eu. theresa may said she outside the eu. theresa may said she still had an open mind over how we deal with customs and trade over the borders. so there is a lot still to be decided and argued over over a process that will take years, not months. but the bold, brush strokes we re months. but the bold, brush strokes were there, explicitly for the first time. and it is a reminder to those who see theresa may as being caution and mistake that for being meek. but the real rub is whether or not she is being hopelessly optimistic. is this all a delusion, or is she being clear ahead of a complicated dip low mattedic dance —— diplomatic dance. but that will be a process of negotiation with 27 other countries. we are outnumbered in the negotiations and there is scepticism around the continent over whether what she has promised is remotely

achievable and it is a process of negotiation, slow negotiation, that will come to thatjudgmentment and david cameron was forced to go after a european negotiation that went wrong for him. not long ago he quit just on that spot there. although so much has happened since then, it is only about six months ago, the memory of that somehow hangs heavy in this street tonight. thank you. let's turn some of the day's other news. the annual rate of inflation — measured by the consumer prices index — rose more than expected in december to its highest level for two—and—a—half years. it rose to 1.6% last month — driven in part by the fall in the value of sterling after the brexit vote, as well a rise in air fares and food prices. our economics correspondent andrew verity has been looking at the figures. this haulier based near heathrow airport is facing sharply higher costs. fuel had been falling in price,

but on today's inflation numbers it is up by 10%. the company can absorb that cost but not forever. if the cost of the fuel starts to bite, eventually we will have to put a fuel surcharge in like everybody else in this industry once we go past a certain level, because we cannot afford to keep those costs in house. the effect of the weaker pound is most obvious up the supply chain, where raw materials, most of them imported, are up by 15.8% year on year. so far producers haven't been passing most of that on, with prices at the factory gate up 2.7%. only now is that starting to feed through to shop prices, up 1.6%. think inflation moves up much further from the 1.6% we have seen today, above 3%. today, the weak pound started to hit smart phone users where it really hurts — in the apps. apple announced it was raising

the cost of apps costing 79 pence to 99 pence. that is a 25% rise. from apple's point of view, what money it makes here in pounds has to be translated back into dollars and right now that means it is getting fewer dollars than it did, so it has to raise prices to make up. food prices are still lower than they were a year ago and competition between retailers is preventing them from raising the prices of most goods. but the upward pressure on costs is likely do build. expect higher inflation in the months to come. andy verity, bbc news. a brief look at some of the day's other other news stories. president obama has commuted the sentence of chelsea manning, who was found guilty of leaking us army documents and is serving a 35—year prison sentence. the white house says chelsea manning — who served as a soldier in iraq and was formerly known as bradley manning — will be released in may. the supreme court has cleared the way for a libyan man

to take legal action against the government, following his kidnap in 200a. abdel—hakim belhaj says mi6 provided information that enabled the us to abduct him and his wife in asia and their rendition to tripoli. mr belhaj intends to sue the former foreign secretary, jack straw, who was responsible for mi6 at the time. he denies any involvement. concerns about security at a tunisian resort where 30 britons were killed by an islamist gunman were raised months before the attack took place. the inquest has heard that a report in january 2015 for the uk government suggested there was a low standard of protection at some hotel entrances in the area of sousse. president putin has dismissed allegations that russia had gathered compromising material on us president—elect donald trump as ‘total nonsense'. the russian president said the leaked information, which appeared last week in the us media, was obviously fake. one of donald trump's closest

advisers has told the bbc that the united states would win any trade war with china. anthony scaramucci has warned that retaliation over tariffs will hurt china more than the us. china's president spoke today about the benefits of globalisation, saying protectionism was ‘like locking oneself in a dark room'. the speech was delivered at the world economic forum in davos. our economics editor kamal ahmed is there. with those remarks, do you think the prospect comes closer of some kind of trade war between china and the united states? well, the president of china made it clear he didn't wa nt of china made it clear he didn't want a trade war and didn't believe anyone would win if there was a trade war between china and america. it is minus 17 degrees here in davos tonight and it looks like the

us/chinese relationship is about as chilly as that. we had a remarkable through the looking glass moment today, the leader of the largest communist party in the world coming to the home of capitalism, the world economic forum, extolling the virtues of free trade as donald trump said he wants to rip up free trade. the china president is playing a clever game, as america turns inward he think hs deextend the influence of china —— he can extend the influence of china. he said he didn't want a trade war, but his tough words today felt like he might be preparing for one. thank you. sir simon rattle — the new music director of the london symphony orchestra — says he'll start his first

season in september with a 10—day celebration, including an all—british line—up of composers for the opening concert. sir simon — who is currently the artistic director of the berlin philharmonic — has been speaking to our arts editor will gompertz. the london symphony orchestra in rehearsal of of a new work by the british composer, mark anthony turnage, with simon rattle — soon to be their new boss — taking them through their paces. good to be back? lovely. he is taking on a heavy workload. for the next year he will continue in his role at the berlin philharmonic, while also being music director of the ls0 and the front man of the fund—raising campaign for a new concert hall for london. how important is it to you that concert hall gets built? it was one of the things i first asked the orchestra about when they came to talk to me. we all know this is an if, not necessarily a when.

it will mean if it happens an enormous amount of fund—raising. he's described the orchestra's current home at the barbican centre at merely serviceable and said that that 20% of the the lso's potential repertoire can't be performed there. for all the strengths of the barbican, that also there are many limitations. limitations of size among other things. but also of sight lines of theatrical possibilities. simon rattle made his name with the city of birmingham symphony orchestra, now under the direction of mirga grazinyt —tyla, who is operating under severe financial constraints. one of your great loves has been cut quite hard. no, i mean it's, this is a terrible thing. at the time where the orchestra is on such a high, they

have appointed mirga, who is a simply wonderful conductor, another very charismatic personality. at what point do these sort of cuts start to have a real effect on the the orchestra to perform. now! absolutely now! he says he will do his best to help — adding another job to a lengthening to do list for his return to britain in september. will gompertz, bbc news. newsnight is coming up on bbc two. here on bbc one it's time for the news where you are. good evening. these are the headlines this evening. ipswich are stunned as non—league lincoln knock them out of the fa cup. sutton will also be flying the non—league flag in round four after beating ten—man afc wimbledon. wales

make alan win jones beating ten—man afc wimbledon. wales make alan winjones their captain.