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. erin 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 etp

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, volatile asset." a false tweet was posted on the sec�*s official x account the day before, saying the etfs were 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. ok, so, how would you rate that out of ten? that was about a two. but the big theme of ces this year 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, ai vacuum cleaners — even an ai 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... so, it definitely has more power. you have not pressed anything there? i have not pressed anything.

samsung's ai fridge can detect any food you have and suggest recipes. elsewhere at the show, an ai mirror can analyse your face and tell you what skincare regime you need. this could be brutal. i am quite jet—lagged. 0h! eye bags noticeable. i have just got off a ten—hourflight. you don't need to explain to me. i think it is quite good. overall, it is good. imagine it is your personal mirror, right? how do i close that? close. this you will see every dayjust to make sure you have all the steps. it has given me and i bagged routine. i need 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 notoriously difficult to know what is a fad and what is the new tech trend. as you heard, ai is all the rage at ces. a tech analyst at the fair in las vegas told me 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 be personalised this year? yes. i think 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 — were bringing the ai chip on the device. what that really 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 then receives a precise advisory on a mobile app. this is where we are now, it has no groundwater sources

and we are growing these wines with the water we purchased from outside tankers. with the 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 by fossil tech, the service has led to an almost 25% boost in productivity in crops like grapes and guava. informed decision making 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 rural digital connectivity and government support for agri—start—ups is part of what pushed farm innovation. but just now 2% farmers use tech in farming. there is going to be public—private partnership. india will also always be resource constrained. 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 now hinted that they could take military action against yemen's houthi rebels after they repelled the biggest attack yet against 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 an impact on central banks�* 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 target ranges. in korea, inflation has cooled down to 3.2%.

but it needs to be about that 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. indeed. i wanted to ask about inflation which has eased but, of course, 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 all these 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. i think 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 that we won't, 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 is up and doing really well over the last few days after being one of the best performers. that is it. thanks for watching. bbc news, bringing you different stories from across the uk. at home with the rileys. ijust i just told you ijust told you — don't mess up my tray. a new scheme is providing tonight's meal. the nursery sent bags of food home with the children on a friday so we can make a meal with the kids and all help

prepare the food, it gets us together as a family cooking. the local authority is advising participants to use an artificial intelligence app. paul enters the ingredients to receive a recipe suggestion. the scheme uses ingredients from this warehouse in newcastle. we've got a huge variety of foods from ambient, chilled and frozen foods. we never know what you will get. much of it would go to landfill sites, by us rescuing it, we can then sort it out and redistribute it. from warehouse to nursery to here. nice to give us some ideas of different things to cook, things to get the kids involved, just new ideas for new recipes as well. the app's great in that if you've just got a lot of random things in your house and you don't know what to make, put it all into the app and it gives us some great ideas. i like fried rice! food that would have gone to waste is being put to good use. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc

news website. hey. i'm dylan with the catch up. tonight — chaos in ecuador, an ad gets banned 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 a 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 skepta said no offence was meant. stephen fry has backed an animal rights campaign. calling to an end to fur used 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 it can take orders and it can make any drink whatever. cool or creepy? what do you think? that is it from me. you are all caught up.

hello and welcome along to sportsday. liverpool's comeback in the league cup. cody gapko helps them to victory at anfield. rory mcilroy says that golf needs a world tour to take it forward. and one of the nfl�*s longest serving coaches leaves his role at seattle. pete carroll will miss it. that pursuit to 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. the opening goal in the 20th minute. liverpool looked like they were missing their bigname stars, but fulham couldn't take chances to increase their lead. liverpool upped it. nunes brought the spark and they scored two goals in three minutes. first, curtisjones deflected shot, then gakpo�*s flashing finish. and the goalkeeper was central in keeping it to a scoreline which means that fulham aren't out of it, but liverpool are more likely to reach what would be a record 14th final in this competition.

now, a thriller to tell you about in the spanish super cup