:00:00. > :00:00.Now for the latest financial news with
:00:00. > :00:29.Plus: Brace yourselves, it's Black Friday.
:00:30. > :00:33.Yes, the annual holiday shopping binge.
:00:34. > :00:47.Welcome to World Business Report, I'm Aaron Heslehurst.
:00:48. > :00:55.Much more on Black Friday in a moment.
:00:56. > :01:03.give you an exciting snapshot of the world of business, and that is not
:01:04. > :01:06.But first: Every Turkish tomato bought contributes to the next
:01:07. > :01:10.Those were the words of a senior Russian government
:01:11. > :01:17.But what is being called the tomato war is likely to have far
:01:18. > :01:20.bigger implications, as Russia steps up economic pressure on Turkey for
:01:21. > :01:27.It is also likely to damage the economies of both countries, at a
:01:28. > :01:31.The two do $33 billion of trade each year.
:01:32. > :01:34.Turkey buys most of its energy from Russia, which is in turn the
:01:35. > :01:43.Now, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has called for a range
:01:44. > :01:45.of economic sanctions to be drafted within two days.
:01:46. > :01:48.Russia has already advised its people not to travel to Turkish
:01:49. > :01:51.tourist resorts, normally the top destination for Russians.
:01:52. > :01:58.It has also stepped up checks on Turkish food products,
:01:59. > :02:01.confiscating hundreds of kilos of food on safety grounds, and
:02:02. > :02:13.And 39 Turkish delegates at an agricultural exhibition have
:02:14. > :02:23.been deported for supposed visa violations.
:02:24. > :02:30.We have a little explain for you to take a look at. Watch this. Last
:02:31. > :02:37.year, 4.5 million Russian tourist visited Turkey. However, President
:02:38. > :02:40.Putin has now warned citizens against visiting the country,
:02:41. > :02:45.because of security risks. And one of Russia's largest travel agencies
:02:46. > :02:53.has said it would suspend selling package tours to the company. --
:02:54. > :02:58.country. Turkey and Russia are also major energy and commodities
:02:59. > :03:03.partners. Turkey is the second biggest buyer of Russian natural gas
:03:04. > :03:09.after Germany, and relies on Russia for oil, steel and wheat supplies.
:03:10. > :03:13.The tensions may jeopardise a raft of projects, including a nuclear
:03:14. > :03:17.project in Turkey that is worth some $20 billion, and the Turkstream gas
:03:18. > :03:22.pipeline, the Russian project. Now, it is the day
:03:23. > :03:24.after Thanksgiving, and in the US retail trade that means two very
:03:25. > :03:29.lucrative words, Black Friday. It got the name because shopkeepers
:03:30. > :03:32.traditionally did so well they went into profit, or into the black,
:03:33. > :03:35.for first time in the year. In the US,
:03:36. > :03:38.it is seen as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season,
:03:39. > :03:40.with stores opening in the early Scenes like these in UK stores
:03:41. > :03:47.grabbed headlines last year, But has Black Friday mania really
:03:48. > :04:03.spread around the world, We spoke to some
:04:04. > :04:17.of our correspondents to find out. You can thank the United States for
:04:18. > :04:20.Black Friday, as the day before Thanksgiving traditionally marked
:04:21. > :04:24.the start of the holiday shopping season. Last year 87 million people
:04:25. > :04:30.rushed to the stores or shopped online for the chance to save big,
:04:31. > :04:33.spending $9 billion. But whether you can call it the most famous shopping
:04:34. > :04:37.day any more is up for debate. Each year, it seems retailers are
:04:38. > :04:41.bringing their sales up earlier and earlier to edge out competitors. Low
:04:42. > :04:48.back a few years ago British retailers decided to get in on the
:04:49. > :04:51.act. One major credit card company reckons we will spend nearly $3
:04:52. > :04:56.billion in the UK today, a third more than last year. The question
:04:57. > :05:01.is, could this be the peak? Fights broke out last year, and some
:05:02. > :05:07.retailers are scaling back, for example, ASDA, owned by Walmart, is
:05:08. > :05:13.not taking part. Black Friday hasn't caught on here. The closest Indian
:05:14. > :05:18.one is in the valley, the biggest festival was two weeks ago, and
:05:19. > :05:22.while a lot was discounted, it has been taken to a new level by the big
:05:23. > :05:27.online retailers like Amazon India. They are all growing fast and used
:05:28. > :05:33.sales to try and win new customers. Perhaps next year India will jump on
:05:34. > :05:40.the Black Friday bandwagon. Here in Hong Kong, the big day for discount
:05:41. > :05:45.shopping has already passed. China doesn't celebrate Black Friday.
