Retailers have been urged by Scottish politicians to ensure the safety of staff and shoppers and to avoid a repeat of "disgraceful" scenes on Black Friday. Last year a Tesco store in Dundee was forced to close because of concerns over customer safety as crowds rushed to get their hands on bargains. Community safety minister Paul Wheelhouse said:

Green MSP Patrick Harvie said Black Friday was "deliberately designed to whip customers up into a frenzy of aggression and in some cases violence".

Business presenter Ben Thompson will be in the thick of the retail action tomorrow so we don't have to be. But he remains undecided about the merits of "Black Friday". 

Chris Johnston
Business reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Sajid Javid, the Business Secretary, has been singing the praises of the private sector for its "enormous contribution" to communities across the UK. 

"Such generosity happens every single day, but as a country it is something that we do not always fully recognise," he says. "It could be due to that famous British sense of reticence – or simply because the virtues of philanthropy are not always spoken with a loud enough voice, yet the benefits for society are clear to see."

Mr Javid described the hospice movement as “a great unsung British success story” in which the corporate sector played a leading role.  

He attended a breakfast this morning for Haven House Children’s Hospice, external at Simpson's in the Strand.

Image source, Getty Images

Russia has increased checks on food and agricultural imports from Turkey, the Russian agriculture ministry says, as part of moves to curb trade after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet.

Food safety watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor normally only checks some food deliveries from Turkey, but will now check all of them, with the possibility of delays.

Image source, AFP

A source close to the potential deal has told me that he is aware of concerns that the [South China Morning Post] broadsheet, under the internet giant [Alibaba], would be used to please the Chinese government. He dismissed those fears, saying the newspaper would not be useful to the new owner if it lacked credibility. He said any future agreement would be ‘just business’. But many people in Hong Kong, a politically polarised city, are deeply worried. They fear that their flagship English-language newspaper will fall into the hands of a mainland Chinese company that will have no choice but to accommodate Beijing if it wants to stay in business.    

Paul Johnson of the IFS said Chancellor George Osborne is "going to need his luck to hold out" to keep to his surplus target: 

Chinese Internet giant Alibaba is in talks with the publisher of Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper to buy the daily, a source familiar with the situation has told BBC News. 

The deal fits with Alibaba's overall business strategy of purchasing media assets, the source says.

The person clarified that it is the Alibaba Group, and not its chairman Jack Ma, that is engaged in the negotiations.

It's probable not often someone will say that £5bn is a teeny number but to Paul Johnson at the IFS it is. At least, it is if taken as a percentage of the government's £700bn a year budget, he says. He seems a little surprised that such small changes in the government's forecast of its budget can be seen as driving apparently big changes in policy.

Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies is giving his assessment of the chancellors's Spending Review and Autumn Statement.

This from his speech.

You can watch his speech online here., external

Four partners at the Belfast office of KPMG have been arrested in connection with suspected tax evasion.

HMRC officials visited the accountancy firm's city centre office yesterday and detained the men.

They are Jon D'Arcy, Eamonn Donaghy, Arthur O'Brien and Paul Hollway, the firm's most senior staff in Northern Ireland.

KPMG said it is cooperating with the investigation and the four men have been placed on "administrative leave".

Image source, Thinkstock

After George Osborne announced plans to curb compensation payments for questionable whiplash claims, Camila Ruz and Harry Low from the Magazine have been looking at whether the UK has a “whiplash culture”.

Read their feature here.

Image source, Reuters

Thousands of Greek pensioners are attending a demonstration in central Athens today against cuts demanded under an international bailout.

Meanwhile, the public sector union has also called its second nationwide anti-austerity strike in under a month. 

The biggest public and private sector unions, representing about 2.6 million workers, plan a to hold a 24-hour strike against pension reform on 3 December. 

The government has passed legislation raising the retirement age, increased health care contributions and got rid of most early retirement benefits.

The entire board of Italy's state railway group has resigned. 

It comes just days after the Italian government confirmed plans to sell its 40% stake in the Ferrovie dello Stato.

The government plans to list shares in the group in Milan next year. 

There had been speculation the government might force a management shake up ahead of the privatisation. 

Ferrovie dello Stato chairman Marcello Messori and Michele Mario Elia, the group’s chief executive, were reportedly at odds over what parts of the railway should be privatised.

This is unusual, mining firms are the biggest winners and losers on the FTSE 100 so far.

The top winner on the FTSE 100 is mining firm is Glencore, up 3.4% but rival mining firm BHP Billiton is the biggest loser, down 2.3%.

BHP has been dragged down by negative comments from analysts at JP Morgan and Societe Generale.

However, other mining shares have been boosted by rising prices for metals.

Overall the FTSE 100 is up 0.6%.

Ireland, and Dublin in particular, is in the midst of a housing shortage. So how is it that this country, which once had too many homes, now has too few? 

Business Daily spoke to Ronan Lyons, assistant professor of economics at Dublin's Trinity University about what's gone wrong. 

Click below for more.