this is bbc news. i'm annita mcveigh. the headlines at 3pm. theresa may targets labour heartlands in the south of wales saying only she can offer ‘strong and stable leadership in the national interest‘. give me a mandate to lead britain, give me a mandate to speak for britain, give me a mandate to fight for britain and give me a mandate to deliver for britain. the prime minister urges labour voters to turn their back on tribal politics. labour sets out its approach to brexit if it wins the general election — pledging the rights of eu citizens already in the uk will be protected. on day one of a labour government, we will immediately guarantee that all eu nationals currently living in the uk will see no change in their legal status as a result of brexit. day one, big commitment.

i'm ben brown, and in the next hour — president trump's daughter makes herfirst international trip — since being given an official position in her father's administration. ivanka trump takes the stage alongside angela merkel — as an official adviser to the us — but she's forced to defend her father's attitudes towards women. and why regular moderate exercise is the best way to keep your brain sharp, if you're over 50. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. theresa may has said "wales is important for britain" as took her general election

campaign to traditional labour heartlands. speaking in bridgend, in south wales, she said a vote for any other party would be a vote for "a weak and failing jeremy corbyn". she also said that welsh votes would strengthen her negotiating position over brexit. it comes after a poll suggested a search for conservatives replace labour as the largest party in wales at the general election. and our chief political correspondent vicki young is in bridgend where a short while ago theresa may made a speech. the very fact she is their campaigning suggests she does believe the tories can make inroads to votes in wales? yes, i think she does. there are no no—go areas for the conservatives. if they were to

end up with more seats than labour, it would be the first time since the 18505. it is no wonder the tory strategists here and top figures as saying let's calm down a bit, this was just one saying let's calm down a bit, this wasjust one opinion saying let's calm down a bit, this was just one opinion poll. saying let's calm down a bit, this wasjust one opinion poll. but brexit makes them feel they can win over votes. wales was a country that voted to leave the eu. she is making clear she wants to deliver that brexit vote and there is a very sizeable uk thought year which they are hoping will turn to them. this is what she had to say. we want to get votes and support here in wales because that will strengthen my hand in the brexit negotiation. and every single vote, for me and the local conservative candidate, will be a vote for a stronger wales, for a stronger united kingdom and as i say will strengthen my and in those

important brexit negotiations. and i vote for any other party would be a party for a weekend feeling jeremy corbyn, propped up by a coalition of chaos, which would risk our national future. so leadership clearly going to bea future. so leadership clearly going to be a key issue for the conservatives, talking about a weekend feeling jeremy corbyn. they do not think that his style of leadership will appeal to traditional labour voters. theresa may has been critical of labour's record here in government, saying schools and hospitals, public services have gone backwards here. it is interesting how they are worried about complacency. they are worried about complacency. they are worried that a load of polls showing the miles ahead will mean maybe people will not vote. complacency is something theresa may is concerned about. what we have seen from other

parties is that they want to undermine the task at it. they are willing to do anything to disrupt the brexit negotiations, two stoppers leading britain into the future. and make no mistake, it could happen. remember the future. and make no mistake, it could happen. rememberthe opinion polls were wrong in the 2015 general election? they were wrong in the referendum last year? and jeremy corbyn himself and said he was a 200-1 corbyn himself and said he was a 200—1 outsider for the labour leadership in 2015. look how that turned out. i will be working for every single vote. there was a broader message, too. she was talking to about campaigning and being in charge for notjust privileged people, but for ordinary working families, too. seems she has talked about since she became prime

minister and she really does feel that kind of message will go down well in wales. thank you very much. with me is jac larner, a researcher at cardiff universities wales governance centre. thank you for coming along. theresa may repeating over and over again in that speech earlier that every vote cou nts that speech earlier that every vote counts and warning against complacency. but is the traditional labour dominance and we'll set to come to an end with the selection? the important thing to see is a good b. we had this poll published last night. it showed that the conservatives have a ten point lead over labour in wales. this is unprecedented. what has happened is that there has not been a sudden drop in labour support, it has been a sudden rise in conservative support. if this is the case and these figures do hold up until the end of the campaign, there is still

six weeks to go, we could potentially see a conservative majority in wales. to put this in context, the last time this happened, the conservatives won the popular vote share in wales, was the same year that charles darwin published on the origins of this species. we have to go a long way back. how well could the conservatives do? how big or that majority be in terms of seats?“ the numbers do hold up, they could hold 21 of the a0 seats in wales. our data tells us that what has happened is that the ukip vote in wales has collapsed. this has collapsed and nearly all of that support has moved to the conservatives. this plays into the narrative that theresa may with brexit being the reason for the

selection. what about the plight come selection. what about the plight co m e revote. selection. what about the plight come revote. it does not look like the seats will go to ray burke but to the conservatives instead. -- replied calmly. they will want to challenge in the south wales valleys. a good result might see them pick up one seat. another place they will be challenging is the north—west of wales. they are likely to face a very stiff competition from the conservatives there as well. what is going in the minds of welsh voters? wheels is a net beneficiary of eu funds. it voted to leave the eu. do voters and we'll see the conservatives as the party thatis see the conservatives as the party that is presenting a cohesive plan? what sort of feelings are you getting from when you are in touch with voters? it is important to say that the majority of the political establishment in wales voted remain.

