in the worsening diplomatic row between north korea and malaysia. the two countries have barred each other citizens from leaving. the extraordinary retaliation follows north korean fury at malaysia's investigation into the killing of kimjong—nam. the website wikileaks has published thousands of confidential documents revealing what it says are top—secret hacking tools used by the american central intelligence agency. and this video is trending on bbc.com: much excitement for these children visiting the white house, when its most famous resident made a surprise appearance. president trump greeted the first wave of tourists to come through the building since he took office. that's all from me now. stay with bbc world news. and the top story here in the uk: the house of lords has inflicted a second defeat on the government, with a majority of peers calling for parliament to be given a meaningful vote on the final deal negotiated with the eu.

what does it mean to be a woman in today's workforce? on international women's day, we ask how asia is faring. and meet the families who spend as much as a quarter of their income on their kids‘ education. good morning, asia, hello, world. glad you could join us for asia business report. it is wednesday, i am rico hizon. this year, for international women‘s day, the call is to be bowled for change. but what does that mean for business and government? —— bold. what changes would make the world a better place, and work towards equality. we have

been talking to women across the region about the challenges they are facing today. definitely the pay packet has to change. that is where the discrimination comes in. they need to prove themselves 100% at home and 100% in the office so basically every single day they are proving themselves 200%. translation: the biggest problems are when your child's school drop—off powers and pick up ours don't fit your work hours. translation: now the world has changed a lot. women can help themselves, take care of themselves and their families. because we all have equal rights now. women have become stronger. they can earn as much as men, or become stronger. they can earn as much as men, oi’ even more become stronger. they can earn as much as men, or even more than men. translation: women are at a disadvantage in the workplace. men can pursue their career without taking care of others, but i think women are more stressed than men.

translation: the biggest challenges that i don't want to work. i want to stay home looking after my kid, but ican do stay home looking after my kid, but i can do nothing about it. i have to go to work. every week and my it asked me to accompany him one more day, but i have to say sorry, i had to work and earn money. it is the most awkward situation. for more on women‘s writes, i spoke with the chairman of shell in singapore and askedif chairman of shell in singapore and asked if there is gender equality in her company. oil and gas sector, there is a perception that there is some gender inequality there. but the oil and gas sector, because it is very conscious about the role of women in our sectors, there is a lot of effort put in to ensure that there is gender equality at all levels of the organisation. and before joining levels of the organisation. and beforejoining shell you levels of the organisation. and before joining shell you were at procter & gamble and ibm, really large, multinational companies. have you really seen an improvement in terms of women‘s rights and gender equality over the decades? most

generally, i don‘t want a repeat how many years i have been in the workforce but over the decades i have seen improvements. and what has happened is there is a lot more consciousness in the benefits of gender equality. you mean consciousness in terms of benefits, gender equality. is this only for multinational companies? how would you compare that to local companies? well, in terms of local companies thatis well, in terms of local companies that is an interesting question. i have spoken to entrepreneurs who as they have kids growing up, they have daughters, and this is when the consciousness comes in around the need for us to create equal opportunities, regardless of gender. in fact, regardless of race, nationality. being the boss of a big company, if there is an open position for a job in your company, do you make sure that there is a woman in the short list? oh yes, definitely. we have found some

interesting things in that simple things such as the way we describe jobs has to be gender neutral. that would attract women, and women at times self select themselves out of jobs because there are descriptions in their that could be unfriendly for women. be bold for change is the theme this year. what do you think other major challengers, briefly? be bold for change, i think one thing companies need to do is lots of discussion about targets, quotas, and do we do it, do we not set the targets ? and do we do it, do we not set the targets? that is what i would say. be bold for change, one of them would be companies set the targets for genders. the chairman of shell in singapore. moving to other business news making headlines, chinese telecommunications giant zte will be paying more thani billion us dollars and pleading guilty to criminal charges for violating sanctions against iran and north korea. the company is accused of

buying us components, putting them into zte equipment, and then illegally shipping them to those two countries. brazil‘s economy contracting by 3.6% in 2016. the country has been in recession for two years, and the economy is now eight cents smaller than it was in december 20 1a. once one of the fastest—growing emerging economies in the world, brazil was hit by a downturn in global commodity markets, and a political crisis which has undermined investor confidence. in india‘s dig cities about 85% of primary school children and up to 95% of high school kids attend extra classes after school to help boost their chances of getting into university. but the classes cost money, and for some households, it isa cost money, and for some households, it is a strain. and stress. as part of our‘s it is a strain. and stress. as part of our ‘s list of kids series, we met two families who are doing the

best they can for their children, regardless of the cost —— business of kids. translation: if our kids come home after school, they waste time watching television and they become lazy. however, if they go for extra lessons, their knowledge increases. that is why we spend money and send oui’ that is why we spend money and send our kids for these classes. translation: it is important to send children for extra lessons, because in school there are about 30 kids in each class. when i was in school, in the 1960s and went into college in the 1970s, if you got a first class, my parents went about the tubing suites. because it was a big deal that you

