if this is bbc news. the headlines at 2pm: you are the chancellor phillip hammond rejects calls for "huge spending you are sprees" in his first post—brexit budget on wednesday. a as we embark on the journey that we'll be taking over the next couple of years, we are confident that we've enough gas in the tank to see us through that journey. president trump is told to prove his claims that barack obama ordered his phones to be tapped during the election. also in the next hour — francois fillon faces a crucial test of his popularity. the supporters of the scandal—hit french presidential candidate gather for a rally in paris, as cracks emerge in his campaign. these are the live scenes of the gathering in the shadow of the eiffel tower. boxer tony bellew, upsets the odds by beating david haye, in a thrilling heavyweight contest in london. the week in parliament looks at clashes betweenjeremy corbyn and theresa may in the commons.

that's in half an hour, here on bbc news. good afternoon, and welcome to bbc news. the chancellor, phillip hammond, has said the government will not spend heavily in his budget on wednesday, because it needs "reserves in the tank" as it prepares to leave the eu. mr hammond said hisjob was to ensure the economy was resilient. he's also warned the eu that britain will not slink off like a "wounded animal" if it does not secure the brexit deal it wants. our political correspondent, susana mendonca, reports. don't expect bundles of cash to pop out of his red box on wednesday. the chancellor is not planning to go on a spending spree.

he is under pressure to put more money into the nhs, to plug the growing funding gap in social care for the elderly, and to help small firms deal with rising business rates. but he is batting off suggestions that there is a brexit war chest that he can dip into. if your bank increases your credit card limit, i don't think you feel obliged to go out and spend every last penny of it immediately. it depends on your temperament. i regard myjob as chancellor as making sure that our economy is resilient, that we have reserves in the tank so as we embark on the journey that we will be taking over the next couple of years, we are confident we have enough gas in the tank to see us through that journey. labour says the government does not understand the pressures facing those on low income. people need a pay rise. we believe that there is a squeeze on living standards and we believe there should be a real living wage, that is £10 an hour. we can tackle tax evasion, tax

avoidance, which is on an industrial scale in this country. end the tax cuts to the rich, as we have seen under the conservatives, and to the corporations and invest and grow our economy. this is not rocket science. one area that will receive some funding is technical training for 16 to 19—year—olds come because the government wants to gear up britain for the skills the country will need in a post—brexit world. but what if that world does not include the kind of eu trade deal the chancellor is expecting britain to get? if there is anybody 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, that is not going to happen. we have a great fighting spirit and will fight back. this is a budget that will be under scrutiny seen through the prism of brexit negotiations that lie ahead. with me now is our political correspondent susana mendonca.

and a budget coloured by brexit. yes. if you look at the announcement round technical training for teenagers that is about upscaling the economy and people and getting them ready for the post brexit period where we don't know what is going to happen, whether we will have the right amount of workers with the right skills. that is what that focus is. if you look at the chancellor's focus on not spending too much, people are talking about there being this war chest potentially, the chancellor keeping money aside in case things do not go well post brexit, now he was shying away from saying that he had money in place but he certainly seems focused on trying to keep something aside going forward, not spending too much so that you can prepare for a rainy day. what else can we expect in the budget? we can expect there

to be more cuts to government departments. they have been told to find between 3% and 6% in cuts and that has not gone away. labour are talking about that and saying the government are still cutting and trying to draw attention to that. social care, the chancellor was not born on it today but the general view is that he may do something on social care because it is such a big issue edge of us are many groups now calling on the government to act because there is this funding gap. also business rates, there are a lot of conservative mps who are concerned about the effect of this on small businesses who could be put out of business because they cannot cope with it. so whether we will see something from the chancellor on that could be possible. he is managing expectations, telling people there is not going to be much spending, so if there is some spending, so if there is some spending on those things my people will be pleased. thank you. president trump has been

urged to provide evidence to support his allegation that his predecessor, barack obama, ordered his phones to be tapped during the election campaign. mr trump's tweets follow allegations made by a conservative radio host that the obama administration "sought, and eventually obtained, authorisation to eavesdrop" on the trump campaign last year. the republican president has supplied no details to back up his claim and a spokesman for mr obama said he had never ordered surveillance on any us citizen. we are hearing now that the white house has asked congress to examine whether the executive branch investigative powers were abused during that election campaign last year. so the white house is asking

congress to examine whether the executive branch investigative powers we re executive branch investigative powers were abused. in other words, asking congress whether it can look into those claims that iraq obama may have been behind attempts to tap the phones in trump tower. senior french conservative politicians are said to be planning to propose an alternative to presidential candidate francois fillion. the news comes as supporters of mr fillon gather for a rally in central paris. the event is being seen as a crucial test of his popularity following allegations about his wife's working arrangements. this is the scene, live in paris. there are a lot of people, but he needs a lot of people to back up his faltering election campaign. let's

