this is bbc news broadcasting in the uk and around the globe. our top stories... the parliamentary committee investigating whether former prime minister borisjohnson knowingly misled parliament, publishes its evidence ahead of the hearing. according to the evidence, a senior civil servant had questioned mrjohnson�*s plan to say covid guidance had been followed at all times in number 10. a global water crisis due to pollution and excessive consumption — a warning from the un. here in the uk, mps will vote today on rishi sunak�*s new brexit deal for northern ireland. but the democratic unionist party have said they will be voting against it. the inflation rate in britain rose unexpectedly to 10.4 percent in february, after three months of falls.

and france's president macron prepares to defend the new law on pension reform — as protests continue — against raising the retirement age hello and welcome to bbc news. borisjohnson is preparing to face the committee of mps who willjudge whether he deliberately misled parliament about parties at downing street during the covid lockdown. the former british prime minister has admitted misleading mps, but he insists his statements claiming rules and guidance were followed at all times were made in �*good faith�*. the evidence mrjohnson will face has been published by the commons privileges committee in the past hour, including emails, photos, whatsapp messages and written statements. mrjohnson could face being

suspended from parliament if mps decide he deliberately misled them. so what is in the 110 page evidence bundle released this morning? our political correspondent, nick eardley, joins us from westminster. he is going through it. i do not know if you have had a chance to look through all of it yet. what key points have jumped out look through all of it yet. what key points havejumped out so look through all of it yet. what key points have jumped out so far? look through all of it yet. what key points havejumped out so far? this points have “umped out so far? this evidence points have jumped out so far? this evidence will _ points have jumped out so far? ti 3 evidence will be used by the committee this afternoon, they are going to refer back to a lot of it. they have had it for a while, but some of it we are seeing for the first time. remember the fundamental question here is why borisjohnson misled parliament? was it because he was acting in good faith and this was acting in good faith and this was an accident or was it because he was an accident or was it because he was reckless or even perhaps doing it on purpose? one of the key extracts this morning is from martin reynolds who was the minister's

private secretary and it talks about warning borisjohnson about the impact of saying that all rules and guidance had been followed in his remarks to the commons. he suggested that was taken out of his statement by borisjohnson and it sounds like it was. the problem for the prime minister as it was then put back into another answer that he gave to a labour mp. so i suspect he will raise questions about that. part of boris johnson's defence raise questions about that. part of borisjohnson�*s defence this afternoon is going to be that he was told by his assistants that all rules had been followed. there is evidence for that in the documents we have seen. there are questionnaires that were filled out for sue gray, the civil servant looking into all of this where some of his communications team say they do think the guidance, sorry, that the rules were followed at all times although the draw a distinction with the two metre social distancing guidance. so there is some evidence that will support boris johnson

there. there is also something that is tricky for him, the top civil servant in the country makes it clear he was not one of those who told boris johnson clear he was not one of those who told borisjohnson the rules and guidance had been followed and there had been no parties. it does not seem like borisjohnson is going to his top official to seek clarity on that. there are two things, firstly, he will face a question about how curious he was when he was trying to find out what had gone on in downing street. secondly, he will face the claim that some of his senior aides like martin reynolds were telling him you cannot see all rules and guidance were full because there is evidence that undermines that. what evidence that undermines that. what is the process — evidence that undermines that. what is the process by _ evidence that undermines that. what is the process by which any decision is the process by which any decision is made? it is unprecedented, isn't it? forthis is made? it is unprecedented, isn't it? for this to happen to a former pro minister. it? for this to happen to a former pro minister-— pro minister. yes, certainly in terms of _ pro minister. yes, certainly in terms of being _ pro minister. yes, certainly in terms of being on _ pro minister. yes, certainly in terms of being on the - pro minister. yes, certainly in l terms of being on the situation, pro minister. yes, certainly in - terms of being on the situation, a prime minister being accused of deliberately misleading the house of commons is a big deal. the process

will take a while, is the simple answer. this afternoon is the hearing that the committee will put their points to borisjohnson, he will have a chance to rebut them, his defence will be interrogated over several others but it will be a few weeks before the committee comes up few weeks before the committee comes up with the final report. when they go through all the evidence and decide whether he recklessly or deliberately misled parliament. they can then recommend sanctions, all the way, if they decide to sanction is necessary all the way from an apology to the house of commons, to suspending borisjohnson apology to the house of commons, to suspending boris johnson from apology to the house of commons, to suspending borisjohnson from the commons, and if it is long enough, it could potentially lead to a by—election. that would have to be voted through by mps. my feeling as unless mps can prove this was malicious or deliberate, it will be hard for them to say that he should be thrown out of parliament for long enough to trigger a by—election. but we do not know the answer at the moment. it is down to the mps on the

committee to come up with the conclusions and put them to parliament as a whole. i do conclusions and put them to parliament as a whole. i do not know whether you — parliament as a whole. i do not know whether you have _ parliament as a whole. i do not know whether you have had _ parliament as a whole. i do not know whether you have had a _ parliament as a whole. i do not know whether you have had a chance - parliament as a whole. i do not know whether you have had a chance to - whether you have had a chance to go through the jack doyle information unless. less. communications chief at the time, he has been in the press to a degree as well. that is part of this evidence in terms of what he told the prime minister. he is what he told the prime minister. he: is one of the people who are saying that we did think it was within the rules and there were discussions about whether it was in the rules and ultimately although the guidance may have been breached, it was a workplace, and it was only the guidance as far as practicable, that would be implemented. there are some slightly more awkward exchanges between jack doyle slightly more awkward exchanges betweenjack doyle and other senior officials where they are talking about whether they can justify. we have seen these messages before but they are being published again, whatsapp messages talking about how to respond to reports in the media, they are saying we are not sure we

can justify this one. the birthday cake at borisjohnson�*s birthday event gathering in the cabinet room, that makes it awkward. this makes it harder to justify to the police and to the media more widely. there is awkward stuff. not finished at all, i still have ten pages to go, before i still have ten pages to go, before i got bundled on here so my colleagues could have a morning meeting. if there is anything else, i will tell you as soon as i know. you talked about a potential political rebellion, borisjohnson and liz truss are going to vote against the government today on the brexit northern ireland, the new brexit northern ireland, the new brexit northern ireland deal which rishi sunak has got, the windsor framework. it is important because it is about all this showing the difficulties within the conservative party even now over brexit.- difficulties within the conservative party even now over brexit. there as an awkward — party even now over brexit. there as an awkward squad _ party even now over brexit. there as an awkward squad for _ party even now over brexit. there as an awkward squad for rishi -

party even now over brexit. there as an awkward squad for rishi sunak. . party even now over brexit. there as an awkward squad for rishi sunak. i | an awkward squad for rishi sunak. i do not know how big the rebellion will be. we have been trying to find out how many tory mps might vote against the government. it looks bad for rishi sunak, not that he will lose the vote because he has labour's back in, not that he would end up like theresa may and quite over brexit, but it looks bigger than we thought. everything went quiet after the windsor framework was revealed a few weeks ago. it looked like it had been a political triumph for rishi sunak until this week actually when the dup came out and said we are not convinced and we are voting against it in parliament. they are key to this process because rishi sunak wants to get them back at stormont, back in power sharing in the northern ireland assembly. this morning, we have a growing number of tory mps, senior prominent well—known tory mps saying they will not vote for it. boris johnson, liz truss, iain duncan smith and priti patel, they told the telegraph

they're going to vote against it as well. it looks it is going to be a tricky vote for rishi sunak, a bigger rebellion than we thought. thank you very much for that. we can speak now to amos waldman. his grandmother was in a care home and died from covid in the early days of the pandemic. he's also a spokesperson for covid—i9 bereaved families forjustice. thank you forjoining us. we are very sorry about your loss during the pandemic. the fact that boris johnson is giving evidence today, i do not know whether you have had an opportunity to read the documents released today or yesterday, what do you want? what you want the mps to ask him? irate you want? what you want the mps to ask him? ~ :, :, ask him? we want him to give an exoianation- _ ask him? we want him to give an explanation. despite _ ask him? we want him to give an explanation. despite what - ask him? we want him to give an explanation. despite what the, l ask him? we want him to give an. explanation. despite what the, his submission said, really, a picture

