Plenty more on all of those stories online, or you can find them on the bbc news app. Now on bbc news, live to singapore for Asia Business report. Recession and safe havens. As bond markets flash red, are the n and german bonds the best place for your money . Hong kong brand witch hunt. Why Fashion Companies are rushing to apologise to china. The yen. It isa apologise to china. The yen. It is a friday, almost the weekend. Good morning, asia. Hello, world. Glad you could join us for this exciting addition of Asia Business report. Im rico hizon. And exciting overnight action in Global Markets as the us bond market flashed a key recession warning. Sent more investors into safe haven assets as the us china trade war and uncertainty over brexit continues to weigh heavily on the markets. Over the past nine months the price of gold has shot up dramatically, rising more than 300 us dollars per ounce. And it is notjust the precious metal. Concerns about the Global Economy has deepened demand for the japanese yen, which is also seen as for the japanese yen, which is also seen as a for the japanese yen, which is also seen as a safe haven asset. Earlier i asked David Lafferty from an Asset Management company in boston whether he sees a recession as an a certainty. We are not accepting one. I think as time has gone by the probability of a recession has been growing but we are not yet in the recession camp. And there are a few reasons for that. One, recession camp. And there are a few reasons forthat. One, i recession camp. And there are a few reasons for that. One, i think the inversion in the yield curve, while it is an important signal, i think isa it is an important signal, i think is a bit overplayed. I think there is a bit overplayed. I think there isa is a bit overplayed. I think there is a rush into lower risk assets, and that is becoming a self fulfilling prophecy. Ithink particularly in the us we are really looking at consumption, wage and spending trends and we are not seeing the consumer really take it on the chinjust seeing the consumer really take it on the chin just yet. And the thing about the inverted curve that should really worry people is the idea that banks could pull back on lending, and not quite seeing that yet either. So as we become more worried about recession, we are not quite there yet. Where should investors be doing these complicated situations . Gold, yen, bonds, where . doing these complicated situations . Gold, yen, bonds, where . I worry that bonds have run a little bit too far, too fast. Right now bonds are priced for a deep recession, so if we get a little bit of good economic news, i think high quality bonds might struggle in the near term. Gold is in a good place. You dont wa nt to gold is in a good place. You dont want to own too much of it because it can be volatile, but owning a little bit, with the opportunity cost in falling negative yields, the opportunity cost of owning zero negative gold has gone down. It is a nice little insurance policy even if it is not yielding anything. David lafferty joining it is not yielding anything. David laffertyjoining us from boston. A private financial investigator who flag warnings about bernard made offs ponzi scheme is targeting one of americas blue chip companies. Bernie madoff. Our correspondent has the details from new york. Harry calls himself a forensic accountant and he says General Electric is hiding 40 billion of losses in its insurance business. Now, General Electric has counted those claims, calling them meritless, misguided and self serving speculation. Nevertheless, ge shares fell by 15 at one point on thursday, and it is at one point on thursday, and it is a clear sign that investors are worried. They are worried quite possibly because of the source of the information. Harry markopolos has a track record of highlighting financial misdeeds. Most recently he was the whistleblower who uncovered Bernie Madoffs 65 billion ponzi scheme, the largest case of financial fraud scheme, the largest case of financialfraud in scheme, the largest case of financial fraud in american scheme, the largest case of financialfraud in american history. His report also comes at a time where ges profitability has taken a hit. Last year it was dropped from the dow 100 and has had to lay off thousands of employees. In other Business News making headlines, shares of walmart jumping Business News making headlines, shares of walmartjumping after reported Second Quarter earnings which topped expectations and raise its outlook for the year. The wells biggest retailer says American Consumers are in, quote, relatively good shape even as the recession concerns continue good shape even as the recession concerns continue to rise. Alibaba has reported better than expected profitability. It said those results we re profitability. It said those results were boosted by growth in its Cloud Computing business. China will retaliate against further us tariffs, escalating the trade war which has seen Companies Pulling back investors four investment. The head of the aiib says the conflict has not stopped it from lending. Our correspondence started by asking the banks president how much of an impact the trade war is having on raising funds. This may go on for awhile, but i am confident, i am optimistic the ultimate solution, and what worries me is the impact on the rest of the world when these two economic giants cant reach an agreement. But as i said, i hope there will be a solution, and the market will be more stable. But even with this, you know, i would say still with a lot of uncertainty, multilateral institutions still give the investors an opportunity to see their money will be going to the right destination and they will have a reasonable profit. China is your biggest shareholder, it is your biggest shareholder, it is your biggest donor. You are headquartered in beijing. Chinas economy is slowing down. How much of a concern is that for you . China is doing pretty well. You see, talking about 6 growth for china, compared to 8 01 6 growth for china, compared to 8 or 9 of the growth 20 or 30 years ago, its stopped john explode. However, the local economic base of china today, 1 growth is not the same thing it has slowed. 