this is the briefing. i'm maryam moshiri. our top story: vigils in france and the uk for missing footballer, emiliano sela. with the search for his plane set to resume, his father says he's in shock. things are going well, he was playing well, in the news that this thing has happened, i do not know. there are no words to zimba bwe‘s brutal crackdown the—presidentrpremises. qe flinging; iiiergpt. flighte- in new york, we report on the new detection systems to keep our airspace safe. a top microsoft executive tells us america's inability to keep

the government open doesn't look good on his country. a very warm welcome to the programme, we'll be briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. netflix film roma has been nominated for 15 oscars, including best movie. is it a good thing that streaming is disrupting the big screen industry? or do you prefer to watch films in a cinema? tell us what you think. just use the hashtag, #bbcthebriefing. rescuers say they will resume their search later for a missing aircraft, which had a premier league footballer on board. emiliano sala signed for cardiff city last weekend and was travelling from france to the welsh capital, when the plane vanished near the channel islands. eliza philippidis reports. the 28—year—old striker was en route

to his club debut at cardiff city when the plane lost radar contact with the channel island of guernsey. his father was first told that his son was missing by a local news channel, who'd picked up the story. mnsumon; 747, 22777 i don't know. which he liked. things were going well. he was playing well. and the news that this thing has happened... i don't know. there are no words to explain. rescue aircraft and boats searched more than 2,500 square kilometres of sea for the single—engine piper malibu on tuesday. guernsey police said a number of floating objects had been seen in the water, but they were unable to confirm whether any

were from the missing aircraft. sala was signed by cardiff city in a record club deal of $19 million. forfans, this was potentially a turning point for the struggling club. we've just been relegated, he was going to keep us up, that's all we want, is to stay up in the premiership. we needed a striker. he was the link. and it'sjust unreal, you know, finding out that he was on that plane. it's notjust in wales that fans are in shock. thousands of supporters from his former club, nantes, came to pay homage to a player who they say had become a very special part of their community. eliza philippidis, bbc news. the australian government is seeking information from chinese

officials over the whereabouts of an australian citizen who has disappeared during a visit to the country. family and friends of yang hengjun say the prominent author, who is a critic of chinese human rights abuses, has been out of contact since arriving in guangzhou last week. let's get more now from stephen mcdonell, who is in beijing for us. first of all, a date is on what will we know about situations. so yang hengjun is known to the chinese authorities, this writer and at times critic of the chinese government has been picked up here, like this, once before. but on the previous occasion, back in 2011, pa rt previous occasion, back in 2011, part of the deal for him to be released was not speaking about it, and he is come out and said there has just been and he is come out and said there hasjust been some and he is come out and said there has just been some kind and he is come out and said there hasjust been some kind of misunderstanding. now, fast forward to recent times, and is planning a trip to china and his friends are

said to him do not go because you could face a similar sort of bet any thought he has not said anything controversial in recent years that might be ok, but he flew into guangzhou. however, he has got an australian passport, his wife, she is chinese, goes on to the airport ina is chinese, goes on to the airport in a separate queue. then, next thing she notices, apparently abound ten asians were dragging him off in a certain direction. she was taken off in another direction. they told and then go on the by herself, with her child. and then ordered her to go to beijing. she then goes to beijing, all this time she has not spoken to her husband. she is questioned herself and is not able to speak about that, she has also not been able to talk about it. for herself and yang hengjun it seems to bea herself and yang hengjun it seems to be a bit ofa herself and yang hengjun it seems to be a bit of a worry. why should add

that under the consular agreement between china and australia, australia is supposed to be informed within three days, i think, of an australian citizen being picked up in china. he arrived at 5am australian time, well, time is up to inform the australian government about what is going on with this australian writer and thinker, and yet australian government officials are still waiting for details about what is happening. you can imagine, this is spectacular timing in terms of upping the nt on this issue, and they are worried about this could be another australia china sort of diplomatic row on the lines of canada and china. —— ante. diplomatic row on the lines of canada and china. -- ante. 0k, thank you very much, stephen mcdonnell there in beijing. zimbabwe's human rights commission has accused soldiers

and police of the "systematic torture" of civilians, of using "brute, excessive and disproportionate force", causing avoidable loss of life. monitors say they've confirmed at least eight people have died in protests sparked by a doubling in the price of fuel, and there have been arbitrary detentions and arrests, many people snatched from their homes at night. 0ur africa correspondent andrew harding sent this report from harare. grey skies and an edgy mood here in harare. we film discreetly as soldiers and police gather in the city centre, their crackdown still very much under way. suddenly, we stumble on a man in agony. a samaritan has brought someone called tatenda to us, hoping we can help him. we transfer him to our car to head to a clinic and hear his story. how long did they beat you for? two hours. how many of you were the that they

