this is the briefing, i'm maryam moshiri. our top story: disruptive and deadly. record snowfall hits parts of europe. there are avalanche alerts for austria and the alps. the democratic republic of congo names its new president. felix tshisekedi promises the country's first peaceful transfer of power. us secretary of state mike pompeo is in the middle east with a reassurance of his country's commitment to the region. in business: rough road ahead forjaguar land rover. the luxury carmaker to announce thousands ofjob cuts as it battles brexit, diesel decline, and a china slowdown. also coming up in the business briefing: hopes of a trade war truce as the us and china wrap up three days of talks in beijing. 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 one pet food company claims 40% of its new product is made from flies, we want to know whether you would feed your dog food containing insects to help the environment. tell us what you think. just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. heavy snowfall and strong winds have led to the deaths of more than 1a people across europe. one village in northern greece has experienced a record low temperature of minus 23 celsius. the risk of avalanches are at the highest level in parts of the alps and norway,

and forecasters are warning of more extreme weather to come. caroline rigby reports. snow is often welcomed in the alps at this time of year, but you can get too much of a good thing. dramatic footage has emerged of a rescue near chamonix, in france. the pilot of this helicopter forced to carry out a daring manoeuvre in an effort to reach an injured hiker. digging the nose of the aircraft into the mountainside, the blades brush against the snowpack. translation: it's to save time when you have extremely challenging mountain weather. the team chose to perform this in order to be as fast as possible. elsewhere in europe, the wintry weather has created some unusual scenes. this beach in athens, more used to sun, now covered in snow. in greece, a number of people have died in freezing storms, but it is the alps, austria and southern germany which have been worst affected.

icy conditions have led to major travel disruption for german commuters, who have faced long train delays and traffic jams. this village in bavaria has been completely cut off, its nearly 900 residents relying on emergency crews to deliver supplies through the forest. avalanches are a particular concern, with many areas of the alps and norway on their highest level of alert. six children had a lucky escape in austria after four of their group became buried on a ski slope. people are doing what they can to prepare for the bad weather, but with such sustained conditions, some are struggling to cope. translation: at the moment, it isn't good. the wind is picking up again. the snow situation remains bad. we've been shovelling snow for three days now. the deepest deposit was around 3.5 metres. and it is not only humans finding

the weather challenging. rail workers in austria helped save this mountain goat after it became trapped. it is the relentless nature of this weather system over europe which has made it so dangerous, and forecasters warn that, with more snow on the way, the situation could get worse before it gets better. the opposition leader, felix tshisekedi, has been declared the provisional winner of last month's presidential election in the democratic republic of congo. the country's electoral commission said he had taken almost 39% of the vote. but the catholic church, which is considered one of the country's most influential and trusted institutions, says the official figures were at odds with those compiled by its observers. the bbc‘s louise dewast is in the capital, kinshasa. this is a historic

moment for this country, but also for the udps, the party of felix tshisekedi, who was declared the winner in these provisional results announced tonight. his party has tried to seize power for decades, so this is really a big moment for them. but in recent days, there had been rumours of a deal between felix tshisekedi and presidentjoseph kabila, a deal that has raised concerns among other members of the opposition. felix tshisekedi himself has acknowledged talks with the ruling party to prepare what he calls the transition of power. the question now is how will the country react to this announcement? candidates can appeal, if they wish, the results. the constitutional court will have a week to deliberate on those appeals and issue a final decision later next week. and as you mentioned

the catholic church, which is very powerful in this country, more than half of the country's population are catholic, and in recent days they have issued a clear warning to the electoral commission to publish real results, and they have said that they will come out and reject results that they feel are fraudulent. so still a lot of reactions, we expect. still a lot of reactions tonight and in the coming days. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news: the south korean president, moonjae—in, has said north korea needs to take more audacious measures towards denuclearisation to ensure sanctions are lifted. earlier it emerged that the north korean leader, kimjong—un, had expressed concern about the impasse in talks with the united states at his summit in beijing with president xi jinping. it is thought a second summit between mr kim and donald trump

will take place soon. a federal court in los angeles has dismissed claims by the us actress ashleyjudd that she was sexually harassed by the film mogul harvey weinstein. but the court said msjudd could proceed with another part of her civil claim, namely that mr weinstein defamed her and got her excluded from the lord of the rings movies after she rejected what she said were his advances. mr weinstein denies all allegations of non—consensual sex. he is still facing a separate criminal case involving five counts of sexual assault including rape. a man has been arrested after 27 suspected migrants were discovered by police in the back of a lorry on a major motorway here in the uk, near the city of stoke—on—trent. it is understood those on board have been medically assessed and transferred to immigration officials for interview. later today, mps in westminster

