to the united nations. he gave me a sense of what lies ahead for eu—china relations. trade differences are normal. the important thing is notjust the trade in balance but the trade volume. at the end of the day, as you know, europe is looking for new sources of growth for itself and europe is acutely aware that china is going to become a very, very important market for eu products too, and let me give you some very important statistics so listeners understand how things have changed. in the year 2000 the european economy combined, eu economy combined was six times bigger than china's economy. now they are the same size. in five years�* time china will

be bigger than the european union. europe is aware of this. while they will have difficulties over trade they also rely china is it going to become the big market for them also, so that's also part of the european calculations. do you seeing that the balance of power shifting, then, and they have to adjust accordingly? i think the europeans are acutely aware of the change in the balance of power. and remember, for europe today, one nightmare that they really worry about is the reelection of donald trump coming in for a second time as president of the united states, and they know that donald trump has absolutely no emotional connection to europe. he does not quite see the value of his european allies, and europe may have to get a much more difficult geopolitical environment. in that difficult geopolitical environment, when europe is looking for ways and means to possibly restrain russia at that point in time, maybe they can talk with china. and as you know china played an important role in making sure that russia did not even

consider using nuclear weapons in the ukraine war. the europeans also have to look over the horizon and think about what kind of world you have to deal with if donald trump gets elected. what do you expect from president putin �*s meeting? i president putin '5 meeting? i am confident president putin 's meeting? i am confident china will not supply weapons to russia. the chinese know where the american bread lines are on ukraine. at the same time, it is important to emphasise there is no natural alliance within china and russia. in my book i explain in the long run russia's number one strategic worry is not germany or europe, russia number one strategy is this with china. today the political alliance and factors have brought china and russia together and russia today,

china for economic operation, export market, oil, as you know china itself was not helping with the war because it disrupted china's growth as well. what will be is not a love first like the way the western media describes it to be forced the number of americans filing new claims for unemployment unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest level in more than eight months. the latest report by the labour department suggested that the us jobs market is cooling. this has raised hopes of interest rate cuts by the federal reserve. government authorities held a meeting of the air india express management, as well as protesting employees, after matters escalated and over 80 international and domestic flights had to be cancelled.

india's civil aviation ministry also had to step in after chaotic scenes were witnessed at airports around the world, when several air india express employees called in sick at the last moment in protest. now, in a sign and a message to its employees, the air india express management terminated 25 of its staff members only to reinstate them after the labour commission of the country intervened. the air india express management assuring that all the grievances of its employees will be addressed and resolved. but the big question is whether this is a temporary and a fragile truce and whether it will hold, and how exactly is the management going to go about resolving these issues? we saw similar problems just last month at another tata group—owned airline, vistara, when employees again went en masse sick leave in protest, with similar grievances to these. now, india's labour commission has said that they will be meeting later this month once again to take stock of the situation.

a boeing 737—300 plane has skidded off a runway in senegal, injuring at least 10 people. this happened as the flight, operated by air senegal, was taking off from the capital of mali in the early hours of thursday. investigations are under way. boeing, which has not commented on the incident, is facing a deepening crisis over its safety record. an advert promoting apple's new range of ipads has received widespread criticism. the video shows a giant hydraulic press crushing books and musical instruments. for more on why it has sparked such a backlash, here's the bbc�*s michelle fleury. the ad has only been out a couple of days, butjudging by the reaction online, it hit a nerve. in the spot, objects ranging from a trumpet, a piano to a turntable, a sculpted bust and lots and lots of paint are all shown being squashed by an enormous metal rubbish compactor into the size of apple's thinnest product ever, the 13 inch ipad pro. now, critics say the add celebrates the stifling of creativity rather than encouraging it.

even british actor hugh grant weighed in on the social media platform x, labelling it the destruction of the human experience, courtesy of silicon valley. actor and film—maker justine bateman, a vocal critic of the use of ai in the film industry, said apple's ad was crushing the arts, while songwriter crispin hunt called the act of destroying musical instruments evocative of burning books. the criticism is particularly pointed because of concerns, especially in creative industries, about artificial intelligence taking peoples jobs. now, it's a rare misstep by the company, which was behind the famous super bowl advert for its macintosh computers that was directed by ridley scott. it featured a dystopian world where conformity dominated and a single individual — representing the apple brand and, at the time, its new macintosh computers — was seen as resisting.

