this is the briefing. i'm sally bundock. our top stories: the american adult film actress, stormy daniels, who claims to have had sex with donald trump, says she received threats to keep quiet. nearly a0 people have been killed in a fire at a shopping centre in siberia, dozens more are still missing. thousands take to the streets of catalonia after the region's former leader is detained in germany. carles puigdemont will appear in court later. uber reverses out of south—east asia. the ride—hailing app sells it's operation in eight countries to rival grab in a move that could end the region's price wars. also in business briefing we'll be live in hong kong to get an expert view on the trade war brewing between the us and china. 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. the row in australian cricket over ball—tampering is just one of the latest sports to be hit by a cheating scandal. we're asking you if you've lost faith in professional sport? tell us what you think — just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. the american adult film actress stormy daniels, who says she had sex on a single occasion with donald trump, claims she's received threats to keep quiet about it. she's given her first tv interview on the subject. mr trump has denied any

relationship with ms daniels. james cook has the story. how do we know you are telling the truth? because i have no reason to lie, you know, iam not getting paid to be here. you had sex with him? yeah. now more than ever, american politics in the era of trump resembles reality television. you were 27 and he was 60, were you physically attracted to him? no. not at all. no. did you want to have sex with him? no. but i didn't say no, i'm not a victim. i'm not... it was entirely consensual. oh yes. five years later, stormy daniels was trying to sell her story and she says she was threatened by a man who approached her in las vegas. i was in a parking lot going to a fitness class with my infant daughter, taking the seats facing backwards in the back seat and diaper bag — you know — getting all the stuff out and a guy walked up on me and said to me, "leave trump alone, forget the story."

then he leaned around and looked at my daughter and said "a beautiful little girl it would be a shame if something happened to her mom". then he was gone. you took it as a direct threat. absolutely. i was rattled, i remember going into the workout class and my hands were shaking so much i thought i was going drop to her. did you see that person again? no. on the eve of the presidential election in 2016, she said she was offered a lot of money to finally tell her story and instead she signed a deal with donald trump's personal lawyer, who paid her $130,000. was it hush money to stay silent? yes. the story was coming out again. i was concerned for my family and their safety. you feel like if you went public you could have gotten a lot of money? without a doubt. i would believe without a shadow of a doubt

in my heart — and some people argue i don't have one of those, but whatever. that i was doing the right thing. i turned down a large payday multiple times because one — i didn't want to kiss and tell and be labelled all the things that i am being labelled now. we're going to build a wall, folks... the money was paid 11 days before the election and some experts say it was an illegal campaign contribution. mr trump's lawyer denies threatening stormy daniels, the white house denies breaking campaign finance rules and denies the affair. as the interview aired, the president was back in washington from a weekend in florida, returning without his wife. james cook, bbc news, los angeles. so, how is the american press digests in this latest in the trump administration? —— die jesting. digests in this latest in the trump administration? —— diejesting. we will be looking at that later on in the news briefing. —— digesting.

dozens of people, many of them children, are still missing, after a fire tore through a shopping centre in the siberian city of kemerovo. it's thought at least 37 people have been killed. nearly 300 firefighters battled to contain the blaze. as andrew plant reports, the fire broke out in the winter cherry mall while it was packed with sunday shoppers. a fire on the fourth floor. this shopping centre surrounded by firefighters searching for survivors, trying to reach upperfloor windows, fighting the smoke billowing outside. the fire started here on sunday. dozens were evacuated, but it was clear dozens more were missing, many of them children. translation: the area of the fire is about 1500 square metres. at this moment, 288 emergency officers are working on site, as well as 62 units of equipment and an airbourne grouping are taking part in the search and rescue operation. we are taking all necessary measures to extinguish the fire. the shopping centre has a very complex construction. there is a lot of combustible materials. people gathered to stand and stare

