this is bbc news. the headlines at 8.00: donald trump's national security adviser mike flynn has resigned. it follows allegations he mislead colleagues over contact he had with russian diplomats. he was well within his duties to discuss issues of common concern between the two countries. what this came down to was a matter of trust. it's the first big resignation since mr trump came to power and senior republicans say it was the right move. as soon as this person lost the president's trust, the president asked for his resignation, and that was the right thing to do. inflation has reached its highest level for two—and—a—half years, largely due to rising fuel costs. the half—brother of north korean leader kimjong—un, has been killed in an attack in malaysia. the leader of ukip has been forced

to respond to claims he made regarding the hillsborough disaster. you said you lost a close personal friend, it is on your website. in a radio interview, he said it was wrong to say he lost close friends in the tragedy. full steam ahead on the settle to carlisle line. passengers will find an old—fashioned name on the timetable for the next few days. good evening and welcome to bbc news. the white house has said it was a matter of trust that led to the president asking for his national security adviser‘s resignation, only a matter of weeks after he was appointed. michael flynn quit overnight after it emerged that he'd misled the administration about the extent of his conversations with russia's ambassador in washington. tonight, sean spicer,

the white house spokesman, told reporters that mr trump was convinced that michael flynn hadn't done anything wrong. the president instinctively thought michael flynn did not do anything wrong. it is not ordinary for an incoming national security adviser to speak with his counterparts over theissues to speak with his counterparts over the issues of concern to them. he spoke to over 30 of his counterparts throughout the transition. he was perfectly reasonable to do so. the issue here was the president got to the point where general flynn's relationship was misleading or the possibility he had forgotten critical details of this important conversation had created a critical mass in an unsustainable situation. that is why the president asked for his resignation and he got it. john spicer said he had discussed

issues with a russian envoy. they were oh so close, politically inseparable, but after just three weeks of national security adviser, michael flynn has gone in a stunning fall from grace, after a day of chaos and confusion at the white house. the camera—loving president suddenly becoming camera shy when asked his future. do you have confidence in him? today, the republican leadership welcomed his departure. you cannot have a national security adviser misleading the president the vice president and others so i think the president was right to ask for his resignation and i believe it is the right thing to do. this all goes back to action taken over the christmas period by the former president barack 0bama

to impose sanctions over russia over its interference in the election. 0n the 29th of december, michael flynn speaks to the russian ambassador in a series of calls. 0n the 15th of january mike pence denies sanctions were discussed. what i can confirm having spoken to him about it, is that those conversations which happened to occur around the time that the united states took action to dispel diplomats have nothing whatsoever to do with those sanctions. but in late january the former acting attorney general warned the white house it might have been led by general flynn's account. no action was taken. 0n the 9th of february, the washington post revealed flynn did discuss sanctions and then the pressure group. did discuss sanctions and then the pressure grew. today, the white house was trying to draw a line under the affair. in the end, it was misleading the vice president that made the situation and sustainable. the situation unsustainable.

which the white house knew about last month and yet you went on the air and said general flynn had the complete and full confidence of the president. and general flynn decided he should resign last night and the president accept that resignation. please welcome to the stage general mike flynn! michael flynn was a spear carrier for donald trump during the election making hillary clinton's honesty a central part of the attacks. we do not need a wreckless president who believes that she is above the law. lock her up, that's right. yes, that's right, not corrupt! yes, that's right, lock her up! but now it is michael flynn who, on a question of trust, has been found wanting, and finds himself very much alone. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. and we'll find out how this story

and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:40 this evening in the papers. our guests joining me tonight are ruth lea, economic adviser at arbuthnot banking group and john rentoul, political columnist at the independent. higher oil prices and the fall in the value of the pound have pushed inflation to its highest level since june 2014. the rate rose to 1.8% last month. as our economics correspondent, andy verity reports, the cost of living is likely to rise further as companies pass on the higher cost of imports. prices may be up, but it's not yet the consumer who's being squeezed hardest, it's the company that sells you the goods and, even more so, the companies that produce them. this east london brewery has boosted prices by 5%, but its costs have

risen twice as fast. we've got auto enrolment for the pensions coming in this year. we've got huge business rate increase this year. our staff overheads are significant. and, on top of that, we've not got a weaker pound so our raw material, imported raw material price. is going up and up. so it's a real crunch point for us. in the shops, prices rose by i.8%, but further up the supply chain inflationary pressure is building. the price of goods leaving the factory, wholesale prices, are up by 3.5% and producers aren't yet passing on the much higher cost of raw materials, up by more than a fifth. well, i'd remind you that the inflation figure announced this morning, i.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%. so when inflation is at this level, the economy should be working well. it's worth remembering,

