kamal ahmed, bbc news. you can get in touch with us on facebook.ts news in sport today. hello, i'm tulsen tollett, this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: no end in sight for chris froome's salbutamol case with the giro d'italia looming. as wales prepare to play in the china cup, bale—mania comes to town. and we catch up with world heavyweight champion joseph parker 11 days before his showdown with anthonyjoshua. hello and welcome to the programme, where we start with the news that the head of world cycling says there's unlikely to be a resolution over chris froome's salbutamol case before the start of the giro d'italia in may. froome, who's seeking his third successive grand tour title, returned a positive test for elevated levels of the drug ahead of winning la vuelta a espana last september. the investigation has been ongoing for over six months with uci president david lappartient stating his inclusion in the race which begins injerusalem would be a disaster for the sport while the case remains open. fr

kamal ahmed, bbc news. now it's time for newsnight with evan davis.stomers in multiple countries. its reputation has sunk, along with its share price, and a business plan based on liberal sharing of data may be under threat. is the cambridge analytica scandal a watershed moment in our relation with facebook, and other silicon valley giants? i don't know whether cambridge analytica had a significant effect on the trump election. i don't know whether they had a significant effect on brexit. i do know that the systems that have been developed by facebook give this capability and make this something that is possible to happen in the future. we'll hear from senatorjohn kennedy, no relation, who thinks data is the new oil. also tonight, john sweeney dusts down an old kgb handbook to find out why the russians might have used a london based professor as an alleged conduit between trump and the kremlin. international conferences and seminars are great for recruiting. stuffed with clever academic scientists and business people, they're the perfect place to, quo

here's our economics editor kamal ahmed.of rising inflation, today better news, a fall, as food costs ease and fuel costs drop. inflation can often start here, firms that make the stuff we buy. if their costs are cut, then prices for us often go the same way. there's not many costs that are coming down down, but the two things we have identified are distribution costs for us. we've definitely seen those ease off, but also in digital and technology. a bit more upbeat maybe. were people in east london though feeling the effects quite yet? all the necessities you need to live, nothing's cheap — gas, electric. you spend more day—to—day on things that are going up than what you go to buy that's going down. for millions of people, today's fall in inflation brings into sharp focus one of the most important issues facing the uk economy. that income squeeze, prices rising faster than wages, leaving people worse off month by month. today, a glimmer of hope. with inflation easing and wage rises strengthening, could that income squeeze

kamal ahmed, bbc news. as 13, who fled myanmar in the past six months, are being trafficked into prostitution in bangledesh. the undercover team filmed traffickers openly offering the girls for sex in cox‘s bazar, the town nearest to the refugee camps, where hundreds of thousands of rohingya muslims now live. the bbc‘s mishal husain has the story. a small city on the bay of bengal, where the main business was tourism, is now the hub for aid agencies working in the nearby refugee camps. but alongside the shop fronts, the beachside bars and the hotels of cox‘s bazar there‘s an open secret. after hearing repeated stories about children trafficked into prostitution, we went in search of the evidence. 0ne14—year—old rohingya girl we met in the camps, and whose identity we‘ve protected, told me what happened to her as she crossed from myanmar into bangladesh. translation: women came with a van, they asked me if i‘d go with them. not long after that, in a building in cox‘s bazar, they brought two boys to me. they

kamal ahmed there, our economics editor.stories: the leader of telford and wrekin council in shropshire is calling on the home secretary to order an independent public inquiry into cases of child sexual exploitation in the town. it follows reports claiming that hundreds of girls may have been abused in the town since the early 1980s. a teenager on trial for the attack at parsons green underground station in london has admitted leaving a device on a train but said he never intended to kill anyone. 18—year—old ahmed hussan said it became a ‘fantasy‘ for him when he was ‘very bored' over the school holidays. he denies attempted murder and causing an explosion likely to endanger life as our home affairs correspondent june kelly reports. ahmed hassan has always admitted setting off on a september morning last year to plant a device on an underground train. today, it was his turn to explain to a jury why he did it. after listening to days of prosecution evidence against him, he was brought to court to mount his defence. in the wit

kamal ahmed, bbc news.pressure mounts on facebook over allegations about the use of millions of people's data. why this air ambulance team is heading to the is a haarwhere for the toughest foot race on earth. coming up on sportsday, on bbc news: we meet the man trying to take anthony joshua's heavyweight titles away. wbo champion joseph parker takes on the british fighter in just under two weeks in cardiff. now, if there's one thing that can really unite motorists and cyclists, it is potholes and the state of britain's roads. one in five roads is in a poor condition, according to new figures, and local authorities are struggling to fund improvements. the recent snow and cold has certainly not helped. the bbc‘s looked at data for roads — it doesn't include motorways — in england, scotland and wales and found that in england just 5% of them were deemed to be in a poor condition. meanwhile, 10% of the roads in wales are in a bad way. in scotland, more than a third of the roads are of poor quality or in need of

