Thats coming up in the business briefing. Hello there. A warm welcome to the programme, wherever in the world youre watching. Were briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. And you can be part of the conversation. As scientists send a secret message to try and reach alien life elsewhere in the universe, what would you ask or say to any extraterrestrials out there . Tell us what you think. Just use the hashtag bbc the briefing. Negotiations are continuing over the future of Robert Mugabe, the president of zimbabwe whos under house arrest. Some reports say progress is being made towards a dealfor him to resign, but mr mugabe is said to be demanding guarantees and a dignified exit. A us official said washington is hoping for a new era for zimbabwe, after the military takeover. Our africa correspondent, andrew harding, is in zimbabwe and sent this report. Hes a frail 93 year old under house arrest. But new photos of president Robert Mugabe do not show a broken man, farfrom it. The generals may have seized power in zimbabwe, but now they want mr mugabes blessing. Its a surreal time for a troubled country. On the streets of the capital, we found only a few hints of military coup and, for the most part, an anxious calm. In a sense, this is all about mrs mugabe. The army intervened here purely to stop her from succeeding her husband as president. A dramatic move in a power struggle that has steadily intensified as mr mugabe has grown older. Convoys are spotted rushing between rival camps. The aim is to cut a deal that sidelines grace mugabe and allows the president to step down with at least some dignity. Mugabe needs to be persuaded to resign. Thats the obvious route to take. If one starts taking the impeachment route, the ill health route and trying to get the parliamentary vote, this could be a long and protracted process and the outcome could be uncertain. As the haggling continues, we head far out of harare into a poor neighbourhood tojudge the mood. You can really feel the sense of anticipation here. Zimbabweans, many zimbabweans, are ready to celebrate the departure of the only president theyve ever known, and yet people are also very aware that politics is a dangerous business and theres a lot of fear here. Are people still scared here . People are very much scared. Even now . Even now. Which is why you dont see big celebrations . Of course, thats the reason. Do you think that can change . Yeah, it can. Many here blame mr mugabe personally for the struggle their lives have become. Has he been bad for business . Sure. Why . Because we have no tourism, no jobs, no schools. But there seems little appetite for vengeance. In fact, plenty of zimbabweans still respect mr mugabe. We dont blame the president , but we blame the criminal that are surrounding him. Back in harare, some of president mugabes oldest rivals now fear he will dig his heels in and play for time. In the interests of the people of zimbabwe, mr Robert Mugabe must resign, step down immediately in line with the National Sentiment and expectation. And so for now a nation waits and wonders if and when zimbabwes smiling prisoner will accept defeat. Andrew harding, bbc news, harare. Over to europe. Talks aimed at forming a new Coalition Government in germany are due to resume later, after failing to meet a deadline set by chancellor merkel. The parties decided to halt the talks for several hours after failing to make progress on issues, including Climate Change and migration. Our correspondent Damien Mcguinness is in berlin. Bring us up to date. Whats going on . So these talks last night were supposed to really be the start of formal Coalition Negotiations. So they were exploring treat talks and they were exploring treat talks and they were exploring treat talks and they were supposed to last night mita deadline in which they would agree formally to agree a Coalition Negotiation to set up a new government, which would be installed next month or so. Those talks have failed because we have four parties all working together to try to come together on issues that they are com pletely together on issues that they are completely ideal logically opposed on, such as refugees, the economy, reform in the euro. Talks last night lasted 15 hours. They stalled a couple of hours ago and will carry on at midday today. Leaders say even though the talks broke down overnight, they are confident they will make an agreement, mainly because they have to. This is the only coalition option that came out of the elections two months ago and ifan of the elections two months ago and if an agreement is not made that would mean fresh elections that could read the end of mrs merkels career, because her reputation and her political success rest on these Coalition Talks happening and being successful. All parties agreed on this. If there are new elections then the only people who benefit would be new anti migrant and anti islam parties. So even though these talks are difficult today, all Party Leaders are adamant that they will try to do their best to make it a success try to do their best to make it a success because theres no other option, fresh elections, which would lead to a lot of political instability and potentially economic instability. Thanks very much. Now lets brief you on some of the other stories making the news. The british Prime Minister is attending an eu summit in sweden today, where shell once again call for talks to begin on a post brexit trade deal. The president of the european council, donald tusk, is expected to tell theresa may theres no guarantee that negotiations will begin next month, unless the uk provides greater clarity on what its prepared to pay. Russia has vetoed a Un Security Council resolution to renew the mandate of an International Inquiry into chemical weapons attacks in syria. The americans claimed the move showed that moscow accepted the use of chemical weapons by the syrian government. The Russian Ambassador dismissed the