this is bbc news. the headlines. trouble at the white house as president trump's national security advisor michael flynn resigns. president trump now faces questions about how much he knew and when. we'll have the latest. also this hour. a bump in the price of fuel pushes inflation to its highest rate for two—and—a—half years to 1.8%. rolls—royce posts a record loss of £45 billion, a bribery settlement and the fall in the pound are being blamed. talks are under way that could see the car—maker vauxhall bought by the french company peugeot. vauxhall employs about 35,000 people in the uk. an investigation is under way at a topshop store where a ten—year—old boy was fatally injured. also coming up. the complaints of damp, leaks and damage in council homes.

the issue facing local authorities in england with £35 million paid out in compensation to people living in unfit accommodation. and back on track, it's full steam ahead for the first timetabled train service featuring a traditional locomotive. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. it's got to be some kind of record with donald trump facing his first scandal and a top—level resignation just 2a days after his inauguration. his national security adviser, michael flynn, has resigned over his contacts with russia. he's alleged to have discussed us sanctions with the russian ambassador before mr trump took office, then misled officials — including the vice—president —

about the conversation. the kremlin has refused to comment on the resignation saying it was an internal matter for the united states. in the last half an hour, president trump has given his reaction on twitter. and in the latest development, president trump will speak to theresa may in about 90 minutes at about ii.30pm this afternoon. it follows the two leaders meeting in washington last month. 0ur correspondent andy moore reports. just over three weeks into his presidency, and donald trump has already lost one of his closest advisers. this was mike flynn at the white house just before his resignation. a lonely figure on the front row of a press conference. then a cool handshake from vice president mike pence — the man he's been accused of misleading. it was flynn's close links with the kremlin that got him in trouble. here he is in 2015, at a dinner in moscow with president putin, but it's illegalfor a private

citizen to conduct us diplomacy. mr flynn denied he had spoken to the russian ambassador about sanctions before mr trump became president, and on that basis mr pence went on national television to defend him. i can confirm, having spoken to him about it, that those conversations that happened to occur around the time that the united states took action to expel diplomats, that they had nothing whatsoever to do with those sanctions. in his resignation letter, mr flynn said he had held numerous conversations with foreign counterparts. it went on, "because of the fast pace of events, i inadvertently briefed the vice—president elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the russian ambassador." those phone calls had been monitored by us security officials and some of the details have been leaked to the press. people that trump has disaffected

within the intelligence community, this is how they fight back. they leak material to the press and that compromises donald trump's ambitions around foreign policy. mr flynn's resignation came after a series of contradictory statements from the white house. yes, general flynn does enjoy the full confidence of the president... do you have full confidence in? but soon after the white house spokesman said the president was evaluating the situation. he is speaking to vice—president pence relative to the conversation the vice—president had with general flynn. since news of the resignation broke, the official reaction from the kremlin has been muted. president putin's spokesman said the affair had nothing to do with russia and was an internal matter for the trump administration. but the chairman of the foreign affairs committee

in the upper house said. mr flynn has now gone but questions persist for the president about his links with the kremlin. 0ur moscow correspondent steve rosenberg explained what the reaction has been from russia. this is quite extraordinary. today the resignation of an american national security advisor has got politicians here in moscow reacting furiously actually and jumping to michael flynn's defence. for example, at the upper house of the russian parliament one senator this morning tweeted that flynn was the victim of paranoia and a witch—hunt. the head of the russian parliament's foreign affairs committee posted a message saying either donald trump had been driven into a corner or his administration has been

permeated with russophobia from top to bottom. so the language is colourful and angry and it is because the russians had high hopes for flynn. they saw him as someone who championed closer ties with moscow and washington. he was known to moscow, he had attended a gala dinner here a couple of years ago and sat at the same table as vladimir putin. i detect not only disappointment in moscow but also a little embarrassment because as late as yesterday the kremlin was continuing to insist that before donald trump stepped into the white house there had been no discussions, no conversations between moscow and washington about sanctions. and today the kremlin‘s comment on all of this was no comment. dr max abrahms, is an assistant professor of political science at northeastern university, in boston, massachusetts, where hejoins me from now. why did it take so long, because there were questions raised in

january about this, president trump is saying that the real problem is the illegal leaks. is saying that the real problem is the illegal lea ks. essentially is saying that the real problem is the illegal leaks. essentially there was a real problem and has been for weeks. that's right. there does seem to be some sort of a lag where the administration, especially trump and pence were aware of these contacts and yet then only later, only quite recently has it been divulged through the american media that in fa ct through the american media that in fact the general was in touch with russia at high level, a russian ambassador and basically doing things arguably against the logan act by communicating with the russian government about matters of foreign policy and allegedly thereby undermining the 0bama administration. so it seems as if it was really the revelation to the media that the trump administration

