laura ashley looks east. the home furnishing brand cuts its uk presence to expand in china. and fianancial markets in asia are mixed, the big focus this week for investors around the world is the meeting of the us central bank on tuesday and wednesday, will it raise interest rates again? there have been fresh protests in france over the weekend, despite a series of costly concessions announced by president macron. around 66,000 people turned out again across france for a fifth round of protests which originally sprung up overfuel tax hikes, before snowballing into broader opposition to president macron, his pro—business agenda and style of governmen, but that was half the number of the previous weekend. he's now cancelled tax rises on fuel, raised the minimum wage and offered tax cuts for low—income pensioners. the cost of the concessions is expected to blow an $11.38 billion hole in france's 2019 budget. and the french government has indicated that its public deficit, originally expected to be 2.8% percent of gdp next year, could now swell to as much as 3.4% due to the extr

and fashion and home furnishings retailer laura ashley will close about a0 stores in the uk as it plansa0 uk stores since 2015. we've spoken quite often about the pressures facing high street retailers. but now there's evidence that some online retailers are also grappling with tough trading conditions. the chief executive of asos — nick beighton — says the fashion industry is currently experiencing an "unprecedented level of discounting". but despite that, a505 is now predicting its sales will grow by 15% rather than up to 25% for this trading year. it's also hitting their profits forecast. joining us now is the retail analyst catherine shuttleworth. often when we talk about the woes of the high retailers, reserve it is because people are spending money online instead, but this suggests they are not even doing that. so where has asos, once the titan of online fashion, gone wrong? they are discounting by up to 60%, and there are more places to shop online than ever before, and asos has got a lot of online competition. they were no longer the only people who sell a fixed—price delivery,

laura ashley — which is owned by malayan united industries — has already closed around a0 branches in uk have had a difficult year as consumer confidence wanes and fewer shoppers visit. the canadian mining company dominion says it's discovered the largest gem—quality diamond ever found in north america. the 552—carat stone, found in canada's northwest territories, is the size of a small chicken egg. it's nearly three times the size of the previous record holder, an 187—carat gem called the foxfire. dominion has described the find as "astonishing". we'd like to see it here in the studio, wouldn't we? a small chicken 999 studio, wouldn't we? a small chicken egg will be about that size so if the owners are watching, please bring it in, you will be welcome any time you like. stocks in asia made some gains as investors bought into the market following big falls last week. the focus has moved now to the federal reserve meeting— to update the markets on what the us central bank plans and in china investors await the closely watched annual central economic work conference. let's look at how t

specifically, laura ashley this morning, closing shops were looking to expand in china?line is that it's not as bad as it seems. they are just responding to changes. people are shopping online, so the closures reflect how people are shopping. is china, i mean, is it increasingly going to be a market that companies not doing so well here will be looking to? how easyis well here will be looking to? how easy is it, how obvious is it an environment in which these companies can expand? with a very different market of the uk. they will be challenges, but i think for a lot of retailers it will be reducing the reliance they have on one particular market, the uk market might be more challenging, so they will look to other areas for growth. looking at this factors of november, what's been causing the troubles for asos obviously there was black friday, it just seems to have segued into co nsta nt just seems to have segued into constant sales, now, all the way through the seasonal period. then into january it's going to be difficult times for the foreseeable, isn't it? for retailers

laura ashley looks east. the home furnishing brand cuts its uk presence to expand in china.estors around the world is the meeting of the us central bank on tuesday and wednesday, will it raise interest rates again?

laura ashley will close about a0 uk stores and expand its presence in china.lan to merge its retail business with rival npower, blaming "very challenging market conditions". the deal would have created the uk's second—biggest energy supplier. jaguar land rover could be preparing to cut up to 5,000 jobs in the early part of next year, according to the financial times. the car—maker is feeling the impact of slowing sales of diesel cars and falling chinese demand. jlr is owned by the indian group tata motors. the company said it noted the "media speculation" about the potential impact of its ongoing transformation programmes — but said it "does not comment on rumours concerning any part of these plans." our chance to delve a little deeper into some of those stories and we have been reporting into bad times at asos, seen as a big internet retailer success story? yes, really interesting. whenever you talk about the troubles facing retailers, people would often say, "it's because we're not spending on the high street, we're spending online instead , " high street, w

