decade since records began. the report says there's a risk that global temperatures could rise by 1.5 degrees celsius about pre—industrial levels, a tipping point after which there could be rapid and far—reaching changes for our planet. signs of frustration in brussels. european council president donald tusk‘s says there's "special place in hell" for those who promoted brexit without a plan. and this story is trending on bbc.com: she was one of hollywood's most eligible singles, but not for much longer. oscar—winning actress jennifer lawrence is now engaged to be married. she won the oscar as best actress for her role in the 2012 romantic comedy silver linings playbook. you are up to date, stay with us. and the top story in the uk: shares in online supermarket delivery firm ocado have fallen by 6% after a fire tore through its warehouse in hampshire. 200 firefighters were called to tackle the blaze.

more from me later, but first the business news, here is rico with asia business report. trump's world bank peak. the us president nominates david wall pass to head the organisation, triggering concerns he will diminish the role. voting to put glam back in hong kong, rejuvenating diverse neighbourhoods. good morning, asia. hello, world. welcome to this exciting thursday edition of asia business report. i'm rico hizon. let's start with us president donald trump senior treasury department

official david malpass on your screen is he as new bet to leave the world bank. mr malpass has criticised the bank's starting concerns he will reduce the role if he is appointed. mr malpass was a senior economic fire to donald trump in the 2016 presidential campaign, so in the 2016 presidential campaign, so and early donald trump supporter, but the nomination of has caused worry that he will try to diminish the role of the world bank. that is because he has said in the past that international financial institutions are corrupt, inefficient, spend too much money and are generally rather useless and that might make him an odd choice to run one of the biggest financial institutions in the world. but the white house on wednesday really moved to counter that perception, saying that mr malpass is committed to modernising the bank and making sure there is more

accountability by borrowers. the executive board of the world bank makes the final decision on who will become president, but traditionally the united states has a lot of influence on the selection process. the bank said it will make its decision by april. the us treasury secretary steven mnuchin confirmed he and other officials will be travelling to beijing next week for talks with their chinese counterparts. the negotiations come days for the increase in tariffs on chinese goods. three of the biggest carmakers in the world have added to the industry's gloom, warning the year is looking bleak. the pessimistic outlook from toyota, general motors have forecast a drop in profits. 0ne economist told me why he is optimistic about the industry sectors despite falling

sales in china. i wouldn't be so pessimistic on chinese auto sales. they had a very weak fourth—quarter where sales were down anywhere from 15 to 30 or 40% depending on the, and that really started when the us— china trade war hit full steam —— on the oem. is it possible that car sales in china have also peaked? so that's the debate, and it is a strong debate the market is having right now. we take the other side of that view, we are constantly visiting dealers, constantly going to china to try to get a sense on the ground what's going on. now the chinese authorities are trying to pump prime the economy and this could improve auto sales going forward. that's right, we think china is going through a confidence shocked and consumers are waiting to make big—ticket purchases rather than a market that is fully saturated fat has peaked long—term. you have been to china, you have

spoken to dealers. what are they really saying, how are they affected 7 really saying, how are they affected? interestingly, january is tracking better than they thought. and the date that we are seeing is showing january sales better than december, that is unusual —— data. we are confident. in terms of gm and toyota, they a re we are confident. in terms of gm and toyota, they are making up with gains in north america and europe. yes, and that's going to be more challenging because north america and europe show signs of peking. so we think by the second half of this year you're going to see toyota and gm outperforming china relative to the rest of the world —— peaking. india's central bank wraps up the first bi monthly meeting later today under the new governor who took charge in december after the exit of mr patel who clashed with the government. 0'connors are split over whether policymakers will cut rates today. for the first time in many years,

experts are actually split with regards to the outcome of this meeting. —— our despite falling inflation which touched to .1% last month, the reserve bank of india should resist the temptation —— 2.196. should resist the temptation —— 2.1%. if we look at the fiscal deficit, the gap between government expenditure and revenue, that has widened in this financial year. and even the government outlook for borrowing in the coming financial year, the money that it borrows, that has risen substantially. so for those reasons it is believed the reserve bank of india should wait until april when the next policy decision takes place and then cut rates. but, on the other hand, another group of experts believe that this is the opportune time for the reserve bank of india to cut rates because inflation is at an 18 month low. even if you look at india's economic growth, it has

reached a tipping point because small and medium—sized businesses are struggling. so a rate cut would give a boost to india's economic forecast going ahead. even the government in new delhi will watch the outcome of the meeting closely. it comesjust a the outcome of the meeting closely. it comes just a few months ahead of the crucial national elections in april. any favourable policy decision which will help india's economic growth will provide indirect political help narendra modi who faces a tough election in summer. in other news making headlines, huawei told the british government it will take 3— five years to address security issues raised by the uk. the biggest producer of telecommunications agreement has faced allegations that it equipment could pose a security risk. huawei has denied the claims. we would never ever harm individuals or other countries. and for the founder, he

