this is the briefing. i'm sally bundock. our top story. president putin delivers his state of the nation speech in a few hours, but with economic hardships at home and political difficulties abroad, will russians back his six—year plan? as two major us retailers restrict the sale of guns, donald trump says it's time an american president "stepped up" and calls for tougher safety laws. after a ill—year renovation project belgium's pathe palace reopens with plans to offer more independent films. cue the big money. music streaming giant spotify heads for the new york stock exchange. but will it find a place on wall street's playlist? also in business briefing — how to get ahead in advertising in the world of facebook and google. we look ahead to annual results from the world's biggest ad firm — wpp. 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 as streaming giant spotify files to float on the new york stock exchange. we are asking, how do you listen to music these days? do you stream, download, cds or vinyl? also is streaming good or bad for the music industry? tell us what you think. just use the #bbcthebriefing. russian president vladimir putin is due to give his annual state of the nation speech in a few hour's time.

it comes less than three weeks ahead of the presidential election on march 18th and will be seen by some as mr putin setting out his programme for the next six years. domestic issues like education, pensions and living standards are expected to be high on the agenda. he's still very popular amongst many russians who are unhappy with their daily lives and the state of the economic. let's go now to steve rosenberg in moscow. what more can you tell us about what will be in this state of the nation address? in russia, a president is constitutionally obliged to report back to parliament every year about the state of the nation and the kremlin‘s hopes and plans and dreams and president putin has made such an address many times before, 13 times,

but i think today's address will be very different. i think it will sound much more like a campaign speech by a presidential candidate than the state of the nation address bya than the state of the nation address by a sitting president. because, as you say, in about two and a half weeks' time, president putin is up for re—election and he has not really done much campaigning up until now and he has not said very much about his election programme, his plans for the future. and russians want to know what life is going to be like. they expect vladimir putin will win the election and they want to know what kind of country russia will become. one of the russian papers puts it really well. it says, unlike elections in advanced democracies where you don't know who is going to win an election, but you sort of know what will happen after the election, in russia, it's the opposite, you do know who is going to win you don't know who is going to win you don't know the future and it is fog and

alarming. and if vladimir putin, the paper says, can clear some of the fog today his speech will have been a success. fog today his speech will have been a success. so fog today his speech will have been a success. so russians fog today his speech will have been a success. so russians want to know what kind of a country they will be living in under what kind of a country they will be living in undeeradimir what kind of a country they will be living in under vladimir putin mark four. it is more than likely to be putin mark four. what is the situation like for russians? we know they have been through a very difficult time at the very low oil price and international sanctions imposed. but have things improved with the price of oil going up, etc. there are two different rushers. —— visions of russia. if you switch on the television you seek positive exa m ples of the television you seek positive examples of the future of russia, but life is tough here. real incomes have fallen for years in a row. more than 20 million russians live below the policy —— poverty line in the economy is stagnating. these are serious issues that the new russian

president that vladimir putin will have to address as well as the difficult relationship with the west, of course. steve, thank you very much. we will bring you more on that story as the day progresses. pupils have returned to school at the florida school where 17 people were killed two weeks ago. the pupils return came as politicians met with president trump to try and come up with legislation to prevent school shootings. the pressure to find an agreement has been heightened by two major american retailers including the biggest of all, walmart, have taken the decision to raise the age at which they will sell guns and ammunition too. nada tawfik reports from florida. it was a return that was emotional for members of stoneman douglas high. police and members of the community climbed into the walkway for moral support. a flower, a hug, comfort ahead of their tough journey back to the scene of so much pain and loss.

inside, the focus was not on studies on helping them to heal and giving them the space to readjust. today was a roller—coaster. we were not completely sure what to expect. all of the kids are at different stages of healing. it was a tough day for nicole velazquez. she lost her friend nicholas, and still mourns his absence. in the morning i actually saw him, and we said happy valentine's day and that was the last i heard from him. a makeshift memorial wraps around the school that honours the 1a students and three staff members killed. among the condolences from schools across the country, posters reading "never again". students have adopted that slogan as the name of their campaign to push for stricter gun measures. this is the first time survivors of a mass shooting of been so vocal about gun control in the us, and despite the students' return to classes, they have vowed to keep up the momentum and they plan a march

