the united states promises to form an international coalition to protect merchant shipping in the red sea from attacks by houthi rebels. and the bbc gained exclusive access to the netherlands�* first legal cannabis cultivation plant. we'll take you behind the scenes. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm mariko oi. the united states plans to form an international coalition to protect commerce in the red sea. this comes after iranian—backed houthi rebels in yemen attacked a number of ships passing through the area. many of the world's biggest container shipping companies have diverted their vessels, having to go the long way around africa and playing

havoc to global trade. speaking in bahrain, the us defense secretary lloyd austin said participating countries include the united kingdom, bahrain, canada, france, italy and spain, among others. this is notjust a us issue, this is an international problem and it deserves an international response. and that's why i'm convening a meeting tomorrow, a ministerial meeting, with fellow ministers in the region and beyond to address this threat. for more on what the shipping disruption might mean for the global economy, i'm joined from washington by hung tran, a senior fellow at the atlantic council and former deputy director at the international monetary fund. this area of the red sea leading to the suez canal is quite important in terms of the volume of trade passing through it.

about 12% of global trade passes through the red sea, including 30% of the container shipping. altogether, it accounts for about us$1 trillion per year of trade, so it is quite significant, and a disruption there would cause damage to world trade. aside from avoiding this area, what can companies do — or is it about what the us has said, forming an international coalition? basically, several shipping lines have diverted their ships to go around africa's cape of good hope to get to europe. that will add significant to the time needed to travel there by a week or two and also, additional fuel costs and operating costs, also causing delays for importers, exporters and user.

the formation of the maritime protection task force that the us is about to launch can be trying to protect the shipping industry but i think it is difficult to see how such a task force can offer or guarantee complete safety for commercial shipping in the red sea against missile attacks or threats of missile attacks. and we have been seeing some impact on oil and gas prices but also shipping insurance premiums? yes, we already have seen maritime shipping insurance premiums rising, basically doubling in the past week. we've seen oil and gas prices rising in the past few days. the issue is that we currently have plenty of supply compared with the demand but if this goes on for a longer while and more shipping is being diverted or delayed, the impact on price will be more. to the us, where apple

is halting sales of some of its newest apple watches before christmas. it's the result of a ruling after it lost a patent case against a medical device company. from new york, here's michelle fleury. if you're in america looking to buy an apple watch series 9 or ultra 2, you'd better move fast — starting this thursday, us shoppers will no longer be able to buy them online and sales at its retail locations, well, they'll stop a couple of days later. the tech giant is removing one of its most popular products right before christmas because of a ruling by the us international trade commission, or itc. it's the result of an ongoing dispute with medical device maker masimo over its blood oxygen feature. masimo, which also makes its own fitness tracking smartwatches, has accused apple of hiring away its employees, of stealing its pulse oximetry technology and using it in its watches. in october, the itc ruled against apple, and that started the clock. president biden has 60 days to review the ruling before any ban goes into effect. the review period, well,

that ends on december 25th. apple is taking pre—emptive action to comply should the ruling stand, but it thinks the charge has no ground and should be dropped and it said in its statement: the apple watch has routinely been touted as a life—saving device. its health claims have helped make it the most popular watch sold around the world. this clash, however, threatens to undermine that. in other news, a huge deal in the steel industry — japan's nippon steel will buy us steel for almost $15 billion. the american company, which is 122 years old, put itself up for sale several months ago. us steel is expected to benefit from the spending and tax incentives in presidentjoe biden�*s infrastructure bill. its shares surged by more

than a quarter after the deal was announced. but nippon steel's shares are down 5% in the japan markets. turning to china. as we approach the end of the year, many analysts believe the world's second largest economy is on track to reach its 5% growth target for this year, and that's despite the headwinds slowdown in exports, manufacturing and a crisis in its property sector. hui shan, chief china economist at goldman sachs, gave me her predictions for the year ahead. when we look at 2024, there are two sides to the story. one side is all the headwinds in the economy are not really abating yet on the property front, on the local government debt issue, lack of confidence. but on the other hand, we are getting signals from the government that they do want to have a growth rate around 5% next year, which means they will have to provide more using measures.

