this is the briefing. i'm david eades. our top story: a candlelit vigil is held for the victims of the florida school shootings, but the debate over gun control continues. new york police arrest twin brothers suspected of building an explosive device, one of them worked at a school in manhattan. 60 years on, could the forgotten veterans of britain's atomic bomb programme finally get recognition and compensation? also, is coca cola losing its fizz? the drinks giant is releasing its fourth quarter results in a few hours amid a 12 year decline in the us market for carbonated soft drinks. in the business briefing, i'll be speaking to neil hendry from globaldata about our changing preferences for soft drinks. 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. just use the hashtag bbc—the—briefing. we ask about whether we are finally getting the message over those fizzy drinks. a candlelit vigil has been held in florida to remember those killed in the mass shooting at a high school on wednesday. 19—year—old nikolas cruz has appeared in court, charged with 17 murders. democrats in the us have criticised president trump and the republican speaker of the house, paul ryan, for refusing to discuss gun legislation. here's nada tawfik. they came to mourn the lives lost and the lives scarred by the

senseless attack. neighbours, friends and the students of storeroom and i comforted one another as best they could. —— stu d e nts of another as best they could. —— students of the high school. the students of the high school. the student was one of those who ran in panic when the first shots were fired. he doesn't know if he can handle returning to the halls where his classmates‘ lives were cut short. i don't know ifi his classmates‘ lives were cut short. i don't know if i will be able to cope with just walking through the bottom four of the ill thing. knowing that everything has been cleaned up, you can almost imagine blood on the walls, bodies on the floor. no one is able to —— going to be able to walk through that building. all 17 victims have 110w that building. all 17 victims have now been identified. among them talented students, star athletes and the lovat football coach and security guard. he has been called a hero for shielding children from the bullets. nikolas cruz appeared in

court briefly on 17 charges of premeditated murder. his lawyer said he was sad and remorseful and described him as a broken human being. the sheriffs office said he confessed the opening fire on his former school. he told authorities he bought a drink at subway and stopped at mcdonald‘s after the rampage. on social media, nikolas cruz often posed with guns and on one post he wrote he would be a professional school shooter. those who knew him were troubled by his behaviour. these terrifying scenes of stu d e nts behaviour. these terrifying scenes of students completely helpless and trembling with fear have shaken the nation. and they have reignited the debate on gun control. people here are ina debate on gun control. people here are in a state of shock, that someone are in a state of shock, that someone from there own community could be capable of such killing. the city now joined could be capable of such killing. the city nowjoined the long list of americans school shooting tragedies. authorities in new york say they may have thwarted a bomb attack on a school in upper manhattan. two males, including a teacher

who recently quit the school, have been charged with explosives offences. the new york police department says it comes after a tip off in december and the discovery of bomb—making instructions on the teacher‘s laptop in january. in the course of the search, which was conducted beginning this morning and went on through much of the day, over 30 pounds of chemicals which, taken together in certain combinations, constitute explosive precursor were recovered. christian and tyler toro were taken to the 49th precinct where they were taken into custody by the fbi and charged, as you see in the complaint, with possession of explosive precursors and giving explosives to minor. the charges have to do, as is outlined in the complaint, with allegations that at least two students who were present in the toro‘s apartment emptied explosive black powder from fireworks, harvesting them from fireworks, and then putting them into separate containers.

as well as the explosive materials and what appeared to be simulated weapons that were found in the course of the search, there was a diary appearing to belong to toro‘s brother that had notations in it about something called operation flash. statements contained in the diary about discarding and doing away with physical evidence.... let‘s brief you on some of the other stories making the news. a children‘s rights activist has been jailed for six years and eight months for sexually abusing a boy in the 1960s. peter newell was the former co—ordinator of the association for the protection of all children charity. the 77—year—old from north london was sentenced last month. he admitted five indecent

and serious sexual assaults on a child under 16. scientists say products such as deodorants and shampoo cause as much air pollution as cars. experts believe the products now account for around half of the air pollution, the same amount as cars. the research by the university of california suggest thousands of premature deaths are caused by the release of harmful compounds within many of the most popular products. president trump‘s former chief adviser, steve bannon, has again refused to answer key questions when being interviewed by the house intelligence committee, which is investigating alleged russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. the committee is reportedly considering holding him in contempt. the hollywood actress jennifer anniston and her husband justin theroux have announced they‘re separating after less than three years of marriage. the 49—year—old star of the american sitcom friends and 46—year—old actor said in a joint statement that the decision was mutual

