this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. deal or no deal — the pressure is on canada to agree to the reformed trade pact that's been brokered between the us and mexico. is china doing enough to address the problem of air pollution, which claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year? we take a look. and on the financial markets, in asia traders are looking for direction — japan faring better than most with some slight gains in toyko. pressure is mounting on canada to agree to a revised trade deal with the us and mexico ahead of a friday deadline. trump has warned he could proceed with a deal with mexico alone and levy tariffs on canada if it does not come on board with the revised trade terms. canada's foreign minister

chrystia freeland is in washington for talks — but will she agree to the new terms of the pact? nafta — or the north american free trade agreement — is one of the biggest in the world, accounting for $1 trillion in trade every year. but president trump has been unhappy with the deal, blaming it for a fall in the number of us manufacturing jobs, particularly in the auto industry. under the new terms agreed by mexico and the us, 75% of vehicles would need to be made in north america to qualify for tax—free treatment — that's higher than the existing deal. and to discourage firms from moving production to lower wage mexico, between 40—45% of a car would need to be made by workers earning at least $16 per hour. this is what ms freeland had to say

after her initial meeting with us trade representative robert lighthizer. it was a constructive conversation and the ambassador was fine with me saying that he feels that was a constructive conversation. we are set for an important and constructive at week. we agreed we would go into detail on specific issues beginning tomorrow morning. i should also say that we will be meeting with mexico later today. dr stephanie hare, independent political analyst joins me now. i know you have been looking at what

mexico and the us has agreed, listening to what kenya is saying about this. what is your take on this? the odds are on a deal being agreed by friday. it is important to understand why the pressure is on. we're looking at what is happening in november when we have mexico's president stepping to down and a new president stepping to down and a new president coming into power in december as well as the us mid—term is. donald trump needs a verdict either way by friday because if he wa nts to either way by friday because if he wants to scrap nafta there are rules. you cannot scrap it unilaterally. the only body that can abolish nafta in the united states is congress. trump will need a 90 day notice period for that and then, a further 90 days for congress to reveal the new deal. and, a further 90 days for congress to revealthe new deal. and, also, if he wants is done by the mid—term elections because he wants to say to those who voted him into the white house that he has done this and done that, tick this box and achieved

such a goal, he must hit this deadline by friday. kenya needs to come on—board. but looking at what the us and mexico have agreed right now is this something that kenya will want to come into line with or will want to come into line with or will they want to make changes? how will they want to make changes? how will they want to make changes? how will they negotiate? it depends on what concessions they are being asked to make. united states is negotiating with mexico and has been for the last five weeks and we have now brought in kenya for the last five days. that everyone has been talking for the last year. this is just the agreement of the final step. the concessions that the us wa nts to step. the concessions that the us wants to see from kenya are not about workers, it is about protected industries such as dairy, lumber, steel and aluminium. different points here. i think the us and kenya are much closer so it will be a case of will kenya open up and is some protections on some subsidised industries. looking at this deal that was brokered between the us and

mexico, who has come out better or is ita mexico, who has come out better or is it a fair deal for both sides?” think it is probably a fair deal for both sides. everybody needs to give a little bit. this is a big trade deal as you said in your introduction, worth $1 trillion and it is more about the story about jobs. in the us, since this agreement came online in jobs. in the us, since this agreement came online “119911, the agreement came online in 1994, the narrative has been that us manufacturing has dropped. briefly, it was a deal that needed to be looked at again, wasn't it? this is not just donald trump looked at again, wasn't it? this is notjust donald trump is a new leader throwing everything in the air? think of how much the economy has changed in the last 24 years. there has been a boom in online, intech local —— on in technology. a lot needs to be updated. lovely to see you. thank you for coming in. there is so much more detail on all of this on our website so please ta ke of this on our website so please take a look if you wish to. shares of yum china holdings has

been soaring after the fast food operator rejected a buyout. the operator of kfc, pizza hut and taco bell restaurants in china has turned down a deal from a consortium of investors that valued the company at more than $17 billion. let's go to our asia business hub where shara njit leyl is following the story. so yum china is looking attractive? that is right. as you said those shares were rising, up by 12% following that report that they had rejected the buyout which would have been amongst the largest deals this year. the operator of kfc, pizza hut, taco bell restaurants in china turned down this deal from a consortium of investors that valued the country —— company at a 30% premium over their closing price on monday. this consortium is led by a hong kong—based investment firm backed by private equity firms like

kki backed by private equity firms like kk i and backed by private equity firms like kkianda backed by private equity firms like kk i and a sovereign wealth fund. interestingly, the former chairman and ceo of yum china is among those involved in the takeover. it is not exactly clear why yum china rejected the offer. the firm, we know, has over 8000 outlets of kfc, pizza hut and taco bell restaurants in 1200 cities across china and the shares have been falling this year. down about 10% so far have been falling this year. down about10% so farand, have been falling this year. down about 10% so far and, overall, revenue growth has been languishing as well. they have been struggling to attract younger diners to their restau ra nts, to attract younger diners to their restaurants, they also have to contend with rising competition and changing eating habits and, remember, the escalating trade war leads to worries that china could turn to boycotts of american bad

