hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm arunoday mukharji. let's start with taking a look at how tensions in the red sea are impacting oil. houthi groups based in yemen say they will not bow to international pressure to stop attacks. the group — backed by iran — says the us and uk's attempts at getting china to mediate have not been fruitful. the houthi campaign has disrupted international shipping, forcing forced vessels to take a much longer journey around south africa rather than through the suez canal. it's a costly exercise and comes as demand from the world's top oil importer, china, is slowing. i spoke to analyst carole nakhle.

interestingly, when you look at oil price development you think and they take no notice of what's happening in the red sea because we can see oil prices maybe have seen upward pressure. not really the major spike would have been expected ten to 15 years ago. the plain fact is because those attacks in the red sea had not really resulted in any supply disruption. we did not see a loss in supply, we saw tankers being diverted but we did not see a loss in the market. after that, the fact that it's not booming, when i see a tight market. that by itself as it justifies the level where prices have been trading over the last few months and they are where they are today. is that slow down affecting the overall outlook in china? china is the biggest wild card, if you look at opec

expectation for this year they expect 90% of demand growth for oil to come from asia and largely driven by china. china's largest oil importer in the world. whatever happens to china will have a major impact on prices because of the economic situation in china we see that prices are not really going above the current levels of 79—82 dollars a barrel, which is pretty timid given the geopolitical unless we see a major improvement in the economic situation in china i think we should be more cautious about expecting growth. your overall expectation from opec monthly repot due on tuesday? it's interesting opec has been loyal to the forecast in its monthly reports. be very interesting to see if they stick with the expectations about oil demand growth and whereby they expect also delectable growth of our agencies so that maybe they know something the rest of the market does not know. i'll be keeping an eye

on expectations. despite all of this us stocks are starting off the challenges and hitting record highs. big check, falling inflation and strong earnings season have all been factors of tribute to the numbers the us stock market is on a hot streak. the s&p 500 has notched multiple record closes since the start of the new year. even closed above the 5000 mark for the first time ever on friday. that's after flirting with that number for days. the dow has also notched on record highs and you can bet the nasdaq is up as well. there are a few reasons why the us stock market is powering ahead. it's earnings season and a bunch of prominent companies have shown higher—than—expected earnings. the tech sector, especially powered by enthusiasm over artificial intelligence. it is true for some of the biggest names in the industry like amazon, alphabet,

apple, nvidia, microsoft and meta. microsoft and meta. a blockbusterjob in february showed 353,000 jobs added and unemployment staying at 3.7%. that's on par with historic lows. that is great for the economy. what's also great is falling inflation. that would allow the fed to cut interest rates, which would allow already strong companies to borrow more cheaply. now all of this sounds like a virtuous cycle and investors are wondering how long it can go on for and how high it can take markets. what we don't know are the unknowns that could bring markets back down to reality. in back down to reality. india there have been public developments in india there have been public developments for the messy public divorce for the millionaire. his estranged wife has levelled fresh allegations at the textile magnet for the our indian correspondent has

exclusive details and is with us now from mumbai. good to have you on the programme. what is this dispute all about inverted are the allegations? this is essentially a matrimonial dispute that first came to light in november 2023 when the estranged wife accused him of domestic violence and physical abuse. they are after both of them have been engaged in settlement talks. she is going to ask for about 75% of his one point for mac billion dollar fortune his one point for mac billion dollarfortune and they his one point for mac billion dollar fortune and they have completely stalled talks. she has gone ahead —— four. fresh obligation to up police station and moved by later on thursday essentially accusing her husband of spying, constant surveillance on her and her two daughters and saying he was

forcibly the house of a father in the western indian state. these are allegations that she has denied to the bbc saying they are completely false and baseless. itjust adds to the uncertainty on the shareholders in particular this is a listed company, the stock already lost about 10% in value since the allegations first came to light. but both mr singhania remain members with singhania. the uncertainty for shareholders continues in this messy divorce.— messy divorce. thank you for aaivin messy divorce. thank you for giving us _ messy divorce. thank you for giving us that _ messy divorce. thank you for giving us that update. - it s that time of year where people across china spend time with their families, as they make their way back home for lunar new year. beer and baijiu — china's home—grown spirit are by far the most popular alcoholic beverages at family gatherings. but this year, increasing

numbers are pouring themselves glasses of whisky. and for some of the world's largest makers of alcohol — its competition time. our business reporter katie silver has the story. for millennia in china booze has been about baijiu. there is strong clearly fermented grains in recent times it seemed the growing popularity from abroad. china is now the worlds greatest importer of red wine. when it comes to the hard stuff whisky is where the growth is at. just over a year ago china's whisky market was valued at $2.3 billion. that's expected to almost triple by 2027. an annual growth of 20% proceed each year for the chinese market compared to 4% worldwide it something whisky sellers here in asia are looking to capitalise on.