it means labour because of how dominant they have been. the fact that labour are out of step with the population in wales may lead people to think, is it the conservatives that they have have the answers here? the agricultural centre —— sector in wales is dependent on eu funds. we have received a lot of structural funding. funds. we have received a lot of structuralfunding. people funds. we have received a lot of structural funding. people are looking for a clear answers. at the moment it certainly seems that people are starting to think it is the conservatives and theresa may that offer these answers. jack, thank you very much indeed. labour

said they would prioritise jobs. we have a very different version. a vision about how brexit can work for britain and the eu. and at its heart is a belief that we need to build a close collaborative future relationship with the eu, a changed relationship, but a relationship and a collaborative future relationship. not members, of course, but genuine partners going forward. wherejobs, the economy, and retaining the benefits of the single market and customs union are the priority. where hard —fought workplace rights, environmental protections are protected. where we are truly an open, outward looking country. and where eu nationals living

here are guarantee their rights and can live in certainty that brexit will not affect them. a brexit that brings the country together, that radically devolves power and supports all regions and nations of the uk. that's the approach to brexit that i want to see set out briefly this morning. but let me deal with this head—on and summarised the key differences. the prime minister has adopted an ideal logically opposed view of brexit and where has it led her? it's led her down a slippery slope. nothing to do with the single market. the customs union. nothing to do with the european court or any court. nothing to do with the very many agencies that do such fantastic fantastic collaborative work that is so important to all of us. out of all of those.

an approach that has led her to that place. what does that mean? that means taking option after off option off the table at the beginning of the negotiations. talking up no deal as if that's acceptable. some people say well that's a clear approach. it's a rigid approach. it is removing options before you have started and it's a reckless approach. what labour will do is to scrap the brexit white paper and draw up new negotiating objectives. we will on day one unilaterally guarantee the rights of eu citizens in this country and work... and work of course fight for the rights of uk citizens across europe. we will scrap the great repeal bill and replace it with what it

should be, an eu rights and protections bill. and later we'll be speaking to nick clegg, former deputy prime minister and former leader of the liberal democrats. that's at a.35pm this afternoon here on the bbc news channel. unions say the confectionary giant nestle is planning to cut almost 300 jobs in britain. production of its blue riband biscuits to is being shifted to poland as britain prepares to leave the european union. the proposed job losses will mainly affect the company's sites in york and newcastle. a host of well—known names are expected to settle phone—hacking claims today when their cases are heard at the high court. the claims brought by more than a0 individuals against mirror group newspapers — which publishes the mirror, sunday mirror and sunday people. cases listed include author and former conservative mp lord jeffrey archer, the actress patsy kensit and footballer kevin keegan.

it is understood some of these settle m e nts it is understood some of these settlements exceeded the 260,000 brecker damages awarded to the actors and business woman sadie frost after her i wrote trilobite in 2015. let's stop to our legal affairs expert. another landmark in the whole phone hacking saga? this isn't the first time that the mirror group newspapers have settled cases, but this is the cases —— largest ranch of cases they have settled. expecting a0 or so cases to be settled this afternoon, with written state m e nts settled this afternoon, with written statements to be read in open court. this shows the breadth of backpacking. in addition to the names you have mentioned, kevin keegan, the former england football manager, patsy kensit, the actress, charles clarke, the former home

secretary is one of those who has settled a case. in relation to mr clarke who was home secretary between 200a and 2006, it was accepted between 200a and 2006, it was a cce pted by between 200a and 2006, it was accepted by the meadow group newspapers that he had then act, access to highly confidential information had been received as a result of the hacking. and it was said that on behalf of mr clarke and his family it had caused them, the hacking, to drastically preserve —— and their lives to preserve their privacy. the number of people involved is much larger than any other group that has settled cases with the meadow group newspapers. the bbc understands the amounts involved are larger. previously the largest settlement order was £260,000, which was first sadie frost. the issue for the mirror