we've been through one of the tamest periods for inflation since the 1960s, the price of food overall is down 2% on two years ago. if you take vegetables, like potatoes, down by 4%. the key question is — with petrol prices rising by i7%, when will these prices start to go up again? so far, retailers are shrugging off higher transport costs and they're still selling us goods they bought last year at fixed lower prices. when that stock runs out, they'll be faced with an unpalatable choice — absorb the higher cost and watch their profits shrink or raise prices and accept the risk that customers walk away. andy verity, bbc news. let's get more on president trump's first high—profile resignation, of michael flynn overnight. let's speak to our correspondent

in washington, anthony zurcher. sean spicer gave a press conference a few moments ago where he said this was a matter of trust, this wasn't about any laws being broken. one suspects the democrats might have something different to say about that? the question as to whether laws are broken is hard. the law that governs something like this when private scissors and is are dealing with nations involved in a controversy with the us government, but lobbies back to 1789. on that issue, it is not illegal, more of a public relations nightmare and a matter of the national—security adviser misrepresenting what he said toa adviser misrepresenting what he said to a russian official. not only to the trump administration but in public as well. and donald trump

finding out about this towards the end of january, finding finding out about this towards the end ofjanuary, finding out michael flynn was not truthful, misled or was mistaken, whatever and then waited 17 days before firing general flynn. that seems to be the controversy right now. it is going to increase inspections in the donald trump's relationship with russia and his campaign's relationship with russia. the 17 day gap between the white house knowing what went on in that conversation and mr flynn's resignation, what is the explanation for that 17 day? john spicer said first of all they wa nted john spicer said first of all they wanted to make sure nothing illegal happened and then they wanted to give him due process to give him a full investigation. they said donald trump acted decisively. but 70 days isa trump acted decisively. but 70 days is a long time and throughout that time, michael flynn was putting iran on notice and counselling donald

trump on north korea missile launchers and sitting front and centre yesterday during the press conference with justin centre yesterday during the press conference withjustin trudeau. we are getting reports now but the fbi may have interviewed michael flynn well he was national security adviser on this matter. michael flynn was not totally truthful to the fbi as part of a formal investigation. that could be obstruction of justice investigation. that could be obstruction ofjustice and that could be illegal. that is a very interesting point drop in, thank you that. joining me now is scott lucas, professor of american politics at the university of birmingham. scott, good to see you. if this is true, which we havejust scott, good to see you. if this is true, which we have just heard, scott, good to see you. if this is true, which we havejust heard, the fbi actually interviewed michael flynn over this conversation he a p pa re ntly flynn over this conversation he apparently had with the russian ambassador and the suggestion is, he lied to the fbi, he is in big trouble? yes, that is obstruction of justice. and, if it became part of a

formal prosecution, you are risking perjury charges. it is trouble for the administration. when the attorney general warned trump that michael flynn had probably discussed this with the russian ambassador, there is one faction in the white house who are allied with michael flynn, so they fought for two weeks to keep him on board. but there was another faction to keep him on board. but there was anotherfaction in to keep him on board. but there was another faction in the white house led by the chief of staff who said, no, he has got to go. the fbi, deciding with the pragmatist, which is why this has now come out they had questioned michael flynn. a lot of people may be thinking this, maybe not democrats, but a lot of others, the logan act, because it dates from 1789, nobody has been prosecuted under it, where a private citizen is not allowed to conduct

diplomacy. but michael flynn lied? the logan act has been in play, they have been threatened under the logan act, even if they have not been prosecuted, over the last 20 years. but michael flynn might have been told by somebody else to have these conversations with the russian ambassador on the date president 0bama put new sanctions on russia. so if anybody in the white house knew of michael flynn discussing this, it goes wider. it is notjust democrats calling for an investigation, there are three republican senators who have said we wa nt republican senators who have said we want investigations into this matter. it not only raises what michael flynn said, but what trump officials have ties to russia. one wonders now how deep those ties

actually go? there are two enquiries that were already in play. 0ne about the russian hacking into the us presidential election last year, which appears to have benefited donald trump and his campaign and hurt hillary clinton. but secondly, there is now an investigation over there is now an investigation over the intelligence dossier which says trump may have been compromised by the russians over sexual and business issues. what about the fact a lot of this was leaked from the white house. the suggestion from what you have just been saying, it could be the right to is faction in the white house. but this is a very lea ky the white house. but this is a very leaky white house and sean spicer referred to that a few minutes ago. it is pragmatists within the white house, including staff on the

