currently works. 50, very devina, just tell us how the system currently works. so, very briefly, what happens is that the us gives a preferential treatment to goods coming from developing countries like india, so there are about 1900 product categories in which it does not have import duty. it also helps the american companies because they get more material like organic chemicals or jewellery get more material like organic chemicals orjewellery or agricultural products are very cheap rate. now what has happened is that for the passed one year, we have seen the rhetoric against indi

just as investors started to think the us—china trade war might be coming to an end the trump administrations about a fresh conflict this time around india. well it follows the us trade representative office's plan to end preferential treatment for india that allows duty—free entry for $5.6 billion worth of the country's exports to america. the bbc‘s country's exports to america. the bbc‘s davina gupta in delhi has been speaking with indian officials and the business community. this is down to escalate trade tensions in the region. the us has removed about 1900 goods from a preferential list, which are exported from india, and from now on the exporters will have to pay a hefty duty. so, organic chemicals, farm equipment, it will get more expensive even for us companies to buy them. but the trump presidency has been targeting this. they had said earlier as well that india also has very high tariffs for the us companies. so, bikes coming from the us, dairy products, medical equipment, the us has asked india to lower the tariffs. both have been negotiating a middle ground, but now this announce

these announcements from china's national people's congress, but of course all eyes as well in the us— chinade deal, the trade truce has passed and the wall streetjournal today reports that china has made some major concessions and a deal is imminent. yes, so there is speculation that trump and president xijinping will actually speculation that trump and president xi jinping will actually met speculation that trump and president xijinping will actually met in mid—march. and really, this has been hanging over the markets for over a year, so hanging over the markets for over a year, so some hanging over the markets for over a year, so some kind of resolution should bode well and should see the market further extend the rally we have seen. having said that, it has been fairly momentum driven so investors should expect some volatility. last week there was talk that two site have had no agreement on an enforcement activism —— two sides. could this be a problem? -- enforcement mechanism. when it comes to the tariff themselves there will still be some to—ing and fro—ing when it comes to other issue

actions on wall way could make it hard for worrell and lower income americans who figure and us china trade continues to perkel why some say it has been brought to a boil over wildlife but new reports suggest that a deal on trade goods called sounds peter schiff the c.e.o. of europe a civic capital and conservative commentator steve walford joined us to discuss and later i told you about that twenty nine thousand hong kong blocked change conference i did make the trip but boom bust is on the scene friendship for reports on a number verging chinese economy that will surprise most of you plus i'm told i'm told he has a drone i love drone stories all that directly ahead.

us today. little off china. my colleague, terry sewell have steppeded the caribbean base and trade partnership act for another 10 years from 2020 to 2030. it's an important program cause it requires the use of u.s.-made yarns and this allows haiti to compete with large asian partners such as china and vietnam. with the program to expire, certainty is important. and important to u.s. companies but especially when doing business in a least developed business like haiti, do you foresee support for re-authorization of this act? mr. lighthizer: i'm not prepared to say. i don't have an idea. the fact that you and congresswoman sewell are in favor of this is a positive indicator from my point of view. i want to look at it and want to say the requirements for u.s.-made yarn is something that i have supported as a matter of policy and applied in other areas. but i want to look at that so i can give you an informed opinion. mr. wenstrup: hasn't come up in ny conversations with china as how it might affect them? mr. lighthi

we are also monitoring other events like the us china trade talks going forward. investigation into alleged links between donald trump's election campaign and russia has cleared the president and his team of colluding with moscow. a special service has taken place in poland to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the prison break which inspired the film, the great escape. the audacious getaway saw 76 allied servicemen tunnel out of the stalag luft three camp. robert hall reports they had hoped to frustrate the war effort with the largest ever mass escape. but 50 of those who tunnelled out of captivity would never be reunited with friends and families. the german gestapo, acting on orders from hitler, murdered most of the 76 great escapers. today, members of the raf police, who launched a postwar hunt for the killers, took part in a tribute to the airmen. when the first tunnel was discovered, they kept going. when they thought they were going to be hampered by the weather, they kept going, and there was that determination there. the forest is steadily reclaiming sta

