plus, leaving las vegas. top tech firms give the consumer electronics show a miss as covid cases surge. we start with the row over vaccine inequality. should rich nations be doing more to get people in poorer countries vaccinated against covid? well, on thursday, a group of 65 global investment funds weighed into the debate. they want the bonuses of drug company bosses to be linked to a fairer distribution of vaccines around the world. and they are threatening to vote against ceo pay settlements that don't comply. we are asking the pharmaceutical companies and the world to produce the vaccine against covid to guarantee a more equitable distribution of the vaccine around the world, as we feel it is not distributed fairly at the moment, and what we are asking companies to do is to tie their renumeration policy and strategy to a more equitable distribution of the vaccine, and the reason we are doing that is obviously, from one point, from humanitarian point of view, we find that it is important get a more equitable distribution, but even from a purely financial point of view we feel that continuation of the pandemic, as it is going now, is a threat to the economy, and effectively a threat to our investment returns, which in itself is, again, if the pensions of the participants of the pension funds who are our clients. so it is trying to do a good thing, but also definitely a financial incentive for us as investors. the drugmakers they've written to — astrazeneca, pfizer, moderna and johnson & johnson — say they are doing their part to share vaccines around fairly. let's get the views of dan kemp, global chief investment officer at morningstar investment management. pfizer's boss has claimed that the biggest restriction on expanding manufacturing is the scarcity of highly specialised materials. if that is true, should drug companies be penalised for problems that they have limited ability to resolve themselves? hello, victoria. you have put yourfinger hello, victoria. you have put your finger on the number of the su, whenever we have this focus on one particular issue, immediately we can move into the complexity of such an issue. it clearly isn't straightforward, but what is great to see here as investment managers taking various instability as owners of these businesses to more correctly representatives of us as the end investors and owners of those businesses, and driving them forward to increase the availability of vaccines. clearly it is not the final issue, it is reasonable to debate whether linking executive pay to just one issue, even one as important as covid, is the right thing to do, whether it is other incentives that are also positive, but i think the key here is this idea of co—ordinated effort by shareholders to deliver a change which is notjust directly related to finance, and that is a real step forward in the way that the industry thinks about the investments. how common is active engagement in social responsibility in the investment world? it is becoming _ investment world? it is becoming increasingly l investment world? it 3 becoming increasingly common. in the past, investment managers would focus purely on financial terms, and sometimes really short term financial terms, which is at odds with what investment is all about investment is all about the long—term value creation, and so even within that context, it is so important to think about the broader impact of a business, because of course if a business has a negative impact on the world, then as people become more aware of that impact, as governments tighten regulations, but creates a lot of risk, which tends to be called esg risks, environmental, social and governance risk, so what we're now is increasingly, investment managers and investors working together to reduce that level of risk and by doing that, you can increase the long—term financial returns, as well as improve the impact on the economy, so this isjust improve the impact on the economy, so this is just one microcosm of many conversations that are going on, of course it is high—profile, butjust one of many conversations going on across the investment world to try to improve the impact of those businesses rather than do what was done in the past, which was just to sell them and move on, this is a really positive step stop thank you very much for your time today. let's go to france now. this week, it has taken on the presidency of the european council, which it will hold for the next six months. it's the first time in 13 years france has held the role, and as well as the obvious issues of covid, defence and the environment, president macron is vowing to use his leadership to take on big tech. he has promised "a moment of truth" in the regulation and accountability of digital platforms. georgina wright is director of the europe program at the institut montaigne, an independant think tank in paris. his critics have accused him of electioneering and should have delayed france's turn given that he has national elections during his tenure, could the decision to ultimately cost him the national presidency? good morning. well, that is an excellent question, isn't it? actually presiding or having the presidency of the council of the eu sounds rather ground, but actually, in reality, what you end up doing is every six months and you country takes over the presidency and one of the three main institutions of the three main institutions of the european union, and this one is the grouping of the 27 countries, know what that means in practice is that you share lots of meetings, you are responsible for the day—to—day activities, so you share the papers the different countries are going to be negotiating, but it is also the opportunity to push forward some of your own priorities, and that is certainly what francis trying to do in