our main story. donald trump is heading to asia for his first official visit as president. he is set to visit five countries as part of the tour. north korea is set to be high on the agenda. the white house national security advisor said that time was running out to deal with pyongyang and the president would push other countries to do more to resolve the crisis. there have been protests in barcelona following the arrest of eight members of the catalan government. prosecutors are also seeking a european arrest warrant for ousted leader carles puigdemont. and this story is trending on the website. scientists have identified a totally new species of great ape, deep in the forests of sumatra. but the orangutan is so rare that it's gone straight onto the endangered species list. that's all from me for now. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk. for the first time in more than a decade, the bank of england has increased interest rates.

let's get more of the business news from or with sharanjit leyl. it's official. the white house nominates to rowen powell as the new fed chief. what will it mean for the markets? —— jerome fed chief. what will it mean for the markets? ——jerome powell. would you drink beer with bacteria that is meant to be good for you? we check out a new beer in town. welcome to asia business report, i am sharanjit leyl asia business report, i am sharanjit leyl. after weeks of speculation, the white house has announced its nomination for this man, jerome powell, to be the next chairman of the us federal reserve. his nomination needs to be confirmed by the senate. janet yellen‘s term expires in february. i asked our north american business

correspondence what she knows about his pick. he is a former investment banker. he brings something that donald trump doubt —— touted in the rose garden. basically referencing the idea that he has some real world, job experience to bring to thejob. this ties into the job. this ties into the criticism. he wanted to see change at the federal reserve and it ties into complaints after the financial crisis. perhaps the federal reserve had gone too far. having someone with a wall street background could have a big impact going forward as to what the rules and regulations might look like because that is part of the central bank's mandate. the other thing that his departure is he doesn't have a deep background in

economics. he is not a ph.d.. but it is certainly something of note. the status do that is a bit of a departure from its predecessor. will there be any surprises in the federal reserve's move to raise rates ? federal reserve's move to raise rates? if you look at the reaction from investors, in their mind, the nomination ofjerome powell means that volatility, the kind of uncertainty has been removed. they expect it will continue on the path that janet yellen has set, which is to gradually raise interest rates. i was talking to someone who made an interesting point which is history shows that usually, financial crises don't tend to repeat themselves. we don't tend to repeat themselves. we don't know what the next one will look like —— will look like. in that

sense, the status quo candidate may not actually turn out to be a positive but again, it's too soon to tell and as things currently stand, we don't know what dangers lie in the waters ahead. that was our north american business correspondence michelle fleury. apple shares hit a new record high after a quarterly profit of $10.7 billion but it isn't all good news. us chipmaker qualcomm is suing. apple logs its best quarterly result in two years and has new iphone models coming out. we saw pictures of camping out for the new iphone x which might help it become $1 trillion company. quarterly sales rose in china because it lifts the fortunes of all of apple's suppliers. that is why

this legal spat with qualcomm is not good for business. this legal dispute, qualcomm accused apple allowing access to its rival intel. qualcomm is using its market dominance to bully its competitors and overcharge its customers so we are seeing reports coming out that apple may look to drop qualcomm to some of its suppliers —— or some of its devices so qualcomm might not provide chips for the iphone or right hand. we know this isn't the only legal tussle that apple is involved is. the other one is over technology licensing. but apple has been fighting samsung for many yea rs. been fighting samsung for many years. apple1 been fighting samsung for many years. apple 1 $1 billion in damages from samsung but samsung's lawyers managed to whittle it down to $400

million but that case will go to trial once again whether lawyers of samsung might be able to bring the figure down further or reach a settlement. starbucks has announced an agreement to sell tazo to unilever after disappointing sales. the copy chain posted underwhelming quarterly earnings —— earnings due to smelling foot traffic, changing dining habits and the impact of hurricanes hardly and irma. it is focusing on asia as north american sales shrink. china's macro —— alibaba reported sales shrink. china's macro —— aliba ba reported profit sales shrink. china's macro —— alibaba reported profit way above expectations. the non—stop growth has seen shares more than double this year but it's not alljust one big retail operation for the e—commerce giant. it has also been

branching out to diversify in new areas like cloud services, financing and logistics. earlier, iasked areas like cloud services, financing and logistics. earlier, i asked a senior market analyst at what she thought led to its growth. there are growth in other aspects of its business but most of it comes from its core business and a seat coming from three aspects. how it has managed to increase its product offerings. secondly, isee managed to increase its product offerings. secondly, i see new retail. essentially, increasing efficiency. cost in international business. we see how it has increased its offerings to more southeast asian countries and international business. you mentioned its rivals. will alibaba

