this is the briefing. i'm sally bundock. our top story — spiralling out of control — the un warns syria to stop bombing civilians in eastern ghouta as dozens die in the past 2a hours alone. students protest outside the white house, demanding action on gun control. president trump says he will support efforts to tighten background checks. the brexit secretary heads to austria to deliver a keynote speech, setting out the uk's aim of maintaining even—handed cooperation after leaving the eu. pre—tax profits more than double at europe's biggest bank as hsbc leaves its problems firmly in the past. a new boss starts work at hsbc tomorrow. we'll be getting an expert view on whatjohn flint will bring to the bank, which is hoping to expand in china and the united states. 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 or what you are spotting — just use the hash tag #bbcthebriefing. although syrian government forces appear to have gained a decisive upper hand in the country's 7—year—long civil war, the fighting is far over. syrian activists say dozens of civilians been killed over the past 2a hours in eastern ghouta. the united nations has warned that the situation is spiralling out of control in the damascus suburb, and demanded the government end

the bombing of civilians — 400,000 people are still living there. a warning — lina sinjab‘s report contains some distressing images. sirens wail. syria's war is intensifying in eastern ghouta. government air attacks rained down again today. scores more dead, hundreds more injured. another desperate search for survivors here in the neighbourhood of hamouriyah. it's hell, activists have told us. they say the final stages in the battle for eastern ghouta, one of the last rebel—held areas in the country, is underway. houses reduced to rubble, hospitals hit, children terrified. "i want my mum," this girl cries, "i want to get out." this is what is left of their home. finally, they are out. people living in ghouta

say barrel bombs and surface—to—surface missiles were used to target them. today was a very miserable day for eastern ghouta. there was many air strikes and many shellings and bombings. the worst thing in eastern ghouta we didn't see before is helicopters, meaning there are barrels of tnt. 0ne barrel can destroy one neighbourhood completely. that is what most fearing for the civilians here in eastern ghouta. syrian government forces and their russian allies are determined to clear this area of opposition fighters and take back full control of the capital, damascus. but with the death toll rising to the highest in a single day, this year, the question is, at what price? lina sinjab, bbc news, beirut. president trump is now supportive of improved background checks for people buying guns, according to his spokeswoman.

since the deadly high school shootings in florida last week, the president has largely focused on mental health issues and criticising the fbi for missing warning signs about the gunman. but a campaign led by school students, survivors of the parkland attack, seems to be gathering pace. laura westbrook has the latest. cassie bernall, 17. steven curnow, 1a. this is their message to those in power. 17 students lay down in front of the white house, the same number of children murdered in the school in florida last week. they are demanding congress take action on gun control. one of the survivors of the shooting had this to say to donald trump. he's going to see in our eyes that we're not going to back down, no matter what. we're not going to stop until this country changes. it appears

the president is listening. the white house says donald trump supports efforts to improve background checks on those buying guns. it's a shift in position for a president who has the endorsement of the powerful gun lobby, the national rifle association. one of the senators behind the bipartisan bill tweeted the president's support was a sign that politics of gun violence are shifting. but this one bill alone isn't enough. the shooting suspect, nikolas cruz, did buy his guns legally. the 19—year—old appeared in court for a status hearing. it's emerged that leading up to the shooting, he had as many as ten rifles in his possession, despite being examined by mental health workers. chanting. enough is enough! anger among those who are the targets of school shootings is still acute. more marches are planned in the coming weeks. while many of these students

can't vote yet, soon, they will do and they represent the largest voting bloc in the united states. they are hoping their numbers will get lawmakers to finally listen and take action on gun control. laura westbrook, bbc news. there's more reaction to the florida school shooting on our website from survivors of the attack, politicians and the national rifle association, as well as a report on why the gun lobby is so powerful. that's at bbc.com/news or download the bbc news app. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. a report from the united nations' children's fund says the world's poorest countries have not made much progress in ending deaths among new born infants. unicef said sub—saharan africa remained the most dangerous place to be born. a court in peru has ruled the former president, alberto fujimori, must face trial for allegedly ordering right—wing

paramilitaries to kill six farmers in 1992. judges ruled that mr fujimori's recent pardon on health grounds did not apply in the case. new zealand's military has been deployed to areas expected to be hard hit by the remnants of a major cyclone. air new zealand has cancelled all flights in and out of the capital, wellington. cyclone gita swept through a number of pacific island nations last week, leaving extensive damage in tonga, samoa and american samoa. it's expected that many of kfc‘s 900 uk outlets will remain closed on tuesday because of a lack of chicken. the fast food chain has apologised, saying it had been let down by a new delivery company that took over its supply chain last week. the uk's brexit secretary is to say that britain won't rush to deregulate after it leaves the european union.