speaks a thousand words, and for families like mine who looked at the photographs that were produced days before the sue gray report with borisjohnson before the sue gray report with boris johnson toasting before the sue gray report with borisjohnson toasting people, that really is for bereaved families like mine, it's a stake through the heart. at the time, we were unable to see my grandmother who was in a care home. she had only moved in for a trial period anti matter of weeks later, she died. we were not able to visit her. we were not even able... there were no video call facility is, we had telephone poles that i will never forget. we is, we had telephone poles that i will neverforget. we had is, we had telephone poles that i will never forget. we had a funeral by zoom. usually it is a solemn occasion, we had someone who was present unfortunately left their microphone on, was eating crisps and shouting at the children, the camera was moving from my grandma was mark coffin to this person. we were not able to meet up as a family. the

first time we met up was 18 months after when we had the stone setting. we missed out on the usual process of saying goodbye. when we see the in the submissions yesterday that they believed they were in the rules and guidance because all they did was to thank the staff efforts are saying farewell to equality, what i would say is what do you say to members of bereaved families who were not able to say farewell to their dying relatives, were not able to attend funerals and were not able to attend funerals and were not able to grieve properly together as families? long? it is a very difficult question, borisjohnson is no longer prime minister, do you think as a result of this whole process being thrown out of the house of commons?— house of commons? through a by-election? — house of commons? through a by-election? should _ house of commons? through a by-election? should he - house of commons? through a by-election? should he lose i house of commons? through a| by-election? should he lose his house of commons? through a - by-election? should he lose his seat by—election? should he lose his seat and his livelihood as a politician? i think he should. i don't think he

is a suitable person to be in politics and not high office. it is bad enough they were having parties indiscriminately through these traumatic events. but then to lie about it and then to lie about lying about it and then to lie about lying about it, and also to be in charge of the pandemic response that led to one of the worst death tolls in the world, people are now still dying from covid—19, still suffering from covid—19, he has had such an impact on the government's pandemic response which is ongoing, there should be no place for him in politics in my view.— politics in my view. and his evidence. _ politics in my view. and his evidence, he _ politics in my view. and his evidence, he does - politics in my view. and his evidence, he does deny - politics in my view. and his . evidence, he does deny telling politics in my view. and his - evidence, he does deny telling a lie to parliament and said it was inadvertent, he accepts misleading but that it was accidental, they were working under extreme pressure in a very small warren —like building in downing street, and he really was just trying to boost morale and keep his team going under extraordinary circumstances. is

there not some leeway there in your view for the prime minister and staff working under tough conditions? i staff working under tough conditions?— staff working under tough conditions? :, :, ~ ~ conditions? i do not think so. we were all working _ conditions? i do not think so. we were all working under _ conditions? i do not think so. we were all working under tough - were all working under tough conditions. my mother caught covid—19 in december 2020 when there was a failed response to the next wave. she was in hospital, there were people working hard around her, the paramedics attended three times before they took her into hospital, they did not have the sufficient ppe, the people in hospitals late in 2020, core surgical masks that were not protecting them. he was the one who made the rules. he stood up every night in front of us, in front of the cameras, and told us what we needed to do and how important it was and even in workplaces. in those circumstances, when the people who set the rules break them indiscriminately, i do not have any sympathy with him whatsoever. thank ou ve sympathy with him whatsoever. thank you very much- _

sympathy with him whatsoever. thank you very much- we — sympathy with him whatsoever. thank you very much. we are _ sympathy with him whatsoever. thank you very much. we are very _ sympathy with him whatsoever. thank you very much. we are very sorry - sympathy with him whatsoever. thank you very much. we are very sorry for what yourfamily has you very much. we are very sorry for what your family has been through. a small number of donald trump supporters have gathered outside trump tower in new york and near his home in mar—a—lago in florida. the former us president has called for protest over claims he is set to be arrested over what he calls a "democrat plot." we will keep you up—to—date with events going on around donald trump. the united nations is warning of an approaching global water crisis because of pollution, global warming and over—consumption. it's published a new report on the issue before the first dedicated water summit in more than forty years. consumption of water keeps rising, and the report says about 10 percent of the world's population live under water stress — where the ratio of water use to water availability — is considered "high" or "critical". at the last assessment in 2020, over a quarter of people around the globe still lacked access to safe drinking water, while 3.6 billion lacked access to safely

managed sanitation services. the report says the water crisis is worst in low—income countries — for example, an estimated 70% of the population of sub—saharan africa lacks safe drinking—water services. aru na iyengar reports. humanity�*s lifeblood, water, is increasingly at risk around the world due to vampiric overconsumption and overdevelopment. that is the language used in the un report. 10% of the global population currently lives in areas that are high or critical water stress. in our report, we said that up to 3.5 billion people live under conditions of water stress at least one month a year. the meeting in new york is asking governments and the private sector to come up with a water action agenda to meet a goal set in 2015 to ensure access to water and sanitation

for all by 2030. the un says up to half the world's population does not have access to sanitation and a quarter does not have access to safe water supply. it blames unsustainable water use, pollution and unchecked global warming. the un is now calling for a change in attitude towards water as a shared resource. the global water cycle is a global common good, we just don't want to understand it because we believe water belongs to us. we need to invest with that in our minds. the report notes that water scarcity has the greatest impact on poorer people and children. unicef had recently warned that 190 million children in ten african countries don't have access to clean water. the un says current levels of investment would have to be tripled to get safe drinking water for all by 2030. aruna iyengar, bbc news.

at least 13 people have died after a 6.5 magnitude quake shook parts of afghanistan and pakistan. more than two hundred have been hurt; most of the casualties so far are in pakistan's khyber pakhtunkhwa province. the epicentre of the quake was in the remote hindu kush mountains and was felt as far away as india. while many roads are blocked and some buildings damaged, officials say it's been less then feared for the mountainous region. our south asia correspondent yogita limaye is in mumbai and gave us more details about the damage done yesterday, when the earthquake happened, i was speaking to someone in afghanistan while it was happening, it went on for a really long time and people were very scared. people came out running onto the streets, and there was general sense of people thought that the devastation could be massive. later, we found out that the epicentre of the earthquake was in the north—east of the country, this is a very

mountainous province, i have been there, even going 20 to 30 kilometres can take hours, you are on winding roads, extremely rugged terrain, a remote and poor province as well. we have not yet been able to contact some of the people we know there because the phone lines have been interrupted. the taliban government is saying that at the moment, the casualties in afghanistan are four people killed, and 75 people injured. but it could take time to fully assess what has happened in this province. in neighbouring pakistan we have more information, most of the damage seems to have occurred in one area, more than 160 injured there, and nine people have been killed. two of rishi sunak�*s predecessors in downing street —— borisjohnson and liz truss —— say they will vote against his new brexit deal in parliament

today. the mechanism, known as the windsor framework, aims to give the stormont assembly a greater say on how eu laws apply to northern ireland. the democratic unionists' eight mps will oppose the measure —— but it's not known whether the european research group of euro—sceptic conservatives will join them. labour is backing the deal so the government is expected to win the vote. the northern ireland minister steve baker — who was formerly the chairman of the eurosceptic group of mps the european research group — said he would be voting for the deal as it was in the best interests of northern ireland of course it matters what the dup think, and they are entitled to have their concerns about what is a compromise. but what is really important as we serve the best interests of the people in northern ireland. i would say two things, firstly, let's not misrepresent what the protocol bill would do, it would have put in place a red and green

channel for goods going to northern ireland, but in using that bill, we would wreck our relations with the european union and damage are standing internationally. that is a price we were willing to pay to get the kind of arrangements we now have in the windsor framework. really, both of them should be backing the windsor framework today. what i would say as we are better than this, we have reached this point thanks to liz truss setting the processing chain and today's measures are better, of course, than the protocol that borisjohnson put in place, a protocol which he spoke about and those things he said turned out not to be accurate. he has got a choice, he can be remembered for the great acts of statecraft that he achieved all he can rest looking like a pound shop nigel farage, and i hope he chooses to be represented as a statesman. there is no question on going through on labour's foods, but because it is the thing for northern

ireland. i'm joined now by amanda ferguson who is a journalist who writes for irish times, reuters and washington post. what is your understanding about the dup position? the what is your understanding about the dup position?— dup position? the dup is ob'ecting to the brake — dup position? the dup is ob'ecting to the brake element, h dup position? the dup is ob'ecting to the brake element, it _ dup position? the dup is ob'ecting to the brake element, it is h dup position? the dup is objecting to the brake element, it is not - to the brake element, it is not going to vote today because what it has been introduced represent significant progress but does not address all the concerns that it has, it only applies to new eu law and it is going to continue to engage with the government on the outstanding issues that it has. the government said it has no plans for making changes at this point to the windsor framework that does not mean it may not happen in the end. it is not only dup concerns that are relevant within northern ireland, the alliance party said they will be voting with the government today even though it has some concerns remaining. it describes the windsor framework as a significant upgrade

