trapped in bangkok, and that the thai authorities intend to repatriate her. rahaf al-qunan says she believes her family will kill her for renouncing islam. human rights watch has called on thailand to allow her to continue her journey to australia. as the partial shutdown of the us government enters its third week, president trump says he's now planning a steel barrier rather than a concrete border wall. democrats have refused to fund the project. and this story is trending on bbc.com: hollywood's getting ready for the first major award ceremony of the year, the golden globes. it recognises achievement in both television and film. crazy rich asians has been nominated for two awards. that's all. stay with bbc world news. and the top story in the uk: a man has been charged with murder after the fatal stabbing of lee pomeroy on a train in surrey last friday. now on bbc news, live to singapore

for asia business report. trade pressure — as the us and china hold talks in beijing, president trump says the worldssecond largest economy is feeling the pain. and viva tech vegas, from andy smart phones —— bendy smart phones, we have the latest from the tech show. hello and welcome to this monday edition of asia business report. i am sharanjit edition of asia business report. i am shara njit leyl. edition of asia business report. i am sharanjit leyl. let's now start with the trade war between the world's two biggest economies as two days of talks at the vice

ministerial level are to take place in beijing. both sides hope to avoid a sharp hike in us tariffs, to which china would almost likely retaliate before march one deadline. over the weekend president trump said wea kness weekend president trump said weakness in china's economy adds pressure on beijing to strike a deal. monday's session is the first face—to—face meeting since a 90 day truce was agreed in december. our shanghai correspondent robin brant has the latest. this is progress of sorts and that is good. the american team flew to beijing late yesterday. they are here for two days of talks, two days of face—to—face talks, led byjunior officials. this is not steven mnuchin, treasury officially, or robert light heiser, the trade secretary, junior officials. that is good because it means the pressure is lightly. what is at stake is we have the ceasefire until march two agreed by the president in

argentina. president trump has said in recent weeks that they are talking about all areas, there are comprehensive talks under way. you mentioned it is $200 billion of trade affected by 10% tariffs on the us at the moment. president trump threatening to increase that to prettify present. there are some good signs, you know, a temporary reduction in tariffs here in china, sales of soya beans from the us to china are back on. there are some good signs. the americans gave china list of some 60 changes last year, these big deals, in —— intellectual property rights, subsidies in major state—owned enterprises, these are big changes the us want. they won't suddenly change and agree on these ina suddenly change and agree on these in a short period of time. now, robin, president trump said china's slowdown might make them amenable to

a trade deal. is there any truth to that, what are you hearing? that's inescapable. the context here for china and for president xi jinping is ofa china and for president xi jinping is of a slowing economy. still growing at 6.5%, but that rate of growth is really slowing down. just before christmas the chinese government signing off on a big stimulus project to try to inject a big amount of money into the economy here to try to deal with our slowdown. so we also have cuts in the reserve rate requirement for chinese banks. that came surprisingly quite late on friday. so all the signals from beijing is they know the slowdown is serious and they have to deal with it. president trump believes that context means that the leadership will go for some kind of agreement, will go for some kind of agreement, will make concessions to try to end the trade war. look at apple as well, look at the us and expectation of rate rises coming down late in the year. it is notjust all of the pressure on beijing. robin brant, shanghai correspondent. now, look at this, asian markets are

soaring this monday. they are taking their cues from wall street, which gained on friday, after the us federal reserve chairman jerome powell said he would be, "patient about rate rises," and wouldn't resign if requested by donald trump. these markets are making gains after wild swings we have seen in recent weeks. market strategistjin ya pan gave us her view of this. weeks. market strategistjin ya pan gave us her view of thislj weeks. market strategistjin ya pan gave us her view of this. i think it is market gyrations we are experiencing with so many things it is bringing the uncertainty —— jingyi pan. whether you are talking about a late cycle, and also growth, some of the other things like us, china, brexit, creating uncertainties in markets, causing perhaps a little bit more unjustified feeling. of course, we know, here in the region concerns are about the slowdown in china. it has already hit big firms like

apple, so is the chinese slowdown something that investors should be worried about? and think that will bea worried about? and think that will be a key concern for the market. certainly, to a large extent, the chinese margins are really about the tariff implications, so if this ma nifests tariff implications, so if this manifests further i think that will be really quite downbeat and for the market which has been seeing quite positive — rightly making it more attractive. indeed we are seeing the tariff talks take place today, but thatis tariff talks take place today, but that is something that continues to hang over the markets, this us— china trade war between the world's two largest economies, but on the upside we've also got the us government shutdown, which is something that many are reacting to now, and the fact that you have the house of representatives controlled by the democrats, which will make it much harderfor by the democrats, which will make it much harder for president trump to push through his policies this year. might this have an impact on the us market? i think it is really want to

see in terms of the outcomes, what he will look into. it came as a surprise that he decided to focus on us- surprise that he decided to focus on us— china at the start of last year. that created gyrations in the market. the year before, 2017, was one that has been pushed along with the us tech, but moving into 2019, he is focusing on the border wall, that's creating quite a bit of friction for the market, but he really sees the us— china trade negotiation success as a win for himself and for his party. jingyi pan speaking to me earlier. bendy smart phones that can fold into a tablet had been tipped as the future of handsets, and plenty are expected at the ces technology show in las vegas. samsung has already announced plans for a folding phone, but it is a company called royal thatis but it is a company called royal that is expected to be the first to

