the top stories this hour. the european union is meeting to consider its formal response to brexit. they have rejected a british government plan for the two sides to agree the terms of the uk's status outside the bloc while negotiating its departure. after officially starting the process of leaving the european union, the british government is due to set out its plans for post—brexit legislation. the british prime minister says britain can hold on to its trade benefits with the eu, even after leaving. the ousted south korean president, park geun—hye, has arrived in court for a hearing that will decide whether to approve an arrest warrant against her over a long—running corruption scandal. a federaljudge in the us state of hawaii has extended the suspension of president trump's travel ban on six mostly muslim states for an indefinite period. the ruling means it cannot be enforced, while being contested in court. now it is time for our news review. what's making headlines around the world 7 ourfirst paper is the guardian,

with a photo that many of the papers have on their front pages today, the momentjust after the article 50 letter was delivered to the president of the european council, donald tusk, triggering the start of the brexit process. the paper quotes some eu officials as saying that the british prime minister theresa may is using security as a bargaining chip in negotiations. next up, it's le figaro, reporting on france's former prime minister manuel valls backing emmanuel macron to become the country's next president, instead of his own party's socialist candidate, benoit hamon. donald trump's daughter is to become an official employee of the white house, serving as an unpaid adviser to her father. that story is on the website of the new york times. the companies and markets section of the financial times reports on samsung launching its new galaxy 58 smartphone. the company promised a new beginning for mobile handset design. and finally, he's often considered one of the most handsome men in the world, but a new statue of portuguese football star cristiano ronaldo unveiled at an airport, has left many people less than impressed. the huffington post says that many on social media have been questioning the resemblance.

you like that story, don't you? he has been giggling about that since i arrived this morning. joining us is mark davies, who's ceo of strategy consultancy, camberton. good morning. good morning. good morning. the day after the letter was delivered, a big process ahead. papers having their own take on it. what jumped out was papers having their own take on it. whatjumped out was the uk seeing using security as a potential bargaining chip. that is a dangerous thing to do. i don't think it is that dangerous. the guardian and the

times have gone with it because of the word blackmail. guy verhofstadt is not really part of the process. he was not there to have the letter delivered to him. it went to don old tusk. he isjust the parliament spokesman. he has come out with this classic example of rhetoric. the rich oracle device saying something claiming you are not going to save. —— he said he would not even dared to mention he would use blackmail. to answer your question, i don't think it is dangerous. it is a statement of fact that the british have played the largest role in security in europe because of the five "i's" that are responsible for security ever since the end of the second world war. it is clear that if we are not part of the security

arrangement it is problematic. theresa may pointed that out. she did so pointedly because she mentioned security more than trade. some people are not happy about this process and have jumped on that as a result. it is interesting. the guardian runs with it to be they have a piece in the corner of this we re have a piece in the corner of this were they talk about burning boats with europe. that is in the agenda with europe. that is in the agenda with the guardian. what is interesting is that it is the week the times have gone with the same story. it is interesting given yesterday afternoon with the latter being delivered and she was addressing politicians in the uk. it was one week on from the events of last week and most answer, the terrorist attack that was in parliament. it is ironic that this line should come out the morning after. but it is a very important issue, isn't it? the question is, it

kind of shows you how this relationship is kicking off right from the word go with brussels and the government here in the uk. there will definitely be rhetoric and jockeying for position, even though we have had nine months to talk about the issue. this is where we lay down the marker. the fact is that security has been one of the biggest issues leading up to the bre ntford biggest issues leading up to the brentford vote. you could argue that had it not been for the crisis last year and the security problems coming up as a result of it, the vote would have done differently in june last year. it is a massive issue. it is hardly surprising given what happened that we should talk about it. many saying populism was partly what led to britain's vote to leave the european union. populism playing out in the french election is. an interesting development that

the centrist candidate has won the backing of the former socialist prime minister. one who was beaten to the socialist nomination who has decided not to back the person who beat him to it and has instead gone for a manuel. of course, as far as he is concerned, this is probably the worst outcome for britain, because macron is stronger with europe than marine le pen who wants europe than marine le pen who wants europe to break apart and would go for a frexit pretty well straightaway after being elected. and then a thatcherite who would look at things practically. so from a british point of view with macron coming through, that is the worst outcome theresa may could want. purely looking at it from the point of view of brexit right now. many