on the protocol and we are likely to hear from the sdlp on the protocol and we are likely to hearfrom the sdlp in on the protocol and we are likely to hear from the sdlp in the coming minutes about its mps likely to vote with the government while they also have outstanding concerns and it represents the best route back to devolved government in northern ireland. and also this morning, the recent polling, throughout this process, the process has indicated that the majority of people in northern ireland support the protocol or support what flows from it even though northern ireland did not vote for brexit and judy in the irish news they are reporting there are three times greater support for the windsor framework than there is opposition. when anyone comes to northern ireland, you know it is a complicated picture, but the dup is key to getting devolution back because it is currently the only party that is eligible to form a government that will not re—enter the devolved institutions because of its outstanding concerns around the post—brexit trading arrangements. man? all this is key to getting

power share, to get the government and that really matters on the day—to—day population. and that really matters on the day-to-day population. businesses there, and without _ day-to-day population. businesses there, and without that, _ day-to-day population. businesses there, and without that, without i there, and without that, without agreement on this windsor framework, it is hard to see progress there. it is a stop start system of government and we have become accustomed to this, but there is a wariness at the moment that we are currently in the position where civil servants are in charge of of the departments. in stormont, they do not have ministerial powers, they can only do so much, the list of issues needing result is growing by the day. we have seen in recent times over the organ donation legislation that the uk government had to step in. we are in an unenviable position where there is nothing happening on a whole range of issues that really have a major impact on people's day—to—day lives. of course, everyone is concerned that there are objections amongst unionist to the

post—brexit trading arrangements, but if you look at the two main parties, in northern ireland, the dup is not going to re—enter government at present on the basis of its outstanding concerns. however, the ulster unionist party, the smaller party, it does not like the smaller party, it does not like the protocol much either. it does not feel as if the windsor framework is perfect either. however, it separates the two issues and recognises that there needs to be devolved government in northern ireland to deliver on health service and education and jobs in different strategies around violence against women and girls. i could keep going. in the meantime, we have nothing happening and the stability that people crave and the business community crave, it's not there yet. it is not the best position to be in but we have been here before. fin it is not the best position to be in but we have been here before. on the business front? _ but we have been here before. on the

business front? rishi _ but we have been here before. on the business front? rishi sunak _ but we have been here before. on the business front? rishi sunak talked - business front? rishi sunak talked about how lucky businesses where in northern ireland because they'd had access to the single market and gb, what are businesses saying about what are businesses saying about what they want now?— what are businesses saying about what they want now? through the rocess, what they want now? through the process. the _ what they want now? through the process, the business _ what they want now? through the process, the business community| what they want now? through the l process, the business community is very pragmatic, it does crave stability, which has been lacking in recent years, i think the business community takes a serious view of the post—brexit trading arrangements in that it recognises the gains that have been won on the fact that northern ireland has a unique position and having the gill market access as rishi sunak said himself, could be the world's most exciting economic zone but there were issues with the protocol that needed to be results for the business community because it was not working for every type of business. i think the business community would like some sort of stability and to know exactly what trading arrangements it will be dealing with. what should be noted today about the vote is that

it is one element of the windsor framework and it is the only element that requires the stormont to be setting out within the devolved government to work at, all of the other elements of the windsor framework can be progress and go ahead without that particular pause that could be put on new eu laws if evidence was provided that they were having significant impact on people because my day—to—day lives. it feels as if the train is moving from the platform a little bit, however, we have to resolve the outstanding issue of a lack of devolved government in this part of the world, and we had the 25th anniversary of the good friday agreement coming up in april and local elections in may, all of that is in the mix, well it would be good to be able to report that devolved government is going to return in the coming days, that doesn't look very likely. coming days, that doesn't look very likel . ., ~ coming days, that doesn't look very likel. :, ~ , coming days, that doesn't look very likel . :, ~ , .

protests have again continued into the night in paris after the french government narrowly survived a no—confidence vote on monday over its pension reform plans. police used tear gas against protesters who set fire to motorbikes and rubbish bins in the city centre. president macron is due to give a televised interview on wednesday in which he's expected to defend the new law. the legislation raises the retirement age in france by two years to 64. sofia bettiza reports. there is an outcry in france. in the past week, more than 1500 protests have taken place all over the country. this was place de la republique in paris last night. some protests turned violent. police clashed with demonstrators. and hundreds were arrested. this all happened after president emmanuel macron used controversial executive powers last week to push through his

deeply unpopular pension reform. this means that the retirement age in france will now be raised from 62 to 64. translation: i think that today the fifth republic i is showing its true face which is that of a regime that is not democratic since the president can decide to pass a law that is rejected by 90% of french people. to think that all those people who were already in really trying jobs will have to keep going until they are 64 is not right. theyjust see people as profits. well, macron never listened to us, so now this is war. _ i think at one point - he will not have a choice, he will have to withdraw his reform. but president emmanuel macron does not seem to have any intention of backing down. he said there will be no government reshuffle, no fresh elections and no referendum for his pension reform. and, after a week of not being seen in

public, today, he will give a rare tv interview. his hope will be to use the interview to calm things down and put an end to the protests. but that is easier said than done. emmanuel macron is facing his most serious challenge since the yellow vest riots four years ago. and, with more strikes planned for thursday, the anger that many french people feel is not going away. for more on this, i'm joined now byjournalist and editor of the dial, madeleine schwartz, in paris. why is this raising such anger on the streets?— the streets? this is a hugely unpopular — the streets? this is a hugely unpopular reform, _ the streets? this is a hugely unpopular reform, polls - the streets? this is a hugelyl unpopular reform, polls show the streets? this is a hugely - unpopular reform, polls show that somewhere between 70 and 90% did not want this change to the french

ancient system and the unpopularity has been exaggerated by the way the reform has been pushed through. it was not voted by the french national assembly but has been pushed through by the presidential branch through a particular constitutional article that allows the president to make unpopular decisions. this has inflamed tensions around the reform and has made many people feel that the only way to express their dissatisfaction is by going to the streets which they are doing. what is the polling evidence on the wider public view of this? pails wider public view of this? polls have shown — wider public view of this? polls have shown this _ wider public view of this? polls have shown this is _ wider public view of this? polls have shown this is a _ wider public view of this? polls have shown this is a very - wider public view of this? pfiile have shown this is a very unpopular reform, with as i say, between 70-80% reform, with as i say, between 70—80% french people against it and amongst politicians and as well, these reforms have been very divisive. in the no—confidence vote

against the government that happened on monday, we heard from people on the far right, people on the left, but also a number of centre—right politicians who have been speaking up politicians who have been speaking up against these reforms and the way the government has been making these choices. d0 the government has been making these choices. ~ :, . :, , choices. do we know what macron is likel to choices. do we know what macron is likely to say — choices. do we know what macron is likely to say today? _ choices. do we know what macron is likely to say today? any _ choices. do we know what macron is likely to say today? any chance - choices. do we know what macron is likely to say today? any chance of i choices. do we know what macron is likely to say today? any chance of a | likely to say today? any chance of a u—turn or change in how this policy is rolled out? u-turn or change in how this policy is rolled out?— is rolled out? that is certainly not what is expected. _ is rolled out? that is certainly not what is expected. he _ is rolled out? that is certainly not what is expected. he is _ is rolled out? that is certainly not what is expected. he is going - is rolled out? that is certainly not what is expected. he is going to l is rolled out? that is certainly not. what is expected. he is going to be speaking in about an hour and a half ina rare speaking in about an hour and a half in a rare interview and he is truly expected to double down and to try to explain why he is not going to turn back, try to get some justification for the reform but also make clear he and his government have no intention of pulling back the choices they have made. ~ :, pulling back the choices they have made. ~ . _, , . pulling back the choices they have made. ~ . , . :, made. what could this mean for politically? _ made. what could this mean for politically? well, _ made. what could this mean for politically? well, he _ made. what could this mean for politically? well, he is- made. what could this mean for politically? well, he is in - made. what could this mean for politically? well, he is in a - made. what could this mean for. politically? well, he is in a rather weak position. — politically? well, he is in a rather weak position, in _ politically? well, he is in a rather weak position, in part _ politically? well, he is in a rather weak position, in part because i politically? well, he is in a rather weak position, in part because in| weak position, in part because in the most recent elections last year,

he won a mandate for himself as president but his party was significantly weakened, which makes passing through these kinds of large legislative efforts very difficult and what we are seeing is party with alliance with the centre—right party is really fraying and not only is it difficult to pass through this kind of legislation, other legislative changes going to be more and more difficult in the future. the rate of inflation in the uk, as measured by the consumer prices index, rose unexpectedly last month to 10.4%. there was widespread expectation that it would fall, but the office for national statistics said it had been pushed up by higher prices in cafes and restaurants, and the cost of food and clothing. the chancellor, jeremy hunt said falls in inflation weren't inevitable so it was important to "stick to the plan to halve it".

