this is the business briefing. i'm maryam moshiri. building a new silk road. china plans a global transport network to move its exports around the world. could italy be its this is the briefing, gateway to europe? i'm maryam moshiri. our top story: double denim day for traders, as levi strauss makes a wall street britain's prime minister heads to brussels. comeback, with a valuation she's asking for a three—month delay to brexit, of more than $6.5 billion. time she'll use to persuade the uk and on the markets, shares in asia mixed after wall street gave parliament to back her deal. up early gains. 0ptimism about the fed abandoning now you want us to get on with it, further rate rises this year being outweighed by concerns about the reasons behind that decision. and that is what i am determined to do. now she is heading for brussels, to ask for a three—month delay to brexit. but will her request been at? —— be met. a major policy change from new zealand's prime minister. a dramatic response to friday's gun attack on two mosques. every semi—automatic weapon used in the terrorist attack on friday will be banned in this country.

rescue teams are still struggling to reach survivors one week after cyclone idai in south—east africa. hundreds are feared dead. in business, double denim day for traders as levi strauss makes a wall street comeback, with a valuation of more than $6.5 billion. also coming up in the business briefing, building a new silk road. china's controversial plans for a global transport network. a warm welcome to the programme, briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport.

today we are talking about the euro millions lottery winner here in the uk. -- millions lottery winner here in the uk. —— euro millions. he won £72 million. has it changed him? he says it has. tell us what you think would happen if you want the lottery. just use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. theresa may will travel to brussels to meet eu leaders and make a formal request to delay brexit for three months. if an extension is offered, mps will vote on the withdrawal agreement for the third time in the commons next week, assuming it's approved by the speaker, john bercow. if the withdrawal agreement is passed, the uk will prepare to leave the european union on the 30th ofjune. if eu leaders do not offer an extension, the legal default is that the uk will leave a week tomorrow, without a deal. here's our political correspondent chris mason. theresa may heads to brussels with

the deafening noise of westminster throbbing in her ears. to formally ask for the very thing she was desperate to avoid. a delay to brexit. last night she tried to make the most of what being prime minister offers you, a downing street stage, an opportunity to rise above that in in the commons and talk directly to the country. —— din in the commons. so far parliament has done everything possible to avoid making a choice. motion after motion and amendment after amendment has been tabled without parliament ever deciding what it wants. all mps have been willing to say is what they do not want. i passionately hope and he's will find a way to back the deal i have negotiated with you. —— mps will find a way. a deal which delivers on the result of the referendum and is the very best deal negotiable. and i will continue to work night and day to secure the

support of my colleagues, dup, and others, to support this deal. unlike others, to support this deal. unlike others, she claimed, i am on your side. but the reaction from many mps, the very people who will decide, probably next week, the fate of her plan, dripped with contempt. i will not support a government that ta kes i will not support a government that takes such a dangerous, reckless approach to democracy. there is no way given the language she used tonight, that she is going to be able to reset this process in the next stages and have a genuine dialogue and search for the common ground which is what this country badly needs. the prime minister has matched their westminster leaders of the opposition parties and brexiteer conservative mps who publicly ponder how long she can stay in the job. there is no two ways about it. the buck stops with the prime minister. you cannot keep telling the british public you are going to leave on the 29th of march, 108 times from the dispatch box. and then more fat into

the 30th of june. dispatch box. and then more fat into the 30th ofjune. because the public are rightly angry. —— morph that into the 30th ofjune. are rightly angry. —— morph that into the 30th ofjune. back here there is a sense that this is it. in there is a sense that this is it. in the coming days it would be the responsibility of mps to make some huge decisions. it is complete madness, one cabinet minister told me. contemporary british politics has never seen anything like this before. new zealand's prime minister has announced sweeping changes to the country's gun laws, effectively banning immediately all military—style semi—automatic weapons and all assault rifles. also banned, parts that would modify guns into military—style semi—automatics. all this in response to last friday's attacks on two mosques in christchurch that left 50 people dead. here is the prime minister. today, i am announcing that

new zealand will ban all military style semiautomatic weapons. we will also ban all assault rifles. we will ban all high—capacity magazines. we will ban all parts with the ability to convert semiautomatic or any other type of firearm into a military style semiautomatic weapon. we will ban parts that cause a firearm to generate semiautomatic, automatic, or close to automatic gunfire. in short, every semiautomatic weapon used in the terrorist attack on friday will be banned in this country. these changes will require legislation. that legislation is now been drafted and will be introduced. a short committee process will apply, so i encourage all those who wish to submit to start now. my expectation is that the law will be in place by the end of the next two weeks sitting session, which is by the 11th of april. earlier i spoke to our correspondent in christchurch, phil mercer, who gave a full breakdown of the county's new gun control measures. what we are seeing now is all of the firearms used in last friday's attacks will be banned. all military style semi—automatics and also assault rifles will be

