this is the briefing, i'm maryam moshiri. our top story: anger in italy, as hopes fade of finding more survivors from the bridge collapse. 39 people died. mystery surrounding the killing of the half—brother of north korea's leader. two women charged with last year's murder are due to find out if their trial will go on. we have got part two of a bbc investigation into rhino horn poaching in south africa, and how official corruption plays a part. uber narrows its losses, but is still burning through millions of dollars a day. so can the popular ride—hailing firm break even before going public? 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.

as madonna turns 60, we want to know what your favourite madonna hit is, and is she still the queen of pop? tell us what you think. just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. rescuers have spent a second night searching the rubble of a collapsed motorway bridge in genoa, but hopes of finding more survivors are all but gone. at least 39 people were killed when it plummeted to the ground on tuesday morning. in response to widespread public alarm about more possible failures in the region's infrastructure, a 12—month state of emergency has been declared in liguria. danjohnson repots from genoa. this long, grey scar of broken concrete, the ribbon of rubble, marks the valley was crossed by a

grand, imposing viaduct. how much more death and destruction is hidden beneath here? could any of the missing still be alive in this tangled mess? we keep on working, until every single metre of this rubble will be controlled. how long will that take? actually, it is a very difficult question. it is going to be long work. alongside sad stories of lives lost art near misses and amazing escapes. this british couple stop their car about 100m short of the section that collapsed. people started shouting. waving their arms to reverse out the windows. and tooting horns, and everything like that. people were running, screaming in italian, run, out. everyone out, cars. so we were literally, kids, run. we left everything in the car and we just

rent for our lives. last night, the interior minister came here and declared declared that every company taking public money should protect their structures like their own children. he said whoever was responsible would be made to pay. there is real anger here. how, why and who is to blame, all need to be addressed. there are families missing loved ones, still waiting for news. their answers must come first. the judge in the trial of two women charged with killing the half—brother of north korea's leader is expected to rule shortly on whether to proceed with the case against them. indonesian national siti aisyah and doan thi huong, who is from vietnam, are accused of smearing the lethal nerve agent vx over kim jong—nam's face at kuala lumpur international airport last year. they say they believed they were playing roles in a prank television show. jonathan head sent us this from outside the court. this is really the pivotal moment in this quite extraordinary trial,

which is, after hearing six months of evidence from the prosecution, more than 30 witnesses, more than 200 pieces of evidence, the judge has to decide at this stage whether there is actually a case against the two women. the prosecution have argued that the two women were culpable in what they describe as a professional assassination plot. now, they've also charged four north korean men who fled the country on the day that kim jong—nam was killed, in february last year. but very little has been said about north korea's involvement during this trial. the prosecution have focused purely on these two rather poor women who got caught up in this, and tried to argue that they are, in their own words, professional assassins who are responsible for the death of kim jong—nam.

the defence have argued all along that the two women were essentially sucked into an elaborate plan by north korean officials, where they believed they were carrying out essentially pranks. they've pointed out lots of practice beforehand, payments made to the women, who were recruited in entertainment places here in kuala lumpur. and they've also pointed out that the failure of the police and the government to pursue the north koreans who they say are the masterminds leaves this case very, very weak. the judge must now decide whether to accept the case, push it forward, in which case we will, for the first time, in future trials, hear from the two women themselves, and from many other witnesses. they face execution by hanging if they're found guilty of culpable murder, or thejudge could dismiss the case. that in itself would be extraordinary. it would mean there would be nobody at all being held accountable for this quite bizarre crime, or it's possible he may decide to downgrade the charge and say, well, they weren't responsible for murder, they didn't know what they were doing, but perhaps they have some responsibility for his death. that verdict will come

through in the next few hours, and after that we will know how malaysia's going to pursue this case. all the way through this, malaysia has downgraded relations with north korea, but it hasn't severed them. it's quite clear a political decision has been made by the previous government, it's been continued by this government, to try to maintain ties, and even restore them, with north korea. there seems to be no real will in the malaysian establishment to pursue north korea's role in this, even though everything we've seen so far suggests this was indeed a north korean plot, and that these two women had, at best, a very minor role in it. the white house has broken with tradition and stripped the security clearance of a former cia director. john brennan has been highly critical of president trump on twitter. in response, he tweeted that the president's actions should gravely worry all americans, including intelligence professionals, about the cost of speaking out. my principles are worth far more than clearances. i will not relent.