in a speech to business leaders in austria, david davis will say he wants to see the uk maintain high global standards in order to boost trade. it's all part of a whistle—stop tour of europe. with me is vicky pryce, board member and former chief economic adviser to the centre for economics and business research. some of the headlines are quite interesting. for example, the mad max dystopia which is something he is saying will not happen in the uk leave the european union. he is trying to grab the headlines. he is following boris johnson trying to grab the headlines. he is following borisjohnson and theresa may has already given one speech and will give another major on later. he is very important, he is the head of the department, which is putting together all the information

hopefully with some evidence attached to it, and also the process for achieving a smooth exit. he is very significant in that respect. but he has had a problem that is not being taken terribly seriously by the europeans and he is trying to re—establish his position as a serious player in the game. re—establish his position as a serious player in the gamem re—establish his position as a serious player in the game. it is a charm offensive. what is he mean when he said written will not be plunged into a mad max dystopia? what is he trying to counter there in terms of the debate about whether it is good or bad for the uk? to try and use regulation in a way to improve our competitiveness. we will not slash workers rights or environmental legislation, which nobody wants to see happen. that there has been quite a lot of discussion as to what is the point of leaving if we are not going to use our own regulation to get some competitive advantage? we cannot do that if we deal with europe and trading with europe to the extent we

already do. there isjust no trading with europe to the extent we already do. there is just no way you can compete against them in those areas and the europeans have made it clear they will be very careful during the transition and beyond, especially if we have an arrangement, what we do ourselves with regulation. if we compete against them including financial services, may be repercussions will come as a result. from your perspective, how is this process going? not moving fantastically fast, frankly. the europeans have said you cannot have your cake and eat it. what they mean is yes, we might have some revolution standards but generally we have to accept the standards we have. to a very considerable extent because the uk has developed a number of standards that exist in europe, have benefited from this usually. they have become international standards. businesses say what they don't want is different standards. 0ne say what they don't want is different standards. one thing for the uk and something else for europe. thank you very much indeed.

let's talk about the winter 0lympics. at the winter olympics in south korea, an anti—doping case against a russian competitor has been referred to the court of arbitration for sport. alexander krushelnitsky, who won bronze in the curling, was one of 168 russian athletes judged to be clean and was allowed to compete after extensive vetting. he is now suspected of using a banned substance. let's get the very latest from the bbc‘s stephen mcdonell who's in the south korean capital, seoul. you and i were talking about this yesterday and we talked about the next test results. have they come through yet? two things are happening right now in south korea. 0ne, we are waiting for the court of arbitration for sport to actually come out with its decision in the case of alexander krushelnitsky because at the olympics, the muck

around. they deal with these things pretty quickly. they haven't give us the timing of the hearing but it may even have already been finished. they may have completed the hearing stage. at any moment we could hear the decision on that as to whether oi’ the decision on that as to whether or not that a russian curling athlete will lose his bronze medal he won here at the winter olympics. the other thing happening, quite coincidentally, is that south korea's president is meeting with a group of senior russian athlete here or the games, and officials. you would love to be a fly on the wall in that meeting, which apparently is happening right now inside the blue house, the presidential blue house in seoul. will he ask them what's going on with your doping, how do you feel about it? i don't know. but the other thing, of course, is that more generally speaking, all the

russian athletes are waiting to find out if the international olympic committee will allow them to march into the main stadium for the closing ceremony, carrying their flag or not. i would think they would probably be a little more pessimistic about that given this most recent doping case. we have a lot to answer. we will speak to you soon. so many questions still. we'll have more from the winter olympics a little later in the programme. let's tell you what else is coming up let's tell you what else is coming up in this programme. the schoolchildren in the science project that will be out of this world. back in a moment. 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. one wonders who is next. as the airlift got under way, there was no let—up in the eruption itself. lava streams from a vent low in the crater flow 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've called it mir, the russian for peace. you're watching the briefing. 0ur headlines: the un warns syria to stop bombing civilians in eastern ghouta as dozens die in the

