:00:00. > :00:17.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:18. > :00:22.United States turned up the pressure on North Korea by imposing new
:00:23. > :00:29.sanctions. And is China's largest vehicle maker
:00:30. > :00:39.cooling its prospects to buy the iconic American band chip? -- brand,
:00:40. > :00:41.Jeep? Good morning. Thanks for joining us for this edition of Asia
:00:42. > :00:49.Business Report. The US is expanding sanctions on
:00:50. > :00:55.North Korea in an attempt to stop the weapons programme. They are
:00:56. > :00:58.tightening sanctioning restrictions on companies accused of helping
:00:59. > :01:06.Pyongyang if they'd these existing sanctions. They are also seeking to
:01:07. > :01:12.recover millions of dollars. Let's cross over to our reporter. Who are
:01:13. > :01:16.these third-party companies? US prosecutors have added ten companies
:01:17. > :01:20.and six individuals to the North Korea sanctions list. These are
:01:21. > :01:25.predominantly Chinese and Russian companies which, as you said, had
:01:26. > :01:28.helped North Korea is a national sanctions and crucially helped them
:01:29. > :01:36.raise money for their nuclear weapons programme. Some of the
:01:37. > :01:43.companies that were named basically I'll buying or selling call from
:01:44. > :01:49.North Korea. -- are buying. Others helped provide financial services to
:01:50. > :01:52.North Korea. One other one was having foreign workers from North
:01:53. > :01:57.Korea go overseas and build statues. What has been the reaction of these
:01:58. > :02:05.Russian and Chinese companies that have been pinpointed by the United
:02:06. > :02:09.States? They aren't happy. Because they say it is unilateral and
:02:10. > :02:14.therefore potentially illegal. The Chinese and Russians said that the
:02:15. > :02:18.UN just over two weeks ago implemented tough new sanctions on
:02:19. > :02:22.North Korea and so they would adhere to that. But for the US to move
:02:23. > :02:29.ahead eye itself they are not in agreement. -- by itself. It seems
:02:30. > :02:36.there could be retaliation. Thank you for the update.
:02:37. > :02:44.It looks like great Wall motors is making a U-turn in prospects to buy
:02:45. > :02:49.Jeep. The Chinese automaker was said to be making a bid for the brand but
:02:50. > :02:52.now the company says there are the uncertainties as to whether it will
:02:53. > :02:58.continue to consider the option. The Chinese maker wants to become a
:02:59. > :03:04.globally recognised brand and buying Jeep would help it achieve its goal.
:03:05. > :03:09.Industry rivals have had mixed results with acquisitions. Geely had
:03:10. > :03:23.a turnaround after buying Volvo. A bid by Sichuan Tenzhong for
:03:24. > :03:29.General Motors' Hummer failed to clear regulators. I spoke to someone
:03:30. > :03:34.earlier from Shanghai and asked what uncertainties Great Wall Motors
:03:35. > :03:39.faces. If you are going to extract the crown jewel from Fiat Chrysler's
:03:40. > :03:44.portfolio you will have to pay a price. What they are doing if they
:03:45. > :03:48.aren't necessarily making a U-turn. I think they are taking a rest stop
:03:49. > :03:55.for a moment to see if they can position themselves. They aren't
:03:56. > :04:03.being aggressive. I think there is probably a positioning strategy for
:04:04. > :04:06.them. Apart from the price, could it also be the geopolitical situation?
:04:07. > :04:11.This is an American brand being sold at a time of heightened tensions.
:04:12. > :04:15.No, it's too early in the process. There's nothing stopping them from a
:04:16. > :04:21.discussion at this point. The regulators aren't going to say, you
:04:22. > :04:24.can't do that. Certainly Jeep is the quintessential American brand and
:04:25. > :04:29.has military heritage. It will be controversial in the US. But on the
:04:30. > :04:33.Chinese side I think it would be very prestigious for a Chinese
:04:34. > :04:37.company to have the depth and development to the point where they
:04:38. > :04:45.can even consider acquiring a global brand like Jeep. Taking away the
:04:46. > :04:53.pricing situation, will there be synergies between Great Wall Motors
:04:54. > :05:03.and Jeep? Certainly. Great Wall is at core and SUV manufacturer. Jeep
:05:04. > :05:06.is a premium SUV brand and is positioned nicely in China, so I
:05:07. > :05:14.think they complement each other well. Great Wall is a Chinese brand
:05:15. > :05:20.that would like to be global. That was an analyst in Shanghai.