knew which really forced trump's hand to try to address the problem. i read some comparisons with watergate t may be early for that sort of thing. in terms of the damage to donald trump, what does it say about him that three weeks into his presidency he has his first major scandal? sure, i mean, this has been a really rocky transition. iam speaking has been a really rocky transition. i am speaking to you from boston and it seems as if every weekend there are huge rallies going on outside, tens of thousands of people who are basically anti—trump, although they have a different sort of reason, whether it's a woman's march or against the immigration ban, you know, from those seven muslim majority countries. now at a very high level you have basically a guy being fired, technically he resigned

and there is a real sense of political instability in the united states, the likes of which i have really never seen before. you can understand the disappointment in the kremlin. yeah, absolutely. i mean, flynn was a very high level member of the administration whose most salient foreign policy view was that the us should try to broker some sort of rapprochement with russia manifested in all sorts of ways but especially in syria and in terms of us—russian co—operation, maybe with the assad regime against islamic state and other terrorist groups there. now that flynn is gone i do believe that rapprochement faces a real setback and this is why the kremlin is reacting against this move. furthermore, although we don't know

who the replacement to flynn will be, it's almost certain that it will be, it's almost certain that it will bea he, be, it's almost certain that it will be a he, and that he will not be, you know, so much in favour of working with russia and that's particularly true if general david petrais gets the nod. so i think that this story which has been covered, has been a bit gossipy, but in reality it could take the united states in a different direction quite substandtively in firms of fern policy especially with russia. here is president trump under pressure, valentines day, what does he do, he picks the phone to theresa may? yeah, that's interesting, that meeting on the phone is going to come up not too soon, it will be interesting what they have to say to each other. i don't personally see a connection between what's going on

in the national security council and that very important bilateral relationship but we will see. 0k. good of to you join us. and we'll have more on all of the latest developments from the trump white house tonight at 7.00pm in our programme 100 days with katty kay in washington and christian fraser in london. and that phone call with trump and theresa may bringing those two together. inflation has risen to its highest level since june 2014. the rate — as measured by the consumer price index — rose from 1.6 in december to 1.8. the office for national statistics says the increase was driven by higher global oil prices and the fall in the value of sterling. 0ur economics correspondent andy verity reports. prices may be up, but it is not yet the consumer who is being squeezed hardest.

it is the company that sells you the goods, and even more so the companies that produce them. following the devaluation caused by the brexit vote, this east london brewery is paying much more in pounds for the same raw materials imported from abroad. it has boosted prices by 5% but the costs have risen twice as fast. for all small businesses but equally so for us, we have auto—enrollment for the pensions coming in this year, a huge business rate increase this year, we're a london living wage employer so staff overheads are significant. we now have a weaker pound on top of that so our raw material prices are going up and up for raw materials imported, so it is a real crunch point for us. today's inflation rate is still below the bank of england target at 2% with prices rising 1.8% in the shops, but pressure is coming through the pipeline. prices at the factory gate are up

3.5% and producers not yet passing on the much higher cost of raw materials, up by more than a fifth. also driving prices up is a 17% rise in the cost of petrol and diesel. with that, come higher transport costs, but the government point out that inflation is still comfortably within the target range. i would remind you that the inflation figure announced this morning, 1.8%, is still below the bank of england's target. the bank of england monetary policy committee is seeking to manage inflation to maintain itself at or around 2%. when inflation is at this level, the economy should be working well. the economy is growing much more strongly than opponents of brexit predicted, and on financial markets in the city, the next move in interest rates is expected to be up. the market sees a real possibility rates may have to increase before the end of this year. very much a reflection of the fact that economic activity has been so strong coming into 2017, and the consumer has

held up relatively well. until recently, price rises for consumers were tamer than they had been since the 1960s. the price of fish, for example, is only back to where it was three years ago. so far, consumers have been shielded from higher costs, but inflation above the 2% target now looks inevitable. andy verity, bbc news. the car—maker vauxhall could be taken over by the french company, peugeot. the parent company of vauxhall — the american car giant general motors — is having merger talks with peugeot. the french compa ny‘s shares jumped 5% following the reports of discussions. rolls royce has posted one of the biggest corporate losses in history. the british aircraft engine manufacturer — which employs 23,000 people in the uk — lost £4.6 billion last year because of the instability of the pound, and penalties it had to pay uk and us authorities for bribery and corruption.

our business editor told us more. rolls—royce sells engines and crucially the service contracts get on those engines for 20 years at a time and usually in dollars. the company's big risk is that the dollar falls in value and those revenues when you translate them into starling dwindle. if the opposite happens, those insurance policies and the pound has fallen sharply against the dollar, the opposite happens and you have a big charge, on paper, which propells it towards a loss but this isn't cash they‘ re handing out. so look at the underlining earnings and they're not so bad, they're not great. profits have halved. they say old engines are being fazed out quicker and they've had real problems with north sea business and offshore oil. it looks horrendous, not as bad, the future looks a little brighter. our business editor simonjack there.

