north and south korea have agreed to hold military talks to defuse border tension. and the two countries‘ teams will appear together at next month's winter olympics in the south. it follows their first high—level meeting in two years. the us has given the talks a cautious welcome. but the north's delegation ruled out any discussions on its nuclear weapons programme. former trump strategist steve bannon has quit his right—wing news group breitba rt. it follows unflattering comments attributed to him in a new book about the white house. and this video is trending on bbc.com. it's the alligators of north carolina demonstrating their ability to survive the cold weather. they poke their snouts through holes in the ice to breathe. when it's this cold, they enter a state of hibernation. and the top story here in the uk: theresa may says her reshuffle makes the government look "more like the country it serves," with a "new generation" of ministers brought in. the prime minister appointed several new faces to her ministerial team,

mostly in junior roles. now on bbc news, all the latest business news live from singapore. as chinese technology giant alibaba eyes a re as chinese technology giant alibaba eyes are possible public listing we ta ke eyes are possible public listing we take stock on how regional exchanges are competing for initial public offerings. —— eyes a. microsoft suspends software updates to fix a security threat, after users complained the patches froze their machines. it is wednesday, everyone! good morning, asia, hello, world! glad you canjoin morning, asia, hello, world! glad you can join us morning, asia, hello, world! glad you canjoin us for morning, asia, hello, world! glad you can join us for another action packed edition of asia business report. i am packed edition of asia business report. iam rico packed edition of asia business report. i am rico hizon. packed edition of asia business report. iam rico hizon. we packed edition of asia business

report. i am rico hizon. we begin with hong kong, and the territory is changing its listing rules, maybe trying to attract what buster initial public offerings, such as saudi aramco, the world's a guest ipo this year. it is planning to allow companies to split their stock into different categories, known as dual class shares, to give owners of one class greater owned —— greater voting rights than the other. the change could interest alibaba chairman jack mark —— jack change could interest alibaba chairmanjack mark —— jack ma, who may choose hong kong over the us to go public in 2018. asia was the most active region for listings last year. over 1600 active region for listings last year. 0ver1600 initial public offerings globally, which raised under 200 billion us dollars. asia saw a surge of 44% by deal numbers. according to our next guest, 2018 might bring more big deals. earlier,

i spoke with max loh from ernst & young. he said investors are excited by the news that jack ma could list the company on his home turf. alibaba is already listed in the united states. bringing it back to hong kong is always exciting. it brings it closer to home. people are able to identify with the company and the things that they do in the market. it is always exciting. what will it mean for hong kong, the ipo market, and the rest of asia, if alibaba goes market, and the rest of asia, if aliba ba goes back market, and the rest of asia, if alibaba goes back home?” market, and the rest of asia, if alibaba goes back home? i think it will give a filip to the already robust exchanges that exist, especially to hong kong, because when you have a big company that comes home that excites investors. you already have dual listings between chinese companies who have listed in hong kong, but could this open floodgates of more american listed firms setting up in the big lights of hong kong, tokyo, seoul or

china? definitely. right now the world is globalised. investors can trade on any global exchange. bringing it closer to home makes it more accessible. more investors, i think, will pile on to the stock. we are now globally connected, as you mention. is there really a need for a dual listing if investors like lend me, based in asia, can trade dual stocks —— trade us stocks? absolutely, but right now it is limited to sophisticated investors. renewed back home opens it more to retail and domestic investors who can now really invest directly in that stock. —— bringing it back home. everybody is looking forward to the biggest ever ipo in history, which is saudi aramco. everybody is eating for a share of that piece of that big pie, whether it is london, new york or hong kong. who do you eventually think will be the big winner? i really don't know. exchanges are competitive.

cross—border listings are the flavour of the day. each exchange will put forward what they think are the competitive advantages to try to attract saudi aramco. 0bviously, being such a big listing. remember how we talked about the issues with chips that are being used in devices like computers and mobile phones? microsoft has released patches for security threats, but they are freezing some machines which are powered via amd chips. shares in big technology companies are down following this report. samir hussein has the latest. what we are talking about, their rights and that major chip makers in the world. intel and amd. we already heard from the intel boss who said, look, it is going to be fixed within the next week or so. amd is suffering different problems. these chips, they had a patch and

they put out that patch to try to fix it. microsoft has been receiving complaints from its customers saying that after the fix was put in, they we re that after the fix was put in, they were getting frozen screens or the dreaded blue frozen screens. as a result, microsoft has said, nope, we are not going to be issuing this patch any more for now. not until they can figure out some sort of sex. “— they can figure out some sort of sex. —— fix. they can figure out some sort of sex. -- fix. virtual reality headsets can limit uses' mobility by connecting them to a computer, but one company has come up with a hands—free shen. —— users' mobility. dave lee got his hands and head on it at the international consumer electronics show in las vegas. the original htc was as —— was extremely well received upon launch in 2016. this, the vive pro, is a big upgrade. the resolution on this

version is 78% better than the previous one. looking around here, that extra resolution does make a big difference. it has an upgraded lens, displays, upgraded audio and had strapped. it is a whole different product for another consumer. now, previously with the htc vibe you have had to connect it to the computer with a big cable, which often computer with a big cable, which ofte n got computer with a big cable, which often got in the way. they think they have solved it now with this adaptor, so now i can take the battery pack and put it in my back pocket. and i canjust put this battery pack and put it in my back pocket. and i can just put this over my head and i am free to move however please, and i do not need to worry about tripping over that cable. i think it brings up the immersion level for you, and it can