will continue their debate about the uk's withdrawal from the european union, ahead of a vote on the government's withdrawal bill on tuesday. yesterday, members of the prime minister's own party were once again adding pressure to her proposed deal. theyjoined forces with their opponents to insist that, if theresa may's plan is rejected, she will have just three days to come up with another one. lawrence gosling is the editor—in—chief of what investment. hejoins me now. you edit what investment so you clearly keep an eye on what the government are doing. how concerned are you? it is interesting, there is almost a slight boredom factor that almost a slight boredom factor that a lot of people in the markets, professional and private investors, are looking forward to next tuesday,

which is the next clear definitive line. that is when we get a vote, if you take what has happened in the last few days with amendments and defeats for theresa may, the scenario doesn't look good. until we have something more definitive i don't think the market will react to wildly in any direction. and that has been reflected in the fact that the markets, the pound at least, has been treading water over the last few days. politically, though, it just seems to me that the government is looking at its absolute week is right now. where can go from here? absolutely. there is a lot of discussion about what is plan b, in other words, what is theresa may's alternative, there doesn't seem to be clearly one. and all sides of parliament in the uk exit that whatever they decide amongst themselves, it still has to go back to the eu 20 74 themselves, it still has to go back to the eu 20 7a next decision. so we are creating more uncertainty and i think the likely outcome does seem to be an extension of article 50. how will that play with everyone? with markets, with democracy and

general? i think the electorate in the uk will probably feel that what they voted on has been sort of rent act on by parliament, and i think this is an financial parliaments will find it yet more uncertainty —— reneged on. it looks like this elongated process will continue. reneged on. it looks like this elongated process will continuelj suppose elongated process will continual suppose we alongatad process will continual suppose we will have a few days afterwards to work out what is happening if the vote is lost at the government. yes, because clearly there will be a plan b and we will see something which will take the debate a bit further. you will join us debate a bit further. you will join us in debate a bit further. you will join usina debate a bit further. you will join us in a few minutes to look at the papers, so do stay with us. the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, is on an extensive trip to the middle east. he will be visiting eight countries and will give a major speech later today in cairo about america's role in the region. but he is doing so at a time when us commitment is in doubt, after president trump's decision to draw down american troops engaged in syria in the campaign

against the islamic state group. barbara plett usher reports from cairo. the mother of the world, egypt calls itself, laying claim to both historical and political weight. and once again, a us administration has come here to lay out its middle east policy. ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. policy. ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united statesm was ten years ago that president 0bama took the stage in cairo, seeking a new beginning with muslim countries amid the fallout of the us invasion of iraq. secretary of state negra three has his own message, but he has had to conduct damage control on the way here, reassuring arab allies that the us is not in retreat. and we have won against isis. that was the impression left by president trump's abrupt announcement last month. he declared victory over the islamic state group and vowed to bring us troops home from syria. mr pompeo visited the other main theatre of the fight

against is militants, iraq. he said the group was down but not out in the group was down but not out in the us would not let up on the campaign against it. he pledged continuing security support to iraq's president. we thank you for the support we have received from the support we have received from the united states over many years, certainly in the war against isis, this has been most crucial. isis has been defeated militarily, but there isa been defeated militarily, but there is a lot more to be done. the mission is yet to be accomplished. in turkey, though, confusion over mixed messages from president trump and another top envoy prompted an angry outburst from the president there, leading many to wonder whether the us can actually put forward a coherent middle east strategy. mr pompeo does not suffer such doubts. his strategy is focused, he says, on fighting islamist terrorists, but just as much on combating what he calls the largest state sponsor of terrorism, iran. the president's decision to

withdraw our folks from syria in no way affects our capacity to deliver on that. and you will see in the next couple of weeks we are redoubling our diplomatic and commercial efforts to put real pressure on iran. he has called it a course correction from that of mr 0bama, who sought to engage iran. few listening will doubt the sincerity, but many will question how much the president shares his conviction. australian police have made an arrest in their investigation into dozens of suspicious packages sent to embassies and consulates across the country on wednesday. a 49—year—old man faces charges of triggering security alerts in three cities. the bbc‘s hywel griffith in sydney has the details. this 48—year—old man has, in the last hour or so, appeared in court. he is savas avan, he lives a couple of hours north of melbourne, and that's where police arrested him overnight australian time. now, they allege that he is behind sending 38 parcels to different embassies and consulates, including the british high commission, the us embassy, also to india, to new zealand —

the list goes on. in every case, we understand that there were envelopes, and inside those envelopes were little packages, and it's alleged that they contained samples of asbestos or material that looked like the asbestos. in some cases, the word "asbestos" was written on them. now, while that isn't an immediately toxic, hazardous substance, it did trigger a security alert, in some cases the embassies were evacuated, staff sent home for the day. and the police managed to track him down, they say, by using cctv footage. so he was arrested and, as i say, has recently appeared in court. many questions, i guess, hywel. any suggestion of a motive so far? and is it confirmed it was asbestos, and whether anyone was actually at risk? so the police have taken away the samples, they say, forforensic testing. they say, of the 38 so far, they've got their hands on 29 of the packages. so there are more out there, but they say there's no greater risk to the wider public.

