welcome to asia business report. we begin in the united states where the securities and exchange commission has approved the first exchange traded funds that are directly tied to bitcoin. the long—awaited decision was accompanied by a stern warning about risks associated with the asset. eren delmore has more from new york. this decision by the sec was years in the making, and now it will allow people and institutions to invest in bitcoin almost as easily as they buy stocks. the move could increase demand for bitcoin and legitimacy for the crypto currency industry, which has weathered scandal and scepticism. the sec chair did not shy away from that in a statement, saying "while we approve the listing and trading "of certain spot bitcoin it pt shares today, we did not

"approve or endorse bitcoin." he said investors should remain cautious about the risks associated with bitcoin and says the currency is "primarily a speculative asset." a false tweet was posted on the sec�*s official x account the day before, saying it was approved. the sec said its social media account was compromised and an investigation is ongoing. let's stay in the us and head over to las vegas where the consumer electronic show is now under way — it is the biggest consumer tech show in the world. our north american technology reporterjames clayton has been trying out some of the latest products. there is a lot of weird tech at ces. take this hyundai prototype car that crab like moves sideways into parking spaces. or drone soccer, where the goal is to fly a drone through a doughnut shaped goal, which is harder than it looks. now, start using the left

stick and start moving. 0h! as you can tell, it takes a bit of practice to fly. how would you rate that out of ten? that was about a two. but the big theme of ces is al. it is everywhere. this is samsung's section and probably more than any other company i have seen they have gone fully on board with al. they have ai fridges, vacuum cleaners and even washing machine. now, when you turn it on, you are going to see the ai. 0h, an ai function. exactly. here, once you go into a different type of flooring, you give itjust a second and you will see that it is going to change... it definitely has more power. you have not pressed anything there? i have not pressed anything.

but the fridge can detect any food you have and suggest recipe. elsewhere at the ai mirror can analyse your face and tell you what skincare you need. this could be brutal. i am quite jet—lagged. 0h! eye bags noticeable. i have just got off a ten—hourflight. i think it is quite good. overall, it is good. imagine it is your personal mirror, right? how do i close that? this you will see every day to make sure you have all the steps. it has given me a cleanser, peptides and eye cream, serum and retinol cream. yes. pretty harsh but maybe ai is telling me what no—one else would dare to. there is one word of caution about all of these new ai products. two years ago everyone here was talking about the metadata. that is definitely not the case this year.

it is difficult to know what is a fad and what is the new trend. mark ryan stein was at the fair in las vegas and he told me that this year is about how ai will play a bigger role in our lives. this year, i think, is really the year of ai. generative ai is everywhere. all the major announcements are based around ai and it is very clear, being at the show live in person, that al is about to play a bigger role in all of our lives. we have been hearing a lot about chatgpt and so on but do you think ai will epersonalised this year? yes. the important announcements coming about al are about on—device ai. basically what is happening is the chips that process information in devices like smart phones and laptops

— even cars — are bringing ai chip on the device. what that means is that your data is going to be processed with al in a more secure and more efficient way. speaking of ai, farming in india is seeing a technological transformation. for generations, indian farms have been sown and tilled only with traditional know—how. but some like this man are trying out something different. with sensor devices on his vineyard, they check weather and soil health and use artificial intelligence to figure out when to water the crops, add fertiliser and tackle pests. he receives a precise advisory on a mobile app. this is where we are now which has no groundwater

sources and we are growing these wines with the water we purchased from outside tankers. with help of ai data, we are now able to irrigate them only at the crucial stage and that is helping us to save around 50% of water that actually we used before. building india's silicon valley bangalore fossil tech, the service has led to an almost 25% boost in productivity in crops like grapes and guava. it is only one part of the solution to improve productivity but weeding out inefficiencies in the existing age—old agricultural practices is also crucial. ai—powered robots offer a solution. this one is equipped with precision cameras that scan the ground in real—time, programmed to avoid wasteful spraying. the way spraying is done in india is on an acre level. our mission is to boil that

down into a plant level decision—making. just by spraying only on the plant we are seeing a 56% savings. improved connectivity and government support for agri—start—ups is part of what pushed farm innovation. but just now 2% farmers use tech. in two second there is going to be public—private partnership. we possibly are pretty much constrained on finance and insurance services for the farmers and that is where the gap needs to be filled up with al. it promises profitability but will need considerable time and investment to reach the majority of india's farmers. let's turn to the security crisis in the red sea which seems to be escalating. the united states and the uk

have hinted that they take military action against yemen's houthi rebels after they repelled the largest attack yet again shipping in the area. the red sea is a strategic waterway for both global trade so disruption there could spark inflationary pressures around the world. that will have impact on central bank's plans this year. katrina from moody's analytics told me what she's expecting. our expectation is that while, as you say, while last year was all about rate hikes, this year is all about starting to think about easing monetary policy. our expectation is that many central banks will actually start looking at delivering rate cuts about midyear. it is important to keep in mind that central banks are not quite there yet because for many, including korea, inflation is still not back to central—bank ranges. in korea inflation has cooled down to 3.2%.

