this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. as the latest star wars film bursts onto cinema screens from today — what is the future of cinemas in this age of streaming? a high—speed train from pune to mumbai — sir richard branson wants to convince india the multi—billion project is a good idea. and financial markets are mixed in asia as investors pause with global stocks hovering around all time highs there is little reason to buy.

lightsabers at the ready! star wars: the rise of skywalker is out in cinemas in the uk later today with the european premiere held here in london. experts are talking about a cinema revival, while the uk industry is banking on the final star wars instalment setting a record for ticket sales in 2019. there's been much talk of streaming services, like netflix with its 160m army of global subscribers, killing off the traditional big screen. streaming on our devices at home is on the rise — global home entertainment spending jumped 16% in 2018 to $55.7 billion, according to trade organisation mpaa. but cinemas have spruced up, offering high—tech, immersive and niche experiences and upgrading booking systems to entice

us out of our homes. last year was a blockbuster — in the uk alone admissions hit 177 million — even without luke skywalker and chewbacca in the frame. will 2019 be peak cinema? a record nine films are tipped to have made more $1bn dollars at the global box office by year end, with frozen 2 on track and the latest star wars set to follow suit. the biggest of those is from the marvel franchise — avengers: endgame — the top grossing film of all—time raking in $2.8 billion. richard cooper, research director — ampere analysisjoins me now. give us your take on this constant competition between cinema and

streaming. is there competition or are they different experiences?m is true to say they are targeting the same kind of audiences but as you said, they are giving very different experiences. streaming is very much an in—home evening in of entertainment we were able to binge watch as much tv style content as you'd like. increasingly particularly here in the uk, we are seeing that cinema has become again and event viewing experience, something where you can take the family along or a more grown—up experience we can see some of the refurbished classic classics. refurbished classic cinemas, while you watch a film. the question is, what is going to happen going forward. netflix is even moving into the cinema world, snapping up a cinema in new york, it's looking to purchase other cinemas. where will

this end for the traditional players like view, who found it hard to compete. yes, but at the moment we are looking at the forays of licks into the cinema spaces, and demoting a lot of their own movies. they're moving from a streaming agent towards being a studio in their own right, and they ramped up original production which has been one of the mainstays of their strategies. the investment in cinema will making is to promote a lot of their own movies and they got a lot of pushback about some of the movies that have moved directly onto their streaming service not being available in the cinema, certainly not for a broader release. pushing back against some of those traditional market dynamics. in the uk where we've seen a rise of those going to the cinema and ticket sales going up, we're not

that trend in the us. the uk for a developed market is relatively unique in that it is continually showing growth in terms of cinema admissions. 2018 was a very strong year here in the uk. it looks like 2019 is set to become an even bigger year. a major contributor to that is disney of course, over the course of this year, are responsible for seven out of the top ten movies in the box office, and this is even before the release of star wars. thank you very much indeed. are you still going to the movies, do you love with the cinema or do not want to part with the cash? china is saying that lifting some u.n. economic sanctions on north korea could help break the deadlock in the stalled denuclearization talks between washington and pyongyang. let's go to our asia business hub where rico hizon is

following the story. tell us more about this move on the pa rt tell us more about this move on the part of china. well, it's not only china but the russians are supporting this call from the mainland to the 15 member security council to lift a ban from north korea exporting statues, seafood and textiles in these infrastructure projects, north koreans working overseas, these sanctions i mentioned have earned pyongyang hundreds of millions of dollars and we re hundreds of millions of dollars and were put in place in 2016 and 2017 to try to cut off funding for its nuclear and missile programmes. the us, uk and france have insistent no sanction should be lifted until north korea takes concrete steps to give up its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. resolution need nine votes. no vetoes by the us,

france, britain, russia and china to pass. the us state department has said now was not the time to keep lifting sanctions, north korea was attempting to conduct an escalated provocation, discussing denuclearisation and continuing to advance its privy prohibited destruction. it looks like this proposal by the chinese mayjust be deadin proposal by the chinese mayjust be dead in the water. virgin group founder sir richard branson was in mumbai recently to meet the newly elected chief minister of the state government. 0n the agenda — to convince the minister about a $10 billion high—speed train project linking the cities of pune and mumbai. there have been reservations about the project, from the new government. arunoday mukharji caught up with sir richard.