people would rather macron than marine le pen in france. the vast majority would. i don't think marine le pen will get in. her aim has a lwa ys le pen will get in. her aim has always been to look at the next presidential election, not at the current one. she is trying to detoxify the brand in front. she a lwa ys detoxify the brand in front. she always believed she would need another election to do that is up it is because of this populism peace we have talked about that she has gained ascendancy. —— piece. because of what donald trump has done and what happened in the last year. macron has to be an even stronger favourite. they are quite dominated by politics. now that she cannot sell herfashion items by politics. now that she cannot sell her fashion items she needs a newjob. she has found one. sell her fashion items she needs a newjob. she has found onem sell her fashion items she needs a newjob. she has found one. it is an unpaid job. but she is not short on

money. what is interesting about this, people talk about diversity in the workplace. there is no perversity immediately around donald trump. nobody is there to give him a different perspective. she has her husband there, so that is donald trump's son—in—law. husband there, so that is donald trump's son-in-law. who has not been investigated, but is part of an investigation into russia's involvement in the election campaign. yes. there have been concerns about nepotism which have been pushed aside on the basis that the white house does not have to conform to normal rules. but anyone concerned with nepotism of which there is a large number, will be looking at this and saying, here we go. shall we skip past samsung because i talked about it a lot. one interesting point, though, is that it shows how little there is different in this mobile phone. from apr different in this mobile phone. from a pr perspective, you would want to name it something different, not the

note8, but they cannot because it is not different enough. it is not the best likeness, isn't it?|j not different enough. it is not the best likeness, isn't it? i think it is more like you, to be honest. have we got a close—up? this is a conspiracy theories. you are the second person to say this. i was in the newsroom and someone said, it looks nothing like him, and it is not, you know... it is not all that flattering. pause. and then it looks argue. i cannot help but feel slightly offended. they should rename it ben bland airport. what do you do? what do you do if you are ronaldo? smile. that is it from us for the moment. goodbye. we will see later. hi there. mixed weather fortunes for today's weather picture. for some, the warmest day of the year so far.

for others it will be cloudy, damp and breezy. western areas will have rain today. rain coming from the south and west. across eastern areas of england, the air has been coming up from the near continent, and that is going to be bringing temperatures into the low 20s in the warmest spots. as i say, the warmest day of the year so far. a mild start to the day, then, for many of us with temperatures staying in double figures, ii to 12 degrees as we start off. always the risk of some pulses of rain affecting northern ireland. western areas of scotland looking pretty wet. and maybe for cumbria as well. and in fact there will be some further pulses of rain coming and going across these western areas through the day on and off really through the rest of the day. for the east, after a rather cloudy start to things, things will brighten up with some hazy sunshine coming through. now, in scotland, south—western areas the warmest. dumfrees and galloway. not too much rain towards the murray coastline. here there could be some brighter spells coming through. northern ireland, rain. there or therabouts for much of the day. but there will be some drier spells from time to time. western england and wales also prone to seeing some pulses of rain even

into the afternoon. but further east, that's where we've got the warm sunshine. the sunshine will be hazy. we could see temperatures pushing up to 22 around degrees in the warmest spots. now, during the evening and overnight, there will be some more wet weather coming across western areas of the uk. the rain turning more persistent and heavier. there'll be some rather murky conditions developing over the hills as well with some mist and hillfog patches. but it wil be another mild night. temperatures 11—12 degrees for many of us. let's take a look at friday's weather picture. well, low pressure is in charge. we're going to see a band of rain moving its way north and eastwards as we go through the morning. then the weather will try to improve as we head through the afternoon. so northern ireland brightening up. there'll be some sunshine spreading across much of england and wales. southern areas of scotland too by the end of the day. but it will turn quite windy for northern scotland later on. never that warm across the far north. but in the sunshine, temperatures pushing well into the teens. pretty mild for the time of year. and for the weekend, well, it's an unsettled start to things on saturday.

a mixture of bright spells and passing showers. temperatures between 12 and 16 degrees celsius. the winds tending to be quite light. so if you do catch a shower they could be with you for quite some time. showers will be killed off. we will look at a decent kind of day on sunday. starting off perhaps a little on the cool side. cooling off in the afternoon. perhaps one or two passing showers for the north and west of the uk. temperatures reaching a high of 17 towards the south—east. and that's your weather. hello, this is breakfast, with charlie stayt and sally nugent. after the starting gun is fired for brexit — the process to take power back from brussels begins today. the government will set out plans to convert thousands of eu rules into british law as it publishes details of the great repeal bill. it will be a different relationship

but i think it will have the same benefits in terms of access to free trade. good morning, it's thursday the 30th of march. also this morning: rescue crews search for a helicopter with five people on board missing off the coast off north wales. trying to tackle obesity — official limits are published for the amount of sugar that should be in everyday foods.