earlier i spoke to our business correspondent mark lobel about the acceleration of inflation. this has come as a surprise to us here in the uk, the bank of england was expecting inflation to hit 9.9%, to drop to that figure, and in fact it's gone up to 10.4. markets were surprised. this does indicate the bank of england is going to raise interest rates on thursday but let's start with why the cost of living is going up. as you say, higher prices in cafes and restaurants, driven by higherfood prices, clothing gone up for kids and mums and despite fuel prices coming down. if we look at food inflation, it's gone up the year to february up 18.2%, so that's why some of those cost increases were passed onto consumers by restaurants, but also, remember the shortages in the uk on the shelves of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers caused by that harvest with extreme weather in spain and north africa,

but also high energy prices that are factored into those and supply chain issues, so all of that was a surprise, but the ons that monitors these things, the office of national statistics, says alcohol prices, they were the real surprise, that went up. and when you strip out, food and alcohol also went up. some reaction from uk chancellorjeremy hunt, saying these falls in inflation we were all expecting are not inevitable. what are the implications for interest rates? interest rates brought in to control, the cost of living when the cost of living is getting too high. we've seen the bank of england raised interest rates from .1% to 4% over 14 months. huge rises. this of course adds to the pressure to control rising prices. we weren't sure whether the uk, when they announced these figures on thursday, would do this because the backdrop to this in the last two weeks is of these two banking failures in america,

and that has caused huge concern and some people... and credit suisse in europe. part of the reason people said there was these bank failures and problems with credit suisse... we will see on wednesday, we are moving too fast and too hard with these interest—rate rises, but because inflation is rising in the uk, it is seen as an indication rates — more likely rates will go up on thursday. in the us, this balancing act, if the americans don't increase the interest rates, they will suggest to the market there may be other problems in the us banking sector they know about, so a big decision to make for the fed there. i'm joined now by simon french, chief economist at panmure gordon. thank you forjoining us. just reading the bbc economics editor saying uk inflation and debris will be the highest in the g7, leaving the uk the only country still in

double digits. why is it so high here? , . , double digits. why is it so high here? , ., , ., double digits. why is it so high here? , . , :, :,, here? probably a couple of factors wh the here? probably a couple of factors why the uk _ here? probably a couple of factors why the uk is _ here? probably a couple of factors why the uk is a — here? probably a couple of factors why the uk is a bit _ here? probably a couple of factors why the uk is a bit of— here? probably a couple of factors why the uk is a bit of an _ here? probably a couple of factors why the uk is a bit of an outlier. i why the uk is a bit of an outlier. the first, a reliance on gas and the energy mix, and we are seen considerable impact on household spending from very high gas prices, where we expect those to come down pretty rapidly now in the second half of the year, we are not there yet. we are still looking at the february data. the second reason is the disruption to food supply, we are seeing that across europe. but the uk adjusting to some of those brexit related frictions and i wouldn't overstate it but we are talking about small margins between the european inflation picture and uk picture, those differences at port do make an impact. iloathed uk picture, those differences at port do make an impact. what does that mean. — port do make an impact. what does that mean. in _ port do make an impact. what does that mean, in your _ port do make an impact. what does that mean, in your view, _ port do make an impact. what does that mean, in your view, for - that mean, in your view, for interest rates? he

that mean, in your view, for interest rates?— that mean, in your view, for interest rates? . , , :, interest rates? he city this morning certainly did — interest rates? he city this morning certainly did a _ interest rates? he city this morning certainly did a bit _ interest rates? he city this morning certainly did a bit of— interest rates? he city this morning certainly did a bit of a _ certainly did a bit of a reassessment what would happen on uk interest rates when the times tomorrow. i think they will rise by 0.25% to 4.25% and that will be the highest for 15 years. quite uncomfortable for a lot of people with floating rate mortgages, but i think this is an important caveat, we are pretty close to the top of this interest rate cycle, whether they go a little bit how to deal with this, we can debate, but are they going to plateau probably alongside the us? at these skin levels are close to the scanner levels are close to the scanner level is? because inflation is going to steadily come down? i think that is still the outcome. that to steadily come down? i think that is still the outcome.— is still the outcome. that is des - ite is still the outcome. that is despite the _ is still the outcome. that is despite the problems - is still the outcome. that is despite the problems in - is still the outcome. that isj despite the problems in the is still the outcome. that is - despite the problems in the banking sector that people are saying is partly caused by the sudden increase in interest rates?— in interest rates? yes, it's complicated _ in interest rates? yes, it's complicated because - in interest rates? yes, it's| complicated because when in interest rates? yes, it's - complicated because when you look in interest rates? yes, it's _ complicated because when you look at the silicon valley bank failure, you

look at the credit suisse failure, you have to say, standing back away from quite an emotive and dramatic set of circumstances, this was in quite per management from both the silicon valley bank management, dealing with rising interest rates, and persistent poor management of credit suisse. so there is a risk we overstate the impact the interest rate increases had on the banking system, and i think that's the way central banks will look at it now, is the week have failed but there is no fundamental reason why interest rates should not address the principle purposes, to get inflation under control. hour principle purposes, to get inflation under control.— under control. how unnerving is it that all the _ under control. how unnerving is it that all the forecasts _ under control. how unnerving is it that all the forecasts assume - under control. how unnerving is it that all the forecasts assume thatj that all the forecasts assume that to have predicted this increase in inflation? brute to have predicted this increase in inflation? ~ :, to have predicted this increase in inflation? ~ . :, , . , inflation? we had to be their hands u . inflation? we had to be their hands u- and sa inflation? we had to be their hands up and say as _ inflation? we had to be their hands up and say as an — inflation? we had to be their hands up and say as an economist - up and say as an economist profession we got it wrong, we saw inflation going into 9.9%, came in at 10.4. inflation going into 9.9%, came in at10.4. i inflation going into 9.9%, came in at 10.4. i would inflation going into 9.9%, came in at 10.4. iwould not inflation going into 9.9%, came in at 10.4. i would not be on there, an occupational hazard of being in

economics for gas, you'll get something wrong, very brazen saucy difficult forecast because the basket of goods and services the office for national statistics use gets changed each february, so it's a harder month than most but that's not to excuse what was a pair casting everybody pathway cell now for inflation is down from here, i willjust be a bumpy road. in the united states, the federal reserve is wrestling with whether to raise interest rates, with their decision to be announced tomorrow. on one hand, inflation is still running high and there was an expectation that the fed would stick to its policy of raising rates to bring that down. but on the back of the collapse of silicon valley bank, there is pressure to lower rates to restore financial stability to the banking sector. going through with another big rate rise could aggravate that crisis. here's michelle fleury in washington. until recently, silicon valley bank was a little known lender in california until it failed.

