they are both critically ill in hospital now. the arab news looks ahead to crown prince mohammed bin salman's three—day visit to britain. the controversial saudi prince will have lunch with the queen and hold talks with prime minister theresa may. in the ft, brussels and paris are due to publicly rebuff theresa may's proposals to maintain the city of london's access to the eu single market. the paper says european council president donald tusk is likely to offer a more orthodox trade agreement, as used in its pact with canada. and finally, on the mashable website, as well as many others, for international women's day, barbie is honouring accomplished real life role models with their very own dolls. from aviator amelia earhart to usa olympic snowboarder chloe kim, barbie has created 17 dolls inspired by impactful women from different backgrounds and occupational fields. you said you would nominate your mother. yes, or the woman who runs

the imf. but let's speak about this story that we have discussed, with gary cohn, who has resigned. not a big surprise, because he had a rocky relationship with donald trump. but they had eight clash over the sharp pivot towards protectionist policies. i thought, pivot towards protectionist policies. ithought, they pivot towards protectionist policies. i thought, they weren't sudden. but we have known about these protectionist ideas as before he was elected. yes, but we always hoped that it says is that the buck would be louder than the bike. —— the bach would be louder than the bite. —— bark. it seems like some people have really taken hold of them, and he has come forward with

these tariffs. steven mnuchin is really the only reasonable, the une, with our view of the world, free—trade advocates, and who want open economies, he is the last man standing. so of his team, many viewed gary cohn as one to balance some of the others, the likes of wilbur ross, the commerce secretary, who has been very vocal about his thoughts on this sort of donald trump tariff plan, as it were. how fardo trump tariff plan, as it were. how far do you think that this will go? i think everybody is worried about it. we won't know anything until... he made the announcement, but as always, it was not followed up with policies from the us trade apartment, so when we see that these

policies come into effect and there, then there was a real danger. you have a guest on from the eu, and they are really trying to target where it will hurt. purple her donald trump and his, his lips as his mid—term election prospects. let's hope that we are not going there, because donald trump has also announced that he wants tariffs on us car makers, which the germans. let's look at the daily telegraph, where it says that vladimir putin swore reve ng e where it says that vladimir putin swore revenge on a poisoned russian spy. swore revenge on a poisoned russian spy. markedly pointing the finger vladimir putin and his regime. give us vladimir putin and his regime. give us your take on the story. you know, the thing is that at this point, it is all rumours and we don't know. if it is true that the russians were behind it and if it was true that they were behind these other 11 mysterious deaths of people who criticised the regime, then clearly her majesty's government has to do

something. but at this point, we are in speculation phase. we do need the brew. now, it was not clever vladimir putin to make these remarks. but, you know, these leaders, especially if they are autocrats and have been in there a long time, they say many things. what you think about the timing? they have an election coming up in a few weeks? of course, everybody is assured that vladimir putin will be reaffirmed as president for another term. but also the world cup is coming up in the summer. the football world cup. you know, ring ute sanctions were difficult relations with other countries. it is not good timing for them. relations with other countries. it is not good timing for themm relations with other countries. it is not good timing for them. it is not good timing, so let's first get the proof before we accuse. but clearly something very fishy has been going on. let's have a look so set let's go to the arab news. the

landmark us visit. this is his first visit. his only 32, and is really making his mark. cornelia, you have sent me a lot of analysis of how important this strippers is for saudi arabia and the united kingdom. but some are not happy. protests are planned at downing street today. many are worried about yemen, for example. some are worried about yemen, and there is the worry about yemen, and there is the worry about yemen and human rights in yemen, but lets look at what the prince is trying to accomplish in his own country. and his vision for 2030, he wa nts to country. and his vision for 2030, he wants to win the country of. he wa nts to wants to win the country of. he wants to bring other sectors to greatjobs. you wants to bring other sectors to great jobs. you have wants to bring other sectors to greatjobs. you have 32 million people and 70% of them are under 30 yea rs people and 70% of them are under 30 years old. so really he needs to

create jobs. the years old. so really he needs to createjobs. the oil years old. so really he needs to create jobs. the oil industry is not go to create the jobs. so for many of the millennials and young people, he isa of the millennials and young people, he is a real hero. he tries to empower women. recently, a young saudi woman told me that since muhamed bin salman has been crowned prince, this is the first time that she has in front of the country. yes, there are sceptics and i'm sure there is reason for criticism. but within this young country, the very young population is very fond of him. and from the point of view of the uk, they are rolling out the red carpet. he will be entertained by the queen. of course, he's going to downing street and meeting with the prime minister, theresa may. this is a very important economy for the uk. the trade relationship could rarely benefit the uk economy. it is about 10,000 jobs that tied into this trading relationship at the moment. it has been up a1% since 2010. about