be the undisputed leader in e—commerce in china? can these results be sustained? does it have to do with competition?” results be sustained? does it have to do with competition? i think alibaba has a huge advantage. it has its own payment platform. and what about the vision of jack ma its own payment platform. and what about the vision ofjack ma for alibaba? about the vision ofjack ma for aliba ba ? what about the vision ofjack ma for alibaba? what is your plan to do?m larger vision is to use data to drive logistics. we see this in the earnings announcement. there is now the majority stakeholder. using dated to drive more efficient logistics. that is how we see the

link to the blending, using essentially efficiency. singaporean scientists have brewed a probiotic beer they say can improve the health and boost the immune system. there is nothing like a cold beer on a hot day and it's even better when it is supposedly good for you. scientists in singapore have developed a brew that contains probiotics, bacteria that is known to aid digestive and an improved the moon system. this scientist has been experiencing —— experimenting with a recipe for almost a year. experiencing —— experimenting with a recipe for almost a yearlj experiencing —— experimenting with a recipe for almost a year. i thought it would be interesting to do

something that is outside the box and come up with a product that people have not thought of before. every 100 millimetres, just over a mouthful, contains about 1 every 100 millimetres, just over a mouthful, contains about1 billion probiotic organisms. slightly sour. i'm getting a hint of grapefruit coming through. it's quite refreshing. is there a market for it? cheers. it could do well to them to target it to women in the initial phase because women in general are more health conscious when it comes to drinks and also, we see that women are a lot more adventurous in trying new products. the researchers have filed patents are now hoping that by the end of next year, the brew will be available at a pub near you. soon enough, having a pint may help your gut stay healthy. all in moderation, of course.

i tell you what, other investors have been toasting those record gains on wall street which continues to filter into the age —— the asian market. the all 0rdinaries over in australia also making games, may —— mainly due to mining and resources stocks. that is it this edition of asia business report. have a great weekend. customers of nationwide, tsb and the yorkshire building society will be among the first to see a rise in the interest paid on their savings. mortgage providers — including lloyds and royal bank of scotland — say they will pass on the quarter—point increase in full to customers on variable and tracker rate schemes. simon gompertz reports. this street in 0ldham, it's called

the rise and that is a reminder to eve ryo ne the rise and that is a reminder to everyone living hero would have all got to get used to, that interest we pay and receive is on the rise. at the first house on the street, there isa the first house on the street, there is a welcome for higher rates. so you are going to be looking forward to it? i am rubbing my hands together. i am to it? i am rubbing my hands together. iam hoping it to it? i am rubbing my hands together. i am hoping it will to it? i am rubbing my hands together. iam hoping it will go to it? i am rubbing my hands together. i am hoping it will go up a bit more, to give us a bit more back. individual savings accounts have £10,000 in on average, earning typically 30,000 —— £30 a year on interest. that would go up if the rate rise was passed on. it's about time we got a little bit more. now we are celebrating, savings are going up. because we might only get a couple of pounds but i think this is the start of the rise.

not everyone is affect it by a rise in interest rates. 7 million people have got no savings at all. but 45 million have got savings and they would hope for a benefit. the other side to this is the cost of mortgages. 15 million are renting, another 15 million own their homes out quite. 17 billion people are paying into a mortgage, and nearly half of those are in imminent danger of an increase. and around this street, plenty will be feeling the effect. we won't be spending as much ongoing out and luxury items, we will be tightening our belts. here, the builder has run the numbers. he is paying a tendency to £5 a month for his mortgage and he expects a £50 increase, more than most will face. it is not easy to find for anyone. if interest rates did go up again, would that renew to the brink? yes, it would.

wages, you can'tjust ask for a rise now where you would previously. rises are hard to come by. every street has winners and losers from the base rate going up to 0.50%. and across the uk, strains as well as the gains will multiply. more on our website. hello, i'm will perry and this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on the programme: huge celebrations and even a marriage proposal as the houston astros win their first world series title. nadal knocks out cuevas to reach the paris masters quarter—finals. and ugly scenes in the europa league as marseille's patrice evra's sent off for kicking a fan in the head.

so the houston astros and their fans have been celebrating their victory in baseball's world series. the astros beat the la dodgers 5—1 in game 7 in los angeles on wednesday, to clinch the title for the first time in their history. the team was keen to dedicate the win in the fall classic to their home city, which was devastated by hurricane harvey just nine weeks ago. 0ur sports correspondent katie gornall reports. every baseball team dreams of a world series win. perhaps the houston astros needed one. we did it! we earned it! nine weeks ago, the players returned home from a road trip to find their city devastated by hurricane harvey. for the people here in houston their dramatic journey to the the people here in houston their dramaticjourney to the top has been a welcome distraction. the astros had never won the world series before and face