hello. this is the briefing. i'm david eades. our top story: the us could hit russia with further sanctions, after the expulsion of 60 of its diplomats over the spy poisoning scandal. crying following the ball tampering row that brought australian cricket to its knees, the team returns to the field for the fourth and final test against south africa. chances are this will burn up in the atmosphere, or crash into the ocean. but as china's abandoned space station plummets to earth, no—one seems to know for sure. coming up in the business briefing: the world's most powerful man versus the world's richest. president trump steps up his attacks on amazon and its $100 billion boss, jeff bezos. but does the tech giant have anything to fear? and also coming up: deja vu for air france passengers as staff walk out over pay again, with more strikes called for next week. a very warm welcome

to the programme, briefing you on all you need to know in global news. —— business and sport. and also, you can be part of the conversation. those abject apologies from steve smith and fellow ball tampering teammates. is it now time for everyone to move on, or are there bigger issues to confront for the sport? tell us what you think. just use the hashtag, #bbcthebriefing. the united states has said it is reviewing russia's expulsion of 60 american diplomats and officials, and it might take further action. moscow's move was itself a reaction to russia's diplomats being thrown out by the us.

several countries havejoined the uk in expelling russian officials over the poisoning of the spy, sergei skripal. chris buckler reports from washington. after a week spent in critical condition, it yulia skripal is now said to be conscious and talking. however, her father, the said to be conscious and talking. however, herfather, the former spy sergei skripal remain seriously ill in hospital. the highest concentrations of the nerve agent used to poison them had been found on the front door of their home in salisbury, an attack in english town but the uk and many other government said russia was responsible for. and international relationships are certainly strained. and international situation that is similartoa large international situation that is similar to a large extent on what we lived in the cold war. russian retaliation was inevitable. after a long list of nations ordered the

expulsion of the country's representatives. and in the announcement, all the animosities we re announcement, all the animosities were obvious. in return for shutting the russian consulate in seattle, the russian consulate in seattle, the american consulate in st petersburg is to be closed and for expelling 60 russian officials, the kremlin is dying out 60 american. united states, in concert with many other countries, made the decision to kick out russian spies. we do not see this as the diplomatic tit—for—tat. russia is responsible for that horrific attack on the british citizen and his daughter. the kremlin insists that it was not involved in the poisoning, but this attack in the suburbs in salisbury could lead to further international consequences because the us has warned it may retaliate with further action against moscow. this might not be the return of the cold war, at relationships have certainly become much more frosty. —— but.

that is the diplomatic side of the story. doctors at the hospital in southern england treating yulia skripal say they are seeing a rapid improvement in her condition. she was poisoned alongside herfather. here's the bbc‘s daniel sandford in salisbury. it's been a great 2a hours for this police investigation. this afternoon came the frankly amazing news that yulia skripal has responded so well to treatment here, that she is no longer in a critical conditon. don't forget, it was only a week ago that a judge said she was unconscious, unable to communicate in any meaningful way, and it was unclear to what extent she would recover any capacity. and i understand that, beyond the official nhs update, she is both conscious and talking, and will therefore be able to give her account to counter—terrorism detectives of what happened on that sunday, three and half weeks ago. whether she'll be to explain how it was that she and her father

became contaminated is less clear. i understand that she had nerve agent on her left hand, herfather had it on his right hand. and that does go along with the current theory that the novichok nerve agent had been smeared in gel form onto the door handle of front door of sergei skripal‘s house. but of course, what none of this helps anybody understand is who put the nerve agent there in the first place. australia return to a cricket pitch later in south africa, with the furore surrounding the ball tampering scandal still casting a huge shadow. a remarkable day in the history of the australian game saw steve smith, the former skipper, and cameron bancroft — two of the three players involved — hold emotional press conferences, and coach darren lehmann announced his resignation on thursday. joining us now live from sydney to tell us more is our correspondent, phil mercer. the pictures are of abject apologies. given all the anger that we have seen in australia over this