credit suisse was one of the most well—known banks in europe until it was undone. both were brought down by panic running through the financial system. to ease fears, us treasury secretary told a banking conference the government was ready to help if needed. our intervention was necessary to protect the broader us banking system. and similar actions could be warranted if smaller institutions suffered deposit runs that pose the risk of contagion. now all eyes are on how those inside here, america's central bank, will react. their fight against inflation has become a lot more complicated. the majority of economists now expect the federal reserve to raise rates by a quarter point to 4.75%. nobody is entirely sure what america's central bank will do next. that's because fighting inflation by raising interest rates and stabilising the financial sector

are at odds, which makes what fed chairjerome powell says after the decision even more important than usual. the fed announced that changed today, don't know what they will announce packages today. the uk position is announced tomorrow. source: afp + uk poollocation: londondate/time: 22 let's return to our top story today, as borisjohnson prepares to face a committee of mps who willjudge whether he deliberately or recklessly misled parliament about parties at downing street. earlier, i spoke to the legal commentatorjoshua rozenberg and started by asking him to explain the legal status of today's hearing. we have some pictures of boris johnson in his eyes debated two in

his house to the bath. getting to be patient this time. it is not a court, and for that reason, boris johnson's lawyer, lord pannick kc, will not be allowed to address the committee. we think he will be sitting there, he may whisper suggestions to the former prime minister, he may pass borisjohnson notes, but he is not going to be allowed to address the committee, as he would a court. but borisjohnson takes an oath, so has to tell the truth here... he does take an oath, certainly is required to tell the truth, but the procedure is a matter for parliament and that is the concern. lord pannick argued that the committee should not find him in contempt of parliament unless he intended to mislead parliament, the committee has said no, recklessness is sufficient,

if we conclude in any way that misleading parliament was reckless or intentional, we will consider what sanction to recommend to the house, and to answer the question you were just discussing with nick, it will be for the house of commons to decide whether to accept the conclusions and what to do about it. can you distinguish between us very clearly the difference between intentionally misleading and recklessly misleading? yes, intention means that you went out of your way to deliberately mislead parliament. it is difficult to look into a person's mind, but courts are used to doing that, they look at the evidence and they say did he intend to? or was he reckless? meaning he did not care whether he misled parliament or not? he says intention is necessary, they say recklessness is sufficient, in other words, if he ignored advice, if he ignored his own knowledge of what happened, if he ignored what people told him, then he was reckless as to what he told parliament, and the crucial point is,

once he knew that the information he had given parliament that there were no parties was in error, when did he correct it, did he correct it as soon as he should? if he did not correct the errors as soon as he could, that is something that is notjust against the ministerial code but the resolution of the house of commons. he has an explanation, he said it was because sue gray was investigating. in terms of how the mps make the decision, are they getting any legal advice? in courts, as you know very well, there are different levels of trying to establish whether something is true or not, the level of evidence required etc. borisjohnson has the top kc, the top barrister in the country in this area of law, but the committee has gone one better and they've recruited a retired lord justice of appeal, sir ernest ryder, is who is giving them evidence. to be fair to the committee, they are putting very much in the public domain the line they are taking, they have warned borisjohnson of the approach they are taking to intention

recklessness, they have given him the chance to respond and they will take advice from sir ernest ryder. they are meeting privately before borisjohnson comes in to make them at give evidence, they will meet after and they will consider the report before they send it to parliament. is a balance of probabilities or is it beyond reasonable doubt? this is a matterfor them, because this is not a court and it cannot be challenged in court because a parliamentary privilege. exactly what standard of proof they are going to go for it remains to be seen. they will set out the evidence and leave mps to decide whether mps are satisfied that this is contempt of parliament by misleading the house. just to pick up the example with nick, which was part of borisjohnson's bundle of evidence, for example, if he says it's a matter ofjudgment, whether allowing some drinks at your desk is a party or not. how in terms of parliamentary and legal procedure do you decide that? what the committee has published this morning is a bundle of documents that include the regulations that

were made during lockdown that set the rules. how far you could be socially distanced, what the exceptions were for work, what was worked out monthly committee is not really looking into whether those rules were broken. that was the matter for the metropolitan police, to some extent, for so grave a smack report. the committee is not looking at that, is looking at whether boris johnson misled parliament, and allow parliament to remain in the dark for about six months from when he made all the statement saying that there were no parties, nothing happened and so on, on, and after the police report and so grave a smack report, that's when he told parliament what was happening. that is the challenge he has to face and he says he has done what he can. very quickly, an interesting choice of lawyer for borisjohnson, a brilliant lawyer worked

across many cases. brilliant lawyer, defeated boris on the second miller case. artificial intelligence could change the way we search the web. big tech companies are confident that ai will revolutionise the way we work online. microsoft already has one of these ai chatbots, now google is launching its own version. it's called bard, and our technology editor, zoe kleinman, is one of the first to try it. this time four months ago, nobody had heard of ai chat bots. now, millions of us are trying them out. so what is an ai chatbot? unlike the regular search we have become used to, it can answer questions rather than send you links.

it can also write songs, speeches and even do homework. microsoft has invested billions of dollars in the creators of chatgpt, and now google wants to catch up with bard. i was one of the first people to get access. let's start by asking bard to write a thank you note for a wedding gift. "thank you so much for celebrating our wedding day with us. we will be using our gift to help us with our honeymoon." not bad! how is bard different to microsoft's version? there are a few key differences between bard and chatgpt. bard is connected to the internet so it knows about current affairs. it has also got a "google it" button here so you can go back to google search to check your answer, and that is important because these things do sometimes make mistakes, and they even make stuff up as well. google is rolling this out very slowly. you have to be over 18 and have a google account before you can even get on the waiting list. google describes bard as an experiment. so, will it replace us? the creators of this tech hope it will free us all up to do more fun things in our lives. but some fear that ai will start

taking over more and morejobs, sooner, rather than later, leaving us with far fewer ways to make money. zoe kleinman, bbc news. the hollywood star gwyneth paltrow appeared in court yesterday in utah accused of crashing into a man in a skiing accident in 2016 causing a head injury and broken ribs. terry sanderson alleges he was hit from behind but ms paltrow says it was mr sanderson's own fault. the incident occurred in february 2016 at the deer valley resort where ms paltrow was skiing with family. whether it was the treachery of traitors, the nostalgic comedy of derry girls, or the moving drama of i am ruth, british viewers have been spoilt for top television in the last year. and the nominations for this year's bafta tv awards have been unveiled today. the bbc drama series the responder, and the medical memoir this it is going to hurt, lead the nominations with six each. earlier i spoke to our entertainment correspondent colin paterson on this year's bafta nominations.

the baftas reward british television, shows shown in britain, so a very british slant. those two shows you mentioned lead the way, the responder, in which martin freeman, which people probably still know best from the office, played a liverpudlian cop struggling with his mental health and having to do night shifts. it was written by a real—life cop in merseyside. tony schumacher. based on his own experiences. the other show leading the way also based on own experiences of a real—life doctor, adam kay, the show is this is going to hurt and stars ben wishaw who people will know from the james bond movies. it's about a junior doctor and all they went through in the years of training to be a doctor and has got nominations, ben wishaw the leading actor, and also the writer of that show, adam kay, based on his own memoir. this was a year in britain where tv

watching was dominated by the queen and she is nominated, there are nominations for two events involving the queen in the life events category, because there are nominations both for the party at the palace, the joyous celebration of the queen's platinum jubilee, you will remember that was the one famously had the sketch with queen elizabeth ii and paddington bear, that is nominated, and the bbc is also nominated for its coverage of the state funeral of queen elizabeth ii, a real reflection of some of the year's tv viewing there. what do these nominations tell us about the sort of trends successful in television? and just how much people are still watching tv? we keep hearing about the threat to television, if you are in this industry, in the digital landscape? it is very interesting

to see netflix has more nominations than itv this year, so that is a sure sign of how people are moving towards streaming, and we were talking about the queen there, imelda staunton is nominated for playing queen elizabeth for the first time in series five of the crown. in britain, a very interesting one, nomination for a show called the traitors, shown during the world cup, almost kind of thrown out there, the best way of describing it would be it is a kind of televised version of murder in the dark, the old parlour game, but it was a real word—of—mouth hit, very small viewing figures at the start which got bigger and bigger during the series as people set have you seen this? and claudia were uncommonly percent of that is nominated for best entertainment presenter, herfourth nomination of a career the other three have been for strictly come dancing. this time for the traitors. an example of how in this age of streaming there is still the room for the word—of—mouth hit to be big. that is a real example. another very interesting

nomination is forjoe lycett, the comedian who did an expose of david beckham's involvement with the qatar world cup, calling for him to quit his involvement with the world cup and being a paid ambassador for qatar. after that show was broadcast, it was revealed thatjoe lycett himself had actually played stand—up comedy gigs in qatar that he totally failed to mention in the programme. despite that, he is bafta—nominated for that show today. the nominations are out today and the baftas are on the 14th of may, and that is going to be a busy weekend because it's the same weekend britain hosts eurovision. the reconstruction of notre dame cathedral in paris has undergone many challenges in the four years since it was gutted by a fire. now, with much of the structural work done, teams are focusing on recreating the famous statues that are said to protect the church from harm. stephanie prentice reports:

