hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm mariko oi. tensions in the middle east have escalated, after iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles towards israel. almost all the weapons were shot down by israeli, american and allied forces. iran's attacks were in response to a suspected israeli strike on iran's embassy compound in syria at the beginning of the month. this is the first time iran has attacked israel directly, although the two countries have been at loggerheads for years. all this will rattle investors and oil markets. the nikkei index is down by more than i% this morning.

hong kong has started trading this morning and have opened lower— this morning and have opened lower as — this morning and have opened lower as well, as has australia's market. business reporter suranjana tewari is across the story from oui’ newsroom. oil prices expected to rise at the start of the asia trading day. although a lot of this has been priced in. on friday, oil prices were at a six—month high. that's because investors really expected that iran would retaliate on that suspected israeli attack at the beginning of the month. traders say any gains will depend on the scale of israel's response. i think we'll see volatility, i think that will be on the framework. if there were to be some sort of counter move by israel, i think that would rocket markets very much to the upside as far as crude oil and the us dollar as a safe haven. we see how this all plays

with it, but i do expect the markets to appreciate in value, itjust depends on how significant this response is going to be. or is it any response from israel? shipping that oil could also be affected. around a fifth of the world consumption of oil goes through that region, through the strait of hormuz. we know that cargo shipping and trade has already been affected by red sea attacks. take a look at this map — airlines the other industry that are likely to be affected. so many flights already diverted from iran and iran's airspace as a result. lots of delays across the board over the weekend. israel airlines do say that operations are returning to normal, they've reopened their airspace. but most foreign carriers have had to delay flights between europe and asia, the regional carriers also cancelling flights tojordan and israel. lufthansa, one of the few airlines that flies into iran,

has suspended all flights until april 18th. we will have to see how that pans out for airlines and the passengers that have been affected as well. more on the conflict in the middle east on the website. germany's chancellor has warned iran against further attacks on israel. events in the middle east have overshadowed the start of his three—day trip to china, during which olaf scholz is expected to meet president xijinping. his visit is aimed at addressing complaints from german businesses over chinese trade practices and beijing's support for russia. china is germany's top trading partner. maximilan butek of the industry group, the german chamber of commerce in china, said the visit could help defuse tensions between the countries.

this visit is quite important, as business not only chinese business but foreign business, quite unsure how the situation is going to continue, and as you already mentioned germany and china have strong trade relations and we hope the chancellor can address the most pressing topics to solve these challenges. so that our relations keep stable. the eu is carrying out several investigations into chinese tech export as well as subsidies, beijing is not too happy about that. it's quite understandable. that's what we from the business side, we lobby, we have to do everything that the chinese market remains open for us. currently if you look into the automotive market the chinese market is way more important to keep secure rather than the influence that chinese ev has on our european market. we have to find a good balance.

speaking of the auto sector, german companies have joint ventures with chinese businesses, don't they? is that still going smoothly or are these trade tensions starting to affect partnerships? there are even more partnerships going on, german companies continuing to invest because we're not only needing the market here in china for our sales and revenue, but also it became more important part of the innovation ecosystem. this is only possible if we go into partner with the chinese companies, to get knowledge from that. we talked about subsidy and tech experts — what about concerns of technology transfer as well as intellectual property? could be a serious concern for german businesses? they are of concern but less relevant as chinese companies in some areas are so advanced that it's also what we can learn from them. it's rather more about access to government networks, keep operation smooth rather then

the ip challenges we're having. now we come to a stage where a lot of chinese companies can actually cooperate with us on a high level. and therefore become rather competition then the copycat we knew from the past. we need to find a new way of how we deal with chinese companies in the future. the founder of e—vehicle maker nio has urged the us to be more open to competition. william li made the remarks during a rare speech at harvard university, adding that an open market will benefit the industry. he cited tesla's success in china, where the us auto—maker has sold close to 1.4 million evs over the last three years. american politicans are seeking to restrict china's access to its auto industry, with some calling for tariffs on chinese evs. as india goes into election mode, its economy is very much in focus. incumbent prime minister narendra modi is riding on the plank of massive infrastructure development — roads, highways and metro lines are being built at a pace

some say is reminiscent of china's heyday. the bbc�*s nikhil inamdar sent this report from eastern indian city of kolkata. kolkata — a city of rusty trams and trafficjams. crossing this stretch across the mighty river usually takes up to 30 minutes. but a shiny new underwater metro line has just come into operation. significantly reducing travel time. so this is india's first underwater metro line and we've just plunged about 100 feet under the river that connects kolkata with the twin cities of howrah. this is just one example of the ambitious

upgrade that many of india's creaky public infrastructure assets are finally getting. a swanky bullet train is another. it's a showpiece project of prime minister narendra modi. the upcoming $15 billion high speed rail route will connect india's financial capital, mumbai, with ahmedabad in gujarat. the infrastructure blitz has been a key driver of india's galloping gdp, and projects are getting completed faster than ever. the timelines have shrunk. timelines, which used to be five years, six years, seven years. so i'll come to two years, two and a half years, three years in terms of logistics, if you look at it, india hasjumped 38 places higher. crisscrossing the country to unveil these mega projects has been india's prime minister, narendra modi.

his government has spent over $100 billion every year for the last three, building highways and sea bridges. this infrastructure focus is expected to pay rich election dividends for the prime minister. but has it come at the expense of other parts of india's economy? agriculture hasn't done well, and agriculture supports a large part of the population, so the rural incomes suffer because of that. the other area which is a little weak is the consumption, private consumption. the household consumption growth is not even half of the overall gdp growth, but overall it's a good story. mr modi will be hoping his infrastructure bet will spur large—scale industrial growth and create jobs. a major missing piece in india's growth story.

nikhil inamdar, bbc news, kolkata. before we go, shareholders of us steel have approved a sale to nippon steel. more than 98% of shareholders voted in favour of the deal under which the japanese company will pay $55 per share for the us steel—maker. it brings the sale, which is worth nearly $15 billion, a step close despite political opposition in the us. and that's it for this edition of asia business report. thanks for watching.

hello there, i'm 0lly foster. here's what's coming up for you on sportsday. it's party time for bayer leverkusen as they clinch their first bundesliga title. the title race has taken a twist in the premier league, arsenal and liverpool losing ground on manchester city. and tsitsipas masters the clay in monte carlo for a third time.

hello there. bayer leverkusen are bundesliga champions for the first time in their i20—year history. the 5—0 win over werder bremen to clinch the title was all the sweeter because it came in front of their own fans. they've done it with five games to spare as well in what has been an incredible season, and they're still unbeaten in all competitions, with the potential for more trophies as well, in the german cup and the europa league. alex fletcher reports. scenes like this are rare in leverkusen. a first bundesliga title secured in style. when xabi alonso took over 18 months ago, they were in the relegation zone. how times can change. victor boniface setting them on their way from 12 yards after var had intervened to award a penalty.

and things would only get better.