——regulators after they ground dozens of planes. the bangladesh prime minister sheikh hasina has been re—elected. we look into the implications for the south asian economy. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. we begin with the crisis at boeing after friday's incident involving a 737 max 9 plane. boeing's ceo has promised to address the causes of the event and make sure it will not happen again. it is critical right now for the aviation giant to work transparently with customers and regulators. he was speaking after the federal aviation administration said boeing jets fitted with the same panel as the one which blew off during the alaska airlines flight will remain grounded until deemed safe to fly. earlier i spoke to an aviation analyst who told me all eyes on wall street and how investors will react when markets open in the us.

the immense reputation damage boeing has continued to suffer. with the boeing 737 max has been an incredibly costly programme for them. all eyes will be on the markets on monday because this incident with alaska airlines happening on friday evening, it has been the talk of the industry but also of the world because the 737 max became a household name when it was grounded for almost two years and here we are again with the grounding of 171 max 9 aircraft notjust in the us but countries including panama, turkey and mexico. there is reputational damage. what are the financial implications or impact for boeing having its planes grounded? for boeing, the 737 max, two things are true at the same time at one time, it is the bestselling shorthaul aircraft for boeing, it is a bestseller and airlines are placing orders for the jet and secure some great deals, especially in the aftermath of all of that suffering when aircraft was grounded for two years. on the other side it's

incredibly costly. we have had damning reports that show boeing failed with its relationship with the federal aviation administration, the regulator and the lack of oversight there contributing to those two accidents if you cast your mind back a few years ago, and while it has been working really hard since recertification to reassure markets and reassure the flying public that the 737 max is now categorically a safe aircraft, incidents such as what happened on friday are certainly not going to help and it was in the first 48 — 72 hours will be interesting to see where we are by the end of monday in terms of more of a global reaction to this grounding, the faa not wanting clearly to appear as anything but very, very cautious. republican and democratic congressional leaders have reached a deal on us budget spending they hope will avert a government shutdown at the end of january. the package is worth

$1.6 trillion, the deal sets up a race for the bitterly divided lawmakers to approve the bills. in india the hashtag #boycottmaldives has been trending there, thousands of taken to social media to criticise comments made by a few maldivian ministers against the indian prime minister narendra modi where they insinuated india was promoting its islands at the cost of indian tourism to the maldives. the maldives is a popular holiday destination for indian tourists, especially bollywood celebrities. let's get more from our bbc correspondant. tourism from india contributes greatly to the maldives tourism economy, what kind of impact will the dispute have? this is likely to have quite a big impact on the way in to give you a sense of what has happened and white

it remains a bit of a controversial subject. but why we are at this controversial stages, the prime minister recently visited, it is a small cluster of island off the southwest coast of india and the prime minister visited there recently putting up some posts promoting tourism there. some quarters and the maldives felt this was being done the cost of indian tourism to maldives which was why there was a few tweets that came up from certain ministers and influences from the maldives which many in india saw as objectionable and many of them called racist. and an insult to indian identity and culture. the maltese government had to go into containment mode. why was it important? tourism is the

lifeline of maldives. india plays a significant role. just last year, out of all the tourists that visited, the maximum number were from india. about 200,000, followed by russia and china. india remains a key contributor to tourism in maldives and that is why the controversy has blown into the proportions it has. and many influences and stars in india also put out tweets and made comments. the bangladesh prime minister sheikh hasina secured her fourth term in office at the country's general election on sunday, she is credited with transforming the economy into one of the world's fastest growing markets but in recent months, there have been protests over the rising cost of living, the weakening currency also meant bangladesh is struggling to pay for energy imports transacted in us dollars, that has led to the country requesting for a bailout from the international monetary fund. earlier i spoke to economics

author dottie rahman who told me what the prime minister's re—election means for the bangladesh economy. in the case of bangladesh given that the selection —— election was boycotted by the opposition, and the turnout was low, in the near term the election has added to uncertainty. will there be more protests, more strikes, will there be punitive actions by trading partners who had wanted to see a free and fair election, who had wanted to see a free and fair election? these things add to uncertainty. depending on how those things play out in the near—term, the economy could slow because investment could slow. 0n the other hand, if those uncertainties are resolved fairly quickly, then as has been the case in the past and is usually the case elsewhere, elections are followed by a bit

of economic recovery, resolution of those uncertainties, gave a bit of feel up to the near—term economic activities. this is one thing to watch, the other thing to watch in the near term is as you mentioned, external sector, the currency is depreciating, they need to pay bills in us dollars, inflation remains high, and bangladesh is still dependent, sort of affected by global factors, global food prices and so on, so those issues will come to play as we head into summer. so next few months will be crucial in that regard. we have our eye across a lot of elections this year, including two in the us and uk, the cost of living and what this means for economic growth and jobs is a large concern at both of these elections. 0ur correspondents from new york and london

sent these reports. joe biden has a problem, multiple polls show him losing the economic messaging to former president donald trump his most likely opponent in this year's presidential election. it is hurting his standing with voters in key battleground states that will determine the outcome of the presidential election. the problem is inflation. americans are upset about high costs that are not going back to pre—pandemic levels, yet this comes at a time when data shows the american is getting stronger, growth is solid, unemployment is low, inflation has dropped to 3.2% from a peak of 9.1%. and the country's central bank appears done with interest rate hikes, even eyeing cuts next year. 0ne democratic pollster told me there are things the white house can do to close the gap between perception and reality. like focusing on kitchen table economics and drawing a contrast between the two candidates once the republican presidential nominee is confirmed. as long as american voters feel horrible about it,