past 2a hours alone. students have been protesting outside the white house demanding action on gun control. president trump is now saying he's "supportive" of tighter background checks on people buying guns. there's a "critical division" between the countries in the east of the eu and those in the west. that was one of the themes from hungary's prime minister in his annual state of the union address this week. victor 0rban, whose tough line on migration has enraged the eu, said his country was endangered by politicians in brussels, berlin and paris. in the second of her series from the east of the eu, jenny hill reports from hungary. divisive, defiant, hungary is standing its ground. a borderfence,

no migrant quotas, a different vision for europe. translation: no migrant quotas, a different vision for europe. translatiosz is thanks to our political leaders that hungary and its people have a profile in europe. people recognise us profile in europe. people recognise us and they look at us and they say, hungary, you are day. but victor 0rban hungary, you are day. but victor 0 rba n u nsettles hungary, you are day. but victor 0rban unsettles this eu peers. —— you are ok. do not expect him to stand down over the mike in crisis. it may be over, but he and this party are seeking re—election. it may be over, but he and this party are seeking re-election. this wave of refugees and immigrants to hungary and europe came as a heavenly gift to victor 0rban and others. he can appear as a saviour. watch out for the dress rehearsal. local elections in this town. this candidate expected to wind. how do

you justify... candidate expected to wind. how do you justify. .. even candidate expected to wind. how do youjustify... even so, he was candidate expected to wind. how do you justify. .. even so, he was not keen to speak to us. i want to ask you about the eu. your party is in trouble with the eu. what do you say to those who depend on that money? he refused to discuss it. corruption allegations, xenophobia, victor 0rban‘s dream of what he calls an liberal democracy. -- illiberal. translation: the only thing they do writers keep migrants out to be they nothing good after that. —— right is. the only people who do well are those close to him. the court,s the police, the administration, they are all under his influence, and people are scared. i do not know what will

happen to me for speaking out. i am not afraid. but out here in the countryside, there is concern. farms like this depend on funding from the eu. translation: the european union should not be small—minded just because it has a quarrel with the hungarian government. it would the irresponsible to punish a country and its people. the end result is the eu falls apart. for many, of course, this is all about security. but the fence has come to define hungary and its decision to put national interest first. here on the outer edge of the eu, it is a symbol of defiance. after all, this country knows what it means to be left outside. jenny hill, bbc news, on hungary's serbian border. here's our briefing on some of the

key events happening later. stockholm terror suspect, rakhmat akilov will appear in court. he's already confessed to the truck attack that killed five people in the swedish capital last year. british mps will grill executives from oxfam and save the children over alleged sexual misconduct involving the charities. zimbabwe's opposition leader, morgan tsvangirai, will be laid to rest at his rural home of buhera. he died last week from cancer at the age of 65. and finally, the palestinian president, mahmoud abbas, will brief the un security council on the situation in the middle east. now let's catch up with the olympics. looking at day 11, the first two gold medals have been awarded in five events reaching their conclusion today. in the figure—skating, the canadian dancers, tessa virtue and scott moir, have clinched the gold medal. on day ten, they set a record breaking score of 83.67, that's higher than the previous

record they had set in october. the canadian pair were olympic champions at their home games in vancouver in 2010. now it's time to get an update from bbc sport on the action from day 10 of the olympics in pyeongchang. rob heath has all the action. 3's a crowd, four is cosy, but squeezing onto a podium is easy compared to this. a tight finish. this german pair set the pace. a fine run guaranteed them either silver or gold. these people were

slower than the germans on their final run, but combined times over previous hits were the same. hurtling along at 150 kilometres per hourin hurtling along at 150 kilometres per hour ina hurtling along at 150 kilometres per hour in a bob seems hairy. but what about this or this. robber johannsson taking flight. —— robert. a second gold for norway on the ski slopes. and they were not slouching on the ice either. this was an olympic record to win the men's 500 metres speed skating final.m olympic record to win the men's 500 metres speed skating final. it has been a while. it was time to get on top of the podium again. it feels so good to do that. norway have now won

