in hong kong retailers bear the brunt of the months long pro-democracy protests as consumers feel less inclined to go out on a shopping spree. and mexico's global's makers are in high demand as business for the christmas ornaments is blooming. i'm monica jones and business daily business asia live from berlin. tokyo has approved an 8 straight annual increase and defense spending to counter the military build ups in north korea and in china u.s. defense contractors can look forwards to get a sizable piece of the action u.s. presence donald trump already thanks to japan for buying the u.s. equipment. japan's constitution prohibits it from buying offensive weapons still the island nation is one of the world's top customers for arms and weapons systems as more and more funds are devoted towards the fence japan's defense budget has jumped nearly 15 percent in less than

a decade and now prime minister shinzo aves government wants to boost it by over one percent to $48600000000.00 that's a record expenditure but the government says it will be spent carefully on those who we need to enhance our defense capability to handle the security environment at the same time we also need to have an appropriate control over the defense expenditure so we will strive to make it more efficient you know blue to be here lou and. japan's growing defense budget is a boon for american arms makers tokyo buys weapons almost exclusively from the united states last year american arms imports were valued at $675000000.00. it's a deal in principle and one that will have many people feel relieved after hours of discussions russia ukraine and the european union of reached

a tentative gas deal that will go into effect on the 1st of january 2020 the deal was brokered right here in berlin and here's what we know about it. these pipes are front and center of a geopolitical crisis north stream 2 percents a new undersea route for russia to deliver gas to the e.u. bypassing its neighbor ukraine in the midst of a conflict that started with russia's annexation of crimea in 2014 what's at stake for ukraine up to $3000000000.00 in transit fees for gas coming from the orange gas field in western siberia it flows through the brotherhood pipeline crossing ukraine into slovakia for further distribution within the e.u. with the introduction of the north stream pipeline in 2011 much of the russian gas delivered to the e.u. had a new route and north stream 2 will double the capacity leaving ukraine to worry not

only about a major source of income but also its own demand ukraine depends on gas from russia but moscow has weaponized its supplies in the past turning off the spigot repeatedly in the 990 s. russian president vladimir putin says similar action is no longer plan if. we are not going to sign any kind of contract with ukraine in order to stop gas translator no we are interested in this gas transit we are ukraine we want it it's a convenient route incidentally the ukrainian route is longer than the route along the baltic sea it is longer and more expensive for us but nevertheless this route is worked out to central and to southern europe it's good and we're ready to keep it. the next hurdle awaits north stream 2 before the weekend u.s. president trump is expected to impose sanctions on companies involved in the construction

of the pipeline the u.s. tries to limit russian gas supplies to europe and instead sell its own natural gas to their allies. correspondent. david stern in kiev and i asked him whether ukrainians trust the word of the russian president. well i guess you could say they don't really trust him very much but if the deal is signed it obviously will be a positive step forward in the relations between these 2 countries we are now in the 6th year more than 5 years russia and ukraine have been at odds. russia annexed crimea back in 2014 and then russian supported forces have been fighting ukrainian forces in the east of the country and more than 13000 people have died there the relations between the 2 countries obviously because of that and. further worsened we also have the case that gazprom some

$3000000000.00 to ukraine over odets according to the stockholm arbitration court so you could say that trust in the russians isn't great at the moment but obviously if this deal is in is confirmed we're waiting here they say they've reached it in principle then this will be something that can be possibly built on to improve them in the future and that was did obvious david stern reporting from kiev let's take a look now at some of the other business stories making news around the world france's competition authority has fined google 150000000 euros for anticompetitive behavior and for having unclear advertising on the google ads page european countries have stepped up scrutiny of major u.s. take companies and september google agreed to pay nearly 1000000000 euros to french authorities to settle a fraud probe. german workers have more money in their pockets according to the german statistics office in the 3rd quarter of this year gross incomes rose by 3.4

