i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: britain's theresa may is in china to forge new partnerships, ahead of britain's exit from the european union. the fbi says it has grave concerns over the accuracy of what is expected to be a critical memo that could soon be released by the white house. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: the bbc‘s former china editor carrie gracie tells british mps of her anger at the way the bbc has treated some of the women it employs. i was so distraught by what had happened. anyway... then i thought, no, i have to fight. and i am sorry it is taking this long, and i am sorry we are in this position, yes. and goodbye to vaping. singapore bans e—cigarettes. it is 8:00am in singapore,

midnight in london, and 8:00am in beijing, where the british prime minister, on her visit to china, has forecast a golden era in trade relations. theresa may says she has won assurance that beijing will further open up its markets to the uk, but has also been forced to insist that she is not a quitter, following days of criticism of her leadership from her own supporters. our political editor laura kuenssberg is travelling with the prime minister. even the most carefully planned entrance can go a touch awry. a bit of pushing and shoving — not the political kind, this time. asia's red carpets, though, hardly provide a rest. theresa may is here to do business,

but the tories are trading in her future at home. she, envious perhaps of that kind of discipline, is trying, well, as she might say, to get on with the job. although i may be visiting in winter, i have had the warmest of welcomes, for which i am very grateful. but, to get things done, leaders have to be able to lead. the prime minister says she will fight on, but concedes something has to shift. prime minister, on the journey here, you acknowledged that you and your government have to do more to be convincing. what is it that you plan to do differently, and will you stand up to your critics? i think that there are many people in the united kingdom who want to ensure that they and their families can achieve the british dream, of ensuring that each generation has a better future than the past. and yes, we do need to do more, and we do need to ensure that we are talking

about what we have already achieved. but her chinese counterpart provided cheer, dangling the prospect of a future trade deal after brexit, with the start of formal conversations to scope it out. she isn't a naturalfan of chinese opera, perhaps, or the diplomatic schmooze. there were some tricky moments today. conversations turned to human rights, north korea, and the brute force of china's steel industry. but these very excited students could be joined by many others. deals for universities, exchange programmes, and others were announced. have a nice day in china. thank you, well done to you. nice to see you! and this group used their high—tech skills to make a model of number ten, helpfully pointing out it had an emergency button, if ever there was a need for a swift escape. and there is an emergency button. if you have an emergency, put there,

it will call the police. right, very good. the prime minister made very deliberate stops here, though, one to the banks of the yangtze river, to share her party's newfound focus on all things green. and she hopes by the end of the week to have guaranteed british beef is on its way back to china's table, after 20 years, and there will have been handshakes on at least £9 billion of deals. china and britain not best friends, perhaps, but serious colleagues. this place reeks of power — a commodity theresa may has been grappling to hold onto in recent days. it is clear the prime minister is in no mood to quit, but she does seem to acknowledge she has to up her game at home, and abroad, to be sure of staying on. the historic bling, the flags, the ceremony — delicately choreographed, but easily dismantled.

the prime minister travels with the trappings of office. but she is vulnerable, not accompanied by reliable, long—term support from her own side. now to a row over equal pay for men and women, which has gone from within bbc to a committee at the british parliament today. it follows the resignation of the bbc‘s china editor carrie gracie, after it emerged she was being paid less than male editors. our media editor amol rajan reports. a united front — several of the most high—profile female presenters on bbc news were in westminster today to support their colleague carrie gracie. reporter: do the bbc need to do more on equal pay for women? that's why we're here to support carrie. thank you. i was appointed china editor at the end of... she resigned her post as china editor in protest at unequal pay. in blistering testimony

to a select committee of mps, she accused the bbc of institutionalised discrimination, when it had paid her less than other international editors. we knew there was inequality. we didn't know the details, because the bbc is extremely secretive on pay, but we knew we were underpaid. and i was determined, at this point, where i knew i'd give the china job every last ounce of my skill and stamina, i knew i would do that job at least as well as any man. the corporation's dealing with her grievance was, she said, insultingly shambolic, and she added that she would be declining nearly £100,000 in back pay. i have said i don't want that money. that's not what it's about for me. i feel my salary‘s a good salary, it's public money, i... that's not what it was about. they're still not giving me equality. and, in a concerted attack against bbc management, she said that for years it had created a fortress to keep out ordinary staff. i was so distraught by what had happened. anyway... then i thought, "no,

