the fed goes big, with a 50 basis—point interest rate cut — the outsized move sending wall street lower. and boeing furloughs thousands of its us staff, amid the ongoing strike by its largest union. hello, and welcome to business today, i'm steve lai. to our top story today — the us federal reserve has finally pulled the trigger, cutting interest rates by half a percentage point. this marks an aggressive start to its first—rate cutting cycle since the pandemic. the move sparked some volatility on wall street. our north america business correspondent ritika gupta has the details. the federal reserve has

delivered a supersized cut aimed at bolstering the us market. the first in over four years brings its key interest rate, the federal funds rate, its key interest rate, the federalfunds rate, down to between 4.75 and 5%. it comes amid signs that inflation in america is continuing to fall while thejob market america is continuing to fall while the job market remains strong as unemployment has risen this year.— risen this year. the labour market is _ risen this year. the labour market is actually - risen this year. the labour market is actually in - risen this year. the labour market is actually in solid| market is actually in solid condition, and our intention with— condition, and our intention with our— condition, and our intention with our policy move to is to keep— with our policy move to is to keep it — with our policy move to is to keep it there. you can say that about— keep it there. you can say that about the _ keep it there. you can say that about the whole economy. the us economy— about the whole economy. the us economy is— about the whole economy. the us economy is in good shape, it's growing — economy is in good shape, it's growing at _ economy is in good shape, it's growing at a solid pace, inflation is coming down, the labour— inflation is coming down, the labour market is in a good place. _ labour market is in a good place, we want to keep it there _ place, we want to keep it there. in— place, we want to keep it there. . ., there. in addition, the committee _ there. in addition, the committee which - there. in addition, the committee which sets| there. in addition, the - committee which sets rates released its latest forecast, showing policymakers expect to cut rates by further half percentage point, bringing inflation to 4% this year. while these cuts initially only

affect short—term borrowing costs for banks, they should spread to consumer loans as well. robert heller, the former governor of the fed from 1986 to 1989, explained why the central bank should have gone with a smaller cut instead. i would've voted for 25%, i think that would've been sufficient.— think that would've been sufficient. ~ ., ., , ., sufficient. what does it mean for the us — sufficient. what does it mean for the us economy - sufficient. what does it mean for the us economy and - sufficient. what does it mean i for the us economy and markets as well? we heard benjamin powell speaking about the strength of the us economy. it is reasonably strong, therefore it doesn't need all that additional stimulus. it doesn't need all that additionalstimulus. it it doesn't need all that additional stimulus. it doesn't need a 50 basis point cut — but it gives him, i think in his own mind and the fed's mind, assurance that the growth will continue, and the unemployment will stay low. continue, and the unemployment will stay low— will stay low. and what does it mean for _ will stay low. and what does it mean for those _ will stay low. and what does it mean for those outside - will stay low. and what does it mean for those outside the . will stay low. and what does it. mean for those outside the us? for us in asia, what is it that's what the implications? low interest rates and the nine states means the dollar will probably be a little bit weaker

—— in the united states. therefore it'll be tougher to compete in the us market for chinese, japanese, asian economies in general. find chinese, japanese, asian economies in general. and what their expectation _ economies in general. and what their expectation going - economies in general. and what their expectation going forward | their expectation going forward then for the rest of the year? think they'll follow with a similar 50 basis point move and get a bigger cut?— get a bigger cut? that's basically _ get a bigger cut? that's basically what - get a bigger cut? that's basically what powell i get a bigger cut? that's basically what powell is| basically what powell is promising, and he always puts a lot of emphasis on signalling future events — something that i also disagree with, you should just do the things when you think the time is ready, instead of talking about it a lot. so to answer your question, yes, iwould lot. so to answer your question, yes, i would expect another cut of 50 basis points, or to cuts of two 25, or somewhere in that

neighbourhood. we turn now to the latest news from boeing. the plane maker has begun temporarily furloughing staff, as it tries to cut costs amid the ongoing strike in seattle and 0regan. the company says tens of thousands of employees in the us — including executives and managers — will be affected. the selected staff will take one week of furlough every four weeks on a rolling basis. sharon block, who was a labour policy adviser during the biden and 0bama administrations, laid out what's different about this current strike from the previous one in 2008. i think there are some tough negotiations going on that what this signals, today the companies were back at the bargaining table today, back with a mediator — so hopefully that will be helpful. but the company imposing these furloughs i think is trying to send a signal and affect negotiations at the table. in the union is trying to do — the

union came away from the bargaining table today expressing disappointment with the posture of the company, saying that they didn't think that they were thinking of their concerns, the members�*s displeasure. so as is often the case around the bargaining tables, you've got both parties trying to send signals to each other and to those outside the negotiations about where they think they are and how serious a matter this is. the think they are and how serious a matter this is.— a matter this is. the last time boeina a matter this is. the last time boeing faced _ a matter this is. the last time boeing faced a _ a matter this is. the last time boeing faced a strike - a matter this is. the last time boeing faced a strike was - a matter this is. the last time boeing faced a strike was in i boeing faced a strike was in 2008 - boeing faced a strike was in 2008 — what's different this time around? we 2008 - what's different this time around?— time around? we do still in this country _ time around? we do still in this country have _ time around? we do still in this country have a - time around? we do still in this country have a pretty l this country have a pretty strong labour market — that's an important dynamic, certainly for the union in trying to figure out how much leverage they have at the bargaining table. but i'd say another big important difference is just how much trust i think has been lost between the union and this company since that last strike.

