he was beating a hasty retreat there. the times among many covering this story — it's a fertility breakthrough. human embryos grown for the first time in a lab — offering hopes to women struggling to have children. the new york post has another of the day's popular stories. twitter posting profits for the first time in its history, the paper points out it came at a price. we will discuss. and, miami herald covering the plight of a student from the city, or rather the demise of her pet hamster. she's thinking about suing an airline after it backtracked on a promise to let her emotional support animal fly with her. she says she was left with no option but to flush it down the toilet. with me again is lianna brinded — the european news editor of the online news service quartz. thanks forjoining us again. the winter olympics, it is always a long

build up waiting for these things to happen. asia wants it, maybe the west is not so keen on this at the moment. in a row is quite a statement. yeah, it is always an exciting time and you have the olympics and there is or is quite a bit of fanfare around it, i think this is showing how asia's influence on the world stage is growing even more. the fact that we have tokyo going to host the next one, is a really big deal. china will grow and certainly have a look at any sporting opportunity, the appetite is just sporting opportunity, the appetite isjust enormous. sporting opportunity, the appetite is just enormous. —— sporting opportunity, the appetite isjust enormous. —— go. it might not be a surprise that stays that way for a while. absolutely, it is a lwa ys way for a while. absolutely, it is always great for a country in terms of tourism, also pr for the country. it creates plenty ofjobs and also money for the local economy. we had two stories here, it starts with the games, always big fanfare, as you say. we will have the torch and a

big opening ceremony. kimjong—un‘s sister, delegation of the highest order, is there. this is a major political moment possibly for the games as well, for you, does that reflect well on the games? is it a flash in the pan moment, do you? what do you think? i think it is quite amusing because the olympics is meant to be a politically neutral slate for everyone. however, it is a significant thing that kim jong—un‘s sister is there and she is one of the heads of the propaganda department and she is attending. this is the first time that north korea have been involved to this extent in the games. it would be amazing though if something comes a sporting event? absolutely, they say that there is no talk about politics with this, but i think that is significant politically, that even just attending, that's happening. we have been looking out for the picture of the plan of the sister of

kim jong—un picture of the plan of the sister of kimjong—un and picture of the plan of the sister of kim jong—un and will we get the picture of her, it is going to be right in the headlines, no question about that, over the next day or two at least. let's move on to the financial times, the japanese warning to the uk is pretty stark, isn't it? yeah, japan actually has pretty clear ties to the uk. there are about 1000 japanese companies in the uk and over the last couple of yea rs, the uk and over the last couple of years, they have been very vocal about what they think about brexit. i understand that nissan had, they said there was not any deal but they have clearly had some sort of assurances that it was worth their while staying. is this, do you think, about other companies trying to get the same sorts of assurances 01’ to get the same sorts of assurances or is ita to get the same sorts of assurances or is it a little bit more straight 7 or is it a little bit more straight f or is it a little bit more straight up? if we do not have access to a single market, why would we stay? up? if we do not have access to a single market, why would we stay7m 2016, the japanese government actually put out a document saying how damaging the lack of access to single market would be on britain and business deals with companies in

japan. so, they have been very clear that they want the uk to stay part of the single market. you know with your business background, we always told businesses, markets like clarity, and at the moment they lacked certainty and they do not have that even from the british government, in terms of what the blueprint is as to what they want from future trading nation. exactly, with the nissan dilly mentioned before, that was probably an example of companies wanting to have even a tiny bit of clarity of what the future will look like, so they can put a business plan together on what is going to happen about investment and jobs. and that takes time obviously, doesn't it? were running out of it, it would seem. let's move on to a story, this is in the times, they have run very prominently. human eggs grown in the lab, offering hope to be infertile. certainly encouraging, possibly encouraging story. another extraordinary scientific achievement. it is a huge

breakthrough, it will give hope to thousands, maybe millions of women, who are unable to have children on their own. but it will also help alleviate the issues in finding people who are able to donate their eggs. there is a reference to younger girls as well suffering cancer, that there is a way around possibly being able to say to them yes, in future, you can still have children, which would be something, i suppose from that point of view, thatis i suppose from that point of view, that is new. yeah, absolute view. that means that the dna is from your eggs but one of the biggest things is for cancer patients, they have to go through treatment and the treatment itself will cause them to become infertile, so this is a huge breakthrough for many, many women. yeah, i guess as ever with these stories, there is a long way to go, but still, encouraging. we are going to have a look at the new york post

