in indonesia before ending the search operation. some remote areas are still cut off by severed roads and landslides. meanwhile, the scramble for aid continues. in some places, people are increasingly desperate for food and water, with only a trickle of aid getting through. the death toll is more than 1,400, but officials say it is certain to rise. us senators have the fbi report on supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh. key democrats say it is incomplete, but many republicans are satisfied. and this story is trending on bbc.com: western nations are attacking what they claim are russian spies hacking into governments and institutions around the world. seven russian intelligence agents have been indicted in the us. that's all. stay with bbc world news. and the top story in the uk: a man has been jailed for 14 years for trafficking and grooming children he persuaded to sell crack cocaine and heroin on his behalf.

now on bbc news, live to singapore for asia business report. india's economy in focus. willard central bank hike interest rates as it cuts taxes on fuel? —— will its central bank. and we find out how to serve up a central bank. and we find out how to serve up a classic mix. —— serve up the classic cocktail mix. welcome to this friday edition of asia business report, i'm sharanjit leyl. we will start with india where the central bank is widely expected to hike rates for the third time sincejune. the country is grappling with a weakening currency, the rupiah,

surging oil prices, and market instability —— rupee. overnight the government cut taxes on fuel to help people cope with rising prices, and against all of this background, an economist explains why he thinks they will again raise the cost of borrowing. yes, i think they will raise rates, last week we had this external deficit as interest rates in america go up. there is a lot of market focus on the countries that need to raise funds from overseas. india isa need to raise funds from overseas. india is a similar case and as a result they will probably need to raise rates to give some defence to their currency which has been terribly weak this year. that's right, you say the rupee has been weakening and this is all part of a contagion directed at emerging economies. how much more can they do to stabilise that? well, i don't think they need to panic. they are, as you say, taking measures to try and reduce the inflationary impact of this, changing fuel taxes and changing tariffs on imports to try and reduce the deficit. there are a

few small changes here and they are an rate hikes are part of that story. it is not like turkey where you need to raise rates six percentage points in one go to calm things down. it is a much more moderate stress they are facing. you may not have heard of it yet, but this is one of the world's most valuable educational technology start—ups, with prominent investors from silicon valley. after dominating the indian market, they are looking to expand globally. our correspondent met the firm's found to find out he is changing the learning curve. it is the apt that is taking india by storm. bijou provides lessons to school children and young adults preparing for university entrance exams. the apt today has only 5 million users, out of which 1.5 million are paid customers. it is the brainchild of this man. he is on a mission to

change the way students learn. this man. he is on a mission to change the way students learnm this man. he is on a mission to change the way students learn. it is very important that people make these fundamental changes in how stu d e nts of these fundamental changes in how students of today learn so they are ready for the future. 21st century literate people are not the ones who can read and writes, they are those who can learn, and relearn. they have a team of instructors and graphic designers working to convert text book content into engaging videos and games. the cost for the full set of video starts at $200, which is more than one month's salary for most parents in the country. the recent $100 million investment from a us investor, leaves the country rail —— company valued at $2 million. in india, there are plans to offer the app in regional languages, to target stu d e nts regional languages, to target students in smaller towns and

villages. nobody knows the benefits ofa villages. nobody knows the benefits of a good education better than byju. what is it we are good at? the son of school teachers, he grew up ina son of school teachers, he grew up in a small village in the southern state of kerala and says its success is the best inspiration. people look at that one person who would have made it big, and that motivates eve ryo ne made it big, and that motivates everyone around them, it makes them believe they can also do it. i a lwa ys believe they can also do it. i always tell them if i can do it, there is no reason you can't do it. byju taught friends how to pass competitive university exams as a hobby, his success turned him into an accidental entrepreneur and he hasn't looked back since. taking the apogee new markets overseas won't be easy, but apogee new markets overseas won't be 'u apogee new markets overseas won't be easy, but byju is confident his focus on making learning fun will ultimately succeed. the real fun is not in creating a billion—dollar company, but changing the way it people think and learn. it may be an ambitious task, but one byju's is

readily taking on. you can catch the full interview with byju on india's game changers on saturday. for the first time, the us treasury is targeting funds linked to japan's yakuza. it targeting funds linked to japan's ya kuza. it has targeting funds linked to japan's yakuza. it has put four individuals and two companies tied to the gang on its sanctions blacklist. these are the companies. the tank to make sanctions freeze any assets of those named which are under us jurisdiction. they also prohibit us companies from dealing with them. i spoke to an investigative journalist who spent 25 years covering japan's criminal underworld. i began by asking about the companies blacklisted. these two companies, yamaki and toyo shinyojitsugyo, basically manage ya kuza

yamaki and toyo shinyojitsugyo, basically manage yakuza properties. injapan, as you know, the organised crime groups are pretty much out in the open. yamaki has been around since 1916 and is one of the longest—running japanese businesses around. so the companies represent their financial enterprises, and if you want to choke off the yakuza operations you need to target the companies. so do you think they are going to come under more scrutiny in the future by the americans and other countries that are looking at them and saying they are involved in money laundering in our jurisdiction? is the noose going to tighten them? the noose is going to tighten them? the noose is going to tighten on them but they have gotten smarter. they used to set up their front companies in japan, smarter. they used to set up their front companies injapan, but now they set them up in the cayman islands and singapore, places where it is harderfor islands and singapore, places where it is harder for people to track what they do. so how do they get away with it? how are they allowed to go off and plant their money in other countries? some places don't care. some places as long as they are bringing in money and not causing any crime or setting up