historically, officials who have served in office often keep their access to weigh in on security matters and speak with their replacements. let's get more now from our north america correspondent peter bowes. peter, why exactly has president trumped unless, or why does he say he has done less? well, he is citing a number of reasons. national security, but specifically he says that mr brennan's erratic a heavier, wild outburst and frenzied commentary. as you said, mr brennan has on several occasions criticise the president, but he is hitting back at this, saying this is really trying to curtail his right to free speech. in his response to mr trump, he said the move is part of president trumped's broader effort to suppress freedom of speech and punish critics. he said it should

gravely worry all americans, including intelligence professionals, about the cost of speaking out. he finishes his tweet by saying my principles are worth far more than clearance. i will not relent. and peter, how important is the security clearance? is ultimately it seems to me that it is more of a symbolic thing than anything else. to some extent it is symbolic. it is certainly traditional, this is how things have been done, with senior officials, the head of the fbi, intelligence officials, have kept that security clea ra nce, officials, have kept that security clearance, largely because if there isa clearance, largely because if there is a situation that requires their advice, the present administration has a problem and perhaps they want to glean some information from a former senior official, they still have access to the information that will help them make a decision. so thatis will help them make a decision. so that is the practical reason why people like mr brennan have been able to continued with that security

clea ra nce. able to continued with that security clearance. thank you very much indeed. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news: police in london have been given more time to question the man arrested after a car crashed into a barrier outside parliament. salih khater is a british citizen who is originally from sudan. he is being questioned by counter—terrorism officers, although the bbc understands they haven't formally declared what happened at westminster a terrorist incident. the imprisoned former president of brazil, luiz inacio lula da silva, has been registered as a candidate for presidential elections in october, despite being in prison for corruption. thousands of his supporters gathered outside the supreme electoral court in brasilia, to show their support. lula is expected to be barred from running, since brazilian law bans people with criminal convictions from running for office. the united states has condemned turkey's decision to increase import duties on a number of american products, including rice, cars and coal. the white house said the move was a step in the wrong direction. the two countries are in dispute

about an american pastor who is under house arrest in izmir. new zealand's parliament has banned many foreigners from buying existing homes in the country, a move aimed at making properties more affordable. low interest rates, limited housing stock and immigration have been blamed for driving up prices in recent years. earlier we spoke to the politician who announced the ban, new zealand's associate finance minister, david parker. we have the view that our most beautiful bays in the bay of islands and lakeside properties should be within the reach of the most successful new zealanders, and that it goes all the way down the income spectrum to the most modest home, which is nonetheless

someone's dream. we've got the lowest rate of home ownership in new zealand since the 1950s, and we're addressing that in a number of ways, both on the demand side with measures like this, but also on the supply side with a big government house—building programme. one of the world's biggest ride—hailing apps, uber, has managed to narrow its losses, but it is still a long way from turning a profit. in the three months tojune, uber made a loss of almost $900 million. the firm is under great pressure to become more profitable as it gears up to go public. mark davies is chief executive at the strategy consultancy camberton. thank you forjoining us, let's talk uber. you would think that with $900 million in losses, you would start to be troubled. has changed its strategy to a large extent. the 11 billion it has spent in the last

nine years building its platform and subsidising fares has largely been predicated on the idea it could move towards d riverless predicated on the idea it could move towards driverless cars, and it has sort of shelved that. it has moved into other areas, it has moved into uber eats, and it was conspicuous by its absence, the whole notion of d riverless its absence, the whole notion of driverless cars, in the announcement of its results today. so that is a big change, and it does mean that if it is planning to ipo in the next year, it has a lot of ground to make up year, it has a lot of ground to make up in year, it has a lot of ground to make upina year, it has a lot of ground to make up in a strategy which is not entirely clear. and how far has the new boss gone towards changing things in the company, because he came in to make changes. he did, and the fact they haven't focused on d riverless ca rs the fact they haven't focused on driverless cars is one indication of a big change. what he has been doing on the whole is talking to governments, because the other big problem he has apart from competition, obviously, is regulatory pressures. there was a vote in new york earlier in the week and to reduce the number of licences

given to uber and other ride hailing services. so there are pressures on the company, and although dara has gone out there and launched a charm offensive, he still has a lot of work to do. thank you very much indeed. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the part official corruption is playing in rhino horn poaching in south africa. a bbc inestigation also examines the measures being taken to protect the animals. the big crowds became bigger as the time of the funeral approached. as the lines of fans became longer, the police prepared for a hugejob of crowd control. idi amin, uganda's brutalformer dictator, has died at the age of 80. he's been buried in saudi arabia,

