this is bbc world news. our top story: after a summit of the top royals in britain, the queen agrees to harry and meghan‘s plans to step back from being senior royals and to split their time between the uk and canada. the queen admitted she would have preferred the couple to stay on as full—time working royals, but was entirely supportive of their plans. fears of an imminent explosion continue over the taal volcano in the philippines, which continues to spew ash and lava. thousands of people have had to leave their homes. generating a lot of excitement on our website are the oscar nominations. the story of the comic book villian joker leads with 11 nods. the internet streaming service netflix also recieved 2a nominations. a full list of nominees is on our website. that's all. stay with bbc world news. and the top story in the uk: prime minister boris johnson

and his irish counterpart leo varadkar visited belfast earlier to mark the restoration of devolved government to northern ireland. speaking at stormont, the home of the northern ireland assembly, the prime minister praised all sides for putting aside their differences more on our website. now it's time for the business use with asia business report and rico. —— business news. currency manipulator known more. the us offers china an olive branch before their trade talks begin. we explain why it's important. heartbreak in australia's bushland. farmers facing devastating losses of livestock as fires rage on. good morning and welcome to this tuesday edition of asia business report, live from singapore with me,

mariko oi. let's begin in the united states, where officials have announced it will reverse its decision to brand china a currency manipulator ahead of a meeting this week. washington and beijing are expected to sign says one of a deal aimed at reducing tensions between the world ‘s two biggest economies. the news has been cheered by investors in asia with japan's nikkei up by more than 0.5%. japan was closed for a public holiday yesterday. let's bring you in peter bowes in los angeles. peter, seems like investors a re bowes in los angeles. peter, seems like investors are happy with this easing of tensions between the us and china and this is quite significant ahead of that eating? yes. the timing of this is all—important yes. the timing of this is all—importa nt with that yes. the timing of this is all—important with that crucial meeting a day or so away, when we expect that signature with the president of the united states, the

first phase of a trade deal between the two countries. this has come out of the treasury department report to congress in which it does not designate china as a currency manipulator as it did last summer, when it said china devalued its currency to the point where it is at its wea kest currency to the point where it is at its weakest level against the us dollarfor its weakest level against the us dollar for ii its weakest level against the us dollar for 11 years to get a trade advantage and president trump said china was trying to steal business and factories. these trade negotiations, protracted and sometimes difficult, have been going on to the point where we are on the verge of getting a deal, an agreement, at least the first phase, moving forward to release tensions between the two countries. steve mnuchin, the treasury secretary, said china has made enforceable commitments to refrain from currency devaluation to gain competitive advantage. that is the crucial phrase. clearly the us seeing itself

onafairer phrase. clearly the us seeing itself on a fairer platform in terms of trade with china than it was previously. it was a goodwill gesture from the united states towards china. an interesting development. thank you forjoining us development. thank you forjoining us in los angeles, peter bowes. let's talk about australia's bush fires, because the economic impact is expected to run into the billions. one business community hit ha rd billions. one business community hit hard ourfarmers. word agriculture minister has said at least 100,000 livestock will be lost by the end of this fire season and the burden has fallen disproportionately on a few farmers in the bush fires zone, with some losing up to 20% of their herd. timothy mcdonald reports. neil takes a hay bale passed his dead cattle to feed the rest of his herd. he thinks he has lost 30 in all and has to buy hay for the remainder

because the pasture they normally feed on has been burnt black. there's 400 acres between the properties and the first property on new year's eve was burnt out. locally i only had 12 head. and they all survived. then on saturday afternoon/ evening, the fire came through those two properties here. he's had a stroke of luck, offered an overgrown paddock where the remainder of his livestock can feed but he just has to get them there. this family had to make a hasty retreat when the fires appeared suddenly on new year's day. probably for a good 100m or so we were driving through the flames on both sides of the road. looking both sides. when they returned, they were faced with 11 dead cattle and another nine were so badly injured, they had to be euthanised. they must have been in so much pain. that's what's really, really hard. really, really ha rd.

that's what's really, really hard. really, really hard. you know, you don't want to see that. you don't ever wa nt to don't want to see that. you don't ever want to see that. they have sent other cows to the abattoir because there's not enough for them to eat. this was a hay shed full of bales. look at it, nothing. they are relying on donated hay for the rest of the herd. they have vowed to rebuild but to get up and running again, they will need rain. 2019 was australia's artist and driest year on record, and the bushfire itself is likely to stretch water resources even further. the drought put enormous pressure on agriculture and in addition, with the loss of massive forest, when those forests regrow, they will use a lot of water so our catchment is diabolically impacted. there's good reason to think the damage could get worse because even though huge areas have been burnt out, there are still plenty of tinder dry places that could go up

