will start with some breaking news in the last hour or so on the red bull formula 1 team, surrounding its boss, christian horner. the person who accused him of inappropriate behaviour has been suspended on full 1331’- behaviour has been suspended on full pay. christian horner denies the allegations and was allowed to remain in his role after the allegations were rejected. a spokesperson for red bull racing said they couldn't comment. i spoke to our correspondence, laura scott. bbc news has learned that the complainant who made the allegations against christian horner was suspended from her role at red bull racing earlier today and our understanding was that was linked to the outcome of an investigation carried out by an external barrister brought in by red bull, the parent company, into allegations of inappropriate behaviour she had made against horner, who she was working with at the team. a red bull spokesperson said to us today that the company cannot comment on this

internal matter. last week red bull, the team's parent company, announced agreements against —— the grievance against what had been dismissed after what it called a rigorous investigation, but it made clear the claimant did have a right of appeal. then there was a leaked alleged text messages... horner has tried to maintain a business as usual approach to his work and as chief executive of red bull racing, despite intense scrutiny. calls for more clarity on the investigation by partners of red bull racing have been made, but he was at the grand prix last weekend, which was won by red bull racing and cut a defiant figure there as he appeared alongside his spice girl wife, jerry horner, alongside his spice girl wife, jerry homer, and he said to reporters he would be remaining as team principal and chief executive and that he retained the support of the team's partners and stakeholders. we also

heard from the strap on, the father of the team's driver, max verstappen, who said that this whole controversy was guiding the team apart. yesterday max verstappen appeared at a press conference and said that his father wasn't a liar. we are due to hear from christian horner later this weekend ahead of the saudi arabia grand prix. thanks for that. a leading economic think tank has criticised yesterday's budget, saying that despite the 2p cut in national insurance, average households are still likely to be worse off at the end of this year than they were five years ago. the institute for fiscal studies also says the budget did not tackle the long—term economic choices and challenges the country is facing the country is facing. after the election we are facing some really tough challenges on spending cuts, the moment they are going to be some big spending cuts and taxes will rise after the election. where are those spending cuts going to come from? we don't

know. what would the labour party do? we don't know. there is a conspiracy of silence between the two parties not to present the electorate with their choices on the really tough decisions are going to have to make. our correspondence and he is here- _ to have to make. our correspondence and he is here. what _ to have to make. our correspondence and he is here. what are _ to have to make. our correspondence and he is here. what are your - and he is here. what are your thoughts on this, where do we stand? it is interesting, what pauljohnson of the iss were saying there in that clip about the conspiracy of silence. are we being told the truth about it? the whole discussion we are having about this, doesn't really fit with reality? what happens every time we have one of these fiscal events as we look at these fiscal events as we look at the chancellor's fiscal goals and targets for what he thinks debt will be as a proportion of the economy, for example. one of his target is to have that falling five years from now, but of course that is based on a very uncertain forecast. a tweak here or there with the forecaster�*s pen and there are 10 billion more or 10 billion less, so it if it is on that basis that he is saying he's going to fit his fiscal targets, then he's going to need £10 billion

of spending cuts or £20 billion of tax rises, that is highly artificial, especially when you're talking about a fiscal target based on an uncertain forecast. you have no idea what tax revenues or growth will be in the future and the further out it is, the less realistic it is. the fundamental... is a look back at previous forecasts, you can check this, can you? the reality was billions and billions of pounds out, so why are we putting so much weight on it this time? ., �* , we putting so much weight on it this time? . �*, . , time? that's right, fiscal targets have been around _ time? that's right, fiscal targets have been around since - time? that's right, fiscal targets have been around since gordon l have been around since gordon brown's time, they have debt falling as gdp, they have the real deficit this lowering, not rising and they are very rarely met. when it comes to five years from now, they are very rarely met, so it is a question of, if it is essential or it is regarded as essential to have some fiscal discipline which take shape in these fiscal goals, but if there is a real? over whether sometimes we are tying ourselves is not doing handstands to meet these fiscal