outlawed within three weeks. in the meantime, there will be interim measures put in place by the government to stop a run on people buying those prescribed guns. the prime minister, jacinda ardern, as you say, speaking here in new zealand in the past hour, saying that these measures, very strict measures, will in her words, "prevent an act of terror." so there seems to be broad support among the new zealand population. earlier today, mps received a petition with about 65,000 signatures, calling for the ban on semi—automatic weapons. there will be people here who oppose what the prime minister is suggesting, but we get the sense here that there will be a vast swell of support for the prime minister's reforms. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. a strong showing by a far—right

party in the netherlands provincial elections has contributed to the loss of a senate majority for the ruling coalition. theirry baudet, leader of the forum for democracy, told cheering supporters that the government of prime minister mark rutte had failed them by letting into the country hundreds of thousands of people from different cultures. his electoral success comes just two days after a shooting in utrecht. police are still questioning a senegalese man after 51 schoolchildren on board his boss we re schoolchildren on board his boss were hijacked and set on fire near the italian city of malan. —— his bus. —— milan. all of the children escaped without serious injury after an ordeal which lasted about a0 minutes. the driver apparently shouted that he wanted to kill himself and stop the deaths of migrants in the mediterranean sea. the government in nicaragua has agreed to release opposition prisoners within 90 days, part of an effort to restart peace talks. the special envoy for the organization of american states says president 0rtega's government has agreed to release more than 700 demonstrators arrested in clashes that began last april.

almost a week after tropical cyclone idai swept through southern africa, rescue teams are still struggling to reach survivors. in the port of beira in mozambique, aid workers say they have only two to three days of clean water left. over a million people have been affected by the cyclone and more than 300 people have lost their lives in mozambique, zimbabwe and malawi. authorities say the death could treble over the coming days. the bbc‘s anne soy reports from maputo. lucky to be alive, but growing desperate by the day. these people may have survives the worst storm ever seen here, but now they have nothing to eat and nowhere to shelter. —— survived. cyclone idai swept away almost everything in its path. it created small islands were city once stood, trapping those who

survived it. —— where a city. nearly a week later relief has started trickling in. south africa has sent its military helicopters to deliver aid. international organisations are planning more. we are very happy about the first helicopter has arrived today, wednesday the 20th. there are several challenges to get through the weather, from uganda. the uk has sent emergency shelter kits and family tents. and more aid is on the way. the british government has set aside £18 million for the relief effort. here in the capital, a huge aid operation is getting under way. i have seen individuals and companies arriving here with foodstuffs and other basic supplies, coming to donate to people who have been affected by the cyclone. i am told that 70 volu nteers cyclone. i am told that 70 volunteers turned up here today, some of them had to be turned away.

—— so some of them had to be turned away. —— so many volunteers. this applies will be shipped to the affected region. but there are challenges ahead. —— the supplies. across the border in zimbabwe, some belief as more people are rescued. thousands need help to get out. the injured and vulnerable are given priority. tough choices rescuers have to make with their limited means. the true scale of this disaster is not yet known. thereafter he is of worst times are how does heavy rains continue to pound the affected area. —— there are fears of worse times. rivers could burst their banks, causing more destruction. the conditions here also put many at risk of contracting diseases. thousands have lost everything. but they are making do with what they can, as they wait for more help to arrive. let's turn to one of our top business stories now — because traders on the new york stock exchange will be

breaking their strict "no jea ns" dress code today and digging out their denim. it's in honour of a return to the stock market for one of america's oldest brands, levi strauss and co, the original bluejeans maker. the 145—year—old firm fell out of favour in the 1990s but has been enjoying a something of comeback with 80s—style faded denim in demand again. the share sale values the company at $6.5 billion. jane foley from rabobank is here. first of all, i have to ask you, are you a bluejea ns first of all, i have to ask you, are you a bluejeans lady?” first of all, i have to ask you, are you a bluejeans lady? i do actually have a pair of blue levis, yes. probably since 1985. they are not from 1985, are they? absolutely not, but i remember the advert from the mid—19 80s when levis really hard their heyday with nick came on in their heyday with nick came on in the laundrette. i was quite young back then, but even i remember that advert. actually, i wasn't that

