chinese president xijinping wraps up his visit to europe. we'll look at what he has achieved. plus, why this advertisement by apple promoting its latest ipad is drawing criticism from celebrities and users around the world. hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. chinese president xijinping is currently in hungary, where he will wrap up his european tour after stops in france and serbia. mr xi has been on a mission to boost trade and diplomatic relations. on thursday, he met hungarian prime minister viktor orban and said the two countries had upgraded their ties

to an "all weather" partnership. kishore mahbubani was singapore's former ambassador to the united nations. he gave me a sense of what lies ahead for eu—china relations. trade differences are normal. the important thing is notjust the trade in balance but the trade volume. at the end of the day, as you know, europe is looking for new sources of growth for itself and europe is acutely aware that china is going to become a very, very important market for eu products too, and let me give you some very important statistics so listeners understand how things have changed. in the year 2000 the european economy combined, eu economy combined was six times bigger than china's economy. now they are the same size. in five years�* time china will be bigger than the european union. europe is aware of this. while they will have difficulties over trade they also rely china is it

going to become the big market for them also, so that's also part of the european calculations. do you seeing that the balance of power shifting, then, and they have to adjust accordingly? i think the europeans are acutely aware of the change in the balance of power. and remember, for europe today, one nightmare that they really worry about is the re—election of donald trump coming in for a second time as president of the united states, and they know that donald trump has absolutely no emotional connection to europe. he does not quite see the value of his european allies, and europe may have to get a much more difficult geopolitical environment. in that difficult geopolitical environment, when europe is looking for ways and means to possibly restrain russia at that point in time, maybe they can talk with china. and as you know china played an important role in making

sure that russia did not even consider using nuclear weapons in the ukraine war. the europeans also have to look over the horizon and think about what kind of world you have to deal with if donald trump gets elected. mr xi's visit comes at a challenging time for european businesses in china. confidence in the world's second largest economy has fallen to the lowest level in two decades. that's according to a new survey by the european chamber of commerce in china, a business lobby group. the number of americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest level in more than eight months. the latest report by the labour department suggests the us jobs market is cooling. this has raised hopes of interest rate cuts by the federal reserve. turning to india now, where an operational crisis at budget airline air india express has continued for a second day. the bbc�*s arunoday mukharji has all the details. government authorities held

a meeting of the air india express management, as well as protesting employees, after matters escalated and over 80 international and domestic flights had to be cancelled. india's civil aviation ministry also had to step in after chaotic scenes were witnessed at airports around the world, when several air india express employees called in sick at the last moment in protest. now, in a sign and a message to its employees, the air india express management terminated 25 of its staff members only to reinstate them after the labour commission of the country intervened. the air india express management assuring that all the grievances of its employees will be addressed and resolved. but the big question is whether this is a temporary and a fragile truce and whether it will hold, and how exactly is the management going to go about resolving these issues? we saw similar problems just last month at another tata group—owned airline, vistara, when employees again went en masse sick leave in protest, with similar

grievances to these. now, india's labour commission has said that they will be meeting later this month once again to take stock of the situation. a boeing 737—300 plane has skidded off a runway in senegal, injuring at least 10 people. the flight, operated by air senegal, was taking off from the capital of mali in the early hours of thursday. investigations are under way. boeing, which has not commented on the incident, is facing a deepening crisis over its safety record. an advert promoting apple's new range of ipads has received widespread criticism. the video shows a giant hydraulic press crushing books and musical instruments. for more on why it has sparked such a backlash, here's the bbc�*s michelle fleury. the ad has only been out a couple of days, butjudging by the reaction online, it hit a nerve. in the spot, objects ranging from a trumpet, a piano to a turntable, a sculpted bust and lots and lots of paint are all shown being squashed by an enormous metal rubbish compactor

into the size of apple's thinnest product ever, the 13 inch ipad pro. now, critics say the add celebrates the stifling of creativity rather than encouraging it. even british actor hugh grant weighed in on the social media platform x, labelling it the destruction of the human experience, courtesy of silicon valley. actor and film—maker justine bateman, a vocal critic of the use of ai in the film industry, said apple's ad was crushing the arts, while songwriter crispin hunt called the act of destroying musical instruments evocative of burning books. the criticism is particularly pointed because of concerns, especially in creative industries, about artificial intelligence taking people's jobs. now, it's a rare misstep by the company, which was behind the famous super bowl advert for its macintosh computers that was directed by ridley scott. it featured a dystopian world

