plus we catch up with the ceo of booking.com as the post—pandemic travel boom continues, with no end in sight. welcome to asia business report. let's begin in the united states where lawmakers in the house of representatives have overwhelmingly voted to pass a bill that could lead to a ban on popular social media app, tiktok. that is despite the chinese social media company calling on millions of teenaged users in the us to oppose the bill. our correspondent has been following the proceedings on capitol hill and has more on what is ahead. the house vote sets the stage for what could become an ultimatum to tiktok chinese owned parent company bytedance. so off the app or it will be banned. there is a way to go

between here and there. if faces an uncertain future in the senate. the majority leader chuck schumer has been noncommittal about whether he will bring it up forever. —— fora —— for a vote. some senators have already vowed to vote against it. if it does move through the senate, joe biden has said he will sign it. opponents of the bill argue tiktok is a national security threat and the apps 170 million us users are vulnerable to data theft by the chinese government. the priority is national security and chinese access to millions of american�*s minds. that's what the primary issue is. there are trade—offs with that though. the former president donald trump used to back the idea but he changed his tune, saying while it poses a security and privacy concern, banning the app would be a boon for facebook. which he called an enemy of the people. with that, a national security, free—speech and youth issue also becomes a campaign issue.

protesters took to capitol hill on wednesday in support of tiktok. do you have any concerns about china tapping into people's phones or security risks from china? absolutely not. if i had any concerns about china i would have the same concerns about right here in america, sharing and selling our data as well. a few issues remain, ifjoe biden signs the bill into law it is almost certain to be challenged in the courts. a for sale would need the 0k of the chinese government and they have said no. and even if it went ahead, the question of who would buy it, nearly all the major us companies are in the midst of anti—trust lawsuits or facing likely once, making the notion of purchasing a platform with 170—million users unlikely. individuals, companies or groups could take it up but past deals have fallen apart. if the bill becomes law and tiktok is not sold in around six months, it will be blocked from us app

stores and internet service providers. we will keep an eye on how the story developed over the next few days. i was a north american correspondent. adidas has posted its first annual loss in more than 30 years, the german sportswear giant also warns sales in north america will fall again as retailers in the us struggle with high inventory. adidas has been battling to right itself after it cut ties with kanye west in 2022, suspending sales of the yeezy sneaker line. we are three months into the new year and there's still a fair amount of uncertainty among businesses. that is due to the ongoing conflict in the middle east and the war between russia and ukraine. according to logistics giant dhl the flow of goods is still growing. that's in the latest report compiled with nyu. i caught up with the chief

executive at dhl express and asked for his take on the global connectivity. if we look at the trade between geopolitical trading box it's essentially the same as all of the other reports. a lot of nervousness that us and china are decoupling, what i will say there is what people don't realise is the extent to which they were coupled over the last two decades were extraordinary levels of trade were happening between china and usa, over the last eight or nine years that's reduced by about 25%, some of those tariffs and discussions have happened but it is now at a level that is commensurate with many other partners. for all the rhetoric and what i would describe as negative narrative about protectionism, nationalism, near shoring and offshoring, i would say it in every date

as a trade deal being written. how overboard is china's economic help when it comes to spurring on globalisation? china continues to be the great force it is in terms of manufacturing and the quality of that manufacturing, there are some de—risking diversification complimentary activities happening but as some have coined the phrase, the next china is definitely china. artificial intelligence is disrupting all sorts of things. how is it shaking things up at dhl? we have to move at the right pace, we can over invest in some elements of technology of this technology and not necessarily get any return. we have to be very focused on what is the benefit for our customer, what is the benefit for our employee, what is the benefit for operational efficiency. those are the three same questions we asked ourselves when we embarked on this

digitalisation journey. we talk about connectedness and globalisation what are you most optimistic about for the year ahead? at optimistic about for the year ahead? �* , ahead? at this time in the re ort ahead? at this time in the report would _ ahead? at this time in the report would make - ahead? at this time in the - report would make something very clear, we are here to publish the report which is extremely positive and the sentiment towards current and mid and long—term sentiment towards globalisation in all aspects of that, here and now we are also talking at a time when the global economy and trade is relatively weak. the two together point to me the fact that spring will come, things will recover, people will start buying, selling, trading, repairing, shipping, sending samples and so on and so forth and get back to what they do. i'm very positive about the long—term whether it is april, may, june orjuly, things will start to pick up again very much hoping for peace in the russia ukraine

situation and some return to a happier situation and obviously in gaza and israel. it happier situation and obviously in gaza and israel.— in gaza and israel. it was the chief executive _ in gaza and israel. it was the chief executive at _ in gaza and israel. it was the chief executive at dhl - in gaza and israel. it was the i chief executive at dhl express. from transporting goods to transporting people, the post—pandemic travel boom is by under way with little sign of slowing down of the horizon. booking.com beat expectations in the last free months of 2023 and that was largely because of a strong recovery in asia. the platform seeing room bookingsjumping by more than 10%. providers including hotel chains marriott and hilton say demand in the us will normalise this year after the post—pandemic struck. the ceo booking.com gave a sense of what is next for the industry. we are pleased with the fact that asia is doing a good job in recovering from the pandemic. you saw a delay in asia and that is why we are benefiting now in terms of people going up and travelling

