hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. let's begin in the middle east, where negotiators are set to make a fresh push for a ceasefire in the war between israel and gaza. israeli said it would send a delegation to qatar for a new round of discussions, even as it rejected hamas�*s latest proposal for a truce. geopolitical tensions are a risk for the martime industry as the houthi rebels have kept up attacks on ships in the red sea. we spoke to peter tirschwell, vice president of maritime and trade at s&p global market intelligence. i think that the way we should look at it is to say that this is certainly a maritime disruption. it's certainly a supply chain disruption. it is far less clear that it is a trade disruption. it does not seem to be

an economic obstruction. so you're not seeing such impact as we're here for them any impact for us in more broadly in the region? very broadly economic impact. we continue to believe that the growth of the apac region excluding china and japan will be 4.3% up from 4.0%, so an acceleration of growth in 202a. if you read the report of our economics team there is virtually no mention of the red sea as having an economic impact. certainly it has a supply chain impact in the sense that orders have to be placed earlier and transit times are longer. it's harder to forecast if the time between when you order and when you sell your goods is longer by two to four weeks. in general we're not seeing a huge economic disruption in this region.

how have they managed to accommodate this or navigate what's been happening over there and being able to mitigate it for the end consumer? the simple answer is capacity. during the pandemic, the ocean carriers ordered a lot of ships. they had a lot of cash on hand, their fleets were getting older, they needed to replenish their vessels with eco—friendly ships that are able to run on zero—carbon or lower—carbon fuels. they placed a massive amount of orders and those ships are now coming out of the shipyards are going into service. as a result, prior to this happening there was a quite a bit of overcapacity, the freight rates have cratered off their pandemic highs. so when the attacks started in mid december you had a lot of excess capacity that was able to fill in the gaps. so the outlook for the year ahead for singapore and the region fairly positive in your view? increasingly positive. our economists are

increasingly positive and the most recent report that came out in february showed accelerating growth. our pmi data, which takes an early look ahead of the official numbers, is showing increasingly positive trends. even if you ask the container lines, they see the volumes before anybody does, and even they are saying that the volumes are recovering. i think they are increasingly confident that 2024 could turn out to be a better year for international trade than they would've anticipated just a few months ago. they want the first ai assisted driving carfor they want the first ai assisted driving car for young they want the first ai assisted

driving carfor young people. driving car for young people. companies driving carfor young people. companies including b... meanwhile tesla has announced it will increase the price of its model why electric vehicles as it faces stiff competition for its competitors. starting on the 22nd of march customers in some european countries will pay roughly $2200 more for an ev and in the us prices will go up by $1000 on the 1st of april. tesla has warned of lower sales growth this year as it focuses on the production of its next—generation car. this week is a big one for central banks. we re expecting decisions on interest rates from the likes ofjapan, indonesia, the uk and the us. 0ne central bank that's changing things up is australia. its kicking off its first meeting, as part of its new schedule and in a breakfrom tradition, it will last for two days. our business reporter katie silver has more. as a young business journalist in australia, there is little

more exciting than 2.30 in the afternoon the first tuesday of every month. since 1981 that was when the reserve bank would release its interest—rate decision. other than injanuary when it can get a little sleepy. now the bank is changing things. they are meeting every six weeks, that's eight times a year. the meetings are going to be timed to related key data rather than a month. the meeting today is to coincide with the release of national accounts. the idea is by having more data collected over that slightly longer period the bank will be able to make more informed decisions about what they should do about rates. these rate decisions had huge impacts on homeowners, consumers and the economy as a whole. most of us are feeling that now more than ever. the more information that central bankers have, the better. they are also meeting for two days rather than one, which the new governor says is leading to more engagement and debate. they say they want to improve communication to the public too.

rather than dropping the news journalist are being brought into view the monetary policy document for an hour. and then the bank will hold a press conference to explain their decisions. the changes come after they made a couple of communication errors including saying that rates wouldn't rise before 2024, which of course they certainly did. that led to a review a couple of years ago. that review came out with 51 recommendations with the idea being that meeting should be more transparent and informed. as for what they'll do today, interest rates in australia are currently at 12—year high. unlike many central banks reserve bank in australia and signalled they might need more rate hikes coming. us steel is taking over nippon steel. the deal is facing scrutiny. last weekjoe biden explicitly opposed the deal and said us steel must remain domestically owned.

millions of muslims around the world are observing ramadan. these are live pictures from mecca. some employers in the uk are making adjustments to the workday to support those workers who are observing the holy month. the bbc�*s nina warhurst sent this report. around 800,000 items are sent from this warehouse every week. it's a busy workforce of around 1500 people and more than a quarter of them are british asian or pakistani. and one of those fasting over ramadan is manager rikaya. nine hours into your fast today. how are you feeling? honestly, ifeel 0k. being at work makes it go a lot quicker. you don't feel any hunger because you're too busy. like working, interacting with people. so you're managing a big, busy team. be honest. when they get on your nerves, does that hanger kick in? trust me, it does. it does massively.

but because i've been doing it for a very long time, i've managed to control. and in my religion, this month is all about controlling. it's all about being spiritual and being kind to people. when you talk to staff here who are fasting, they say they're used to it. they've been doing it since they were teenagers. but what's also interesting is talking to those who aren't fasting because they've been asked to be mindful of the fact that their colleagues might want to ask for shorter shifts. they might want to break out more frequently for prayer time, and they might feel those energy levels starting to dip in the afternoon. everyone received an email explaining over ramadan that muslims like miriam might pray more or book extra leave. and bosses say extra effort that they've put into relaxing the rota means productivity is protected. we haven't noticed that drop in productivity. i think it may be due to the staggered breaks. so when someone is feeling a little bit fatigued, they're able to take a break at the time that they choose.

