this is the briefing. i'm sally bundock. our top stories: more desperate migrants are rescued from the mediterranean — as european leaders meet to discuss the crisis. a memorial service will be held for the victims of the grenfell tower fire — we speak to some of the survivors. for the first time — a possible death toll in the rohingya crisis — one charity says nearly 7000 people were killed. coming up in business briefing... who owns the internet? us regulators could rip up 0bama's rules on net neutrality giving broadband firms huge power over online traffic. plus — the empire scales back — fox prepares to sell its entertainment business to disney for around $60 billion. we'll be getting the views of media expert guy bisson. a warm welcome to the programme,

briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. it isa it is a packed programme, as ever. and you can be part of the conversation. after kensington palace confirmed meghan markle willjoin the royal family for christmas at sandringham, we're asking: what should she buy the queen for christmas? tell us what you think. just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. european leaders are to meet in brussels today to discuss the issue of migration. the talks are expected to focus on extra funding to stem the flow

of people from sub—saharan africa. it comes as more than 100 men and women were rescued from a sinking boat off the coast of libya as they attempted to cross to italy. the number of people migrants in the mediterranean has passed three thousand for the fourth year in a row. andrew plant reports. soaked through, shoeless and limping along. 114 migrants all from sub—saharan africa rescued off the libyan coast as their boat began to sink beneath the water. we almost died, you know. thanks to the libyan navy helped us out of the sea. 0ur boat almost capsized. we lost everything, it break in the middle, we thoughy all of us were going to die. these people had been on their way to europe,

their boat thought to have left the coast of libya about 100km east of tripoli towards the town of misrata. they'll now be moved to detention centres outside the capital. almost 1,000 migrants arrived in sicily over the past few days, successfully crossing the mediterranean. it's estimated around 3,000 have died on the same journey. those that succeed often complain of mistreatment at the hands of libyan guards. meanwhile, this detention centre in benghazi, libya's second largest city, is restocking for the winter season with blankets and mattresses in preparation for more arrivals. the policy here is to repatriate the men, women and children who arrive. more than 4,000 sent back to their home countries this year. translation: there are still some nationalities that are difficult to deport, such as somalians, if europeans and eritreans because of the problems in their countries.

but other nationalities are being deported everyone‘s ——every once in a while. around 164,000 migrants have arrived in europe in 2017, that's less than half the number last year. at its height in 2015, the number was more than a million. but with southern european countries still bearing the brunt, all 28 eu leaders are due to discuss the issue at talks in brussels on thursday. andrew plant, bbc news. at st paul's cathedral in london today members of the royal family will attend a memorial service with many of those affected by the fire at grenfell tower in west london injune this year, exactly six months ago, which claimed the lives of 71 victims. our special correspondent allan little has been back to the area where the disaster happened and reports on the lasting impact there and beyond. it is the abiding image of 2017, it scars the west london cityscape

and, perhaps, the conscience of the country. that it happened in one of the richest parts of london has made it for many a tale of two britons, living side by side, but separately. the dale youth boxing club used to train in grenfell tower, their gym was lost to the fire, now they use this concrete corner of a multi—storey car park. three, two... stay down. the club coach is gary mcguinness. he says years of gentrification, of regeneration projects, have made the old london working—class, who used to thrive here, a diminishing presence. regeneration, what does the word mean, like, you know? you know, it seems like it means clear out for the locals to me. that's what's going on around here, ain't it, basically, as you see. you know, the locals are getting pushed out. the kids can't afford to buy places around here. do you think it's got worse over the years? of course it has, yeah.

yeah, yeah. definitely, yeah. you should be concentrating, watching what he's doing. the grenfell tower fire exposed this long, steady, drifting apart of rich and poor. but don't push a simple rich—poor interpretation too far here. five members of moutaz chellat's family died in the fire. for him, the problem is not that there are rich and poor, but that increasingly the poor are disregarded. if you're going to ask me who i blame, i don't blame the rich people in holland park, because they didn't come down here and light the fire, do you know what i mean? theyjust happen to live where they live, it's not their fault. but if you're going to ask me who the blame is, yes, i blame the council, i blame the local authorities, i blame the government that are supposed to look after these sort of buildings. but why are they not maintaining them? that's when you could turn around and say, well, probably it's because they don't care about these sort of people. you know, these so—called disadvantaged people that live in these council estates and things like that. "so—called disadvantaged", he says. for the people of grenfell do not recognise the version of themselves that has entered

the public imagination. nina masroh has lived on the estate for nearly 30 years. we were portrayed as a poor, uneducated, disadvantaged people who didn't work, on benefits, which is the actual opposite. a lot of people do work. there are some very highly educated people living on council estates in gre nfell tower itself. there were architects, there were engineers, people worked in social media, in technology, it. so to have this kind of view, simply because somebody lives on a council estate, that they are not worthy or they are less than anyone else, is a complete... it's a fallacy. did you feel insulted by it? deeply insulted, deeply insulted. i think also there was that sense of, "0h, they're all just a bunch of foreigners." that's what makes london, i suppose that's what makes the uk. we're a multi—cultural society. its location has made grenfell tower a graphic symbol of inequality in britain,