national security council. also agencies, the defence department and the state department don't like michael flynn and the intelligence agencies especially do not like him. the washington postjournalist who broke the story that the white house knew about this 17 days ago, the night suggested on bbc news that the discussion about sanctions between mr flynn and the envoy, was the main topic of conversation. the whole point of the conversation in the meeting, was to discuss sanctions. does that suggest to you that michael flynn was acting on his own, that he was nasty talk about sanctions? i think he was acting on behalf of other faction within the trump transition team. there were five conversations and the reason why the washington post reported no sanctions was the main item, because somebody recorded those

conversations, probably within the us intelligence community and has been leaking the transcripts to certain reporters. very interesting, thank you forjoining us. the half—brother of the north korean leader kimjong—un is reported to have been assassinated in malaysia. south korean media sources say kimjong nam was killed at kuala lumpur airport yesterday morning. he's thought to have left north korea after being passed over for the leadership of the country. here's our diplomatic correspondent, james robbins. it is a country where publicjoy is the test of loyalty. this is currently the man loyalists must venerate, kim jong un, latest to the kim dynasty who have ruled north korea since the 1950s, the world's oddest and most secretive stalinist nation. the family always seem to feel vulnerable, and any challenger tends to end up dead. does this explain the murder of the leader's half brother kim jong—nam, apparently poisoned as he went to board a flight at malaysia's main airport.

eye witnesses suggest ee was attacked with spray or needles. he died on the way to hospital. south korean sources accuse agents of the north. it is hard to know who would have had it in for kimjong—nam, other than his half brother the ruler of north korea, kim jong un. why? although kimjong—nam had been lying low for a while, not low enough it seems, he had gone off message badly before. he had said some stuff about not believing in hereditary succession. no nation is stranger than north korea, in the grip of the kim dynasty for almost 70 yeas now. the first to rule, installed by moscow was kim il sung. since his death, he's been called the eternal leader. his son kim jong il succeeded him “119911. then things got more complicated, who should be next? kim jong—nam, the eldest of his sons fell out of favour after being arrested, apparently trying to reach disneyland in japan.

he is the man believed to have been murdered. power instead went to kim jong un. north korea's obsession with regime survival also explains the country's pursuit of nuclear weapons. this week's missile test prompted public celebrations at home and condemnation around the world. the leadership apparently see the threat of nuclear attack as their ultimate most deadly deterrent against any attempt to bring them down. james robbins, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news: donald trump's national security adviser has resigned. it follows allegations he misled colleagues over contact with russia's ambassador. inflation has reached its highest level largely due to rising fuel costs. the half brother of the north korean

leader, kim jong—nam has the half brother of the north korean leader, kimjong—nam has been murdered in malaysia. now the sport. the champions league has resumed after a two—month break and the first two matches of the knockout stage are underway. psg are taking on a goalfor the hosts. angel di maria, on his birthday. what a goal it was. the other game is in lisbon as benfica host dortmund. no goals in that one so far. in the scottish cup, there are 250 round replays. air united are 1—0

up. dunfermline are 1—0 up at hamilton and the winners of that will be a way to rangers. manchester city have confirmed gabrielle jesus fractured his manchester city have confirmed gabriellejesus fractured his right metatarsal. reports suggest he might be out of action but metatarsal. reports suggest he might be o they|ction but- in metatarsal. reports suggest he might be o they |ction but- in the champions. f % league as well as the fa champions league as well as the fa cup. leicester tigers have re—signed george ford for next season with freddie burns moving in the opposite direction. lester agreed to buy ford out of the final year of his contract. his return to welford road amenity will play alongside ben youngs. it was about this financial agreement between leicester and bat. and the bath only been willing to

let george ford go with a year left of his 2. lester, "r" let george ford go with a year left came to is f" cametothe ”7 came to the ranks ~ 777" —~ the club where he came to the ranks and also the issue about playing with his england scrum—half, ben youngs, which is what he will do at welford road. but a highly significant move and one of the biggest moves we have seen in recent memory. david willey is ruled out of the england tour of the west indies. he will be replaced by steven finn. he will be replaced by steven finn. he has had surgery to repair a torn shoulder tendon. he has had surgery to repair a torn shouldertendon. england he has had surgery to repair a torn shoulder tendon. england play 31—day tests against the west indies in march. great britain have been drawn away the remaining in their federation cup in april. johanna konta and heather watson won their doubles. if the british side win, they will

