this is the briefing. i'm david eades. our top story: brexit plans move ahead. the british government agrees a position and eu leaders will discuss their next budget. australia's deputy prime minister is to resign after admitting an affair and denying allegations of sexual harassment. and a special report from venezuela, where the financial crisis is causing a shortage of medicines and people are dying of treatable diseases. rising ticket prices in europe are expected to help boost one of the world's biggest airline groups, which is about to release its latest numbers. i'll be speaking to an aviation expert to find out what this means for iag — that's ba, aer lingus, vueling and iberia — and what it means for your next holiday. 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 from airlines to political resignations to the snapchat plunge — just use #bbcthebriefing. life after brexit will come sharply into focus for eu leaders today as they discuss the next seven—year budget, once britain has left. it'll start in 2021, and won't benefit from the uk's contributions, which have traditionally been among the highest. and it comes as prime minister theresa may and ministers dealing with brexit are understood to have agreed a position on some of the key aspects of britain's future relationship with the eu,

during talks at the prime minister's country residence, chequers, on thursday. andrew plant reports. outside brussels in front of the cameras, this is an informal dinner date for the heads of eu countries. date for the heads of eu ceuntriek date for the heads of eu cedntriek night at the round table, hosted a night at the round table, hosted by the belgian prime minister before big budget talks begin on friday. the 27 members will meet without the uk to discuss how to plug a hole in the finance is left by britain's exit from the union in 2019. thursday saw the uk's leader theresa may meeting her metres as well, brexit also on the menu here as they discussed the way ahead. -- ministers. if you look what happened before the december european summit, there was a lot of speculation that there was a lot of speculation that the cabinet would not reach agreement. we all agreed a position

that the prime minister took to brussels and got a successful outcome. we are determined to get the best possible deal for every pa rt the best possible deal for every part of the united kingdom. britain will be the first country to leave the world's largest trading bloc. there is a long way to go before that happens in 13 months. eu leaders like angela merkel and and emmanuel macron have a long way to go. friday's meeting moving forward without britain on board. it means about 10 billion euros a year less in its budget, although with some countries already insisting they should not have to pay more, there will be some very tough talks ahead. andrew plant, bbc news. it will not be the first time, it will not be the last. and we'll be returning to this story later in the programme when i'll be speaking tojonathan portes, who's a former cabinet office chief economist.

a renewed attempt will be made at the un security council today to agree a resolution to bring in a 30—day truce in syria. france says that if the un security council fails to help thousands of civilians trapped by fighting there, it could signal the organization's death knell. nick bryant was at the un where russia was being blamed for delaying an agreement for a ceasefire. today, all it took was the mere threat of a veto to block a draft resolution which would have called for a 30—day ceasefire, which would have allowed for humanitarian convoys to get into places like eastern ghouta and for medical evacuations to take place as well. the russians are saying we are proposing amendments, we do want a feasible agreement, but these negotiations have been going on for two weeks now. the russians have already been granted major concessions. the western powers are saying this is yet another delaying tactic by moscow to grant more time for the assad regime to continue its military offensive and to kill more people. britain and america today, again,

as they have done for many years, bemoaned russian obstructionism. but what they have never been prepared to do is back up those words with meaningful action in syria to counteract russia's influence. so they get to call the shots there, and increasingly here. i do think there will be another attempt to pass a ceasefire resolution tomorrow. the french ambassador put it very starkly tonight. he said a failure to get that through would be a devastating loss of credibility for the security council, and it could even spell the death knell for the united nations itself. pretty strong words. australia's deputy prime minister barnaby joyce announced that he will step down as leader of the national party and as deputy prime minister. his resignation came amid allegations of sexual harassment and controversy over an affair with an aide, who's now pregnant. it is quite evident that you can't get to the dispatch box while issues

like that are surrounding it. i can't enter into any discussions around. it is going to the courts, it is going to the courts. on monday morning at the party room i will step down as the leader of the national party and deputy prime rest of australia. that is pretty clear. our correspondent hywel griffith joins me now from sydney. was he jumped or did was hejumped or did he- he did not seem to have much choice. was hejumped or did he- he did not seem to have much choicelj think in the end his position had become untenable, after more than a fortnight a very bad headlines for barnabyjoyce, fortnight a very bad headlines for barnaby joyce, and italy fortnight a very bad headlines for barnabyjoyce, and italy over his extramarital affair and his former aide becoming pregnant, —— initially over. and then except the accommodation renfree from a friend, accemmedatidn renfree frfim'arfriend. = accemmedatidn renfree frfim'arfriend. = a very public falling out with then a very public falling out with then a very public falling out with the prime minister who he went on to call inept, and now the latest allegation of sexual harassment,