but it needs to be about 2% central—bank band. what they hoping to do is over the next couple of months we will see that sustained but still bumpy downtrend in inflation that will be enough to deliver a gradual easing cycle from about midyear. i wanted to ask about inflation which has eased but the situation in the red sea, many economists seem to suggest that could actually affect inflation figures as well. what are you expecting in terms of geopolitics potentially affecting economic data? it's a really good question and i think geopolitical risk needs to remain front of mind particularly when we're thinking about monetary policy and inflationary impacts. what we can see is that russia's invasion of ukraine early 2022 really crystallised just how important energy prices are when it comes to inflation, and also setting monetary policy. so given we do have increased tensions in the middle east, it is something we need to keep

in mind, particularly given that while we have not seen an oil price response to date, and our expectation is we will not, it is still something to keep in mind because it will have inflationary impacts if we do see a meaningful supply disruption to energy. and a quick look at markets before we go. japan's nikkei pushing the highest level in 33 years. as we continue to see that rally there. that is it for this edition of asia business report. we will be back next allah, so join me if you can, but for now, thanks for watching. voice-over: bbc news, - bringing you different stories from across the uk. this agricultural land between wetherby road and the river wharfe could be the site of a new housing development in tadcaster. peter is one of around 300 campaigners against the plan. so this piece of land here covers 35 hectares and gladman developments

are proposing to build over 400 houses on it. the water levels are gradually seeping up onto this land, which would be a disaster to build on. i think it would definitely - make the flooding issue worse because they are going - to concrete over what is now wetland which can drain - through, whereas houses it doesn't drain through, it willjust run off. - you can see today it's completely underwater. so i don't know how they would propose to build pathways because presumably they would get washed away on an annual basis. gladman developments declined an interview, but say the planning application for the ii arches development follows over a year of consultation and that there will be measures to manage surface water and increase flood resilience. and all built development is located in a flood zone one, identified by the environment agency as areas of low risk. voice-over: for more - stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website.

hey i'm here with the catch up. tonight, chaos in ecuador and robots making coffee. the prime minister has announced a new law that will clear victims of the post office scandal. more than 700 workers were wrongly prosecuted after faulty software made it look like they had stolen money. the new law will compensate victims. many say their lives were ruined. next up, armed gunmen threatened a presenter on live tv in ecuador after days of violence. ecuador�*s president declared an emergency on monday after a notorious gangster vanished from prison. ione wells has more. police in ecuador say 13 people have been arrested since that particular attack and that the number of weapons but also vehicles have been seized in relation to the attack.

some other stories now, and a calvin klein ad has been banned after complaints it was overly sexualised. the poster showed a poster of the singer fka twig. calvin klein said it was similar to those it has been releasing for years. rapa skepper has apologised and taken down the artwork from his new single after some said it referenced the holocaust. the cover showed men with shaved heads and skepper said no offence was meant. stephen fry has backed an animal rights campaign. calling to an end to the desk use in caps worn at buckingham palace. here is ten seconds of your future barrista. how about this for your morning caffeine fix? adam was unveiled at a tech show and they say it can make any drink whatever. cool or creepy? what do you think? that is it from me. you are all caught up.

what does it take to become a top opera star like the ten or and greek american soprano maria callas. i'm on a mission to find out how opera is trying to find out how opera is trying to attract new audiences and reinvent itself. i to attract new audiences and reinvent itself.— reinvent itself. i think music has the power _ reinvent itself. i think music has the power to _ reinvent itself. i think music has the power to change - reinvent itself. i think musicj has the power to change the world. take me to the opera, watch on bbc iplayer. hello and welcome along to sportsday. liverpool's come back in the league cup. cody gapko helps them to victory at anfield.

rory mcilroy says that golf needs it to take it forward. and one of the nfl�*s longest serving coaches leaves the role at seattle. pete carroll will miss it. the pursuit of the greatest of the moment that you celebrate with everybody. there ain't nothing like it. welcome along to the programme. liverpool are a step closer to the league cup final after beating fulham in the first leg semifinal encounter at anfield. it could have been the visitors walking away with advantage, but three crucial second—half minutes sanurgen klopp's side turn the game. the bbc�*s football correspondent was watching. liverpool will go to craven cottage as strong favourites, but for much of the first leg, it was fulham who led after williams' eye—catching nimble footed one.