thursday, the european union's justice commissioner, vera jourova, spoke to our economic editor, kamal ahmedeu is right to bring in tougher data protection laws, which come into force in may. but she warned that such protection is seriously lacking in the us. if it is that easy to manipulate the data, the mindset of millions of people, then we have a serious problem and of course, it is very topicalfor problem and of course, it is very topical for legislators. problem and of course, it is very topicalfor legislators. i problem and of course, it is very topical for legislators. i can problem and of course, it is very topicalfor legislators. i can tell you that now we have much stronger arguments to say it we did the right thing to adopt the general data protection regulation, which would come into force in may, so far made on, they will be much stricter regulatory framework in the eu, which will serve as an efficient framework against this kind of beaches and fraud. i have just come back from washington and when i look at the american legislation, i do not see such a robust measure or legisla

our economics editor kamal ahmed has details. tell us what he is going to say.ver an important part of the trade negotiations that are coming up — financial services. for britain, they're incredibly important. not just for the two million jobs that are connected to financial services across the uk, but because britain has a trade surplus with the eu on financial services of about £20 billion a year. so very valuable to britain. philip hammond is saying it is also valuable to the eu — london is also valuable to the eu — london isa is also valuable to the eu — london is a huge global market, where lots of european governments and businesses raise a lot of money. and he is going to say that it is important for both sides that there isa deep important for both sides that there is a deep and special agreement between britain and the eu once we have left the single market. which at the moment give us privileged access to the eu. it seems that his position has already been rejected by the european commission. today, donald tusk is going to say any free trade deal canno

thursday the european union's justice commissioner, vera jourova, spoke to our economics editor, kamal ahmedome into force in may. but she warned that such protection is seriously lacking in the us. if it is that easy to monitor the data or the mindset of millions of people, then we have a serious problem. of course it is difficult for legislators. we have much stronger arguments to say we did the right thing to adopt the general data protection legislation which comes into force in may. there will be much stricter framework in the eu, which will serve as an efficient framework against these kinds of breeches and fraud. but i have just come back from washington. and when i looked at the american legislation, i do not see such a robust measure, such a robust legends of fourie mark. it will be interesting to see if the united states will come in the future with stricter rules. at the moment you don't appear to be satisfied that american data protection laws are as strong as the european union pots data protection laws, and also they are not strong enough. you would like to see them do more? as

our economics editor, kamal ahmed, has been looking at the figures. the verdict?e data, there is evidence for the eeyores around him. the reasons for that are multitude. some of the better news is that borrowing is better and growth is better. inflation is coming down. wages are starting to go up. there could be a reversal of that living squeeze that so many people have been suffering over recent years. that is the better news. for the eeyores there is this big challenge. it's a big challenge for the chancellor. the new normalfor growth in the uk is 1.5%. that is well below the 2% to 2.5% we used to enjoy. the oecd brought it into sharp relief. it said britain's growth next year would be at the bottom of the g20 leading industrialised nations. we used to be at the top. that is the big challenge for philip hammond, growth thatis challenge for philip hammond, growth that is not as strong as it used to be. less income for the government. less ability to spend money on those big challenges of health, defence and the police. thank you. a teenager accused of planting a

our economics editor kamal ahmed is here. an important part of the economy, of course.brexit negotiations will be financial services. they employ over 2 million people across the uk, not just employ over 2 million people across the uk, notjust in london, and we have a trade surplus with the eu with about £20 billion a year so, for us, it is a very important part of the brexit negotiation. philip hammond this afternoon is likely to say that any free—trade deal should include a good deal on financial services, maintaining access between the eu and britain. so far, the european commission has been pretty negative on this idea. michel barnier, the chief brexit negotiator for the commission, has said there has never been a free—trade deal including financial services done by the eu with a third country, which is what we will be. butternut donald tusk press conference we have just seen tusk press conference we have just seen that norman was talking about, he did say that a free—trade deal would look at all areas, including services. so there could be a slight opening for a ne

