and find out how barbie movie fever has gripped the mobile world congress, too. hello, and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. we've been hearing about artificial intelligence for some time. well, this week, as the biggest mobile industry trade show gets under way in barcelona, companies are leaning into ai to try and boost phone sales. the biggest names in the business are showing off plenty of ai—powered features, including samsung. its flagship 524 range has all sorts of ai features, including the ability to circle an image or text on an app and immediately search it on google. xiaomi launched its flagship smartphone globally at the weekend. the chinese company found success in selling high—spec, low—priced smartphones, but is now pushing for more high—end products where the growth is — although it faces stiff competition from apple and samsung.

huawei's spin—off honour launched a smartphone with the ability to anticipate users�* needs using ai technology according to the company. the recognition tech can analyse and make sense of messages and photos to understand the intention of users based on their daily usage the company says. honor has also been showing off technology that allows users to control a carjust by using their eyes. marc einstein from itr corporation is at the mobile world congress in barcelona he explained how the chinese offerings were stacking up against the competition. i would say very strongly, extremely strong showing. as you mentioned in your intro, aia on the phone is probably the best way that chinese vendors will be able to compete with samsung. so they are really all systems go on these innovations, but we are also

seeing interesting things in electric cars and other areas too. so very strong showings from chinese vendors as expected. iii from chinese vendors as “meted-— from chinese vendors as expected. from chinese vendors as exected. , ., expected. if we could pick on one particular _ expected. if we could pick on one particular company, - one particular company, hallway, they are launching a smartphone and electric vehicle — is this proof they've managed to avoid those us exports on ships? i to avoid those us exports on shi s? ~ f to avoid those us exports on shis? ~ j , ., ships? i think they've shown the are ships? i think they've shown they are an _ ships? i think they've shown they are an extremely - ships? i think they've shown i they are an extremely resilient company, but they're not out of the woods because we don't know if the us government will increasingly tighten the screws on the chip market or not. but they've definitely survived the worst of it and are here to stay. worst of it and are here to sta . ~ ., , , stay. where do their strengths lie? they still— stay. where do their strengths lie? they still have _ stay. where do their strengths lie? they still have the - lie? they still have the largest _ lie? they still have the largest market - lie? they still have the largest market share i lie? they still have the | largest market share in lie? they still have the - largest market share in the world, so the majority of the world, so the majority of the world is using huawei to connect to a mobile network. and i think they've shown to be resilient in the smartphone space and continue to try to get into new areas like ai and exar, and connected mobility.

—— connective mobility. let's take a look at some economic data this week that may give us a better picture of how the largest economies in asia are doing. japan reports national core consumer prices forjanuary, an inflation data point used by the bank ofjapan when reviewing monetary policy. the economy is now in a technical recession, but that hasn't stopped japan's nikkei 225 closing at record highs last week. china's sluggish economic growth this year has put pressure on manufacturers. we'll have both the official and private survey on sentiment among purchasing managers in that sector. tim waterer, chief market analyst at kcm trade, weighed in on the growth outlook for both japan and china. japan is an interesting one. we have the dichotomy there where the stock markets hitting record highs while the economy as a technical recession. two main reasons behind that — a weekend of 6.6% against the us dollar this year has given a nice tailwind to toyota for example. the other has to do

with the tech sector injapan, cashing in on gains in the us. things like the rising tide lifting all boats, we've seen in video shooting the lights out on the earnings front, translating into gains for japan's tech sector, including softbank which has invested heavily in silicon valley. softbank has obviously added to the momentum we've seen on the new guy. in terms of china, as you said we got manufacturing and non—manufacturing coming out later this week. manufacturing numbers probably coming in below that key 50 level, indicating a contraction. non—manufacturing sector doing a bit better, coming in by 15.1—2, we'll see what happens there. we've seen some transaction from the ppo see in terms of cutting the mortgage rate and the reserve ratio requirement. but i think investors are waiting to see more evidence of turnaround

