this is the briefing. i'm samantha simmonds. our top stories: one of russia's best—known investigative journalists, arkady babchenko, an outspoken critic of president putin is shot dead. trying to gauge what life is like inside north korea the bbc hears direct testimony from a network of dissidents. the american comedy actress roseanne barr has her hit television series cancelled after sending racist tweets. the political crisis in italy sends shockwaves through financial markets worldwide and italy's two—year bond yields stage the biggest one—day jump since 1992. i'll be speaking to an economist in milan who says that despite the turmoil, the economy is in a better shape now than during the previous crisis. 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. after roseanne barr's hit show is dropped, some critics are pointing out that liberal comedians making controversial jokes are allowed to carry on. is there a double standard? tell us what you think — just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. one of russia's best—known investigative journalists, arkady babchenko, has been shot dead at his home in the ukrainian capital, kiev. mr babchenko was a vocal critic of the kremlin, and ukraine hasn't ruled out russian involvement in his murder. russia's foreign ministry says journalists are being killed with impunity in kiev — and has demanded a prompt investigation. arkady babchenko was one of russia's best—known investigative

journalists. an outspoken critic of the kremlin, as well as russia's actions in syria and eastern ukraine, the 41—year—old claimed he'd suffered a campaign of harassment and feared for his life in his home country. that, he said, led him to move to ukraine last year. and it was at his apartment block in the capital, kiev, where the 41—year—old was shot and fatally wounded. his wife told the police she was in the bathroom when she heard gunfire. she found her husband lying in a pool of his own blood. he's been shot in the back and died in an ambulance a short time later. of course, it's about finding out who was behind it and, as i have said, it's too early to say. we see simply the russian pattern there. arkady babchenko had hosted a programme on the ukrainian channel, atr tv. this is how the station broke the news of his death.

and the ukrainian prime minister volodymyr groysman described the journalist as... "a true friend of ukraine, who told the truth about russian aggression." an investigation is now under way into mr babchenko‘s death. police in kiev say the evidence points to a targeted murder, related to his work as a journalist. caroline rigby, bbc news. as speculation continues about the possibility of a summit meeting between president trump and kimjong—un, the debate about north korea's record on human rights has been largely sidelined. direct testimony from within north korea is exceptionally hard to record, but over many months the bbc has used a covert network of dissidents to put questions to a range of citizens. as michael cowan reports, they expressed strong views about the country's leadership —

and relations with the rest of the world. north korea is the world's most repressive regime — ruled by the totalitarian kim dynasty, the authorities wield an absolute control over information. citizens‘ mobile phones can't call outside the country and they have no access to the internet. using a covert network over many months, we've been able to put questions to two ordinary north koreans. they'd face retribution for this type of communication, so we're concealing their identities. this man is a father who works in the military. this woman is a market trader who lives with her husband and two daughters. they told us about the power of the state and the country's notorious labour camps. sometimes the state security department get people by calling them spies. they make up stories for their own performance. they make people say that they were planning to go to china and then deport them. here, there are a lot

of government captures. people arrested and taken away. people cannot survive in the prison camps. they unconditionally beat you. they starve you while doing extreme labour. once you go there, you are no longer a citizen. i think this terror is what keeps society going. in north korea, it is illegal to criticise the regime and carries severe punishment. people say that kim jong—un acts the same as us, but takes away our money a lot, that the little man uses his head to suck out money like a vampire. the number of people who assess him positively is increasing. in the 1990s, north korea experienced a famine that left over a million people dead when the state couldn't fund its ration system. in response, black markets emerged across the country. today, they serve as a lifeline to the population, with the regime reluctantly allowing this capitalist trade to grow.

without them, portions of the population would once again starve. he leaves the markets alone and doesn't crack down much, no matter what we do. many people want things to continue the way it is. and internally, there appears to be a softening in rhetoric towards the west. recently, they say we should be living in peace with america for everyone to have a better life. michael cowan, bbc news. we'll have an update form our correspondent in the south korean capital seoul in just a few minutes. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. scientists believe they have made a potential breakthrough in treating a form of brain cancer called glioblastoma. the treatment involved a vaccine created using the patient‘s own immune system. early results showed that the life expectancy of many people increased by at least six months. amnesty international has accused

the nicaraguan government of unleashing what it calls a lethal strategy of repression against protestors. a new report says the government has been colluding with paramilitary groups to suppress weeks of student—led demonstrations against president daniel ortega. around eighty people have died so far in the protests. it's now thought more than 4000 people died when hurricane maria hit puerto rico last september, dwarfing the original estimate of just 64. a study by harvard university found mortality rates in the us territory went up by 60% in the months after the disaster. many of the deaths were due to interruptions in medical care, power shortages and blocked roads. the political crisis in italy has spooked world markets, with investors seeking safe havens. the euro has fallen to a 10 month low, and there are now talk about new italian elections, maybe even as soon as injuly. tom stevenson,