as the fire unfolded. witnesses said it trapped people on the upper floors, and said some had jumped from windows to try to escape from the flames. an industrial city of more than half a million, it is one of russia's biggest coal producing regions, more than 2000 kilometres east of moscow. already, there are reports the fire began near a cinema and children's entertainment centre. president putin has a ready sent his condolences to friends and family of the victims. authorities say a criminal investigation will now begin to try to find out what caused the fire. andrew plant, bbc news. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. saudi—led coalition forces say they've intercepted seven missiles launched into saudi arabia by yemen's houthi rebels. fragments of the destroyed missiles are reported to have landed in residential areas of the capital riyadh, killing an egyptian national. it comes on the third anniversary of the saudi intervention

in yemen's civil war. a 14—year—old girl has been seriously hurt after a group of children were run down by a car in glasgow. police say the car, with two men in it, was driven deliberately at the children and the attack is being treated as attempted murder. egypt is holding a presidential election which is widely expected to return the current leader, abdel fattah el—sisi, to office. the polls will be open for three days. several candidates have dropped out of the race, citing intimidation, and one challenger says he supports the current president. opposition figures have already called for a boycott. the ride—hailing app uber is pulling out of south—east asia, and has sold its business in eight countries to regional rival grab. it follows a costly price war which is partly to blame for uber‘s worldwide losses

of $4.5 billion last year. it's also the latest stage in the turnaround being orchestrated by the boss dara khosrowshahi. he's been trying to refocus the company since taking over from co—founder travis kalanick last year. iain anderson is founder of the international communications agency, cicero group. hejoins me now. it is good to have you with us. give us it is good to have you with us. give us your take on this story, with regards to uber. this is not that new, any more, this boss, he is a relatively new boss, taking some strategic choices. this is probably the biggest decision he has made yet. this is a major, major exiting of uber‘s existing operations, making this big sale to grab.

basically all their operations in southeast asia going to grab. really, it is all about the new ceo of uber getting the company ready to try to take it onto a public market, and the only way he can do that is to try to make it much more profitable, and that is what this is about. he has to convince investors that they will be making some serious profits in the future, because you mentioned that $4.5 billion loss last year, that is a big number. despite the fact that we all know the brand and we all know it has been aggressively growing in asia, or trying very hard, the competition was tough. the competition was tough. the competition was tough. the competition was really tough. uber has withdrawn from russia, from china as well. the interesting question from an investor's went a few is, uber is coming out of these really big growth markets, but where is it going to get the growth going forward ? is it going to get the growth going forward? —— investor's point of view. also, can it clean up the

brand? can it become a more attractive ram for investors going forward ? attractive ram for investors going forward? hears, though, dara khosrowshahi, he is going to be on the board of grab and they are getting something like 27% stake the company. —— he is. so they are keep ina company. —— he is. so they are keep in a foot in the water. this is what they did in china as well, they kept their big stake in operations in china. although they are not operating the company itself. they properly think they can make more money by keeping a stake than by keeping their own operations active. thank you. we will be discussing more stories with you later, including cricket in australia. the ousted former leader of catalonia, carles puigdemont, is appearing in court in germany later for the start of extradition proceedings. he's spent the night in a german prison after being detained on a european arrest warrant. he's wanted by the spanish authorities for organising an illegal referendum last year on catalan independence. mr puigdemont‘s detention triggered mass protests in catalonia demanding his release,

as bill hayton reports. on the streets of barcelona, an outpouring of anger over the detention of carles puigdemont. independent activists tried to reach the offices of the spanish central government but were beaten back. the violence prompted this appealfrom the region's most senior serving politician. translation: i share with you the feeling of indignation and, in this especially unfair situation, i call for calm and responsibility from everyone because responses must be democratic, civic and peaceful as everfrom catalans. we must not give away victories to those who do not want democracy to win. for now mr puigdemont is being held in this prison in northern germany. he was arrested as he crossed the borderfrom denmark, on sunday. on monday, a judge will decide whether he should remain in custody while spain seeks his extradition —