the headlines on bbc news: the kremlin is refusing to comment on the resignation of president trump's national security adviser. general michael flynn stepped down after it emerged he hadn't told the truth about his conversations with russian contacts. and inflation has risen to its highest level since june 2014. the rate — as measured by the consumer price index — reached 1.8% last month — up from 1.6% in december. a 10—year—old boy has died after suffering serious head injuries at the topshop store in reading. police described it as "an incident involving store furniture". in sport, manchester city's brazilian striker gabriel jesus has had a scan on his foot after picking up an injury in last night's win at bournemouth. there are unconfirmed reports he will be out for up to three months after landing awkwardly in that game and being replaced by sergio aguero. leicester tigers sign england fly—half george ford for next season after agreeing a deal to buy him out of a final year contract at bath with freddie burns moving in the opposite direction.

and, david willey has been ruled out of england's tour of the west indies with a shoulder injury, he's been replaced by steven finn. i'll be back with more at half past. police are investigating the death of a ten—year—old boy at a branch of top shop in reading. he suffered serious head injuries in an incident involving store furniture, and died later in hospital. the death is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious. this was the scene this morning at top shop, these picture show security guards outside. inside the lights were on but it wasn't clear if staff or investigators were there. it was yesterday afternoon police and ambulances were called to the centre after reports of a ten—year—old boy being injured. the police say the incident involved what they called shop furniture. the police aren't being more

specific when they say that the incident involved shop furniture. all they say is that the boy was taken to the royal berkshire hospital where he later died from serious head injuries. the reaction of local people who use the shopping centre was universally one of sadness. it's just horrible. just feel for his family, i really do. yeah, our thoughts go out to them. very sad. very, very sad for the mother, for the parents. i feel quite bad for the parents. my daughter's eight, so it would be — it's very sad, actually. in a statement reading borough council said, our thoughts are with the family during this difficult time. we are contacting all the parties involved in order to carry out our investigation into this tragic incident.

police say the boy's death is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious. and their inquiry into how a child could die in a shop involving shop furniture is continuing. steam power returned to the railways this morning for the first time in almost half a century. a timetabled steam train service will run between appleby in cumbria and skipton in north yorkshire for the next three days. 0n the platform waiting for that train is our correspondent. it's an exciting moment but i gather it is actually running late, danny? jane, it's a proper train so it's definitely running late, although it is imminent. it has been sighted from one of the overdrinks down here so we from one of the overdrinks down here so we will see it coming around the corner. the reason it is running

late so many people have wanted to get on these confirms. people pay normal fa reses get on these confirms. people pay normal fareses with discounts, as well, and that allows them to travel on the service between appleby down to skipton. about 450 people get on the service. there are 600 seats available throughout the week. tornado is a modern steam engine, it was built nine years ago in darlington. as a replica of a steam engine from decades ago. it is only nine years old. it has been running excursions in london over the weekend. it travelled north yesterday evening to begin the service this morning, the 8. 25am. you can just see service this morning, the 8. 25am. you canjust see it service this morning, the 8. 25am. you can just see it puffing around the corner behind me. sadly, no turntable at appleby further north, so turntable at appleby further north, so when it comes to skipton it has the unglamorous look of travelling

tenderfirst, it the unglamorous look of travelling tender first, it can only travel at about 40mph on the journey down towards skipton at the moment. but this is, when i was on the train today we went from here to skipton and back and there were hundreds, if not thousands, lining the route standing in the fields, parking cars by the railway line to wave and take pictures and just to take in the spectacle of this engine and the train. here it comes. just look at this, eight coaches,

all full, 500 people on this train altogether. the safety valve going off, but that's perfectly normal. all the steam has been let out of the engine. hello, let's have a word with this gentleman. you have been riding up and down all day. we are live on the news channel. tell us how special has it been to be on the service? really special! listen to that, i better get back on. talk to us that, i better get back on. talk to us out the window as you get on. yeah. built in darlington. what about the fa ct built in darlington. what about the fact you are a mountaineer and it's going through fantastic scenery, this is a service people should be using more? yeah, just come on it for the views. the views in yorkshire were fabulous this morning. brilliant. a few minutes

