this is the business briefing. i'm victoria fritz. this is the briefing, brexit delayed: the eu gives i'm victoria fritz. the uk a new deadline our top story: of october 31st. voting gets underway in india's crucial elections — what does it all mean the eu agrees to extend the brexit for the world's fastest deadline until the end growing major economy? we'll find out from our of october — but there's correspondent in mumbai. still widespread frustration. and on the markets... please, do not waste this time. growth worries remain in asia. despite talks dragging late into the evening — the british pm says she still wants an earlier withdrawalfor the uk — but how will westminster react? but we have a duty as politicians to find a way to fulfil the democratic position of the referendum, deliver brexit and move our country forward. nothing is more pressing for more vital. ——0r nothing is more pressing for more vital. ——or more vital.

voting is underway in india's crucial elections with economic growth at the heart of the campaign. we'll be live in hyderabad and mumbai to find out what's at stake for the world's fastest growing major economy. 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. the founder of a chinese smartphone maker xiaomi is getting a nearly $1—billion bonus and says he's donating it all to charity. tell us what you think — just use the hashtag # bbcthebriefing. the uk and the european union have agreed to delay brexit until the thirty first of october.

-- sist. yes, halloween. speaking after hours of talks at an emergency summit in brussels, the president of the european council, donald tusk, described the extension as flexible. he urged the uk not to waste any more time, and said the course of action was entirely in its hands. britain will remain a full member state of the eu for now, with the option of cancelling brexit altogether. my colleague david eades joins me now from brussels. david, kicking the can down the road. what does the six—month extension actually achieve? road. what does the six—month extension actually achieve ?|i road. what does the six—month extension actually achieve? i think first of all to say, victoria, this is broadly speaking what most want to have —— would have expected. what it offers is more than just an immediate breathing space. it offers a little bit longerfor immediate breathing space. it offers a little bit longer for theresa immediate breathing space. it offers a little bit longerfor theresa may to work on a deal if required. i

should say that the vast majority of eu member states were more than happy to take that longer still, write to the end of the year, maybe into the early months of 2020. however, emmanuel macron, the french president, was chief among the few who were militating for something much shorter. his view being, we do not give a long rein to a country which is trying to leave the eu, we have to be careful about how much goodwill and how much patience we are prepared to show that we don't wa nt are prepared to show that we don't want it to affect our own eu issues, progress and challenges. he actually wa nted progress and challenges. he actually wanted during the 30th which is the day that theresa may initially was asking for. she, of course, is saying we can get this done, possibly before the european elections which would avoid something of a headache on all sides although there is the sense that we have got to observe and now the importance of those elections and treat them seriously. nonetheless, there is a deal here. as you say, it

is the kicking of a can down the road. who's to say, come october, something like that might not happen again, not impossible. let'sjust pick up on hours of meetings and discussion, some irritation but ultimately a deal. caroline rigby has this report. it started off so well. smiles over unintentionally matching outfits at the serious business of coming to a unanimous decision over the brexit delay soon got under way. and in talks behind closed doors, all 27 eu leaders, finally agreed to this. the european council decided to grant the united kingdom a flexible extension of the article 50. under the 31st —— until the 31st of october. european council president arnold tusk said they will also be a review in june and arnold tusk said they will also be a review injune and offered this clear message to the uk. —— donald

tusk. this decision is as flexible asi tusk. this decision is as flexible as i expected and a little bit shorter than i expected. but it is still enough to find the best possible solution. please... do not waste this time. theresa may still hopes to leave with a deal as soon as possible. in order to avoid the uk having to take part in european elections. i don't pretend the next few weeks will be easy or there is a simple way to break the deadlock in parliament but we have a duty as politicians to find a way to fulfil the democratic decision of the referendum, deliver brexit and move oui’ referendum, deliver brexit and move our country forward. nothing is more pressing or more vital. it's no secret key players within europe remained deeply divided over how best to handle britain's withdrawal. wednesday's decision was ultimately away for the eu to avoid a no—deal

brexit or at least make more time to prepare for one. i think we delivered best possible compromise because it was one to provide the unity of the 27 a second, because we addressed the request from the uk to get more time to deliver a deal on the basis of the withdrawal agreement negotiated a few months ago and thirdly, because, thanks to this agreement, we preserve the well—functioning of the european union. so the eu may have found a compromise in the form of a halloween extension. now mrs may returns home, still haunted by the challenge of how to persuade at —— mps in westminster to find one, too. caroline rigby, bbc news. on that point, i think most eu leaders are very sceptical that the chances of theresa may pulling something out of the bag before the european elections. as emmanuel

