the fed raises concerns about inflation, as the us gears up for new policies under a trump administration. plus — we discuss the future of artificial intelligence with the former boss of japanese technology giant, softbank. hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. i'm steve lai. in the us, the latest minutes in the us, the latest minutes from the federal reserve showed from the federal reserve showed that officials were eager to �*to that officials were eager to slow the pace of interest rate slow the pace of interest rate cuts this year. they cited cuts this year. they cited rising inflation risks on the rising inflation horizon as donald trump returns cuts this year. they cited rising ii as tion cuts this year. they cited to the white house. rising ii as donald trump returns horizon as donald trump returns to the white house. of the minutes from the fed of the minutes from the fed meeting in the summer show meeting in the summer show officials have adopted a new officials have adopted a new stance when it comes to stance when it comes to interest rate cuts amid upside interest rate cuts amid upside

risks to inflation. policymakers are in no hurry to cut rates and would like to see more evidence that price increases are coming down. the minutes, fed officials also expressing concern about the impact president elect donald trump's policies could have on efforts to reduce inflation. without calling out trump by name, the meeting summary featured at least four mentions about the effect that changes in immigration and trade policy could have

immigration and trade policy cc his have immigration and trade policy cc his previous policy, —— in his previous policy, —— previous term, the country was not quite so bleak that the stakes are higher as the president elect has promised a 20% tax on all us imports. for a look at how businesses in the region are adapting to the evolving trade environment, katie silberman filed this report. when it comes to tramp�*s tariff, for asia there are pros and cons. during his last presidency was religious china in the firing line. seeing other countries in the region benefit, like vietnam and india, as they became alternative destinations for american companies to their products. take a look at how the us trade balance with vietnam has changed over the last ten or so years. of course there are good years and bad but they do seem to be a trend in general is something known as fred onshoring, where companies trade with countries that are their friends rather than their foes. this time round, the president elect has suggested he may place a 20% tariff on all goods from abroad

when he takes office again. when you have these very large players who are clearly deciding that the rules no longer apply, deciding that the rules no longerapply, orthe deciding that the rules no longer apply, or the rules that we've been used to no longer apply, that sets up a sort of law of the jungle and that is going to be very problematic for the rest of the planet as well, especially for smaller developing countries, because when you have the law of the jungle the small players tend to get eaten.— to get eaten. and for china, thins to get eaten. and for china, things are — to get eaten. and for china, things are looking _ to get eaten. and for china, things are looking even - things are looking even tougher. trump has threatened tariffs of 60% on all goods from there. trade expert deborah elms says it keeps up at night. 50 deborah elms says it keeps up at niuht. ~' deborah elms says it keeps up at niuht. ~ , ., at night. so i think people are much too _ at night. so i think people are much too calm _ at night. so i think people are much too calm about - at night. so i think people are much too calm about that. - at night. so i think people are much too calm about that. if. much too calm about that. if you have learned anything from trump one it is that trade and tariffs matter to him personally, and you should expect him to do what he says, especially in the trade and tariff space.— especially in the trade and tariff sace. , . ,, ., , tariff space. the repercussions are held across _ tariff space. the repercussions are held across asia. - tariff space. the repercussions are held across asia. anthonyl are held across asia. anthony chow runs a company that makes

digital smart blocks of home so people don't need to use keys. it is headquartered in singapore and has factories across asia. including china. with a pandemic and supply chain shocks, igloo company opened up factories in south korea, vietnam and malaysia, but most of their production still comes from china. would you move any of your manufacturing to the us? we have manufacturing to the us? - have thought about mexico before but tariffs are probably only going to rise in mexico as well and i'm looking at a couple of manufacturing partners in the region. in the us specifically. are partners in the region. in the us specifically.— us specifically. are you nervous _ us specifically. are you nervous about - us specifically. are you nervous about this? - us specifically. are you | nervous about this? for us specifically. are you - nervous about this? for us, it is or is important _ nervous about this? for us, it is or is important to _ nervous about this? for us, it is or is important to plan - nervous about this? for us, it is or is important to plan for l is or is important to plan for the future, plant of the worst, hope for the best. we are not the only company facing this challenge. every other manufacturing company around the world are all thinking about this and we are not alone. �* ., , , ., alone. anthony says that chinese _ alone. anthony says that chinese suppliers - alone. anthony says that - chinese suppliers themselves are trying to diversify manufacturing outside of china, all scrambling to unlock what a second trump presidency will

bring. katie silva, bbc news, singapore. a potentially crippling strike in the us has been averted as a union representing 16,000 port workers has secured a new labour deal. negotiations that began on tuesday were focused on court on automation. the new agreement will enable the implementation of new technologies. workers previously had a three—day strike in october 2024, estimated to have cost the us economy $5 billion a day. artificial intelligence continues to be a major theme going into 2025, but with a leadership change in the us, could be landscape start to change? former president and cfo of softbank international group alok sama gave us his insights on the future of ai and how a trump presidency could impact the industry. first of all, elon musk is front and centre to everything trump is going to do this year.

