:00:00. > :00:00.Glasgow last month killing ten people. Now on BBC News all the
:00:00. > :00:20.latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:21. > :00:27.Apple comes under scrutiny in relation to the labour practices of
:00:28. > :00:40.its suppliers in Asia. The Hobbit hype and its impact on various
:00:41. > :00:44.industries. We begin with US technology giant Apple. It has
:00:45. > :00:52.revealed that it sent medical experts to China last month to
:00:53. > :00:59.investigate deaths at one of its suppliers. The deaths occurred at a
:01:00. > :01:08.facility in Shanghai. There have been four reported deaths
:01:09. > :01:13.amongst packet from staff in recent months. No suggestion that these
:01:14. > :01:17.people died on the production line itself, and of course this is a very
:01:18. > :01:26.large workforce we are talking about, 100,000 people. Apple has
:01:27. > :01:31.sent medical experts to investigate these deaths. The company says they
:01:32. > :01:34.have not found any evidence to link to working conditions there, but
:01:35. > :01:38.they realised that this will be of little comfort to families have lost
:01:39. > :01:44.their loved ones. One of the employees reported to have died this
:01:45. > :01:51.year was 15 years old. That is below the legal working age in China.
:01:52. > :01:56.Pegatron say that he obtains the job by providing fake identification,
:01:57. > :02:00.using the identification of an older relative. He is said to have died of
:02:01. > :02:05.pneumonia, and the company says it is very unlikely to be at related to
:02:06. > :02:14.the conditions at work. This is not the first time that
:02:15. > :02:16.Apple suppliers have come under scrutiny. Is there anything they can
:02:17. > :02:19.do, have they done anything in response?
:02:20. > :02:28.They have done a lot to try and audit working conditions. They've
:02:29. > :02:30.been working to allow for a labour organisations access to its plants
:02:31. > :02:36.and employs compliance officers to make sure that workers work no more
:02:37. > :02:42.than a 60 hour week maximum. The other problem that faces of course
:02:43. > :02:48.is that when we speak to some of those workers they say they would
:02:49. > :02:51.like to work more than 60 hours. Politicians in Australia are
:02:52. > :02:54.scrambling to save what is left of the country 's car industry. Earlier
:02:55. > :03:02.this week old and became another major car manufacturer to announce
:03:03. > :03:04.it will shut down its Australian line, following a similar
:03:05. > :03:08.announcement from Ford earlier this year. That puts the focus squarely
:03:09. > :03:15.on the remaining manufacturer, Toyota. And the workers involved in
:03:16. > :03:18.the car component industry. Just some of the thousands of
:03:19. > :03:23.workers who make cars in Australia and a part of what Holden is calling
:03:24. > :03:27.a perfect storm. High costs, a small domestic market and a strong local
:03:28. > :03:30.currency that makes the end product and expensive exporter. So despite
:03:31. > :03:33.successive Australian governments spending billions of dollars
:03:34. > :03:42.supporting the sector, its future has become increasingly clouded. We
:03:43. > :03:48.saw we had a future beyond 2017, but then, bang. Nearly 3000 workers will
:03:49. > :03:54.lose their jobs when Holden shuts down production in four years time.
:03:55. > :03:58.The government is promising to help. We will not let these people down,
:03:59. > :04:04.but our challenge is to get them from one job to another job and we
:04:05. > :04:08.will not fail. But it's what is left of the car industry that is now in
:04:09. > :04:13.the spotlight. That means to enter as the component businesses that
:04:14. > :04:16.make the 30,000 separate parts that go into every vehicle. The
:04:17. > :04:23.Australian component sector alone employs 33,000 workers and for those
:04:24. > :04:26.suppliers, big and small, volume is key. Many have already spent years
:04:27. > :04:34.trying to diversify with mixed success. They need domestic sales
:04:35. > :04:39.base. Even if stays, will one automaker be enough to keep them
:04:40. > :04:43.employed? There are still a few years before the last Holden and
:04:44. > :04:55.Ford rolled off Australian production lines. Time is now off
:04:56. > :04:59.the essence -- of. The union is consulting workers on ways to rally
:05:00. > :05:01.public support. I spoke to a representative of the Australian
:05:02. > :05:08.Manufacturing workers union and asked about his expectations of
:05:09. > :05:11.public support. We need to talk to our members and ensure they are
:05:12. > :05:15.happy with what we are doing. Those discussions are taking place today.
:05:16. > :05:21.We are also looking to hold public rallies on Monday in Adelaide and
:05:22. > :05:25.Melbourne and obviously also we will be seeking to extend the activity
:05:26. > :05:28.well beyond the Christmas period. You might be familiar with the fact
:05:29. > :05:32.that Australia more or less closes down for three weeks around
:05:33. > :05:38.Christmas. This is a campaign that will go on for a long time. How
:05:39. > :05:44.important is the support in saving the auto industry and its workers?
