shipping rates rise and companies warn of delays. we take a look at the fallout on businesses from the suez canal disruption. and the future of aia. predictions for how this game changing technology might change our lives in the year ahead. —— ai. hi there, welcome to asia business report. with me, mariko oi. we start the programme this morning in the suez canal as companies scramble to avoid shipping disruptions following recent attacks on vessels by the iran back to houthi rebels. around 12% of global trade passes through the canal, that is around 17,000 ships each year. now many companies including oil giant bp as well as danish shipping firm musk are rerouting to take the much

longerjourney around rerouting to take the much longer journey around the southern tip of africa. appliance company electrolux is also setting up a taskforce to find alternate routes while ikea is warning of potential product shortages. rain peterson from the supply chain management company flexible told me more about how the disruption is already impacting businesses. it’s disruption is already impacting businesses.— businesses. it's 'ust getting started. 0ver_ businesses. it'sjust getting started. over the _ businesses. it'sjust getting started. over the weekend | businesses. it'sjust getting i started. over the weekend and through today we have had all ten of the top container shipping lanes in the world, representing about 95% capacity, have begun to divert vessels to avoid sailing through the red sea and to go around the tip of africa, as you said. it takes about 25% longer to go that way from asia to europe and, well, 25% reduction in supply of shipping, we're going to see delays, obviously, but also big price increases because, well, it's a supply and demand and if

the supply comes down 25%, one thing we have learned in the last two years is a small destruction and supply can lead to a huge swing in price. indeed. missing an impact on oil prices as well. the united states planning to form an international coalition to protect those ships. what is your reaction to that, is that going to help? this is the founding mission of the us navy was to protect freedom of navigation going back to 1798. it sort of on some level going back to the roots of the navy, but this is a much harder problem even than piracy, these are missiles being fired from within civilian areas in yemen and there are terrorists moving around so it is not a simple thing trey a military dust was from the navy to simply stop it but obviously we need to have safety if civilians and ships, they don't deserve to have missiles fired at them. hopefully the navy can do something about it.- hopefully the navy can do something about it. let's turn our attention _ something about it. let's turn our attention to _ something about it. let's turn our attention to japan. - something about it. let's turn our attention to japan. today | our attention to japan. today is the day toshiba gets delisted, ending its 7a year

stock market history. generally speaking it has been a very good year with the stock market with the nikkei 225 up almost 30%. one driver behind this is the weakening caused byjapan�*s negative interest rates and yesterday the central bank chose to keep this ultra— loose monetary policy a little longer. kei 0kamura it is from neuberger berman and they asked him if the country's economy can handle higher rates. the short answer— can handle higher rates. the short answer is _ can handle higher rates. the short answer is yes. - can handle higher rates. tue: short answer is yes. obviously this is a pivotal moment for the japanese economy as it tries to exit out of the last decades. i think what is important is what came out of yesterday's meeting by the central bank was that the boj governor was intent on taking a very cautious and measured approach to raising rates going forward, which we think makes sense. 0urview forward, which we think makes sense. our view is that as we look into 2024 we're going to continue see consumer prices edged up and stabilise, but i

think for the time being the boj wants to see more data, to see whether prices will sustain themselves and wage hikes, think it be a very important point about that story. t5 point about that story. is turned to the united states and a battle we are seeing in a number of industries between companies and unions demanding better pay for their workers stop first it was hollywood, then the coal industry, and now it is ellyse. salafist has become latest carrier to reach an agreement for a new contract with its pilots. michelle fleury has the details. major us characters, reach new contracts with their pilots unions, one noticeable holdout was southwest airlines, where pilots were demanding higher pay and better work rules. negotiations have dragged on for more than three years, but now a preliminary deal has been struck. alien agreement, which does still need to be agreed by

rank—and—file members, the president of the pulis associations as we're finally at a place we think the value of our pilots and the productivity is being realised. now, if approved the southwest airlines pilot deal is the latest success for america's labour unions after lengthy strikes, there were after all agreements between hollywood studios, actors, and writers, as well as between carmakers and the united auto workers, with many labour economists predicting yet another big year for organised labour in america in 2024. now, artificial intelligence has become the most talked about technology theme this year. of course, businesses across every set started to explore how ai and more specifically generative ai could drive greater growth as well as efficiency. so will become an even bigger part of our life in the new year? technology editor zoe kleinman has more. 2023 was the year the world woke up to ai. if you cut

your mind back to january millions of us were using chatgpt for the very first time and a lot of us it was the very first time we had directly interacted with al and had ai reply to us. fast forward to the end of the year and we know that that tech is powerful enough to pass the trainee exam taken by lawyers. there is billions of dollars of investment pouring into this area and the tech is evolving very rapidly. sam altman, the founder of open ai, the company behind chatgpt says what is coming in 2024 will make what is happening now look like a quaint relative. we seen some really impressive advances, particularly in healthcare where nahi was able to come up with a formula for a new antibiotic that beat a deli hospital super—bug. we also saw ai used in an amazing bit of kit to help a paralysed man to walk again. but, really, what has been in the limelight this year has been generative lime

