this is the briefing. i'm samantha simmonds. our top story: a blueprint for brexit — theresa may will deliver a long—awaited speech setting out her plans for a future relationship with the eu. the misery goes on — heavy snow and deadly blizzards continue to lash many parts of europe and will continue into the weekend. i'm karin giannone, live in the italian capital, rome, as the last days of campaigning ahead of sunday's election get underway. there are plenty of new faces and one very familiar old one in the ring. and coming up in the business briefing... raising the temperature. president trump says he'll slap hefty tariffs on foreign steel to protect us workers. but is he playing with fire? we'll be getting the views of steel workers in pennsylvania and the reaction on global markets. 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. with transport chaos all over europe and people stuck in their cars for hours, we're asking if we've all been woefully underprepared for the beast from the east, even though we knew it was coming. tell us what you think — by using the hashtag in a few hours, the british prime minister, theresa may, will set out her vision for britain's trading relationship with the european union after brexit. she's expected to say she wants the "deepest and broadest possible" agreement, and acknowledge that some compromises will be necessary. but she's not expected to change her position on removing the uk from the customs union. bill hayton reports.

a shrug of hands and whimsical glance, the body language of the european council president after meeting theresa may on thursday wasn't exactly enthusiastic. donald tusk told her he wasn't happy with the british government's red lines, the refusals to be part of the eu's single market and customs union. in her speech later on friday she will outline five tests that any agreement must pass. it must ensure that britain remains a tolerant, european democracy and it must strengthen the unity of the united kingdom. but some brexit supporters say mrs may needs to go further. we need to say, right, this is what we're after, we are reasonable people, we are prepared to compromise, but unless you're prepared to stop treating us like a hostage, treat us with some respect,

then we will say that no deal is better than a bad deal and walk away. however, one veteran conservative politician, an opponent of brexit, says that there is far too much to sort out in such a short time. behind all the passion about brexit, there are an awful lot of things, important to our society, important to our jobs, investment and also our security. and the environment and other things have to be sorted out. the eu's brexit negotiator wants to hear specific proposals from the uk but, with her own party still deeply divided, mrs may's speech is more likely to stick to general principles. we will have more analysis of the speech coming up on the programme a little later. heavy snowfall and deadly blizzards will continue to lash many parts of europe into the weekend, forcing airports to cancel or delay

flights and rail services to stop trains around the continent. the deep freeze has seen the death toll climb to more than 50 and comes as some countries now brace for a new round of storms. virginia langeberg reports. the snow storms have seen dozens perishing in freezing conditions, many of them rough sleepers. in south—east london man in his 60s died after falling into frozen pond. it may now be officially spring but the wintry blizzards continued to bring highly unusual red weather alert warnings in parts of the uk. it was hit overnight by storm emma.

motorists were told to stay off the roads but that message came too late for thousands already stranded on motorways. here was one of the lucky ones. somehow this car and bus in edinburgh avoided being added to the road accident statistics. portugal and spain have been left battered by storm emma and are now bracing for new storms, expected to bring up to 75 millimetres of rain by the end of the weekend. rough seas are already forcing a offshore oil platform to run aground on the canary islands. pass operation been left frozen in time with temperatures plunging 2-23dc in time with temperatures plunging 2—23dc in eastern parts of the country. —— parts of croatia have been left frozen. what is a spectacle for some is an inconvenience for many others. heavy

snowfall has left thousands stranded across europe from flight and rail cancellations. this is dublin airport, where flights have been cancelled until saturday at the earliest. we're going to have to stay here until saturday. we're stuck here for two days. i love ireland. but i'm trying to get out of here. when traditional modes of transport fail, there will always be those that improvise. in scotland people in edinburgh had opted for skis to get around on foot whilst in aldershot, home of the british army, still soldiers incorporated a high octane snowball fight as part of their physical training session. and you will hardly hear complaints for children with schools closed because of the conditions meaning that london parks provided the perfect wintry playground. perhaps the only

ones enjoying the wintry cold more, these baltic seals, in poland, a p pa re ntly these baltic seals, in poland, apparently unfazed by their frozen whiskers. and we might as well settle in and try to cope, because the cold is sticking around a while longer with weather warnings remaining in place for the uk until just after midnight on monday. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. the catalan separatist leader, carles puigdemont, says he's ending his bid to be re—elected president of the spanish region. but he says the move is only temporary, to try to break the stalemate with the spanish authorities. he's been living in self—imposed exile in belgium since last year's independence referendum. he faces arrest if he returns. police in northern france are reopening files on unsolved rape cases — after a man admitted carrying out around a0 sex attacks dating back to the 1990s. french media have named the suspect as dino scala — a 57 year—old grandfather and caretaker who was president of his village football club.

