Sa 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. With spotify gearing up for a multibillion dollar market floatation we want to know have you embraced the music streaming revolution . Or are you still using an ipod, cds or vinyl . Get in touch just use the hashtag bbcthebriefing. Three people have died as storm eleanor swept across most of northern europe, causing widescale disruption. Tens of thousands of people have had their power cut and air travel has been affected. The dutch authorities have, for the first time, shut all major sea barriers. Sarah corker reports. The storm swept into france with brute force. Winds exceeding 150 kilometres an hour battered the northern coast. The Atlantic Ocean crashed over and through cedar fences. Sea defences. High tide in brittany saw waves flooding into the streets. In paris there was heavy driving rain. This is what the strongest winds in years can do to the capital. Crushed cars, collapsed scaffolding and downed power lines. Dangerous conditions closed ski resorts in the alps. One skier died after being hit by a falling tree. Translation i am devastated. We can predict avalanches or torrential rain but trees falling on the ski piste, were not used to that. It is tragic. Destruction has been widespread across northern europe. Tens of thousands of homes are without power. In switzerland, 25 people were stuck inside a cable car due to strong winds. Later they were rescued by helicopter. This train was blown off the track near lucerne injuring eight people. Hours earlier, ireland was the first to feel the power of the storm. High spring tides in galway and Gale Force Winds are a dangerous mix. In donegal, some enjoyed the wild weather. This is a dog in a sea of foam. In south west england, eleanor took a chunk out of the sea wall. I pulled the curtains back and saw a scene of utter devastation. You can see how close the house is, probably 50 yards away. I am amazed to see what happened. And for a second night here, large waves pose a serious threat. The sea is a powerful thing. It is a silent killer and it will have you as quick as a lick. This is the fourth major storm to hit europe in a month and it is not yet over. Some coastal areas in the uk and ireland remain on high flood alert. We have a lot more detail on the storm as well is what is coming up in the days ahead. Take a look at oui in the days ahead. Take a look at our website for that. President trump has fallen out very publicly with one of his former key advisers accusing him of losing his mind. Steve bannon who was mr trumps chief strategist and widely credited with helping him win the white house is quoted in a new book as saying a meeting held by mr trumps son and son in law with russians during the Election Campaign was treasonous. Lawyers for President Trump have now threatened legal action against mr bannon. Our north america correspondent, peter bowes, has more. They were once as thick as these. Steve bannon helped to shape the american ist Campaign Campaign that elected donald trump. In the white house he was a key player. He had the ear of the president. He promised to be the president s wingman outside but this reveals a different story. The most damaging claim is that steve bannon watched a meeting between donald trump junior and a group of russians during the campaign and considered it treasonous. Also presend were Paul Manaforte and jared kushner. The three senior people in the campaign thought it was a good idea to meet with a Foreign Government inside trump tower in the Conference Room on the 25th floor with no lawyers bannon is quoted as saying. He then said that after the meeting they should have called the fbi immediately. The president hit back in a scathing statement. When he was fired he not only lost hisjob, he lost his mind. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has condemned the contents of the book as completely untrue. She says the meeting was not an act of treason. I think it is ridiculous accusation and i am sure we have addressed previously. The book also says the steve bannon believes the russians were taken after the meeting to meet donald trump. The president has always denied that happened. With the Ongoing Investigation into possible russian interference in the president ial election, this explosive row between donald trump and his once trusted ally has left washington stunned. Lets brief you on some of the other stories making the news. Iran has accused the United States of meddling in its Domestic Affairs a response to President Trumps backing for Anti Government protests. The head of irans revolutionary guard said the protests, which have spread across the country over the last week, are now over. They were were initially against price rises and corruption, but turned to wider Anti Government sentiment. Much of the eastern United States is experiencing an intensifying winter storm thats bringing snow and freezing rain to many areas already in the grip of record low temperatures. Northern florida has seen its first snowfall for almost 30 years. Weather forecasters warn an arctic air mass will affect the eastern two thirds of the United States throughout the week. The french president says his government will introduce legislation to combat fake news during Election Campaigns. Emmanuel macron said such measures were needed to protect liberal democracies from determined propaganda. Under the proposed law, social media would face tougher rules and there would be limits on how much could be spent on sponsored news material. Thieves have outwitted sophisticated security at the