hello, and welcome to asia business report. i'm monica miller. let's start in the united states, where presidentjoe biden says he feels confident in getting his debt ceiling deal passed. both the president and kevin mccarthy need to get their parties to back the agreement, that includes compromises like putting a cap on spending for the 2024—25 budgets. washington has until june 5th to pass this, with the president saying he sees no reason why they shouldn't make the deadline. look, you know i never say i'm confident, but i feel very good about it. i've spoken to a number of members, i've spoken to mcconnell, i spoke to a whole bunch of people. and it feels good, we'll see when the vote starts. look, one of the things that

i hear some of you guys say is, "why didn't biden say what a good deal this is?" why would biden say what a good deal it is before a vote? you think that'll help it get passed? no. katrina els told me earlier that investors around the world are welcoming the news. so i think we've seen a collective sigh of relief coming from international markets as a result of this tentative deal breaking. i think it really cements the fact that we will avoid that more calamitous situation of a us default which would have been absolutely awful for the us economy, but also for really increasing and ramping up those global recession risks, as well. but now that looks like it's off the table, thank goodness. there were worries though that some of these spending cuts that were in this legislation would weigh on the us economy?

it'll only impact the margin when it comes to the growth perspective, meaning we are looking at fiscal policy being a bit less supportive over the next couple years, but i think if we had to weigh the benefits of a deal over these modest spending cuts, we would take the deal every time, because the deal itself has brought a lot of calm to financial markets, it's also meant that the us economy, those recession odds aren't escalating quickly, so it's certainly good news on that front and those spending cuts i would say will only be modest over the medium—term. now congress has a big task ahead of them to actually get this passed in a very divided congress — so have investors started to price in the chance that it will not meet that june 5th deadline? so i think there is that overwhelming optimism that the deal will actually pass before the deadline, so we won't get into that default situation. i think too much is at stake, so hopefully we can put a lot of the division that we've seen aside to actually get this deal passed, just because of the severe economic

implications of a deal not being able to be passed, the stakes are just too high at this point, and it looks like global markets as well are expecting that the deal will pass before the earlyjune deadline. rolls—royce and british aerospace systems have been accused of corruption by authorities in india who are investigating the sale of military aircraft to the indian government. rolls—royce says the company is continuing to assist the indian authorities. the bbc�*s india business correspondent reports. the charges relate to the aircraft procurement and manufacturing deals agreed from 2003—05 and executed until 2012. india's investigative agency says jet manufacturers paid commissions to middlemen in violation of indian defence contract rules.

they entered into a criminal agreement. the federal police document says unidentified public servants allegedly misused their positions and facilitated deals for 2h hawkjets, a deal in lieu of huge bribes, commissions and kickbacks. the deal valued over £1 billion at the time. what's important to note is that the uk and us anti—corruption agencies have earlier investigated rolls—royce for bribery, corruption and getting hawk aircraft deals. in india, china, russia and other countries. in 2017, the engineering giant without admission of guilt had paid £497 million to uk's serious fraud office, and another £170 million to us department ofjustice to settle these cases and avoid prosecution. now the federal police document in india, dated 23rd may, makes reference to the uk investigation and has named the two british firms and two private arms

dealers as accused. the company in a statement issued from london says it is assisting the indian authorities and says rolls—royce today is a fundamentally different business. "we will not tolerate business misconduct of any sort and our company is committed to maintaining high ethical standards." it's been two weeks since thailand's progressive party swept up a historic win in the general election. the election commission has two months to verify its results. but the longer it takes, the more concern grows over the ability to form a new government, and the thai baht has been falling for the third straight week against us dollar. there is expectation the tourism sector will help the country's post—covid recovery. despite the wide political differences that we see between parties, what was striking was that their key economic pledges were actually quite similar between the major

parties, and a lot of them focusing on populist measures. we do expect these to be temporary, so it would temporarily push the fiscal deficit, but it won't be a permanent one. that's good and bad in the sense that the financing costs might be manageable, but bad because it won't necessarily change the growth path in any significant way in the medium—term. and these measures could actually be at the expense of more public investment, which in our view is key to lift up growth in the medium—term. following calls from health organisations and medical professionals, australia is set to ban recreational vaping in the country as part of a major crackdown on what experts have called an epidemic. that means vape products can only be sold with a prescription. the new measures need to pass parliament before becoming law but, as phil mercerfinds out, there are fears this will only fuel a black market.

