we take a look at the impact on energy markets. how on energy markets. l'oreal wants to give its china how l'oreal wants to give its china and ai glow. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm suranjana tewari. prepare for 90 days of red sea disruptions, that is what shipping advisors are warning clients following the recent attacks on ships by iran backed houthi rebels. beyond supply chain disruptions and delays to consumer groups, one sector that has been feeling the heat is oil. the price of brent has climbed about 6% since they began with many energy giants like bp having to stop exporting crude through the crucial bottas. overnight oil prices have dipped — a slight reprieve but will it last?

rebecca babin is a senior energy trader at cibc private wealth. she gave me her predictions. i think the concern right now is really concentrated on the longer shipping time. the market is not pricing in that we actually lose barrels from the market as a result of what is happening in the suez canal. what it is concerned with right now and the reason it has risen 6% because the shipping costs associated with travelling around the southern tip of africa to reach its destination adds around 15 days of travel time. it increases freight costs. and it has increased insurance costs. that is what the markets are pricing in and looking at at this point. the market has not entered a panic mode, as we have seen in the past with other geopolitical events, where it starts to pricing supply is lost

from the market. right now it is a logistical rerouting what we're seeing, and not kind of that panic and fear that we're going to lose barrels. that obviously can change very rapidly. to venezuela and president nicolas maduro has welcomed back alex saab, a close ally who has been held in the united states on money laundering charges. he is accused of siphoning off some $350 million from venezuela, that involved bribing government officials. as part of the prisoner swap, venezuela also returned the fugitive malaysian businessman, leonard glenn francis to the us. known as fat leonard, he is accused of masterminding a massive corruption scandal here in asia. tom wright made a podcast about him.

leonard was furious because he thought he had pleaded guilty to what i have just described. he got cancer and was allowed out ofjail in venezuela. he was wearing an ankle monitoring bracelet and he watched and i agree with him as admiral after admiral who were involved with him were not taken to court. if you look at who was taken to court in the us it was more lower—level officers. 30 or so people were charged. a bunch did jail time. the recent court cases where number of other officers have collapsed. leonard escaped. he tried to board, he went into mexican and then venezuela and he almost got to russia. he was trying to board a plane to russia when he was arrested by venezuelan authorities and now he has been brought back to the us for sentencing. he has already pleaded guilty. how long is expected to be sentenced for?

he could get decades injail. i mean, the fact he broke out of home detention and escaped is terrible for him. he was a cooperating witness for many, many years and the reason he did the fat leonard podcast is he wanted to get his story out, it was notjust me, i am corrupt, fine, but there were other people involved. this was happening post 9/11 when there was gushes of military spending available and stings and even today. that is the money leonard creamed. the guy who replaced leonard also got arrested. this is a big problem in the us military complex. to some other news. the electric scooter rental company has found for bankruptcy. —— filed. three months after shares were suspended on the stock exchange. it became the fastest cycle unicorn to hit a company

valuation of more than $1 billion. it enjoyed a meteoric rise before coming crashing back down to earth. in 2017 and lodged in multiple city with a fair amount lodged in multiple city with a fairamount of lodged in multiple city with a fair amount of home. the promise electric scooters, they were good for the planet because they reduce car emissions. that narrative helped fuel its popularity, including with investors. bird was a fasters company to reach $1 billion valuation. that means unicorn status. now though it has filed for bankruptcy. the company has been kept afloat thanks to a line where it carries out a turnaround plan where it could sell off some assets. consumers may not notice the difference. bird says it will operate as usual. its operations in canada and europe are not part of the bankruptcy proceedings so they will not be affected. we did everything go wrong? for the

east scooter company, when cities shut down the pandemic, bird's fortunes suffered. as it began to reopen, business started to pick up although he never fully recovered. it capped a remarkable fall from grace for the miami company two years after going public. one years after going public. one year after wanting bankruptcy proceedings could be on the horizon and three months after being delisted from the new york stock exchange. and with other electric scooter foams also struggling, it is a sign the buzz around this type of transportation has evaporated. a number of us news outlets are reporting the heads of entertainment giant warner brothers and paramount have met for several hours to discuss a potential buy—out. sources originally told axios a deal would likely involve warner brothers buying either paramount global or its parent company. neither company has

commented yet. turning to china and the beauty industry, the second largest market in the world. french giant l'oreal establish itself in china back in 1997 and now has 26 brands in its portfolio. we caught up with fabrice megarbane who oversees the china business and asked about market outlook as well as the role of artificial intelligence in its future plans. it has been in china for the past 26 years and we have been witnessing the development of this market. today the market in chinese is the second largest in the world and our business here in china is also the second—largest business in the world so we have been going in china and i have to say with china. growing in china and i have to say with china. we have seen the consumer also changing behaviour. i have to say, they are becoming very, very educated. they spent a lot of time reading about beauty, ingredients, product and they have developed