which he vigorously denies. in his words, that was the straw which broke the camel's back and which unions gave him no choice. thank you e much indeed. the latest coming very much indeed. the latest coming in from australia. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. it's emerged that an armed guard was at the florida school where seventeen people were shot dead last week, but did not confront the gunman. the admission comes as president trump expressed support for arming teachers to provide protection — a suggestion that's been criticised by the teachers‘ union. new charges have been filed against the former head of donald trump's election campaign, paul manafort and his business partner, rick gates. the 32 charges relate to the alleged filing of false tax returns and money laundering. manafort‘s spokesman said his client maintained his innocence. one of the world's biggest airline groups — iag releases its latest numbers in the next couple of hours. international airlines group

owns british airways, iberia, vueling and aer lingus. priya lakhani — founder and ceo of century tech — joins me now. we will the papers later on as well. the expectations are of some positive figures stipulate they reported in october last year some positive results, coming out with expectations of increases because of the low—cost airlines. expectations of increases because of the low-cost airlines. we have seen a rocky sector. last year we had monica airlines, air berlin, and others going into administration. what it has meant for the larger airlines, iag, etc, is that hopefully they can push prices up. it is all about price increases at an operating level, a difficult

operating environment, try to decrease costs. it is difficult when you are dealing with large airports like heathrow. that is a good point. it is the nature of these things. there is a picture of the ceo, as say, salivating over the you say, salivating over the colla pse you say, salivating over the collapse of some of these smaller airlines. it is a reality, they have said it about consolidating in the industry, this point also about needing to push. he mentioned taking on heathrow at the moment. needing to push. he mentioned taking on heathrow at the momentm needing to push. he mentioned taking on heathrow at the moment. it is really important. british airways itself ‘ the landing really important. british airways itself ‘the landing slots itself has 51% of the landing slots at airport. heathrow at heathrow airport. heathrow airport is 65% more expensive than all other major european hubs. it is an incredibly tough operating environment. every airline has been eyeing up the spots that monarch holds across the country. there is but the gatwick they have been eyeing. willie was's point has been eyeingswillie was‘s paintrbasr been right, civil aviation quite right, civil aviation authority ‘s and the government have

been pushing the expansion. it has got to be transparent. we have got to how they are to understand how they are investing, where the capital is coming from. his biggest wendt so much sense —— is biggest point makes them a sense, should only one authority run heathrow or should you open up to third parties? opening up to third parties means you can increase competition. it is difficult to argue with that point. you look at every other sector in the world, it means, and decreasing costs. in lobbying the world, it means, and decreasing costs. - in lobbying the costs. dealing in lobbying the government, he has not got an easy task ahead of him. we obviously hoping to see some positive results. the figures make it easy to be a loose. ok, thank you. we will pick through the menstruates later in the programme. “— through the menstruates later in the programme. —— the main stories. of losing those organs.

pharmicists there say 85% of the needed medicines are not available — and un has warned that people are dying of treatable illnesses. in the second of two exclusive reports from inside the country — vladimir hernandez has more. her fate is out of her hands. for more than a decade, judith has had a transplanted kidney, but due to the severe shortage of medicines, for four months she's been unable to get the drugs to keep the kidney going. her doctor says he has about 700 more patients in hospital, also facing the imminent loss of a transplanted kidney. for venezuelans, the hunt for medicines is desperate. most drugs are out of stock, and even when you find them,

there's another problem. this person was looking for several types of medicines here, but she could only find this one. these are two boxes she needs per month, but it cost her 12 million bolivars, which means about a third of what she makes in a whole year. i've met other people around this pharmacy and they are saying there's no chance they could afford something like this. critics say this is an example of the failure of the so—called socialist revolution, but the venezuelan president says us—led sanctions prevent him from importing medicines. things are worse away from big cities. this is apure in the south, near the amazon forest, and one of the poorest

states in the country. here, i gained very rare access to a public hospital, a place where the government does not allow the media in. this baby is seven months old and malnourished. the scabs on his head and body were caused by an illness related to malnutrition. his mother cannot afford his medicines once she leaves hospital. children like these are having to get, for instance, antibiotics for a price which could be ten times the monthly minimum wage. and the people who live in poor communities like these are unable, absolutely unable to buy these medicines. little oriana has an uncertain future. she needs surgery to treat her lung failure. but her family can't afford the antibiotics to get her ready for it. a simple drug, out of the hands of many venezuela ns. for oriana, as for many

venezuelans, lack of medicine is an almost certain death. vladimir hernandez, bbc news, caracas. stay with us on the briefing. but a new dam being built far upstream could threaten its prosperity. we meet some of those likely to be affected. prince charles has chosen his bride. the prince proposed to lady diana spencer three weeks ago. she accepted, she says, without hesitation. as revolutions go, this had its fair share of bullets. a climax in the night outside

the gates of mr marcos's sanctuary, malacanang, the name itself symbolising one of the cruellest regimes of modern asia. the world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly using a cell from another sheep. citizens are trying to come to grips with their new freedom. though there is joy and relief today, the scars are everywhere. not for 20 years have locusts been seen in such numbers in this part of africa. some of the swarms have been ten miles long. this is the last time the public will see this pope, very soon for the sake of the credibility and authority of the next pope, benedict xvi will, in his own words, be hidden from the world for the rest of his life. you're watching the briefing. our headlines: a30