be promoted to world group two for the first time since 1993. lance armstrong has lost his bid to block the us government's 79 million pound lawsuit against him. it is alleged he defrauded the government by taking performance—enhancing drugs. he was stripped of his titles and banned for life in 2012. the case is now clear to go to trial. ronnie 0'sullivan‘s title defence at the welsh open snooker has started well. he beat tom ford this afternoon. he didn't look at his best, but made one century underway to the second row. further coverage from cardiff on bbc two wales and the red button. that is just about it, barcelona

still 1—0 down in paris. manchester city not in champions league action until next week. ukip leader paul nuttall has admitted claims he lost a close personalfriend in the hillsborough disaster are false. he was asked about the comments published on his website during an interview on a radio station in liverpool. 0ur political correspondent chris mason is in westminsterfor us. it was an extraordinary and awkward interview of paul nuttall. the context is, there was an article in the guardian over the weekend, which cast doubt on paul nuttall‘s long—standing claim he was at hillsborough in 1989 on the day of the tragedy as a young boy, as a liverpool fan. he is deeply, deeply angry about the claim, that suggestion in the guardian and strongly argues that he absolutely was there. in that context, he was doing some interviews in liverpool

and went along to radio city tour, a commercial radio station in liverpool. his website was shown to him. ithink liverpool. his website was shown to him. i think we can show you a press release from his website. there were at least two along these lines, on which when he was commenting at various points over the last couple of years about the hillsborough disaster and the enquiry, you talked about the appalling tragedy when 96 liverpool fans were killed, including close, personalfriends of mine who lost their lives. he was asked about this by the dj, the presenter on radio city talk, who himself was at hillsborough on the day. it affects me every day and i didn't lose anybody that day. you said you lost a close personal friend, it is on your website.|j have not lost a close personal friend, i have lost someone i know.

it is on your website. it is on your owfi it is on your website. it is on your own website, paul. that is absolutely... i am sorry, own website, paul. that is absolutely... lam sorry, i have not lost anyone who was a close personal friend, it was people i knew. lost anyone who was a close personal friend, it was people i knewlj lost anyone who was a close personal friend, it was people i knew. i went through your website last night to search for hillsborough. it is paul nuttall mep. i am sorry, search for hillsborough. it is paul nuttallmep. i am sorry, but search for hillsborough. it is paul nuttall mep. i am sorry, but that is something of which i did not write. i have not put that out, it is wrong. do you see where this goes with the being a politician and people will find these things. whether you believe that or not...|j just want to make it perfectly clear, i was there on that day, i have witnesses and people who will stand up in court and back me 100%. it is cruel, it is nasty. it is

making out as if my family are lying as well, which is, it is not fair or right. in the last couple of minutes, a statement from paul nuttall reacting to both this particular incident over his website and also those claims in the guardian. he says as a 12—year—old boy, i travelled to sheffield that day, as did so many others to enjoy watching the team i loved to the lettings lane end of the hillsborough stadium. i watch the events of that day unfold with horror. and he said i was made aware ofan horror. and he said i was made aware of an article i wrote on my website. it is not an article i wrote and did not see it prior to being posted. i ta ke not see it prior to being posted. i take responsibility for those things put out under my name, but i was genuinely taken aback when this claim was brought to my attention where i am both appalled and sorry that an impression was given that was not accurate. never mind his

problems, the labour candidate is also in hot water as well? yet another entry in the things people wish they had never said. gareth sneu wish they had never said. gareth snell is labour's candidate in the same by—election in stoke—on—trent. he has had to apologise for a series of tweets that was seen by many to be grossly offensive, particularly targeting women. i won't read all of them are verbatim, this being a family broadcast. but he talked about the panellists on loose women, the itv show and said they were squabbling, sour faced ladies. the itv show and said they were squabbling, sourfaced ladies. he described janet street porter in terms will not repeat and talked about a blonde girl on the apprentice on bbc one and said she should go away. except that is not the language he used. he has said, these were clearly unacceptable and apologises the offence it has caused. they are two of the candidates in the stoke by—election

