hello and welcome to asia business report. us presidentjoe biden and speaker kevin mccarthy say they have come to a deal, in an agreement to raise the debt ceiling after weeks of bitter negotiations. now both sides need to convince members of congress in their own parties for the legislation to be approved. the bill is seen as a compromise by some members of both parties, and has been criticised by hardline republicans and progressive democrats. this is president biden addressing journalists a short time ago. we have reached a bipartisan budget agreement and now we are ready to move to the full congress. i think it's a really important step forward. it takes the threat of catastrophic default off the table and protects our hard—earned and historic economic recovery. it also represents a compromise

that gives no—one everything they want, but that's the responsibility of governing. this is a deal and it's good news, i believe, for the american people. the agreement prevents the worst possible crisis, a default for the first time in our nation's history. the two parties have untiljune 5th to reach an agreement to prevent the us government running out of money. our correspondent in washington jessica parker has more. this deal is set to raise the debt ceiling for two years. that's a big win for the white house. why? well, it means that, forjoe biden, who of course is seeking re—election in the 2024 presidential race, he won't have to face this political drama, instability, brinkmanship, right in the run—up to that presidential election, so he'll be pleased with that. but the republicans are trying to say they've chalked up wins in terms of policy, so they are talking about, for example, kevin mccarthy, the house speaker, that there will be curbs on spending. he's talked about how there will be tougher work requirements for some people

in receipt of food assistance, food stamps. and there's going to be less money than planned going to the internal revenue service. that money part of a democratic push to crack down on tax evasion by wealthy people and corporations. the hard sell is on, on both sides. joe biden will try and persuade his democratic caucus in congress to get behind this deal, and kevin mccarthy will try and persuade his republican colleagues as well. however, it already looks like there are some mumblings and grumblings on both sides, particularly from the right wing of the republican party and the left wing of the democratic party. however, joe biden and kevin mccarthy are talking confidently about trying to get this thing through congress, the house and the senate. but of course, they don't have much time. the deadline given by the us treasury isjune 5th. so what does this

development mean for asia? i put that question to catherine yeung. in terms of what it's going to do for asian markets, it's really going to erase some of the negative sentiment. this indecisiveness has put a bit of a dampener that we are seeing... inaudible. the big countries in this part of the world, china, japan, big holders of us treasuries, so what will this mean for them moving forward? absolutely. $2 trillion worth. we look at those countries, they make up over a quarter of the outstanding monies owed. definitely relief for those governments knowing some kind of arrangement has been made.

given the fragile state of the world, the last thing we need concern about potential default, which would have ramifications elsewhere as well as asia. the turkish lira has dropped to a new record low after the electoral authorities in the country declared president recep tayyip erdogan the winner of the presidential election run—off. he will serve another five year term, taking his rule into a third decade. he has presided over turkey during a period of economic crisis. the country's inflation rate is currently over 40% although it has been dropping in recent months. but in his victory speech, he said battling the rising costs of living is turkey's most urgent issue but that it is not difficult to solve, and it will continue to fall. we spoke to the head of research at anz bank in australia.

i think it's a sort of vote of confidence but we have to look at the interest rates, deeply negative... currencies like the lira, we have to look at the foreign exchange reserve. at the end of the day, political stability is a big driver of capital flows so hopefully this will give investors some hopes, particularly foreigners into the currency, but we have to watch how the market reacts. financial markets are closed for public holidays in the us and uk. hong kong reports trade data from april as they recover from extended coded lockdowns. —— covid lockdowns. china saw a

contraction in manufacturing activity last month. south korea reports its trade balance for may on thursday morning. key data from the us is expected to show continued job growth. in singapore, the state investor says it has cut compensation for the team that recommended investing in the collapsed crypto exchange ftx. the chairman said although there was no misconduct involved, they are ultimately responsible for the investment decision made. they did not detail the amount of compensation cut. six months ago, an internal investigation was launched after $275 million was launched after $275 million was lost from the investment. in other news, china's first domestically manufactured large passenger jet has successfully