elsewhere, the fashion and home furnishings retailer laura ashley is to close around a0 of its uk stores china. with me is our economics correspondent dharshini david. we knew the high street was having a tough time but now online is a trickle into that realm? a devastating blow we received this morning. last week we had warnings for the likes of prime alchemy house of fraser, saying it has been a bad month for the high itself in november. over the weekend, month for the high itself in november. overthe weekend, more figures showing fewer of us visited the shop than the same weekend last year. now we get this morning from asos. it had been the darling of the fashion scene, that big online retailer, that success story we couldn't get enough of. originally known as as seen on tv. now it says it had very bad november sales and had to slash prices to keep up with its competitors and that doesn't seem to have worked. this morning, shares across the board are suffering as a result, because investors are saying, if asos can't make this pay, who can? this is devastating news, notjust for retaile

ashley. >> and i am ama daetz. we have learned new details about the suspect and the murdered abc7 news laura anthony is live from stanislauss here in stanislaus county are flying at half mass, this man hunt is still in full force. the suspect may have had time to get quite aways from here, the sheriff thinks he is still in this county. >> i did not know christmas morning, at 4:00 in the morning when i said goodbye to him, and sent him off to his family, that it would be the last time that i saw him. >> reporter: the chief of the tiny newman police officer asked that corporal be remembered as a husband and father and then as a cop. >> what needs to be known is that he was a human being and an american patriot. >> reporter: he was shot and killed during a dui traffic stop. >> it was a gun fight. >> though he would not provide the suspect's name,

ashley. >> and i'm kristen sze. the family is doing everything it can to get the mother here to say goodbye to her son in person. >> the little boy is at children's hospital in oakland. laura anthony is there live tonight with the story. laura? >> reporter: they said they know what they have to do, that is turn off life support. but they are still holding out hope that this boy's mother will be allowed to come here before it's too late. >> my wife is calling me every day, wanting to kiss and hold her son. >> reporter: he knows there's little time left for his young son, abdullah, who turned 2 years od two days ago while on life support at children's hospital. all ali wants now is for his wife to be able to say goodbye to their son. >> time's running out. please help us get my family together again. >> reporter: ali husan is from stockton but returned to the bay area in august to seek medical care for his son. ali and abdullah are naturalized u.s. citizens. along with his father. >> our decision is to see if we can get his mom out of the country to see him for the last time, at least to hug and kiss him goodbye. >> reporter: the boy's mother is a yemeni national living in e

ashley. sit a windy end to 2018 in the bay area, but that's not the ge.y thing keeping people on >> we have t cwi and the warnin. let's begin with laurare. >> reporter: well, that's right, dan. more the latter actually here in oakland. last new year's eve, a man was injured by random gunfire. a woman was also hurt, so that's why in some east bay neighborhoods as the new year approaches, residents will greet it with a mixture of excitement and nervousness. it happens every year, in east bay cities like oakland and as shown in this video in san leandro, where last year on new year's eve, a woman was struck and injured by a stray bullet from celebratory gunfire. >> whatever goes up, must come down. >> reporter: there will be extra patrols, especially in areas known to be trouble spots. >> if you're driving under the influence, we certainly are going to be enforcing, that means arrests and jail time. also, we're looking for celebratory gunfire. anyone discharging a firearm that's illegal within the city limits that is not only dangerous but can often lead to someone's death. >> reporter: oakland will also utilize technology like shot spot

ashley. >> and i'm kristen sze. the family is doing everything it can to get the mother here to say goodbye to her son in person. >> the little boy is at children's hospital in oakland. laura? >> reporter: they said they know what they have to do, that is turn off life support. but they are still holding out hope that this boy's mother will be allowed to come here before it's too late. >> my wife is calling me every day, wanting to kiss and hold her son. >> reporter: he knows there's little time left for his young son, abdullah, who turned 2 years od two days ago while on life support at children's hospital. all ali wants now is for his wife to be able to say goodbye to their son. >> time's running out. please help us get my f