doges palace in venice to stealjewellery on loan from a member of the qatari royal family. Police say two or more thieves managed to de activate an alarm system, and took a brooch and earrings from a reinforced display cabinet before disappearing into the crowd. The jewellery is thought to be worth at least a million dollars. Them at the bloody civil war in yemen has claimed thousands of lives and driven millions to the brink of starvation. The Current Crisis started three years ago, when Houthi Rebels took control of parts of the country. Last year, yemen was hit by the worlds worst cholera outbreak. Now, diphtheria not widely seen in the country for 30 years has returned. Nawal al maghafi travelled to the remote village of beit al haboob where more than a0 people have contracted the deadly, yet preventable, disease. Hidden between mountains, beit al haboob has mostly been spared the violence of yemens civil war, but not its consequences. The people in this isolated village, halfway between the warring cities of sanaa and aden, have endured starvation, cholera, have had no schools and no healthcare. Now they face a new and entirely preventable threat. 14 year old raqma has diphtheria, a bacterial infection of the throat. If left untreated, it can kill within days. Its been virtually eradicated in most of the world, but has now come to yemen. Translation at first she had a really bad fever, then someone in the village died. Suddenly, a second person died from a sore throat. My daughter was terrified, she said, mum, my whole throat is white. It was so scary. This is what it looked like. Translation when i see my children helpless and sick, it breaks my heart. My daughter will die and we have nothing to treat her with. The outbreak was made worse by a blockade imposed by saudi arabia, which delayed medicines getting in. Off camera the villagers, who we didnt film for their own safety, told me the supplies that did make it here were taken by the Houthi Rebels who control this area. As ever, its the ordinary yemenis who suffer. Translation because the nurses and doctors didnt get paid for months, they closed the local clinic and left. Thats why all these diseases spread cholera, diphtheria and many others. The nearest hospital is an hours drive, the villagers cant afford to get there. Can you show me maybe one of the patients that came yesterday . Yes, i can show you. Diphtherias spread through the air, which is why its transmitted so easily. Sandra, from the Aid Organisation msf, introduces me ten year old zainab, whos finally on the mend. Translation this war has starved us of everything. We must fight for food, water and medicine. Now, we have nothing. God help us, this crisis, this war, it needs to end. It has starved us and made us ill with disease. Weve been resilient, but now we cant handle any more. Enough is enough. This war has brought yemen to its knees airstrikes, starvation, now disease. The people here say all they have left is prayer. Nawal al maghafi, bbc news, beit al haboob, yemen. An operation has been taking place to recover the wreckage of a seaplane which crashed near sydney on new years eve, killing five members of a british family and the pilot. The aircraft has been submerged in more than a0 feet of water after coming down in the hawkesbury river. Lids speak to our correspondent there who has been watching the recovery operation. What is the latest question mark we know that one of the first parts of the aircraft to be retrieved by Police Divers was a damaged wing and shortly afterwards they managed to bring to the surface, using a large swing and an end inflatable bag, the main body of the aircraft including the engine, front propeller and detailed. This is all being brought to the surface and once it is there it has been lifted by a crane onto a barge and when the operation is completed that large will then make the journey from jerusalem bay, which isnt near the town of cowan to begin the journey back through these waters, through the waters you can see, the lighthouse you can see behind to a wharf at pittwater. After that it will be transported to canberra and their air traffic crash investigators will begin a thorough forensic investigation of the aircraft. The plane came down on new years eve, as you say, killing six people including the British Business and richard cousins, his fiancee, two sons and the young daughter of his fiancee. The pilot also died. The investigation is trying to find out why a routine sightseeing flight should end in disaster. Lets move to our top business story on todays briefing. Big news in the fast growing world of internet music streaming. It has soared in popularity over the past year and soon investors could have the chance to cash in. According to a string of reports the worlds most popular Music Service spotify has applied to list on the New York Stock Exchange in the next few months. The company was valued at almost 20 billion dollars last year. Richard griffiths is Corporate Communications director at the global pr firm, ketchum. Great to see you again. This is a story on the bbc website as well on the business page. Spotify closes in ona the business page. Spotify closes in on a stock market listing. Anyone in Financial Markets love this kind of story because there is always an excitement ahead of a listing like this. What is your take . The context is that the industry is no longer about downloads, it is about streaming. If confirmed, this will bea streaming. If confirmed, this will be a key moment for spot a fight. A stock market listing that if confirmed, it has been