us president—elect donald trump selects billionaire wall street investor howard lutnik. with passenger numbers set to soar, we sit down with the middle eastern carrier, gulf air. welcome to business today, i'm katie silver. donald trump is selected billionaire investor and veteran wall street boss howard lutnik is the next commerce secretary. in an announcement on his social media platform, he said the executive will lead to the tariff and trade agenda. let's go to new york and our correspondence. go to new york and our corresondence. , . correspondence. president-elect donald trump — correspondence. president-elect donald trump is _ correspondence. president-elect donald trump is tapping - correspondence. president-elect

donald trump is tapping up - correspondence. president-elect donald trump is tapping up the l donald trump is tapping up the ceo howard lutnik to lead at the commerce department. ian announced don truth social that the wall street veteran will lead the white house's tariff and trade agenda with additional direct responsibility for the office of the united states trade representative. as commerce secretary he will be responsible for enforcing the sweeping tariffs trump campaigned on for which lutnik has expressed fervent public support yet many economists say they tariff proposals could cause inflationary effects for consumers. lutnik, who is stretches from brokerages to real estate had previously been considered for the role of treasury secretary and had been one of donald trump's biggest promoters from the business world in recent months. and wall street is keeping a close eye on lutnik�*s position on various policies. these advocated for more jobs for americans and criticised the us, canada mexico trade pact as hurting us auto manufacturing

jobs. lutnik is also a big supporter of crypto with his business providing leveraged to investors who hold bitcoin and is also a staunch supporter of israel, in line with donald trump's position.- israel, in line with donald trump's position. over to japan where the _ trump's position. over to japan where the new— trump's position. over to japan where the new prime _ trump's position. over to japan where the new prime minister. where the new prime minister recently said that he will not be having a face—to—face meeting with donald trump before his inauguration. that is in sharp contrast to the former prime minister who managed to meet trump in new york three days after he won the 2016 election. the two were also really close during the us prison�*s first term which helped pave the way for a bilateral trade agreement between the us and japan, signed in 2019. for clues on the next phase of relations, let's bring in a with the previous president for seven years. it doesn't seem like the new prime minister is off to a good start, especially as donald trump want told shinzo abe he was the greatest prime minister in the history of

japan. minister in the history of ja an. minister in the history of ja an, ., , minister in the history of jaan. . , ., japan. in answer to your question. _ japan. in answer to your question, the _ japan. in answer to your question, the it - japan. in answer to your question, the it is - japan. in answer to your question, the it is not i japan. in answer to your question, the it is not in japan. in answer to your - question, the it is not in the immediate future. and for two or three reasons, already the prime minister said it was mr tron�*s office that came to mr ishiba and said they could not meet mr ishiba citing that meeting foreign leaders such as ishiba is deemed illegal at present. it sounds funny because as you say, when shinzo abe was in office eight years ago, eight years ago, he made a visit to the president—elect trump, so it was obviously a piece of a white lie. and i would imagine that mr trump is very well aware what sort of relationship ishiba had with shinzo abe. i have to say the

relationship between mr ishiba and shinzo abe, the previous prime minister, was not a good one. so those combined, short term there will be little to no chance for ishiba to meet president—elect trump. i chance for ishiba to meet president-elect trump. i was coin: president-elect trump. i was auoin to president-elect trump. i was going to ask _ president-elect trump. i was going to ask what _ president-elect trump. i was going to ask what impact - president-elect trump. i was going to ask what impact do | president-elect trump. i was i going to ask what impact do you see it having on trade. we mentioned shinzo abe securing i bilateral free—trade agreement at this time trump has promised worldwide paris, so what are the japanese trade risks in terms of this?— the japanese trade risks in terms of this? there are trade risks forjapan. _ terms of this? there are trade risks forjapan, but _ terms of this? there are trade risks forjapan, but in - terms of this? there are trade risks forjapan, but in time --| risks forjapan, but in time —— context of the us and china trade frictions, and japan must make the case that honda, toyota and otherjapanese major manufacturing companies have invested quite substantial is amount of capital in the united

states and that is something that shinzo abe repeatedly mentioned when he met president trump in person, but it is a square one sort of situation in the japanese have to be the same again. figs the japanese have to be the same again-— the japanese have to be the same again. the japanese have to be the same aaain. �* , ., same again. as i mentioned, you worked with _ same again. as i mentioned, you worked with shinzo _ same again. as i mentioned, you worked with shinzo abe - same again. as i mentioned, you worked with shinzo abe for- worked with shinzo abe for seven years as a special adviser. is there anything that prime minister ishiba could do if you were to advise on about improving his relationship with the president—elect? the improving his relationship with the president-elect?— the president-elect? the third and second — the president-elect? the third and second and _ the president-elect? the third and second and third - the president-elect? the third and second and third most - and second and third most important thing that ishiba needs to think about is to gain political capital of his own. he is very much a weak prime minister at the moment. and the japanese parliament, the upper chamber is going to have national elections injuly next year and prime minister ishiba, if he is to survive them, he could assume that he has become stronger, and you know that

