More on our website, bbc. Co. Uk news, and the news app. Now on bbc news, live to singapore for Asia Business report. Wall street and the trade war. Us stocks hit yet more record highs, but is a deal reallyjust around the corner . Softbank struggles as the japanese conglomerate pushes ahead. We look at the problems facing its vision fund. Softbank. Good morning, asia. Hello, world. Its a wednesday. Glad you could join us for another action packed mid week edition of Asia Business report. Im rico hizon. We start the programme with the ongoing us china trade conflict, because wall street shares have edged up to more record highs overnight, as investors look past some weak Economic Data to focus on President Trump saying that the worlds two biggest economies are close to an agreement on the first phase of a deal. The bbcs vivian nunis has more from new york. Donald trump said on tuesday the United States was in the final throes of its push to reach a trade deal with china. The president said he had a very Good Relationship with chinas president , xijinping, very Good Relationship with chinas president , xi jinping, and very Good Relationship with chinas president , xijinping, and the trade negotiations between washington and beijing are going very well. That seems to have been enough to keep wall street happy. For the second day ina wall street happy. For the second day in a row, the major us indices closed at a record high. Investor optimism echoed that of the chair of the us federal reserve, jerome powell, who earlier this week described the us economy is a glass which is much more than half full. But they could be headwinds on the horizon. Injust 2. 5 but they could be headwinds on the horizon. In just 2. 5 weeks the us is scheduled to apply further tariffs to chinese goods if a trade deal cant be reached. A market analyst told me whether he thinks investors are right to be optimistic. Told me whether he thinks investors are right to be optimisticlj told me whether he thinks investors are right to be optimistic. I think the impetus is pretty clear on both sides, right . On one hand you have President Trump who is heading into that very important 2020 president ial election, so he needs that big policy wind to bring before his political base. At the same time, we have seen the economic toll that has been placed on the World Economy due to these tariffs between the us and china. So i think the case is clear for this trade deal. Now, whether or not both sides can exhibit the kind of wheel that is necessary to put pen to paper, i think that remains to be seen the kind of will. But clearly as you point out, markets are using that as their base case for now. Base case for now, and china has resisted in the past making concessions, especially on intellectual property. Why are they making the move now . Is it because they are feeling the pinch of all of these tariffs imposed over the past 16 months . Well, theres plenty of talk for wanting a win win deal, but if you go beyond that rhetoric, again, i think the case or the rationale for that trade deal still applies. I think to be fair it is notjust china that is making these sorts of concessions. Youve got reports as well about the Us Government looking to extend the exemptions that are placed on some American Companies which want to do business with huawei. So this is feeding into the positive sentiments that investors hold right now, that they expect to see a trade deal. The huawei concession may just be see a trade deal. The huawei concession mayjust be one, han, but what about china seeking the tariffs being imposed on 15 december not being imposed on 15 december not being imposed, and previous tariffs being imposed, and previous tariffs being lifted . Right, and i think that has been a key demand on the chinese part. We note reports that they want to use the blueprint that was agreed back in may, i believe, as the basis for this phase i trade deal. Now again, that is the all important question, and you are absolutely right in highlighting it. That is the framing by which investors will be looking at this phase one trade deal. Will it involve the rolling back of tariffs, andi involve the rolling back of tariffs, and i how much . Han tan in kuala lumpur. In other Business News making headlines, us federal prosecutors have reportedly opened a criminal investigation into whether pharmaceutical Companies Intentionally allowed opioid painkillers to flood communities. According to the wall street journal, Six Companies have received grandjury journal, Six Companies have received grand jury subpoenas from the Us Attorneys Office in the Eastern District of new york. German carmaker audi says it will cut almost 10,000 jobs by the year 2025. The company is hoping to save more than 6. 5 billion to invest in electric cars and digital technology. The volkswagen owned brand also said the move into electric cars would mean the creation of up to 2000 jobs. Lets now talk about softbank, because it is reportedly looking at pushing ahead with its rescue plan of Office Sharing firm wework this week. The deal is worth 9. 5 billion us dollars. Remember, wework is one of the 70 companies which currently receive investments from softbanks vision fund, but its failed share sale has been damaging to the japanese conglomerates reputation and its bottom line. For more details on this front, i am joined by my colleague, Business Reporter mariko oi. Isnt softbank also planning a second fund . Thats right, but after all the troubles with wework, softbank is struggling to raise money for the second fund. The first time around it raised nearly 100 billion, and aside from softbank itself, there were two big backers. Saudi arabia invested 115 billion, and abu dhabi gave 15 billion. But now, saudi arabia says it may only invest whatever profit it may only invest whatever profit it gets from the First Division fund, while abu dhabi says it may reduce the offer to less than 10 billion. And here is the issue. As of now, there are 70 companies on their portfolio. But as you can see here, 35 of the Funds Holdings are in Transportation Logistics and real estate. So they include Companies Like uberand estate. So they include Companies Like uber and wework, and we all know how much financial trouble those two companies are in. The only sector which reported recent gains is the consumer sector, but they only account for about 15 of its portfolio. But i also thought it was interesting that the majority of the recipients are actually in the United States. And here in asia, there is no japanese firm, zero. And thats quite worrying, or disheartening, if you like, because the boss of softbank has long talked about wanting to encourage japanese start ups, entrepreneurship, but his first vision fund has yet to achieve that goal. Thank you so much for