the rise of hands—free driving — but can the technology be trusted? welcome to world business report. we start in turkey, where results in local elections have dealt a surprising blow to president erdogan and his governing ak party. the main opposition party is claiming victory after voting in 81 provinces. the economy was a major issue for voters, with inflation close to an eye—watering 70%. i'm nowjoined by dr ibrahim unal mis, who is professor of economics, at bachay—sheyhir university and is a former economist with the central bank. thank you so much forjoining us. what do these results mean, then, for turkey? i what do these results mean, then, for turkey?— for turkey? i think the results of send a very _

for turkey? i think the results of send a very clear _ for turkey? i think the results of send a very clear signal - for turkey? i think the results of send a very clear signal to - send a very clear signal to policymakers because just after nine months of the presidential elections, support for the current policy makers has declined significantly. and this is mainly i think because of the high inflation and persistent inflation and declining purchasing power of the middle class and lower income classes, that is i think the main reason of declining support for the policymakers. d0 reason of declining support for the policymakers-_ reason of declining support for the policymakers. do you think that this rebuff at the — policymakers. do you think that this rebuff at the polls _ policymakers. do you think that this rebuff at the polls will _ policymakers. do you think that this rebuff at the polls will type - rebuff at the polls will type president adam nunn�*s hands when it comes to reforming the economy? i think the signal is well received by the policymakers because both the finance minister and president erdogan reiterated that the current

policies will continue, so it means that they will continue to rebalance the economy and return back to sustainable growth for the turkish economy. when we look at the market reaction today for these announcements, the markets have also the scenario, so the markets took it as a positive sign. d0 the scenario, so the markets took it as a positive sign.— as a positive sign. do you think that the government _ as a positive sign. do you think that the government enjoys . as a positive sign. do you think| that the government enjoys the as a positive sign. do you think- that the government enjoys the faith of the turkish people and its institutions when it comes to reforming the economy? these results seem to suggest not.— seem to suggest not. actually, when we look at the _ seem to suggest not. actually, when we look at the current _ seem to suggest not. actually, when

we look at the current state - seem to suggest not. actually, when we look at the current state of - seem to suggest not. actually, when we look at the current state of the i we look at the current state of the turkish economy and the current global economy, i think there's not much room the current policymakers to change the course of the economy. in the last couple of years, we have unfermented several different policies, and these policies actually resulted in high inflation and declining economy growth at the end. so after all, we returned back to orthodox policies in order to rebalance the economy. so when i look at the current state of the turkish economy and of the global economy, i don't think that there is much room to make a u—turn from the orthodox policies and return back to experimental unorthodox forces.

speaking of which, i think a lot of people around the world struggle with high interest rates, interest rates at 50% in turkey, how on earth can people cope with that? idietitian rates at 5096 in turkey, how on earth can people cope with that? when you look at the history _ can people cope with that? when you look at the history of _ can people cope with that? when you look at the history of the _ can people cope with that? when you look at the history of the turkish - look at the history of the turkish economy between 1980 and 2000, we have actually created very high inflation rates, and after 2004, we managed to reduce the inflation rates to single digits up to 2018. so we turkish people have significantly expertise on living with high inflation and high interest rates, notjust the people but actually the real sector as well. so we have some experience, but at the end we know that even if we can manage to live in such high

inflation environment, it is not sustainable, and we know that high inflation will curb the economy's growth in the medium to long term, it will definitely have negative impacts on the distribution of income. ., ~ , ., impacts on the distribution of income. ., ~ i. impacts on the distribution of income. ., ~ . ., impacts on the distribution of income. ., . ., income. thank you so much for your insiuhts. income. thank you so much for your insights. thank _ income. thank you so much for your insights. thank you _ income. thank you so much for your insights. thank you for _ income. thank you so much for your insights. thank you forjoining - income. thank you so much for your insights. thank you forjoining us. . the long awaited arrival of self—driving cars appears to be hitting a bit of a speed bump. it turns out they're much harder to introduce than expected. so we're seeing more hands—free driving systems on our roads instead. most major car companies offer them, but exactly how safe is hands—free driving? michelle fleury reports from new york. the road to the cars of the future is bumpier than we thought. one stop on thatjourney is hands—free driving. i think this is my ride. hello. are you cody? michelle. nice to meet you. i got to see gm's super cruise in action out on the roads of new york city.