joe biden does not in able to benefit politically from the strong economy. as the new year dawns people here in the uk as well as policymakers are also thinking about a looming election and the economy is going to be front and centre. for inflation is falling but it remains almost twice as high as the bank of england target which means interest rates here might not fall quite as soon or as quickly as in other major economies. but the 14 hikes already in the system are making their mark on the economy, growth is pretty stagnant and looking ahead for the next couple of years it is expected to remain so putting more pressure on households. there are signs employers are curbing their hiring plans as those higher borrowing costs bite as well. thousands ofjobs could go. it is against that backdrop politicians will start to think about their promises to the electorate, for if growth had performed

in recent years in the uk as it has elsewhere, households could be thousands of pounds better off. so how to turbo this prosperity will be a major challenge for all political leaders as we look towards that next election. it isa it is a busy election year across asia. the taiwan elections a few data points on our raid in coming days. and that is it for this edition of asia business report. thank you for watching. voice-over: bbc news bringing you different stories _ from across the uk. this isn't a supermarket or corner shop, it is a church hall converted into what is known as a warm space.

that's when we were moving all the damp. this one set up last year. the original plan — to help cope with the biggest rise in prices for 70 years. a year on, not much has changed. as far as cost of living is concerned even two income families, it's such a tight squeeze at the moment. farfrom being sites of desperation, these places have become beacons of hope for those who live nearby. there are almost 300 spaces now across the capital and they started off as a response to something like the cost of living crisis but what they have really become is the hub of the local community. people came because they were looking for warmth, that was the idea, they would not be able to turn on the heating at home so they came for the heating, but often what they did was stayed for the meeting. when we look in the news and see the cost of living crisis as it is, there is so much to be not optimistic about but if you come here on a thursday afternoon, and give out a hot

chocolate to someone or you receive something or have a chat to someone or talk to somebody, one of your neighbours, you will see so much hope. voice-over: for more stories from across the uk _ head to the bbc webpage. voice-over: bbc news bringing you different stories _ from across the uk. at home with the reilly's. a

new scheme is providing tonight's meal. b, new scheme is providing tonight's meal.- new scheme is providing tonight's meal. a food home with the children _ tonight's meal. a food home with the children on - tonight's meal. a food home with the children on a - tonight's meal. a food home with the children on a friday| with the children on a friday then we can make up a meal with then we can make up a meal with the kids and they help prepare the kids and they help prepare the food and it gets us all together as a family cooking. the local authorities is advising participants is to use an artificial intelligence app. paul looks at the suggestions. it uses ingredients from this warehouse in newcastle. we have a hue warehouse in newcastle. we have a huge variety _ warehouse in newcastle. we have a huge variety of _ warehouse in newcastle. we have a huge variety of food, _ warehouse in newcastle. we have a huge variety of food, from - a huge variety of food, from ambient to frozen food. we never know what were going to get. much would go to landfill site so us rescuing it, we can sort it out and redistribute it. ., ., ., , sort it out and redistribute it. ., ., ., sort it out and redistribute it. from warehouse, to nursery, to hear. it. from warehouse, to nursery, to hear- it _ it. from warehouse, to nursery, to hear. it gives _ it. from warehouse, to nursery, to hear. it gives us _ it. from warehouse, to nursery, to hear. it gives us some - it. from warehouse, to nursery, to hear. it gives us some ideas. to hear. it gives us some ideas are different _ to hear. it gives us some ideas are different things _ to hear. it gives us some ideas are different things to - to hear. it gives us some ideas are different things to come. i are different things to come. get the kids involved in your ideas for new recipes as well. the app is great in that if you have a lot of random things in

the house and you do not know what to make, you put it in the 3pp what to make, you put it in the app and it gives you great ideas. i app and it gives you great ideas. ~ ~ app and it gives you great ideas. ~' . ., ., ideas. i like fried rice. food that would _ ideas. i like fried rice. food that would have _ ideas. i like fried rice. food that would have gone - ideas. i like fried rice. food that would have gone to - ideas. i like fried rice. food - that would have gone to waste, is being put to good use. voice-over: for more stories from across the uk _ head to the bbc webpage. hello there, i'm 0lly foster. here's what's coming up on sportsday. it's a knockout blow for arsenal. liverpool ride their luck at emirates, but they're into 11th round of the fa cup. there's a huge blow for chelsea women and australia as star striker sam kerr picks up a serious knee injury and no australian open for rafael nadal. he's had to pull out of the first grand slam of the year with another hip injury.

hello there, we'll start with the fa cup 3rd round. there were 8 more ties on sunday and the competition's most successful side, the 1a time winners arsenal are out. they had the best of the chances against the premier league leaders liverpool but lost 2—0. here's our sports correspondent andy swiss. unfamiliar shirts for a very familiar rivalry. liverpool in purple, arsenal in white, and the gunners were so nearly in front. reiss nelson with the first of a string of early chances for the hosts, but crucially they couldn't take them. martin 0degaard came closest, but still not close enough. how on earth did arsenal not score? and liverpool nearly made them pay, as trent alexander—arnold rattled the bar. plenty of drama, but no goals at the break. after it, more of the same. arsenal's domination matched only by their frustration.

for their manager, it was getting hard to watch.