late away from appleby, mainly because lots of people wanted to get on? yeah and there's still a few seats left on it, as well. fantastic. try and get on it tomorrow. i have other work to do tomorrow. i have other work to do tomorrow in yorkshire. lovely, thank you, alan. 0ne lovely, thank you, alan. one of the passengers on the train here. it is trying to make up time. it is running a few minutes late. i will get out of the way. the steam enjoin is down there. it's off to skipton t will be back here in a few hours, backwards and forwards for the next three days with 6,000 seats available on this trip. most of the seats will be taken over the coming days as people travel on this train paying the normal fare you would pay ona paying the normal fare you would pay on a normal time—tabled service. simon andjane, on a normal time—tabled service. simon and jane, i will let it leave. back to you two. fantastic, danny, thank you very much. i think we will stay with this, because it's wonderful. so unusual to see this and look how many people turned out and everyone

filming it and photographing it. we will just pause filming it and photographing it. we willjust pause and enjoy this. we willjust pause and enjoy this. we will let it pull out of the station and disappear. that is the highlight of our day, isn't it? isn't that glorious?” keep expecting jenny agutter to appear! showing my age there. that's just delightful. fantastic. that's running for a couple more days, it will be even busier tomorrow after all the publicity. it is quite late, though. the half—brother of north korean leader kim jong—un has been killed in malaysia. the bbc understands that kim jong—nam, who was 45, is said to have been targeted at the airport in kuala lumpur, the capital. 0n the line from seoul in south korea is our correspondent kevin kim. are we any clearer as to what has happened here? the details are just

emerging and the details are scarce, but based on early reports an investigation could head towards deliberate attempt of poisoning. north korea is known to have tried this method before in assassinations, using poison—tipped darts, based on early unconfirmed reports kim jong—nam was darts, based on early unconfirmed reports kimjong—nam was rushed darts, based on early unconfirmed reports kim jong—nam was rushed to hospital but was already deceased, some people this could have been a deliberate attempt of assassination by the leadership in pyongyang. this man very nearly became leader of north korea, until something happened. yes, most north koreans themselves in the country don't know this, but the father of the current

leader had many wives and many children. ever since he died five yea rs children. ever since he died five years ago, his eldest son spent most of his time overseas, mostly in asia. many people this was not by choice, but from an enforced exile based on rivalry with his younger half—brother, the current leader of north korea. most observers believed the eldest was being considered as the eldest was being considered as the heir to the leadership. but circumstances changed when he was ca ptu red circumstances changed when he was captured in japan circumstances changed when he was captured injapan in 2001 travelling onafake captured injapan in 2001 travelling on a fake passport, apparently trying to visit disneyland. some wonder if kim jong—nam trying to visit disneyland. some wonder if kimjong—nam had ever been close to his brother. in interviews he was critical of him and questioned his legitimacy. the

current leader of the north has a record for ruthlessness. he is believed to have ordered the execution of his uncle who died in 2012. thank you very much. that's the latest there from south korea. rising damp, holes in the front door and water coming through the roof — just a few of the problems that an investigation by bbc yorkshire has found in some social housing in england. councils have paid out more than £35 million in compensation and legal fees over the last five years. anna crossley reports. it's completely mouldy and the wall underneath is completely wet. and even our shoes are mouldy as well. as you can see here, it's horrible. katrina pays leeds city council around £270 a month to live in a flat which is riddled with mould. although she hasn't taken the council to court, hundreds of other tenants have. like ewan's mum, anne. she says he and his brother sound like this all the time,

even though they don't have colds. she claims it is because their rented house in leeds is so damp. social housing in leeds has such a bad reputation that claims management companies are now targeting the city, encouraging tenants to take the council to court. these firms identify properties which are in a poor state of repair, and then, for a finder‘s fee, pass on the tenant's details to a solicitor, who takes on the case. in a statement, leeds city council said. at a time when services are being cut, many will question why councils are spending millions

on compensation instead of fixing the problems in the first place. anna crossley, bbc news. we have had our best half hour, that stea m we have had our best half hour, that steam train has cheered everyone up. let's come back to earth and darren has the weather forecast. we should see a bit of love over the next few days never mind about today because the weather is not looking too bad. we're seeing temperatures on the rise. all that colder air is getting shunted out of the way, but there will be a lot of cloud around and it won't be completely dry and today we have seen this cloud coming up today we have seen this cloud coming up from the south—west producing showery bursts of rain. some clearer skies for a while overnight, but the push will its way northwards and

eastwards. behind it the gap in the cloud will fill in with low cloud and mistand hill cloud will fill in with low cloud and mist and hill fog ahead of another band of rain in the south—west later. so with all this cloud around, it should be a milder night than it was last night except in northern scotland where we'll have clearer skies and a touch of frost. a grey start and a gloomy start tomorrow. there may not be a lot of sunshine. we will see showery bursts of rain pushing their way eastwards a cross bursts of rain pushing their way eastwards across the uk. at times this rain could be heavy. the best of the sunshine coming in behind that later across wales and the south—west, but even with a lot of cloud and the threat of rain, temperatures widely into double figures and it should feel a bit warmer, notjust figures and it should feel a bit warmer, not just today, figures and it should feel a bit warmer, notjust today, but than the last week or so. bye for now. hello. this is bbc news with simon mccoy and jane hill. president trump's national security adviser, michael flynn, has resigned after misleading