go to our paris correspondence. you we re go to our paris correspondence. you were saying earlier, he'd needed 30,000 or so. 45, 50,000 was the figure put out that his team would like to see. i would estimate, that is nowhere near that. probably ten, 15, 20,000 at most. people coming out of the metro openings and moving towards their so maybe it will get up. buti towards their so maybe it will get up. but i don't see it as one of those monster meetings where you sense that politics hinges and is changed by a popular expression of feeling. a lot of people, mainly piracy, bourgeois, right—wing voting types, also a they have turned out because they voted for him in the

primary and they expect the republican party to stick by him. but the picture is bigger because there are many people in his party who feel it is a liability, they cannot possibly win this election with him as candidate and it is time to choose another one. that is wipe behind—the—scenes are all these meetings and phone calls and e—mails exchanged between senior members of the party to see if there is a way of arranging planj the party to see if there is a way of arranging plan] as they call it. they want to do it together so there is no rift in the party but so there is no rift in the party but so there is some recognition from fillon that if he does not do it for the good of the party he will hand on two should pgy- the party he will hand on two should pay. we will probably find out in the next 2a hours. pay. we will probably find out in the next 24 hours. i gather his wife has been talking about the allegations. is that likely to help? i don't think it will make a huge difference because we know more or

less what her point of view was. it is interesting that she should have broken her silence at this moment. clearly the fillon camp feels it will do good to humanise their side of the story. she has been very discreet up to now. she's given an interview to a newspaper here where she says what we have already known from leaks, she says what we have already known from lea ks, that she says what we have already known from leaks, that she did work for her husband, the work was maybe not formal in nature, she didn't turn up to an office and clock in, but did arrange meetings, helped with speeches, prepared press releases, which she considers good work and she stands by her husband. she says what has happened has been the most traumatic trial of her life. thank you, q. china's economy is predicted to slow again this year, according to the country's premier li kechang. speaking at the annual national

people's congress in beijing, mr li attributed the slowdown to increasing global protectionism. he also promised to tackle the country's serious air pollution problems. john sudworth reports from beijing. chairman mao would still recognise china's parliament — 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, li keqiang said, warning that 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 to reform what he called zombie enterprises, the bloated state—owned sector producing far more coal and steel than the market needs.

similar pledges in the past have proved hard to fulfil. and 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 very 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. premier li 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 too. john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. 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. an investigation has begun after a man's body was discovered following a house fire at hattersley in greater manchester. officers were called following reports of a blaze at 10am this morning. the victim has not yet been formally identified. 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 hamam al—alil. from there rami ruhayem sent this report. the people of mosul endure yet another round of fighting between iraqi government forces and so—called islamic state. many remain trapped within the city.

0thers decided to flee. they arrive in droves from western mosul, one bus—load after another of battered civilians. in just over two hours we saw more than five buses arriving here. translation: isis were firing at us. most of the women died. we were alljust running and running, the mortars raining on our heads, till we got to the army. some were gratefulfor the army's help, but these men said their homes were hit by army shelling. almost everyone had to walk through the battlefield before reaching safety and getting on one of these buses. after a long and dangerous journey on foot and under fire from all sides, the refugees from western mosul arrive here at this camp in hamam al—alil. they have escaped with their lives but their misery is not yet 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. rami ruhayem, bbc news, hamam al—alil, south of mosul. the headlines on bbc news: the chancellor, phillip hammond, has set the tone for this week's budget by dismissing calls to increase government borrowing. president trump has been urged to back up his allegation that his predecessor, barack obama, ordered his phones to be tapped during the election campaign. a rally for the french conservative francois fillon is getting underway in paris, in a last—ditch attempt to show that an impending criminal investigation won't derail his presidential campaign. there's a march through

central london today, ahead of international women's day. the event began at city hall earlier as london mayor sadiq khan led the calls for gender equality in the uk and beyond. the bbc‘s jane frances—kelly spoke to annie lennox who is involved in the march. i'm very, very committed to being an advocate and campaigner for the rights of women and girls globally. so this event, which has been running for seven years now, gives us an opportunity to come together and to utterly amplify the message about the bigger picture

of feminism, really. i have spoken and i have given talks and i've tried to be, how could you say... a link between the experiences i've had in the developing world, pertaining to girls and women, and women here today, so they could understand maybe just a little bit better from my perspective what i feel that really means, and what is really required to lift up the living standards of girls that can't get access to decent schooling, they can't even go to primary school. the sexual and reproductive health of women and girls, maternal mortality, which is sometimes off the charts. rape as a weapon of warfare, issues that are so dark and difficult and sort of generic and endemic — they exist in this world. today i was told that the theme is women and girls refugees. do you feel that it is harder than ever for those individuals to get a better life,