before investing back into china. foreign investors still very much under way for chinese equerries, and for chinese equerries, and for chinese equerries, and for chinese equerries, and foreign direct investment in china dropped 11% investment in china dropped 11% in january. that's investment in china dropped 11% injanuary. that's a result of the property sector woes, not seeing that deflation play out. in other news making headlines — british firms say they are facing higher shipping costs and delays of up to four weeks due to houthi attacks in the red sea. trade body the british chambers of commerce said more than a third of firms it surveyed have been affected. that could contribute to higher prices in the uk economy generally. in other news — the husband of a bp employee has been charged with insider trading in the us. the us securities and exchange commission alleges that tyler loudon eavesdropped on his wife's work calls when she was handling bp's acquisition of travelcenters of america, and subsequently bought shares in the firm, making illegal profits of roughly $1.7 million. loudon has been ordered to return that sum of money or pay a separate fine of the same amount.

bp has yet to comment on the matter. despite contributing just 3% of global c02 despite contributing just 3% of global co2 emissions, africa is experiencing serious climate problems. one company is hoping to make a power. we caught up with the company's chairman and asked him if they are close to hitting their target. we currently _ hitting their target. we currently have - hitting their target. we currently have 1.3 - hitting their target. - currently have 1.3 gigawatts in operation across three countries, egypt, senegaland countries, egypt, senegal and south countries, egypt, senegaland south africa. we produce a400 gigawatt south africa. we produce 4400 gigawatt hours a year, powering almost 2 million homes. the biggest challenge we see in africa is basically the bank ability of the projects in the continent in the grid power to power the grids. in continent in the grid power to power the grids.— power the grids. in senegal we've just _ power the grids. in senegal we've just seen _ power the grids. in senegal we've just seen them - power the grids. in senegal we've just seen them delay| we've just seen them delay significant leave by nine

months their general election now, this is a real concern about the impact it will have on democracy there where it is seen as a bastion of stability. you operate in senegal, your thoughts on that? it’s you operate in senegal, your thoughts on that?— thoughts on that? it's not a aood thoughts on that? it's not a good thing. _ thoughts on that? it's not a good thing. in _ thoughts on that? it's not a good thing, in my - thoughts on that? it's not a good thing, in my opinion. | thoughts on that? it's not a| good thing, in my opinion. i think governments should stick to the dates of elections— but then again, the details behind that, i'm not fully aware of. so the reasons behind that, i cannot comment on.— so the reasons behind that, i cannot comment on. we've also not cannot comment on. we've also got elections — cannot comment on. we've also got elections in _ cannot comment on. we've also got elections in south _ cannot comment on. we've also got elections in south africa, i got elections in south africa, another country you say you operate in quite significantly. in south africa, many people are suffering with power outages on a daily basis, it's a real headache for households and businesses. at infinity power, how do you counter that? it's been a struggle for us for the past 2—3 years in south

africa, certainly energy purchase programmes — around 5-6 that purchase programmes — around 5—6 that have been put in place, they were not really successful. we are in this for the long haul, and we believe in south africa, so hopefully the next round of purchasing power for renewables will mitigate the mistakes made in the past. mitigate the mistakes made in the ast. �* ., , mitigate the mistakes made in the ast. , ., , , the past. both these examples of south africa _ the past. both these examples of south africa and _ the past. both these examples of south africa and senegal - of south africa and senegal illustrate how important government is of course when it comes to energy policy and how you as a company can operate within. ~ .,, . within. we operate under the certain countries's _ within. we operate under the l certain countries's frameworks. it's been relatively easy in egypt for us because the programmes have been set and the targets set, and thankfully we've met these targets along with other routes. senegal has been pretty straightforward in our opinion— we generate on

