i'm babita sharma with bbc news. our top story: with just a day to go until crucial mid—term elections in the us, democrats and republicans have been rallying their core voters. president obama and president trump have been urging supporters to vote on tuesday. the republicans curently control both the senate and the house of representatives but if they lose ground, it could hamper their power in congress. the us secretary of state mike pompeo is to meet his north korean counterpart later this week in an effort to get nuclear talks back on track. and this video is trending on bbc.com: the moat encircling the tower of london has been lit by 10,000 flaming torches to mark the centenary of the end of the first world war. they'll be lit every night until armistice day on the 11th november. you are up—to—date. stay with us. and the top story in the uk: a leading donorfor the brexit campaign, businessman arron banks, who's facing an investigation by the national crime agency, says he operated within the rules. more from me later, but first, here

it is asia business report. china open for business, the world's second largest economy holds its first ever international import expo as president xijinping first ever international import expo as president xi jinping tries to rebrand the country. and the rising price of rice at — we look at why the cost of a key staple food is going up in the philippines. welcome to asia business report, i am karishma vaswani. the china import expo starts today as president xi jinping tries to brand the economy asa jinping tries to brand the economy as a consumer of global goods and

head of a potential meeting later this month between president xi jinping and donald trump as the trade war rages on in the background. is a beijing's desire to shift its role from the world's factory to the world's biggest importer a publicity stunt or a realistic goal? joining me to answer the question and shed light on this isa the question and shed light on this is a robin brant in shanghai. thank you forjoining us. i know you have been watching the proceedings that are to take place at the shanghai import expo for us. it is the country's very first. do you think that china will be successful in trying to rebrand itself as the global importer of goods, consumer, rather than exporter? well, look, president xijinping is rather than exporter? well, look, president xi jinping is throwing everything at it. this is his baby conceived in may last year. shanghai is hosting companies in the number of 3000 representatives from 300

governments, they shut down the city for three days to focus resources on it. the scale is huge as always when it. the scale is huge as always when it comes to events like this in china. there is already talk of municipal governments coming together, given quotas of deals that have to be done. they will hit a number by the end of the week and one senior european diplomat says he expects china to unveil a total of import deals in the range of $150 billion us. it is important for president xijinping in billion us. it is important for president xi jinping in terms of dealing with the major bugbear for donald trump and that is imports and a lack thereof as the president thinks from the us to china. but there are more structural problems that the americans want the chinese to deal with and there is no sense they will be dealt with here, accusations of theft, theft of it, general reciprocity when it comes to accessing the chinese market as well, i understand there are no senior us government figures coming to this event and i think that tells you how the americans certainly in

public regarded. the broader context here for china's leader is of a somewhat faltering economy, growth beginning to slow down here, gdp figures the last quarter showing 6-.5% figures the last quarter showing 6—.5% and the president and senior leaders last week having to concede that downward pressure is increasing on china's economy and in face—to—face meetings he had to reassure leaders of private industry here in china that he remains arms —— unwavering in his commitment —— 6.5%. it will be a success with xi jinping involved but will it change the relationship between america? i doubt it. the us isn't sending a massively important delegation to this particular event but some us companies are there. do you think that they will be more open to the idea that, you know, china is trying to rebrand itself as this import? well, let's look at two other parts of the question, of course, the chinese, of course there big american companies here, boeing,

microsoft, mars, but try to get them to talk in front of the camera, about this event, let alone this presents, that is a big thing, jim hackett from ford will be coming tomorrow for a panel event. he is in and then out and that reflects the view of many at senior corporate level not just about the trade war but about how they do business in china. they don't want to talk about it much particularly when they see an escalating trade war that they thinks threatens their future in this country. there is no doubt that accessing the chinese market is crucial for your corporate future. thank you very much, robin brant, i know you will follow that story throughout the week, and we will watch that on asia business report. meanwhile the us midterm elections arejust one day meanwhile the us midterm elections are just one day away. the last time america went to the polls was to elect donald trump in 2016. that was the outcome which caught many i think it would be fair to say including the stock—market by surprise. until a couple of months

ago stopped prices have soared in the trump administration and the bbc has asked investors in new york what they are expecting this time around. we have seen technology suffer, the industrials have suffered, does it give an opportunity in bonds and gold? that give an opportunity in bonds and gold ? that is give an opportunity in bonds and gold? that is the question. sometimes it takes longer for the market to snap back. sometimes it takes longer for the market to snap backlj sometimes it takes longer for the market to snap back. i don't think the election has anything to do with the election has anything to do with the market. depending on who you ask people are either nervous or not at all about upcoming elections. traders can agree that with the exception of a couple of rough patches, us markets have been on the rise since the donald trump election. when the markets were hot, the president talked about it a lot. and he even took credit for it. the stock market is hitting an all—time high record. we have a record, it is an all—time high record. the stock market is up almost 300 points. the

day after mr trump was elected, the floor of the new york stock exchange was like being on a highway during rush hour. along with the pollsters. what can we expect with these elections? election night has variety and we expect volatility.“ investors have learnt anything from 2016 it is that absolutely anything can happen. the most likely outcome is the democrats win the house and the republicans keep the senate. however, what the polls are telling you is that there is probably a 60% chance that that will happen. that tells you there is a 40% chance of something totally different from happening. that makes it hard for president trump to claim soaring markets on the campaign trail. depending what happens on election day, he might not even have markets to point to. now, to the philippines, where the