group newspapers is not only that the money, the damages they have 2p, the money, the damages they have 2p, the settlement the figure they have debate, appear to be rising but also the legal costs around these cases enormous. the mirror group newspapers have put aside £26 million to look after all of these claims. we know there are another 50 or so claims claims. we know there are another 50 orso claims in claims. we know there are another 50 or so claims in the pipeline. but that figure of £26 million may be one that they will do look seriously at reviewing and increasing. i i one that they will do look seriously at re this ing and increasing. i i one that they will do look seriously at re this is; and increasing. i i one that they will do look seriously at re this is thed increasing. i i one that they will do look seriously at re this is the biggest;ing. i i one that they will do look seriously at re this is the biggest lump ll one that they will do look seriously at re this is the biggest lump of i say, this is the biggest lump of cases that this particular newspaper group, the publishers of the daily mirror, the sunday mirror and the people has yet to come to an agreed to end open court. thank you very much indeed. the headlines for your own bbc news at 16 minutes past three. theresa may says every vote

for the tories will strengthen our hand further brexit negotiations as she campaigns in wales. so keir starmer says the tories are proceeding rex was brexit. mirror group newspapers settles phone hacking claims with a number of celebrities, including jeffrey archer, patsy ginza and kevin keegan. in sport, england's women have been drawn in the same qualifying group as wales in the 2019 women's world cup. england announced their 15 man cricket squad for the champions trophy injune. owen morgan will captain the side. and in the quarterfinals of the world snooker championship at the crucible, five—time champion ronnie o'sullivan n ‘s recession five all.

i will be back with more stories at 3:30pm. the french presidential candidate, marine le pen, has temporarily stood down as leader of the far—right national front, to try to broaden her support, in the run up to the final round of voting on may 7th. she told french television that she needs to be above party politics. this morning ms le pen and her rival emmanuel macron attended a ceremony in honour of xavierjugele — the police officer shot dead on the champs—elysees last week. hugh schofield reports from paris. they were just faces among many others, because this was not a moment for campaigning. emmanuel macron and marine le pen were there as national figures to take part in the nation's tribute to police officer xavierjugele. after the coffin was brought into the courtyard of police headquarters, it was the officer's civil partner, etienne cardlels, who spoke first. translation: when the news came out that something serious had happened

on the champs—elysees, and that a police officer had lost their life, a little voice told me it was you. and it reminded me of that wise quote, you will not have my hate. for president hollande, this is not his first ceremony to remember police officers killed by terrorism. the level of violence which police and gendarme had to face kept getting worse, he said. in xavierjugele, france had lost one of the bravest of its sons, an everyday hero. this morning's ceremony for xavierjugele and this small makeshift memorial on the champs—elysees on the spot where he died are a reminder of how terrorism and security are a central theme in these elections. marine le pen in particular is telling the country that with her tougher line on deportations, and sentencing, on immigration, that attacks like this would be much harder to carry out. she's the outsider in the race, so marine le pen is coming out fighting, accusing emmanuel macron

of not having the guts to defend the french. i'm no longer president of the front national. i'm the candidate for the presidency. emmanuel macron is biding his time, but he knows that he can't leave his rival to make the running alone on so vital an issue as the terrorist threat. hugh schofield, bbc news, paris. let's talk a little more about what the politicians have been saying today. let's just talk through some

of those. the single market, may be the most ambitious trade cooperation. besides eliminating tariffs, quotas or taxes on trade, it also includes the free movement of goods, services, capital and people. that's why — in the eu — there has been no limit on the number of french people who can come to the uk, or the number of british people who can live in spain — but there are limits on turks or ukrainians, for example. a free trade area is one where there are no tariffs or taxes or quotas on goods and/or services from one country entering another. there is a free trade zone in europe — the european free trade association with members including norway, iceland and switzerland and liechtenstein. the eu has free trade arrangements with many other countries in europe and beyond, including turkey. so how is a customs union different

from a free trade area? once goods have cleared customs in one country they can be shipped to others in the union without further tariffs. the eu is a customs union. norway is part of the eu's single market, but it is not part of the customs union. so it sets its own tariffs on goods imported from outside the single market. but norwegian goods are imported tariff—free into the eu. there is no strict definition of either, but they are used to refer to the closeness of the uk's relationship with the eu after brexit. so at one extreme, "hard" brexit could involve the uk refusing to compromise on issues like the free movement of people, leaving the eu single market and trading with the eu as if it were any other country outside europe, based on world trade organization rules. at the other end of the scale,

a "soft" brexit might involve some form of membership of the european union single market, in return for a degree of free movement. and we can now speak to professor anand menon, director of uk in a changing europe, who is in london. thank you so much for being with us. we have been hearing from labour today on their reviews of brexit. labour accepting that the principle of free movement of people would have to end after brexit. talk us through your views on labour's brexit policy there and whether it is advanced and what we knew before. let me say two things, in terms of the distinctions you were drawing before, what has been said is that

