for his border wall in a national television address to the american people. he's expected to call for more congressional funding for the wall to end a partial government shutdown, which is now in its third week. here in britain, a no—deal brexit could have got much less likely. the government has been defeated in parliament, with mps voting for an amendment designed to thwart preparations for a no—deal departure. and this story is trending on bbc.com: the australian actress, margot robbie, is to play barbie in a new film about the iconic doll. it's the first time the toy‘s been brought to the big screen in what's going to be a big yearfor her. barbie turns 60 in march. that's all. stay with bbc news. more to come, of course donald trump's address here on bbc news in half—an—hour. and the top story in the uk: police say a criminal investigation has been launched to identity those responsible for flying a drone at heathrow airport. flights were suspended for an hour.

now on bbc news, live to singapore for asia business report. trade war breakthrough — the us and china extends talks aimed at ending the conflict between the world's biggest economies. plank tech—, we find out how not everything in the show is sleek and shiny. good morning, asia. hello, world. it is wednesday. i'm glad you canjoin us for this exciting edition of asia business report. i'm rico hizon. we start off with us — china trade and officials extended talks to a third

day to try to end the trade war between the biggest economies. at the same time, president donald trump tweeted, "talks with china are going very well". alex capri is senior fellow at the national union of singapore in the us, and told me why there are hopes of a positive outcome for these negotiations —— national university. people are cautiously optimistic about these talks. this time feels a little bit different from previous times in that it was perceived that the chinese word may be disingenuous when it came to the concessions that they were going to give. now that they were going to give. now that the chinese economy is slowing down, there is a real threat of the technology transfer from the us being cut off. so there is real optimism that there might be some progress. so are you saying that the americans have the advantage in these negotiations? well, again, the

chinese economy has been decelerating in part because of the trade war, also because of the chinese government clamping down on debt, but there is a realisation, especially in the wake of the zte debacle, and also the huawei issues, where the us is trying to block huawei, there is awareness in china that there is still a huge dependence on western technology and american technology. so if the trade war m oves american technology. so if the trade war moves into a more broad complex, if that technology is cut off, then there is some trouble for chinese companies and even american companies. these negotiations, can the us really lay out a clear list of expectations and stick to it, will it be subject to donald trump's impulsive vacillations? that's a very important question, and the us

will have to lay out clear expectations. they will have to have some kind of a gradual way to make steps and progressive steps. if that is not clear, if we do have us policy change day today, then we won't have any kind of substantial deal. alex capri, joining the earlierfrom deal. alex capri, joining the earlier from seattle, deal. alex capri, joining the earlierfrom seattle, washington. japan is on a global trade charm offensive with prime minister abe in europe this week, while the economics minister meets representatives for the us and europe in washington today. joining us now europe in washington today. joining us now is business reporter mariko oi. what is likely to happen in the talks? as you can imagine, talks will be overshadowed by what's going on in beijing and what president trump calls china's unfair trade practices. remember, his administration has slapped tariffs worth $250 billion on chinese goods. in retaliation, beijing countered

that with duties on $110 billion of us goods. it is notjust a big trade deficit mr trump keeps complaining about. beijing has been accused of stealing or pressuring companies to hand over technology. injune the eu put forward a challenge against the world trade organisation in china saying that beijing prevent foreign companies from protecting and profiting from their own technology. the tension has cast doubt on the wto's ability to handle disputes and the global trade body can't even appointjudges who are responsible for settling these disputes because the us has blocked it. trade officials from the eu, canada and japan among others will meet later this month to review vital wto reforms, so lots to talk about later this evening in washington. indeed, thank you so much for the update, my colleague, mariko 0i. in other news making headlines, in the next

half—an—hour donald trump is set to argue that an immigration crisis requires the long promised wall on the mexican border. the us president will make the case for $5 billion to build the wall in his first speech from the oval office. the partial government shutdown has been in effect for more than two weeks after lawmakers failed to break this budget impasse. mercedes—benz sold million passenger cars, likely to make it a top—selling premium automotive brand of 2018. some a nalysts automotive brand of 2018. some analysts have warned that the shift towards a electric and self driving vehicles could open the door to new luxury car makers, such as america's tesla. rising income, booming population and growth in international travel have attracted global budget airlines to india. last month, two low—cost carriers started operating in the country, one is a joint—venture between

singapore airlines scoot, and my colleague went to meet with the company's colleague went to meet with the compa ny‘s ceo to colleague went to meet with the company's ceo to talk about the plans for nokscoot. clearly the metro is where the big travel will be. there is growing demand from the cities, there are 18 cities, and we think that many will become viable. so do you have money to invest in a competitive market like india? your pa rent competitive market like india? your parent company norkair posted a loss in the third quarter this year. there is no doubt that the travel market has gone through a really difficult year. fuel prices have risen very sharply. there are challenges in big markets like china, where the general condition

has also gotten more challenging, has also gotten more challenging, has affected traffic to thailand as well. in this business, we have to look at it from the long—term perspective. growth prospects in the long—term remains very bright. japanese start—up has created what might be the most unusual looking smart device yet. it appears to be a standard piece of wood. when it is touched,it standard piece of wood. when it is touched, it lights up and provides use of the google system. our technology correspondent had problems testing the prototype at the ces tech show in las vegas. this doesn't look like the most high—tech device at ces, a beautiful plank of wood. it is in fact an interactive plank. let's touch it and get going. it is connected to smart devices around the home, it is a control interface. so we want to know what the weather is, press on here. it gives us that. let's go home again. we can get to the music.

