this is business briefing. i'm david eades. end of an empire — rupert murdoch's fox sells its entertainment business to disney in a $50 billion deal. plus, 2017's been a gift for investors — but will wall street nerves spoil the traditional santa rally? on the markets: asian shares are edging higher despite those nerves on wall street about the progress of president trump's tax reform plans we start with one of the biggest deals the media industry has ever seen. we start with one of the biggest deals the media industry has ever seen. the walt disney company has agreed to buy the entertainment business of rupert murdoch's twenty—first century fox for $52.4

billion in shares. disney's already the world's top entertainment company — this move gives it an even bigger arsenal of movies and shows as it battles the rise of online streaming services like netflix and amazon. it also marks the end of half a century of empire building by 86 year old rupert murdoch — as our media editor amol rajan reports. when rupert murdoch bought the news of the world in 1968, he was an outsider. but this canny australian with news in his veins made his way to the heart of the establishment in both britain and america, wielding extraordinary influence. from his base in tabloid newspapers, he moved aggressively into film and television, owning studios and networks that entertained hundreds of millions of people. but now, fox has become a division of disney. in a phone conference today, rupert murdoch explained his strategy. i know a lot of people will be

asking why the murdochs came to such a momentous decision. are we retreating? absolutely not. we are pivoting at a pivotal moment. andrew neil was at murdoch's side as an editor and executive for years. for him, this is the end of a dynasty. he's been trying to do that for 35, a0 years. i used to sit with him in restaurants in london in the mid—1980s, and he talked about a murdoch dynasty, about putting his children into key positions, letting them fight for the top position, and whoever wins would take over, and the murdoch name would go on forever. and here, at a stroke, he's unbundling the empire, and the dynastic ambitions are gone. the deal still needs regulatory approval, but if it goes through, it will create a new media superpower. mr murdoch is selling his world—famous film studio, 21st century fox, international tv

businesses, including sky in europe and star in india, cable networks such as fx and national geographic, and perhaps most strikingly, a stake in hulu, a streaming service with access to millions of customers, which could rival netflix. and that's the key for disney. streaming has changed broadcasting forever, allowing you at home to watch a seemingly infinite number of shows how you want, where you want and when you want. streaming services such as hulu, in which disney will now have a controlling stake, cut out the middleman of domestic television stations, broadcasting directly into millions of homes. the fox international footprint has some extremely high—end technology to deliver all this content to consumers in more modern ways. sky in europe is a good example of that, star india another one. and so, to the consumer, not only will they be getting more great content, high—quality content, but they'll be getting it in ways that they demand. sky news and sky sports look set to continue, while fox says its own bid for full control of sky, currently stuck with regulators, remains in place. even with this acquisition,

disney's playing catch—up with tech giants like facebook, amazon and apple, who, if they aren't there already, are coming to a small screen near you. amol rajan, bbc news. let's turn to wall street now— — because everything has been going right for investors this year with the main indices hitting record high after record high. the s&p 500 is up almost 20% since the start of the year — meaning america's top companies are worth almost $4 trillion more than they were. the dowjones industrial is up 24% and there could be more to come — historically december is the strongest month for the s&p 500. since 1950 it's ended this month higher around 75% of the time here in the uk, december‘s also the strongest month for the ftse 100. it's ended the month higher most years since the mid—80s. traders call it the santa rally. according to analysis from 16 — the biggest rise usually comes right

now, between the 1ath—16th of december... it's a combination of technicalfactors — traders settling positions before the year end and good old festive cheer. this year wall street of course has another big catalyst the prospect of wide ranging tax cuts being passed by congress. some investors warn though that the buzz may not last. moving that the buzz may not last. something forward was assist moving something forward was an assist in the republican party. my concern is it will be a sugar high in the short—term because there will bea in the short—term because there will be a stimulating effect from leaving more money in the hands of companies. but whether that tra nslates companies. but whether that translates in the long—term, just because the company has more money, 01’ because the company has more money, or that will actually open up plans. with me is david buik, market commentator from panmure gordon and david, hasn't anyone gets

because it's make—believe. why hasn't it worked a year after year? it's been a phenomenon as long as i've been in the city. a lot of banks, fund managers to their books towards the end of december and will do. a lot of fund managers also come into money. because you've got a hiatus, it's normally in tracker funds. that is where you would see significant movement in sentiment was positive. the problem that we have at the moment is the ftse 100 have at the moment is the ftse100 is not a barometer of the uk economy, it is for foreign exchange. the pound fell from 150 to 120 in a heartbeat. up went the ftse100

because 60% of the stocks are dollar related. we've seen the pound goes stronger. therefore, the ftse100's performance has been abysmal. it is up1.7%. we are performance has been abysmal. it is up 1.7%. we are getting rich valuations your fee would be that the market is going to turn? he has achieved nothing in 13 months after being in office despite a significant improvement in unemployment but you mentioned how much the dowjones had gone up. the nasdaq is up 29%. the ratio, the profits to earnings, over 45%. that 2496 profits to earnings, over 45%. that 24% of the dowjones and the s&p.

