i'm kasia madera with bbc news. our top story. the sri lankan government has sharply lowered the number of people it says were killed in easter sunday's attacks. it now says 253 people died, that's more than a hundred fewer than the previous figure. the defence minister has resigned, saying the country's security institutions had failed to do theirjob. the uk has warned against ‘all but essential travel‘ to sri lanka. in christchurch — prince wiliam has delivered a powerful messsage on defeating extremism. he also praised new zealanders for their compassion in the aftermath of the mosques attacks which claimed 50 lives. and this story is trending on bbc.com. the cast of the 25th james bond film, has been announced. daniel craig will play 007 for the fifth time. the oscar—winning star of bohemian rhapsody, rami malek, will play the villain.

and the top story in the uk: the protest group extinction rebellion have targeted financial institutions across london on the 11th day of demonstrations across the city. supporters blocked roads around the treasury and the london stock exchange. now on bbc news, live to singapore for asia business report. turning on the charm offensive. china's president xijinping hosts world leaders as he unveils his country's project of the century. an amazon reports a hugejump in reve nu es amazon reports a hugejump in revenues but analysts give the company a cold response. good morning, asia. hello, world. it's almost the weekend, glad you can join us. i am rico hizon. it's being

billed as the project of a century. the initiative to revive ancient trading links between asia and europe. and build new ones around the world. china's president xi jinping is hosting world leaders at the beltland forum in beijing. he is hoping to highlight his flagship project and defended from growing international criticism. let's go to john side worth, china correspondence. there is a lot of criticism that these belt and road projects are receiving. that's right. this really is a mammoth initiative, in vision and scope and scale and spending, involving dozens of countries, tens of billions of

dollars of funding, and for china, the aim is simple, to foster development and increase global and regional prosperity. but as you say, there is a lot of criticism. from those who say this is a way of exporting chinese overcapacity and doubt. it's a way of saddling poorer nations, and much of the benefits on these initiatives blow into chinese banks and big chinese construction companies. wherever you stand on the debate, i think the key thing about the next few days, the acceptance from many international leaders that this is an initiative to stay. it is after a ll this is an initiative to stay. it is after all president xi jinping's signature international policy a lot of companies are here for one reason, to look at the way their

economies and their big tanks and construction companies can take advantage. china is saying that this project is sustainable. it is, and you can see signs in recent months that it's started to respond to some of that criticism. it says it is looking at ways to make the debts involved more sustainable, more serviceable, and is looking to inject much more transparency in terms of things like environmental standards and it's also looking to consolidate a little. there was a sense that the numbers of projects being lumped under this belt and road headline, signature policy, we re road headline, signature policy, were too many and too diverse. i think there are signs that beijing is trying to bring that back under

its control a little more. all of these things will be welcomed and there are something like 37 global leaders including vladimir putin, the pakistani prime minister imran khan, and other key nations. but also the us is not sending a high level delegation, nor is india. thank you for that upjade from beijing. let us turn our attention to amazon which has reported a i7% jump to amazon which has reported a i7% jump in revenues as the well‘s bird biggest publicly traded company continues to expand if you dig deeper into the numbers, you will noticed —— notice its first—quarter growth was the since 2015. our north american business correspondent has

more. amazon's results are easily surpassed investor expectations thanks to strong demand for its cloud and advertising businesses. the world's largest on line retailer reported a net income for the first three months of this year, double the1.6 three months of this year, double the 1.6 million three months of this year, double the1.6 million —— three months of this year, double the 1.6 million —— billion it made last year. the quarterly earnings report marks of period of change of the tech giant, we have seen sales are slow but bigger profits than ever before. to give you an example, revenue rose 17%, which may sound impressive until you compared to the previous year when revenue grew 43%. the tech giant warned the second quarter may not have such happy news for investors. amazon's shout price grounded after a block foster first quarter. adult pleasure toys are not as taboo as they once were in asia.

the region is the fastest growing market for product meant to spice up your love life. asia now makes up nearly half of global sales. women of the target audience and the pitch to them is about intimacy. a word of caution, the following report is of sensitive and adult nature. sales of sex toys are buzzing in asia. many societies in the region remain socially conservative but times are changing. i popped into a few just to see what they have and this one is quite extensive, this one here especially. asia pacific accou nts one here especially. asia pacific accounts for 46% of the $20 billion global sex toy industry. in the next four years, southeast asia alone is expected to make up about 7— 10% of

the market. even though many countries in the region and sex toys as obscene. lincoln chua who owns three sex shops in singapore say visitors from neighbouring countries are more common these days, including women. more and more customers coming from indonesia and also malaysia and be at mum. they looking for product that serve a specific function, looked decent, they can take it across the airport without getting caught. these changes mean a more modern approach to marketing vibrators and other sex toys. some distributors avoid sex shops entirely. here at guardian, high street pharmacy, you can find sex toys and lubricants among the shampoo and to taste. that's the whole point. marketing these products as health and beauty aids, the emphasis is on sensuality instead of sleaze. thanks aides.

