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Alibaba Singles Day: Dollars or data?

Singles Day, on 11 November, was invented by Alibaba and is the biggest online shopping day in the world.

But it may well be the Chinese e-commerce giant's biggest data collection event in the year too.

Presented by Monica Miller. Produced and written by Tessa Wong.

9 November 2018

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BBC News

East of England weather forecast

Men can be seen standing near the broken plane

Footage shows survivors walking from crashed Azerbaijani plane

Jean McKenzie wearing a cream coat standing by a busy street in Seoul in the evening

What just happened in South Korea?

A back-and-white image of former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh speaking in front of a microphone

Former Indian PM Manmohan Singh: In his own words

A wooden bookshelf full of old books. The majority on the left have been attached to the shelf with large metal chains, which are dangling off the edge.

The library where books are kept under lock and key

Lydia Hepworth bites an orange

Ambulance crew reunite with mum and baby they saved

Former prisoner Lee Jack, wearing a black coat, smiles while looking at the camera - he's standing behind a cafe counter with cakes and biscuits in glass jars

The cafe helping prisoners escape a life of crime

Tayside & Central Scotland

Manmohan Singh

Watch: Former Indian PM Manmohan Singh's life and legacy

Stacey, Jason, Nessa, Smithy and Gavin laughing on a sofa.

What do fans think of the Gavin & Stacey finale?

Runners dressed in Santa hats line up on the beach ready to run into the sea.

Watch: Hundreds run into sea at Boxing Day dips

Group of around 30 people in front of a snow house with someone dressed as Santa on the roof.

The Glaswegian who spends Christmas in Antarctica

Big Zuu stands in a Christmas-decorated kitchen

Big Zuu takes on Christmas leftovers

Charles Cavey in his black, tubular bin with his arms, and guitar neck protruding from the side holes. The black bin has LITTER in gold writing on its side

Meet the man who busks from inside a litter bin

Character Jesse Chadwick dressed in a wedding suit hugs smiling wife Gail in the back of a car.

Watch: Helen Worth's final scene as Gail after 50 years

King Charles standing in the chapel decorated with Christmas trees and white lights.

Watch: King speaks of 'pride' at unity shown after riots

Space crew on ISS

Watch: ISS crew sends Christmas greetings from space

Science & Environment

A pork pie

Pork pie shop's unique creations for Christmas

Christmas Day hike

'Christmas Day hikes have been life-changing'

A black and white image of a popular 1950s television puppet called Hank the Cowboy

What London's children got for Christmas in 1952

Queen smiling into the camera in 1957.

Archive: Queen's first televised Christmas message

Matte pink luxury car shining under the lights

Watch: How Jaguar's shifted gears with its concept car

The company has been at the centre of a media storm as a result of its radical revamp.

Rachel Reeves

Watch: Reeves 'deeply proud' to be first female chancellor

The Chancellor has presented her first Budget in the Commons.

Twins James and John Makanjuola,

The twins cleaning London's unloved spaces

Entrepreneurs James and John run a cleaning firm, but take it to the next level in their spare time.

Paula Vennells at the Post Office inquiry

Key moments from former Post Office chief's three-day testimony

Paula Vennells faced three days of questions about her role in the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of sub-postmasters.

Paula Vennells reaching for a tissue in the Post Office inqiuiry

Ex-Post Office boss cries while giving evidence

Ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells is speaking about the incident for the first time in ten years.

Santiago Paredes

Whistleblower claims Boeing supplier sent faulty parts

Spirit AeroSystems supplied Boeing with faulty parts, a former quality inspector has told the BBC.

Tatti Lashes

Tatti Lashes: The school friends who built a beauty empire

Charlotte Tiplady and Elliot Barton explain how together they built up their Tatti Lashes beauty empire from Liverpool.

Ocado has added robotic arms to its newest warehouse near Luton.

Watch Ocado robots in action

Ocado has added robotic arms to its newest warehouse near Luton.

Business Headlines

BBC World News business headlines

The latest international business headlines from BBC World News.

Jo Hamilton

'I feel survivor's guilt' says Post Office victim

Former sub-postmaster Jo Hamilton told BBC Breakfast she feels "guilt" after settling with the government over the Horizon IT scandal.

Woman in sunglasses smiling while answering questions related to the Budget

Watch: 'My biggest financial regret is...'

People in Kent share their finance stories ahead of Wednesday's Budget. Would you share yours?

Mohsin Issa

Issa brother to step back after 'fixing' Asda

Mohsin Issa, one half of the so-called "billionaire brothers" who own Asda, says he plans to hand over the running of the UK's third biggest supermarket.

Robots

'We had to adapt our robots to the AI revolution'

Sandy Enoch of Robotical explains why he had to pivot his educational robot company due to AI.

Picsart

'AI won't steal your job, but people using it may'

Hovhannes Avoyan, founder of picture and video editing app Picsart, shares his advice for our CEO Secrets series.

Picture of The Body Shop storefront in the 80s

'They thought it was a sex shop' - The Body Shop in the '80s

Archive footage shows Dame Anita Roddick talking about her company's success, in an 1984 interview.

Raid on Co-op store

CCTV shows violent raid on Co-op store

The retailer gave the footage to the BBC as it warned of a rise in attacks on retail staff.

Sir Howard Davies

Not that difficult to buy a home, says NatWest chair

Sir Howard Davies says he believes it is not currently "that difficult" for people to get on the housing ladder.

Joanna Jensen

'A viral Facebook post nearly blew up our business'

Joanna Jensen, founder of skincare brand Childs Farm, shares advice for start-ups for our CEO Secrets series.

Ofcom chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes

Broadband rises must be 'clearer', says Ofcom boss

The regulator has plans to make mobile and broadband firms more upfront about mid-contract price rises.

Earring

'This earring helped me build my £4bn business'

Richard Harpin, co-founder of Homeserve, explains how an earring taught him an early business lesson.