so we're turning on super cruise. we have a green indication on the wheel and we can take our hands off the wheel. tech that literally takes the driving out of your hands. it's especially nice on long road trips, you know. so that was fun seeing the system in action. but there are so many words out there at the moment, like driverless, autopilot, hands—free. and it's sowing a lot of confusion in the minds of the public. these are not self driving vehicles. these are partial driving automation systems that are intended to assist you and make some of the driving a little more convenient. new testing by the insurance institute for highway safety found that many of these hands—free systems aren't doing enough to monitor drivers' behaviour. the findings were a little disappointing. out of the 14 systems we tested, 11 of those received

poor ratings from us. a couple of miles uptown is the new york auto show, one of the industry's great display of its ideas for the future. none of the brands here earned a top rating. only one got an acceptable score. the lexus team—mate. growing concerns over these systems led to this exchange with the head of america's travel safety regulator. if it's only designed to be operated in a certain type of environment, it should be limited to those environments. to raise awareness, general motors has launched a public education campaign. the us car giant wants to make it clear to drivers what is and isn't allowed when driving hands free. we want to gain their trust and their confidence in the system, so we don't want to outpace them to where they don't trust the technology. the technology is meant to support the driver and prevent car crashes and injuries. an ambition that won't be realised if the humans behind the wheel become distracted.

michelle fleury, bbc news, new york. the boss of japan's nippon steel has defended plans to buy america's second biggest steel producer. the deal to buy us steel was agreed in december, but the white house says the company should stay in american hands. the japanese firm is calling for its roots in the united states to be recognised. here's our business reporter, david waddell. here he is, the new president of nippon steel, tadashi imai. he takes up post today and on the top of his in—tray a tricky assignment. the $14 billion purchase of us steel. a deal has been agreed, but it's united these two president biden and his predecessor, president trump. donald trump has said he'll block the deal if he's re—elected later this year. and president biden last month noted it's been an iconic american steel company for more than a century. and he said it's vital for it to remain an american steel company that is domestically owned and operated in common the white house sees steel as critical to national security. there are concerns, too, aboutjobs in a company which employs 22,000 people,

14,000 in the us alone. and the iconic status cannot be overstated. at one time, us steel was both the biggest steel maker and the world's first billion dollar corporation. for nippon steel argued that his company's deep roots in the united states be recognised. the japanese firm has about 4000 employees there. it also had, he said, about 2000 steel patents in north america, whilst most us steel makers had about 200 each. he's argued that nippon is the most useful partner for us steel seeking to grow in the united states and promised to move the company's headquarters to pittsburgh, where us steel is based. but these arguments may hold little sway with the two men seeking first to court the american public in the months ahead. we've all been there — booked a flight for one price, then found that we've been charged a lot more because of all the additional charges. the americans call it sticker shock.

you may well call it something else. a recent study by the revenue consultants ideaworks revealed that airlines earned almost $118 billion from hidden charges last year, with baggage fees alone surging to $33 billion. tourism and aviation expert anita mendi ratta tells us how fees are calculated. many airlines, as we know — the low—cost carriers in particular — are using what is called a la carte pricing. so when you actually buy your airline ticket, you can pay for if you want seat selection, if you want to order a meal in advance and if you want to register in baggage. because, ultimately, it's important to remember that aviation, while we see the airline tickets increasing, their costs are increasing exponentially because of fuel, because of labour increases. and, last year, iata — the international air transport association — registered a net margin of only 2.7%, and it's very unusual to even get that level. so they're not really hiding

the fees — it's very much about managing the pricing that is going into keeping us all in the air and keeping us travelling. the costing regime is changing very much again because of the cost of operating the airlines itself. ultimately, excess baggage means excess fuel, which puts pressure on the price of actually keeping the airlines in the air, so it's not... so, it's a tricky one because it is not necessarily hiding it — it's simply managing the ability to get the airlines moving again, having, during covid, over14,000 commercial aircraft grounded. so, to be able to get the airlines back in the air, they have to make very smart choices — both in terms of human cargo and cargo in the belly of the aircraft. and when it comes to people travelling, people are carrying more and more, so it is a way of actually managing the amount that people carry with them, to be able to manage the cost of the aircraft and also the labour that's required to keep the bags moving, both into the aircraft, out and back into our hands when we arrive at our destination.

in other news, manufacturing activity in china expanded for the first time in six months in march, according to official figures. the news offers some relief to policymakers — but the crisis in the property sector still remains a drag on the world's second largest economy. hong kong saw a 14% drop in cargo shipped through its port in 2023 as it lost out to rivals in mainland china and south east asia. it's the biggest percentage drop among the world's largest ports, according to the drewry consultancy. hong kong used to be the busiest port in the world but has now slipped to 10th place that's all from me. sport is next.

hello from the bbc sport centre. jannik sinner has described being the new world number two as very special.

he climbed the rankings by beating gregor dimitrov in straight sets to win the miami 0pen. the 22—year—old italian won the australian open injanuary and has been beatenjust once this year. that was by carlos alcaraz in indian wells. the number two is an amazing feeling. i never doubt to come to this point, i come from a very normalfamily, my dad is this point, i come from a very normal family, my dad is still working, as my mum does, so it is very... sport is one thing in life is different, so i'm very happy to be in this position, i am just enjoying every moment, these are special days, winning a tournament does not matter what kind of tournament, it is a special day. so it means a lot to me. england have won the first one—day international against new zealand, largeley thanks to a superb unbeaten 92 from amyjones. they'd slumped to 79—6 in wellington, chasing the hosts total of 207, before being rescued by a record