this is the briefing. i'm samantha simmonds. our top story: steps towards peace talks in yemen. the un mediator is due to meet leaders of the houthi rebels shortly. american interests first — president trump says he'll stand by saudi arabia despite the killing of the journalist, jamal khashoggi. mr trump's lawyer says he's given "unprecedented" co—operation to the inquiry into whether the trump election team colluded with russia. another deadline in the impasse over italy's budget. this time, the european union has to respond to italy's refusal to budge over its debt. but is the italian government really just trying to gain more votes at home and call a new election? and also, in the business briefing, the chairman of trump's economic advisory council tells us that china has misbehaved sincejoining the world trade organisation and could be thrown out. hello.

a very warm welcome to the programme — briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. as ever, you can be part of the conversation. today we're discussing the idea of people retiring before they're a0 by saving and living frugally. we're asking you which of life's luxuries would you give up to retire early, and would it be worth it? tell us what you think. just use the hashtag, #bbcthebriefing. the un's envoy to yemen is due to meet houthi rebels in the country's capital, sanaa, to try to lay the groundwork for urgent peace talks in sweden. martin griffith's latest efforts come after fresh fighting took hold in the port city of hodeida, which has been a flashpoint

in a three year conflict that's led to what the un calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis. it and leading aid organisations have consistently warned that m million people, including children, face starvation as the fighting continues. caroline rigby‘s report contains some images you might find distressing. this daniel deusser fighting for life. four of her siblings never even made it to hospital. like so many others, they were collateral damage in this devastating war. —— this 12—year—old. as the main entry point for food this 12—year—old. as the main entry point forfood aid, this 12—year—old. as the main entry point for food aid, the this 12—year—old. as the main entry point forfood aid, the rebel this 12—year—old. as the main entry point for food aid, the rebel held port of hodeida has been a focus of international efforts to broker a truce, but hopes of the deal suffered further set at this week when fighting escalated. —— setback. the un describes yemen as the

world's worst man—made humanitarian disaster with a0 million people on the drink of famine, more than half of them children. saudi arabia and the united arab emirates have pledged $500 million to help tackle the crisis, but as well as being the biggest aid donors, but also biggest military can ship it is in a coalition blamed for the civilian death. there should be an end to this conflict. let's put enough pressure on houthis to attend this time and let's be serious about reaching a political solution that brings peace to yemen. on the ground, for now, the war goes on but the un remains hopeful it can resume peace talks between the two sides in the coming week ‘s. —— weeks. well, saudi arabia is also under pressure over the killing of washington post journalist and saudi government critic, jamal khashoggi.

but president trump has declared that the united states will continue to support saudi arabia, even though he has acknowledged that crown prince mohammed bin salman "could very well" have had knowledge of plans to murder mr khashoggi. his comments have drawn criticism from politicians of both parties in washington, including the senate foreign relations committee. chris buckler reports. the cia now believes it has a detailed picture of what happened when jamal khashoggi entered the saudi consulate. the names of the so—called saudi execution team who flew into istanbul to carry out the murder, and an audio recording of the killing inside the consulate, which president trump says he has refused to listen to because it was, in his words, "so violent, vicious and terrible." it's been claimed that the intelligence agency believes that, despite his denials, the crown prince mohammad bin salman ordered the murder. today, in a statement, president trump seemed to simply dismiss that, saying: i'm not going to destroy the world

economy, and i'm not going to destroy the economy for our country by being foolish with saudi arabia. what many people will find shocking is that in this statement, president trump at one stage refers to the fact that some in saudi arabia regarded jamal khashoggi as an enemy of the state. he does go on to say that this was a terrible and indefensible crime. but nonetheless, it gives you the sense that president trump intends to put american interests first, over global concerns. the united states will continue to have a relationship with the kingdom of saudi arabia. they are an important partner of ours. we will do that with the kingdom of saudi arabia, its people, that is the commitment that the president made today. thank you very much, everybody. today, president trump was taking part in a presidential tradition, pardoning the turkey before thanksgiving. but away from the cameras, critics say he has been making

excuses for saudi arabia, granting the country something approaching forgiveness. the washington post, which employed jamal khashoggi as a columnist, said president trump's response was a betrayal of american values and that surrendering to what they called a state—ordered murder only made this world more dangerous. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. the afghan president, ashraf ghani, has declared a national day of mourning after tuesday's deadly suicide bombing, which killed more than 50 people. mr ghani described the attack on a gathering of clerics who were marking the birthday of the prophet muhammad as an unforgivable crime. the taliban say they were not involved in the attack. authorities in bangladesh have freed the award—winning photographer shahidul alam, after detaining him for more than 100 days and denying him bail several times. he was arrested in august after criticising the official response to student protests in the capital dhaka,

