good afternoon. the chancellor philip hammond says they're be no big spending announcements in this week's budget, despite better news on the economy. the chancellor says he needs to keep "reserves in the tank" to deal with the impact of brexit. mr hammond said hisjob is to ensure the economy is resilient. he has warned the eu britain will not slink off like a wounded animal if it does not secure the deal it wants. don't expect bundles of cash to pop out of his breadbox on wednesday. the chancellor is not planning to go ona

the chancellor is not planning to go on a spending spree. he is under pressure to put more money into the nhs, plug the growing funding gap in social care for the elderly and help small firms deal with rising business rates. but he is batting of suggestion there is a brexit war chest he can dip into. if your bank increases your credit card limit, you don't feel obliged to spend every penny immediately. it depends on your temperament. my job is to make sure the economy is resilient, we have reserves in the tank so as we have reserves in the tank so as we embark on the journey we have to ta ke we embark on the journey we have to take over the next couple of years, we are confident we have been of gas in the tank to see us through the journey. labour says the government doesn't understand the pressures facing those on low incomes. people need a pay rise. there should be a real living rage of £10 an hour. we can tackle tax avoidance which is on

an industrial scale in this country. and tax cuts to the ridge, grow the economy. it is not rocket science. one area will receive funding is technical training because the government wants to pierre breton up for the skills it will need in a post—brexit world. what if that well doesn't include the eu trade deal the chancellor is expecting britain to get. if there is anyone in the european union who thinks that if we don't do a deal with the european union, if we don't continue to work closely together, britain will simply slink off as a wounded animal. it will not happen. the british people have a great fighting spirit and we will fight back. this isa spirit and we will fight back. this is a budget that will be under scrutiny, seen through the prism of the budget negotiations that lie ahead. government forces in iraq have renewed their assault on the city of mosul, where fighters from the islamic state group are surrounded.

they are reported to be within a few hundred metres of the old city. tens of thousands of people have fled the fighting, many to temporary shelter at hammam al aleel. from there rami ruhayem sent this report. the people of mosul endure another round of fighting between iraqi government fighters and so—called islamic state. many remain trapped within the city. others have decided to flee. they arrive from western mosul, one bus—load after another of battered civilians. in just mosul, one bus—load after another of battered civilians. injust over two hours we saw five buses arriving. translation: isis for firing at us. most of the women died. we were all just running. the mortars were raining on our heads, until we got to the army. some were gratefulfor to the army. some were grateful for the army's help, but these men said their homes

we re help, but these men said their homes were hit by a army shelling. almost eve ryo ne were hit by a army shelling. almost everyone had to walk to the battlefield before reaching safety and getting on one of these buses. after a long and dangerousjourney on foot and under fire from both sides, the refugees from western mosul arrived here at this camp at hammam al aleel. they have escaped with their lives but their misery is not over. with such an unrelenting flow, the authorities can hardly keep up. as this camp reaches full capacity, the new arrivals get on the bus again, headed to the next stop along anotherjourney of displacement. an investigation has begun after a man's body was discovered following a house fire in hattersley in greater manchester. officers were called following reports of a blaze at 10.00am this morning. formal identification of the victim is yet to take place. the energy company sse has apologised after some customers were quoted tens of thousands of pounds for a day's gas and electricity.

the error was caused by malfunctioning smart meters hugely overestimating the amount of energy usage. the company has said an investigation is underway, but that no customers will be charged for the erroneous amounts. china's economy is predicted to slow again this year, according to the country's premier li keqiang. speaking at the annual national people's congress in beijing, mr li attributed the slow down to global free—trade reforms, and also promised to tackle pollution —— saying "we'll make the skies blue again". john sudworth reports from beijing. chairman mao would still recognise china's parliaments, rigid, authoritarian and unapologetically communist. but every year, the delegates turn up to hear their leaders warn of the increasingly complex challenges faced by a modern capitalist economy. potential risks cannot be

overlooked, warning reforming china's economy is a process filled with promise but also accompanied by great pain. he spoke of the need to combat industrial overcapacity and reform what he called zombie enterprises that bloated state—owned sector, that produced far more coal and steel than the market needs. similar pledges in the past have proved ha rd to similar pledges in the past have proved hard to fulfil. had he pledged to make china's sky is blue again, outlining further targets for emissions cuts. once again, these promises have been made before. china's parliament has little control over the weighty issues of state, the big political and economic decisions, that have been made weeks in advance by the communist party leaders behind