we can talk to our economics editor, kamal ahmed, in brussels.our media editor, amol rajan, who's in san francisco, where facebook has its headquarters. mark zuckerberg, founder of facebook, he's going to break his silence about the scandal, what is he likely to say? it is about time too because the silence from zuckerberg and chief operating officer sheryl sandberg has been deafening. we do not know for certain he will speak today and there is still doubt about that, we don't know when and how he will speak. he has put long posts on his facebook page in the past, it could be that or video post. if as we expect he does speak today, he will have three key messages. the first, it will be his account of what happened. there are people at the company who feel they are getting the blame for the misdeeds of individuals and companies who may have misled them. interesting to hear what zuckerberg has to say about that. he is also going to acknowledge public concern around the world about data, companies growing very powerful by holding large amounts of da

in a moment, we'll be speaking to our economics editor, kamal ahmed, who's in brussels to talk about. but first our media editor, amol rajan, is at facebook headquarters in california. what do you make of the response we got from facebook this evening?m was long overdue. in fairness to mark zuckerberg, his reputation has taken a hammering over the last few days when he remained silent. i have been tough on him. today he announced substantial changes like the restriction on data for apt development and the fact it will be easierfor development and the fact it will be easier for users to work out what data will be vulnerable. those are significant changes. i spoke to chris cox, the chief product officer he said he was clear there had been a big breach of trust. what mark zuckerberg said in his blog post had three audiences. there was a staff audience, they look to mark zuckerberg as a deity and they are reassured. over the atlantic, questions are any beginning to be answered. then there is the public. the public at large feel that the reputation of facebook for safety with personal dat

he's been speaking to our economics editor, kamal ahmed, who's here with me now.nk it isa what has he been saying? i think it is a plea for defence not to be forgotten. we have had huge debates about hospitals and schools, but he says, with the threat increasing from russia, from rogue states, from terrorism, that the hardware, our ships, our submarines, armed terrorism, that the hardware, our ships, oursubmarines, armed forces and soldiers, need to be remembered in keeping britain safe. i asked at the rear admiral, who retired from the rear admiral, who retired from the royal navy last autumn, what was most concerning. what worries me, and worried me when i left the front line and was operating in headquarters, is that some of the decisions we were making, and potentially over the next 12 months, some of the decisions that will be made, will affect the ability to fight and win on the front line. of course, this is all in the context of the spring statement tomorrow, the big announcement on the public finances and the economy. the treasury makes it clear defence s

kamal ahmed, bbc news. future price rises. is reg 0urfirst model is reg and he is wearing a navy blue suit and peaked cap. she appeared in a number of tv shows — but was perhaps best known for presenting the eurovision song contest for the uk during the ‘60s and ‘70s. the beatles legend ringo starr has been knighted at buckingham palace for his services to music. his knighthood follows the mbe awarded to each band member in 1965. speaking after the ceremony, starr, who's real name is richard starkey , told colin paterson he was delighted to receive the new honour. the ashes of professor stephen hawking will be interred at westminster abbey near the grave of sir isaac newton during a thanksgiving service later this year. the world—renowned scientist died last week at the age of 76. a private funeral will take place at great st mary's, cambridge university's church on easter saturday. it has been six months since hurricane maria struck the us territory of puerto rico and the people on the island are still suffering. hundreds of

but the most important thing, and kamal ahmed has done a good blog on this, the real problem is the differenceast set of figures seems to suggest we're going in the right direction and that the next lot of wages figures we get may see them coming back up towards that level. also in the new tax year will allow the national minimum wage going up. that will go up 4.7%. does that put pressure on the interest rate decision? it could do. if the inflation level comes down a bit, it is less likely for them to increase interest rates but i think they probably will at some point this year. it is a question of how many times, not whether they are going to do it. facebook under considerable pressure and their shares have been hit? yes, they started off fairly even. later this morning in america they fell by 2.5%. the real worry, and i think this extends beyond facebook, there are real worries about the whole tech boom that has been going on in the united states, the big rise we have seen in the american stock markets over the past year, further back even, has really been motoring because of the tech stock

wesley is our economic editor kamal ahmed.u. the draft document from the eu. —— with me is our editor. with me is our editor. up the relationship it once with the uk post brexit. uk post brexit. talk to you about what philip hammond will say. hammond will say. done, that is not necessarily be positioned at the uk is coming from? positioned at the uk is coming from? it certainly seems to be believed, it's a big day today. it's a big day today. the council are here setting out stalls which seems quite far apart. stalls which seems quite far apart. to raise money, that the european union will want a good deal. with britain. for that reason. connected to the financial services in the uk. in the uk. that is good for consumers who want to make loans and for businesses. to make loans and for businesses. financial services because it's not been done before. been done before. it's been done before, it will be done out of economic necessity. done out of economic necessity. there's an element of who will blink first? first? middle of the