sparking an outcry from human rights organisations and nobel laureates. he was held under controversial internet laws, which critics say prime minister sheikh hasina has used to stifle dissent and harass journalists. archbishop desmond tutu has presented the international children's peace prize to the survivors of a high school massacre in the united states. the student movement, march for our lives, was started after 17 students and staff were gunned down at the school in parkland, florida. the group has lobbied for tighter gun controls in the united states. yet another deadline looms today, as the european commission mulls over how it will respond to italy's defiance on its 2019 budget. fiona cincotta, senior market analyst at city index joins me now. good morning, welcome to use. good morning. so eagerly arguing that

expansionary measures are needed to head off a slowdown, but the european commission is saying that italy is in breach of eu law, so just explain this to a. so the european commission is saying that debt should really not be above 60% of gdp in italy has a very large debts, it is 130%, so a huge difference. it is the second largest debt in europe. so spending more, comic does not seem very smart when perhaps you already have got a very large debt behind you and that is where the big concern is his. in the european commission can come and sanctions if they so choose. they can, how big is this clash going to get? because italy and not showing any signs of wanting to stand down, we avoid be seen them submit a second budget and that was only very slightly revised, so they are not showing signs of wanting to step down and listen to the european commission right now. why has italy argued they need to spend in this

way when they are in so much debt? they believe that spending their way out of it is the way to boost the economy and get things back on track, so yes, we will have to wait and see what comes. that is in a few hours‘s time that we will hear from the commission, that we will see you shortly to go through the news review. thank you. the trump administration has submitted written answers to questions from robert mueller, the special counsel investigaing the 2016 election, according to mr trump's lawyer. the us president has called the investigation a "witch—hunt" and has forcefully denied that his team colluded with russia to help win the presidential election. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes has more. this investigation, this enquiry is entering its final stages and clearly, mr mueller and his collea g u es clearly, mr mueller and his colleagues had the answers to the questions that they pose to the president. it tells us probably that the president will not be sitting down in person with the

investigators or indeed mr mueller, that has been debated for many months now. at one stage, the president said he would be willing to do that, clearly the lawyers have advised against it. the next stage fully depends on mr mueller and his collea g u es fully depends on mr mueller and his colleagues and their interpretation of what the president is telling them, and whether it leads to other people being interviewed or whether this finally wraps up this enquiry and mr mueller can write his final report. china's president xijinping has called his visit to the philippines a "milestone". it was all aimed at boosting relations with the promise of billions of dollars in backing for mega—projects. he also said that china and the philippines have a shared interest in the south china sea. let's get the latest. 0ur correspondent howard johnson is in manila for us. how has the visit gone down? how has the visit gone down7m how has the visit gone down? it has gone down very well here as far as president rodrigo duterte is concerned. last night, he threw a sumptuous banquet for the chinese

president, lots of memorandums of understanding was signed between the two countries, around 29, exploring issues like the south china sea, potential oil and gas exploration, and also looking at the belt and road economic initiative of china, looking at ways of tying east asian economics with that of europe's, in the last few minutes, we have just seen president xijinping go the last few minutes, we have just seen president xi jinping go to live to go to the airport. he is heading back to beijing now, all his official engagements are over. in this hotel to the left to me, he met up this hotel to the left to me, he met up with senators to discuss issues such as drug trafficking, there is a big drug issue in this country. thousands of people being killed by president rodrigo duterte's war on drugs, he also met up with members of the filipino chinese business community to discuss economic initiatives. he is now on his way to the airport to fly back to beijing

this afternoon. ok, thank you. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we'll have the day's sporting highlights, including a goal that wasn't. tunisia miss a sitter and lose to neighbours, morocco. benazir bhutto has claimed victory in pakistan's general election, and she's asked pakistan's president to name her as prime minister. jackson's been released on bail of $3 million after turning himself in to police in santa barbara. it was the biggest demonstration so far of the fast—growing european antinuclear movement. the south african government has announced that its opening the country's remaining whites—only beaches to people of all races. this will lead to a black majority government in this country, and the destruction of the white civilisation. part of the centuries—old windsor castle,

one of the queen's residences, has been consumed by fire for much of the day. 150 firemen have been battling the blaze, which has caused millions of pounds‘ worth of damage. you're watching the briefing. 0ur headlines: the united nations envoy to yemen, martin griffiths, is expected to hold talks with rebel leaders to prepare the ground for peace talks. however, fresh fighting has hit the city of hodeida. president trump says his administration will continue to back saudi arabia, despite acknowledging that its crown prince could have known about the murder of a dissidentjournalist. he was the world's oldest and one its longest serving heads of state. for 37 years robert mugabe ruled zimbabwe with a iron fist. but a year ago, in the space of a week, the military took charge and robert mugabe finally resigned.

