oldest businesses — which is set to pass into foreign ownership for the first time in its 500 year history. the bbc understands that royal mail — which has been delivering post since the reign of henry the eighth — has been cleared by the uk government to be sold to a czech billionaire. our business editor simonjack reports. the first owner of royal mail was henry viii. it was privatised in 2013 and its next owner will be this man, daniel kretinsky, whose companies own 27% of west ham united and 10% of sainsbury�*s. speaking to the bbc earlier this year, he vowed he would honour the one price goes anywhere universal service. i can say very clearly one strong personal commitment. first of all, as long as i'm alive, i completely exclude this, royal mail is going to be the provider of universal service obligation in the uk unconditionally, and i would say forever. but that service is already under review by regulator ofcom, which is considering

reducing second class letters to every other weekday, which it's estimated will save royal mail £300 million a year. his £3.6 billion bid was called in for review over the summer, as royal mail is considered vital national infrastructure, and mr kretinsky also owns a gas pipeline that carries much reduced volumes of russian gas to europe, paid for and approved by eu member states. there are some conditions mr kretinsky has agreed to. the government will reserve the right to block any major moves, such as moving royal mail's hq or tax residency, while workers will get a 10% share of any dividends paid out in future, plus extended guarantees around future compulsory redundancies. government and unions feel comfortable, but others do not. the national security implications in relation to our national— implications in relation to our national infrastructure, as i say, — national infrastructure, as i say, they— national infrastructure, as i say, they have more information

than _ say, they have more information than i _ say, they have more information than i have, _ say, they have more information than i have, but my instincts would — than i have, but my instincts would be _ than i have, but my instincts would be that we have to hear on the — would be that we have to hear on the side of caution when you have _ on the side of caution when you have business interests with close — have business interests with close links to russia. customers may notice little difference immediately. royal mail has been losing money and missing delivery targets, for which it was fined £10 million just last week. in the future, mr kretinsky plans to expand royal mail's out of home parcel delivery business with thousands of new lockers like these, which he insists will offer greater efficiency and convenience. a new chapter beckons for one of the uk's oldest institutions. simon jack, bbc news. paris and berlin are going to be a little closer from later today when a new high speed rail link opens to connect the two cities. the new direct service will take roughly 8 hours and be a daily service. so what's behind the rail revival and what it could it mean for the cities respective economies? i'm joined by matt shepherd, associate director

transport practice, frontier economics. this is an economic link as much to sit a rail link, talk to me about the significance. of course, paris and berlin have been well connected for summertime. there are 729 direct flights a day, and approximately 20 or so trains. if you want to get by train between paris and berlin previously, you'd have had to change at least once, maybe two or three times there is today, going forward, you'll be able to get their direct and that has economic and of course a very symbolic importance as well. ., ., . , very symbolic importance as well. ., ., ,, well. how long has this been in the making. — well. how long has this been in the making. if— well. how long has this been in the making, if you _ well. how long has this been in the making, if you look - well. how long has this been in the making, if you look at - well. how long has this been in the making, if you look at what is happening in the uk, hs two, it's been called up in a lot of delays and partial cancellations, has this been a smooth running for this line, and why is europe seemingly better at doing this sort of stuff? i, �*

better at doing this sort of stuff? . �* , ., stuff? i haven't been involved specifically — stuff? i haven't been involved specifically with _ stuff? i haven't been involved specifically with this - stuff? i haven't been involved specifically with this case, - specifically with this case, but you're right, the opening of new lines, new rail services can take quite a long time. there's been a new running for just over a year now, a direct night service between paris and berlin, which has been subject to some difficult technical circumstances. but, railtravel circumstances. but, rail travel across circumstances. but, railtravel across the eu is increasing, european commission statistics suggest the increase by over 10% between 2022 and 2023, and a lot of is coming from an extended period of effort by the european commission to open up the european commission to open up cross—border and rail passenger services within the eu. ~ ., , passenger services within the eu. . ., , ., passenger services within the eu. ~ ., , ., ., passenger services within the eu. who is travelling, and why? in this eu. who is travelling, and why? in this age _ eu. who is travelling, and why? in this age of — eu. who is travelling, and why? in this age of video _ in this age of video conferencing and zoom and all that sort of stuff that you got

used to in the pandemic, why do people physically need to make this trip? i people physically need to make this tri - ? ~ people physically need to make this tri? ~' �* people physically need to make this tri? ~ �* ., this trip? i think you've got --eole this trip? i think you've got people travelling _ this trip? i think you've got people travelling for - this trip? i think you've got people travelling for the i this trip? i think you've got. people travelling for the same reasons that they always travelled, theyjust are travelled, they just are travelling travelled, theyjust are travelling slightly differently now. we see tourism across lots of different motor transport, tourism is as high as it was before the pandemic, if you continue to want to see the sights and different cultures, people want to travel to see friends and relatives, and business travel, there still a lot of business travel out there, exchanging though. you have increasingly business travellers making fewer trips, few are day trips, but making more trips that last slightly longer. rail perhaps being able to work through the journey, staying where you're going for a couple of days, is more convenient than in some cases than the out and back on the plane that perhaps lots of people you to do before the pandemic. people you to do before the pandemic—