rumoured for months, it looks now that will finally happen in the next few months and it will allow some investors, long term investors to cash out. The context is that spot of fai has become the biggest global music streaming company. It has been a massive swedish success story. The irony, however, is that spot of fai has been making a ton of money in revenue but is yet to make a profit. That is the interesting financial element of the story. The other aspect is that music sales are actually doing well now in terms of actually doing well now in terms of a global context. Artist look at spot by differently. Some say they find it impossible to make a profit from spotify yet spotify argue they paid royalties to the artist. It will be interesting to see what does happen. Thank you very much for now. He will get his teeth into the story is later on. Many of you have been in touch saying you are so into vinyl, you cannot eat it. I have many who say, ijust cannot eat it. I have many who say, i just listen to the cannot eat it. I have many who say, ijust listen to the radio. Others say cds definitely. Once as i use the radio and i have a few cassettes. Goodness me. I didnt even put that on the list. Stay with us on the briefing. Also on the programme, the helping hand of science researchers in italy develop a bionic limb that feels like the real thing. The most ambitious financial and political change ever attempted has got under way with the introduction of the euro. Tomorrow in holland, were going to use money we picked up in belgium today, and then we will be in france and again it will be the same money. Its just got to be the way to go. George harrison, the former beatle, is recovering in hospital after being stabbed at his oxfordshire home. A 33 year old man from liverpool is being interviewed by police on suspicion of attempted murder. I think it was good. You. Just good . No, fantastic thats better. Youre watching the briefing. Our headlines winter storms that have swept across europe have claimed lives, cut power and caused chaos for commuters and coastline communities. President trump has accused his former chief strategist, steve bannon, of losing his mind after he called a meeting between the president s son and a russian lawyer unpatriotic. Scientists in rome have unveiled the first bionic hand with a sense of touch that can be worn outside a laboratory. It provides sensory feedback to the brain via electrodes placed on the upper arm. Our medical correspondent, fergus walsh, has been to meet the woman whos been using it to see what difference it makes to her life. Heres his exclusive report. A bionic hand with a sense of touch, and here is the proof. Blindfolded, almarina mascarello knows whether what she is holding is soft or hard. She gets it right every time. Over lunch, she told me that nearly 25 years after losing her hand in a factory accident, it is almost like its back again. Translation the feeling is spontaneous, as if it were your real hand. Youre finally able to do things that before were difficult, like getting dressed, putting on shoes. All mundane, but important things. You feel complete. The worlds first feeling bionic hand, given to this danish man, never left the lab. The technology was just too bulky. Now, nearly four years on, it is portable, allowing almarina to go back to her hobby of car mechanics. All the electronics are in her rucksack. Here is how it works. Sensors in the fingertips are linked to a computer. This converts the signals into a language the brain will understand. The information is relayed to it via tiny electrodes implanted in nerves in almarinas upper arm. This represents a significant advance in neuro prosthetics, the interface between machine and the human body. The next patient wont need to have a rucksack to carry these electronics, because they are going to be miniaturised and implanted under the skin, and the team here are hoping to do the same with a bionic leg, which will have pressure sensors in the foot. Engineers, computer scientists, and surgeons from several countries are involved in this eu funded research. A truly human like bionic hand is still decades away, but the team here think it will happen. You see that we are going more and more in the direction of science fiction, like movies Like Star WarsLuke Skywalker after the amputation of the hand. So, a fully controlled, fully natural, fully sensorised prosthesis, very similar, identical, to the human hand. Since we filmed with almarina, she has had to give back her bionic hand, because its still in the research stage. But she says when its commercialised in a few years, she wants the feeling bionic hand back for good. Fergus walsh, bbc news, rome. Heres our briefing on some of the key events happening later. It is the first day of late been australia and england. It has been bad start for england losing three wickets in the first session. Australia have already won the ashes 30. Australia have already won the ashes 3 0. Lets bring you the rest of the sports news now. Hello there. Im tulsen tollett. Coming up in your thursday sport briefing, london rivals tottenham and west ham prepare to face off in the premier league. Well hear from golfs world number threejustin thomas ahead of the tournament of champions in hawaii. And what would you do if someone threw a chocolate bar at you . Well show you how one scottish footballer reacted. The relentless schedule in the English Premier League continues on thursday with Tottenham Hotspur hosting west ham at wembley. Both sides have had only 48 hours to recover from their last