now, as zimbabwe faces an economic crisis, did zimbabweans make a mistake by celebrating his demise? the bbcs shingai nyoka reports from harare. zimbabweans savouring the moment. the end of an era. robert mugabe was no longer president. this is how 36—year—old nation celebrated the departure of the only leader she had never known. icy nothing but the worst of our country. we do not want robert mugabe at all. here's the one and we were tired of the man. were so he is gone. we do not want him any more and today is victory. it is victory in our hearts and victory

for our children and it is too good to believe. i am sorry. it has been one year now without robert mugabe. 0n the anniversary of that momentous event we sought her out to find out what, if anything had changed. the new dispensation has brought in a certain level of freedom that we did not have. and that is why, right now ican not have. and that is why, right now i can stand here and have an interview with you and people are calm about it. there are some positives but the main thing, the currency, the economy. we can talk about everything else will we still need to eat. and asked children still need to go to school. this was the bustling carpet or under robert mugabe, overrun with vendor ‘s. now an unfamiliar calm has settled over the capital. the president has claimed success, order, morejobs and fresh investor interest. but

this rule has also ushered in the worst economic crisis in a decade including the fuel crisis and food price hikes. this critics blame unprecedented government borrowing for the inflation. this administration has also been defined by this. post-election protests that left six people damp and accusations ofa left six people damp and accusations of a cover—up. in sharp contrast to these november celebrations. it raised questions about whether citizens had been used to elevate another brutal regime. a new cultural climate that was ushered in last year i don't think this country will ever have another demagogue again. and that is part of what we are celebrating. suit you will find that citizens remain sceptical of politicians and that is why the

current president has a tough time. zimbabweans are still in search of healing, prosperity and deliverance. some had hoped that the swift and smart group could also bring about a quick turnaround. translation: when he was leader, life was better. life was tough but better than this. prices are rising. what we used to buy with $2 now costs $10 or more. mrmugabe, buy with $2 now costs $10 or more. mr mugabe, who for years was a symbol of the ruin of zimbabwe is no longer in charge. it is now for those who forced him from power to prove that they have the solution to the problems many believe he created. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello, i'm tulsen tollett. coming up in your wednesday sport briefing — australia and india get set to play the first of three twenty—20 matches down under while lebronjames is heading back to cleveland for the first time since leaving, as the los angeles lakers take on the cavaliers.

india's tour of australia begins shortly with a twenty—20 match in brisbane. virat kohli's side are ranked number one in the world in the test format and second in the short forms of the game and the country has been a happy hunting ground for the tourists in recent years. australia is always a battle so any indian side. they played good cricket last time but were not able to wind games so this time around we definitely want to change that and any team should look to wind test matches and series as a whole. we have the quality to do so but it will boil down to how we think in each moment. on thursday, tiger woods and phil mickelson will battle it out for $9 million when they go head to head in an 18—hole battle dubbed "the match".

the money is well, worth it of course but mickelson is more interested in getting one over on his long term rival. to have the unique opportunity to do something that i have had a hard time doing in my career which is to get a leg up on tiger on anything. even in a one—day event like this, for a chance to go head—to—head and win it is great to win the $9 million, ijust do not want to lose to him and give him that satisfaction. because the bragging rights are what will be worse than the money. every time i see you, i want to be able to rub it in. lebron james heads back to face his former club the cleveland cavaliers later on wednesday. the four—time nba most valuable playerjoined the los angeles lakers prior to this season starting — and has seen them undergo somewhat of a transformation while his former club he led to four consecutive eastern conference championships and, in 2016, the team's first nba championship has plummetted in the opposite direction. the cavaliers have won just two of their 15 played this season and saw head coach tyronn lue sacked

at the end of last month. in case you missed it, tuesday's internationals could spell bad news for one of europe's biggest clubs paris saint germain — with two of their star players forced off injured. both brazilian neymar and france's kylian mbappe picked up injuries in their countries respective wins over cameroon and uruguay with psg set to play liverpool next week in the champions league. elsewhere scotland earned promotion in the uefa nations league after a james forrest hattrick saw them beat israel 3—2 in glasgow. it also means they're through to the play—offs should they fail to emerge from the main euro 2020 qualifiers. among all the matches played on tuesday morocco beat tunisia 1—nil, but it really should have been a 1—1 draw. tunisia's mohamed drager had a golden opportunity to level it in stoppage time — he won't thanks us for showing this, but it's something we've seen a good few times before and it's

usually at a lower level though... or something i'd do. 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 wednesday sport briefing. this week is the bbc‘s 100 women series — which highlights inspirational women around the world. stacey cunningham is president of the new york stock exchange — the first woman to occupy that post and one of a few women in very senior positions in a very male dominated industry. she's been speaking to samira hussain. there is still a discrepancy between the number of women and the number of men that are in fine and, particularly in senior roles. do you see that changing? when i look

