this is worklife from bbc news, with samantha simmonds and david eades. black friday — or green friday? the annual retail frenzy is in full swing — amid growing concerns about the environmental cost. live from london, that's our top story on friday 29th november. american retailers are hoping for a pre—tariff bonanza but europe is growing increasingly sceptical with france looking to crackdown on the discounting. also in the programme... chinese telecoms giant huawei

decides to fight back against a us decision to impose more restrictions on it and... telling porkies with your meat — we speak to the company making pork out of peas which says the fake meat trend is here to stay and its at the top of every parents in—tray — just how do you keep your kids safe online? we'll speak to a man who thinks artficial intelligence is the answer. today we want to know what you do to limit your children's smartphone use? a new study shows one in four kids are addicted to their phones. let us know — just use the hashtag bbcworklife. hello and welcome to worklife. we start with black friday — the annual shopping binge after the thanksgiving holiday is now a global phenomenon. retailers around the world are offering discounts on everything from kitchen appliances to tvs to clothing. but it's also becoming the focus of concerns about the environmental cost of consumerism.

spending in the us — the home of black friday and the world's biggest economy — is forecast to hit more than $29 billion dollars over the next four days which culminate in cyber monday. there's an added incentive this year. us retailers want to do as much business as possible ahead of a new 15 per cent import tax due to hit chinese made goods later this month. it would affect $160 billion dollars worth of goods including popular gifts like smartphones, toys and clothes. don't expect the frantic scenes in the shops of black fridays past though — it's increasingly being done online. that's where more than three quarters of us are looking for bargains here in the uk — according to pwc — and the trend is the same around europe and the us. but are more of us growing uncomfortable with the whole thing? france's parliament is considering a crackdown on black friday promotions — the mp behind it wants to limit

a ‘waste of resources‘ and stop glorifying overconsumption. it has struck a chord with many consumers translation: consuming has an impact on ourjobs and the ecology. it must be taken into account, black friday does not fit the picture anymore. over consuming fit the picture anymore. over cohsuitiii'ig means fit the picture anymore. over consuming means producing a lot of waste. it makes you consume more than you need. when icy black friday, it's unbearable, when icy lower prices, i think about the people taking these products and who are very poorly paid. i think about the environment under threat, thousands of litres of water for a teacher, chemicals and so one. he's done a lot of thinking. with us now is patrick o'brien, uk retail research director at globaldata there is a decision about material obesity, everyone has too much but

is it making any difference yet when it comes to black friday and sales? i don't think it is. we've seen a lot more concerned with consumers about sustainability and those kinds of issues, about overconsumption. but really, it hasn't cut through into terms of demand, is what we are seeing from consumers as they want retailers to be more sustainable in the way they source products, may be the way they source products, may be the packaging to use, there is a lot of work being done especially with grocers but in terms of changing the ways, the behaviours in shopping, we haven't seen that at all but it's possible that will happen.” suppose, ina possible that will happen.” suppose, in a way, the problem, the feature about black friday is that whether you are concerned about the environment are not, you are being told he will save yourself 25, 30, 30%, that's difficult to resist. told he will save yourself 25, 30, 30%, that's difficult to resistm is, really, retailers are shooting themselves in the foot to a certain degree, they are cutting prices for christmas and in that period they

should be able to sell at full price would retailers have got involved in this competition, it's come over from america ten years ago. largely being driven by amazon. they are unable to stop it. you make it sound as if it's turning into a bad thing for them. it's always been a bad thing for retailers, cutting prices and margins when they cannot afford to, margins have been coming down for over ten years, it's a bad thing for over ten years, it's a bad thing for them. but they are unable to stop it. we talk to retail executives, they say if they could get together, cut black friday ad, they would do it in a heartbeat but they would do it in a heartbeat but they know they cannot because amazon will still do it. patrick, you say that, as dent said they will not ta ke that, as dent said they will not take part, they discounted throughout the year. are we going to see an increasing trend of other retailers opting out, do you think? —— asda. asda is a retail case in point, they suffered bad publicity in 2014 with people fighting in their stores over discounted