:05:21. > :05:24.Continuing this theme, Ford is revving up to sell a new brand of
:05:25. > :05:32.electric vehicles in China. An announced plans to set up these
:05:33. > :05:35.plans -- it announced. And it says it will produce electric vehicles on
:05:36. > :05:45.the mainland. The Chinese company sold more than 16,000 all electric
:05:46. > :05:47.cars this year, through July. There are reported widespread flight
:05:48. > :05:50.cancellations due to the typhoon. Cathay Pacific announced the
:05:51. > :05:56.majority of flights into and out of Hong Kong, between now and 5pm local
:05:57. > :05:59.time. The Hong Kong airport authority is urging passengers to
:06:00. > :06:03.confirm their flights before heading to the airport.
:06:04. > :06:07.Talks between South Korea and the US failed to find a way to move forward
:06:08. > :06:10.on amending their five-year-old free-trade deal. Trump has called
:06:11. > :06:18.the agreement a job killer for the US, but the soul stressed that the
:06:19. > :06:24.US trade deficit with South Korea was not the result of the bilateral
:06:25. > :06:27.trade deal -- Seoul. It proposed a joint study to examine the effect of
:06:28. > :06:33.the agreement. Continuing our series this week, the
:06:34. > :06:36.Netherlands was the first country in the world that made it legal for
:06:37. > :06:42.doctors to help patients to die. Euthanasia now accounts for 4.5% of
:06:43. > :06:45.deaths, as more people who don't suffer from terminal illness are
:06:46. > :06:49.still opting for life ending treatment. But there's been
:06:50. > :06:58.opposition plans to further relax laws.
:06:59. > :07:02.How awesome for you to check me out. I am a stand-up comedian and a
:07:03. > :07:09.motivational speaker. She was a performer who adored the spotlight.
:07:10. > :07:20.But in 2015, she decided to end her life with euthanasia. She was so
:07:21. > :07:25.young, 25. But she had a lot of pain in her body. Physically, mentally.
:07:26. > :07:33.She couldn't deal with it. Her doctor granted her request on the
:07:34. > :07:40.fourth time of asking. She said, Mum, I've got news. I can go. It's
:07:41. > :07:46.my liberation day. She was such a happy child. 6300 patients were
:07:47. > :07:54.given a life ending treatment in the Netherlands in 2016 and 500 of them
:07:55. > :08:00.used this independent foundation. The End of Life clinic employs 55
:08:01. > :08:03.teams, consisting of a doctor and nurse, who travelled to people's
:08:04. > :08:08.homes to administer the lethal injection or hand over the lethal
:08:09. > :08:12.cocktail of drugs. In a country where medical insurance is
:08:13. > :08:17.mandatory, its insurance companies not individuals that pay the bill.
:08:18. > :08:20.But euthanasia critics around the world are worried about insurers
:08:21. > :08:26.focusing on their own profits, facilitating a voluntary death is
:08:27. > :08:31.relatively cheap, as little as $400, compared with a cost of treating a
:08:32. > :08:35.long-term terminal illness. The director at the End of Life clinic
:08:36. > :08:39.find this accusation is frustrating. It's not about the cost. What is
:08:40. > :08:44.driving us is to help these people who are in a situation that they
:08:45. > :08:48.say, please help me in dying, there is no other option. That's the
:08:49. > :08:53.reason why we are here. We are absolutely not cost driven, we are
:08:54. > :09:02.not-for-profit. Insurance companies also denied these claims, saying:
:09:03. > :09:11.Also 85% of Dutch people broadly support the current law, advocates
:09:12. > :09:15.of euthanasia want to relax the legislation even further to allow
:09:16. > :09:21.anyone over the age of 75 to choose death when they feel they've had
:09:22. > :09:26.enough of life. These proposals have horrified the Netherlands' small but
:09:27. > :09:32.politically powerful Christian lobby. That debate continues. For
:09:33. > :09:40.many thousands of people across the Netherlands, how it ends will truly
:09:41. > :09:46.be a matter of life or death. Join the conversation online and let
:09:47. > :09:54.us know your thoughts. Before we go, a look at the markets. Japan and
:09:55. > :10:03.Australia have open. The Nikkei is up by 129 point four. The All Ords
:10:04. > :10:07.gaining 35 points, 0.6%. This is because Wall Street stocks jumped
:10:08. > :10:10.overnight as investors took advantage of recent pullbacks in
:10:11. > :10:15.equities as worries about US political stability and tensions
:10:16. > :10:22.with North Korea received. The Dow Jones soaring by about 1%, 196
:10:23. > :10:28.points. The NASDAQ composite index in positive territory by 1.4%. As
:10:29. > :10:34.for the currency markets, the dollar advancing ahead of the meeting of
:10:35. > :10:37.central bankers. Thank you so much for investing your time with us and
:10:38. > :10:41.have a profitable Wednesday. See you again soon.
:10:42. > :10:46.The top stories this hour: Two days after an American warship
:10:47. > :10:48.and a tanker collided off the coast of Singapore,
:10:49. > :10:53.divers have found bodies inside the flooded compartments