and lovingly made at the end of last year. coca cola will be reporting earnings in a few hours‘ time and expectations are that revenue will fall some 27% in the last three months of 2017. this is due to consumers being more health conscious and giving up sugary drinks for healthier alternatives. andrew tuck, the editor of monocle, joins me now. let‘s focus on these figures that are not out yet. 27% is a huge drop, which seems to say a huge amount about what we think of these sorts of fizzy drinks these days. these soft drinks have become the lightning rod in the debate about health and sugar and are being targeted by science. there is a move towards bottled water and fizzy

bottled water, which doesn‘t carry the risk of a sugar levy, but at the same time they are now being hit by people saying, look at the packaging that you then use with all this bottled water, so they are being squeezed on the other side as well. so for the company is going forward there are huge number of concerns. that‘s a good point about the plastic or cans. interesting that one thing coca—cola seem to be doing is they are purchasing other brands or coming up with new brands, which don‘t have the word coke in them, either. in the us the power of the disarming water brand is selling almost as much as the coca—cola branded the us and meanwhile on the coke side they try to come up with new flavours, putting machines in many new flavours, putting machines in ma ny stores new flavours, putting machines in many stores where they make up a special coca—cola for you install. so they are trying to be more inventive, but in the and i think

they are recognising that they need to move some of their investment into non— sugar —based drinks. to move some of their investment into non— sugar —based drinkslj to move some of their investment into non- sugar -based drinks. i saw a story that mcdonald‘s aren‘t going to put cheeseburgers in their happy meals anymore. so they are aware of the importance of health and the obesity issue, but we keep hearing that obesity has only become a greater problem still, at the same time as awareness is becoming stronger. where is the tipping point? what‘s happened is that for many of these companies they started a clever narrative about drinking smoothies and fruitjuices and then doctor said when you look at that smooth the best probably as much sugar in their ads in a carbonated drink, didn‘t have that. —— smoothie there‘s probably. so it is difficult for these companies to present a positive story going forward. any defined at packaging solution, a sugar solution, and come up with something that we as the consumer still need to want to purchase. and

that‘s all. thank you. 60 years ago, 22,000 british service personnel were sent to the south pacific to test nuclear bombs. explosions they claim exposed them to radiation causing cancers and birth defects passed down the generations. the uk is the only nuclear power to deny recognition and compensation to its bomb test veterans. now samples of their dna will be taken as part of a new research looking for possible genetic damage. sarah corker reports. it was so bright you could see the bones in your hand. you just saw like another sun any in the sky. the south pacific at the height of the cold war and the british military testing a nuclear bomb. cold war and the british military testing a nuclear bomblj cold war and the british military testing a nuclear bomb. i was a nuclear test veteran. bob was 24 and

in the forces when he watched one of the world‘s most powerful weapons detonate on christmas island, one of 22,000 british men involved in the testing programme. we had no protective clothing. shorts, flip—flops. most of my children, grandchildren, have suffered in some way. we have a higher rate of illnesses. three generations of the fleming family believe they‘ve suffered because of his exposure to radiation. 21 of the members in our family and 16 of us have health problems. musculoskeletal health problems, breathing problems, tumour problems, breathing problems, tumour problems, kidney stone problems. and they‘ve spent decades searching for a nswe rs. they‘ve spent decades searching for answers. it was back in 2012 when britain‘s nuclear test veterans took their case to the supreme court and lost. the court said they had faced

great difficulty, proving a link between their illnesses and taking pa rt between their illnesses and taking part in the test, but now here at brunel university, london, they are carrying out scientific research to see if there dna was irreparably damaged. the chief scientist said blood samples would be taken from 100 veterans and their families. we are sampling a group of veterans that we know were present at nuclear tests back in the 50s and 60s and we‘re, paring samples of their blood with a control sample of veterans who we know weren‘t present at the time of the nuclear test sites. the scientists will work closely with vetera n scientists will work closely with veteran charities. they are the forgotten generation of people who saw these very powerful weapons. explode in theirfaces saw these very powerful weapons. explode in their faces and it‘s almost like they have been wiped from the history books. the ministry

of defence says it is grateful to the service men, but says three previous studies of the veterans found no valid evidence to link the tests to ill health. the government set up the age veteran fund in 2015, which will help fund this new research. and the flemings want to ta ke research. and the flemings want to take part in this study and are waiting to hear if they‘ve been selected. we want recognition. and this is what we‘re fighting for. selected. we want recognition. and this is what we're fighting for. so, 60 years on, nuclearfamilies this is what we're fighting for. so, 60 years on, nuclear families are still living in the aftermath of this on tests. —— these bomb tests. stay with us on the briefing. also on the programme: the biggest show on earth. the chinese television spectacular that welcomes in the lunar new year. nine years and 15,000 deaths after going into afghanistan,