televisions, for other retailers they use it as a promotional tool to say they are opting out. in a way, using black friday in a different way to enhance their brand. come back next year, see if there's been a change in trend. patrick, thank you. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news dyson has chosen the historic st james power station as the site of its new global headquarters in singapore. chief executivejim rowan said the new location would be "a hive for our research and development endeavours". the firm's founder — the british inventor sirjames dyson — said in january that it was moving its hq out of the uk to asia despite being fiercely pro—brexit. the carmakers renault nissan and mitsubishi are planning to strengthen their alliance with a raft of new projects. they are all looking to boost profits despite the financial demands of investing in new technology such as electric and driverless cars. their relationship has been under strain since the arrest of the former boss carlos ghosn. he's awaiting trial injapan on charges of financial moisconduct but denies any wrongdoing.

us investment bank morgan stanley has fired or placed on leave at least four traders for allegedly hiding losses of between 100 and $140 million — according to bloomberg. the bank has refused to comment on the report, which says the investigation relates to trading of emerging market currencies in london and new york the chinese telecoms giant huawei is set to take on the us once again over the latest restrictions to be imposed on its business in the country. washington has been cracking down on the company over concerns it might help the chinese government to spy — something which huawei has always denied. 0ur asia business correspondent karishma vaswani is in singapore this is all according to a report in the wall streetjournal,

this is all according to a report in the wall street journal, while this is all according to a report in the wall streetjournal, while by according to the journal is getting ready for another big fight with united states, this time the journal —— the company is preparing a lawsuit against us federal communications commission which you will remember last week made the decision that it will become harder for huawei to do business with the few remaining customers that it has in the uk market and that is in the rural sector. i contacted huawei following this report, they told me they had no comment on what the journal said but a person familiar with the situation told me there is a press event scheduled that huawei is holding next week, that journalists have been invited to and it is the same venue that huawei launched its last lawsuit against the us at for similar reasons. while we can't confirm the journal 's report altogether, this move will be in keeping with huawei 's general strategy lately, going on the offensive, challenging us decision to ban or by the company from

american commerce through legal action. for now, thank you. let's bring you up—to—date on the markets. asian shares slipped as investors turn cautious, fearing a new us law backing hong kong protesters could torpedo efforts to end the us—china trade war. china warned the united states on thursday it would take "firm counter measures" in response to the move. traders on wall street will start a half—day session on friday following thursday's thanksgiving holiday. european stocks are retreating folowing the latest clash between washington and beijing. one of europe's biggest energy companies is facing more problems here in the uk. npower is struggling in what is fiercely competitve market and could have to cut as many as 4,500 jobs. theo legget is our

business correspondent what else are we hearing about the job losses? as you say, the uk energy market has been a very difficult environment for a few yea rs now difficult environment for a few years now and we've seen difficult environment for a few years now and we've seen some difficult environment for a few years now and we've seen some of the smaller operators going to the wall. there was also an energy cab introduced at the beginning of the year which certainly hasn't helped the debility. empower is one of what is known as the big six energy providers. aeon which is in the process of taking over the empower pa rent process of taking over the empower parent company is another one and what seems to be on the cards is instead of having two sets of customer service teams, to computer systems, the parent wants to integrate the two of them and reduce its cost base but unfortunately, what it looks as though that's going to mean for npower as major restructuring. eight sites up and down the country. it looks as though a number could close, four and a half thousand jobs could be at risk which is the units pointed out could

bea which is the units pointed out could be a body blow to the employees just before christmas. thanks very much. time now for our daily look at some of the newspaper and website stories which have caught our eye. joining me is linzi boyd, founder of the bob group very nice to have you here. we are all focusing, i don't know if we are freaking out a bit, he says, as a father of grown—up children your kids are older, i've got younger. what is the figure, one in four macro children addicted to their phones, we are probably not that surprised by that. it's whether there's anything we can do. interestingly, the report came out because of kings college research around it and one in four kids are addicted to phones. the interesting thing is people are looking to research to get these answers when really a samantha said, we need to look into our homes to be able to see that is taking place. what they