the digital space, but also on climate and social issues and defence. now, taking a close look at digital issues, france has three main ambitions, one is to pass an act that would try to get, you know, digital companies to be much more responsible, to bring down anything that leads to disinformation, but also illegal content on their platforms, the second is to try to introduce new competition rules, to try to combat and reduce the risk of monopolies, and the third is to really try to support you companies, you digital companies, will have to see how far they get in six months. see how far they get in six months-— see how far they get in six months. . . , ., ., months. france is one of the loudest voices _ months. france is one of the loudest voices calling - months. france is one of the loudest voices calling for - loudest voices calling for additional levies on products and services that emit large volumes of carbon dioxide, does holding the presidency infer greater power to push through a country's particular national agenda? country's particular national aaenda? ~ , , ., ., agenda? well, yes and no. i mean, agenda? well, yes and no. i mean. you _ agenda? well, yes and no. i mean, you only _ agenda? well, yes and no. i mean, you only have - agenda? well, yes and no. i mean, you only have this i mean, you only have this presidency for six months, and let's not forget that france is also about to enter an electoral campaign, so there are lots of things going on in france right now. but it certainly gives the country responsible, you know, an opportunity to at least share those meetings and say, well, actually today we're going to talk more about climate, perhaps we will talk about other issues, so there is a bit of his influence there. there is a lot of ongoing eu work. you only have this role for six months, and actually you do need to work with the countries that have the presidency before you and after you to make sure that there is some consistency, so yes, it gives you a little bit of influence but certainly you want to make sure that you can achieve a lot during the six months so you need to work with the two years beforehand to make sure that the discussions that he will inherit are actually already happening. inherit are actually already happening-— inherit are actually already haueninu. , ., ., happening. georgina, we will leave it there. _ happening. georgina, we will leave it there. georgina - happening. georgina, we will. leave it there. georgina wright in paris, thank you for your time. ., . . in paris, thank you for your time. ., ., . ., ,, time. from france to the us, where wall — time. from france to the us, where wall street _ time. from france to the us, where wall street is - time. from france to the us, where wall street is awaiting | where wall street is awaiting the latest monthly employment figures. the labour market in the states has lost over 22 million jobs the states has lost over 22 millionjobs in the states has lost over 22 million jobs in the the states has lost over 22 millionjobs in the opening months of the pandemic stop but there are signs it is now making close to a full recovery. on thursday data showed the number of people being laid off is now at its lowest since 1969. surging omicron cases are complicating this picture, a samira hussain reports from new york. it continues to be a jobseekers market in the united states. although more people applied for unemployment benefits last week, the unemployment picture still so there are many more jobs available than there are people to film them, however, much the data was collect it before this new wave of infections, and now the omicron variant of covid—i9 has really become the dominant strain, representing some 95% of all positive cases, just a few weeks ago, it was dealt so that had dominated. the highly transmissible version of the virus could weaken the labour market's recovery, with many businesses already struggling to fill positions and people still leaving theirjobs at record numbers, many are reluctant to lay off the staff they actually do have, now, the centres for disease control recently reduced the isolation time for those that have tested positive and remain asymptomatic, and in addition, it doesn't require people to test negative before leaving isolation. that has allowed for people to get back to work faster, but many scientists and doctors have been critical of this policy because it is seen as prioritising the economy over the people's health and well—being. over the people's health and well-being-_ over the people's health and well-being. that was samira hussain- _ brian coulton is chief economist at fitch ratings. a serious labour shortage has been hitting the supply chain. how long can americans expect this to last. how long can americans expect this to last-— this to last. well, the striking _ this to last. well, the striking thing - this to last. well, the striking thing has - this to last. well, the l striking thing has been this to last. well, the - striking thing has been how slow the labour force has recovered from the pandemic. we have had the labour force, what we call the participation rate, the share of adults who are actually either working or looking for work, but has taken much longer to recover, there has been quite a lot of access and early retirement as well. so that is hampering the labour demand and it is making it harderforfirms to find demand and it is making it harder for firms to find people to fill the roles they are looking for. i don't think it will be over anytime soon. i think the first six months of this year, it is going to be a very significant story and very significant for the federal reserve as well.