:00:00. > :00:18.territories will be taking part in the Games. Those are the headlines.
:00:19. > :00:22.Time for Asia Business Report. A big like for Facebook, posting
:00:23. > :00:28.better`than`expected results, sending its shares to an all`time
:00:29. > :00:36.high. And Indonesian man becomes the first person to be convicted for
:00:37. > :00:46.selling fake wine. Thank you for joining us. Social networking giant
:00:47. > :00:49.Facebook has announced a 138% rise in their income for the second
:00:50. > :00:55.quarter ending in June, sending its shares to an all`time high in
:00:56. > :00:59.extended trading hours in the US. The company has more than 1 billion
:01:00. > :01:04.users but it has had to work out a way to make money from them. These
:01:05. > :01:09.latest numbers show that the company's advertising model must be
:01:10. > :01:19.working, with advertising revenue up 67% compared to one year ago. What
:01:20. > :01:25.has happened is the rise of mobile. We have seen the amount of mobile
:01:26. > :01:32.revenue from Facebook jump up to 60%. It has been amazing. An amazing
:01:33. > :01:38.rise for mobile advertising, but is Asia part of that equation? Are
:01:39. > :01:43.Asian Facebook users just using the social media platform for their
:01:44. > :01:48.selfies and photographs and status updates? I certainly get a lot of
:01:49. > :01:55.ads on my Facebook feed. Facebook does not break the numbers down by
:01:56. > :02:02.geography. It is emerging markets like Asia that are the biggest users
:02:03. > :02:09.of Facebook. It is not cheap. If you advertise... And that is just to
:02:10. > :02:15.boost your status. It can cost up to $50 just to do that. There are a
:02:16. > :02:19.whole range of advertisers including individuals. The corporate sector
:02:20. > :02:22.can target a certain demographic of people right down to very specific
:02:23. > :02:28.information about people. That is what Facebook allows them to do.
:02:29. > :02:32.This is indeed a frontier for advertising on Facebook in Asia,
:02:33. > :02:39.with countries like India and the Philippines being big users. What
:02:40. > :02:44.about China? Facebook would love to be everywhere. But China likes to
:02:45. > :02:52.promote their homegrown social media companies. South Korea reported it
:02:53. > :02:57.weakest growth in more than a year. GDP increased by 0.6% quarter on
:02:58. > :03:10.quarter for the April to June period, down from the last report.
:03:11. > :03:14.General Motors is recalling close to 718,000 vehicles over a range of
:03:15. > :03:19.issues, including loose bolts in its front seats. The carmaker has
:03:20. > :03:22.recalled nearly 29 million vehicles this year. A majority of those
:03:23. > :03:27.problems related to faulty ignition switches. The records cover several
:03:28. > :03:35.models such as the Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC models. GMC
:03:36. > :03:41.says it was aware of two crashes and for injuries relating to these
:03:42. > :03:46.recalls. Thailand's political system has faced turbulent times of late
:03:47. > :03:51.and so has the national carrier. Thai Airways is in the red,
:03:52. > :03:55.suffering massive losses last year. A board meeting today will consider
:03:56. > :04:00.a detailed restructuring initiative for the struggling airline. However,
:04:01. > :04:10.the changes could be a little bit unusual. Thailand's military
:04:11. > :04:15.government says repairing the economy is a high priority.
:04:16. > :04:28.Repairing the flagship airline could be a test. Last year, Thai Airways
:04:29. > :04:36.lost nearly $4 billion and they have been in the red for the first 2/4 of
:04:37. > :04:40.this year as well. A detailed restructuring plan aimed at
:04:41. > :04:43.returning the airline to profit will be considered at a board meeting
:04:44. > :04:47.today. The board is reduced from its original size because several
:04:48. > :04:54.members resigned, including some with ties to the former regime. It
:04:55. > :04:56.seems politics is never far away. While Thai Airways's new management
:04:57. > :05:05.structure is unique among national carriers, its cash flow problems are
:05:06. > :05:10.not. Orders is looking to save $2 billion in the next few years and
:05:11. > :05:13.relax 5000 jobs. There are reports it is considering splitting its
:05:14. > :05:17.domestic and international arms as part of a restructure. Malaysia
:05:18. > :05:21.Airlines has problems that are tragic and all well`documented.
:05:22. > :05:29.There are questions hanging over its future.
:05:30. > :05:32.Aviation analysts say it might be difficult for Thai Airways to turn
:05:33. > :05:34.things around it head of the Thai Air Force, without management
:05:35. > :05:40.experience, continues to run the carrier. He is just the acting
:05:41. > :05:45.president. They will appoint a full`time president over the next
:05:46. > :05:48.few months. He will be chairing the meeting is for now but obviously,
:05:49. > :05:53.this is just the first of several moves. Eyes are on the government
:05:54. > :05:55.has yet they can fix an airline that, honestly, the previous
:05:56. > :06:02.government had trouble fixing as well. An unusual move. A permanent
:06:03. > :06:06.move would be bringing in a person who might know something about the
:06:07. > :06:11.aviation industry. What kind of person should they be hiring?
