this is the briefing. i'm sally bundock. our top stories: britain's prime minister asks her fellow european leaders to drop what she says are unacceptable demands over brexit. anger as the world anti—doping agency looks set to lift its suspension of russia. the us senate gives the woman who accused a supreme court nominee of sexual assault until friday to decide if she will testify. in business briefing — can't get the staff? employers fear brexit could mean personnel problems, as the uk rethinks its migration policy. plus, the chinese billionaire jack ma takes back his promise to create a millionjobs in the us, as the trade war escalates. we have the latest from the world economic forum in tianjin. good to have you with us.

it isa it is a packed programme. briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. also in the programme, we are asking what is your worst blunder at work? do share your stories, this as cathay pacific had to send a new plane back to the paint shop, after the compa ny‘s name was spelled incorrectly. iam sure i am sure you can tell what is missing. tell us where you went wrong or where mistakes have been made. just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. we begin in salzburg, that's where the british prime minister theresa may has been urging european union leaders to be ready to compromise on brexit. speaking after a summit dinner, she said the uk had given ground and now the other member

states should too. the sticking points: what to do about the irish border and a post—brexit trade relationship. and time is running out, as russell trott reports. what better way of setting the tone ata dinner of what better way of setting the tone at a dinner of european leaders, then a performance of mozart. this is salzburg, after all. despite the schnitzel and britain's theresa may being given ten minutes, some around the table said there remained a distinct lack of harmony. mrs mae stressed her desire for future cooperation between the uk and the eu: earlier, outside, the prime minister outlined her terms for one of brexit

two gu est outlined her terms for one of brexit two guest sticking points, the irish border issue. at didn't chime with what the eu was saying. —— that.” don't think we are any closer to a withdrawal agreement then we were in march. i can't report any progress at this stage, unfortunately, but we keep working on it. what happens if the eu doesn't budge on the brexit order issue? then the united kingdom will have to. the present of the european council, donald tusk, says a deal will be done by november. he will brief this is may after an eu one statue will not be attending. a gathering of the leaders at the theatre where they filmed the sound of the sitcom is the first opportunity the uk pm has to make her case to other leaders collectively. but with about six months to go before the uk is scheduled to leave, the mood music remains downbeat. russell trott, bbc news. with me isjonathan charles, director of communications at the european bank for reconstruction and development. good morning. very good to see you.

lovely to see you. you are listening in to that report from russell, we all want to know how the dinner went. oxlike at they have a bit of indigestion this morning. after all of that schnitzel and fruit salad, i am not surprised. also on the menu was theresa may's attempts to convince the other 27 members of the eu that they have to compromise. the bottom line seems to be that they are adamant that she has to compromise. she is betting, on the way, it on divisions, all of the papers are making that clear. the only division that matters, is there a division between france and germany and we are still seeing they are absolutely united. a bleak in the integrity of the single market, keeping it together and at the moment check plan does not go far enoughin moment check plan does not go far enough in the direction that they wa nt to enough in the direction that they want to see. and the key sticking point seems to be between northern ireland and the republic of ireland and it is difficult to solve that.

michel barnier was talking about various possibilities before last night dinner but this is a real issue. she is between a rock and a ha rd issue. she is between a rock and a hard place. the rock, there do you peek, her allies in government, she requires their vote is in government to give her the majority. at the same time, the hard place is what the eu want. it comes down to what rules can be put into place to maintain the single market so that there is frictionless trade between southern ireland, the republic and the north. they are not there. at the north. they are not there. at the moment some people are saying there can be some use of wording, but it would still require some sort of checks and 50p are adamant that would mean separating the bit of the united kingdom. they are not prepared to have it. from her point of view she worries they could bring down the government over that if she sells them out. as ever, we have to watch this space and see where we go from here. is getting tight because of mid—november is a major eu summit in brussels wants all of their ducks