macron was saying, it was important to preserve the unity of the eu. effectively, he was saying that you have got to take my view into account all we don't have a union —— anonymity. —— union inability. account all we don't have a union —— anonymity. -- union inability. she regards this as a historical anomaly that we will look back on in the history of the european project. is she right to think that? there are a lot of people in britain who would think that's a pretty outrageous thing to be saying. i think she is bound to say that inasmuch as she doesn't want this scepticism, this level of euro ‘s get this, to be of spreading any further to any other eu member states. —— euroscepticism. what member state government would be wanted to be handing —— handed a

poisoned chalice to get out of the eu? there are plenty who see the idea of extending as far as possible another option, ultimately, for britain to say, you know what, we are going to revoke this and take it off the table, it is just not working. certainly there are some governments here who a briefing to that effect. the longer you push it, the harder it is going to be ever to leave. also a view, victoria, with the european elections of course looming and again this welter of scepticism across the european union among the public about the role of the eu, its validity, its lack of credibility for them, i think it's important political for people like angela merkel to be standing up and saying, this could prove to be an anomaly. we have to show the eu is united, that it works for all parties in the common interest, hence this extension. it's been called the world's largest democratic exercise — the elections in india got underway

just under three hours ago. 900 million people are eligible to vote in around one million polling stations. the drama culminates on may 23, when indians find out if they're in for another five years of prime minister narendra modi's hindu nationalist bjp or whether the opposition congress party, which ruled india for decades after independence, has staged a comeback. here's the bbc‘s matthew amroliwala. it was mahatma gandhi who famously said, "india is to be found not in its few cities that in its 700,000 villagers" and that's never more true than in a general election. making sure 900 million people to have their vote counted is a

mind—boggling task and they organise it inside a month. the promise is staggering. no—one will be more than two kilometres from a polling station and that's incredible given the size of this country. so, the organisation goes down in layers from the capital delhi to state level, district, ultimately to local level. officials are in charge of 1000 voters each. that is crucial, given the levels of illiteracy. millions have to be told how the voting system works. ink goes on your nails and so you can't vote twice and a printout comes out from the machine to confirm how you voted and each machine only contains 2000 votes which makes hacking highly unlikely. the counting is done in one go across india on may 23rd and the cost, the electoral commission has a budget of $500 million. that's about one fifth of the cost of organising the us election. the numbers are staggering.

joining me now is the bbc‘s yogita limaye who is in hyderabad. this is one of the few cities spoke —— voting in the first phase. can you give us a sense of what the big issues are at play? i have been inking of some of the people lining up. —— thinking. this makes speaking. i meta up. —— thinking. this makes speaking. i met a first time voter, a 20—year—old who has a job in software. he said that for him, and national security was a big thing. that is something we have been hearing a lot in this election. the recent tensions in india and pakistan, india's claims it launched —— launched air strikes which attacked a policeman in indian administered kashmir. before that, the campaign of the opposition really was about questioning the economic record of the government. the minister narendra modi honest better powers when he came in 2014.

there has been rise in unemployment and rural distress despite a fast pace economy. somehow, all of that seems to have been relegated to the background for many of the people who i have been speaking to stop overwhelmingly, what i have been hearing is that the country should remain strong. so they are some of the issues, national security, economic prosperity, rural distress, as you say. but the country's quite different to the country of five yea rs different to the country of five years ago when the range remotely w011 years ago when the range remotely won ina years ago when the range remotely won in a landslide and i know tech is playing a big feature this time around. well, yes, we have seen the rising nationalism and the deepening the social and religious tensions between communities and all of that will be a factor. there are just so many things people think of when they come out here and it's different in every part of the country. talk about prime minister

and arranger modi, his hand drew —— hindu nationalist ruling bjp party and the opposition congress party, the other main national party. but in hyderabad, where we are, it is regional who are more popular. if people are going to vote for those regional parties, that could make a huge difference to the results and thatis huge difference to the results and that is why it is so difficult to call an that is why it is so difficult to callan indian that is why it is so difficult to call an indian election. it certainly is. thanks very much. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news: an emergency campaign to prevent the spread of cholera in mozambique following cyclone idai has reached more than 800,000 people in a week. the world health organisation described the the vaccination programme as one of the fastest ever carried out. the venezuelan president, nicolas maduro, has agreed to allow humanitarian aid into the country. in a televised address, he said he'd reached an agreement with the international committee of the red cross. mr maduro has previously refused to accept international assistance, saying it would be a first step towards us intervention.

