that's according to government data. in the next few hours, china's markets will reopen for the first time in over a week. we also saw the country's central bank keeping a key interest rate on hold over the weekend. jameel ahmad, chief analyst at online trading brokerage gtc, gave me his sense of the data. pretty much what we have seen since the chinese economy did reopen, following what was pretty much close to three years of lockdowns, we have seen underwhelming data. this data, regarding the increase in tourism spending, yes, it looks like it is in the right path as we enter further into 2024, but it's just one set of data so far and we need to see more to start getting more optimism about the chinese economy getting back onto the road once again. when it comes to the central bank decision, not so much of a surprise.

everybody in the central bank world and the investor community is really waiting for the fed, which is of course the us central bank, to really put its cards on the table of when it's going to cut interest rates into 202a. we've already seen that that's moved from march to may. now, expectations are starting to head towardsjune. why is this important for emerging markets, including china? one, chinese yuan, seeing depreciation, we could have some capital outflows. at the same point, the investor community and capital outflows are so important — that's why emerging markets like china are really going to sit on their hands up until when we've got some real clarity on when the fed is going to change policies. but my lifelong obsession of the nikkei 225 flirting with its all—time high, what's happening there? the economy fell into a recession, according to the latest data. is this alljust about the weak currency? pretty much. we know for a long time that when it comes to economic fortunes, that correlation when it comes to stock markets and the indexes — in this case, the japanese nikkei — that correlation really is not so strong and significant right now as what traditional economics would stand for. i think what we're seeing is,

one, the nikkei is catching up to the global equity market rally that started all the way into november, which is the best month for three years for global stocks. the s&p 500, the dow jones early in 2024 had hit record highs. we've always known, and that's one traditional form of economics we do still see, the correlation — the japanese yen is weak and has weakened all the way from 140 to 150. that's a boost for the japanese stock market, because of its exports and that impact on companies. that has really propelled the nikkei up towards its highest level in pretty much 34 years. we still need to see where the bank ofjapan sits as well, and that would also have an implication on its stock market further into this year also. what are you expecting from the fed? because there's a lot of speculation on when the rate cut might come. yeah, at this stage with the fed, pretty much investors are going to be stuck in the mud, because we already know that the fed will be looking at more recent data than the most recent policy meeting. i do think that investors very much are looking towardsjune

at the earliest for a us interest rate cut. that is a big pushback from where we were just six weeks ago, when we thought it would be march. we've already shifted back to may. i do think the economic data is really strong, if you look at the ppi, the inflation and so forth. we're looking atjune at the earliest — of course, subject to change depending on the data. in other news... a european union mission to protect commercial vessels against houthi rebel attacks in the red sea is due to launch today. the ongoing disruption to cargo shipments between asia and europe is causing firms to re—route to the much longer passage, which is affecting supply chains. turning to the aviation industry, which has an ambitious goal to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. it's in a race against time to produce enough sustainable aviation fuel to meet growing demands. ahead of the singapore airshow, my colleague monica miller takes a look at how it's made — from the fryer to the refinery. this cooking oil may seem like it's already served its purpose.

but for the aviation industry, it's liquid gold, as it looks for ways to cut its carbon footprint. the fleet in malaysia is constantly growing. we're about 100 vehicles at the moment. every month, we constantly deploy more vehicles. fathopes energy collects recycled cooking oil from fast food chains, like mcdonald's and kfc, as well as food production plants in kuala lumpur and singapore. the company gathers between five to 11 tonnes of used oil per month. the energy portfolio of the future is going to be extremely diversified and extremely indigenous. by some estimates, aeroplane engines account for 3.5% of global warming, but by 2050, this sector has set its sights on being net zero — or, as the british government calls it, jet zero. one way to get there is by using sustainable aviation fuel, which is made up of vegetable oils and animal fats rather than fossil fuels. neste is the world's largest producer of

but right now, it makes up less than 1% of the aviation fuel supply. to get there, lots of chips in the fryer! neste is the world's largest producer of sustainable aviation fuel. the finnish company recently built a $1.8 billion refinery here in south east asia. but here's the challenge. it's three to five times more expensive than traditional jet fuel. it's not easy for airlines to just switch to more costly sustainable aviation fuel if their competitors are not required to do the same. and that's why regulator regulatory actions to set minimum requirements for sustainable aviation fuel use in the airports is critical in creating that demand. industry experts also warn this alternative fuel isn't a silver bullet. until we have an alternative modes of propulsion,

such as hydrogen, for instance, we are stuck with having to have a fuel. and here, the beauty is with the sustainable aviation fuels is that they are made entirely from renewable inputs, so we completely replace the source of the fuel when we use saf. but we cannot totally eliminate the emissions because it's still a combustion engine. the aviation industry was built on finding ways to defy gravity. but without concrete mandates from governments a jet zero operation could face substantial headwinds. monica miller, bbc news, singapore. to know more about sustainable aviation fuel, check out the bbc�*s podcast the climate question. australia's flagship carrier qantas is due to report its latest financial results later this week. ellis taylor of flight data service firm cirium told me what lies ahead for the industry and its leading manufacturers

