this is bbc news with the latest business headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. a tricky balancing act. the us federal reserve is to decide on interest rates — torn between tackling inflation and stabilising the banks. music plays we hearfrom one of asia's tech titans — the ceo who's changed the beauty product marketplace in india. china's enormous property firm evergrande is in trouble. today it outlines plans to restructure some of its eye watering debt. and on world water day we explore the overuse of water and what can be done to keep our global supply and demand in balance.

let's start in the us, where the federal reserve seems to be caught between a rock and a hard place. on one hand, inflation is still running high and there will be an impetus for the fed to stick to its policy of raising rates to bring that down. but on the back of the collapse of silicon valley bank, and difficulties elsewhere, there is a counter pressure to lower rates to restore financial stability to the banking sector. going through with another big rate rise could aggravate that crisis. yet any other move could imply the fed believes the situation is really bad and that might spark further panic. here's michelle fleury in washington.

until recently, silicon valley bank was a little—known land in california, until it failed. credit suisse was one of the most well—known banks in europe until it was undone. both were brought down by panic running through the financial system. to ease fears, the us treasury secretary told a banking conference the government was ready to help if needed. fiur ready to help if needed. our intervention _ ready to help if needed. our intervention was _ ready to help if needed. oi" intervention was necessary to protect the broader us banking system. an similar actions could be warranted if smaller institutions suffer deposit runs that pose the risk of contagion. runs that pose the risk of contagion-— runs that pose the risk of contauion. ., . , , ., ., contagion. now all eyes are on how those _ contagion. now all eyes are on how those inside _ contagion. now all eyes are on how those inside here, - how those inside here, america's central bank, will react. theirfight america's central bank, will react. their fight against inflation has become a lot more complicated. the majority of economists now expect the federal reserve to raise rates by a water point to four points 75%. nobody is entirely sure what america's central bank will do next. that's because fighting inflation by raising

interest rates and stabilising the financial sector are at odds, which makes what furniturejerome odds, which makes what furniture jerome powell odds, which makes what furniturejerome powell said after the decision more important than usual. michelle fleury, bbc news, washington, dc. joining me now is sultan meghji, who's a former chief innovation officer at the federal deposit insurance corporation, which was set up by congress to maintain stability and public confidence in the nation's banks. he's now duke professor at the carnegie endowment for international peace. hejoins me now. thank you for being available to talk to us. the fdic has been extremely busyin the fdic has been extremely busy in the last few weeks, hasn't it, trying to do its job of stabilising the banking sector, now we have the federal reserve meeting. what you think jerome powell and his team will later? ~ ., ., later? well, the team at the federal reserve _ later? well, the team at the federal reserve has - later? well, the team at the federal reserve has a - later? well, the team at the j federal reserve has a pretty significant balancing act to play, first they do need to get

inflation under control, it still hasn't really retracted as much as anyone wanted and the original plan for the fed was to do what they call a soft landing, which means to slowly raise interest rates and hopefully slowly call the economy down, the problem is that with the recent pressures on the banking system most of them caused by these interest rate hike, it's the highest, shortest rays of interest rates in american history, we now are in american history, we now are in a situation where there is tremendous —— to ms bridger on the balance sheet of banks and those two things are fundamentally at odds with each other. 50 fundamentally at odds with each other. ., fundamentally at odds with each other, ., ., fundamentally at odds with each other. ., ., , ., 4, other. so what do you think he will do? 0.25 _ other. so what do you think he will do? 0.25 seems _ other. so what do you think he will do? 0.25 seems to - other. so what do you think he will do? 0.25 seems to be - other. so what do you think he will do? 0.25 seems to be the| will do? 0.25 seems to be the consensus view race, going into two weeks ago for the inflation number was actually just a higher rate, it is clear that team is going to try to split the difference. in terms of him trying to achieve a soft landing, as you say, there is so much debate about how he is handling the current situation in the united states. even before we have the collapse of silicon valley bank. it is a