where conformity dominated and a single individual — representing the apple brand and, at the time, its new macintosh computers — was seen as resisting. the ad today, well, that conveys the opposite message, according to its critics, which is why it's getting crushed by creativeness and consumers. sweden is staging the eurovision song contest — the world's largest singing competition this week. adrienne murray reports from the host city of malmo where there are hopes the event will bring a boost to business. it's 50 years since the swedish pop sensations abba took eurovision�*s crown. now, competitors from 37 nations are in the southern city of malmo, where only one winner can take it all. months of preparations have gone into staging this huge event, and malmo�*s hoping to draw in 100,000 visitors for what's billed as

a week—long celebration of pop. fans from more than 90 countries are attending three sell—out shows, culminating with saturday's grand finale. we're going to tonight, we're going to the rehearsal on thursday, and then we're going to the grand jury on friday. so just a couple! yes! it's the biggest show of its kind. and last year, more than 160 million viewers tuned in to watch as sweden took victory. the glitzy showcase is known for one—hit wonders, but it can be a path to stardom. you reach millions of people that probably would not have listened to your music otherwise, so it's an amazing opportunity. i started releasing music three years ago and i grew 1,500 followers in three years, and now i'm at eurovision and, yeah, it'sjust all going straight up. i think the music industry . changes like a lightning pace and there are fewer and fewer opportunities to really-

get your song out there. to get that kind of exposure to hundreds of millions - of people in one go, that does not comel around very often. sweden's national broadcaster, together with the city, has spent around $12 million or £10 million on the event. svt is putting in about the same amount that we put in last time we did it. and then there is a contribution from the ebu each year for the host broadcaster and there is revenues from sponsors and also ticket sales. local businesses are getting into the spirit, and this brewery is marking the occasion with a special beer. we want to be a part of what's happening in malmo and being involved in our local community. we need the city to do events like this, to have people coming here. hotels also hope it will attract more visitors. we have a lot of uk and a lot of southern european countries as well and people as far away as from australia staying with us. it's bigger, it's a lot

more in the media. what it does, it puts a small town like malmo on the map. it's the third time malmo is hosting, but eurovision is now much bigger, and officials here are betting on a lasting legacy. it's a big deal. we know from 2013 that it made a huge difference for the city. the legacy onwards has been very good for us. malmo arena has been able to refer to the eurovision song contest when they bid for other big events. but not all hotel rooms are fully booked and many fans are staying in nearby copenhagen. palestine will be free! amid the war in gaza, some are protesting israel's inclusion in the event and security is on high alert. how that affects turnout remains to be seen. for many fans here, though, it's all about the pop music and the show must go on. adrienne murray, bbc news, malmo.

and you can find out more on our website. and you can find out more on ourwebsite. in and you can find out more on our website. in the meantime, by for now. hey, i'mjulia with the catch up. tonight, a medical breakthrough, the killers make history and a pr boss makes a pr mess. but first, while some uni students have been campaigning against israel's war in gaza, the boss of universities uk has said they may need to take action if the protests get in the way of student life. the prime minister met uni leaders about anti—semitism on campus and worries some students have for their safety. edward from the union ofjewish students was at the meeting. the prime minister made it very clear that campuses must be places where jewish students are welcome, included and able to study in safety.

some other stories now. international students in wales have been sleeping rough because they're struggling to afford accommodation nearby. the students union at bangor said some people sleep in the 24—hour study space to save on commuting costs. the head of public relations at chinese search engine baidu has apologised after peddling a work—til—you—drop culture on tiktok. she said staff should keep their phones on 2a hours a day and that she has no responsibility for their wellbeing as, quote, "i am not your mother." and a little girl who was born deaf has had her hearing restored after a ground—breaking new treatment which replaces faulty dna. 0pal sandy can now hear whispers and she's starting to talk. and it started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this? #jealousy, turning saints into the sea... yes, mr brightside by the killers is now

officially the biggest song to never reach number one in the uk. that's you all caught up now. see you.

hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm gavin ramjaun. a sensational comeback for leverkusen sees them into the europa final, and preserving their long unbeaten run in all competitions. 0lympiacos make no mistake. they seal their spot in the conference league final against fiorentina after a comfortable win over aston villa. and nadal�*s preparations for the french open are helpful, he says, after the spaniard is tested again, in his first round victory in rome. hello there and welcome along to the programme. and we were treated to another round of late drama in european football again on thursday. bayer leverkusen came back against roma, to not only

extend their incredible unbeaten run this season —