here, you don't be embarrassed to buy. is it singapore across the board? it's here. ithink buy. is it singapore across the board? it's here. i think that's great. this on line store targets women in relationships because they are the most enthusiastic buyers, worth about 55% of the southeast asian market. i think you definitely see that in the younger generation but interestingly enough, it's actually across—the—board so you do have women in their 40s and 50s purchasing because they understand the importance of sexual wellness. so it's out with the sleaze and in with health and beauty marketing. that approach means healthy sales for sex toy businesses around asia. sarah toms, bbc news, singapore. in other business news, a saga

involving carlos ghosn after the former nissan leader was released from jail a second time on bail. 11.5 million us dollars bail, however he faces charges of financial misconduct which he has denied, the latest bail coming with conditions attached including banning carlos ghosn from meeting or communicating with his wife without permission from japanese authorities. another high—value company is microsoft which saw its valuation rise above $1 trillion us for the first time on thursday after the tech giant reported a jump in profits to $8.8 billion. microsoftjoins an exclusive club with apple and amazon by being the only three publicly listed companies to pass the trillion dollar mark. and nintendo is attempting to break into the

lucrative chinese gaming market, it's nintendo switch console selling well but that figure could rise rapidly under the new deal. it also marks a change in direction for ten cemt which has been trying to enter the market. us stocks are mostly negative territory. as you can see right now, and the asia—pacific markets, its slightly lower in japan. that is down by 182 points. it was closed yesterday for a public holiday. thank you so much for investing your time with it. this is bbc news — the top stories this hour: officials in sri lanka revise down the death toll from the easter sunday suicide attacks by a hundred — 253 people are now believed

to have lost their lives. in christchurch — prince wiliam has delivered a powerful messsage on defeating extremism as he meets victims of the mosques attacks in new zealand. knife crime figures for england and wales have risen to record levels. last year, nearly 41 thousand offences were recorded by police... as our home editor, mark easton reports. it is a horribly familiar scene. another teenager stabbed to death last night in birmingham, as homicide figures for england and wales hit a ten—year high, and knife offences recorded by police reach record levels. the sense is that violence is rising in england and wales, but let's look at the bigger picture. homicide is up, a ten—year high, but this graph suggests it is too early to say that society is becoming more violent.

0verall figures for violent crime show actually a huge fall since the mid—‘90s. the chances of being a victim of violence then were 110 in 1,000. now, the lowest ever, 29. figures for offences involving a knife recorded by police are at their highest. agencies need to work together because you have little agencies on the own. the prime minister has set up the own. the prime minister has set up across the own. the prime minister has set up across violence team in whitehall. i wish there was one single thing that could be done to bring it down dramatically but there is not one thing. we need action on many fronts and that's what we've been pursuing. the sense is that violence is rising in england and wales but let's look at the bigger picture. homicide is up, a 10— year high, but this graph suggests it's too early to say society is becoming more violent. 0verall figures for violent crime show a huge fall since the mid— 90s.

the chances of being a victim of violence then were 110 in 1,000. now, the lowest ever, 29. figures for offences involving a knife recorded by police are at their highest. but they only go back to 2011. and some experts think the apparent trend upwards may not be quite what it seems. we don't, all of us, need to be more scared than we used to be. violence involving knives is localised. it affects relatively small numbers of people. so overall, the risk to us all has decreased. there are hotspots of serious violence, notably disputed gang areas in london and other big cities. but mercifully, for people generally, the risk of being a victim of violence is still going down. mark easton, bbc news. much more on our website. i am on social media at @bbckasiamadera. hello, i'm tulsen tullett.

this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: the end of the road — david ferrer bids farewell as rafael nadal continues his bid for a fourth successive barcelona open title. while in the netherlands, psv eindhoven win again to draw level withajax, with just two games remaining in the eredivisie. amd atalanta will play lazio in the coppa italia final after a 5—4 aggregate win over fiorentina. hello and welcometo the programme where we start with the tennis news that rafael nadal is through to the quarter finals of the barcelona 0pen where he'll face jan lennard struff. that's after a straight sets win overfellow spaniard david ferrer who's retiring next month. nadal, who dropped a set in his second round win over leonardo mayer, managed to beat his great rival, ferrer, in straight sets, 6—3 6—3, as he looks to make it four titles in a row at this event