our top story. underwater search teams have found the wreckage of the plane which was lost 13 days ago carrying premier league footballer emiliano sala to the uk. his family have been informed. the plane carrying the 28—year—old, and his pilot, disappeared over the english channel. the privately—funded search of the seabed was launched after the official operation was called off. thousands of residents in the australian city of townsville have been warned of unprecedented flooding as monsoon rains continue. and this video is trending on bbc.com. these two figures on the streets of hong kong had people stopping for photos — it may look like president duterte of the philippines and north korea's kim jong—un walking together, but, on closer inspection, the pair are in fact a couple of impersonators. that's all. stay with bbc world news. and the top story in the uk: the prime minister theresa may says she's determined to deliver brexit on schedule and will go back to brussels with new ideas. now on bbc news live to singapore for asia business report. merkel in tokyo, the german

chancellor due to meet shinzo abe just days after a landmark trade deal between japan and just days after a landmark trade deal betweenjapan and the european union came into effect. sears on the brink. the future of the iconic us retailer decided in new york ba n kru ptcy retailer decided in new york bankruptcy later today. welcome to this monday edition of asia business report, i am sharajit leyl asia business report, i am sharajit leyl. later today, the leaders of the world's third and fourth biggest economies, japan and germany, are set to talk trade politics and business and doing fashion during her 2— day visit to tokyo, angela

merkel is expected to meet prime minister shinzo abe and the emperor as well is that crown prince macro way —— naruhito which comes just days after a trade deal between japan and the european union came into effect. actually, angela merkel comes with two hats to japan... apologies, we seem to have some trouble bringing you that interview and will try to get it to you in a little bit. meanwhile, the future of sears will be decided in a new york ba n kru ptcy sears will be decided in a new york bankruptcy court later today. the chain has been called and says of the changing retail landscape as more people shop on line. many sears stores have already closed and the company is facing the prospect of liquidation. formerworkers company is facing the prospect of liquidation. former workers are now fighting to get severance benefits

included in any bankruptcy deal. the bbc‘s business correspondence has more. what an end, it's easy to get to sears. sears has been a fixture of the american retail landscape for nearly 100 years. sears appliance spectacular. where america shops the value. it was like the amazon of its time, able to reach consumers in innovative ways. today, however, the retailer is a giant no longer. sears is going bankrupt and facing the prospect of closing all of its stores. it's just the latest casualties of on line shopping. employees like terry lea ker who casualties of on line shopping. employees like terry leaker who lost herjob after 17 years believe it was invested greed that has left her with few options. i am applying for jobs, two or three places a week, and i'm not even getting a call back. it's hard. i mean, you put so

much time and effort. i put my heart and soul into the store and i have nothing to show for it. this is not a news story but as retail owners load these companies with more debt, it's becoming more common one. in 2018, after it unexpectedly closed all its stores, toys "r" us were pushing for investors to shell out $20 million for workers severance. sears employees are hoping to get the same. employees are at the bottom of the totem pole in terms of their ability to receive support from a company that's gone into restructure. mark cowan is the head of retail studies at columbia university and says bankruptcy might help investors get money back that workers get nothing. if it goes into liquidation, they are completely out in the cold so they lose theirjobs, they lose their income, they lose any they lose their income, they lose a ny forward they lose their income, they lose

any forward opportunity they may have had. but for these workers, let's just not good enough. a have had. but for these workers, let'sjust not good enough. a royal commission into australia's banking and finance industry is set to release its findings later today. the country's top for lenders, the commonwealth bank, national australia bank, westpac and anz have come under massive scrutiny and make up come under massive scrutiny and make up about four of the seven biggest companies on the local stock exchange and together they hold more than $1 trillion in mortgage debt. that's equal to about 80% of australia's annual gdp. they've been accused of misconduct and inappropriate lending practices among other issues. we've already heard in an interim report many of the sins of the industry committed by those big for you mentioned, lots of people being overloaded with debt, thanks in some cases notjust miss charging customers but in one of the examples that really stuck

out, charging dead customers accounts, so what to do? the final report should set out the commission's suggestions on how to rectify the situation which may include getting rid of the regulator asic, seen as being toothless, and also involve criminal charges and that would be a very, very significant recommendation, a very difficult one for those big four banks to take on. looking ahead to some of this week's big events. tuesday marks the beginning of the lunar new year which will see many stock markets and businesses across asia closed. wednesday, begot president donald trump delivering his state of the union address and on thursday, a policy decision from india's central bank. it is also the first meeting chaired by the new governor. economistj culley told me