:06:12. > :06:14.Hopefully they will consider someone with significant airline industry
:06:15. > :06:19.experience, significant commercial experience. Possibly someone from
:06:20. > :06:23.outside Thailand, which is not something they have done
:06:24. > :06:27.traditionally. There will be many candidates but whoever gets the job
:06:28. > :06:33.will have a lot of hard work to do. They lost nearly $400 million last
:06:34. > :06:40.year. What must they do to turn things around? They will need to put
:06:41. > :06:45.in a restructuring plan. They will have to cut their network and some
:06:46. > :06:50.unprofitable destinations. Other airlines did that a couple of years
:06:51. > :06:54.ago. Thai Airways has not had such a network restructure in a while. They
:06:55. > :06:58.will have to trim the fat and cut costs. They might have to accelerate
:06:59. > :07:10.fleet renewal and get rid of some of their older aircraft. Other carriers
:07:11. > :07:21.have retired them. There is also the political crisis and the tough
:07:22. > :07:30.competition, especially from air Air AsiaX. There is a lot of competition
:07:31. > :07:35.especially from the low`cost airlines. Thai Airways has been hit
:07:36. > :07:38.with its European operation. European tourist figures are
:07:39. > :07:46.increasing to Thailand but its market share has gone down. Thank
:07:47. > :07:49.you. The International Monetary Fund downgraded its US economic growth
:07:50. > :07:56.forecast for the second time this year, saying overall growth in 2014
:07:57. > :08:00.will be disappointing at 1.7%. It blames a contraction at the start of
:08:01. > :08:02.the year. It suggests increasing the minimum wage and expanding tax
:08:03. > :08:09.credits to help the nation's poorest. In June, it had predicted
:08:10. > :08:13.growth of 2%. A leading Democratic lawmaker has warned that up to 24 US
:08:14. > :08:17.companies are considering relocating overseas to cut their tax bills this
:08:18. > :08:21.year. Concerns are mounting in Washington over an increase in
:08:22. > :08:34.Madrid deals. Most recently, Walgreens, Mylan and Pfizer tried.
:08:35. > :08:37.`` an increase in merger deals . In India, vegetable prices have once
:08:38. > :08:42.again hit the headlines, soaring over the past month. It has proven
:08:43. > :08:47.to be a big challenge for the country's newly elected government
:08:48. > :08:51.to bring the prices down. These vegetables are not just being
:08:52. > :08:54.consumed on dinner tables. They have become part of the conversation.
:08:55. > :08:59.That is because the cost of buying them has gone up so steeply. This
:09:00. > :09:03.month alone, the price of tomatoes have travelled and that of onions
:09:04. > :09:07.has doubled. These vegetables are key ingredients in meals across the
:09:08. > :09:11.country and that is why this is really hitting domestic budgets
:09:12. > :09:16.hard. Last month, inflation came down sharply. Much of that was
:09:17. > :09:20.because of food prices. Nobody expects that to continue. There is a
:09:21. > :09:23.forecast of less than normal rainfall during the monsoon season
:09:24. > :09:28.and if that happens, it will inevitably hit food production. All
:09:29. > :09:31.sales in some parts of the country have been holding onto their stocks
:09:32. > :09:36.and this has been blamed for the rise in prices. Last month, the
:09:37. > :09:38.government took some steps to bring down the cost of food, putting
:09:39. > :09:43.export controls on onions and limiting the quantity of vegetables
:09:44. > :09:47.that can be stocked up by wholesalers. So far, the effects of
:09:48. > :09:51.those measures is yet to be seen on the ground. Prime Minister Narendra
:09:52. > :09:56.Modi and his team promised to bring the cost of living down for ordinary
:09:57. > :10:01.citizens here. People in India will be hoping they can do more to live
:10:02. > :10:06.up to that promise. Before we go, here is a look at the
:10:07. > :10:12.markets in Asia. Positive territory in mid`morning trade. US equities
:10:13. > :10:26.ended mostly higher overnight, with the broader standard and Poor 's 500
:10:27. > :10:33.index closing well. `` SNP 500's index closing well. Thank you for
:10:34. > :10:47.joining us. This is BBC News. The headlines: The
:10:48. > :10:50.UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has said Israel may be
:10:51. > :10:56.committing war crimes in Gaza. Navi Pillay has also condemned Hamas
:10:57. > :11:00.rocket attacks on Israeli civilians. The first bodies from the downed
:11:01. > :11:01.Malaysia Airlines plane have