inflation fears mount as attacks in the red sea continue. wall street braces for the federal reserve�*s first 2024 meeting later this month. plus, what if it took you three hours to get to work every day? a special report on how people deal with long commutes. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. we begin the programme this hour with news about the us federal reserve. because investors hoping for a quick interest rate cut from america's central bank may be disappointed. discussions about a timetable for lowering rates were absent from minutes from their last meeting but it did show fed officials believing further hikes are off the table as inflation calls. from new york, our north america business correspondent michelle

fleury sent this report. the december notes from the us central bank's last meeting showed policymakers are feeling better about inflation. they agreed with investors that interest rates are at or near the peak for this cycle. they also agree it will come down this year. but they offered no clues as to how or when that will happen. to remind viewers, the federal reserve started raising rates in march 2022 to tame inflation. it did so 11 times, taking the benchmark rate to 5.5%. inflation, by the time of the last meeting, had dropped to 3.2% from a peak of 9.1%. meanwhile, new data out on wednesday showed the number ofjob openings in the united states fell to 8.79 million in november. this points to weaker demand for labour but is still well above pre—covid levels. that is consistent with the fed's goal. to slow the economy without triggering a nasty recession. the feds first rate setting

meeting this year starting january 30. investors are holding their breath is beneficial to prepare for the first meeting in about three weeks. there are worries about inflation running higher again. that's because development in the red sea made no pressure to inflation. but on ships by iran backed houthi rebels in yemen in the crucial what we have forced a growing list of companies to temporarily redraw the shipping routes. that includes mask mass and finish a giant ikea. the much longer it has delivered goods and pushed freight rates. adding to that cost is the higher price of shipping companies for insurance because of the increased danger according to blake evans prichard. i spoke to him earlier. i have been speaking to a number of insurance brokers about the situation there for people that sort

of quote the insurance prices. and the prices are rising quite significantly. but there is a big variety of how much people can expect to put their ships through the red sea. it used to be sort of 0.1% or 0.2% of premium charged on the value of the ship. it now has gone up to 0.5% or 0.7% which could be significantly higher. that can add hundreds of thousands of us dollars to what people have to pay to sort of ship the goods through that channel. do you think this could have the knock—on effect of increasing inflation? yeah, definitely. i don't see how this can't put inflation pressures on consumer goods and other things. notjust the sort of consumer goods that are being

shipped through this neck of water but also oil and raw materials, and things like that, that is definitely going to have inflation pressure. manufacturing activity felt to an 18 month low and december in india according to a business survey released yesterday by hsbc. we have more from them by. what has led to this? fix, by. what has led to this? couple of factors. including slower demand for new orders as well as factory output which caused lower numbers down to about 54.6 as opposed to 56 in november, so we are still about an expansionary territory, but going ahead it does appear that the outlook that a lot of the manufacturers do have is much more sanguine. that's the number of reasons including the fact that the indian economy continues to be one of the most

robust in the world. inflation has begun coming down and interest rates are heading down as well and that essentially goes on to show that manufacturers will have a much better 2020 for at least the next few months going ahead. thanks for that nikhil inamdar speaking to us from mumbai. it has been 45 years since china and the us established diplomatic ties. in that time, china's economy has grown to become the the second largest in the world behind the us. that rapid rise was largely built on a relationship that encouraged strong business ties between the two countries. but in the last few years, that has been marked by tension, tariffs and export restrictions. nick marsh has more on what we can expect in the economies that are intertwined. 0n the surface, things seem to have improved between the us and china recently. their leaders met in november and then mood was pretty positive. but when you get down to the nitty—gritty,

to the economic relationship, things are still as tough as ever. first, let's talk about trade. the idea of the two countries completely breaking off ties or decoupling, that is not going to happen anytime soon. but trade between the us and china is down and china says that is because of us tariffs, us export controls and curbs on investment. clearly china is a country that relies a lot on exports and understandably, it is not very happy. translation: it is biased and hostile and has no - rationality to speak of. next, the green economy. both countries are dead set on transitioning to electric vehicles. but china is way ahead. both in terms of production and also in terms of access to the critical metals you need to build them. so expect a race for resources.

starting in 2024, washington's inflation reduction act will offer subsidies on evs, provided they are free from any chinese manufacturing or supply chains. that is clearly going to put third—party countries in a tight spot and beijing says it is an anti—china piece of legislation which is something i put to the us climate envoy john kerry recently. no, it is not. in fact, china may benefit like every other country in the world may benefit from new technology. lastly, chips. the us may go even harder in restricting technology to china but china is making important strides in becoming self—sufficient. domestic companies such as huawei are innovating fast and us companies such as nvidia are working hard to make sure their ai chips do not compromise us national security regulations which kind of sums up us—china relations at the moment. tense, competitive but always evolving.