young. moving on, it says a lot about the compa ny‘s young. moving on, it says a lot about the company's health and the way they view their financial help for them to even be considering an ipo in today's climate? that's exactly right but the ipo was even better than expected. $17 a share. above the median estimate of how successful they would be. this is very interesting for a righty of reasons. first of all, the fashion angle. also, it is a company that is benefiting from tax. normally when we talk about ipos these days, we're talking about another listing of another tech company. levis are not taxed, they are very old and established. —— not tech. but they are benefiting from tech. they are able to sell their wares on the internet and that has been to their benefit. that is the key thing in the retail sector, those companies that offer a strong online offering are the ones that are bucking the trend. yes, and those are generally bogged down by bricks and mortar and are finding it a lot more difficult now, because a product like this can be sold all over the world. interesting, though, iseem

be sold all over the world. interesting, though, i seem to remember that it was one of those brands that was pulled out by the europeans to put tariffs on the imports of levis, along with harley davidson motorbikes, in the trade tensions between europe and the united states. certainly it is a premium product. but a fact that european sales? maybe not. i used to own a few pairs of levis but i chucked them out. itjust goes to show you should always keep what you have because everything eventually comes back into fashion. this is exacting what they are talking about, the popularity of the "mom jean", high waisted jeans, about, the popularity of the "mom jean", high waistedjeans, i wouldn't wear those, i think i would look ridiculous at my age, but young people are wearing them again, those sorts of genes that were fashionable in the 1980s. bring back the 1980s, i say. jane, thank you. you will be back later to talk through the newspapers with us. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the start of the major league baseball season, and successful seattle. —— success for seattle.

today, we have closed the book on apartheid and that chapter. more than 3,000 subway passengers were affected. nausea, bleeding, headaches and a dimming of vision — all of this caused by an apparently organised attack. the trophy itself was on the pedestal in the middle of the cabinet here. now, this was an international trophy, and we understand now that the search for it has become an international search. above all, this was a triumph for the christian democrats of the west, offering reunification as quickly as possible, and that's what the voters wanted.

you're watching the briefing. 0ur headlines: the prime minister of new zealand has announced a ban on the sale of assault rifles and semiautomatics in response to the attack that killed 50 people in two mosques. theresa may heads to brussels to ask for a three month delay to brexit — time she needs to get parliament to back her deal. let's cross to brussels now and speak to larissa brunner who is policy analyst at the european policy centre prime minister theresa may is heading to brussels today. she wants a three month extension. what is the mood in brussels right now? is there a mood to give that extension? what are people talking about right now where you are? in brussels there is

suddenly a lot of fatigue with brexit and a desire to just be done with the process. i don't know if she will get the three month extension necessarily. there has been talk about an extension that ends before the european parliamentary elections to avoid any potential complications with that. the interesting question is what will happen if the withdrawal agreement is not passed because i think in that case the eu would be very unlikely to give theresa may a three month extension. basically the eu would fear that the uk would, could potentially revoke article 50 ata could potentially revoke article 50 at a point during the extension when it is too late to participate in the european parliament elections so the uk would then still remain a member but not be represented in the

parliament so the parliament would be in trouble. and that would be a complicated situation for the eu that they would want to avoid. so that they would want to avoid. so that will be the interesting question, what happens if the withdrawal agreement is not passed. will there be a nodal brexit or will there be a much longer extension? and what is the mood amongst eu leaders? any decision must be unanimous. there is suddenly a lot of fatigue and a desire to just be done with brexit. i think it is incredibly difficult to say what will happen and many diplomats do not know what their leaders are thinking. in the end it is a political and partisan —— personal decision depending on the 27 heads of states who will be in that room and what they will decide. it is

difficult to predict. 0ne and what they will decide. it is difficult to predict. one thing to remember is that any country vetoing an extension would cost the country some political capital, particularly if it is the only country to do so. i think it is not clear whether any country would be willing to accept that unless, of course, there is a broaderfront against that unless, of course, there is a broader front against an extension emerging and there have been reports of that. it is difficult to say what will happen because ultimately it comes down to 27 individual city and we know what no deal means for the uk in terms of damage to the economy. powers that viewed within the eu and the effect it will on the 27? -- the eu and the effect it will on the 27? —— how is that viewed? the eu and the effect it will on the 27? -- how is that viewed? it is much worse than a orderly exit but from the prospectus —— perspective

of the eu 27, a no deal exit suddenly seems quite negative but maybe less bad than a never—ending process of chaos. it is better to have a horrible end then horror without end. and that is the attitude that i think some people here, many people here have. great to talk to here. thank you very much indeed. here's our briefing on some of the key events happening later. first to bangkok where the thai king will attend the cremation ceremony of former leicester city football club owner vichai srivaddhanaprabha. in paris, the constitutional court will rule on the legality of bone—age tests on migrant children. and in new york, cesar sayoc is expected to plead guilty to sending pipe bombs to critics of donald trump.