not the first time in china i was doing it this is actually the fourth time china is doing it got us china is concerned china has to make a choice between each more important ally in the region pakistan or india and that's what our side has going to baucus on is more important. than that india china has good investments you know in it in pakistan and china has to also be gauged the other guy in geopolitical landscape where so all of that out there are economic and strategic to be some sort of china times i'm going to put a box set of yes indeed i mean you don't you correctly identify that across pakistan as an integral part of the one but one roads policy of beijing but also i mean beijing itself doesn't have a few qualms to say the least about the activities of groups like mohammad base in pakistan with regard to particular to its northwest and reason and john. that's correct i hear age has its own reason as to what evolved in some of the activities of these groups in the long of it in the long run but i think in the short bus pulled out there or. not or set records i am not in directly s

so the snowball has been a rolling way before the current state of us china trade regulation, but i thinkd new zealand and australia signing on to barring huawei. i think huawei is getting out ahead of the issues and saying i wa nt to out ahead of the issues and saying i want to stop this is no borlee little bit, because the us, through diplomacy, it's talking to our allies, including ones in the european union, and sharing information about huawei.“ european union, and sharing information about huawei. if you didn't already know, today is international women's day. if you could grant one wish for women worldwide, what would that be? we sent our reporters to ask that question in sydney, singapore, yangon, and mumbai, and this is what we got. women should get the freedom of walking, talking, any time of the day, and we should be safe and secure day, and we should be safe and secure in the country, which is not happening at the moment.” secure in the country, which is not happening at the moment. i have a young daughter who is turning 18 very soofi. young daughter who is turning 18 very soo

therefore the weakness in german exports is not yet over and so the trade conflict between the us and china use you still say that that is. one of the trade conflict of course it's hurting but they also a lot of homemade problems in china think of the huge increase the debt of state owned enterprises and these high debt more or less forced them to lower their their capital expenditure and this is also a problem therefore if there is a trait if there's an agreement with the president trump on trade this does not automatically mean that the problems are off the table so you reckon that germany can stay resilient briefly if you can. well i think germany. will continue to face problems on its export front i think in the next couple of months that data will continue to dominate and only later in the year we're likely to see is their position. thank you very much. thank you. eight years ago today an earthquake and tsunami killed thousands and thousands in japan and also hit the nuclear power plant in the japanese town of fukushima the reactor meltdown that followed remains one of the biggest nucl

let's start with the trade war between the us and china.ary said that a deal between the two countries presidents will not happen at the end of march as previously discussed. meanwhile china hasjust passed a new foreign investment law minutes ago in beijing says the new legislation will level the playing field forforeign legislation will level the playing field for foreign firms. some observers see it as a bid to facilitate trade talks with the us. let's go live now to our correspondent outside the great hall of the people on tiananmen square. we believe the law has already passed. can you tell us more? as expected this parliament, and annual meeting of a rubberstamp institution has passed the new foreign investment law that will come into force on january investment law that will come into force onjanuary one next year, 2020. it is a significant shakeup of regulation laws surrounding investment environment for foreign firms. it has been welcomed by the american business immunity here to an american business immunity here to a n exte nt ame

and what we were what we had that we do we but we differ with you she's the one to teach us china will step aside because even within the alliance that was done with the idea to secure in the last twenty years is supposed to include even within the powerful trade union federation. the biggest million each and the political policies that are backing the president's support is withdrawn all right journalist sophie and feel it necessary speaking to us from algeria thank you very much for your analysis. now to some other stories making headlines around the world fed as well of the opposition leader has called for his supporters to take to the streets again to step up pressure on the government for new elections president nicolas maduro has also called on his supporters to rally the latest power struggle comes after a huge electricity blackout paralyzed much of the country. police in the turkish city of istanbul have fired tear gas at demonstrators taking part in a march to mark international women's day many of the protesters were demanding the release of women imprisoned in syria authorit