on washington later this month. at the white house president trump held a bipartisan meeting when he seem to support expanded background checks for gun purchasers and other measures. we're going to come up with some ideas and hopefully we can put them in a bipartisan way. it would be so beautiful if we could have a bill that everyone could support. senator chris mafi called out they influence of the powerful gun lobby, the nra. the gun lobby has had veto power of any legislation that comes before a government. i wish that was not the case, and if all that we do is the stuff that the gun industry supports, then this just isn't worth it. this new urgency is a result of the students' demands to put gun safety at the top of the agenda. their protests have had a strong impact. companies have cut ties with the nra, and two major retailers, walmart and dick's sporting goods

have announced they will raise the minimum age for all guns to be purchased from 18 to 21. in some parts of corporate america, it is no longer business as usual. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. the australian government says more than 57,000 firearms were handed in during a three month gun amnesty last year. the haul includes thousands of automatic weapons and an unregistered rocket launcher. the amnesty allowed people to hand over weapons without fear of prosecution. a third of the firearms have been destroyed, the rest have been licensed or registered for sale. men in france could face fines for making lewd comments about women in public, under new plans to tackle street harassment. details were set out by a parliamentary working group on wednesday amid rising concern

about sexual harassment and assaults following the harvey weinstein scandal. fines would range from 90 to 350 euros the german government has confirmed its computer network has been the target of a cyber—attack. authorities have not commented on reports that the attack was carried out by russians and targeted the foreign and defence ministries. the hack was first discovered in december and may have lasted up to a year so as we've been hearing the music streaming service spotify has revealed plans to list its shares on the new york stock exchange and could soon be joining the ranks of multi—billion dollar technology companies. jeremy cook from world firstjoins me now. iam i am told you are a bit of a fan. you are listening to it on the way in. they give you a readout of how many hours you have listened to it over the year. i think it worked out as four and over the year. i think it worked out as fourand a over the year. i think it worked out as four and a half hours a day. that

is you? i hope your clients are not listening to this. one of the phone, wonderfully —— one for at home. listening to this. one of the phone, wonderfully -- one for at home. the way they are going to manage the flotation, spotify, tell us more about it. instead of a typical ipo where they have ten or 12 banks going out to sell shares to clients and they all agree a price and then on tuesday morning it says they are open for trading at $10 a share, but eve ryo ne open for trading at $10 a share, but everyone else has got him beforehand, they are simply paying a couple of banks $30 million to go out and say, just market the shares but don't give them an allocation. is this democratising it? making it a level playing field? it means that private investors would feel they have not been able to buy in as soon as other people have like large hedge fund is. and quickly, this is a company that has not turned a

profit but it will be valued at over $20 billion. is this a bubble waiting to burst? they do have a business, obviously. they have 71 million subscribers and here in the uk it's just below £10 a month to pay for the advert free version. they have double the subscribers that apple music had. but they are coming up against people who have never had to make money from their music offering service. apple makes more than they do from the music and other streaming services don't make that much money from the music, they make from hardware. it will be interesting to see how long the business model progresses and whether, as with other people, they have to tie it in with hardware sales to make themselves fully profitable. watch this space. jeremy will be back for the news briefing and we have more from spotify on the business briefing as well. in the latest high—profile departure from the white house, one of president trump's longest—serving aides — communications director

hope hicks — is resigning. on tuesday she was questioned for eight hours by the house intelligence committee, investigating russian interference in the 2016 presidential election but the white house has denied any connection. chris buckler reports from washington. hope hicks was often at the side of president trump, notjust the communications director, but one of his closest aides and advisers, but now she isjoining other figures like like steve bannon and sean spicer in leaving the trump white house. in a statement, the president described her as outstanding. he said... earlier this week, the 29—year—old former model gave evidence toa congressional committee looking into allegations of russian interference in the 2016 election. it is reported that she admitted

telling white lies on occasion for the president but left, having refused to answer questions about the meeting that took place during the campaign between the trump team and a russian lawyer. the white house insists her resignation has nothing to do with that testimony. but it leaves the president once again with a key position to fill. hope hicks was the fourth communications director of his presidency and we are only 13 months into it. stay with us on the briefing. also on the programme. with only six wins out of 12 games this year arsene wenger says keeping his job as arsenal boss is his last worry. first the plates slid gently off the restaurant people, the tables and the chairs crashed sideways and downwards and

it was just a matter of seconds until the ferry lurched onto her side. a hydrogen bomb on a remote pacific atoll. the americans have successfully test a weapon which dwarfs the force of the bomb dropped on hiroshima. i had heard the news earlier and my heart went bang and bang. the constitutional rights of these marchers are the rights of the citizens of the us, and they should be protected so they do not get their heads broken and sent to hospital. this religious controversy, i know you don't want to say much about it, but will it boil up when you get to the states? it worries me, but i think i'm going to be all right in the end, as they say. you're watching the briefing.