the vice—president about the extent of his contacts with russian leaders. inflation has risen to 1.8% — its highest rate in two and half years. the rising cost of fuel and food, coupled with a fall in the value of the pound, has contributed to the increase. rolls—royce has reported a loss of £4.5 billion — the worst in its history. a bribery settlement and the fall in the pound are to blame. talks are underway that could see the car maker vauxhall bought by the french company, peugeot. vauxhall employs about 35,000 people in the uk. the half—brother of the north korean brother has been killed. a source confirmed poison was involved in his death. a ten—year—old boy has died after suffering serious head injuries at the high street store, topshop, in reading. police say the boy died after an incident involving store furniture.

we will talk more about michael flynn later. now, it is time for the sport. here is will perry. manchester city have confirmed the news that their striker gabrieljesus suffered a fractured metatarsal during last night's 2—0 win at bournemouth. the brazil international was replaced after after 15 minutes and will have further examinations in the coming days to establish the extent of his lay—off. it's a blow for city who are eight points behind the league leaders chelsea and still involved in the champions league and fa cup. jesus cost manchester city £27 million from palmeiras and he's been in blistering form since making his debut injanuary. the brazil international has been amongst the goals, three in just five appearences so far as we await news on that injury.

jesus has kept sergio aguero out of the team recently but city boss pep guardiola says he fully appreciates the argentine's talent. we know how important he is. i did it yesterday, the day before and the last week and the last month. he is an important player. in the last game he didn't play because the three guys in front were amazing. now the cap cup is next week and the premier league is still there to fight to qualify for the champions league next season will be a tough battle for everybody. so that's why, that's why, of course, we need to concentrate. leicester tigers have re—signed england fly—half george ford for next season with freddie burns moving in the opposite direction as part of the deal. leicester agreed a deal to buy ford out of the final year of his contact at bath. he came through the tigers‘ academy before moving to the rec in 2013. his return to welford road means he'll play alongside england scrum—half, ben youngs. it was about this financial

agreement between leicester and bath and bruce craig the bath owner being able to let ford go. 0nce and bruce craig the bath owner being able to let ford go. once the terms we re able to let ford go. once the terms were agreed ford was always likely to opt for leicester. a return to the club where he came through the ra nks the club where he came through the ranks and that issue about playing with his english scrum—half, ben youngs week in and week out. a highly significant move for leicester and one of the biggest clu b leicester and one of the biggest club rune moves we have seen in recent memory. david willey has been ruled out of england's forthcoming tour of the west indies, the yorkshire all—rounder will be replaced by steven finn of middlesex. willey‘s had surgery to repair a torn shoulder tendon and he'll be out of action until april. england play three one—day internationals against the west indies in march, two in antigua and one in barbados. the windies then tour england in the summer. to tennis and great britain have been drawn away to romania in their fed cup play—off in april.

johanna konta and heather watson won the deciding doubles rubber as gb beat croatia last weekend and that secured their place. the romanian team may include world number four, simona halep. if anne keothavong's team win that tie they'll be promoted to world group 2 for the first time since 1993. ronnie 0'sullivan's title defence at the welsh 0pen has started well. he's beaten tom ford by 4—1. ford took the first, but that was all as 0'sullivan won the remaining four to win the match. 0'sullivain wasn't at his best but did make one century break on his way to the second round. coverage from cardiff continues on bbc two wales and the red button. banned cyclist lance armstrong has lost his bid to block a £79 million

lawsuit by the us government. it's alleged armstrong defrauded the government by doping while riding for the publicly funded us postal service team. he was stripped of his seven tour de france titles and banned for life in august 2012. it now clears the way for the case to go to trial. that's all sport for now. hgppy happy valentine's day. especially to you, simon! thank you very much, will. it has made my hour. a lot of love. a lot of love for you, simon. yes, stop! don't encourage him, will! more sport coming up in the next hour with someone else! the white house has said that president trump is to speak with theresa may later today. that comes as we have spent the day talking about the fact that the national security advisor michael flynn has resigned because of his

contacts last year with the russian ambassador. general flynn discussed sanctions were donald trump was sworn into office and he is accused of misleading white house officials about those conversations and what was said. we will be discussing that with a couple of guests in the states shortly. let's hear from the house speaker, paul ryan. he has been giving a news conference in the last few minutes really and inevitably he answered some questions about the resignation of michael flynn. national security is perhaps the most important function or responsibility a president has and i think the president made the right decision to ask for his resignation. you cannot have a national security advisor misleading the vice—president and others so i think the president was right to ask for his resignation and i believe it was the right thing to do. let's speak about russia for a second. i've

