this is bbc news, the headlines. the us supreme court is hearing arguments that will determine whether to kick donald trump off the 2024 presidential ballot.

those the 2024 presidential ballot. counting has begun ir after those counting has begun in pakistan after a campaign marred by violence. president zelensky fires the chief of the army. a new study suggests erectile dysfunction drugs could also reduce the risk of alzheimer's disease. let's round up the business news of the day. we start with the entertainment giant disney — whose share values have climbed by nearly 10% today after better than expected earnings were posted after the bell on wednesday. disney followed up with hand—outs for investors — in the form of share buy—backs and bigger dividends. along with a number of major deals and upcoming events that clearly has markets excited. erin delmore is in new york for us. first of all, those investors will

be pretty happy today, won't they? they well and they will be even happier if they check the stock price is right now. what is this news based on? a great earnings report yesterday from disney and from good news for investors. a 50% increase in the boosted dividend that the company is going to offer plus a $3 billion buy—back programme. they are coming at a good time because disney is facing pressure from an activist investor who has criticised the company over a number of things, including its returns, its performance at the box office, its monetisation of streaming and its capitalisation of one of its big assets, espn. we saw disney make the announcement yesterday about new things it will be pursuing, on the streaming side, is in big news about the taylor swift heroes tour which will stream

exclusively on disney plus. there will be and i won a sequel coming later this year and then the biggie that disney will be taking a $1.5 billion equity stake in epic games, the maker as fortnight. they will be partnering more closely you'll see the disney universe embedded in the fortnight universe.— fortnight universe. really interesting, _ fortnight universe. really interesting, as _ fortnight universe. really interesting, as all- fortnight universe. really interesting, as all of- fortnight universe. reallyl interesting, as all of these fortnight universe. really - interesting, as all of these strands come together. most people will assume that disney is a film company but as he said, those poor box office figures have really left investors worried. particularly things like the sequels and follow and franchises that disney relied so heavily on, now it is saying gaming can be big for it. and also it is clamping down on things like password sharing, with an idea that one of us sign up for its service, so it's really getting tough on where it makes money was yellow exactly and you can see they are not only branching out and different

areas but also going a bit deeper. their strategy of delivering sequels and franchises just isn't delivering in a way they wanted to. what can we see right now? something like an investment in video games, something like upping the price of a disney plus subscription, which they recently did and cause them to lose subscribers but they are betting they will be able to make more money from that in the long run. a new sport streaming service and utilisation of its big assets, espn. thank you very much. to china now where the price of goods is continuing to fall, raising alarm about the state of the world's number two economy. china's consumer price index forjanuary was 0.8% lower than a year ago — the biggest contraction since 2009. chinese consumers are struggling with high youth unemployment

and the fallout from a real estate crash — hitting demand for goods and pushing down prices. i spoke to mark williams from capital economics — he explained what's behind the drag on prices. this chinese new year coming up — new year's day is on saturday, and the weeks ahead of chinese new year, we often see quite big changes in prices in china, particularly food prices. i think that probably tugged down the data forjanuary a bit. but the bigger picture is, as you say, that china has been in deflation for a while. i mean, it's nearly a year now since inflation was in significant positive territory. so that is pointing to widespread weakness in the economy. there's a lack of confidence there. and it's notjust consumer prices that have been falling. we've also been seeing equity prices falling in the financial markets. so it feels like households aren't confident about the future financial markets, investors aren't too confident about the future either at the moment.

and yet it is in stark contrast, mark, with what we're seeing in many other economies around the world, particularly in the us and europe, where prices are still rising and that means that money is tighter in people's pockets. just explain the contrast and why prices falling isn't always what policymakers want either. well, perhaps the easiest way to do that is to think of perhaps the most well known example of deflation that we've seen in the modern world, which is japan in the 1990s and the 2000s, an extended period of deflation there came after a big economic shock. and it coincided with a sustained period of very weak and very disappointing growth. and i think that's what people in china are worried about. is this a signal here that china is heading for something similar to what japan saw? and there are quite a few parallels. there's a lot of debt in the economy. that's very difficult to handle when prices are falling, if your income is not rising fast enough to