fidelity international — investment directorjoins me now. welcome. good morning. let's talk about the reaction on the international markets. they had been racking to the biggest one—dayjump in 21 years. explain what happened here the one of that for the markets. bond yields rose sharply in italy. when bond yields rise, that is the flipside of bond prices falling. the reason bond prices are falling. the reason bond prices are falling as big as investors are nervous about the very high debts which italy holds. it is one of the most indebted countries in the world, actually. so the problem of having a government which is anti—eu makes the risk that investors will not get their money back that much greater. that is what we are talking about now. if there will be fresh elections. and we don't know if

there will be, but the interim prime minister may not be taking his prizes in —— his position, we don't know yet. perhaps a coalition government could come in which is avowedly anti—eu. people have said that if there is a notion, it will be about admission of eu. ironically, the president blocking an anti—eu finance minister probably makes the appointment of an anti—eu coalition even more likely if we get a motion in the autumn or even as $0011 a motion in the autumn or even as 50011 as a motion in the autumn or even as soon asjuly. a motion in the autumn or even as soon as july. what you think about the economy in the lead that has been suffering, but is the fourth largest in europe, isn't it? growth has been, i think much lower than it could have been, since the turn of the century, at about 2.5%, something like that? growth in italy is not great. the economy is heavily

indebted and the economy is not growing very strongly. but ironically in the last two years, actually, the stock market has done quite well. why is that? i think people felt the political risk had gone away. last year was a calm period in europe in regards to politics and the economic situation. and of course all the worry is that we had in 2016 with brexit have living back in a very big way. thank you very much. we will see later for a look at the news review. the belgian federal prosecutor's office has launched a terror investigation after a gunman killed three people, including two female police officers, in the belgian city of liege. the man was later shot dead by police. it's believed he's been released from prison on monday and some reports suggest he was

on a police watchlist. this report by our europe correspondent damian grammaticas does contain some flash photography. gunfire, mid—morning and suddenly confusion. on boulevard d'avroy, people scrambled to get away. within minutes, police armed response teams were on the scene. a man with a knife had attacked two policewomen, grabbed their guns, and shot them dead in the street, then shot the passenger in a passing car too. siren 100 metres up the street, the attacker‘d entered a school and taken a hostage. just minutes later, filmed from across the road, this was how it all ended. police advance from the left. but look at the centre of the screen. the attacker runs out firing — shot by police on the spot. at least one of the officers was injured in this exchange. and this footage was taken seconds later by another witness. "they shot him dead", the man says. nassir lives by the school and heard it all happen. "i saw the police, the ambulances.

it was impossible to go outside", he said. this nine—year—old boy was playing in the school courtyard. teachers told the children to escape by a back door. "the man grabbed our concierge, bob", he told me. "then the police fired. we all ran away. everyone was crying." all the schoolchildren escaped unharmed and the caretaker survived too. this attack happened in the centre of the liege — a city of almost 200,000, an hour east of brussels. police are treating it as a terrorist incident. translation: he attacked the police officers from behind, delivering multiple blows from his knife. he grabbed their guns, which he immediately turned on the officers, who died on the spot. then he continued on foot — tried to steal a parked car — and shot a young man who was in it. one thing investigators are looking into is why this attacker assaulted the policewomen with such ferocity.

he had no known links to radicalism or terrorism. what they're considering is whether he was radicalised in prison. that in itself would fit a pattern with previous attacks. damian grammaticas, bbc news, liege. let's bring you these live pictures from paris, where french police are due to carry out an operation to evacuate hundreds of migrants living in makeshift camps. it's estimated more than 2,000 migrants and refugees are sleeping rough under bridges and by canals in what aid groups describe as "catastrophic sanitary conditions". men and some women, who aid workers say have escaped violence and dictatorship in countries such as sudan and eritrea, are crammed into tents on a pavement with no proper sanitation. hundreds began gathering there during cold weather at the start of the year, and numbers had grown in recent months. officials with some yellow high

visibility jackets there. officials with some yellow high visibilityjackets there. we are expecting an operation to begin shortly. at the moment of agencies that people are standing around waiting to see what can happen. but you get a sense of what it must be like for people living there in those terms. aid workers are concerned about the unsanitary conditions. where they will be moved onto it is not quite clear, but will bring you that news as it comes in. stay with us on the briefing. also on the programme: back in the old routine — serena williams wins her first frand slam match since becoming a mother. in the biggest international sporting spectacle ever seen,