a lwa ys about russia for a second. i've always been a russia sceptic. new administrations these days try to get better relations with russia. the bush administration tried to get better relations and hillary clinton and the 0bama administration did the reset. it is reasonable and rational to try and improve relations with russia. but i'll leave it up to the administration to describe the circumstances surrounding what brought this point. the key is this — that as soon as this person lost the president's trust, the president asked for his resignation and that was the right thing to do. well, that was paul ryan talking to washington in the last few minutes. with me to discuss what impact michael flynn's resignation might have on the trump presidency. i'm joined by republican strategist, taylor griffin who worked in the white house under president george w bush. hejoins me on webcam from new bern in north carolina. gentlemen, welcome. niall stannidge.

painta gentlemen, welcome. niall stannidge. paint a picture of washington this morning where you are, what analysts are saying, what commentators are saying about everything that has gone onjust a saying about everything that has gone on just a few weeks after donald trump was sworn in? well, it is clearly a very dramatic moment, jane. i mean this is a huge story here for obvious reasons, but it is also a story that i think has led to the first sense of real crisis around the trump administration. i mine clearly there have been other controversial moments, but here it has the air of a sort of old school washington scandal in a way. mr flynn did appear to mislead the vice—president. he did now admit to talking about sanctions to russia's ambassador to the united states and i think even among people who are not adamant opponents of president trump, there is this question of

whether this is sort of a thread that might be pulled upon and begin to fray further or whether this is the beginning and end of the matter. david griffin, you worked for a republican administration. how great is your concern that more will unravel here? that actually perhaps an awful lot of people knew more than we currently understand? well, it's hard to tell, but there have beena it's hard to tell, but there have been a lot of questions starting with the hacking of the democratic committee starting are russia's role in the us election. you had president trump's then campaign advisor resign over russia questions and now you have michael flynn. with these people out of the picture, those are the people who it was rumoured were working closely with russia. so maybe it wasjust them and maybe there is not anything more to this. but i think it is something that con angela merkels, that

congress should be concerned and that congress should be looking into and the president should be transparent about and i think flynn's resignation was the right decision and i think everyone thanks him for his service, but this is something that had to be dealt with and i'm glad that president trump dealt with it decisively. there was disquiet about the suggestion that he should have the job in the first place. will it prove to be a poor appointment on donald trump's part? maybe. michael flynn is someone who isa maybe. michael flynn is someone who is a brilliant defence intelligence a nalyst, is a brilliant defence intelligence analyst, but also someone who is known as a bull in a china shop. he has that in common with his boss, donald trump, who is a brilliant real estate developer and businessman, but also a bull in a china shop and this is showing the challenges of running an insurgent white house like they've tried to do andl white house like they've tried to do and i think that sort of instaiblegt is coming along with it. there is a bunch of people, many of whom have

never worked in the white house, are trying to find their way around. niall we hearfrom trying to find their way around. niall we hear from where we are that the white house has warned of some of what was going on and was told that flynn might be vulnerable to russian blackmail. how much are you hearing about that? that's an intriguing aspect of this story and to explain that to your viewers, the idea is that russia would know what was discussed in this phone call with the ambassador. sanctions were a p pa re ntly with the ambassador. sanctions were apparently discussed. mike flynn had denied that they were discussed. therefore, the russians would have that point of leverage over him. that was the theory. that was a p pa re ntly that was the theory. that was apparently brought to the trump administration's attention sometime ago. i believe last month. so the question as to what happened with that information, i believe that was given to the white house council. how that information was dealt with, what action was taken there, is one

of the many unanswered questions which will now be pursued and it is this pursuance of those questions that might give this crisis some legs as we say. and taylor griffin, you're giving us the impression that trump has acted quickly. but are you picking up on within the republic party about this? we know about the divisions. what are you hearing about any anxieties about this? well, i think we just heard one of the major concerns and that is the acting attorney—general brought this to the white house council a month ago and so the question that a lot of people are going to have is what did trump know and when did he know it? what issues does that raise about a decision to keep someone in

that very sensitive position if they we re that very sensitive position if they were potentially compromised and as that information comes out, i think we will have a better idea about how concerned people will be, but i think people have been concerned about russia for a while. people have been concerned about flynn and russia for a while. this wasn't a big surprise to me today and i don't think it was a surprise to a lot of people because the amount of communications going back and forth between the russian ambassador and michael flynn was really known for sometime. so now i think people will have to see whether, you know, the president knew about this or whether flynn was freelancing and that's going to be the big question and that will decide how big a scandal or not a scandal this will be. yes. that's an interesting and vital point, of course. a quick thought as well about who might get the job whether any damage can be repaired by selecting the right person next time. well, i think that the people