are talking about, what can be done about this and actually, the reality is, there are things like stopping using your phone on a friday, being able to switch the phone off at 6:30pm in the evening, and actually, having your children moving away from that at the dinner table and banning them completely at the dinnertable. banning them completely at the dinner table. what you are coming up with this very good idea that suggests overall, if you agree, we've just become soft on our kids. we just we've just become soft on our kids. wejust had this we've just become soft on our kids. we just had this tweet and done, we are asking you to get in touch, old—fashioned comedy says i don't have children but they think adults taking action online needs to be in unison with work. so i'm not sure whether that implying we need to set more of an example but adults need to ta ke more of an example but adults need to take control, i've had the situation, with my eldest, who got a phone a few months ago, we put restrictions on immediately and while he wasn't happy, he we said, this is a privilege, not a right to have this phone. parents have to be tougher. they are looking to us and

we are constantly on our phones. we have to set the example. yes. let's see if anyone can come up with anything more clever but i think by installing restrictions yourself, there's apps whereby your child has to ask your permission which we have taken asks to access or download new games. i think if you start with that behaviour when they first get one it's harder when you have older children, was a much older. if they are already in their teens and they have a phone it's hard to start putting those restrictions on them, start assuming to go on. putting those restrictions on them, start assuming to go onlj putting those restrictions on them, start assuming to go on. i couldn't control them. i cannot control them down. that goes on. we've done quite a lot already today on another climate strike, big day around the world, of protests against the lack of activity in climate action but there is a suggestion the big stars of this world, particularly in music should be the ones who could really perhaps kick—start a much greater impetus. interestingly, coldplay

came out and they said they are not going to tour unless they can do carbon neutral and what they are discussing is the fact that they wa nt discussing is the fact that they want to put solar panels and be able to run the electricity of this for all of their shows. massive attack has partnered with the manchester university to be able to understand the science behind carbon neutral and be able to roll that out through older tours. and yet, it's really not been anything new because pearl jam in 2003 started this trend off and they put a carbon footprint into place. if this takes place in the music industry the impact that this could have globally is enormous. because it could set the trend and the precedents for football clubs, for businesses, for it's a horrible word but it has to be authentic, they have got to be walking the walk, they can'tjust

talk about it. chris martin announced they would enter for this new album and they said the huge number of people who have to travel on planes for the tour is a massive cost until they can work up out a way of making a carbon neutral. he announced that in the middle of jordan, this fast, carb blow out event. anyway. maybe, you know, you have to give some works for ever, for dry. have to give some works for ever, fordry. —— have to give some works for ever, for dry. —— this vast carbon blow out. the company which sells second—hand clothes raising a huge amount of money. tell us more. £1 billion raised for a second—hand website. that proves that fast fashion is having a huge revolt against it and the big stores like za ra against it and the big stores like zara and h&m and so forth need to really watch themselves because the younger generation are looking towards how do you look at sustainability, how do you look at

clothes? and actually be able to sell your clothes on rather than going and buying more and more fashion all the time. it's a big one, vintage is a great word, second hand not so good. thank you. vintage items in your wardrobe, david? only vintage, i will see you afterwards! still to come and its at the top of every parents in—tray — just how do you keep your kids safe online? we'll speak to a man who thinks artficial intelligence is the answer. you're with worklife from bbc news. the latest data on workplace training shows uk employers spent 44.2 billion pounds on training in 2017. and 84% of firms say they'll maintian or increase investment into developing key workplace skills. let's find out more from john cope, head of education and skills policy at the cbi.

