the s&p 500 reaches a record high after trump calls for cuts in interest rates and oil prices. thailand set for a pink tourism boom after legalising same—sex marriage. hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. us stocks closed at all—time highs on thursday following comments from president donald trump at the world economic forum in davos, switzerland. the president urged opec to lower crude prices and said he will push for interest—rate cuts. let's get to new york and our north american business correspondent, ritika gupta. the benchmark s&p 500 closed at a record high on thursday, topping the 6100 milestone, this as investors digested comments from president donald

trump including a call for cuts in interest rates and oil prices and assess a mixed bag of corporate earnings. at the world economic forum in davos, switzerland, trump demanded opec lower and increase interest rates. crude oilfell. trump warned business leaders they would face tariffs for products made outside of the us. while investors have been cautiously monitoring the new president's comments about tariffs, stocks may have got a boost from the idea of interest rates and oil prices coming down. tech stocks, which weighed heavily on the market throughout most of the session, rebounded in the final stretch of wall street trading. this as trump said he signed executive actions related to ai and cryptocurrencies. staying in the us, and during his first week in office us president donald trump renewed his tariff threats once again. he said he would rather not use

them but describe them as a tremendous power of the country. he threatens to pose a 10% levy on china with mexico and canada are also facing the threat. he promised to go after the european union as well for what he called unfair trading practices. deborah elms is the head of trade and gave her view on whether or not he would follow through on threats. he is serious about his love of tariffs and his desire to implement them. how do you think china will respond? i think china will respond? i think the chinese may be muted at the first instance especially if the tariffs that are applied against china remain at 10% but if they go higher than that then i think china will say there is no point in us even pausing on any potential retaliation, let's do something and do it now. china is seen as _ something and do it now. china

is seen as an — something and do it now. china is seen as an adversary - something and do it now. china is seen as an adversary but - something and do it now. china is seen as an adversary but it . is seen as an adversary but it is seen as an adversary but it is partners and neighbours like mexico and canada and the firing line as well. how will they see these tariffs unfolding before them with what donald trump said he wants to implement? in donald trump said he wants to implement?— donald trump said he wants to imlement? . ., ., ., ., implement? in particular canada is a bit annoyed _ implement? in particular canada is a bit annoyed because - implement? in particular canada is a bit annoyed because they i is a bit annoyed because they are being accused of allowing too much immigration and too much fentanyl, neither one of which seems to be an issue for canada in particular so here you have been a long—standing best friend of the united states and deeply integrated 3—way market and how you will be hit with a 25% tariff. first, actually, in that field, i think, deeply alarming and unsettling for what canada, mexico, for other allies of the united states. some of you are heading adverse areas and allies, what does that mean? the date of february one was one mooted by donald trump himself. it doesn't leave a lot of time for any form of negotiation.— of time for any form of negotiation. no. on the question _ negotiation. no. on the question you _ negotiation. no. on the question you always - negotiation. no. on the l question you always have negotiation. no. on the - question you always have with donald trump is if by offering him something will hit pocket that and still do what he intended to do? willie pocketed

and ask for more? if he asks for more is more available? you are constantly worried about an over escalation that leads you into being far worse off than the end and if you had simply done whatever he was planning to do and imposed your own retaliatory measures. the japanese _ retaliatory measures. the japanese central- retaliatory measures. the japanese central bank - retaliatory measures. the japanese central bank has raised the cost of borrowing to the highest level since the global financial crisis of 20,008. like other major economies, the cost of borrowing there has remained low as the country only began to experience inflation in recent years. the bank of japan raised rates last year prompted a market sell—off so we are watching the market reaction closely. mariko oi has more. this chart shows the history of the cost of borrowing injapan and for the last 25 years it has been pretty flat. it was in 1999 when the bank ofjapan became the first central bank in the world to cut interest rates to zero. it was a bold

move at the time. the country was experiencing falling prices, also known as deflation and lower rates were meant to encourage spending and investment, at least in theory. but consumers were not buying it. that is because the value of their properties and other assets were falling so people did not feel confident to spend money and it slowed an entire country's economic growth. then, in 2016 the bank ofjapan went further, taking the extraordinary step of cutting rates to below zero. negative interest rates meant that the bank was paying borrowers to borrow money and they stayed there for over eight years, hoping that prices would start to rise. inflation finally arrived several years ago but it was mainly due to higher food and fuel prices caused by the war in ukraine. in march last year the central bank moved rates to a range of zero

- 0.1%, i moved rates to a range of zero — 0.1%, i tire daisy — my tiny rise but seismic shift in policy. they finally exited the negative interest rate policy. a few months later the bank of japan raised rates again, this time to around 0.25%, showing their confidence in the country's economic recovery and that inflation is finally back. but that triggered a market sell—off because investors worried that the rates may be raised too fast and also because of a complex impact on the value of thejohn because of a complex impact on the value of thejothapanese the value of the john japanese currency. 0fficials the value of the john japanese currency. officials have been cautious ever since but they defined growth to 0.5% today, the highest in 17 years and economists think they may raise the cost of borrowing several more times this year. in india a tribunal has temporarily suspended a five year datasharing band between whatsapp and its owner, matter. this will come as a major

