of a sooner—than—later interest rate cut, sending wall street to new highs. china looks to central asia to boost diplomatic and economic ties, amid a frosty relationship with the west. hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. another record day on wall street with the s&p 500 and the take heavy nasdaq hitting a new record high. the rally comes after weaker economic data boosted hopes for interest rate cuts as the bbc�*s north america business correspondent michelle fleury explains. wall street's record—breaking rally, what drove it, investors digested several reports pointing to a slowing economy. hiring by private employers were higher injune,

a report on service sector activity from the institute of supply management was also negative. but rather than wearing investors, it boosted traders hope that this would be enough to convince america central bank to cut interest rates sooner. the market was also lifted by tesla, shares in the electric car maker rose 65%, day after reporting a milder drop in sales for the spring than analysts had feared. it was one of the strongest forces, pushing out the s&p 500 along with al darling nvidia. a reminder, all us markets are closed on thursday in observance of the fourth ofjuly holiday. but it will be back to business as usual on friday when the labour department releases its all—important june jobs department releases its all—importantjunejobs report. all—important june jobs report. microsoft will all—importantjunejobs report. microsoft will pay $40 million to settle claims that it illegally paralysed workers based in california who took medical family care leave. the

lawsuit was brought forward by the californian civil rights department which alleges detect giant denied employees, races, promotions and stock awards since 2017. according to court files, the employees were largely women and people with disability. microsoft has issued a statement any wrongdoing. now she seemed being met with vladimir putin in because it's done. this is a second meeting in lesson two meetings and took place in the silence of the shanghai cooperation organisation summit which was founded by both countries back in 2001. ——xi jinping. infact, president countries back in 2001. ——xi jinping. in fact, president xi developed the project in because of some more than a decade ago. trade between china and central asia is worth more than $89 billion with because of son being the biggest trading partner in the region. now from special—eurasia explain why beijing was taking

such a vested interest in central asia especially now. the first reason is central asia to reach european markets is the main reason and to support both initiatives. it is also the reason why china has invested a huge amount of money as you remember before in the region. another reason is that if china can stabilise, they can avoid security problems to the chinese.— the chinese. there's a lot of -la for the chinese. there's a lot of play for china _ the chinese. there's a lot of play for china when - the chinese. there's a lot of play for china when it - the chinese. there's a lot of| play for china when it comes and central asia, notjust and central asia, not just economic and central asia, notjust economic interest? and central asia, not “ust economic interest?h and central asia, not “ust economic interest? not “ust economy. there * economic interest? not “ust economy. there is i economic interest? not “ust economy. there is also h economic interest? notjust economy. there is also - i economic interest? notjust i economy. there is also - that economy. there is also — that was in the past, news and information that china was building facilities which is a regent, also, china pushed the cooperation in defence sector because china needs to stabilise the region, also defeats a problem with

neighbouring afghanistan particular after to withdraw from the country in 2021. ib�*i�*id�* from the country in 2021. byd is opening _ from the country in 2021. byd is opening its _ from the country in 2021. byd is opening its first _ from the country in 2021. byd is opening its first factory in southeast asia on thursday. the facility will be in thailand with plans to produce 150,000 vehicles a year they will be exported elsewhere in the region and to europe. the opening also comes in the first day that chinese eb makers gear up day that chinese eb makers gear up to face new tariffs in europe which is one of china's most important export markets. indonesia has also just opened its first battery cell production plant, the new factory in western java is a joint venture with battery producer lg energy solution and car maker. it is estimated to produce enough battery sells for 50,000 electric vehicles in a year. indonesia is pushing to become an ev manufacturing hub in southeast asia, averaging iron and nickel which are crucial to the production process. let's talk about weight loss drugs because all

of them have become worldwide heads for the pharmaceutical maker. 0ver heads for the pharmaceutical maker. over the past year, shares in the danish drugmakers have risen by more than 80% and it's now europe's most valuable this ofjust last it's now europe's most valuable this of just last week, it's now europe's most valuable this ofjust last week, they were approved in china which by some estimates has higher as the highest number of people who are considered overweight or obese. mike samuels explains the impacts these new grant — my drugs would have on the healthcare system.- my drugs would have on the healthcare system. both type ii diabetes and bct _ healthcare system. both type ii diabetes and bct which - healthcare system. both type ii diabetes and bct which is - healthcare system. both type ii diabetes and bct which is the l diabetes and bct which is the condition is treated by these medicines are some of the most financially burdensome on health system across the world. in the uk, for example, the cost alone is around £65 billion annually and around a third of those costs are borne directly by the national health service. these are crippling costs for any health service around the world. in

