thousands of amazon workers walked off the job at seven facilities on thursday morning to protest against what they say is unfair treatment over pay and working conditions. this comes after the company refused to negotiate with the union over a labour contract. workers in cities including new york, atlanta and san francisco took part in what the teamsters union called the largest ever strike against the firm, with demonstrations at hundreds of warehouses across the country. yet amazon, one of the largest us employers, said its services would not be disrupted during the crucial holiday shopping period. it also said that they don't directly employ the teamsters�* members on strike. the retail giant — which denies the employees�* claims of unfair practices — has long faced criticism of its working conditions and been the target of activists. the teamsters union, with more than1 million members overall, is well—known for winning contracts for members at firms such as ups. the union says other sites

mayjoin the effort. to more industrial action taking place in the us — and starbucks baristas are set to walk out on friday. a union representing over 10,000 workers has said that strikes will take place in los angeles, chicago and seattle with 525 stores impacted. the baristas want better wages and schedules and are currently in negotiations with the coffee giant. bitcoin has fallen below $100,000, with the world's largest crypto currency dropping 10% since it hit an all time high on tuesday. fed chairjerome powell's recent comments on fewer rate cuts in 2025 have cooled investor sentiment, causing bitcoin to slide. the cryptocurrency is currently trading at around $97,000. us stock markets are nearing the end of the year on a volatile note. the major indexes closed with little movement on thursday following a sharp sell off in the prior session. a key factor was the federal reserve which hinted at fewer cuts in 2025. with donald trump taking office

in a month, there are also concerns over the impact that his policies might have on markets next year. investment expert 0livier d'assier explained how to navigate the uncertainty new year. 2025 did not look like 2024 or 2023. we also know the best way to lose money in a trump world is to pretend to know what he is going to do. the uncertainty we see, i guess we can't make a forecast past right now or past friday with a possible shutdown. 0r past january 21 where they expect a flurry of executive orders. and then the tariff wars, is itjust china? europe? all of that means investors have to focus on the downside a little bit.

but it is not really what if we are wrong but what do we do when we are wrong because they know they are going to be wrong at one time or another. for asian investments, with these threats of tarrifs, how are you weighing it up? asia has been a little bit different. we have seen this decoupling of the global supply chain away from china. and the move from just in time to just in case strategies and that has been the case in many countries in asia. that will continue to be the case, i would expect a lot of asian countries to benefit from that and so that might still be a theme that people will play out here. are you pro—china? do you encourage people you invest for to put money in china or not? china has both structural and cyclical issues right now in the economy. there is a really bad wealth trap right now for consumers. they can't pick up the slack. headwinds are coming, we know,

from the trade side. we haven't seen a credible response yet from the authority. we have seen borrow more money which has lifted the deficit limits and swapping old debt for new debt but that is not reform. we need economic reform, fiscal reforms and none of this has been talked about. i think china is probably in the third year of its last decade. how can one invest given the geopolitical risks at the moment? ukraine, oil? you need to pay attention to oil, you need to pay attention to things like that because that gives you hints about what people are thinking. if people were thinking the middle east is going to get worse or even ukraine then oil prices won't be at 69, $70, it would be at 80, $90, so we get some hints from that. you have to look at this change in correlations. now they are positively

correlated. what does that mean? why do both equity and investors suddenly agree on something? they never do. that is a hint that something is clearly wrong and you have to pay attention, you have to de— risk the portfolios and make sure you stay liquid. nike's new chief executive elliot hill has outlined his strategy to return the retailer to growth. the sneaker giant's latest report showed declining revenue and profits year—on—year — though it did beat analyst expectations. hill blamed discounting as the reason behind the continued slump — and said he will shift the focus back to sport china's president xijinping is in macau to attend the inauguration of the territory's new government. it's the final part of a three—day visit marking 25 years since macau's handover from portuguese rule. the chinese leader has urged the world's biggest gambling hub to play a bigger role on the international stage — calling on the territory to have the courage to change and innovate. macau is the only place in china where gambling is legal — with an economy that is heavily dependant on the casino industry.