targets, whereas actually they might be more important priorities of fiscal targets, for example like net zero targets. fiscal targets, for example like net zero targete— zero targets. people watching at home, zero targets. people watching at home. with _ zero targets. people watching at home, with pounds _ zero targets. people watching at home, with pounds in _ zero targets. people watching at home, with pounds in their- zero targets. people watching at i home, with pounds in their pocket, thatis home, with pounds in their pocket, that is a huge concern and what have you made the debate around that, richer, poorerfamilies, in total,? we can say things are much more solid than what we have just been discussing, which is for example with the 2p cut to national insurance, that is £150 for your average worker, £900 if you add on the previous 4p cut, but that is still not enough to offset what is being taken off us by the government because of those tax thresholds. they froze those thresholds and that was a decision taken by rishi sunak as chancellor a couple of years ago and that is one of the biggest tax burdens we have had for decades, but it is a stealth tax because you don't see it, it is not so straightforward to understand, but never the less it raises a huge amount of money and that is why the tax burden is high. but should be

regarded tax burden being high as a bad thing when we have so many difficult things to pay for with public money like social care, like greening the economy. thinking of debt is a bad thing, well, when you take out a mortgage, do you think of debt as a bad thing or do you think, i need you home? it is always a trade—off between the money and what you are trying to achieve. i’m you are trying to achieve. i'm summed _ you are trying to achieve. i'm summed to _ you are trying to achieve. i'm supposed to be _ you are trying to achieve. i'm supposed to be asking the questions here, you had asked me some questions i cannot possibly begin to answer, but really interesting thoughts thrust to ponder. thank you very much for that. and he has talked to us about the economics and we are going to look a bit at the politics now. the chancellor has been touring the studios, saying it makes the average worker better off — but labour say the government gave with one hand, but took much more with the other. from westminster, our political correspondent leila nathoo. i'd like to introduce you to rishi sunak, the prime minister. applause. the prime minister this morning out to sell his promises. yesterday's budget offered tax cuts to workers to put more money

into pockets and to try to stimulate growth in the economy. we have got inflation down from 11% to 11%. wages have been rising faster than prices for several months. energy bills are coming down. we have been able to cut people's taxes responsibly. everyone in work and self employed seeing a tax cut worth around £900 for an average person in work on 35k. half of that has already kicked in injanuary. the other half, in a few weeks in april. it shows that our plan is working. the government pinched two of labour's revenue—raising ideas. abolishing tax breaks for wealthy uk residents whose permanent home is elsewhere, and extending a tax on excess profits made by energy companies. labour now have to tread carefully to work out where, if they were in government, it would find extra money. we will go through in an orderly fashion all of the numbers now, we will keep the commitment to the nhs because it is really important to get the waiting lists down, but there will not be a single unfunded commitment in our manifesto. but £46 billion unfunded commitment yesterday from the chancellor

at the end of the budget to abolish national insurance, that is staggering. labour are rehearsing their election attacks on the tories, keen to claim the mantle of economic responsibility, but difficulties lie ahead for whichever party forms the next government. britain is a country where taxes are going up rather than down, as you just described. we have had big taxes last year followed by tax cuts this year and that will be followed in an unusual way by tax rises that have already been announced for after the next general election. that is telling you something — it's telling you that the fiscal difficulties that the chancellor is — and chancellors, actually, plural — have been wrestling with for the last few years have not gone away even though some tax cuts have arrived in the short term. miles behind in opinion polls, the conservatives hope that this budget will give people enough to feel good about and it will have shown a direction of travel. labour, who are not opposing what has been announced, will hope enough

people still answer no to the question, "do you feel better off after 1a years "of tory government?" who can be most trusted to manage the economy will be the central argument of the general action campaign when it eventually kicks off. leila nathoo, bbc news. we are going to look at climate change now because february was the warmest february on record. take a look at this graph. it shows you the numbers. basically last february one .7 degrees above preindustrial levels and what we are looking at there is the very last bar on the right—hand side there, every 2024, and you can see that compared to the other months, back to 1940 on the left—hand side. the latest figures from the eu climate service. to them, here is our climate editor, justin rowlatt. spring begins when the magnolia trees bloom, according to cornish tradition. and spring came early in cornwall