and the full list of all the candidates is on the bbc news website. chris mason, thank you for that. the father of a british soldier, lance corporal kirk redpath, who was killed in iraq in 2007 has criticised proposals by the government to scrap the legal duty of care to service personnel in combat. it means they'll no longer be able to sue the government for negligence. the ministry of defence says the new scheme "will mean more generous payments to anyone injured, or the families of those who are killed in combat." our legal correspondent clive coleman reports. how old was he when he first started playing the drums? he was about nine or ten. in 2007, colin redpath's son, lance corporal kirk redpath, a keen drummer in the irish guards, died when a roadside bomb exploded next to his lightly—armoured snatch land rover in iraq. colin fought a six—year legal battle against the ministry of defence, eventually winning the right at the supreme court to bring an action against the government

under human rights law. the mod's new proposals cover battle and the preparations for it. they include stopping legal claims for negligence against the mod in the courts, a no—fault compensation scheme for injured service personnel and families of those killed, assessors to value injuries and loss based on expert reports they commission. nobody disputes that it's a really good idea for service personnel injured in the course of combat, and the families of those who been killed, to be spared long and frustrating legal battles through the courts, but there are real concerns about the ministry of defence scrapping the duty of care that it owes to soldiers. the fire brigade, the police, the ambulance service, they all have to go out with equipment that works, and the right equipment. and that should be the same for a soldier. and lawyers worry that bypassing the courts creates unfairness.

you've suffered injury, you think that the lawyer, you think that the employer, the organisation, the mod, is at fault, and yet you are asked to rely upon the mod to assess the compensation that it should pay you for the damage that it has caused you. that's not right. but the mod and defence secretary remain convinced of the need for change. what we are working on is a way of getting them faster and better compensation so that if the ministry has done something wrong with a piece of equipment they don't have to spend years suing us through the courts. the mod's consultation on its proposals ends injust over a week. colin redpath hopes that for the injured, and families of the fallen, the new system ensures maximum safety and fairness. clive coleman, bbc news. with me is colonel richard kemp, a former british commander in iraq. thanks for coming in. what do you

make of these proposals?|j thanks for coming in. what do you make of these proposals? i think they are to be welcomed. it is obviously an early stage of the consultation process, but the mod's objective, as i understand it, is ultimately to prevent people from having to go through lengthy legal processes , having to go through lengthy legal processes, sometimes taking up to a decade, in order to get compensation, and also to be able to spend more money on giving compensation to soldiers rather than giving it to lawyers, and therefore, it is to be welcomed. even more importantly, it begins to remove the ever—increasing danger of battlefield commanders having to be looking over their shoulders all the time in case they are about to be sued for a mistake they make or a possible mistake they make in battle. it does seem odd that it could be the employer, in this case, the mod, deciding how negligent it

has been. it is not really about that, because the proposal is, let's say a soldier gets wounded in battle and it is a result of negligence, 110w and it is a result of negligence, now they have two proved the negligence, which could take a long time. the proposal suggests that if you get wounded or killed, either you get wounded or killed, either you or your relations will get compensation, whether there is negligence or not. you don't have to fight or employ lawyers to struggle over it, you just get the compensation. won't the mod decide on that compensation? the debate is about how the level of compensation will be... it will be an independent assessor? yes. one of the problems todayis assessor? yes. one of the problems today is that the life of a wounded soldier seems to be worth less than

a civilian counterpart who suffers some kind of strain on a computer, andi some kind of strain on a computer, and i think part of the mod's idea is to change that culture so that the level of compensation for a soldier who is wounded, or the family ofa soldier who is wounded, or the family of a soldier who is killed, is considerably increased. the concept of combat immunity already exists, so the idea that yourself, a commander in the field, and i have been embedded with troops as well, they don't want to be second—guessing what a lawyer will do in six—month time, but combat immunity covers that, doesn't it, at the moment? that through these proposals, this suggestion is that that could be to take into consideration things that don't happen anywhere near the battlefield, including not giving the right equipment. and we know that was an issue in some areas in iraq. it is essential that we get that right. the problem is, of course, battlefields and combat, it's always going to be a compromise

between going now with the equipment we've got, or waiting a long time to get the perfect equipment, and you can't always wait that they have time, so sometimes you have to act with an perfect equipment. the last thing you need, then, as a commander, is to be told, you should have waited until the right stuff came up, second—guessed by a judge somewhere in england in a court, air—conditioned, when you've made a decision on the battlefield. it is not just battle, either, decision on the battlefield. it is notjust battle, either, it could be humanitarian relief situations where lives are very much at stake. i think the important thing is that the mod is trying to take the weight off battlefield commanders, the weight of having to worry about being sued. it will be an interesting consultation period, i'm sure. thanks forjoining us. now, the weather. john hammond has the details. a mild prospect for the rest of this

week, with rain around a time. tonight, some patchy rain pushing up across the uk. hit and miss, some places avoiding it. fog patches will turn up later on, a possible murky start to your wednesday. wet weather getting into devon and cornwall. not cold but maybe a touch of frost in the glens of scotland. 0ne sharp bursts could push into central areas of england, wales, northern ireland and into south—west scotland tomorrow. a mild day in prospect. some late brightness across the south—west. thursday would have missed a start with sunshine developing. farther north, more blustery with showers developing. hello.

