talking trade — the chancellor rachel reeves heads to china to reinforce uk china ties. but pressure mounts back at home, with the sterling continuing to fall. tiktok�*s last chance — the social media platform will make a final plea at the us supreme court today to block a new law which could shut it down in america. and clamping down on touts — the uk unveils a plan to put a price limit on re—sold event tickets. welcome to business today, i'm tadhg enright. the british government has been defending its handling of the economy after a turbulent day on the markets on thursday saw the pound drop to its lowest level in more than a year and government borrowing cost surge to a 16—year high. today, sterling is down once again as pressure mounts

on chancellor rachel reeves. she's on her way to china with a delegation of city executives, as labour seeks closer economic links with beijing as part of its quest for growth. our asia business reporter sura njana tewari has more. rachel reeves under quite a bit of pressure over this trip to china, given what's going on on the uk markets. but the goal could actually ultimately benefit the uk economy, with her defenders saying the trip is important for uk trade and investment. china is the uk's fifth largest trading partner, with $68 billion worth of trade going from china to the uk last year. now miss reeves will be the most senior british official to visit beijing in seven years. amidst, as you mentioned, a concerted effort by labour to build bridges with china. and ties have been strained in recent years with allegations of chinese hacking and spying and its jailing of pro—democracy

figures in hong kong. now, miss reeves is travelling to china with senior financial figures, including the governor of the bank of england and the chair of hsbc. as for what's in it for china, well, one of the main goals is more cooperation on financial services. china is moving up the value chain and the uk could help, given its expertise in services and financial services. china, of course, is expected to be at the sharp end of donald trump's aggressive trade policy, which could result in tariffs of up to 60% on all chinese goods. chinese officials are already contending with a rapidly declining currency and a stock market sell off, and a protracted property crisis. the uk is unlikely to be able to resist taking sides. but rachel reeves and her delegation might be hoping for something of an opportunity in amidst all those tensions.

we're nowjoined by michael hewson, who an independent market analyst and good money guide contributor. thanks for being with us today. talk us through the numbers today, it looks like investors are not seeing any more reason to be bullish about the uk and its prospects right now? indeed. they aren't. the ten—year yield isjust indeed. they aren't. the ten—year yield is just below 4.9%. there is a crisis of confidence i think in the uk as an investment destination. it has not been helped by the budget from the uk government. while it has been a global phenomenon with respect to concerns about sticky inflation, and obviously the us economy is in focus because of the payrolls report, there is a concern we could see further declines in gilt prices and further rises in gilt yields.

that has real world consequences. in particularfor uk mortgage holders. consequences. in particular for uk mortgage holders.— consequences. in particular for uk mortgage holders. let's talk about the international - about the international dimension. some of the government's defence has been this is notjust a uk issue, there has been a global surge in yields after concerns about us government borrowing by incoming president trump. so notjust a uk phenomenon? it is not. a decent _ notjust a uk phenomenon? it 3 not. a decent payrolls report from the us could exacerbate that move higher in yields. last night one of federal reserve governors said she felt that the fed had limited room for further rate caps. if that is the case it will constrain the ability of the bank of england to cut rates. given that the uk economy isn't growing, or hasn't grown for two or three months, there will

be focus next week on the cpi numbers that are due out as well as the monthly gdp and retail sales.— well as the monthly gdp and retail sales. some say rachel reeves should _ retail sales. some say rachel reeves should have - retail sales. some say rachel| reeves should have cancelled her trip to china, but the government may say that may have spooked investors further. their position it is not an emergency and no need for intervention and what difference would staying have made? i difference would staying have made? ~ ., , difference would staying have made? ~ . , ., difference would staying have made? ~' . , . . made? i think that is a fair assessment. _ made? i think that is a fair assessment. but - made? i think that is a fair assessment. but i - made? i think that is a fair assessment. but i think. made? i think that is a fair i assessment. but i think what she could have done is appeared herself in the house of commons yesterday to answer the urgent question with respect to the bond markets and not send her deputy. she is giving the impression of being missing in action and that is never a good look when your competence is in question. look when your competence is in cuestion. . ~ look when your competence is in cuestion. ., ~ , ., let's focus on tiktok now, because the us supreme court will hear closing arguments

today in a case over whether the company should be banned in the country, if it remains under the ownership of the chinese company byte da nce. the split is required by a biden administration law which says it's necessary to protect national security. the new law is set to take effect in nine days time. tiktok says it's used by around 170 million americans. it, along with some of its content creators, have argued the ban violates their first amendment rights to free speech. our north america technology correspondent lily jamali has more. well, congress passed that law in april on national security grounds. lawmakers expressed concerns that tiktok�*s chinese ownership, bytedance, means that the data of millions of americans could be compromised, and that they are also prone to manipulation by china's communist party. tiktok has consistently denied those allegations. they have expressed confidence that they will get the outcome