issue, what effect did particularly steve smith's appearance have?” think many australian fans and fans well beyond these shores who saw steve smith's press conference at syd ney‘s steve smith's press conference at sydney's international airport will appreciate how agonising it was for him and how agonising it was to watch. this is a man who faces the threat, or the prospect now being in the wilderness for at least a year. his reputation is in tatters and his teammates are preparing for the fourth and final test without him in johannesburg, so in sporting terms, we have an australian team that has been shorn of two of its most talented players, the coach says he will quit, so what can we expect from the team in they play south africa in a few hours‘s time? as for the state of the australian game, well, we do is go from here? is this super aggressive style that the

australians had championed in recent yea rs, australians had championed in recent years, is that about to be let go and who will be the players and the coaching staff to take the game forward ? coaching staff to take the game forward? so many, many questions still to be answered, david. wejust having a look at some pictures there steve smith again, it was pretty ha rd to steve smith again, it was pretty hard to watch, wasn't it? it was such an outpouring of grief and no doubt, there was a lot of pretty mixed in with the emotion of the last 48 hours or so. i do wonder, is there any sense in australia yet where it is not a minute, it is not as if the australians are the only side in the world ever have tampered with a ball. this is almost an age—old custom. with a ball. this is almost an age-old custom. when you speak to former players, they say that most of them have played in teams that sailed pretty close to the line in between playing fairly and playing on fairly, so there is a feeling among certain quarters here in

australia, that the punishments meted out to steve smith, david warner and cameron bancroft are far in excess of the crime committed, and you have to remember that it is not just about being and you have to remember that it is notjust about being banished in terms of smith and david warner for 12 months, ancroft the nine months, it is the financial penalties too, the players will lose lucrative playing contracts. —— cameron bancroft. there is a sense among some players that the punishments handed down are far in excess of what they have done that, but when you look at cricket as a whole, this is the national sport, cricket is ingrained into australian society and any that any of the players could be cheating has been met with a serious reaction. as with all things, opinion is split. there are some who believe that the punishments are fair enough, others believe that the punishment has been far too harsh. yeah, fair enough.

thank you. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. france has offered to mediate between turkey and kurdish fighters in northern syria. president emmanuel macron made the offer at a meeting with a delegation from the kurdish—dominated syrian democratic forces, or sdf, in paris. the former french president nicolas sarkozy has been ordered to stand trial on charges of corruption and abuse of power. it's alleged he tried to obtain information from a seniorjudge in return for the promise of promotion. last week, mr sarkozy was placed under investigation over claims he took money from colonel gaddafi. he denies all accusations against him. the owners of the app, myfitnesspal, say 150 million user accounts have been accessed in a data breach. the american fitness brand under armour owns this software. it says that usernames, email addresses and passwords may have been stolen, but insists the passwords are protected by strong encryption. the funeral has been held for another unarmed black man shot

dead by police — this time in his grandmother's back garden. stephon clark was shot 20 times by officers who say they thought he was carrying a gun. he was 22. the civil rights leader reverend al sharpton was among those gathered to mourn. lebo diseko reports. they came to remember one man. stephon alonzo charlie evan atheo clark. but amid the grief, there was anger. we are proud of them for standing up for justice! a family, a community and its leaders demanding answers. these are the moments just before stephon clark was shot dead. it was filmed by police, who say they were responding to reports of break—ins in the area. show me your hands. gun, gun, gun!

moments later, mr clark was shot dead in his grandmother's backyard. he had been shot 20 times. police say they thought he was carrying a gun. but no weapon was found on him, just a cellphone. at a press conference on monday, his family called it an execution. young man who was bombing homes in austin, texas, the police followed him for hours. he wasn't shot once. but an unarmed black man holding a cellphone is shot 20 times. two officers, one of whom is black, have been put on administrative leave while an investigation is carried out. but the incident has led to days of protest, and once again, questions are being asked about how the black community in america is policed. lebo diseko, bbc news. let's turn to our top business story now. president trump stepping up his pressure on technology and retail giant, amazon. he took to twitter on thursday to accuse the company of dodging

