the united states promises to form an international coalition to protect merchant shipping in the red sea from attacks by houthi rebels. and the bbc gained exclusive access to the netherlands�* first legal cannabis cultivation plant. we'll take you behind the scenes. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm mariko oi. the united states plans to form an international coalition to protect commerce in the red sea. this comes after iranian—backed houthi rebels in yemen attacked a number of ships passing through the area. many of the world's biggest container shipping companies have diverted their vessels, having to go the long way around africa and playing havoc to global trade. speaking in bahrain, the us defence secretary lloyd austin said participating countries include the united kingdom, bahrain, canada, france,

italy and spain, among others. this is notjust a us issue, this is an international problem and it deserves an international response. and that's why i'm convening a meeting tomorrow, a ministerial meeting, with fellow ministers in the region and beyond, to address this threat. for more on what the shipping disruption might mean for the global economy, i'm joined from washington by hung tran, a senior fellow at the atlantic council and former deputy director at the international monetary fund — or imf. thank you so much forjoining us on the programme. firstly, if you can explain how important this area is to global trade? important this area is to global trade ?_ important this area is to global trade? important this area is to ulobaltrade? , ., ., ., global trade? this area of the red sea leading _ global trade? this area of the red sea leading to _ global trade? this area of the red sea leading to the - global trade? this area of the red sea leading to the suez l red sea leading to the suez canal is quite important, in

terms of the volume of trade passing through it, about 12% of global trade passes through the red sea, including 30% of the red sea, including 30% of the container shipping. altogether, it accounts for about i altogether, it accounts for abouti trillion us dollars per year, so it is quite significant, and a disruption there would cause damage to world trade.— world trade. aside from avoiding _ world trade. aside from avoiding this _ world trade. aside from avoiding this area, - world trade. aside from i avoiding this area, what world trade. aside from - avoiding this area, what can companies do, or is it about what the us has said, forming an international coalition? basically, several shipping lines, they put their ships to go around africa's cape of good hope to get to europe. that will add significant to the time needed to travel there by a week or two and also additionalfuel a week or two and also additional fuel costs and operating costs, costing the importers, exporters and user. the formation of the maritime

protection task force that the us is about to launch can be trying to protect the shipping industry, but i think it is difficult to see how such a task force can offer or guarantee complete safety for shipping in the west against missile attacks or threats of missile attacks or threats of missile attacks.— missile attacks or threats of missile attacks. and we have been seeing _ missile attacks. and we have been seeing some _ missile attacks. and we have been seeing some impact - missile attacks. and we have been seeing some impact on| missile attacks. and we have i been seeing some impact on oil and gas prices but also shipping insurance premiums? yes, we have seen maritime shipping insurance premiums rising. in the past week, we've seen oil and gas prices rising in the past few days, the issue is that we currently have plenty of supply, compared with the demand, but if this goes on for a longer while and more ships are being diverted from the impact on price will be

more. ., the impact on price will be more. . ., ~ , ., ., more. hung tran, thank you for “oininu more. hung tran, thank you for joining us _ more. hung tran, thank you for joining us here _ more. hung tran, thank you for joining us here on _ more. hung tran, thank you for joining us here on asia - joining us here on asia business report this morning. to the us, where apple is halting sales of some of its newest apple watches before christmas. it's the result of a ruling after it lost a patent case against a medical device company. from new york, here's michelle fleury. if you're in america looking to buy an apple watch series 9 or ultra 2, you'd better move fast. starting this thursday, us shoppers will no longer be able to buy them online. and sales at its retail locations, well, they'll stop a couple of days later. the tech giant is removing one of its most popular products right before christmas because of a ruling by the us international trade commission — or itc. it's the result of an ongoing dispute with medical device maker masimo over its blood oxygen feature. masimo, which also makes its own fitness tracking smartwatches, has accused apple of hiring away its employees, of stealing its pulse oximetry technology and using it in its watches.

in october, the itc ruled against apple, and that started the clock. president biden has 60 days to review the ruling before any ban goes into effect. the review period, well, that ends on december 25th. apple is taking pre—emptive action to comply, should the ruling stand, but it thinks the charge has no ground and should be dropped. and it said in its statement... the apple watch has routinely been touted as a life—saving device. its health claims have helped make it the most popular watch sold around the world. this clash, however, threatens to undermine that. in other news, a huge deal in the steel industry — japan's nippon steel will buy us steel for almost $15 billion.

the american company, which is 122 years old, put itself up for sale several months ago. us steel is expected to benefit from the spending and tax incentives in presidentjoe biden's infrastructure bill. its shares surged by more than a quarter after the deal was announced. but nippon steel's shares are down 5% in the japan markets. until now, the cannabis sold in dutch coffee shops has been illegally grown and supplied, unregulated and undercover, and the authorities simply turn a blind eye. this week, for the first time, cannabis is being legally cultivated as part of a small experiment that could eventually be rolled out across the country, and possibly beyond. our reporter anna holligan was the only foreign journalist invited to a top secret location in the netherlands. this is the first ever legally produced cannabis for recreational purposes within the eu. but it's about more than just a single plant. it's about enhancing the traceability and transparency

of an entire industry. the biggest challenge to get here was regulation — all the paperwork that we have to fill in to get a bank account, to get all the rules back from illegality to legality. so it's been a battle to get to this point? it's been a bloody war! so we're just packaging here. first of all, we put it in glass, and then second, we put it into labelling. so this is the consumer packaging. you see the flower in there. and on the other side is a lot of information and a lot of rules and regulation from the government. and then there's a track and trace. so there is a system... the government can see where it's coming from. and here is another qr code where information for the consumer is there. there's test information and there's also consumer information... way too long?