people you to do before the andemic. ., ., ~ ., pandemic. good to talk to you, thank yon _ to china now — and some signs of improvement in the world's number two economy — according to figures for novemberjust out. real estate prices are still falling — but beginning to stabilize. new home sales fell at their slowest pace in 17 months in november. retail sales have risen — but not as much as expected. beijing is desperate to boost spending by chinese consumers as tougher trading conditions from the us and europe are forcing it to reduce reliane on exports. prices have been falling for a year and a half in china — a deflationary spiral not seen since the asian financial crisis in the 1990s. we asked jinny yan, managing director and chief china economist at icbc standard bank — what these latest figures mean. the property sector has been a main stemless, prices are still

falling. but, transactions are starting to pick up. there are some healthy side but not enough, that's why markets are expecting more. since september, there's been a very much a consistent messaging about more stimulus, more commitment, particularly in the form of fiscal policies, the change here is that we've just had the meeting, and the central economic work meeting over the last week, and the commitment into 2025 is perhaps something that is anticipated and more fiscal support is exactly what is needed to unlock both government spending investment and also uplift that consumer confidence as well. in the face of challenging environments, income tariffs, this is exactly what is needed. heading into 2025, especially in chinese new year holiday period, markets will be

anticipating for an stimulus policy to come. to spain now — and the region of valencia — which bore the brunt of flash flooding in late october. 220 people were killed in the disaster which caused enormous damage to infrastructure, homes and businesses. nearly 50 thousand businesses were affected —as well as major agricultural areas. guy hedgecoe reports on the task of rebuilding valencia's economy. the worst natural disaster in eastern spain in living memory. it destroyed both lives and livelihoods. pascual andreu, whose family has made chocolate for more than a century. but in just a few hours the business was destroyed as his machinery was submerged in water. now, pascual says he's too old to start again.

all my life working, he says. and for what? nearly 50,000 businesses suffered the impact of the flooding, with the industrial belt surrounding the city of valencia particularly affected. some businesses have reopened, but only partially, like the electrical installation company that patricia munoz and her husband run on this industrial estate. the flooding destroyed 740,000 worth of equipment. we were immediately affected 100% because we lost our tools and vehicles. now, more than a month later, we are working at 10% of our capacity. among the material damage caused by the flooding were more than 100,000 cars, which were washed away in the month after disaster

struck, the central government announced around 717 billion in aid, much of it aimed at helping the owners of cars replace their vehicles. businesses and self—employed workers will also benefit, with compensation for damage caused to homes and corporate premises. the furlough scheme is also in place but some are unconvinced. i think that the official financial aid is badly managed. around 30% of businesses affected are not going to open again. it's notjust urban areas which were devastated. farmland was too this corner of spain, produces fruit and vegetables, which are exported across europe. a farmers association has estimated that the losses in terms of infrastructure, machinery and crops total well over ?1 billion. farmers always say next year things will get better, but right now the mood among

farmers is very pessimistic. in order to get things back to how they were before, it's going to take 2 or 3 years. the people of valencia are angry at what they see as the mishandling of this natural disaster by the authorities. they are desperately hoping the region's recovery will be a different story. in other news. bitcoin has surged to a new record high above $106,000 thousand dollars as investors continue to bet the incoming trump administration will be supportive of crypto. in an interview with cnbc last week — the president—elect suggested he plans to create a us bitcoin strategic reserve similar to its strategic oil reserve. crypto fans got further encouragement from microstrategy which invests in bitcoin— being included in

the nasdaq 100 index spain's prime minister has led tributes to isak andic, the founder of the spanish fashion giant �*mango' — following his death from a fall while hiking in the mountains near barcelona on saturday. mr andic built the business from a single store in1981i to a global chain with nearly 3000 branches worldwide — and was one of the country's richest people stay with us here on bbc news.

hello from the bbc sport centre. southampton are looking for a new manager after they sacked russell martin just an hour after being thrashed 5—0 by tottenham. martin guided the saints to promotion last year in his first season in charge, but they're bottom of the premier league, nine points adrift of safety. the loss against spurs was southampton's 13th in the league already, their only win this season was

against everton in november. meanwhile wolves are in talks with al—shabab manager, vitor pereira, to become their new head coach after gary 0'neil was also sacked on sunday. the premier league strugglers are looking for a swift appointment and the compensation of around eight hundred thousand pounds to secure the former porto and 0lympiakos boss is not believed to be an issue. "i am not good enough" said pep guardiola after defeat in the manchester derby saw city fall to their 8th loss in their last 11 matches. amad diallo was the hero for united, winning the penatly that levelled the scores, then getting the winner. it was a much needed win for them, but for city their woes continue, and guardiola isn't ducking responsibility for the slump in form. the reality is the game was not exceptional for our side because i know the situation, understand for many, many reasons.