interest rates steady leaving them at a 23—year high. with inflation cooling and solid economic growth, the question on the minds of many economists, consumers and businesses was when the central bank might start cutting rates. but the guidance offered by the fed chairjerome powell disappointed those on wall street who were hoping for a rate cut as soon as march. powell's warning that it is unlikely the central bank will be in a position to lower borrowing costs at its next meeting sent shares lower, with the dow losing more than 300 points and the nasdaq down by more than 2%. from new york, here's the bbc�*s north america business correspondent michelle fleury. the fourth meeting in a row, the federal reserve did not raise interest rates. this is the longest pause since policymakers began their aggressive rate campaign to tame inflation back in march of 2022. but for rate weary americans, well, they will likely have to wait a few more months to see any relief,

given these comments by the federal chair. based on the meeting today, i would tell you that i don't think it's likely that the committee will reach a level of confidence by the time of the march meeting to identify march as the time to do that. but that is to be seen. mr powell's words disappointed us on wall street who believed that the first cut would potentially happen in march. this is after policymakers back in december hinted at rate cuts in 202a. however, mr powell said officials wanted greater confidence that inflation was falling back to its 2% goal first. with prices coming down but still high and with the economy doing well, david ross believes that this is the right call telling me thatjerome powell has no reason to show his hand at this point. the rate decision comes after fresh data showing us economic growth slowed down in the last quarter, but performed much better than forecasters expected.

let's turn our focus now to social media because the bosses of companies likes meta, tiktok and x have faced a grilling from us senators. at the heart of the fiery hearing was the companies�* attitudes to legislation currently going through congress, which aim to hold them to account for material posted on their platforms. meta ceo mark zuckerberg ended up apologising to families who say their children had been harmed by social media. let's have a listen. would you like to do so now? you are here on national television. would you like now to apologise to the victims who have been harmed? so than the pictures. would you like to apologise for what you have done to these good people?

our guest, mitch prinstein from the american pshychological association has done clinical work on teenagers and social media. he told me if social media companies are doing enough to protect young people. it's not nearly enough, i'm afraid. it's very clear that it is notjust the access to the platform but it is the way that these platforms are built, the functions that are a part of them. the endless scroll, the like button, the followers, the artificial intelligence, they are designed to keep kids engaged for as long as possible and more and more research is showing that that affects kids development, it affects their mental health and it's actually changing the way that their brains are growing. could you elaborate on that about how their brains are going and how it changes from adults who have come to social media later in life? absolutely.

you know, it is important to remember that after the first year of life, adolescence is the next most important time for brain development and around the same time those kids get their device, they have a vulnerability, a part of their brain that makes them super sensitive to getting social feedback and not yet a fully developed area of the brain to keep them from following their every single impulse. so it's kind of a perfect storm where kids are getting access to a device that gives them notifications and likes and encourages them to stay on for hours at a time, research is showing that that actually is leading to kids�* brains going to be smaller and also to work in ways that they are not supposed to maintain, being hypersensitive to those kinds of social cues. why should parents be looking out to safeguard their children against these things and how can they mitigate the impacts of too much social media? unfortunately, there's nothing going on in these companies to make sure these products are safe.

so until legislators or tech companies make some very necessary changes, it sadly falls on parents to force those devices out of their kids�* hands to make sure that they are going to sleep and getting eight hours of sleep. that�*s so important for brain growth. they are screening their kids for more addictive behaviours, like having a hard time withdrawing from social media use. novo nordisk, the danish pharmaceuticalfirm behind the obesity and diabetes jabs, wegovy and ozempic, has revealed record earnings driven by surging sales of the popular drugs. the firm saw net profits rise by 50% in 2023, to more than $12 billion. considered by some as a holy grail of weight—loss medication, wegovy is now in six countries including the uk and launches later this month injapan. but novo nordisk�*s rise is also having a big impact at home in denmark. as adrienne murray

reports from copenhagen. if you thought lego or a maersk were the biggest companies from denmark, you would be wrong. dwarfing them all is novo nordisk, the pharmaceutical firm behind blockbuster drugs ozempic. the first of a new generation of treatments expected to turbo—charge weight loss. it�*s an injection for those severely overweight. while ozempic treats diabetes and both contain the drugs chemically tied, which lowers appetite. it was in 2018, three years before... this 45—year—old says he�*s lost more than 60 kilos over two years. it comes with four dosages. he spends almost $300 a month on his prescription, but says it�*s been life changing. i have tried all of the different kinds of diets and reprogramming my way of eating and all of that a million times.

before i looked at the future in a dark way. i thought maybe i�*m not getting to be 60 years, maybe i�*m not seeing my grandkids. the biggest change for me is that i�*m looking at the future way brighter than before. research suggests that patients can shed more than 10% of their body weight. however, after stopping treatment, users often put weight back on and there can be side effects. side effects like nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea... for almost a century, they have focused on insulin production, but it�*s recently shifted track — by social media buzz, the drugs have flown our pharmacy shelves, especially in the biggest market, the united states. those soaring sales have led to record earnings. however, the runway demand initially caught the company the company off guard. it�*s now revealed that the profits of more than $12

