:00:00. > :00:18.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:19. > :00:23.Facebook's revenues beat expectations. Now the social media
:00:24. > :00:29.giant is promising to tackle violent content. And find out why this young
:00:30. > :00:31.entrepreneur says Rick first is the best and the worst time of his day
:00:32. > :00:44.-- says it first. Good morning. Glad you could join us
:00:45. > :00:52.for this Thursday edition of Asia Business Report. The social media
:00:53. > :00:55.giant Facebook reported an $8 billion in quarterly revenues,
:00:56. > :01:00.fuelled by strong growth in its mobile advertising business. It says
:01:01. > :01:05.1.94 billion people are now using Facebook and that's up 17% from one
:01:06. > :01:10.year ago. Facebook has given us a taste of what it might do with some
:01:11. > :01:15.of its earnings. The company promised to hire 3000 new people to
:01:16. > :01:18.monitor and remove violent content. Earlier I spoke to our North America
:01:19. > :01:23.technology correspondent and asked what Facebook hopes to gain from
:01:24. > :01:26.this move. One of the big clouds hanging over Facebook at the moment
:01:27. > :01:32.is that despite these fantastic profits and the growing revenues,
:01:33. > :01:36.it's eighth consecutive quarter where it revenues have grown, but
:01:37. > :01:42.despite that the thing that hangs over them are things like violence
:01:43. > :01:46.on the platform, on things like Facebook Live, or general other
:01:47. > :01:50.content. So the announcement they made earlier today, that they would
:01:51. > :01:55.hire 3000 extra staff,, bringing the total number of staff is moderating
:01:56. > :02:01.Facebook to just over 7000 people around the world. It signals the
:02:02. > :02:03.intent that Facebook is taking the situation seriously and perhaps can
:02:04. > :02:15.respond quicker to questionable content. You are right outside a
:02:16. > :02:23.court. That's because Uber and Weymo are at
:02:24. > :02:29.loggerheads over self driving technology?
:02:30. > :02:36.I've been at court to hear the battle between the company that was
:02:37. > :02:40.spun out of Google. It has accused Facebook of stealing itself driving
:02:41. > :02:45.technology. It seems both sides of that case have squared off in court.
:02:46. > :02:52.A very bitter battle. Waymo says that Uber concocted a conspiracy.
:02:53. > :02:56.Uber denies it is doing any of that, saying it isn't using any of the
:02:57. > :03:03.disputed technology that Waymo is so angry about. While we've been stood
:03:04. > :03:07.here, and Uber self driving car has been circling this area. I don't
:03:08. > :03:17.know if that is trolling or just a sign of power, but it is quite a
:03:18. > :03:21.sight to see. That was Dave Lee in Silicon Valley. There were no
:03:22. > :03:24.surprises from the US Federal Reserve's latest meeting. The
:03:25. > :03:31.central bank kept the cost of borrowing on hold. It downplayed
:03:32. > :03:37.week first quarter economic growth. It's a sign it is still track for
:03:38. > :03:42.two more break hikes this year. Consumer spending continues to be
:03:43. > :03:49.solid. Inflation has been running close to the Fed's target.
:03:50. > :03:52.Australia's fourth-largest lender NAV reported a rise in profits,
:03:53. > :03:59.boosted by lending growth. The bank's profits rose to $2.44
:04:00. > :04:03.billion, however the company did signal concerns over slowing housing
:04:04. > :04:10.price growth and a possible oversupply of inner-city apartments.
