the house of mouse unveils its quarterly results.. and its biggest move yet into the gaming sector. plus... is the world's second largest economy at risk of more deflation? we look into why prices have been falling in china. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. we begin with disney because the media and entertainment giant has reported earnings that beat estimates, sending its shares soaring nearly 7% in after hours trading. the company also unveiled what is its biggest bet to date in the gaming industry... our north america business correspondent, erin delmore, has more from new york. disney says it's on pace to bring in more money this fiscal year and that it expects earnings at least 20% higher than last year. and the company says it's on pace to cut costs. it expects to meet or surpass its goal of cutting $7.5 billion by the end

of this fiscal year. the news comes as pressure mounts from an activist investor who's been critical of the company, including its disappointing stats at the box office. the company also narrowed its losses specifically in streaming. disney plus increased prices this fall and lost subscribers over that. but because each subscriber is paying more for the service, its average revenue per user went up. disney plus is streaming offerings include espn plus the focus of a lot of attention this week. the company announced earlier this week that it's partnering with fox and warner brothers discovery to launch a new sports streaming operation with espn this year. and ceo bob iger said wednesday that the company is taking a $1.5 billion stake in epic games. it's disney's biggest move in the game space, yet. another focus of attention, disney and politics again after a very public, multi year spat with and lawsuit against florida governor ron desantis, who accused the company of being liberal and progressive.

actor gina carano is suing the company and alleging she was fired from the mandalorian for posting conservative points of view online, including on the social media platform by. elon musk has said he'd throw his billions behind x users who claim discrimination at work due to their posts. he's backing carano�*s lawsuit. and one more piece of disney news this week. it turns out that disney quietly had a hand in the launch of apple's vision pro headset, whichjust hit stores. customers who shell out $3,500 for the headset can watch some of their favorite disney movies in sd or in a handful of universes that disney created. it's a different picture over at paypal. shares of the digital payments giant are down nearly 7% in after—hours trading. revenue in the quarter rose to $8—billion—.. a 9% increase from a year earlier. but its forecast of flat growth in adjusted profit for the current year overshadowed the market—beating

earnings report. and shares in semiconductor—chip designer arm holdings are nearly 28% higher in after hours trading. the british tech company forecast fiscal fourth—quarter sales and adjusted profit above wall street expectations, as customers aim to design new chips for artificial intelligence work. arm raised its guidance by roughly $100—million saying markets such as automotive and ai are going to be strong in the fiscal fourth quarter. let's turn to china now because the e—commerce giant, alibaba, has published disappointing quarterly results. the company posted sales of $36.7—billion, up 5% year—on—year, but below analysts�* expectations. alibaba's executives announced they'll increase the group's share buy—back programme by $25—billion in a move they say demonstrates confidence in the company's outlook. but alibaba is facing fierce competition from rivals such asjd.com, pin—duo—duo and dou—yin. for a closer look at the industry there, at a time let's bring in china tech analyst & creator

of tech buzz china, rui ma. it did not grow as fast of the market because of retail in china will only about 11% according to official statistics from the company itself. the investor response is partly because the recovery has not been as great as some expected, although to others it has been better. it's because of the competition, so pin dual door is one aggressive competitor interfaces in core businesses, it is less than half of first or business but it is growing quickly and in third—quarter it grew nearly 100% versus ali baba 9%. and another competitor has overtaken as a leader in

another sector and is approaching pin dual dual. e—commerce is competitive space in china and part of the daily fabric as well but it is still way down by a slower economy isn't it? . �* , way down by a slower economy isn't it? . �*, _, . way down by a slower economy isn't it? . �*, . , isn't it? that's correct, but desite isn't it? that's correct, but despite the _ isn't it? that's correct, but despite the fact _ isn't it? that's correct, but despite the fact that - isn't it? that's correct, but despite the fact that the i despite the fact that the economy relatively speaking has seen better days, if you look at the expectations for online retail over the next three years, it's a generous market, china is almost $3 trillion on nine e—commerce, next year it is expected to grow at 8% and for a market of that size it is still significant, so by 2027, experts are expecting it would be a $4 trillion market. lats be a $4 trillion market. lots of room _ be a $4 trillion market. lots of room to _ be a $4 trillion market. lots of room to grow _ be a $4 trillion market. lots of room to grow perhaps - be a $4 trillion market. lots of room to grow perhaps but there have been regulations that might have an effect, how

do you see that plane out and years ahead?— years ahead? regulations are ositive years ahead? regulations are positive for — years ahead? regulations are positive for the _ years ahead? regulations are positive for the market - years ahead? regulations are positive for the market on - years ahead? regulations are| positive for the market on the consumer side, around antitrust and consumer data and privacy protections, overall there are regulations that are pushing the sector towards a better customer experience and more informed legal protections. well, china is due to release a bunch of data in the next few hours — consumer prices and factory gate prices. many economists are expecting to see a fall, which then puts the world's second largest economy at the risk of more deflation. 0ur guest this morning — asia specialist 0livier d'assierjoins us to explain why china's continued economic weakness could be worrying. 0ur our main concern is from the demand side of the equation, traditionally china has had three pillars to create wealth for its people, one is the stock market which has been down in its fourth year of

negative returns, the second is property with property prices have also been declining since 2021, the third is education, get a good education and couege get a good education and college degree and phd you will get a good job and your life is set. all the fruit pillars of kind of fallen in the last few years. we hear about students not being able to find jobs after graduation and taking blue—collarjobs instead, return home and live with mum and dad, which means mum and dad savings they were hoping to use for themselves are being used on their children, which is all burning consumer spending will stop that is where the big problem is, because other parts of the economy where china has benefited in the last couple years in terms of being a factory, it's kind of gone, we see less of foreign investment in china, big moves by the tech industry to realign the supply