closed doors. he also warned against growing protectionism, a thinly veiled reference to the policies of the new us president perhaps? and a reminder that as well as the economic risks at home, china is facing challenges on the international stage. in boxing, tony bellew, has upset the odds by beating david haye, in their heavyweight fight at the 02 arena in london. haye dominated the first five rounds, but suffered an ankle injury in the sixth and retired in the 11th. a memorial is to be built in northern france to honour the british soldiers and sailors who died during the 0—day landings in the second world war. the government has said it will contribute £21 million towards the building of the monument, which will be near the beaches on which the landings took place, as robert hall reports. newsreel: this is it.

they are on the beach. it was the largest operation of its kind ever mounted. injune 1944, an estimated 21,000 members of the british armed forces and merchant navy lost their lives as they fought alongside their allies to gain a foothold in occupied europe. in the 70 years since the landings, veterans have returned to the normandy beaches to remember the fallen. but there is no permanent memorial to the friends they lost. now veterans had been told the government will contribute £20 million towards a new memorial. it will be erected in one of the french seaside towns that saw fierce fighting. on each beach, there was roughly 1200 on each beach that were killed, plus god knows how many wounded, and seriously. so you can imagine the sights on those beaches. it was horrific. it was frightening. but, at the same time, all we young lads of 18, we virtually grew up overnight. but, thank goodness,

at last, there will be an incredible memorial for them. surviving veterans are delighted their campaign has been rewarded. they and the government want the memorial to be completed in time for the 75th anniversary of the landings, injune 2019. robert hall, bbc news. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. the next news on bbc one is at 5.35 — bye for now. hello. you're watching the bbc news channel. more on the meeting of the people's

congress in beijing. earlier i spoke to the bbc‘s china editor carrie gracie. so, those economic figures and the reduction in emissions of toxic gases into the air, the pledged to keep the skies blue, those things mentioned in john's piece. but between the lines, it is important to remember there is a lot of uncertainty over the international environment and the elephant in the room in the congress today was donald trump. he wasn't mentioned. but the threat from the united states under the trump presidency to confront china over the trade imbalance between these two mighty trading nations, that could really throw all the best laid plans of the chinese communist leaders off. did you get that sense today, are people concerned

or are they watching closely? as you got the sense from john's piece, it is very theatrical, the opening session. everybody does exactly what they have been told to do. they will file in in their various ethnic minority costumes, smile for the cameras, page by page. turn it over, vote. you don't get the sense of a lot of concern behind the scenes, but over the coming days, if we get a chance to sidle up to delegates in corners which are less observed, we might get more of those conversations. i talked to a few of the public outside when i was waiting in tiananmen square earlier, i was asking what they were concerned about and people looked at me blankly, they paid no attention to the national people's congress because it feels divorced from their lives. others did say, one girl said, i am interested in whether they reduced

the marriage age to 18. someone else said, i am interested in what they will do about rural taxation. there are some pieces where people are interested in things where it touches their lives. but the public is getting on with its life and going about their day. what can we read into the fact that the country is facing grave challenges in transforming its economy, the recognition that there are difficulties perhaps ahead? i have to say, that language is the language of the last few years. every year, premier li comes up with phrases that suggest that. this year, his rhetoricalflourish was to say the chinese economy was a butterfly, painfully emerging from a chrysalis. the sense they are trying to transform their economy from an old heavy, industrial, export and investment driven economy, into something

more consumer driven, much more green. the last time i was listening to him, he was expressing the same idea saying, we are notjust making little incisions, we are taking a knife to our flesh. so the sense this is a difficult transformation for china has been in the language for a few years so i wouldn't read too much into that. but they are failing to grapple with some of the fundamental economic challenges they face here. the reason for that is to get rid of those huge state giants, the steel plants, the cement factories and so on, which employ enormous numbers of people, it creates a problem overjobs. where are the jobs coming from for these people, if they don't find jobs, they become socially a problem and a political problem. that sense of not wanting the social

and political instability that comes from large—scale and political instability that comes from la rge—scale unemployment and political instability that comes from large—scale unemployment is one of the things holding back necessary reform here. barack obama has dismissed accusations by president trump that he ordered phones at trump tower in new york to be tapped during last year's us election. in a series of messages on social media, donald trump compared the alleged bugging to the watergate scandal, as our north america correspondent, nick byra nt reports. it was warm handshakes and friendly bon ami on inauguration day, as donald trump peacefully took power from barack obama. two men, fiercely hostile during the election campaign, coming together in a show of presidential and personal civility. but only this morning, donald trump launched the kind of public an attack on a predecessor that in modern times is completely without precedent. "terrible", he wrote, in a twitter tirade...

