he told the crowds who awaited his return at an anti—government protest that it was up to them to achieve regime change in venezuela. developments on the huawei case are causing major new tensions between canada, the us and china. china accuses two canadians of spying, as a senior huawei executive sues canada over her arrest. and this video is trending on bbc.com: jacob easton and his dad were driving in colorado when they saw an avalanche rushing towards the highway. there are avalanche warnings in place across the state. that's all. stay with bbc news. and the top story in the uk: theresa may has vowed to tackle

a rise in knife crime after two more teenagers were fatally stabbed. the 17—year—olds died in separate attacks in london and greater manchester at the weekend. now on bbc news, live to singapore for asia business report. china slowdown, the premier cuts the country's growth target and lowers taxes in the face of a trade war with america. donald trump gets tough with india. the us president threatens to end the preferential trade treatment. we will tell you why. good morning, asia. hello, world. thank you forjoining us for this edition of a is report. china's annual parliament gets under way and the premier has cut the annual growth target to a range of six to

6.5%. at the same time taxes and fees will be lowered by nearly $300 billion in a bid to boost the flagging economy. let's cross now to beijing. 0utside flagging economy. let's cross now to beijing. outside the hall of the people with stephen mcdonald. these are very bold measures to pump prime the economy. yes, as you mentioned, the economy. yes, as you mentioned, the national people's congress kicks off today with this marathon on speech from china's number two leader and in this government work report he runs through where china has been over the last 12 months and what it's expecting to do over the next 12 months, and, yes, the projected growth figure is a range of 6—6 projected growth figure is a range of 6-6 .5%. projected growth figure is a range of 6—6 .5%. now, that will be a slowing of the economy if that figure is real and yet it is still pretty strong by any measure. and, of course, in china now, 6% is

coming offa of course, in china now, 6% is coming off a much larger base than, say, those double—digit figures we had for decades. as china's economy gets bigger it doesn't need to have such a high level of growth, if you know what i mean. of course, many people, though, question those figures, because some don't think it's that accurate. for example, defence spending, up 7.5%. well, there is talk that the big expansion of the country's aircraft carrier programme isn't even included in the military budget. now, another thing people will be watching is this provision to make it easier for foreign companies to invest in china. it seems that as long as you're not in certain industries, investors will be able, foreign investors will be able, foreign investors will be able, foreign investors will be able to get into china without this requirement to have a local partner and that's what it has been up until now. now, this isa it has been up until now. now, this is a clear nod to the us—china trade

war. whether it will be enough to represent some sort of breakthrough remains to be seen. however, that is something that is being put before the delegates here at the annual national people's congress. the hall of the people in beijing, stephen mcdonald. meanwhile in washington, president trump has toughened the us trade stance against india. in a letter to congress he said he intends to end preferential treatment for the country. the deal allows $5. 6 treatment for the country. the deal allows $5.6 billion worth of indian exports to enter the us duty—free. for the latest, let's cross over to delhi and the bbc‘s business correspondent davina gupta. i we likely to see countermeasures from india? well, rico, i'vejust heard that well, rico, i've just heard that the indian ministry will organise a news conference two hours from now, highly unusual move for the indian commerce minister to address the

media here, just in the morning around nine o'clock local time, so we will see what countermeasures india is preparing for. however, the country has been in negotiations with the us for about a year to delay the gsp products to be revoked, so they are about 1900 products including textiles, jewellery and as you pointed out the impact would be taking the head of about $5.6 billion in export that india wants to point to the us that this could risk a trade war. it is an election year, can prime minister modi afford the risk of a trade war? absolutely not, rico, because the prime minister is in a corner over the sagging economy in india. he has been under pressure to revive export in india. india has been one of the major beneficiaries of this scheme

in the us. now, as i said, the commerce ministry has been in negotiations with the us. they have launched a complaint in the us trade representative body, ustr, saying this will risk thousands ofjobs in india and india does need more access to the us market. the politics of it is that the us wants to access the indian market as well, especially larger players like walmart and amazon, who had seen pressure building up from the indian government that is leading to protectionism ahead of elections. so we will have to see how it plays out. thank you so much for that update from delhi, the bbc‘s business correspondence two. the geneva motor show is one of the biggest annual showcases for the global car industry and the year's event starts today, manufacturers vying with one another to grab attention with their sleek supercars, quirky, super minis and curious vehicles. among those

expected to hold the headlines is an italian manufacturer funded by expected to hold the headlines is an italian manufacturerfunded by the indian giant mahindra which has brand—new supercar, which can challenge the f1 car, and it runs on batteries. two has been looking at the car. the geneva motor show is often about superca rs and hybrid the geneva motor show is often about supercars and hybrid cars, so let's start with this one, the new batista, it has 1900 horsepower but the big thing about this car is it is electric. let's find out more about this with the chief executive of the country. we want to see the car. just tell me first of all why have you built it? well, we have been a design house for 89 years at pininfarina and our partner mahindra acquired the business in 2015 and