costs for any health service around the world.— costs for any health service around the world. in a recent data that _ around the world. in a recent data that you _ around the world. in a recent data that you describe - around the world. in a recent data that you describe the i data that you describe the first wave of generic weight loss medicine as transformative opportunity for public health, how so? , . , ., how so? these medicines are - been limited _ how so? these medicines are - been limited because _ how so? these medicines are - been limited because they've . been limited because they've been limited because they've been protected and too expensive for health services around the world to afford a large number. but the pattern that we saw last week, we saw the first generic versions which are more affordable launched. it's usually between 70 and cheaper than the original although the medicine is identical. so in the uk and around 5% of descriptions — my prescriptions are paid by the national health service and overnight % —— over 90% are paid for by people privately.

so these drugs to be made more affordable means far more patience and more countries around the world will be able to benefit from.— around the world will be able to benefit from. mcdonald's has been forced _ to benefit from. mcdonald's has been forced to _ to benefit from. mcdonald's has been forced to shorten - to benefit from. mcdonald's has been forced to shorten its - been forced to shorten its breakfast timings in australia by 90 minutes, amid a shortage of eggs thanks to a bird flu outbreak. the disease has been making the rounds in the country over the past few months, forcing authorities to euthanise over a million affected hands. in a statement, mcdonald said they were working hard with farmers across australia and the supplies to return back to normal as soon as possible. turning to edition that dominates boardrooms around world, renumeration. although the difference and the pay of men and women is narrowing, a recent report by the world economic forum found that it could take five generations for women to be paid as much as men. we caught up paid as much as men. we caught up with the organisation's managing director who first shared which country has been leading the way in gender pay

parity. 0ne winner is iceland which is not only the number—1 country in the world but has essentially been beating its own record for last 15 years because it's closed more than 90% of its gender gap. and as to this day, the only country to this day, the only country to have done so. other countries in the nordic�*s and in general, europe, do fairly well too, there are some countries that are lower income economies that have made it into the top 20 and that's because while they are lower in some countries, they're some countries, they�* re distributing some countries, they're distributing the resources and opportunities fairly well and that should set them up for greater growth in the future. the essential ways that happens in terms of human capital development from more countries in the world, that in a lot of investment on health and education but there is still barriers when it comes to

joining the workforce. the second element is what happens inside organisations once women havejoined the inside organisations once women have joined the workforce and thatis have joined the workforce and that is where there is a significant, what we coal dropped to the top from the entry level through to this this week. the third element is the structural changes that we are seeing today happening in most markets in most labor markets, a lot of them being driven by technology, the professions that are growing in the future, especially steam driven professions tend to have a smaller pipeline of women going in and then the second element is the types of professions that have been disrupted by technology, happen to be those professions that in the last couple of decades have provided livelihoods to women. it's less about gender pay parity but a little bit more of an opportunity to see if more female leaders potentially end

“p female leaders potentially end up getting elected through this major changes that are taking place that will be affecting nearly 3 billion people across 60 countries. 0verall, nearly 3 billion people across 60 countries. overall, the structure and political systems looks very similar to what is happening in the workplace in the sense that at local levels of government, only about 35% of government, only about 35% of roles are occupied by women and when it comes to the head of state or government, is under 15% over the last half century or so. so we are talking about a long way to go and this is of course not equal representation. mrs user and updates —— for more updates, go to the website including why the regulator is going after matter. and see you again in the next hour.

hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm gavin ramjaun. sinner makes it count in his all—italian centre court battle with berrettini. the world number one showing his class to progress at wimbledon. britain's emma raducanu looks impressive — she reaches the third round of a grand slam since lifting the 2021 us open title three years ago. and manx magic — mark cavendish breaks the record for tour de france stage wins, overhauling the great eddy merckx. hello there, and welcome along to the programme. we'll start with an update from wednesday's wimbledon to come. but what a treat in the late

match on centre court