and the rest of europe this year. temperatures across the continent this february were almost 3 degrees above average. the exceptional warm weather the world experienced last month did not surprise climate scientists. it coincides with a near—record increase in co2 concentrations in the atmosphere. the link between co2 and rising temperatures is well established and this year global temperatures got an extra boost thanks to el nino, which brings warmer water to the surface of parts of the tropical pacific. that explains why february was 1.77 degrees warmer than pre—industrial temperatures, and why global average temperatures hit a record 1.55 degrees above pre—industrial levels over the last 12 months. it means we have — temporarily, at least — breached the 1.5 degrees threshold the world agreed to try and limit temperature rise to, to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. february 2024 was the warmest

february on record globally, with an average temperature of 13.54 degrees, above the 1991—2020 temperature. while this is remarkable, because, for instance, it is a tenth of a degree warmer than the warmest previous february, which was 2016, it's not really surprising, because this has been the el nino year, where temperatures tend to be warmer than usual and more importantly, we have seen over the last few decades a piling up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which bring up the temperature of the entire planet. we all enjoy warm weather, especially after the downpours this winter, but we should worry when the seasons get out of whack. some plants and animals can struggle to survive. though scientists say urgent action to cut emissions can still slow warming. justin rowlatt, bbc news.

here are a woman accused of manslaughter of her baby has been... both her partner denied charges. talking quietly and with a well spoken accident, she has at times very emotional, crying when she said that she and mark gordon loved their kids more than anything in the world. she said the court decision to take their children away from them had been disgraceful. this trial is about the alleged manslaughter of their fifth child, baby victoria, whose body was found in a shed in brighton last march. asked directly whether she had done anything to harm baby victoria, constance marten said, no, i did nothing but show her love and given her the best anyone could wish. after being asked how she felt about

victoria's death, she said, it isn't anything i can move on from. ifelt guilty because she was in my arms. she says she was exchanged from her family because of traumatic events in her childhood, but said that she approved of mark gordon and both her and mark gordon denied the charges. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some of the stories now. three teenage boys have been found guilty of killing 16—year—old mikey roynon. mikey — from kingswood in bristol — was stabbed with a large zombie knife during a row at a house party in bath last year. jurors found one boy guilty of murder and the other two guilty of manslaughter. they can't be named for legal reasons. a committee of mps has concluded that the post office is not fit to run the compensation schemes for sub—postmasters wrongly convicted because of the horizon it scandal. the business and trade committee said it was a disgrace that 80% of the money for redress payments still hadn't been spent.

metropolitan police officers have travelled to trinidad to speak to the killer of muriel mckay in a bid to find her body. ms mckay was abducted in 1969, mistaken for the then wife of rupert murdoch and held to ransom for £1 million. one of her killers recently admitted to burying her body behind a barn. you're live with bbc news. a hamas delegation has left talks in cairo without reaching a dealfor a temporary ceasefire in gaza. but the armed group has said that indirect negotiations with israel are not over. it had been hoped that a truce could be in place before the start of the islamic holy month of ramadan next week. israel had not sent a delegation to the talks because it had not received a list of hostages held by hamas in gaza. our middle east correspondent, yolande knell. we've had more and more

international pressure building for a truce to be put in place because you have all of these signs now that famine is looming over gaza, with more reports there of people having died of malnutrition and starvation. it's been apparent through the week that egyptian and qatari mediators have really been struggling to seal a potential deal that would see a 40—day truce through ramadan. and also, israeli hostages being released by hamas in exchange for palestinian prisoners in israeli jails. now, israel did not even send a delegation along to these talks in cairo. they were also attended by us envoys. it said that it wanted a list of the surviving israeli hostages held by hamas and that that was not forthcoming. hamas, meanwhile, has been saying through the week that really there was disagreement here because it was ready to show flexibility on numbers of palestinian prisoners to be

released, if palestinians in gaza could be allowed to return to their homes in the north, those who've been displaced by the fighting — that's about 1.5 million people that have been displaced, of course, overall, and that is really adding to the humanitarian crisis. and it said also it had been demanding for israeli troops to completely withdraw from cities in gaza. so that's where we're at at the moment. as yolande knell will speak there, we are getting a few lines of detail from benjamin netanyahu out of israel. there is one from reuters news agency, saying, israel's military will continue to operate against hamas in all of the gaza strip. so that includes rafah. he is saying it is a masshamas's final stronghold. benjamin netanyahu is saying israel's military will