let's go meet one. why has the price of whisky exploded so much? the thing about whisky is the age, it's very important. you have to wait at least ten to 20 years to have a result. you have to have the instinct to do this collection before everybody does it. tell me about the astronomical increase in prices that we have seen. for example, the really famous distillery, 50 years old release date years when the release is 20 k for a starter for that right now it's 75 k for starter. you can see the growth is immense. do you see a lot of sales coming from china? yes because the chinese new year is like christmas, festive and people want to spend money, buying nice gifts and have something memorable. so whisky is part of the memory as well. international brands are taking advantage to cater to this, the demand. french company behind such brands as jamison, beefeater and absolut vodka is probably $140 million into a production base in the area. it's a story or a rival who opened a plan in diageo,

december. it is our number one whisky player in the world. also note number one whisky player in china. we're here for long term. as a consequence of we have opened our innovation hub based in shanghai. they are battling to be the top spirits maker. the potential of an emerging market like china makes it a key battleground in that fight. diageo says demand is so strong there is space for everyone. as for china's whisky consumers, their young, highly educated and money to spend many of them are shunning diageo in favour of less alcoholic options. international whisky makers are in good spirits as they look to take a big gulp of that market. tiktok has signed a sponsorship deal with britain's 0lympics team to help grow its athletes' online influence. team gb and paralympics gb says the short video app will help their athletes to connect with new audiences and grow

theirfanbase. it comes as digital advertising rules are set to be loosened for this year's olympics in paris. and just before we go — uber eats has made last minute changes to its super bowl advertisement after criticism that it inappropriately made light of food allergies. this is the ad, that uber started promoting online earlier this week. what's now missing is a clip of a man having an allergic reaction from eating peanut butter — after allergy charities complained. and that's it for this edition of asia business report. thanks for watching. bbc news — bringing you different stories| from across the uk. music therapy at the nottingham wellbeing hub. it's all about tackling the demons of addiction. there's a wide range of support here for people at their lowest ebb. lee created the garden. he's a paid recovery connector with first—hand experience. lee spent decades addicted

to alcohol that got him into serious trouble. when i got released from prison, iwas effectively street homeless. that was a massive shock. you can't live a normal life on the streets. you will fall into some sort of alcohol or drug abuse. they want your curtains drawn on your own, hating the world and you just go to stop. 130 men and women are currently being supported by the rough sleepers drug and alcohol treatment team here. paul's 35 years old. i split with my partner. i ended up street homeless for 12 months. when i was on the streets, i ended up with pneumonia. how much have they helped you here? if i didn't get the help that i got i'd probably be dead or i'd be in prison. i've been in here and i've screamed my head off and they've known how to deal with me. you know what i mean? they're using all sorts of techniques to help people change their lives. everything from acupuncture to addiction treatments and debt and housing advice all under one roof. for more stories from across the uk, head l to the bbc news website.

bbc news — bringing you different stories| from across the uk. at 102 there aren't many firsts left forjack hemmings, but today he's about to pilot a spitfire, a dream unrealized until now. jack was a squadron leader in the royal air force during the war and has long been an admirer of the aircraft.

if i had not succeeded in overcoming the luftwaffe, that would have been an invasion. and britain would have become german. and jack is still working hard for the charity he loves. today's flight is all about raising awareness and vital funding. after plenty of waiting, the weather was right and it was time to take to the skies. after taking the controls for a time, jack then relaxes as the pilot performs victory roles. not one... not two... ..but three. and when you've waited this long to fly in a spitfire, it would be rude not to make the most of it. for more stories . from across the uk. head to the bbc news website.

hello and welcome to sports day. i'm lizzie greenwood—hughes with the headlines. tonight, celebrations for the ivory coast, the new champions of africa after they beat nigeria in the final in abidjan. but tragic news from the world of athletics. as it's reported, the world marathon record holder kelvin kiptum, has been killed along with his coach. and in football arsenal break their premier league away record at west ham. hello again. well, we're starting with football and the africa cup

of nations where there are huge celebrations in abidjan after the ivory coast won the title for the third time in their history. sebastien haller was the hero as they came from behind to beat nigeria 2—1 in the final on home soil. piers edwards reports. after their disastrous group stage display, the prospect of ivory coast lifting the nations cup trophy was simply improbable. but ever since, the miracles have just kept coming, squeezing through as a best third place side into the knockout rounds where the elephants came alive under a new coach. despite trailing in the final for a third time in the knockout rounds, as captain william troost—ekong gave nigeria a first half lead, the elephants bounced back yet again, first through franck kessie before sebastien hallerfired home the winner nine minutes from time. cue huge celebrations in abidjan as the ivorians moved level with nigeria on three titles apiece.

now, well, here's more reaction from the former ivory