the cost of living — inflation injapan hits the highest level in more than four decades last year. is this the end of its lost decades? hi there. welcome to the asia business report. we start in the red sea because yemen's houthi movement says it has targeted another ship in the gulf of aden with naval

missiles. this is the latest attack in the region which is one of the world's most important trade routes. the head of the un's international maritime organisation says these attacks are one of the biggest challenges the body has ever faced. biggest challenges the body has everfaced. my biggest challenges the body has ever faced. my colleague spoke to the head of the organisation and asked what can be done to stop the attacks. it's one of the biggest challenges the imo has faced, in particularly in recent years. and the reality is that as you mentioned, shipping is a global sector. we transport over 80% of global trade, so any actions that are happening out there, that interrupt the trade, the global trade, will have a negative effect on you, on me, and everyone on the planet. we need to work very closely with all the stakeholders, with all the member states, the other agencies, the united nations in particular, in order to find practical solutions to a problem we don't want to escalate. this is notjust about the concerns of the global economy, because there's

something like nearly two million seafarers, bringing us goods in and out. you're responsible, right, you're responsible for their welfare and their safety. you're absolutely right. i want to thank you for raising that specific question. cos normally we tend to focus on what is happening to ourselves, what's affecting us directly, and that goes to the trade and the financial aspects of this current situation in the red sea. but it's the unsung heroes, the seafarers out there, day in, day out, making all these things possible. we need to remember they're actually victims, innocent victims of this particular case, we need to remember they're just as human as you and i, we need to find solutions and take into account their wellbeing. their wellbeing is paramount. when it comes to the red sea, how long is all of this

going to last? i'm kind of wondering, is the world going to have to live without a shipping route that's been vital to globalisation and progress over the last 150 years? i'm more positive than that. i think we have come across crisis in the past and we always find a solution and a way forward. shipping will continue to be there. we'll continue to supply all the necessary goods that we all need around the world. we will not be without shipping. we'll find a way for shipping to continue, to be resilient, to adapt, and to move forward. turning to japan now, where inflation for 2023 was the highest level in more than four decades. the latest decade for the month of december showed it stayed above the central bank's 2% target, but it did slow for a second straight month. it means it may not be in a hurry to raise rates. we have someone from an

investment management firm and it's something the bank of japan will take into consideration when it meets next week. core cpi came in line with estimates. it's lower than the bank of japan's forecast and we'll, i guess, have to ascertain how the governor and his committee members will decide on the outlook for cpi going forward. there's some views in the market the bank of japan will need to lower their forecast. but we'll have to wait and see and ultimately how that would affect the monetary policy decision which in our view we think the bank ofjapan will normalise monetary policy going forward, but it will be a measured approach. to fuel inflation, one way is to increase wages. i guess because japan continues to face a labour shortage, wages have been going up, but at the same time real wages haven't caught up with rising inflation. there's large swathes

of the market that have yet to see their wages gain significantly. a lot of the large companies have committed to that. we've the wage negotiations coming up in march, where we've a number of companies that have signalled that perhaps we'll see the same sort of wage gains we saw last year, if not higher, projected for this year. going forward, what will be really important, especially from an investment angle, whether or not those companies with pass on the costs and secure margins. this is where we come in, we continue to look for those very strong fundamental companies who have that ability to do so, and we think they'll outperform over the mid—to—long term, whereas i think we'll begin to see some companies that will not be able to do that, and hence the market will create some winners and losers going forward. now, to the us, where the house of representatives has approved a stop gap bill to fund the federal government

through early march. this is a rare show of cross—party unity to keep federal agencies running for another six weeks. and avert a damaging government shutdown. the measure is now being sent to presidentjoe biden�*s desk for his signature. let's turn to india and its fast growing aviation industry. there's a new carrier to enter the market and has dozens of 737 max planes. it's the first order for the 737 max planes. it's the first orderfor the plane—maker since order for the plane—maker since the midair cabin orderfor the plane—maker since the midair cabin blow—out in the midair cabin blow—out in the united states. let's bring in our correspondent from mumbai. thanks forjoining us. how do they feel about this? because that midair incident was quite dramatic. are they not concerned?— was quite dramatic. are they not concerned? they are. but the 're not concerned? they are. but they're also — not concerned? they are. but they're also confident - not concerned? they are. but they're also confident the - they're also confident the planes they're ordering have all the safety features installed. the company's ceo in

a press conference say they have not ordered the max 9 planes that he had modification of the door plug that blew out in the alaska airlines incident. they ordered the max 8 and ten planes and they've done all the safety audits. the indian regulator did an audit of all the emergency exits in the all the existing max 8 planes operating in india and that led to a satisfaction result. that's bringing in confidence for the airline. interesting. in the meantime, more generally speaking, why is the aviation sector in india booming so quickly? well, it's cominu booming so quickly? well, it's coming from _ booming so quickly? well, it's coming from the _ booming so quickly? well, it's coming from the surge - booming so quickly? well, it's coming from the surge in - booming so quickly? well, it's - coming from the surge in demand of air travel from the aspirational middle class, the consuming class. india has seen the fastest recovery in air