our headlines: president putin will deliver his state of the nation speech in a few hours. he's expected to outline his domestic and foreign policy plans for the next six years. as two major us retailers restrict the sale of guns, donald trump says it's time an american president "stepped up" and calls for tougher safety laws. theresa may said on wednesday that no prime minister of the uk could ever accept the european union's draft document which sets out the legal framework for britain's withdrawal. she'll get the chance to repeat that claim later when she meets donald tusk, the president of the european council. with me isjonathan portes, a professor of economics at king's college london

and senior fellow at uk in a changing europe. so much has been happening this week, kicking off withjeremy corbyn and his speech, then multiple speeches since then, including former prime ministerjohn major. what you make of all that's been going on this week and where we are 110w going on this week and where we are now with the uk position? we are seeing that things are approaching the crunch. the commission draft treaty text is very aggressive, particular on the difficult question of the irish border and it's pretty clear what they are doing is trying to send a message. they are bored and irritated by the fact that the uk has not been negotiating seriously with the commission as the uk cabinet has spent months negotiating with itself so they've not moved forward at all. the eu is doing this not because they want to end up there but they want to get the attention of london, you can't

just say we will sort out the irish border when it comes and don't worry, everything will be fine. they are saying, we have to get down to brass tacks now. part of the reason why the uk government has not been able to be clear on the irish border is because it's a difficult one for them to sort out. especially when they rely on the dup to get bills through parliament because they don't have the majority required for that. and yet, theresa may is facing the fact that within her own party who might have those who are pro—europe voting with the labour opposition so he see she needs the dup more than ever. so she cannot give brussels a clear stands at this point. yes, so she has to do square the circle in some way. the uk government said it didn't want a ha rd government said it didn't want a hard border between the republican ireland and northern ireland, and it said it did not want a hard border within the uk itself, quite

reasonably. but at the same time it doesn't want to be in the customs union and the other regulatory apparatus of the eu either. you can't square all those things except by resorting to a magical future technology which the eu does not think will happen. but briefly, we are one year away from the except months, march 2019. the clock is ticking fast. that is exactly why that is they are forcing matters. it is fed up they are forcing matters. it is fed up with the fact that the uk government cabinet has negotiated with itself. they will now get serious and have to make some choices, either theresa may will make them, or the country as a whole. thanks for coming in, jonathan, in the snow. we appreciated. here's our briefing on some of the key events happening later. first up in luxembourg, the european court ofjustice will issue a judgement on whether adidas' three—stripe trademark prevents other shoes using similar branding. around midday in london,

the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse will publish its report on the treatment of children sent abroad as child migrants in 1940—1970. and later on, qantas is launching the world's first non—stop flight from the uk to australia. the flight from london to perth will take 17 hours. i hope they have some good entertainment. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. coming up on your thursday sport briefing, four days after losing to manchester city in the league cup final, arsenal host the table toppers in the premier league. the portland trailblazers go in search ofa portland trailblazers go in search of a fifth successive nba win and snowmen are of a fifth successive nba win and snowmen are the flavour of the day in barcelona, replacing the formula 1 testing. arsene wenger is that a

man under pressure but try telling him that. reports this week suggest the club are already seeking a replacement after the defeat to manchester city in the league cup final. arsenalface manchester city in the league cup final. arsenal face city in the premier league on thursday. another arsenal defeat will pile on the pressure and leads to more questions about arsene wenger‘s future. pressure and leads to more questions about arsene wenger's future.|j pressure and leads to more questions about arsene wenger's future. i am just amazed that i always have to a nswer just amazed that i always have to answer things that are exactly the same. i've been here the 21 years. i turned the whole world down to respect my contracts, so i am still amazed that i still have do answer these kind of questions. how arsene wenger would love to be in barcelona's position, top of the league in spain, through to the cup final and into the last 16 of the champions league. they face las palmas later and a win will move them seven points clear of second placed atletico madrid. the portland trailblazers are on a roll. they face the minnesota timberwolves on

thursday and are looking for a fifth straight win. they beat sacramento early in the week, and these 26 points helped them to a 116—99 victory. also in action later, the clevela nd victory. also in action later, the cleveland cavaliers and the los angeles lakers. with 12 titles to their name, juventus are the coppa italia kings and they are a victory away from their 13. a penalty against atalanta gave them a 2—0 win. juventus have been untouchable in the competition in recent years having won it three yea rs in recent years having won it three years on the trot. tottenham hotspur are through to the fa cup quarterfinals after a crushing 6—1 win in their replay over rochdale. there was a 12 minute hat—trick for fernando llorente which changed the course of the contest after the interval and sets up a awayday type at swansea city. it is official.

