this is the briefing — i'm david eades. our top stories: a tearful andy murray says next week's australian open could be his last tournament — he says he's in too much pain after hip surgery. praise from the german to the greek as angela merkel commends alexis tsipras for leading his country out of a very difficult period after nine years of austerity. at least 16 people are killed — and there's more brutal winter weather ahead for parts of central and eastern europe. in business, no pay day today. hundreds of thousands of us goverment staff won't get their wages today as the budget standoff stretches into a fourth week

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. we're asking you for thoughts on our top story: how would you rate andy murray's achievements, his greatest attributes — and did he inspire you to try harder in your sport? tell us what you think — just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. the former world number one tennis player andy murray says he wants to end his career at wimbledon this year and he may even quit before that. he'd had surgery last january in the hope that it would prolong his career, and help him add to his total of three grand slams and two olympic gold medals. at an emotional press conference ahead of next week's australian open murray admitted the hip problems which have plagued him for 20 months have taken their toll.

at one point he had to leave the press conference to get his emotions under control — when he returned he was asked if next week's open could be his last. um, yeah, i think there's a chance of that, yeah, for sure. yeah. there is a chance of that, for sure, because... yeah. i'm not sure, i'm not sure i'm able to play through the pain, you know, for another four orfive months. my plan, you know, kind of the middle to the end of december during a training block, i spoke to my team and i told them, you know, i can't keep doing this. and that i needed to have an endpoint, because... playing with no idea of when this

pain was going to stop. i felt like making that decision, you know, as set my team, look, i think i can kind of get through this until wimbledon, that is where i would like to... that's where i would like to stop, stop playing. but i am also not certain i'm able to do that. joining me from melbourne now is stuart fraser,

the tennis correspondent of the times, who was at the news conference. you got more than he bargained for there. for sure. we had a rough idea yesterday that the end could possibly be near when we saw him practice with novak djokovic and struggled throughout. his hip struggles over the last 1.5 years. sadly, it wasn't good and confirmation game came today when he walked into the press conference, he was asked a question, said not great. it had to leave the room again in tears. it was very sad. he was warming up with novak djokovic and did look uncomfortable. did you get the very clear impression that he has said, if he gets to wimbledon, that will definitely be —— definitively be it? wimbledon, that will definitely be

-- definitively be it? he might not even get to wimbledon. if he does, he has ruled out continuing as a doubles player. that will be at free him in professional tennis. the trouble is, knowing what is gone through, he's put in a lot. into one last go at this. sadly, it's not worked. can he even last four or five more months? i guess we will find out a bit more about that. when he plays in the first round. it's going to be a tough one. it's going to be an emotional impact, being his last match. his physical condition is not great. it could be very tough for him here. his beaming president —— incredibly disciplined in the road back to fitness. we are asking

the question today to run out there, what is andy murray to you, in a way? you've written about him more than most of us. what is it you? he is one of britain's greatest ever sportspeople. how he came through adversity to win a grand slam in the end. he lost so many finals. the 2012 us open, two olympic gold medals but of course, biggest of all, to wimbledon titles, especially the first one. i don't think many sportspeople will no really get to experience the pressure that these great tennis players will come under at wimbledon, especially the last british mail winner being fred perry, to come through that and finally triumph. i think it will go down as his greatest. i'll never forget the time he said how he felt

when he was serving his first wimbledon, he was shaking all over. thanks very much indeed for bringing us thanks very much indeed for bringing us the latest on andy murray from melbourne. let's turn to greece now, where germany's chancellor angela merkel is paying a visit. now ever since the start of the country's financial crisis ten years ago, she has been vilified there for insisting on tough economic policies as a condition for an international financial bailout. but she has gone out of her way to praise the prime minister alexis tsipras for leading his country out one of its most challenging periods in history. bill hayton reports. anger in athens. hundreds of leftist protesters defied a ban on demonstrations and marched to the prime minister's residence. they were dispersed in clouds of tear gas. translation: angela merkel is not welcome in our country, just like all the european union policies that degraded greek society, and in which angela merkel has played the leading role. they're not welcome