:05:45. > :05:47.The problem we have is that the current Liberal National party
:05:48. > :05:52.government basically has no idea about industry policy. The concerns
:05:53. > :05:57.we have are that Holden had made it very clear that they needed to be
:05:58. > :05:59.making decisions by about this time regarding their future investment
:06:00. > :06:05.strategies and unfortunately this government failed to deliver. On
:06:06. > :06:10.Tuesday Joe Hockey, the Treasurer, ethically Derek Holden to close down
:06:11. > :06:25.and unfortunately his blast has been called. -- bluff. Ford plans to hire
:06:26. > :06:31.a 6000 employees in Asia and around 5000 in the United States. They are
:06:32. > :06:35.looking to open a third facility in Brazil and two new factories in
:06:36. > :06:39.China next year. Ford sales in the mainland have increased by 50% this
:06:40. > :06:47.year. For more on that story and other business headlines from around
:06:48. > :06:50.the world, visit our website. The latest film in the Hobbit trilogy
:06:51. > :07:01.has opened at cinemas across Asia this week. It premiers in India,
:07:02. > :07:08.Indonesia and the US. They expect to rake in millions of dollars in
:07:09. > :07:11.ticket sales. The Hobbit brand is creating immense
:07:12. > :07:17.opportunities for thousands of businesses. The first film made $84
:07:18. > :07:22.million at the box office on its US debut weekend last year. Now its
:07:23. > :07:29.producers are hoping the second will smash those sales. It's not just the
:07:30. > :07:36.filmmakers who are benefiting. Nearly 3000 New Zealand firms are
:07:37. > :07:43.cashing in. Most of them are in the film industry. This medical scanner
:07:44. > :07:47.was created in Christchurch and is based on the 3-D cameras used to
:07:48. > :07:51.film the Hobbit. It is now being used at St Luke's Hospital in
:07:52. > :07:55.Singapore to help patients like this one. The hospital is the first in
:07:56. > :07:59.Asia to use the cutting-edge technology which takes 3-D
:08:00. > :08:04.photographs to track the healing process. Until now, medical staff
:08:05. > :08:07.used tracing paper and Reuters to measure the depth of loans to
:08:08. > :08:24.predict how long they would take the heel. -- to heal. This is better
:08:25. > :08:29.practice for infection control. Perhaps the most obvious winner is
:08:30. > :08:32.the tourism industry. The government invested $10 million in this
:08:33. > :08:38.advertising campaign, which has helped to inject $450 million into
:08:39. > :08:43.its economy. It is 100% Middle Earth, 100% New Zealand, a slogan
:08:44. > :08:50.aimed at capturing people 's fascination with the film. It's big
:08:51. > :08:53.business for New Zealand. It is not destroying crowd at cinemas across
:08:54. > :08:56.the globe at creating a buzz about New Zealand which has led to a 10%
:08:57. > :09:02.rise in the number of foreign tourists this year. One in 12 said
:09:03. > :09:10.the Hobbit was the reason for their visit. With visitors numbers up, Air
:09:11. > :09:15.New Zealand has painted its plans with characters from the film. On
:09:16. > :09:18.the surface it is movie about the Hobbit is running around, but for a
:09:19. > :09:23.country like New Zealand is so much more. Technology, filming in New
:09:24. > :09:25.Zealand, tourism, it is all about creating awareness and putting New
:09:26. > :09:32.Zealand out there as a credible player in those spaces. That is why
:09:33. > :09:37.Hobbit hype has many companies getting creative to talk and fans
:09:38. > :09:43.from their shires. In related news, Harvey and Bob
:09:44. > :09:47.Weinstein have filed a lawsuit against Warner Brothers, claiming
:09:48. > :09:52.they are owed a share of the profits from the second and third Hobbit
:09:53. > :10:02.films. They are seeking $75 million in damages, saying the sale of the
:10:03. > :10:09.Hobbit in 1998 applies to all sequels. The US House of
:10:10. > :10:18.Representatives has approved a two-year budget initiative designed
:10:19. > :10:25.to prevent another of -- government shutdown. John Boehner has urged
:10:26. > :10:31.sceptical conservatives to back the compromise. With that we end this
:10:32. > :10:38.edition of the Asian business report. Thank you for investing your
:10:39. > :10:42.time with us. The top stories this hour. North
:10:43. > :10:45.Korea says it has executed Jang Sung-taek, the uncle of leader Kim
:10:46. > :10:48.Jong-un, branding him "worse than a dog". The sign-language interpreter
:10:49. > :10:51.at Nelson Mandela's memorial has said he's a schizophrenic with a
:10:52. > :11:01.violent past - South Africa insists there was no security risk.
:11:02. > :11:03.Emergency air cover across the UK is being restored after twenty two
:11:04. > :11:04.helicopters, including air ambulances