russia's olympic membership has been restored by the international olympic committee following suspension in korea. they were banned from the debris games by the ioc after state—sponsored doping, but despite this, 160 russians impeded as neutrals and two of them failed drugs test. if you don't follow serving you might not know who mick fanning is, but he has announced he will retire from the sport. aside from the titles, this is what made him famous in 2015 as he fought off a great white in south africa. he was plucked to safety from the water in the same venue last year. the biggest names in formula 1 were taken to the track in barcelona for the third day of pre—season testing on thursday but after snow postponed the morning session it was not the drivers getting all the attention. it was the mercedes of new recruit, the snowman, the mercedes of new recruit, the snowman, and world champion lewis hamilton was a big fan of the little

fellow as well. not everybody was impressed by the conditions. daniel ricciardo posted this on social media. you can get the latest sports news on our website. from may, that is your thursday sport briefing —— from me. after a massive renovation the 136—year—old palace cinema in brussels has officially reopened. its owners will show a mix of international and local films hoping to tempt audiences used to watching movies online to the historic building, as laura westbrook reports. the doors of one of the world's oldest cinemas are open again. after lying dormant for a century, the palace in brussels has been restored to its former glory. the historic building has some modern upgrades, but those behind the renovation made sure to keep the old with the new. it has been beautifully renovated, from what i can see.

very curious to see the room and how they did it. it was first opened in 1913, but by 1973, this room had been turned into a car park. setbacks to its restoration included bankruptcy and a battle over who would own the building, the french or flemish community. it was the french who eventually bought it. but it was still many years before renovations were complete. i think it's really lovely and really nice and i had the advantage to visit it some months ago when it was under construction, and i think they have made a very beautiful work out of it. british actress charlotte rampling introduced the first film to be shown here. fittingly, set in brussels. the new owners hope to show a mix of independent films and blockbusters. the new owners hope to show a mix of independent

films and blockbusters. it may seem odd to reopen a cinema in an age where so many watch films online, but those behind this hope it will once again be a place where anyone who loves film can go. stay with me on bbc news, i'll be back with the business briefing in just a few moments. we'll have more on. we will be talking about spotify and many other stories. we asked for your ways of listening to music. i'm sure it's not the former prime minister, david cameron, but radio in the car downloaded on the phone. harry got in touch from iran. i was born in iran and there was no television, only radio. i still love the radio. others saying streaming, cds and vinyl. the 1st of march it might be, but we

are still in the grip of a spell of wintry weather. disruptive wintry weather at that. a met office red warning central parts of scotland to the wider parts of north—east england. there is a met office amber warning and all of these areas seeing snow showers to take this into the first part of thursday. the winds are really picking up as well. bitingly cold if you happen to be out and about through the early hours, but i think of most concern will be the weather across northern and eastern scotland. the snow showers continuing to feeding and maybe some more on parts of the central belt. let's look further afield and the showers continuing to feeding across northern and eastern areas. showers across northern

ireland into northern england, but not as many as we have had across parts of lincolnshire and east anglia. something a bit drier here. then down the south, an area of low pressure with snow to the channel islands. maybe other southern areas as well. the top ger might struggle to get above freezing but with the biting wind, it will feel like —11 in birmingham and cardiff for the middle of the afternoon. then as we move out of thursday into the evening, the area of low pressure continues to drift from the south, and that will bring significant snow, across the south—west of england. there will be strong winds, blizzard conditions and even if the snow turns back to rain across devon and cornwall that will fall on cold surfaces and it would give a lot of ice into friday morning. during friday some of the snow will push

into parts of the southeast, east anglia as well and we keep the snow showers feeding into northern and eastern scotland and another cold day for many but something just a little bit milder in the far south—west, and we will see temperatures climbing a bit through the weekend that there will still be some showers and some of those will be wintry. this is the business briefing, i am sally bundock. the headlines... cue the big—money. .. music streaming giant spotify heads for the new york stock exchange. but will it find a place on wall street's playlist? plus — how to get ahead in advertising — in the world of google and facebook. why the giants of the industry could be losing their gloss. and on the markets the month of march begins on a negative note following another day of losses on wall street.