service your debt. and, of course, the demographics in china have some similarities with japan as well. so there are a lot of alarm bells ringing, not just that the economy right now in china is weak, but maybe we're entering a period of sustained weakness for the next few years. and you say the alarm bells ringing. what is the answer? what can policymakers do about this? well, it's quite striking that policymakers haven't done a great deal over the past two or three weeks. there have been a number of measures aimed at trying to boost the stock market. and that has, to be fair, had it had a positive impact. we've seen prices going up recently. but they haven't done very much about trying to improve the long run outlook for the economy. and i think that means that the stock market gains probably won't last very long because ultimately investors want to be reassured that the economy is heading in the right direction. i think the reason why there hasn't been more for the economy is really difficult. china has some quite deep rooted structural problems. the property crisis isn't over and that's a huge

part of the economy, which is on its knees effectively. and so it needs some deep rooted structural change — that's difficult. to energy and climate change now, because the boss of norwegian oil giant equinor has been defending its huge new investment in the north sea, which was approved by the uk government last year amid widespread condemnation. rosebank is the uk's largest oil and gas project in decades — and has been criticised as a massive backwards step on the road to net zero. but speaking to our business editor simonjack, equinor�*s boss anders 0pedal said that after russia's invasion of ukraine, energy security has to come first. you know, one of the key learnings from 2022 is that energy security needs to be on top of the agenda, together with affordability and sustainability. and each country needs to, i think, looking harder into making sure that they are producing the energy they need closer to home, front shoring, etc. and that's really what we're working on, making sure that we are able

to supply europe and uk with gas and oil these days and for for decades to come. and yet, if you look at the international energy agency, fatih birol says that any new oil and gas fields are inconsistent with the target of one and one half degrees temperature rise. is he wrong? he says there should be no new oil and gas fields. and the day after he said that, you announced you were going to develop rosebank in the north sea. you've got big new projects in canada. is that a collision course with climate disaster? we have a balanced view on this. we think we need to continue developing oil and gas while we are increasing our investments in renewables. and that's exactly what we do here in uk. we invest in rosebank, but also invest in the third largest offshore wind park, and also energy decarbonised and energy. decarbonised energy. the world will need oil and gas for longer while we're doing

the energy transition. i've heard other companies, and your company has said this also, that you need the financial muscle that oil and gas gives you to be able to finance some of the renewables. what people get annoyed about is in a year like 2022, when everyone made record profits, that money was not ploughed into renewables, it was ploughed into share buybacks and dividends for shareholders. you're not using your financial muscle in the right way. we are actually, we increased our share buy—backs, but we also increased our investments in renewables. and actually in 2023, 20% of all our investments were in renewables. so we're gradually increasing this. but the reason why we are investing in renewables is that we know that over time, the demand for oil and gas will go down and then we are preparing our company for that future.

shares of uk chip designer arm soared by almost a third on wednesday after it forecast sales that were better than wall street was expecting. semiconductor firms are looking to launch new chips for artificial intelligence, generating more demand for arm's technology. maersk warned on thursday that overcapacity of its shipping contrainers would hit profits more than expected this year. it also said that it didn't see a major boost from the jump in freight rates due to red sea disruptions which have taken a toll on its share price. those are your top business stories. you are watching bbc news. a couple from manchester with a special place in the heart for cumbria. second home owners like howard and mandy are due to get clobbered with a doubling of council tax from next april. we clobbered with a doubling of council tax from next april.—