so i was going to say you're on hour ten now. how are you feeling? do you know what? great. i don't have the afternoon slump that normally have after having having a lunch break. so i'm feeling very ready to go. but what about when you're fasting and working from home, close to the kids come to the fridge? 11th hour of fast now — how's the concentration levels ? they are good. i'm looking forward to having dinner. for me personally, it's actually more productive in ramadan. wow. i think i've found that the tea breaks, the lunch breaks, nipping out for a salad or something like that. i sacrifice that and i give it to my work. this year, adam's fasting for the first time. he's not enjoying the 4am alarms for breakfast, but we've got about three minutes to go until you evening meal. are you excited? yeah. what are you most excited about?

i'm excited to have the dates. yeah — and fruit salad. 00h, lovely. and your mum's chicken looks really good. can i have some? yeah. great. and we ask you to bless all of mankind. whoever they are, wherever they come from, we seek refuge in you, in our worst times and in our best times. an early night and an early morning will follow for a breakfast before the sun rises. less food, less sleep. but khaleel says a clearer mind to focus on work, family and faith. always a good thing. and that's it for this edition of asia business report. bbc news — bringing you different stories| from across the uk. ben and ruby have a special relationship, he has looked after her full six years but that nearly changed last year.

a car came around and clipped her. rearside. just a car came around and clipped her. rear side. just kept driving. i was left in the middle of the road on ruby, i had no idea she had a broken leg. anything could have happened to her. leg. anything could have ha ened to her. , ,, , happened to her. despite being struck by a _ happened to her. despite being struck by a moving _ happened to her. despite being struck by a moving vehicle, - struck by a moving vehicle, they are both 0k and have managed to ride again since. but for ben, it made him reconsider where he takes her and when. reconsider where he takes her and when-— and when. you think could it ha en and when. you think could it happen again? _ and when. you think could it happen again? they - and when. you think could it happen again? they know i and when. you think could it. happen again? they know when something is up, and it took the fun out of it for a while. this is something many riders are concerned about. emily runs are concerned about. emily runs a riding school in warwickshire and says heading out on the roads can be a challenge. a, and says heading out on the roads can be a challenge. a lot is only accessible _ roads can be a challenge. a lot is only accessible by _ roads can be a challenge. a lot is only accessible by main - is only accessible by main roads. there have been incidents over the years, i'm fortunate no serious incidents, but when you are running horses, orwhen but when you are running horses, or when we have clients, it can be very dangerous.— clients, it can be very dancerous. ., , , dangerous. motorists and riders are bein: dangerous. motorists and riders are being asked _ dangerous. motorists and riders are being asked to _ dangerous. motorists and riders

are being asked to report - are being asked to report incidents to the bhs so they can keep the network safe. in north staffordshire, ben and ruby are hoping to put their near miss behind them.

drinking water bubbling up from underground. it's mid—morning in redhill, and teams have already located the problem. thanks to ai technology which triggered an alarm just after 8am. triggered an alarm “ust after 8am. ., .., triggered an alarm “ust after 8am. ., , , ., triggered an alarm “ust after 8am. ., , , 8am. you can see the slow is auoin 8am. you can see the slow is going up _ 8am. you can see the slow is going up and _ 8am. you can see the slow is going up and down. - 8am. you can see the slow is going up and down. we - 8am. you can see the slow is going up and down. we have| 8am. you can see the slow is| going up and down. we have a prediction that goes along with the green line, which are saying, based upon the history, this is the flow we should be getting in that area at this time. you can see over here it started tojump, it time. you can see over here it started to jump, it has changed. as a result, the system noticed, it alerted the control room and generated an alarm. .,

control room and generated an alarm. _ , alarm. the way the system learns is — alarm. the way the system learns is by _ alarm. the way the system learns is by having - alarm. the way the system learns is by having gadgets alarm. the way the system i learns is by having gadgets in the ground. we learns is by having gadgets in the ground-— the ground. we have 1000 censors scattered - the ground. we have 1000 censors scattered across l the ground. we have 1000 i censors scattered across our entire area. because they are bringing back data every 15 minutes, it allows us to find bursts very quickly and get onto them for our customers are even where something is happening. even where something is happening-— even where something is haueninu. ., ., ., , happening. they know already the leak is _ happening. they know already the leak is on _ happening. they know already the leak is on a _ happening. they know already the leak is on a joint, - happening. they know already the leak is on a joint, a - happening. they know already the leak is on ajoint, a nine . the leak is on a joint, a nine centimetre plastic pipe that was laid in 2007. according to the regulator 0fwat, about a fifth of all fresh water running through pipes in england and wales is lost to leakage. there will be much interest in the annual leakage figures out later this year. hello and welcome to sportsday. a major moment for manchester united as they knock liverpool out of the fa cup with a goal in the 120th minute

and a 4—3 win. could this be the year bayer leverkusen win in the bundesliga ? they have a ten—point lead at the top, aiming for their first top—flight title. quick work in the california desert — swiatek beats sakkari in straight sets to win a second indian wells title. hello. it's been a thrilling weekend of quarter—final games in the fa cup, with the most dramatic match needing a 120th minute goal to separate two of the biggest clubs in the world. manchester united eventually beat rivals liverpool 4—3. patrick gearey has the details from old trafford. this place 0ld this place old trafford has seen some games over the years

but that was up there.