brands as part of a pushback against donald's tariffs. thank you very much. an interesting story to keep an eye on. let's focus now on china because many companies around the world want to have a piece of the action because mainland china promises big revenue for companies based around the world. however, when it comes to putting their workers in china, many think twice because of the air pollution there. it kills over 350,000 people in china each year. local government in china each year. local government in china says the measures they bring into place have helped to reduce pollution we are asking is that enough. vineet khare reports from beijing. a blanket of smoke enveloping beijing last year. and this man was

not happy with local air purifiers. so he built his own and turned it into a business. first of all it had the capacity to handle an entire home so 150 square metres. it manages all the rooms. there is a computer inside the purifier to manage it and keep an eye on the environment and to make sure everything is ok. as these pictures travel across the world and smoke ta kes a travel across the world and smoke takes a toll on public health, the government has taken strong measures. at amber level there are restrictions on personal factories. both in beijing and government use of vehicles. when you get to a red level it switches from one day per week restriction on all vehicle licence plates to alternate. 50% of

ca i’s licence plates to alternate. 50% of cars are removed from the road. is there a big government events like a pack or a g7 meeting, they will do major changes like shutting schools and factories, taking cars off the road and that will help to bring down the pollution level. you will find these electric charging points across beijing to charge cars and taxis. locals say they have seen a drop in the level of pollution in the last few years. and a credit electric vehicles as one of the reasons for the drop. up next, newsbriefing. we'll take you through the stories making headlines in the global news the northern ireland fire service says there are "grave concerns" that a primark

building in belfast city centre could collapse. around a hundred firefighters have been tackling a blaze which broke out at the store yesterday morning. 0ur northern ireland correspondent chris paige reports. all over the city, people saw the smoke in the sky. but most did not realise how glad the days was until pictures like these appeared. —— how bad the blaze was. shoppers and staff were evacuated from the store within minutes of the fire breaking out. it was busy and i got out as quick as possible. no—one was injured but the interior of the building and disintegrated as a fire ripped downwards. circle times it seemed that firefighters had gotten the blaze under control. at every 110w the blaze under control. at every now and again there were what sounded like small explosions within the store. with each one, the flames

burst out again. this is an extremely dramatic and really very unnerving sight. a major store reduced to a blackened shell by the most severe fire here in belfast city centre for many years. the building has quite a history. it has been here since the late 18th century and has been a bishop ‘s residence in the past. primark spent millions of pounds in the renovation project that was about to finish but business leaders now fear that retailers in this area are facing a financial hit. there will be a period of major disruption. it is heartbreaking, to be honest, and i don't know how much more can say on that. hundreds of people who work and shop in northern ireland's capital will be affected. this blaze was the most sudden of loads but the consequences will be felt for a long time. coming up at six o'clock on breakfast, dan walker

and louise minchin will have all the day's news, business and sport. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: puerto rico has acknowledged a dramatic rise in the death toll from hurricane maria. it says nearly 3000 people lost their lives last year — up from just 64. president trump has accused google, facebook and twitter of prioritising fake and biased news, warning them to be "very careful". let's look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media today. we begin with the independent, and its criticism of theresa may's efforts to secure britain's trade future during her visit to africa as the countdown to brexit continues. the arab times is looking at the iranian president,

hassan rouhani, who has failed to pacify mps over the country's economic crisis after being grilled by parliament. ministers have referred the case to the judiciary. bloomberg looks at the story we just mentioned, president trump has warned social media giants google, facebook and twitter are "treading on troubled territory", amid a row about perceived bias. he's accused google of rigging results for the search phrase "trump news". the financial times is reporting on how the public resignation of france's environment minister, nicolas hulot, is a serious blow to president emmanuel macron's image as the eu's champion on climate change and environmental reform. and then finally, if you've been looking for an excuse to book your next getaway, here it is. the times reports on a study that started in the 1970s, which found that taking more than three weeks holiday a year could lengthen your life. why are we not surprised to hear

that? with me is iain anderson, founder of the international communications agency, cicero group. welcome back. i'm very glad to hear that long holidays are good for you. it isa that long holidays are good for you. it is a great idea. indeed, i'm all for it. the 200 days to go until brexit, theresa may has finally secured the first trade deal, and they are talking about the sort of miniscule amount that has been done really, it is trying to highlight the point that it is not actually a trade deal, is it? let's make that point to start with. we're only talking regs and we are onlyjust back from our summer holidays, it is inevitable.