rising price of rice, a staple for families, is causing alarm. critics of the government say it is the result of wide mismanagement of the economy which has seen inflation rise more than 6% this year. president duterte hit back and said global commodity markets beyond his control are to blame. how would johnson from the philippines sent this report from the far north of the country. —— howard johnson. this is the northernmost inhabited island. it is marooned 300 kilometres from the philippine mainland in the south china sea. despite its remote location people say that they are feeling the pinch of rising national inflation. at the port, local traders are busy offloading a delivery of goods from the mainland. mary jane offloading a delivery of goods from the mainland. maryjane has a shop that sells frozen ready meals and

she says rising fuel prices have increased the cost of importing goods. translation: i added a little on the prices since the freight increased and the price of food went up. i only added a little. but customers are wondering why prices increased. sometimes they can't buy the goods. across the country it has been at times double—digit rises of rice prices that has caused alarm. in the philippine capital manila government workers off—load a delivery of subsidised rice intended to plug a recent drop in national supplies. historically the philippines has been a net importer of rice and with typhoons mankut and rosita hitting, the price has suffered. the price has stabilised in recent weeks thanks in part to the government buying in cheaper supplies in countries like vietnam

and thailand. now the duterte administration says it will back that up by imposing a fixed price in shops to prevent profiteering. but the president believes it isn'tjust market manipulation that is to blame for the rising prices. what is driving inflation is simply the price of oil. however, some economists are laying the blame closer to home, namely on the blame closer to home, namely on the government's recent tax reform package. they did not realise that the income tax reduction meant more money for the upper 50%, and of course when you put more money in the hands of the people, prices are going to go up. they did not consider that fact. it is incompetence. what else can i say? president rodrigo duterte a promised

to improve the lives of ordinary filipinos. that is why many are looking to him to finally draw a curtain on the rising cost of living. let's ta ke living. let's take a quick look at markets before we go. this is how asian markets are faring. you can see japan's nikkei down more than 1%, the same thing happening in hong kong as well with the hang seng following on from the lower close in the us on friday. that is it from me, karishma vaswani. thank you for joining us on asia business report. you're watching bbc news. let's bring you up—to—date with the headlines. immigration dominates the campaigning a day before the us mid—term elections, widely seen as a referendum on the trump presidency. the us secretary of state says he'll discuss a possible second summit between president trump and the north korean leader kim jong—un at talks in new york this week. senior figures from across the political spectrum have paid

tribute to lord jeremy heywood, the former head of the civil service, who has died at the age of 56. he retired from his role less than two weeks ago after serving four prime ministers, and was regarded as a key influence in shaping modern britain. 0ur political correspondent jonathan blake reports. when i launched my leadership campaign... he was the prime minister's right—hand man, putting the government's policies into practice and giving advice on how best to get things done. as cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, and in other senior roles, lord heywood has worked at the heart of government for more than 20 years, serving four prime ministers. jeremy heywood was the most outstanding civil servant, indeed the most dynamic civil servant of his generation. exceptional ability, unimpeachable integrity. as we saw in facing his illness, exceptional courage also. politicians on all sides have paid tribute. theresa may said lord heywood worked tirelessly to serve britain, and is a huge loss to public life.

the labour leaderjeremy corbyn described jeremy heywood as an impressive and dedicated public servant. the former deputy prime minister nick clegg said it was heartbreaking news and he hadn't met anyone who had worked as hard and tirelessly in government. lord heywood's wife, suzanne, said he was a wonderful husband and father who could light up any room. think we started with a 1975 guidance... despite huge influence, he kept a low public profile, described by one former colleague at most important person nobody‘s ever heard of. but his death, at 56, is a shock to those who knew him well. jeremy, ithink, was a wonderful public servant. he did, i think, a huge amount to hold governments together at a very difficult times. i obviously knew him very well personally. and, um, you know, ithink, all thoughts with his family. despite his illness, lord heywood worked until recently. some nicknamed him sir coverup for resisting transparency,

which he said frustrated him. but he'll be missed as a man who's had a hand in how the uk has been governed through some turbulent times. lord jeremy heywood, who has died aged 56. that is it from me. duncan is here in15 that is it from me. duncan is here in 15 minutes with the rest of the news. love to hear from you on twitter if you want to get in touch. in the meantime, we will leave you with the team with sports —— sport today with all of the sports news. goodbye. hello, this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: manchester city are now two points clear at the top of the premier league after a 6—1 win over southampton. russian karen hachanov ends novak djokovic's winning run by claiming the paris masters title,

beating the serb in straight sets. and justin rose retains the turkish 0pen moving to world number one in the process. hello and welcome to the programme where we start with the footballing news that manchester city emphatically beat southampton 6—1 on sunday to return to the top of the premier league. an own goal gave pep guardiola's side the lead afterjust six minutes before sergio aguero and david silva goals made it 3—0 before the 20 minute mark. leroy sane picked up the final goal for city, after raheem sterling's double had more than made sure of the result. southampton‘s only goal came from a danny ings penalty but city move back to the top two points ahead of chelsea and liverpool.