i have to fight." gracie's grilling went on for 2.5 hours. when said management emerged in the afternoon, the director—general apologised for the situation. i'm sorry it went to a grievance, and i said upfront at the beginning i'd very much like to resolve the case of carrie gracie with her. and i'm sorry this has taken so long, and i'm sorry we're in this position, yes. he went on to explain for the first time in public why the bbc believe there is a hierarchy of roles among correspondents. the idea that every single editor, home and abroad, i would imagine, should be paid exactly the same, i don't agree with. it should not be a matter of gender, completely agree. 0utrageous if it was. but, you know, you have balances between different editors, and we need to be very upfront about what that, as it were, pecking order is. there are two parallel conversations happening today. carrie gracie spoke powerfully about the wider implications of her own case, and also

the accumulated failures of the past. but the bbc management wanted to focus on the future. they want to shift this story from the injustices faced by carrie gracie to their new framework for greater transparency. the trouble is, many staff here have other ideas. the bbc has a clear plan, and is largely ahead of the industry on gender inequality. but carrie gracie's case remains far from resolved, or unique. amol rajan, bbc news. also making news today: ajudge in the us state of michigan says the number of known sexual abuse victims of the former usa gymnastics team doctor larry nassar has grown to 265. nasser is in court again, to be sentenced for molesting patients at a gymnastics club in michigan. the entire board of usa gymnastics has now resigned over the scandal. concern is growing over president trump's intentions towards north korea, following reports that he has withdrawn plans to name an academic as his next ambassador to south korea. the korean—american victor cha has argued against launching

a pre—emptive strike on north korea, leading to speculation that president trump is considering such an attack. hong kong's lawmakers have voted overwhelmingly to ban the trade in ivory in the territory. campaigners say the new law is a lifeline for elephants, though some have complained that the ban won't take effect quickly enough. under the law, sales of ivory won't end completely until 2021. a train carrying republican lawmakers to a retreat in west virginia has collided with a rubbish truck. one person was killed in the incident, while another was seriously injured, although no—one aboard the train is believed to have been significantly hurt. a politician in the far—right and anti—immigra nt alternative for germany party has resigned from its board and converted to islam. arthur wagner has quit his party leadership post in the state of brandenburg, but will remain a party member. he said his task was now to seek a consensus between german islam and the national conservatives. this colourful and dramatic ceremony

is just one of the events that have been taking place in vietnam to mark the 50th anniversary of the start of the tet 0ffensive. the surprise attack by the north in 1968, on what was then south vietnam, ended in military defeat for hanoi, but proved a turning point in the lengthy conflict against the united states and its allies. back to our top story, and the british prime minister, theresa may, in china. earlier, i spoke to our correspondent stephen mcdonell in beijing. i asked him what assurances the chinese gave mrs may that they would strike trade deals with the uk after it leaves the european union next year. well, we haven't heard any announcement along those lines, and what happens on these visits if they go into secret meetings, or... well, when i say secret, behind closed

doors, at least where the media is concerned. and then we get some sort of indication from leaders, if they like, about what was said inside the meeting. i doubt there had been assurances in terms of brexit. i mean, for one, britain has made it clear that it wants to have a free trade agreement with china, at some point, after a divorce is itself from europe. now, technically, i don't think either side is allowed to negotiate a free trade agreement at this point. so even if they wa nted at this point. so even if they wanted to, they can't speak about that, as it is probably illegalfor the british government to be seriously talking about that while it is still part of europe. not, in terms of access to chinese markets, and the like, theresa may has raised this is an issue. we know this because she came out and said this. we also know that at some point she raised human rights. but she didn't say what this was about. it was

china's premier, li keqiang, who said we spoke openly about human rights without giving any details about what those discussions were. so it is a bit ofa about what those discussions were. so it is a bit of a tea leaf reading, here, if you like. the fbi says it has grave concerns over the accuracy of what is expected to be a critical memo that could soon be released by the white house. it centres on a report written by the republican congressman devin nunes which is thought to condemn the fbi for spying on the trump election campaign. mr trump himself has the power to keep the memo secret, but that seems unlikely, judging by this exchange as the president left his state of the union speech last night. don't worry, 100%. well, the fbi has now got its own response in before the report is made public. it says it has had limited opportunity to review the memo, and it adds that it is worried about omissions of fact.

