fed chairjay powell sat firmly in the spotlight on capitol hill on wednesday previewing what is to come in the year ahead as fed officials contemplate when to cut interest rates and by how much. we believe that our policy rate is likely at its peak for this cycle. if the economy evolves broadly as expected, it will likely be appropriate to begin dialling back policy restraint at some point this year. powell a- eared at some point this year. powell appeared before _ at some point this year. powell appeared before the _ at some point this year. powell appeared before the house - appeared before the house financial services committee, the first stop on his two day tour of capitol hill and he pointed to considerable progress on the economy and said that while inflation remains above the fed's 2% target, it has been easing without significantly increasing unemployment. but while rate cuts are likely this year, he said that the fed is looking for more evidence that inflation is falling sustainably back down to the fed's target and he reiterated that members are being careful

not to miss step in either direction, whether that is cutting interest rates too soon or too little too late. he will have more to say in front of the senate banking committee on thursday. in other news making headlines, a former google software enginer has been indicted in california on charges of stealing trade secrets related to the compay�*s artificial intelligence technology. our asia business correspondent katie silver has been tracking the developments and joins us live from our newsroom with the latest. arrested at home in california charged with his former counts of stealing on behalf of two chinese companies stealing ai. what we understand he still was data related to google's large model of learning is, what they're doing in order to train up they're doing in order to train up their big data centres. it is alleged that he started the company in 2019 as a software engineer, did hisjob legally for three years and then in

2022, started being courted to be the chief technology officer of a small start—up in china. it was then alleged that from that point until about may 2023, he uploaded 500 confidential documents. he then later went on to create his own company, his own chinese tech company, his own chinese tech company, and it is said that he sent a whatsapp to attract group saying he had experience with google's 10,000 group saying he had experience with google's10,000 card computational power platform, we just need to write to the strike replicated and upgraded. started by washington in order to try and stop the likes of china and russia and anyone else they see as a competitive threat from taking any of their trade secrets when it comes to technology and either using them to state power or using them to state power or using them to state power or using them to gain economic development. this is seen as a hugely important principle within washington, we saw it reiterated at the national people's congress from china earlier this week, the need for

tech self sufficiency. he faces years in prison and up to $10 million fine if found guilty. katie silverfrom our million fine if found guilty. katie silver from our newsroom in singapore. let's turn our focus to china now. the government is currently holding its annual parliamentary meeting known as the "two sessions". the world's second largest economy has set a growth target of around 5%, which it achieved last year. but there are several headwinds, including the high unemployment rate among the youth population, many of them graduates. the bbc�*s nick marsh has more. if you are graduating from university in china right now, you are entering a tough economic environment. employers are feeling cautious as they are feeling cautious as they are holding off from hiring. also, don't forget the government in beijing has been cracking down in recent years on certain industries such as private education and the tech sector, not to mention the property sector which is in crisis right now. all of which

have been popular destinations for fresh graduates in the past. there is also the question of what kind ofjobs are available. young graduates want to become young professionals, they don'tjust want to work in a factory or work as a delivery driver and even many white collared jobs aren't that appealing to china's very well educated middle class who have come to expect more than just a humdrum average officejob, especially seeing as they have studied so hard to get their degree in the first place. for these young people, there is a safety net. many of them are an only child and they can simply live at home with their parents. in china, people talk about lying flat. this is what people describe it as. people also talk about doing sit—ups, taking turns between lying flat and then jumping taking turns between lying flat and thenjumping into the taking turns between lying flat and then jumping into the super intensejob hunt rat and then jumping into the super

intense job hunt rat race and then going back to lying flat again. what will beijing do about this problem? well, like many issues with china's economy, there is no such thing as a quick fix. we are talking about a society that is getting wealthier, better educated, and more urbanised. the old ways of generating jobs and prosperity, building things, making things for export, that isjust building things, making things for export, that is just not going to be enough any more. there are new developing industries such as ai super powerful computing, that's not going to do anything in the short term, really. for now, the president has told china's young people they need to eat bitterness, which in chinese means to just grit your teeth and bear it. while youth unemployment in china has eased from last yea r�*s record levels, it is hovering around 15%, according to the latest official figures, which excludes students. that's higher than many countries in the region.

