as the tech giant orders all to return to the office. live from london this is business today. i'm sally bundock. starting with this news. russian gas has stopped flowing to eu states via ukraine after a five—year deal expired, marking the end of a decades—long arrangement. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky said his country would not allow russia to earn what he called "additional billions on our blood". poland's government described the cut—off as "another victory" against moscow. the european commission said the eu had prepared for the change and most states could cope. moldova, which is outside the eu, is suffering shortages. slovakia says it will pay more for alternative routes. at the time of russia's invasion of ukraine in february 2022 the share of russian gas on the european market was about 35%. since then that share has fallen to about 8%

as european countries sought to diversify supplies. joining me now is independent energy analyst, cornelia meyer. hello to you, cornelia, and happy new year. now, we knew this was coming. the european countries say they are prepared. give us your take on the implications.— the implications. hello, sally, and happy _ the implications. hello, sally, and happy new— the implications. hello, sally, and happy new year. - the implications. hello, sally, and happy new year. yes, - and happy new year. yes, european countries may be prepared, but it will drive up the cost and you saw that the slovakian prime minister was quite upset because he will have to switch to lng and that will be a lot more pricey. moldova is suffering shortages. so, yes, it can happen, it is a matter of prize. we see also

that storage is only about 75% field, they will need to get restocked in summer and it will be hard. mind you, though, yes, we get less russian gas, but russia is the second—largest lng supply, liquefied natural gas supplier, t europe, the us applies about a0 million metric tons and russia between is —— between fifth dean and 20 million tons.— between fifth dean and 20 million tons. there are also environmental _ million tons. there are also | environmental implications, million tons. there are also - environmental implications, out there, cornelia? putting the gas through a pipe is not as bad for the environment as shipping lng, talk us through that. �* , , �* shipping lng, talk us through that. , ~ ., , shipping lng, talk us through that. , ~ . , ., that. absolutely. and many of us have that _ that. absolutely. and many of us have that yearly _ that. absolutely. and many of us have that yearly pilgrimage to the un climate conference where we want to save the world, but what happens here is that lng, obviously you need to ship it across long distances, which has a bigger environmental impact and, also, the us lng comes from shale

gas, which is done with the method of fracking, which is not particularly friendly. so thatis not particularly friendly. so that is really there. there is another implication which is the deindustrialisation of europe because, you know, europe because, you know, europe has pretty high labour costs and when there was relatively cheap russian gas that was very helpful in terms of competitiveness. now you have high labour costs and high energy costs, which is not helpful. energy costs, which is not helful. , ., ~ , energy costs, which is not helful. , . ~ , ., helpful. 0k, we shall keep a close eye- — helpful. 0k, we shall keep a close eye. cornelia, - helpful. 0k, we shall keep a close eye. cornelia, thank. helpful. 0k, we shall keep a i close eye. cornelia, thank you. we'll see you again soon. cornelia meyer. next week, the us supreme court will consider the fate of the social media app tiktok if it's to continue operating in the united states. president—elect donald trump has asked the court to delay an upcoming ban while he works on a "political resolution". as things stand, a us law requires tiktok�*s chinese owner, bytedance, to sell the social media company

to an american firm or face a ban come the 19january — a day before trump takes office. let's explore this more with russ shaw of london tech advocates. hello to you, russ, happy new year to you as well. this is really interesting, isn't it, the supreme court is going to consider arguments about this case on 10 january. what do you think will happen? 1 case on 10 january. what do you think will happen?— think will happen? i think donald trump _ think will happen? i think donald trump will - think will happen? i think donald trump will get - think will happen? i think donald trump will get his think will happen? i think - donald trump will get his way and that the supreme court will extend the stay that is currently in place beyond his inauguration. clearly donald trump has changed his position last year on tiktok, he was adamantly against it, then decided he liked the platform, he was very popular on the platform, and that one of his