no, i'm shaking my head, because it's like, wow! it's, like, gone full circle from a completely opaque industry to, like, following every tiny step. it's mind—blowing. in the end, it's all about trust. can we trust the existing industry to take care of cannabis production and distribution and do it in a transparent and fair and honest way? that's it. we work together with laboratories to analyse our soil, our flowers and our environment and monitor the quality. these get tested, like, three times. so these of course are three major points that in the black market is not happening. and because we are doing this, we can ensure a high—quality product — without residue, pesticides or chemicals. we have lots of experience. i think with all the people walking around here, we have more than 100 years of experience.

so is that because you were doing it before it became legal? yes. big change indeed. like, in the black market, you had pressure of the police and the neighbours, and in this environment, you have the pressure to perform. well, this box is going to be our first legal delivery to the coffee shop. and there it is — symbolically unsealed by the dutch health minister, europe's first ever legal batch of commercially cultivated cannabis. this box taking the country a step closer to eventual decriminalisation. anna holligan, bbc news in the netherlands. and a few more stories before we go. the estate ofjrr tolkien has successfully sued an american writer who published his own sequel to the lord of the rings. demetrious polychron released the fellowship of the king last year. a court in the united states ordered him to destroy all copies of the book and halt distribution. polychron had filed his own lawsuit, claiming

that the amazon tv show rings of power infringed the copyright of his work. it was thrown out by the judge, who described the case as frivolous and unreasonable. and a couple have completed a ten—month journey from the north pole to the south pole in an electric car. britain's chris and julie ramsey said the trip, which lasted from march until last week, was far tougher than they expected. the couple were able to use electric power charging points on the route to charge their nissan vehicle. but when they were in the polar regions and there was no electricity source, a wind turbine and solar device allowed them to harness the wind and the sun to power the car. what an incredible journey! that is it for this edition of asia business report. i will be back with newsday at the top of the hour, sojoin me if you can, but for now thank you for watching the programme.

bringing you different - stories from across the uk. for 70% of the world's population, this is what doing the laundry looks like, women and children spending hours each week scrubbing eye hand. and this is the solution, a flatpack manual motion machine built in corby. british engineer nava was inspired by a visit to southern india. the? visit to southern india. they wash with — visit to southern india. they wash with cold _ visit to southern india. they wash with cold water, - visit to southern india. they wash with cold water, in - wash with cold water, in buckets, on the floor, causing back pain, joint pain, skin irritation. with our machine, it saves 75% of time and 50% of water, compared to before it. and here it is, from flatpack to fully assembled. you open the lid, put your clothes inside, you put your water and your laundry detergent in here, close the lid and of course the most important is how you operate it, using a handle. and once your clothes are clean,

the dirty water comes out here. over 100 staff from the supplier he volunteered time to build the machines. so far 180 machines have been sent to 15 countries, giving thousands of women and girls their time back. for more stories from across the uk, - head to the bbc news website. hey, i'm zof with the catch up! tonight, fear for those trapped in a church in gaza, xl bully owners apply for exemptions and some exciting news from olly alexander! but first, a former conservative peer, michelle mone, has hit back at rishi sunak, saying she was honest with the government over contracts for ppe. she admits lying to the media about her links to a company that supplied millions of pounds worth of ppe to the government during the covid pandemic. she said she regrets not being fully open about it.

hindsight�*s a wonderful thing. i wasn't trying to pull the wool over anyone's's eyes, and i regret and i'm sorry for not saying straight out, "yes, i am involved." some other stories now. people trapped in a church in gaza are living in a huge sense of fear. fifi saba's sister is trapped inside the holy family church and said people were scared to move out of fear of being shot. two women were killed inside the church on saturday. israel's army said it was reviewing the incident. next, around 4,000 xl bully owners have applied for exemption from an upcoming ban. they are being urged to do this before it becomes illegal to own one in the uk from february. owners who don't wish to keep their dogs can have them euthanised and apply for compensation for the cost. and time now for ten seconds of some exciting news from olly alexander! i can exclusively reveal... ..i will be representing

the uk at the eurovision song contest... cheering the years and years singer will be doing that next year in sweden. he said he's beyond excited for this and he's been watching the show since he was a kid. you're all caught up now. see you later.

sports news at the bbc sport app oui’ our website. hello, welcome to sportsday. i'm katherine downes. coming upfor coming up for you on the programme... holders manchester city will play copenhagen in the last 16 of the champions league. brazilian side fluminense have made the final of the fifa club world cup. and anthonyjoshua tells us how he's preparing for his next fight. i'm focused on my opponent, i'm focused on the bigger picture and i'm using it as a source of motivation every day i'm in the gym. hello there. good evening. earlier today, we had the draw for the champions league last 16.

at this stage, teams from the same country or who came through the same group are kept apart.