the labour party will try and achieve a softer brexit than it seems mrs may is going for. that is what he is trying to distinguish between the two parties. this is hugely complicated in terms of their position. what keir starmer are saying and what is labour are seeing a slightly different. labour faces the dilemma that it incorporates within its electorate both staunch levers and starts remainers and so i think they are trying to preserve a certain amount of ambiguity whilst at the same time recognising the need to prioritise eyes the economics. we will try and stay in the customs union under a labour government. talk us through that issue of the customs union. is that possible? how would that be possible to leave the european union but stay in the customs union? what would be the implications of that? it is possible to be in the customs union outside the european union and outside the european union and outside the european union and outside the single market. it means

our good skin go to tariff be into other european countries and that would be important to the car and aerospace industry. one problem politically would be that one theme is that if we left the european union, would be able to strike on trade deals with other countries. if we are in the customs union we would not be able to do that because we would be bound the common commercial policy of the european union. the indications from the prime minister i that the conservatives are not looking to stay in the customs union. at silently. perhaps the strongest thing nor that factors she has created department of trade under liam fox, whosejob would be to negotiate those trade deals. we we re to negotiate those trade deals. we were mentioning they are the differences between a soft brexit and a hard brexit. what is your view then of what we seem to be coming around to in terms of britain's view

then walk brexit will be, will it be hard? i think if that's most people expect the prime minster wins the election with a lead times majority, she will be to drive forward the sort of brexit she has been talking about since quite soon after becoming conservative party leader. we are outside the single market and where we sign our old trade treaties which means we are outside the customs union. given your terminated —— terminology, that would be a hard brexit. thank you for discussing thoseissues brexit. thank you for discussing those issues and talking us through those. sir eltonjohn has cancelled a series of shows in the us afterfalling ill with what's been described as a potentially deadly bacterial infection. the singer, who's 70, spent 2 nights in intensive care, after contracting the illness while on tour in chile earlier this month. his management team says he is now recovering at home. our entertainment correspondent

lizo mzimba reports. the 70—year—old is one of music's hardest—working acts, touring all over the world, and still giving energetic performances at what for many would be retirement age. during the recent series of concerts in south america, he contracted what his medical team has called a potentially deadly bacterial infection, becoming ill on his way back to the uk. in a statement, sir elton's management said... sir elton himself added... # it's a little bit funny #.

the illness has meant that sir elton has had to cancel planned concerts in april and may in california and las vegas. he is expected to return to the concert stage injune in london. lizo mzimba, bbc news. we wish him a swift recovery. let's look at the weather prospects now. a real mixed bag today. we have got showers, thunder, sleet. these as showers, thunder, sleet. these as shower clouds and look how they have been developing over the last few hours, there are more developing over more central and southern parts of the uk, where we have had blue skies. summerhill stones on the way

and thunder and lightning in some places. this is a thing that will continue for the rest of the day. we have sunshine, i hail storm and some sunshine again. temperatures into low single figures, 5 degrees maybe. tonight the arctic wind continues to bring further showers, may be some snow settling in east anglia, but on the wet stuff. tomorrow, further showers in eastern areas with that win don't the north. you can see light winds and more sunshine here. throughout the south west, wales and the irish sea, the weather is not looking bad. then the hour into the weekend, bank holiday weekend. it is looking a little bit mix, but overall not too bad. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines at 3.30pm:

the prime minister is campaigning in wales today ahead of the general election saying she can offer strong and stable leadership. give mea give me a mandate to lead britain. give me a mandate to lead britain. give me a mandate to lead britain. give mea give me a mandate to lead britain. give me a mandate to lead britain. give me a mandate to lead britain. give me a mandate to speak for britain. give me a mandate to fight for britain and give me a mandate to deliver for for britain and give me a mandate to deliverfor britain. applause labour pledges to guarantee the rights of eu citizens living in the uk after brexit if it wins the election. if theresa may gets another five yea rs, if theresa may gets another five years, she will ignore opposition and drive through a reckless tory brexit. a rigid brexit. a number of well—known names including jeffrey archer and kevin keegan settle phone—hacking claims against mirror group newspapers. donald trump's daughter ivanka has defended his attitude towards women at a conference on women's empowerment in berlin on her first international trip since her father took office. now the sport with tim haig.

