in the middle east. the price of gold rises as oil falls. we'll be live in the region. welcome to business today, i'm ben thompson. we start with the events in the middle east where, as we've been reporting, the united nations secretary—general, antonio guterres, has said it's time to step back from the brink, after iran launched hundreds of missiles and drones at israel late on saturday. the situation has already started weighing on global financial markets as we start a new week. oil prices are particularly volatile right now. oil prices have fallen.

brent is down below $90 a barrel. traders have factored that in. so the risk is factored into that price already but at the same time american bank city group have warned that if there is more conflict, oil prices could soar above $100 per barrel and that will dominate the agenda for ministers and bankers alike. any impact, small as it might be is not desirable in the an economy with high uncertainty and inflation has not been brought down. 0il high uncertainty and inflation has not been brought down. oil prices go down, inflation goes up. so what can

be done to bring down uncertainty is of course for others, those in politics, from the military, the economic standpoint, the longo we reduce uncertainty, the better. dipping below $90 for brent right now but it could reach above a hundred?— now but it could reach above a hundred? ~ ~ hundred? well... over the weekend, there wasn't — hundred? well... over the weekend, there wasn't much _ hundred? well... over the weekend, there wasn't much because _ hundred? well... over the weekend, there wasn't much because on - hundred? well... over the weekend, there wasn't much because on friday| there wasn't much because on friday we saw brent touch a six months high and side that had been factored in

by the markets with the anticipation of this attack but inflation coming in from the united states but what analysts are saying right now is a lot will depend on israel's action going ahead. if it decides to initiate a strong response to iran then that could push oil up higher because iran is one of the biggest producers of oil. any disruption or any disruption on the routes could really upset the market so that's something the markets are going to closely watch over the next few days and the prices could move up accordingly. and the prices could move up accordingly-— and the prices could move up accordinal. �* ., ., accordingly. away from the financial im act, accordingly. away from the financial impact. there's _ accordingly. away from the financial impact, there's been _ accordingly. away from the financial impact, there's been an _ accordingly. away from the financial impact, there's been an impact - accordingly. away from the financial impact, there's been an impact on | impact, there's been an impact on things like flights. a number of countries in the region closing

airspace because of those drone strikes over the weekend. what are we hearing about the impact on flights on busy traffic routes? we've seen a lot of countries in the middle east shut down their air spaces over the weekend after that attack was launched. a lot of resumed flights, including israel, lebanon, iraq. this has been one of the biggest impact since 2001 the airline industry. a lot of the airlines now have two re—route, choose a different path to fly because i don't take the risk. that means additional cost to the

airlines. . ~ means additional cost to the airlines. ., ~ , ., ., , airlines. thank you, and the same is true of shipping _ airlines. thank you, and the same is true of shipping in _ airlines. thank you, and the same is true of shipping in what _ airlines. thank you, and the same is true of shipping in what is _ airlines. thank you, and the same is true of shipping in what is a - airlines. thank you, and the same is true of shipping in what is a busy - true of shipping in what is a busy shipping region too. aluminium and nickel prices have soared on the london metal exchange as a result of new us and british sanctions on russian metal products. they were imposed over the weekend in the latest effort by western powers to try and limit the amount of money president putin's government has to fund its war in ukraine. at one point aluminium pricesjumped 9.4% — the biggestjump in the nearly a0 year history of what is a globally significant contract for the metal that is used in everything from drinks cans to power lines. let's hear now from nitesh shah, head of commodities and macroeconomic research at the investment firm wisdom tree. how important is russia to the global market for aluminium and nickel?

russia is a large producer of nickel, around 3—4% and also in the copper markets. russia is very important in the global supply chains for lots of metals, alongside oil, and that's why a lot of countries are using sanctions against russia to squeeze the country, to reduce its ability to finance the current war.- country, to reduce its ability to finance the current war. there is concern about _ finance the current war. there is concern about russia _ finance the current war. there is concern about russia dumping l finance the current war. there is i concern about russia dumping old metals onto the exchange to manipulate the price. what impact can that have?— can that have? back in 2022, the exchanges _ can that have? back in 2022, the exchanges were _ can that have? back in 2022, the exchanges were still _ can that have? back in 2022, the exchanges were still able - can that have? back in 2022, the exchanges were still able to - can that have? back in 2022, the exchanges were still able to use | can that have? back in 2022, the i exchanges were still able to use the metal, deliver the metals, and therefore we found that up until the