relief of the us tax giant which has its biggest market in india. our reporter is tracking those developments and we are joined by him today. tell us more about the case and wade is such a relief. it more about the case and wade is such a relief.— such a relief. it is being seen as a significant _ such a relief. it is being seen as a significant temporary . as a significant temporary relief by meta because they always maintained that if they had to go ahead and comply with the orders of india's anti—trust watchdog which came in last year than it would have led to a significant impact on its advertising business and that has been their primary argument. but now a appellate tribunal that heard the appeal from meta has said that we were temporarily banned, rather, suspend the band and continue to hear arguments from meta. they also said that the competition commission of india which impose the initial ban said that they do not have the technical expertise to really understand the ramification of an order like this. this stems

from the privacy policy changes have whatsapp in 2021 and the accusation that was held up by the anti—trust watchdog that what chap did not provide users with an option and it undermined their autonomy when it came up with an update where users had to accept or lose out on using services. that was the accusation which is why the competition commission went ahead imposed the ban and find. this has been a battle in and is likely to continue. this is just a temporary relief for a moment but it is important, as you said, because india happens to be extremely significant and emerging market for matter. look at the numbers there. facebook has over 350 million users in india and whatsapp has over 500 million so it is an important market for facebook to ensure that it carries on its presence without any kind of legal hurdles.— its presence without any kind of legal hurdles. thank you for caettin of legal hurdles. thank you for getting across _ of legal hurdles. thank you for getting across that. _

thailand became the first country in southeast asia to legalise same—sex marriage on thursday, with hundreds of couples registering their unions. the new laws could also see a boom for thailand's tourism, with the hospitality sector set to see big gains — according to industry experts. one of them is timothy hughes who is a vice president of corporate development at agoda. explains how the new law could boost thailand's economy. this is a great story of the coming together of love, and economic opportunity. it is rare we get to see three together. as you say, yesterday the law came into force, couples are now marriage, couples are 110w waking up in thailand with theirfirst morning together. what is important about that for the community of thailand is the marriage, but for the economy of thailand we have done modelling that could suggest within two years ago bring

another 4 million visitors to the market, spending $2 billion in travel spend, which could amount to another 0.3% lift in the gdp of thailand, so prove that while love is love, money is also money, there is a great opportunity here in getting the pink dollar into thailand. you are saying these are the people that believe in or support what is happening in thailand that would open the doors they wanted to go to thailand, is that we were saying? if you think of a five hour flying circle around thailand, that encompasses frequent 6 billion people who do not have access to marriage equality. —— encompasses re .6 willian people. thailand has been doing a lot of work to encourage true realism. a lot of relaxation in visa laws to attract those people another lgbt cue parts of the community and their families have another reason to come to thailand. we've looked at experiences and what happened in the australia new zealand us canadian markets and europe and what that droving tourism when they legalise same—sex marriage. you apply that to thailand and it could be attempts and uplift. 4 million more people coming to thailand. ., ., , thailand. that would be remarkable. _ thailand. that would be remarkable. is - thailand. that would be remarkable. is it - thailand. that would be remarkable. is it also i remarkable. is it also conversely true that it could

turn off conservative travellers?— turn off conservative travellers? ~ ., , turn off conservative travellers? ~ . , ., travellers? we have seen no evidence _ travellers? we have seen no evidence of— travellers? we have seen no evidence of that _ travellers? we have seen no evidence of that in _ travellers? we have seen no evidence of that in the - travellers? we have seen no evidence of that in the past l evidence of that in the past history across any other market that i mentioned. australia, us, canada, europe, no market there saw a competitive backlash all they saw was pink uplift. in backlash all they saw was pink ulift. w backlash all they saw was pink u lift, , . . backlash all they saw was pink ulift. n m _ uplift. in 04 watching. goodbye for now. uplift. in 04 watching. goodbye for nova -- _ uplift. in 04 watching. goodbye for now. -- thank _ uplift. in 04 watching. goodbye for now. -- thank you _ uplift. in 04 watching. goodbye for now. -- thank you for- for now. —— thank you for watching.

hey, i'mjulia with the catch up! tonight — the southport killer's sentence, a reddit protest, and who's been nominated for an oscar? we'll start with 18—year—old axel rudakubana — who's been sentenced to a minimum of 52 years for the murder of three young girls at a dance class in southport lastjuly, as well as the attempted murder of ten other people — mostly children. he was just nine days shy of his 18th birthday at the time of the offences. that's significant because the law doesn't allow life sentences without minimum term to under 18s. and the judge said that's the sentence he'd have given, if rudakubana was old enough. the judge added that it's highly unlikely he'll ever be released.

the 0scar nominations are officially out and the biggest hitter is emilia perez, featuring in 13 categories! that makes it the most nominated foreign film in history. and it's broken another record: karla sofia gascon's best actress nomination makes her the first transgender person to be nominated for an acting prize at the awards. and more than 100 communities on reddit have banned users from posting links to elon musk�*s platform, x. it's a protest against this arm gesture at a donald trump rally. he's been accused by critics — and some historians — of making a nazi salute. musk said the comparisons with hitler were "tired" and "dirty tricks." and here's ten seconds of a rainbow milestone. same—sex marriage is now officially legal in thailand. and as part of a huge celebration, more than 1,000 lg bto couples across the country are getting married, including over 100 at a single shopping mall in bangkok! you're all caught up now —

have a good night! hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm gavin ramjaun. bruno to the rescue at old trafford as fernandes scores a late winner for manchester united against rangers in their europa league clash. marmoush checks in in manchester as city get their hands on a new striker. and it's another ashes win for australia as they secure a series victory — but only after the weather intervenes to frustrate england. hello there and welcome along to the programme. and we start with another packed evening of european

football in the europa league.