tells the bbc he'd think twice about sharing sensitive information with the president. james comey told the bbc‘s newsnight program president trump has dangerous impulses and lacks the people to keep him in check. cuba's new president has declared that communist rule will continue. miguel diaz—canel steps in as the country's leader after six decades of castros at the helm. and you might be familiar with the african county of swaziland. well, the nation's king has declared his country will now instead be known as "the kingdom of eswatini". the announcement was made as the country celebrated 50 years of independence from british rule. the story's very popular on the bbc website. that's all from me for now. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk: the queen has told the leaders of more than 50 countries that she'd

like prince charles to succeed her, one day, like prince charles . is from g global potential impact on the global! apple shares are bruised re -orts of softer smart- hone after reports of softer smartphone sales from a chip supply in taiwan. —— supplier. welcome to asia business report. the international monetary fund and world bank are in washington, dc for their annual spring meeting with us— china britain is hanging over the

gathering, officials are warning governors to avoid harming trade and investments, which have been key drivers of the global economic recovery so drivers of the global economic recovery so far. the imf chief, christine lagarde, said escalating trade tensions could reverberate through the local economy, undermining confidence and taking off investment. she urged both sides to resolve their disputes through dialogue. because the world is so interconnected, the supply chains are involving so many different countries, regional, intraregional, into regionals, that it could affect the global economy —— interregional. it is better to cha—cha than to war war. that is the thing at the moment. looming global debt is on the agenda. there is the hangover from the financial crisis, a drop in commodity prices, and increased spending. this is what it looks in china where the public debt stands at about 51% of gdp. united states

is twice that at 108%. japan, it has been doing its own thing, topping out at 236% of gdp. not everyone agrees on the debt problem being a serious issue. here is the view from the chief executive of an advisory house. 3.996 is the thing that grosses 2011. it something to keep an eye on, when you look at the risk of the global economy. it is not about that. it is more about politics, geopolitics, it is about the lack of reform. it is something to keep an eye on. we would not call ita to keep an eye on. we would not call it a crisis. lumia looking at the debt levels, when it is eight —— when is it a good time to act on it? a would be now. the imf is right to say fix the roof will be sunny shining. if you look at the gates,

china alone is responsible for almost 50% since 2007 —— debt. it is not about china's sovereign debt. it is more about the private banks, the insurance sector, local governments. it isa insurance sector, local governments. it is a lack of basically tackling the situation. let us not forget, over the last ten years since the beginning of the financial crisis, 2010, and so on, we have seen central banks around the world pumping in something like 11 or $12 trillion of liquidity into the system. that is where we are. significant growth. asia is the engine of growth. i wanted to ask in about asia. what is the situation and your assessment of it? we are certainly not worried about the situation here. asia is the engine of growth. india and china leading. then you have a group of countries including the philippines, they are growing at more than 5%. these are

rates of growth that in other parts of the world, specifically europe, but also the us, they would be dreaming about that. but not as much as they would have liked. obviously, it is never enough. we have seen limited progress in terms of productivity, we have not seen significant reforms. there are concerns about the global climate in terms of trade because of the potential confrontation between the us and china. it is never enough. as we said before, this is a level of growth of 3.9%, the hyacinthe 2011. it is spread around. it is globally advanced economies, it is emerging markets. speaking to me a bit earlier. —— the highest growth since. we saw a wall street overnight. a kick—in to find out what that was all about. good morning to you. what was it all about? —— check—in. morning to you. what was it all about? -- check-in. ithink investors got caught off guard a little, when there was a warning

from taiwan semiconductor manufacturing. not exactly a household name, but a major apple supplier. apple accounts for 20% of their revenue. when that company said it is seeing weaker smartphone sales and outlook, shares in apple fell sharply, down by almost 3%. all the other apple supplies as well. the shares were down 5%. the other apple supplies as well. the shares were down 596. what is prompting the slowest nee slower sales ? prompting the slowest nee slower sales? we have been hearing that the iphone it has not been that popular —— what has been prompting the slower sales ? —— what has been prompting the slower sales? until apple comes out with all the new iphones, they have been waiting for you once, when they come out the outlook might continue. we will follow that closely. thank. no one likes trouble quite like warren buffett. he brought net

debfs warren buffett. he brought net debt‘s 20 years ago. the company saw demanded by 7% —— netjet. booklets on how they are doing in europe, we hopped on to one of their private flights. this is a report. i could get used to this. it might have been a little tricky getting in on crutches, but this is how the other half live. no queues, all the mod cons, if you are running late, the plane waits for you. why? because you own it when you are a member of this club. but it comes at a price. the new boss took me for a spin to give me the sales pitch. how much does it cost? are we talking hundreds of thousands of dollars? we can say that you will pay 6000 per hour. what are the most popular routes? for europe, london is really

centric. the top ten destination, london. london is a key financial hub. a key destination for you. our worried about you and your clients about the brexit effect and the open skies agreement? we saw, especially at the beginning when there was the vote for brexit, that there was an emotional reaction. we saw that in some companies, especially looking at other places which were located there. but it didn't happen, really, ina there. but it didn't happen, really, in a massive way at least. so we have prepared to switch to other countries, because our presence is everywhere. but if you asked my personal opinion, i don't think it will happen. warren buffet was once an owner of the company. he is now heavily involved through his investment vehicle, how much freedom does he give you as the ceo of the company? there is nothing daily,