this is all, of course, highly political, and the memo itself remains, until it is released, classified and highly secret. at those who have seen it say that it relates to a man called carter page. now, he is formerforeign policy adviser to donald trump, up until september 2016, and he is a man who is known to have met with russian government officials during a trip to moscow in july government officials during a trip to moscow injuly 2016 —— carter page. carter page, for his part, says that that was merely a benign visit undertaken as a private citizen. now, where all this comes toa citizen. now, where all this comes to a head, if you like, is that republicans argue in this memo, so it has been reported, that attempts

we re it has been reported, that attempts were made to extend the surveillance of carter page, and that basically there was misleading information given to thejudge there was misleading information given to the judge who would consider that surveillance request. now, the democrats say that this is highly selective, and that it is all pa rt highly selective, and that it is all part ofan highly selective, and that it is all part of an attempt to muddy the waters, if you like, as far as the special prosecutor's investigation into the russian meddling, presidential election meddling affair is concerned. now we have the fbi involved, and they took the rather unusual step of issuing their own statement today saying that they believe that this would be a bad idea, to release this classified document. david, can you remember a time where the fbi, and this whole. .. against the time where the fbi, and this whole... against the backdrop of this enquiry by mueller, as well, has got into this kind of political

gameplaying with the white house? no, quite frankly. and it is all pa rt no, quite frankly. and it is all part of this campaign, if you like, in part by the white house, which is very dead set against the special counsel's investigation into russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, and that investigation is also looking into allegations of attem pts also looking into allegations of atte m pts to also looking into allegations of attempts to obscure... 0bstruct justice. there are those in the white house who believe that the senior levels at the fbi and law enforcement here are biased against president trump, and they have... the president himself has set about wheedling out senior members of the fbi. of course, as we have seen in recent days, with some success. you are watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: we look at the ban on e—cigarettes, also known as vaping. also on the programme: what does

president trump's body language tell us about his policies? this is the moment that millions in iran had been waiting for. after his long years in exile, the first hesitant steps of ayatollah khomeini on iranian soil. south africa's white government has offered its black opponents concessions unparalleled in the history of apartheid. the ban on the african national congress is lifted immediately, and the anc leader, nelson mandela, after 27 years injail, is to be set free unconditionally. the aircraft was returning from belgrade, where manchester united had entered the semi—final of the european cup. two americans have become the first humans to walk in space without any lifeline to their spaceship. one of them called it a piece of cake. thousands of people have given

the yachstwoman ellen macarthur a spectacular homecoming in the cornish port of falmouth after she smashed the world record for sailing solo around the world non—stop. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories: britain's theresa may is in china to forge new partnerships ahead of britain's exit from the european union. the fbi says it has "grave concerns" about a report thought to outline alleged surveillance of the trump presidential campaign team. now, if you're ever stuck for words, think about this — a killer whale has been taught to speak.

the captive orca at a french marine theme park mimics human speech through her blowhole. very interesting. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the china daily reports that beijing will boost ties with the united kingdom in fields such as nuclear power, finance, and high—tech trade. 0n the first visit of british prime minister theresa may to the country, the paper says premier li keqiang believes both countries should open up more to each other and align development strategies. the japan times leads on president trump's state of the union address. it says that while mr trump touted his pushback against "unfair trade deals", he had little new to say about key issues concerning japan. and the straits times here reports on the heavy rain continuing to blanket several parts of singapore. it publishes this dramatic front page picture of a tree crashing down across marine parade road,

almost completely blocking traffic in both directions. now, what stories are sparking discussions online? the duke and duchess of cambridge are in sweden on the second leg of their tour of scandinavia and they received a very warm welcome from this group of schoolchildren. prince william seemed to enjoy it so much he switched from his usual handshakes to a rather less formal high five technique. and kate also followed suit. the royal couple have two days still to go on their tour of the region. donald trump's state of the union address has been dominating the news. as usual, the president used his full set of speaking skills to get his message across about what he deemed his successes of the past 12 months. but how well did he do last night? we asked body language expert judi james to take a look. in terms of presidential, i called

john wayne with a quiff. we had more authority and dignity. quite frighteningly, he is getting good, he is evolving. there is a huge difference between his words, and he read them as though he had written before, which he did at this time around, and the body language that came with them. for instance, the point where he was talking about we need to come together, which sounds very good, you can see what the democrats would be seen, they would see an empty embrace to start with. this is good, this is let us all join up. then he would add a cajoling jester. it would look quite aggressive to them. and he finished with that typical alfa something where he stuck his chest out and then he used that smile. it is what is called triumphalism. i have one.

it would be very difficult. you would feel as though you had lost face to bejoining in would feel as though you had lost face to be joining in with would feel as though you had lost face to bejoining in with him, u nfortu nately. face to bejoining in with him, unfortunately. normally we get the typical donald trump to go with the finger at the ceiling. this is a classic with him, doing it with both hands. what he did this time was to modify it. he has turned it into a precision gesture which is a different beast. he is bringing it down. this one he is using as the 0. when you turn it into that precision gesture it shows that i know what i'm doing, i have either done it or iam i'm doing, i have either done it or i am definitely doing it, he implies it has the answers. last time he appeared very much as a salesman. but you could see suppressed signs of nerves. the lecture last year when he arrived, he was holding the site as though it was propping him up site as though it was propping him up —— lectern. this year had a similar pose but much more splayed. he took control of the lack turn. he was using space a lot more. he was

