this is the briefing. i'm sally bundock. our top story: the us calls for a un security council meeting the us calls for a un security council meeting over the crisis in iran, where 20 anti government protestors have been killed over 7 days. president trump threatens to withhold financial aid to the palestinians because, he says, they are "no longer willing to talk peace." after ireland bears the brunt of storm eleanor — 80 mile per hour winds batter the uk overnight and leaves 10,0000 homes in northern ireland without power. new rules to make the financial system safer and more transparent come into force across europe but will they prevent another banking crisis? i'll be speaking to a financial expert from a trading firm who warns more red tape will hit smaller players hard. a warm welcome to the programme,

briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. and you can be part of the conversation. tell us what you think about the stories we are covering today, just use the hashtag bbc—the—briefing. we begin with the latest in iran where riot police are out in force in cities across the country as anti—government protests continue. at least 22 people have died since the demonstrations began seven days ago. hundreds have been arrested. iran's supreme leader has broken his silence for the first time since the protests began, accusing his country's enemies of stirring up the unrest. the protests are the boldest challenge to iran's clerical leadership

in almost a decade. the united states is seeking an emergency session of the un security council. here's our middle east editorjeremy bowen. in tehran, squads of motorbike police are cruising the streets to break up groups of demonstrators. the protests have changed since they started last thursday. gunshots. to begin with, they were about the economy. most of the protesters are young men. more than 50% of iranians are under 30, and perhaps 40% of them are unemployed. but pent—up political frustration is spilling out, and much of it has been directed at this man, the supreme leader, ayatollah ali khamenei. he is the powerfulfigurehead of the islamic republic, and attacks on his posters will be seen as attacks on the islamic system. he is blaming iran's

foreign enemies. translation: following recent events, the enemies have united, and are using all their means — money, weapons, policies and security services — to create problems for the islamic republic. it is notjust ayatollah khamenei, the supreme leader, who is blaming foreigners. mohammad khatami, the former president, who is a reformist, says iranians have the right to protest. but he blamed iran's enemies, led by the united states, for inciting people to destroy public buildings and to insult religious values. president 0bama, in 2009, was careful not to give the last big protests his backing. but president trump has tweeted his support. the americans are encouraging the protests, but they deny

they are behind them. we all know that's complete nonsense. the demonstrations are completely spontaneous. they are virtually in every city in iran. this is the precise picture of a long—oppressed people rising up against their dictators. the last big protests in iran were in 2009, after a disputed presidential election. back then, they were defeated by the power of the state, even though they were led by top politicians and faced a badly divided islamic leadership. the new, street—level protests don't have national leaders, and may run out of steam. this is not a new iranian revolution, though it is clear that many iranians are fed up with increasing poverty and years of repression. the fact the protests are happening at all is very significant, for iran, its allies and enemies, in a chaotic part of the world.

jeremy bowen, bbc news. pall mall to the situation in iran, including what has caused the conflict, go to our website. you can also download the bbc news president trump has threatened to withhold financial aid to the palestinians. he made the threat on twitter, saying it was because the palestinians were "no longer willing to talk peace." last month, the palestinian president said us peace plans were unacceptable, following mr trump's decision to recognise jerusalem as the capital of israel. mr trump has also again targeted north korea on twitter, as our correspondent, peter bowes explains. another twitter tirade by donald

trump. the president questions why the us should continue to provide aid to countries that show no respect in return and do not reciprocate. 0n the middle east he tweets the state ofjerusalem, which the us now recognises as the capital of israel, will no longer be part of future negotiations. it is not only pakistan that we pay billions of dollars to the nothing but also many other countries and others. as an example we pay the palestinians hundreds of millions of dollars a year and get no appreciation or respect. they don't even want to negotiate a long overdue peace treaty with israel... us ambassador to the un nikki haley confirmed that us aid to the palestinians was in jeopardy. we very much still want to have a peace

process. nothing changes with that. the palestinians want to show their will to come to the table. as of now they are not coming to the table but they are not coming to the table but they asked vague. move we want to move forward with the negotiations. kim jong—un says his nuclear weapons can reach anywhere. mr trump tweets... it marks a new tone and new level of rhetoric with north korea. and in the past hour, we've heard that the north korean leader has given an order to re—open the border hotline with south korea. an official said talks would aim to establish formal dialogue