an inequality that before the fire was hidden in plain sight. 71 people died in this block, it is difficult to escape the rebuke to all of us that its charred remains represent. allan little, bbc news, in west london. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. in berlin, informal talks to put together a new coalition government have ended. martin schulz, germany's social democrat party leader, had initially ruled outjoining with chancellor angela merkel‘s conservatives, following september's election in which both parties lost votes. formal negotiations are planned for friday. syrian state media is reporting that air strikes by us—led coalition forces have killed at least 23 civilians. the strikes targeted a village in the deir al—zour province, on the eastern banks of the euphrates river, which is controlled by islamic state fighters. the dead include eight children. judges in el salvador have rejected

an appeal against a 30—year prison sentence for a woman jailed under the country's strict abortion laws. teodora vasquez has already served ten years in prison. she says she passed out because of abdominal pains and awoke to find her baby dead. el salvador is one of six countries where abortions are completely banned. in business the great debate about who owns the internet is back on the agenda in the us. regulators could be about to scrap rules guaranteeing equal treatment for all web traffic — a principle known as ‘net neutrality‘. it was enshrined in law under president 0bama in 2015 — but under the trump administration it looks doomed lawrence gosling, editor—in—chief of investment week.

ido i do remember it well because we covered it is a big story in 2015. the arguments for and against? the argument for is that the internet is open to everybody, in effect the argument against is partly a round of fa ke argument against is partly a round of fake news issue, that is part of the discussion as well, it also part of the fact that you can see the pipes that take the internet is being a public utility like an electricity grid. for the trump administration and physically sick —— plastic situation of the regular isolation. —— deregulation. —— plastic situation of the regular isolation. -- deregulation. service and have been lobbying for this to be changed, the argument is that if you be changed, the argument is that if y°u pay be changed, the argument is that if you pay more because you are a business or an individual that needs

faster speed and more broadband rings, as it were, if you pay more you get more. whereas there may be a household or individual that does not need that, so why should they be provided with that? so much of the economy is based around individual households, particularly in countries like the us, purchasing stuff such as goods. it is hard to argue that one user is more important than the other. access to the internet and good use of the internet where you do not buffer for hours on end is seen as a human right, even. it is a fundamental democratic right. if you think of how much of the last two us elections have been won and lost online. .. elections have been won and lost online... there is something sort of an easing here about blocking that access. you have an easing here about blocking that access. you have seen an easing here about blocking that access. you have seen a an easing here about blocking that access. you have seen a raft of characters, even one of the actors from star wars, coming out against it. thank you very much. you will

return and have a think about your ideas for meghan markle in terms of a christmas gift for the queen. better still to come. also on the programme... a whole new ball game — how rugby is making inroads in a country that is devoted to football. after eight months on the run, saddam hussein has been tracked down and captured by american forces. saddam hussein is finished because he killed our people, our women, our children. the signatures took only a few minutes but they brought a formal end to 3.5 years of conflict that has claimed over 200,000 lives. before an audience of world leaders, the presidents of serbia, bosnia and croatia put their names to the peace agreement. the romanian border was sealed and silent today. romania has cut itself off from the outside world in order to prevent the details

of the presumed massacre in timisoara from leaking out. from sex at the white house to a trial for his political life. the monica lewinsky affair tonight guaranteed bill clinton in his place in history as only the second president to be impeached. lets remind you now of our headlines. a memorial service will ta ke pa ce headlines. a memorial service will take pace in london laterfor all those killed in the grenfell tower fire. 71 people died in the disaster. more desperate migrants have been rescued from the mediterranean as european leaders meet to discuss the crisis. so what else is going on today? let's brief you on some of the key

events. at 9am president putin will hold an annual news conference to reflect on russian events in 2017. it's been the year of the trump russia scandal and must go declaring mission accomplished in syria and there will be the small matter of there will be the small matter of the election next march when he will stand for another term. the south korean president moon jae—in attends a welcome ceremony hosted by his chinese counterpart xi jingping later. the visit is an attempt to soothe relations strained by the deployment of us anti—missile systems, which angered beijing. midday in the uk and the central committee of the ruling party zanu-pf will be committee of the ruling party zanu—pf will be addressed by zimbabwe's zanu—pf will be addressed by zimba bwe's new president zanu—pf will be addressed by zimbabwe's new president emmerson mnangagwa. the first formal gathering since he replaced robert mugabe in november. in brazil the nation is assessed by

football, but one of the fastest—growing sports is rugby and proponents of the oval shaped all are hoping the game can actually change lives, as tim allman reports.