$6.2 billion, now, that we export to saudi arabia, mainly in the defence sector. controversially the defence sector. controversially the defence sector where it saudi arabia is at war with yemen. this is humanitarian crisis getting worse. that is controversial, but we also have the saudi ipo, where we are competing as well. this is about the prize oil company, which will be the ipo to end all ipos. this is going to be a big ipo. especially post—brexit. london would love that ipo. thank you. interesting to get your thoughts on that. we'll keep you over that trip. now let's talk barbie dolls. so things are going on throughout the week to mark the role

of women in society. this is one look at the various bowe bergdahl. we mentioned nicola adams, who said that she is honoured to be noted. we have a that she is honoured to be noted. we havea mini that she is honoured to be noted. we have a mini outcome of the snowboarder, chloe kim, the dolls, it isa snowboarder, chloe kim, the dolls, it is a good thing? i was not allowed to play with barbie dolls precisely when i was a small child precisely when i was a small child precisely on the account that it was a blonde air head, and not a woman of substance. because my mother was a woman of substance. and only when my parents' friend gifted me one, it became my favourite toy. because it was — became my favourite toy. because it was—i became my favourite toy. because it was — i could rebel. we need to give women role models. when you give people role models, you inspired and

say yes, you can. which is way said my mother would be a good barbie doll and certainly the head of the imf, christine lagarde. and there is some way to go. international women's's dates are you in what is it then? —— international women's day. it means that we are going step by step by step forward in trying to vehicle. thank you, cornelia. could deceive. good to have you with us here on the briefing. stay with us here on the briefing. stay with us here on the briefing. stay with us here on bbc news. we will be back at the top of the hour. hello again. it felt like we had two different seasons across the uk yesterday, north to south. across northern areas in scotland, we had heavy snow causing transport disruption again. and temperatures struggled to get much above freezing. whereas further south, 11 degrees celsius and,

indeed, we had some cloud breaks. and with the light winds around, it didn't feel too bad at all where the sunshine bothered breaking through. further north in scotland, though, it was another snow day, particularly over the high ground, and that snow again caused problems through those higher central belt motorways. now, looking at the weather picture at the moment, the last of the snow clearing away from the north highlands, but aside from that, we've got some clearer slots around. so a colder start to the day with a few frost patches around. a little bit of ice is a possibility first thing in the morning. certainly, a chilly start to the day for most of us. and then all eyes down towards the south—east, really. you've got a little area of low pressure that's moving in. now, there's a bit of uncertainty with this rain. but it could end up being much more extensive across south—east england and east anglia, and slower to move away as well. so that's a possibility. but either way, by the time we get to the afternoon, the cloud should be breaking up. further north and west, we've got a few showers, they'll be wintry over the high ground, but the weather not causing too many problems. a few showers later in the day, arriving across the south—west,

but for many areas, cloud will break at times to give some sunny spells. temperatures coming up in scotland. we're looking at highs of 6 in edinburgh and aberdeen. further south, temperatures again just about reaching double figures in the afternoon brightness. you might remember thursday was going to be a dry day, but there's been a big jump in the weather forecast, and now, we've got a band of rain and perhaps even a bit of hill snow working across wales and england first thing in the morning. if the precipitation is heavy, might even get something wintry for a time over the midlands. but that is uncertain kind of detailjust at the moment. there will be some further wintry showers coming in across the north—west of the uk and temperatures ranging from 6 to 10 degrees, many areas brightening up as we go on through the afternoon. for friday, a fairly quiet weather day coming up. north—westerly breeze for many areas and after a cold start to the day, we should see some sunny spells coming through. it will cloud over towards the south—west as a band of rain approaches here, and clouding over in london as well. temperatures, though, not doing too badly — highs of 11 or so.

looking ahead to the weekend weather prospects, this area of low pressure is going to push a band of rain northwards across england and wales, and the cold air is still there, so we could just about see a spell of snow over some of the higher hills, the northern pennines and perhaps into parts of scotland as well. but it will be turning milder all the while. that's your weather. hello — this is breakfast, with dan walker and louise minchin. an emergency meeting of the government's cobra committee into the suspected poisoning of a russia spy and his daughter. the pair remain critically ill in hospital — counter—terrorism police have now ta ken over the investigation. good morning — it's wednesday 7 march.

also this morning: lunch with the queen and talks with the prime minister — saudi's crown prince arrives in britain amid protests about his human rights record a crackdown on ticket resale websites — the advertising watchdog says firms must be upfront about the real costs of going to a concert.