very difficultjob to do. are you among those who believe the us is headed for recession? we are going in the direction anyway?— are going in the direction an a ? , , , , . anyway? the numbers pretty much seak for anyway? the numbers pretty much speak for themselves. _ anyway? the numbers pretty much speak for themselves. you - anyway? the numbers pretty much speak for themselves. you know, i speakfor themselves. you know, we have been going in that direction now really since covid started to lighten up about a year ago and the data so far suggests we will probably be fully in a recession sometime later in the second quarter if not the third water. , ., ., water. janet yellen, the head ofthe water. janet yellen, the head of the treasury _ water. janet yellen, the head of the treasury there, - water. janet yellen, the head of the treasury there, talking about how important these regional banks are, like svb, and they are very important, aren't they, in terms of the ecosystem within the us economy, small and medium is a rely on these banks, what if your outlook in terms of that? well, you know, the us banking system is really four banks, the central bank, the large monies and debates, the regional banks they silicon valley bank's, and the small banks, the regional banks provide very specific rights and services that the rest of

the banking ecosystem doesn't provide, especially around the start—up community, venture capital, and there are entire segments of the market that aren't going to exist, silicon valley provided about 40% of the venture debt in the united states is one example. i think for the next few years it's going to be a big challenge for earlier stage and ventured back companies in the united states defined banking products that fit the scaling of capital requirements they need for the next few years. it requirements they need for the next few years.— next few years. it is a very challenging _ next few years. it is a very challenging time. - next few years. it is a very challenging time. sultan i challenging time. sultan meghji, thank you very much for your thoughts on the stop needless to say, as soon as we get any news from the fed we will update you on the bbc. here in the uk, the latest inflation data is out in just over an hour's time. prices have been rising in recent months, but the overall rate of inflation is headed lower — down to just over 10% in january. even so, some prices are rising faster than others with basics such as food prices stubbornly high at around i7%. so what should we expect from the latest figures, taking us up to the

month of february? and what will the bank of england do? it means this week as well. tom stevensonjoins me now, investment director at fidelity. good morning to you. good morning- — good morning to you. good morning- it _ good morning to you. good morning. it is _ good morning to you. good morning. it is really - morning. it is really interesting week this week for the central bankers, we have the central bankers, we have the ecb, the fed, the bank of england, in the midst of this many banking crisis that is going on and inflation numbers that are stubbornly high, in the uk we are still double—digit. the uk we are still double-digit.- the uk we are still double-digit. we are double-digit - double-digit. we are double-digit for - double-digit. we are | double-digit for now, double-digit. we are - double-digit for now, but double—digit for now, but probably only for an hour or so, because i suspect at the inflation rate that is announced at seven o'clock this morning will be slightly under 10%. it morning will be slightly under io%. it peaked atjust over 11% in october and has been falling slowly since then. but i think inflation is essentially a backward —looking measure, it is a year on year comparison, what we will see of the coming months as inflation is going to fall down pretty sharply. the

office for budget responsibility, in its submission to the treasury for the budget last week, was suggesting that inflation will be down at 3% by the end of this year and actually down to about zero next year and thereafter.— about zero next year and thereafter. ., , ., thereafter. so, tom, sorry to interw— thereafter. so, tom, sorry to interrupt you. _ thereafter. so, tom, sorry to interrupt you, why _ thereafter. so, tom, sorry to interrupt you, why do - thereafter. so, tom, sorry to interrupt you, why do they i thereafter. so, tom, sorry to| interrupt you, why do they say that will happen? is that on the assumption energy prices willjust come down and down, we're coming into the summer months, consumption is lower, the price of oil, though, that is still pretty high. they know it has been down this week, but it has been down this week, but it is going up again, china is getting very much back on track and global consumption is there, in theory, your thoughts?— there, in theory, your thou~hts? �* ., ., thoughts? all of the main factors which _ thoughts? all of the main factors which are - thoughts? all of the main factors which are driving i factors which are driving inflation are heading in the right direction, so the cost of gas and electricity is going to come down pretty sharply, we have seen the price of wholesale gas fall very sharply since last august, the oil price is down from over $120 a

barrel to 70 something at the moment. and then the cost of food is also the or rather the increases in the cost of food, are going to slow down. and thatis are going to slow down. and that is the important thing, inflation is a comparison between prices last year and prices this year, doesn't mean everything is going to get cheaper, but what it means is things are not going to get any more expensive, and that is why i think inflation will fall pretty sharply this year. mil pretty sharply this year. all ri . ht, pretty sharply this year. all right, hope you are right. things were getting up so early. we will see you again soon. time now for a new series, asia's tech titans, where we hear from chief executives who are changing the way business is done. over the past ten years, one company in india has transformed the way women shop for beauty products. nykaa, the e—commerce platform, has seen huge growth by bringing millions of indian women to one common marketplace. in mumbai, arunoday mukharji spoke to its founder, falguni nayar.