president trump likes to make deals not with weak politicians but with strong politicians. great to get your insight. thank you forjoining us. in other high—profile national security trial has resumed in hong kong today as pro—democracy media tycoon jimmy lai takes the stand for the first time. the 76 rod has beenin the first time. the 76 rod has been injail since the first time. the 76 rod has been in jail since late 2020 and is facing two charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces under beijing's security law. lai denies all charges against him. south korean authorities are investigating the deaths of three employees inside the testing chamber at a high undyed car manufacturing facility. the state news agency said the victims were found collapsed in the plant. local reports said unventilated exhaust gases may have suffocated them. a police

investigation is under way and the company has pledged full cooperation. according to the international air transport association global air passenger numbers will double in about 20 years to 8.6 billion and that even despite the setback from the pandemic. bahrain owned golf air is rooting for that growth. my colleagues caught up with the boss to talk about the challenges and opportunities he sees in the nearfuture. irate challenges and opportunities he sees in the near future.- sees in the near future. we are challenged _ sees in the near future. we are challenged by _ sees in the near future. we are challenged by two _ sees in the near future. we are challenged by two significant i challenged by two significant concerns, one is geopolitical conflicts in the middle east which is affected unfortunately with israel and iran that has affected traffic in the region. and we live in hope that this will not escalate, as much as other tensions around the world will not escalate because it does not do us any good. second, the challenge of engine availability and that is impacting operational stability and confidence in the industry

and confidence in the industry and impacting brands.- and impacting brands. there honestly been _ and impacting brands. there honestly been a _ and impacting brands. there honestly been a lot - and impacting brands. there honestly been a lot of- and impacting brands. there honestly been a lot of safety concerns about boeing aircraft. is that a concern for you? aircraft delivery has been late, but the main challenge for us at gulf air in the industry generally is the availability of aircraft as a result of an engine shortage. that is impacting us more than the concerns on the safety side. not to say that safety is not paramount and always will be but we make sure that we are always ahead of the curve when it comes to safety.— it comes to safety. china's economy _ it comes to safety. china's economy is _ it comes to safety. china's economy is in _ it comes to safety. china's economy is in a _ it comes to safety. china's economy is in a slowdown | it comes to safety. china's - economy is in a slowdown and tourists are not travelling the way they used to from china. how has that impacted your business?— business? we see a lot of u tick business? we see a lot of notick in _ business? we see a lot of uptick in domestic - business? we see a lot of uptick in domestic travel | business? we see a lot of i uptick in domestic travel and international travel is fairly targeted for the chinese consumers today. but we remain invested because we believe that the chinese market will return, and it was and it is a significant force in terms of aviation growth. so we were neverin

aviation growth. so we were never in two minds when we decided earlier this year and decided earlier this year and decided last year that we would launch the flight into shanghai to remain invested and being present in the chinese market. what is the gulf air position on sustainability, especially coming from a region that produces so much gas and oil question mark in terms of gas and oilfor bahrain, it's only 15% of gdp today and bahrain has divested towards other sectors and you look at the logistics of the financial industries, this is a bigger part of the overall national gdp but in terms of the omissions for the airline, gulf air is committed to the target of a net zero emissions by 2050 and we have different measures in place and it is still a very expensive product because of the limited quantity available but we are addressing it in other ways to manage our emissions and are in our license to fly through offset programmes, waste management

programmes, waste management programmes, energy consumption programmes, energy consumption programmes and less —— more responsible procurement. the latest test flight of the space x mega rocket has launched from the base in texas. the test was attended by elon musk, donald trump and several supporters of the us president—elect. starship reached space and travelled halfway around the earth before re—entering the atmosphere and splashing down in the indian ocean. this was the sixth test flight of the rocket which is central to elon musk�*s ambition of sending humans to mars. just before we 90, humans to mars. just before we go, take a look at this. jaguar has unveiled an ultramodern rebrand as it gears up to unveil an all electric vehicle line—up in 2026. the relaunch is already drawing some criticism with the internet saying it's pretty confused. for starters, there is one key missing element, cars. for starters, there