up to 30 million people have taken part in sponsored athletics events to aid famine relief in africa. the first of what the makers of star wars hope will be thousands of queues started forming at 7am. taunting which led to scuffles, scuffles to fighting, fighting to full—scale riot, as the liverpool fans broke out of their area and into the juve ntus enclosure. the belgian police had lost control. the whole world will mourn the tragic death of mr nehru today. he was the father of the indian people from the day of independence. the oprah winfrey show comes to an end after 25 years and more than 11,500 episodes. the chat show has made her one of the richest people on the planet. geri halliwell, otherwise known as ginger spice, has announced she's left the spice girls. argh! i don't believe it! she's the one with the bounce, the go, the girl power. not geri — why? you're watching the briefing. our headlines:

one of russia's best—known investigative journalists, arkady babchenko — an outspoken critic of president putin — is shot dead. trying to gauge what life is like inside north korea. the bbc hears direct testimony from a network of dissidents. let's get more on the latest about the possible summit between us president trump and the north korean leader kim jong—un — that was meant to take place in singapore next month. our correspondent rupert wingfield hayes is in seoul. welcome. it is on, it is off, on, off. what is the latest? it is a flurry of diplomacy now going on in all sorts of different places, both here in south korea. there is the tea m here in south korea. there is the team who left the hotel this morning and headed back towards the deep m the to talk to a team who has come down from the north korean capital.

there is also another team in singapore. —— towards the dmc. we expect this senior official has ordered a flight to new york from beijing. we don't know if it has taken off beijing. we don't know if it has ta ken off but beijing. we don't know if it has taken off but he is expected to leave beijing around now to fly to new york where he will have a face—to—face meeting on wednesday or thursday with mike tom pao, the us secretary of state. he is the most senior north korean official to go to the united states since 2000. —— with pompeo. it is a significant step. a controversial figure. is it a surprise he will be allowed into the us? he is controversial because he used to run north korea's spy agency and has been accused by the south korean government of being behind a number of attacks on south

korean targets including the sinking ofa korean targets including the sinking of a navy ship. he is excluded from travelling to the united states and thatis travelling to the united states and that is why he is going to new york because that is where north korea have a mission and because of that, north korean officials are allowed to land in new york. they do not need special clearance. that is probably why he went there and not to washington. much has been made of the time frame here. two weeks to put together some kind of this summit where both leaders, if it goes ahead, can walk away with a win. sceptics say it is not possible. what is the view from there? i think there is a great deal of scepticism all around. south korean government really wants this summit to happen. president no—one has been pushing it. when it was cancelled last week, it was president moon here in seoul who suddenly got together with kim jong—un and got it back on track. but beneath this, what is going on is that both kim jong—un and president trump personally appeared

to really, really want this summit to really, really want this summit to happen, despite the fact that many experts and officials say that the time is too short and the gulf between the two sides is too wide. the popular us sitcom ‘roseanne' has been cancelled after its star roseanne barr posted a racist tweet. the american actress compared former obama adviser valerie jarrett to an ape on social media. james cook reports. roseanne barr fronted a tv sensation. a hugely popular sitcom from the 1980s and 90s which made a triumphant return this year. that did not go through. millions tuned in to see a sympathetic portrayal of working—class trump supporters in america. it came crashing down in a

vitriolic twitter thai raid. roseanne barr's nasty slur was aimed atan roseanne barr's nasty slur was aimed at an african—american political opponent. she was referring to valerie jarrett. i think we have to turnit valerie jarrett. i think we have to turn it into a teaching moment. i am fine. i worry about the people out there who do not have a circle of friends and followers who come to their defence. roseanne barr also attacked hillary clinton and her daughter chelsea and she falsely called the billionaire investor george soros, a tuition child who survived the occupation of hungary, a nazi. that tweet was shared by donald trump junior. roseanne a nazi. that tweet was shared by donald trumpjunior. roseanne barr issued a partial policy but it was not enough —— partial apology, but it was not enough for the abc. roseanne's downfall was clearly her own doing but it is likely to

strengthen stereotypes in a divided america with each side accusing the other of intolerance and hatred. don't forget to let us know what your opinion is on this. given that many liberal comedians get away with a lot, is this political correctness gone too far? here's our briefing on some of the key events happening later. we start in the german city of paderborn where royal military police are due to hold a news conference about the british toddler, katrice lee, who vanished 36 years ago. they're expected to announce that they've found ‘material of interest‘. later in paris, france‘s president emmanuel macron will hold a speech at the oecd‘s ministerial council meeting. the subject will be "refounding multilateralism". and in new york, president donald trump‘s personal lawyer, michael cohen, is due to appear before a us districtjudge for a hearing.

