a deal that would have created one of india's because broadcasters falls apart. plus, the british high—street shop that has found a new lease of life after covid. hello and welcome to asia business report. we asia business report. begin our programme this hour we begin our programme this hourin we begin our programme this hour in india where a megamerger between two media giants has short—circuited. japan was my sony group has terminated plans to merge its indian unit with tv broadcaster zee entertainment. it would have created one of india's because media entities. let's bring in our reporterfrom mumbai with more on this story. why did this deal fall apart? essentially the deal has fallen apart because there was no consensus between zee and sony

on who would have led the merged entity, zee essentially wanted it to be opening but sony was opposed to that because of a number of regulatory cases that are pending against him, such as corporate governance. despite nearly two years of negotiations and a 30 day grace period, this deal which would have created one of india's largest media entities has fallen apart. there are large implications of this, particularly on zee. they have been battling quite a terrible financial performance over the past years, but also for sony, given the huge amount of competition in the indian market. both of them wanted to face up to this competition jointly, but now they will have two face the likes of amazon, netflix and also potentially a merged entity between reliance industries and disney, single—handedly that is of course something that has been

speculated that there will be a merger between reliance and disney. it doesn't look like the saga is going to end anytime soon because sony has said it is seeking about $19 million termination fees and zee has said it will go to court. we will have to wait and see what the reaction on the stock prices is when the markets open later today. £311" markets open later today. our india business _ markets open later today. our india business correspondence joining us from mumbai. some other stories making headlines this morning. united airlines has said it expects a loss in its first quarter due to the grounding of the boeing 737 max nine fleet. us regulators grounded more than 170 of the planes after the madera blowout of a door panel on one of its planes earlier this month —— millionaire. staying in the us. where the stock market has continued its rally on monday. the s&p 500 and the dowjones

industrial average both notched new record highs, building off friday's massive gains. from new york, here's erin delmore. for the dow, a new benchmark — the index traded above 38,000. that's a first. the tech heavy nasdaq, for its part, ended the day up more than three—tenths of a percent. this is what they call a �*bull run�*. the market's been on the upswing since october 2022, and it's thanks to a few tailwinds. among them, an outperforming tech sector and a resilient labour market. the federal reserve has a role too. so far, it's been able to cool inflation without tipping the economy into a recession. that's called a �*soft landing' and it's buoying wall street. stocks are rallying in anticipation of interest rate cuts that the fed has signalled this year, which would let interest rates fall from a 22—year high. when interest rates go down, it makes it cheaper for businesses and individuals to borrow money. so spending increases and usually that makes stock prices go up.

it is a different story for the chinese stock markets, which have been struggling in the new year. chinese premier li qiang has pledged to take forceful and effective action to support market confidence. for more on what we can expect from china, let's speak to moody's analytics economist, harry murphy cruise. he explained the market reaction. 2023 — it wasn't the year that officials had hoped for. it's been shaky. it's been uneven, that recovery. and so really, we're now seeing that flow through into equity markets. we've seen those big sell—offs across chinese stocks. ultimately, investors are hoping to see the economic recovery pick up through this year, with officials still reluctant to put that stimulus in, we're seeing them pull out from those markets. and, harry, what's expected to happen going forward? i mean, the leadership says that they'll do what they can to prop up the market. yeah, definitely. i think officials are kind of being pulled in two directions here.

so, on the one hand, you've got this economy that, as i say, is pretty desperate for some extra support and some stimulus. but then on the other hand, you've got officials who are very conscious and, you know, very keen to avoid the mistakes that they've made in the past. so, you know, if you look at previous downturns in china — officials, they've spent massively to support the economy — you know, the global financial crisis, a great example. they spent massively on infrastructure and through the real estate market. china was very successful in that. china really pulled the rest of the global economy up through that crisis. but it comes with those consequences, you know, very, very costly. we are seeing that in the blowout in local government debt. it can inflate markets, particularly in real estate, which obviously we're living with the consequences of that now. it can also lead to this big investment in quite unproductive assets and overcapacity, which ultimately pulls down growth in the future, and it's just unsustainable. so those are the two dynamics

that officials are having to navigate. ultimately, we think it'll probably land somewhere in between. it's not going to be the big bazooka spending of the global financial crisis. but, ultimately, we will need to see officials step in to try to support the economy this year, and we'll likely see that coming out of the two sessions in march. the company behind the crash terra luna stable coins has filed for bankruptcy. they have collapsed and lost $40 billion of their value, contributing to the so—called crypto crash of 2022. our business reporter katie silva has more on the story. they are based in singapore and has been a long time coming. the singapore and has been a long time coming-— singapore and has been a long time coming. the company has a cueen time coming. the company has a queen called _ time coming. the company has a queen called stable _ time coming. the company has a queen called stable because - time coming. the company has a queen called stable because it i queen called stable because it was designed to maintain a constant $1 price. but it, along with its sister token, collapsed almost two years ago when it failed to maintain that

