0:00:07 > 0:00:12This is BBC News.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14I'm Babita Sharma.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18Our top story: North and South Korea have agreed to march under the same
0:00:18 > 0:00:20flag at next month's Winter Olympics in South Korea.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23The arrangement is a sign of the thaw in relations which began
0:00:23 > 0:00:27when the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, offered to send a team
0:00:27 > 0:00:29to the games in a New Year speech.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32A former CIA officer has been arrested in the US on charges
0:00:32 > 0:00:35of retaining classified information in a case thought to be linked
0:00:35 > 0:00:40to the crippling of the agency's spy operation in China.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44And this story is trending on BBC.com.
0:00:44 > 0:00:53Space Invaders - the game which spawned a multibillion-dollar
0:00:53 > 0:00:54industry celebrates its 40th birthday.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58To celebrate images from the game have been projected onto the window
0:00:58 > 0:00:59panes of a Tokyo skyscraper.
0:00:59 > 0:01:00That's all from me for now.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12And the top story here in the UK:
0:01:12 > 0:01:15The bill transferring all European legislation into UK law -
0:01:15 > 0:01:17after Brexit - has cleared the House of Commons.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20After 80 hours of debate, the European Union Withdrawal Bill
0:01:20 > 0:01:22now goes to the House of Lords.
0:01:22 > 0:01:40Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
0:01:40 > 0:01:45I, Donald John Trump, do solemnly swear... It has been nearly a year
0:01:45 > 0:01:51since Donald Trump took office. We assess how Asia has fared under
0:01:51 > 0:01:52America's 45th president. And
0:01:52 > 0:01:52assess how Asia has fared under America's 45th president. And China
0:01:52 > 0:01:57is expected to show slowing growth as the government cracks down on
0:01:57 > 0:02:09rising debt. Good morning, Asia. Hello, world. It's Thursday. Glad
0:02:09 > 0:02:13you could join us for another action packed addition of Asia Business
0:02:13 > 0:02:19Report. Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump's time
0:02:19 > 0:02:25in office. When he became president he promised three things relates to
0:02:25 > 0:02:30Asia. To get rid of unfair trade deals, make trade more reciprocal
0:02:30 > 0:02:35and thirdly, bring back jobs to America. Did he make good on these
0:02:35 > 0:02:41promises? Our Asia business correspondent looks at what is fact
0:02:41 > 0:02:45and what is fiction.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49We can no longer tolerate these chronic trade abuses and we will not
0:02:49 > 0:02:59tolerate them.One of the things Donald Trump also is -- always said
0:02:59 > 0:03:03he would kill off a big multilateral trade deals, particularly the
0:03:03 > 0:03:07Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, or the DPP. He did pull
0:03:07 > 0:03:12the US out. Given America was the biggest economy in the deal, and he
0:03:12 > 0:03:16thought it would die, it didn't. The 11 other countries decided to push
0:03:16 > 0:03:21ahead without the US. The US looks like it could be the one losing out
0:03:21 > 0:03:28geopolitically at least as the rest of the world carries on. The US
0:03:28 > 0:03:33still buys more from Asia than it sells. Donald Trump's and this has
0:03:33 > 0:03:37been to renegotiate or initiate bilateral trade deals with
0:03:37 > 0:03:40individual Asian countries. He is in the business of renegotiating one
0:03:40 > 0:03:45deal and that is the US- South Korea agreement but that is it for now.
0:03:45 > 0:03:50China, another target for trade rage. He said he was going to call
0:03:50 > 0:03:54China currency manipulator on his first day in office and slap tariffs
0:03:54 > 0:04:00on Chinese goods. He didn't, but we have seen US moves to keep Chinese
0:04:00 > 0:04:08companies out of the States and he's made some headway in getting US
0:04:08 > 0:04:11financial firms more access to the Chinese market.They have taken our
0:04:11 > 0:04:19money, they have taken our jobs. Japan's Softbank said it was going
0:04:19 > 0:04:24to create 50 -- it doesn't opt in the US. Alibaba from China said it
0:04:24 > 0:04:29would create a million. But Trump did put enough pressure on Toyota to
0:04:29 > 0:04:33make it promised that it was going to build one factory in the US which
0:04:33 > 0:04:46would create some 4000 jobs. Donald Trump hasn't been as tough on trade
0:04:46 > 0:04:50with age as he said he was going. But he straps -- drastically change
0:04:50 > 0:04:54the direction of American trade policy, putting America first. While
0:04:54 > 0:04:59there has been a lot of rhetoric, not a lot in the way of concrete
0:04:59 > 0:05:02deals and action so it is doubtful whether his strategy will push
0:05:02 > 0:05:10America first or end up leaving America behind.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13In China, manufacturing and infrastructure spending and
0:05:13 > 0:05:17government stimulus have kept the world's second largest economy
0:05:17 > 0:05:21chugging along since the Global Financial Crisis but over the past
0:05:21 > 0:05:26year, authorities have been cracking down on investments. That is
0:05:26 > 0:05:31expected to have dampened growth in 2017. Fourth-quarter GDP numbers are
0:05:31 > 0:05:36out on Thursday and our China correspondence has more on what to
0:05:36 > 0:05:41expect. The trend has been the growth in this country's economy to
0:05:41 > 0:05:45go down. It's still growing but that trend is growing down but the
0:05:45 > 0:05:52figures later today according to the Chinese Premier Li could show growth
0:05:52 > 0:05:57around 6.9%, above the figures for the previous year. They came in at
0:05:57 > 0:06:036.7. Quite a way above what the government's official target of 6.5%
0:06:03 > 0:06:07is, probably because early on of the year we have that continued
0:06:07 > 0:06:12investment from the Central government. We had a healthy
0:06:12 > 0:06:16recovery in the global economy. I think that continues to help China
0:06:16 > 0:06:20in terms of its exports with the rest of the world but at the same
0:06:20 > 0:06:24time, as you pointed to, a clampdown the cost of lending in this country.