thank you forjoining us. that's a rather encouraging figure, isn't it, given the economic frame that we are in at the moment? yes, absolutely, education skills tends to be right at the top of the priorities for uk employers because it underpins our economy but also because education makes for a much fairer and just society. when you think of all the things going on in the world, longer working lives, rapid adoption of technology, changing workplaces, ai, automation, it means adult education and spending on training in the workplace is more important than ever. how important is it for retaining staff and making sure they have a long working life? absolutely vital. we published a report called red job a few months ago, all the characteristics of a great employer as they involve their employees in their development, in their career and they support them throughout that. they provide advice, training,

encourage people to actually think, you know, if i want that next promotion, i have to invest in my own training and quite often are not only giving training and advice but paying for it as well. given the world we live in, this technological age, actually maintaining your level of training and education, presumably from your perspective, that really isn't going to cut it, is it? no, absolutely not, our analysis shows that between now and 2030, about one in six people will have to retrain entirely, about 90% will have to significantly upscale. standing still is not an option. that's why it's so great to see business spending as you said, £442 billion a year on training. and it's really important, the government, whoever forms the next government, takes it as seriously as employers to and makes sure the education syste m to and makes sure the education system supports adult education as well as schools. all parties say

they take that very seriously indeed, john, thank you. and a breaking story this morning, npower expecting to cut four and a half thousand jobs. more on the website. you're watching worklife. a reminder of our top story: well, i can't, well, ican't, because well, i can't, because it's not in front of me, what is the top story? it's black friday. we all know, its sales, sales, sales galore. let's talk about something else you can worry about! now in this digital era, it can be difficult to shelter children from the dangers of the world wide web. but it is even harder to teach them how to safely navigate it on their own. well, that's the idea behind a new digital safety app for children called 0yoty. developed by swiss firm privately, the app detects threats and risks

on smart devices and social networks and alerts parents. the compa ny‘s founder deepak tewari joins us now. very good to have you with this, as we have said, we have been talking about kids and mobiles, i am the mother of an 11—year—old who has just got a phone so how does this work and what will it do if i put it on his phone to protect him? so, really what we are trying to do is bring in the technology that is able to understand how kids experience the digital environment, really. it understands texts, images, sentiment, but all done very privately, all done within the smartphone environment. that really, the ai makes up its mind on the threat and risk the kid is facing but what it does is it in turn gives the kids resources and the means to deal with the situation, just to give you an example, we all take selfies, an 11 year is taking a

selfie, it has a little bit of inappropriate, say, skin on it, the techis inappropriate, say, skin on it, the tech is able to detect it and talk to the kid and site you might not wa nt to the kid and site you might not want to share this? it can detect, whether it's not a face or an arm, its backside or like that, it can detect that? nudity, for example, it can detect violence, but the interesting thing we are not talking about one specific threat or risk, we are talking about the whole spectrum of well— being we are talking about the whole spectrum of well—being which also involves for example whether you are moving at all in, are you stagnant watching youtube videos, for example ? the watching youtube videos, for example? the entire technology stack that makes up the app is being used across a number of apps is what we are doing as a company is providing this tech app, the business model is business to business, it's powering other applications. can i ask you, sorry, but the way it interacts with youngsters, this is one of the great challenges, isn't it? if you told that's not appropriate, that's a

pretty good signal to keep going for a lot of kids which is natural, you know. we explore, we look around so they've got to see them as a friend, how does that work? absolutely. it's very crucial, the messaging and it doesn't have to be blogging, it has to bea doesn't have to be blogging, it has to be a suggestion which is why we see many manifestations of that one, the friendly chat but we've created which actually has a kind conversation with the child than be the long arm of the law, for example. the bbc has created a keyboard, there is a friendly phase that nudges the kid, using our technology, and asks them to be can come especially when they are being unkind online so these kinds of behaviours, changes, can be made by gentle nudging, that's the assumption that we have which is being tested in the market. the idea is you put it on a kid ‘s phone as soon as is you put it on a kid ‘s phone as soon as they get the phone, so they grow up with it, they learn. you started this when you had kids, did

you try it out on them and how did they react? yes, the journey has been with myself, my kids are 13 and 15, they've just become, very, very old in those terms, at 13 you start knowing everything but between the age of nine and 13 i think that's the age when you need the training wheels, when you need those gentle nudges and i so for example, with my own kids, they lost track of how long they had been online. and this was pre—when apple had all the screen was pre—when apple had all the screen time and so on and so forth. briefly, you are saying from 13 onwards, possibly, the app is not going to do, you need to look at something else. this is a demonstrator application, the underlying tech is being put into various games, helplines, so we are a business to business company, you will have this private empowerment and education technology stack which empowers games, any games, other apps. empowers games, any games, other apps, the bbc for example. thanks so