now to our top business story. on his way to the presidency, the plight of america's steelworkers was a core theme in donald trump's message of america first. now he's delivered on that promise to protect an industry in decline — announcing steep new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports next week. the international response was immediate. canada described the tariffs as completely unacceptable. both the european union and china threatened to retaliate — fuelling fears of a global trade war. joel kibazo is a partner at jk associates and a former director of communications at africa development bank. welcome, good morning. this announcement seems to have caught everybody by surprise. announcement seems to have caught everybody by surpriselj announcement seems to have caught everybody by surprise. i think it did. in some ways we should have expected something like this because president trump did sort of make these points during his campaign to become president. but when you wander was a feeling that some of

that was campaign rhetoric and so would not cause the much of a trade war plus his party, the republicans, are the party of free—trade zone there was an expectation that it would go ahead in a very mild form. the way it has happened a stake by surprise. usually there are leaks and signals before something like this happens which helps market sort of study. because it has just come out of the blue, and we have seen the department of trade, and the business community in the us was not prayer “— business community in the us was not prayer —— was not prepared for this, so prayer —— was not prepared for this, so hence the falls we have seen on wall street and in asian markets. he's talking about 25% tariff on steel imports and 10% on aluminium. there has been an angry reaction from around the world. much of this is aimed at china. president trump believes that the trade with china

is unfair, but that's only 2% and actually the societies that will be at our places like south korea, one of the main exporters to the united states, the third biggest after canada and brazil the united states. above all that there is also the fa ct above all that there is also the fact that it will make things more expensive for consumers. that is why wall street this falling and markets are reacting. and joel will be back in about half an hour to review the main stories being covered by the global media. stay with us for that. italians will head to the polls this sunday to elect a new president. the race is between three main parties. there's the centre—right forza italia, headed by a familiar face — former prime minister silvio berlusconi. then there's the five star movement, started star movement, started by comedian bepe grillo in 2009 and now one of europe's biggest populist movements. finally the ruling democratic party led by former prime minister matteo renzi. well let's cross live to rome. my colleague karin giannone is there for us.

good morning to you, karen. good morning, samantha. italy has been in the grip of final —— severe winter weather for the final days of this election campaign. there has been a lot of noise from the extremes of politics and as you mentioned there, re—entering the political stage and reinventing himself as an elder statesman is a very familiar figure of 81—year—old silvio berlusconi, but he is barred from actually holding office so he is maintaining the campaign from the sidelines, if you like, but very much centre stage as well. he can't actually be prime minister because of a tax fraud conviction in 2013. let's discuss this more, with me is the chair of constitutional law at a university here in rome. 0n the issue of silvio berlusconi, what exactly can you do? he was convicted and since there is

a law that provides as a consequence that he is banned from public office, he has filed an appeal to the european court of human rights, but the final decision is not due before fall, so at this moment that rules him out of the possibility to hold any office but as you know, he'sa very hold any office but as you know, he's a very charismatic leader, so, asa he's a very charismatic leader, so, as a political leader from his party, as the opinion polls show, he is very able to mobilise the actors and his party is gaining, and there isa and his party is gaining, and there is a slight possibility that the right—wing coalition wins an outright majority on the day of the election. there is an interesting factor this time around that the

electoral system is actually a new one. it is a very complicated. no one. it is a very complicated. no one is sure how it is going to work. it is complicated because it is a mixture of systems. two thirds of it is proportional in mechanism and the third part is first past the post. since the italian system, as everybody knows, is a very fragmented system, it is very unlikely that some party or some coalition gets a majority so, if silvio berlusconi is such a success, it is possible, but not very likely. then what happens, it is going to be interesting to see. but what i would rule out is that the president goes for another dissolution. there is no tradition of double dissolution, one following the other. the possibility is that we restored the negotiation

as it has happened in many countries in europe. we have to leave it there. we could be seeing a period of more uncertainty for many weeks to come. giovanni, thank you. with that, it is back to you in london. stay with us on the briefing. also on the programme... pick up a penguin — we'll tell you about the thriving colony of birds enjoying life off the antarctic peninsula. first the place slid gently off the restaurant tables, then suddenly the people, the tables on the chairs crashed sideways and downwards and it was just a matter of seconds until the very lurched onto our side. a hydrogen bomb on a remote pacific atoll. the americans have successfully tested 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 marshals 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 state? it worries me, but i think i'm going to be all right you're watching the briefing. 0ur headlines: heavy snowfall and deadly blizzards will continue to lash many parts of europe into the weekend, forcing airports to cancel or delay flights and rail services to stop trains around the continent. our top story — in a few hours, britain's prime minister will set out her vision for britain's trading relationship with the european union after brexit. let's stay with that now.

