control to his eldest son. blue skies ahead. more of us than ever before are predicted to take off next year — we'll speak to one of the leading figures from the aviation industry. and the nuclear race — ai demand is fuelling investment in new reactors — we hear from the company developing the first plant of its kind in the us. welcome to business today, i'm ben thompson. we start with the latest installment in the rupert murdoch succession saga. a court in the us state of nevada has rejected mr murdoch's plans to change the terms of his family trust and hand editorial control of his media empire to his son lachlan. the media mogul�*s other children had objected to their father 5 plans, which would have deprived them of a say in how the family business is run after he dies. michelle fleury reports from new york. this is a case that has played out behind closed doors. rupert murdoch tried to amend a 1999 family

trust to give his son, lachlan, more control over the family media empire, bypassing siblings prudence, elizabeth and james, who don't necessarily share his conservative views. now, this ruling, guaranteeing a say for all of the children, could change the editorial stance of the murdoch family's many media assets. these include controlling stakes in the times and sun newspapers in the uk. and, perhaps more significantly, fox news in america, the powerhouse conservative network. it's had a huge influence on republican politics and right wing audiences. a nevada commissioner ruled that murdoch and lachlan acted in bad faith, according to a leaked court ruling. james, elisabeth and prudence welcomed the decision, saying in a statement obtained by the bbc that they hope to move beyond this litigation to focus on strengthening and rebuilding relationships among all family members. despite the ruling, the case can continue. a districtjudge must ratify mr

gorman�*s decision, according to the new york times, and rupert murdoch can challenge it. michelle thou in new york. we're nowjoined by claire atkinson, who's the host of the media mix podcast. claire is also currently writing a book on the life of rupert murdoch, which is due to be published next year. your liking inglis to tv drama succession but this is about allowing lachlan to take control without interference. —— we are likening this to succession. -- we are likening this to succession.— -- we are likening this to succession. , . ., u, , succession. yes, the court case was brought — succession. yes, the court case was brought by _ succession. yes, the court case was brought by rupert - succession. yes, the court case was brought by rupert to - succession. yes, the court case | was brought by rupert to ensure that lachlan maintains control of the company. that is what he wants his legacy to be, rupert murdoch has spent his entire life focused on building this business, the two companies, forks and news corps, or worth billions of dollars in market cap and rupert wants to make sure that his legacy is that lachlan takes over and that the

commissioner at the probate court in nevada has decided thatis court in nevada has decided that is not happening. as you mentioned, there will be an appeal, rupert's lawyer has said they will appeal the decision so you can imagine this goes all around the state courts in nevada until rupert gets his way. what is rupert concerned about when it comes to the other children? the concern is for people are never very good at making decisions as a group and politically rupert is on the same page as lachlan, they have very similar conservative views and the other ones have more progressive left—wing views and this is really about making sure that continuity continues with regards to donald trump being elected again and donald

trump being in the white house, a potential partner of the new white house being named by donald trump in relation to a news channel which would put a relationship in as well alongside rupert murdoch and donald trump. we alongside rupert murdoch and donald trump.— alongside rupert murdoch and donald trump. we will talk more about this as _ donald trump. we will talk more about this as we _ donald trump. we will talk more about this as we go _ donald trump. we will talk more about this as we go through - donald trump. we will talk more about this as we go through the l about this as we go through the day but thank you for now. let's focus on avaition now, because iata, that's the group representing hundreds of airlines around the world, has just published its annual report. air passenger numbers are forecast to top five billion for the first time next year and revenues will break the trillion—dollar barrier. the global airline industry is predicted to make over 36 billion dollars in profit next year, which is overfive billion dollars higher than this years figure. but iata warned supply chain issues, regulation and a rising tax burden were likely to cause a bit of turbulence for the industry. willie walsh,

director general of the international air transport association joins us now. always good to have you here. what do these figures tell us? the industry has shaken off the effects of the pandemic but there are still some key concerns, particularly around things like supply chain. that is a fair assessment. - things like supply chain. twat is a fair assessment. obviously the industry continues to make progress. the net margin of 3.6% is still wafer thin, particularly when you look at other industries and we continue to be stressed and frustrated by the supply chain issues which have now gone on for much longer than anybody had anticipated and it would appear will continue for several years to come so challenges ahead but the industry continues to make some progress. industry continues to make some rouress. ~ . . industry continues to make some ro~ress. ~ . . ., ~ progress. what are we talking about when — progress. what are we talking about when we _ progress. what are we talking about when we discuss - progress. what are we talking about when we discuss supply chain issues? is it part or whole aircraft?— chain issues? is it part or whole aircraft? �* ., , , whole aircraft? both. delays in caettin whole aircraft? both. delays in getting deliveries. _ whole aircraft? both. delays in getting deliveries. it _ whole aircraft? both. delays in getting deliveries. it means . getting deliveries. it means