a pro trump rally outside his tower in new york, a skyscraper that donald trump claims was a crime scene. but he made these explosive accusations without offering any proof or saying whether they came from intelligence briefings orfrom reading reports on the right—wing website breitbart news. a key former aide of barack obama has shot back at mr trump. "no president can order a wiretap", he says. "these restrictions were put in place to protect citizens from people like you." during last year's campaign, the fbi opened an investigation that's still ongoing, looking into leaks between trump associates and the russians. this week the new attorney general jeff sessions faced calls for his resignation for not

disclosing meetings he held with the russian ambassador. and donald trump's national security adviser michael flynn had to resign last month because of conversations about us sanctions against the kremlin with the same ambassador. donald trump began this week with a widely praised speech on capitol hill, which was supposed to reset his presidency, but this is a speedy return to the kind of angry attacks that many think are farfrom presidential. the headlines on bbc news: philip hammond has set the tone for the budget by dismissing calls to increase government borrowing. president trump has been urged to back up his allegation that barack obama ordered his phones to be tapped during the election campaign. china has cut its growth target to

6.5%. beijing were told the country is facing grave challenges in transforming its economy. let's get the sport now. and in the scottish cup, the remainding quarterfinals take finals take place... celtic have gone 1—0 down to st mirren. a left foot shot. later, aberdeen play partick thistle. the first premier league game of the day gets underway at 1.30, with spurs looking to keep the pressure up on leaders chelsea. tottenham are unchanged from the team that beat stoke 4—0 a week ago, they could close the gap to seven points behind chelsea who play tomorrow night. they are doing very well. they have a very good team, very good players. it will be a very competitive game for us, it is key to get the three

points, keep our position in the table, keep fighting and try to reduce the gap with chelsea. but it will be tough, the game. tottenham is one of the best teams, they are really strong at home. we know. but 0k, it is a challenge to play against a strong team at home. be ourselves and then get a good result. that's the first premier league game of the day. bottom side sunderland host manchester city later, city are looking to consolidate their place in the top four. tony bellew has revealed he broke his hand in the third round of his shock win over david haye last night, and says haye's corner should have thrown in the towel earlier. bellew won on a technical knock out in the 11th round after haye damaged his achilles, and was knocked down in the 6th. haye was the firm favourite coming into the fight, but after the injury he could only

really throw a left. bellew punched haye through the ropes in the 11th, and his corner decided enough was enough. afterwards, bellew was asked if he would be interested in staying at heavyweight. we will see, it is one of many possibilities. i was sit down after spending time with my family. i will get advice, i down after spending time with my family. iwill get advice, i need advice because i am the biggest danger to myself. we will talk and have more news. laura muir will be looking to make it a double this afternoon at the european indoor championships in belgrade. she's competing in the 3000metres later, a day after she won 1500 metre gold. muir continued her fantastic season, taking gold and setting a new british record in the process. you can watch the final day of the

indoor athletics on bbc two this afternoon. there were three gold medals on saturday for britain at the para— medals on saturday for britain at the pa ra— cycling medals on saturday for britain at the para— cycling championships in los angeles. gb women tandems claimed a clean sweep of medals in the time trial with sophie thornhill winning gold with korean hall, aileen mcglynn and alison patrick w011 aileen mcglynn and alison patrick won silver and bronze respectively. la has been good to others. it has been great. we came here concentrating on the pursuit. we are really, really happy. we came out here not really knowing what we

could do. for me to come away with the k world title, i never dreamt of that as an endurance rider, so it has been a good day today. half-time in the game between celtic and st mirren and it is still 1—0 to st mirren. england continue their match against the west indies. the prime minister of somalia says more than 100 people have died because of the drought. humanitarian groups have warned of a potential famine that could threaten millions of lives. this is what a national disaster looks like. mile after mile ofarid, disaster looks like. mile after mile of arid, barren land. the worst drought in somalia in decades. part of the country have not seen ra i nfo rd of the country have not seen ra i nford two of the country have not seen rainford two years. four successive

