this is worklife from bbc news, with sally bundock and karin giannone. pension protests — france grapples with another huge day of strikes over plans to raise the retirement age. live from london, that's our top story on thursday, 9th january. the transport system, schools and the courts are all grinding to a halt in france as the unions fight back against president macron‘s plans for a more affordable pension system. we will be live to paris. also, a

worklife decision. prince harry and meghan plan to step back as senior royals and become financially independent. can the royals really change their work—life balance? and snack—sized streaming. could quibi be the future of entertainment? we hear from the hollywood mogul and the tech tycoon who are betting on it. and we'll be getting the inside track on family finance. do you find it difficult to talk about monyey with your children? apparently, a quarter of us do. as the duke and dutchess of sussex make a work—life choice — we want to know, is it the right one? have you made a tough choice and put personal happiness ahead of duty? let us know — just use the hashtag bbcworklife. hello and welcome to worklife. your comments have been pouring in

about the duke and that is, we will talk about that later. first, to paris. —— duke and duchess. another huge day of protests is once again bringing europe's third—biggest economy to a standstill. the transport system, schools and law courts will all be affected by strikes entering a record—breaking 36th day. trade unions are battling president macron‘s plans to overhaul the pension system in the face of a an ageing population and a stuttering economy. the most controversial change is to raise the age for a full pension to 64. it's currently 62 — one of the lowest in europe. 42 different pension schemes would also be merged into one, with early retirementjust one of the benefits that is at risk. with an ageing population, generous public—sector pensions are becoming increasingly unaffordable. pension spending accounts for almost 14% of the french economy, which is one of the highest figures anywhere in the world.

the strikes are costing france an estimated $450 million a day, with transport, oil refineries, schools and the legal system all affected. let us take a look at a live shot of one of paris's main rail hubs, the concourse looking particularly sparse at the moment. the strike taking effect. our correspondent, lucy williamson, watching what is going on in paris. how much impact is that having? a big impact, particularly in the capital. i struggled in this morning. the metro is running a very reduced service at key hours of the day, not all lines are running. it is incredibly oversubscribed, as you can imagine. it is having a real impact. we are seeing that in the level of public

support as well. it was quite high when the strike started and now it is starting to full. several surveys , is starting to full. several surveys, as you can imagine, every week, and they are saying it is down to 60%, some are saying it has dipped below 50%. even though a majority of people think the pension system majority of people think the pension syste m d oes majority of people think the pension system does need to reform. how much damage politically has this been doing or is it doing to president macron‘s government? doing or is it doing to president macron's government?” doing or is it doing to president macron's government? i think it is interesting. looking at some of the opinion surveys done, president macron's approval ratings in some surveys a re macron's approval ratings in some surveys are below that of the unions and below that of his prime minister. he has deliberately kept himself at arms length from the fray. it is now said to be the longest transport strike in french history. it is having a real impact on businesses. they have lost an average 30% of their revenue over the festive period. it is having an

impact on public opinion. he has let his prime minister take the lead in negotiations, in trying to tease out a resolution to the opposition over the reforms. he does not seem to be doing him very much good. even though a large number of people here wa nt though a large number of people here want the reforms to happen, want some sort of reform, many say they do not trust president macron to do it, whether he can do it at all or fairly. how do you see the stand-off ending? a key question. one glimmer of hope at the moment which is one of hope at the moment which is one of the three major unions here has suggested a sort of conference between the government and the unions to talk about alternative ways to finance the pension system that would mean it did not need to raise the retirement age in the way to suggested and there is a meeting about that here in paris tomorrow. we will have to see that goes. thank

