pierre—antoine denis has the story for us from our asia business hub. for international internal trade and sending goods coast to coast, but it is also critical for its exports. around 75% of canada's exports, like grain, coal ortimber are shipped by rail to the us so this dispute really had the potential to cause major delays. and this is why the government appointed this commission to extend the current deal. while both parties are being sent to this binding arbitration, that means that an independent arbitrator will make the final call on the unresolved matter. and whatever they decide, both sides have to accept it. this is expected to get the trains moving again within days. both companies, the railway operators cn and cpc, expressed their disappointment that they couldn't reach a deal through normal negotiations, but they agreed that the government intervention was necessary to protect what they call ca nada's national interest. meanwhile, the teamsters union believes that this is only going to restrain their bargaining power as they push for impro

mariko oi, in our asia business hub, has been explaining why we saw this gigantic sell—off in tokyo.s been a total bloodbath today. from japan, south korea to taiwan, shares fell sharply, the nikkei 225 ending the day 12.5% lower. it's the biggest point fall in history. bigger than covid, bigger than that huge earthquake that hit the nation in 2011. bigger even than black monday of 1987. now, forjapanese investors, their biggest concern is the sudden jump in the value of the japanese yen. as we discussed last week, the bank ofjapan, the country's central bank, raised interest rates for the second time this year to 0.25%, which is still quite low compared to the rest of the world. but it was enough to prop up the value of the japanese currency. now, the stronger currency is exactly what the japanese authorities wanted, because they said the yen was getting too weak and that was making the cost of imports for things like fuel and food more expensive. but as a nation of exporters, the stronger yen also makes japanese products more expensive abroad, and that's why their shares have been

mariko oi has the latest from our asia business hub for us. what's going on at the moment?t a roller—coaster ride it has been for those japanese investors. shares recovering strongly. the nikkei 225 up 10% after yesterday's fall of 12.4%. yesterday was the biggest points fall on record, and today, we're headed for possibly the biggest daily rally in history. so extreme volatility and definitely not for the faint—hearted. there's definitely a sigh of relief among investors but it confirms the view of some analysts saying yesterday that fundamentals are strong, don't sell in panic, thatjapanese companies are doing well and the economy is quite resilient as well. of course, yesterday's sell—off was caused by the sudden jump sell—off was caused by the suddenjump in the sell—off was caused by the sudden jump in the value of the japanese yen. and it was dubed after the bank ofjapan after the bank of japan governor. after the bank ofjapan governor. we havejust after the bank ofjapan governor. we have just learned as well the central bank, the bank ofjapan, as well as the ministry

mariko oi joins us live from our asia business hub. what is going on?hat is going on? i was so disappointed i _ what is going on? i was so disappointed i did - what is going on? i was so disappointed i did not - what is going on? i was so disappointed i did not getl what is going on? i was so i disappointed i did not get to talk to you yesterday. i know you had breaking news, buti was so excited the bank of japan decided to raise rates, not the fact they raised rates but it shows the bank of japan is trying to return its monetary policy to something closer to global norms and it also shows they think the economy is ready for higher rates. i was actually playing this, her gong across bbc radio. can i play this? there you go. a gong. the n has been rallying, especially after the central bank governor said he was ready to raise rates even further. the currency hitting 148 against the us dollar. —— yen. not long ago we were talking about 160 against the dollar. this is what authorities and business leaders wanted because the yen was getting too weak but as

mariko oi joins us live from our asia business hub.. i guess the verdict doesn't come as a surprise? no, ithink no, i think it is fair to say that the verdict does not come as a surprise, but as you say, we were all there covering those protests and to think that how much the city has changed in such a short time it is quite remarkable stops we are talking about 76—year—old former media tycoonjimmy lai who was the founder of the pro—democracy newspaper apple daily which of course has since been shut down as well as six others who have been found guilty of organising and participating in an unauthorised assembly five years ago. jimmy lai was jailed for this conviction but he has also been serving a sentence for other charges and he has been held in solitary confinement for more than three years now. i still remember the shockwave sent to the business community at the time when the authorities decided to go after jimmy lai and arrest him because he was a billionaire businessman, and until then, most of the arrests were among student prot

let's go to our asia business hub tojoin the bbc�*s resident yen geek, mariko oi, because, mariko, thepan is partly because of the japanese currency, isn't it? it isa it is a bit ofa it is a bit of a bloodbath today. the decay as you mentioned opening 7% lower and more crucially they are actually down by more than 15% in three sections —— nikkei. if confirmed at the end of today, biggest three—day funds in 2011 when the country was in the earthquake that triggered a meltdown at the nuclear power plant. concerns over the world was my biggest economy after that week jobs was my biggest economy after that weekjobs number, for japanese investors, is very much caused by that sudden jump in the value of the japanese yen. as we discussed last week, the bank ofjapan has raised interest rates for the second time this year 0.25%, which is still very low compared to the rest of the world but it was enough to prop up the value of the japanese currency. this is exactly what the japanese authorities actually wanted because they said the yen was getting too weak, and that was making the host of impor

mariko oi has the latest from our asia business hub for us. what is happening injapan? you the numbers, can what is happening injapan? before i tell you the numbers, can i what is happening injapan? before i tell you the numbers, can i say what is happening injapan? before i tell you the numbers, can i say i'm what is happening injapan? before i tell you the numbers, can i say i'm wearing what is happening injapan? before i tell you the numbers, can i say i'm wearing green again. i might keep doing that until the markets stabilise. while it might be too soon to relax, it seems the markets are much calmer today. japan's neck a open flat to hire. we heard from the deputy governor from the bank ofjapan ruling out any more rate hikes while the markets are unstable so that has help to push upjapanese shares above 2% because their rate hike last week was the second move this year in 17 years, is what triggered the sale of after it pushed the value of the japanese currency higher and even though that is what the authorities wanted, the japanese yen to strengthen, the japanese

mariko oi has been coveirng the story for us from our asia business hub, as she recently spoke to then't it, because there is the possibility that the government may well step in here. absolutely, and the latest is i have just heard back from seven & i holdings who basically told me there is no update to the situation, but there has been a report in the financial times and the latest i have just heard back from seven & i holdings who basically told me according to that report one option was by applying for the same status as companies in the nuclear or semiconductor industries by arguing that convenience stores are so critical in events like natural disasters, and its role would be threatened by foreign ownership. as i said, seven & i holdings has not confirmed their split basically at the moment its takeover would only need government approval after a deal had been agreed, but if its status was to be upgraded, a foreign bidder would be subject to vetting by the japanese government. officially the company has set up a special committee to discuss the bid and they must follow the bid a