completed its maiden commercialflight. state tv showed it rising to the skies above shanghai. it was on its way to beijing. it was built by the commercial aviation corporation of china, which is attempting to break the dominance of the airbus and boeing. the 164 seater still relies heavily on western components, including engines and avionics. with the pandemic seeing many re—evaluate their lives and make career pivots, how many of us know where our careers will end up, when we start out in the world of work? one person whose career has taken quite a pivot is thomas dolby, who started as a star in the 19805 in synth pop, now he is a professor of music. up next, thomas dolby, or to put it another way, here comes thomas dolby. in the 19805 onwards, i was a songwriter, a singer. a synthesist. later in my career,

i moved into technology and had a high—tech company in silicon valley called beatnik. i'm also a singer songwriter, i could play most of my songs on the piano and sing. i'm not a good drummer. one day i was out at a club and i saw an empty dance floor with red and green lights flashing in time to the music and i thought, i wonder how they do that? there was a disco lighting console, i was able to get my hands on one and adapt it to play the drums for me. when you listen to she blinded me with science... i got friendly with people making digital software for computers. i would request new features and eventually started consulting for them, and then formed my own software company once i got hooked. this was the early days of the internet, there were venture capitalists roaming silicon valley looking for any kind of wacky idea that you could sketch out

on the back of an envelope and they would pull out their cheque book. when the bubble burst at the end of the dot—com era, a lot of little start—ups went by the wayside and we probably would have done the same if it wasn't for one deal we had with nokia phones. nokia remembers because it's human to forget... _ when you hear the dreaded nokia ring tone, coming out of a beatnik synthesiser... nokia ringtone every time that things would go off in an airport lounge, everybody would frown. yes, i felt responsible, but not in a good way! i think the skills and the craft we learn in one field are not redundant when you move to a different field. they sort of inform the choices you make, but i've always been stimulated by being in an area where i didn't know what the heck i was doing. i find that much more stimulating and i feel creative when i am floundering a little bit. i've always had restlessness

to move onto the next thing. thomas dolby. the manufacturer behind mars bars are turning back the clock by ditching plastic wrappers in favour of paper. close to 100 years ago they were wrapped in paper and plastic packaging was not introduced until 1977, the change, which isjust a pilot at the moment, is an attempt to be environmentally friendly. goodbye for now. sally has been an hgv driver forjust over a year. she only drives in the day but says finding somewhere decent and safe to park is difficult. some have got good parking, others haven't. in the day, it's not so bad, but i know i wouldn't

feel safe at night. i have done one night out alongside my husband. we had to park on the side of the road. moreton runs his family haulage firm in gloucestershire and is chair of the road haulage association. he has handed a petition to downing street calling for safer and more secure truck stops around the country, at a time when thefts from lorries across the industry over £400 million per year. the figure is growing. most of us wouldn't work in offices without proper toilets, welfare facilities, a kitchen to have our lunch and those things. these truck drivers don't have that. they have modern trucks, decent beds, fridges, microwaves and such like, but they still need somewhere to stop. the road haulage association says better facilities for drivers are needed urgently. it believes 11,000 safe and secure spaces are needed right now across the country.

in a few months, baby helena will have the first of numerous surgeries to repair her cleft lip and palate, a condition that means the tissue in her mouth didn't fuse together as it should have. her mum and dad received the diagnosis at the 20—week scan. the family are being talked through the procedure using an augmented reality app, which uses 3d visuals to show parents what will happen to their baby. professor stephen lowe came up with the idea. i was inspired by the harry potter newspapers that come alive. 20% of people in the uk are functionally illiterate and can't read or write,

about 10% have dyslexia. so if we just give them the written leaflets, we exclude quite a large percentage of the population. for things like cleft lip and other reconstruction, the surgery is complex, three—dimensional, and augmented reality suits it really well. the team says the feedback from the trial has been positive and they are looking to develop the technology for other procedures like breast reconstruction after cancer. as for little helena, she won't remember any of this but her mum and dad say better understanding of surgery has brought them some comfort. hello, here's the latest from the bbc sports centre. the final reckoning — premier league relegation for leeds united and leicester city. max verstappen masters the streets of monaco and the weather to extend his

lead in the formula 1 standings.