this is bbc news. the headlines: donald trump's national security adviser, mike flynn, has resigned following allegations he misled colleagues over contacts with russia's ambassador. tonight, the white house spokesman said it was a matter of trust. inflation has reached its highest level for two—and—a—half years, largely due to the rising cost of fuel. average wages have also gone up, by 2.7%. it's believed the half—brother of the north korean leader, kim jong—un, has been assassinated. apparently kim jong nam was poisoned, possibly with a spray, at malaysia's kuala lumpur airport. the white house says it was a matter of trust that led to the president, asking for his national security adviser‘s resignation, just three weeks after his appointment. let's look at what led to michael

flynn leaving office. 0n the 18th of november, it was announced that he would be the next national security adviser, chosen by the then president—elect, donald trump. then in late december, mr flynn held a phone call with the russian ambassador to the united states. in early february, in an with the washington post, mr flynn denied discussing sanctions with the russian ambassador. lastly, president trump told reporters he had not seen the reports about mr flynn. a senior aide 'i" lem conway, said that mr flynn had the president's full confidence, —— a senior aide, kelly anne conway. we have been reviewing and evaluating the situation with mr flynn for a number of weeks, trying to ascertain the truth. it was not a

legal issue but a trust issue, with the level of trust between the president and mr flynn eroding to such a point where he felt he had to make a change. the president was concerned that mr flynn had misled the vice president and others. sean spicer, a white house spokesman, speaking in the last few hours. with me is peter conradi, who's author of "who lost russia?" a new book on russia's relations with the west over the past 25 years, which comes out on thursday. iam also i am also joined i am alsojoined by a i am also joined by a political co nsulta nt i am also joined by a political consultant and former capitol hill worker. first, could you explain to me whether or not you believe mr flynn broke the law, matt? it's a good question. the logan act has beenin good question. the logan act has been in place since 1799. there has not ever once been a prosecution

under that act. that says that transition officials cannot have government contacts with foreign governments when they are not in power. it basically means we have only one president and one administration at a time. in this case, i think it's probably, perhaps, a letter of the law violation but not a spirit of the law violation. we don't know until the transcripts of the phone call that he held with the russian ambassador are widely and publicly released. i don't think this is as much a legal problem. i do think this is... you need someone as national security adviser who has the trust of the president, who can manage the national security council. there are big challenges facing the world and the us right now, and we need someone credible, honest and who has the trust of the president and vice president. lieutenant general flynn had lost that trust. the whole point of this conversation between mr flynn and

the russian envoy was to discuss sanctions. it was not a side issue, it was the main point of the conversation. does that suggest to you that other people in the white house knew this conversation was taking place? it's a good question and one that a lot of democrats are asking. they want an independent investigation. 0bviously, people wa nt to investigation. 0bviously, people want to know if he was directed to do this or if he was freelancing. there are a lot of people who want to tie this to president trump. again, wejust don't to tie this to president trump. again, we just don't know whether under ten in general flynn, having been head of the defence intelligence agency, would do something like that on his own. i just don't know. it's hard to know. peter, do you believe that others in the white house would have known about this conversation? it is difficult to believe that they didn't. the broader thing difficult to believe that they didn't. the broaderthing is difficult to believe that they didn't. the broader thing is that sanctions are obviously a key issue, and there was this expectation in

russia, i think that trump coming in would do away with the sanctions. what is turning out is that he is not going to. he won't move as far as the russians would like, certainly. the journalist at the washington post who broke this story says that from the transcripts they have come across of this conversation can it is clear that mr putin should not overreact to the sanctions and everything would be ok under the new administration. we know that mr putin did not kick out any spooks or diplomats from russia following the announcement that mr 0bama was going to do that russian diplomat in the united states. there are diplomat in the united states. there a re two diplomat in the united states. there are two explanations for putin's action. 0ne are two explanations for putin's action. one is the simple one you're putting, that they were told in this conversation, don't do that, don't overreact and everything will be fine. ithink overreact and everything will be