—— they will have to provide more easing measures. i have questions about why we're seeing outflows or market underperformance. that's kind of related to — you know, we are at a juncture where investors see the headwinds but we haven't seen very concrete measures of policy support. now, this may surprise you but until now, the cannabis sold in dutch coffee shops has been illegally grown and supplied, unregulated and undercover, and the authorities simply turn a blind eye. this week, for the first time, cannabis is being legally cultivated as part of a small experiment that could eventually be rolled out across the country, and possibly beyond. our reporter anna holligan was the only foreign journalist invited to a top secret location in the netherlands. this is the first ever legally produced cannabis for recreational purposes within the eu. but it's about more

than just a single plant. it's about enhancing the traceability and transparency of an entire industry. the biggest challenge to get here was regulation — all the paperwork that we have to fill in to get a bank account, to get all the rules back from illegality to legality. so it's been a battle to get to this point? it's been a bloody war! laughs. so we're just packaging here. first of all, we put it in glass. and then second, we put it into labelling. so, this is the consumer packaging. you see the flower in there. and on the other side is a lot of information and a lot of rules and regulation from the government. and then, there's a track and trace. so there is a system, the government can see where it's coming from. and here is another qr code, where information for the consumer is there. there's test information and there's also consumer information — way too long? no, i'm shaking my head,

because it's like, wow! it's, like, gone full circle from a completely opaque industry to, like, following every tiny step. it's mind—blowing. in the end, it's all about trust. can we trust the existing industry to take care of cannabis production and distribution and do it in a transparent and fair and honest way? that's it. we work together with laboratories to analyse our soil, our flowers and our environment and monitor the quality. these get tested, like, three times. so these, of course, are three major points that in the black market is not happening. and because we are doing this, we can ensure a high—quality product without residue, pesticides or chemicals. we have lots of experience. i think with all the people working around here, we have more than 100 years of experience. so, is that because you were doing it before it became legal?

yes. big change, indeed. like, in the black market, you had pressure of the police and the neighbours. and in this environment, you have the pressure to perform. well, this box is going to be our first legal delivery to the coffee shop. and there it is — symbolically unsealed by the dutch health minister, europe's first ever legal batch of commercially cultivated cannabis. this box taking the country a step closer to eventual decriminalisation. anna holligan, bbc news in the netherlands. before we go, japan's nick kay is flat and, of course, all eyes on the bank of japan's last monetary meeting of the year. —— nikkei. that's it for now butjoin me for the next half hour if you can for newsday. vmcsovsk: bbc news, -

bringing you different stories from across the uk. an emotional day for homeowners who found themselves living on the edge far earlier than they expected to. i'm still in shock — i have been for the last week. i'm not in tears or anything — i'm not that sort of person — but, you know, i guess, if i was that sort of person, i would be just sitting down with my head in my hands and not knowing what to do. land under houses on the marrams at hemsby has been badly affected over the past decade. storms last month saw a 100m section of the road fall onto the beach. four full days is what's been given to try and remove the most dangerous houses from the side of the cliffs. of course, they're trying to work around the tides, the weather and restricted lighting. all this destruction you see around us right now is caused by one box on one spreadsheet, which is their cost—base ratio, and that is what we're working with with local government and the environment agency

to change — that is what we just are fighting for — is one box, one spreadsheet. the environment agency has spent almost £500 million on coastal defence in norfolk, suffolk and essex since 2013. but for those here, it's too little, too late. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. hey, i'm zof with the catch up! tonight: fear for those trapped in a church in gaza, xl bully owners apply for exemptions. and some exciting news from 0lly alexander! but first, a former conservative peer, michelle mone, has hit back at rishi sunak, saying she was honest with the government over contracts for ppe. she admits lying to the media about her links to a company

that supplied millions of pounds�* worth of ppe to the government during the covid pandemic. she said she regrets not being fully open about it. hindsight�*s a wonderful thing. i wasn't trying to pull the wool over anyone�*s eyes and i regret and i'm sorry for not saying straight out, "yes, i am involved." some other stories now. people trapped in a church in gaza are living in a huge sense of fear. fibi sabasa's sister is trapped inside the holy family church and said people were scared to move out of fear of being shot. two women were killed inside the church on saturday. israel's army said it was reviewing the incident. next, around 4,000 xl bully owners have applied for exemption from an upcoming ban. they are being urged to do this before it becomes illegal to own one in the uk from february. and time now for ten seconds of some exciting news from 0lly alexander! i can exclusively reveal...

..i will be representing the uk at the eurovision song contest. cheering. the years and years singer will be doing that next year in sweden. he said he's beyond excited for this and he's been watching the show since he was a kid. you're all caught up now. see you later.

this hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm katherine downes. coming upfor coming up for you on the programme: holders manchester city will play copenhagen in the last 16 of the champions league. brazilian side fluminense have made the final of the fifa club world cup. and anthonyjoshua tells us how he's preparing for his next fight. iam i am focused on my opponent, focused on the bigger picture, using it as a source of motivation every time i'm in the gym. hello there. good evening.

earlier today we had the draw