beat? more than 30. it fits a pattern — more than a week now of systematic brutality by the security forces. but today, the government told us it had nothing to apologise for, that a tough line was needed against violent demonstrators trying to block necessary reforms. hard decisions are only made by a government that's committed to the future. this government is focused on the next generation. it's prepared to make hard decisions. hard decisions, so that your children may have a good future. the man promising to deliver that "good future" for zimbabwe arrived home late last night, president emmerson mnangagwa, had some advice for a long—suffering population. our people should be concentrating on doing their work. the thrust is economic development, we must grow our economy. we want peace, we want unity among our people. but drive out of town and you'll quickly see why unity is a big ask. the poverty here is acute

and getting worse. can understand in poor neighbourhoods like this one, why so many zimbabweans are frustrated and why, when the new government tells them things are going to get even tougher before they get better, people are not inclined to be trusting or patient. as for the man beaten by soldiers, he's safe in a clinic now. his wounds likely to heal a lot faster than his country's. let's brief you on some of the other stories making headlines around the world. three men and a teenage boy in new york state have been charged with plotting an attack on a small muslim community. the suspects — aged between 16 and 20 — are accused of planning to use explosives and firearms against islamberg, which was founded by a pakistani cleric in the 1980s.

it's alleged they spent about a month planning the attack in delaware county. the's most senior counterterrorism officer has said he is concerned that right wing extremist could exploit what he has described as the febrile atmosphere around brexit. he said that offices were working to ensure that far right groups did not get a foothold in the country. officials in the us plan to go ahead with a formal extradition request for the huawei executive meng, who was arrested last month in canada. american prosecutors accuse her of helping the chinese telecoms giant evade sanctions on iran. flights have been briefly disrupted at newark international airport in newjersey because two drones were spotted flying nearby. a pilot told air traffic control one of the drones came within 30 feet of his plane.

newark is the 11th busiest in the us, with 20 million passengers a year. there was major disruption over christmas at london's gatwick and heathrow airports, where apparent drone sightings grounded hundreds of flights. many airports are now trialling new drone detection systems and our news reporter tim muffett has been given rare access to see one method in operation. london's southend airport, and on the control tower, there is a new kit. this is the control tower and what we're looking to do is monitor activity around the control very. a remote control and a drone need to have some form of an indication, so we're not looking for everything in spectrum, we are looking for specific activity a drone frequency operates at. so we a drone enters the airspeed, what that will do is operate as a warning. drones can be ha rd to

operate as a warning. drones can be hard to identify. the system confirms the one really is close by. how big an issue is this that is airport and others? so for us it is increasing issue. 0bviously, airport and others? so for us it is increasing issue. obviously, the risk of a collision with a drone is still relatively low but we have got to keep ahead of the game. that is the key thing, will want to read it happening in the first place and then also increasing powers for police as well. drones sightings at gatwick before christmas close the airport for three days, disruption huge. the person or people responsible have still not been caught. the government recently announced that from november, the rules surrounding dry news will be strengthened. all part of this will lead to an online safety course, drones over 250 g will have to be registered, and an exclusion drones around airports will be increased. —— science. as things stand, anyone can buy it will fly a drone. but at

the drone pilot academy near milton keynes, operators are given full training. —— zones. keynes, operators are given full training. -- zones. we will do it the proper way, there are a lot of people out there who are not doing the proper way, and it is frustrating. drones are transforming many businesses. my wife thought it was just a toy when i boarded and she has seen already the images you can get from it, you could not get in any other way. detecting a drone near an in any other way. detecting a drone nearan airport is in any other way. detecting a drone near an airport is one thing, getting rid of it is much harder. first of all, you could fire guns open will fire missiles and that is not going to work with united kingdom environment. you could effectively blast, with a magnetic poles, the sort of environment. the problem with that is that will probably cancel your mobile phone, white navigation aids and aeroplane. are you saying that actually there is not much they can do? nowhere in the world is gotrel plays that acting is satisfactory. at the moment, we can certainly do is track and attack. assistant southend has

now been installed at other uk airports. the latest attempt to prevent the huge disruption a drone citing can bring. —— visa system. —— the system. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: making coding fun for all. why computer programming's now possible for the visually impaired. donald trump is now the 45th president of the united states. he was sworn in before several hundred thousand people on the steps of capitol hill in washington. it's going to be only america first — america first. demonstrators waiting for mike getting and his rebel cricket team were attacked with tear gas and set upon by police dogs. anti—apartheid campaigners say they will carry on the protests

throughout the tour. they called him 'the butcher of lyon'. klaus altmann is being held here on a fraud charge in bolivia, but the west germans want to extradite him for crimes committed in wartime france. there, he was the gestapo chief, klaus barbie. millions came to bathe as close as possible to this spot, a tide of humanity that's believed by officials to have broken all records. you're watching the briefing. 0ur headlines: there've been vigils in france and the uk for missing footballer emiliano sala. the search for his plane is set to resume in the english channel. zimba bwe's brutal crackdown on protestors continues. the president has promised to investigate claims people were 'systematically tortured'. many countries are woefully under—equipped and unprepared