they sit up high on historic buildings tasked with redirecting rainwater from roofs and also said to provide spiritual protection from the wrath of heaven by scaring off evil spirits. no self—respecting cathedral could operate without its gargoyles. but some of them didn't survive the fire in 2019. and a dozen of france's finest sculptors were called in. translation: it's very fine. there are edges that are very fine, well drawn. we have to reproduce them as they were originally done. it's our duty. these new creatures are being made out of clay or huge blocks of stone shipped down the seine. but some of the older ones are also being saved. this is not viollet—le—duc. it is older. i think it dates from a restoration

in the 18th century. you can recognize the style. it is very busy. you can see on the column that there are lots of little spikes. each piece takes at least three weeks to complete, and after that, of course, the task of getting them into position begins. these are stones that will now be part of the cathedral for 400, 500, 600 hundred years. this is another element that shows that the cathedral is rising from its ashes. and notre dame or our lady is set to rise again as paris's gothic masterpiece in 2024. stephanie prentice, bbc news. for the first time, london's west end has been lit up with 30—thousand lights to mark the start of ramadan. the lights were switched on by the mayor of london, sadiq khan, who is one of more than a million muslims in london celebrating. coventry street, which links leicester square with piccadilly, is illuminated.

here back in the few minutes with much more. hello. whilst there is a bit more sunshine around today, it is a bit of a wild and windy one for some of you. especially at the moment across parts of scotland. we have got winds inland, 50, 60mph, a bit more around some western coasts as well. and it is notjust here we have the strong winds. right across the board, we have widespread gales today. and those coupled with high spring tides means around some western coasts, notjust today but over the next few days, there is increased risk of some coastal flooding. as for the weather itself, well, this mixture of cloud is what brought the overnight rain. it is clearing away now to allow those sunny spells to develop quite widely. but some heavy showers in the north of scotland, could come with the odd rumble of thunder to go with those strong winds, away from that, the cloud in the south—east,

breaks up sunny spells here and most of us will see some sunny spells through the afternoon. there will be a few showers coming and going, they will push through on quite a strong wind if you see them, so they will not last too long. even around southern and western coasts, we will see gusts of wind 40, 50 mph. some of you will get through the day completely dry. and if you do, nice in the sunshine, out of the breeze, 15, 16 degrees in the east of england, down on yesterday in eastern scotland but all parts milder than we should be. tonight, after a clear start for many, we'll see one batch of showers push through to the first part of the night, clear skies for a time, another batch of showers into the west later on. it will be cooler than recent nights. temperatures more widely into the single figures, but still, overall, for this stage in march, a fairly mild start tomorrow morning. breezy again, though,

low pressure still dominating things and you have got to watch the progress of this ripple of a weather front, little ripples, little waves develop, the rain becomes heavier and more persistent. to begin with, though, it is showers in the west, working their way eastwards. tomorrow, greater chance of a shower coming your way. still some sunny spells in between. and then later on, more persistent rain down towards the south and south—west. winds strongest tomorrow around parts of england and wales, 40 to 50 mph in gusts, and temperatures still on the mild side, 11 to 15 celsius for most. overnight, we will see some rain spread from the south—west to the south—east and east anglia, that clears through for friday and friday, another story of sunshine and showers. but what we are seeing day by day as those showers becoming more frequent, more widespread, and becoming heavier with hail and thunder. still staying mild on friday and mild into the start of the weekend, but turning colder later on with some snow showers across the north on sunday.

this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories... the parliamentary committee investigating whether former prime minister borisjohnson knowingly misled parliament, publishes its evidence ahead of the hearing. a global water crisis due to pollution and excessive consumption — a warning from the un. here in the uk, mps will vote today on rishi sunak�*s new brexit deal for northern ireland. but the democratic unionist party have said they will be voting against it. and france's president macron prepares to defend the new law on pension reform — as protests continue — against raising the retirement age. notre dame's famous statues

are being carefully re—created — four years after fire gutted the famous paris landmark. hello and welcome to bbc news. borisjohnson is preparing to face the committee of mps who willjudge whether he deliberately misled parliament about parties at downing street during the covid lockdown. the former british prime minister has admitted misleading mps but he insists his statements claiming rules and guidance were followed at all times were made in �*good faith'. the evidence mrjohnson will face has been published by the commons privileges committee in the past couple of hours, including emails, photos, whatsapp messages and written statements. mrjohnson could face being

suspended from parliament if mps decide he deliberately misled them. our chief political correspondent, nick eardley, joins us from westminster. before we get into the detail, can you just remind us what is at stake here? the crux of all of this is about honesty and trust, isn't it? it is. this is not about whether parties took place, we have seen photos, we know they did. it is not about whether boris johnson or photos, we know they did. it is not about whether borisjohnson or some of his staff broke the rules, we note they did because the police issued fines. it is about what boris johnson told parliament and whether he misled mps. it is notjust about that, we know he misled mps, he has admitted that. it is about why he misled them and the defence you will hear from misled them and the defence you will hearfrom boris misled them and the defence you will hear from borisjohnson later is that it was an accident, he was acting in good faith. he thought the

rules had been followed and he was told by his aides similar. some of the evidence that has been published this morning raises a few questions, i think. the counterargument on the broad principle of all of this is that boris johnson broad principle of all of this is that borisjohnson should have known that borisjohnson should have known that the rules were not being followed because he was in some of these events and he set the rules. he was on television every night in press conferences excluding to people what they were. the committee has to look at whether it thinks mr johnson misled parliament recklessly or even deliberately and then when he realised that he had misled parliament, whether he was quick enoughin parliament, whether he was quick enough in correcting the record, thatis enough in correcting the record, that is the crux of what is session this afternoon is about. you mentioned _ this afternoon is about. you mentioned the _ this afternoon is about. you mentioned the evidence that is being released, i note you have been investigating it. tell us what is in it and what is important about it? there is a lot, 110 pages of it. a

lot of it will be referred back to in the session this afternoon. if you forgive me looking at my phone, there are a couple of things that caught my eye. one is this question is whether borisjohnson's aides were telling him that all the guidance and all the rules had been followed as he told mps. well, to be honest, there are some questions over that. the cabinet secretary, simon cates, top civil servant in the country, the man who helps manage what was all in government, he makes it clear in some of the evidence published that he did not tell boris johnson evidence published that he did not tell borisjohnson that evidence published that he did not tell boris johnson that the evidence published that he did not tell borisjohnson that the guidance and rules had been followed and that there were no parties. he has a very quick questionnaire from sue greg he just says no to all of the answers. then there is jack doyle, who was the prime minister's director of locations at the time, someone mr johnson reverted to his own defence. jack doyle says, yes, he did not think the rules had been broken but he distinguished that from the

guidance, saying it was not always possible to follow the guidance in number ten. possible to follow the guidance in numberten. one possible to follow the guidance in number ten. one final possible to follow the guidance in numberten. one finalthing i possible to follow the guidance in number ten. one final thing i want to flag up, martin reynolds who was a top aide to borisjohnson in downing street, he became infamous actually for organising one of the outdoor events in the garden of downing street which has a lot more evidence about today as well. he talks about the morning of prime minister's questions on the 8th of december 20 20, one of the times where borisjohnson told mps all the rules and guidance had been followed. martin reynolds says that he questioned whether the prime minister should say at premises questions that all the rules and guidance had been followed, saying that it might not be realistic my reference to all the rules and guidance being followed was then removed from an opening statement that borisjohnson made to mps. then mrjohnson said it later in answer to another labour mp, so it was on the parliamentary record was up it

was not corrected. this might sound detailed and it is getting into the weeds of it a bit but it is already important because fundamentally, the question that these mps are owing to try to drill into to get to the bottom of what went boris johnson appeared before mps, was he always saying things exactly as he understood them. well, we now know that there were some aides in number ten who had concerns about all the guidance had been followed but that is something borisjohnson told parliament. brute is something boris johnson told parliament-— is something boris johnson told parliament. ~ : parliament. we will leave it there for now but _ parliament. we will leave it there for now but good _ parliament. we will leave it there for now but good to _ parliament. we will leave it there for now but good to talk - parliament. we will leave it there for now but good to talk to - parliament. we will leave it there for now but good to talk to you. l i'm joined now by andrew gimson, who's a biographer of borisjohnson. good to have you with us here on bbc news. borisjohnson admits that he misled parliament, the question is, why? what are your expectations for the hearing this afternoon? i why? what are your expectations for the hearing this afternoon?- the hearing this afternoon? i think one oint the hearing this afternoon? i think one point which _ the hearing this afternoon? i think one point which simply _ the hearing this afternoon? i think one point which simply has - the hearing this afternoon? i think one point which simply has not. the hearing this afternoon? i think. one point which simply has not been