the last soviet troops were finally coming home. the withdrawal completed in good order, but the army defeated in the task it had been sent to perform. malcolm was murdered. that has a terrible effect on the morality of the people. i‘m terrified of the repercussions in the streets. as the airlift got under way, there was no letup in the eruption itself. lava streams from a vent low in the crater flowed down to the sea on the east of the island — away from the town for the time being, but it could start flowing again at any time. the russians heralded their new generation space station with a spectacular night launch. they called it mir, the russian for peace. you‘re watching the briefing.

our headlines: new york police have arrested twin brothers suspected of building an explosive device. they have both pleaded not guilty. our top story — thousands have attended a candlelit vigil in parkland in florida to honour the victims of wednesday‘s high school shooting. ivy schamis is a teacher at marjory stoneman douglas high school. she spoke earlier to my colleague, mike embley, explaining what happened in and around her classroom during the attack. i was teaching a history of the holocaust class actually, how to combat hate, and i was in the end of a lesson and i left my board and all of a sudden, we hear pop, pop, pop, very, very loud. although i had never heard gunshots before, it was unmistakable what that was. the students, they were mostly seniors in the class,

were incredible. they instantaneously went down to the ground, they instantly were looking for cover. we had been practising a little bit of these drills but we did not know it would happen the way it did, and they went to the perimeter of the classroom, trying to hide behind — i had file cabinets, the teacher‘s desk, anywhere they could hide in. then within seconds, the gunman shot his automatic weapon right into the panel on the door, and shot into the classroom and hit some of my students. when you say hit some of your students, how are they? well, two of them have passed away and several of them were injured. ivy, i‘m so sorry. thank you for talking to us about this. as i say, if you need to moan a bit, that is absolutely understandable. i gather the gunman then goes across the corridor,

where your best friend is teaching. yes sir, he could have easily put his arm into the panel of the door that he shot out, but miraculously, he did not and he kept going, but unfortunately, he went across the hall to my friend and he did the same thing in her classroom, and some students were injured and deceased as well. and then he shot in the hallway, our coach and security specialist aaron feis, and then he made his way to the hallway and continued there. you just mentioned aaron feis. he later threw himself in front of students and was killed. yes, i understand that‘s what he did. what went through your mind? i was very frightened in front of my students. we were trying to be very quiet, because we were afraid he was going to come back, so we were holding on to each other and the students

were extremely mature. they were incredible. i just want everyone to know how unbelievable our students were. they held onto each other, they were consoling each other, they were telling each other to be quiet, the ones who were injured were being helped by other students in the corner, they were shielding themselves with textbooks and laptop cards, they did anything they could to protect each other, and we were very, very frightened, kids were shaking. there are people, as i‘m sure you know, who say that all this actually is an argument for more guns, gun sales go up when this kind of thing happens. there are people who say that teachers should be armed, should you have been armed? oh my gosh, no. i‘m not one that agrees with that,

i‘m afraid of guns. i don‘t think anyone should have guns and i think this kid should not have had an assault rifle either, so no. if no one had guns, teachers would not need those guns, so no, i do not believe in guns. here‘s our briefing on some of the key events happening later. first up in ankara — us secretary of state rex tillerson will meet with his turkish counterparts, on the last day of his middle east trip, which also included visits to kuwait, egypt, jordan and lebanon. then we head to munich where global security chiefs and top diplomats will attend the annual munich security conference to discuss syria, ukraine and other international conflicts and crises. and later in south africa, president cyril ramaphosa will give his first state of the nation speech to parliament after being sworn into office yesterday following the resignation of jacob zuma. let‘s take a quick look at what‘s been happening on day seven

at the winter olympics in south korea — and we‘ll start with some alpine skiing. austria‘s matthias mayer has taken gold in the men‘s super g — breaking a norwegian stranglehold which dates back to 2002. korea‘s yun sungbin came first in the men‘s skeleton — just ahead of russian athlete nikita tregubov. great britain‘s dom parsons took bronze — the first medal for team gb at these games. and italy‘s michela moioli is celebrating after she won the women‘s snowboard cross final. to keep up to date with all the action — go to the bbc sport website. with the highlights from day six — here‘s austin halewood. america‘s golden girl, michela