where he lived in exile since being overthrown in 1979. two billion people around the world have seen the last total eclipse of the sun to take place in this millennium. it began itsjourney off the coast of canada, ending three hours later, when the sun set over the bay of bengal. you are watching the briefing. 0ur headlines: there is anger in italy, as hopes fade of finding more survivors from the bridge collapse. 39 people died. some had a lucky escape. two women charged with killing the half—brother of north korea's

leader will find out very soon if their trial will continue. rhinos are being killed by poachers at a rate of more than a thousand a year in south africa. their horns are worth more than gold in asia, used as medicine and seen as a status symbol. a bbc investigation has found it's not only consumers and traffickers who are to blame, but also corrupt south african police, rangers and magistrates. in the second of two special reports, alastair leithead looks the measures being taken to protect the animals. they are searching the bush for rhinos. private game reserve in zululand. the gunmen is that, the diet contains sedative. each rhino weighs more than a ton. and they have less than half an hour to make some measurements, had a tracker and

remove what the poachers kill these animals for. —— add. you can only a move probably one inch and a half of it. it won't get into the gross tissue. even that is still an attractive amount of warn thatis still an attractive amount of warn that is left on the animals to be —— horn. and off it comes. it is painless for the rhino, it is like cutting fingernails, it is even as a material. these are worth a fortune in asia where they are used as a status symbol. this is where it has come to. , of the private parks are doing this all the time now. but it is too expensive to be worn all of the rhinos in the government run parks. this is one of the most

poached places in the continent. we met with one of rangers who didn't wa nt to met with one of rangers who didn't want to be identified. he explained his view of the problem. half of the hluhluwe imfolozi field rangers are corrupt. many, many people, many field rangers in the reserves, many are totally involved in rhino poaching. the park's management admits there's been corruption, but says it's now been largely stopped. they agree the conviction rates for poachers could be higher. we arrest people in possession of rhino horns, but they have gone to court and have been found not guilty, they are freed. it is because of corruption. these people, these kingpins have lots of money, they give it to the police, to the lawyers. but these are not

empty accusations, an investigation has been launched into rangers, lawyers and magistrates. poaching allows —— allowing poaching to continue. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. coming up in yourfirst coming up in your first export reefing: roger federer is in action in the last 16 of the cincinnati masters and atletico madrid the real madrid in the all madrid super cup in tallinn. his defeat in the wimbledon quarter—finals was one of the shocks of the tournament, but roger federer is back! the 20—time grand slam champion takes on leonardo mayer later on thursday in the last 16 of the cincinnati masters, as he prepares for the start of the us open in two weeks' time. there were no signs of rust in his first match back since wimbledon, the swiss cruising to the first set

against peter goyovitchk of germany. federer‘s a seven—time champion in cincinnati, and after rafael nadal withdrew from the tournament, he's a firm favourite to do it again. former world number one petra kvitova is also in action, fresh from her victory over serena williams. after the czech took the first set, williams levelled the match at 1-1. but kvitova, on this occassion, was too strong. she came through 6—3 in the decider and will now face kristina mladenovic of france. we played the final in saint petersburg this year, it was a bit different, we played indoor. as i said, ithink different, we played indoor. as i said, i think she is up and down through the season. need to be prepared because i think she is in pretty good form, she had two wins

in the tournament, finally she can play very aggressive, she is a big carrier with a big serve, so i will need to be ready to that. —— ready for that. and cricketer ben stokes will return to training with the england team later today, ahead of their third test against india. that match gets underway at trent bridge on saturday. the all—rounder was found not guilty of affray on tuesday, after being involved in a fight outside a nightclub last september. real madrid's first competitive match without cristiano ronaldo has ended in defeat, as their neighbours atletico beat them 11—2 in the uefa super cup in talinn. the europa league champions atletico took the lead in the first minute through diego costa before benzema equalised, and a ramos penalty turned the game around for the champions league winners. costa's second sent the game to extra time, where a brilliant saul volley put atletico back in front before koke scored a fourth. wimbledon champion novak djokovic

beat france's adrian mannarino in the second round of the cincinnati masters. losing the first set before taking the next two from the world number 25, 6—2, 6—1 to move into the third round. and there was some good new for crystal palace fans on wednesday. their star man wilfried zaha signed a new contract with the english premier league club. he's been regularly linked with a big—money move away from selhurst park, but has committed himself to palace until 2023. former barcelona legend andres iniesta is really settling into life in japan's j—league. after scoring his first goal on saturday, the spanish midfielder has been at it again and it's making waves on social media. with his team vissel kobe 1—0