in our country either. one banner read, "merkel and tsipras — partners in our people's misery." inside, those partners were trading compliments. translation: i'm happy to see the situation has changed so much, unemployment has fallen, greece has been able to complete the bailout programme. of course, it is not the end, if you will, of the period of reforms. but it is the beginning of a new situation. translation: i am happy, and everyone here increase is happy and proud that, after this misadventure, we can now say that greece went from being part of the problem, part of the crisis in europe, but has now become part of the solution. we now have the strength and willingness to move forward. greece joined the euro in 2002, and the availability of cheap borrowing turned the economy into a massive bubble. for the next seven years, the only way was up. but in 2009, the bubble

burst, bringing hardship and misery to millions. germany took the lead in demanding major economic reforms, and greek protesters delighted in portraying angela merkel as a nazi. back then, a radical alexis tsipras talked about leaving the euro. now one years on, however, and greece is still in the single currency, expecting to return to the financial markets, and the economy is back to its pre—2002 growth path. but austerity is still inflicting pain that won't go away. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. nicolas maduro has been sworn in for a second term as venezuela's president, despite international criticism

that his re—election was illegitimate. last year's poll was boycotted by the opposition and there were claims of vote—rigging. last week 1a countries, including the us, refused to recognise his presidency. he says his his new six—year term is a "step of peace" for the country. the high court in yangon is to rule later on an appeal by two burmese journalists jailed for reporting on the rohingya crisis. wa lone and chaw soe oo, who work for the reuters news agency, were sentenced under the official secrets act for possession of classified documents. their defence argues they were entrapped in a police sting as they investigated the massacre of rohingya men in a brutal crackdown by the army. the case has drawn international condemnation. the former nissan chairman carlos ghosn — who is facing financial misconduct allegations — is not expected to be released from detention in tokyo, although the maximum period he can be held for questioning has now expired. ghosn, who appeared in court on tuesday, denies wrongdoing and says he's being "unfairly detained". prosecutors are now expected to press a formal charge over allegations of aggravated breach of trust, meaning he's likely

to stay in pre—trial detention. let's turn to our top business story now — because for some 800 thousand us government employees — it should be pay day. -- 800,000. but they won't be getting a cent — with the budget standoff in congress over president trump's border wall leaving large parts of the federal government without funding. hundreds took to the streets of washington dc on thursday to protest against the shutdown — which is about to enter its fourth week. on saturday it will become the longest in us history. oliver cornock from the oxford business group joins me now. the good news for these poor people still waiting for funds and that

political edge, becoming the longest shutdown, waiting on people. a real reflection of this stand—off. i think this tool that happens in the us is quite a powerful one. 800,000 people, it's payday. this is big news. he stepped back, it's not being generated, and a bank are coming out saying 0.2% of gdp could be taken away each week this goes on. this is a significant story. step back in a bit further, look at the backdrop of the federal reserve —— the federal reserve, under huge criticism for increasing interest rates. a backdrop of slow economic growth, slow us economic growth. it's an interesting switch, isn't

it? up until relatively recently, the talk has been about a partial shutdown. it's not big deal. we have seen worse. suddenly now, just by sheer duration, it is taking on a significance of its own. absolutely. will it impact whether president trump gets his wall? he put that has a big plank of his election campaign. like it or not it's something that is supporting base is committed to. if you are an employee of the us state. we will speak a bit later with a review of the news media around the world. heavy snow is continuing to cause widespread disruption in many parts of central europe. at least 16 people have been killed in avalanches over the past few days, and ski resorts and mountain villages have had to be evacuated.

three regions in austria have been declared catastrophe areas and in germany they've called in the army. russell trott reports. under orders to move quickly, german soldiers are called into what's become a battle against the elements. in bavaria they've declared a state of emergency as the snowfall brings many towns and villages to a standstill. carrying their own life—threatening risks. translation: we have many requests to help clean the roofs of buildings. 13 years ago, almost around the exact time, 15 people died. many of them children. where one might think the road is not clearly dangerous, it could get dangerous, and you have to stay safe. safety is the priority in many areas, where trying to dig through five metres of snow or more is a thankless task. the austrian military were out in force, not only on the highest slopes. the risk in some parts of the alps has been raised