let's say, involvement, but the instruction was very clear. he was a customer. he was satisfied. he had the opportunity that we don't have, that at least i don't have, that when he was happy he bore the —— bought the company. he is a wonderful ambassador. you can imagine that there are many people he knows personally. you can imagine that he is an ambassador that truly believes he is sharing in something thatis believes he is sharing in something that is really powerful. victoria enjoyed the private flights on netj ets. enjoyed the private flights on netjets. some other business news for you. wage talks between general motors south korean unit and its union ended on thursday. this is one day before the deadline. they said

they were shut down one of the planes in korea. it has been looking for wage concessions and help from the government to save its remaining three factories. —— plants. the head of mattel is leaving the company to ta ke of mattel is leaving the company to take over of mattel is leaving the company to ta ke over a ncestry of mattel is leaving the company to take over ancestry .com. theyjoin to help the make—up of barbie to get out of a lengthy slump. when the disney princess line of dolls came out. hasbro has the contract for the star wars business. both countries have been hit hard by the toys "r" us liquidation. let us look at the markets. the asian markets have opened up this morning. it is a bit ofa opened up this morning. it is a bit of a mixed bag. the nikkei battening down. —— opening down. the reaction to what is happening overnight with those falls on the dowjones. that

is about the warning of weaker smartphone sales that is driving that indicated down. the nasdaq closed down 0.8%. we will have more on that to come. markets injapan, south korea, and australia are following that lead. we'll be looking at it closely. just to point out, the stocks closed marginally higher after a joint postsummit news conference by the japanese prime minister shinzo abe and donald trump, delivered some surprises. no doubt their conversations will continue as they negotiate more trade deals between the two countries. you're watching asia business report. we will see you soon. thanks for joining business report. we will see you soon. thanks forjoining us. you're watching bbc news. the top stories this hour: former fbi director, james comey speaks to the bbc and says he'd think twice sharing sensitive information with president trump. there's a new president in cuba and he says communism will continue after six decades of the castros.

sir cliff richard is continuing his legal action against the bbc, alleging a serious invasion of his privacy when the bbc provided live coverage of a police raid on one of his homes in 2014, following an allegation of sexual assault. the bbcjournalist who broke the story told the high court that editors did consider privacy issues when making decisions about coverage. danjohnson also said the story had not been about the singer being guilty, but about him being investigated. sir cliff was never arrested or charged. the bbc says its coverage was in the public interest. our special correspondent lucy manning reports. sir cliff richard with his friends gloria hunniford alongside him heard the journalist who reported the police investigation into him strongly defend his right to run the story. what is the latest though? the police search is still going on.

danjohnson the police search is still going on. dan johnson was praised the police search is still going on. danjohnson was praised by his bosses for this reporting. they called it a goldplated scrip. the story, explaining court, wasn't about sir cliff richard been guilty, but the police investigation. and he claimed that although we could be damaging, it doesn't mean we don't have the right to tell people what the police were doing. sir cliff richard's barrister? mrjohnston had felt the need to record the allegation against the sing at all. you said you don't have to be sherlock holmes to conclude this looks like potentially a pretty flimsy complaints, do your? mr johnson replied, i'm not sherlock holmes, i am johnson replied, i'm not sherlock holmes, iam not johnson replied, i'm not sherlock holmes, i am not the police. that's theirjob. but given they had decided to take this forward, to ta ke decided to take this forward, to take it seriously, to take it to the next stage, i couldn'tjust ignore what they were doing. the bbc was criticised for using a helicopter to film the search of his flat. mr johnson plaint issues about sir

cliff richard's brevity were considered by those higher up, his bossesin considered by those higher up, his bosses in london this was a story involving allegations of a serious nature against a figure of the highest profile, against the backdrop of a number of other allegations being made against celebrities, some having been jailed, guilty as a result of other victims coming forward because of media coverage in some instances. mr johnson was asked about remarks he made about a billy graham religious rally, which is where the allegation against sir cliff richard is said to happen. reporter wrote an e—mail saying it wasn't just the happen. reporter wrote an e—mail saying it wasn'tjust the hand of god doing the touching. sir cliff richard shook his head as mrjohnson denied he had been treating the singer as a guilty man. lucy manning, bbc news. time now for all the sports news in sport today. this is sport today, live from the

bbc sport centre. coming up colin beckett most as scores the winner for chelsea as they claim a 2—1 victory at burnley. novak djokovic is knocked out of the monte carlo masters in of 16. and it will be a sleepless night in seattle for the mariners as they are beaten nine — two by the houston astros. we start with football in use, chelsea have beaten burnley 2—1 in the premier league. it boosts their hopes —— hopes for a top four finish. victor moses scored the winner and connor was watching at turf moor. for the first time this calendar year, chelsea have won back—to—back gains in the premier league. antonio conte will be hoping his team have gained

a second