now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello, i'm tulsen tollett and this is your thursday sport briefing, where we start with major league baseball and the first game of the new season ended in a 9—7 win for the seattle mariners over the oakland athletics. playing in front of a massive crowd in tokyo, domingo santana's homer to right field — with all bases loaded — made it 5—2. from there the mariners never gave up their lead with the two teams set to play at the same venue again in the coming hours with the remainder of the games starting in the united states next week. tributes have been made to the swimmer kenneth to, who's died suddenly at the age of 26. the commonwealth gold medallist fell ill after a training session. he was in the united states for a three—month training programme at the university of florida. the 26—year—old had represented australia at the 2014 games in glasgow before going on to represent hong kong. former olympic champion chad le clos posted this mesage

on social media: ‘rip brother, so sad to hear the tragic news, you were a great example to everyone and will never be forgotten kenneth to'. the team currently top of the fifa rankings, belgium, host russia in brussels later in their opening group eye euro 2020 qualifier. the third—placed finishers at last year's world cup will be missing the likes of kevin de bruyne, vincent kompany and axel witsel but will have a tough task against a side ranked 50th in the world who surprised all by getting to the quarter finals last year. russia, i think they give us an incredible example of how you should cope with pressure. what they did hosting the world cup was fantastic. from being able to defeat a team 5—0 when they are favourites and then to knock a nation like spain. this

group will not be faced. phased. some of the world's best golfers will tee off in florida later as the valspar championship gets underway. it's a time to fine—tune form ahead of the masters, the first major of the year. patrick reed — last year's winner at augusta — will be there along with world number one dustin johnson, jon rahm, and sergio garcia. washington host denver in the nba later on thursday. with 11 games left, the wizards have it all to do if they're to stand any chance of making the playoffs. the nuggets are already there and they've been celebrating! their win over the boston celtics on monday confirmed their spot in the postseason for the first time since 2013. finally, take a look at this for a moment of brilliance in the special olympics — the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. this video has been getting lots of hits on social media, and you can see why. the usa's matt millett beat the buzzer in their game against canada — and in some style.

nothing short of spectacular! worth a replay. 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. at the beginning of the programme we asked you to tweet us to tell us what you would do if you won a big lottery prize. this guyjust won the euro millions, £71 million. he said the win would definitely change him and he would buy a house with a jacuzzi. we are here to ask what you would purchase. 0ne here to ask what you would purchase. one person says that they would start a charitable trust for science and spirituality and open a grand

slam tennis court. what a great idea. if you want more information on stories, go to our website. and today, the prime minister is going today, the prime minister is going to brussels to talk to eu leaders about an extension to brexit. if you wa nt to about an extension to brexit. if you want to go to our website you can find all the latest on that story. they are talking about how she gave a speech to the general public yesterday saying she is on their side. finally, around 300 million people across the world are welcoming the start of the year. do you know what year it is? 1398. the persian new year. celebrated at the exact time of the spring equinox it marks the first day of the uranian calendar. a tradition dating back 3000 years and observed in many countries including turkmenistan, turkey and albania. stay with us on bbc news, we will return in just a

few minutes. hello. in the sunshine yesterday it fell very springlike. we had temperatures reaching 18, 19 degrees in places like sheffield. you can see the hole in the cloud and we had scenes from our weather watchers being sent in such as those you see here. for the day ahead i think we will see less sunshine, more likely to have murky skies for the start of the day. despite the cloud it still looks dry for most of us we do have a weather front coming in across scotland. that has been bringing heavy rain in through the night sinking south into central scotland eventually did it for most, very mild. where we had the hole in the cloud it will fill in with mist and fog by morning and could stay dreary

with hill and coastal fog fog by morning and could stay dreary with hill and coastalfog around fog by morning and could stay dreary with hill and coastal fog around the southern and western dam, drizzly and murky. —— damp. in fa ct, dam, drizzly and murky. —— damp. in fact, the rain eases back northwards through the day so some spots potentially of drizzle for northern ireland. 0n the whole, another mild day. 14—16 above where it should be for this time of year. as we go through the evening overnight the wind starts to strengthen, pushing our rain further north into scotland and northern scotland but the next weather front comes in and you can see the north and west of scotland doesn't wet through the day ahead and into friday. that rain continues through the night into friday. heavy rain, strong and gusty wind as well, much windier than it has been. and that brightens up. ahead still largely still dry. we

we have mild atlanticare behind. with it, the sunshine returns. it may be disappointingly cloudy in southern areas on saturday and it ta kes southern areas on saturday and it takes awhile to get rid of the cloud and we have wintry showers following into higher ground on scotland. temperatures returned back to where they be at this time of year, about 10- 12 they be at this time of year, about 10— 12 celsius. we still have wintry showers in the north and sunshine returns with high—pressure ruling 00:28:32,007 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 into the beginning