dan wang, chief economist at hang seng bank china explained the impact that is having on the chinese economy. its direct impact on the economy is not so obvious because the issue is quite invisible on its own but the consumption for this youth group between the ages of 16 and 2a is too high. they can get support from their family and they have a new habit of borrowing online and off—line. in terms, theirjob prospects are quite dire but in terms of the impact on the economy, not very high. we the impact on the economy, not very high-— very high. we heard nick say there is no — very high. we heard nick say there is no quick _ very high. we heard nick say there is no quick fix - very high. we heard nick say there is no quick fix solution | there is no quick fix solution for china's government, the delay have the tools to fix the issue? , ., , , issue? the government is still followin: issue? the government is still following their _ issue? the government is still following their traditional - following their traditional ways of helping those fresh graduates, one way ways to encourage the public sector, all levels of government, state owned enterprises to hire as many as they can. but that amount is quite limited. another way they used to rely

on is to ask students to stay in school for as long as possible. this will postpone the problem for another year or two and the economy may not necessarily climb out of this business cycle by then. to a story some of us may know �*all too well�*. swiftmania has landed in singapore. taylor swift is in the middle of a series of six concerts here and this morning, we're looking at the pop icon�*s ripple effect on the economy, especially on small businesses. beyond travel and tourism, there's the beads, the buses and the beverages which are getting a swift lift. # look what you made me do, look what you made me do, look what you just made me do... i? what you just made me do... ii" these what you just made me do... is" these are some what you just made me do... 32?" these are some of our favourite songs or song lyrics that mean a lot to us. in one of her songs, she has a line that says make your friendship bracelet, alluding to our teen or younger days. alluding to our teen or younger da s. 3, alluding to our teen or younger da s. ., ., ._ , alluding to our teen or younger das. ., ., | days. our teenage fan days! i thouuht days. our teenage fan days! i thought it's — days. our teenage fan days! i thought it's a _ days. our teenage fan days! i

thought it's a small— days. our teenage fan days! i j thought it's a small business, good. initially when i started a couple of week backs, it wasn't as fast moving but recently it is a lot more popular, a lot of supplied shops as well, the run of alphabet beads and things like that. people start to panic and pick up a lot more.— pick up a lot more. stuff like this is in _ pick up a lot more. stuff like this is in every _ pick up a lot more. stuff like this is in every once - pick up a lot more. stuff like this is in every once in - pick up a lot more. stuff like | this is in every once in awhile sort — this is in every once in awhile sort of— this is in every once in awhile sort of situation so i wouldn't mind — sort of situation so i wouldn't mind spending a bit more to be quite _ mind spending a bit more to be quite honest.— quite honest. unless they are to-1% quite honest. unless they are tap the in _ quite honest. unless they are tap the in my _ quite honest. unless they are top 1% in my heart, _ quite honest. unless they are top 1% in my heart, then - quite honest. unless they are top 1% in my heart, then i - quite honest. unless they are | top 1% in my heart, then i will no. top 1% in my heart, then i will io, , , , top 1% in my heart, then i will go. these friendship bracelet fins are super— go. these friendship bracelet fins are super fun _ go. these friendship bracelet fins are super fun and - go. these friendship bracelet i fins are super fun and dressing up fins are super fun and dressing upfor— fins are super fun and dressing up for concerts and things are really— up for concerts and things are really furl _ up for concerts and things are really fun-— really fun. each flavour corresponds _ really fun. each flavour corresponds to - really fun. each flavour corresponds to each i really fun. each flavour corresponds to each of| really fun. each flavour . corresponds to each of her iconic songs from different eras. forthis iconic songs from different eras. for this special collection, we actually tape