0:06:24 > 0:06:31A clampdown on risk within the lending industry in particular and
0:06:31 > 0:06:35cooling of the housing market, housing a key driver of GDP here in
0:06:35 > 0:06:39China but nonetheless, there is expectation of something a bit more
0:06:39 > 0:06:45surprising later. Whether China's economic growth accelerates or slows
0:06:45 > 0:06:51down, critics doubt the numbers. They say the Chinese government
0:06:51 > 0:06:56massages it to basically please the markets.We talk about this all the
0:06:56 > 0:07:00time. There is received wisdom that growth in Chinese economy could be
0:07:00 > 0:07:03half of what the government officially says that over the past
0:07:03 > 0:07:06few weeks, we've had growing evidence of provincial governments
0:07:06 > 0:07:13here admitting that they have been their numbers. At the end of last
0:07:13 > 0:07:17month. Liaoning up North said it had been faking the numbers, boosting
0:07:17 > 0:07:25them to the benefit of their political leaders. Also Tianjin in
0:07:25 > 0:07:30the north-east has admitted faking GDP numbers and inner Mongolia, very
0:07:30 > 0:07:35dependent on coal, up in the north, admitting it has been faking some of
0:07:35 > 0:07:39its numbers all of this is firm evidence to support the claims,
0:07:39 > 0:07:43support the suspicion among many that frankly, these numbers, no
0:07:43 > 0:07:51matter what they show, can't be trusted.Our China correspondent.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55Israel's Prime Minister may not go back empty-handed from his trip to
0:07:55 > 0:07:59India. A major multi-million dollar deal that was once taken up the
0:07:59 > 0:08:07table could be back on track. The latest, let's go to our reporter in
0:08:07 > 0:08:14Mumbai. India had cancelled this deal.Why the change? I had
0:08:14 > 0:08:18cancelled the deal two months back. In November, it announced the deal
0:08:18 > 0:08:24was off the table. Israeli government was quite disappointed
0:08:24 > 0:08:30with that decision but now Prime Minister Netanyahu on his way back
0:08:30 > 0:08:36told reporters that the deal is back on the table. They are working on
0:08:36 > 0:08:44the details. The Indian Army will procure anti- guided missiles.
0:08:44 > 0:08:49Something the Indian Army has been desperate to buy. Officially, the
0:08:49 > 0:08:53Indian government hasn't commented on it but sources say one of the key
0:08:53 > 0:08:59reasons that could be the Indian Army needs this in the immediate
0:08:59 > 0:09:07future. Where the Indian government wanted its own weapons agency. To
0:09:07 > 0:09:13procure this over the next 2-3 years. That is why there is pressure
0:09:13 > 0:09:17from a section of the Army that it would be too long, it could delay
0:09:17 > 0:09:23the process. So in a way, it's good news for Israel because the Prime
0:09:23 > 0:09:25Minister won't be going back empty-handed but clearly, some
0:09:25 > 0:09:29people in the Indian ministry might not be happy with this decision
0:09:29 > 0:09:34because they wanted the Indian Army to manufacture these arms.Prime
0:09:34 > 0:09:40Minister Netanyahu is in the home stretch of his tour of India. How
0:09:40 > 0:09:47significant so far?It's been a 6- day long tour, quite significant. We
0:09:47 > 0:09:57have seen both prime ministers Netanyahu and Modi travel to the
0:09:57 > 0:10:01state of Gujarat, which is the home state of Prime Minister Modi. Their
0:10:01 > 0:10:07friendship has been on display. The defence deal is back on the table.
0:10:07 > 0:10:13Israel will have something to share back home when they go back. Israel
0:10:13 > 0:10:21looks at India as a crucial economic partner in the long-term. Defence
0:10:21 > 0:10:27relationship is important. Also, agriculture, given the state of
0:10:27 > 0:10:31India's farm sector. Israel feels it could provide the expertise to help
0:10:31 > 0:10:43India.A new era of cooperation between India and Israel.
0:10:43 > 0:10:51In other business is making headlines, ride hailing company Grab
0:10:51 > 0:10:59has bought an Indian payment platform, iKaz, which helps the
0:10:59 > 0:11:06diverse payments to landscape. They will join Grab's research and
0:11:06 > 0:11:13development centre in Bangalore. The price was not disclosed. Let's take
0:11:13 > 0:11:20a look at the markets. A lot of traders are smiling from ear to ear.
0:11:20 > 0:11:25A positive day for the Asian stock markets. We are seeing the Nick Kay
0:11:25 > 0:11:33up by more than 200 points. Hong Kong opening in positive territory.
0:11:33 > 0:11:41And the All Ordinaries down by 33 due to a fall in oil prices. This is
0:11:41 > 0:11:47after the US bourse closed higher last night. Breezing past 26,000
0:11:47 > 0:11:52115. A new record high. Thank you so much for investing your time with
0:11:52 > 0:11:53us.