i can sell you the device, but not nicotine. australia's vape retailers are facing oblivion. their products have to be free of nicotine, but they could soon be closed down by the government. 0wners are concerned that a ban on recreational vaping will fuel the illegal market. without a regulated industry, the problem willjust get bigger. they can ban the imports and single—use disposables, they can ban vapes, and the youth vaping will become bigger. the black market will become bigger and they will come through borderforce, they will get through the border somehow. e—cigarettes heat a liquid that's turned into a vapour, which is inhaled. experts worry they are creating a new generation of nicotine addicts. we know that young people who try vaping are at three times the risk of going on to smoke. that's a real concern, we could either call that a gateway effect or increased risk factor, but it's a real threat to the success

of our tobacco control programme that we've had in australia. not so long ago, vaping was a niche industry in australia, but its popularity has exploded and about a third of teenagers here have tried e—cigarettes. the government calls them a public health menace and believes vapour products should never be sold for recreational use. in australia, it's illegal to sell e—cigarettes to children, but the law is largely flouted. this 17—year—old has vaped for four years. i think everyone started because you think you look cool. they have a very high concentration of nicotine which is why they're so addictive, they come in tasty flavours, that's what got me. under the government's plans, e—cigarettes will only be sold at pharmacies with a prescription. disposable vapes with their multitude of flavours and colourful packaging will be banned. i don't think it'll make me kick the habit, i think it'll

create a black market, just because there's laws changing around vapes and restricting access to it doesn't mean you can't get your hands on it, so i don't think it'll help addiction. tobacco firms have acknowledged that vape products are not risk—free and are addictive. but they insist they play a major role in providing smokers with a safer alternative to cigarettes. phil mercer, bbc news, sydney. you can read all about this and why it's the number one issue in schools on our website. beijing has called onjapan to stop the controls of semiconductor exports to china. japan along with the netherlands agreed injanuary

to match us export controls which limit the sale of chip—making tools to china. this prevents 23 different types of japanese equipment being exported. it has categorised these restrictions as being part of its duty to contribute to international peace and stability. that's it for this edition of asia business report. you can keep abreast of the latest news on our website. 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.

hey, i'mjulia with the catch up! first up, london's met police are going to stop attending most emergency mental health calls. from september, they'll only respond if there's an immediate threat to life. 0fficers reportedly spend up to 40% of their time responding to 999 calls about mental health, averaging ten hours with each patient. the move has been criticised by mental health groups, as well as a former police inspector who now runs an nhs mental health trust. there's a real danger that people who are in mental health crisis, who are particularly vulnerable won't receive the service they actually need. some other stories now — in turkey, supporters of president erdogan are celebrating after the 69—year—old secured another five years in power.

in his victory speech, he ridiculed his opponent and criticised the lgbt community — but also vowed to cut inflation and help people live better lives. he's been in powerfor more than 20 years now. people who see traumatic events — like terror attacks — will get similar support to bereaved families. it's part of a government scheme first tested in london. tragedies like the manchester arena bombing and the grenfell tower fire are among the type of incidents that would be included. luton town fans have been celebrating the team's historic promotion to promotion to the premier league. thousands celebrated the premier league. in the streets of luton today to "paint the town orange" to "paint the town orange" and cheer on the players and cheer on the players on an open—top bus. on an open—top bus. and we'll leave you with ten seconds of cheese rolling. competitors gathered to chase wheels of cheese down a hill near gloucester in the annual near gloucester in the annual extreme sports event. the women's winner was extreme sports event. knocked out but said the race was "good" — now that she remembers it.

hello, i'm 0lly foster with the latest from

the bbc sport centre.