boeing and airbus. both airbus and boeing and their suppliers are really backed up from the covid pandemic. they have not been able to get a asmany aircraft as they wanted, and we've got to understand that if years ago, everybody thought this was going to be very slow recovery for the aviation industry, but instead it's been a very fast one and it's been sustained and is now growing above where it was prior to the pandemic, so thatis was prior to the pandemic, so that is really going to put a lot of pressure on airbus and mac want to get jets lot of pressure on airbus and mac want to getjets out mac want to get jets out the door and it also put a lot of pressure on airlines as well to train cell small aircraft were taken in the market and that is becoming few and far between. 0f becoming few and far between. of course, interment alternatives, they're not that many, we have been hearing a lot more about china's comac? what is your take on that? if they go to them, it will be quite a while. they want to cdc 191 built up, comparable to

airbus and boeing types. there might�*ve the moment, there are about two or three of them in—service just in china. they don't have any overseas customers at this stage. but given it is going to beat the singapore airshow this week, it really does show they are try to take a moment and get it out there that this is a jet that one day will probably fly into parts of the world outside of china. —— given it is going to be at. we talked about comac there — well, over the weekend, its airliner the narrow body c919 made its first trip outside chinese territory, staging a fly by at the singapore airshow. the plane is only certified within china, and it made its debut flying domestically for china eastern last year. chinese media says comac will invest tens of billions of yuan over the next three to five years to expand c919 production capacity. meanwhile, china has agreed to lift a longstanding ban on imports of spanish beef. it's been in place since the year 2000, when beijing banned beef imports from all eu countries after the emergence of mad cow disease.

the announcement came after talks in spain between the two countries�* foreign ministers. spain's foreign minister says lifting the embargo is good news for spanish farmers, who havejoined other eu farmers in protesting what they say are burdensome regulations, high costs and cheap imports. staying with those protests, authorities in the czech capital, prague, have asked people to work from home on monday as the agricultural union threatens to bring the city centre to a standstill with up to a thousand tractors. they're demanding the czech government withdraw from the eu's green deal, which they say will hurt the farming sector. it includes a plan to halve the use of pesticides, reduce fertiliser use and cut greenhouse gas emissions. and let's quickly show you how japan's nikkei is doing, because as i mentioned earlier it is flirting with an all—time high, but slightly lower at

this hour. of course we'll continue monitoring that for you. and that's it for this edition of asia business report. i'll be back with newsday at the top of the hour, so join i'll be back with newsday at the top of the hour, sojoin me if you can, but for now thank you very much for watching. bbc news — bringing you different stories| from across the uk. theirjobs are to work especially with young people, to help bring new opportunities through football and sport. but today is a little bit different. refreshing their cpr skills is a core part of what these guys do as sports coaches, but using these to help save the life of somebody who's been stabbed, well, that is new. yeah, that's fine. keep going, keep going. now, with everything that's happening in the city of bristol, with the increase in knife crime, we felt it really, really important that the staff were trained to use bleed kits. i'm, like, shocked at the amount of damage a knife can cause. you know, you just see it...just skin, but interiorally, you just don't know. it's quite scary, yeah.

i think it's a progression and a follow on from - the normal first aid training that we have. _ it's really prevalentl now, unfortunately. working with students - on a regular basis, it might be something that we need to be aware of. - blue kits are becoming a more familiar sight, and they do contain everything that you need to provide immediate emergency first aid to someone who is losing blood. you do need to know how to use them, but applying pressure to stop any further blood loss really can help save a life. for more stories from across the uk, - head to the bbc news website.

bbc news — bringing you different stories| from across the uk. russell coleman is at home with stone. but at his newcastle studio, an idea he had a decade ago is now starting to take shape. so this is my new big project, and it's called drawn. this is a million drawings drawn over the next five years... by you? by me. each one is individual. they may be in sets. so this set is 1000, on chinese paper, for the chinese new year. but the idea is that a million people can own one big artwork.

how long is it going to take you? five years, you say? yeah, five years. what does that mean? about 4,000 a week. blimey! why are you doing it? it's a sort of antidote to the art world. so this one, we could have a million owners all owning this one artwork that will only ever exist once it's made. for more stories . from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. hello, welcome to sportsday with me, hugh ferris. here's what's coming up on the programme. a margin of defeat to question the method — england are beaten by india by 434 runs in rajkot. rasmus�* run continues —

the danish striker scores again as manchester united win in the premier league. and jannik sinner stretches his unbeaten start to the year to 15. he's the rotterdam 0pen champion. hello there, welcome along to sportsday. it's fair to say england's approach to test cricket has been nothing short of entertaining — high octane at the best of times. but in rajkot, their swashbuckling attitude backfired, beaten heavily by india in the third test, losing by 434 runs to go 2—1 down in the five—match series. day four started with yashasvi jaiswal matching the record for 12 sixes in a test innings. he ended unbeaten on 214 as india declared on 430—4.

that set england a total of 557, which they never even got close to — bowled out for 122 to lose by a margin that, for england, is their largest in terms of runs since 1934 and india's biggest win that way in their history. it's a very good feeling to win a game like that, and especially with such a young team as well — two debutantes and not a lot of test matches among the playing 11 as well. but a lot of credit to these young boys who have come in and showed a lot of character. looks like they actually belong here and they want to stay here as well. india's huge win has given rise to more questions about england's approach to test cricket, but not from within the camp itself. captain ben stokes is remaining optimistic, insisting the team knows what they have to do to get back in the series and that it wouldn't be helpful to dwell too long on

what went wrong in rajkot.