with me is dr elaine fahey, reader in european law at city university here in london. good morning. thank you for coming in. this is being billed as a real step forward and from what we have seen step forward and from what we have seen about what the prime minister was going to say, do you think it is? is difficult to have a step forward after the obligation of the eu draft treaty on wednesday. my understanding is that this is sound bites and the eu needs to see the detail of what the uk in visages going forward. one year before we have to leave, and we are still talking about what we want never mind actually deciding what we want. theresa may is struggling to unite her own party and satisfy the demands of the eu at the same time. it is almost impossible balancing act that she is juggling but the uk signed up in december two seconds set up as a pulse of the treaty published on wednesday is not

necessarily so different. it is difficult to see how this division in the face of uk agreement, as of december. what do you think we will hear about northern ireland, which isa hear about northern ireland, which is a sticking point, as we heard in the withdrawal agreement published on wednesday? the eu envisages something that the british prime minister says will not allow to happen. how are they going to come together on this? the treaty is saying, this is an entity for the purposes of law, and the uk is signed up to the integrity of the single market and to have alignment and a frictionless border, and there was concern in the eu that there are still not a viable technology from the uk about the technology, and it is difficult to see how this is going to move forward without some

very specific proposals in this speech today. they think the eu is becoming increasingly intra nsigent orders arejust seen becoming increasingly intra nsigent orders are just seen that way from their tough language and you think they would be prepared to see deal? the fact the remains that there is no precedent for what the uk wants, and the eu has a variety of partnerships out there, although these are not something that the uk was to sign up to so that puts the eu ina was to sign up to so that puts the eu in a difficult position as they are to satisfy the uk's needs in the absence of detail. good to get your thoughts. we'll focus on a speech in a couple of hours' time. here's our briefing on some of the key events happening later. we begin in new york for the opening of the "david bowie is" exhibition. then later president donald trump's former campaign manager paul manafort will appear in a us court to be arraigned on a second indictment filed against him.the new 32—count indictment alleges he committed bank fraud and filed false tax returns. and later on in paris, the french equivalent of the oscars kicks off. at this year's cesars the aids drama

120 bpm and world war i drama au revoir la—haut are among the favourites. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello there, coming up in your friday sport briefing, american deontay wilder has his eyes on andyjoshua, despite his wbc heavyweight title defence in new york this weekend against luis 0rtiz. the world indoor athletics continues and cliff diving in the azores sounds nice. but you may want to think again when you see what it involves. deontay wilder will defend his wbc heavyweight title against cuban, luiz 0rtiz on saturday when they meet in new york. the american holds one of the four heavyweight titles and is already talking about a potential unification fight against briton, andyjoshua. but speaking to the bbc, obstacles are being put up byjoshua's promoter, eddie hearn.

i don't believe they want it. and when i say they, i mean eddie. eddie hearn, i don't believe eddie hearn wants this fight at all. why not? because, like i say, joshua is like annabel the cow, eddie hearn is milking him. milking him, every dollar. every dollar. the world indoor aathletics championships are underway in birmingham and there is plenty to feast your eyes on later. the south african is the strong favourite in the long jump final on friday night. the showpiece event is the women's 60 metres final where all eyes will be on elaine thomson. the double olympic champion is hoping to get her season back on track after some poor form. the jamaican hasn't come close to the time she posted last year. in case you missed it, a sparsely filled emirates stadium in north london. arsenal were given a first— half footballing lesson by manchester city in the premier league just days after being beaten by the same team in the league cup final.

three first half goals led by german international, leroy sane, who scored one himself, wasn't at the interval vote. arsenal failed to score and saw aubameyang have a penalty saved, heaping more pressure on gunners' boss, arsene wenger. physically, certainly, our highest game of the season. them as well, we played with low confidence and we could see that at the start of the game and we paid for it. they were a quality team and they took advantage of that. after that, we maintained and we needed the penalty to go in to have a little chance to come back. that was another negative in the second half. in the end, we lost against a team which is the best in the country at the moment. the spanish leaders, barcelona extended their club record unbeaten league run to 33 games, but they could only manage a 1—1 draw to las palmas. lionel messi gave barcelona the lead just after the 20 minute mark,

but a second—half penalty rescued it for the canary islands hosts. the catalans moved five points clear of atletico madrid, when it comes to cliff diving, you need lots of skill and dedication, but above all, you need guts. just take a look at this. this cliff diver posted this of himself in the azores in the atlantic. the american says i am scared of the potential consequences of a cliff dive gone wrong. almost as much as having to hold and nine to five office job. i know how he feels. you can get all those stories on our website. from me, that is your friday sport briefing. an international team including scientists from oxford university has discovered a thriving colony