110w “— tinder dry places that could go up now —— between now and the end of the season. for some they want to get out altogether. i am 70. for some they want to get out altogether. lam 70. i have limited time. altogether. iam 70. i have limited time. i have to rebuild the infrastructure, defence, get it working, who wants a farm where they have to rebuild all the fences? he has lots of work ahead of him. the oscar nominations are out and netflix is in the spotlight. the internet streaming service received 24 nominations, more than any other movie distributors. it's hoping this yea r‘s movie distributors. it's hoping this year's academy awards will help cement its reputation as a serious moviemaker but do investors really believe the company is a winner? the bbc‘s michelle fleury explains. the question investors want to know is they are spending a lot of money to create this calibre of content and is it paying off in terms of subscribers? the rate at which they

are increasing their spend is not being matched by the rate at which they are getting new subscribers and they are getting new subscribers and they have had to increase their fee and there about two face more competition from the likes of disney and you have disney+ and apple tv. in other business news making headlines and india's inflation rate has reached its hottest highest level in three years, mainly due to food prices. it got to almost 7.4% in december compared to 5.5% the previous month. this adds to the challenges for prime minister narendra modi, trying to revive a slowing economy. these are has agreed to find dominate by a financial tech firm late for $5.5 billion and it allows them to link bank accounts to mobile apps. it currently connects with over 11,000 financial institutions across the us, canada and europe. banks that use travelex to run their

foreign exchange services are still unable to sell travel money after massive cyber attacks that happened to weeks ago. hackers held travelex to weeks ago. hackers held travelex to ransom, demanding the firm pay $6 billion before they unlock their systems —— $6 million. it affect ba rclays, lloyds systems —— $6 million. it affect barclays, lloyds and royal bank of scotland, which used travelex for their money services. travelex said, did not say when it would be up and running. a topic close to home for many dual career couples, how do they decide who gets to pursue opportunities? it often involves ego, money and power dynamics that could test even the strongest marriage. earlier i spoke tojennifer, who strongest marriage. earlier i spoke to jennifer, who has strongest marriage. earlier i spoke tojennifer, who has done some research on how power couples prioritise their careers and she said striking a balance is very

tricky. that is power to decide where we go geographically, power to run the household and make decisions. this really spells disaster for dual career couples, and this occurs in one of two situations. sometimes it is driven by social expectations, gender dynamics, men should have more power, but not always. sometimes it is one person having a big role so they have to keep going to keep the family afloat and one person can make the choices and do what they want with their career.m is tricky because if one person is making a lot of money then that person may feel like they need to keep pursuing that career. absolutely, and it can be a golden handcuff. money is very important but it's not the only reason we work. we work for development opportunities, community, growth, and if we put those things aside, eventually we feel resentful and it is that resentment in couples that does damage.

you talked about gender stereotypes, did you find anything about the gender ratio if the husband or the wife prioritises his or her career? does it lead to more issues? not necessarily actually. classically we think of the man prioritising their career but in the younger generation, that is less case, but in both cases when the power dynamic gets too out of balance, it causes difficulties. what can companies do about it? are they doing anything to help them? it is a good question and in my book i talk about the fact companies aren't doing very much at the moment. the only thing they are doing is looking at things like flexible working policies, which are not what many dual career couples want. they want a shot at having the same career opportunities as other people. a fascinating topic ending this edition of asia business report. thanks for watching.

hello and welcome. this is bbc news. the top stories this hour: the queen agrees to harry and meghan‘s plans to step back from being senior royals but says she would've prefered they carry on full time royal duties. fears of an imminent explosion continue over the taal volcano in the philippines, which continues to spew ash and lava. thousands of people have had to leave their homes. storm brendan has swept into parts of the uk, hitting northern ireland and scotland with winds of nearly 90mph. there are weather warnings of high winds across much of scotland, with some schools shut and delays to road, rail, ferries and flights. the storm is moving across the rest of the uk this evening, as our correspondent danny savage reports. as storm brendan swept in from the atlantic, it was ireland which bore the brunt. the weather was described as wild — an apt description for

the conditions in greyabbey. this is warrenpoint, in county down. the cars were stranded in floodwater, but this was one bus driver determined to get through. in carrickfergus, just outside belfast, there was more severe flooding as the sea over—topped defences. there were also power cuts to many homes in the region. on the other side of the irish sea, there was damage, too. this is gwynedd, in north wales, where a tree came down on a vehicle. luckily, nobody was hurt. the concern overnight is that spring tides could bring some flooding to coastlines around the northern part of the uk. but storm brendan is also just a prelude for more windy weather, with another warning in place for all of england and wales from midday tomorrow. in scotland, schools in the western isles were closed and bus services cancelled. ferries were also disrupted. and what would a 21st—century storm

be without a lost trampoline? this one ended up on a motorway near limerick. danny savage, bbc news, cumbria. in the race for the labour leadership, the first stage of nominations has closed and there are five candidates left including emily thornberry, who secured the support of 22 labourmps and meps with a just a few minutes to spare before the deadline. the others in contention arejess phillips, sir kier starmer, lisa nandy and rebecca long—bailey. people who manage their cholesterol levels with a daily statin, could replace them with a new injection. the health secretary matt hancock says the injection, which is being offered to nhs patients in england, could save up to 30,000 lives over the next decade. lots more on the website on all of our stories and you can get in touch with me on social media. that's it

for me but now it is time for all the sponsors. hello, and this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: suspended then sacked, the houston astros coach and general manager punished for cheating on their way to winning the 2017 and sackings all around as barcelona part ways with their manager ernesto valverde. and we speak to south africa's rugby world cup winning captain on his initiatives to help the communities that made him. some people have it, some don't, some people give a bed but it means a lot to me because it has may be the person i am today.