nykaa, in hindi the word means "the one in the spotlight." and thatis "the one in the spotlight." and that is what the company has tried to do. with the focus on indian women and change the way they buy cosmetics. before nykaa women shop for beauty products at small neighbourhood stores which had limited options. now shoppers all over the country, from big urban cities to smaller towns, can find more than 3000 brands in the e—commerce platform, from make to skincare, perfume to grooming kits. the woman behind nykaa, falguni nayar, at the age of 50 she gave up a successful banking career to start the company, which is now worth more than $5 billion. figs worth more than $5 billion. as the worth more than $5 billion. is they say, 50 is the new 40 and they say, 50 is the new a0 and 60 is the new 50, so i think the feeling was i have some more productive life lest —— left, where i have been a

professional for a left, where i have been a professionalfor a long left, where i have been a professional for a long time, and i wanted to take the risk and i wanted to take the risk and embark on a journey of my own and create an enterprise that kind of outlives you. nykaa has written the country's digital wave. nykaa has written the country's digitalwave. millions nykaa has written the country's digital wave. millions of people using online services thanks to low—cost data. according to estimates, nearly one third of cosmetics items purchased online in the country are sold through the platform. the company has also started its own brands and is expanding its own brands and is expanding its off—line business, opening nearly 150 physical stores. all these expansion plans have pushed up costs as well. in the last quarter, profit that the company fell sharply by 70%. butt once says her long—term goals overshadow the short—term setbacks. goals overshadow the short-term setbacks. , , ., goals overshadow the short-term setbacks. , ., , setbacks. online consumption is so low compared _ setbacks. online consumption is so low compared to _ setbacks. online consumption is so low compared to what - setbacks. online consumption is so low compared to what it - setbacks. online consumption is so low compared to what it was, i think they consumption is only $12 in india compared to 15- $60 only $12 in india compared to 15— $60 even in countries like vietnam or thailand or the us.

there is a hugejourney vietnam or thailand or the us. there is a huge journey ahead for india's consumption —— $15— for india's consumption -- $15— $16. for india's consumption -- $15- s16. ., ~ for india's consumption -- $15- s16. . ~ , . , $16. the market is currently worth more _ $16. the market is currently worth more than _ $16. the market is currently worth more than hundred i $16. the market is currently i worth more than hundred and $16. the market is currently - worth more than hundred and $25 million and growing at over 6% annually, —— billion dollars. and with the reliance on amber zone and others, nykaa faces challenges ahead. the online beauty platform has seen tremendous growth in the last ten years. the next decade is about sustaining the momentum. we have so much for you. still to come: we join the kenyan farmer innovating in a remarkable way to keep his energy bills down. applause

i'm so proud of both of you. let there be no more wars or bloodshed between arabs and israelis. with great regret, _ the committee has decided that south africa will be excluded from the 1970 competition. i chanting streaking across the sky, the white—hot wreckage from mir drew gasps from onlookers on fiji. this is bbc world news.

the latest headlines: the former british prime minister, borisjohson, is facing a fight for his political life, as he's due to be questioned by mps over whether he misled parliament. france's president macron prepares to defend the new law on pension reform, as protests continue against raising the retirement age. china's huge and troubled property firm, evergrande, the company at the centre of china's broader property debt crisis started a court hearing on monday in hong kong, part of a $110 million lawsuit brought by an investor injune last year to wind up the company. evergrande began one of china's biggest debt—restructuring processes early last year but has yet to reach agreements with bondholders on the details. it has more than $300 billion in liabilities.

hong bo is professor in financial economics at soas university of london. thank you for being on the programme. just remind us or why this is actually quite a critical moment for evergrande. yes, we have not really heard any formal announcement, yes, we have not really heard any formalannouncement, but yes, we have not really heard any formal announcement, but i think if it happens, that will be a very significant movement, especially after so much discussion in the past 1.5 years. i look forward to hear the details, but it is very significant.— significant. the chinese economy. _ significant. the chinese economy, if _ significant. the chinese economy, if you - significant. the chinese economy, if you put - significant. the chinese| economy, if you put into context why this was such a huge story when it first started to emerge that evergrande was in financial trouble, ? evergrande was in financial trouble.?— evergrande was in financial trouble,? , , , ., trouble,? yes, because we are talkin: trouble,? yes, because we are talking about _ trouble,? yes, because we are