in terms of motive, nothing said in court so far. it was explained in court that he didn't have any sort of previous convictions against his name, but there's no application for bail either, so he'll stay on remand until his next appearance early in march. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: rescued from the wrecking ball. a centuries—old theatre turns over a new leaf as a bookstore in buenos aires. the japanese people are in mourning following the death of emperor hirohito. thousands converged on the imperial palace to pay their respects when it was announced he was dead. "good grief." after half a century of delighting fans around the world, charlie brown and the rest of the gang are calling it quits. the singer paul simon starts his tour of south africa tomorrow in spite

of protests and violence from some black activist groups. they say international artists should continue to boycott south africa until majority rule is established. teams were trying to scoop up lumps of oil as france recognises it faces an ecological crisis. three weeks ago, the authorities confidently assured these areas that oil from the broken tanker erika would head out to sea. it didn't. the world's tallest skyscraper opens later today. the burj dubai has easily overtaken its nearest rivals. you're watching the briefing. heavy snowfall and strong winds have led to the deaths of more than 14 people across europe. there are avalanche alerts for parts of austria and the alps. opposition leader felix tshisekedi has been declared the winner

in the democratic republic of congo's tightly contested presidential election. talks to end the us government shutdown collapsed on wednesday leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers in limbo. president trump called the meeting with democratic leaders a total waste of time after they again refused his demand to fund a border wall with mexico. they accused him of storming out. the bbc‘s david willis reports from washington. a disagreement over policy on the border with mexico has escalated into a high—stakes game of brinkmanship that continues to hold key parts of the american government to ransom. a third meeting between president trump and democrats chuck schumer and nancy pelosi to discuss the crisis ended in acrimony. well, u nfortu nately the crisis ended in acrimony. well, unfortunately the president just the crisis ended in acrimony. well, unfortunately the presidentjust got up unfortunately the presidentjust got up and walked out. he asked speaker

nancy pelosi, will you agree to my wall? she said no. and hejust got up wall? she said no. and hejust got up and said, we've got nothing to discuss and he just walked out. the president we did subsequently: the president we did subsequently: the president is making reopening the government conditional on funding for a border war, the signature issue of his campaign. meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of government workers are going without pay. hundreds of thousands of government workers are going without payl think the president made his position very clear today, that there will be no deal without a wall, there will be no deal without the priority is the president has put on the table. president trump has floated the idea of declaring a national emergency which would enable him to circumvent congress in his hunt for funding for the wall. he is due to visit the border again

later today just two days he is due to visit the border again later todayjust two days before the current shutdown becomes the longest in american history. david willis, bbc news, washington. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello and this is your thursday sport briefing. manchester city are on target to beat their own record aggregate semi final score in the english league cup that they set five years ago. that's after they thrashed third tier burton albion 9—0 in the first leg of their last four clash. brazilian gabrieljesus picked up four for the holders — with the second leg to be played at burton albion in 13 days time we didn't expect too many goals but it's good, we are in the finals so that's nice. after one last season, coming back again, in the less important trophy in the season means a lot for us, it means every single game is important and that's why we are satisfied to come to wembley. at the asian cup on wednesday turkmenistan lost out

3—2 to japan in their opening group f encountyer but this has to be a contenderfor goal the year, let alone goal of the tournament. arslanmyrat amanov with the effort, and what an effort indeed! copa del rey holders barcelona will continue their bid for a fifth consecutive title as they head to levante for the opening leg of their last 16 tie later on thursday. the spanish teams, like many across europe have been on a winter break and barca returned to action on sunday beating getafe 2—1 to open up a five point lead in la liga, but ernesto valverde is expected to make changes for this match in a competiton he's a big fan of. translation: i think we should cherish the copa del rey because as a comp addition that gives us a lot.