travel demand post pandemic, the data from the month of december, because of that travel demand, more and more airports have also come up. we've seen airlines not only, casa, but indigo and air india ordering more than 1100 planes in all injust ordering more than 1100 planes in all in just one year. the only glitch has been the supply constraints because of the pratten whitney engine failures to led to a quarter of planes in india being grounded. but the aviation sector is certainly growing. the aviation sector is certainl curowin. . certainly growing. thank you so much for that _ certainly growing. thank you so much for that update. - now, to switzerland, because this week the who's who of the global economy gathered in the swiss town of davos. the theme for this year's summit was rebuilding trust. it was seen as a time to draw a line under the pandemic but certainly some interesting flash points. we have a senior lecturer at the national university of singapore business school and he says tensions between the us and china have been on display.

i think with li qiang's sales pitch for china's open for business, i think that raised some eyebrows in terms of some of the contradictions that were at play. there's still a great deal of pessimism in the investment community about china with its national security laws, its treatment of multinational companies, and of course the sales pitch was that, you know, the market is big, the market is growing, so, so come. and mr blinken calling the taiwanese election result a powerful affirmation of democracy but beijing is not happy about that. no, i think that trajectory will continue. i think china will respond to the us�*s position on taiwan by trying to sort of continue to forge relationships, maybe even go around washington, try and approach europe and try and entice

multinationals to come back to china. that would be a measure of success for beijing. spotify has launched an outspoken attack on new transaction fees up to 27% announced by apple in the united states. on wednesday, the iphone maker said it would allow app developers to sell products in places other than its own store, but only if they still paid commission. apple has been approached for comment. i want too quickly show you japan's nikkei up by i.5%. they're well above now the 36,000 mark of course. it's flirting with its all—time high it reached in 90s. that was before the asset bubble burst that led to the lost decades. we're continuing to monitor that for you. this is it for

the programme. thank you so much for watching. bbc news, bringing you different stories from across the uk. just some of the 650 trailers operated by gwyneth shipping. in the year up to may 2022, it made a profit of over £1 million. yesterday morning at half past ten, staff were called to the office for a meeting and told the company was going into administration. there have been nobody at work. information remains scarce about what happens next. the administrators were on site this afternoon, but weren't able to confirm how many staff in anglesea would be losing theirjobs. forthe in anglesea would be losing theirjobs. for the council, their jobs. for the council, it's theirjobs. for the council, it's another piece of bad news on the island, after the recent

closure of the two sisters chicken factory. it's devastating news. it's devastating news. it's devastating news. it's devastating news for the families and the workers affected. we all know the cost of living crisis, the effects of living crisis, the effects of that. we need clarity so we can support these families. it's too early to say whether the administrators can get any part of the business moving again. we spoke to a number of shipping staff. none wanted to talk on camera, but they were hopeful of finding otherjobs in the haulage industry. hey, i'm stephen with the catch—up. we're starting the northern ireland, where schools and unis have been closed, trains and buses cancelled, and pretty much all hospital appointments postponed. it's because of strikes by more than 100,000 public sector workers. the main reason is pay. the unions say their members are paid less than other parts of the uk.

how has it come to this? public sector workers in northern ireland haven't had a pay rise for the last two years. there's been no 4 sharing government at stormant. the uk government has offered a package of more than £3 billion to get them back, but the dup, not happy with post—brexit trade rules, refused. some other stories now. a major blow for workers at the port talbot steelworks in wales. the owners, tata steel, are expected to push ahead with plans to cut nearly 3,000 jobs. unions have called the plans a crushing blow. primark has launched a new range of adaptable underwear. the aim is to make its clothes more accessible for disabled people. the company says the products will be easier to close and use materials like velcro. imagine you're at a football match and end up stepping in as an assistant referee. that's what wolves fan ros bennett did. he replaced the injured

fourth official. and time to leave you with 10 seconds of panda playtime. this is one of the giant pandas at a centre in southwest china having a good old play with his toys. and clearly the rocking horse is his absolute favourite. that is so cute! you're all caught up. have a good night. hello, and welcome to sportsday, i'm sarah mulkerrins. here's what's coming up on the show. egypt twice come from behind to draw with ghana, but worries as captain mohamed salah is injured at afcon. just six months after his move to saudi arabia, jordan henderson is

officially confirmed as ajax's newest player. and britain's natasha jonas says she must beat mikaela mayer to cement her legacy as one of the best pound—for—pound fighters. welcome along to the program. wherever you are watching around the world. let's start with africa cup of nations, where egypt and ghana played out a highly entertaining 2—2 draw in group b. there were three goals in five frantic second half minutes to level the tie, after egypt had gone ahead at the end of the first half.

our reporter dan ogushenkin was watching the game.