that trump is considering are all very strong candidates. keith kellogg is the acting national security advisor. he is a former army lieutenant general. general david petraeus is in the running, but the frontrunner seems to be robert hardward. he was the deputy chief of us central command. very well respected. these are all good candidates. i think any of these would make anyone happy. a quick thought, niaall, what is it you're looking out for in the days and weeks? well, i think the key question is who else in the administration or in the trump orbit knew about the contacts with russia? how much was mike flynn acting on other people's encouragement if not explicit order? those are the key questions here at this point i think. indeed and we will be talking

about them again, i'm quite sure. gentlemen, thank you. paul nutle admitted claims he lost a close personal friend in paul nutle admitted claims he lost a close personalfriend in the hillsborough disaster as false. he was asked about the claims during an interview in liverpool. chris mason is in westminster. all of this before a crucial by—election? is in westminster. all of this before a crucial by-election? the by—election a week on thursday. paul nutle the ukip leader faced awkward headlines in the last couple of days. a piece in the guardian which cast doubt on whether or not he was at hillsborough on the day of the crush there. something that he has been very angry about those headlines. he says he was there and headlines. he says he was there and he feels that the coverage in the guardian was a smear against him which left him angry. it was in that context that he went to the — he is

from liverpool — he was giving a radio on a commercial radio station in the city about this and at that point in the interview, after they talked about the guardian, he was presented with a print—out from his own website in which he is quoted as saying whilst reflecting on the process of the hillsborough inquiry that he had lost close personal friends in that tragedy. here is the exchange between mr nutle and the radio presenter. the presenter was at hillsborough himself that day. radio presenter. the presenter was at hillsborough himself that daym affects me every day and i didn't lose anybody. you say you lost a close personal friend. it's on your website. i lost someone who i know. i don't know who has written... january 2012, " lost close personal friends." it january 2012, " lost close personal friends. " it is january 2012, " lost close personal friends." it is on your web page. that's not from me, i'm sorry. it's on your own website, paul. that's

absolutely — no, i'm sorry. i haven't lost anyone who is a close personal friend. there is people that i knew through football and things like that. i went to your website last night and searched for hillsborough and it is paul nutle mep.com. that's your website. i'm sorry about that, but that's something which i haven't... well, i haven't put that out. and that's wrong. do you see where this goes with you being a politician and people will find these things and whether you believe that or not...” wa nt whether you believe that or not...” want to make it perfectly clear. i was there on that day i have got witnesses and people who will stand up witnesses and people who will stand up in court and back me 100%, ok? you know, it's cruel and it's nasty and it is making out as if me family are lying as well. it isjust not fairor are lying as well. it isjust not fair or right.

i have been trying to get hold of paul nutle to see if he might want to elaborate on what he has been saying in that interview and his telephone was turned off. this follows claims he doesn't live in the house that he has registered for his can dancy either? yes, there was this row a couple of weeks ago following reports on channel 4 news that on his paperwork, running as the candidate for ukip in stoke—on—trent he put down a particular address which he acknowledged at the time he hadn't actually been to. now, his defence when presented with the facts was that he had registered this property as somewhere he was going to rent and that that had been cleared before he put in his nomination papers in which he put that address down. he said the fact that he hadn't actually moved in at that time didn't matter. that though led to some pretty awkward questioning and now some more on this. thank you very much, chris mason.

in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first the headlines on bbc news: the kremlin is refusing to comment on the resignation of president trump's security advisor. inflation has risen to its highest level since june 2014. and a ten—year—old boy has died after suffering serious head injuries in the topshop store in reading of the police described it as an incident involving shop furniture. the chairman of toe sheba has resigned. the company delayed

issuing its results but said it was set to report a net loss of £2.76 billion in a year to march 2017. psa says it is considering taking over 0pel from general motors. losses at rolls—royce as well. its shares fell nearly 5% on early trading after it posted a record loss of £4.6 billion for 2016. rolls—royce agreed to pay £671 million to settle corruption cases with uk and us authorities and has written down £4.1 billion losses from currency related contracts. the head of theresa may's inquiry into the way millions of people work has said there is evidence businesses are using self—employment laws to avoid tax. matthew taylor told the bbc that he wanted to see a new standard of "fair and decent" work which the public and private sector could sign up to. 0ur economics editor kamal ahmed reports. they are the poster children

of the new economy. the companies that drive us where we want to go or deliver our food. some are more controversial. zero—hours contracts attacked for exploiting workers who have little job security. i think if we strengthen the voice of employees, that would go a long way... matthew taylor has been tasked by the prime minister to come up with a plan for the new world of work. he says that the amount of tax raised by the government has fallen because of the rise in self—employment. it's clear that to a certain extent what's actually going on is that people are creating forms of work for themselves, or businesses are creating forms of work, to try to avoid tax. now, i think what should drive businesses is efficiency, productivity, innovation. not trying to evade taxes. so if we can make the system one where those incentives are slightly less strong, then i think that would be an improvement. a new study by the union says the government could be losing up to £4 billion a year in lower tax payments. that is made up of £2.1 billion lost from the rise in the self—employed, who pay less tax.