every like —— evelyn likes to play the finals but we are at a stage where we want to remain inside the tournament and we must go for it. we must not give up everything. we are barcelona and we want to win la liga, a very important trophy and of course the copa del rey as well. toyota's nasser al—attiyah leads heading into stage 4 of the dakar rally later. but that's after i3—time winner stephen peterha nsel won wednesday's 33ikm stage climbing from 13th place to third in the overall standings. some drivers including 2009 winner and former race leader, south africa's giniel de villers had engine difficulties. in the nba first plays fourth in the western conference later on thursday as the denver nuggets take on the la clippers in colorado. the nuggets have won 27 of 39 games ths season — 16 of those wins have come at home, where the likes of nikola jokic are guiding them towards the playoffs. a medical car ran over an injured player's foot

during an under—20 copa sao paulo match in brazil over the weekend. trindade's bernardo was on the ground struggling with back pain when the medical car was called in. however, the car's driver ran over the player's foot by mistake when approaching him. 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. one of argentina's most important cultural landmarks is celebrating its centenary. the grand splendid opened as a theatre in nineteen—nineteen but was later converted into a cinema. it has now become a book shop — and notjust any old book shop — as the bbc‘s tim allman explains. from the outside, the grand splendid has a certain weary, rundown glamour. but inside, it'sjust

about the most beautiful bookshop you have ever seen. ornate sculptures, majestic frescoes on the ceiling. oh, and books — lots and lots of books. translation: this is a classical—style theatre. throughout its history, it's held a cultural significance. max glucksmann, the man who built it, was important for various forms of cultural expression — theatre, cinema, radio and music. it was a very thorough journey of culture throughout the 20th century. around a million people visit each year, locals and tourists. they come from far and wide to browse and to read, and to just admire. translation: one of the things that i thought of doing in argentina with my husband was to visit this bookshop. we're both lovers of literature, and we know this is a temple for those who are passionate about the written word. the environment here

is an inspiration. each book is like a new adventure. we read about this library on the intarnat, how it was formerly a theatre and was converted to the library, and our guide was telling us it's the best library in the world. so i love books. in every city that we visit, we try to go to a bookstore, so we thought this is the perfect place to come to. the grand splendid — 100 years young. a philosopher once said a room without books is like a body without a soul. well, this is quite a room. wonderful. a pet food company claims 40% of its new product is made from flies, so we want to know whether you would feed your dog food containing insects to help the environment? so many responses. kevin hurley

says, there is a lot of buzz around this dog food made from flyers. also, i think i would pass as how would it help, because flies are very dirty footed insects. tall poppies. mrs ramirez says, it won't change anything. but we really want to help, we should stop using gasoline. erika says, i use cricket flour in my banana bread and it's amazing. and ian says absolutely, the longan we can put on protein alternatives for humans, the better. debbie says, my dog eats flies already. nice. keep those opinions coming in. hashtag #bbcthebriefing. hello there.

after a chilly couple of days, something a little milder as we move towards the weekend, from the air from the north. how does that work, though? a northerly airstream normally means a cold arctic blast for us. it's all to do with the area of high pressure, and the fact that we're on the eastern flank of it, and the air that will eventually topple in for us will come in from the north or north—west. but it has been across the atlantic, so it's been modified. so, even as it arrives first thing on thursday evening, a dry story across scotland and northern ireland, albeit quite a cloudy one. you saw blue on the map there to the south first thing. there will be a chilly start across england and wales, but the cloud and the warm weather front in association with it and the milder air will slowly sink its way south through the day on thursday. going to struggle to six or seven in the likes of london and cardiff, back to double figures for belfast. you can pick up that north—westerly or northerly breeze as we go overnight thursday into friday. it is quite light, but bear in mind we've switched into the milder air. there is quite a bit of cloud around. it will be a green map forfirst thing on friday. we should essentially be frost—free.

it will be cold first thing, temperatures down in single figures, and a little lower in a few rural spots, but generally we have a milder story for friday. quite a cloudy story friday. brightness there is quite limited, perhaps sheltered eastern spots seeing some of the best in the sunshine. temperatures starting to push back up into double figures quite widely. and then, come the weekend, as we really start to pick up a north—westerly, more westerly breeze, we get a properly atlantic field to our weather, if you like. definitely a milder picture, quite windy picture at times, those isobars coming in quite close together. but the high in the south will take up most of the rain for england and wales. there could be quite a bit of cloud around, i think probably scotland and northern ireland, brighter weather spells during the course of the day on friday. hopefully there will be a bit of brightness to be found across eastern areas. as for sunday, it's a pretty similar picture. the area of high pressure stays to the south—west of us. another set of fronts tries to topple in from the north—west. tightly packed isoba rs, still quite a windy story, some rain coming in from the north and east. southern areas mainly dry, seeing some cloud at some stage,

i think, but hopefully a bit more in the way of sunshine across the uk as a whole on sunday. certainly milder, temperatures of ii or 12. this is the business briefing, i'm maryam moshiri. rough road ahead for jaguar land rover. the luxury carmaker could announce thousands of job cuts, as it battles brexit, diesel decline and a china slowdown. plus: fear and loathing in las vegas. why the odds are stacked against chinese players at this year's us tech fair. and on the markets, hopes of a truce in the us—china trade war still boosting wall street, helped by a a more doveish tone from the federal reserve in terms of further interest rises. asian shares taking a bit of a breather, though, after three days of gains.