that might take two months. mr puigdemont‘s lawyer says that this case is a question of human rights. in spain there is no more democracy because they put their political opponent in jail, the elected people are put in jail. that's a dictatorship. last year, mr puigdemont organised a referendum on independence for catalonia, the north—eastern province of spain. that was declared illegal by the central government and he fled into exile. most of his fellow separatist leaders are also facing charges. but farfrom ending the campaign for independence, the detentions at giving it continuing energy. bill hayton, bbc news. stay with us on the briefing. still to come on the programme,

the crisis in australian cricket after the ball tampering scandal that's engulfed the team on tour in south africa. let there be no more wars or bloodshed between arabs and israelis. i'm so proud of you both. with great regret, the committee have decided that south africa should be excluded from the 1970 competition. chanting streaking across the sky, the white—hot wreckage from mir drew

gasps from onlookers on fiji. woman: wow! you're watching the briefing. our headlines: the american adult film actress, stormy daniels, who claims to have had sex with donald trump, says she received threats to keep quiet. nearly 40 people, many of them children, have been killed in a fire at a shopping centre in siberia, dozens more are still missing. world cricket's governing body says the sport needs to take a hard look at itself after the ball—tampering scandal that's engulfed the australian team. the captain, steve smith, has been banned from playing in the final test match in south africa, after he admitted knowing about a plan for a team—mate to manipulate the ball in a way

that is against the rules of the game. australia's prime minister malcolm turnbull has said he's "shocked and disappointed." joining me now from melbourne is tom morris, senior cricket reporter for fox sports australia. thank you for being in the programme. tell us a bit more about the repercussions of these? this is a really shocking situation for australian cricket. it has been named the darkest day in australian sport since the bodyline headlines. steve smith will not play in the next test. cameron bancroft surely cannot play. he has not been banned but cricket australia must come down

ha rd but cricket australia must come down hard on him and david warner, part of the leadership group, very hard to see him playing in the next test. how long they will be banned for we do not know. it could be six months it could be a few tests but it has left a stain on the austra and is standing in the game. quite frankly, at the moment, a lot of people are com pletely at the moment, a lot of people are completely disenfranchise its a shame because it is such a good series otherwise. described as the darkest day in austra sport and people taking it extremely personally. what now? how will cricket australia cleanup it act as it were? cricket australia is not to blame but they have to come out hard and swinging. as many have said, heads need to roll and they need to roll because there is no other way.

you cannot have the captain systematically cheating and allowing a bowler and a vice captain to do so as well. i think it sits under the drug abuse level. it gains an unfair advantage. how quickly cricket australia can clean it up... they need to get rid of the players, steve smith, david warner. these players need to go for my money and get fresh players. the ceo has a difficultjob but he must come down hard. really, it is a shocking situation for all austra and cricketers, sports lovers but it is just terrible to see. you talk about what a huge impact it has had in australia but what about outside the country? australia sees itself, we

see ourselves, as on the moral high ground. we use sledging but we do not go over the line. we play hard but fair. we do not all temper, take performance advancing drugs, fix matches but quite a few other countries will be quite happy about this. a lot of other countries see this. a lot of other countries see this as the apex of the australian cricket downfall. it is a shocking situation from a reputation perspective. we always thought india and pakistan did bad things, match fixing and england. but it looks even worse because of the australians have been whingeing for five weeks about the way the south africans have been behaving. a lot

of other countries quietly sitting back and going and they have had it coming for a while. thank you very much indeed. now it's time to get the rest of the sport from the bbc sports centre. coming up: gareth bale st and his tea m coming up: gareth bale st and his team looked to win their next game. the last clash in the miami open and steve smith banned for the final test in south africa. wales, said by this man, gareth bale, will look to beat uruguay and win the china cup. it would be the first success under the new manager. gareth bale is says

winning a trophy for wales would be more significant than winning one for real madrid. i have seen him score some incredible goals for liverpool and now since he has moved on to barcelona, we have seen how important he is in world for all. european champions portugal take on the netherlands in geneva as chris huhne ronaldo looks to continue his stunning form. —— cristiano ronaldo. he is third on the all—time goalscoring list. in case you missed it, the formula one season got under way on sunday with sebastian vettel beating off the challenge of reigning world champion, lewis hamilton. the pitstop seems to be