england's women have been drawn in the same group as wales for the 2019 women's world cup qualifiers. northern ireland and the republic of ireland are also together in a group also including norway and the netherlands, while scotland are in group 2 alongside switzerland. you can see the full draw on the bbc sport website. it's twice now. the previous world cup campaign went to cardiff. we will look forward to playing two good games against wales, but we can't under estimate the likes of russia. two difficult trips in bosnia and kazakhstan as well. they are the top ranked group. from that party of teams, all of they will will be a challenge. they have a fantastic group of players. we have to test ourselves against. so, it is an interesting one because there will be some players on the pitch

for england who i played with and i have many interesting memories of and i'm friends with. so it will be and i'm friends with. so it will be an interesting challenge for our group, for myself, and for the opponents. it's always difficult because the format of the competition is different and there is only one team from each group that automatically qualifies so we know it's going to be difficult and perhaps we should be difficult and perhaps we should be setting our targets, you know, to try and get it the play—off and see where it takes us. durham fast bowler mark wood has been recalled by england for their one day matches with ireland, south africa and the subsequent icc champions trophy. wood has had three ankle operations. ben stokes will miss the two games against ireland to play in the indian premier league. stokes was great form for rising pune supergiant yesterday helping them to a narrow win against the mumbai indians. stokes along withjos buttler and chris woakes will back for england's matches against south africa as well as the icc trophy. kyle edmund has been knocked out of the second round of the barcelona open.

the british number two was beaten in straight sets by the world number nine austria's dominic thiem. he lost 6—1, 6—a. thiem will player british number three dan evans or mischa zverev in the next round. adam peaty headlines a 29—strong british swimming team for this summer's world championships in budapest. the olympic 100 metre breaststroke champion gained a spot in the squad automatically by winning his event at the british championships last week. olympic medallists jazz carlin, siobhan—marie o'connor, james guy, duncan scott, stephen milne and chris walker—hebborn also made the squad. the quarter—finals are underway at the world snooker championship in sheffield. five—time champion ronnie o'sullivan has finished his first session against china's ding junhui. ding took the first three frames before o'sullivan won the next three to level the match. ding knocked in a re—spotted black to edge ahead

again but o'sullivan hit back though to take the last frame to make it a—alljohn higgins leads kyren wilson 5—3 too. it's the first to 13 frames. reigning champion mark selby is currently playing marco fu in their quarter—final. these are live pictures after what was a late night for fu. his match against neil robertson didn't finish until nearly 11pm. and he's trailing 3—0 to selby at the moment. cyclist lizzie armitstead says some "extremely difficult personal circumstances" led to her missing a drugs test last summer. it was her third missed test in a 12—month period — an offence that could have led to a four—year ban. the court of arbitration for sport decided that the authorities were to blame for the first missed test and armitstead went on to compete at the rio olympics. i'm entitle to a personal life and a private life and the circumstances vournding my third strike were very

personal, very traumatic family experience and it's not something that i feel necessary to share with people and i hope that people respect that. the first strike that was taken away was uk anti—doping's fault and the second was my responsibility. so sometimes life happens and yeah, i think it's important that i am open and i'm honest and that's what i tried to do. and the former heavyweight champion tyson fury has announced he's targeting return to boxing injuly. the 28—year—old had his licence revoked in october as he dealt with mental health problems. more on that story on the bbc sport website. that's all sport for now. hugh ferris will have more in the next hour. tim, thank you very much. tensions have increased on the korean peninsula, as the north carried out a massive artillery exercise to mark the anniversary of the founding of its armed forces. in the south, a us submarine has docked, adding to the build up of forces there. envoys from south korea, the us and japan are holding talks in tokyo.

our correspondent wyre davies has the latest. an american submarine glides into the port. it has been called a routine visit. but as tensions rise in the korean peninsula the sub is being joined by a much larger group of warships, led by the aircraft carrier. it's the latest in a series of developments that shows how seriously washington is taking north korea's expanding nuclear programme. this is donald trump's toughest foreign policy challenge by far. his predecessors strategic patience with pyongyang clearly over. mrtrump is demanding tougher un action or else. the council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on north korean nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. this is a real threat to the world.

whether we want to talk about it or not. in a rare move, he has summoned all 100 members of the senate for a special white house briefing on korea. the question is, what comes next? as it marks as the 85th anniversary of the founding of its army, the north korean regime has reacted with furious words, if not yet actions, to the us naval manoeuvres and a special security council meeting on the region. the foreign ministry's response was almost blood curdling. translation: now that the us has pulled out its sword to kill us, we will also pull out our grand sword ofjustice and fight until the end and we will kill the us imperialists with our strong and revolutionary power. our nuclear forces stand at the core. the rhetoric and the images are alarming, but while there

are concerns north korea maybe planning for missile tests, observers in the south say no unusual developments have been detected. china, the north‘s only major ally, has urged the us not to act without un approval and called on both sides to show restraint. trying to second—guess two very different, but two unpredictable leaders in kim jong—un and donald trump is not proving easy. the founder of wikipedia is launching an online news service to help combat fake news. jimmy wales says that wikitribune will use both professional journalists and what he's described as "community contributors" to produce fact—checked articles. the site will be free to use, but will accept donations from supporters. here's our media editor amol rajan. fake news has gone global. whether deliberate distortions dressed up as real news or clandestine political advertising that targets you on social media, voters in america, germany and france have been hit. the question now is — could this new form of campaigning

