morning, asian markets are this morning, asian markets are opening higher today. let's look right now at the japanese market which has just had a red—hot strike. it is now up about three quarters of a percent and it has been on a rise this year. it takes you is from wall street where the s&p 500 and the nasdaq rallied to their highest closing level since last year. investors are looking ahead to inflation data from the united states due out later today and those figures will be closely watched by the us federal reserve as it begins its two day meeting. the mirror hussein reports from new york. consumers in america feel more confident that inflation is on its way down. that is according to the latest reserve from the federal reserve bank of new york. expectations in may fell to their lowest levels in two years. this survey is a closely

watched metric because if consumers believe inflation will fall they will already adjust their spending patterns in anticipation of what is to come. those consumer expectations happened to jibe pretty closely with what economists expect for the latest inflation figures. they will likely show that inflation went up slightly month over month but it will drop year over year. month but it will drop year overyear. numbers month but it will drop year over year. numbers like that will be encouraging for the us federal reserve as it debates whether or not to make a change to interest rates. the us central bank started increasing the rate of borrowing aggressively last year. authorities have hiked rates ten times since marking the fastest tightening cycle since the 19805. expectations are high that this time it may pause. i spoke with a market strategist earlier who gave us her outlook for the us federal reserve. , . ., ., , .,

her outlook for the us federal reserve. , ., ., reserve. expectations are for the fed to — reserve. expectations are for the fed to paul's _ reserve. expectations are for the fed to paul's but - reserve. expectations are forj the fed to paul's but markets are being a little too complacent about that slowdown in inflation that you spoke about. as members of the fed pause or skip or however you call it, last week we did get some hawkish tremors in the market from the reserve bank of australia and the bank of canada and these are central banks who thought that inflation was on its way down and they could take a breather so they paused but then there was a realisation that inflation is not moving exactly like everyone expected. so that is the kind of set we should be prepared for with the fed as well so even if there is a pause we should be prepared for some hawkish surprises because of the commentary that could come in the form of some fed members not voting for a pause. we heard from some who are not supporting a pause at this

point. and a hawkish surprise could also come from policymakers who are expected to forecast for economic outlooks. in to forecast for economic outlook-— to forecast for economic outlooks. ., , , outlooks. in other news this mornin: outlooks. in other news this morning the _ outlooks. in other news this morning the us _ outlooks. in other news this morning the us federal- outlooks. in other news this. morning the us federal trade commission has asked the judge to temporarily block microsoft from closing its $69 billion deal to acquire gaming company activision blizzard. the ftc warned that if the deal went ahead the combined company could impact activision�*s game development. the regulator earlier argued the merger would leave other game platforms out in the cold. 0n the other hand microsoft said the deal would benefit gamers. meanwhile, cloud computing giant 0racle has reported better—than—expected fourth—quarter results, driven by growing demand for companies deploying artificial intelligence. its revenue grew 17% year—on—year while sales of its cloud services jumped 23%.

oracle is investing heavily in al and it oracle is investing heavily in aland it seems the gamble is keeping investors optimistic. share prices are up almost 40% from one year ago. a mega $40 billion oil refinery complex in india has been hit by a fresh wave of protests after authorities began testing the soil for the project. authorities began testing the soilfor the project. we report from the village where hundreds of women led the stand—off. angry and determined. these women are fighting to save their lands. translation: we do not want this _ their lands. translation: we do not want this project _ their lands. translation: we do not want this project will - their lands. translation: we do not want this project will stop - not want this project will stop why should we damage our environment to clean dirty oil coming from another country? many of them were arrested last month while leading a peaceful protest against the single complex refinery, dubbed to be the world's largest. it is going to be built by a group comprising of india's public—sector oil companies and

global giant finesse saudi aramco. this is the massive plateau with a proposed refinery complex is expected to come up. it is linked to plantations and jungle on either side and the ocean beyond. the government says it will bring crucial industrialisation and jobs to this economically backward region. but it is an argument that has failed to convince many of the villages that we spoke to. translation: we have been fishing _ spoke to. translation: we have been fishing here _ spoke to. translation: we have been fishing here for _ spoke to. translation: we have been fishing here for four- been fishing here for four generations and if they dump chemical waste into the water it will have a terrible impact on the fishing community. it could destroy our livelihood. this fisherman's fears are echoed by villages across this ecologically fragile region, homed to famed mangoes. here is also home to hundreds of prehistoric rock carvings making it archaeologically

important. but a few kilometres into the local dam there is support for the project. translation: support for the pro'ect. translation: ., , ., support for the pro'ect. translation: ., translation: thousands of young men have to _ translation: thousands of young men have to go _ translation: thousands of young men have to go to _ translation: thousands of young men have to go to mumbai - translation: thousands of young men have to go to mumbai to - men have to go to mumbai to make a living. and our villages are being emptied out. this project will bring them back home. ., , home. the government says the refinery is _ home. the government says the refinery is critical _ home. the government says the refinery is critical for _ home. the government says the refinery is critical for the - refinery is critical for the development of the region and will not damage the environment nor the local heritage. translation: nor the local heritage. tuna/mom- nor the local heritage. translation: , translation: this is a green refine . translation: this is a green refinery- i— translation: this is a green refinery. i firmly _ translation: this is a green refinery. i firmly believe - translation: this is a green refinery. i firmly believe that. refinery. i firmly believe that villages are being misled by external forces as the industry's minister it is my job to clear their misunderstandings. we have had to reduce the size of the project because of these delays. project because of these dela s. �* ., , project because of these dela s. �* . , ., delays. but the villagers are not ready — delays. but the villagers are not ready to _ delays. but the villagers are not ready to back _ delays. but the villagers are not ready to back down. - delays. but the villagers are | not ready to back down. and there is growing support for their cause. local writers, poets, activists and resistance groups have vowed to galvanise 100,000 people too much through