-- ai, that year has been generative lime —— ai, that is year has been generative lime -- ai, that is al year has been generative lime —— ai, that is al the mass context —— content, depending on your taste. what we have seen as it is already massively disruptive, it is affecting jobs and education and, more worryingly, we are seeing it's about our misinformation. its creators call it hallucination and that is when this will start making stuff up. half the world will be voting in an election somewhere in 2024 and this is part of the reason why the world's regulators are scrambling to come up with legislation and rules to try and harness this powerful tech so that we can maximise the benefits of it to our society and minimise the risks. now, with the upcoming holidays, sales of caviar is booming. traditionally used to come from russia or iran, but there is now a new play in town, that is china, which is taking a major market share,. as anton chekhov

said, are, caviar, keep on eating it but never get my fill. it all starts with a fish. sturgeon is one of oldest families of this has been around for more than 200 million years. of living fossil. it's curse is the row it carries, also known as caviar, but severe overfishing had led to a total ban on caviar from wild sturgeon. had led to a total ban on caviarfrom wild sturgeon. it caviar from wild sturgeon. tt isjason's 2008 and caviar from wild sturgeon. tt is jason's 2008 and there was still wild caviar, now all caviar is protect did so it must be found, there is no wild caviar left in the world and the biggest farm in the world is in china. the biggest farm in the world is in china-— the biggest farm in the world is in china. ., ., , ., . , is in china. china now produces a third of— is in china. china now produces a third of the _ is in china. china now produces a third of the world's _ is in china. china now produces a third of the world's caviar, i a third of the world's caviar, followed by italy and france. the rest are taken up by smaller producers. and china's passin smaller producers. and china's pass in growing rapidly, it will produce 20— 30% more caviar each year. but what about the quality?- caviar each year. but what about the quality? you can't ianore about the quality? you can't ignore it. — about the quality? you can't ignore it. if— about the quality? you can't ignore it, if we _ about the quality? you can't ignore it, if we were -

about the quality? you can't ignore it, if we were in - about the quality? you can't ignore it, if we were in paris now out of 28 michelin star chefs, 23 would buy chinese caviar, it's very consistent, the taste is good.— caviar, it's very consistent, the taste is good. but now to the taste is good. but now to the most _ the taste is good. but now to the most important - the taste is good. but now to | the most important question, how do you eat it? i'd decided to consult an expert. the finest way _ to consult an expert. the finest way and _ to consult an expert. the finest way and the - to consult an expert. tte: finest way and the cleanest to consult an expert. t'te: finest way and the cleanest way to eat it is actually from the back of the hand. and i'm just going to put it here on your hands. and then by sitting this on here we are warming up the caviar gently and also we have the purest tasting, because there's nothing... we're not eating it of a potato or anything like that, we'rejust having the pure caviar. so then... brushed on the roof of then... brushed on the roof of the mouth. salts, quotes a line in taste, and there is a tiny little bit of dryness from the warm up. that's about it. and creamy. this is a brioche, a

breakfast briest, it is filled with scrambled egg topped with a bit of creme fraiche and then completely filled with caviar. and it's on our breakfast menu and we sell a few, quite a few. right. that is a way to start the day. right. that is a way to start the da . , right. that is a way to start the day.- such - right. that is a way to start the day.- such a - right. that is a way to start the day.- such a good l the day. yes. such a good assignment _ the day. yes. such a good assignment that - the day. yes. such a good assignment that he - the day. yes. such a good assignment that he has i the day. 93 such a good assignment that he has managed to get. before we go, let's quickly check in onjapan's nikkei. up by almost 1.5%. as we were talking about, it has been one of the best performers this year up almost 30% held by the weekjapanese yen, partly because of negative interest rates that the japanese central bank has decided to keep at least until next year. we will continue to monitor for you. for now, this is it for asia business report. thank you so much for watching. 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 am still in shock. i have been for the last week. i am 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, 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 100 metre 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 are 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 or 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 is too little, too late. for more stories across the uk, head to the bbc news website. hey, i'm zof with the catch up. tonight: a west end nightclub is fined, a dog nativity, and a baby owl in a christmas tree. first, our top story. a volcano has erupted in the southwest of iceland after weeks of earthquakes there. i mean, just look at the scenes. about 4000 people were evacuated last month from a town close to the eruption. a resident there described it as "crazy" and "scary". you can head to the bbc news website or app for the latest on this.

some other stories now. a nightclub in london has been fined for accidentally serving caustic soda with tequila shots rather than salt. four women suffered burning in their mouths and had to go to hospital after taking the cleaning substance at tiger tiger in december 2021. the council said the owner has admitted to four health and safety breaches and they were fined £120,000. next, a nativity for dogs. yep, you did hear that right. a cast of dogs have taken to the stage on the isle of man in a special performance of the christmas story. they took on a variation of roles from mary and joseph to angel gabriel. more than 100 people were packed into thejurby parish hall to watch the show. i mean, look at it, i am just obsessed! and time now for ten seconds of a baby owl found living in a christmas tree. it was discovered when

the carpet cleaner noticed the branches were in fact actually moving. look at it, though, it is absolutely adorable. and, also, what a nice christmas surprise. you're all caught up now. see you later.

hello and welcome to sportsday. iam i am katherine downes. coming up i am katherine downes. coming up on the programme: farewell to forest, with the team sliding down the table. steve cooper has been sacked. england post their highest score in t20 internationals against the west indies. under the hammer, australia's pace pair starc and cummins break records as they spark a bidding war in the ipl auction. hello there. thanks forjoining us. the nottingham forest manager steve cooper had been living on thin ice with just one win in the last three months. they had been difficult to beat at home this season, but not in recent weeks, and defeat to tottenham

at the city ground last friday night proved to be cooper's