that goal. Thank you so much for that update on softbank and its vision fund, my colleague and Business Reporter mariko oi. Indian ride hailing app ola, also hello in spanish, has fired the starting gun as it announced plans to launch in london. The announcement came yesterday after authorities refused to grant ubera yesterday after authorities refused to grant uber a new operating licence. For the latest, lets cross to mumbai. How big a threat is ola to mumbai. How big a threat is ola to uber in the london market and in other Global Markets . Well, rico, its a very lucrative market for any ride hailing app, and the significance of what has happened is really the timing. A day after uber lost its license in london, ola swoops in. It hasnt officially launched has said it has started to register new drivers. The aim is likely to be taking those uber drivers, because uber will no longer be able to operate. Now, although ola cant really compete with uber internationally, uber is operating in around 600 cities around the world, what ola has done in india has far outweighed what uber has managed to do. It is operational in far bigger cities. It launched in smaller cities, what is called tier two and tier three cities. Although uber had the technology backing of having platforms around the world, ola really invested in its technology here, in its app. And thatis technology here, in its app. And that is what it is touting in london as well, saying it has facial Recognition Technology to make sure the drivers are who they say they are, and other technology in order to ensure passengers safety. Now, as we heard, softbank has invested ina number of as we heard, softbank has invested in a number of transport firms, both in ola and uber, so even though it might be disappointed in ubers news, it might be satisfied with ola. Thank you for your update, suranjana ola. Thank you for your update, sura njana tewari, ola ola. Thank you for your update, suranjana tewari, ola expanding its footprint beyond india. Shifting to other news making headlines, a us teenagers video clip accusing china of putting muslims in camps has gone viral on the chinese social network. The account has since been blocked, but this was a video which was posted on twitter. Tiktok told the bbc it had permanently banned one of her accounts for posting an unrelated video that had broken its rules on terrorism related material. Staying with social media, twitter has said it has started deleting accou nts has said it has started deleting accounts that have been inactive for more than six months, unless they login before 11 december deadline. It is the first time twitter has removed inactive accounts on such a large scale. The site said it was because users who do not login werent able to agree to its updated privacy policies. Lets have a quick look now at the asia pacific markets, which are open for business. As we can see, in positive territory. Japan, australia, just slight gains from hong kongs hang seng index, which has opened, gaining 0. 1 , afterfresh record highs once again on wall street overnight. Thank you so much for investing your time with us. I am rico hizon. Sport today is coming up next. This is bbc news. The top stories this hour a new warning from the United Nations our current targets to cut Greenhouse Gas emissions are falling woefully short. And, with just over two weeks until the general election, both main Political Parties are forced to defend themselves against allegations of racism. Demonstrators who object to Teaching Primary School children about relationsips, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender ones, have been permanently banned from protesting outside a school in birmingham. Campaigners had claimed that equality lessons at Anderton Park School in sparkhill promoted homosexuality, which was against their islamic beliefs. Sian lloyd reports. This is a paedophilia agenda one of the protests held near Anderton Park School. This filming was used in evidence in the case. Demonstrations were held objecting to lessons teaching about lg bt relationships. The judge said what pupils were actually being taught was sometimes being grossly misrepresented. Videos made allegations against teachers, including that they had brought convicted paedophiles into the school. Today, thejudge said that wasnt true. The schools head welcomed the ruling that protests within the exclusion zone would now be permanently banned. You know, in a strange way, im glad we were part of this. To be part of a decision which does affect all schools, because it was always much bigger than anderton park. And we all need to learn from this. Relationship education for Primary School pupils will be compulsory in england from september 2020. The way it is being taught is being left to the discretion of head teachers. Immediately after the hearing, one of the lead protesters gave his reaction to the judgement. What they are being taught is that there is nothing wrong with this, and that it is ok to be gay and it is ok to marry the same sex. Well, like it or not, we do not accept this, and will not accept this. Tonight, it is known that protests cannot now take place directly outside these school gates. The judge found that teachers, pupils and local residents had been badly affected. But some objectors have vowed to continue outside the exclusion zone. Sian lloyd, bbc news, birmingham. Anybody yet to register to vote in next months general election has missed the boat. The deadline ran out at midnight. Nearly 3 Million People have applied to register in the past month, with more than a third under 25. Much more on all the news for you anytime on the bbc news website. And you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. Now on bbc news, sport today. Hello, im Chetan Pathak and this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. Coming up on the programme from 2 0 down, tottenham win Jose MourinhosFirst Champions League game in charge and qualify for the knockout stages. Russias told theyll be able to compete at euro 2020, even if a four year ban from sporting events comes into effect. And after a year where he nearly retired and then came back, we hearfrom former world number one andy murray about his new documentary. Welcome to the programme. We start with football, and three more teams have qualified for the knockout phase of the european champions league. 13 time winners real madrid and the english champions Manchester City are through. More on them coming up. But so are last seasons beaten finalists tottenham hotspur. It was Jose Mourinhos first home game in charge and it didnt look good for spurs when olympiacos went 2 0 up, with goals from Youssef El Arabi and ruben semedo. But tottenham turned it round with goals either side of the break from dele alli and harry kane