tax from next april. we try and put as much you _ tax from next april. we try and put as much you can — tax from next april. we try and put as much you can into _ tax from next april. we try and put as much you can into the _ tax from next april. we try and put. as much you can into the community and to be involved in the local area when we are here so we don'tjust come and bring all of our stuff and go. at come and bring all of our stuff and i0, �* , ., come and bring all of our stuff and co. ~ , ., ., ., go. a short drive away, don say that villaues in go. a short drive away, don say that villages in his _ go. a short drive away, don say that villages in his parish _ go. a short drive away, don say that villages in his parish has _ go. a short drive away, don say that villages in his parish has seen - go. a short drive away, don say that villages in his parish has seen a - villages in his parish has seen a dramatic increase in second homes and he thinks second homeowners should pay more council tax. in this arish we should pay more council tax. in this parish we have _ should pay more council tax. in this parish we have a _ should pay more council tax. in this parish we have a lot _ should pay more council tax. in this parish we have a lot of _ should pay more council tax. in this parish we have a lot of holiday - should pay more council tax. in this parish we have a lot of holiday lets| parish we have a lot of holiday lets also and _ parish we have a lot of holiday lets also and this is having a knock—on effect _ also and this is having a knock—on effect of— also and this is having a knock—on effect of young people being able to afford _ effect of young people being able to afford a _ effect of young people being able to afford a house.— afford a house. some of this can be used to tackle _ afford a house. some of this can be used to tackle the _ afford a house. some of this can be used to tackle the housing - afford a house. some of this can be used to tackle the housing crisis - afford a house. some of this can be used to tackle the housing crisis in | used to tackle the housing crisis in beauty spots like this. you're live with bbc news. i'm going to take you straight back to washington and to the supreme court because a hugely significant case being heard to date. it is a legal first because judges are

assessing whether to kick donald trump off the ballot, that is what the team from colorado asking for, kicking him off the ballot for the 2024 election. we have heard about an hour and a half of legal argument with the lawyers, putting for the cases, judges asking questions, giving us a little indication of perhaps their initial thoughts. it is a case that obviously could have huge implications for this presidential election. the supreme court justices presidential election. the supreme courtjustices have finished their questioning ofjonathan mitchell, the lawyer for donald trump. he argued the president was not an officer of the united states and therefore the constitution 14th amendment did not apply but that proposition was queried by one of the conservative justices, appointed ljy the conservative justices, appointed by donald trump. at one point, posed a question that suggested she did not believe that claim. jason murray

is now addressing the court on the behalf of the colorado ruling that prevented donald trump from appearing on their ballot in that state and that is what is at issue here. that was decided by colorado supreme court, does it stand? it has huge applications for the rest of the us. we will get the latest from our correspondence just as i was reading that, the reuters news agency dropping a line saying that the supreme court appeared sympathetic towards the trump appeal of the colorado. everyone looking and trying to interpret from the questions where the justices are drifting. we will not get any immediate decision today but they haven't got long because colorado has a primary on the 5th of march so a small time frame. they have to make thatjudgment one way or the other pretty soon. we are expecting donald trump's lawyers to appear. we were told early in the day that donald trump would speak but we are

now told his lawyers were talked on the steps of the supreme court. we will also bring you that as and when that happens. as the fighting in gaza continues, and a new round of negotiations due to start later in cairo, sponsored by egypt and qatar — the us secretary of state has said hamas's proposals leave a window open for a truce. antony blinken has been touring the region, where he met the palestinian leader mahmoud abbas. 0ur correspondent, barbara plett usher, is injerusalem. you're right. benjamin netanyahu was very defiant and he sounded very categorical or uncategorical, i should say, as he dismissed the hamas suggestions, the amendments or terms that hamas had made to an existing cease fire proposal. he called them crazy or delusional. and i think he was by and large referring to hamas's demands that any ceasefire would amount to eventually the israelis pulling

out of gaza and freeing a lot of palestinian prisoners. and mr netanyahu was very clear that they would not accept any kind of a deal which would leave hamas in any sort of control in gaza. but i think also there are other israeli officials who have been a little bit more tempered in their response. there are some who are waiting to see whether this is hamas's opening gambit and whether further negotiation can bring the two sides to a point where they can at least agree on a first phase of a hostage deal, a deal that would allow the release of the remaining israeli hostages, some palestinian prisoners held in israel, and, of course, a huge upsurge in aid into gaza. so egypt, as you mentioned, and qatar are hosting hamas or egypt is hosting hamas and qatar is involved also in terms of continuing the discussions about these proposals. and they will indirectly then be also conveying this to the israelis to see if there is some space to work for an agreement. and as you mentioned,