because of the political environment we are in at the moment? absolutely, i think it's a very complex time. there's a lot of fear and anxiety, and women, you know, are very often the ones that are trying to keep the family together, where the men are off somewhere else, either fighting or lost or where ever the men are, there's the mother with the family unit, either in the refugee camp or trying to make some terrible journey to a safer haven. it is really, i think the figure is that we have more refugees now than ever before, during the second world war and all of those times, so it's a massive issue. and not an easy one to solve. but do you feel that maybe these events, do they change things, though? yes. after trump's election there were major marches by women. god bless them, god bless them

for that, we love them for that. we needed to be expressed. in a way, i think what he said, that was on tape, really catalysed a lot of people, who said, "whoa, this man's going to represent us women, and this is what he thinks about us". there was a huge response to that. i think in a weird kind of way there's something positive to be drawn from that, because actually those kind of locker room attitudes are prevalent all over the world. so we need to understand that, but the danger is alienating men. in my view, this is my view, i think we need to be incorporative of boys and men, i think we need to educate them. i don't think we need to make them enemies, i think we need to make them friends. well that's interesting, actually, because my son yesterday who's only 12 said, well, does that mean if you're a white, straight male that you're the enemy? and i said no, no, no.

no, not at all, but it's all about attitude, it's all about understanding this. i think that's why education has to play a huge part, and that's why an event like today, although it's a smallish event, it's not going to be on a massive scale, but still, last year we got a huge amount of exposure, which was so, so helpful. we have about five organisations that have collaborated to be here together today, working all across the globe in the developing world, doing fantastic work, so it really highlights the work that they do. 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 overcharged. 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's someone being mugged, someone being shot or someone being 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 that 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, then they realise it is actually a psychology clinic. it is an innovative way of providing the service so it is more attractive to them than having to go and sit in my office and talk to me from that clinical environment. i've got this young guy that just jumped in. he would like to talk but because of confidentiality you can't come in. my fears for those young people going up here or in any township is exposure to substance abuse, peer pressure and other traumas that they experience and see

and observe, each and every day. that might set them back from achieving some of their dreams that they would love to achieve for the betterment of the community. what keeps me going and providing this service for free is that i would love to see a young person from the township succeed and go against all the odds and become a role model for the next coming generation. no matter what happens, we are going to keep this mobile unit going through the dusty streets of 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 its stadiums are silent, deprived of any football — players now on strike. the 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 payment to 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 refrain from our tasks, soccer players will not 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. a memorial is to be built in northern france to honour british soldiers and sailors who died during the d—day landings in the second world war. the government is to

contribute £21 million towards the monument — near the beaches on which the normandy landings took place. robert hall reports. announcer: this is it - they're on the beach. it was the largest operation of its kind ever mounted. in june 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 have 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 1,200 on each beach were killed, plus god knows how many wounded, and seriously.

so you can imagine the sights that it was, 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, you know, 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. now the latest from washington. we we re now the latest from washington. we were reporting that the white house we re were reporting that the white house were saying they want congress to investigate possible breaches of

executive powers, where the executive powers, where the executive powers, where the executive powers were misused. this is all to do with president trump alleging that barrett obama his predecessor in the white house ordered his phones to be tapped in trump tower in new york. an extraordinary allegation that mr trump made yesterday on twitter. we are hearing from the white house press secretary now, saying reports concerning potentially politically motivated investigations, donald trump is requesting as part of their investigation into russian activity the congressional intelligence can committees exercise thereof for a tape to determine whether the executive branch is investigative powers we re executive branch is investigative powers were abused in 2016 last year. in other words, the press secretary confirming that the white house are asking congress to look into whether executive branch

investigative powers were abused, in other words, whether resident at obama and his administration have used their powers by ordering the phones of donald trump in trump tower to be tapped. that is the latest from washington. we will bring you more on that throughout the afternoon. let's look at the weather now. lots going on. i have blue screens behind me. trying to cover all the bases. some of you have seen something akin to that notjust in derbyshire but through the midlands. in two parts of wales at all. some really miserable fare in there. blustery showers coming in across the southern counties of england and wales. scotland is much improved in yesterday. northern ireland has seen some sunshine. the winds will be strong, there could be wintering us through the midlands. things

quietened down in the second half of the night with the notable section of the south—west of england, where there will be cloud and rain with a hint of wintering us across highest ground. monday, once that is a way, will turn out to be half decent, speckling of showers not too much breeze. one of the better days of the week. temperatures of seven to 11 degrees. watch out for the window next few hours. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines at 2.30pm: the chancellor, phillip hammond, has dismissed as "reckless" calls for him to increase spending in his first budget on wednesday. we're spending over £50 billion a year just paying we're spending over £50 billion a yearjust paying interest on our debts, that's