and then there is the £1.9 billion lost from those on zero—hours contracts, who tend to be lower paid. people are facing a triple whammy. workers are losing out on basic rights, the taxpayer is losing out on funding for the exchequer, to fund our schools and hospitals. but, of course, the taxpayer is also having to fund a higher in—work benefits bill, because very often the self—employment, zero hours work is so low paid. theresa may has pledged not only to protect the rights of people often with multiple jobs, but to enhance them. when matthew taylor's report comes out in the summer, expect new rights to decent employment and a duty put on businesses to treat people fairly. the chancellor has already said he is looking at expect changes. as the oldwofld of how much we are taxed tries to catch up with the new world of work.

tui, the german travel company that owns thompson has seen a revival of business thanks to better bookings for its uk and irish holidays. it has also cut its losses for the last three months from £138 million a year ago to £82 million. john barton is to step down from his role as chairman of retail giant next. he'll be replaced by michael roney, formerly of outsourcing company bunzl. next said it has been facing a huge amounts of uncertainty at the moment because of higher costs from the weak pound, customer not spending as much and the lack of clarity from the government over brexit. disney has cut ties with the largest highest paid youtube star pewdiepie because of allegations of anti—semitism. he's been associated with disney through maker studios, a company with a network of youtube stars, drawing several billions of views per month — generating vast income from advertising.

the ftse is in negative territory at the moment. rolls—royce share price down 3% after the results this morning. well, that's it from me. i will be back with more business news in an hour's time. simon and jane. thank you very much. aberdeenshire council has apologised for planting dozens of trees in the middle of a football pitch! the trees appeared on the playing field at logie durno over the weekend, sparking confusion among residents. i one person wrote in asking, "are they playing tree aside?" was that you? no. a council spokesman said they had been planted to promote biodisversity. but a council spokesman said they were barking up the wrong tree. what they didn't say it was the four, three, three formation! john hammond is on the other side of the newsroom and will

bring us the weather. it could be 1st april with a story like that! things are getting milder. we have had 14 celsius in the isle of skye. by had 14 celsius in the isle of skye. by morning time, another batch of rain arriving across the far south—west. not a particularly cold night and certainly no real problems with frost, but there could be one or two problems with sharp bursts of rain across south—west england. the odd rumble of thunder mixed in. so the conditions on the roads could be not very nice across this area first thing and for your early morning rush hour. a murky start. there will be areas of mist and fog over the high ground, but hopefully nothing too dense or widespread. some patchy

rain pushing into northern ireland. most of scotland dry. there could be a touch of frost in northern highland glens for a time. limited brightness across the uk. some of the best of that will be across the north of scotland. this little batch of rain will push its way into central parts of england and wales and again, one or two heavy and thundery downpours possible. brightening up again behind. mild certainly compared with recent. double figures in many places. that little front pushes rain across the country overnight. most of the actionly thursday will be revolving around this area of high pressure. some blustery showers for western parts of scotland and northern ireland. further south, things quietening down with lighter winds and sunshine and again a nice feeling day with sunshine and temperatures around ten or 11 celsius on thursday. now, that low pressure zips away during the course of thursday night. we have a ridge of thursday night. we have a ridge of high pressure building in before more fronts arrive come the weekend,

but underneath that ridge of high pressure we could see fog patches on friday morning. watch out for those. they could linger into the day before things should brighten up during the course of the day on friday. so, i'm hopefulthat during the course of the day on friday. so, i'm hopeful that for many it will be a reasonable end to the week once that fog clears before more rain clouds gather out west. again, just to confirm, last weekend's cold spell becoming a distant memory. a much milder prospect for the days to come. the latest on the weather can be found on our bbc weather website. i will be back in half an hour. this is bbc news. the headlines at 4.00pm. trouble at the white house as president trump's national security advisor michael flynn resigns.

as soon as this person lost the president's trust, the president asked for his resignation, and that was the right thing to do. donald trump now faces questions about how much he knew and when. we'll have the latest. also this hour: a bump in the price of fuel pushes inflation to its highest rate for two and half years, to1.8% and talks are under way that could see the car—maker vauxhall bought by the french company, peugeot. vauxhall employs about 35,000 people in the uk. police in malaysia have confirmed that the half—brother of the north korean leader kimjong—un has died in kuala lumpur. reports suggest kim jong—nam may have been poisoned.