the dalai lama is likely to be discharged from a hospital in india as he recovers from a chest infection. the spiritual leader of tibet is said to be ‘doing very well‘. the exiled leader has cut back on global engagements in recent years and has not met a world leader since 2016. let's go back to our main story this morning — the decision by the emergency summit in brussels to grant the uk an extension to its brexit date till october 31st. nina trentmann from the wall streetjournal, joins me now. you are working for us paper. what is the world make of all of this?” guess so far it seems as if the

world has the same questions as british people in the uk, saying what does it mean, will there be any movement, anyway forward during those six months from march until october? and also what will happen in the long—term. the questions are similar, even though we spend more time at the wall streetjournal explaining the mechanics of parliament and why things have got to be start they are now out. focusing less, of course, on the parliamentary amendments we have seen. the core questions are very similarto seen. the core questions are very similar to what we see here. has a brexit fatigue setting across the international community, do you think? i guess to some degree yes, but given we have seen these sort of new cliff edges every time, again, the 29th of march, the 12th of april, it remains to be seen whether october 31 will be another of these, i guess. as we are approaching these

days there is always renewed attention. i'm hearing from business leaders in germany that it is not losing relevance because they are wondering what to do and how to plan and how to adjust. it's not really going away. no, we are all trying to learn how to adjust. thank you very much. we will run through some of the rest of the papers later on. to stick around. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: by royal appointment — the pandas making a new home in copenhagen zoo 25 years of hatred and rage as theyjump up on the statue. this funeral became a massive demonstration of black power, a power to influence.

today, it's about the promise of a bright future. a day when we hope a line can be drawn under the bloody past. i think that picasso's works were beautiful, they were intelligent, and it's a sad loss to everybody who loves art. you're watching the briefing. our headlines: eu leaders have agreed to extend the brexit deadline to the end of october — following an emergency summit in brussels. theresa may said she still believed leaving with a deal was the best option, and again called on mps in westminster to back her

withdrawal agreement. america's attorney general, william barr, says the us intelligence agencies spied on donald trump's presidential campaign, in 2016, and he wants to conduct an inquiry. the claim follows the president asking mr barr, to look into the origins of the investigation, into alleged collusion between russia and his run for the white house. the speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, accused mr barr of going off the rails. senator chuck schumer demanded that the attorney general provide evidence or retract. he accused mr barr of promoting conspiracy theories. nick bryant has the story. springtime arrives in washington with a cherry blossom burst of colour and fragrance, but the toxic cloud of the mueller investigation into russian meddling still poisons the political air. the report cleared donald trump of collusion, and today he claimed again the investigation was notjust a witch—hunt but part of a coup attempt against his presidency.

this was an attempted coup. this was an attempted take—down of a president, and we beat them. we beat them. and what they did was treason. what they did was terrible. what they did was against our constitution and everything we stand for. donald trump's new attorney general expresses himself less colourfully, but the carefully chosen words he uttered shortly afterwards on capitol hill were nonetheless explosive. spying on a political campaign is a big deal. you are not suggesting, though, that spying occurred. i guess you could... i think that spying did occur. yes, i think spying did occur. there will now be a review into whether the secret surveillance of the trump campaign was improper or illegal. we are still awaiting the public release of the mueller report.

so far, we've only seen a four—page summary, prepared by thejustice department. but, in the meantime, donald trump has vowed to fight back against his accusers and, in his new attorney general, he appears to have a loyal ally. nick bryant, bbc news, washington. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello, i'm gavin ramjaun — and this is your thursday sport briefing. it's advantage barcelona in their champions league quarter—final against manchester united. the only goal of wednesday's first leg at old trafford was an own goal, when a header from luis suarez went in off luke shaw's shoulder. it means barca will take a slender lead, into next tuesday's return leg in spain. translation: we always knew that it was going to be very difficult. 1—0 is not going to decide anything. just look at manchester united in

what they did in paris in the last round. you only need to see that you know how difficult it still is. i think we need to be on top form for the return leg. everything is still to be decided. of course the p56 performance away gives us hope and believe that we can do it. but we know that we are playing against probably the favourites in the tournament and going to nou camp will be a challenge. and it will be a greater achievement, winning that one, because the history of barcelona as well, they are not used to losing at home. but we can do it. and cristiano ronaldo was back with a bang forjuventus in theirfirst leg quarter—final against ajax. the portuguese forward opened the scoring just before half time. but ajax equalised within the first minute of the second half. david neres with the goal for the home side. in the asian champions league, guangzhou evergrande beat melbourne victory 4—0 to stay top of group f. the two—time champions had anderson talisca to thank,

after he scored twice in the opening ten minutes. evergrande now have six points from three games. but melbourne are having a nightmare — they're bottom of the group with no points. pierre—emerick aubameyang is expected to start for arsenal later — when they host napoli, in the pick of the europa league quarter—finals. arsenal cruised through the group stages, but they needed second—leg comebacks to reach the last eight. their record against italian opposition is good, having won six of their last seven. we're just a few hours away from the opening round of the masters — golf‘s first major of the year. rory mcilroy is one of the favourites — he's looking to become just the sixth man to win all four major titles. the northern irishman will play with the american rickie fowler in a group that will follow four—time winner tiger woods.