the ad today, well, that conveys the opposite message, according to its critics, which is why it's getting crushed by creativeness and consumers. turning to china now. with the world's second largest economy facing many challenges, there is much pessimism regarding its overall growth potential. yet a key exception is emerging in the form of domestic tourism. stephen mcdonnell reports from the chinese scenic town of wuzhen. china's ancient towns and villages have for centuries been attracting visitors. from emperors with their trailing cohorts to adventurous travellers from overseas. now the country's policymakers are banking on this kicking in once more. in the picturesque rivertown, it certainly looks like the tourists are back. for a chinese economy that has not rebounded from the coronavirus crisis, as everyone had expected, it's a welcome sight.

i asked a man selling ice creams if there has been a noticeable increase in tourists. he says, not only an increase, but now back to pre—pandemic levels. 0ther shopkeepers echoed the sentiment. translation: business is going well. _ it will only get better. tourists here like to dress up in traditional clothing. they tell us their friends and family are all travelling post covid. translation: yes, of course. after the pandemic we are all visiting other places. what you notice these days at china's historic sites is there are plenty of travellers, but not many foreign faces. we've been here all day and see hardly anyone. in years gone by there would have been a lot of international travellers at a place like this, but not any more. a russian student based in china says she loves it, but it's becoming more closed in its attitudes towards foreigners.

my friends and all the staff, they actually live in china, because it's inconvenient, because the chinese are not so open to you. some foreign tourists say china's electronic payment apps and the like can be challenging but not insurmountable dash may china's. foreigners thinking they might want to travel to china but they get is a hassle, because i don't know how to do these payments and tickets and stuff, what do you say to that? find a chinese friend, like we did! laughter it mix it easier to have a chinese friend? much easier. china is offering visa free travel to more countries in an attempt to attract visitors, but global politics has also tarnished its reputation as a place to see. yet tourism companies hope that because there are such incredible sites here, foreign travellers will still return. stephen mcdonell, bbc news. and that's it for this

edition of business today. i will be back with more in the next hour. thanks for watching. hey, i'mjulia with the catch up. tonight, a medical breakthrough, the killers make history and a pr boss makes a pr mess. but first, while some uni students have been campaigning against israel's war in gaza, the boss of universities uk has said they may need to take action if the protests get in the way of student life. the prime minister met uni leaders about anti—semitism on campus and worries some students have for their safety.

edward from the union ofjewish students was at the meeting. the prime minister made it very clear that campuses must be places where jewish students are welcome, included and able to study in safety. some other stories now. international students in wales have been sleeping rough because they're struggling to afford accommodation nearby. the students union at bangor said some people sleep in the 24—hour study space to save on commuting costs. the head of public relations at chinese search engine baidu has apologised after peddling a work—til—you—drop culture on tiktok. she said staff should keep their phones on 2a hours a day and that she has no responsibility for their wellbeing as, quote, "i am not your mother." and a little girl who was born deaf has had her hearing restored after a ground—breaking new treatment which replaces faulty dna. 0pal sandy can now hear whispers and she's starting to talk. and it started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this? #jealousy, turning saints into the sea...

yes, mr brightside by the killers is now officially the biggest song to never reach number one in the uk. that's you all caught up now. see you.

hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm gavin ramjaun.

a sensational comeback for leverkusen sees them into the europa final, and preserving their long unbeaten run in all competitions. 0lympiacos make no mistake. they seal their spot in the conference league final against fiorentina after a comfortable win over aston villa. and nadal�*s preparations for the french open are helpful, he says, after the spaniard is tested again, in his first round victory in rome. hello there and welcome along to the programme. and we were treated to another round of late drama in european football again on thursday. bayer leverkusen came back against roma, to not only extend their incredible unbeaten run this season — but secure their place in the final of the europa league. it looked as though xabi alonso's side were going to be

defeated on the night, they were 2—1 down until