you so much, lucy williamson in paris for us. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. china's commerce ministry has confirmed a trade deal with the united states will be signed next week. vice premier liu he will travel to washington to sign the phase—one deal between the world's two biggest economies. it has stopped their trade war escalating, but tariffs remain in place on more than half the goods they sell each other. president trump had announced the siging on new year's eve but this is the first confirmation from beijing. supermarket giant tesco says sales fell slightly over christmas during challenging market conditions. like—for—like sales in the uk fell by 0.2% in the 19 weeks to 4th january. it was the final christmas under the leadership of tesco boss dave lewis who described the uk market as subdued. the chain has been pulling back from its international expansion and announced in december it's considering selling thai and malaysian business. british airways owner international airlines group says

chief executive willie walsh will retire at the end ofjune. he's been with the company for 15 years. the former pilot was instrumental in the merger of british airways and spain's iberia, which are now part of one of the world's biggest airline groups, also including aer lingus and vueling. iberia's luis gallego will take over from mr walsh. the world bank has warned the global economy will barely improve this year, after 2019 saw the weakest growth since the financial crisis a decade ago. it says global trade and investment are still vulnerable to us—china tensions, as well as a flare up of hostilities in the middle east. former nissan boss carlos ghosn is due to speak to lebanese prosecuters today after he dramatically skipped bail injapan last week. meanwhile, japan's justice minister has repeated his country's desire to see mr ghosn face trial over the claims of financial misconduct

which he again emphatically denied at a dramatic news conference yesterday. mariko oi is in singapore. we heard from carlos ghosn direct yesterday, what has been the reaction? i have to say, i was pleasa ntly reaction? i have to say, i was pleasantly surprised to see japan's justice minister tweeting in english immediately after the press conference and she spoke again this morning, quite unusual for a japanese minister to do this, but she said she needed to speak up because she could not allow carlos ghosn to justify his illegal exit from the country. she also says he appeared to offer no real evidence to back his claims when he attacked japan'sjudicial to back his claims when he attacked japan's judicial system. there was some nissan executives named in carlos ghosn press conference orchestrating his downfall, they we re orchestrating his downfall, they

were approached for comment this morning in tokyo and they said pretty much the same thing, there was not much new information. interesting to see the public‘s reaction to his escape and his press conference. some say his escape really shows japan needs to change its justice system, but others expressed some sympathy towards tens of thousands of nissan employees laid off under carlos ghosn‘s leadership as well as greg kelly, another nissan executive arrested alongside carlos ghosn who remains injapan under alongside carlos ghosn who remains in japan under house alongside carlos ghosn who remains injapan under house arrest. alongside carlos ghosn who remains in japan under house arrest. thank you, a story that dominated yesterday when carlos ghosn did the press c0 nfe re nce . yesterday when carlos ghosn did the press conference. let us look at markets... a relief rally today, because of course the strong aggressive rhetoric going on between the us and iran has calmed down somewhat. compared to this time yesterday. we saw in asia markets balancing higher, that was the us the night before, looking at europe

trading right now, you can see again markets in europe high across the board. tesco shares, they have weak sales over christmas, shares up i.6%. iag, willie walsh who was of course in charge, he has announced his retirement as chief executive, shares upi.2%. news of how much american shoppers were prepared to spend over the holiday season continues to come out. samira hussain has more from new york on one sector that appears to have enjoyed a happy christmas. independent book shops seem to be "the little engines that could" of the american retail sector. according to the american book—sellers association, independent stores that use its e—commerce platforms saw their online sales in november

and december increase by 25% in 2019. the strong holiday season made up for a weaker rest of the year, which had seen sales decline. with amazon continuing to dominate book sales in the us and major chains like barnes & noble struggling to stay in business, independent book—sellers have made a surprising comeback. there are more than 2,500 indie book stores in the us, which is more than 50% more than in 2009. time now for our daily look at some of the newspaper and website stories which have caught our eye. joining me is kirsty bashforth from quayfive ltd. wearing a badge telling us it is your birthday, happy birthday. thank you. you have chosen a story that has been the lead for a significant amount of time because it has made such an impact, the royal couple stepping back from their royal family senior duties, prince harry and meghan markle, the canadian reaction.

