this is business briefing. i'm david eades. let the bargain—hunting commence! retailers prepare for a record black friday. but has the smartphone put an end to fighting in the aisles? plus, theresa may heads to brussels for talks. will she risk a backlash at home and offer more money to break the brexit deadlock? a quiet day on the markets. asian shares just off their 10—year highs. the us was closed for the thanksgiving holiday, with just a shortened trading session today. we'll bring you all the details later in the programme. it's the friday after thanksgiving, and for millions of americans, that means one thing. shopping. black friday traditionally marked the start of the christmas shopping season with big discounts to tempt buyers.

it has taken off around the world to become busiest time of the year for the global retail business. let's just show you how big. in the us alone, 164 million shoppers are expected to shop this weekend. that's over half the country's population. it's a make—or—break time for retailers. 30% to 40% of their annual sales come between black friday and christmas. today, shoppers here in the uk are expected to spend the equivalent of $2.1; million per minute. an increasing share of that is being done not in stores, but on phones and tablets. on line spending today is predicted to be up 15% on last year, hitting $1.5 billion. it's a trend that's also being seen in the us, as samira hussain reports from new york. it is 7am, and workers have already

been here a while. sorting box after box after box. this is the beginning of the busiest time of year for shipping companies like fedex as the holiday shopping season kicks off. you see more people in the stores on black friday, but every day after, heavy on line shopping. everything happening here is really great news for the us economy given it depends so for the us economy given it depends so heavily on consumer spending. but, there is a bit of a downside. the impact it is actually having on brick and mortar stores. scoring a deal is the man waiting through massive crowds. but as it will prefer massive crowds. but as it will p refer to massive crowds. but as it will prefer to shop on line, retailers have been closing their doors, setting up a battle between e—commerce and physical stores.

however, there may be a truce on the horizon. every company today and retailer and brand has incorporated a digital aspects to their physical business. that combination together is more powerful. the retail landscape in america is in a period of transition. plainly obvious at this fedex distribution centre, e—commerce is here to stay. what is changing is companies are no longer choosing a side in the battle for consumerism. having a combination of both a physical store and on line presence is much more powerful. the mirror —— samira hussain, bbc news. let's go to brussels now, where the eu is hosting the leaders of its eastern partner states, the likes of azerbaijan, georgia, and ukraine, for a summit in the next few hours. uk prime minister, theresa may, will give a speech warning eu leaders to be wary of "hostile

states like russia," and pledge that the uk will stay committed to european security after brexit. she's also due to talk brexit with european council president, donald tusk. grant kostanyan is a researcher at the centre for european policy studies. he's in our brussels bureau. a warm welcome to use. thank you for being here. tell us what we can expect today from theresa may. there isa expect today from theresa may. there is a huge amount of pressure on her to come up with this divorce bill settle m e nt to come up with this divorce bill settlement so we can talk trade in a few weeks' time. here in the uk, there have been suggestions we are willing to up the game with the divorce bill to £40 million. what is your take on it? will there be desperately needed progress today? the focus today will not be on brexit but the eastern partnership summit. brexit will be the side event. i don't know how much

progress there will be because all of the eyes are on the eastern partnership summit. tell us more about that. you have the likes of belarus and ukraine, will deliver, azerbaijan, they are all there for talks. —— moldova. it is all about closer ties with the eu. they want a comprehensive and enhanced relationship agreement signed at the summit. it is an in—depth agreement. it isa summit. it is an in—depth agreement. it is a novelty. 0ther summit. it is an in—depth agreement. it is a novelty. other than that, no big political announcement should be expected. 0nly more practical items on the agenda that will hopefully benefit the citizens of six eastern partnership countries. as far as belarus is concerned, their president was invited for the first time to come to the summit. this is

the fifth summit. however, he refused to come. so, we are expecting most probably to have leaders of five eastern partnership countries. is this about eventually welcoming more countries into the eu oi’ welcoming more countries into the eu or is that not on the agenda at the moment given brexit? the membership perspective is not on the agenda. this is something that three of the eastern partnership countries ask for, ukraine, moldova, and georgia. aviva —— they say this is a decision that should be taken only if they are all united. there is demand from the partners, but on the other hand, a group of member states opposed this strongly. theoretically, it should not be a problem as they are european countries. according to the

49th article of the treaty of the european union, theoretically, they should be able to become a member of the eu if they meet the criteria. thank you very much. thank you. let's go to china now. and it's another volatile day on the chinese markets after some steep falls yesterday. in fact, it was the biggest sell—off in a year. so what's been going on? rico hizon is following the story in singapore. what is happening? if you are watching the markets, investors are continuing to be jittery about fresh market measures which will incur financial risks in the market. these new policies are aimed at curbing lending and tightening regulations of asset management businesses. and both of these initiatives are seen as potentially shrinking market liquidity. at this hour, if you look at the major indices, it has been a rollercoaster ride. the benchmark