online be coming to britain ahead of the general election? if political messages are broadcast during an election campaign, they are subject to regulation. but what about messages that are published online? i rang up the law commission. they said to try the electoral commission. i rang up the electoral commission. they said, "that certainly would not be us." i rang the advertising standards agency and ofcom too. they both said it falls outside of their remit. the question remains — who polices this stuff? wikitribune is a new site with a new model for the news... perhaps this website is one answer. wikitribune will ask for monthly subscriptions from a community of users who help to verify and shape online news themselves. it was launched this morning by the founder of wikipedia, jimmy wales. he argues that we need a sharp press at all layers of society. the rise of hateful politics, i think, is a direct result of this lack of quality in terms of giving people facts.

if big internet companies won't take responsibility for what appears on their platforms and regulation has not kept pace with technology, it may fall to us to police fake news ourselves. president trump's daughter, ivanka has defended his record on women's rights at a women's summit in berlin. she said her father had always encouraged her and enabled her to thrive. ivanka is an influential adviser to the us president, but there's been criticism about the nature of her role in the white house. richard galpin reports. ivanka trump, here on the left, taking the stage in berlin for a women's summit. alongside her, globalfigures including the german chancellor, angela merkel. for the daughter of the us president, these are unprecedented steps.

an official foreign visit and this before the president himself has made his first trip abroad. she's openly pushing the policy agenda back home. sadly the united states is one of the only countries in the world, the only developed country, that does not have a paid leave policy for the benefit of families. your father has displayed in former times might leave one questioning whether he is such an empowerment for women. how do you relate to that? i know from personal experience and i think the thousands of women who have worked with and for my father for decades, when of women who have worked with and for my fatherfor decades, when he was in the private sector, are a testa m e nt to was in the private sector, are a testament to his belief and solid conviction and the potential of women. already an influential adviser to herfather with her own office in the white house, ivanka trump now

seems to be working to improve relations between the us and germany. when donald trump met the german leader angela merkel in washington last month, it didn't appear to go well. but at one of the meetings, ivanka trump was placed next to the chancellor and they seemed to strike up a relationship, leading to the invitation to attend today's summit in berlin. i definitely think that for angela merkel, it's a diplomatic move, it's very strategic, going via ivanka trump to improve relationships with the us. while that benefits angela merkel, it also pushes ivanka trump even more into the limelight, raising further questions about the role of the president's family in the white house. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour

but first the headlines on bbc news: theresa may says every vote for the tories will "strengthen her hand" in the brexit negotiations, as she campaigns in labour heartlands in south wales. but labour's shadow brexit secretary says the tories are pursuing a "rigid and reckless brexit" and pledges to guarantee the rights of eu citizens living in britain. mirror group newspapers settles phone—hacking claims with a number of celebrities including jeffrey archer, patsy kensit and kevin keegan. hello. in the business news: the amount of money borrowed by the government is at it's lowest level since the financial crisis. that's according to figures just published by the office for national statistics. for the 2016—2017 financial year as a whole, borrowing decreased by £20 billion. whitbread, the owner of costa coffee and premier inn hotels,

reported profits up over 6%. the boss of the company reckons there is room for more hotel rooms in the uk. 20% of their staff are from the eu. she's called for an open and flexible labour source with reference to concerns around brexit. carpetright has also expressed concern about the year ahead. both companies shares are down. the motor industry's fight—back against growing opposition to diesel has moved up a gear with a strong defence of commercial vehicles. the industry's trade body, the society of motor manufacturers and traders, has warned people not to ignore the "essential role" diesel commercial vehicles play in keeping the uk economy moving. now, when you think of luxury art you might think about galleries and auction houses. well, a report out today by the insurers hiscox show that the online art market is growing. online art market sales reached £3.75 billion — up 15% from 2015. overall, online—sales now represent

8.a% of the almost £30 billion global art market. joining us now is robert read, head of art and private clients at hiscox. robert, 8.5%, it is not a huge amount of the global art market. why hasn't it grown more? no, you're right, it's tiny and it's surprising that it hasn't grown more. we buy virtually everything online from nail clippers to finding a date and so it's surprising that art hasn't had that and i think what has happened is that people are hesitant buyers at the moment and that's because the art market is still very opaque and it is hard, it is opaque and unregulated and it attracts, the good, the bad and the ugly and people have yet to get the confidence to really go for it online. the market is crowded with online. the market is crowded with online players, so that needs to be sorted out and there needs to be some form of consolidation so there

