from space — to land and sea. security and economic ties between the us and japan have been given their largest—ever upgrade. and we break down the challenges and opportunities created by migrants arriving in the world's number one economy. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. our top story today —— japan and the united states are forging an even closer relationship following a bilateral summit in washington. prime minister fumio kishida and presidentjoe biden unveiled a wide range of agreements that will enhance notjust security but economic ties as well. aside from plans to upgrade their military alliance, the two historical allies also reached deals aimed at boosting cooperation to develop

artificial intelligence, semiconductors and green technologies. meanwhile, biden and kishida brushed off a dispute over nippon steel's offer for us steel, saying the issue was not a majorfactor in their discussions. wendy cutler, a former acting deputy us trade representative, said the us and japan have benefitted from maintaining close ties. i think both sides come into this summit confident and both the president and prime minister and their press conference underscored the huge two way investments that are moving between the two countries. the us is the largest fdi partner injapan and vice versa. japanese companies are making huge investments in the united states, and this just serves to bring us closer, particularly with respect to strategic and advanced technology products. now, the biden administration is also actively in talks with china's economic policy

makers after something of a drought. we saw janet yellen there over the last few days. how does that fit with the economic alliance it has with japan for technologies that it doesn't want to sell to beijing? well, i thinkjapan is probably relieved that we are engaged with china because forjapan it's always been important for engagement to continue with china. remember, china is stilljapan�*s largest trading partner. china is in their neighbourhood. and they they very much support a stabilisation in us—china relations. there's been no discussion or no mention, they're certainly playing it down that us steel deal with nippon steel. that's a calibrated decision. they don't want to want to focus on the positives, i suppose. i mean, absolutely. these meetings, you want to focus on the positives, but also we need to remember that nippon steel is just one deal in the sea ofjust a lot of foreign direct investment moving to both

sides of the border. i don't doubt privately that the japanese are probably very disappointed with the way that the proposed acquisition by nippon steel of us steel is, you know, is moving ahead. but that said, to raise it publicly, itjust doesn't serve either and it's not in the interest of either party to do so. staying in the us — consumer prices in the world's largest economy rose by a larger—than—expected margin in march, as americans continued to pay more forfuel and rental housing. the labour department's consumer price index added 0.4% after advancing by the same margin in february. it follows news thatjob growth in the us has accelerated, adding to speculation that the federal reserve could delay cutting interest rates. now, as we were saying the us is experiencing a historically tight labour market — with more open jobs than there are

workers available to fill them. meanwhile record numbers of migrants are arriving in the us looking for work. erin delmore reports from new york city. for colombia native alexandra gomez castro overwhelming joy when she finally got a permit to work legally in new york city. when i received the work permit, i became filled with tears, great emotion. she, her husband and their three children are part of an unprecedented wave of migrants arriving in new york city totalling more than 180,000 since 2022. they come from all over the world, many from south and central america fleeing threats of violence by foot and seeking asylum at the us border. you know, we arrived with nothing because they took absolutely everything away during the journey there. she and her children were separated. how would i explain to a ten year old girl the motive for which we came? it was hard for her to learn

about the attempted murder of her mother and father. reunited, the family travelled further north to new york city, which uniquely provides shelter to anyone without housing. a nonprofit project handled her asylum application and secured her work permit. but not everyone finds their way through the complex forms and bureaucracy. they wait in old hotels and schools now makeshift shelters teeming with new arrivals. city services are buckling. calls to shut the border or send them back are at a fever pitch. yet business owners in the city say these new arrivals could be the answer to their labor shortages. so i'm on a whatsapp group with 300 restaurateurs and everyone is asking all the time, "do you have a line cook?" "do you know of a manager?" "do you have a waiter?" migrants come by barbara sibley�*s mexican restaurant la palapa, looking for work,

but their path to legal work is slow and complicated. the system is broken. these folks are here without the tools that they need to help me. it's that basic, right? i know for sure in new york city, in the restaurant business, if the workers could work, we would have jobs. native born workers don't make up as much of the us workforce as they used to. the baby boomers are retiring and birth rates have been falling for a while. so if the us wants to keep up the size of its workforce or grow it, immigrants and migrants are a readily available solution. we need the government to make it easier_ we need the government to make it easier to — we need the government to make it easier to fill these jobs. it's — it easier to fill these jobs. it's not _ it easier to fill these jobs. it's not like they are displacing americans from working _ displacing americans from working in theirjobs. for working in their “obs. for centuries, _ working in theirjobs. fr?" centuries, immigrants have travelled to the us looking for work and attempting to create a better life for their families.