to deal with the cyber threats of today, that's according to interpol who will be raising that issue at the world economic forum. jurgen stock, the secretary general of interpol, has been talking to nick robinson in davos. interpol is more important than ever as the threats are more international and more important than ever. the threat of international terrorism is still quite high and of course we have also been reminded that the threat level due to some significant terrorist attacks that have it taken place this year. the attack on the riverside hotel complex in nairobi all remind us that the threat level is really cute and still high._dabsa erside hotel. there was a team riv erside hotel. there was a team of various ————

composed of various experts ———— riverside hotel. there was evidence, particular concerning the identity of the terrorists. also doing investigations of the dark net, social media, but also might play a role. foremost listening, interpol is simplya role. foremost listening, interpol is simply a name. they have heard it may be in the movies. do you believe as an organisation you have the scale and resource to cope with the level of threat you are currently facing? we spoke about terrorism the same applies for organised crime groups. we are now dealing with multibillion enterprises. of course this is a topic here in davos, cyber crime. it requires an unprecedented level of international police operation and that is what interpol is about. —— police co—operation. operation and that is what interpol is about. -- police co-operation. we are now hearing here in davos about isis 2.0. what is it mean? one of the dimensions is that many of the

terrorists who have been put in jail a couple of years ago, for instance for support, taking place in terrorist activity, will be released in the next couple of years in many parts of the world. we know that u nfortu nately parts of the world. we know that unfortunately prisons are now a breeding ground. they are a place where terrorists can make contacts. they are a place where they can further learn, for instance, how to build a bomb. you can't arrest people or lock them up for potentially being terrorist. if they are free, they are free. is your argument that we need to do more to supervise, to be aware of where they are going and who they are connected with in order you can anticipate? yes and we need to understand it has a global dimension. previously, terrorism was very much a national or regional issue. this has been changed completely during the last couple of years and it has become a global issue. almost a global issue

and more than ever, the change of releva nt and more than ever, the change of relevant police operation is required. this is a core resource for successful it —— investigations to prevent terrorist attacks from happening. if required global corporation could you don't know what is relevant and interpol connect the dots across and beyond continents. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. serena williams has been knocked out of the australian open. she lost to karolina pliskova after a gruelling 3—set match for a spot in the semifinals. it is the third time carolling of discover has reached the semifinals of the tournament. let's get an update on the rest of the sport now. hello, i'm chetan pathak with your wednesday sport briefing. we start at the asian cup, where qatar have beaten iraq 1—0 to reach the quarter—finals in abu dhabi. they finally broke the deadlock after the hour mark, when bassam al rawi scored this stunner of a free kick. felix sanchez 's side held on to win1—0 and eliminate the 2007 winners. the qataris will meet south korea in the last eight on friday. we received a call from the

freekick. it happens. nothing more. the players gave everything they had soi the players gave everything they had so i said to them, "heads up, we have a lot of work to do in the futu re" have a lot of work to do in the future". they need to improve, in proof. —— improve. and qatar's next opponents south korea needed an extra—time winner to beat bahrain. the all important goal coming from substitute kim jin—su, diving in at the far post, to win the game 2—1 and keep alive south korea's hopes of winning the asian cup for the first time since 1960. coming up later at the australian open — the 1a time grand slam champion novak djokovic is in quarter—final action. the world number one and top seed

will face kei nishikori, and the japanese player could be a tough prospect, he's spent more time than any other player on the court so far this tournament and has had to come back from two sets down twice. in barbados, the first day of the first test between west indies and england gets underway. it's not been the happiest of times for the windies — they're on a four—match losing streak, having not won a series against one of the top eight test nations since 2012. meanwhile, england are fresh from winning their away series in sri lanka. however, they haven't won either of their past two test series in the caribbean and were only 2—1 winners against the west indies in the home series two years ago. i felt like since the start of last summer, i have had more of a handle on things and more of the direction of where i wanted the team to go. i think we are starting to see that more now that it has felt that way for a while. i think the way we

played throughout the summer was a big factor in giving me more confidence and probably that was what came out more in show lank. —— sri lanka. i feel a what came out more in show lank. —— sri lanka. ifeela bit what came out more in show lank. —— sri lanka. ifeel a bit has been my tea m sri lanka. ifeel a bit has been my team and we have a clear direction of where we want to go. and before we go, we'll head back to the australian open for some nifty dance moves not often seen on a tennis court. the fans in melbourne are always in for a treat watching the legends doubles, and former wimbledon semi—finalist jonas bjorkman did not disappoint, he was in party mood, trying to get those hips moving. but he had the last laugh, because there was a point to this — whilst his opponents were distracted it gave him a chance to put in a cheeky underarm serve and win the point! clearly claiming nine grand slam doubles titles has taught him at the australian open tennis which are underway at the moment on our website.