the questions of whether they will spend their time in north america generally in the uk. an interesting story i see in the context of changing work lives and how we live oui’ changing work lives and how we live our work lives and how we choose to do what we do productively through oui’ do what we do productively through our lives. could this change how things work in the firm, as some call the royalfamily? things work in the firm, as some call the royal family? interesting to look at whether it changes the scale of the firm, how many people are in it fully, part—time? zero—hour contracts? i think there are some real parallels with how we live our work lives and how organisations are changing as a result of how we choose to manage oui’ careers. result of how we choose to manage our careers. i result of how we choose to manage oui’ careers. i was result of how we choose to manage our careers. i was talking to one canadian royal commentator in the last hour and he was saying the whole attitude to the media has, the way they conduct themselves in canada,it way they conduct themselves in canada, it would be less intense for a royal couple right in the glare of

publicity and this obviously given what has happened in the last few months, chosen to take legal action against three newspapers, this would suit the couple? yeah, the uk media intensity is so intense, as we all know, and certainly canadians seem to have a slightly more balanced approach and i can imagine that would be quite attractive to them. absolutely. lots of questions about how the two could forge a new progressive role as they are calling it. they have to be in discussions with the queen at buckingham palace about that. in terms of how they would become financially independent, many are wondering how they would make it happen, without cashing in on the royal brand? quite challenging because on the one hand we say, they are marvellous, celebrities? but why are they? because they are part of the uk establishment. it is going to be

like any big change... it will take time, there will be bumps, there will be plants that need to change through time, it will not be the flick of a switch. —— plans. i will need many different angles to get it going —— they will need. need many different angles to get it going -- they will need. a story about minimum wages, the economist saying a study done in israel says higher minimum wages hits the pockets of poorer bosses. 21 years into the minimum wage in the uk, people do not agree with the philosophy of a minimum wage, but with any blunt instrument, you don't get necessarily all of the impacts you expect. a study that talks about how bosses where there are plenty of people on minimum wage across the organisation actually get their profits hit, so it is a look at how other countries deal with this. that would make complete sense, if you have a high volume of work is on the

minimum wage, you have to up the salaries, profits will be dented, it is how you counter it? do you put it the consumer in higher prices or ta ke the consumer in higher prices or take it as lower profits? the us is looking at different ways, minimum scale of companies for it to it to apply to, south korea is looking at subsidies. lots of tweaks needed. thank you very much and thank you for spending your birthday was us. hgppy for spending your birthday was us. happy birthday, have a great day. thank you. still to come... digital pocket money, we took to the company who say they make it easier to talk to your kids about money. you're with worklife from bbc news. we have heard from many big names on the high street, m&s, tesco, john lewis. pretty grim picture.

uk retail had its worst year since 1995, according to the british retail consortium. total sales fell 0.1%, making it the worst result for 25 years. kyle monk is head of insight and analytics at british retail. tell us what has been going on. no surprise 2009 ended on a low, banking on a positive peak period to cap offa banking on a positive peak period to cap off a negative year, punctuated by uncertainty because of brexit and the election in november. black friday fell earlier cannibalising christmas sales and the election also had an impact. november and december sales were down taking the 12 month average down to 0.1%. when you form these figures, come up with the data, who are you including? amazon, for example, may have had bumper sales, it is not in it? we

cannot reveal who is in it, a selection of our members, we represent 50% of the industry by turnover. we have five out of the top seven online retailers. definitely representative of the high street. we have had a number of retailers on this morning and i'm sure they will corroborate that the trend is in line with what we are saying. tell us what you read into the figures? what does it tell us about the way we are spending, what we are spending it on and at key points like christmas how it is changing? consumers are more cautious, uncertainty is a key factor. we had two no deal decisions and an election and all of those things had a slowing effect on consumer spending. we can hope for more certainty from the government, strong trade dealfrom more certainty from the government, strong trade deal from the eu, hopefully unlocking pent—up demand we have not realised this year. thank you. head of retail insights