a certain knowledge in terms of choosing the right product for them complex routines and they are very connected so they are extremely savvy when it comes to beauty tips, beauty routines, and i have to say particularly the young ones. and that is probably very specific to china, the young consumer have become extremely beauty addict, in terms of choosing the best quality, the best innovation and connecting with brands all over china. looking at the generative ai that is coming in, we're obviously seeing the application in beauty, but we always have our ethical value flames to have a transparent and authentic communication with consumers. in china there is a lot of chatbot, the capacity today

to be better in terms of learning how to answer consumers is also at the heart of a better service to consumer and address a very big number of demands in a short period of time. we have to co—work with the ecosystem and contribute to the ecosystem and i believe in china that is a very complex and developed innovation ecosystem, from mainstream to others. we can really work together to develop further our business here in china. thousands of people have taken to the streets of buenos aires in the first protest against the new argentine government's economic shock policies. argentina's new president javier milei has just announced

even more economic measures, something he called only the first step in his plans to revive the economy. in the last couple of hours his change more than 300 roles including rent and labour practices. it comes after a week of spending cuts and a currency devaluation. the bangladesh prime minister, sheikh hasina, has lodged a complaint for her fifth term in office. she told a rally that if reelected she would turn bangladesh into a developed nation. under her rule, bangladesh as witness unprecedented growth but rights groups have accused the government of human rights abuses. that is all the time we have for here on bbc asia business report. 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 scrubbing by hand. and this is the solution, a flatpack manual washing machine being built in corby. british engineering inspired by visit. they wash with cold water on the floor, causing back pain and skin irritation. with a machine and save 70% of time in 50% of water. machine and save 70% of time in 5096 of water-— 5096 of water. here it is, from flatack 5096 of water. here it is, from flatpack to _ 5096 of water. here it is, from flatpack to fully _ 5096 of water. here it is, from flatpack to fully assembled. . flatpack to fully assembled. you put your clothes inside, your water and your laundry detergent, close the lead and the most important bit is how you operate it using a handle and once your clothes are clean, the dirty water comes out here. over 100 stuff from

these components apply of volunteering their time to build the machines. so far 180 machines have been sent to 15 countries, giving thousands of women and girls of their time back. ., ., , ., , ., back. for more stories from across the _ back. for more stories from across the uk, _ back. for more stories from across the uk, head - back. for more stories from across the uk, head to - back. for more stories from across the uk, head to the l back. for more stories from i across the uk, head to the bbc news website. hi, i'm levy with the catch up. first, two teenagers, a boy and a girl, have been found guilty of murdering 16—year—old brianna ghey, in a park near warrington, in february. breanna was stabbed 28 times after being lured to the park by someone she believed to be herfriend. the trial heard that the guilty teens, named only as x and y for legal reasons, had a fascination for murder, violence and torture, and wrote a handwritten list of people they wanted to kill. if you have been affected by any of this, you can get help and support

on bbc actionline. some other stories now. a rimmel london advert has been banned for playing on young girl's insecurities. it features an ex love islander putting on make—up and said, "get ready to slay the back—to—school season". the advertisers standards authority said the ad implied that girls were more likely to succeed at school if they wore make—up. and a new covid variant is on the rise. thejm.1 variant has been found in the uk, the us and china but the risk to the public is currently low. some good news now. an eight—year—old girl has been crowned best female player at the european blitz chess championships. bodhana, from harrow in north—west london, scored 8.5 out of 13 and even defeated an international master. she has been placing since she was five and said she was proud of her new title. and time now to leave you with ten seconds of christmas. look at this festive tractor parade making its way down a country road in east suffolk. it raised thousands for charity as well as bringing some festive

cheer to the community. you are all caught up now. have a good night. hello, i'm olly foster. here's what's coming up

for you on sportsday. klopp hails the kop as liverpool score five in the league cup against west ham. nuno espirito santo is back in the premier league, can he stop forest's slide down the table? and we meet the brothers hoping to face each other at the olympics — competing for different countries. the liverpool manager jurgen klopp hailed a top performance from start to finish after reaching the league cup semi—finals. they only led 1—0 at halftime but thrashed west west 5—1 at anfield. curtis jones scored twice after the break, there were also goals from szoboszlai, gakpo and salah. the draw for the semi—finals

was made after the game and liverpool will face fulham and championship