fine. i think there was also an interest on putin's park, regardless of this conversation, it was quite a clever game not to react. had he reacted, they would be back to the same old tit—for—tat stuff. by not reacting, i won't say he got the moral high ground, but he tossed the ball back into the trump camp and said, this is my contribution. i'm not going to retaliate, now it's up to you to do something to break this logjam. there is no doubt that relations between america and russia did get completely stuck on 0bama. is it possible to just look into the mind of the russians with all this happening at the moment? are they thinking, god, we have lost our man? 0rare thinking, god, we have lost our man? or are they thinking, this is a witchhunt against russia ? or are they thinking, this is a witchhunt against russia? for will they just deal with whoever witchhunt against russia? for will theyjust deal with whoever comes in next? the first reactions when the story broke, early morning rush—hour time, lots of commentators... we saw

the official kremlin reaction, much more controlled, saying this is an internal american matter. they had already realised that the key decisions are not being taken by michael flynn but by rex tillerson, the secretary of state. there is a big meeting coming up, the first meeting between rex tillerson and sergei lavrov, the russian foreign minister, andl sergei lavrov, the russian foreign minister, and i think for them, sergei lavrov, the russian foreign minister, and i think forthem, that will be much more important. matt, there is a suggestion that this is a turf battle between reince priebus and steve bannon, that steve bannon was batting for michael flynn. he was batting for michael flynn. he was the reason he wasn't fired 17 days ago, when the white house first knew about this conversation with the russians. in fact, it is the reince priebus faction that may have lea ked reince priebus faction that may have leaked details of this whole thing to the public. is that what we're seeing here, a battle within the white house itself? i would be very

surprised if the reince priebus faction leaked this. it is pretty clear that mr flynn had almost no friends in the intelligence community. that is why the washington post story had nine unnamed sources, directly or indirectly related to the nsc. i guess it is more someone in the intelligence community who came across the transcript and founded worrisome who decided to leak it. they were aware of the content of the call for several weeks, that mr flynn lied to the vice president and repeated that on television. the also like to reince priebus, who repeated the light on television. his position was untenable. what i think is important is that they need to upgrade this position. it needs to upgrade this position. it needs to bea to upgrade this position. it needs to be a person of real stature. the three finalists, lieutenant colonel of —— lieutenant- kellog and

of —— lieutenant general kellog and two others, they are all outstanding choices. thoughtful and experienced people. any of them would be better than michael flynn. i don't doubt that there are turf wars, but michael flynn made his own mistakes and that is why he is out of a job. peter, briefly, do you think now the possibility of the sanctions being lifted is actually further down the track, far more remote, because of this? it won't help. we won't get an immediate lifting of sanctions unless the russians come crimea, which they are not. good to talk to you. thanks for being with us. the headlines on bbc news: donald trump's national security adviser mike flynn has resigned over allegations that he had conversations of sanctions with

russia's ambassador. inflation has reached its highest level for two and a half years, largely due to rising fuel costs. the half—brother of korean the 1225571295522? um; “f"ffl 555.353 —~ —~— — ~ ~ has the he!£—h—=e£’he—= ‘="“; en“ efeeeee e— —~— — ~ ~ has been murdered leader kimjong un has been murdered in malaysia. and a final look at the markets: this is how they ended the day. the ftse is down slightly. better news just a few minutes before the end of trading. the nasdaq is up too. philip hammond said that cyber attacks are on the increase. gordon ca rra ra attacks are on the increase. gordon carrara has more. a high—tech tour for the queen today, as she formally

launched the country's new national cyber security centre. she was shown round the new centre in london, whose mission hacking that could hamper vote counting. hackers targeting governments, businesses, ordinary people. ihéfflcezéff ;,§‘,§; ' ,significant intrusions by hostile reconnaissance against critical national infrastructure. and ourjob is to make sure we deal with that in the most effective way possible. so, what we've done here is create a room of the near future and we've got some devices that are all connected to the internet. the new centre is notjust there to protect government, but also people's homes. its technical director showed me how internet—connected items like lamps and coffee makers could be

vulnerable, even a child's toy doll. more and more of our life is moving online. the uk is one of the most digitally—dependent economies in the world. a strength, but also a vulnerability. and protecting it online in the future will be vital for economic as well as national security. gordon corera, bbc news. sir michael fallon said the uk needed to be prepared for the increased risk of cyber attacks. there is a threat. there are countries that do try and interfere with our defence and have interfered in other countries' elections, so we have to be on our guard. it is not simply russia. there are also criminal threats against our businesses, trying to extort money from them, and people trying to get hold of private personal data. the point of this new cyber centre is to