he has appointed some people in the world of ai. i think you will see as you might expect lighter touch regulation, so i think less of a focus on, to somewhat misplaced woke mass in the previous administration, so i think you will see faster innovation led by the private sector, probably more of a willingness or proclivity towards ai implications for national security and defence and then finally, inevitably, more protectionism probably directed at china in terms of exports. d0 directed at china in terms of exorts. ,, ., directed at china in terms of exorts. ., ., , exports. do you have any concerns _ exports. do you have any concerns about _ exports. do you have any concerns about the - exports. do you have any| concerns about the speed exports. do you have any i concerns about the speed at which ai is developing, especially as you mention it could be having a bigger role when it comes to military and national security applications? candidly, i don't. national security applications? candidly, idon't. if national security applications? candidly, i don't. if you look at things that could go wrong,

one can dream up some pretty scary scenarios, but i would rather focus on the positives, and candidly i always had the view that the bahoui set when it comes to safety, the bahoui set for machines seems to be way higher than we do for humans, —— the bar that we set. i come back to self driving cars, i have neverfelt safer, i would rather be in one than a yellow cab in new york or pretty much anywhere else. meta is launching a new plan. the news sent ebay's shares soaring on wall street. it is an to appease the european commission after the regulator fined the company backin regulator fined the company back in novemberfor regulator fined the company back in november for tying regulator fined the company back in novemberfor tying its market—based product of the main facebook app. staying with

staying with meta — france and brazil have expressed concern over the company's move to end fact checking on facebook and instagram. the french foreign ministry said freedom of expression couldn't be conflated with the right to spread viral content without filter or moderation. it said france would be vigilant to ensure the tech giant was in compliance with european laws. brazil's communication minister said meta's ditching of content moderation was bad for democracy. as we move further into the new year, the cost of living are still a big concern for many and many of —— one of the main components, the price of food, that has been on the rise. this chart outlines the united nations index, tracking the cost of a basket of goods, and you can see the steady rise over the last 12 months. tighter budgets have hit supermarkets, as well as gourmet organic grocers, like the singapore—based little

farms. for a closer look at how their business is navigating food prices were up in most places post—pandemic. the inflation growth has subsided, prices remain elevated and inflation is not completely gone. in general, the higher quality all natural products that we saw little farm cell cost more to grow and produce than conventionally farmed and produced products. we have been very focused on limiting price increases and making our all natural product range more accessible to more people, and we are seeking to achieve this in four key ways. first, we are sourcing as direct as possible, sourcing as direct as possible, so we buy from the grower, and from the maker, to the extent possible. this allows us to eliminate the middleman and provide better higher quality products at better prices, instead of buying through a wholesaler where it would be much more expensive. the second thing we have been doing as we have been scaling, we've been growing. we now have seven

grocery stores in singapore and our purchasing power has increased significantly so we need use that to negotiate lower by prices from our suppliers. another benefit of scale is with larger shipments, the logistic costs per unit decrease, and we share these benefits with customers. the other thing that has been important to our strategy is we have developed a good, better, best ranging approach in key lines, and so when we first opened, over eight years ago, yeah, we've focused on very high quality, all natural products from around the world. before we go, back to los _ around the world. before we go, back to los angeles, _ around the world. before we go, back to los angeles, and - around the world. before we go, back to los angeles, and some l back to los angeles, and some aerial views of the fires we have been following, this view over the hollywood hills. you can see street signs that the n. vista st, it hasjust gone 6:40pm in the evening in los angeles as they brace for more fires ahead. keep it here on bbc news.

iam i am betty with the catch up. tonight, the latest on the woolwich stabbing, wildfires and baby pandas. a vigil has

been held, after 14—year—old kelly in the car so i was stabbed to death tuesday afternoon on a bus in south london. no arrests have been made yet but detectives are saying they are working at pace to find those responsible. cillian's mother said her son had been groomed by gangs after running away. she told the bbc how she had to stop cillian associating with these gangs. i feel hurt as i try to present it. —— prevent it. i have tried so many, so many times. it. —— prevent it. i have tried so many,