ina row in brussels wants all of their ducks in a row before that. she is saying it is this, my deal, or no deal. we know that they know she doesn't want and no deal either. so time is one running out. again, it comes down to who will blink first. they are betting really heavily it will be theresa may, more compromises from her. as you can see, we have a story on bbc online, lots of detail on their from our correspondence who are covering this story. we'll get onto brexit and other matters in the news briefing later. let's talk about this story, which has a lot of people discussing the pros and cons of. —— the cons. the world anti—doping—agency is expected to lift its suspension on russia at a meeting in the seychelles later. russia's anti—doping agency was banned in 2015 amid a scandal

over state—sponsored doping, allegations russia has repeatedly denied. caroline rigby has more. they broke records and dominated medal tables. it seemed too good to be true, and it was. for years, international sports competitions have unknowingly been hijacked by the russians. coaches and athletes have been playing on an uneven field. sports fans and spectators have been deceived. state—sponsored cheating on a massive scale. russia's anti—doping agency was suspended by it's global counterpart, following the revelations in 2015. but three years on, could wada be about to lift that ban? it's a prospect that has angered athletes and anti—doping leaders from the us to the uk, and new zealand to norway. those who believe such a decision would make a mockery of both the ban and the governing body itself. clean athletes rights and the health and safety of athletic

competition matters. the flame of the olympics, unfortunately, is going to burn a lot less bright the day after a bad decision. russia has refused independent access into this moscow lab at the centre of the conspiracy. it has also failed to acknowledge the findings of the wada—commissioned report on the country's doping programme. yet, just last week, wada's own review committee recommended russia be reinstated, accepting that the kremlin had successfully acknowledged its failure. but some inside the organisation remained unconvinced. its vice president stating: wada's meeting in the seychelles seems a long way from the sochi olympics, after which whistleblower grigory rodchenkov exposed one of the biggest ever scandals in sport.

for those tasked with keeping sport clean, the question remains: has russia come far enough since then? caroline rigby, bbc news. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. south korea's president, moonjae—in, is due to visit the spiritual birthplace of the korean nation, on the border between the north and china. it's the culmination of his three—day visit to the north, which included a summit with kim jong—un. the north korean leader has agreed to shut down a missile testing facility and other measures to enhance relations with the south. the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, now says washington is willing to resume negotiations with the north on denuclearisation. malaysian officials have confirmed that the former prime minister najib razak has been arrested in connection with alleged embezzlement after more than $600 million linked to the state investment fund imdb were allegedly found in his bank accounts. a total of 21 money laundering charges have been

prepared against him. president trump has launched his sharpest attack yet on his attorney generaljeff sessions. in an interview, mr trump says he's particularly unhappy that mr sessions had recused himself from the investigation into russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. he also criticisised mr sessions' handling of immigration and border security issues. the pope has met the u2 front man bono to discuss the sexual abuse crisis in ireland. the pair spoke for more than 30 minutes with the irish rock star, saying he found the pope to be an extraordinary man. during his trip to ireland last month, pope francis begged forgiveness for the multitude of abuses suffered by victims in ireland at the hand of the church over decades. the woman who's accused the us supreme court nominee,

brett kavanaugh, of sexual assault, has been given until friday to decide whether she'll give evidence. christine blasey ford says she wants the fbi to investigate the incident, which took place in the 1980s, before testifying before the senate judiciary committee. brett kava naugh has denied the allegation. katty kay reports. christine blasey ford says she's received death threats and has had to move house since her allegation against brett kavanaugh was made public on sunday. mr trump's sympathies today seemed to be more with the accused than the accuser. as you know, justice kavanaugh has been treated very, very tough, and his family, i think it's a very unfair thing what's going on. dr ford's lawyers have written to the senatejudiciary committee to say she doesn't want to appear with the judge and wants an fbi investigation. that refusal to testify has angered