shop, they are fine with that. the ya kuza shop, they are fine with that. the yakuza are shop, they are fine with that. the ya kuza are definitely shop, they are fine with that. the yakuza are definitely dwindling. the numbers have gone from 80,020 ten to about 30,000 now and even though some of that is camouflaged, they just don't register themselves as ya kuza and keep just don't register themselves as yakuza and keep their gang association is quiet, a series of laws in japan association is quiet, a series of laws injapan have made life so hard for them on the soldier level that people are leaving, because if you area people are leaving, because if you are a yakuza now, if you have a tattoo is, if they identify you as a member of an organised crime group, you can't rent a hotel room, you can't get a telephone you can't rent an apartment. now, if you are one of those people who likes to celebrate the end of the week with a tipple, but you lack inspiration about where to go this friday, this could be helpful. this is the annual world's best bar list, and topping it is the dandelyon in london but retaining the title in asia is manhattan, which is confusingly here in singapore, not in new york. it is number three on the global list. at

what is it like to work at home the bar at one of these exclusive giants? we caught up with an award—winning bartender to find out. hello, iam award—winning bartender to find out. hello, i am joe schofield. i award—winning bartender to find out. hello, i amjoe schofield. i am a bartender. i currently split my time between asia and europe and i was recently honoured with the award of best international bartender. it can be both, eno, like a great example is a gin and tonic, it is also a drink you can get in pretty much any bar, but if executed properly it can be a cocktail, you know. if you make it with care and beautiful hand cut ice it can be a great drink. the amount of work that goes into that, especially making the bespoke preps. everything is already in the mix here. it can take

hours sometimes. all of our drinks have a beautiful edible garnish. that takes so much time, and the quality of the alcohol that goes into it, we don't use the cheapest. we use the best to get the best flavour from that drink. the most expensive cocktail i have seen was £5,000 sterling, and that was served at the american bar. and it was a sazerac, with bitters from the hearer. once it is gone, it is gone. i think there were only six bottles we knew of in existence. just dive into it. it has been incredibly good to me. i have been able to climb the great wall of china, visit siberia and lebanon, and it is these experiences i never thought would be possible. it is good fun. i think a lot of people might have misconceptions about working in bars, it has taken a bit of time for the uk to adapt to young people

working in bars, what it is an amazing career. —— at it is an amazing career. —— at it is an amazing career. joe schofield with some of those great drinks. looking at the markets, some investors may be driven to drink, the nikkei 225 falling and extending its losses from the one—week low it hit yesterday and we know that wall street did not do too well as well. they are taking their cues from the australian markets as well. that is it for this edition of asia business report. thank you for watching. this is bbc news. the top stories this hour: people are still scrambling for aid in indonesia after the earthquake and tsunami, as rescuers make a final effort to find survivors before ending the search operation. us senators have the fbi report on supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh, who has been accused of sexual misconduct.

key democrats say it is incomplete, but many republicans are satisfied. new research suggests three quarters of children under five have access to a tablet, smartphone or computer, and preschoolers spend nearly three hours a day watching tv and online content. that is acording to a survey of more than 1,000 parents for the market research firm childwise. colletta smith has been talking to parents in manchester. just like adults, children are spending more time looking at screens. over half of three— to four—year—olds have their own device, and in two thirds of preschool households, alexa or siri are on hand to help out. oh, wow, you found a ladybird! but it is not all about screen time. this survey also showed an increase in the number of preschoolers getting their hands mucky. my son's four, and he is diagnosed with autism. he seems to interact with screens

better than he does with people. mastery of the it side of the job is a realadvantage, and... so you're getting them started young? yeah, i think — alongside sort of a variety of other interests, i think it's a valuable thing to do. all he tends to watch, really, is youtube videos of nursery rhymes, and singing along and joining in the fun, really. and is that on an ipad, is that on a phone? we have a smart tv, so it's on a tv screen. almost half of all preschool households now regularly access content via youtube. although netflix and amazon prime subscription—based services have seen a big increase in the last year, it is still cbeebies that is the most popular channel for little ones. boys tend to watch for longer than girls, but for both genders, they are now watching on some kind of device for longer than ever before. if we go back even five, ten years, children's television would be on at very specific times

of the day, whereas what we know now is that you can access even good quality children's entertainment right around the clock. so this is a new challenge for parents, and a new challenge in terms of boundary setting. we are still working out the impact of screen time on little brains, with the average for preschoolers now up to two hours and 48 minutes a day. 58,000 pregnancy tests have been recalled after some gave false positive results. women have been advised to return any clear & simple digital devices to their pharmacy and to use another testing method. the uk's medicines and healthcare products regulatory agency says patient safety is its highest priority. now on bbc news, sport today. hello, i'm tulsen tollett, and this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre.

coming up on this programme: tunisia's malekjaziri displays all the skills as he knocks alexander zverev out of the china open and progresses to the quarterfinals. it's a two—way lead after the opening round of the alfred dunhill links championship in scotland between australia's marcus fraser and england's matt wallace. and krasnodar shock five—time winners sevilla in the europa league, taking a 2—1 victory in russia to move top of groupj. hello, and welcome to the programme, where we start with tennis, and the news that us open champion naomi osaka is through to the quarter—finals of the china open in beijing, but there was a shock defeat for the wimbledon champion angelique kerber. jim lumsden rounds up thursday's action.