talking about the _ trouble,? yes, because we are talking about the offshore - talking about the offshore debt, so even offshore debt has a solution that has a significant implication for onshore debt as well, because if you think about the debt driven growth model for this company, actually, for the whole sector, it involves a lot of shadow banking activities, and therefore, we do not really know the scale of the financing, so i think if there is a clear plan to solve the problem, in terms of the offshore debt, the likelihood to avoid financial system crisis, domestically, will be much higher. 50 crisis, domestically, will be much higher.— much higher. so it has an interest _ much higher. so it has an interest of _ much higher. so it has an interest of the _ much higher. so it has anj interest of the authorities much higher. so it has an i interest of the authorities to make sure this is all well, but there are those, we mentioned

investor who brought this legal action injune against action in june against evergrande. action injune against evergrande. there are those who want to be compensated for these losses, aren't there? yes, that's right. so now we're looking forward the plan and that means that offshore creditors, they are happy to continue with the plan, the contract. that's good signal, and that sends some side of confidence to the capital market and particularly the chinese capital market, debt market. that's important because that also means evergrande can continue to finish it unfinished housing properties, and that is very important for consumers. fik. important for consumers. 0k. sor to important for consumers. 0k. sorry to interrupt _ important for consumers. 0k. sorry to interrupt you, i important for consumers. ok. sorry to interrupt you, we will have to leave it there. thank you for explaining the situation and we will keep an

eye on me get news on those court proceedings in china. let's get some of the day's other news. the imf has announced a financing arrangement for ukraine, worth $15.6 billion over the next four years. the loan offer, yet to be ratified, is to help support ukraine's recovery after the devastation of the russian invasion. the arrangement includes an assumption that ukraine works towardsjoining the european union. the us semi—conductor firm nvidia, hit last year by export restrictions to china, says it has modified its flagship product into a version that is legal to export to china. us regulators had put in place the restrictions due to concerns about national security. richard branson's virgin orbit has contacted staff to say that a small group will be recalled from a widespread furlough to work on rocket upgrades. the company's been struggling with cashflow and furloughed nearly all its staff last week, but it's back to the desk for a few of them.

demand for water is set to outstrip supply by a0% in the next seven years, according to the united nations. it warns the world is facing a water crisis that will affect every country and industry — all of us. today is world water day, part of the un water summit, subsidising the overuse of water and ensure industries revise their water use and waste system strategies. lets discuss this with deborah brosnan, who's a marine scientist and environmental consultant. it's lovely to see you again. good morning. this report is hot on the heels of the report into climate change that we got earlier this week, and for many, it is overwhelming, isn't it, when we hear these reports coming through and these

warnings of catastrophic consequences in just a few years before time. what should we do about this? you years before time. what should we do about this?— we do about this? you are riuht. we do about this? you are right- we _ we do about this? you are right. we are _ we do about this? you are right. we are in _ we do about this? you are right. we are in a - we do about this? you are right. we are in a dire i right. we are in a dire situation but we are not doomed. that's the most important. we are very much aware now of the changes that are happening on our planet and the impacts of them. what is particularly acute because we depend on water. we need water to drink and fallout industries. we are now at a point where we are overusing the amount of water that exists on the planet throne use and climate change is affecting areas around the world where crops can grow. we need water forfood, drinking, for food, drinking, manufacturing, construction, and we are running out of it. we are aware of the need. the question is, what doing about this, and importantly, what is industry doing about this because some industries like

agriculture, fashion, that they are, particularly agriculture uses about 70% available fresh inaudible regulated access to water, regulate how we can use water stop also credit the infrastructure for it. what we're seeing now is of the shortage, a great opportunity for industry and investment and technology to started to play up technology to started to play up and take the opportunity to play a role. so you see an increase in technological advancements. for instance, everything from precision and a culture where farmers from kanyalak to europe can rely on a high—technology and digital technology to know how much water to use and minimise overuse of water. we are seeing everything from genetic advances, use of crisper technology to create plants that require less water. we are seeing a combination of investments and new technologies coming to play but i think these are going to

start to really increase and mmp start to really increase and ramp up in the next few years. that is encouraging to hear. thank you. deborah brosnan. the cost—of—living crisis is hitting the majority of us in the pocket, but some are turning to creative methods to make ends meet. kenyan farmer anthony muigai is one of those. he's using chicken excrement to literally run his farm. the waste provides energy, he uses it to cook food and even fuel his car. let's take a look. hi. my name is anthony. i'm a farmer. i use chicken poop to power my farm. we collect this chicken poo every morning. we just sweep it, put it here, that's clean for the day, so now we go and feed the biogas.