i know i have played well enough and shot enough good scores around here over the years. you know, if i can put my best effort forward i'm going to have a good chance to do well here. i keep saying this, i would dearly love to win this tournament here one day, if it doesn't happen this week, is totally fine, i'll come back next year and have another crack at it. and england's ian poulter sums up what most professional golfers think about playing at augusta national. poulter posted this image on instagram, with the words "does it get any better?". he tees off alongside the americans zachjohnson and matt kuchar. you'll find live updates on the bbc sport website, just go to bbc.com/sport. you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. but from me, gavin ramjaun — and the rest of the sport team, that's your thursday sport briefing.

it's not many places in the world you get to see giant pandas, but on wednesday two moved into their new home at the copenhagen zoo in denmark. eliza philippidis reports. a rather cautious exploration, but it doesn't take too long to start feeling at home in her new enclosure. both she and a male panda arrived in denmark earlier this month. they are both on extended loa n month. they are both on extended loan from china. and the people at the zoo so they have been preparing for years. translation: for us it is completely unique, because the animal only exists in 19 places outside of china. that a zoo has pandas is very special. just like in the wild, they'll be living in their own space. when the female is on heat, which happens once a year, they'll

be brought together in the hope that the pair produce clubs. pandas that live outside china are considered the property of china and these so—called diplomatic loans have, in the past, been used to help foster relationships with other countries. some argue it's more about commerce than conservation. on wednesday, at copenhagen zoo, these beautiful animals were welcomed to their new home by denmark's queen, who was there to officially open the panda house. and, by the looks of it, mao sun has the art of relaxation down toat. sun has the art of relaxation down to a t. eliza philippidis, bbc news. and tell me what you think about our talking point today. the founder of a chinese smartphone maker xiaomi is getting a nearly $1 billion bonus and says he's donating it all to charity. let us know your thoughts — use the hashtag bbcthebriefing. stay with us here on bbc news — so much more to come.

hello, no sign of spring warmth in the immediate forecast. in fact, the weekend is looking a bit colder. iam i am talking about cold weather as thursday begins a widespread frost. a fine day had the most places with a good deal of sunshine on the cards as well. it is settled with high pressure close by giving atlantic weather systems and mild air at bay. while at the high pressure holds on, the flow of air around that keeps us in the blue, as in from the east. and a stronger wind from the east over the weekend will make it feel colder. a lot of blue showing up as thursday begins. that is the widespread frost. away from northern scotland, some north sea coasts, cloud keeping temperatures above freezing. the cloud holds on to northern scotland, but a patchy

light rain as possible, maybe heavy showers later. cloud increasing in northern ireland stop more cloud along the eastern side of england compared to what we had on wednesday. most places, notjust dry but sunny. the winds, for now, coming in from the east, but are mainly late. temperatures along the north sea coast in single figures. mostly in the range of 10— 12 degrees. if you have the sunshine, does not feel too bad. on three thursday night and into friday morning, there is more cloud around. it is not as clear. not going to be as cold. the frost is not as widespread. still some of that, particularly towards north—east england away from the coast and some areas of scotland as well. looking at the forecast for friday, we are expecting mainly dry day. more in the way of cloud around. they produce showers towards north—east scotland, bringing some into east anglia and south—east england later in the day. the breeze picks up a little bit. temperatures back a little bit. temperatures back a

little further on north sea coasts. more of us have a degree also shaved off our temperatures. this is the temperature for the weekend. a battle taking place between low pressure in the atlantic trying to move in with unsettled milder weather, and high pressure in scandinavia keeping it up bay and us with a stronger, colder flow. as a windier picture over the weekend. most windier picture over the weekend. m ost pla ces windier picture over the weekend. most places i looking dry. more cloud by the time we get to sunday. mainly dry we can to come. some sunshine. claudia for all by sunday. a windier picture. picking up notably across western areas. chilly in the winter. milder next week.