airlines have the need to continue with aircraft and they planned to retire the average age of a commercial fleet which has risen to ia.8 years from 13.6 has risen to 111.8 years from 13.6 which may not sound like a lot but actually it is a considerable increase, older aircraft are less efficient when it comes to how they use fuel and they are therefore less environmentally friendly as well. they will require more maintenance which is very expensive and we are seeing significant problems in terms of getting spare parts for aircraft are a lot of aircraft currently sitting on the ground waiting for parts and we believe there are about 700 aircraft and most of these are actually reasonably new aircraft, grounded and waiting for engines to be addressed so it is a big chance for the industry. it is a big chance for the industry-— it is a big chance for the industry. and i guess if a lane industry. and i guess if a plane sat _ industry. and i guess if a plane sat on _ industry. and i guess if a plane sat on the - industry. and i guess if a plane sat on the groundl industry. and i guess if a| plane sat on the ground it industry. and i guess if a i plane sat on the ground it is quite simple and not making money even though the demand has bounced back. what does it mean in real terms in terms of frustration from passengers that they cannot get the fares they want and may be not the

roots they want if there was not enough planes?- not enough planes? yeah, i think it impacts _ not enough planes? yeah, i think it impacts more - not enough planes? yeah, i think it impacts more on - not enough planes? yeah, i - think it impacts more on routes but you're right, supply and demand really is not in balance at the moment and we seem continuing demand growth and we expect the industry to grow by 8%, supply well all i get that by probably around 6.97% so thatis by probably around 6.97% so that is meaning more and more seats on aircraft are being filled and it is leading to in general you could say higher prices. however, iwould like to point out that prices have not kept pace with inflation and we expect next year overall average prices and this could be hidden by average was but we will be down 1.4% against 202a. and they weren't on sustainability, given the passenger bounced back and grow the number of passengers, the only way the industry can do that to sustainably is to have newer, greener, quieter aircraft and if they are being stuck in supply chain, that is

ultimately a problem in the sustainability front, too. it is, it is a problem and we think it will be a short—term issue and we hope to see the manufacturers, boeing, airbus and engine suppliers including rolls—royce, get back on track by the end of the decade which is longer than i originally expected, i thought things would be resolved by next year but it will have an impact on the environmental performance in the short term and longer term the biggest impact it will have his in mitigating our emissions which is through the use of sustainable fuels and we continue to push for governments to support this development, to ensure greater production of sustainable fuels not just for the airline industry but for all forms of transport. industry but for all forms of transom-— transport. access still a problem- _ transport. access still a problem. that - transport. access still a i problem. that sustainable aviation fuel. always good to talk to and we will talk to more as we go. willie walsh they are from iata. shares in big tech have soared this year, linked to optimism over

artificial intelligence. and ai's hungry for energy. data centres are projected to burn through electricity equivalent to the consumption of japan by 2026. to meet this demand, amazon recently announced a half billion dollar investment with a nuclear partner to build advanced modular reactors in washington state. in fact x—energy is already developing the united states' first plant of this kind for dow chemicals in texas. our business reporter david waddell met the company's ceo and began by asking him — why nuclear? these plants are unique in that they're excellent at producing electricity. they're also excellent at producing very high temperature steam. almost 20% of the world's carbon emissions come from industrial processes involving steam. and so nuclear represents a very clean way to decarbonise those processes. how do you reassure an anxious segment of the public. this reactor is meltdown proof?

it's physically impossible for the reactor to melt down. and it starts with a very unique fuel form that we use called a triso pebble. and it has the uranium encapsulated in layers of ceramic and graphite that ensure that it cannot melt at any temperature that it would see during the reactor performance. i'm sure you would forgive many viewers for still being suspicious, despite the technology you demonstrate, because they've seen these disasters elsewhere of plants that were supposedly safe in their time. nuclear power is the safest form of generation that's ever been deployed at scale around the world, including chernobyl, including fukushima. nuclear has its challenges. it's more difficult to build. it's more capital intensive to build. but once you get it operating, it's extraordinarily safe. and it provides incredibly reliable power for many, many decades. the what are the biggest barriers to advancing nuclear

power as a biggerfeature of the energy supply mix? we have to get the supply chain to scale as quickly as possible, and that's one of the great opportunities that we have at x—energy. we're working with amazon, who has committed to deploy up to 64 of our xc 100 reactorsjust in the next 15 years. so that creates an opportunity for us to work with the supply chain, to grow, to learn, to replicate and to get these projects built in the coming decades. what about nuclear waste? this is a big challenge, isn't it? how to handle that waste that needs to be stored somewhere safely for thousands of years? it will stay on site at the plant in an area about the size of a basketball court. and then at the end of life, the government takes possession of the fuel, and we'll put it in a deep geologic repository for the rest of time.

just time to tell you that... china's exports slowed sharply last month, with imports not faring much better, they shrank by almost 4% in november. beijing has been hit with further tariffs from next year, as donald trump enters the white house and the european union ramps up charges on chinese electric vehicles. china still expects its overall economy to grow by around 5% this year and president xi said there would be �*no winners' from any potential trade war. much more on all those stories at bbc don't come business including david's interview there the boss of that nuclear energy firm. we know ai and the growing love of tech is a big use of energy but the question is is there enough to go around? more on that on the website. stay with us here on bbc news.

we start in the nba where karl—anthony towns returned from a one game absence to lead the new yorks knicks to victory over the toronto raptors, theirfifth win in their past six games. towns had missed new york's loss to detroit with a sore knee but showed no signs of ill effect as he scored 2a points and added 15 rebounds. his total included the final five points of the game as the knicks finally broke free on their way to a fifth straight win over toronto. new york host the atlanta hawks in the nba cup last eight on wednesday. we had timely plays at the end, big—time plays and timely buckets. we have to continue to improve and we have a lot of things we need to work on and the games keep coming so i

think the most important thing isjust finding a