key donors, a gentleman called geoff jass is actually an investor in bytedance, the parent company of tiktok. so, trump is clearly behind keeping tiktok intact and i think you will keep a lot of pressure on the supreme court to let him resolve this from a political point of view.— resolve this from a political point of view. and you think the suweme _ point of view. and you think the supreme court - point of view. and you think the supreme court will- point of view. and you think. the supreme court will follow through on that?— through on that? post inauguration - through on that? post inauguration of - through on that? post| inauguration of donald through on that? post - inauguration of donald trump? through on that? post _ inauguration of donald trump? i think is anyone yes, but if you look at how certain supreme court decisions happened last year, including giving presidential immunity towards a certain criminal act, i think this supreme court will take its guidance from donald trump. they see him as a unitary executive, so i think they are going to listen to him and they will give him the benefit of the doubt to try to come up with a political solution. i will be surprised if they didn't allow him to do that. and what a change of events a3 when they were looking at a

possible ban in a very important market for them. absolutely. the tiktok platform in the us has been phenomenally successful. it was an important part of the presidential campaign last year. donald trump was so pleased with his popularity on the platform that it has become an integral part of american society. so to ban the platform is politically difficult. there is bipartisan agreement to follow through on banning the platform but i think we are seeing donald trump way in even before he is inaugurated saying they really want to continue with tiktok. 0k. russ, thank you, we will see you again soon. thank you for your time today. russ shaw. now to amazon, its corporate workers return to the office today full—time after the company called time on a period of flexible hybrid working triggered by the covid pandemic. that announcement was made in september. the chief executive, andyjassy, in a memo to staff, said the business would be "better set up to invent, collaborate, and be connected." mrjassy has long been known

as a sceptic of remote work, but amazon staff were previously allowed to work from home two days a week. chris roebuck is an expert on working culture and a member of the advisory board at the ucl school of management. welcome to bbc news, chris. i mean, amber zone forcing everyone to be in the office all the time. your thoughts? i allthe time. yourthoughts? i just find it quite bizarre in that there is an absolutely vast amount of evidence that shows that if set upright hybrid working works extremely well for both employees and organisations and is beneficial. yet we have amber zone and other ceos who, for whatever reason, seem to be ignoring the evidence. find whatever reason, seem to be ignoring the evidence. and you think that this _ ignoring the evidence. and you think that this is _ ignoring the evidence. and you

think that this is really, - ignoring the evidence. and you think that this is really, this i think that this is really, this is —— that this is really this particular�*s ceo's stance, when you look at the evidence, the size, etc, people's well being in the workplace it is of knowing that if you have the flexibility, if you have choice you are a more productive, happier worker. absolutely. just to give _ happier worker. absolutely. just to give a _ happier worker. absolutely. just to give a quick - happier worker. absolutely. just to give a quick idea - happier worker. absolutely. just to give a quick idea of. just to give a quick idea of what the evidence is, we know from experience if we are trying to individual work in an office that is distracting we have difficulty because people disturb us and we lose concentration. people who do individual work at home are potentially 30% more productive give. yet what seems to be happening is, for whatever reason, these ceos are saying no, i'm going to ignore the evidence, i want everybody in the office. we know worklife talents has improved. we know people actually have more time and the surveys have said, interestingly, people don't hate being in the office, they just take travelling to the

office, which is dead time. so it's absolute madness from my perspective to force people in because what is going to happen is the people you are going to lose and the suggestion is that maybe 70% of amber zone's staff have effectively been saying i might think of anotherjob, going to the best people, your talents, because they know they can move. . talents, because they know they can move-— can move. that is exactly what it was going — can move. that is exactly what it was going to _ can move. that is exactly what it was going to say, _ can move. that is exactly what it was going to say, they - can move. that is exactly what it was going to say, they may i it was going to say, they may move some really important people, talented members of staff. �* , people, talented members of staff. , it people, talented members of staff._ it also - people, talented members of staff._ it also shutj staff. absolutely. it also shut the door and _ staff. absolutely. it also shut the door and many _ staff. absolutely. it also shut the door and many who - staff. absolutely. it also shut| the door and many who would otherwise consider amber zone as an employer, doesn't it? if we take just gen 2 and the data we take just gen z and the data would suggest that 70% ofjensz z or more would not take a job where hybrid working is possible but is not allowed. and so, therefore, you are locking out an entire generation that you could recruit. �* , . , recruit. it's an interesting development _ recruit. it's an interesting development and, - recruit. it's an interesting development and, as - recruit. it's an interesting development and, as we | recruit. it's an interesting - development and, as we say, the