isa some form of consolidation so there is a clearer market leader so people have that confidence to buy online. how about art as an asset, as an investment. we have had lots of events globally over the last year, that's made investors perhaps more cautious, of traditional asset classes. have you seen a change there? no, lots of people still look at art as an asset class and there is not much else to invest in at the moment. it does attract money and it is exciting to buy art as well. so don't under estimate that effect on investors as well. do you think the government's going to show an interest in regulating the market a bit more? is it worth their while? i don't think the government will show much interest in regulating the art market. it is a rich person's game and no one will be crying into their cornflakes at brea kfast be crying into their cornflakes at breakfast if someone is rich and gets ripped off in the art market, they have got bigger things to worry about. thank you very much. thank you. in other business news: nestle is planning to cut almost 300 jobs, mainly in york and newcastle. it is also going to move production of the blue riband chocolate biscuit

to one of its factories in poland. sites in halifax and girvan will also be hit, but the company hopes to cutjobs through voluntary redundancies. nestle said it was trying to make the business more efficient. the gmb and unite unions have expressed their anger at the decision. wikipedia's co—founder jimmy wales is planning to launch a news service. articles will be written by journalists and volunteers. his goal is for it to offer "factual and neutral" information and challenge "fake news". it won't have any adverts and will be free to read so will rely on donations. france's richest man has made a £10 billioon move to combine the christian diorfashion house and luxury goods firm lvmh under the same ownership. now, if you're familiar with lvmh then it might be because you have rather deep pockets because it owns the likes of louis vuitton and moet champagne. under this proposed deal, the arnault family will offer to buy the rest of dior that it doesn't already own.

shares in christian diorjumped about 12% and lvmh shares rose a%. let's look at the markets. yesterday saw markets in the green across europe. the cac—ao in paris was up a% yesterday and today it's just holding onto those gains. they were won after the results of the first round of the french of the first round of the french presidential elections which lead to markets breathing a sigh of relief. also as we've been talking about whitbread, which owns costa coffee and premier inn, has reported a 6% rise in profit to just over £560 million. but the share price is down — partly over labour market concerns. carpetright‘s share price also down after the retailer said its full—year profits would be at the lower end of forecasts. that's all the business news for now. i will be back in an hour's time with more business news. the family of the man who died after

he was run over by his car as it was being stolen has paid tribute to him. this statementjust issued by the family of mike samwell saying his death made a huge hole in their lives and can never be filled. they say mike was the most wonderful brother, husband and son. he was a generous family member and friend to so many. it says, "we have been blessed by the amount of support, condolences and prayers from those who loved him. we have been deeply touched by the kindness of strangers, especially the emergency services, hospital staff, and police who did everything they could for him and continue to support us in our grief. this is an awful tragedy." says this statement from mike samwell‘s family. "we all want to remember

mike for the family. "we all want to remember mike forthe man family. "we all want to remember mike for the man he was and not dwell on the crime that left us bereft. the light he shown will continue to travel with us always." the time is 3.50pm. taking moderate exercise several times a week is the best way for people over the age of 50 to keep their brain in good working order. that's according to a new report which says a combination of aerobic activity such as swimming, cycling or jogging with muscle strengthening exercise is most effective. jon kay has been finding out more. back—step. .. tuesday lunchtime, and it's the over—505 dance class at henbury community centre. but it's not just their feet that are being exercised. researchers say their mental powers are also being stretched, by getting more blood pumping to the brain. and these dancers agree. i used to do rock'n'roll

and then i stopped, and i felt really sluggish. but like now this sort of brings it back. so, yeah, i feel great. i think it's wonderful. it keeps you young! laughter. does it keep you sharp, do you think? oh, i'm very sharp. no, iam. i'm very good at quizzes on tele. we've known for a long time that exercise is good for both our physical and mental health as we get older. but this research pulls together 39 international reports and says aerobic activity improves our ability to think, learn, plan and remember. physical exercise can really help your brain function, your learning memory function. and that's really a very important motivator for people. because everybody cares about how well they age from the point of view of their mental functions. the research found thatjust half—an—hour of moderate exercise every week was beneficial.

but that the more exercise you have beyond was even better. of course, physical exercise isn't the only way to keep our minds active. and mental health charities say other factors, such as what we eat and drink, and keeping our brains stimulated, are all equally important. artificial intelligence is now a key part of our everyday lives — it's most commonly in our smartphones. our devices learn something about us every time we use them. now a new report says the uk should be doing more to make the most of this technology. tim muffett explains. let's get you all set up. elaine has the most common cause of blindness in europe and america — age—related macular degeneration. there is no cure, but scanners like this allow doctors to identify and manage the condition. but more scanners means more scans, which then need analysing

