of the city of kirkuk. their advance came after kurdish forces withdrew. iraq's prime minister says his military is acting to protect the unity of the country, following a kurdish referendum on independence, which iraq's government says is unconstitutional. the film company co—founded by harvey weinstein says it's in talks to sell the bulk of its assets to a private equity firm after its board sacked the producer over a series of allegations of sexual misconduct. and here's what's trending on the website, bbc.com: the duchess of cambridge has returned to her royal duties at a charity event in london. it's her first public appearance after it was announced she was pregnant with her third child, and suffering from severe morning sickness. here she is at paddington station in london, dancing with none other than paddington bear himself. and the top story here in the uk: tributes have been paid to the comedian, actor and writer sean hughes, who's died at the age of 51. he was described as one of the best

comics of his generation. now on bbc news, all the latest business news live from singapore. netflix subscribes to record highs. investors hope to cash in on its latest success. and find out why china's strategy to be a world leader in electric cars is an industrial solution to an economic problem. good morning, asia. hello, world. it is tuesday. thank you forjoining me on asia business report. i'm rico hizon. we start the programme with netflix and the video streaming pioneer did it again. they exceeded analyst expectations as more people

subscribed to watch programmes in the latest season of narcos. earlier i spoke with media partners asia and asked how content can make or break online services. of course it starts with content and consumers have to move to it but netflix have scaled distribution globally. a big reason for their growth in the last few quarters has been international scale in particular and what's driving growth is a lot of scale and momentum in parts of europe and latin america. we are starting to see some of that in asia—pacific now. how are they going to using in asia, because there are challenges in the region, particularly local content and of course part c? of course. look, we are three years into this internet video industry in the asia—pacific —— piracy? netflix

launched in australia with 3 million subs in that market and they have picked up momentum slowly injapan. and also parts of southeast asia. they have had great partnerships with telcos and others in the philippines and thailand. they are also getting momentum in india. this isa also getting momentum in india. this is a long—range plan for them and long—term battle for them. they are one of many players trying to raise the barfor one of many players trying to raise the bar for legal consumption and monetisation of internet video services. you have players like youtube and facebook on the other side with ad funded models, you have fox on the entertainment side, emerging market players like iflix. will this model overtake cable in asia? i think, rico, will this model overtake cable in asia? ithink, rico, we will this model overtake cable in asia? i think, rico, we are in the middle of a transition to internet video infrastructure. everything is going to be on internet video in the next 5—10 years even in india and

indonesia. companies like cable operators will always have a role to play. ultimately they can be aggregators of broadband services and internet video services. it depends how nimble and flexible they are. and if they have money to scale the investment. the us and japan have been holding economic talks in washington, dc and it looks like they have made progress on some long—standing trade irritants, including lifting restrictions on american potatoes and japanese persimmons. for more, i am joined by my colleague. you have the us vice president meeting his japanese counterpart. what do they talk about apart from vegetables? infrastructure, transport and energy deals. i want to focus on the vegeta bles deals. i want to focus on the vegetables for a little bit. to the japanese, they are notjust vegetables. they are very important

exports. the farming lobby injapan is incredibly powerful. it is a very politically sensitive issue. that is why so many japanese agricultural sectors are protected. that is why it isa sectors are protected. that is why it is a trade sticking point. the us has been pushing to have a free—trade deal with japan. that the ideal. but the japanese don't want to commit to anything, given they hold a general election on sunday. but finally, another thing on the agenda, which is neverfarfrom anyone's mind, is north korea. us president donald trump travels to asia. he is expected to focus on further isolating the kim regime while here. of course, if you want to buy vegetables and fruit here in singapore from japan, they are quite expensive. yes, the japanese supermarket in singapore, you can by a melon for a couple of hundred dollars. they are very proud of the

produce from the country. out of my budget. speaking of trade, what about nafta ? budget. speaking of trade, what about nafta? they wrap up the fourth round of negotiations on tuesday in the us. things are not looking good the us. things are not looking good the mexican peso has dropped to a five—month low because of concerns the deal will collapse. and that president trump will pull out, just as he did with the tpp. thank you for the update. in other news making headlines, south korean police requested an arrest warrant for the head of one of south korea's largest companies and parent company of korean air for embezzling millions of dollars of company funds. cho yung ho is under investigation for using $2 million meant to pay for the construction of a hotel to finance the remodelling of his own home in 2013. facebook has bought an anonymous application popular with teenagers called tbh,

an acronym for to be honest. it has been downloaded by more than 5 million people who have sent1 billion messages in its nine weeks of existence. it is to make positive references about friends. the financial terms were not disclosed. the weinstein company has reached out for a financial lifeline after its co—founder harvey weinstein was fired over accusations of sexually harassing women for over three decades. the entertainment empire has denied reports it is looking to sell or shut down its operation. it has entered discussions with colony capital. a private equity firm. newcastle united football club is back up for sale. premier league tea m back up for sale. premier league team is owned by sports direct boss mike ashley who hopes to reach a deal by christmas. the billionaire says he cannot compete with other english teams for its pensive

