countries will include the united kingdom, bahrain, canada, france, italy and spain, among others. this is notjust a us issue, this is an international problem and it deserves an international response. and that s why i m convening a meeting tomorrow, a ministerial meeting, with fellow ministers in the region and beyond to address this threat. for exactly what this shipping disruption might mean for the global economy, i spoke to hung tran, who s a seniorfellow at the atlantic council and also former deputy director at the international monetary fund. this area of the red sea leading to the suez canal is quite important in terms of the volume of trade passing through it. about 12% of global trade passes through the red sea, including 30% of the container shipping. all together, it accounts for about us$1 trillion per year of world trade, so it is quite significant, and a disruption there would cause damage to world trade. aside from avoiding this area, what can companies do
havoc to global trade. speaking in bahrain, the us defense secretary lloyd austin said participating countries include the united kingdom, bahrain, canada, france, italy and spain, among others. this is notjust a us issue, this is an international problem and it deserves an international response. and that s why i m convening a meeting tomorrow, a ministerial meeting, with fellow ministers in the region and beyond to address this threat. for more on what the shipping disruption might mean for the global economy, i m joined from washington by hung tran, a senior fellow at the atlantic council and former deputy director at the international monetary fund. this area of the red sea leading to the suez canal is quite important in terms of the volume of trade passing through it. about 12% of global trade passes through the red sea, including 30% of the container shipping. altogether, it accounts for about us$1 trillion per year of trade, so it is quite significant, and a disruption
By an israeli airstrike. The Israeli Military has denied responsibility, saying the blast was caused by a failed rocket launched by the gaza based Militant Group Palestinian Islamic jihad. Us President Joe Biden is currently travelling to israel, but a planned Summit Injordan with arab leaders has now been cancelled. Biden s visit is designed to further demonstrate americas support for israel. The white house is saying the us is optimistic about getting humanitarian aid into gaza. On our website we have a live page that is constantly updating with the latest developments but now lets focus on the top Business Stories. Here in europe in a few hours we will be getting a clearer picture on where inflation is headed. For the uk and eurozone the latest data is out today and its hoped the cost of living crisis will continue to ease. In the uk the rate of inflation slowed to 6. 7 in the year to august. For the eurozone the latest estimate has inflation hovering around 4. 3 . For Central Banks
the changes come after widespread protests against covid lockdowns. 0ur china correspondent stephen mcdonell reports from beijing. previously, catching covid 19 here meant being sent to centralised quarantine facilities, which varied wildly in quality. not any more. now, if you contract the coronavirus, you can choose to isolate at home. life is returning to beijing streets. though infections haven t come down, more easing measures have been announced. pcr tests are no longer required to enter buildings, apart from hospitals and schools. covid restrictions on inter province travel have been removed. translation: i ve retired and i want to travel again. | after easing up, i can go on a trip somewhere. all these venues are open, we can now go in the parks and the shopping centres. i m still afraid, i go - to places where not many people and protect myself,
reuters reporting china is expected to announce additional easing measures as early as tomorrow. meanwhile, here in the u.s. new numbers from the cdc show flu cases, hospitalizations and deaths are up. doctors say it s early in the season for that kind of activity. nbc news correspondent sam brock has the latest. reporter: this morning doctors nationwide gearing up for a major fight with the flu. a lot of young healthy people come in, about as bad as they have ever felt. reporter: in california one of the hardest hit states this doctor says his er is feeling the crunch. we are already at kind of mid-january levels, you know, it will be interesting and a little scary to see where this goes from here. reporter: it s a scene that s playing out coast to coast, with nearly all states seeing high or very high flu activity ahead of schedule. i am very concerned about it because i myself am immune