put up the volume on there. on spotify. we can even talk to the interactive plank. what is the weather like today. that's not working very well. what is the weather like today? let's see what it tells us. it is struggling with the noise, but it has got it. 0h, with the noise, but it has got it. oh, yes, we have a weatherforecast. it is talking to the cloud, the plank is talking to the cloud. quite an attractive interface to connect the smart devices in your home, but will it really find a market? so, it is a beautiful thing, but why

would someone want that in their home? so, human is designed to interact with nature, so we put natural material between you and the information, so you can get natural feeling rather than touching or talking with plastic or glass like traditional gadgets. now it's going to cost $699 in the united states, that's quite a high price forjust an interface. yes, it is relatively higher because of our small sourcing, but we use very rich materials, like wood, but it will

get cheaper with the volume. our technology correspondent reporting from ces tech show. on the markets, the major indices are moving from strength to strength, the nikkei is up strength to strength, the nikkei is up1%, the strength to strength, the nikkei is up 1%, the all strength to strength, the nikkei is up1%, the all0rdinaries strength to strength, the nikkei is up 1%, the all 0rdinaries is gaining 0.8% and the hang seng index opened for trade and it is gaining 1.4% over optimism over a potential us— china trade deal with negotiations 110w china trade deal with negotiations now into the third day. as for the s&p index, the nasdaq and the dow, all closing in positive territory. thank you so much, i'm rico hizon. goodbye for now. this is bbc news. our top story this hour: donald trump prepares to appeal directly to americans to support his border wall and end the government shutdown. flights from london's heathrow airport were stopped for an hour

on monday evening due to a drone. here's our transport correspondent tom burridge. europe's busiest airport is tonight almost back to normal after a drone sighting temporarily closed the northern runway. this flight radar website shows how atjust after 5pm this evening, all departures from the airport were suspended. some passengers were left waiting on the runway. so, we all boarded the flight and then we were told that we wouldn't be departing until the police said it was safe. they had a police helicopter circling above and the emergency services came onto the runway to see if they could find the drone. and the door kept opening to the aeroplane, we didn't know if we were getting off or staying on. after about an hour we were told that we were good to go, so we took off. departures were suspended for less than an hour and flights continued to take off from the southern runway. unverified videos are

circling on social media. we do not know if the flashing object is a drone, but a bbc cameraman who was at heathrow and works with drones is certain he saw it. i noticed way up in the sky, about 300 feet up, these lights, green and red, flashing, obviously attached to a craft that was offering still in the sky there. the traffic had slowed by that point, so it was quite safe to watch this thing, and i watched it for about a minute or so, and it was staying there up in the sky, not moving left or right. heathrow said it suspended all take—offs as a precautionary measure and the police are investigating. on twitter, the transport secretary said the military was preparing to deploy the equipment used at gatwick at heathrow, should it prove necessary. it was just before christmas when tens of thousands of passengers were stranded at gatwick and elsewhere. all flights at the airport were suspended across two days. sussex police are still investigating and no credible

arrests have been made. yesterday, the department for transport said it would increase the exclusion zone for drones around uk airports, and give the police new powers to investigate offences, part of a raft of measures. but many in aviation have been calling for action to counter the threat of drones for a long time. after the disruption at gatwick, i was told that heathrow was already trialling some of the latest anti—drone technology, like devices which try to jam the signal drones need to operate, so the suspension of some flights here today again raises questions about how vulnerable britain's airports are. now on bbc news, sport today. hello — this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: var controversy as harry kane's first half penalty proves the difference for tottenham

against chelsea in the first leg of their english league cup semi—final. a late iraq stunner wins their opening match at the asian cup as they twice come from behind to beat vietnam. and while others almost disappear into the sand dunes during the second stage of the dakar rally — it's nine—time world rally champion sebastian loeb who wins out on tuesday. hello and welcome to the programme, where we start with football and the news that tottenham will have the advantage heading into the second leg of their english league cup semi—final in a fortnight‘s time. they beat chelsea 1—0 in the opening leg at wembley stadium thanks to a controversial var ruling and our sports correspondent katie gornall was watching. a semifinal between two fierce rivals always both managers