we are mixing this chicken trip with water to make it grow easily in the biogas. here is our biogas. you pour it in. this is the inlet. the outlet is on the other side. with biogas, the biggest class is the initial output but running it, i would say it cost almost nothing. the initial outlay was a proximally $900. biogas flows through the pipe, come into these, which removes offers and bad smells. this biogas, we heat the water for the fishpond, but this is the same thing that you can use for showering in the morning. i need to show you how biogas powers my house. come with me. this ghastly use to cook. i do need to worry about running out

of gas. i don't have money to biogas. as long as my chickens keep on tripping. if you look at the kind of farming farmers are doing currently, the only thing that can make sense is recognising you don't only get meat from chickens. now it is time to power my car with biogas. this pipe brings biogas from the biogas plant and this one is taking biogas inside the generator. so i connect the cargo... and be ready to go. who would have thought that chicken trip could power a car? it's amazing. goodbye! there you have it, some innovation, different ideas to go about your business, which was what we all need to be doing. i'll

be back later if you're watching us on bbc world news. if you're watching on bbc one, the breakfast team willjoin you in a few minutes' time. hello. scotland had its warmest day of the year so far on tuesday, with temperatures reaching 16 degrees in fyvie castle in aberdeenshire. overall, it was a brighter kind of day, but we still had a number of showers around and those rainfall totals continue to mount up. of course, it's already been a wet month. there are quite a few places now that have seen more than one and a half times the march average rainfall, but there's loads more to come. and, indeed, as we look at this satellite picture, we've got a current batch of rain falling from this cloud, working its way eastwards right now. and the rain's quite heavy, actually, across parts of scotland, england and wales. it will be clearing over the next few hours in northern ireland, but we'll have some heavy showers flowing in here. all the while, south—westerly winds will be picking up in strength.

of course, it means it's going to be a mild start to the day on wednesday, temperatures for some into double figures. but for wednesday, it is another unsettled one. more rain around. and we're going to see some strong winds particularly affecting western scotland. it's here where, through the morning, we could see gusts of around 75mph for a time, so potentially seeing some disruption from those very strong winds. elsewhere, it will be blustery, gusts of wind generally around a0—50mph. and it is a day of sunshine and showers. the showers will be heavy and thundery at times, but at least they won't hang around. they'll be blown across the sky pretty quickly, thanks to those strong winds. another mild one, temperatures up to 1a or 15 degrees. thursday sees another showery day and, again, the showers will be heavy, some of them with a bit of thunder mixed in. temperatures still on the mild side and anotherfairly blustery kind of day, the winds still coming in from a south—westerly direction. now, thursday night, we may well see a more prolonged spell of rain work into parts of eastern england, this and certainly it looks pretty wet across western areas of the uk as well. well, that sends us on to friday's forecast and the low pressure is still with us.

still fairly brisk winds around, still loads and loads of showers, some of them heavy with hail and thunder. our temperatures just coming down a little bit across northern scotland — highs of around 8 or 9 degrees here — but otherwise, we're staying into double figure temperatures. now, for the weekend, we're going to start to get some slightly cooler airjust working into northernmost areas of scotland. there will be more showers around, so for most of us, it's more of the same, really. but across the far north of scotland, we'll start to see some of those showers turn wintry for a time.

good morning. welcome to breakfast withjon kay and sally nugent. our headlines today... fighting for his political life — borisjohson will today be questioned by mps over whether he deliberately misled parliament. good morning. we are about to field rices and good morning. we are about to field prices and the _ good morning. we are about to field prices and the rate _ good morning. we are about to field prices and the rate at _ good morning. we are about to field prices and the rate at which - good morning. we are about to field prices and the rate at which they i prices and the rate at which they are rising flowing down. in an hour we will get their latest inflation figures. it will be awhile before we feel better in our pockets. i will look at the impact on businesses and

households. extra police patrols in birmingham after a man is set