about sending a north korean delegation to the pyeongchang winter olympics in south korea next month. some other stories making the news... the french government has vowed to crackdown on urban violence after shocking video footage emerged of a policewoman being attacked in a paris suburb on new year's eve. president macron called it a criminal lynching. around 15 hundred cars were set alight across france on new years eve, in what is becoming an annual ritual in the country's deprived areas. six people including two children have been killed in an explosion in northern italy. police footage shows firefighters tackling the vast blaze in brescia. a large fireball erupted after a truck shunted a family car into the back of a tanker, which then exploded. the truck driver was killed, the tanker driver survived. a canadian man, freed from captivity in afghanistan in october, has been arrested and charged with assault and unlawful confinement.

joshua boyle, his wife and three children had been held prisoner for five years by a taliban—linked group. the alleged offences took place after their return to canada. mr boyle's lawyer says his client will contest the charges. the mayor of new york, bill de blasio, has announced plans to install 1500 steel street barriers to help prevent vehicles from being used as a weapon of terror. the bollards form part of a $50 million infrastructure investment to improve the security of high—profile areas in new york. a bus has crashed in peru killing at least 48 people. it happened on a dangerous stretch of road north of the capital, lima. witnesses say the driver lost control after the bus was hit by another vehicle. it then plummeted nearly a hundred metres down a cliff. sarah corker reports. the blue bus landed upside

down on a rocky beach, next to the pacific ocean. more than 50 people were on board when it crashed. most of the pictures of the wreckage are too disturbing to show. witnesses say the coach collided with another vehicle and then went over the edge of this cliff, plummeting more than 100 metres. it happened on the notorious devil's turn of the pasamayo road, 50 kilometres from the coach's final destination, lima. the rocky site is difficult for rescuers to reach. survivors were winched up by rope, and some airlifted to local hospitals. translation: they told us the bus had fallen off the cliff, here in pasamayo. it was an accident. we thought that my niece had left around that time in the bus. she went with her boyfriend.

the two of them were in the same seat. the pacific ocean road is often listed among the world's most dangerous roads and, despite the sheer drops, it is largely unprotected by safety fences. police say the death toll is likely to rise. sarah corker, bbc news. iceland has been a trailblazer for equal rights in the workdplace, now it is forcing companies to pay men and women the same. new legislation, which came into force on the first day of 2018, makes iceland the first country in the world to legalise equal pay between men and women. michaela bergman is principal social specialist at the asian infrastructure investment bank. good to see you. lovely to have you here. give us your take on this. i know you are well aware of this

issue but also what is going on in iceland. we know there are huge gender gaps and governments are trying to address it as ever, iceland has ta ken trying to address it as ever, iceland has taken the lead bringing in legislation and trying to address the issue. now i think that the icelandic government is going to audit companies, to see whetherjobs are being paid equally because what has happened before, actually, the jobs are not equal, the men of doing differentjobs. jobs are not equal, the men of doing different jobs. essentially, they will do up proper audit when it comes to the payment of men and women and if they to not be paying them the same, the company is find? yes. and they really have teeth to eat. so often, some of these codes

about equal pay up voluntary in essence, the ryan 0'keefe and this gives some enforcement. —— there are no teeth. 50% in gives some enforcement. —— there are no teeth. 5096 in parliament are women but regardless of that, iceland has always been a pioneer in this area? they have been pioneers, they lead, then be scandinavian countries follow them but, yes, they have taken the lead and i think they have taken the lead and i think they have taken the lead and i think they have taken it seriously and credit to them i mean, we are in season now is in to them i mean, we are in season now isina to them i mean, we are in season now is in a team. the us and uk are far behind them. many companies are still not reporting subsidiaries of some of the financial institutions are not reporting in the uk even though they should be by now. thank you very much indeed. you have a lot

more to do. the dewsbury think coming up in around half an hour and she will be back then. also on the programme: we look at what the weather be like this year. the most ambitious financial and political change ever attempted has got under way with the introduction of the euro. tomorrow in holland, we are going to use money we picked up in belgium today, and then we will be in france and again it will be the same money. it's just got to be the way to go. george harrison, the former beatle, is recovering in hospital after being stabbed at his 0xfordshire home. a 33—year—old man from liverpool is being interviewed by police on suspicion of attempted murder. i think it was good.