china's strategy for boosting sales of its goods and services around the world. more than 100 countries have signed up — but italy would be the first g7 member to join. critics in the usbelt and road initiative as a plan to expand china's sphere of influence. they say it mostly benefits chinese companies and traps poorer countries in debt to china. still, many in italy's business world would like investment from china. the port of trieste is in talks with a chinese construction firm for help with a billion dollar revamp — it wants to become china's gateway to europe. italy's trade with china hitjust under $50 billion last year. at 2.5% of gdp china trade makes up a smaller share of the economy than it does in the us or wider eu so there is a lot of room for growth. michele geraci is the under—secretary of state for trade and foreign investment of italy at the ministry of economic development and the architect of the plan. thank you forjoining us here. there has been criticism that this has not happened in terms of having consensus amongst other european countries. this is italy going alone and that has garnered criticism from various points? well, i hear the concerns,

well china is of course the giant not in the room i mean the most important trading partner for each of us outside ourselves. mexico wants to develop a good relationship with china mexico has a huge trade deficit with china so want to find ways to export more to china but also perhaps more importantly to attract investment. the treaty they use m.c.a. has a provision that says that if any of members the three countries start negotiations dorsey free trade agreement this will be notified to the oh there is a new this can get out of the of the u.s. m.c.a. but nobody's thinking at these not in mexico of creating a free trade agreement with china anytime soon we need to develop a stronger links develop a stronger investment flaws and we can do that perfectly well and we tend to do that perfectly well we are working with china as well as we are working with kind of the units this week in the terms of the treaty to china is now reportedly the biggest creditor of latin america and there is some talk of mexico approaching it for help with the railroad infrastructure project this is new it with a co

she faces charges linked to the alleged violation of us sanctions against iran, which she denies. chinaed her arrest. translation: the us and canada abused their bilateral extradition treaties to arbitrarily take coercive measures on chinese citizens. we once again urge the us to immediately withdraw the arrest warrant and extradition requests. also making news today: president trump is under pressure from a democrat—led congressional commitee which has demanded documents from dozens of people, including his son donald jr, to examine allegations that the president obstructed justice and abused his powers. mr trump denies any wrongdoing. 200 foreign is fighters have surrendered to the us—backed kurdish—led syrian democratic forces in eastern syria. the group surrendered in the north of baghuz after the sdf announced a pause in the fighting to allow civilians to leave the area and any is fighters to surrender. the american actor luke perry, who starred in the 1990s teen drama beverley hills, 90210, has died at the age of 52 after suffering a stroke last week. luke perry became a household

us—china trade talks are set to continue next week according to media reports. one another‘s goods over the past year. a truce at a g20 meeting in december made way for talks, but negotiations have at times been rocky. let's have a look at the markets before we go. we are seeing a decline in its share price there. i will be back with more market news and business news in after life. amid rowdy scenes in the house of commons this lunchtime, theresa may confirmed that she has formally asked the eu to delay brexit until the end ofjune. the prime minister told mps she's opposed to a longer extension than that, and is preparing to put her brexit deal to a third commons vote. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn described the brexit stalemate as a ‘national crisis.‘ 0ur assistant political editor, norman smith, is in the palace of westminster. taking stock of where we are after a pretty free braille prime minister questions. —— free braille prime ministers questions. this was a humdinger of a prime ministers question. as she was almost placing herself in the side of the publ

impact you whether it impact or not because of cause where when you increase the tariff between china and us or china or a part of the world you would have affected on the international trade that's probably the most of the biggest problems for the poorest countries because they are the smaller players in the in the big game and they could be we need to control which reach which we pay the tribute of this dispute so i think that it's bad for mr authorities but it's also bad for paul's countries we have thirty seconds left here in berlin for a number of engagements also speaking to the german bundestag development committee in one sentence your message try it could help for development absolutely and germany have to understand that french should understand very well support that but we have to do more to get to the right is that they don't want their thank you so much for your time. and that's business asia here in the w for me in the team thanks for watching. the mob. in the. odd. kickoff mob masters is counterattack make the difference craving beats live acoustic and keep its europe liko so