of more than 750,000 penguins off the antarctic peninsula. with little human activity on the danger islands, a so—called super—colony of adelie penguins is thriving. whilst the same species is in decline on the other side of the peninsula. 0ur science correspondent victoria gill has more. a bird's eye view of a super colony. three quarters of a million adelie penguins are nesting here on the a ptly penguins are nesting here on the aptly named danger islands just east of the antarctic peninsula. it was only when a team of british and us scientists mounted an expedition to the wrote, rocky islands that they we re the wrote, rocky islands that they were able to carry out a detailed penguin centres. painstaking headcounts with aerial photography revealed the scale of this wildlife haven. ijoined the team of researchers in antarctica in 2016 and captured a snapshot of their

decade of wildlife monitoring in this frozen landscape. worked like this frozen landscape. worked like this on the ground in the antarctic has revealed that adelie penguins in the rest of the peninsular are in decline service discoveryjust 100 decline service discoveryjust100 miles away provides a vital clue about a site that can be a refuge for the birds. and it might need more protection from human activities like fishing. 0ne more protection from human activities like fishing. one key to this island's fast stable colony is the sea ice. as well as being a vital breeding ground for the crusta cea ns vital breeding ground for the crustaceans and cruel that penguins rely on it makes access to the island is difficult for fishing and shipping. is a proposalto island is difficult for fishing and shipping. is a proposal to make the sea shipping. is a proposal to make the sea around the danger islands marine protected area. scenes like this show just what that could preserve. great to see them thriving there. sticking with the cold theme — denmark may be in the depths of a freezing and rather dark winter but its capital copenhagen is awash with light.

it's for the city's first international light festival. a total of a0 illuminated artworks dot the quay, small parks and buildings, with danish elements of minimalism, sustainability and scandinavian design featuring heavily. 0rganisers say the festival is aimed at getting the danes out of the house in winter, to see copenhagen in a new light. that's pretty spectacular. stay with me on bbc news, i'll be back with the business briefing in just a few moments — we'll have more on president trump's move to slap tariffs on imported steel — plus the economic challenges facing italy. tell me what you think about our talking point today — with transport chaose all over europe and people stuck in their cars for hours — we're asking if we've all been woefully underprepared for the beast from the east — even though we knew it was coming. i have been very disappointed with

the gritting, or the lack of it, in my area. stay with us here on bbc news so much more to come. we've seen treacherous conditions in the uk and there are more warnings from the met office, with amber weather warning still in force across scotland, northern ireland and the north east of england with frequent showers, those warnings expiring at 10am. by the early hours of the morning we will have lost that red warning towards the south—west and wales, but there are still that amber weather warning until eight o'clock or so. that's no we have been seeing has been particularly bad in hampshire, and that has been due to a combination of storm emma and the cold air brought about by the beast from the east. dennis taylor: as low as they have been, but there are still the strong wind around and a good deal of cloud. those snow showers continue across the north and east of scotla nd across the north and east of scotland running through the central belt and the north east of england. and we could see more snow developing not just and we could see more snow developing notjust across northern

ireland and wales but in southern england, especially during the afternoon, and patch is slowly work its way north, with some uncertainty about how much snow we will get during the day on friday. another called david temperatures struggling to get above freezing, and we still have that easterly winds that is what it's going to feel like if you're out in the wind. another very cold day ahead. things are going to change. the beast from the east, that strong easterly wind being replaced by something a little less cold, coming up from the south, with the weather beginning to come from southern climes rather than all the way from siberia, so we should see temperatures lifting, slowly. we still have the threat of more snow showers across northern parts of the uk will restore still have a cold, easterly wind. further south, the winds will becoming lighter and it should be driver soweto weather beginning to arrive in the south later but by the most part, this should be rain. over the hills, we could see some snow pushing northwards overnight towards the borders and across northern england,

with some wetter weather returning to southern areas. a messy purge on sunday, losing that cold, easterly wind, the winds should be lighter and temperatures will be rising to around eight or nine in the south, across the northern isles, temperatures will not be as low. gradually becoming less cold across southern parts, but they're still a risk of some rain, but also, some snow. this is business briefing. i'm samantha simmonds raising the temperature. president trump says he'll slap hefty tariffs on foreign steel to protect us workers. but is he playing with fire? plus — the italianjob. a stagnant economy, a mountain of debt and a third of young people out of work — just some of the challenges for whoever wins weekend's election. on the markets.... fears of a trade war spark a sell—off on wall street, shares of ford and general motors among the hardest hit as trump's move will mean higher costs for them. and those concerns are rippling through asia with shares of steelmakers across the region down as much as 4%.