by specialists such as piers keane. if you go and have a check for your glasses, you'll often be offered to have an oct scan done. if there's any deviation from the normal, no matter how slight, they will refer patients in urgently to the hospital eye services. and the patients who do have the really sight—threatening conditions are not getting seen quickly enough. so moorfields eye hospital has launched a research project with deep minds, an artificial intelligence company owned by google. we're going to use artificial intelligence, or machine learning, to train an algorithm to recognise the commonest causes of blindness. most of us encounter machine learning without realising. it's a type of artificial intelligence that allows our phones to recognise our voice or can tag ourface in a photo. we're at an early stage and we need to think about how society copes with those changes and how we do it in a way that the benefits of the machine learning increase our social well—being. the royal society wants machine learning integrated

into uk business strategy. more sophisticated digital skills taught in schools and universities, and clearer rules on data ownership. should medical information, for example, be shared with private companies? is there a danger here when it comes to patient privacy? this is historical data which we have completely anonymised. what i want to do is simply allow a patient to be seen within 2a hours. would you like the beer to have more or less smokiness? one london brewery is using machine learning to continually tweak its product. beer drinkers provide feedback, data is analysed, and the recipe changed each month. machine learning is transforming the way many companies do business. the actor tom hardy has helped to foil a crime and police are appealing for pictures and witnesses. police in richmond say mr hardy detained one of two people who went through a red light on a stolen moped and crashed into another vehicle.

he stopped the suspect after he'd fled the scene. both suspects were eventually taken to hospital with minor injuries. a runner who broke his hip during the last few miles of the london marathon two years ago, got some extra cheers from the crowd on sunday as his girlfriend proposed to him! his girlfriend got down on one knee to pop the question to her partner john. marie who started running in 2015 has raised £1,000 for charity. congratulations to them. all right, let's see what the weather is doing. jay rjay wynne has the forecast. we have seen a mixed bag and we have seen a we have seen a mixed bag and we have seen a lovely start for many. there is that breeze and a lot of showers

have been developing so far today, spreading their sway southwards on that breeze. those showers contained a mix. we have seen some fairly significant snow in the highlands of scotla nd significant snow in the highlands of scotland and also some snow further southin scotland and also some snow further south in staffordshire. it's lying on the roofs and on the cars, and not on the roads, and a little bit of sunshine as well. much like last night we will see a widespread frost and we're not done with the wintry showers. we have got a rash of showers. we have got a rash of showers. not all of them wintry, there will be rain, sleet and snow over higher ground in particular, but notice how they fade away for western areas overnight and the skies clear here. that's where the lowest temperatures will develop. a blue tinge indicating a widespread frost. it is a cold night across—the—board. way down into single figures, ruralspots across—the—board. way down into single figures, rural spots going a few degrees below freezing. so a cold start, that's for sure. sunshine for much of cornwall. in pembrokeshire, we might see an early shower or two. we see more cloud for the midlands and east anglia and the south east. most of the showers are

confined to the coastal counties. a bit of sunshine for wales, the north—west of england through the morning, scotland, much of northern ireland actually seeing sunshine as well. but the north—west of scotland and the north coast of northern ireland, we are likely to see early showers. but i think it will be a decent day where you start with sunshine, i think you'll hang on to it. further east, there will be more cloud and further showers. again, some of those could be wintry over higher ground, but it is mostly by rain as temperatures get to 11 or 12 celsius for cardiff and london. sevens and eights for aberdeen and glasgow. then through the evening, further showers to be had, mainly for central and eastern areas. still some sunshine to be had further west and then as the sun sets the showers tend to fade away as rain begins to gather in the north and the west. it will be light and patchy with a breeze, but this is going to signal a bit ofa breeze, but this is going to signal a bit of a change. it will feel less cold as we head towards thursday with milder air. just drifting its way in from the atlantic and it will spread to all areas during the day

on thursday. however, in the process , on thursday. however, in the process, we're going to see a fair bit of cloud and some rain. that rain, not overly heavy, but rain nonetheless, and a fair bit of cloud. top temperatures 12 or 13 celsius, but we are in double figures in glasgow, belfast and london and cardiff. more details, as ever, online. this is bbc news. the headlines at apm: theresa may says she's not complacent about the result of the general election, telling supporters in wales that every vote would strengthen her hand in the brexit negotiations. give mea give me a mandate to lead britain. give me a mandate to lead britain. give me a mandate to lead britain. give mea give me a mandate to lead britain. give me a mandate to lead britain. give me a mandate to lead britain. give me a mandate to speak for britain, to fight for britain, and give mea britain, to fight for britain, and give me a mandate to deliver for britain. labour sets out its approach to brexit if it wins the general election, pledging to unilaterally guarantee the rights of eu citizens already in the uk a number of celebrities settle phone hacking claims

on day one of a labour government we will guarantee that all eu nationals currently living in the uk will see no change in their legal status as a result of britain