and analytics at the british retail consortium. 0nline on the business page, you can go to the business live page. managing director ofjohn lewis who has announced she will be leaving the company in february, she had already said she would be leaving the md post, but it seems she is quitting completely. you're watching worklife. a reminder of our top story... france is grappling with more strikes across the country. it is all about reform to the pensions system. as we have been hearing earlierfrom lucy system. as we have been hearing earlier from lucy williamson, system. as we have been hearing earlierfrom lucy williamson, pretty tough in france today if you are trying to get around and do things. absolutely. when do we start learning about money? for many people, it's often the hard way — an unexpected overdraft fee or the embarrassment of having your debit card declined. nearly three—quarters of young people in the uk say they get most

of their financial understanding from parents and otherfamily members, according to a report from the london institute of banking and finance. but for many families, money is still a taboo subject. some 25% of parents say they find it difficult to talk to their children about money. gohenry was founded by parents who realised their children need to learn how to manage their money in a digital world. louise hill, the co—founder of gohenry. tell us about when and why you started this business. it came about way back now, in 2011, 2012, when kids suddenly got ipods and as a pa rent kids suddenly got ipods and as a parent i began to realise my two we re parent i began to realise my two were downloading music and not comprehending it was money at all. i was trying to figure out, how do i teach them about that? i was talking

to parents at the same school and we realised there was nothing out there. you are printing out the receipts for all of the online purchases and putting them on the fridge to show your children you are spending this money behind—the—scenes unbeknown to them. absolutely. i would normally give you £5, but you have spent £4 80 p on... mum is the bad guy again. how does gohenry work? a debit card for kids with parental control, that is the nub of it. mum and dad remains the nub of it. mum and dad remains the bank, as it were, you are controlling what is going in, and they can only spend a certain amount. you can track what they are doing as well. yes, mum and dad feed the account with money, they can set up the account with money, they can set up regular pocket money payment if they want to or not, they can set tasks for the children to own the pocket money. i like that. up to

each family about that. they can set limits. can it be linked to things, gohenry, like the x box? it absolutely can. there are certain aduu absolutely can. there are certain adult things that it cannot be linked to of course. but, yes, itunes, x box, all kinds of things like that. a lot of families are using it in that way, so the child 01’ using it in that way, so the child or teenager learns it is money they are spending. you talk about teenagers but this is designed for 6-18 teenagers but this is designed for 6—18 —year—olds, quite a range, so around six, you are getting the first inklings of children wanting to have money of their own but needing to take responsibility for choices. we think about their families using gohenry in three segments, 6—9, 10—111, 1a plus. the

behaviour is massively different. segments, 6—9, 10—111, 1a plus. the behaviour is massively differentm the gohenry card gets stolen, is it safer than a debit card being lost? first of all, gohenry is available from age six, and in the uk you cannot get a bank card until you are 11. that means that children do have access to debit cards and online spending within the limits of the pa rent spending within the limits of the parent sets. yes, if it is stolen, a lot of the high street banks have caught up with us, but even back in 2012 when we launched, they could insta ntly lock 2012 when we launched, they could instantly lock the card, nick childs 01’ instantly lock the card, nick childs or parent could do it. tell us how difficult it was to set this up and get it going —— the child or parent could do it. the three of us who founded the company, myself and two dads with kids at the same school, we all had full—time jobs and we tried to put... and kids. and full—time kids. we had to put it together in weekends and evenings.