can us companies deliver profits to guarantee those things? i have extreme doubts. the main indices that i feel supremely confident about is probably germany and france. and also in the far east, japan, even though to sit a 12— year high, it might have a bit more to go u nless high, it might have a bit more to go unless interest rates go up and you will guarantee that prices will.|j would say donald trump will say he has given stability and confidence in the marketplace. 0k, david, thank you very much indeed. us regulators have voted to scrap rules brought in under the 0bama administration that guarantee so—called ‘net neutrality‘. following the vote at the federal communications commission internet service providers will no longer have to treat all web traffic equally. they will now have power over what content users can access — and at what speed. the bbc‘s yogita limaye was at the fcc — she explains what the move could mean i'm just outside this building,

the federal communications commission, that's where the vote took place and three members of the 5—member panel voted to repeal this legislation. essentially what's happened is they've lifted the rules that didn't allow internet service providers, the companies that brought you the web, they didn't allow these companies to charge different prices for different websites, so in essence it could mean for a consumer that now your internet company could actually say that if you want to access these four websites, that's a certain price, if you want to access another set of websites, that's a different price. it will also mean companies could go to web—based businesses and said if you pay us a certain amount of money we could give you your website or service at a faster speed than perhaps your rival. this of course isn't something we will probably see come into effect tomorrow but it's also a ruled that doesn't need to be voted on by congress. however, we've had lots of protesters here outside this building today and many groups of people saying they will go to court and sue the fcc.

so we'll have to see procedurally how this will be in the lamented here in america. it to capture now let's brief you some other business stories. uk prime minister theresa may has left a summit in brussels — where eu leaders are now expected to formally agree to start the next phase of brexit negotiations. a week ago the european commission said "sufficient progress" had been made on the divorce terms to move on to the future relationship between the eu and uk including trade. the european central bank has lifted its growth forecasts for the eurozone economy. it now expects growth of 2.4% this year, ahead of its previous guidance of 2.2%. the bank also kept its main interest rate at zero and confirmed it will cut the amount it's pumping into the economy from e60bn to e30bn a month in january. israel's teva pharmaceutical

industries says it's cutting 111,000 jobs worldwide, or 25% of its total workforce. the world's largest generic medicines maker is struggling with debt and rising competition. and now, what's trending in the business news this morning. quartz reports on the legal backlash after us regulators scrapped net neutrality rules. the first lawsuit to save net neutrality was announced minutes after the fcc voted to repeal it. wired asks: are streaming services like netflix and amazon in trouble — following the fox disney mega deal? it discusses disney's plans for a streaming service that's cheaper than netflix with far more content and bloomberg reports that airbus ceo tom enders plans to step down in 2019 amid a wider management reshuffle and don't forget — let's us know what you are spotting online — use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. but before we go —

here are the markets. asian markets the week, slightly up. loneliness should be treated as an urgent crisis and needs to be addressed by a government strategy, according to a campaign begun by murdered labour mpjo cox. a report out today says loneliness has the same negative effect on someone's health as smoking fifteen cigarettes a day, and millions of people need daily contact. danny savage has this report. you can't catch me. in the months before she was murdered, jo cox

started a campaign to tackle loneliness. she said she didn't want to live in a country where thousands of people live lonely lives forgotten of people live lonely lives fo rg otte n by of people live lonely lives forgotten by the rest of us. the campaign carried on in her name and has now concluded we'll have to do our bit to combat loneliness. susan spent months feeling isolated and desperate and things improved hugely when the royal voluntary service offended. i was really alone, i was depressed, i tried to take my own life. really bad. in a lot of pain. if it wasn't that these people, all these people that is helping me now, i wouldn't be here. and i appreciate everything that people have done for me. it's not always obvious to people that they might be lonely or in need of some companionship. and what we offer isn't somebody to come

in and talk at people. what we are doing is saying to people, would you like to be part of something where you meet somebody, you get to know them, they get to know you and you create a friendship? thejo cox loneliness commission has concluded that government and employers can do their bit to deal with loneliness but that individuals and communities arejust as but that individuals and communities are just as important but that individuals and communities arejust as important in preventing isolation is —— isolation. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: a five—year inquiry into child sexual abuse in australia has handed over its final report. it identified abuse at more than 4,000 institutions, including religious organisations, sporting clubs, foster homes and the military. european union leaders are expected to give formal approval today for the brexit negotiations to move on to their next stage, covering the future relationship after the uk's departure. the man in charge of ukraine's main anti—corru ption investigative unit has told the bbc he believes those in power are no longer interested

in reforms. now it's time to look at the stories making the headlines in media across the world. we'll begin here in the uk with a moving picture for the independent. under the headline ‘learning the lessons of grenfell‘. it comes after the six—month anniversary of the grenfell tower disaster yesterday. a large service was held in st paul's cathedral to honour the 71 people who lost their lives. turning to the moscow times online. it takes a look at the lengthy annual press conference