a 30 day truce has been proposed in the eu court. it is not ‘ russia will veto it. and our top story. leaders of eu states — except britain — will meet later on monday to debate a post—brexit budget and how to choose the next head of the european commission. let's stay with brexit now — with me isjonathan portes, who's a former chief economist at the british government's cabinet office. thank you for coming in. we have had quite a day on thursday in terms of finding unity from a fairly disunited cabinet, do you think it was a step forward? do you think there is a more solid feel to the

british government's feel on future arrangements? i think we have had one step forward but we might also see two steps back the days to come. it appears that the - is it appears that the cabinet is broadly behind an approach. but it is the lowest common phenomena to approach and it is an approach which the european union has said isn't going to run a. that the uk will manage diversions and conform to eu rules when it wants and will divert when it wants. as far as the eu is concerned, it is an other cherub picking approach which they have rejected this topic we can deal with each individual issue which will go on forever, but it are some sort of mutual recognition of our positions, we can work with that, but don't tell us what is right and wrong and what we can and cannot do. that is right. the problem is from the eu's point of view, mutual recognition doesn't cut it. to have a proper single market you need to have a common way of enforcing whatever is

agreed and you have to make sure that you keep up—to—date as change. the way that works is to directives, regulations and the european court ofjustice. if we are going to say we want to have the same fairness, we want to have the same fairness, we won't have any of those things which make it work, i think the eu is likely to say that went really work. yes we will recognise your standards in some areas but we will decide when, it will be up to us and if we changed things you either have to change or fall away. the two steps back comes as soon as the eu response that we have seen laid out, sorry that is not good enough. that is right and will happen in the next few weeks. two big things will happen, the eu will decide on what its approach is to the uk and that is likely to be in the long run rather more important than what uk cabinet wants. even before that, we still have to agree on what this transition period will look like from march 19. that is the pressing deadline and the uk government is

absolutely desperate to get this agreed, because it is very worried that if it doesn't, we don't have a firm agreement, then business interests will be turned away. will the eu leaders have to talk about money? they are losing a heck of a lot from britain coming out. money does talk and it is still a card for us does talk and it is still a card for us in terms of securing transition in particular because our sustaining in before that transition period smooths the budget. but 10 billion euros, it is a big amount of money but not a huge amount of money. we are talking about less than 1000 of the eu gdp. -- are talking about less than 1000 of the eu gdp. —— once 1000. —— one thousandth. there are tensions on the nile as ethiopia is getting closer to finishing a huge new hydroelectric dam, which will create a vast reservoir. egypt says it wasn't consulted before building started, that the dam's impact downstream

hasn't be properly assessed, and that it could reduce the amount of water it relies on to survive. in the final part of his series travelling down the nile, alastair leithead reports on how egypt is already facing a water shortage and is doing all it can to keep control of its river water. for thousands of years, civilisation has flourished here in egypt on the banks of the river nile. 630 in the morning, the sun isjust banks of the river nile. 630 in the morning, the sun is just coming banks of the river nile. 630 in the morning, the sun isjust coming up, it isa morning, the sun isjust coming up, it is a stunning way to see this country. the reason we are here is to try and understand, to get an explanation of why it is each it is so opposed to this dam is de marchi jaberair is building. so opposed to this dam is de marchi jaber air is building. —— ethiopian. these are a part of it its national identity, any threats of a river is seen as a identity, any threats of a river is seen as a threat to its sovereignty.

decades ago, egypt decided the best way to protect its own interests was to build a dam. it regulated the flooding of the nile, generated power and allowed vast agricultural lands to be irrigated. it helped this fisherman on the nile a0 years. he said his livelihood depends on the river and its consent ethiopian wa nts to the river and its consent ethiopian wants to control it. translation: the water would be affected but god knows what could happen. if they dam the river, there will be wars and fighting. there are even bigger concerns in cairo, egypt relies on the nile for almost all of its water but with a fast—growing population, the un predicts water shortages by 2025. each of his angry about ethiopian's dam. if the water is reduced coming to egypt by even 296. is reduced coming to egypt by even 2%. what does this mean? a loss of 100,000 acres of land. one acre at

least next one family survive. a family size, the average family size is about five people. that means 1 million will bejobless. is about five people. that means 1 million will be jobless. experts say egypt is right to be angry about the dam, building began without consultation in the middle of the arab spring. filling the reservoir to quickly will reduce the rivers flow. there is also suspicion over ethiopian intentions. it is very much a game changer. now for the first time they are compiling the power of being an upstream country, ina way, power of being an upstream country, in a way, controlling the nile flow and also the economic power of being able to construct a dam depending on its own domestic resources. war over water can be avoided, through strong leadership and diplomacy. it could even be a model of how countries could learn to share great rivers,

but for now it is up to ethiopian, saddam and egypt to navigate tensions on the world ‘s honest river. —— longest. let's take a quick look at what's been happening on day fourteen of the winter olympics in south korea — and canada are celebrating on the ski slopes.