:04:11. > :04:16.Indonesia's state-controlled mining company will resume exports this
:04:17. > :04:21.month, with an initial shipment of 150,000 tons, expected to leave for
:04:22. > :04:24.China in early May. The exports, after a three-year ban of raw
:04:25. > :04:31.mineral exports, which the Indonesian government put in place
:04:32. > :04:35.in 2014 to encourage investment in its projects. Donald Trump has
:04:36. > :04:39.labelled it the failing New York Times, at the paper has posted its
:04:40. > :04:44.best quarterly revenue growth in six years as the company added 308
:04:45. > :04:49.thousand digital subscriptions in the quarter. Latest results, the
:04:50. > :04:55.time when many traditional organisations are struggling. What's
:04:56. > :04:59.driving the researchers, earlier we spoke to our business reporter in
:05:00. > :05:05.New York and I asked if Mr Trump himself played a part in the paper's
:05:06. > :05:08.strong results. Certainly as a businessman, as he says that he is,
:05:09. > :05:13.he can appreciate just how much better the New York Times is doing
:05:14. > :05:18.now than this time last year. In fact, if you look at the numbers, if
:05:19. > :05:22.you look at just how much income New York Times made in this last
:05:23. > :05:30.quarter, they made $13 million. Compare the exact same time the last
:05:31. > :05:36.year. They actually reported a loss of $8 million. A big part of the
:05:37. > :05:40.story of cause has to do with just the sheer number of new digital
:05:41. > :05:46.subscribers that they've got and a big part of it has to do with the
:05:47. > :05:49.political climate here in the US. It seems the New York Times is
:05:50. > :05:55.succeeding where many newspaper and magazine publishers have struggled
:05:56. > :06:02.amidst a host of websites and mobile apps delivering quick news for free?
:06:03. > :06:06.Well, the New York Times is a subscription base and you do pay for
:06:07. > :06:10.the service. The New York Times specifically isn't free. While we
:06:11. > :06:14.can talk about the successes of digital and it is important to still
:06:15. > :06:19.look at their print editions, that's where they are losing money. Their
:06:20. > :06:22.ad revenue is down from the print editions. They aren't getting as
:06:23. > :06:28.many advertisers for their print editions. But when you look at the
:06:29. > :06:34.success of their digital platform, there are some pretty good pieces of
:06:35. > :06:41.news for the bottom line at the New York Times. That was our business
:06:42. > :06:48.reporter. In other business news, a better quarterly profit for KFC.
:06:49. > :06:52.Sales grew by 2%, which was lower than expected profits jumping
:06:53. > :06:55.because of lower operating costs. Sales rising 8% at Taco Bell
:06:56. > :07:04.restaurants, more than double expectations. Part of its success
:07:05. > :07:09.was strong sales in a taco with a fried chicken shell. After a few of
:07:10. > :07:16.those you might need to get some exercise! Fit it has reported
:07:17. > :07:21.quarterly revenues above its forecast. -- Fitbit. Shares are up
:07:22. > :07:26.I7 .2% in after-hours trading. Investors are betting on it to
:07:27. > :07:33.bolster sales after the company struggled with disappointing
:07:34. > :07:38.profits. Immersive storytelling is a relatively new way of bringing
:07:39. > :07:42.customers and audiences closer to a product or a message. It uses
:07:43. > :07:49.virtual reality and tricks to make you feel like you are somewhere else
:07:50. > :07:55.entirely. But is it a business made for millennials and how are they
:07:56. > :07:59.running their companies? We found out more as part of our series Busy
:08:00. > :08:39.Breakfast. This is where you come for your
:08:40. > :08:43.morning coffee? Yes, it is. This is a pretty regular routine for you?
:08:44. > :08:58.You come here and have a copy before you start work?
:08:59. > :09:12.Your company deals with immersive storytelling. What is that?
:09:13. > :09:18.Your office is in here. Let's go and have a look.
:09:19. > :09:37.Do you want to try this? I would love to. What am I looking at?
:09:38. > :09:45.We are relatively smart group. We are all good friends. This isn't an
:09:46. > :09:56.easy job. When it communicate and finish some tasks together. It's not
:09:57. > :10:01.like a traditional company in China. Breakfast and virtual reality. A
:10:02. > :10:04.good combination and smack a quick look at the markets. A lacklustre
:10:05. > :10:09.trading session in Asia, but some gains for the market that were
:10:10. > :10:13.closed on Wednesday due to a public holiday. We have Japan up a 135
:10:14. > :10:20.wins, resuming trade after yesterday's rate. The Hong Kong Hang
:10:21. > :10:23.Seng index in positive territory by 81 points. The All Ords is in
:10:24. > :10:28.negative territory by 12 points due to a fall in oil prices. Those are
:10:29. > :10:31.the Asian markets. Names for investing your time with us. Sport
:10:32. > :10:39.Today is coming up next. The top stories this hour:
:10:40. > :10:42.Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron have traded accusations and insults
:10:43. > :10:46.in the final televised debate ahead