also, mr blinken did say also, mr blinken did say that he felt, he also said that some of hamas's proposals were non—starters, in his words. but he said he thought there was enough space for there to be able to reach a deal and that they would pursue it relentlessly. and the need is very great because of the hostages, but also because of the desperate humanitarian conditions in gaza at the moment. here in the uk, we've been looking at the expected announcement from the labour party that it will no longer spend £28 billion a year on environmental projects if it wins the upcoming general election. the move's been described as a slow motion u—turn — with labour being pressed for days and weeks about whether the policy was going to change. earlier today i spoke to steve richards — former political editor for the political magazine, the new statesman. he gave me his reaction to the move by labour. what they have been struggling with, it's a sort of messaging strategic issue throughout this whole period. it's in the context of the slightly mad tax and spend debate that the uk stages before elections, where kind of fantasy figures are bandied

around all over the place. and they had to decide what to do with this one, having announced it. and it's taken them a long time to work out what to do. and i'm not sure they've reached the right conclusion in the sense that when you appear to be on a retreat, when you're 20 points ahead in the polls, a, it's a tribute, really, to the tory party at a point where it's, in my view, in the deepest crisis it has faced in its history, but also the attacks don't stop. it's a myth that the attacks stop when you can see ground, the tory party and the media will move on to fresh terrain when they sense weakness and defensiveness. it is our major story coming up. well, we're going to have much more on that story coming up

in the next half hour, when we'll be hearing from business leader paul drechsler. men who take drugs for erectile dysfunction, such as viagra, may reduce their risk of alzheimer's disease, a study suggests. research found that those taking the drugs were 18% less likely to develop the dementia—causing condition. but more research is needed to prove that the drugs are causing the effect. the lead author behind the study, dr ruth brauer — lecturer at university college london's school of pharmacy — explained how this research came about. the background to this study is that we were aware of animal studies showing a potential protective effect of pde5 inhibitors on the risk of alzheimer's disease. we were aware of us colleagues doing studies on this topic, but they were not able to follow people for a long period of time. so we decided to use uk healthcare data, historic uk healthcare data to follow a group of men with erectile dysfunction diagnosed

by their gp and to see if the men who received viagra and other pde5 inhibitors had a different chance of developing alzheimer's disease. we found that over five years, there were on average more men in the group that used viagra and other drugs, had smaller chance, an 18% smaller chance of alzheimer's disease. it is a preventative effect. we can't really say there was a causal effect. and we are recommending that clinical trial units across the world maybe look into pde5 inhibitors as a repurposing drug so it could potentially be repurposed for alzheimer's disease. in order to do this, we need randomised controlled trials. so these are clinical studies in which have the group received a placebo and the other half receives drugs such as pde5 inhibitors. really important would be to extend the use in groups.

so as i mentioned, the group of people we did the study on were men with erectile dysfunction. what we would like to see, does this effect also occur in women and in men without erectile dysfunction? you are watching bbc news. let's turn to the world of social media because i am joined by the host of the bbc pod cast wework. this week they've been talking about a rather powerful story that was shared on tiktok — relaying the experience of one young person — liv — affected by domestic homicide. let's here what she had to say. so my mum and dad had, like, not the best relationship anyway. like, he was addicted to drugs, and it was my third birthday party, and they must have been drinking or something. and he... yeah, that's. .. that's when he killed her.

the last thing i remember is that we were all sat on the floor watching a film, i am pretty sure it was finding nemo or something like that. i don't know. and then i told the police that when i woke up, that i thought my mum had had a sandwich because she had ketchup on her. but obviously she didn't have ketchup on her. i don't know where i went that night or anything like that. but in the end, obviously, i have ended up with my nan. so your dad was convicted of second degree murder. so you had no parents at that, like once he was convicted? yeah. and it was about two years afteryour mum died. yeah. yeah, that he got convicted. at what point did you kind of become aware of what actually happened? i like, what age were you when you kind of thought like, oh, - this is what's happened? i was in year seven. i was in an it lesson. i searched my mum's name.