it's bbc.com/sport. but from me chetan pathak and the rest of the sport team, that's your wednesday sport briefing. learning to programme computers, or coding, as it's known, is becoming an essential skill, and one that children are being taught in primary schools. it presents particular challenges for visually impaired children, but there is help on hand in the form of a new teaching aid, as our technology correspondent, rory cellan—jones reports. we need six... theo is blind and his sighted friend 0llie have a passion, computer programming or coding and now there is a way they can do it together. a system where theyjoin up together. a system where theyjoin up these pods to build a programme. jelena and we need to loop all of that. at the moment, many children start learning coding with a simple visual programme called scratch but that doesn't really work if you are

visually impaired. -- and we need to lea p visually impaired. -- and we need to leap all of that. and it do coding before all of that went along because the class was doing scratch andi because the class was doing scratch and i wasn't able to join because the class was doing scratch and i wasn't able tojoin in. because the class was doing scratch and i wasn't able to join in. how interested a re and i wasn't able to join in. how interested are you? very interested! this coding language will now be available to schools around the world. it has taken four years to develop in the microsoft research in charge of the project had a very personal reason the getting personal reason'the gettrng microsoft research. —— involved. —— microsoft research. —— researcher. vesely‘s son ronan was visually impaired. it got her thinking about how children could be included. working with her microsoft colleagues, she decided that what was needed was something that combined music with a physical coding language. each of these is a

single line of code. it is a statement and children connect these pods together to create multiple lines and then they can run their code and to understand how their code and to understand how their code is working. dozens of children have been testing what is now called codejumper. have been testing what is now called code jumper. it have been testing what is now called codejumper. it really have been testing what is now called code jumper. it really helps people to coat. and it helps the two few cement yourfriendship? to coat. and it helps the two few cement your friendship? you to coat. and it helps the two few cement yourfriendship? you make yes. yes. and now it is coming into testing and into the real world, the hope is that it make learning to code more fun for everyone. what a lovely story. stay with us here on bbc news — so much more to come. i will be back shortly with the business briefing so stay with us here on bbc news. hello there.

after yesterday's rain, sleet and snow, and overnight temperatures well below freezing, of course its left a legacy of ice and we'll have further wintry showers this morning. watch out for the icy stretches this morning likely to cause some disruption. stay tuned to your bbc local radio station for the updates. you can see the blue hue right across the country, it will be bitterly cold out there to start the morning but at least dry for many of us with some sunshine. however, further wintry showers returning back into the far south—east corner, could see a couple of centimetres of snow in 1 or 2 spots. watch up this and watch for widespread ice and freezing mist and fog patches. could see a few wintry showers in the west as well. some running through the cheshire gap in towards the midlands and a few scattered across northern and western scotland, otherwise, plenty of sunshine around but notice that —11, —12 celcius perhaps in some of the scottish glens. a very cold start. but, we should have plenty

of sunshine around to compensate once the mist and fog tends to clear away and the showers become fewer and further between. many places should be dry. however, temperature—wise, they will struggle. 3—5 degrees for many. we could see seven or eight across the far south—west of england. now, as we head on into thursday, we will see the next weather front moving in off the atlantic and that will introduce thicker cloud and outbreaks of rain. we'll also have some showery bursts of rain ahead of it, spreading south—eastwards across england and wales, some of it could bring sleet and snow as it encounters the cold air. it should eventually clear off late in the day. many places should be dry with variable cloud and also good spells of sunshine away from the west. and then for friday, this weatherfront spreads slowly across the country. it is actually a warm front and as the name suggests, it will introduce something slightly warmer.

we'll see this mild air moving in off the atlantic but it will be short lived because the cold air makes a return to our shores during the course of the weekend. for friday, because of this warm front, it really will be quite cloudy for many of us. 0utbrea ks of patchy, showery rain spreading from west to east. further showers pushing into the north—west corner of scotland where it will be quite breezy as well, but on the plus side, if you like it, it will be milder. 7—9 degrees, maybe ten or 11 across some western areas but like i mentioned, it will be short—lived and turn colder again into the weekend. some rain on saturday with the best of the sunshine on sunday. hello, this is the business briefing. i'm maryam moshiri.

can government calls for unity lead to the economic change that will improve the lives of millions? shutdown embarassament. a top microsoft executive tells us america's inability to keep the government open doesn't look good on his country. —— for. and on the markets, a big fall in the us last night has been followed by a less turbulent trading session so far in asia, worries about the global economy continue to push investors away from riskier assets.