been behind the leak which alleges that russia has compromising he also condemned what he called fake news. the taliban release a video of two abducted american university professors, one australian, the other american, pleading for donald trump to help secure their release. and this video is trending on bbc.com: scientists say a gibbon living in the tropical forests of south—west china is a new species of primate. the scientists, who are star wars fans, have named the primate skywalker hoolock gibbon. that's all from me now. stay with bbc world news. and the top story here in the uk: labour'sjeremy corbyn has accused theresa may of being in denial about the problems facing the nhs. now on bbc news all the latest business news live from singapore.

samsung's group leader offers an apology before he takes the hot seat asa apology before he takes the hot seat as a suspect in south korea corruption scandal. it is a $3 billion industry, as parents spend big time for high—tech smart toys — sales are growing fast. good morning, asia. hello, world. it is thursday. lagutin during us for this edition of asia business report. we start with samsung and the group leader lee jae—yong has arrived at short time ago with the south korean prosecutor office for questioning over bribery suspicion is, it is

pa rt over bribery suspicion is, it is part of a scandal that may permanently unseat the president. samsung is accused of giving donations to non—profit foundations toa donations to non—profit foundations to a confidant of the president in return for assistance in a business transaction. mr lee apologised. translation: i am very sorry to the south korean people. samsung has denied any wrongdoing, so what do prosecutors hope to find? i put the question to our korea correspondent, steve evans. the prosecutors have got hold of a second laptop, and tablet, rather, owned by the mentor of the president, a crucialfigure in this whole thing, and it is alleged there are notes of a meeting between the president of this country and mr lee, the chief of samsung, in effect, the man running samsung, in effect, the man running

samsung, and the details of those meetings seem to indicate that president park expected money for herfriend's president park expected money for her friend's funds in president park expected money for herfriend's funds in return president park expected money for her friend's funds in return for the pension fund backing something, and internal change within samsung, a very important big deal within samsung, so what the evidence, prosecutor things he has got, is ha rd prosecutor things he has got, is hard disc evidence of a meeting where promises were exchanged. it should be said that samsung emphasises it is absolutely innocent of corruption. this is an investigation that the prosecutor has said he is being interviewed as a suspect, rather than a witness. all right, this whole new evidence basically makes this investigation more complex. what could be the

repercussions for lee jae—yong and the samsung group? we are not there yet. we have some way to go. but clearly, if samsung is criminally indicted and found guilty of corruption, and the man at the top of samsung is found guilty of corruption, that reflects on the samsung brand, there is no doubt of that. but, having said that, there are that. but, having said that, there a re lots of that. but, having said that, there are lots of chaebol heads in this country found guilty of corruption, it is as blunt as that, and people say, well the product seems good, i am going to keep buying it. the us justice department has charged six volts wagon executives it says are responsible for the scandal over cheating on emissions standards —— volkswagon. the company agreed to pay for $.3 billion in fines to settle the issue and that is in addition to the $17.5 billion already agreed in settlements with car owners, dealers and for the

environmental cleanup. vw also agreed to plead guilty to three criminal charges relating to the scandal. earlier, ispoke criminal charges relating to the scandal. earlier, i spoke with an auto analyst. i think it is very significant because it obviously indicates that it is notjust companies as a whole but individuals within companies that will be held responsible for these kind of activities, i think that is where the government wants to go with it. and what kind of impact do you think will this have on the automotive industry? well, you know, there are a lot of companies that have faced tough scandals in the past, and i think that there was always a fee to be paid at a fine and some public image damage, but there were never any individuals held accountable. i think every executive knows now that it is not their company only but themselves and everyone underneath themselves and everyone underneath them that can be held accountable when something like this happens. i think that is the example the government wants to set this time around. all right, but does this

really set the stage for a big lesson for the auto industry with this $4.3 billion fine for volkswagon? yes, this is a huge pay—out, it is the biggest one, the biggest removalfind pay—out, it is the biggest one, the biggest removal find that a company has ever had to pay and i feel like it reflects not just, has ever had to pay and i feel like it reflects notjust, you know, a problem with the company but one thatis problem with the company but one that is seen as kind of carefully engineered as opposed to something like a mistake or a failure in a part, but one that was actually designed and engineered in right from the start. what about volkswagon, will car sales be impacted? the truth is, every other company has come back from larger scandals that have been anything like this, they have always bounced back. especially if the product is good and you don't see any kind of recurring theme going along these lines, the public doesn't have a very long memory and they don't look back and by the product again. auto a nalyst back and by the product again. auto analyst karl brauer joining back and by the product again. auto analyst karl brauerjoining us earlierfrom analyst karl brauerjoining us

earlier from detroit. well, the us president—elect donald trump has held a fiery first press conference where he announced he will hand over control of his business empire to his two sons to avoid any conflict of interest as president. well, in recent days he has been hitting out at china and japanese carmaker toyotaa, but he has also met with the founder of alibaba, tony maher —— jack ma, and earlier i asked an analyst if asian businesses should be concerned about his approach to trade. it's interesting, i was looking at trade data between singapore, malaysia, indonesia and so on, and the us. trade with those nations and the us has been declining for about six yea rs, has been declining for about six years, 0k. the only place in south east asia where trade has risen with the us is vietnam. so, you know, it couldn't possibly get any worse than it is right now. so, as you look at the bilateral approach that trump will take, and his administration will take, and his administration