their work is imprinted on new york's restaurant scene and some the other businesses. translation:— some the other businesses. translation: . ., . . translation: i'm a woman that will learn to _ translation: i'm a woman that will learn to work _ translation: i'm a woman that will learn to work in _ translation: i'm a woman that will learn to work in whatever, i will learn to work in whatever, evenif will learn to work in whatever, even if it's complicated.- even if it's complicated. many in america — even if it's complicated. many in america may _ even if it's complicated. many in america may not _ even if it's complicated. many in america may not welcome l even if it's complicated. many - in america may not welcome her, but alexander and herfamily but alexander and her family are but alexander and herfamily are living out a very american story. to other news making headlines... the us national transportation and safety board says the loss of an engine cover on a southwest airlines flight was a "maintenance issue". the agency said it will not open a formal investigation into the incident that took place on a boeing 737—800 jet. it was taking off in denver on sunday when its engine coverfell off, striking its wing flap. no one was injured. the federal aviation administration, which is currently investigating the incident, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. now over to china where microsoft's blizzard entertainment unit could be back with popular games such as wold of warcraft by this summer under a pending deal with chinese gamer netease.

if it goes through, the move may also signal a marked change of cooperation and agreements on entertainment software in the huge market. that's according to tech analyst dan ives from wedbush securities. it's big. and the fact that they're going after china is significant. i think it shows a new era, especially on the gaming side, now that activision is under the microsoft umbrella. how big is the chinese market that they're going after? i mean, this could be massive. i mean, when you think of it from a gaming perspective, this could incrementally add ten, 15% additional revenue opportunity for microsoft when it comes to blizzard and it comes to these games. i mean, it's been a missing piece in the puzzle. and i think when microsoft went after activision, this was one of the strategic what i view as areas that they needed to focus on. and it's a check the box for nadella and redmond. now the netease in blizzard deal on war of warcraft

and some other popular games broke down last year over intellectual property and control issues. is it likely that this pending resolution will sort of set the model for gaming access into china going forward? i think that's really the talk in the gaming world. i mean, this is this is pivotal. it's a potential watershed moment in the gaming sector. and especially when you have disagreement and microsoft backing it, this could really open up pandora's box in a good way and really give a model for future disagreements that we've seen really be a big sort of headwind in the area. we saw a letter from jack ma endorsing a major restructuring under way at alibaba generally. is there more change under way for china's sort of tech companies and and how their operations are sort of carried out? look, i think the writing is on the wall. and what was talked about when you think about cloud and i think a lot

of the big tech in china has been, ithink, behind many of the us players. but you're starting to see a change and i believe that's bullish for chinese tech. and before we go here's a reminder of how careful companies need to be when navigating sentivities surrounding the conflict in the middle east. apple has been criticised after the palestinian flag emoji was automatically suggested to iphone users who type "jerusalem." both israel and the palestinians hold competing claims to the ancient city. apple has told the bbc that the change — which followed a recent they noted that national flags were not suggested for other capitals. apple told bbc the change which followed a recent software update — was not intentional. you can read more on that story on our website. and that's it for this edition of asia business report. thanks for watching.

hey, i'mjulia

with the catch up. first, young people in england and wales who are questioning their gender identity are being let down. that's what an nhs report has said, from the children's health expert dr hilary cass. she told the bbc that young people are being bypassed by local services, because professionals are too nervous to see them. she also said there isn't enough evidence that puberty blockers are safe, since clinical trials haven't had time to show their impacts into adulthood. nhs england says they've already made changes. sonja told us she faced long waits to get help, before she transitioned. hopefully with the review and its findings, the young trans people of today and the next generations can have a more human and a more respectful transition. assaulting a shop worker is

going to be a specific criminal offence in england and wales. it's part of a government response to the rise in retail crime. a report found violence and abuse against shop workers went up by 50% last year. gold medal winners in athletics at this year's 0lympics in paris are also going to get around £a0,000, and at the la games in 2028, silver and bronze winners will get payouts too. the group behind the decision is called world althetics, and we'll leave you with ten seconds of climbing the eiffel tower. yes, this is anouk garnier, and she just broke a record for climbing up the eiffel tower using a rope. it only took her 18 minutes to reach the second floor — which is 110 metres high. you're all caught up — have a good night!

hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm gavin ramjaun. barcelona come away with the spoils in paris... as they edge a champions league thriller with psg. atletico madrid hold on for the advantage, in their tie with dortmund, but the germans make a good go of it. and it might be time to say a prayer and hope for the best, the unique challenge of augusta, and its amen corner, prepare to host the first major of the golfing year. hello there, and welcome along to sportsday, and we start in the european champions league. one of the standout ties of the quarterfinals didn't disappoint — as barcelona got the better of psg, in a topsy turvy game, which saw them take the lead, then come from behind to win 3—2. a huge victory for xavi's side, with a home second leg to come next week.

charlie slater was watching.