us secretary of state antony blinken is currently in south korea and will hold talks in the coming hours. the tense political situation has now stretched on for over a month, and economist krystal tan took me through the effects its having on the economy. the political turmoil is exacerbating economic headwinds in south korea. recent data ahead of the turmoil was showing signs of weakening, when you look at manufacturing, construction, services activity, had slowed in november and if we look at more high—frequency indicators since the political turmoil started in december, it looks like we will get further weakness in domestic demand. consumer and business sentiment have been shaken, now at levels not seen since the pandemic. if you look at credit card spending on discretionary categories like recreation, accommodation, services have

fallen as well and if you look at the korean won, it has weakened pushing up inflation. domestic fuel prices have increased and that will weigh on the purchasing power of households. things are not looking particularly good. donald trump will take office this month with the threat of imposing tariffs looming. is that a concern? of course. the trade environment is likely to get more fraud, trade tensions are rising and that will be inaudible for a country like korea. so far the plan seem to be focused on china, mexico and canada but there will be negative spillover effects in south korea given how plugged in the economy is in terms of global supply chains and if the president—elect�*s campaign threat of universal

tariffs materialises and south korea does not get exemptions, the hit will be greater, suffer contact the us accounted for almost 20% of south korea's exports last year. the new year raises a question for the major economies of the world — will they see strong growth in 2025? china and germany stumbled last year and it's unclear whether they have tackled their underlying issues. meanwhile, the us saw strong growth, but donald trump's return and his tariff—centred policies could have widespread effects. for a deeper look at what lies ahead, our reporters from new york, berlin, and beijing filed this report. wall street may not believe in santa claus any more but they are grateful for one older gentleman. donald trump may not be in office but he is promising large gifts to the markets and the economy. he says he will support the crypto industry,

appointing crypto—friendly regulators. he says he can cut prices for consumers, although it is not clear how and he also claims he will cut regulations. this promise of even better times ahead as help drive us markets higher at the end of 202a. but some of his other plans pose serious risks. if donald trump comes into office injanuary and imposes huge tariffs on imports to the us, then economies everywhere will face a big disruption and wall street might find and wall street might find a lump of coal in its stocking. traditionally, the german economy is seen as the powerhouse of europe. it is, after all, the largest economy in europe, but increasingly, it is the economic laggard. we haven't seen any economic growth for years and 2025 looks set to be another year of stagnation. that is mainly because of competition from china but also a lack of global demand,

both globally, but also in europe and at home and what is adding to the problem is political uncertainty. the governing coalition here collapsed in november after months of political strife and arguments and there are snap elections in february. the big question is, what will the government do to get the economy going? we're not talking about full blown recession butjobless figures are rising slowly and there are questions about whether germany's exports—driven industrial model is still working for the whole country. economically going into 2025, china's problems remain. local government debt, a real estate crisis which has seen families lose their entire life savings because of undelivered property and persistent youth unemployment. now, with the latter of those, you might think what about the emerging tech sector? isn't that a bright spot? can't people go there looking for work? yes, the tech sector appears to have a bright future

but it is not as labour—intensive. we are talking cutting—edge robotics, not crowded production lines, so the government needs new sectors to emerge, and to drive this it needs and to drive this it needs an increase in domestic demand. but the more pessimistic chinese people are about their economy, the more likely these already conservative consumers are to save more rather than spend more. and turning this sentiment around will be very tough indeed. hsbc�*s chief investment officer for southeast asia and india, james cheo, explains what investors can expect from the us and china in 2025. i think at this stage it is hard to predict whether it is the scale, the timing and reaction functions of countries. early days but of course it is a headwind overhanging the region, so i think something to watch out

for but a good trump being able to deregulate industries and may benefit the region. we saw michelle fleury talk about those things and the us saw strong growth in 202a. do expect that will continue into 2025? yeah. i think the starting point is strong. the labour market is strong and you have that whole ai attack cycle that is bolstering the economy and are you at the possible policies from donald trump that is very much making... from donald trump that is very much making... us exceptionalism continue on, us exceptionalism continue on, tax cuts, fiscal spending tax cuts, fiscal spending or deregulation so i think or deregulation so i think the outlook is likely to be the outlook is likely to be quite robust in 2025. quite robust in 2025. what is your outlook for asia? what is your outlook for asia? a nuanced approach. a nuanced approach. i would say perhaps i would say perhaps you have to look at... you have to look at...

i think in china, we are i think in china, we are neutral on china because there neutral on china because there is outside and downside risk is outside and downside risk but i think in india but i think in india and the asean region, and the asean region, the outlook is bright the outlook is bright because india is easily because india is easily going to grow by 6.5 or even going to grow by 6.5 or even higher in terms of growth, higher in terms of growth, so a very strong middle so a very strong middle class domestic consumption. class domestic consumption. exports, particularly digital, are quite resilient exports, particularly digital, are quite resilient and insulated from the whole and insulated from the whole headwinds associated headwinds associated with trade. with trade. turning to india and the ongoing debate on hib visas — a programme that allows us businesses to tap on global talent. with donald trump set to take over as president, india has been anxiously monitoring us policy on immigration. the bbc�*s arunoday mukharji is live in delhi with more. india has a lot riding on hib visas, put this in perspective for us, why is this important for indian companies?

it is critical because a lot of

headwinds associated witi us |de. headwinds associated witi us citizenship and the us citizenship and immigration services from april to september last yeari in five hib visas were given to indian origin tech companies, which is significant. even the bbc reported over 70% of hib were given to indian nationals followed by chinese so that is why any policy change when it comes to hib has a direct impact on how these companies and internationals will function. we're tracking developments around the nippon—us steel takeover that presidentjoe biden officially blocked last friday. shares of nippon steel are down in tokyo today after nippon television reported that the company's president, tadashi imai, was considering filing a lawsuit against the us government. according to the report, imai also said his company is entitled to a proper review of washington's decision to block the deal. nippon steel is planning to hold a press conference on the matter, but a date has yet to be set.

and that's it for this edition of business today. thanks for watching. see you again soon.

hello and welcome to sportsday with me, chetan pathak. coming up on the programme: not many gave manchester united a chance at anfield, but amad is on hand to hold top—of—the—table liverpool to a 2—2 draw in the premier league. the most followed rugby union player in the world on social media. we speak to american superstar ilona maher as she makes her women's premiership debut for bristol bears. and coco gauff and taylor fritz help the united states to victory over poland in the united cup final in sydney.

welcome along. thank you for being with us. despite overnight snow, both of sunday's premier league games went ahead, including at craven cottage, where fulham drew 2—2 with ipswich, and at anfield, where manchester united put in an improved performance to draw 2—2 with the league leaders, liverpool. ruben amorim's side went into the game having lost their last four in all competitions, but were the first to score through lisandro martinez early in the second half. mohammed salah's penalty saw liverpool turn the game around, 2—1 they led with 20 minutes to go, only for amad diallo to snatch an equaliser ten minutes later. top—of—the—table liverpool are six points clear of arsenal with a game in hand. united are 13th.

i think it is really clear, when we are focused and fight