:00:13. > :00:16.Our top story: Government lawyers have been fighting to reinstate
:00:17. > :00:19.President Trumps travel ban in an appeals court.
:00:20. > :00:22.The court has been hearing arguments from Government and Washington State
:00:23. > :00:25.lawyers about who has the right to challenge the travel ban and why
:00:26. > :00:30.it needs to be introduced so urgently.
:00:31. > :00:32.Visionary Swedish professor Hans Rosling, who made graphs
:00:33. > :00:38.and data fun, has died at the age of 68.
:00:39. > :00:40.And this video is trending on bbc.com.
:00:41. > :00:42.Barack Obama, now the former US President,
:00:43. > :00:45.has been enjoying his new found freedom by kite surfing
:00:46. > :00:48.with the Virgin boss Richard Branson.
:00:49. > :00:51.The pair were competing to see who could surf for longer,
:00:52. > :00:58.a challenge which the 44th President of the United States won.
:00:59. > :01:06.Doesn't he look happy? Stay with us, there's more to come.
:01:07. > :01:13.The Government's seen off a possible rebellion on Brexit
:01:14. > :01:16.by promising that parliament will get a meaningful vote
:01:17. > :01:34.Now all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:01:35. > :01:43.Rio Tinto unveiled its earnings. How did fare with iron ore earnings
:01:44. > :01:45.recovering? And making the switch to renewable. They look at Taiwan's
:01:46. > :02:01.powerplay. Good morning, Asia, hello, world.
:02:02. > :02:07.Glad you could join us. I'm Rico Hizon. We start off with Rio Tinto
:02:08. > :02:10.and the world's second largest biggest producer of iron or is set
:02:11. > :02:14.to reveal its numbers later today and expectations are higher. Iron
:02:15. > :02:20.ore is the main ingredient in steel and AB contribute. After falling for
:02:21. > :02:25.two years, prices have recovered in 2016, helping the company's
:02:26. > :02:31.performance. Earlier I ask an analyst in Sydney about the
:02:32. > :02:35.forecast. We expect Rio Tinto to report fall earnings for 2016,
:02:36. > :02:43.somewhere in the vicinity of 4.7 billion US, or 5 billion US. In 2015
:02:44. > :02:48.they only reported $4.5 billion US net underlying profit, we believe
:02:49. > :02:51.this will be the first profit the company will report for some time
:02:52. > :02:58.that is actually higher than the previous year. What has really been
:02:59. > :03:04.the main catalyst for Rio Tinto's earnings rise? Is it all about the
:03:05. > :03:09.recovery in iron ore prices? No doubt that iron ore will be the key
:03:10. > :03:15.player in terms of the improved profit outlook for this year. We did
:03:16. > :03:19.see iron ore across the 2016 year improved. It was a tale of two
:03:20. > :03:25.halves. Lowering the first half and better in the second. The first
:03:26. > :03:29.month of the year, the price of iron ore is looking resilient, but can
:03:30. > :03:34.this performance continue, or is a steep correction coming? Look, one
:03:35. > :03:38.would have to be careful that we don't see a price correction because
:03:39. > :03:43.prices don't go up forever. They do unfortunately moved down as well.
:03:44. > :03:49.But we expect in 2017 that China will be the big player. Still. It
:03:50. > :03:54.imported over 2 billion tons of iron ore in 2016. We expected it will
:03:55. > :04:02.import at least 2 billion tons plus in 2017. The momentum will maybe be
:04:03. > :04:06.slower than 2016, but certainly we believe prices will be kept
:04:07. > :04:13.somewhere in the $85 region for iron ore through the course of 2017. In
:04:14. > :04:17.other business news making headlines, India's central bank will
:04:18. > :04:20.review its monetary policy later today in the first meeting since the
:04:21. > :04:25.government announced a status budget and the second since the move to ban
:04:26. > :04:30.cash. Any economists expect a rate cut of at least a quarter of a point
:04:31. > :04:38.due to slowing inflation and a responsible budget. Joining us from
:04:39. > :04:46.Mumbai is... Apologies... He has shown up! Can you hear me? Yes,
:04:47. > :04:52.sorry, I heard your question. The Indian central bank is being watched
:04:53. > :04:58.closely. This is the first monetary policy revenue after the budget,
:04:59. > :05:03.which was announced one week ago, and the second monetary policy after
:05:04. > :05:07.India went ahead and banned for two most widely used currency notes.
:05:08. > :05:12.Most economists expect there will be a rate cut because last time when
:05:13. > :05:15.the central bank net when it was widely anticipated that they would
:05:16. > :05:18.cut rates they didn't do it for two reasons. First of all inflation was
:05:19. > :05:23.high and secondly the two notes which were banned by the Indian
:05:24. > :05:27.government... They still wanted to see the dado, what kind of impact it
:05:28. > :05:32.would have on the economy. At this point in time it is clear that
:05:33. > :05:36.inflation has slowed down and also the economy has slowed down because
:05:37. > :05:40.of the ban on the two currency notes. That's why most economists
:05:41. > :05:45.feel this is the right time for a rate cut. There's also a school of
:05:46. > :05:49.thought that that given the bands, which are flushed with a lot of
:05:50. > :05:55.funds right now, as a lot of money came back in the system, the reserve
:05:56. > :05:58.bank of India might want to wait for a rate cut because bank rates have
:05:59. > :06:04.already gone down. The lending rates have gone down. They may as well do
:06:05. > :06:07.a rate cut after a quarter or two when bank stock producing the
:06:08. > :06:10.lending rate, because this will have a large impact on the ground.