to the highest level. there have been several deaths. the latest victim a 16—year—old boy who was skiing in st anton with his family. many schools, roads, and ski resorts have had to be closed because of the heavy falls. tourism has taken a hit, too, with holidaymakers cancelling hotel bookings. and the balkans, which, like much of central and southern europe, is experiencing big seasonal extreme weather. the conditions are expected to continue into the weekend and beyond. evacuations are made more difficult as falling trees block roads and the authorities are struggling to keep buildings and roofs clear. and still the snow keeps falling. russell trott, bbc news. that is pretty heavy stuff. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we meet the british rabbi who's decided to apply for a german passport

to reconnect with her family history. day one of operation desert storm to force the iraqis out of kuwait has seen the most intense air attacks since the second world war. tobacco is america's oldest industry, and it's one of its biggest, but the industry is nervous of this report. this may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettes. there is not a street that is unaffected. huge parts of kobe were simply demolished as buildings crashed into one another. this woman said she'd been given no help and no advice by the authorities. she stood outside the ruins of her business. tens of thousands of black children in south africa have taken advantage of laws, passed by the country's new multiracial government, and enrolled at formerly white schools. tonight sees the 9,610th performance of her long—running play the mousetrap. when they heard of her death today, the management considered whether to cancel tonight's performance, but agatha christie

would have been the last person to want such a thing. you're watching the briefing. our headlines: a tearful andy murray has told reporters next week's australian open could be his last tournament — he said he was in too much pain after hip surgery. the german chancellor angela merkel has praised her greek counterpart alexis tsipras for leading his country out of a very difficult period after nine years of austerity. as the uk prepares to leave the european union, there's been a surge in the number of people applying to become citizens of other eu countries. germany allows dual citizenship for the descendants of people whose nationality was taken away by the nazi regime. sylvia rothschild, a rabbi from london is applying. we feel ourselves a very british,

veryjewish, and yet we have applied for german citizenship to go alongside our british citizenship. the two things that actually drove this decision were the work that we did ten or so years ago about my father's history. and that gave me a much stronger sense of how deeply rooted, the summer holidays in germany, this was a thousand it connection to that land. the other bits that sort of drove

the decision was a brexit. what worries me about brexit is that it has released a narrative that i had thought was dying of british supremacist in. osi outside my cynical, when i have worked outside british synagogues, a rise of preparation for being attacks, regularly that people are told not to stay outside the area. a loss of anti— bomb windows and so on. —— outside my synagogue. brexit on its own possibly wouldn't have been enough. there's public about circumstances coming together that's very important in my family, actually, that meant that we wanted to reclaim that german identity for

ourselves as well. that german jewish rooted identity. the british rabbi sylvia rothschild speaking to the bbc. here's our briefing on some of the key events happening later on friday. we start in madrid, where spain's prime minister pedro sanchez meets his cabinet to finalise the country's budget for 2019. next we head to bucharest, for the first news conference by the romanian prime minister since her country assumed the six—month presidency of the council of the european union. finally — in milan — men's fashion week gets under way. although, bearing in mind it only runs until monday, perhaps it should be called men's fashion long weekend? now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre, including more on our top story on andy murray. hello, i'm tulsen tollett, and this your friday sport briefing. we start with the news that former world number one andy murray has announced he'll retire from playing after this year's wimbledon championships.

at an emotional news conference ahead of the australian open in melbourne in the past few hours, murray left the room in tears before returning a few minutes later. he's been plagued by a hip injury for much of the past 18 months and was a doubt for this yea r‘s australian open which starts on monday. murray has played in 11 grand slam finals, winning three of them, wimbledon twice, and the us open. he'll also the two—time reigning olympic champion. you know, pretty much done everything that i could do, you know, get my hip feeling better and, you know, it hasn't helped loads. you know, i'm in a better place than i was six months ago, but, you know, still in a lot of pain. now to spanish football where copa del rey holders barcelona will need to overturn a 2—1 deficit in the second leg of their last 16 tie against levante, if they're to maintain hopes