:05:46. > :05:49.Instead it has what it calls Singles Day, where every year on 11
:05:50. > :05:53.November, online retailers offer discounts of up to 70% off of
:05:54. > :06:01.regular prices. And this year, the online shopping giant Alibaba racked
:06:02. > :06:05.up purchases of more than 14 billion US dollars, making Singles Day a
:06:06. > :06:10.much bigger sales of and then Black Friday. Here in Brazil, Black Friday
:06:11. > :06:16.is to a new thing, but many shoppers don't trust it. Some believe the
:06:17. > :06:20.prices hiked in the month before the events are what seems like a big
:06:21. > :06:24.discount could just be a regular price. Some are worried that they
:06:25. > :06:26.might not be getting a real bargain. There you go, a little picture from
:06:27. > :06:27.around the globe. Martin Newman is from the KPMG/Ipsos
:06:28. > :06:39.retail think tank. Also the CEO and founder of
:06:40. > :06:44.Practicology. I got that right! You did, thank you. Is hardly a global
:06:45. > :06:48.phenomenon, but I'm trying to get a sense, doesn't really have any
:06:49. > :06:52.relevance outside the United States? It certainly does, it has become a
:06:53. > :06:55.phenomenon in the UK the last couple of years. Black Friday sales are
:06:56. > :07:01.pretty significant. I think the question that I have and that
:07:02. > :07:04.retailers are asking themselves is whether or not it is driving
:07:05. > :07:06.incremental revenue or whether it is just shifting demand. There is
:07:07. > :07:09.evidence that consumers hold off purchasing when they know that Black
:07:10. > :07:12.Friday is coming up, and it might also be diminishing the importance
:07:13. > :07:16.of Boxing Day sales and post- Christmas Day sales in January.
:07:17. > :07:22.Because we talk about Black Friday, but come Monday we have Cyber
:07:23. > :07:26.Monday. That adds to the whole shopping picture. But speaking of
:07:27. > :07:31.Cyber Monday, do we have the pictures, they are a bit fun to run,
:07:32. > :07:35.but anyway, the pictures from last year, the madness. Idiots grabbing
:07:36. > :07:41.flatscreen televisions and fighting over them, really. What are those
:07:42. > :07:45.sorts of seems a thing of the past, given that we are seeing more and
:07:46. > :07:54.more is Stuff being bought online? -- but are those sorts of scenes? I
:07:55. > :08:01.think they will be switching their purchase online, who wants to be
:08:02. > :08:05.caught in scrimmage at 8am when the sales open? I think that will be a
:08:06. > :08:09.driver in actually taking more consumers online to make their Black
:08:10. > :08:13.Friday purchases in the first place. I was reading some reports
:08:14. > :08:18.suggesting maybe 65% of everything bought on Black Friday and Cyber
:08:19. > :08:23.Monday will be online today. So we don't know yet if this is extra
:08:24. > :08:25.stuff people are buying, as you mentioned. Retailers haven't got
:08:26. > :08:30.their head around that yet, all put their finger on it. But doesn't give
:08:31. > :08:36.a boost to economies, whether it is the US or the UK? It does, I think
:08:37. > :08:39.the UK... I think it is a question mark over incremental sales at at
:08:40. > :08:43.the domestic level but one of the things it has done in recent years
:08:44. > :08:47.is a no number of retailers have seen a big increase in cross-border
:08:48. > :08:52.trade. So they have been getting a lot of orders online from German and
:08:53. > :08:55.French consumers. Friday, if you actually tot up the sales, Black
:08:56. > :09:01.Friday will be more than that of the rest of Europe combined for the UK.
:09:02. > :09:05.So it has certainly benefited certain markets. Unfortunately we
:09:06. > :09:11.have to wrap it up, but this pales in comparison with Singles Day, in
:09:12. > :09:18.China. Is huge in China, in Australia. Australian retailers are
:09:19. > :09:21.doing a great job of selling to Chinese consumers and getting
:09:22. > :09:23.involved in Singles Day as well. Taking advantage of Chinese
:09:24. > :09:26.consumerism, nothing wrong with that.
:09:27. > :09:29.In other news: Mining giants BHP Billiton and Vale have rejected
:09:30. > :09:31.a UN report saying mud released in the Brazilian mine disaster
:09:32. > :09:36.A village was engulfed and at least 13 people were killed
:09:37. > :09:39.when a dam burst at the Sammarco iron ore mine, in what has been has
:09:40. > :09:41.been described as the country's worst environmental disaster.
:09:42. > :09:44.On Wednesday, UN experts said there was evidence the flood contained
:09:45. > :09:47.high levels of toxic heavy metals and other toxic chemicals.
:09:48. > :09:54.BHP, though, says the debris poses no danger.
:09:55. > :09:57.Consumer goods giant Unilever says it will switch to using only
:09:58. > :09:59.renewable energy by 2030, and stop using energy
:10:00. > :10:03.The announcement comes ahead of the global climate summit, which begins
:10:04. > :10:06.in Paris on Sunday, where almost 200 countries will try to agree
:10:07. > :10:10.Unilever is one of 81 major firms, including rivals Nestle and Procter
:10:11. > :10:13.Gamble, that have signed up to setting emissions targets
:10:14. > :10:28.Don't forget, you can get in touch with me
:10:29. > :10:43.I will be back with James to take a look at some of the newspapers from
:10:44. > :10:47.around the world. But I. -- goodbye.
:10:48. > :10:51.A Royal Marine's wife has come up with a unique way to help children
:10:52. > :10:53.deal with their parents being away on military
:10:54. > :10:56.deployments, a small, washable version of mum or dad that they can