27 medals in pyeongchang. their most ina single 27 medals in pyeongchang. their most in a single olympics. and you can stay up—to—date on the website. or you can even macro as school projects go, it's out of this world. children from dozens of schools across britain have made sugar—cubed sized sculptures that will be launched into space on a nasa rocket this april. a company will then film them floating in microgravity, in an experiment to test their new space camera. richard westcott went to meet some of the kids whose work is heading for the stars. when i made something in school, it just ended up on my parents' shelf. they have loftier plans. their work is going on a real nasa rocket. hundreds of sugar sized projects will be shot into space in microgravity for 30 seconds before

the rocket comes back down to earth again. this school in milton keynes is one of a dozen schools sending work to the stars. they could have made anything. they decided to craft tiny cows. i was screaming. i could not believes mine was picked. tiny cows. i was screaming. i could not believes mine was pickedm tiny cows. i was screaming. i could not believes mine was picked. it is amazing for me for mine to be picked to go into space, not many people have gone there. i feel very special. why do you feel special? it isa special. why do you feel special? it is a once—in—a—lifetime opportunity, and, you know, it is not every day a cow gets sent to space. it is not just the children pinching themselves. i did not believe it at themselves. i did not believe it at the start but i knew it came from a good source. it is unbelievable. i say to you realise there are going into space! they want to film the scorchers floating around inside a small box. they are trialling a

camera which will eventually be used to explore the moon for water. who are the competition entrants? a huge variety of sculptures from all over the world. it is an incredible response from the dissidents. as you can see, a huge variety of materials and concepts. —— participations. can see, a huge variety of materials and concepts. —— participationslj see a little tim peake. yeah. i want to inspire future generations. the age to do that is between five and ten. we want a concept that would maximise participation from children all over the world of all ages. the launch date is now t— six weeks and counting. five, four, three, two, one. go! it didn't work! mine didn't

work! richard westcott, bbc news, milton keynes. it look exciting. breaking news. the top story. hsbc profits jumped to $17.2 billion. that is the latest business news. i will talk about this in detail in the briefing. that is quite a big jump the briefing. that is quite a big jump on the previous year, 1% higher on what they made the year before, just over $7 billion. now, looking at that comparison, it is fairly flattering, because they had some run—off flattering, because they had some ru n — off costs flattering, because they had some run—off costs the previous year pulling down profits. but we will talk about the biggest bank in europe and their outlook. we will

have their boss on soon. see you in a minute. thank you forjoining meet to be welcome to the latest look on the weather. —— joining me. welcome to the latest look on the weather. ——joining me. the welcome to the latest look on the weather. —— joining me. the good news is it will be much brighterfor most parts of the british isles. i say most because the weather front which gave so many of us in miserable day on monday is trying its best to move towards the north sea. it is not doing thejob. this quy sea. it is not doing thejob. this guy is clear behind it. pretty cool on the west of scotland. here we are around the rush—hour time and there will be a brighter look to the weather. we have the detail model up for you at 8am on tuesday morning to see some showers in the western highlands and the centre but of scotland. northern ireland, dry and bright. —— central belt. as a

consequence, there could be moderate rain. generally speaking, west or north, the greater part of scotland, northern ireland, wales, dry and fine and sunny. 10—11—12. underneath that, with an onshore breeze, looking at something not better than six, seven, eight degrees. pressure is building through that weather front which squeezes the moisture out. what is left of the cloud keeps the temperature up on this diagonal. on either side, wednesday could start chilly note. there could be a frost, something he would not have seen. frost, something he would not have seen. we are beginning to tap into the influence of the continent, a continent, which i have to tell you, is pretty cold at the moment. that will be relevant to the weather across the british isles into the second half of the weekend the weekend. high pressure, you can see

the residue of cloud from that weather front. look at this. wednesday is no longer 12 degrees. wednesday is no longer 12 degrees. we are all in single figures to be there is the high sitting near scandinavia. eventually this system will feed cold air towards the british isles as we move through the latter pa rt british isles as we move through the latter part of the week. this is business briefing. i'm sally bundock. here are the headlines. pre—tax profits more than double at europe's biggest bank as hsbc leaves its problems firmly in the past. and british billionaire richard branson tells us hyperloop technology can be the giant step forward that india needs to connect its cities. and on the markets: hsbc isjust hsbc is just about to reopen from its lunch break. sorry, hang seng in

hong kong. we will see how hsbc shares trade fair. a fairly mixed day with japan down after a very strong monday.