hello and welcome to this special edition of asia business report i'm steve lai live from taipei in the lead up to the elections on saturday. but first... in the last hour, there've been reports the uk and the us have launched air strikes against the houthi rebels in yemen... in response to their attacks on ships in the red sea. let's go to suranjana tewari in singapore with the market reaction. steve, oil prices have risen following the reports of air strikes by the us and uk against houthi targets in yemen the west texas intermediate rose nearly 2%, trade above $73 a barrel. it is an event that raises a risk of a major escalation in the red sea region, the boss of the shipping giant.

the boss of shipping giant maersk has told the bbc why the waterway is so important to global trade. our intention back to tylenol. one of the first things the winning party will need to deal with after the election, is to answer this question — how to deal with china? in the lead—up to the polls, the world's second largest economy has warned of the "extreme danger" of electing a frontrunner from the ruling democratic progressive party, while the opposition kuomintang is viewed as being more friendly with beijing. china — taiwan's biggest trading partner, also claims the self—ruled island as part of its own territory. for clues on how this will play out after the weekend's results

let's bring in lev nachman — assistant professor in political science at the local national chengchi university. do you see any electoral outcome that would change china by xhaka there is the us? if they can see when the election there is a reset chance of dialectic between taiwan and the prc. it will be a meaningful process. if the other group wins there might be a more icy relationship. regardless of which party wins, there won't be a major change between the taiwan and us relationship, all three presidential candidates have made trips to the united states to assure the united states and washington, dc saying they would take that to point or approach to the taiwan— usa relationship continuing the dialog and build up of relationships. 50 dialog and build up of

relationships.- dialog and build up of relationshis. �*, ., , relationships. 50 it's really the relationships. so it's really the taiwan- _ relationships. so it's really the taiwan- china - relationships. so it's really - the taiwan- china relationship the taiwan— china relationship we might see some movement depending on the elections. how will you characterize the relationship they have at the moment? it relationship they have at the moment?— moment? it is very cold in a moment. — moment? it is very cold in a moment, the _ moment? it is very cold in a moment, the pf _ moment? it is very cold in a moment, the pf -- - moment? it is very cold in a moment, the pf -- if- moment? it is very cold in a moment, the pf -- if the i moment? it is very cold in a l moment, the pf -- if the dpp moment? it is very cold in a - moment, the pf -- if the dpp is moment, the pf —— if the dpp is in power, they will not pick up the phone when china because, it's the prc that does not pick up it's the prc that does not pick up the phone, even though we have come to know the current president for pragmatic policies, from the poc perspective it's a nonstarter. one party not talk to the other, that certainly affects the relationship. how does it play out with trade?- the relationship. how does it play out with trade? taiwan is not iced in _ play out with trade? taiwan is not iced in terms _ play out with trade? taiwan is not iced in terms of— play out with trade? taiwan is not iced in terms of trade, at| not iced in terms of trade, at least in the last few weeks though we have seen some alleged threats regarding try to get voters to vote for the kimchee, but in terms of dialog

across the street, we've seen a robust trading partnership between the two sides and it helps keep peace in our minds the chinese president that any sort of war with time one would be costly notjust in terms of human lives but would damage their ability for economic growth. their ability for economic urowth. ., ., ., growth. there do have mutual benefit from _ growth. there do have mutual benefit from keeping - benefit from keeping relationships intact to some degree, will be the priority for taiwan's government of the day, sunday when we have a new party in place. day, sunday when we have a new party in place-— party in place. that first general _ party in place. that first general -- _ party in place. that first general -- a _ party in place. that first general -- a challenge. party in place. that first i general -- a challenge will party in place. that first - general -- a challenge will be general —— a challenge will be to unify the country. we have three presidential candidates running, taiwan is divided right now and the message is that whoever wins, they need to send a message of unity with the hope that we can try to move this —— part this —— pass this vicious election cycle. are you optimistic for taiwan's future when it comes to relations with the us? i see

sins relations with the us? i see si . ns of relations with the us? i see signs of joe _ relations with the us? i see signs of joe biden _ relations with the us? i see signs ofjoe biden and - relations with the us? i see signs ofjoe biden and gc. relations with the us? i see signs of joe biden and gc xi signs ofjoe biden and gc xi jinping trying to find after his than on an icy signs of a more effort from taiwan to reach out to the prc, if the prc are willing to hear the messages from taiwan, but their reasons to be hopeful, but also reasons to be hopeful, but also reasons to be hopeful, but also reasons to not be hopeful because despite the attempts to create a floor to stand on, the prc has taken a not more aggressive approach in this election cycle through military with threats and other threats. thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. meanwhile ahead of the elections the younger generation in taiwan find themselves in a strange predicament. the self—ruled island is lauded as an advanced economy by the international monetary fund — and a high—income one at that, by the world bank. but as i found out, many don't feel that way, going by their bank balance.