percent compared to the same period last year prices on consumer goods have only gone up 1.5 percent even workers with more cash. and australia's federal court has upheld a record breaking 77400000 euro fine imposed on german carmaker folks astray and authorities say v.w. deceived customers and breached emission standards in a case linked to the diesel emissions scandal. the british central bank will soon have a new governor his name is andrew bailey and he'll take over from mark carney in march 2020. in the past as the deputy governor of the bank of england he is currently serving as the head of the financial conduct of foreign t which cracks down on misconduct in the finance industry britain has delayed the appointment to due to brics it which will have a huge impact on the workings of the central bank. and the world bank's china

economic update for december shows that growth there continues to be moderate but will begin to slow next year linda says china is on target to grow by 6 point one percent this year which is unchanged from its prediction in october the rate of growth is expected to drop to 5.29 percent for next year though the world bank says short term risks remain and spite of the recent cooling and china's trade war with the united states. hong kong was formally a shop till you drop paradise but it's once mighty retail sectors facing a gloomy christmas the retail association says over 10 percent of the territories retailers thousands of shops could close in the next 6 months amid economic uncertainty because of the democracy protests. hong kong is legendary for a shopping but the scenes of mayhem in a hong kong shopping mall just days before christmas show why there is little

festive cheer for the territory's retailers this year. protesters are taking aim at hong kong's key retail sector to press home their demands for democracy. district elections last month showed strong support for protests but the demonstrators have disrupted christmas shoppers and clashed with the police. and uncertainty about hong kong future means that the mood among those who do venture out to places like times square is bleak. for the respected us before this because they were doing to have a situation so i think some more of us. not such as christmas was to buy and if it is not saved go out and yes and not happy at all where not very in the mood and hong kong this is a really hard moment yes. pacific place is normally packed with bargain hungry consumers from mainland china and local buyers getting ready for christmas.

much of the protesters i'm sure has been focused on china's increasing influence in hong kong and mainlanders are staying away. retail sales fell 25 percent in october the steepest drop on record christmas sales are expected to hit fresh record lows retailers are worried about their future $7000.00 shops out of $64000.00 in the asian financial hub could be forced to close down in the next 6 months. and the other year tourists would pack out the star ferry to crowd the shopping magners a hot story across hong kong harbor but this yuletide the mood is music. with a wave of closures looming hong kong's retailers fear the writing is on the wall. it's peak season for all those who make a living from christmas especially in one small town in the south of mexico take a look. it's starting to look

a lot like christmas and. the town in central mexico is known for its christmas tree ornaments especially glass balls. each steer is blown after being heated up to $750.00 degrees celsius. then comes the color it's all done by hand in contrast to the cheaper chinese competition. but just look at that look i was here and. these bubbles are very important to us in that way that you know i think that about 6070 percent of the population works in this sector. and you could say it's the basis of the economy for the people you love us a liquid on the other. the handicraft began to take off in the 1960 s. on a small scale at 1st now the business of paul bulls provides around 10000 jobs and has made this town wealthy and widely known. quantity only descended from us and

we are. beautiful. and they come at a good price considering that they're handmade by an artist and. you won't find them in just any old shopping center. right and the variety is really impressive you'll never get tired of all that beauty the fallow haven't found. the $50000000.00 christmas tree ornaments are produced and club who follow every year according to the mexican economy in the street half of the balls are exported many of them adorned with the famous face that of mexican painter for me their kahlo. but that's all for business a show for me in the team in berlin thanks for watching.

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of the 77 percent talk about the. front part of the class from ours the world's top this is where. welcome to the 77 percent. this weekend g.w. . for. 50 years of religions for peace in so many different faiths are working together toward a common goal the peaceful resolution of the most religious conflicts. now all female members are for religion school peace from the middle east are demanding the larger. oh come on the ground is empowering women giving them the rule. making them an agent of change. in. the female.

peacemakers stores january 5th. this is due to the new year's line from britain's prince it legislation clears a major hurdle. is the time that together. reinvigorate nations one night each. prime minister a. 124 votes meaning the u.k. is now on course to leave the e.u. at the end of january we'll take you live to. also on the program australia's prime

minister's response to public criticism cut short his holiday to face the full.