of a fifth successive title. the home side were two goals to the good inside the opening 20 minutes but a late phillipe coutinho penalty has given ernesto valverde's catalans a smaller advantage to overcome at camp nou next thursday. the clean sweep is on and a rise up the rankings is there for the taking for south africa. they host pakistan in the third and final test getting under way injohannesburg shortly knowing that another win will take them up to second place in the test rankings. as for pakistan, their batters are badly in need of a confidence boost ahead of the one day international series. defending champions australia are licking their wounds after their opening defeat in the asian cup, but have the chance to get their campaign back on track later. the socceroos are the strong favourites for their match against palestine — seen here. their opening match against syria ended goalless. australia's defeat to jordan was a big shock and leaves them bottom of group b. qatar's nasser al—attiyah will take

a lead of one minute and 52 seconds into the fifth stage of the dakar rally later. attiyah had battled stephane peterha nsel for most of the fourth day to eventually finish one minute 52 seconds ahead, leaving the frenchman in second position in the overall standings. champions golden state warriors face chicago later on friday — that's one of nine games in the nba. the bulls' defeat to portland on wednesday was their fifth straight loss. that's the second worst current streak in the nba after cleveland. golden state by contrast are looking for their third consecutive win. they'rejust a game behind the denver nuggets at the top of the western conference. the vatican have launched an official track team with the aim of competing in international competitions. it's part of an agreement signed with the italian olympic committee. the first accredited members of vatican athletics features around 60 runners — among them priests,

nuns, pharmacists, and even a 62—year—old professor who works in the vatican's library. you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. but from me tulsen tollett and the rest of the team that is your friday sport briefing. that is the briefing. you've been having your say on andy murray's career — so have some of the sport's greats. former us open champion andy roddick calling murray an absolute legend. billie jean king, former world number one, says... and anotherformer us open champion,

juan martin del potro writes... ijust want i just want to ijust want to bring a couple that we have had in after asking you to contribute to the conversation. "as a denis ten my whole life i feel that andy murray can retire, albeit prematurely, with his head held very high -- prematurely, with his head held very high —— a tennis fan. " "it would be a shame if he had to quit, a hit to see him in pain mentally and physically." and just lin uk, want to get over this change in his career he can be uplifted knowing he has inspired so many people across the country will continue to do so. nice comments. keep them coming. hello there.

it won't be as cold this morning as it was yesterday morning when we had a widespread frost, especially in the south, temperatures well below freezing. for most, just above freezing as we start the day. the day looks mostly dry too, brightening up because of high pressure. it's because we've changed the air, behind this warm front is slightly milder atlantic air and that brought the changed through the latter part of thursday. unfortunately, that weather front heading toward the alps to bring more disruptive snowfall, unfortunately here. but for our shores, we're into this westerly airflow for the next couple of days which means less cold. there will be some fog around, particularly over the hills first thing this morning. temperatures not too far from freezing. local pockets of frost but not as widespread or as hard as it was on thursday morning. hopefully things will brighten up a bit, particularly the north—east of england, we think, and southern and eastern scotland, central parts of england. quite a lot of cloud and drizzle for the western isles, the highlands and the northern isles. temperature—wise, similar in the north to those of thursday but in the south, considerably higher. we will notice the difference. on the weekend, we will

pick up the wind. it will be a big player in the weather. it is coming in from a relatively mild direction but more unsettled weather around and more showers. we start saturday morning with another weather front having given rain in the north, not much rain in the south, behind it, brighter skies. more rain piles in for western and northern parts of scotland and parts of northern ireland. here, it could actually be pretty wet through friday night, saturday and into sunday. the temperatures, 9—11. the wind strengthens saturday more and then strengthens further with the approach of this weather system on sunday. they go up a notch again, the winds, on sunday. quite widely gale force across the highlands and islands of scotland, into northern england, very gusty as well. more rain with the strong winds but again very few of those lengthy spells of showers or rain penetrating into southern areas and temperatures will do quite well again, if you forget the wind, which will be pretty brisk for most of us on sunday. bye— bye. this is the business briefing. i'm david eades. no pay day. thousands of us goverment staff won't get their wages today as the budget standoff drags into its fourth week plus — former nissan boss carlos ghosn could face new charges

that would keep him injail — 50 days after he was first arrested for alleged financial misconduct and on the markets, stocks edging higher after the chairman of the us federal reserve said the bank will be patient about raising interest rates. sentiment being boosted further by the news that trade talks