our top story: police in the philippines have arrested the award winning head of a news website that's been critical of president duterte. maria ressa is accused of libel for an article that was written seven years ago. ms ressa and her news organisation, rappler, are already under investigation for tax fraud. mr duterte‘s government has launched a number of legal actions against the president's critics. a schoolgirl from london, who travelled to syria to join the islamic state group, says she now wants to return to the uk, so she can care for her unborn child. and this story is trending on bbc.com: indian researchers have discovered a new species of frog in a roadside puddle in the western ghats region. they say the creature is unique and have given it a name meaning "small and mysterious". that's all. stay with bbc world news. and the top story in the uk: a 27—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after three pensioners were found dead in exeter. the victims were all in their 80s. now on bbc news, live to singapore

for asia business report. crunch talks in beijing. high—level negotiations get under way as the us and china attempt to end their bitter trade war. and work life japan. the country tackles the labour crisis, we meet a boss who is introducing flexible working to retain staff. hello, welcome to asia business report, i am sharanjit leyl business report, i am sharanjit leyl. we start with the us— china trade war and the high—level negotiations in beijing as both sides attempt to end the conflict. we have these gentlemen, us treasury

secretary steven mnuchin and trade representative bob lyte hiser meeting the chinese vice premier today and with time running out the pressure is on for them to reach an agreement. presidents trump and xi can signa agreement. presidents trump and xi can sign a deal in the coming weeks. north america business correspondent michelle fleury have the latest from new york. a key part of donald trump's economic rhetoric has been the loud and constant complaint that china treats the us on fairly when it comes to trade. he has picked up america's long—standing criticisms of the way china appropriate foreign technology and fails to respect intellectual property. and to that he has added a stream of complaints about the size of the trade deficit that the us has with china. but now is when rhetoric finally has to turn into policy. mr trump's men in china steve manoukian and bob lyte hiser are tasked with getting china actually to agree to do anything

that will satisfy mr trump's wide ranging grievances. the mood music emanating from the us delegation seems positive for now —— mnuchin. president trump indicated he might let the march one deadline for increased tariffs slipped a little, so increased tariffs slipped a little, so for now markets here in new york and around the world can be encouraged that the deal is close to happening. what it will actually look like, well, that is unknown. it might be worth noting that another key piece of mr trump's rhetoric, building the border wall, alsojust met political reality. it isn't being built. michelle fleury in new york. well, with the deadline for a dealjust two york. well, with the deadline for a deal just two weeks york. well, with the deadline for a dealjust two weeks away, much is at sta ke dealjust two weeks away, much is at stake as the us and china hold those talks. the negotiations come as china is set to release its latest trade figures. last month's data showed that president trump's frequent target, that is china's surplus with the us, grew by 17% in

2018, hitting its highest level in 12 years. catherine ewan from fidelity investments topping what to expect from those investments. -- yeung. there is pessimism in terms of the export and import numbers. having said that as you mentioned all eyes still focusing on the negotiations and there is a high probability that over the short—term something will be reached. over the longer term even 3—5 years there will be this continued overhang we think in terms of the us— china relationship and this could weigh on the chinese macro landscape. now we have talked about that huge trade gap between the two — glassey didn't get better, but do you think the trade tariffs —— didn't get better. do you think it might address the issue? it will but generally speaking or we look at the trade issueit speaking or we look at the trade issue it will really impact global consumers and we could see higher

rates if we see the worst case scenario in terms of the tariffs play out. but again in the probable near—term future it is likely we will see some kind of negotiations being reached by both sides. you talk about these negotiations but we know that china is trying to rebalance its economy, pivot to domestic led consumption, so what's going on within the chinese economy thatis going on within the chinese economy that is perhaps not being impacted so that is perhaps not being impacted so much, that we are not seeing from the outside when we talk about these trade issues? it is interesting because when we look at retail sales indeed the headline numbers were down last year but that was primarily driven by one particular subset, that being autos, so across other subsectors you are seeing some glimmers of hope, take the sportswear market for example. what is really important when you look at the chinese economy, chinese landscape, that is a growing middle class, you know, the population is seeing a lot more capital. where is the capital going? a couple of weeks

ago the stock market. last year it was sitting in cash. now we see signs of cash moving back into the equities markets. catherine yeung. japan's economy grew 1.4% in the last three months of 2018 compared with a year earlier. those numbers we re with a year earlier. those numbers were in line with expectations. they come after a sharp contraction in the previous quarter. one economist told me what she made of those numbers. i think it is back to normal which is good. it is of course not as i’osy normal which is good. it is of course not as rosy as some economists predicted earlier, due to the sudden slowdown of the chinese economy, which impacts the exports out of japan. economy, which impacts the exports out ofjapan. now, you talk about the chinese slowdown, and we have been talking of course about the us—china trade row, so how is this affecting japan? well it is affecting japan? well it is affecting japan? well it is affecting japan very much, and domestically speaking the economy is actually good. but i think we are at the mercy of what will happen with