make sure we are properly protected, that our defence is secure, that our critical infrastructure, power stations and television stations, are secure, and also that people in their daily lives can take steps to keep themselves secure in their banking, their shopping, the way they use the internet. sir michael fallon there. i am joined by someone who has worked with the british government in the field of cyber security and who is a fellow at the university of nottingham in cyber terrorism. there is a sense that gchq are too busy spying on other people and are not defending the country in terms of dealing with people spying on us. is that the rationale behind this new centre? i'm not sure it is. the rationale is to make the uk even more resilient thanit to make the uk even more resilient than it currently is in terms of attacks from outside the country and from within the country, and it does

so from within the country, and it does so in from within the country, and it does soina from within the country, and it does so in a number of very interesting ways. one is that it is a partnership between a government organisation and industry and, as, so organisation and industry and, as, so you have up to 100 people from 100 organisations going in and working with specialists, and both those sides are learning from each other and developing skills on both the government and the commercial side to make the country a safer place. that integration is critical, isn't it? given some of the threats that sir michael fallon was talking about there, from people wanting to get hold of industrial secrets traditional spying from potential adversaries such as russia or china, the banking industry, for. cyber attacks that could bring down people's bank accounts and so on. industry, government, security agencies, they have to be much more integrated now to deal with these

myriad threats. absolutely, and that is the difference between cyber security and conventional security, what officials call a greater surface area of threat. there are many sources of threat, many actors with many different objectives, but it does mean that if you look at it ina it does mean that if you look at it in a holistic fashion, if you get people together working closely together, as you suggest, then you are ina together, as you suggest, then you are in a better position to make sufficiently effective defences. certainly, it's worth remembering that the uk is not only more digitally dependent but is better protected than most countries, and it's important to keep that leading edgein it's important to keep that leading edge in cyber security, and developing the thinking that goes around, not just in developing the thinking that goes around, notjust in the technical sense, which i think a lot will come out of gchq in this partnership, but also ina out of gchq in this partnership, but also in a commercial sense, in a philosophical sense. there is a lot

of money to be made if you understand information flow, and that, i think, understand information flow, and that, ithink, is understand information flow, and that, i think, is the big change. 0nce companies realise that they can make more money by exploiting the information they have, then they will obviously protect it, and that protection will be a return on investment rather than an overhead for them, as it currently is, in terms of cyber security. what are some of the main threats that we really all ought to be worried about? on a personal basis, everybody should take care to protect their private information, particularly their financial information and social information. burglars are using the internet to find out when people are leaving home for work orfor find out when people are leaving home for work or for holidays abroad, a— different eh-‘t'tegj he erase e eefeeée'eiéeeeeee point, ‘ it eh-‘eegj he e-‘e'e e he’feeée'z‘j—ieee—‘eee 7 burghley- it it is ‘personalf’é—itii‘if , ,

‘ personal information. look= of your personal information. look after what makes you money. cash flow, in my humble opinion, is no longer king. it is information flow in modern business that determines the difference between success and failure, profit and loss. as soon as businessmen understand this, then they will do what is necessary to exploit the information and protect it, rather than struggling to protect it and losing it. we lose a lot of wealth to state actors who are very successfully stealing ip. in many cases, large corporations don't realise that their intellectual property is being stolen through the internet, and sometimes through other means, not just cyber means, but physical theft, which is sometimes being detected by cyber means. ok, thank you forjoining us.

for many, it was a romantic era of travel. the sights — and sounds — of the steam train was once familiar on our railways. well today steam power returned for the first time in nearly half a century to england in a time—tabled service between cumbria and north yorkshire. 0ur correspondent, danny savage, reports from cumbria. 0n the settle to carlisle line today, the sights and sounds of yesteryear returned. it's a long time since the mid—morning service from skipton attracted this sort of attention. so it was cheaper than a bunch of roses. so what do you make

of the valentine's present? yeah, a really good one. i'm liking it, enjoying it. so, thank you. 0n the footplate, the crew were working hard, tonnes of coal were shovelled as the train went back—and—forth between skipton and appleby. and this isn't just about a trip on a steam train, lovely weather for a steam train

ride. what will the forecast before the next couple of days? john hammond has the details. nice weather for nice weatherfor a trip nice weather for a trip in the next few days. the weather will behave itself. there will be some rain and extensive dry spells. this cloud is pushing in from the atlantic. they are not big