we've been working on mumbai pune for the last two years and we need to find out whether the new government would like us to do the route. and ff they want us to do it, it can be funded privately, it won't need any government money, and we would love to get on and do it. if not, delhi have said they want us to do it there and there are many other cities in india i think who would love to see it happen. but our number one priority is to try to get it done between mumbai and punai. one of the busiest roads in the world. you've clarified the position for the government? governments have a job to question previous governments' positions and make their decisions based on the current facts, but i think there was some

misreporting about us needing money from the government which would have understandably put off governments. we don't need money from the government and therefore i think it's is likely we will be knocking on an open door. what you think of the indian aviation sector? how much potential do you have over here? you had a code—sharing agreement withjet airways but of course it met with that end. what happens next in terms of possibilities? interestingly, this is the third time we have come to mumbai. we pulled out a couple of times before. but right now we believe that mumbai is a booming city. the growth is phenomenal. as you say, jet has pulled out, and so we believe it is an auspicious time to come and we will do everything we can to make sure that we are here for many, many years to come. any interest in air india? we will certainly have a look and see whether there is any aspect of air india that virgin atlantic can help with. so you are open to the idea when it comes to conversations about potential buyers?

with virgin atlantic, are you saying you would be open to the idea? i am open to the idea of having a discussion. we don't generally buy other airlines, we generally start companies. but we would certainly be open to having a look at it. interesting. we will keep a close eye on sir richard that expects a richard branson. the boards of french carmaker psa, the owner of peugeot and fiat chrysler, in separate meetings on tuesday, approved a binding agreement for a $50 billion merger, according to unnamned sources .a formal announcement of the merger, which would create the world's fourth largest car maker is expected later on wednesday. a nearly $731 million tax break helped anglo—dutch oil major shell avoid a coprorate income tax bill in the uk last year, the financial times reports. the newspaper said such write—offs could continue for years. the tax break is used to defray the costs of dismantling oil and gas rigs in the north sea. shell's chief financial officer said

the company complies with the applicable tax laws "in all the countries and locations in which we have a taxable presence. " the british pound has now shed all the gains it made —— that's it for the business briefing this hour. chemotherapy drugs could become more effective and have fewer side effects, according to doctors at a hospital in surrey. although the trial at the royal marsden is still at an early stage, acoustic cluster therapy aims to help anti—cancer drugs target tumours without attacking healthy cells. 0ur health reporter

laura foster has more. nerves are common when you were a patient in hospital. even more so when you are the first person in the world to receive a new treatment. you feel quite vulnerable. it's also very exciting. in my guinea pig? it's quite nerve—racking. this is acoustic cluster therapy which aims to make anti—cancer drugs more effect give. but how? 0ne to make anti—cancer drugs more effect give. but how? one problem with chemotherapy is that drugs flow around your whole body. acoustic cluster therapy is going for a more targeted approach. here, patients are also given micro droplets. an ultrasound machine detect when these arrive at the tumour and turns them into gas bubbles, billing and stretching the micro vessels inside the tumour. it means more of the drugs are pumped into the tumour directly. then hopefully the legions

will respond better, it will shrink more so will respond better, it will shrink more so than you can cure may be more so than you can cure may be more patients who are in that situation. this trial is at a very early stage and it's still not clear whether there might be any long—term side effects to the treatment but it chemotherapy can be made more effect give, then it could mean fewer people suffering side effects such as nausea , people suffering side effects such as nausea, hair loss and it could make those difficult tumours, the ones that would deviously thought to be untreatable, could mean they start responding to chemotherapy drugs as well. you'll make you hope there is a more easy away or gentle way to treat people. hopefully this will happen. 0ne way to treat people. hopefully this will happen. one day, there will be a chemo you don't have the side—effects. but they will need to be many more tests and trials before we can get close to that. laura foster, bbc news, sutton. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: as the us house of

representatives prepares to vote on impeaching donald trump, he lashes out — calling it war on democracy. a warning that a health emergency is taking place as more refugees make their way to the greek islands. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. the new york times is leading with the impeachment vote against president trump. he's written an angry letter comparing his treatment to that of the victims of the 17th century salem witch trials. but the newspaper says it has found 19 false or exaggerated claims in the letter‘s six pages. moving to france — and two different takes on the strikes over pension reform. the centre—right le figaro leads with the prime minister's determination to face down the unions. but the left—leaning liberation says that now is the time for concessions. the government's negotiator is due to meet with the unions for talks later today.

turning to the uk — and bloomberg goes with the markets' negative response to borisjohnson's new brexit strategy. it says the plan to set a one—year deadline for talks re—opens the possibility of a no—deal brexit — which is why the pound has lost all the gains it made following the election result. the times has a warning for all of us night workers, highlighting new research showing that middle—aged britons with the healthiest sleeping patterns had fewer heart attacks and strokes. and finally, with the christmas party season in full swing, the bbc website features a company that's abandoned the annual party for — wait for it — a conference. apparently, the traditional do that involves "getting off with somebody behind the photocopier" no longer appeals to staff. that was a quote by the way. i thought it was what was taken on the photocopier or whatever. with me is fiona cincotta, senior market analyst with the spread betting company, city index. you've been to your christmas