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. the latest minutes from the federal reserve show that officials were eager to slow the pace of interest rate cuts this year. they cited rising inflation risks on the horizon as donald trump return to the white house. our correspondent has the details. the minutes from the fed meeting in december show officials have adopted a new stance when it comes to 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 settling down. the minutes site, 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 on the us economy. in december, us central bank has cut their benchmark lending rate to a range of 4.25 to 4.5% for the third time in a row. a new forecast released after the december meeting showed a median estimate of two rate cuts in 2025 down from the four policymakers projected in september. asia is pressing for the significant impact of incoming us president donald trump's tariff policies. in his previous term, the picture

wasn't entirely bleak with some countries benefiting from us—china tensions. the stakes are higher this time 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 silver filed this report. when it comes to trump's tariff, for asia there are pros and cons. during his last presidency, it was 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 tehre does seem to be a trend in general is something known as friendshoring, 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, or the rules that we've been used to no longer apply, that sets up a sort of law of thejungle 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. and for china, 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. so i think people are 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. the repercussions are feld across asia. anthony runs a company that makes digital smart blocks of home so people don't need to use keys. it's headquartered

in singapore and has offices in the us 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 thought about mexico before but tariffs is 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 you nervous about this? for us, it is always important to plan for the future, plant of the worst, hope for the best. we are not the only company that is facing this challenge. every other manufacturing company around the world are all thinking about this and we are not 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.

potentially crippling us has been adverted as the union representing 16,000 ball workers are secured a new labor deal. negotiations which began on tuesday were focused on board automation, the union handling talks says a new agreement will enable the implementation of new technologies without compromising jobs. workers purposely had a three—day strike in october 2024 which was estimated to have cost the us economy $5 million a day. artificial intelligence continues to be a major theme going into 2025 but with the leadership change in the us, could the landscape start to change? former president and ceo of softbank international group and gave us his insights of the future of ai and how i trump presidency could impact the industry. trump presidency could impact the industry-— the industry. when it comes to future developments _ the industry. when it comes to future developments in - the industry. when it comes to future developments in al, - the industry. when it comes to future developments in al, the high priest of ai and i think some clues, useful clues have found his keynote address at

ces and in vegas earlier, i they talk about two broad themes, one was physical ai and themes, one was physical ai and the other was a gen z ki and you hear a lot more about both. physically, as it suggests, it means humanoids but i think that the big dealfor me is self—driving cars and this will be an inflection point for autonomous driving. as a look back on my experience, as a consumer, the last time i had a huge moment while using a piece of technology was back in 2007 with the iphone. and i had that similar epiphany when i took my first ride a couple of months ago in san francisco and if you look at what's happening with

them, it's remarkable. this statistics are when you look at mark richardson terms of that, why chair, it breaks down to gooburrum, 50% and 25% for left and the rest which is quite remarkable. to have been around long and you can only do short holes, the waiting times are more and it's more expensive. but people are latching on and i can tell you that i've never felt safer.— i can tell you that i've never felt safer. ., �* ., , ., ~' felt safer. how ai do you think would be _ felt safer. how ai do you think would be developed _ felt safer. how ai do you think would be developed forward? | felt safer. how ai do you think- would be developed forward? and quite supportive of the of development?— quite supportive of the of development? quite supportive of the of develoment? ~ , ., ., ., ~ ., development? when you look at elon development? when you look at eton musk _ development? when you look at eton musk is _ development? when you look at elon musk is front _ development? when you look at elon musk is front and _ development? when you look at elon musk is front and centre i elon musk is front and centre to everything that trump will do. administrations appointed with both very significant figures in their own right. and the world of ai, i think you will see as you might expect. i

think less of a focus on to somewhat misplaced working as an previous administration so i think you will see foster innovation by the private sector, you will see more of a willingness to towards ai applications and national security and defence and finally, more protection at china in terms of restricting that. ~ ., china in terms of restricting that. ~ . ., . ., that. meta has launched a new lan that. meta has launched a new [an that that. meta has launched a new plan that will _ that. meta has launched a new plan that will allow _ that. meta has launched a new plan that will allow buyers - that. meta has launched a new plan that will allow buyers on i plan that will allow buyers on facebook marketplace to browse list from ebay. the role that will began with a test in germany, france and us first. the news sent ebay's shares are soaring 9% on wall street, meta's move is to please the commission and executive body of the european union after the chelator fight the company back in novemberfor trying — for tying its marketplace products of the main facebook app. in those economy is slowly courtly but growth remains strong in over 6%. low inflation and expect the rate cuts next year

could boast consumer spending and investments. our business correspondent. india is admitted to grow at a slower pace than previously anticipated that and in march 2025 as well as in the following year. the reasons for that, we consumer demand, lower private investment and a decline in government spending. a key driverfor growth in previous years. despite these challenges, india is expected to grow in the range of 6.5 — seven seven in the next financial year. optimism is based on a few factors, firstly, despite the global uncertainties, india is a traitor to remain insulator from any global shops including tariffs from the united when donald trump takes office and would retail inflation finally easing due to falling food prices, india central bank is expected to cut interest rates next year which it has unchanged for nearly two years.

now, this would put more money into the economy by boosting consumer spending and business investments. in the last hour, china's ministry said it has concluded that european union investigations into chinese firms. in a statement on its website, the trade body said it found that brussels impose unfair trade and investment barriers. the announcement concludes approach of the ministry open injuly examining how the eu examines foreign subsidies. let's get to the quick update of the wildfires tearing through part of los angeles. the latest fire has started in the hollywood hills, home to many celebrity homes which are now in the evacuation zone. over100,000 which are now in the evacuation zone. over 100,000 people have been forced to evacuate so far, much more coverage on the story as these wildfires continues to blaze on newsday at the top of the hour. thanks forjoining me here on business today and i will see you again soon.

hiya. i'm 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 kelyan bokassa was stabbed to death, tuesday afternoon, on a bus in south east london. no arrests have been made yet, but detectives are saying they are working at pace to find those responsible. keylan�*s mother, mary bokassa, said her son had been groomed by gangs after running away. by gangs after running away from care and living on the street. she told the bbc how she had tried to stop kelyan associating with these gangs. ifeel hurt, as i tried to prevent it. i have tried so many, so many times. i screamed it, i said, "my son is going to be killed". more than 1,000 structures have been destroyed and tens of thousands of people have fled their homes in the los angeles wildfires. firefighters have been battling

the four wildfires around the city, but la official catherine barger is urging residents to heed the advice of first responders. to further encourage people to stay home and leave the roads open, the city has closed some of its main attractions, like the la zoo, and the hollywood sign. time now for ten seconds of baby pandas. this week is turning out to have a bit of a theme, with some pandas on yesterday's show, but these bears are smaller, and cuter. leni and lotti are twins, and were born at berlin zoo last summer. today, they have been moved to a new play area, where they have spent all day exploring, playing, and falling off of everything. you're all caught up now. have a good night.

hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm hugh ferris. our top stories: julen lopetegui is out at west ham, who have already zeroed in on his replacement, with graham potter heading to east london. spurs turn to a teenager to take the lead in their english league cup semifinal against liverpool. and — going solo — the rower looking to break records for her transatlantic crossing. hello again. welcome along. west ham have acted swiftly to replace the man they took a little longer than some expected to sack. julen lopetegui is gone afterjust six months at the london stadium, where the premier league club's next manager graham potter will speak to the media on thursday morning. ben croucher has the story on how the spaniards short tenure in east london came to an end.

the final act before the axe fell on a hammer.