market. darren simmons had a play. i got the chance to use the world's first flexible smartphone, it folds into a tablet as well, and that is the secret of it, it is called the flex pie, it is five years from the company called royal. so what's it like? quite heavy and it feels quite bulky. putting it in your pocket, anywhere, basically, is a little bit more bulkier than a regular phone. just like something new in your hand thatis just like something new in your hand that is shiny and slick, you want to play with it all the time, flip it over, and that is ok because the os that runs on top of the android system it uses, they call it water, changes the screen, so you can have it one way and then flipped it around and use it the other way. the screen flips with you. it takes a little bit of time to resolve when those changing of screens happen between the tablet and the phone, when you fold it. i wonder how many

times you can actually fold that screen before it breaks. they say they have done the resilience testing. we are talking about tens of thousands of times that you can do it. that is what they say. we will have to see if it works in practice. at the moment the browser and the existing apps that come with android are on it and they work with the flexibility of that screen. but specific apps that use that feature, well, they are thin on the ground. i didn't see any, wasn't shown any, and that is why developers' model is out at the moment, to encourage people to start programming for this unique aspect of the device. darren simmons with that review. after months of delays, india is launching its second auction of some 14 launching its second auction of some 1a blocks for prospecting of oil and gas. now, that as the government attem pts gas. now, that as the government atte m pts to gas. now, that as the government attempts to raise domestic output to try to cut imports. well, our reporterjoins us from mumbai. tell

us more reporterjoins us from mumbai. tell us more about this. well, an important programme for the indian government, sharan, because last year this was a scheme launched by the modi government and it is exploring oil and blocks to companies. this hasn't been done in the past. it was under control of the past. it was under control of the government where they would identify the blocs and then they would put it up for bidding. now, the difference is they are telling companies that you can come and choose any unexplored area in the country where you think there is potential to discover oil and gas and go ahead and if you get that bloc you can start. what india is hoping is that this will really speed up the process of generating domestic oil, which is badly needed, because india imports nearly 80% of its oil demand, which is in turn putting pressure on india's import bill, and that in turn also... 0h,

we seem to be having a glitch. we have just lost samir, telling we seem to be having a glitch. we havejust lost samir, telling us about that new indian government on prospecting blocks for oil and gas. let's ta ke prospecting blocks for oil and gas. let's take a look at those markets now, because as i said they are all rallying, that's really taking cues from wall street, which did likewise on friday. you can see the all ordinaries in australia is up, and the hang seng has opened as well, and it is gaining, really a reflection of what's going on in the region. and that's it for this edition of asia business report. thanks for watching. this is bbc news. the top stories this hour: the hollywood awards season is underway, with the golden globes in los angeles. a star is born and vice are vying for the top gongs. the so—called backstop, the way to commit to there being no hard border

in ireland, is a key issue of contention in the brexit process. emma vardy contention in the brexit process. emma va rdy reports contention in the brexit process. emma vardy reports from the border area. a near invisible line, but it's this that's drawn the uk into political deadlock. near the border, people are used to living life in two currencies, but everyone's part of the same eu club. so northern ireland and the irish republic can trade without restrictions. but that could all change after brexit. and counting down the days with less than three months to go, there's still no agreement on how a deal to prevent a hard border should work. they're going to push it right to the wire, and these things usually do go right to the wire. i just want to get something settled. not every body's going to be happy. that's life, that's the way the world is. but get something that most people can accept and agree and move on. many remember the years of conflict, when crossing the border meant army checkpoints and delays. it would take you an extra day. the uk and eu have made a promise to people whose livelihoods are at stake that a hard

border will never return. guarantees in the brexit withdrawal deal that northern ireland may continue to follow some eu rules. and it's this so—called irish backstop preventing theresa may getting support for her deal at westminster. well, the deal i think she has is better than a no deal. i don't know whether she's going to get a better deal or not. shared membership of the eu has helped build peace across this divide. next week at westminster, mps will once again have to grapple with the most contentious element of that brexit deal, the idea that northern ireland may have to be treated differently to the rest of the uk if this boder is to remain as open as it is now. this family business has been trading since before there was a border in ireland. we've traded through two world wars, we've traded everything. the irish backstop may be opposed by many brexiteer mps at westminster, but here many northern ireland businesses are backing it, in the face

of warnings that leaving without a deal could cause severe disruption to trade. the northern ireland backstop to us is something that would prevent a situation where we have seen karro before and we don't wish to see it again. —— terror. next week theresa may will try to give brexiteer mps more reassurances that the backstop may never be used, before it's put to a vote. but facing such opposition, her strategy to push on may be a risky step. emma vardy, bbc news, newry. lots more always on the website. now on bbc news, sport today. hello there, i'm tulsen tollett and this is sport today,

live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: real madrid lose for the sixth time in la liga and drop to fifth place, ten points behind leaders barcelona, who won. there's some fa cup shocks for premier league sides but no problems for manchester city, who smash seven to move into the fourth round. and the chicago bears lose out in their nfc wild card match against the philadelphia eagles, after a late cody parkey kick to win it hits the post and crossbar. hello there and welcome to the programme. loads to get through but we start with football in spain and the news that real madrid slumped to another la liga defeat in front of their own fans — their sixth of the season in only 18 league matches. they were beaten 2—0 by real sociedad at the bernabeu. they fell behind to a penalty from willian jose after just three