opening in negative territory and rising into positive territory before sinking back into the red. despite all of this volatility, stocks have been on the rise in the second half of this year. analysts say some investors are also selling to lock in profits before thursday's fall. the blue—chip index has already risen since early may while the shanghai composite index was up 13%. those are the markets in china. enjoy your black friday shopping. 13%. those are the markets in china. enjoy your black friday shoppinglj wheel. thank you. —— will. now, let's brief you some other business stories. shares of centrica, owner of british gas, had their biggest one day fall in 20 years after the utilities giant warned problems in its uk and us divisions would hit profits. it said british gas had lost 823,000 domestic customers since the end ofjune, many of them after it raised prices in september. a member of the mitsubishi group has

become the latest japanese company to be caught out over quality control after admitting it falsified data about some products. mitsubishi materials said three of its divisions had falsified data for products supplied to the aerospace, car, and electric power industries. male staff at the bank of england are paid almost a quarter more than female employees, according to its latest gender pay gap report. the bank said it had taken steps to address the issue. and now, what's trending in the business news this morning: business insider suggests this. everyone spent their thanksgiving dinner shopping on their iphones under the table. it reports that americans spent $1.5 billion on line before black friday had even begun, suggesting the day itself is declining in importance bloomberg reports on investor anger at the firm behind "angry birds." rovio lost a fifth of its stock market value after what it calls a "brutal" earnings report.

and a possibly worrying trend in the wall streetjournal. it says indian banks are mining data on customers' smartphones to help assess their risk for loans. and don't forget, let's us know what you are spotting on line. use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. that's it for business briefing this hour. but before we go, here are the markets. shares in asia are hovering below the 10—year high they reached earlier this week. investors are looking nervously towards china where there have been big falls on the stock and bond markets over government moves to clamp down on financial risk taking. the us of course closed for the thanksgiving holiday, with just a shortened trading session today. up next, newsbriefing. we'll take you through the stories making headlines in the global media today, including this. a leading insurer says millions

of small savers may be hit by a little noticed tax change announced in the budget. it affects long—term policies sold by insurance companies and sometimes collected door—to—door. royal london insurance says in the long run losses could add up to hundreds of millions of pounds. here's our personal finance correspondent, simon gompertz. sometimes chancellors say things in the budget that people do not understand at the time. the abolition of an obscure tax perk benefiting small savers could be one of those. there is a case to remove the anomaly of the indexation allowa nce, the anomaly of the indexation allowance, bringing the corporate tax system with the capital gains tax system with the capital gains tax system. i will freeze it so companies received relief for inflation up to january 2018 but not

after. insurers say there is an impact on traditional savings often sold door—to—door or at the workplace. they include endowments which pay you a lump sum, all of life insurance, paid after you die, and other investment policies which have had some tax free. from the numbers we have looked at, we think millions of people have these policies and will now lose modest amounts of money, 25— £50 each. summer more. but it adds up to hundreds of millions of pounds for the chancellor. —— some. hundreds of millions of pounds for the chancellor. -- some. and they said no individuals would be affected and they added this. but royal london insurance argues this isa royal london insurance argues this is a tax grab from people who have done the right thing and saved and it should be reversed. simon gompertz, bbc news. coming up at 6am on breakfast, charlie stayt and naga munchetty will have all the day's news, business and sport. and they'll be talking

to gary 0ldman about his latest role as the wartime leader, sir winston churchill and why it has been the most daunting challenge of his career so far. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: zimbabwe prepares for the post—mugabe era — the incoming—president, emmerson mnangagwa, is to be sworn in later. prayers for the crew of a missing argentine submarine — but hopes fade as the navy says there may have been an explosion at the vessel's last—known location. brussels says brexit britain will not be hosting the european capital of culture in 2023 — despite the scheme being open to countries that aren't in the eu. now it is time look at the stories that are making the headlines in media across the world: we begin with the gulf news and zimbabwe president elect emmerson mnangagwa who the paper says will inherit an economic wasteland that will take years

for the new government to set right. meanwhile independent also paints a depressing economic picture, only this time of the uk which it says is facing a decade of low wage growth and a long—term fall in living standards. however there's more upbeat news in the ft for the eurozone economies where job growth and new manufacturing orders have reached their highest level for 17—yea rs. the guardian financial pages look ahead to black friday where uk shoppers are expected to go on a £2.5bn spending spree as discount fever sweeps the high street and online. and finally the telegraph has a warning for those looking to splash out on new fancy smart toys for kids this christmas. to splash out on new fancy smart toys for kids this christmas. according to the the information commissioners' office, parents should turn off cameras and automatic tracking devices in their children's presents because of the risk of hacking. with me isjoel kibazo who is an independent media and public affairs consultant and former director of communications of the african development bank. let's start with the gulf news

business paper. the task ahead for the new president of zimbabwe. you we re the new president of zimbabwe. you were telling us he needs to get going and quickly. this is a window of opportunity for emmerson mnangagwa an it has been said before, the economy in the a terrible state. unemployment somewhere between 70% and 90%, it tells you people are not working and looking forjobs so the reason a lot to work on in the next few months and it will all depend on confidence. if it