that they seek from the supreme court. president—elect donald trump, meanwhile, has weighed in despite once trying to ban the app himself. he has now filed a brief in this case, asking the supreme court to temporarily block the law so that he can try to save it. staying in the us and the devastating fires that are destroying large parts of los angeles are on track to be among the costliest in us history. the private forecaster accuweather said it expects losses of between $135 billion and $150 billion as the blazes rip through areas containing some of the world's most expensive homes. more than 5,000 structures have been destroyed by fire in the palisades area. and between 4,000 and 5,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed by the fire in eaton. here's our north america business correspondent, ritika gupta. wildfires engulfing swathes of los angeles are expected to be one of the nations'

costliest natural disasters. the blazes burnig around santa monica and malibu are consuming some of the most pricey real estate in the us, affecting areas where the median home value is more than $2 million. in addition to the human cost and property damage in la, there is likely to be lasting health impacts and medical costs due to acrid smoke, as well as a dent in the lucrative tourism business. 0n thursdayjp morgan warned the potential cost to insurers is expected to surpass $20 billion. these figures could rise further, as the fires are not controlled and continue to spread. many affected homes were not insured. some of the biggest insurers, hit by hurricanes and other natural disasters over the years, have ceased writing or stopped renewing policies in high—risk coastal and wildfire areas like pacific palisades.

hurricane katrina in 2005 is the most expensive us natural disaster, with an estimated cost of $200 billion according to the national oceanic and atmospheric administration. blazes across california in 2018, including the camp fire, caused an estimated $30 billion of damage. here in the uk, prices for re—sold event tickets are set to be capped to prevent professional touts reselling them at heavily inflated levels. the uk government said it would crack down on ticket touts that are fleecing the public and address the lack of transparency in dynamic pricing models. last summer thousands of oasis fans complained about ticket prices to see the band's reunion tour. we're nowjoined by schellion horn, who's a competition economist at grant thornton. thank you forjoining us. so, what do you make of these plans, are they going to work? yes, there are two elements to this. there is the proposed

price cap and the dynamic pricing. we have been us from rating where we are sat in long queues to get tickets and then they pop up online on resale sites at inflated prices. i think it is not surprising that the government is looking at that and they have indicated they will. there are two elements one, it is surprising to have a price cap. we associate those with maybe essential goods like water and energy. less associated with consumer goods. i think what the resale sites may say is you impose a price cap, but that will encourage the seams to take place on other mediums and maybe whatsapp or facebook or things that are less controlled and consumers are not getting what they expect to pay for. it may force them on to the black market. ~ , , , .,

market. why is this so hard? an one market. why is this so hard? anyone who _ market. why is this so hard? anyone who has _ market. why is this so hard? anyone who has bought - market. why is this so hard? anyone who has bought or. market. why is this so hard? i anyone who has bought or tried to buy a glastonbury ticket knows that your ticket is the tied to your name and you have to produce id and if you don't want that ticket you have to sell it back. why can't that be applied more widely? i sell it back. why can't that be applied more widely?- sell it back. why can't that be applied more widely? i think it could be by— applied more widely? i think it could be by the _ applied more widely? i think it could be by the ticket - could be by the ticket agencies. there are some that do say that you can only sell back at the market price. some do that and maybe an increasing number will. we are seeing a number will. we are seeing a number that rather than just being one price of ticket there are multiple pricing. i went to buy a ticket and there was a standard price and then one £20 more if you are willing to pay to get in 15 minutes earlier. and that is another way of equalling out demand and supply. there is more they can do. but there is a place for

these ticket resale prices. if you buy a ticket a year in advance, maybe you can't make it. the point is to focus on the ticket touts and just ensure that people are able to have that opportunity to buy and sell tickets, but you're not competing against them. thank you. in other news, the world's largest asset manager — blackrock— has announced it's pulling out of a climate change industry group known as "net zero asset managers". it said its membership had caused confusion about blackrock�*s practices and had prompted legal inquiries from government officials. last year blackrock and some of its rivals were sued by 11 republican led us states over their environmental agenda although blackrock denied any wrongdoing. stay with us here on bbc news.

hello from the bbc sport centre. we'll start with the tennis and the first grand slam of the year is just a couple of days away — the australian open, which gets underway in melbourne. for the defending men's champion, there's still a potential doping ban hanging over him. jannik sinner was initially cleared of charges, but could yet face a ban, after the world anti—doping agency appealed the ruling at the court of arbitration for sport. sinner has been defending his right to play in the tournament, and didn't have much time for criticism from home player nick krygios — who's promised a hostile atmosphere if he takes on the italian. in my mind i know exactly what happened. and that's how i block it, you know? i don't... i haven't done anything wrong. that is why i'm still here. that's why i'm still playing. i don't want to respond on what nick said or what other players said. i think the most

important part is