players. he first tried to sell newcastle in 2008. just after a year he bought the club for $180 million. in the run—up to tomorrow's start of the communist party congress we look at three major issues facing china's leaders. 0ne at three major issues facing china's leaders. one of the mainland's biggest challenges is to deal with the environmental consequences caused by years of unbridled economic growth. the government thinks one answer is more cars. specifically, a electric cars. 0ur correspondent robin brant reports now from the south in shenzhen. china's economic boom has been a dirty business with wealth and progress comes immense pollution. china thinks this is part of the solution — more cars — electric cars, to be specific. the southern magas city of shenzhen is at the heart of the government's big green

push and this is the home of byd, the largest manufacturer in the world of electric vehicles. this isn't just about trying to ensure world of electric vehicles. this isn'tjust about trying to ensure a greener, cleaner future for china. there is an industrial strategy at play here. because china is trying to become the world's dominant manufacturer of what's tucked away under here. but there is a price to pay in their bid to become the battery kings of the world. an environmental price. this was late in 2016. protesters outside the byd factory claim poisonous gas was being pumped out of the plant. government inspectors ordered new sealed facilities. butjust over the road some of the neighbours who live high up still worried. summer nights are hot in shenzhen. but this woman hasn't been opening the windows in her children's bedroom. translation:

before we bought the apartment the developer told us the plant would move elsewhere in a couple of years. after we moved here, little seems to have changed. the factory isn't really saying it is going to move. the smell is very strong and it has really affected our lives. but is it the price of progress, i asked? yes, she told me. china's challenge is to sustain economic growth and detoxify its air, land and water. in shenzhen, like in every province, inspectors have punished polluting firms and caught lying officials. but at this freshwater river, the janitors are not sure. translation: run—off from the factory is probably goes into the river. —— factories. would you eat fish from this water? never had it before. china's ideas include carbon trading and online monitoring and at reversing the effects of decades of gritty growth.

—— aimed at. americans claim some he will lose three and a half years from their lives because of pollution. that won't help those prematurely finding their final resting place. from electric cars, two markets — asia is in a positive move, yet again this tuesday, in positive territory after wall street stocks jumped to record highs overnight, boosted by banking shares lifted by expectations. the federal reserve will again raise interest rates by the end of the year. well, in asia, japan is up yet again for the 10th consecutive session. thank you for watching. i'm rico hizon. you're watching. i'm rico hizon. you're watching bbc news. hurricane force winds have hit many parts of ireland as one of the most powerful storms sweeps as one of the most powerful storms swee ps a cross as one of the most powerful storms sweeps across the british isles. 360,000 homes have been without

electricity. chris barker has more. from the atlantic, 0phelia arrived in force. no longer a hurricane, but she still returned to show her power. severe weather warnings were in place across ireland and homes, cars, in place across ireland and homes, ca rs, even in place across ireland and homes, cars, even stadiums, were no match for the wins. this roof was born from a school in county cork and it was the irish government repeatedly called a national merger and see. this is a national red alert that applies to all cities, counties and all areas. and also bear in mind even after the storm has passed there will still be dangerous. galway was in the direct path. here many listened to the appeals for people to stay inside. in the city centre most shops stayed shut because of the storm.

but in galway bay, even with 0phelia approaching, some ignored all the warnings to go swimming. that's the type of idiot that will put somebody‘s life at risk and wasting the resources of the emergency services that should be somewhere else at the same time. lives have been lost as a result of fallen trees. and the challenges posed by this extreme weather has been obvious. it's no surprise that many flights into and out of ireland were cancelled today. we are keeping a little bit of a distance. but even at this point, you can really feel the sheer power of 0phelia. and it's quite impressive. but it gives you a sense of why the authorities have been so concerned about these winds. they are going to cause a lot of damage and indeed destruction. power lines have been brought down across the island leaving hundreds of thousands of homes without electricity. with this number of customers out it's unprecedented. it's going to be a number of days before people have their power back. about 5% of customers, it will be up to ten days before they have their power back.

the strong winds were felt along britain's west coast too. in wales, roads and railways were closed amid gusts that reached speeds of up to 90 mph. it was a sight which some had to see and experience for themselves. it's spectacular. are you not mad being out in it? i love big weather. watching big seas, ijust love it. 0phelia has left much to clean up and repair. tomorrow, for a second day, schools right across this island will remain closed. the aftermath of a storm that's tested ireland. chris buckler, bbc news, galway. an academic at birmingham university, matthew falder, has admitted 137 offences, including blackmailing young people into sending him degrading pictures, and then sharing them on the so—called dark web. the 28—year—old is said to have humiliated more than 50 victims. he'll be sentenced in december. you are up—to—date.

don't forget you can get in touch with me on twitter. i'm @babitabbc. i will be back the same time for newsday tomorrow. time now for all the sports news in sport today. see you soon. hello, this is sport today live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: riyad mahrez scores as leicester city come from behind to draw 1—1 all with west bromwich albion in the english premier league. and despite this scene at cork city's home ground after storm 0phelia, their league of ireland match against derry city will go ahead on tuesday night. england cricketer jonny bairstow talks to us about how family tragedy has shaped his life as a person and sportsman. hello and welcome to the programme, where we start with the footballing