we got seed funding and as we have grown, we have used crowdfunding platform and had two fantastic crowdfunding rounds, won a world record breaking one where we hit the legal limit for crowdfunding. gohenry and spend, boost the uk high street. thank you. in a moment, we will hear what you have to say about harry and meghan ‘s decision. but first, let's talk tech — because smartphone users will soon be offered a new streaming service designed specifically for hand—held devices. quibi limits its shows to bite—sized chunks of up to ten minutes, which work whichever way up you hold your phone. he would not fit worklife on there! as well as exclusive entertainment, quibi will also show specially—made news bulletins from the bbc, nbc and telemundo. its founder is a hollywood mogul, and its ceo one of america's best—known tech bosses. but will audiences buy it?

bbc click‘s spencer kelly has more from las vegas. we knew we had to go seamlessly portrait to landscape. we wanted it to be full—screen video because a lot of video on your phone isn't full—screen video today because it hasn't been shot for the right aspect ratio. it is intimate, it is immersive and it is captivating. i think people are going to be surprised that it's actuallyjust different. are you aiming at the younger market? 0ur target audience is 18—44. the bull's—eye for the creative is 25—35, so, yeah, it is a millennial audience. who do you consider your rivals?

we are not competing with anybody. we are going into a new place, a new white space. we don't imagine that anybody is going to watch less tv, that they are going to have less streaming services because of what we are doing. if anything, we accelerate the experience of watching short form on your mobile device. listen, there is no question, no—one has done this before. in the words of captain kirk, are going where no—one's gone before. huge amounts of responses to harry and meghan stepping back from senior world duties. 0ne says, putting their own happiness is absolutely their own happiness is absolutely the right thing to do. jill says, let them go, let them be self funding. save the taxpayers' money. lisa says, you can't pick and choose

and let everyone do the bits you don't like. thank you for getting in touch. have a lovely day. see you $0011. touch. have a lovely day. see you soon. thanks for watching. good morning. quite a messy picture weather—wise today across the uk, quite complex. a couple of areas of low pressure moving in, giving us some rain at times. fairly strong winds. particularly this morning. the situation here, one area of low pressure bringing rain and snow this morning clearing the way before further rain which will be heavy on thundery spreads into the south west later this afternoon. dry weather for many parts of england and wales this afternoon. maybe some bright and sunny spells. still rain lingering on the eastern coast of scotland, far north—east of england. the heavier rain moving in across

southern areas. quite a difference in temperature today. for much of england and wales especially in the south—east, mild, 12—13d. further north, quite chilly, north—east of scotland, 3—4d. tonight, the rain in the north—east were clear, but thundery rain will continue to spread east, and as we go through until friday, the area of low pressure clears away, and a ridge of high pressure extends across the uk. that means it will be fairly clear as we go into friday morning but also quite chilly. frost expected in northern areas, temperatures for— six further south. friday, northern areas, temperatures for— six furthersouth. friday, more northern areas, temperatures for— six further south. friday, more of a straightforward day. plenty of dry and sunny weather across the uk. later rain spreading into the west of northern ireland and west of scotland. temperature is taking a bit of a dip in southern areas tomorrow. into the weekend, turning miles again. the air coming up from

the south—west. but a weather front moving south and east into saturday —— turning mild. strong winds for a time, white lines close together, quite active weather. the rain will be especially heavy in the west of scotland, may be up to 100 millimetres. moving south and east through the day. strong gale force winds. may not reach in the south—east. mild. by sunday, rain will have cleared from the south—east. showers moving on. chilly on sunday, wintry showers over higher ground, temperatures down to 6—10d. it will be dry and foremost a sunny day on sunday than monday. that is all, goodbye.

you're watching bbc news at 9, with me, annita mcveigh. the headlines: senior royals are said to be "hurt" by prince harry and meghan‘s announcement they're stepping back from the family. the couple say they want to be financially independent and will split their time between the us and uk. meghan and harry have torpedoed the palace and the ripple effects have even hit here in hollywood, where they're rolling out the red carpet for pretty much the two biggest a—listers in the world. america says it is ready to engage in serious negotiations with iran — the day after its bases in iraq were hit by iranian missiles. a disappointing christmas on the high street as retail sales are the worst for 25 years.