prosecutors are investigating possible crimes related to his personal business dealings. now it‘s time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello, i‘m ben mundy and this is your wednesday sport briefing. coming up: houston have a problem as the golden state warriors set up a fourth nba final with cleveland cavaliers in as many years. and standby for some gravity—defying driving from an offroad racing champion. now, 2016 might feel like a lifetime ago for novak djokovic. back then he was top of the world rankings and won the french open title to complete his career grand slam. since then he‘s been plagued with injury and struggled to make an impact at major tournaments. in the next few hours he faces spain‘s jaume munar in the second round at roland garos as his fight for form continues. it has been difficult to face injury, major injury, the most

challenging injury i have ever had. it has been a long 12 months behind being but i am starting to play better. australia certainly know how to get their hands on the cricket world cup. wednesday marks one year to go until the five—time winners defend their title at the 2019 tournament. england and wales are the hosts, with the final taking place here at the iconic lord‘s cricket ground. it will be the fifth time the world cup‘s been held in those two countries since the inaugural competition back in 1975. serena williams said she felt like a "superhero" after winning her first match at a grand slam since giving birth to her daughter. it might‘ve had something to do with the catsuit she was wearing. the three—time french open champion is through to the second round after beating kristyna pliskova. the win comes less than nine months after she became a mum. she‘ll face australia‘s ashleigh barty next. rafael nadal‘s bid to win the title for an eleventh time

is up and running. the king of clay beat simone bolelli in straight sets and has now won 80 of the 82 matches he‘s played at roland garros. to basketball, and the golden state warriors have shown what they‘re made of. they came from 3—2 down to beat houston, and for a fourth year in a row, will now face the cleveland cavaliers once again in the nba finals. after the cavs‘ series with boston went to a deciding game seven, the western conference finals went the same way. despite being down at half—time, the nba champions found the baskets when it mattered most to beat the rockets 101 points to 92. you have got to have confidence in yourself, no matter how the game is going, up to that point that where you can turn around and it has been great to come out of the locker room and focused, locked in. make some

shop, get some stops and have fun. and before we go, here‘s something we‘ve spotted on social media for you. and be warned, it‘s something you don‘t get to see very often — and should not try at home. this is offroad racing champion rj anderson showing off his unorthodox driving skills to his instagram followers. certainly one way to beat the traffic. not even a wobble there. to say he has a lot of bottle is an understatement — here‘s a video of a back flip he previously posted to show what he gets up to in training. you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that‘s bbc.com/sport. but from me ben mundy and the rest of the sport team, goodbye. stay with us here on bbc news. so much more to come.

on tuesday most places had another there will be more sunshine and storms. after arriving in the south—east and south anglia the storms will push their way further north and east across england and into wales allowing some late sunshine in the south—east. into wales allowing some late sunshine in the south-east. there will be more cloud for eastern scotla nd will be more cloud for eastern scotland but another warm day, another dry day with sunshine for western scotland and northern ireland as well. those downpours in england and wales may be heavy and thundery and they may well drift away further north approaching southern scotland and northern ireland overnight. and clear skies to the south but again it could be misty and murky out there. there is not a great deal of wind out there to stir things up. it is human error as well. lows of 12 to 1a degrees. while we may have more showers across scotland and northern ireland and certainly more cloud and sort will not be as warm, the main area of storms will be across the south—east of england, pushing across the west of southern england towards wales and england and into east anglia. again, some heavy and

thundery downpours with the threat of further localised flooding. now we got pressure falling across the uk which is why we are seeing more storms. a tendency, and the trend, is to push those storms northwards as we head towards the end of the week. across more southern parts of england and wales it may well be drier and brighter and will be warmer. some sunshine at times but north wales, north midlands northwards including scotland and northern ireland will be heavy and thundery downpours once again so temperatures will not be as high as they have been recently. for the start of the weekend at least, maybe some more storms across northern half of the uk, beginning to ease off. once again towards the south, very few with any storms around at all. most places he will be dry and warm with sunshine at times. hello. this is business briefing. i‘m samantha simmonds. the political crisis in italy sends shockwaves through financial markets worldwide. and, swapping rice for apples —

we travel to kashmir to find out why farmers think the investment will bear fruit. and on the markets asian shares extended a global sell—off in early trading wednesday as italy‘s political crisis provoked a heavy retreat on wall street, sent the euro to a 10—month low and pushed up borrowing costs for the government in rome.