much. good to have you here. in a moment we'll run through some viewer responses to our twitter question. but first, let's turn to china now — where entrepreneur david yeung has created a plant—based meat substitute 0mnipork — made from ingredients including peas and mushrooms — he's been telling our asia business correspondent karishma vaswani about it it is not meant to sustain 7-10,000,000,000 to eat the it is not meant to sustain 7—10,000,000,000 to eat the way we eat right now and to produce meat the way it is produced today. so something is going to crack. something will happen that will threaten our protein supply chain. this is still a niche demographic. is this simply a fat, in terms of the way people eat? well, people ask that, how long would this last, is this going to be a one or two year thing and then it will come and go? now, the reasons that drive the

rising of this whole trend is based on climate change, is based on food security or insecurity. and food safety. these are all very scientific and factual things. from a health standpoint, the medical professionals, the doctors, will also come in and bring their side of the evidence. so with all these factors converge on, in fact, we only see the momentum of this picking up and accelerating even more. on the other hand, you have the investors and the entrepreneurs and the food scientist, who are coming up with innovation on a daily basis. i mean, these companies are happening everywhere and now, not just a silicon valley or north but it is around the world. so, when options are abundant, when investors and business people are coming into this field and pouring resources

into this, i think this is just the beginning. that's it from worklife today. have a great friday. hello, good morning. it's been a cold and for some of us frosty start to the day. some ice around in central areas of england and wales. 0ver central areas of england and wales. over the next few days, it's going to remain cold, but there will be plenty of dry and sunny weather, a welcome change, i suspect, for many of us. some showers today across northern scotland, down the eastern side of england and cloud towards southwestern england, otherwise you can see lots of blue skies, sunshine expected today, much drier than recent weeks and maximum temperatures, you will notice that, 3-7d. temperatures, you will notice that, 3—7d. through tonight, still a few showers down the eastern side of england, the main thing will be in central parts of england, wales, patrick mist and for developing

which could be quite dense into saturday morning and as you can see, widespread frost developing, temperatures widely minus 2——5dc, perhaps even lower than that in central scotland. cold and frosty for many of us on saturday morning. high—pressure dominating. we've got this weather front that will move its way into the south—west, bringing rain across cornwall, eventually some of the rain spreading into west devon in the afternoon. central areas some fog around in the morning, some of that could be quite stubborn to clear, temperatures may struggle beneath that but elsewhere, there will be some shine through the day on saturday. again, a cold day, temperatures generally around 2—8 celsius but as i mentioned in the fog, if it persists, temperatures may barely get above freezing. going into sunday, the weather front will clear away, this high—pressure system becomes more firmly established across the uk, weather

front to the far north bringing showers in northern scotland, for most, a cold and frosty start to sunday, plenty of sunshine around, throughout the day and lots of dry weather, as you can see. temperatures will still be in fairly low single figures for many of us, 3-7 low single figures for many of us, 3—7 possibly 8 degrees. as we start next week, this area of high pressure still there or thereabouts. 0ne pressure still there or thereabouts. one or two weather fronts coming over the top of that in scotland, stronger breeze across northern areas. generally speaking for the first half of the week, going to remain dry, will be some sunny spells, temperature starting to creep up and by the end of the week turning more unsettled, those temperatures back into double figures. that's it from me. goodbye.

a you're watching bbc news at nine with me, annita mcveigh. the headlines: the row between the conservatives and broadcaster channel 4 intensifies, after a block of ice is used in place of borisjohnson during a tv debate on climate change. the conservatives sent michael gove — accompanied by the pm's father stanley johnson — but he was rejected as the debate was for party leaders. much more on climate change and other election issues to come, with the green party co—leader, jonathan bartley, taking your questions. mr bartley is ready and waiting to answer your questions — he's poised in the five live studio in salford.