actually perform as well as a tether. you just have a seamless experience. it is lots easier. really enjoyable for people. some people say the reason high end of the art has not been as widely adopted as it perhaps could have been is because there isn't enough staff. —— high end vr. there are not enough things to do with vr. what are you doing to solve out? there is more content and people know what to do without this point. the content quality is getting better. 0ther things holding it back with things like the tether. it will make it easierfor people to like the tether. it will make it easier for people to get into this experience. virtual reality with dave lee. as we speak, south korean president moon jae—in is speaking to the country. this is after seoul held its first talks with its northern neighbour in two years. north korea said they would send a delegation to the winter olympics next month. joining us how winter olympics next month. joining us now for more is my colleague mariko 0i, and the big question is,

they are talking about sports, they are talking about the nuclear missile programme, but what about business. —— business? will this dialogue give more business relations between the two countries? it is quite possible. the north korean economy, guess what, is struggling. it has been affected by the sanctions imposed after its latest nuclear tests by the united states and the international community. some analysts have called it one of the very few successes of president trump. north korea needs that cash to keep its elite happy with luxury goods, but also to keep funding its nuclear programme. tourism has always been the biggest moneyspinner but that has fallen off the cliff after the death of a us national in north korea. 0ne the cliff after the death of a us national in north korea. one way that they can make money is by reopening thejoint that they can make money is by reopening the joint north and south korean caisson industrial complex.

—— kaesong. that was launched back in 2004, and was seen as a major symbol of cooperation between the two sides. the factory park is a combination of 124 south korean companies employing 54,000 north korean workers. when it was opened it used to generate about $100 million in revenue every year. it was shut in february 2016 following north korea's fourth nuclear and long—range missile test. as rico mentioned, president no—one is currently speaking. we are hoping to find out whether north korea and south korea plans to reopen this context. we have not heard anything about that yet but it is a possibility. thank you for that update. moving to other news, toyota and most are expected to announce they are building a new $1.6 billion auto factory in the us state of alabama. —— toyota and mazda. it is

a victory for president trump, who promised to bring back manufacturing jobs to the united states, and threatened tariffs on foreign reduction. sources have told media outlets that the plant will employ 4000 workers and build three had a thousand vehicles a year. —— 300,000. a quick look at the markets: thank you for investing your time with us. i am rico hizon. sport todayis with us. i am rico hizon. sport today is coming up. hello, you're watching bbc news. the trial of barry bennell, the former football coach, has been told he was a predatory and determined paedophile whosejob a predatory and determined paedophile whose job gave him u nfettered paedophile whose job gave him unfettered access to large numbers

of boys. barry bennell, now known as richard jones, has already admitted seven charges of indecent assault between 1979 and 1991. he has pleaded guilty —— not guilty to a further 48 counts of historical child sex offences, as our sports editor dan rowan reports. a successful former coach in the 19805, a successful former coach in the 1980s, barry bennell worked with some of the most promising young footballers in the north—west of england. youth team coach at crewe alexandra, he also had links to man city and stoke city. today, the court was told that the 63—year—old who now calls himself richard jones, was a predatory, determined and devious paedophile. for the prosecution, nicholasjohnson devious paedophile. for the prosecution, nicholas johnson qc told the jury that barry bennell, who appeared via video link because of ill health, engaged in a course of ill health, engaged in a course of conduct over many years involving systematics sexual abuse of prepubescent boys. he had pity much u nfettered prepubescent boys. he had pity much unfettered access to large and others of young lads who dreamt of life in professional football. others of young lads who dreamt of life in professionalfootball. ——.

although it seemed he was a skilled and relatively successful coach, he had a much darker side. the court was told that bennell previously served two prison sentences, both here and in the us, all serious sexual offences againstjunior footballers. but he insisted the current complainants were maliciously making up stories about him, seeking attention or compensation. the court was told bennell subjected boys to hundreds of assaults and even carried out some of his crimes here, in one of the changing rooms in the grounds of crewe alexandra. several alleged victims also played for clubs linked to manchester city. one alleged he was abused when aged between 11 and 13, more than 100 times, after bennell introduced himself as a scout for the club. another claimed he was abused that bennell‘s house and on tours, where horror movies would be played too soft and of his victims. and one complainant who threatened to report the abuse said that bennell told him no body would leave him, and that "i've got people

playing professional foot will now that i've done these things too, you are nothing. thejury was that i've done these things too, you are nothing. the jury was told they would have due decide between bennell‘s version of events, or believe the prosecution's case, that he had committed sexual offences on a large scale against vulnerable boys. the trial continues. they belong to national action. the six appeared at westminster magistrates' court. they will appear at the old bailey later this month. that is it from me. you can get in touch via social media. you can also find us on facebook. hello, i'm nick marshall—mccormack and this is sport today. from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: super sub ageuro saves the day against bristol city

in the english cup. kerber puts williams out of the contest in sydney with a powerful three set performance. but the dakar rally motorbike champion is out of the race