around at the nyc management time or more broadly at the intercontinental exchange management team there senior women in senior roles. so i do not see it... i do think there is a trend to have more senior women in these roles and i think we are moving the right direction. we are not moving as quickly as a global —— in the global landscape but we are heading in the right direction. still, the number of public company ceos that our women is dreadfully low and frankly falling which is the wrong direction to see. so i think we need society to change a little bit and help support what the expectations are of what a senior executive looks like. why are there so few women ceos? there has never been as ceo of an investment bank, a female one, either. we welcome them here all the time. if i look back,

most of them are men. to women ceos came in to celebrate bringing the company public but as we stand on the bell podium, while there have been very few women there are more women in senior executive roles at those companies. we see that women are rising through the ranks and i think that is a sign of good things to come. do you think the fine and industry is overdue its own me to moment? —— finance. there was a cleansing a few decades ago and a message that people need to be treated with respect and the office and there were stories of women where they had not been treated greatly. i think to some extent finance is ahead of the game but the message we need to take away and that we should all be taking from any of the events that have unfolded over the last 12 months is that every individual deserves to be treated with respect. if you coming

to work each day, that is a base level right that you have. as leaders of organisations we need to make sure that that is what is going on. for you, personally, do you think you would be in this prominent role, prem and it —— president of the new york stock exchange, if you had decided to have children earlier in life? a man probably would not get that question and that is important because society needs to change their expectations around what women should be doing and what men should be doing. if we are focused on how people are operating as executives and let them manage their personal lives in their own way, i think you will see women progress more through business and society and achieve higher goals. society often has a different expectation for women than they do for men and that is a challenge that women have to face. and tell me what you think about our talking point today. were discussing the idea of people

retiring before they are a0 years old by saving and living cheaply. so we wa nt old by saving and living cheaply. so we want to know which of life luxuries would you give up? we have had a few twigs in so far. 0ne luxuries would you give up? we have had a few twigs in so far. one from jeremy clarke saying that retirement demand equal frugality. what jeremy clarke saying that retirement demand equalfrugality. what is jeremy clarke saying that retirement demand equal frugality. what is the point? clearlyjeremy is not up for the challenge. and this from another viewer saying that they waited to have children until a0. they saved a lot of money but instead of retiring, they are spending it on the children. stay with us. we have all the latest business stories coming upfor all the latest business stories coming up for you shortly. hello.

as expected, tuesday was a really cold day, earlier in the night we saw snow to low levels across the south—east of england for a while. on wednesday, the coldest of the air and the strongest of the wind will cross across the north of the uk and further south we will see improvement. a cloudy start with wet weather continuing across northern ireland and northern england, pushing up into scotland. some sleet and hill snow in that. following on we should get some sunshine developing, maybe a few showers but some improvements across england and wales and showers in the afternoon in more detail through the west country into east wales and the midlands, england will see some sunshine which will be a welcome change pushing its way into southern parts of scotland. wet and cold through the afternoon across northern ireland and so more wet weather through the and across central and northern parts of scotland with more snow over high ground. and this is where we have the windiest of the weather.

a0 mph across the east coast of scotland. those are the temperatures so it is still another cold day. it will not feel that cold across england and wales ever did —— as it on tuesday but a cold feeling day with all of that wet for scotland and northern ireland. a lot of that wet weather should push out of the way during wednesday evening. clearing skies means tumbling temperatures. icy patches around before we start to see cloud coming in again from off the north the bringing with a drizzle. and may halt the temperature drop a further west where we have clear skies are frost is likely. there may be early sunshine across wales and west in scotland, northern ireland for a while perhaps developing into southern counties of england. cloudy elsewhere with drizzle around some wet weather coming into eastern parts of scotland. another cold day here. seven degrees if you are lucky, eight or nine elsewhere underneath the cloud may be a bit of sunshine. as we head towards the end of the week we have low pressure threatening to bring rain to the far south—west of the uk. high pressure towards the north and north—east. this south—easterly breeze

and fridays is a nothing sort of day. a little sunshine at times if you are lucky but on the whole of cloud. showers in the far south—west and some wet weather coming into eastern parts of scotland. the temperatures are going the right way and we could make double figures. welcome back. this is the business briefing. i'm samantha simmonds. another deadline in the impasse over italy's budget. this time, the european union has to respond to italy's refusal to budge over its debt. but is the italian government really just trying to gain more votes at home and call a new election? the chairman of trump's council of economic advisers, kevin hassett, tells the bbc that china has misbehaved sincejoining the world trade organisation and evicting the asian economic powerhouse from the wto is an option. and on the markets, it is pretty red all around, as you can see, after big

falls on wall street.