matches. Spurs won 2 0 at swansea on tuesday. West ham snatched a late victory at home to West Bromwich albion thanks to a second goal on the night from andy carroll. That win helped david moyes side out of the relegation zone. Over in spain, its the turn of barcelona and real madrid in the last sixteen of the copa del rey. Holders barca travel to play celta vigo while real madrid, who are languishing fourth in the league after a 3 0 home defeat to barca at the end of last year, are away at numancia who play in the second tier. Translation we are a club that never tires of winning. It is true that we can sometimes be up here and then descend a bit before later going back up again. I still havent finished my third year in charge. I will finish my third year and see what happens. Im convinced that i still have enough energy for the next six months and so does the squad. Golfs pga tour resumes later on thursday in maui with the tournament of champions. Its the first of back to back competitions in hawaii, both of which were won last year byjustin thomas. It is obviously a tremendous place here, the views are unbelievable, it isafun here, the views are unbelievable, it is a fun golf course. For a lot of us is a fun golf course. For a lot of us that have taken this long time off in terms of competition, it is an easier way to ease back into it with the scores being low and the fa i rwa ys with the scores being low and the fairways being generous. It should beafun fairways being generous. It should be a fun week. Now, in case you missed it, Hector Bellerin struck in the second minute of stoppage time to hand arsenal a 2 2 draw at home to champions chelsea in what was an enthralling match. All four goals, including a questionable penalty, were scored in a frantic second half that saw both goalkeepers help their teams. But it was the spaniard bellerin who scored a stoppage time equaliser for arsenal. At the end of the game, i think that we decided to win because we had a lot of chances to score. It was a pity because. There are two minutes to go. I think that we must doa minutes to go. I think that we must do a big effort kicked the winner. Now, we asked you what you would do if you were hit by a chocolate bar. Well, heres what defender Stelios Demetriou did when he was playing for scottish second tier side st mirren. This video has been shared all over social media. Demetriou is hit in the back by the bar after its been thrown from the stands, just before hes about to take a throw in. So what do you do . Well, you take a bite of it, of course, and get on with the game im sure it gave him plenty of energy for the rest of the game, so whos laughing now . you can get all the latest sports news at our website. Thats bbc. Com sport. But from me, that is your thursday sport briefing. We asked you if you had signed up to the streaming revolution with spotify likely to list on Financial Markets. I still have my cds, vinyl collection. You can get an mp3 signed by taylor swift. I will see you soon. Storm elenor packed quite a punch. It is moving away eastwards. Weakening as it does. The west to this next area of low pressure. A deepening feature, a strengthening feature. It could bring us another speu feature. It could bring us another spell of severe gales across central southern parts of the uk. Before it reaches our shores it will send a weather front our way, a reaches our shores it will send a weatherfront our way, a band of rain spreading northwards and eastwards overnight and during this morning. Although it will be dry and cold across many eastern and northern areas. A bit of frost and old across central and northern scotland. It will be a wet start for many and very windy in the afternoon. It will continue to be pretty wet through the morning the south east of england into east anglia into the east midlands. Behind it, the sky is clear and then it is very windy with gales beginning to develop across the south west initially and then towards wales. Outbreaks of rain pushing towards Northern England and central southern scotland and also a ross northern ireland. There could bea ross northern ireland. There could be a bitter winter in a sober the higher ground. It will be a dry cold frosty start at eight oclock in the morning across central northern scotland. A few showers for the northern hours. The skies brightened up northern hours. The skies brightened up with some sunshine, a few blustery showers, but voters both gusts likely. Moving through the midlands across into the south east. Likely to cause some disruption. Very mild pr but chilly in the north. That area of low pressure moves away as we head on into friday. Then we are looking up towards the west. This next area of low pressure will bring next spell of blustery weather for friday. Looks like we will see blustery showers into the afternoon. A wind in wales, south west of england and on into the south east. It will be a cold day. Cold is the theme is ahead through the course of the weekend. Arctic air moves south across the whole uk. It really will feel italy Cold Saturday and sunday if you are in the north, north east will stop if you wintry showers around. Overnight frost. This is business briefing. Im sally bundock. Revenue stream. Music giant spotify cues up a new york stock market listing that could see it valued at 20 billion dollars plus inflation and stagnation. Iran declares victory over the protestors but their economic grievances have not gone away. And on the markets, asian stocks are headed forfresh historic highs with japan up nearly 2 following new records on wall street