down to league leaders sandfrecce hiroshima, they needed their best player to step up and he didn't let them down. a second goal in as many games and what a goal it was. 1—1 the game finished, enough to move vissel up to 4th. you can get all the latest sports news at our website, that's bbc.com/sport. but from me and the rest of the sport team, goodbye. now for whale of a tale, around a hundred of them got stuck in a fjord in iceland this weekend. police helped them get out of the fjord, in the west of the country. but less than 2a hours later they were back again, and needed help to get out once more. lebo diseko has the story. this is a rescue operation in action, the second in as many days for this pod of around 100 whales. they got stuck after swimming into a fjord whose opening is both narrow and shallow,

making it hard to get out. police helped guide them into more open waters, and it was hoped they'd go back to sea. but, the next day, they were back once again. cue rescue effort number two. translation: 13 of them went all the way to the shore, and we had to deal with them, push them out by hand, and that went very well. one of the whales even got stuck up on the shore and needed a kayaker to help get free. it's not clear why the group keep going back, but locals say they may be using the incoming tide to help them, and they've certainly attracted quite an audience. translation: naturally, this is interesting to see for both foreigners and icelanders, to view and experience this in nature. you can't see this in an aquarium. this is pure nature,

which makes it more interesting. the group was eventually guided even further out in the hope that they'd find their way to the ocean. that seems to have done the trick. but, if they do return, rescue teams will be on hand once again to help them find their way. lebo diseko, bbc news. before we go, we asked you earlier in the programme, will telstra is think about madonna. today is the queen of pop's 60th birthday, as she turns 60, could you believe it, we wa nted turns 60, could you believe it, we wanted to know what your favourite madonna song was and whether or not you think she is still the queen of p0p- you think she is still the queen of pop. if you go to the bbc website you can talk about this article talking about her career in pictures. teachers from the 80s and today and to be honest i cannot see much of a difference. we have had loads of tweets, people talking about their favourite songs. like a

prayer, like the virgin, quite hard to replace as the queen of pop. lyn humphreys has lived to tell, i hated it when it was out but as i have aged her earlier material gained more important. elvis presley, not the real one, says like a virgin, of course. 20 favourite madonna songs there. my favourite is get into the groove. coming up next is the business briefing. stay with us on bbc world news, plenty more to come. our weather pattern looks quite

u nsettled our weather pattern looks quite unsettled the next few days. today no exception, set to the north—west of the country, this weather front clout pushing south and eastwards with time. for england and wales, the next few hours looking pretty wet, the rain will be quite heavy at times too, although not rich in south—east england before not be silent and scotland, 20 of showers, turning heavy and sunbury. fresh air for the north—west of the uk but it will be a muggy saturday for east anglia and south—east england. through the morning time, our band of rain pushed into south —— east anglia and south—east england but as it comes to the easternmost areas towards kent, the rain will get lighter. in any case it only lasts foran hourortwo, lighter. in any case it only lasts for an hour or two, the rest of the date should stay dry. for northern ireland and scotland it will be quite a cloudy start of the day, widespread, heavy and thundery showers, becoming less widespread to

the afternoon in northern ireland but will continue to be widespread and heavy in scotland. more sunshine for england and wales, the cooler and fresher kind of day. friday, another there are so pressure pushes another there are so pressure pushes another weather front into the uk. this being heavy rain to northern ireland and moving into scotland as he had the afternoon. for eastern areas of england, the day starts on areas of england, the day starts on a usable note, early morning friday sunshine but then it will turn cloudy. wherever you are it will be quite in the, dusty across northern areas. 1618 degrees in the north, 23 in london, about average. this weekend weather is stuck to get more humid and there is a bit more rain in the forecast. the driest weather across south—east england particularly on saturday. an area of low pressure that will be swinging in and this has a of subtropical storm ernesto. it looks set to

target northern ireland. for northern ireland and scotland on sunday, a spell of pretty heavy rain. that will end up —— ease off as we get into work week. further south, turning quite cloudy, there will be patches of rain on sunday. south—east having the driest weather. this is the business briefing. i'm maryam moshiri. uber narrows its losses but is still burning through millions of dollars a day. so can the popular ride—hailing firm break even before going public? the world's biggest bricks and mortar retailer — walmart — has been spending big — but will it put a dent in the firm's latest profits?