new ban came into place on saturday from the london metal exchange, that caused 90% of the infantry of the aluminium in warehouses was from russia. lots of companies were self — sanctioning themselves, not accepting russian material and therefore, reducing the prices. the ban should take some of the weight off the price. in other news... global sales of smartphones have continued their recovery with nearly 8% more sold in the first three months of this year than the same time a year ago. almost 290 million were sold with samsung regaining the top spot form apple which has been struggling

with falling sales in china. from apple which has been struggling with falling sales in china. the next three spots were all taken by chinese companies with xiaomi leading the way according to the numbers from international data corporation. staying with samsung, the biden administration is to award the company up to $6.4 billion in grants to expand its ship production in texas. that's part of a strategy to expand chip production in the united states to provide more security for high tech manufacturing. the white house described the return of leading—edge chip manufacturing as "a major new chapter" in the semiconductor industry. germany's chancellor 0laf scholz has called for an open and fair market for chinese cars, but speaking to students in shanghai, he warned against dumping and overproduction. last week in china, the us treasury secretary janet yellen voices similar concerns about excess capacity in chinese manufacturing, leading to low export prices. chancellor scholaz is expected to challenge china's president xi tomorrow on his country's support

for russia's wartime economy. it's just a few days now until the world's biggest election gets underway. nearly a billion indians are eligble to vote and many of them have been benefitting from the billions of dollars prime minister narendra modi has poured into infrastructre such as electricty grids, roads and metro lines. it's part of the reason he's favourite to win a third term. however critics including the opposition say they've dispropotantely benefited a few big business groups and haven't done enough to tackle inequality. from kolkata our india business correspondent nikhil inamadar sent this report. kolkata, a city of rusty trams... ..and traffic jams. crossing the stretch across the mighty hoohly river usually takes up to 30 minutes. but a shiny new underwater metro line hasjust come into operation, significantly reducing travel time.

this is india's first underwater metro line. we've just plunged about 100 feet under the hooghly river that connects kolkata with the twin city howrah on the other bank. this is just one example of the ambitious upgrade that many of india's creaky public infrastructure assets are finally getting. a swanky bullet train is another. it's a showpiece project of prime minister narendra modi. the upcoming $15 billion high—speed rail routes will connect india's financial capital mumbai with ahmedabad in gujarat. the infrastructure has been a key driver to india's galloping gdp and projects are getting completed faster than ever. the timelines have shrunk. timelines which used to be five years, six years, seven years, it's all come to two years, two and a half years, three years. in terms of logistics,

if you look at it, india has jumped 38 places higher. criss—crossing the country to unveil these megaprojects has been india's prime minister narendra modi. his government has spent over $100 billion every year for the last three, building highways and bridges. this infrastructure focus is expected to pay rich election dividends for the prime minister. but has it come at the expense of other parts of india's economy? agriculture hasn't done well and agriculture supports a large part of the population, so the rural incomes suffer because of that. the other area which is a little weak is consumption, private consumption. the household consumption growth is not even half

of the overall gdp growth, but overall, it's a good story. mr modi will be hoping his infrastructure that will spur large—scale industrial growth and create jobs. a major missing piece in india's growth story. nikhil, inamadar, bbc news, kolkata. a reminder that this is a busy year for elections around the world. 0nline, i'm @benthompsontv.

hello from the bbc sport centre. i'mjane i'm jane dougal. he was the favourite and scottie scheffler lived up to his billing, winning golf�*s first major of the year, the masters. the world number one started the day

one shot clear of the field and though he briefly dropped back into a four way tie for the lead, scheffler finished on 11 under. victory by 4 strokes ahead of ludvig agberg. it's the 27—year—old's second major. he also won the masters two years ago. it's... it's hard to put into words how special this is. it's been a long week, a grind of a week, the golf course was so challenging, and to be sitting here wearing this jacket again and getting to take it home is...is extremely special. it was a momentous weekend in germany. bayer leverkusen are bundesliga champions for the first time in their 120 year history. they beat werder bremen 5—0 to secure the title and they did it in front of their own fans. leverkussen were declared champions with five games to spare in what has been an incredible season. they are still unbeaten in all competitions, with the potenital for more trophies in the german cup and europa league.

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