nick marsh with an eye on the world's two biggest economies. many of us dislike a long commute. even an hour can seem like a long time to take to get to work. but for many people in large african cities, a lengthy commute of nearly three hours to get to work is part of daily life. nkechi 0gbonna reports from nigeria's most populous city of lagos. lagos isn't the only african city with traffic issues. kampala and nairobi also have some of africa's longest commute times, owing to huge traffic gridlocks. in kampala, the 2022 report showed commuters lose the equivalent of one working day to traffic jams each week. here in lagos, home to over 21 million people, spending long hours in traffic like this is not only a problem for workers. lagos cab drivers say their productivity levels have reduced, owing to the number of hours they spend commuting.

you sleep in the car just to have a rest. sometimes what you see is up to four and five—hour journeys. you have to decide to find somewhere to rest. some days i don't see my family. because i close late because of traffic for me to meet my target. a 2023 report from the dean institute for research says lagos commuters spend an average of 2.5 hours daily in transit. 0ne one is psychosocial with impact on mental health and second is financial losses. the psychosocial and financial damage, when put together, have significant impacts on the economy. for commuters who can't sit in traffic for up to four hours, using the new lagos blue rail

or the ferries could be an alternative. but these two means of transportation come at a cost. the fare is better, shorter. i decided taking the boat or ferry to meet up with work on time. if you find yourself in a long commute, bbc has a whole suite of lob pass —— market podcasts are well worth checking out. before we go, japan airlines is offering refunds with no additional fees for customers following the accident on tuesday. flightjl156 collided with a coastguard aircraft as it was landing at haneda airport this week. none of the passengers were injured but five of the six people on board the small coastguard aircraft died and had been due to deliver aid to the victims of the powerful new year's day earthquake. that is it for us on this edition of asia business report. thanks, as always, for watching.

voice-over: bbc news, - bringing you different stories from across the uk. these carpentry workshops are especially for women and non—binary people. the vast majority of skilled trades people are and the founder thinks it is time to bust the myth that diy is just for boys. 0n myth that diy is just for boys. on this type b is far more about— on this type b is far more about technique and principle and how— about technique and principle and how much muscle you've got on your— and how much muscle you've got on your bicep. it�*s and how much muscle you've got on your bicep-— on your bicep. it's 'ust about how determined _ on your bicep. it'sjust about how determined you - on your bicep. it'sjust about how determined you are. - on your bicep. it'sjust about - how determined you are. georgy girl her own tiny house scratch but at the timber yard and hardware stores she faced relentless sexism.- hardware stores she faced relentless sexism. tools been taken from — relentless sexism. tools been taken from my _ relentless sexism. tools been taken from my hand _ relentless sexism. tools been taken from my hand without l relentless sexism. tools been i taken from my hand without my consent, — taken from my hand without my consent, not being allowed to cut my — consent, not being allowed to cut my own timber at the timber yard. _ cut my own timber at the timber yard. small_ cut my own timber at the timber yard, small commentary on my outfit. — yard, small commentary on my outfit. my— yard, small commentary on my outfit, my workwear trousers, you know. _ outfit, my workwear trousers, you know. i_ outfit, my workwear trousers, you know, i can't wear it or anymore _ you know, i can't wear it or anymore because i got sick of

hearing — anymore because i got sick of hearing sexualised commentary. just facing that war constantly of exclusion.— of exclusion. that's why she set u- of exclusion. that's why she set up this _ of exclusion. that's why she set up this carpentry - of exclusion. that's why she - set up this carpentry community which she called in her hands. we don't see the skills that we are teaching here as a hobby or as a _ are teaching here as a hobby or as a luxury _ are teaching here as a hobby or as a luxury. we see it as the social— as a luxury. we see it as the social necessity. voice-over: for more - stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. hello. this is the catch up. tonight, junior doctors on strike, ladies top the charts, and headcount day at london zoo. we start with junior doctors as thousands of them are on picket lines across the united kingdom. this is day one of a six—day walkout which began on wednesday morning and nhs bosses are worried it will bring normal services to a standstill in some areas. they are striking

over the ongoing issue of pay and working conditions. callum is a junior doctor taking part in the london strike. when i started working as a doctor last year i was paid £14 an hour and i spent six years at university so i am in £120,000 of debt and you can appreciate that is a large amount. i have to pick up extra shifts to pay my bills. and some good news now. a great yearfor girlies in music as female artists had a record year on the uk singles charts, spending the most number at one since records began in 1952 and if you could not get miley cyrus's flowers out of your head you are not the only one, as it was the biggest single of the year with the breakup anthem hitting almost 200 million streams. in the words of queen bey, who run the world? girls. no—one asked for that. and time now to leave you with ten seconds of the annual london zoo headcount as they are tallying

the animals to keep track of them. the zoo is home more than 300 different animals from penguins to tigers. you can see them lining up here and they are just adorable. i love them. you are all caught up now. have a good night.

hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm paul scott at the bbc sports centre. here's is what we've got coming up: bullseye! luke humphries wins the darts world title after seeing off 16—year—old sensation luke littler in the final. girona keep pace with real madrid at the top of la liga after a dramatic late win against atletico. and trailblazing boxer jane couch prepares to become the first british woman inducted into the international hall of fame. hello. welcome to the program. now, we begin at alexandra palace in london where it has been a tournament to remember at the world darts championship.

luke humphries has been crowned the new world champion