our top story: north and south korea have agreed to march under the same flag at next month's winter olympics in south korea. the arrangement is a sign of the thaw in relations which began when the north korean leader, kim jong—un, offered to send a team to the games in a new year speech. a former cia officer has been arrested in the us on charges of retaining classified information in a case thought to be linked to the crippling of the agency's spy operation in china. and this story is trending on bbc.com. space invaders — the game which spawned a multibillion—dollar industry celebrates its 40th birthday. to celebrate images from the game have been projected onto the window panes of a tokyo skyscraper. that's all from me for now. and the top story here in the uk: the bill transferring all european legislation into uk law — after brexit — has cleared the house of commons.

after 80 hours of debate, the european union withdrawal bill now goes to the house of lords. now on bbc news, all the latest business news live from singapore. i. i, donald john trump, do solemnly swear. . . i, donald john trump, do solemnly swear... it has been nearly a year since donald trump took office. we assess how asia has fared under america's 45th president. and china is expected to show slowing growth as the government cracks down on rising debt. good morning, asia. hello, world. it's thursday. glad you could join us for another action packed addition of asia business report. saturday marks the one—year

anniversary of donald trump's time in office. when he became president he promised three things relates to asia. to get rid of unfair trade deals, make trade more reciprocal and thirdly, bring backjobs to america. did he make good on these promises? our asia business effifi'fi?‘ 23,4? ééié §e§lfi§§§ i looks at ”sz 7515 —— ;;. can;;:;;é el; .; j . ....e . 5. i ;;. can no ;;; el; .; j . ....e . 5. i t2; can no longer ‘t j ' t ’ 5 i --. can no longer tolerate i ’ ’ i % can no longertoigcate these % efifiaifl trim-11:1 gist: i; w {six-wag; iélfi are: —— five 2. did we 7 the in the deal, and he it would die, it didn't. the thought it would die, it didn't. the 11 other countries decided to push

ahead without the us. the us looks like it could be the one losing out geopolitically at least as the rest of the world carries on. the us jseu of the world carries on. the us g buys of the world carries on. the us ’* buys than of the world carries on. the us ’* buys and han'rlw w w w to , trade or initiate to , trade deals ar initiate to , trade deals with tiate bilateral trade deals with individual asian countries. he is in the business of renegotiating one deal and that is the us— south korea agreement but that is it for now. china, another target for trade rage. he said he was going to call china currency manipulator on his first day in office and slap tariffs on chinese goods. he didn't, but we have seen us moves to keep chinese companies out of the states and he's made some headway in getting us financial firms more access to the chinese market. they have taken our money, they have taken ourjobs.

japan's softbank said it was going to create 50 —— it doesn't opt in the us. alibaba from china said it would create a million. but trump did put enough pressure on toyota to make it promised that it was going to build one factory in the us which would create some 4000 jobs. donald trump hasn't been as tough on trade with age as he said he was going. but he straps —— drastically change the direction of american trade policy, putting america first. while there has been a lot of rhetoric, not a lot in the way of concrete deals and action so it is doubtful whether his strategy will push america first or end up leaving america first or end up leaving america behind. in china, manufacturing and infrastructure spending and government stimulus have kept the

world's second largest economy chugging along since the global financial crisis but over the past year, authorities have been cracking down on investments. that is expected to have dampened growth in 2017. fourth—quarter gdp numbers are out on thursday and our china correspondence has more on what to expect. the trend has been the growth in this country's economy to go down. it's still growing but that trend is growing down but the figures later today according to the chinese premier li could show growth around 6.9%, above the figures for the previous year. they came in at 6.7. quite a way above what the government's official target of 6.5% is, probably because early on of the year we have that continued investment from the central government. we had a healthy recovery in the global economy. i think that continues to help china

in terms of its exports with the rest of the world but at the same time, as you pointed to, a clampdown the cost of lending in this country. a clampdown on risk within the lending industry in particular and cooling of the housing market, housing a key driver of gdp here in china but nonetheless, there is expectation of something a bit more surprising later. whether china's economic growth accelerates or slows down, critics doubt the numbers. they say the chinese government massages it to basically please the markets. we talk about this all the time. there is received wisdom that growth in chinese economy could be half of what the government officially says that over the past few weeks, we've had growing evidence of provincial governments here admitting that they have been their numbers. at the end of last month. liaoning up north said it had

been faking the numbers, boosting them to the benefit of their political leaders. also tianjin in the north—east has admitted faking gdp numbers and inner mongolia, very dependent on coal, up in the north, admitting it has been faking some of its numbers all of this is firm evidence to support the claims, support the suspicion among many that frankly, these numbers, no matter what they show, can't be trusted. our china correspondent. israel's prime minister may not go back empty—handed from his trip to india. a major multi—million dollar deal that was once taken up the table could be back on track. the latest, let's go to our reporter in mumbai. india had cancelled this deal. why the change? i had cancelled the deal two months back.