- significant for the federal reserve as well. ., ., reserve as well. you mentioned the fad. reserve as well. you mentioned the fad- all _ reserve as well. you mentioned the fad. all of — reserve as well. you mentioned the fad. all of this, _ reserve as well. you mentioned the fad. all of this, the - the fad. all of this, the shortages, driving up wages, exacerbating the inflation problem, just how effective have allergies that policies been to date in managing this overheating of the world's largest economy? i overheating of the world's largest economy?- overheating of the world's largest economy? i think a big factor that _ largest economy? i think a big factor that has _ largest economy? i think a big factor that has been _ largest economy? i think a big factor that has been pushing l factor that has been pushing these pressures up has been the sheer size of the fiscal stimulus early in 2021, a lot about feeding into demand, which has caused problems in the global manufacturing supply chain. but has maybe started to stabilise but not improved yet at all. and on the labour market side, as i say, it has been a surprise how many people have just been out of the labour market. it is improving, before the job market was starting to re— accelerate again, with 400,000 newjobs per month, inaudible. but what it might mean is that it goes down a bit injanuary and february because it is affected by the renewed surge in the pandemic, the neurosurgeon cases, which are very labour—intensive. but ink what might cause labour demand to slow a bit in the next couple of months, we have seen 3.5 millionjobs below where of months, we have seen 3.5 million jobs below where we were before the pandemic hits, and an awful lot about 2020 that you mentioned has come back, we are still down on that number, so i think it is still probably five or six months before we get back to maximum employment, as the fed suggests. employment, as the fed suggests-— employment, as the fed su: rests. ,, ., , suggests. six months, we will see whether _ suggests. six months, we will see whether or _ suggests. six months, we will see whether or not _ suggests. six months, we will see whether or not you - suggests. six months, we will see whether or not you are . see whether or not you are correct as time unfolds, thanks for your time today. to asia now, where samsung has been reaping the benefits of our increased use of technology during the pandemic. it's seen a big jump in profits for the last three months of 2021. suranjana tewari is following this from singapore. yes, the largest smartphone and a chipmaker in the world reporting those estimated earnings. samsung chairs up in early trading. what was it up about the last three months of the year that made something do so well? like other tech companies they are still reaping the benefits of the pandemic and that heightened demand for chips and smart phones but also washing machines and televisions. that said, covid and omicron continues to be a concern in the company are really going to be looking at the chinese city of xian that has gone into lockdown. it has a semiconductor plant there and the concern is that any lockdown, any stock to the manufacturing will really put another strain on the global supply chain shortage. the company has said last week that it might have to adjust some production, but it's not clear how it will impact the production of computer chips. samsung makes up one fifth of south korea's gdp so it gives a good indication of how things are going but also how the global chip shortage is likely to play out. we will get more details onjanuary to play out. we will get more details on january 27 to play out. we will get more details onjanuary 27 when samsung reports its full earnings. samsung reports its full earnings-— samsung reports its full earninus. . ., earnings. that is a growing fiaure. earnings. that is a growing figure. thanks _ earnings. that is a growing figure. thanks very - earnings. that is a growing figure. thanks very much! | earnings. that is a growing l figure. thanks very much! -- figure. thanks very much! —— thatis figure. thanks very much! —— that is a staggering figure. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: causing a stink over ink. why an eu chemical ban is needling tattoo artists all over europe. the japanese people are in mourning following the death of emperor hirohito. thousands converged on the imperial palace to pay their respects when it was announced he was dead. good grief. after half a century of delighting fans around the world, charlie brown and the rest of the gang are calling it quits. the singer paul simon starts his tour of- south africa tomorrow in spite of protests and violence - from some black activist groups. i they say international artists should continue to boycott south africa _ until majority rule is established. . around the world, people have been paying tribute to the iconic rock star david bowie, who sold 140 million albums in a career that spanned half a century. his family announced overnight that he died of cancer at the age of 69. the world's tallest skyscraper opens later today. the burj dubai has easily overtaken its nearest rivals. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: heavy gunfire is heard in kazakhstan�*s largest city, russian—led troops arrive to help stop a wave of unrest that has left dozens dead, the president will address the nation later. the australian government rejects claims that novak djokovic is being held captive, after the tennis star was denied entry for failing to meet covid vaccination requirements. to las vegas now, where the world's biggest technology fair opened its doors this week. the consumer electronics show is back in physicalform this year, after taking the decision to go online only in 2021. but with covid cases hitting a million a day in the us, was it the right call? the bbc�*s silicon valley correspondent, james clayton, has more. ces in glitzy las vegas has for decades been the place with the latest gizmos, robots and gadgets get their first outing. a trade show a bit of a tech institution. last year, the conference was remote, co ntroversially, conference was remote, controversially, this year, the organisers pushed ahead. despite record numbers of covid cases in the us, many people simply haven't shown up. we've been here at ces for about two hours, it's the opening day and you are expected to be absolutely rammed. and to be fair, some people have turned up fair, some people have turned up but the numbers are way down. right here, you would expect there to be exhibitors but many simply haven't turned up. google, amazon, microsoft and many more have withdrawn citing safety worries. that's what mark would they wanted to do, founder of a british headphone company, he wanted to pull out but as he had already paid $50,000 and with no prospect of a refund, decided to stay. prospect of a refund, decided to sta . , , . prospect of a refund, decided tosta. ,,., to stay. this is a massive investment. _ to stay. this is a massive investment. we - to stay. this is a massive investment. we were - to stay. this is a massive - investment. we were shocked to see people building boots behind us and then literally overnight they had been pulled out. ,, ., overnight they had been pulled out, ,, ., , overnight they had been pulled out. ,, ., , ., , out. should this have been cancelled. _ out. should this have been cancelled, should - out. should this have been cancelled, should it - out. should this have been cancelled, should it have l out. should this have been - cancelled, should it have been in in—person event? i cancelled, should it have been in in-person event?— in in-person event? i think it should have _ in in-person event? i think it should have been _ in in-person event? i think it should have been cancelled. | in in-person event? i think it - should have been cancelled. not all the major _ should have been cancelled. not all the major companies stayed away. samsung and lg had major exhibits including the latest projectors, tvs and of course fridges with wi—fi copy but many other big companies simply didn't turn up. speaking to bbc click, ces vice president said people had the right to decide whether they wanted to go or not. ~ ~' ., whether they wanted to go or not. ~ ~ ., ., ., not. we know that there are eo - le not. we know that there are people that _ not. we know that there are people that won't _ not. we know that there are people that won't be - not. we know that there are people that won't be able i not. we know that there are people that won't be able to make it to ces in person and we want them to connect with us digitally but for those who are ready, vaccinated, wearing masks and following up policies, we also wanted to have a show for them. the organisers _ have a show for them. the organisers here _ have a show for them. the organisers here say - have a show for them. the organisers here say they have done everything they can to keep people safe including mandating vaccines and giving everyone a lateral flow test. but there are some that believe this show simply shouldn't have gone ahead in person. finally, to a europe—wide stink, over ink. tattoo artists across the european union are warning they could be driven out of business by sweeping new regulation from brussels, banning some 4,000 chemical agents. among those banned is iso—propanol alcohol, the most common ingredient in tattoo ink. the eu links the chemicals to skin allergies and even genetic mutations and cancer. and it argues the industry has had plenty of time to switch to alternatives. but tattooists say they don't yet exist, or are in very short supply. dolores murray owns the wild cat ink tattoo and piercing shop in dublin, and speaks for the industry trade body, the council of european tattoo associations. thank you very much forjoining me today. this is a curious one, because if the eu is saying here that there is clear—cut evidence that this stuff is bad for you, how can you lobby to keep injecting it into people's skin? you lobby to keep in'ecting it into people's skin?_ into people's skin? well, i sunpose — into people's skin? well, i suppose there _ into people's skin? well, i suppose there is - into people's skin? well, i suppose there is not - into people's skin? well, i- suppose there is not clear-cut suppose there is not clear—cut evidence to say that it is bad for you in tattooing. there is absolutely no proof of that. this is based on an assumption, there is no scientific evidence for that. and it says so in the released regulation. gk for that. and it says so in the released regulation.- for that. and it says so in the released regulation. ok but it we will park — released regulation. ok but it we will park that _ released regulation. ok but it we will park that just - released regulation. ok but it we will park that just for - released regulation. ok but it we will park that just for the l we will park that just for the moment. in terms of what this is going to do to the industry, 4000 chemicals including the main one, and i understand there are additional problems around blue and green pigment in particular, what is this going to do to the industry, because people are still going to want tattoos.