the promise at the purchase was a lwa ys the promise at the purchase was always to realise battista's dream, the founder of the company, which is why we call it the beauty battista, because his dream was always about having his own cars, his own barge, pininfarina car. why electric? first of all we wanted to build the most powerful italian sports car ever made and we wanted to use the best technology available to achieve that performance level and then you have to go electric, which is the future and you cannot achieve a performance level that we had in the target book with a ice engine. and what does mahindra get out of this? they make agricultural equipment, what is their interest with the electric hypo car? well, mahindra wanted to ta ke hypo car? well, mahindra wanted to take the group international. at a certain point, they stumbled over

this under leveraged brand, pininfarina. they acquired the business in 2016, 70 6% of it, and the intent was from day one, besides maintaining the running business, build upa maintaining the running business, build up a new car company with the pininfarina brand —— 76%. build up a new car company with the pininfarina brand -- 76%. ok, well, iam pininfarina brand -- 76%. ok, well, i am sold on the styling, if nothing else, and it seems very fast, but how much would it cost? in euro terms it is $2 million plus taxes. and how many will you sell? maximum 150 pieces, so it's going to be a very rare proposition. so i better get my order in quickly? very quickly. thank you very much. that is the pininfarina battista. i can't afford that car in my lifetime. in other news making headlines, huawei is reportedly preparing to sue the government over the ban on federal agencies using its products. according to the new york times and reuters the chinese telecommunications giant will file

the lawsuit later this week in the eastern district of texas. at the same time the chinese authorities have said two canadian citizens detained in december were engaged in stealing state secrets and that authorities artist are the judicial proceedings against them. and us drug maker lilly will make a high—priced version of the popular insolent drugs, trying to fend off criticism about rising drug prices in the country —— insulin. executives were drilled from major drug firms last week, calling the pricing practices morally repugnant. and an investment bank led by an oligarch who collaborated with prince charles on charity work managed a network of offshore companies moving billions out of russia, that is according to an international investigation which has exposed how the network received money from companies linked with majorfraud. the money from companies linked with major fraud. the oligarch money from companies linked with

majorfraud. the oligarch rubin vardanan majorfraud. the oligarch rubin va rdanan is majorfraud. the oligarch rubin vardanan is a former boss of moscow investment bank. —— ruben vardanyan the prince's charity said they subjected ruben va rdanyan‘s the prince's charity said they subjected ruben vardanyan‘s donation to due diligence and no red flags we re to due diligence and no red flags were raised. now, let's look at the markets and how the stocks are going in mid—morning trade. they are all in the red. the hang seng index is in negative territory by 136 points. thank you so much for investing your time with us. i'm rico hizon. see you in the next hour. goodbye for now. this is bbc news. the top stories this hour: venezuela's 0pposition leader makes a triumphant return to the capital caracas. butjuan guaido risks arrest by returning to his homeland. developments on the huawei case are causing major new tensions between canada, the us and china. china accuses two canadians detained last year of spying, as a senior huawei executive

sues canada over her arrest. a major inquiry into allegations of past child sexual abuse linked to westminster will consider whether political parties turned a blind eye to it. the latest phase of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse will examine whether there were any attempted cover—ups, including how what was then the liberal party responded to allegations made against the late mp cyril smith. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds has more. "we will continue to examine whether the british establishment harboured paedophiles", the promise today from a public inquiry, regularly derided as a witch hunt. its most senior lawyer asked, "were there cover—ups to protect the status quo, rather than children?" we shall investigate and attempt to answer these questions, which have given rise to considerable public concern. concern dating back to 2012,

the savile scandal. but also, a senior labour politician, who told the commons there was... ..clear intelligence suggesting a powerful paedophile network linked to parliament and number ten. it turned out that the evidence was not clear, and, in some some cases, not there at all. this morning, the inquiry‘s gone through all the main allegations, but it said it won't be investigating whether they're true. instead, its job will be to assess whether the establishment responded properly, when the allegations came to light. for critics like danieljanner, the son of the late lord janner, who was accused, it's still a witch—hunt. if you're going to have an investigation, do it in relation to people who were convicted, or people who are alive and can answer back. but there will be evidence that m15 warns that the conservative mp peter morrison had a "penchant for small boys". evidence in a 1995 interview that party whips helped members in trouble.

..might be scandal involving small boys, or any kind of scandal. and evidence that prosecutors and the liberal democrats turned a blind eye to the activities of cyril smith, never charged. tom symonds, bbc news, at the child abuse inquiry. the founder and chief executive of the fashion chain ted baker has resigned following allegations of misconduct, including "forced hugging". he has denied the charges. now, sport today. hello. i'm tulsen tollett. this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: with nine games to go, we look at what could be the decisive factors in where the premier league trophy ends up in may. just what is going on at real madrid? gareth bale's agent hits out at the fans over

their treatment of him. and more than 200 people take part in a skating marathon on a frozen lake in siberia. hello there, and welcome to the programme, where we start with football, and the news that seven points stood between liverpool and title rivals manchester cityjust two months ago. now, it's the defending champions city who lead the title race by a single point. liverpool's goalless draw with everton is their fourth in the past six league games. so, is pressure starting to show in liverpool's pursuit of a first league title in 29 years? patrick gearey reports. it is getting close. with a pool stalemate means their breathing spaceis stalemate means their breathing space is gone. they have a one point deficit. the road narrows. there is pressure and even paranoia. everything is analysed, every

result, every reaction, every