a lot has happened between these two parties in those intervening years. you had that strike, but then you had the company moving an important part of their manufacturing out of the company's traditional home in the northwest to south carolina. seemingly they didn't hide the purpose very much to get away from the union. you had other threats — in 2020, you had a similar move of work to the south, a place that is very not hospitable to the unions, you had pressure from the company on the union negotiations in 2013—14 where the union felt forced to give up the union felt forced to give up its traditional pension benefits — something that really hurt the union. so i think the union now, in seeing that we do still have a pretty

tight, strong labour market, wants to exercise the power that it believes it has to deliver for its members on the things that are most important to them. and i think they're just not a lot of trust along the table that management is playing fair with them. the bbc has learned that some x users in brazil have regained access to the social media website. this was made possible after x — which is owned by tech billionaire elon musk — moved their service to servers hosted by cloudfla re. that's according to brazil's leading trade group for internet service providers. the change makes it much harder to block applications on phones, the trade group said. x, formerly known as twitter, was banned in the country in august. australia is being urged to follow peru and new zealand to legally protect surf breaks to boost tourism and well—being. a new survey from the australian national university says surfing injects around two billion dollars into the economy there each year.

breaks like coral reefs help waves to collapse or plunge. from sydney, phil mercer reports. surfing in australia has a proud history. a pioneer was the hawaiian legend jude kahanamoku who showcased his skills here more than 100 years ago. but researchers say australia's world—class surf breaks need more legal protection. unfortunately, because of a growing number of pressures including climate change, coastal erosion, and competition for coastal spaces, the elements that make those waves possible are on many occasions endangered, because i don't think the lack of protection right now is deliberate, i think it's just surf breaks, currently they fall in a blind spot for policymakers. peru and new zealand has comprehensive measures to safeguard popular surfing spots. in australia, the sport has great social and economic value.

from beginners to salt—water veterans, surfing generates about $2 billion a year in australia. its very long coastline is arguably its greatest natural treasure. the ocean is like a magnet for board writers who relish their support�*s physical and psychological benefits. —— board riders. this whole economy, cafes and restaurants, accommodations, yeah, it's good, i love it. so i've had the business 30 years, just looking forward, ijust see it as being a slow growth. we try not to grow too fast here like the surf school, because you don't want to crowd out the ocean. with too many surfers. surfing is an olympic sport and its global appeal is growing. the world surf league has recently taken events over to india, and there has been professional surfing there and in china for over a decade now as well.

so anywhere there's ocean and rideable waves, there seems to be a surfing contingent these days. there are more than 720,000 active adult surfers in australia. there are probably many more, when children and international tourists are accounted for. australia is sort of seen as the country to surf. ijust thought i would love to be able to teach people and share the joy of surfing, and it's nice to not be working in the office, it's nice working at the beach and getting sunshine and being in the water all day. for those chasing the perfect wave, surfing is about embracing the power of nature. for them, it's a gift that should be protected. phil mercer, bbc news, sydney. and that's it for this edition of business today. thanks for watching. the top story about excluding walkie—talkies that killed at least 20 people and injured hundreds more in lebanon. i'll see you soon.

hey, i'mjulia with the catch—up. tonight — mr beast is under fire, the sims comes to life, and ed sheeran's surprise private gig. but first — sir keir starmer�*s chief of staff got a pay raise after the election, which means she earns a bigger salary than the prime minister. we've heard that sue gray asked for £170,000 a year, and got it — meaning she gets £3,000 more than keir starmer — although a government source said she had "had no involvement in any decision on her pay". some other stories now — and an update on child 0, the scandal where a police officer strip—searched a child in december 2020. the role of police officers in schools in hackney is going to be overhauled. it's because a report found that the search of a 15—year—old black girl by a police officer was unjustified, and racism

was "likely" to have been a factor. youtuber mr beast has been named in court documents from participants on his upcoming series beast games. they allege they weren't paid, were subjected to unsafe conditions, and experienced sexual harassment — and now they're suing the show�*s production companies. newsbeat has contacted mr beast for comment. and a movie about the sims is officially happening. electronic arts, which makes the game, announced they were working with amazon mgm on the film. and it's been confirmed that margot robbie's production company are involved, as well. and here's ten seconds of a surprise ed sheeran seranade. any requests? that is such good motivation to go for a run. you're all caught up now — see ya.

hello, and welcome to sportsday with me, will perry. coming up... it's a dream night for celtic in the champions league, as they hit five in glasgow! italy mourns the death of their icon of italia 90, toto schillaci. and we'll hear from harry brook, as he prepares to lead england forfirst time in the one—day series against australia. welcome along, thanks for joining us. six games in the champions league on wednesday.

celtic overpowered slovan bratislava at celtic park to get their campaign up and runing in style.