tax, unfairly using the us postal service as its "delivery boy", and putting thousands of retailers out of business. all pretyy hard—hitting stuff. president trump may be the world's most powerful man, but he is taking on the world's richest man. amazon founderjeff bezos now has a net worth of $100 billion, taking him to the top of the global rich list last year. priya lakhani is founder and ceo of century tech. lovely to see you. it is a battle and a half but let's just have a look at the accusations that president trump is going around, they pay little or no tax. we will start on that, shall we? well, let's start on that, shall we? well, let's start on that because it is not quite true. 0bviously, amazon has had battles in the us and europe about not paying tax, they have an

issue with a marketplace where they have third—party vendor is where tax is not then passed on and so there is not then passed on and so there is an issue there, but we are used to president trump tweeting things and we look at it and say actually, is that factually correct? i am not sure this is about that and if i am allowed to be cynical, i think there is an issue with the fact thatjeff bezos obviously owns the washington post, they were very critical of donald trump, is the world's richest man, iam donald trump, is the world's richest man, i am sure that donald trump would love to be the world's which is man and i think that this is all a bit personal. 0k, there is a natural target and you can get that do the politics of the media, the washington post, at nonetheless, he also says that there are thousands of retailers who have gone out of business courtesy of amazon, and actually that is true, that is difficult to deny that perhaps you cannot pin it on one man and that is the way our world is moving. well, i think that given how digital we are

today, if it was not amazon, the argument is that it would just be someone argument is that it would just be someone else and they would argue this is what walmart did years ago and now amazon is taking walmart out of his nurse. it is notjust them, the article talks about starbucks doing that and plenty of other big businesses, and that is why every other country is encouraging business to go digital and think about localisation, no matter how small. and so he does talk about that, that is a very valid point, it is very sad when small business goes out of business. then he talks about the us postal service, jeff bezos‘s delivery boy, we actually there is an argument that usps needs amazon more than amazon needs the usps. an argument that usps needs amazon more than amazon needs the uspsw isa more than amazon needs the uspsw is a delivery service after all. exactly, and would you rather that amazon uses them all goes over to fedex or another player. thank you very much for that. we'll be seeing you ina very much for that. we'll be seeing you in a little while for a review of all the other news going on

around the world. an unmanned chinese space station is about to make an uncontrolled fall to earth. experts aren't sure exactly when or where tiangong—i will come down or even how much of it will burn up in the atmosphere. here's our science correspondent, jonathan amos. a memorable day in space. this was a chinese astronaut in 2013 giving a lecture on life in orbit to millions of schoolchildren across china. now her laboratory and classroom in the sky is heading down to earth. tiangong—1 has been abandoned, and engineers on the ground have lost contact with it. quite where it will come down is uncertain, but its flight come down is uncertain, but its flight path means it can only be in this ink and around the equator. —— pink and. but experts say nobody should be alarmed. the probability to be injured by one of these fragments is similar to the probability of being hit by lightning twice in the same year. as

with previous returning spacecraft the chances are that with earth mostly covered by ocean, any tiangong—1debrided will hit water. —— debris. as for china, it is pressing on with its space ambitions. it is putting up even more modules and hopes to have a ego, permanently manned space station built in the next decade. —— a bigger. stay with us on the briefing. also on the programme: turning bread into beer. austria brews up new ways to cut food waste. the accident that happened here was of the sort that can, at worse, produce a meltdown. in this case, the precautions worked but they didn't work quite well enough to prevent some old fears about the safety features of these stations from resurfacing. the republic of ireland has become the first country in the world

to ban smoking in the workplace. from today, anyone lighting up in offices, businesses, clubs or restaurants will face a heavy fine. the president was on his way out of the washington hilton hotel where he had been addressing a trade union conference. the small crowd outside included his assailant. it has become a symbol of paris. a hundred years ago, many parisians wished it had never been built. the eiffel tower's birthday is being marked by a re—enactment of the first ascent by gustave eiffel. you're watching the briefing. 0ur headlines: the us could hit russia with further sanctions, after the expulsion of 60 of its diplomats over the spy poisoning scandal. australian cricketers prepare to return to the field for the first time since the ball tampering row.

