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. of course, many of the world's biggest container shipping companies have started to divert their vessels, having to go the long way around africa and also playing havoc to global trade.

speaking in bahrain, the us defense secretary lloyd austin said participating countries will 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 exactly what this shipping disruption might mean for the global economy, i spoke to hung tran, a senior fellow at the atlantic council and former deputy director at the international monetary fund. this area of the 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

container shipping. all together, it accounts for about us$1 trillion per year of world trade, so it is quite significant, and a disruption there would cause damage to 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 have diverted their ships to go around africa's cape of good hope to get to europe. that will add significantly to the time needed to travel there by a week or two, and also, additional fuel costs and operating costs, also causing delays for 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 in the red sea,

but personally, i think it is difficult to see how such a task force can offer or guarantee complete safety for commercial shipping in the red sea against missile attacks or threats of missile attacks. 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 3.5% in tokyo trade. turning to china. it allows taking control of telecom services in the interest of national security. talk us through what this bill

is about and why it is significant.— is about and why it is siunificant. �* , ., significant. but when you mentioned _ significant. but when you mentioned is _ significant. but when you mentioned is the - significant. but when you mentioned is the biggest| mentioned is the biggest contentious point that is talk about here about how this bill, once past, will empower the government and administrative agencies to essentially take over telecom services. that means in the event of any public emergency or situation that could threaten public safety, the administration can intercept messages or even stop the transmission of messages to ensure that there is no further concern. as i said, this has sparked a debate here. we saw a member parliament from an opposition party yesterday in parliament yes i ask this bill be referred to a parliamentary committee for further perusal and understanding of what the bill really means. some other aspect of this bill in terms of proposals are that there was always a question about what happens to messaging services like whatsapp and telegram which double up as recording services, whether they come under it rules or telecom rules. but as per this new law,

rather, the bill says whatsapp, google all this remain under the purview of india's information technology act, so that will become separate, and this will only pertain to telecom services. finally, another aspect that has been mentioned in this bill is about how spectrum is likely to be allocated. options will still be the way in which the government will a lot spectrum in cases of international security or defence or disaster management so those will remain with the government through administrative rules. these are some of the proposals in the new telecom bill.— some of the proposals in the new telecom bill. thank you so much for _ new telecom bill. thank you so much for that _ new telecom bill. thank you so much for that update. - 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 25. 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. cannabis sold in dutch coffee shops has been illegally grown in supplies and authority thousand ly turned a blind eye but this week for the very first time cannabis is being legally cultivated as part of a small experiment that could eventually be ruled out across —— rolled out across the country and possibly beyond. our reporter was only foreign journalist who was 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 is about more thanjust a within the eu, but it is about more than just a single plant.

it is about enhancing the trace of lsa and transparency of an entire industry. the of lsa and transparency of an entire industry.— entire industry. the biggest challenge — entire industry. the biggest challenge to _ entire industry. the biggest challenge to get _ entire industry. the biggest challenge to get here - entire industry. the biggest challenge to get here was l challenge to get here was regulation. all the paperwork we have two fill in to get a bank account, to get all the rules back from illegality to locality. it's been a bloody war! laughs 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 end 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 working 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. before we go, japan's nikkei is flat and, of course, investors are waiting for the announcement from the country's central bank after it lost military policy meeting of the year —— its last. thank you so much for watching. vmcsovsk: bbc news, - bringing you different stories

from across the uk. an emotional day for homeowners who found themselves living on the edge far earlier than they expected to. i'm still in shock — i have been for the last week. i'm not in tears or anything — i'm not that sort of person — but, you know, i guess, if i was that sort of person, i would be just sitting down with my head in my hands and not knowing what to do. land under houses on the marrams at hemsby has been badly affected over the past decade. storms last month saw a 100m section of the road fall onto the beach. four full days is what's been given to try and remove the most dangerous houses from the side of the cliffs. of course, they're trying to work around the tides, the weather and restricted lighting. all this destruction you see around us right now is caused by one box on one spreadsheet, which is their cost—base ratio, and that is what we're working with with local government and the environment agency

to change — that is what we just are fighting for — is one box on one spreadsheet. the environment agency has spent almost £500 million on coastal defence in norfolk, suffolk and essex since 2013. but for those here, it's too little, too late. 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 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. fibi sabasa'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. 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.

hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm katherine downes. 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 am focused on my opponent, focused on the bigger picture, using it as a source of motivation every time 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