$1 peg. those two cryptocurrencies lost around $40 billion in the fallout hit the wider crypto market. some investors lost their life savings stop its founder who was originally from south korea was originally from south korea was arrested in montenegro after interpol issued a warrant for his arrest. they recently delayed the trial against him while they wait for him to be extradited. in the latest twist and turn according to these court filings, the company has between 100 and 500 million assets and liabilities. they say they will meet all financial obligations to employees and vendors, but the white filing for this bankruptcy protection, it says it is not over yet. terraform labs wants to get into expanded offerings in web three, something that has been dubbed the future of the internet. katie silva rivera. h&m has pulled an advertisement for school uniforms in australia following accusations

it encouraged the sexualisation of young children. the ad has shown two primary school aged girls under a slogan that said "make those heads turn" in back—to—school fashion. many shops on the uk's high streets, which have struggled with fewer visitors since the pandemic, have shuttered their doors. now, many empty units are being filled by businesses which started online, known as pop—up shops. dougal shaw reports. a morning peptalk before they meet the customers. these entrepreneurs all run successful online businesses. now, they're getting their first taste of high street retail on london's world—famous carnaby street. for clothes, it's so important to try things on and see them in real life. so being in store is an amazing experience to give to our loyal customers. i work with discarded balloons, turning them into fashion accessories and homeware. meeting customers in a space like this has been great. the feedback is amazing. totally boosting my confidence. more and more pop—up shops like these are filling retail

spaces that fell vacant during covid as lockdowns accelerated the trend towards online shopping. this shop was empty six weeks ago. it's now full of brilliant creatives from across london who are learning how to do their own shops, re—energizing our high streets and making them better for everyone. this project is supported by the mayor of london's office, but some entrepreneurs have seen a business opportunity in satisfying this demand for a pop—up spaces. pop—up club has run more than 25 shops like this one across the uk since 2017. this latest one in victoria, central london, took over a space left vacant by a chain of tea retailers. we go into empty spaces, we share out collaboratively, and they have 30 to 40 different artists or makers in one space and make it affordable and accessible for them. we call this trend online to offline or 020. and what we're finding is that a lot of these retailers that started their lives purely online are now actually benefiting the high street

by opening physical shops. such is the demand for pop—up spaces, there is even a kind of airbnb platform for them run by another business called appear here. it offers space in all kinds of places, from shopping centres and outdoor markets to warehouses. the hope with all of these pop—ups is that online entrepreneurs will get a taste for face—to—face retail and so become the next generation of high street shop owners. from seeing the way a pop—up works, i definitely think i'll have my own shop in the future. dougal shaw, bbc news. that is it for this addition of asia business report. plenty more on our website. to stay with bbc news. voice-over: bbc news - i bringing you different stories from across the uk. this may look like a pleasant video of wildlife frolicking

in the forest of dean, but take a closer look at this deer�*s head. the crossbow bow is entered from the side of the back of the head, sheared off, and gone between the skull and the ear behind the ear. so then it's hanging out. we know the deer survived for at least three weeks because dave walker first spotted it around christmas time. he didn't get a clear photo of it back then, so he came back recently, and within five minutes, found the deer and took this video. deeply moved by what he'd seen, dave handed the video to police. i felt sorry for it, really did. you know, that bow could have totally missed it. could have gone into the dense part of the forest and hit somebody. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. voice-over: bbc news - bringing you different stories from across the uk.

east of eastbourne, the remains of fort fun. once a big attraction but since the summer of �*21, it's been shut. it's a site defiant sports wanted to revive. their place is too small and not suitable. so, claudia, this is our sports court. as you can see, it's not really the right size. so, unfortunately, we can't offer any tournaments or proper sporting events here because itjust doesn't meet standards, so the community can't get that opportunity. managing director loretta lock put in a bid for fort fun and believed the site had been earmarked for them. now, it's going to a leisure and hospitality business instead. it's absolutely heartbreaking and, again, it's another kick for the community we support for people with barriers to participation. and that's just not fair. they're a community interest company who promote inclusivity in sport, but they're also open to all. louis is home—educated and he's been coming for several years. me, myself, i come here

just to spend time with my friends. but so many other people may have disabilities, but they don't — they try not to notice that and just let — they're here as a sports group. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. hey, i'm zoph with the catch up. tonight — storm isha causes chaos, reese witherspoon gets icy and a rough landing. we start with storm isha, which is causing chaos across the uk. thousands of people are still without power after heavy rain and winds of up to 99mph. scotland, northern ireland, northwest england and wales have been hit and some in remote areas have been warned they might not have power until tuesday. it's also caused travel disruption for lots of people, including toby, who was in scotland for his stag—do.

i'm in edinburgh waverley station outside the caledonian sleeper, which was supposed to be taken back down. so we're ready for an extended stag—do on the sleeper itself tonight. you can keep up with the latest on this on the bbc news website or app. and reese witherspoon has defended her choice to eat snow. yeah, you did hear that right. she tried to make what she called a choco—ccino. no idea either. fans warned her it isn't safe to eat, but she insisted it was fine. i'm going to be honest, though, i have eaten snow before and i do find it crunchy and fresh, i think it's fine, but just don't eat it if it's yellow! time now to leave you with 10 seconds of relieved passengers landing at gatwick. applause as they had to land in crazy winds on the way back from ibiza, and yet i fully would have clapped when that plane landed. let's just normalise it now. i don't think it's that cringy.

i think it's fine. you're all caught up now. see you later. hello and welcome to sportsday. a blow for india but a boost for india. virat kohli to meet mrfirst for india. virat kohli to meet mr first two tests of the season.