chain away from china, to japan, korea taiwan and other places, so these are big problems to deal with. we have not seen yet any kind of credible response. mil not seen yet any kind of credible response. all these factors you _ credible response. all these factors you laid _ credible response. all these factors you laid out - credible response. all these factors you laid out are - credible response. all these factors you laid out are in i factors you laid out are in contrast to the us, i suppose, which is seen inflation, in china, all the factors has led to deflation.— to deflation. just a second earlier talking _ to deflation. just a second earlier talking about - to deflation. just a second earlier talking about first | earlier talking about first medical result, it's why it is so disappointing, because in the us after the lock down from the us after the lock down from the pandemics, people learned they could buy it more online, they could buy it more online, they have not gone back to the retail shop or office, they stayed on nine, and received very good results from online in the us so we expected the same in china, but it does not happened, which is another sign that demand is lower than what we expected from a rebound from a reopening rebound, and is

something they have to deal with which they have not yet. what do we need they need to do, there's talk about stimulus, with that likely work? , , , ., stimulus, with that likely work? , ,, ., work? or the stemless that has ha--ened work? or the stemless that has happened so — work? or the stemless that has happened so far _ work? or the stemless that has happened so far as _ work? or the stemless that has happened so far as been - work? or the stemless that has happened so far as been on - work? or the stemless that has happened so far as been on thei happened so far as been on the supply side, and liquidity and axing banks to lend out more money, but people are not borrowing because they don't have confidence in the economy to borrow and take on debt, so thatis to borrow and take on debt, so that is not happening. they are cracking down on speculators and trying to prevent having a leading moment in the property sector which is something that should be doing, but we have not seen edible demand side policies, how do you get consumers to gain confidence to come back and spend monies and their savings, come back and spend monies and theirsavings, how come back and spend monies and their savings, how do you get job markets to pick up and all of that? it has not happened yet.

of that? it has not happened et. ., of that? it has not happened et. . ., ., yet. relative to the growth in exorts yet. relative to the growth in exports producing _ yet. relative to the growth in exports producing a - yet. relative to the growth in exports producing a small - yet. relative to the growth in i exports producing a small trade deficit for three years. trade gap stood at $773 billion. the trade gap stood at 700 and 73 billion dollars, down almost a fifth on 2022. american consumers bought fewerforeign goods, while us petroleum exports reached a record high in december. figures also show that the us imported more from mexico last year than from china for the first time in two decades. the favourable trade outlook comes as president biden seeks to promote economic competency ahead of november's presidential election. and that's it for this edition of asia business report. thanks for watching. bbc news bringing you different stories from across the uk. - anna gray is a true believer,

no question for her. the climate emergency is real. much more drastic action is needed, but she has a slightly different way of persuading people to her cause. every tuesday morning, she's been standing in the square in petersfield with a placard, a peaceful vigil, whatever the weather representing women of this town. i feel that we can act locally. we don't have any whistles or glue. and we are, and we don't cause any disruption. so it is just really a polite protest. and i think that's actually what encourages other women to come and join us. she was inspired by tales of the baltic chain when people linked hands across estonia, lithuania and latvia to demand freedom. it's a real beauty about it. people peacefully and calmly standing together as a clear and visible sign. other women who've seen her stand have started to join

in the weekly vigil. light is always good. is it more likely to change people's minds than lying down in the road? well, it might do. it might make people think a bit harder. for more stories from across the uk, head l to the bbc news website. hey, i'm zoff with the catch up. tonight, taylor swift threatens to sue, loyal fans camp out for the 1975, and graffiti on luxury flats. first, we start with everyone's favorite place, the dentist. the government is planning to try and decrease the waiting list for a dentist appointment in england with a cash incentive. dentists who set up practice in areas of england with poor access to nhs care will be offered a £20,000 bonus. the government has also announced higher payments for nhs dentists who take on new patients and teeth cleaning in schools as part of a plan to expand levels of dental care.

but dental leaders and labour say the plans don't go far enough. some other stories now. taylor swift has threatened to sue a student who tracks her private jet. her lawyers say jack sweeney shouldn't be sharing her flight information online. jack uses publicly available data to track the take—offs and landings of planes belonging to celebs and posts them online a day later. jack has responded and said, "nowhere do i intend for harm". what lengths would you go to to see your favorite pop star? loads of devoted 1975 fans are spending two nights camping outside the glasgow hydro in the freezing cold in the hope of being at the front row of the band's next gig. 0ne dedicated fan even travelled all the way from australia. time now to leave you with 10 seconds of graffiti covering luxury high rise flats in la. 27 floors of this high—rise

complex were covered in it. the site has actually been abandoned since 2019. just imagine, though, if you wanted to buy one or if you already owned one, it might be a little bit tricky to live in it. you're all caught up now. see you later.

hello and welcome to sportsday — i'mjane dougall. huge celebrations as nigeria go through to the final of the africa cup of nations, where they'll play the hosts ivory coast. a wonder goalfrom enzo fernandez puts the icing on the cake for chelsea as they win away at villa in the fa cup. and it's heating up in the usa — with footballs' showcase game, the super bowljust around the corner. welcome to the programme. it's been a battle for them, but nigeria are through to the final of the africa cup of nations, where they'll play the hosts, ivory coast. nigeria's match was filled with drama, going to extra time and penalties before they put south africa out.