around the world. people exploring the usual places they always wanted to go in asia, there is a lot of regional places people want to go to. people want to search in the summer, going further places like paris which is interesting, the olympics will be there. london is always popular and even the states are beginning to become popular as well. we're getting reports chinese tourists are back to travelling but not necessarily spending at the same levels. is that what you are seeing? china's probably one of the last countries to come back big. it's delayed from other parts of the world being set we are pleased people are beginning to travel outbound again and some of the things the chinese government has done in terms of making it easier for visa—free travel, it's helping to bring that along. you said the us is normalising and other hotel groups are seeing growth will not be as fast in 202a. what are your thoughts?

the thing isn't always what you're comparing to. last year everyone was into a big "revenge travel" was the term, everyone dying to get out because they had not been able to travel. now things are normalising and it's still really good. the fact is people like to travel as long as global economies are growing, we know that travel will grow faster and ourjob of course is to get a bigger part of that growing group. right now we came up with ourfirst quarter and we said growth is one measurement, 4% to 6%, we are still being hurt little bit by the unrest and the war in the middle east and that is taking up a percentage point but hopefully we will continue to see economies grow and that will see travel growing. foreign governments will soon be stopped from owning uk newspapers and magazines, this comes under a proposed law by the uk government to deliver

additional protections for a free press. the opposition labour party is that it will support the move and it follows criticism of the proposed takeover of the daily telegraph and the spectator by united arab emirates funded investment firm. the next spacex's ship could launch four hours after the administration granted the company a license to test launch the rocket system from texas. —— less than 24—hour is. the sign off came less than a day before the targeted launch time. paving the way for another demonstration of a spacecraft crucial to elon musk�*s satellite business and nasa's moon programme. goodbye for now. from these small seedlings growing in a greenhouse in devon, there are big hopes and big ambitions. they're sprouting from seeds and twigs gathered from the broken branches

of the sycamore gap tree — the iconic tree whose felling last september sparked an ongoing police investigation and caused a national outpouring of emotion. tony gates is the chief executive of the northumberland national park authority. he says more than a0 seedlings have already been established — genetic clones which can now be planted in different parts of the country. we all felt a bit low last september when the tree was cut down. you know, such a great symbol of the northeast. we thought, "maybe that's it gone forever." but raising seedlings isn't the only way the tree's legacy is being preserved. a technique called grafting is also being used — with nine of the 20 grafts now showing signs of life. it'll take the seedlings around 100 years to grow into full mature trees — not many of us will be around to see that. but for those who missed

this iconic tree, it's still the best possible news — a sign of hope after months of anguish and despair. for more stories . from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. hey, i'm zof with the catch up! tonight: could tiktok be banned in the us? a guide dog charity appeal. and an unexpected scent from mcdonald's. we're starting with a big row about one of the biggest donors to the conservative party, who's accused of making racist remarks. frank hester has donated £10 million to the tories. he reportedly said the labour mp diane abbott made him want to "hate all black women" and "should be shot". the bbc hasn't verified those comments. he's admitted being rude about her — but says it had nothing to do with her gender or skin colour. diane abbott was the first black woman to become an mp. there are now calls for the conservatives

to hand back the money — but the prime minister's resisted that. some other stories now. us lawmakers have passed a bill that could lead to a ban on tiktok across america. they want the apps chinese parent company to sell its american operations within six months. it's over concerns that tiktok could share us users' data with the chinese government. that's been rejected by tiktok, though. the bill will now go to the senate for final approval. next — people with distinctive facial hair, body piercings and tattoos are being urged to answer an appeal by sight loss charity guide dogs. so, basically, they want more of these people to work with the guide dogs so they can expose the puppies to lots of different things around them. time to leave you with 10 seconds of mcdonalds scented perfume. no, really — the maccy�*s injapan is releasing a new line of perfumes inspired by maccy�*s chips. i mean, i hope my boyfriend doesn't get any ideas for it.

i can't imagine that would smell too good. you're all caught up now, see you later. hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm gavin ramjaun. late drama in the champions league — we'll tell

you who has made the last eight of the competition. a shock at indian wells, as world number two aryna sabalenka is beaten. and rory mcilroy urges golf to come together for the sake of the fans ahead of the players�* championship. i think if you just unify the game, that would be great for the fans. hello there and welcome along to sportsday. the quarter final line—up for the champions league is complete after more late drama saw atletico madrid seal their spot in the last eight, after beating inter on penalties. inter went 1—0 up, thanks to federico dimarco's first—half goal. but atletico levelled and went ahead on the night, thanks to memphis depay�*s brilliant late finish. that made the score 2—2 on aggregate, and it was still level

after extra—time. and from the resulting spot—kicks,