you... just good? no, fantastic! that's better. you're watching the briefing. 0ur headlines: the us calls for a un security council meeting after denying claims it was involved in anti government protests in iran. president trump has threatened to withhold financial aid to the palestinians because he says they are "no longer willing to talk peace" thousands of homes across northern ireland are without power as storm eleanor batters parts of the uk. eleanor has already wreaked havoc in southern ireland with storm surges, torrential rain and winds

of up to 130 kilometres an hour. jon donnison reports. as storm eleanor would begin from the atlantic republic of ireland was the atlantic republic of ireland was the first to take a pounding. in galway there's been severe flooding. some are still prepared to take their chances. in the uk, the met 0ffice issued an amber weather warning for parts of the country. this is anglesey, in wales. waves driven by winds gusting up to 130 kilometres per hour. horizontal hail was what greeted anybody for which enough to brave blackpool's promenade. we've got a hell of a storm here... and in corby, the midlands, john recorded the moment his house was hit by hail. across the country more than 15,000 homes have been left without power, the

bulk of them in northern ireland. 0n the m25 motorway traffic was briefly brought to a standstill by a fallen tree. but the full extent of the damage will likely not emerge until later in the morning. and forecasters are warning storm eleanor will continue to bring strong winds until the end of the day. so the uk is starting off 2018 with severe weather. last year hurricanes harvey, irma and maria left their mark on 2017, it was a year which delivered extreme weather and rising temperatures across the globe. but what will the new year and the next round of seasons bring? hi. here is the weather to look out for in 2018. last year the world experienced wild weather and rising global temperatures. the atlantic hurricane season spawned multiple

storms of great intensity, harvey, irma and maria brought unprecedented devastation. hurricane erma caused the record for managing to sustain category five longer than any other hurricane in recorded history —— hurricane irma. will we see more like this in 2018? official forecasts aren't due until may and there are many influences like el nino that can influence how many hurricanes will form. but if the ocean waters of the tropical atla ntic ocean waters of the tropical atlantic remained warmer than normal, like in 2017, further tropical storms may be on the cards. and on the subject of rising temperatures, 2017 didn't break all—time temperatures records, but it was still the third warmest. so far the 21st century has been warmer than any time in recorded history, often with disastrous consequences. and climate could —— computer models indicate 2018 will be another warm

year. however, the climate is very complicated and doesn't work evenly across the planet. for example, i in the arctic is melting at an unprecedented rate due to global warming. —— ice. the melting ice water may cool off the north atla ntic water may cool off the north atlantic and slow down atmospheric warming, or even make it colder. a large—scale patterns such as el nino and the one in the pacific will be something we will be closely watching in 2018. these phenomena only happen every few years and are responsible for all to ring normal weather patterns around the globe, for example when el nino occurs fewer powerful hurricanes forming the atlantic. this is because el nino creates air currents across the tropics, which tends to rip powerful storms apart before they have a chance to strengthen. currently we are in la nina, the opposite to el nino. this may last for months, providing a stable environment for

even more hurricanes come summer 2018. even more hurricanes come summer 2018. it's very difficult to make a clear prediction for 2018 because there are so many complicated patterns in the atmosphere which influence each other. one thing is for sure, it will be an interesting year to watch. here's our briefing on some of the key events happening later. first up in hungary, where the polish prime minister mateusz morawiecki is due to meet his hungarian counterpart. this meeting is significant because of the polish—hungarian lobby in the eu and the hungarian veto on any proceedings against poland which could result in sanctions. then we head to alabama, where the first democrat in 25 years to win a senate seat is to be sworn in. doug jones will be officially sworn as senator for alabama by vice president mike pence. and later in the afternoon in paris, president macron will be delivering the annual address to media. now it's time to get all the latest

from the bbc sports centre. coming up in the wednesday sport, arsenal and chelsea prepare to face off in the premier league. the fifth ashes test gets away in sydney and is it the end of andy murray, as he struggles with an injury? just one match on wednesday night, but it was a big one. the london derby between arsenal and chelsea, who are third. arsenal and chelsea, who are third. awinfor arsenal and chelsea, who are third. a win for the blues would take them back into second while arsenal need the points to keep up with the top four. last time they were held to a draw with west brom. arsene wenger is hoping his team can put that behind them. we had just come home from west brom frustrated because we