the difference in the race. kimi raikkonen picked up third place. afghanistan have beaten west indies by seven wickets to win the world cup qualifying time on. it was the afg ha ns cup qualifying time on. it was the afghans who took the trophy on offer. batting second, they reached the target with more than nine overs to spare. a comfortable pay venus williams in the finals of the miami open. —— konta. venus one in three sets. saving three match points. in case you have missed that anywhere 01’ on case you have missed that anywhere or on social media, the strang

captain steve smith has been banned for the final test of the four match series in south africa. after losing the third test in cape town by 322 runs, was also fined after admitting to ball tampering and trying to get an advantage on day three. cameron ba ncroft an advantage on day three. cameron bancroft was fined 75% of his match fee but will be eligible to play in johannesburg if selected on friday. all the latest sports news on our webpage. that's your monday sport reefing. here's our briefing on some of the other key events happening later. in athens, the former greek finance minister yanis va roufakis will present his new party, called mera25, or the european realist disobedience front, at a news conference. in quebec, the trial gets underway of the suspect behind an attack on a quebec city mosque. 27—year—old alexandre bissonnette is accused of killing six people at the islamic cultural centre in january 2017.

and later on in the bulgarian resort of varna, eu and turkey leaders, meet over dinner to discuss recent developments in turkey, including the rule of law and fundamental freedoms. they will also discuss how to move the eu—turkey relationship forward. well, ahead of that meeting later on monday, aid agencies are calling on eu leaders not to turn a blind eye to widespread allegations of violent treatment of migrants by the turkish coast guard. it's two years since an agreement between the eu and turkey to stop the flow of migrants reaching europe. the bbc has obtained footage showing one group of migrants being beaten with batons in their attempt to make an illegal crossing by boat into greece. this report is from gavin lee in lesbos. that draws to a close of this half of the briefing. we asked you about your thoughts about cricket. graham sinclair saying it is notjust

cricket, especially the old test man cricket, especially the old test man cricket, gentlemanly sport played over days. i will be back with the business briefing in a moment. see you soon. hello once again. i hope at least at some point during the course of the weekend you managed to get to see some sunshine, because it may well be in the forthcoming week that that is in short supply for some areas, especially the northern parts of scotland. warmth parts of scotland. through the southern counties but warmth through the southern counties but by wednesday it may become a distant memory. running into the northern half of britain quite a cool start to the week. at least there will be some sunshine. then this vale of cloud turn the hazy and

you lose it all together across northern ireland, the far west of wales and northern england. at least the temperatures are many of us are in double figures. remember, the week was going to turn cooler. as the temperatures dribble away overnight, pushing moisture up into scotla nd overnight, pushing moisture up into scotland and the eastern side of the british isles and we will see quite a significant conversion of rain to snow. once the rain gets away on tuesday, it may not do in the east, it will be a half decent sort of day. tuesday on the wednesday, low pressure bringing heavy rain into the central and southern parts of the central and southern parts of the british isles that it will move further towards the east eventually. brighter skies than in the northern ireland and wales. all the while the rain and it will not be warm. expect

a little bit of hail in some of the heavier showers. in the thursday, still the weather front close by so we could still see a little bit of snow into the eastern side of scotland, particularly the north—eastern quarter than not a bad day until we bring another area of pressure spreading the threat of leaden skies, some rain and not overly warm again. some heavy downpours as well. just in time for the easter weekend, wouldn't you just know it. low pressure very much in charge. this is business briefing. i'm sally bundock. let's ta ke let's take a look at the business headlines. uber reverses from south—east asia. the ride hailing app pulls out of eight countries as the boss seeks a route to profitability. the us opens the way to a truce with china but says its not afraid of a trade

war between the world's two biggest economies. and the week has not started well for financial markets in asia, at no surprise given the rising trade tensions between the united states and china, and the friday