criticism. Conservationists in the us have strongly criticised a decision by the Trump Administration to end a ban on importing body parts from elephants hunted in zimbabwe and zambia. The us fish and Wildlife Service said legal hunting could help communities put money into conservation, but environmental groups called it reprehensible. The United Nations has warned that untold thousands of innocent victims will die unless the saudi Led Military Coalition lifts its blockade of yemen. But the Saudi Foreign minister has told the bbc that the blame for the crisis lies with rebel groups in yemen. Our chief International Correspondent lyse doucet reports from riyadh. Yemen, the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Now on the brink of an even greater catastrophe. Ten days ago, all its air and sea ports were shut by neighbouring saudi arabia. And now the un is warning untold thousands of innocent victims will die if aid doesnt enter now. Today in riyadh, i sat down with the Saudi Foreign minister. The United Kingdom and your other allies have called for the immediate resumption of un aid flights to yemen, and the opening of the port. We have said that these measures are temporary in order to make sure that we that have mechanisms to prevent the smuggling of weapons and missiles that can be launched in saudi arabia from yemen. Within a matter of days we reopened the ports. The un has said every day is a day too long. They need the main red sea port opened immediately. I think the issue of al hudaydah, the houthis destroyed the cranes at the port of al hudaydah. They charge money for every ship that docks there and then they steal the humanitarian assistance and proceed to sell it to fund their war machine. And the war reached riyadh on november 4th. Houthi rebels fired this long range Ballistic Missile, intercepted over the international airport. Saudi arabia called it an act of war, accusing iran of smuggling the missile through hudaydah. They say no aid will enter this port until the un controls it. What would you do if a Ballistic Missile hit London Heathrow Airport . Wouldnt you take precautions to protect your people . We have had more than 70 Ballistic Missiles launched at our country. With all due respect, the un has said all sides are guilty here for causing the deaths of civilians, but the overwhelming majority are because of the bombardment by the Saudi Led Coalition. My bbc colleagues were in yemen this week and saw the results of the Saudi Led Coalition bombardment. Are more steps going to be taken to protect civilians . Weve taken steps. Where there are complaints we investigate and make amends. This is something the houthis dont do. With respect to the statistics people are putting out, we have consistently and repeatedly said we take issue with the way the statistics were gathered and with the way the statistics were complied. It sounds like this is going to go on for a very long time, and with great human cost. We hope not. But we cant allow a radical militia that is an instrument of iran to take over yemen. A strategically important country that is neighbouring to saudi arabia, and. And launch Ballistic Missiles at us. This is not going to happen, weve said this from day one. From day one, yemen has been a pawn in this brutal proxy war. Only a political solution will end this. But with every day, its people keep paying a heavy price. Well have more on that interview with the Saudi Foreign minister later in the programme. Lets turn to our top business story, because in the last hour electric car maker tesla has unveiled its latest venture. Founder elon musk hopes to take on the road transport business as he has the car industry with this an electric powered big rig truck it calls the tesla semi. Mr musk says it has a range of 500 miles fully laden at highway speed. There he isjumping out of it. Priya lakhani is founder and ceo of century tech. It isa it is a pretty good looking truck. Its the nicest one other is ive ever seen. But people wont be worried about aesthetics as much as range and price. Not the customers who will be buying it, but this is in on task and tesla, so its all about producing absolutely beautiful products. Elon musk. But he also claims it increases safety and cost, which is contested in some of the news today that we will see in terms of costs of running these trucks and purchasing one and that will be the keyissue purchasing one and that will be the key issue in terms of people who will be making the purchasing decisions. And for the future not only does he want an electric truck, he wants a self driving one . Yes, and that raises questions about automation and job losses. Its a really interesting ambition of his that we are going to have to see how the Truck Companies take it on and whether this will affect us in terms of our missions, so we have to think about that as well. Plenty more issues that it throws up. We will get to those in the next half hour. And going through to the papers with some other stories. Stay with us on the briefing. Also coming up, lineup for the last four of the atp finals in london. That and more indie sport briefing. In the sport briefing. Benazir bhutto has claimed victory in pakistans general election. She has asked pakistans president to name her as Prime Minister. Jackson has been released on bail of 3 million after turning himself in to police in santa barbara. It was the biggest demonstration so far of the fast growing european antinuclear movement. The South African government has announced that its opening the countrys remaining whites only beaches to people of all races. This will lead to a black majority government in this country and the destruction of the white civilisation. Part of the centuries old windsor castle, one of the queens residences, has been consumed by fire for much of the day. 150 firemen have been battling the blaze, which has caused millions of pounds worth of damage. Youre watching the briefing. Our