billion in 2023. in obesity, i don�*t think we will be able to meet demand any soon because we are only serving to the tune of1 million patients on an annual basis out of more than 800 million people. so this is a very long runway and we are investing significantly in that. shares have skyrocketed, becoming europe�*s biggest company. in denmark, a small country of less than 6 million people, that means an outsized impact. denmark�*s economy is basically like all the other european economies right now, stagnating or going back slightly, but then we have this on top of that, and if you add them in, then there is quite decent economic growth. it�*s also investing heavily in new production to boost supplies after a string of drug shortages. at home, local authorities complained that the

high cost of patients on the drug is becoming a burden. there is also a sharp debate about the affordability and social impact. it is only the people who can afford it that take this medication, and the patient who are really struggling with their weight and maybe cannot work and maybe have physical disabilities, many of them cannot afford this drug. they have had a head start, but this is only the beginning. in the coming years, a wave of new weight loss drugs are expected to come on sale. a usjudge has sided with florida governor ron desantis in his fight with disney. the media giant had accused the republican of organising a "campaign of government retaliation" when state officials voided a development deal involving disney�*s florida theme park. this came after disney criticised a state law that restricted the teaching of sexuality in schools. in dismissing disney�*s lawsuit, judge allen winsor said

the actions the governor took were legal. and that�*s it for this edition of asia business report. thanks for watching. bbc news, bringing a different stories from across the uk. fin stories from across the uk. on the edae stories from across the uk. on the edge of — stories from across the uk. 0n the edge of these malls, this farm is changing with the times. mark and the weeds embrace new ways of working. —— louise. embrace new ways of working. -- louise. ~ . . embrace new ways of working. -- louise. ~ ., ., ., louise. what have you got there? their _ louise. what have you got there? their old _ louise. what have you got there? their old milking i there? their old milking arlour there? their old milking parlour is— there? their old milking parlour is now _ there? their old milking parlour is now home - there? their old milking parlour is now home to l there? their old milking| parlour is now home to a £20,000 vending machine that sells frozen beef and lamb all produce on theirfarm. sells frozen beef and lamb all produce on their farm. we 'ust have to put �* produce on their farm. we 'ust have to put the i produce on their farm. we 'ust have to put the number in h produce on their farm. we just have to put the number in the | have to put the number in the keypad here and it will go through the routine of paying, either cash or card, was they

have paid, the locker will unlock and they can open the door and help themselves to that item. door and help themselves to that item— door and help themselves to that item. ., . , ., that item. vending machines are already being — that item. vending machines are already being used _ that item. vending machines are already being used in _ already being used in increasing numbers of farmers to sell a fresh milk. this version selling meat is thought to be one of the first. milk vendin: to be one of the first. milk vending machines - to be one of the first. milk vending machines are - to be one of the first. milk vending machines are up l vending machines are up everywhere, and if you want something direct from the farm, to know you coming to a farm and you can see the animals and how well they looked after, it is just brilliant you can come and get the meat and take it away as the burra has come from. . , , from. the farming industry stee ed from. the farming industry steeped in _ from. the farming industry steeped in tradition - from. the farming industry steeped in tradition is - from. the farming industry i steeped in tradition is moving with the times, a tastyjoint beef now available click on collect. hey. i�*m zof with the catch up! tonight — more on vapes, universal rows with tiktok, and an unexpected commuter. you�*ve probably heard this phrase a lot recently — dry january.

one in five drinkers gave up alcohol for the month, and a charity that looks at drinking habits said it saved people around £118 on average! 0ne bbc reporter decided one month wasn�*t enough and has stopped drinking for a whole year! for me i am just curious. what happens in 12 months? am i experiencing big changes? has it transformed my life or is it the same without alcohol? you can followjess�*s journey through her �*sober diaries�* on the bbc news app or website. some other stories now... the person who made decisions in scotland during the pandemic says she sometimes wishes she hadn�*t been in charge. yes — nicola sturgeon told the covid inquiry she was overwhelmed at times. she also admitted deleting some whatsapp messages but said everything relevant was made available. next — a headteacher in wales says kids as young as seven are being caught with vapes in school and some are taking up to 15 toilet breaks a day to vape. last week the government said

they�*ll ban disposable vapes to protect kids�* health. and universal music is set to pull millions of its songs from tiktok after a disagreement over payments. this move would mean lots of your favourite tracks from the likes of taylor swift, the weeknd and drake could no longer be on the app. and time to leave you with ten seconds of an unexpected commuter on the train tracks at bishop�*s stortford station, delaying trains for as long as 15 minutes! ijust love how unbothered it is. just cleaning its feathers. you�*re all caught up now — see ya!

hello and welcome to sportsday — i�*m 0lly foster. conor bradley is the toast of anfield as he helps liverpool restore their five point premier league lead the favourites are firing at the asian cup — japan are through to the quarterfinals. just over two years since her 0lympic dream was taken away, we meet faye rogers on the brink of her first paralympics in the pool.

hello there. the pressure was on liverpool at anfield as they looked to regain that five—point lead at the top of the table, and they came through with flying colours against chelsea/ with their inspiration coming from an unlikely source, 20—year—old northern irishman, conor bradley, deputising for trent alexander arnold, he scored his first goal for the club and also set assisted two others as they beat mauricio pochettino�*s chelsea 4—1. bradley set up diogojota before scoring their second of the night by half—time. darwin nunez had also missed a penalty, he hit the woodwork four times during the game. bradley then crossed for liverpool�*s third, a dominik szoboszlai header and though nkunku pulled one back, luis diaz added

a fourth for liverpool, a comfortable night for liverpool and a memorable