i don't really know why i did that. and then that's when i found found out what actually happened. with me now — kirsty grant and jonelle awomoyi — the hosts of reliable sauce. this is such a powerful story. i just want to pick up on that last phrase we heard. even the way she found out what had happened to her mother is incredible. she found out what had happened to her mother is incredible.— mother is incredible. she was only three years _ mother is incredible. she was only three years old — mother is incredible. she was only three years old when _ mother is incredible. she was only three years old when it _ mother is incredible. she was only three years old when it happened | mother is incredible. she was only i three years old when it happened and she said she has a very specific memory of being bad but this all takes awhile to piece it together. she said she had a curiosity in ict and year seven when she to search her mums name. she then read an article and she even said she was embarrassed that she had looked it up embarrassed that she had looked it up and she didn't even tell her friends at school and that is something she has carried with her. that is an incredible way that it emerges. since that tiktok video, it has such an extraordinary response. 4.4 million. that has gone up since

i last looked. give me an idea of the sort of things people actually said in response?— the sort of things people actually said in response? there were a lot of comments _ said in response? there were a lot of comments on — said in response? there were a lot of comments on this _ said in response? there were a lot of comments on this video, - said in response? there were a lot of comments on this video, a - said in response? there were a lot of comments on this video, a lot l said in response? there were a lot| of comments on this video, a lot of people _ of comments on this video, a lot of people said — of comments on this video, a lot of people said that they had similar situations, a lot of domestic abuse survivors— situations, a lot of domestic abuse survivors were talking about their experiences and there were a few cases— experiences and there were a few cases of— experiences and there were a few cases of domestic homicide survivors too. cases of domestic homicide survivors too other_ cases of domestic homicide survivors too. other people started to discuss things— too. other people started to discuss things like _ too. other people started to discuss things like red flags and dangers signs— things like red flags and dangers signs in— things like red flags and dangers signs in relationships that people should _ signs in relationships that people should look out for. so it has started — should look out for. so it has started a _ should look out for. so it has started a debate online. find should look out for. so it has started a debate online. and in terms of numbers, _ started a debate online. and in terms of numbers, do - started a debate online. and in terms of numbers, do we - started a debate online. and in terms of numbers, do we have | started a debate online. and in - terms of numbers, do we have any idea of numbers, of children that something like this has happened to? that's part of the problem, that it is not really kept a record of by one service. live said when it happened to her, there wasn't one person or service that carried out the whole thing, so there is no centralised data. there are estimates in the hundreds per year but it is not recorded by anyone body and he said that is something

that she found there wasn't one place to go to for support. she was offered counselling, _ place to go to for support. she was offered counselling, wasn't - place to go to for support. she was offered counselling, wasn't she, i place to go to for support. she was offered counselling, wasn't she, atj offered counselling, wasn't she, at school and it was difficult, i didn't quite work?— school and it was difficult, i didn't quite work? school and it was difficult, i didn't ruite work? ., . , . , didn't quite work? that was actually before school— didn't quite work? that was actually before school age, _ didn't quite work? that was actually before school age, when _ didn't quite work? that was actually before school age, when she - didn't quite work? that was actually before school age, when she was i before school age, when she was around _ before school age, when she was around three, after the event happened. it happened on her third birthday— happened. it happened on her third birthday that her father killed her mother, — birthday that her father killed her mother, and she spoke about having talking _ mother, and she spoke about having talking therapies and he said there were sandboxes but all she could do was scream, she couldn't talk about it at that _ was scream, she couldn't talk about it at that point and she has not had support— it at that point and she has not had support sense. just it at that point and she has not had support sense-— support sense. just a quick final ruestion, support sense. just a quick final question. she — support sense. just a quick final question, she has _ support sense. just a quick final question, she has done - support sense. just a quick final question, she has done this, . support sense. just a quick final| question, she has done this, she wants things to change, what are her key takeaway is? i wants things to change, what are her key takeaway is?— key takeaway is? i think she struggled — key takeaway is? i think she struggled with _ key takeaway is? i think she struggled with what - key takeaway is? i think she struggled with what she - key takeaway is? i think she - struggled with what she wanted to take away from it because it felt like you can talk about this stuff so much but people and situations like her mum, still have to come to terms with it themselves before they can leave but she did say that she hoped that all of those millions of views on her video, some people will