1 growth is not the same thing as it was 20 or 30 years ago. Turning our attention to hong kong, as pro democracy protests continue, fashion brands are rushing to apologise to china. But why . Mariko oi explains. This from the sergey topped the latest stretch of complaints, listing hong kong as a country. Other fashion brands started facing a backlash as well. Within 24 hours, coach and all of these brands came under attack from chinese netizens. This China Ambassador ended her relationship with the company and apologise for the damage caused as a result of her less careful choice of brand. Here is the apology from givenchy. A chinese boy band member also quit as its spokesperson. This is not the first time chinese netizens have complained about fashion brands. Last year gap apologised for making t shirts accused of showing an incorrect map of china. Chinese Companies Like huawei are not exempt, under pressure for listing taipei, taiwan is a time zone. Britain has a rich maritime history and is hoping to lead the development of autonomous ships. The bbcs development of autonomous ships. The bbcs Adrian Bradley has been to South West England to see how poor towns are planning to become part of a so called coastal powerhouse. Plymouth is a city with hundreds of yea rs of plymouth is a city with hundreds of years of maritime history. From the mayflower to this autonomous minesweeper, it is one of five parts of the uk hoping to unlock up to £100 million per year of investment. We are creating clusters and hubs of business, academia and local government around the country in places like the south west. We want to do that across the whole country. We need to Government Support to help do that quicker and faster. This defence contract is turning plymouth into a centre for marine autonomy. Here, they are testing autonomous minesweepers and submersible that they can keep Navy Personnel away from dangerous environments. What they are hoping is for more projects like this, where big Defence Contractors can work with british comic Defence Contractors in the royal navy to ta ke contractors in the royal navy to take crude submersible is like this and make them autonomous, taking people out of harm s way. They hope that by creating regional hubs they can get the skills, expertise and bring industry together to make this happen. What we have given the plymouth region is a place that we can explore and test Unmanned Systems out at sea. It has allowed us systems out at sea. It has allowed us to bring local partnerships and local enterprises, academia, to make sure that the best capability is delivered for our armed forces. The uk government recently announced a £75 Million Investment in autonomous mine hunting technology. Like the vessels being tested in plymouth. The industry wants this to be just the start. It is this plan to co ordinate efforts that can help the country with rich maritime history built a blue economy for the future. Lets have a quick look at the asia pacific markets, which are open for trade this friday. Currently lacklustre movement for japans nikkei 225, which is down 0. 3 , and the all ordinaries index virtually not moving at all in mid morning trade. Thank you for investing your time with us. Sport todayis investing your time with us. Sport today is coming up next. This is bbc news. The top stories this hour israel bars two us congresswomen from entering the country, a move encouraged by president trump. Hong kong prepares for more demonstrations this weekend. Donald trump is urging chinas president to meet protest leaders to try to ease the crisis. Drug related deaths in england and wales are the highest they have been since records began more than a quarter of a century ago. Two thirds of those deaths were due to the use of illegal drugs. Our Home Affairs CorrespondentDaniel Sandford reports. The number of people dying from drugs misuse has been climbing almost without stop for six years now. The largest number of deaths are from heroin and morphine, but cocaine deaths are becoming more prominent, as are deaths from drugs like spice what were known as legal highs, before they were made illegal. Last year, a record 4,359 people died from drugs poisoning. Two thirds of those deaths, almost 3,000, were from drugs misuse also a record. That figure went up by 17 since 2017, the highest increase in a single year. There are several reasons why drug related deaths are increasing, including increased supply of both heroin and cocaine to the uk, but thats very hard for the government to control. One of the things the government could control is the amount of money it spends on drug treatment services, and we know those Services Save lives. Not only do they save peoples lives, they actually save money, because they reduce the amount of cost to the nhs, and also the amount of crime that is done in drug markets. Statistics for deaths from drug misuse were first collected in 1993 and rose until 2001. They then stabilised for more than a decade, but have been climbing again since 2012. The worst region for deaths from drugs misuse is the north east, where the rate is 96. 3 per million people. The best figures are in southern england. In london the rate is 34. 9 per million people. Those who work with addicts say continuing austerity and cuts are contributing to the number of deaths. Over the last five years, a third of residential rehabs have closed, which is a really striking statistic, because we know that residential rehab is a vital resource to help save lives, change lives and save lives, and to see that these units have closed over the last five years really concerns me. Last month, figures in scotland showed that drug deaths there were also at a record high. Daniel sandford, bbc news. Now on bbc news, sport today. Hello, this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. Coming up on this programme seven time champion Roger Federer is out of the cincinnati masters, beaten in the third round by andre rublev. England struggle with the bat against australia on day two of the second ashes test at lords. And world number one Brooks Koepka is three shots off the lead after the first round of the bmw championship at medinah in illinois. Hello and welcome to the programme, where we start with tennis and the upsets have continued at the cincinnati masters with a shock defeat for Roger Federer. The number three seed, who turned 38 last week, was playing just his second match since losing the wimbledon final in mid july. The swiss was bidding to win the title for an eighth time, but was beaten in straight sets by the russian qualifier andrey rublev, whos ranked 70 in the world. It was the first meeting betwen the two, and rublev, who beat Stan Wawrinka in the previous round,