got a first class, which meant 60% and above. now, if you get 80, the pa rents and above. now, if you get 80, the parents behave like there is a definite family. hence this absolute need to get your kids extra coaching, to penetrate that glass ceiling. hence this frenetic crush thatis ceiling. hence this frenetic crush that is there. and hence the boom. extra tuition can really be expensive. the cost of renting an office in hong kong is apparently 110w office in hong kong is apparently now three times higher than the cost here in singapore. and the two are asia‘s most competitive cities but when it comes to the property market, hong kong is in another league. so is this bad news for the

city and the businesses headquartered there? i asked nicholas holt, a property expert, why rents are that high when the economy is slowing. hong kong rents continue to defy expectation but i think we need to define what were talking about here. because we are really talking about premium office spacejust in central, on hong kong island. if we go outside central, rents drop significantly. if we go east to places like quarry bay, rents a re east to places like quarry bay, rents are half or one third of the price. with hong kong almost three times higher than those in singapore, is the spread boosting singapore‘s appeal as a regional headquarters, vis—a—vis hong kong? certainly for many corporations looking for headquarters within the asia—pacific region, really you would be looking at hong kong or singapore. perhaps shanghai but more likely hong kong or singapore. the very attractive rents in singapore,

the lifestyle, the collectivity, all the lifestyle, the collectivity, all the things that singapore offers provides quite an attractive package. the market has been slow in singapore, but we do believe, long—term, a lot of multinationals will continue to choose singapore given its geography and its favourable offers conditions. asia property expert nicholas holt speaking to us from beijing. let‘s have a quick look at asian stock markets. as you can see, all in the red, all slipping into negative territory after us equities declined overnight. tokyo opening slightly lower, with investors cautious ahead ofa lower, with investors cautious ahead of a key usjobs report later this week and an upward revision in japanese data failing to spur buying in the markets. the hang seng also in the markets. the hang seng also in the red, together with the all ordinaries index. thank you for investing your time with us. i am rico hizon. sport today is coming up next. i‘m karin giannone.

the top stories this hour: malaysia and north korea are locked in a diplomatic stand—off, having banned each other‘s citizens from leaving their countries in a row over the assassination of kimjong—nam. money for new grammar schools in england is to be announced in today‘s budget. they will be among 140 free schools set up using a budget of £320 million in this parliament and the next. our education editor bra nwen jeffreys reports. before the number—crunching of the budget, a visit for the pm to a maths school. a little extra money for her education priorities, a signal to schools generally not to hope for more. we have protected the core schools budget, but crucially, what we‘re announcing is £500 million of investment in schools, £320 million of which will be new schools.

that will create around 70,000 new school places. more maths schools are part of her plans. they do select their pupils, but only at the age of 16. this is not a grammar school, but a sixth form that pushes budding mathematicians to their best. we know that what we've done here for students who have this interest in mathematics and the mathematical sciences has enabled transformation of those students, different futures, better futures for them, and therefore better futures for us all, in a sense. and so having more schools like that is exactly what i think we need. education is all about creating a sense of opportunity, the hope that what your children learn will give them a better chance than you had. and that is what the prime minister is trying to tap into, ata time when there are uncertain years ahead. this is all about the politics now, and very little about the modest amount of money. the £320 million will pay for new

schools up to 2020, that is on top of the 500 already promised after 2020. so £7 billion is already allocated for new places in this parliament. what is new is that some could now be grammar schools. it is not a lot of extra money, and won‘t help with the financial pressures facing most schools in england. the government spending plans don‘t begin to address the real problems in our schools. we have buildings that are falling down. we have a teacher recruitment and retention crisis. we can‘t get enough teachers into the classroom, and we can‘t get them to stay there. traditional values and excellence, for some that is what grammar schools mean. but others fear this is opportunity for the few, not the many. branwynjeffreys, bbc news. hello, this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre.

coming up on this programme: bayern munich humiliate arsenal winning10—2 on aggregate over two legs to move into the champions league quarterfinals. ravi ashwin helps india to victory over australia in a bad tempered second test match. and serena williams is set to relinquish her world number one ranking after pulling out of her next two tournaments with injury. hello and welcome to the programme, where we start with champions league football and the news that holders real madrid and five time winners bayern munich are the first sides through to the quarter—finals this year. real won 3—1 on the night and 6—2 on aggregate against napoli while arsenal lost 5—1 for the second successive time against carlo ancelotti‘s bayern munich going down 10—2 on aggregate. the arsenal manager arsene wenger has again had his future questioned but he believes the officials were at fault. we were really unlucky tonight

because it was a 100% penalty at 1—0 on walcott in the first half, i checkedit on walcott in the first half, i checked it on television. in the second half the referee killed the game. after that it was very