properly taken in is that boris johnson has never taken ill—health in the slightest bit seriously. that is one reason why he nearly died of covid—19. he has always thought he could work through ill—health. he has never taken things like infection seriously so he was in fact a very unsuitable person in some ways to be dealing with a very serious health emergency and he wasn't going to worry palpably within number ten, there was really no proper attempt by the senior people taking their cue from the prime minister. they were all in tiny rooms, only to each other, all infecting each other, they almost all got covid—19 and he nearly died from it. at this point, he was not even, i discovered when writing the book about him, that he was not even registered with a gp. others had to say, look, you've really got to. they saw he was getting miller and

alert day by day and he said we had to see a doctor. so he was not taking any precautions with his own health and anyone less inclined to be in his own office, he is not a martinet. you don't have to know him personally to realise that. the rules were broken, he has admitted that and people who don't understand his mentality think it is completely incredible that he did not realise and did not understand that all these things, that he didn't tell these things, that he didn't tell the house of commons, he didn't concede the beginning that rules had been broken when palpably they had been. he been broken when palpably they had been. , , been broken when palpably they had been. ,, , , ., been broken when palpably they had been. , , :, ., , been. he says there is not a single document that _ been. he says there is not a single document that he _ been. he says there is not a single document that he received - been. he says there is not a single document that he received any - document that he received any warning or advice that any event may have broken rules or guidance and that people attending events did not consider attendance a breach of the law but at the end of the day, he was working in the middle of a global pandemic, wasn't he? working

through covid—19, working 24 seven. isn't that some sort of mitigating circumstance? ih isn't that some sort of mitigating circumstance?— isn't that some sort of mitigating circumstance? in his very forceful evidence which _ circumstance? in his very forceful evidence which was _ circumstance? in his very forceful evidence which was published - evidence which was published yesterday, he pointed out that he got one fine from the metropolitan police and that was for the surprise birthday party and he said he could not still see why he got fined for that and he could not see why rishi sunak got fined for it either, but the metropolitan police did not find him for the other four occasions in which the committee is taking a particular interest. it is a very, very order situation. the great function of the prime minister, whoever it is, is to take the blame and most of them go at the end because they are being blamed for something that has gone terribly wrong. that is what happened to him. he lost a couple of by—elections in june last year and in earlyjuly, his own party through him out, so he did take the rap. but now, this

committee wishes him to take a further wrap and some people will think that is absolutelyjustified and he behaved abominably but other people will think it is just dragging up really rather trivial strain and quite distant, very minor things. dearjack doyle, his press man, in the evidence published today, he says, take a robust line and they will get bored of it. some of us did get bored of it actually. the press generally did not get bored of it and out borisjohnson went into course. we bored of it and out boris johnson went into course.— went into course. we are out of time, i went into course. we are out of time. i am _ went into course. we are out of time, i am afraid. _ went into course. we are out of time, i am afraid. thank - went into course. we are out of time, i am afraid. thank you i went into course. we are out of i time, i am afraid. thank you very much for your time. the united nations is warning of an approaching global water crisis because of pollution, global warming and over—consumption. it's published a new report on the issue before the first dedicated water summit in more than 40 years. consumption of water keeps rising, and the report says about 10%

of the world's population live under water stress — where the ratio of water use to water availability — is considered "high" or "critical". at the last assessment in 2020, more than a quarter of people around the globe still lacked access to safe drinking water, while 3.6 billion lacked access to safely managed sanitation services. the report says the water crisis is worst in low—income countries — for example, an estimated 70% of the population of sub—saharan africa lacks safe drinking—water services. aru na iyengar reports. humanity�*s lifeblood, water, is increasingly at risk around the world due to vampiric overconsumption and overdevelopment. that is the language used in the un report. 10% of the global population currently lives in areas that are

high or critically water stressed. in our report, we said that up to 3.5 billion people live under conditions of water stress at least one month a year. the meeting in new york is asking governments and the private sector to come up with a water action agenda to meet a goal set in 2015 to ensure access to water and sanitation for all by 2030. the un says up to half the world's population does not have access to sanitation and a quarter does not have access to safe water supply. it blames unsustainable water use, pollution and unchecked global warming. the un is now calling for a change in attitude towards water as a shared resource. the global water cycle is a global common good, we just don't want to understand it because we believe water belongs to us. we need to invest with that in our minds. the report notes that water scarcity

has the greatest impact on poorer people and children. unicef had recently warned that 190 million children in ten african countries don't have access to clean water. the un says current levels of investment would have to be tripled to get safe drinking water for all by 2030. aruna iyengar, bbc news. a small number of donald trump supporters have gathered outside trump tower in new york and near his home in mar—a—lago in florida. the former us president has called for protest over claims he is set to be arrested over what he calls a "democrat plot." we will have more on all those stories including the hearing from

the commons committee which will be examining the former british prime minister borisjohnson who has admitted misleading mps but he insists his statement claiming rules followed during the covid—19 locked arms were made in good faith. watching bbc news. more protests have been taking place in various french cities, after french president emmanuel macron used controversial executive powers to push through a pension reform, without a vote in parliament. mr macron is due to give a rare tv interview in the next hour. he's facing a political crisis, less than a year after his re—election to a second term. sofia bettiza reports. there is an outcry in france. in the past week, more than 1500 protests have taken place all over the country. this was place de la republique in paris last night. some protests turned violent.

police clashed with demonstrators. and hundreds were arrested. this all happened after president emmanuel macron used controversial executive powers last week to push through his deeply unpopular pension reform. this means that the retirement age in france will now be raised from 62 to 64. translation: i think that today the fifth republic i is showing its true face which is that of a regime that is not democratic since the president can decide to pass a law that is rejected by 90% of french people. to think that all those people who were already in really trying jobs will have to keep going until they are 64 is not right. theyjust see people as profits. well, macron never listened to us, so now this is war. _ i think at one point - he will not have a choice, he will have to withdraw his reform.

but president emmanuel macron does not seem to have any intention of backing down. he said there will be no government reshuffle, no fresh elections and no referendum for his pension reform. and, after a week of not being seen in public, today, he will give a rare tv interview. his hope will be to use the interview to calm things down and put an end to the protests. but that is easier said than done. emmanuel macron is facing his most serious challenge since the yellow vest riots four years ago. and, with more strikes planned for thursday, the anger that many french people feel is not going away. british mps are due to vote

today on prime minister rishi sunak�*s new brexit deal for northern ireland, known as the windsor framework. the mechanism aims to give the stormont assembly a greater say on how eu laws apply to northern ireland. the democratic unionists' eight mps will oppose the measure but it's not known whether the european research group of euro—sceptic conservatives will join them. labour is backing the deal so the government is expected to win the vote. i'm joined now by sam mcbride who is the northern ireland editor for the belfast telegraph and sunday independent. good to have you with us. i wonder if we could just go back to basics if we could just go back to basics if we could just go back to basics if we may and you can explain to us exactly the significance of this vote this afternoon. why is it so important?— vote this afternoon. why is it so im ortant? . :, . ,:, , vote this afternoon. why is it so imortant? . :, . , , important? there are two reasons why this is important. _ important? there are two reasons why this is important. one _ important? there are two reasons why this is important. one of— important? there are two reasons why this is important. one of the _ this is important. one of the central aspects of the windsor framework is this storm and break. this is something which is a mechanism meant to give stormont and

northern ireland's devolved legislature some sort of assay on eu laws that will come in future so when eu laws that currently apply in northern ireland under the northern ireland protocol, when they are amended or if there are new eu laws that are relevant to the functioning of the irish sea border, that would give stormont some sort of say, it would not be a veto, it was a veto that was held by the british government, but stormont would effectively be able to petition the british government. 30 mlas, 30 members of the 90 stormont assembly could go there and say, we want you to stop this law and in the british government could ashley do that. however, what the government has done is say, this is not simply a vote on a piece of secondary legislation relating to the stormont break, this will be perceived by the government, by the country as a vote of the entire deal. it has been a very confused position because yesterday the northern ireland secretary chris heaton—harris said