even sympathetic republicans, like senator bob corker, who now says there should be a vote to confirm the judge on monday if dr ford doesn't appear. but one other important voice is recommending a pause. anita hill went through similar hearings in 1991 and was widely seen to be treated badly. my advice is to push the pause button on this hearing, get the information together, bring in the experts, and put together a hearing that is fair, that is impartial, that is not biased by politics or by men. the memory of that hearing looms large, and there is clearly frustration among some women in the senate. i just want to say to the men of this country, just shut up and step up. do the right thing. there is political peril on both sides here, and no goodwill between democrats and republicans, which means that truth and fairness will be hard to find. katty kay, bbc news, washington. you are with the briefing. plenty

more to come. including: cristiano ronaldo's champions league debut forjuventus is cut short as he's controversially sent off in the 29th minute. 30 hours after the earthquake that devastated mexico city, rescue teams still have no idea just how many people have died. well, there is people alive and there is people not alive. we just can help and give them whatever we've got. it looked as though they had come to fight a war, but their mission is to bring peace to east timor, and nowhere on earth needs it more badly. the government's case is being forcefully presented by monsieur badinter, the justice minister. he's campaigned vigorously for abolition, having once witnessed one of his clients being executed. elizabeth seton spent much

of her time at this grotto, and every year, hundreds of pilgrimages are made here. now that she's become a saint, it's expected that this area will be inundated with tourists. the mayor and local businessmen regard the anticipated boom as yet another blessing of st elizabeth. you're watching the briefing. 0ur headlines: britain's prime minister has asked her fellow european leaders to drop what she says are unacceptable demands over brexit. the world anti—doping agency is expected to lift its suspension of russia at a meeting in the seychelles. this year marks the centenary of spanish flu, a deadly outbreak of influenza that left between 50 and 100 million people dead. it was one of the worst pandemics the world has ever seen, spreading as troops moved

between countries at the end of world war i, but strict wartime censorship means its history has almost been forgotten. our global health correspondent, smitha mundasad, looks back at its legacy. in the final year of world war i, a flu virus like never before swept around the globe. it's spread to almost every country. and, in just 18 months, it had infected a third of the world's population. doctors, nurses and hospitals were overwhelmed. this is the diary of basil hood, doctor basil hood, who was medical superintendent at the marylebone infirmary. it's one of the few written accounts to reveal what it was like to live through the pandemic. each day, the difficulties became more pronounced as the patients increased and the nurses

decreased, going down like ninepins themselves. people were warned to stay away from public gatherings and anyone who was unwell, but many suffered, starving of oxygen and going blue as they tried to take their last breath. you've got this virus that killed somewhere between 50 and 100 million people in a little over a year but no one really knows that much about it. for me having read the personal accounts it really drives home how traumatic and experience this was for normal people. the modern world is a very different place. people are no longer weakened by years of world war. now transportation is much better, linking every major city, and while that means people can travel around much faster, the worry is any diseases they carried could spread much faster too. it's estimated if a new pandemic virus we re estimated if a new pandemic virus were to merge it could spread around the world to every global capital within 60 days of emergence. that doesn't leave a lot of time. experts

also say these global threats need new attention so new vaccines can be made and better public health systems developed to stop worldwide spread. 100 years on, spanish flu is being remembered. this modern dance company is commemorating the virus that even affected political figures like david lloyd george, woodrow wilson and mahatma gandhi. this woman's choreography illustrates wa rfa re woman's choreography illustrates warfare taking place inside and outside the body. while people were fighting each other, once i thought they had one, actually the virus at the same time was actually fighting a much bigger battle where everybody lost. spanish flu was one of the greatest infectious disease disasters in history. the hope is the world is 110w history. the hope is the world is now better prepared to respond if it happens again. smitha mundasad, bbc news. cocaine production in colombia has risen to record levels, that's according to the united nations. it's the world's largest producer of the drug, and the increase comes despite the recent peace deal