continue to operate against hamas in all of the gaza strip, including in rafah, hamas's final stronghold. all of the gaza strip, including in rafah, hamas's finalstronghold. our team here is keeping across what more lines we get out of israel and will bring you those when we get them. now we will head to... red sea houthi rebels attacking ships. for the first time, people have been killed. three crew members on—board a liberian owned cargo ship have been killed. check out these pictures, coming to us from the indian navy. our coming to us from the indian navy. 0ur correspondence coming to us from the indian navy. our correspondence from bbc verify has more. attacks in the red sea have been taking place since november. the houthis in the yemen say they are acting in response to the war in gaza, but the attacks are getting more serious. this is the of true confidence,

which was hit this morning. it has been confirmed this morning that three people on this vessel died. they are the first fatal casualties so far since the houthis began their attacks in its area and it is a significant moment. it raises questions about whether air strikes used by the uk and us on the houthis are working. let me explain a bit about what has been going on over the last few months. this is a map of yemen and this red area is territory controlled by the houthis, this shaded bit is contested territory. this map shows you where the attacks on ships have been over recent months since mid—november. you can see most of them are in the red sea, but there are some down here in the gulf of aden as well. the key thing to know is that they haven't reduced in frequency, despite the us and uk attacks trying to reduce the military capabilities of the houthis, this is still

happening. and this final map here shows you exactly where the attack was yesterday. this is a clear escalation with the first deaths. this video, which we can play here, shows you the indian navy, sorry, it is an indian navy video which shows you the rescue of some of the crew of the true confidence. they were taken to djibouti in a rescue operation. but although this is the first deaths, it isn't the only serious incidents recently. i want to show you this picture here, which bbc verify got a couple of weeks ago, which is the ruby mara cargo ship is registered in the uk. it was hit last month by the houthis and sustained serious damage near its engine. we have been following it for the past couple of weeks and this image shows it listing, you can see it at the back here, it is starting to sink. but eventually it

sank altogether. this quite dramatic image from the us central command, if you look in on it, you can see the whole ship underwater. so... oh, i should say this is the first vessel to have completely sunk during these attacks. so four months into the houthi attacks on ships, they are still having a significant impact. it was this thinking and the deaths on this ship as well, it could mean even more vessels are avoiding the regional together, which would mean more delays to staff getting to europe. and higher prices as well. thanks to nick for that. we are going to head to ukraine now. russian forces advancing in the east. in donestsk russian forces took avdiivka. now other villages too. our ukraine correspondentjames waterhouse has been to see people

who live close to the frontline. eastern ukraine is being eroded. russian forces are approaching, taking village after village. and for the people living here, death or occupation feels imminent. valeriy and his grandson denys have taken up the offer of evacuation. their home in toretsk is in russia's sights. here, it's making its size and ammunition reserves count. ukrainian forces are going backwards. and with valeriy�*s town now constantly shelled, it's time to go. translation: i lived my life already. - but i need to save the little one. police take them to kostyantynivka, a place of relative safety — but increasingly less so. the city is used to being close to the battlefield, but its risk of being captured is growing. when ukraine liberated territory more than a year ago, there was hope. but the tide hasn'tjust changed —

it's approaching. now there is fear that cities like kostyantynivka will be gradually destroyed and its people will be forced to flee. this is what russia does when it tries to take ukrainian territory, and this is what moscow still calls liberation. for tetyana and her daughter, mariya — maybe notjesse the dog — strikes on the city leave them with a difficult choice. translation: we are tired all day. we have bad moods and panic attacks, constant depression. it's scary to go outside. so are you both going to leave? translation: i've already left twice. l what's the point? it's scary everywhere, everywhere. the whole country is on fire. while tetyana is staying, mariya is already sending her belongings west.