her lyrics and incorporate our own wording inside. yes, we see an influx of orders and a lot of questions. we also see the search of our cafe partners ordering as well. irate search of our cafe partners ordering as well.— search of our cafe partners ordering as well. we have seen a rise and _ ordering as well. we have seen a rise and increase _ ordering as well. we have seen a rise and increase of _ ordering as well. we have seen a rise and increase of about - a rise and increase of about 20, — a rise and increase of about 20, 30% _ a rise and increase of about 20, 30% of our sales compared to the _ 20, 30% of our sales compared to the previous concert. definitely attributed to the taylor _ definitely attributed to the taylor swift fans and community being _ taylor swift fans and community being so — taylor swift fans and community being so supportive and trying out new — being so supportive and trying out new things. i will say that with— out new things. i will say that with the — out new things. i will say that with the name taylor swift is helping — with the name taylor swift is helping grow our business is by quite _ helping grow our business is by quite a — helping grow our business is by quite a lot. and before we go, barbie turns 65 this saturday! she hasn't aged a bit! to celebrate that milestone, toymaker mattel has chosen eight entertainment and cultural stars, and created one—of—a—kind barbie dolls made in their likeness. one of celebrities is 0scar—award winner dame helen mirren, whose barbie is a version of herself holding her 0scar.

0thers include actress viola davis and singers shania twian and kylie minogue. and that's it for this edition of asia business report. thanks for watching. bbc news bringing you different stories from across the uk. potholes. they can be costly and potentially dangerous. over the last year, west sussex has seen a spike, something that hasn't gone unnoticed by these people in burgess hill. so many potholes, you end up slaloming down the road trying to miss them. there's going to be a point where it's going to be a danger to life. some of the piles are really dangerous and with the heavy rain, it's filling them in so you don't actually see them. you can't drive i in a straight line. you literally have to swerve potholes on every road. - one of the methods of fixing or preventing potholes is using a jet patcher like this one. west sussex county council says that some of the additional funding will be used

to continue to pay for a third jet patcher this coming financial year. just on this road there's five or six potholes. yeah. however, opposition councillors believe that more money could be spent on road maintenance. well, it's really important that we make our roads kind of easierfor people to get around on. so absolutely, we support more money going into potholes. we found some extra money that could have gone in. now we understand why they might not have chosen to do that, but we found extra money from some back office funding that would have put a little bit more into fixing our potholes. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. i'm dealing with the catch up. tonight, the government budget and nikki haley drops out.

first up, it is budget day and the governance has announced both its spending and tax plans for the next year. it is likely the last budget announcement before the general election, here are a couple of the main points. national insurance will be cut by 2p which the government says will mean an extra £450 per year for the average worker. the chancellor also announced new taxes on vapes and a commitment to build more new houses for young people across the country. a lot of people like journalist ruby, said more could be done to help them afford housing. i am currently being evicted from my house, looking for a new place, rents are incredibly expensive. we saw in the pandemic how the government was able to introduce protections for people with mortgages, why can't we do the same for renters?— can't we do the same for renters? ., .., ., . ., renters? you can read much more about what— renters? you can read much more about what today's _ about what today's announcements mean for you on the bbc news app and website. a couple of other stories now and overin couple of other stories now and over in the us, nikki haley has dropped out of the presidential

race meaning rematch between donald trump and joe biden looks all but certain. a k—pop star has apologised fans who accused of petrova having a boyfriend. 0ne fan apparently crossed a truck into the star's agency. it is time to leave you with ten seconds of lego. check this out. 0ver1 million bricks have been used to recreate some of the world's most famous artworks at the 0ut of the world's most famous artworks at the out of the brick exhibition in london full stop check out that handsome guy! that is it from me, you are all caught up.

hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm paul scott at the bbc sport centre — here's what's coming up. six of the best — defending champions manchester city ease in to the last—eight of the champions league after thrashing fc copenhagen. england hope to be in peak form as they prepare for the fifth and final test with india in dharamsala. and anthonyjoshua says he knows what he's up against as he prepares to take on ex—ufc champion francis ngannou in riyadh.

hello and welcome along to the programme. defending champions manchester city have cruised in to the quarter—finals of the champions league after a 6—2 win on aggregate over fc copenhagen. they beat the danish side 3—1 in the second leg at the etihad — watched by the bbc�*s football correspondentjohn murray. it was as widely expected a formality for the holders as they confirmed their place in they confirmed their place in the last eight. they knocked out the danish champions with a scoreline that matched the first leg in copenhagen. the contest such as it was was certainly over inside the first ten minutes as they volleyed in from a corner and then another shot slipped through the gloves of the goalkeeper. the danes rallied with a well taken goal

but manchester city