110w to have a look at the new york post now because you tweet, i tweet, we all tweet. we do not all, that is pa rt all tweet. we do not all, that is part of the problem. the new york post showing that they are making money for the first time even if they are not getting any more twitter outage. this is interesting because on the surface of it, twitter has made profit for the first time in its 16 year history. that seems like a big deal, however it was not because their business was actually growing, it was because they have cut costs. they are pointing to, the revenue interestingly in japan pointing to, the revenue interestingly injapan is up 12.4%. maybe there are new directions they can be taking. do you think they have reached a ceiling in different parts of the world but there are many different parts of the world to still work on? i suppose with any kind of free service, it is keeping it free but also seeing where to make a profit. they have been changing their ways and targeting their ads to make it more

individualised, which has been helping them to grow across different areas. it is keeping up the pace of growth which is or is difficult. as we use, they increase the number of characters as well, didn't they? doubled it, essentially. did that make any difference, did you think?” essentially. did that make any difference, did you think? i have actually not got the extended. you are not allowed it? not yet, i have not used it. that is the point, they have been making tweaks and adding new twea ks have been making tweaks and adding new tweaks to their products but whether that is really going to grow its business, we still have to wait and see. 0k, well, you are right. they are making money, that is something. we will give them that. we turn to, i do not know what to make of this story, to be honest. this is the miami herald, very sad tale about pebbles, the dwarf hamster, who unfortunately was not allowed on a flight that pebbles's owner thought it was allowed on and

that was his demise. there seems to be this trend over the last year about comfort pets, which essentially means that someone can bring on a pet to alleviate their anxiety from flying, and this student apparently was initially told she could not hamster and then was told she couldn't, and the only option was to flush it down the toilet, which he did, apparently, so...i toilet, which he did, apparently, so... ido toilet, which he did, apparently, so... i do not know whether to believe her or not, to tell you the truth. the airline has said hands up, yeah, we gave the wrong information. sorry, you are not allowed to bring an on—board. but interestingly, it is airlines to decide for themselves, which i thought was strange. it is not a health and safety issue on a big regulatory basis, it is you make a call. and yet they decided that even ona call. and yet they decided that even on a less than two hours flight, this hamster was not allowed on. would you sue? she is thinking about it. she's thinking about it but it seems more about press rather than

in is axa going to be a successful case, but who knows? i could be proven... this is an emotional support, can hamster... what in your view merits emotional support?” don't think... i don't know, i am a dog person. there you go. 0k, well, it was one of the more bizarre stories we've had to do with the day but sadly, pebbles is no longer with us. we will see —— spirit air was the company that made that decision. thank you very much for your company here on the briefing. we have a lot more to bring you hear on the bbc. from me, david eades, and the rest of the team, goodbye. hello there. yesterday morning, some of the coldest air

was across the southern counties of england. with a sharp frost, temperatures in shoreham, towards the south coast of england, got down to —6 degreees. compare that with northern ireland, where we were three degrees above freezing. but fortunes have rather switched around this morning. the coldest air across the north and west. it's mild further south, where we've got this band of cloud and rain moving its way slowly eastwards. now, the cold air follows that band of rain. we'll see wintry showers to start the day across many western areas, and notjust that, there'll also be a risk of some icy stretches on the roads to watch out for as well. now looking at friday's weather charts, we've got this band of rain then. it's working slowly across east anglia and south—east england. and then what follows is cold north—westerly winds, dragging in the cold air but also bringing an increasing risk of wintry showers. so it's going to be feeling colder as the day goes by. now, across england and wales, that band of rain clears away across east anglia and south—east england. then we're quite likely to see some wintry showers, could even bring a dusting of snow — even down to low levels for a time across eastern england.

the best of the sunshine for wales and western areas of england, but feeling quite chilly. further north, for scotland and for northern ireland, north—westerly winds, from the word go, will continue to bring in plenty of snow showers inland. around the coast, more of a mixture of rain and probably a bit of sleet too. temperature wise, we're looking at highs between four and seven degrees celsius. friday evening and overnight, we're going to continue to see showers for a time but then a ridge of high—pressure moves in. that will clear the skies, so temperatures dip away. there'll be be a frost and a risk of icy patches, and then a band of rain moves in off the atlantic, bumps into that cold air, and we will see snow potentially down to low levels for a time across eastern scotland, and some snowy weather too for the hills of northern england. now, heading on into the start of the weekend. eventually, the winds start to come around from a more south—westerly direction. dragging in some milder air. the snow will disappear higher

and higher up into the hills until it turns into rain. a soggy afternoon with that wind and rain, heavy at times, turning milder. temperatures up to 11 degrees in cardiff, still the cold air hanging on across the far north of scotland. then, potential for a weather front to develop across england during saturday night. that could bring a squeeze in the isobars, the potential for some strong winds. that will clear quickly on sunday. we will be back to a mixture of wintry showers. some sunny spells in between. again feeling cool, particularly in the north—western areas. that's your weather. hello — this is breakfast, with charlie stayt and naga munchetty. just hours to the start of the 23rd winter olympic games in south korea. diplomacy is high on the agenda as senior figures from north korea and the us arrive in pyeongchang for the opening ceremony. and bad news overnight for british medal hopeful katie ormerod — she's broken her heel in snowboard training, and is out of the games — she'd already fractured her wrist. this is the scene in pyeongchang this morning where plummeting temperatures have left some

concerned these could be the coldest winter games on record. good morning — it's friday 9 february. also this morning: