this is the briefing. i'm sally bundock. our top story: theresa may's heading for northern ireland, saying she's determined to find a way to deliver brexit and avoid a hard border with the irish republic. 13 latin american countries and canada call for a peaceful change of government in venezuela and urge the military to back juan guaido, as interim president. plumbing the depths of antwerp‘s diamond district to carry out an audacious bank heist. 60 years of war zones and landscapes. we take a look at the new exhibition of one of britain's greatest living photographers. searching for answers. google‘s parent company, alphabet, comfortably beats wall street expectations. we find out why its shares are down after such stellar results. a warm welcome to the programme —

briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. also, more than a 6th of the world's population is celebrating the lunar new year of the pig! it's a public holiday in china and many other countries with almost 3 billionjourneys made in the lead up. so we'd like to know are you celebrating? are you spending? tell us what you are up to just use the hashtag bbcthebriefing theresa may is set to visit northern ireland as she ramps up attempts to end the brexit deadlock and come up with an alternative to the controversial backstop. that's the insurance policy designed to avoid a hard border between northern ireland

and the irish republic. in a speech the british prime minister will also pledge to secure a deal that "commands broad support". here's our political correspondent, jonathan blake. theresa may will acknowledge that this is a concerning time in northern ireland, but pledge to find a way to honours commands broad support across the community and secures a majority in parliament at westminster. the question of how to keep an open border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland has become the major sticking point in the brexit process. there is no agreement yet on what alternative arrangements could replace the backstop which would see the uk remain in a customs union with the eu if a trade deal couldn't be done. mrs may will meet leaders of the main political parties in northern ireland who remain at odds on the issue. sinn fein are supportive of the backstop but the dup leader arlene foster said it was toxic

and must be dealt with. the former first minister of northern ireland david trimble has said he intends to take legal action against the government over the backstop, claiming it breaches the terms of the good friday agreement. jonathan blake, bbc news, westminster. and you can keep up to date with theresa may's talks in northern ireland, as well as the latest backstop negotiatrions, on the bbc website. you'll also find a guide to all you need to know about the uk leaving the eu and explanations of the key brexit terms, in an easy to follow "jargon buster" that's all at bbc.com/news or download the bbc news app. a group comprising latin american countries and canada has urged the venezuelan military to support the opposition leader, juan guaido, as interim president. the iii—nation lima group has called for a change of government without the use of force, and for president nicolas maduro‘s administration to lose access to venezuela's international assets.

i do also want address the issue of outside military intervention and an important point in our communique is point 17, where we have agreed and i quote, finally, they, this is the countries of the lima group, re—iterate their support for a process of peaceful transition through political and diplomatic means without the use of force. translation: now is the time to act. nicolas maduro has again made clear that he will not bow to pressure from the us and its allies and insisted that he had the support of the military. across venezuela, there are severe shortages of basic items such as medicine and food. many people have been voting with their feet and leaving the country. our correspondent, orla guerin reports from caracas. all eyes now on venezuela, where it's not hard to find

scenes like this. the embattled president, nicolas maduro, insists his people are not paupers. 19—year—old anders would beg to differ. he only eats what he can find. translation: people don't throw things away anymore. before, they threw out everything — food, clothes, shoes. sometimes i don't find a thing. so i don't eat. right across the street, at the neighbourhood fruit and veg stall, plenty on display, but few customers. they talk here about the maduro diet, enforced weight loss due to hyperinflation. what can you not afford to buy any more, what things did you eat before that you can't eat now? "meat, chicken, milk," says irene. "thank god there are no toddlers in my house. anyone who can is

leaving the country. " i've got a handful of potatoes here. if you buyjust this much, you've spent a third of the average monthly wage. and prices are skyrocketing — they've doubled in a month. food is a key battleground here for president maduro and for the opposition. it's a top priority forjuan guaido, the opposition leader swarmed by cameras and looking like a head of state. major european union, the latest to recognise him as such. he's promising to bring in food aid if the venezuelan military will allow it through the border. "lives are at stake," he says. this would be the gateway — the border with colombia. today, as every day, venezuela ns streaming out. more than three million have fled.

but president maduro is refusing all offers of aid, angering some of his countrymen. "i think it's very bad that the government won't accept help", sastose, "they are scared that people will realise the hospitals aren't working, that nothing is working in venezuela. thank god the border is open so that we can buy food" but on venezuelan state tv, no hunger in sight, just military theatrics. president maduro making almost daily appearances now with his troops. front and centre, as commander—in—chief. he needs to keep them onside. so far, it seems, he has. he's sending a none too subtle message to opponents at home and abroad — i've got the big guns, remember that. orla guerin, bbc news, caracas.

let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. at least seven people have died in a fire ata building in paris. the fire broke out in an eight—storey block in the city's 16th arrondissement and firefighters are still trying to contain it. nearby buildings have been evacuated as a precaution. the cause of the fire is not yet known. the us special envoy for north korea, stephen biegun, will meet with his north korean counterpart in pyongyang on wednesday. he said the aim of the meeting was to map out "a set of concrete deliverables" for the second summit between president donald trump and the north korean leader kimjong un later this month. police searching for two men missing in the flooded australian city of townsville have found two bodies. the men — who are yet to be identified — were last seen walking on a flooded street in the city on monday prompting a land and water search. thousands of homes have been damaged following days of unprecedented heavy rain and more is forecast,

as a monsoon low looms over the area. oscar nominees have been told they'll have just 90 seconds from when the winners are announced to finish their speeches. at the annual nominees luncheon in beverly hills, three weeks before the awards ceremony, the president of the academy praised the diversity of this year's nominees but said the industry still needed to do better. police in belgium are hunting thieves who tunneled into sewers to access a bank vault in the city of antwerp. they're believed to have squeezed through pipes measuring just a0 centimetres across before making their escape. andy beatt reports. in the heart of antwerp, a stone's throw from the famous diamond district, a heist worthy of hollywood. translation: it's the italian job.

it is like a movie. in the small hours of sunday, the thieves are thought to have tunneled from this building, four metres to the neighbouring sewer. in cramped and toxic conditions, they then crawled 300 metres on their stomachs. at the bank and another short tunnel took them into the bank vaults. inside they forced open at least 20 deposit boxes, then vanished without trace. while one resident said she heard a lot of banging, the alarm was not raised until nearly 12 hours later. translation: i do not know whether my safe has been opened. we cannot go downstairs. the police are there and are investigating. translation: a lot of people are not only keeping money orjewels, but also emotive family pieces. the bank can't give any information right now. the police can't yet confirm what was stolen, and admit they have no idea who the perpetrators might be. the robbery all the more remarkable because of the risks the thieves

were prepared to take. translation: digging this tunnel could have caused a collapse. if it rains, the sewer‘s quickly filled with water and there's a danger of drowning, and there are other hazards such as gases from the waste water. it is not the first time this wealthy neighbourhood has been targeted. antwerp boasts the world's largest diamond quarter, with an annual turnover of more than $50 billion. 15 years ago, just a few streets away, $100 million of diamonds, gold and jewellery was stolen in the so—called "heist of the century". this is unlikely to be on anything like the same scale but while the search is underway for the criminals, so far police, the bank and its customers remain in the dark. andy beatt, bbc news. google's parent company alphabet has

posted strong revenues just days after facebook‘s record profits. with me is andrew tuck who's editor of monocle, a global news and business magazine. google are coming out with these numbers. it has been a really busy couple of weeks for earnings. their earnings are extraordinary. we are talking billions of dollars every quarter. they have made a 39.2 paint eight ——30 9.2.8 billion in revenues. if strawberry thing is the market was unsure about it because the risk, they are having to go up against amazon against ad revenue. that is where they make their money. hitting you and me to click on those

ads is costing them because they have so many challenges in the market now. they also have to hire a lot more people to do things like cloud engineering. the data processing, all of that sort of stuff. they are hiring lots of marketing experts as well. i would have thought with google being such a strong brand, why would they need marketing? but actually, they do need to market to the advertising industry. and also with a cloud computing products, for example, of course it is nice to have residential users but what they are after is that these big, big fortune companies. they are going after those as well. they are targeting the 5000 companies. how do they get those to come on as clients? they have gone up to 98,000 full—time employees, just 2000 short of that mark. we have our news briefing

later on in the programme and we would love to hear about your lunar new year ‘s celebrations. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: in sport briefing, liverpool miss a chance to go 5 points clear at the top of the premier league. this is the moment that millions in iran had been waiting for. after his long years in exile, the first hesitant steps of ayatollah khomeini on iranian soil. south africa's white government has offered its black opponents concessions unparalleled in the history of apartheid. and the anc leader, nelson mandela, is to be set free unconditionally. four, three, two, one... a countdown to a critical moment. the world's most powerful rocket ignited all 27 of its engines at once. and apart from its power, it's this recycling of the rocket, slashing the cost of a launch, that makes this a breakthrough in the business of space travel. two americans have become the first humans to walk in space

without any lifeline to their spaceship. one of them called it a piece of cake. thousands of people have given the yachtswoman ellen macarthur a spectacular homecoming in the cornish port of falmouth after she smashed the world record for sailing solo around the world non—stop. you're watching the briefing. 0ur headlines: theresa may is travelling to northern ireland determined to find a way to deliver brexit and avoid a hard border with the irish republic. 13 latin american countries and canada have called for a peaceful change of government in venezuela and urged the military to backjuan guaido as interim president. the head of the un mission in yemen, has warned that the seven—week ceasefire in the key port city of hudaydah, is fragile. his comments follow talks

between the two sides in the country's civil war — the internationally recognised government of president hadi, backed by a saudi led coalition, and houthi rebels, who are accused of being allied with iran. the united nations says yemen is home to the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with an estimated 10 million people suffering from extreme hunger. 0ur chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, has been speaking to people in the town of khokha, in hudaydah province. in yemen, even the sea is a war zone. the morning's catch in kokha. shark for sale at the main fish market, as big as abdu, the littlest fishermen. it's a dangerous business here. men of the sea come under attack. "the houthi scared us when they were here", abdu says. he remembers apaches too, the helicopters of the saudi—led coalition. some of these men lost friends. translation: they attacked them with air strikes. they thought they were the enemy. some of them got compensation, 30,000 saudi riyals.

and they gave them new boats and engines. 30,000 saudi riyals — that's about £6,000. some say they received much more. for now, the sea is safer with the ceasefire. we're in kokha with emirati forces. they helped yemen's military and its militias recapture this city from the houthis a year ago. families are now fleeing here from front lines nearby. there's danger here too. a grenade was thrown at a camp for the displaced. seven—year—old hamed among the injured. yemen's war is a war on childhood. haled lost part of his hand toa landmine, in one of the world's most heavily mined countries. his fingers are shredded. do you think the ceasefire is going to hold?

i don't think, because every day, gun shot in the head, shrapnel, explosion, shrapnel from landmine, every day. but if the ceasefire collapses, it will get worse in yemen. is that what you fear? yes. i fear the ceasefire, if it not — if it will stop, it will be catastrophic for the citizens. it's already been catastrophic for so many, caught between coalition bombing and blockades and houthi abuses. nabia and her two sons are all malnourished. "baby yiyad was vomiting, vomiting", she tells me. he had diarrhoea too. five—year—old hassan has had multiple operations. drinking milk for adults made him severely ill. the baby milk was too expensive to buy. everywhere you go in yemen,

you feel the crushing weight of this war, this poverty. in markets like this, there is food to buy, but yemenis can't afford it. they don't have jobs, they don't have money. and you see the evidence of that in every hospital, every clinic you visit. a ceasefire, however imperfect, in this small sliver of yemen, makes a difference, but it's just onepiece in a much bigger plan to try to end this war. all of it so fragile. lyse doucet, bbc news, kokha. he's widely considered one of the bravest war photographers to have ever picked up a camera. sir don mccullin‘s images from the vietnam war won him awards and respect in equal measure. a major new exhibition of his work opens in london today and the chance to see his

lesser—known but ha rd—hitting pictures of home. tim muffett went to meet him. life and death, as captured by sir don mccullin. everything about me has been very instinctive. this knowing that i should be in this place and that players. this exhibition brings together more than 250 photographs by one of the world ‘s greatest photographers. 250 photographs by one of the world 's greatest photographers. this photograph you could say is the beginning of my whole life ‘s work. i started photographing the local boys who i used to hang outwith. none of us were getting anywhere in life. this is a first wall picture. the secret war. it looks like something from a mafia film. were you scared? no, i was too excited. i

was scared of not getting pictures. his assignments took him to warzones across the world. i got the bullet on this front, in cambodia. what makes a great photograph? first of all, it has impact. i do not want you to walk past might hit is without getting some message from it. he also focused on conflicts and deprivation closer to home. this image captured post— dramatic stress disorder long before the condition was officially acknowledged. he was shellshocked and marines did not respect people who do not fight so they were treating him very shabbily, really. what we call the thousand yard stare. everything i have done in this room is not going to change the world, it is just an

attempt to show people that it is wrong. tim muffett speaking to the renowned photographer, don mccullin, and the exhibition opens at tate britain here in london today. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello, i'm chetan pathak with tuesday's sport briefing. our top story: the english premier league leaders liverpool have been held to a 1—1 draw at west ham which now leaves the door open for manchester city to go top of the table when they play later in the week. jurgen klopp was disappointed at the end but was fortunate that sadio mane's opening goal on 22 minutes was allowed to stand, replays showed james milner‘s cross was offside. west ham were level six minutes later thanks to mikhail antonio, and they had some great chances to win the match thereafter. liverpool have a three point lead at the top of the table, but manchester city will replace them on goal difference if they win at everton on wednesday. tough game. with two goals and a lot

of possessions. we had to change a lot after last session and we saw that, especially around the set pieces. playing against the leader, the team that has played so many goals, the best defence of the league, conceding so few chances for them, i repeat, and created so many chances. the performance, i am happy about. i am very disappointed with the result. the world alpine skiing championships are underway in sweden where all eyes will be on lindsey vonn in a few hours time. the american will compete in the super g just days after announcing that she'll be retiring after the championships. vonn, wideley considered to be one of the greatest skiers in history, says her body is broken beyond repair. in basketball, toronto travel to philadelphia to face the 76ers later, knowing they have to improve their away form to realistically challenge for an nba championship. the raptors victory over the la

clippers on sunday underlines just how strong they are with home court advantage. 0n the road though it's a different story where they've lost 11 games this season. toronto are currently second in the eastern conference, with the 76ers fourth. you can expect downtown boston to grind to a halt later for the new england patriots victory parade. these are the images which will live long in the memory for fans, the super bowl champions celebrating their victory over the los angeles rams. head coach bill belichick came up with the perfect game plan in atlanta and says he has no plans to retire after winning his 6th title. it won't surprise you to know that social media is awash with reaction to the patriots' win. formula one world champion lewis hamilton for example is a big nfl fan and made the trip to atlanta. posting on instagram he said,

"geniuses at work. huge congrats to the patriots for bringing home their 6th super bowl. " brazilian footballer ronaldo less impressed it's fair to say. the two—time world cup winner said, "can someone explain why they call this sport football, if it's not a ball and you don't play it with a foot?" we're definitely not getting into all of that now. we're out of time. the latest sports news is at our website — bbc.com/sport. from me chetan pathak and the rest of the team, that is your tuesday sport briefing. your business briefing is coming up and we will dig deep into those of google numbers and other business stories. i will see you injust google numbers and other business stories. i will see you in just a moment. hello.

monday saw a transition to much milder weather across much of the uk. tuesday though will start off on a pretty chilly note, at least first thing. we are expecting some fog as well. many of us will see a murky start to tuesday morning. some frost as well later rain moving its way in from the west. the coldest of the conditions and the frost indicated via the blue colour. the vale of york as well. in the morning, sunshine through scotland, northern and eastern england. the cloud increasing from the west through the day. from northern ireland initially and heading to england wales and scotland. some brighter skies here. temperature is not far off seasonal

averages. through tuesday and overnight into wednesday, the cloud edging its words with a spell of wet weather for all of us. 0nce edging its words with a spell of wet weather for all of us. once the cloud and rain clears, a few showers from the north—west but for the most pa rt from the north—west but for the most part frost free and reasonably mild. some rain on the south east. it should clear away. we are left with the westerly flow, sunshine and showers through the day on wednesday. most of the showers for northern ireland and the west of scotland. some of the rain from the south creeping northwards in the afternoon. elsewhere, there should be some sunshine, a few showers in the north—west and temperatures around six — ii the north—west and temperatures around six — 11 degrees. wednesday night and into thursday, the next area of low pressure moving in any

could bring a period of rain and perhaps snow to the higher ground. before it leaves to their east during the day on thursday. a few scattered showers and sunshine. temperature is pretty much where they should be. it does look u nsettled they should be. it does look unsettled and quite windy towards the end of the week. by right. ——by by. this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. searching for answers. google's parent company, alphabet, comfortably beats wall street expectations. we find out why its shares are down after such stellar results. happy lunar new year! we look at what the year of pig holds for the chinese economy and who will benefit. and on the markets many are closed today in asia for a public holiday — japan and australia among the few trading.