shiffrin was the face of the american team before the games began and after a 3— day weather delay, the olympics finally got under. the american needed to pull things back from second and under the pressure that comes being favourite, shiffrin didn‘t disappoint. she pushed things to the limit on the risk paid off as she flew into gold—medal position with just one scared to come. manuale molg couldn‘t enter time. while shiffrin is a new face of skiing. norway‘s aksil lund svindal has been dominating on the slopes fears. is treated like a rock star at home, he was looking to go out with a final flourish and he did just that. the round was anything

but textbook but he managed to regain his footing. the oldest alpine skiing champion in the history of the olympic games. and while aksel lund svindal was breaking records on the slopes, in theice breaking records on the slopes, in the ice arena, the german pair were doing the same, smashing their own world record to take gold with a perfect routine. translation: after the first day, we spoke to our trainers and they told us, you have nothing to lose, attacked today and this morning, we woke up like tigers. i woke up at six and said today, we write history. with hopes that it would come true. for germany, the olympics keep getting better. they won their second gold today in the luge relay. it means the germans have beaten their tally from four years ago and we are not

even halfway through. more than a million people have signed a petition to get snapchat to change its latest design. it separates friends from posts —— posts from friends and from publishers. many users say it is confusing. it‘s the beginning of what could well be the biggest annual celebration worldwide — the lunar new year — also known as the spring festival. more than 1.4 billion chinese people around the world marked the official entry into the year of the dog with lanterns, banquets and colourful celebrations. the bbc‘s tim allman reports. in china, this is how most of the country sees in the lunar new year — state television spring festival gala. by some estimates, the most watched entertainment programme on earth. around 700 million viewers for a 4—hour spectacular of colour and sound.

low key and subtle it is not, but this has become a new year tradition. some decided to celebrate in their own way with fireworks and sparklers in beijing. the sound of firecrackers, young and old enjoying the noise and the spectacle. translation: i hope this year of the dog, the children keep growing up in good health and our elders keep well, and i also send our new year wishes to everyone. away from the fireworks, there‘s food. entire families gathering together to make and consume dumplings and noodles — a tasty way to welcome the year of the dog. at this buddhist temple in shanghai, people prayed for good fortune. they burned incense, looking forward to new opportunities. and it isn‘tjust china celebrating — this a sea of red lanterns in kuala lumpur.

plenty of dogs were present — some symbolic, some real. hundreds of millions of people coming together to say goodbye to the old and hello to the new. tim allman, bbc news. stay with me on bbc news, i‘ll be back with the business briefing in just a few moments. is the bottomline drinking for soft drink companies and it is also our talking point for the day. up we coming to the end of our session with fizzy drinks, just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. stay with us here on bbc news, so much more to come.

let‘s get a check on the weather and see what is coming your way. in the short—term, quiet weather out there. it is cold, it will be frosty and friday promises to be a beautiful day across most of the uk. through the night, we have had clouds across scotland. he was the low pressure spinning around. here, snow across the hills, around the coast of scotla nd the hills, around the coast of scotland and the north of northern ireland. for the vast majority of england and wales, it is a clear sky —— start to the day. around —1, wyness to around most towns and cities. friday, we got some decent weather around. lots of sunshine to start the day, showers and snow

across scotland here. sunshine to aberdeen and an umbrella. it is going to turn a little bit hazy. the most of us, it‘s a fine day on friday. around about eight in newcastle. this is friday night, the early hours of saturday. some cloud, spots of rain and again, some mountain snow across the north of england and scotland. on a chilly and clear note across east anglia and clear note across east anglia and the south—east, these more northern and western areas will have a bit of cloud. this weather front grazing northern parts of the uk. saturday, bits and pieces of rain across the north and maybe in the west. not a bad day but further south and east you are. temperatures

will get up to around 10 degrees. on sunday, a very different story, a lot of cloud across the uk. some rain around the western coast and it‘s going to be a bit milder with that south—westerly wind across the uk. up to double figures. this is business briefing. i‘m david eades. is coca—cola losing its fizz? the drinks giant is releasing its fourth quarter results in a few hours amid a 12 year decline in the us market for carbonated soft drinks. japanese markets are relieved as the government reappoints bank of japan governor haruhiko kuroda for another term. the nikkei is up. it has been a good

week for markets across asia. not so good for the all ords. the dow is up a bit, even if the dollar is having a bit, even if the dollar is having a troubled time.