with farc rebels. the bbc‘s tim allman reports. the coca leaf is a way of life here. for generations they have grown it, used it to make tea, to make medicine, and, sometimes, to make cocaine. and new figures show colombia is now producing more of the drug than ever before. translation: one of the reasons for the increase is the perception that this illegal activity is less of a risk. as a result, coca cultivation increased, investment with agricultural inputs like fertilisers increased, and productivity in plantations has improved. so what kind of figures are we looking at? well, the un's office on drugs and crime says the total area of the country where coca leaves can be cultivated has risen 17%, to more than 170,000 hectares. production of the coca leaf,

the main ingredient in cocaine, rose by a third from 2012 to 2017. that means potential cocaine production in colombia reached nearly 1,400 metric tons last year. and all this comes despite the historic peace deal between the government and fa rc rebels. they were heavily involved in coca production, and some say their demise has left a vacuum filled by gangs and other armed groups. a dilemma for the new president, who is considering using aerial herbicides to destroy the coca crop, despite fears they could cause cancer. translation: our goal within the next four years is to have strong results. if you ask me, we can set ambitious goals of eradicating more than 70% of the crop. that may be the plan, but while colombia's civil war is over, its cocaine problem is anything but. tim allman, bbc news. now it's time to get

all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello, i'm tulsen tollett. coming up in your thursday sport briefing: unai emery leads arsenal into europa league action later, the final event of the fedex cup, the tour championship tees off in atlanta and cristiano ronaldo is sent off on his champions league debut for new club juventus. arsenal begin their european adventure later on thursday. it's the second successive year they've competed in the europa league after reaching the semi—finals last season under arsene wenger. perhaps their new head coach unai emery is the man to take them all the way, he led sevilla to an unprecedented three straight europa league titles between 2014 and 2016. arsenal's first match is against ukrainian outfit vorskla poltava. in my career, the ambition is very

important for continuing improving and continuing finding the objective in my career personally and also with the team. i want every title, to play for... going for one to win. —— going for wa nt to going for one to win. —— going for want to win. the grand finale of golf‘s fedex cup on the pga tour, the tour championship, gets underway in the coming hours at east lake in atlanta, georgia. world number onejustin rose and american bryson dechambeau are in pole position for the 10 million dollar prize. it will be the first time tiger woods has played in the tournament for five years. to be able to have played this well and after coming off what i came off of... i didn't know how many tournaments i would play in and next thing you know i am here in the tour championship. there are many guys who can say they have accomplished that, got into the tour championship... but to come back where i have come back from and to get here has been a pretty tall order,

and something i'm proud of. cristiano ronaldo was sent off on his european debut forjuventus on wednesday after appearing to pull at the hair of a valencia player. the italians still scored a 2—0 win but it means the portuguese will miss his much anticipated return to old trafford against manchester united unless he successfully appeals. elsewhere, his former club and holders, real madrid, were 3—0 winners over roma with gareth bale among the scorers. pre—competition favourites manchester city were shocked 2—1 at home by lyon, while manchester united fared better with a 3—0 win in switzerland against young boys, as paul pogba scored twice. india thrashed pakistan by eight wickets in the asia cup to make it consecutive group a wins. after winning the toss and electing to bat in dubai, pakistan collapsed to be all out for 162. in response, captain rohit sharma along with shikhar dhawaan put on 86 for the first wicket before their side eased to victory with 21 overs remaining. now, the start of the new nba season

is less than a month away and once again, all eyes will be on this man, lebronjames. the 3—time nba champion will play for the la lakers this season, but despite being one of the best players in the history of the game, he's now got some serious competition from within his own home. this is his 11—year—old son, bryce maximus james, playing for his school team, and, just like his father, he knows where the net is! lebron posted this video on social media with the caption: "fact — the best shooter in the house for sure!" you can get all the latest sports news at our website, that's bbc.com/sport. but from me and the rest of the team, that is your thursday sport briefing. absolutely. i'm shown up by my children all the time!

now, have a look at this tweet from cathay pacific and see if you can spot what's wrong. a new plane has had to go back to the paint shop, for obivous reasons, after the compa ny‘s name was mispelt on it. eagle—eyed travellers spotted the mistake at hong kong international airport and contacted the airline, but it's sparked many a joke on social media, with many others finding it an inexplicable mistake. we are asking you, what is probably one of your worst mistakes at work? many of you have been in touch and you been quite happy to share your stories, we appreciate it because embarrassing moments aren't always the easiest to share. casanova, that's your twitter handle, not sure if it's your real name, he said in the heady days of computer to p—plate as opposed to digital printing, produced 10,000 posters and 150,000 flyers, 40,000 programmes for a stage play. the

last two digits of the venue phone number were reversed —— computer to p—plate. three people proofread them, nobody noticed the mistake. a costly mistake. we've heard from gavin smith, he doesn't share his worst work blunder but he suggests someone worst work blunder but he suggests someone else's. david cameron asking us someone else's. david cameron asking us to vote on brexit has to be the worst work blunder of all—time. people didn't even know what they we re people didn't even know what they were voting on, ridiculous. charles smith, i woke up late in edinburgh at 9am. i was meant to be in leeds for8am. it at 9am. i was meant to be in leeds for 8am. it was a particularly gruelling tour. yes, i've slept in on this shift and it was a scary moment. i'll be back for business briefing. i'll see you soon. stay with us. hello there. storm ali brought damaging winds across parts of the uk on wednesday. wind gusts of more than 90mph

for parts of northern ireland. you can see this hook of cloud on the satellite picture, that's the storm pushing off towards scandinavia, but that doesn't mean things will be quiet over the next couple of days, far from it. during thursday it's all about this wriggling weather front feeding outbreaks across some parts of the country. there will still be some brisk winds at times. this is how we start the day with rain in the south—west, wales, the midlands and parts of east of england, petering out for a while but returning with a vengeance out for a while but returning with a vengeance from the west as we get into the afternoon. hefty showers in northern scotland, windy start here but the wind will slowly ease down a little bit by the end of the afternoon. spells on sunshine around as well. a fair amount of cloud in northern ireland but not as rough as it was on wednesday. look at this, north—west england, parts of england, wales, torrential downpours of persistent rain. likely to cause

travel disruption, may be issues with flooding. to the south—east of that, dry weather, sunshine and warmth but turning increasingly windy. through thursday night into early friday, rain from the south—west, wales and northern england will go east and it will be accompanied by strong and gusty winds with wind gusts of 55 and 60 mph and maybe more than that in some areas. it looks like southern parts will see the windiest weather in the early pa rt will see the windiest weather in the early part of friday morning —— 50-60 early part of friday morning —— 50—60 mph. if you have travel plans on thursday and friday, heavy gales could cause disruption, worth checking with your bbc local radio station. we start friday on a windy note with low pressure still close by, but it will drift north—east. in its wake and we will be left with a flow of chilly air from the north. in fact, quite a long way north, a decidedly cool feel. friday starting pretty messy. some outbreaks in

eastern areas, windy down the east coast. the winds will slowly ease during the day, though rain will clear, sunshine and showers but that cool feel, 11 at best in aberdeen, 18-19 at cool feel, 11 at best in aberdeen, 18—19 at a push in the south—east. mixed on the weekend, there will be sunshine, rain at times, most especially down in the south. this is the business briefing with me, sally bundock. can't get the staff? employers fear brexit could mean personnel problems as the uk rethinks its migration policy. plus, collateral damage. alibaba billionaire jack ma takes back his promise to create a million us jobs as the trade war escalates. we have the latest from the world economic forum in tianjin. and on the markets, asian shares are rising after a second day of gains for global stocks as investor concern eases over the impact of the us—china trade war.