good days around 15% of the country's power, and the government and utility there has been pretty easy to deal with in developing more projects there. south africa, because of the different moving parts, so to speak — you have ascom — so it's a bit more difficult to manage in south africa, and the government has a lot on its plate to be able to make things work. it's up to the south african government, to be honest. it’s the south african government, to be honest.— to be honest. it's extremely challenging _ to be honest. it's extremely challenging for _ to be honest. it's extremely challenging for challenging l to be honest. it's extremely i challenging for challenging for all in terms of how households are trying to get by every day, and businesses in south africa at the moment. in terms of other countries on the continent, where else are you looking to invest? irate continent, where else are you looking to invest?— looking to invest? we are lookin: looking to invest? we are looking to _ looking to invest? we are looking to invest - looking to invest? we are looking to invest across i looking to invest? we are looking to invest across - | looking to invest? we are i looking to invest across - we looking to invest across — we have pipeline across 16 countries on different stages, some more challenging than

others obviously. one main project that we are talking about is a four gigawatt green hydrogen project in mauritania that we look to have a 400 mw pilot up and running hopefully ljy pilot up and running hopefully by the year 2030. good news for all the barbie movie fans out there, you may be able to get your hands on some actual "pink" merchandise soon. human mobile devices, the company behind the classic nokia smartphones, is working in partnership with mattel to launch a barbie flip phone this sumnmer. if you think you can scroll on instagram or tiktok, think again. the phone will have no internet access either. and that's it for this edition of asia business report. thanks for watching. bbc news — bringing you different stories from across the uk. jack and his fiancee, beth, are engaged and plan to tie the knot in 2026.

but top of the wedding list isn't finding a new venue or the right suit — it's getting a new voice. automated voice: my normal computer voice is a robot voice | sounding like out of doctor who. jack, who has cerebral palsy, wants an authentically brummy voice to reflect his heritage — and is inviting people to volunteer theirs. the 21—year—old has been using his current communication aid which he controls with his eyes since he was six years old. but the technology has come a long way since then. he wants to be able to say "i do" and to say all his vows as a human at his wedding, instead of a robot. it's not a small commitment — the chosen volunteer will need to spend 6—8 hours around 1,600 phrases. so far, they've had half a dozen responses. but he need look no further — i think i've got solution. "all right, bub.

i'm up off up the road to a cobb. ta—ra a bit." loud beep automated voice: david, that was rubbish. - get out of my house. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website.

bringing you different stories from across the uk. kimi has completely transformed my life, if i'm honest. like, ifeel like a different person now. i'm less anxious, ifeel less isolated, less vulnerable. these two have become inseparable over the last year. wherever you find suze, kimi is sure to be there, providing practical and emotional support. no better is that demonstrated than at home. suze has had cochlear implants for more than two years — but she needs time without them. when you're deaf, it can be quite overstimulating. it's like a sensory overload — i think people don't understand that, and it's really hard,

and it's exhausting. so actually, i like that time in my bubble — which i can do now. it means that she can actually relax as kimi is there to alert her to the door bell and a variety of alarms. suze's health issues have often affected her in competition — like tokyo 2020, when she had to pull out after just two races. but becoming world champion last year has boosted her confidence and made her even more determined to get to paris the summer. hello, and welcome to sportsday. i'm olly foster. liverpool are the wembley winners — jurgen klopp say this league cup is the most special trophy he has won.

india close in on victory in the test series, after leaving england in spin in ranchi. and the width of a post — that's how close italy were to a famous six nations win in france. good evening. it's one trophy down, a possible three to go in jurgen klopp's farewell season. liverpool have have won the league cup for a tenth time, extending their own record of wins in the competition. they beat chelsea 1—0 in the final, with their winner coming in the final two minutes of extra time. with that defeat, chelsea have secured an unwanted record, they are the first english team to lose six successive domestic cup finals. our sports correspondent joe wilson was at wembley. it was liverpool's vastly experienced captain virgil van dijk who rose to head the decisive goal deep