they're facing south africa in the fourth and final test. countries in the eu waste around 88 million tons of food every year, and one of the items which is most commonly thrown away is leftover bread. 0ne independent food shop in vienna is trying to raise awareness of the problem. never mind making water out of wine, they are making beer out of bread. bethany bell has more. stale bread. every year it is estimated austria throws away in a bread to feed over1 million people. —— enough bread. but the leftover bre at this shop is not to stand for the bin. —— leftover bread. it is being turned into beer, part of effo rts being turned into beer, part of efforts to prevent food waste. in oui’ efforts to prevent food waste. in our little shop that we have in vienna, we have each day a couple of

bonds leftover, it is not really a problem but if you look at it throughout the month, you realise it accumulates. —— buns left over. what else can you do with this leftover bread? so we started getting creative and ought of the. making the out of bread is an old tradition, dating back to ancient egypt. here they make around rolls into ale and white rolls into lager. —— brown rolls. this is a niche product. it cannot compete with the big breweries, but its producers say it is about raising awareness of the problem of food waste. what does it taste like? it is... a special taste. if you know it, you can think it is an intensive, broad taste. —— brad. so you can taste the bread?

yes. celebrity time they crack open a bottle of bread beer, these austrians know they are taking a small step towards fighting food waste. interesting stuff. here's our briefing on some of the key events happening later. in a few hours, thousands of palestinians in gaza are expected to gather at tent cities along the israel borderfor land day, commemorating the killing of six unarmed protesters in 1976. the protest is expected to last 6 weeks. later on in the republic of ireland, pubs around the country will be open on good friday for the first time in 90 years. the ban on serving alcohol on the religious festival was lifted injanuary. and later at the vatican, pope francis will preside over a good friday celebration at saint peter's basilica. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello. coming up in the friday sport

briefing, australia's cricketers look to pick up the pieces after the ball tampering cider when they take on south africa in the fourth test shortly. warne martin del potro aims to make 16 successive wins as he plays in the miami masters later. —— juan. and lebron james plays in the miami masters later. —— juan. and lebronjames aims to break a record held by nba great michael jordan. we have seen tears from the head coach and tears from the former captain and damaged reputations. more of that in a moment. after the sandpaper saga australia have to pick up the pieces and face south africa in the fourth test. tim paine, on the left, will become the aussies' 46 test captain when he will walks out on to the turf in johannesburg shortly. he has his work cut out, south africa's win in cape town gave them a 2—1 lead in a four match series. after winning his first ever masters event this month warne martin del potro has a taste

for winning. this time in miami. the argentine facesjohn for winning. this time in miami. the argentine faces john isner for winning. this time in miami. the argentine facesjohn isner in the quarter—finals later. the former us 0pen champion‘s career nearly came to an abrupt end in 2014 because of a wrist injury. afterjoining michaeljordan in the record books this man here, lebronjames, will have home—court advantage as clevela nd have home—court advantage as cleveland host the nuance pelicans later. 0n cleveland host the nuance pelicans later. on wednesday, he tied jordan's league record score of eight points or more for 86 consecutive games. the cavaliers' win over the cornet saw them remain third in the eastern conference. that means they are ten games behind it from there at this with the post—season just behind the corner. —— behind the toronto raptors. us 0pen champion sloane stephens is through to saturday's miami open final, after coming from one set down to beat former world number one victoria azarenka. the american took her time to get going in florida but will appear in her first finals

victory since new class of timbre. regardless of the result she will move into the world's top ten when the new rankings are released next week. on thursday we saw the fallout from the australian ball tampering saga with tears from both steve smith and darren lehmann. the head coach announced he will leave his post at the end of the fourth test injohannesburg post at the end of the fourth test in johannesburg after he post at the end of the fourth test injohannesburg after he saw both cameron bancroft and steve smith's emotional sydney press conferences. any time you think about making a questionable decision, think about who you are affecting. you are affecting your parents. and to see the way my old man has been... sobbing. thanks, everybody. and my mum. it's... it hurts. well, after the serious business of all tampering, bands and resignations, there was a light moment at australia's fourth test with south africa. —— ball tampering, bans. proteas captain faf