made the comment that if he was asked to do that, if he attempted to be forced to do that, which he firmly believes teenager would be, he would firmly deny it, deny them the opportunity and shut down the company if he was forced to doing so. company if he was forced to doing so. singapore is famous for cultural diversity and ethnic neighbourhoods like chinatown, little india and kam pong lam, and we look at how the citystate reinvigorate traditional communities without losing character. 0ne singapore's trendiest neighbourhoods and also one of its most historic. traditionally home to arab merchants, the area shows how singapore has grown modern and wealthy while staying true to its cultural roots —— kampong glam. early planners of singapore as well as government officials realised the importance of keeping these heritage districts alive, so each of these

areas, actually there is a lot in terms of soul for residents. heritage sites include shop residence and residences above. it wasn't always like this. residence and residences above. it wasn't always like thislj residence and residences above. it wasn't always like this. i think in the old days are lot of these old heritage districts fell into disrepair. a lot of them were under direct control, so owners had no incentive to restore the buildings. so the lifting of rent control was one and allowing commercial use was another. not everyone is happy with the changes. some traditional retailers of textiles, carpets and baskets, well, they feel they have been left behind. most traditional businesses kind of have been forced out of the area and some of the products based on the knowledge, they haven't been able to sustain their business because a lot of the

younger generation haven't appreciated as much as the older generation did. but one trendy backstreet of the quarter has reaped the benefits. like the quirky selfie coffee, where customers take a selfie which is then printed onto a nice coffee. over the years we can actually see a lot of fnbs coming up, a lot of cafes and we can see the young crop coming in and because of tourism what is promoting the place, using more coming in. kampong glam is one of the success stories. this neighbourhood has been revitalised and its architectural heritage preserved. the area is full of trendy cafes and shops attracting locals and tourists through the day and long into the night. the challenge for planners is balance, to preserve architecture and history while also making them lively and releva nt. retaining the cultural heritage in

singapore. all right, let's quickly look at the markets, and as you can see it is a mixed bag. where you have the nikkei 225 down 166 points. there is one stock that is bucking the trend and those are shares of technology giant softbank, surging 16% after the ceo basically made a huge buyback programme. thank you so much for investing your time with us. much for investing your time with us. i'm rico hizon. sport today is coming up next. this is bbc news. the top stories this hour: scientists have issued the starkest warning yet on climate change. they say the world's set for the hottest decade ever recorded. controversy over comments from european council president donald tusk. he said there's "special place in hell" for those who promoted brexit without a plan.

six of the biggest hotel booking websites have agreed to make major changes to end misleading sales tactics and hidden charges. it follows an investigation by the competition watchdog which found bad practices including giving a false impression of a room's popularity and not displaying the full cost upfront. here's tom burridge. if you have booked a hotel on these websites, have you got the best deal 01’ websites, have you got the best deal or have you been pressured by misleading information?” or have you been pressured by misleading information? i was looking for a room in manchester, just for an evening. i've booked for wales, london, manchester, but when i'm booking i see things like, oh, there's only one of them left or today is the cheapest price. you feel quite rushed, as though you have to book now. otherwise you will miss out on the best offer. it probably does subconsciously play on my mind a bit,

that i should probably book it. here on booking.com it says there are only five rooms left at a hotel on its site, but the competition and markets authority says that type of claim often isn't what it seems. you might see a message telling you there's only two rooms left. very often that will mean there's only two rooms left to book on that site at that time, but there may be other rooms available through other sites or from the hotel itself. you might also see messages saying, there are 15 people looking at this room right now, but actually those people might not be looking at the same dates as you and right now might not mean right now. it might mean in the last 30 minutes. their investigation found that lots of websites have been making hotel rooms seem more popular than they are, and the full cost is not always displayed upfront. booking.com says this hotel is in high demand — 26 bookings today and only one room left tonight. both expedia and hotels.com say there are only two rooms left at this hotel. there's no suggestion that the hotels have done anything wrong but the websites stand accused of pressuring us into clicking and buying. 0ne consumer group says the tactics used to tempt us

are sometimes false. you will find a much better price if you phone the hotel directly, tell them the price you have found with the online travel agent and they will match it, beat it, or something in forfree. booking.com says it will ensure it's more transparent. expedia says it's been working to improve standards across the industry. the six big hotel booking websites have all promised to adhere to better practices. the competition watchdog says not all of them have been misleading consumers. tom burridge, bbc news. shares in online supermarket delivery company 0cado have fallen by 6% after a fire tore through its warehouse in hampshire. 200 firefighters have been tackling the blaze. that is it from me. mike is here in 15 minutes. now on bbc news sport today live from the bbc sport centre,

this is sport today. coming up on this programme: it's all—square after the first leg of the copa del rey semi—final between barcelona and real madrid. city made to work at everton but they take all 3 points to go top of the english premier league. and it is gold the great britain as james woods soars to ski slopes success in wild weather at the world championships. hello and thanks for joining us on sport today. we start with el clasico part1 as barcelona and real madrid played out a 1—1 draw in the 1st leg of their copa del rey semi final. lucas vazquez had given real madrid an early lead in the 6th minute to quieten the crowds at the camp nou, but summer signing malcolm drew the hosts leveljust before the hour mark. real created the better chances to score a second, but tiredness and the arrival of this man in the final half—hour meant it finished honours even. real madrid with the precious away goal 2nd leg will be played