the mercy of what will happen with the two biggest export destinations, china and the us. if the us decides to grace harris onjapanese automobiles further that could really wipe away the growth rate of 2019 which is a part of 1% —— raise rates. and of course china is very important for us as an export destination as well, so that domestic economy slowdown would directly impact us. and what are some other things you are watching for that could potentially disrupt the growth trajectory forjapan going forward? well, the biggest watch out for this year obviously is the consumption tax hike planned in october. so the government is trying very ha rd to october. so the government is trying very hard to alleviate any bumps as it happened last time in 2014 by subsidising education costs, alleviating some of the tax for the necessities et cetera, so the household spending impact should not be as great. then again this isn't

an experiment, this is something new that a complex web of counter measures are implemented in such a wide range, so we have to watch out how that would actually affect domestic consumption and how people would react. well, staying with japan, the country has long been known for its rigid office culture and an unspoken understanding that working long hours is a sign of loyalty a nd working long hours is a sign of loyalty and commitment. but there is an increasing amount of pressure on the government and companies to change all of that. one firm leading the way is sibozu. for the special series, mariko oi went to meet the boss. it is thursday night and it is this man's turn to cook and look after his three children. he is also the founder of mounting million—dollar it company cybozu. in a country where women are still seen as

homemakers, he became famous after daring to take paternity leave. cybozuis cybozu is unconventional injapan. not only does it allow flexible hours, but it also encourages employees to have a second job. aono has allowed his staff to choose the way they want to work because he needed to retain staff. retaining workers is crucial not just for companies, but also for the overall economy, because fewer people are entering the workforce. in 1995, there were nearly 90 million people aged between 15 and 64. today, that has fallen to just over 75 million. when the economy

was strong, no—one questioned the way people worked. but faced with slowing growth, this is a turning point forjapan‘s slowing growth, this is a turning point for japan's economy. slowing growth, this is a turning point forjapan‘s economy. mariko 0i, bbc point forjapan‘s economy. mariko oi, bbc news, tokyo. in other business news making headlines, the us financial regulator has filed a lawsuit against former apple lawyerjim leighton off accusing him of insider trading, claiming he use confidential information about the company to buy or sell shares at earning announcements in 2015 and 2016. so, a quick look at the markets now, how they are reacting to all the things we have been talking about, of course the us—china trade talks going somewhat better than expected according to president trump, that lifted wall street overnight, and thatis lifted wall street overnight, and that is having an impact here in asia where we are seeing some little tiny bits of gains, of course the nikkei 225 pretty much, very much an change, despite the japanese gdp

numbers, and that's how they are looking. that is it for the show, thank you for watching. this is bbc news. the top stories this hour: police in the philippines have arrested the head of a news website highly critical of president duterte. maria ressa from rappler is accused of a libel offence dating back seven years. a schoolgirl from london, who travelled to syria to join the islamic state group, says she now wants to return to the uk because she's pregnant. the pilot on trial for the deaths of 11 people during a crash at the shoreham air show in 2015 has rejected claims that he had a cavalier attitude to flying. giving evidence at the old bailey, andrew hill said he took a "disciplined and structured" approach to flying. he denies 11 counts of manslaughter by gross negligence, as our correspondent daniela relph reports. andrew hill has not spoken publicly since the crash

in august, 2015. but today, he began to give his version of events. on a perfect summer's day, he'd been at the controls of this vintagejet fighter at the shoreham airshow. but during a loop manoeuvre, the prosecution say he was too low and too slow, with devastating consequences. oh, my god! the plane hit the busy a27 road and 11 people died. one expert witness for the prosecution told the court andrew hill's flying had been about as negligent as you can get. but in his defence, mr hill described his extensive experience from piloting fastjets in the raf, to commercial flights for british

airways. his barrister asked him: andrew hill replied... asked by his barrister about shoreham's catastrophic end, andrew hill spoke about his attitude to risk. he said the primary aim of the display had been to avoid risk. the trial has already heard from medical staff who treated andrew hill. he was thrown from the aircraft in the aftermath of the crash and told them he had blacked out during the flight. he continues his evidence tomorrow. he denies 11 counts of manslaughter. daniela relph, bbc news, the old bailey. a 40—year—old man has been found guilty of robbery and the manslaughter of a 100—year—old woman in derby. sofija kaczan, who was born in poland and survived a nazi camp during the second world war, died of pneumonia just days

after being mugged for her handbag. she suffered multiple injuries, including a fractured neck and cheekbone. artur waszkiewicz had denied the charges. now on bbc news, sport today. hello. this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: var makes its champions league debut as ajax have a goal disallowed in their loss to holders real madrid. west indies bowler shannon gabriel is banned for four matches for comments he made to england captainjoe root. and on thursday, a 17—year—old from madagascar will become the first malagasy woman to take part in the world skiing championships. hello and welcome to the programme, where we start with football

and the news that tottenham have one foot in the quarter finals of the champions league. they beat borussia dortmund 3—0 at wembley stadium with the return leg in germany in three weeks time. watching was the bbc‘s ian dennis. a dream scenario for tottenham who turned