notice they were in a toxic situation and also she called for one centralised body to deal with children whose parents this happens to. , , ., , to. the thing she struggled with was not havin: to. the thing she struggled with was not having someone _ to. the thing she struggled with was not having someone that _ to. the thing she struggled with was not having someone that was - to. the thing she struggled with was not having someone that was with i to. the thing she struggled with was | not having someone that was with her whole _ not having someone that was with her whole journey, that was able to understand that, surgical is the people — understand that, surgical is the people in— understand that, surgical is the people in her situation to have like that _ people in her situation to have like that i'm _ people in her situation to have like that. i'm met a really important story _ that. i'm met a really important story. thanks so much for coming in and talking — story. thanks so much for coming in and talking to us about that. we will he _ and talking to us about that. we will be live in the supreme court in washington. in will be live in the supreme court in washington-— will be live in the supreme court in washinuton. ., , ., , washington. in the attempt to block donald trump _ washington. in the attempt to block donald trump from _ washington. in the attempt to block donald trump from standing - washington. in the attempt to block donald trump from standing in - washington. in the attempt to block donald trump from standing in the l washington. in the attempt to block. donald trump from standing in the 24 elections so the lawyers are putting forward those arguments. we will get the latest on that major labour u—turn, we will hear from the latest on that major labour u—turn, we will hearfrom keir starmer. we will also hear exclusively from the russian anti—war campaigner who has talked exclusively hair giving reaction to

that news earlier today that he will be blocked from standing in the election. now it's time for a look at the weather with tomasz. hello, thanks forjoining me. the weather's been so unpleasant for many of us today. heavy rain, a really dismal picture out there and, of course, we've had the snow across the hills of northern ireland. it's been snowing across northern parts of wales, northern england, too, and into southern scotland. this is the radarfrom earlier on, but it is mostly hill snow, at least where it's falling heaviest, but not exclusively. we've had a wet covering of snow on lower ground as well. but let's focus on the amber warnings from the met office valid for this afternoon across northern parts of wales and into this evening across the pennines. so some of the higher routes could get as much as 25 centimetres of snow. the transpennine routes could be very tricky, so take it steady during the rush hour. on top of that, we've got some quite strong winds blowing out of the east and this is the picture around 4:00

in the afternoon. temperatures just a couple of degrees above freezing here. but to the south, much milder, 12 in london, similar values there. but it's the rain in the south that's causing the problems. it could bring around 45 millimetres as this next weather front moves into parts of england and wales. now, the night is going to be quite a messy picture, particularly in the north, a mixture of rain, sleet and some snow temperatures in bigger towns and cities around two or three degrees, further south a lot milder. and then i think as we head through friday, what's left of that wintry weather really does transfer further north. but there could be some significant snowfalls across the scottish hills, particularly central and eastern parts of scotland, rain in the north—east of england and then to the south we're talking about extensive cloud, showers, some of them heavy. but mild, 12 in plymouth, 13 in london, around 11 in hull. and then it's much colder as you get into the north of scotland. so this is where the colder air is sitting. you can see hints of wintry weather there to the south of that. it's much milder into friday night and into saturday.

and the low pressure is still with us for the weekend. but i think the areas of cloud a little more broken, so perhaps some sunshine coming through, but at times heavy showers are expected as well. and the outlook, is it going to be mild? is it going to be cold? well, it does look as though it's going to stay on the mild side. the weather could be settling down as we head into tuesday. bye— bye. live from london, this is bbc news.

labour's red light on its green policy. the opposition ditches their policy of spending £28 billion a year on its green investment plan in a major u—turn. for the first time, global temperatures exceed 1.5 degrees celsius above pre—industrial levels across an entire year. we will hear from opposition leader keir starmer. high stakes in the us as the supreme court hears an unprecedented case whether to kick donald trump off the 2024 presidential ballot. vote—counting begins in the pakistan election after a campaign marred by violence. the anti—warcampaign the anti—war campaign are planning to challenge vladimir putin in the presidential election is blocked from standing. he talks to this programme. and it's at it again — a volcano in iceland erupts for the third time since december.