quite forcibly multiple times, at a commons committee, this is simply a vote on the stormont break and then embarrassingly one of his officials had to say, well, actually, downing street has said this is not about the club brugge is about the entire deal. it the club brugge is about the entire deal. , .:, , .., the club brugge is about the entire deal. , , deal. it is complicated as you say. we have the _ deal. it is complicated as you say. we have the 20th _ deal. it is complicated as you say. we have the 20th anniversary i deal. it is complicated as you say. we have the 20th anniversary of. deal. it is complicated as you say. l we have the 20th anniversary of the good friday agreement coming up in april, i think there are also regional council elections in northern ireland in may and yet, northern ireland in may and yet, northern ireland in may and yet, northern ireland still does not have a functioning government. what is the route back to devolved government? $5 the route back to devolved government?— the route back to devolved rovernment? : , , , . government? as things stand, the onl route government? as things stand, the only route back— government? as things stand, the only route back to _ government? as things stand, the only route back to devolved i only route back to devolved government is if the dup lifts its veto over that to the system of government which the good friday agreement instituted meant that either of the two big parties, the biggest nationalist party with the biggest nationalist party with the biggest national —— mike yunus party, can stop every body else from governing if they want to. that is the nature of power—sharing, almost anybody has to be in the tent and if

the two big parties are not in the tent, that is it. the other route around that of course is that those rules could be changed. some people want to see that, they say it is ludicrous that a party that has something like 25% of the vote in northern ireland can stop everybody else from governing, that is something which sinn fein did previously but now it is the dup, but in principle that is a very pub emetic thing. the difficulty is that once you start hampering with what really the clear fundamental principles of the good friday agreement, where does that stop and when is it no longer the good friday agreement? so this is a fairly embarrassing thing, i think, for the government as we come to the anniversary, as we come to the us president coming to belfast for this. it makes it clear that the agreement is not functioning and that there is a very clear problem here but as things stand, i think are very few people who expect the dup to be back in government before that happens. brute dup to be back in government before that happens-— that happens. we must leave it there, thanks _ that happens. we must leave it

there, thanks so _ that happens. we must leave it there, thanks so much. - stopping the dumping of sewage into rivers and the sea will require huge infrastructure spending and will probably push up water bills, according to a new house of lords report. raw sewage discharge through storm overflows is meant to be an emergency last resort during heavy rain but the government says it happens too often. the system i'm joined now by libby darling live from brighton who is spokesperson for south coast sirens, a group working to stop pollution and sewage releases into the seas around the south coast of the uk. can you give us an idea of the extent of the problem? for example, last bank holiday _ extent of the problem? for example, last bank holiday in _ extent of the problem? for example, last bank holiday in august _ extent of the problem? for example, last bank holiday in august we i extent of the problem? for example, last bank holiday in august we had i extent of the problem? for example, last bank holiday in august we had a| last bank holiday in august we had a release and pubs in our local villages shut because nobody could go in the sea. recently we have

heard that romilly beaches are closed because of pollution. it is notjust happening here, it is happening notjust during extreme weather... happening not 'ust during extreme weather... ~ :, , happening not 'ust during extreme weather... :, , :, happening not 'ust during extreme weather... ~ :, , :, , . weather... who is to blame in your view? definitely _ weather... who is to blame in your view? definitely the _ weather... who is to blame in your view? definitely the water - weather... who is to blame in your. view? definitely the water company. at the moment. _ view? definitely the water company. at the moment, a _ view? definitely the water company. at the moment, a lot _ view? definitely the water company. at the moment, a lot of— view? definitely the water company. at the moment, a lot of their i view? definitely the water company. at the moment, a lot of their profit l at the moment, a lot of their profit goes offshore. it should be pumped, excuse the pun, directed back into the infrastructure. if they had not been giving it to their stakeholders, they would have more money in their covers and they would be able to afford potentially to fix the pub we have now. we are running on a victorian infrastructure and thatis on a victorian infrastructure and that is fundamentally wrong. h0 on a victorian infrastructure and that is fundamentally wrong. no one disa . rees that is fundamentally wrong. no one disagrees that _ that is fundamentally wrong. no one disagrees that the _ that is fundamentally wrong. no one disagrees that the problem - that is fundamentally wrong. no one disagrees that the problem is i that is fundamentally wrong. no one | disagrees that the problem is caused by the fact that the system was designed and built by the victorians and that there simply has not been enough investment to upgrade it but

the house of lords report goes beyond blaming the water companies, it also blames the government, successive governments of any colour and also the regulator, so it is a more competent picture than perhaps the one you are painting? absolutely, yes. the government pressure needs to step in and the regular needs to step in and the environment agency as well. everybody has to work together, including groups like ours. it is a problem for everybody and it is not going to get any better with an increase in climate change for plums and an increasing population demands. you are right there. we have to leave it there, we are short of time but thank you for your time. the reconstruction of notre dame cathedral in paris has undergone many challenges in the four years since it was gutted by a fire. and now with much of the structural

work done, teams there are narrowing their focus to recreating the famous statues said to be its protectors from harm. stephanie prentice reports. they sit up high on historic buildings tasked with redirecting rainwater from roofs and also said to provide spiritual protection from the wrath of heaven by scaring off evil spirits. no self—respecting cathedral could operate without its gargoyles. but some of them didn't survive the fire in 2019. and a dozen of france's finest sculptors were called in. translation: it's very fine. there are edges that are very fine, well drawn. we have to reproduce them as they were originally done. it's our duty. these new creatures are being made out of clay or huge blocks of stone translation: it's very fine.

shipped down the seine. but some of the older ones are also being saved. this is not viollet—le—duc. it is older. i think it dates from a restoration in the 18th century. you can recognize the style. it is very busy. you can see on the column that there are lots of little spikes. each piece takes at least three weeks to complete, and after that, of course, the task of getting them into position begins. these are stones that will now be part of the cathedral for 400, 500, 600 hundred years. this is another element that shows that the cathedral is rising from its ashes. and notre dame or our lady is set to rise again as paris's gothic masterpiece in 2024. stephanie prentice, bbc news. let me show you these pictures of cherry blossoms reaching full bloom in tokyo. bloom watching party restrictions due to the covid—19 pandemic have been lifted

for the first time since spring 2020 more sunshine around today but is is a wild and windy one for some of you, especially across parts of scotland. we have winds of up to 60 mph. it is notjust here where we have the strong winds. across—the—board we have widespread gales today and those, coupled with high spring tides, means around some western coasts, over the next few days there is an increased risk of some coastal flooding. as for the weather itself, this big strip of cloud is what brought the overnight rain. it is clearing away to allow those sunny spells to develop quite widely but some heavy showers in the north of scotland. away from that, the cloud in the southeast breaks up at sunny spells here and most of us

will see sunny spells in the afternoon. a few showers coming and going, they will push through on a strong wind so they will not last too long. even on the south three will see gusts of up to 50 mph. some of us will get through the day and really dry. 15 or 16 degrees in the east of england. down on yesterday but all parts milder than we should be. tonight, after a clear sword for many, we will see a batch of showers pushing through the night. another batch of showers into the west mitterrand and it will because of that recent nights with temperatures into single figures but are still overall, for this stage in march, a mild starter tomorrow morning. breezy again, no pressure still damaging things and you have to watch the progress of this ripple of a weather front. where we get these little ripples, the rain becomes more persistent. to begin with, showers in the west working their way eastwards. tomorrow, the greater chance of a shower coming your way. sunny spells in between and later

on, more persistent rain in the south and south—west. winds strongest tomorrow up parts of ink than wales, 40 to 50 mile hour gusts and temperatures still on the mild side. 11 to 15 celsius for most. overnight, rain will spread to the south—east and east anglia. that clears for friday and friday, another story of sunshine and showers but we are seeing day by day is though showers becoming more frequent, and becoming heavier with hail and thunder. still staying mild on friday and oiled into the start of the begin but turning colder it on with snow showers across the north on sunday.

a tricky balancing act. the us federal reserve is to decide on interest rates — torn between tackling inflation and stablising the banks. meanwhile the bank of england also has its work cut out with a surprise increase in the uk inflation rate, at over 10%. and later in the programme, you won't believe what one kenyan farmer is using to keep his energy bills down — here are some clues. welcome to world business report, i'm mark lobel. central banks have their work cut out this week.