policy kicked in this week. chris, thank you for your time. pleasure. chris, thank you for your time. pleasure-— chris, thank you for your time. pleasure. �* ., , _ ., ., pleasure. and happy new year to ou as pleasure. and happy new year to you as well. _ pleasure. and happy new year to you as well, have _ pleasure. and happy new year to you as well, have to _ pleasure. and happy new year to you as well, have to say - pleasure. and happy new year to you as well, have to say that - you as well, have to say that all my guess, really, don't i. as of yesterday, belgium has become the first european country to ban the sale of disposable e—cigarettes. other countries, such as france, ireland, and the uk will follow suit later in the year and 12 eu health ministers have backed a paper calling on the european commission to propose new legislation, which could include banning flavoured vapes and limiting nicotine content. dustin dahlmann is president of the independent european vape alliance. good morning to you, dustin. what impact will this man have on the vape manufactures that you represent? on the vape manufactures that you reuresent?_ on the vape manufactures that you represent? happy new year. yes, the you represent? happy new year. yes. the ban. — you represent? happy new year. yes, the ban, as— you represent? happy new year. yes, the ban, as we _ you represent? happy new year. yes, the ban, as we see - you represent? happy new year. yes, the ban, as we see in - yes, the ban, as we see in other countries, a ban in

national member states are difficult. it is likely that we would see a high increase in the black market in belgium for these kind of products. for the authorities enforcement is extremely difficult when just one single member state is going for a ban on a single product that is allowed in all the other states around belgium, for example france, germany, the netherlands. so it is likely to see that the serious companies will lose turnover and the black market will rise. we see that in other markets with different bands. the european commission is now looking to take this further, as a mention, with a ban on flavoured vapes and limiting nicotine content. what impact would that have — and i assume are because of your answer to my first question what you are asking for or calling for is europe—wide decision—making here as opposed to country by

country? here as opposed to country by count ? , , here as opposed to country by count? , , ~ country? yes, absolutely. we fully support _ country? yes, absolutely. we fully support european - country? yes, absolutely. we fully support european wide l fully support european wide regulation on things like that. and for the ban on disposables is not necessary to ban it on a national level because the directive would ban these kind of products from 2027 in all member states, so that will avoid the black market. it makes it easier to enforce and it's a good approach overall for europe and the industry which makes it easy also for the companies to do business. 0k, dustin, will have to leave it there. we appreciate your time today. it there. we appreciate your time today-— it there. we appreciate your time today. it there. we appreciate your time toda . ., , _ ., ., time today. happy new year to ou as time today. happy new year to you as well- — time today. happy new year to you as well. thank _ time today. happy new year to you as well. thank you - time today. happy new year to you as well. thank you very - you as well. thank you very much. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

this is business today. i'm sally bundock.

as a new year begins market watchers are predicting what 2025 will bring for the world's leading stock markets. last year proved to be another bumper one for the so called magnificent seven — that's the us tech giants apple, nvidia, microsoft, alphabet, amazon, meta, and tesla. in ten years these seven stocks have gone from representing less than 10% of the s&p 500 to grow at breakneck pace. together they're now worth more than 35% of the s&p 500. and because of their gains the index has risen more than 20% for the second year in a row. let's hear now from dan kemp, chief research and investment officer at morningstar nvidia — the big star performer, up 180% in 202a. good morning to you. why would imagine that every fund manager around the world has got to have some of these seven in their fund. have some of these seven in their fund-— have some of these seven in their fund. well, hello, sally, and happy — their fund. well, hello, sally, and happy new— their fund. well, hello, sally, and happy new year. - their fund. well, hello, sally, and happy new year. yes, . their fund. well, hello, sally, - and happy new year. yes, you're absolutely right, if anybody

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