will take, and his administration will take on the there are expectations that things will improve, so the discussion about a chinese trade war is fictitious, it is not going to happen. tony nash from complete intelligence. each year, thousands of buyers flock to the hong kong police air despite an uncertain economic environment. the global toy industry is expected to expand 7% in 2017. this is according to euromonitor. there is one category that is growing much faster than any of the categories in the toy market, and that is high—tech smart toys. our correspondent went to take a look. welcome to asia's largest toy show, it is full of sights, sounds and of course toys. some not yet available to the general public. thousands of buyers, most of wholesalers, here on

the hunt for the next blockbuster. globally, the industry was worth almost $190 billion last year, and likely to expand by 7%. all eyes are on smart toys, still a macro —— niche market, expected to triple in four years. so, this is a great example of what a smart to is, it looks like a traditional plain that for kids but it has gotjust a little bit of something extra —— play mat for kids. yes, exactly, so with the device you can scan any animals on the mat and you can teach children how to spell, l—i—o—n. lion. and then it has this, so the children understand animal sounds. we have been making regular play mats for 13 years but it is tougher to make money, so now with the technology advancing to where it is,

we find that we can offer a higher end rodarte where children can learn from it. so, smart toys are normally embedded with some kind of technology that responds to a device. and increasingly it is not just traditional toymakers who are entering the market. translation: we started out making electronic cots mainly for overseas manufacturers but the business isn't big and not growing, so six years ago we found the educational toy industry has good prospects, so that is why we decided to make innovative toys. good prospects, so that is why we decided to make innovative toysm is still a relatively small market, but high—tech toys are growing in popularity. soon it may be commonplace to sing your phone or ta blet commonplace to sing your phone or tablet with a digital toy —— sync your phone or tablet. and, before we go, a look at the market. as you can see, a mixed bag so market. as you can see, a mixed bag so farfor the regional

market. as you can see, a mixed bag so far for the regional boards, market. as you can see, a mixed bag so farfor the regional boards, the nikkei 245 down 1.1% due to the wea ker nikkei 245 down 1.1% due to the weaker dollar against the japanese yen, and this is impacting the export companies. as for the all ordinaries index, with a rise in oil prices of 2.5% overnight, well, that is pushing oil and commodity prices higher, and stocks on the all ordinaries index gaining about 19.2. thank you so much for interesting your time with us. i'm rico hizon. sport today is up next. —— investing your time. i'm babita sharma. the top stories this hour. donald trump has angrily dismissed claims that russia has compromising material on him and has suggested that us intelligence agencies may have leaked the allegations. donald trump's choice to be us secretary of state, rex tillerson, has told a senate confirmation hearing that china is aggressive, and must stop building islands

in the south china sea. kelly smith, britain's first female professional footballer, is to retire from football after an 18—year career in which she scored a record number of goals for england and won the fa cup on no fewer than five occasions. our sports correspondent katie gornall reports. for years, kelly smith made the spectacular seem almost routine. commentator: through for kelly smith. it's a great pass. kelly smith! as britain's first female professional footballer, hers is a career that set a benchmark and a career that will be remembered fondly. i think i've had a very good career at international level and club level. i've travelled the world. and at the age of 38, the body's telling me that it needs to stop. the game's in a magnificent place at the minute and it's good to step away at this right time. smith has always stood out. she made her england debutjust days after her 17th birthday and went on to win 117 caps and score a record 46 goals for her country. the majority of her career

was spent at arsenal, where she won the champions league and five fa cups. commentator: trying to play it to smith! that's the record—breaking goal. her influence will be measured in more than goals and titles. current england captain, steph houghton, described her as an, "inspiration" and "the country's greatest female player." while england head coach, mark sampson, said "defenders all over the world will be celebrating her retirement." there have been dark times, too. her time playing in the us was blighted by injuries, alcoholism and depression, but she overcame those challenges to flourish in the twilight of her career. now she'll turn her attention to coaching. i'd love to see how far i can develop as a coach and obviously there are goals to manage arsenal, the club of my heart, and even england. who knows where that will be, but i'm just at the bottom of the ladder at the minute. whatever obstacles she's faced,

smith has always found a way through. commentator: perfection! as one era ends, another could be about to begin. katie gornall, bbc news. strong winds have caused disruption in parts of scotland and northern england. the forth road bridge has now reopened. it was closed all day after a lorry was blown over. more online. time now for all the sports news in sport today. hello, this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: southampton take a first—leg lead over liverpool in their english league cup semi—final. jim furyk named as usa ryder cup captain for the 2018 event against europe in france.

and stage nine of the dakar rally is cancelled, after a massive mudslide in argentina. hello and welcome to the programme, where we start with football, and the opening leg of the english league cup semi—final, where hosts southampton have beaten liverpool 1—0 at st mary's stadium. nathan redmond managed the only goal of the match on the 20—minute mark, and he hit the crossbar late on, as claude puel‘s side take the advantage into the return leg at anfield in a fortnight‘s time. 0ne bright piece of news forjurgen klopp's side was the return of philippe coutinho, with his first appearance since the end of november. in spain's copa del rey, luis suarez became the third—fastest barcelona player to reach 100 goals, on wednesday. the uruguayan scored in their 3—1 victory over athletic bilbao, in the second leg of their copa del rey last—16 tie. it took him 120 games, with only mariano martin