du plessis was giving his thoughts on the crisis when this happened. du plessis was giving his thoughts on the crisis when this happenedlj think, on the crisis when this happened.” think, perhaps with what has happened now... hate, hate, hey! -- hey, hey, hey. that is a shocking ring tone. wow. bang on with that assessment. you can get all the latest sporting news on the bbc website, but from me, that is the friday sport briefing. just turn the mobile. it is reflect on that ball tampering issue, iwas mobile. it is reflect on that ball tampering issue, i was asking your views on whether there is more to come on this. interestingly you are not ticking up australia or steve smith. you are picking up on the world governing body of cricket, though. 0ne viewer says it is time for the icc, the international cricket council, to wake up and set

clear and tougher rules. another view a scene, the icc has dealt with the australian scandal poorly, and letting it go without further punishment and a more transparent investigation will surely show double standards. —— viewer saying. he does go on to ask whether you would get the same sort of response whether it was —— if it was an indian or pakistani player. nevertheless, reflections on whether perhaps countries should be paying a greater penalty, and that is the job of the icc. to keep your responses coming. the story is going to run on and on, after that extraordinary press c0 nfe re nce and on, after that extraordinary press conference with steve smith and the others. it shows how deeply the feelings run, especially in australia. do stay with us here on bbc news. we will be back with the business briefing injust a moment oi’ business briefing injust a moment or two. stay with us. hello.

make no mistake, there is a lot of weather of varying types to come this easter weekend. some of it could cause some problems, too. there'll be some rain around at times. notjust that — some snow. easter monday looks a troublemaker, we'll see that at a moment. temperatures on the cool to cold side of average, but there will be some drier, sunny moments too. we'll detail all of that as we look throughout the entire easter weekend, starting with good friday. there will be some snow showers affecting parts of northern scotland from the word go, recovering to some of the higher routes, an area of hill snow moving from north—east england across other parts of eastern scotland. heavy showers developing in southern england, reaching into parts of wales, the midlands, east anglia later in the day, maybe with a rumble of thunder. single—figure temperatures, colder still in easterly winds across the northern half of the uk. just one or two showers, but sunny spells into northern ireland. the moisture with these showers starts to feed up the bit further north into saturday morning. an increasing chance of seeing a bit of snow into the tops of the welsh hills, maybe into the pennines going into saturday morning. these are your overnight temperatures. still some of the snow showers in the hills in north—east scotland, as well.

now, for saturday, the reason we are seeing some rain and hill snow is this area of low pressure. but tonight it's going to edge its way eastwards. but it's still going to get into parts of england and wales. some outbreaks of rain and some hill snow into the pennines. so all of this has to slide away eastwards during the day. some western parts may start to brighten up. still, as wintry showers move north, north—east scotland, south—east scotland getting along quite well, although still be rather cloudy. still a chilly breeze across the coast towards the north—east. the single—figure temperatures once again. but look at this — easter day, sunday. well, the winds are lighter, for a start. you may catch the odd shower, a frost to begin with, a few fog patches clearing. a few sunny spells around — most places are actually dry. the rain and the strengthening wind coming across south—east england later in the day, that is a sign of things to come for easter monday. here comes another area of low pressure. certainly got some moisture associated with it, it's feeding northwards. quite chilly air on easter monday. and that means rain, yes, but feeding into the colder air, the chance for some snow as it spreads further north, as well, maybe notjust on hills.

some of that could be disruptive, as well, but there's still a lot to play for. of course, easter monday is several days away. butjust an early heads up that if you are travelling on easter monday, you do need to keep across that forecast, because of that risk of snow that could cause some disruption. and we will, of course, keep you updated over the next few days. that's your latest forecast. hello. this is business briefing. i'm david eades. the world's most powerful man versus the world's richest. president trump steps up his attacks on amazon and its $100 billion boss, jeff bezos. but does the tech giant have anything to fear? also, deja vu for air france passengers as staff walk out over pay yet again, with more strikes called for next week. as for the markets, it is quieter in asia. we've also seen the hang seng

up asia. we've also seen the hang seng upa bit asia. we've also seen the hang seng up a bit on the back of improving figures coming out of the dowjones yesterday.