— because people are still going to want tattoos. yes, of course eo - le to want tattoos. yes, of course people are — to want tattoos. yes, of course people are still _ to want tattoos. yes, of course people are still going _ to want tattoos. yes, of course people are still going to - to want tattoos. yes, of course people are still going to want l people are still going to want tattoos so it's possibly going to drive it underground. it depends on how it is enforced, if it is possible for it to be enforced, it's not logical, it's not rational, it has not been properly argued and it is just not the place to be regulating tattoo inks. there is a much wider area for regulating tattoo inks and it reaches a very narrow area, so reaches a very narrow area, so i reaches a very narrow area, so i am not denying, we are not denying that there is possibly problems with the anchor but there has been an academic society in existence since 2013 to research this, but that advice has been ignored as well. they are completely against this, there is no reason to think that taking these products out of tattoo inks is going to make them any less harmful than they supposedly already are, so just because you have a complaint thank you are still not going to get problems. so obviously the uk is not included at the moment, although i'd believe that they are thinking about bringing the same regulation in there. from the fourth in the rest of europe, the inks have been banned. the inks that we have been using. as you say, the main substance that has been banned as isopropanol alcohol is also 4000 components alcohol is also 4000 components a new labelling requirements for the inks. we have had two years of the covid pandemic, so things have been in very short supply. maybe we were a bit slow in moving the anchor manufacturers, the supply companies and the tattooists themselves to really see how this was going to impact us and it's only really in the last three or four months that the vast majority of tattooists have come to the realisation of what this actually means. you also refer there to the green and blue pigments. so we've had and blue pigments. so we've had an exemption put on that for a further year because these are so difficult to replace, but at present as far as i know, i suppose there is some research but most of the research is trying to go and to get the current inks compliant with the released regulations as they stand as of two days ago. {lila stand as of two days ago. 0k, we're going — stand as of two days ago. 0k, we're going to _ stand as of two days ago. 0k, we're going to have _ stand as of two days ago. 0k, we're going to have to leave it there for the moment, we are slightly running out of time on the programme. thank you so much for your contribution and just for viewers in the uk, the uk government is to investigate the health risks posed by tattoo inks after the eu introduced ban on the range of substances, 4000 substances used in pigments on the ground that they are hazardous. thank you very much for your time today stop you can reach me on twitter. the fun continues over on world news but for people on the uk viewing, with got breakfast coming up next on bbc one. hello. well, it's going to be cold for another day or so, and after that, things will turn a little less cold, but there's a big low pressure out there in the atlantic. you can see the cold fronts sweeping across the uk. behind it, that speckled cloud, the shower clouds, some of them wintry, carried by a pretty cold current of air coming off the north atlantic. but i think come the weekend, this next low pressure — this is another one — will come our way and will also warm things up a little bit, but until then, still the risk of snow and ice through the early hours and into friday, mostly but not exclusively northern parts of the uk. so, here's the weather map, the forecast early friday. you can see wintry showers across the pennines, the highlands, parts of northern ireland, too. temperatures close to freezing early on friday, so icy patches possible. again, mostly across the northern half of the uk and the south, it's just a little bit too mild. on the whole, not a bad day for many of us across eastern areas of the uk. out towards the west, we'll have those showers and a good old breeze at least for the first half of the day. then in the southwest, we'll see a spell of rain sweeping through during the afternoon, so cardiff and plymouth, possibly portsmouth, will be wet for a time on friday before it dries out. here's the next low pressure. that's the one that's actually moving through right now, but this is the next one on friday. and here's the weather front, the cold front that moves through during the first half of saturday across the uk. rain and wind — a really unpleasant picture early in the day, but notice that it does tend to dry out at least somewhat second half of the day on saturday, although it could stay wet across eastern areas. you can see the temperatures back into double figures, so it's not going to be quite so cold, but the wind will make it feel pretty nippy. and then, sunday, actually we're in between weather systems — one out there in the north sea, this approaching. we're in between, so sunday isn't looking too bad at all. temperatures will be a little lower, between, say, 5—8 degrees for the most part, maybe a little bit milder in cornwall and devon. but on the whole, out of the two days, i think sunday is looking better. and thereafter, it really does turn just that little bit milder with temperatures perhaps reaching 13 degrees in some southern and southwestern areas. bye— bye. good morning, welcome to breakfast withjon kay and naga munchetty. our headlines today. 200 military personnel are being sent to hospitals in london to help deal with covid—related staff shortages. "free to leave" whenever he wants. the australian authorities deny claims by the family of novak djokovic that he's being held prisoner while he waits to hear whether he'll be deported. mr djokovic is not being held captive in australia. he is free to leave at any time that he chooses to do so. it's the most expensive drug in the world. we'll hear about the miracle treatment giving hope to babies like edward who are born with a devastating spinal condition.