headlines with president mugabe still under house arrest, a senior us official says washington is hoping for a new era for zimbabwe after the military takeover. Desperation continues for millions living on the brink of famine in yemen. Saudi arabias foreign minister says his country is not to blame. More on that interview with the Saudi Foreign minister. After decades of hostile disputes over power, the relationship between saudi arabia and iran remains fragile. Some are even questioning if the region is on the brink of war, but in an interview with the bbcs chief International Correspondent lyce doucet, the Saudi Foreign minister said saudi arabia is not escalating its pressure on iran. I would not call it escalation. We are defending ourselves. But youre escalating the pressure on iran. Were not the ones who started this. The iranians did the moment the khomeini revolution took place. They did the moment they enshrined in their constitution the principle of exporting the revolution. They did the moment they designated saudi arabia as a country that they whose system they want to overthrow. They did the moment they attacked our embassies, and the embassies of more than 12 other countries. They did it the moment they assassinated our diplomats, on more than one occasion, the moment they planted terror cells in our country, they committed terrorist attacks in our country, they harboured terrorists and fugitives, including those who perpetrated the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing, and they harboured the board of directors of alqaeda. We know from osama bin ladens documents that he and the iranians had a very cosy relationship. So this is the history, and are you saying that now is the moment where youre going to try to put greater pressure on iran . Saudi officials here use the phrase pushing iran back to its borders. Is this the beginning . We have come to the conclusion that we cannot reason with iran. We have come to the conclusion that every time we extend our hand in friendship, all we get is death and destruction. So we came to the conclusion that enough is enough and we will protect our interests. And that is what you are seeing. What will we see . The escalation did not come from us, it came from the iranians. There is concern, as you know, about either a declaration of war or an accidental tumbling into war. How great is that fear . We want to avoid this at all cost. Nobody needs war. But we cannot have the iranians walk all over the region. This has got to stop. And this is not our policy. This is the Trump Administrations policy. Prime minister may spoke about this a couple of days ago. You heard the French Foreign minister at the press conference today. The world is saying to iran enough is enough. Act like a rational country. The United Nations has called on the Ukrainian Government to make changes to the way it pays pensions to those in rebel controlled areas. Under the current system, tens of thousands of pensioners have to cross the frontline every day to keep up the pretence that they are displaced on government territory. For many, its a difficult bitterly cold trip as our correspondent jonah fisher reports. On the frontline of europes eston moor, it is the old suffering the most. Eastern war. This is the crossing at barinka, an incredible 7000 pensioners make their way through here on a typical day. Translation we have spent one hour at the checkpoint, and already two hours at this crossing. It is cold. The Ukrainian Government says russian backed rebels should be paying pensions to the old people who live in their territory. It is a policy that forces thousands to cioss policy that forces thousands to cross the frontline every month to claim between 50 us dollars and 70 us dollars. In order to get their money, the pensioners are essentially how to lie and cheat the system. They have to say that they are no longer living on rebel territory and that they are now displaced on the governments side. The authorities know this, of course. This is the pensioner investigation team. Four women, course. This is the pensioner investigation team. Fourwomen, one police officer. They are going from apartment to apartment, checking that the addresses that pensioners have given is actually where they live. If the pensioners arent in, and few of them are, a note is left, giving three days for them to prove that this really is their home. Failed to do so, and the pensioner suspended. When you think most of them are . Translation we think most of them are at their real homes, where they actually live. The United Nations says the inspectors have disqualified about half a million pensioners, simply for living in the wrong place. After three and a half yea rs of wrong place. After three and a half years of conflict, eastern ukraines separation and its vulnerable fields ever more permanent. Heres our briefing on some of the key events happening later. The eu social summit for fairjobs and growth opens in sweden. More than 180 participants are taking part. Theyll be working on ideas to promote a more socially inclusive europe. The deposed Catalan LeaderCarles Puigdemont is due in court in brussels over a spanish arrest warrant. He also faces a deadline to file candidate lists ahead of catalonias december election. And later in washington, us secretary of state Rex Tillerson will host a meeting with african counterparts on trade and security. Time now for the sport briefing. Hello, im sarah mulkerrins, with your sport briefing for friday. The knockout stages get under way at the Rugby League World cup, with holders australia in action. And the battle to end the year as the top golfer in europe is heating up in dubai. But lets start with a match that england women simply cant afford to lose. Their first twenty20 match in their ashes series gets under way in the coming hours with australia leading the multi format series 6 4. That means england need to win all three matches or win two and tie the