in november, it announced the deal was off the table. israeli government was quite disappointed with that decision but now prime minister netanyahu on his way back told reporters that the deal is back on the table. they are working on the details. the indian army will procure anti— guided missiles. something the indian army has been desperate to buy. officially, the indian government hasn't commented on it but sources say one of the key reasons that could be the indian army needs this in the immediate future. where the indian government wa nted future. where the indian government wanted its own weapons agency. to procure this over the next 2—3 yea rs. procure this over the next 2—3 years. that is why there is pressure from a section of the army that it

would be too long, it could delay the process. so in a way, it's good news for israel because the prime minister won't be going back empty—handed but clearly, some people in the indian ministry might not be happy with this decision because they wanted the indian army to manufacture these arms. prime minister netanyahu is in the home stretch of his tour of india. how significant so far? it's been a 6- day long tour, quite significant. we have seen both prime ministers netanyahu have seen both prime ministers neta nyahu and have seen both prime ministers netanyahu and modi travel to the state of gujarat, which is the home state of gujarat, which is the home state of gujarat, which is the home state of prime minister modi. their friendship has been on display. the defence deal is back on the table. israel will have something to share back home when they go back. israel looks at india as a crucial economic

partner in the long—term. defence relationship is important. also, agriculture, given the state of india's farm sector. israel feels it could provide the expertise to help india. a new era of cooperation between india and israel. in other business is making headlines, ride hailing company grab has bought an indian payment platform, ikaz, which helps the diverse payments to landscape. they willjoin grab's diverse payments to landscape. they will join grab's research diverse payments to landscape. they willjoin grab's research and development centre in bangalore. the price was not disclosed. let's take a look at the markets. a lot of

traders are smiling from ear to ear. a positive day for the asian stock markets. we are seeing the nick kay up markets. we are seeing the nick kay up by markets. we are seeing the nick kay up by more than 200 points. hong kong opening in positive territory. and the all ordinaries down by 33 due to a fall in oil prices. this is after the us bourse closed higher last night. breezing past 26,000 115. a new record high. thank you so much for investing your time with us. goodbye for now. this is bbc news. north and south korea have agreed to march under the same flag at the seoul winter olympics. at the same time — 20 countries say they want to step up pressure on pyongyang. a former cia officer has been arrested in the us in a case thought to be linked to the crippling

of the agency's spy operation in china. thousands of people who've worked on private sector service contracts for the failed company, carillion, have been told they will continue to be paid. the insolvency service says more than 90% of carillion‘s private customers want the company to continue running services and will provide funding so staff can be kept on. concerns have been raised over the contracting out of public services to private businesses. a man who was abused by the former football coach barry bennell, has told a court that the former wales manager, gary speed, was one of four men who took their own lives and who had all been coached by bennell. the 64 year old is on trial at liverpool crown court, and denies 48 counts of sexual abuse against 11 boys between 1979 and 1990. our sports editor dan roan reports. we now into the second week of this

trial and today the jury heard from the victim who barry bennell had admitted abusing back in 1998 he was handed a 9— yearjail sentence. this man told the jury the former wales manager, gary speed, who hung himself in 2011 aged 42, was one of fourfor my himself in 2011 aged 42, was one of four for my youth team players who had gone on to commit suicide. he told the court whether they have taken their lives due to barry i don't know but it has had an impact on me and how it could impact on other people. the man went on to say he knew other former youth team players who had become destitute or suffered alcohol problems and he told the court he tried to get in touch with the family of gary speed when he read in the newspapers that they had been unable to get closure because they couldn't understand the reasons for his death. earlier today, a complainant in this case

told the jury that when he played one of manchester city's junior teams, he'd been abused by barry bennell more than 100 times. he went on to say that to officials at the clu b on to say that to officials at the club including a former chair —— former player and chief scout, ken barnes, who died in 2010, had known about this abuse and had done nothing and he said he wanted an abuse —— an apology from the club. currently 48 counts of child sex abuse against 11 complainants. the trial continues. that is it from me. iamon i am on twitter. mike embley is he we re i am on twitter. mike embley is he were the rest of the day ‘s news soon. hello, this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme. we will be live in melbourne for all

the action on dave four of the australian open. former champion maria sharapova has just australian open. former champion maria sharapova hasjust made it through to the third round. eden hazard sends chelsea through to the fourth round of the fa cup, after a penalty shootout and two of their players getting sent off. england's ben stokes is available for selection again, after missing the ashes series in australia. welcome along to the show. let's begin then at the australian open, where day four is under way. last year's men's champion, roger federer, will be in action in the night session. but another former champion, maria sharapova, hasjust made it through to the third round. so, to get all the details of the play so far, let's head live to melbourne. our tennis reporter gigi salmon is there. sharapova through, but there could be some shocks elsewhere.