what she is expecting. president trump will likely discuss his achievements and priorities for trade related issues and the ongoing talks with china. he will likely also talk about the economy, border security and he might say something about the summit with north korea. we will be listening out to that. lots of markets are going to be closed in the chinese region but it's a chance to get a gauge. it's been a huge week for consumer spending in china. what are we expecting? it's absolutely true that north asia is quiet this week but once they come back, the focus will be back on ongoing trade talks between the united states and china, given the march deadline is approaching fast. it will also be interesting to see if chinese fiscal

and monetary stimulus are helping. we were talking about japan and germany earlier and they count china as their biggest market in asia swannies slowdown will have an impact on the rest of the region. swannies slowdown will have an impact on the rest of the regionm will have an impact on supply chains but also sentiment. retail confidence will prevent businesses to invest in productive capacity. india now, there is a new central bank governor there and it is an election year, it's very exciting, the world's biggest democracy. what are we anticipating? the benchmark interest rates will be left unchanged however it will be interesting to hear about the policy bias is and if there are any signs of the reserve bank moving to an

easy monetary policy stands. in other news making business headlines, nissan has confirmed the new x—trail suv will now be made in japan instead of the uk. in a letter to work as it said continued brexit uncertainty is not helping firms to for the future and the environment in the car industry in europe is, quote, changed dramatically, including emissions regulations. us president donald trump has said he sees, quote, a good chance of reaching a deal. speaking on face the nation, he said the date and venue the nation, he said the date and venue of the upcoming second summit with kim jong—un has venue of the upcoming second summit with kimjong—un has been agreed and it's likely to be announced before 01’ it's likely to be announced before or during his state of the union address on tuesday. and the us says it is sending aid to crisis its

venezuelan following a request from juan guaido, the opposition leader has declared himself interim president. president nicola smith euro has accused juan guaido of mounting a coup. —— nicolas maduro. the toll from the dam collapse in brazil last week has risen. 0fficials brazil last week has risen. officials said all those listed as missing are presumed dead and that no survivors have been found over the past week. before we go, greek couple of —— recap of our top story. the leaders of the world's third and fourth biggest economies, japan and germany, they are due to talk trade, politics and business during a 2— day visit to tokyo, german chancellor angela merkel expecting to meet with the japanese prime minister, the emperor and the crown prince. let's take a look at the

markets. this is how most asian markets. this is how most asian markets have opened. they are all making gains. a tepid close. strong employment numbers and manufacturing data which is helping boost sentiments somewhat but a reminder that many asian markets will be closed this week for the lunar new year holiday. that's it for the programme. thanks for watching. this is bbc news — the top stories this hour. underwater search teams say they have found the wreckage of the plane carrying premier league footballer emiliano sala to the uk. warnings of unprecedented flooding for northern australia, where more than a metre of rain has fallen in just one week. the prime minister says she's determined to deliver brexit as scheduled on the 29th of march, promising to return to brussels with new ideas. here's our political correspondent chris mason. after a week when parliament

had its say and mps voted to back theresa may's brexit plan if she could change one key part of it, the prime minister has said she's ready to do just that. but what are the new ideas? i asked border force months ago to advise me to look at what alternative arrangements were possible, and they showed me quite clearly you can have no hard border on the island of ireland, and you can use existing technology, it's perfectly possible. the only thing that's missing is a bit of goodwill on the eu side. the sticking point is how to keep an open border

between northern ireland and the republic of ireland under all circumstances after brexit. the existing solution, the so—called backstop, is deeply unpopular in parliament. its critics say it binds the uk and northern ireland in particular too closely to the eu. the government says it's working hard to find a solution it can take back to brussels. the prime minister could be back there by the end of the week. work‘s being done to find an alternative to the backstop, the government's most senior lawyer, is looking at legal changes that could be requested to put a time limit on the backstop or to find a mechanism where the uk could leave it at a time of its choosing. but as things stand, publicly at least, the eu is opposed to all of these options. labour argue that theresa may needs to shift her position and keep

closer ties with the eu. you must get a deal through parliament that is acceptable. that means you must change or red lines about a customs union. it means you must look again at the way in which the future of political framework is so vacuous. brexit is just over seven weeks away. there's no sign yet of a break in the deadlock. chris mason, bbc news, at westminster. much more on brexit and all the stories on our website. i am on social media. now on bbc news, sport today. hello, i'm chetan pathak and this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: we're live in atlanta where the new england patriots are looking for a record equalling sixth superbowl win against the la rams, and they‘ re on track to get it. aguero hits a hat—trick

against arsenal as manchester city close the gap at the top of the english premier league. and banned for the final test — west indies captainjason holder punished by the icc for a slow—over rate against england. welcome to the programme, thanks forjoining us. it's one of the most watched sporting events in the world. and after all the build—up, though, we've had the lowest scoring first half at the super bowl in 44 years.