lost two points, that was really frustrating. we know it puts us even more under pressure. england have one chance to win the ashes test in australia, the fifth and final match is under way. the english struggled after the draw in melbourne but the australians look like they will have a boost with mitchell starc returning after he missed the last test with an injury. raheem sterling and sergio aguero are among the goals for manchester city. they got back to winning ways on tuesday, defeating watford 3—1. the side saw an 18 game winning strea k the side saw an 18 game winning streak halted by crystal palace weekend when they failed to score for the first time in the season. city are still unbeaten. they are now 15th clear at the top of the

table with 16 matches remaining. after we dropped two points we spoke about what our reaction would be. because they are big teams. they took points but not too much. since the beginning we had a good performance and were better in the opening game. west ham at crystal palace came from behind to pick up 2-1 palace came from behind to pick up 2—1victories and tottenham had a win over swansea city. this is what's been catching our eye on social media. the three—time grand slam winner andy murray posted an injury update from tuesday. this has been shed thousands of times. the former world number one haven't played competitively since delayed because of an injury and he posted this picture of himself as a young schoolboy, along with the news that he is pulling out of this week's tournament in brisbane. he said he

played a number of practice sets and didn't feel he was back to his best unable to compete. he says he now has two options, to continue re—hab or undergo surgery and as the chances of the surgery having a successful outcome are not as good as he hoped. he added how much he was missing the game and would give anything to be back to compete. also on social media this post from cristiano ronaldo has been liked by millions. the real madrid forward has travelled back home to the portugese island of madeira for christmas and he's taken all of his trophies with him. the five ballon d'or awards are there amoungst countless others. ronaldo said he "dreamed of reaching the top when he played on the streets of madeira and he never imagined that he would one day be able to take a picture like this". you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. but from me, that is your wednesday sport briefing. these dramatic pictures you are about the cr from the us state of florida. look at this. members of

the us coastguard rescue this senior citizen from a car that plunged into the waters off panama city over the new year holidays. they managed to pull him outjust moments before the vehicle sank by breaking through the window. well, that is the first half of the briefing. we have the business coming up in a few minutes and we have a lot more for you on new rules that come into force today that make the financial system safer and more transparent in europe. that's the theory, anyway. will these rules work or not? we will be having a look at that in detail. stay with us and see you in a few minutes. a very windy, stormy night for some, and certainly a stormy start to wednesday.

amber warning warnings remain in force until the early hours of wednesday. parts of northern ireland, southern scotland and a good swathes of northern england have damaging of up to 90 mph, all because of storm eleanor which continues to track its way eastwards across the british isles as we head towards wednesday. tightly packed isobars across the southern flank. light winds across central and northern scotland. a denial —— 90 mph gusts expected early wednesday. these are damaging gusts. no wonder amber warning darren forster. further south, 60 mph were widely. —— warnings are in place. there will be some disruption from these gales. maybe power cuts, trees down. the winds will gradually ease through wednesday. keep tuned to bbc local radio for your latest update. lastly

showers on wednesday morning and strong winds continue throughout the day. some of them will be happy, with the risk of some hail and thunder. strong and gusty winds as the showers arrive. in between there will be some sunshine. we could have temperatures reaching 10 degrees across the south. it won't feel like that because of the strength of the wind. showers further north. long spells for northern ireland and central and southern scotland, but the northern scotland, with sunshine. rather chilly. when the winds ease further into the latter pa rt winds ease further into the latter part of wednesday, showers his as well, so many places having a dry day. the south—west and this next area of low pressure, it moves northwards and eastwards as we head towards thursday. the low pressure isn't as strong as storm eleanor and we think it will be further south. soi we think it will be further south. so i think south wales, southern parts of england will see the strongest winds on thursday. gale

force winds. miles and 30 degrees. further north, cooler. —— 13. the rain will clear and we have sunshine and showers later. 0n rain will clear and we have sunshine and showers later. on friday called and showers later. on friday called an moves south behind the weather front, which will push into england and wales. —— cold air. this is business briefing. i'm sally bundock. here are the headlines: new rules to make the financial system safer and more transparent come into force across europe — it's the biggest shake up to the industry since the ‘big bang' in 1986. asian ambitions: britain's trade chief arrives in china to secure a brexit deal, but has the uk set its sights on a bigger pacific trade pact? asian sharemarket is riding high after a rally in technology companies are boosting us stocks to

record highs.