:06:11. > :06:15.Currently the central bank is caught between a rock and a hard place,
:06:16. > :06:25.whether or not to cut rates or keep rates on hold? Well, I mean, the big
:06:26. > :06:29.question for the central bank is whether it feels it is important at
:06:30. > :06:32.this point in time to go ahead with a rate cut. If you look at the
:06:33. > :06:36.larger Indian economy ever since the two notes were banned, it has had an
:06:37. > :06:41.impact. The economy has slowed down, sectors are suffering. Home and car
:06:42. > :06:46.sales have gone down, consumer demand has taken a major hit and
:06:47. > :06:49.that's why there are concerns that India had become the fastest growing
:06:50. > :06:55.economy over the past year, so surpassing even China. It might not
:06:56. > :06:58.grow at the same pace for the next few quarters. The IMF and World Bank
:06:59. > :07:03.have all cut their forecasts for India. The revived this, visitors
:07:04. > :07:09.feel it is important that the rate cut... Banks start reducing rates,
:07:10. > :07:13.so that businesses can borrow at a cheaper rate and consumers start
:07:14. > :07:17.borrowing money, so that they can start buying homes or cars and other
:07:18. > :07:22.imported goods, which will help revive growth. But one thing is
:07:23. > :07:29.clear, it will take if you quarters for the indie economy to recover. --
:07:30. > :07:35.Indian. The two rupee notes were 86%... I have to jump in. It has to
:07:36. > :07:40.have a severe impact. Thank you so much for the explanation. Later this
:07:41. > :07:45.week Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe heads to Washington for a
:07:46. > :07:51.crucial meeting with Donald Trump. The countries are close trading
:07:52. > :07:55.partners but ever since Mr Trump took office relations have turned
:07:56. > :08:01.more frosty. Earlier I asked if the sentiment in Japan had changed
:08:02. > :08:06.regarding Mr Trump. I think there is cautious optimism. When Mr Trump
:08:07. > :08:10.scrapped the TPP there was a shock wave that ran through the business
:08:11. > :08:14.community, but right now with Shinzo Abe's visit to America people are
:08:15. > :08:19.hoping that he and Trump will cut a new deal which benefits both
:08:20. > :08:23.countries. Is there also are concerned that the Japanese
:08:24. > :08:30.government is cosying up to much to Mr Trump? I think there is. Mr Abe
:08:31. > :08:35.is pressured by Mr Trump to for instance appreciate the Japanese yen
:08:36. > :08:40.or by American automobiles, which have not been known to sell at all
:08:41. > :08:44.in Japan. That would be considered humiliating, but I don't think Mr
:08:45. > :08:50.Abe will concede in that way. He already has a financial deal which
:08:51. > :08:53.is offering from that Japanese side, so if Trump and Shinzo Abe strike up
:08:54. > :08:57.something which is beneficial to both I think the community will feel
:08:58. > :09:01.optimistic about the Trump administration. When all is said and
:09:02. > :09:06.done who do you think will benefit from this US- Japan trade business
:09:07. > :09:10.relationship? By intuition right now is that the US will benefit a bit
:09:11. > :09:13.more, but in the long run through direct investment the Japanese
:09:14. > :09:17.business community will catch up and fill the vacuum. After relying on
:09:18. > :09:22.nuclear power for decades Taiwan will stop using it completely by
:09:23. > :09:25.2025, the government is ramping up the use of green or renewable energy
:09:26. > :09:32.by installing wind turbines and restoring an used areas into farms.
:09:33. > :09:39.Farmers are now cultivating sola energy of crops.
:09:40. > :09:44.These fields are helping Taiwan produce more renewable energy.
:09:45. > :09:49.Because the soil is damaged, most crops no longer grow here. So now
:09:50. > :09:54.farmers are helping produce something else instead. They earn
:09:55. > :10:01.money by leasing their land to solar energy companies and taking care of
:10:02. > :10:06.the panels. TRANSLATION: I never imagined our ancestor's land can be
:10:07. > :10:10.used in this way. He is one of hundreds of local
:10:11. > :10:16.farmers whose land is getting a new lease on life. There are projects
:10:17. > :10:20.like this the rout Taiwan. Whenever they can be central and local
:10:21. > :10:24.governments are trying to find low quality or unused land and turn them
:10:25. > :10:31.into solar energy farms. Solar panels have also been placed on
:10:32. > :10:36.landmark buildings, including this aquarium, the stadium and even this
:10:37. > :10:41.prison. It is part of plans to do away with nuclear energy, which
:10:42. > :10:46.currently produces 14% of Taiwan's electricity by 2025. That includes
:10:47. > :10:55.scrapping this newly built nuclear power plant before it opens. As well
:10:56. > :10:59.as solar panels, experts say Taiwan needs more wind turbines and natural
:11:00. > :11:03.gas power plants if it is going to replace the shortfall from nuclear.
:11:04. > :11:10.The government wants green energy to eventually produce a fifth of the
:11:11. > :11:14.island's electricity. Although green energy is taking over agricultural
:11:15. > :11:21.land, that doesn't mean a complete end to farming. TRANSLATION: Solar
:11:22. > :11:28.panels can generate electricity and underneath we grow mushrooms. The
:11:29. > :11:36.electricity we generate is clean energy. It is good for Taiwan's air
:11:37. > :11:41.quality and good for the world. Looking at the regional stock
:11:42. > :11:45.markets, as you can see most markets are in positive territory. Tokyo's
:11:46. > :11:49.stocks are higher, driven by a cheaper yen and gains on Wall
:11:50. > :11:51.Street. Thanks so much for investing your time with us. Sport Today is
:11:52. > :12:00.coming up next. The top stories this hour:
:12:01. > :12:05.President Trump hopes