today, it's the tv — taking the route she and her son eventually will. translation: i hope she will follow. my mum only has us and we only have her. in nearby kramatorsk train station, the faint sounds of artillery provide a sobering reception, as well as a reason to leave. for all of the geopolitics, the donetsk region is at the coalface of russia's invasion — and its people are feeling it more than ever. translation: a year ago, we still hoped we would . receive help from the west and that the counter—offensive would work. not any more. people used to believe, but not any more. ukraine hopes its east will once again be somewhere safe to live. but right now it's not clear what people will be returning to. james waterhouse, bbc news,

the donetsk region. i'm going to take you to israel now. these are live pictures coming in. we are seeing an officer's graduation ceremony in southern israel being attended by prime minister benjamin netanyahu, not currently in the minister benjamin netanyahu, not currently in the picture. minister benjamin netanyahu, not currently in the picture. but minister benjamin netanyahu, not currently in the picture. but we have heard trusting lines from him, so the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, saying that israel's military will continue to operate against hamas in all of the gaza strip, including in rafah, hamas's final stronghold. so what we are watching here is minister of defence of israel, yoav gallant, speaking at this graduation ceremony, but we are getting a different line from a different source here from afp, saying, quoting the us ambassador to

israel, saying that gaza talks have not broken down. gaps are narrowing, said the us ambassador to israel. so we are keeping across these lines coming out of israel does not stay with us, this is bbc news. —— stay with us, this is bbc news. —— stay with us. hello. this afternoon's whether looking hello. this afternoon's weather is looking dry for the bulk of the country. cloud will vary a lot though, from place to place. we have seen some mist and low cloud loiter across parts of the midlands, like here in shropshire. the best of the sunshine generally today is once again across western areas, although there are a few breaks in the cloud across the south, as well. sunny skies, then, across parts of highlands of scotland today. a lovely picture from the nairn area sent by weatherwatcher rothesay. thanks for that. there's a vanishingly small chance of catching a shower today across parts of england, and wales, for the vast majority of the country, just stays dry. keeping a lot of cloud, though, across eastern areas of scotland, eastern areas of england,

with still some mist patches loitering throughout the afternoon in to parts of coastal aberdeenshire overnight tonight. overnight tonight that feed of cloud will continue to affect the north sea coast of england and scotland, probably a few clearer spells for a time across the south, a few patches of rural frost are possible, but otherwise temperatures generally a degree or so less cold than it was last night. on into friday's forecast, low pressure to the south—west, high pressure to the north—east, the pressure gradient, the isobars squeezing together a bit more closely. and so, it's going to be a windier day. it's the isobars and the pressure gradient that make the winds blow in the first place. the strongest winds will be up and to the west of high ground. the uk's only named wind, the helm wind, will be blowing across fell and into cumbria, gusts could reach around 40 or maybe 50 miles an hour, up into the west of high ground. so it will be quite a blustery kind of day and that wind will make it

feel a little bit cooler. on into the weekend, the low pressure to our south still influencing our weather, still bringing the threat of some patches of rain. probably the greatest threat will be across parts of wales, south—west england and northern ireland through the course of saturday. north—west scotland favoured for staying dry with some sunshine. eastern scotland will probably have quite frequent showers working into the hills, so it could turn out to be quite a wet day here. some bright or sunny spells coming through and temperatures for the most part around about average for the time of year. on into sunday's forecast, again, there is the threat of seeing some rain at times, but it won't be raining all day. the rain is likely to be patchy in nature, the best of any sunshine again, probably towards the north probably towards the north—west of scotland. that's the forecast for now.

stuck on hold — the european central bank keeps the cost of borrowing at a record high. lufthansa hit by strike action, as it reports a big jump in profits. welcome to world business report. could there be a glimmer of hope that interest rates in the eurozone may be on the way down sooner rather than later? as expected, the central bankjust

announced its keeping just at a record high of 4%. but it also stressed that inflation is on the way down and could be lower than expected this year. for more on this, joining me now is jackie bowie — head of europe at chatham financial. jackie, thank you forjoining us. how encouraging is this news about inflation? we how encouraging is this news about inflation? ~ ., , ,., how encouraging is this news about inflation? ~ ., , , , inflation? we have seen some pretty ositive inflation? we have seen some pretty positive news — inflation? we have seen some pretty positive news on _ inflation? we have seen some pretty positive news on the _ inflation? we have seen some pretty positive news on the inflation - inflation? we have seen some pretty positive news on the inflation story l positive news on the inflation story for most of this year. interesting that the central bank is still exerting just a little bit of caution, particularly around the wage growth data, so one look at the headline inflation rate, it is moving in the right direction but the central bank is still holding out on what will happen to wage growth and domestic inflation. the market is definitely still expecting

a cut to