crop harvests have been hit, making the scale of the looming crisis almost unprecedented. translation: this is the worst doubt i have ever witnessed because before only a few regions used to be effective, but not the whole country. this drought has its people across the country. it is the worst drought i have ever known. this region faces some of the biggest challenges. workers at save the children supported health clinics reported a significant increase in severe malnutrition cases among infants coming through their doors. the united nations warns over a quarter of a million children will face severe acute malnutrition in the next few months. in all, half of somalia faces food insecurity. the country's new president already has the threat from al—shabab to take on. but

hunger is his pressing priority. translation: i want to take this opportunity to call for all somalis and the donor community to help families affected by the current drug. it is imperative for us to help each other as the magnitude of this drought is very alarming. somalia's drought has been partly caused by the el nino weather phenomenon from last year, which impacted east and southern africa. as appeals for a go out to the international community, one sign of good news for the region is a un forecast that maize stocks are on their way to recovery. in the south african township of khayelitsha close to cape town, a local psychology graduate has started taking the fight against mental illness to the streets — in a brightly coloured van. andreas mphunga believes that too many young people have undiagnosed mental issues and lack access to counselling. he's trying to raise awareness of the problem. young kids, as young as eight, nine, they grow up seeing terrible stuff,

whether it is someone being mugged, someone being shot or stabbed. even violence taking place in their own households. this is my mobile consultation room. this van brings services to that kid in the township that comes from a family who cannot afford the services of a psychologist or a registered counsellor like myself. the kids, when the vehicle passes by, they see this funky looking van and they realise it is actually a psychology clinic. it is an innovative way of providing a service, so it is more attractive to them than having to go and sit

in my office and talk to me in that clinical evironment. i have this young guy who just jumped in. he would like to talk, but because of confidentiality, you cannot come in. music my plans for this for any kids growing up in any township, is exposure to substances abuse, peer pressure and any traumas they experience, and see and observed each and every day, that might set them back from achieving some of the dreams they would love to achieve for the betterment of the community. what keeps me going and and providing this service for free, i would love to see a young person

from the townships succeed and go against all the odds and become a role model for the next generation. no matter what happens, we are going to keep this a mobile unit going through cape town and south africa. it's one of the world's most celebrated footballing countries — but all matches in argentina's top three divisions have been postponed this weekend as players go on strike over unpaid wages. the country's troubled football association says negotiations have progressed and the season will resume next friday, but the players say they won't go on the field until they get the money they're owed. sarah corker reports. argentina is a football crazy nation. the two—time world cup winner has produced some of the greatest players of all time, but it

stadiums are silent, deprived of any football. players are now on strike. union says some footballers haven't been paid forfour union says some footballers haven't been paid for four months and clubs face heavy debts. the crisis began last year after senior football officials were implicated in a corruption scandal involving television broadcasting rights. there has been no league action since mid—december when the championships went into summer recess. the season should have started again on february the 3rd. then, last week to try to avoid the strike, the government made a $22 million payments of the argentinian fa, aimed to compensate the clubs for the termination of a tv contract which was held by the government. but unions say it isn't enough and dismissed reports of a proposal to return to the field. translation: we don't have any proposals, there has been no meeting. the only thing that

has happened is pressure to play without payment. we will frame from our taxed, soccer players will not be providing their services. loyal fa ns be providing their services. loyal fans may have to wait patiently for any football celebrations this year. clubs who have refused to play have been threatened with sanctions, but with players from more than 200 clubs on strike, that may be hard to enforce. time for the weather. not sure you will want to look at it ina number of not sure you will want to look at it in a number of locations across the british isles. had quite a bit of snow. as meteorologists have gone from windsor, on the 1st of march, we go to spring, no matter what the weather. it was this weather front that produce the snow for parts of wales and the midlands. a much improved day across the greater part of scotland, northern ireland seeing some sunshine and further south, you might see some brightness here. but,

we will pep things up this afternoon and into this evening. the area of cloud and rain with strong winds as well could make the tricky driving conditions. there could be snow again into the higher ground of the peak district. once that is a way, we end up with a quiet night and showers into the western side of scotland. this rain comes back into the south—west, anywhere from south wales over towards the isle of wight. there may be some wintry snow on higher ground of the south—west. eventually it clears away and monday isn't a bad day. scattering of showers, a fair amount of sunshine around as well. temperatures, not much to write home about. a decent start to tuesday and then we will bring another set of fronts in from the atlantic. more rain, more wind and cloud. i will tell you about that in half an hour.