this is a popular district in the heart of taipei. and i've come here to get the thoughts of young people ahead of the elections on january the 13th. the reason i'm speaking to young people aged 20 to 3a is because they make up one fifth of the electorate. and that number may not seem like a big one, but with an election this close, it could be a decisive factor. even foreign caregivers have a higher basic salary than us. so actually regarding hope or expectation for the future actually is quite dark and hopeless. i hope that property prices can be controlled and if cross—straits relations remain stable, i may be more concerned about that. but if there are some actions on the other side of the strait, i will be more concerned about national security.

because most— of my classmates around me have relatively high salaries and it's more related i to their education background. so in general, you could say that the salary and benefits| are good, but i have also heard about quite a few friends - who only are a little over - $1,000 after entering society. i feel that this - disparity is quite large. it's clear that many younger voters feel trapped in a cycle of higher costs of living and rising inequality. but this economics professor in taipei, told me, neither of the main parties competing in this election have a long term solution. they say that housing issues are everywhere in hong kong as well, and in in korea or singapore. the difference is that you have to look at the number of the housing price to income ratio. so the housing price to income ratio is the highest in taiwan compared. then these other countries

that are just mentioned. so all the major party was doing is that trying to please voters in one way or the other. so cutting tax and then raising just spending more. and so the issue is that it's going to lead to more government debt in the future as to who's going to pay for the debt. so if you are young and urban educated and you start to think that that's an issue. as young taiwanese people head to the polls, these struggles will be on their minds. it's something the next administration will have to contend with how to tackle the rising cost of living and home prices. for continuing updates on the elections, please visit our website bbcdotcom. we'll bring you the latest developments happening today, and over the weekend. we have numerous teams across the ground on this last day before elections take place. the school to other news.

u.s.—listed bitcoin etfs — or exchange—traded funds ——had a strong first day on wall street. some 4.6—billion dollars worth of shares traded hands as of thursday afternoon. etfs allow individuals to invest in assets pegged what to bitcoin, without direct exposure to cryptocurrency investments. speaking to michelle fleury for talking business, the nasdaq ceo adena friedman described the sec move as an important development. we are excited to be partnering with blackrock and offering their etf onto nasdaq, their lives and onto nasdaq, and what he reflects is the fact that the crypto market, certainly the crypto market, certainly the bitcoin market, have matured to a state where the sec is going to the point where they are proving the ability for investors to have tools, other tools other than just investing in spot. other tools other than 'ust investing in spot.�* other tools other than 'ust investing in spot. they can investing in spot. they can invest in — investing in spot. they can invest in an _ investing in spot. they can invest in an etf _ investing in spot. they can invest in an etf that - investing in spot. they can invest in an etf that is - investing in spot. they can | invest in an etf that is very liquid and allows them to invest in a theme of bitcoin without actually owning bitcoin, i think that's an important development for the market. airline regulators in the us

have formally launched an investigation of boeing's processes, after a door plug blew off one of its planes. the federal aviation administration said it would examine whether boeing failed to ensure its completed jets matched their approved design. boeing said it would "cooperate full and tra nsparently" with the investigation. and that's it for this edition of asia business report. thanks for watching. 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. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website.

hey. i'm julia with the catchup. tonight, a london bus fire fka twigs speaks out, and a surprising jungle remix. but first, the fast fashion brand boohoo has been putting labels that say "made in the uk" on potentially thousands of clothes that were actually made in south asia. that's been uncovered by bbc panorama. on tuesday, the bbc reported that the brand is considering closing their uk factory in leicester, where the mislabeling took place last year. boohoo said it came down to human error after a misunderstanding of the labelling rules. some other stories now, in wimbledon, southwest london, an electric double decker bus caught fire during morning rush hour. tfl have said that nobody was injured and they're investigating what went wrong. singer fka twigs has responded to the ban of her calvin klein ad. uk regulators said the advert objectified her, but the singer

posted on instagram saying that she's proud of the pictures and that she feels there are double standards. and two original scripts from the tv show friends that were rescued from a bin are going up for auction. the one where ross gets married was the two part finale of season four, and it was filmed here in the uk. so the script was found at fountain studios in wembley back in 1998. i will leave you with ten seconds of this unlikelyjungle music remix, which i am afraid of us. yes. this clip of university challenge has gone viral after the presenter amol rajan corrected one team about jungle music. absolute banger, to be fair. you're all caught up now. see you.

hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm hugh ferris. our top stories. after 2a years and six super bowl titles. the man called the greatest coach in the history of the nfl parts company with the new england patriots. we hear from the former england manager sven—goran eriksson as he reveals he has terminal cancer with his �*best case' giving him a year to live

i have a cancer where you can operate and you have to try to slow it down as much as possible, and that is what i am doing. and yorkshire cricket's former chairman apologises for racism at the club as his controversial return moves a step closer. hello again. he says he'll always be a patriot, but after 2a years of historic success bill belichick is leaving new england. regarded by many as the greatest coach in nfl history. he and tom brady took the franchise to six wins from their nine super bowl appearances. both records for a coach and quarterback. but since brady left things haven't been as good and after the 2023 season

handed belichick the worst win—loss record of his 29 year coaching career belichick has