mumbai later this month to mount pressure on authorities. this is just the mount pressure on authorities. this isjust the beginning mount pressure on authorities. this is just the beginning for what looks like a long battle ahead. chinese ev manufacturer neo is slashing prices for all its cars by some $4000 and ending free battery swapping services for new buyers. this is as the vehicle maker posted continual losses through the year. the chinese car landscape is competitive and over 40 auto brands they have joined a price war in a fight for market share. customers of finances us affiliate are running out of time to withdraw their greenbacks. they have until today to take out their funds after the platform halted dollar deposits. the regulator recently stepped up a crackdown of the sector, suing two main are players. earlier i spoke to

someone who explained the impact of by nance's move. it is a u.s.—based ecosystem that is a u.s.—based ecosystem that is the bad thing about it. the us is a huge market when it comes to crypto and will obviously trigger exodus from the company. you will see a number of market makers who use this exchange is a facility to supply their clients. there is almost a daisy chain effect and you will see withdrawals, this is a government agency, and they are raising the issue right now whether it is legal to operate an exchange, a crypto exchange in the us. this is not unusual for the fcc. crypto exchange in the us. this is not unusualfor the fcc. the foreign exchange market went was similar period almost a decade ago and the result was the system almost completely closed down.— closed down. over the past decade crypto _ closed down. over the past decade crypto was - closed down. over the past decade crypto was given i closed down. over the past| decade crypto was given the benefit of the doubt and

clearly the fcc is now cracking down on that. why is it taken regulator so long to get to this point?— this point? that is a good question _ this point? that is a good question and _ this point? that is a good question and i _ this point? that is a good question and i think - this point? that is a good question and i think it - this point? that is a good question and i think it is i this point? that is a good - question and i think it is been a buildup in getting their ducks in line, to make sure that they are looking at where deposits are being held, other held in a safe area? this is all part and parcel of the debacle from fts and it is a run—on effect where the fcc is still worried about scams in the market and this is the problem. so they will zero in on the big boys, queen banks and binance and the trickle—down effect should be negative for other companies. in other words, if binance and coin base cannot operate in the us and who can? i think that is the attitude regulators are taking at the moment. and, finall , taking at the moment. and, finally, thousands _ taking at the moment. and, finally, thousands of - taking at the moment. and, finally, thousands of reddit| finally, thousands of reddit forums have gone dark in one of the largest user driven platform. the voluntary

workouts will restrict content from being publicly visible. protests came after they u nveiled protests came after they unveiled plans to charge millions of dollars in fees for third—party apps to continue accessing the platform. and thatis accessing the platform. and that is all for you from this edition of asia business review. i am monica miller, thank you for watching. voice-over: bbc news bringing you different stories _ from across the uk. from the outside, this car looks pretty standard — much like something you might see on the road. but it's no ordinary car. take a closer look inside — there's no driver. or is there...? don't worry, it's all legit. it's actually part of a study at the university of nottingham into how autonomous cars could work on the road. it's been really good fun, actually. i mean, they say that research is serious, but this has been good fun. a ghost driver's being used

because current legislation means you can't have a car without someone in the driving seat — so the team have replicated what would be a computer driving a car... it's really interesting watching people's responses from outside the vehicle as they see a seemingly driverless car. but once you get inside, you can really see how this works. you've got david in the front behind the seat... ..and then someone in the back manipulating the visual display on the outside of the car, which shows when the vehicle is giving way, for example. the trust was very high. we see that in the survey results. we see that in people's behaviours. they don't wait for the vehicle and cross behind it — they cross in front of it. when you have a display in front of the car, people are much more confident to walk out in front of it, because the intent is clear.

it has been a dramatic week in politics. this was hours after the government released an honours list, people given awards after the prime minister stepped down. borisjohnson was unhappy that a panel rejected eight of his nominations. today, current prime minister rishi sunak says his old boss asked him to overall the decision before the one—time mayor of london says he is talking rubbish. also, scotland's former first minister nicola sturgeon was arrested and released without charge on sunday as part of an investigation into the finances of the snp. some other stories an update on 21—year—old chloe mitchell who went missing in northern ireland earlier this month. a man has appeared in court charged with her murder

and he has serious mental health issues, the court heard. wales, days after a similar scheme was blocked in scotland. people in wales will get money back but glass cannot be included. and two brides arrived with minutes to spare after getting a lift in a police car in hampshire. time now to leave you with ten seconds of party. as a man city supporter the blues have been parading their trophies when a thunderstorm hit manchester. infection. and the us senate is investigating the manchester. are you all caught up. bye for thunderstorm hit manchester. are bye for now and have a good night. are you all caught up. bye for now and have a good night.

hello, i'm betty glover. coming up hello, i'm betty glover. coming up on this programme, thousands of fans celebrate manchester city's historic travel as pep guardiola and his players stage an open top grade. celebrations too for pace bowler kate cross who has been included in the women's ashes squad after recovering from a parasite infection. and the us senate is

investigating the planned a are you all caught up. bye for now and have a good nigi deal investigating the planned deal between