other if they are to regain the ashes. We have almost got to look at it as every game is a final, almost 8 1i final, semi, a final. We know we have got nothing to lose. You have to win every single game and be ruthless in that. We want to win is as much as the next person. We want to go home victorious. We have got isa to go home victorious. We have got is a massive competition coming. We have just got to do our roles well. In the mens Rugby League World cup australia are strong favourites to retain their title. The kangaroos face samoa on friday, the first of the quarter finals. Youd be brave to bet against the hosts after they cruised through their group. Their opponents meanwhile are yet to win during the competition. Americanjack american jack sock secured his americanjack sock secured his place in the last four at the atp finals in london. He beat alexanders barrass in three sets. Setting up a semi final showdown with gradel dmitrov on saturday. It is the first time an american has got to the final weekend of the season since andy roddick in 2007. Meanwhile, Roger Federers spectacular 2017 keeps getting better. Already through to the last four he kept his unbeaten record going in london with a three sets victory over marin cilic, a repeat of this years wimbledon final. If the world number two goes on to win the tournament, then hell only have been beaten four times this year. The final event of golfs European Tour is well under way in dubai. American patrick reed is the overall leader on 7 under, but just one shot behind is justin rose. Rose, whos second in the race to dubai rankings, shot a 6 under par 66. He needs a top five finish this week to catch overall leader tommy fleetwood, who struggled on the opening round though shooting a one over 73. He eventually gets it in. You will have to do better over the coming weekend. It was not really on my radar a month ago. That is the perspective i have to keep. This is an opportunity for me. Certainly, it would be easy to think about it as being in my hands. It is still a bonus at this point. Now, this outburst from the Algerian National coach rabah madjer has been attracting a lot of attention on social media for all the wrong reasons. Take a look at this angry exchange after a question he didnt like from a reporter. As always you can keep up to date on our website bbc. Com sport. But that is your sport briefing for now. And tell me what you think about our talking point today. Scientists try to reach alien life. What would you ask . Nathan wants to ask what country live without . Lewis wa nts to ask what country live without . Lewis wants to know how was the weather on your planet . We will have the web not just a note your planet . We will have the web notjust a note injust your planet . We will have the web notjust a note in just a your planet . We will have the web notjust a note injust a moment. Let us know your thoughts use the hashtag bbcthebriefing. Well, its chilly out there. Temperatures have been tumbling away through the course of the evening and night, and there is a touch of frost on the way. For many areas outside of town, you may need to scrape your car windows. During the course of thursday, a cold front was moving across the uk and behind it, we have a shot of colder polar air and thats going to be over us over the course of friday, so the end of the night, lots of clear skies across the country but breezy with some showers across scotland, and some of them are of sleet and snow across the hills. Early morning temperatures in towns and cities will be around two or three degrees, even in the centre of london, which is pretty cold. Outside of town, it could be as cold as minus four degrees for example in wales and the lowlands of scotland, below freezing as well. So, the weather first thing in the morning after a clear and crisp night, it will be sunny first thing in the morning, lots of beautiful weather out there, no real mist and fog. The air is very dry. But still in scotland, we have a fair old breeze blowing in and carrying those wintry showers, wintry particularly across the hills. Remember, this is air all the way from the polar regions so it will be nippy, single figure temperatures i think for most of us, maybe nudging ten but briefly, so for most of the day, it will be low single figures. For friday evening, no real change on the way. Lots of clear weather around. We still have a breeze in the north of scotland with some showers carried in again some wintry and then a change on the way for saturday morning, so cloud and rain for some of us first thing in the morning, and it will eventually clear away. The weather will improve but it will take time before the sunshine comes out, for example across the midlands. And then into sunday, we are in between weather systems. There is a low pressure is in scandinavia and another low pressure out in the atlantic. A little brief area of High Pressure but the weather front starts to march in, so the thinking is that late on sunday, it will start to cloud over across the south west of england, maybe wales into Northern Ireland where it is these eastern areas here that will hang on to the sunshine for longer and pretty chilly, around six degrees. This mini cold snap wont last for long because by the time we get to sunday night and into monday, the milder air comes right back in again. Goodbye. This is business briefing. Im ben bland. Tesla unleashes the beast. But will the electric truck transform road transport, or prove too heavy a load for the company . Plus tax relief for president trump, as his 1. 5 trillion reform plan clears the house of representatives. But it could be short lived as the debate moves to the senate. And on the markets asian markets have built on the previous days gains. They head into the weekend on a positive note, as traders were buoyed by news from the us that Donald Trumps tax cuts have moved a step closer. Well take a look at that and the other market moves later