staying with china and the world's second largest economy has had a tricky year. china's government has announced several stimulus measures to boost confidence. officials say the country is on track to hit its growth target of around 5% this year, but not all investors are as optimistic. nick marsh takes a look at what lies ahead for the chinese economy. it has been a bad two years for the chinese economy back as we head into 2025, is there some room for some optimism? the short answer is not really. all the data shows that growth in china is still low, youth unemployment is still high and citizens, they just aren't spending like they were before the pandemic and ultimately it is the property problem which is at the heart of all of this and that still hasn't been fixed. the chinese policymakers' response to the troubled housing market has on the whole been lacklustre. there is a sense that they

don't want to roll back on the progress they have achieved in cooling the market and bringing prices down and reducing the economy's reliance on real estate but the problem is other sectors have not yet emerged that can fill the gap left by housing in the chinese economy. recently, the government has been making some tweaks to its policies to try and get consumers to spend a bit more in the coming year. president xi received some candid and blunt feedback on the state of the economy during the trip to western china in september where he met with some senior retired party leaders who were willing to speak to him and very blunt terms and that seems to have been a catalyst for this pivot towards stimulus but president xi's orientation overall has been to stay the course and keep the faith that the focus on high—quality growth would eventually yield dividends after a difficult transition period.

many of china's problems are structural and they will not be fixed overnight. xijinping basically wants to evolve, to totally reshape what makes china prosperous, moving away from mass manufacturing and property to high—tech industries like ai, renewable, biotech. that is going to take years if not decades to achieve so really a long—term project but in the meantime let's not forget there is also the small matter of a second donald trump presidency to contend with as well. as we head towards the end of the year, it's a good time to look back on what have been the hottest topics online. according to google, the cost of living and extreme weather were the most widely searched subjects in the asia—pacific region. google�*s yolyn ang took me through the top search trends this year. we saw a variety of searches across the different countries.

in countries like australia actually the searches took a diy turn. how to repair the car on their own or how to tune a car. people looking to search to find information to help them get by and tune up things that were on their own that they would otherwise have paid for. we also saw extreme heat. were people looking at remedies? excessive heat, heat wave, these terms were across a variety of impact countries. india, philippines, even singapore. all the countries that experience excessive heat, folks were looking for ways and information for people to mitigate that. in india one of the most interesting searches that came up was in the near me categories, so things near me. people were looking for air quality index.

basically finding ways and practical information to be able to navigate the excessive heat safely. and that's it for this edition of business today. thanks for watching. hey, i'm lola

with the catch up. tonight: france's mass rape trial. unwell network's latest signing. and f1�*s got a new star. in france, the mass rape trial which shocked the world has come to a close. dominique pelicot has beenjailed for 20 years afterjudges found him guilty of the aggravated rape of his ex—wife, gisele. the 72—year—old drugged and organised the repeated rape of ms pelicot by strangers over a ten—year period. 50 other men have also been sentenced. 0utside court, gisele pelicot thanked her supporters. some other stories now. megan thee stallion has filed a request for a restraining order against tory lanez. lanez is currently serving a ten—year prison sentence for shooting her. megan is accusing him of continuing to harass her online from behind bars. lanez�*s lawyers told bbc newsbeat the claims were "ridiculous" and "the truth will be revealed in cou rt".

comedian and podcaster grace 0'malley is joining alex cooper's unwell network. recently, 0'malley quit barstool sports and her podcast plan bri which she co—hosted with former best friend brianna chickenfry. and in f1 news, new zealand's liam lawson has been promoted to red bull. the 22—year—old will be max verstappen�*s team—mate for the 2025 f1 season. time now to 10 seconds of a thief who felt he'd been wronged. police in newjersey are searching for two suspects caught on a doorbell video camera stealing a parcel. but one was seen returning days later to complain after the video was posted online. you're all caught up. have a great night!

hello, and welcome to sportsday. i'm betty glover. it was a chaotic game, but tottenham survive a manchester united scare to edge into the semi—finals of the english league cup. the club's takeover saga is over, with the friedkin group providing fresh hope at goodison park. fury�*s face—off — his press conference with 0leksandr usyk ends with a ten—minute stare into each other�*s eyes.

hello, and welcome along to the programme. we'll start with the english league cup, where tottenham just about survived a manchester united comeback to win 11—3 and progress to the semi—finals. spurs were 3—0 up at half—time and cruising, before united got themselves back into the game. the bbc�*s football correspondentjohn murray was watching. this was the second consecutive 11—3 in this stadium as, here, tottenham reach their first semifinal under ange postecoglou. on a bad night for the goalkeepers, manchester united's altay bayindir parried out a shot only for solanke to fire in the first, and an already exciting match swung spurs' way early in the second half — as first kulusevski made it 2—0, and the crowd were singing ange postecoglou's name after solanke sent through his second of the night. then, fraser foster presented two goals through zirkzee and diallo. 3—2 and wobbling became 11—2 when a corner led

to son heun min scoring. a late header from jonny evans meant it wasn't over