loving every moment of it from his arrival. pence behind him, he looked arrival. pence behind him, he looked a lot more relaxed. a lot more confidence from donald trump this time. she wore white when everyone else was wearing black, which was supposed to be showing empathy for sexual harassment. she was not a cheerleader, she was sitting when other people stood for an ovation. slightly worrying. that wasjudi that was judi james on that wasjudi james on the body language of president trump during his state of the union address. the ban on e—cigarettes, also known as vaping, comes into effect from thursday in singapore. authorities claim it doesn't curb the smoking habit, but there are others who don't share that view. only a handful of countries including brazil and thailand have complete bans on e—cigarettes, with most places putting in place regulations instead.

i have been a vaping for almost two yea rs i have been a vaping for almost two years now. the reason i started vaping was to find a healthier, cheaper alternative to smoking and also cut my smoking habit. i guess i will be finding other, healthier ways to keep myself destructed. —— distracted. yes, there is the potential for the

gateway effect. e—cigarettes less harmful but not harmless. the benefits are the reductions in death and disease is caused by smokers switching to this less harmful product. the right thing to do, rather than an outright ban, would be to weigh the benefits and come up with sensible regulations that allow us to maximise the benefits while managing the costs. e—cigarettes, effective today, the first of february, banned in singapore. you have been watching newsday. iam rico i am rico hizon in singapore. stay with us. coming up, we'll be spending some facetime with facebook. the social media company has just reported a whopping 47% jump

in quarterly revenue. this beat analysts‘ expectations, despite criticism overfake news. big figures for facebook. the british prime minister theresa may has big gun a three—day visit to china by meeting the chinese prime minister, li keqiang keqiang. both said they were looking forward to a new golden in of trade relations. mrs may said they would work together on trade and other issues, including north korea. earlier, she responded to questions about her own political future. and before we go, across the globe today we've been seeing a super blue blood moon. it only happens once every 150 yea rs. and if you're in the right part of the world, the best advice was look up. halloo. it will be a cold and frosty

start this thursday morning. we have had bands of sleet and snow working eastwards. there is a met office be prepared ice warning in the uk. the added convocation with no continuing in the north. there could be a smattering of so initially —— convocation. the showers are running in behind. in scotland they will fall as snow and the hills of northern ireland as well. coupled with the wintry showers, gale force winds, severe gales in the north—east of scotland. it will be bitterly cold. there will be further showers for the north—west of england, parts of wales, the south—west, into the home counties, potentially as well. there could be rain and sleet here and snow where the hills. the risk of it being slippery. the showers could come in and what of the salt on the roads and what of the salt on the roads and pavements. it does look as though it will be a slippery affair in places. away from the showers, a sparkling day. plenty of sunshine

around. showers interspersed with sunnier spells. look at the strength of the wind. into single figures, but the wind will add a significant chill factor if you were out and about with those gales in the north and east. they continued through the coming night, easing a little in western areas and continuing to push in those showers. and other cold start on friday. severe frost because of the strength of the wind. a subtle change in wind direction will bring showers to eastern parts of england during friday. the west, fewer showers. a dry day, more sunshine around. slightly less cold. into the weekend, we have convocations. this weather system coming into cold air. this is across the balkans and italy, we happy by the balkans and italy, we happy rugby taking place here on sunday. saturday looks like a bleak day. cold rain or cold sleet and snow, particularly in the north, possibly further south. there is some

uncertainty. it looks as though there will be cold reigned for wales and the match against scotland, perhaps a dry in paris. wintry weather not to be ruled out. it might be dry for england's match against italy in rome. we have declared the low pressure out of the way. our rain, sleet, and snow mix well is a wagering because of sunday. we pick up the bitterly cold not easily across south—eastern areas. more sunshine and drier weather across the west. highs are to watch out for through the morning. goodbye. —— ice. i'm babita sharma with bbc world news. our top story: britain's prime minister, theresa may, is in china, where she is expected to sign around $13 billion worth of trade deals. mrs may says she has won assurances that china will allow more access to its markets. the chinese government has forecast a golden era in trade relations. the former bbc china editor carrie gracie has told a committee of british mps that she was left feeling distraught when she learned

how much more her male colleagues were being paid. she resigned over the issue. bbc management says it is committed to equal pay. and this video is trending on bbc.com: three lunar events have happened at the same time, giving people in some parts of the world a rare view of a supersized moon going through an eclipse. it is the first time it has happened for more than 30 years, and it happened during a blue moon — the second full moon in a calendar month. now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk.