from new york, the bbc�*s michelle fleury has more. boeing's work is once again in the spotlight. america's air safety regulator, the federal aviation authority, has opened a new investigation into boeing after the company came forward and said some employees had committed misconduct by claiming certain tests had been completed when, in fact, they hadn't. now, the faa is investigating whether boeing completed inspections to confirm adequate bonding and grounding, where the wings join the main body of the plane, on certain 787 dreamliner aircraft. bonding and grounding is vital on a plane because it prevents static build up. think of it as electrical safeguards. boeing credited a south carolina worker who saw something they felt was wrong on the production line and came forward and reported it. cutting corners at work is something that many of us may have been guilty of at various times in our lives. but given the frequency with which quality control

issues keep coming up at boeing, the airline has a long way to go to regain the trust of the flying public, its customers, the airlines, as well as lawmakers. beoing's shares dropped sharply on the news. the company told the faa it will re—inspect all 787 jets on the manufacturing line and develop an "action plan" to address concerns about planes already in service. in recent months, as israel's war in gaza has intensified, we've seen consumers boycotting brands with perceived links to israel. major fast food chains like mcdonald's and kfc have reported a drop in sales as a result. and protestors at universities across the us have called for divestment from companies linked to israel, like google, microsoft and defence contractor lockheed martin. ian lee, who teaches

strategic management at carleton university, helped us make sense of the business impact of boycotts. it's very important to distinguish between sanctions versus boycotts. sanctions are imposed by countries, by nation states. boycotts are imposed by individual groups, protest groups, against particular companies. so this is very important. the second distinction is, is the boycott against the company because of something the company did inside its company? think of anheuser—busch in the united states last year, its activities that enraged many consumers, and that boycott was effective. but secondary boycotts — that is to say, boycotting a company because they're involved with a country that people are opposed to — is less successful in the research literature. so we have to make those very important distinctions, i think, in terms of analysing the success or failures of these boycotts.

another distinction, perhaps, to notice, that these brands often operate a franchise model, so boycotts impact local franchisee holders more directly than the brand themselves? indeed, and that's the additional point to make. we have to distinguish between the franchise versus the corporate head office. and secondly, is it impacting sales or is it impacting the brand? the research on this shows that the sales hit is not as significant, generally, but the hit to the brand, the damage to the brand, is much more significant. and so this is not to suggest that boycotts don't work, it is just that they may have an impact people don't realise. it is not the sales decline, it is the impact to the brand — which we can see, for example, in the share price. brands also sit up and take notice when these things happen to them. most brands don't want to get dragged into politics, do they? exactly. large corporations tend to be very, very averse to bad publicity.

they're not political actors, and so the last thing they want is to be in the news or the international news for bad reasons — they avoid negative publicity like the plague. theirjob is, they try to minimise and avoid it completely. the european union has approved the $14.9 billion purchase of us steel by japan's nippon steel. in a move viewed as a formality, the european commission said it cleared the deal because the firms will have "limited market positions resulting from the proposed transaction". the acquisition has faced opposition in the united states, with presidentjoe biden saying he believes the us steel—maker should remain domestically—owned. chinese electric vehicle maker nio is making progress on plans to launch a car that's targeted at the mass market. the company's website for its sub—brand, onvo, went live in china on monday. visitors are told to "stay tuned" for details of a new ev model, the l60.

nio�*s chief executive william li has said the l60 will take aim at rival tesla's model y — that is currently the world's best selling ev. in an interview to a leading indian business news daily, india's foreign minister has defended blocking investments from china. he said india cannot compromise on its national and economic security in the name of opening up the economy. the bbc�*s arunoday mukharji has more. india's foreign minister sjaishankar was speaking to the economic times when he said that it was about protecting domestic businesses, especially the small and medium enterprises. also, batting away allegations of becoming a protectionist economy, the foreign minister also said it was about protecting the interests of the working class in the country. just to put things in context, relations between india and china have been at their lowest ever since the 2020 violent altercation along the indo—china frontier over a territorial dispute. back then, in protest, india had banned hundreds

of chinese apps — including tiktok — from operating here. new delhi has since been pushing domestic manufacturing and incentivising businesses to move production from china to india to help offset the huge trade deficit with beijing. now, this is what it all boils down to. india imports way more from china than it actually exports. according to some studies, the trade deficit in the last five years has gone up to just a little less than $400 billion. so despite the tough talk, these are the realities that india is facing. it's an aspect that has worried both economists, as well as strategic affairs experts. asia is home to some of the world's best—loved cuisines, which may explain why western food has typically struggled to break into the mass market. but that's starting to change thanks to higher incomes and better travelled consumers. one country looking to take advantage of this is the uk. recently, asia's biggest food and beverage show came in singapore, bringing together buyers, sellers and foodies from all around the world — and as a treat, we sent our business reporter nick marsh.

hungry? well, you're in the right place. i'm in one of asia's food meccas, but on display is a who's who of european cuisine. and they're ready to battle it out, bite for bite. as incomes start to rise, as tastes broaden and travel becomes more common, it's an opportunity for governments not only to sell their products, but also to promote an ideal image of their country. do you think of anything in particular when you think of food from britain? sausage? i don't know. quite boring, actually. not so special. but these cheese exporters are here to fly the flag for british gastronomy. it's a massive job educating people because, you know, the french and the swiss and the italians have been doing a lot longer than we have, and parmesan�*s been around forever, so we've come in sort of fairly late. so we're having to get

that message across. and this is what they're up against. for italy, selling food to asia isn'tjust vital for its economy, it's basically a form of diplomacy. they're foodies. they love their food, they love their tradition. it's something we have in common and that makes it easier to spread, also, the italian culinary tradition around the world. after brexit, uk exporters were promised new markets. almost dropped it there! that is very good. you did say it was good. this is grass—fed, 100% british beef. and these are the people that british producers are betting on. they want them to know, firstly, that this meat exists and they're hoping, secondly, that they'll like it, and eventually, above all, that they're going to buy it. the reality is that exports to asia only represent a fraction of what britain sells to the european union. the uk government told the bbc that it has hosted events

at trade shows in the region to try and drive demand for british food. but the suppliers, well, they don't receive any grants to attend these events in the first place. unlike other countries, they had to pay out of their own pocket just to be here. which makes it very difficult to stand out against the other european groups or other world groups that are almost fully funded by government. this is your vr cheese experience? absolutely. would you like to try? to keep up, british producers are having to get creative to spread the word, which i enjoyed first—hand. i'm just cleaning the udder of a cow. i'm grating the cheese onto the noodles. but building a reputation doesn't come overnight. many are still finding their way. nick marsh, bbc news, singapore. it's a good gig if you can get it, nick! thanks

very much to nick marsh there. some entertainment news before we go. stars and fashion icons are arriving at the met gala in new york city. the charity event raises money for the metropolitan museum of art. it's also seen as a showcase for designers of high fashion. there is a lot of money as well. tickets are rumoured to cost upwards of $70,000. that's it for this edition of asia business report. i will be back in an hour. bye for now.

hello there, i'm 0lly foster. here's what's coming up for you on sportsday. kyren wilson is on top of the world — there's a new name on snooker�*s greatest prize. another low, though, for manchester united, humbled at crystal palace. and merlier makes it over the line first at the giro d'italia, but pogacar is still pretty in pink.

hello there, welcome along to sportsday. kyren wilson is the new world snooker champion. he held his nerve to beat qualifierjakjones to win the title for the first time, beating the welshman 18 frames to 14 at the crucible in sheffield. jones was always playing catch—up, from being 7—0 down, but he did mount something of a comeback with his first century of the final as he looked to cut wilson's lead. the match wasn't of the highest quality, some easy pots missed and a few outrageous flukes — wilson with that one. both men benefited from those. jones won three frames in a row, his best spell in the match, and he trailed byjust three frames at one stage.