well, rachel reeves has gone to china.unny to see if anything she does there is in front of the same golden boat. well, certainly it's creating as many headlines, this trip, as that one you're talking about. so we'll discuss that on saturday's newscast. newscast. newscast from the bbc. hello, it's laura in the studio. and it's paddy in the studio. and it is saturday, and we are talking about china for a good, serious reason, because rachel reeves is off on her travels, trying to, you know, warm up the connections in order to do business with china, which is, you know, a massive mega economy that she believes very strongly the uk cannot ignore. it's the world's second biggest economy and the uk's fourth largest single trading partner. but she goes there at a pretty sticky time when her political opponents are saying she shouldn't have gone at all. yes, she says, "not engaging with china "is no choice at all." she's written her own article in the papers today, which i've read, and here is rachel reeves explaining why she's t

much more on rachel reeves' trip to beijing i rachel reeves' trip to beijing on our website. to minus 18.9 celsius on friday. it is the uk's code this january night in 15 years and the coaches january overnight temperatures since 2010, when the temperatures dropped below —15 degrees several times at various locations across the uk, including —22.3 on the 8th of january, in at the heart. across the uk, temperatures were widely around —42 —1010 on saturday morning with some freezing in parts of the east midlands and eastern england. is a very low temperatures if you experienced them, hopefully, your 0k. a real contrast to what is happening in the united states because we are continuing to monitor those devastating fires across los angeles, where firefighters are continuing to battle them at. absolute devastation and there is a night—time curfew on going there because it is the middle of the night. will have much more updates across bbc news so do stay with us. hello again. it was a bitterly cold night across many parts of the uk. temperatures widely below freezing and we had sc

rachel reeves might say i have -ot rachel reeves might say i have got to— rachel reeves might say i haveeves might say i have got to china and managed - rachel reeves might say i have got to china and managed to i rachel reeves might say i havel got to china and managed to get £120 million. _ got to china and managed to get £120 million, per— got to china and managed to get £120 million, peryear_ £120 million, per year additional— £120 million, peryear additional injection. £120 million, peryear. additional injection into £120 million, peryear- additional injection into the uk economy _ additional injection into the uk economy. that - additional injection into the uk economy. that has- additional injection into the uk economy. that has to l additional injection into the i uk economy. that has to be additional injection into the - uk economy. that has to be set against — uk economy. that has to be set against 12— uk economy. that has to be set against 12 billion _ uk economy. that has to be set against 12 billion of _ against 12 billion of additional- against 12 billion of additional paym

some say rachel reeves should _ retail sales. some say rachel reeves should have - retail sales.es should have cancelled her trip to china, but the government may say that may have spooked investors further. their position it is not an emergency and no need for intervention and what difference would staying have made? i difference would staying have made? ~ ., , difference would staying have made? ~ . , ., difference would staying have made? ~' . , . . made? i think that is a fair assessment. _ made? i think that is a fair assessment. but - made? i think that is a fair assessment. but i - made? i think that is a fair assessment. but i think. made? i think that is a fair i assessment. but i think what she could have done is appeared herself in the house of commons yesterday to answer the urgent question with respect to the bond markets and not send her deputy. she is giving the impression of being missing in action and that is never a good look when your competence is in question. look when your competence is in cuestion. . ~ look when your competence is in cuestion. ., ~ , ., let

we heard rachel reeves making _ in particular. we heard rachel reeves making the _ in particular. reeves making the case - in particular. we heard rachel reeves making the case the i in particular. we heard rachell reeves making the case the uk is not alone in suffering this surge in borrowing costs. what is your analysis of that as a defence?— is your analysis of that as a defence? . , . defence? verifiable defence. i would say _ defence? verifiable defence. i would say it — defence? verifiable defence. i would say it is _ defence? verifiable defence. i would say it is 80-20 - defence? verifiable defence. i would say it is 80-20 in - defence? verifiable defence. i | would say it is 80-20 in favour would say it is 80—20 in favour of their argument. most of the move has been because of strong us economic data on inflation and thejobs side, we have us economic data on inflation and the jobs side, we have also heard from president—elect trump about potential for tariffs which could be inflationary, all received badly by global bond investors and the uk isjust party badly by global bo

rachel reeves _ cost to deal with. rachel reeves is _ cost to deal with.hel reeves is trying - cost to deal with. rachel reeves is trying to - cost to deal with. rachel. reeves is trying to highlight the fiscal responsibility. that is key to make sure we see the cost of government borrowing stay in control and then we can see the bank of england are allowed to start reducing interest rates as we get inflation under control. they've made good progress in terms of inflation, so we saw data on one site that showed inflation was 2.5% year—on—year. we are getting closer to the 2% target. that will allow the bank of england to reduce interest rates, helping stimulate the economy in future. ., ~ helping stimulate the economy in future. . ~ ., ., in future. talk to me about euro -e in future. talk to me about eumpe by _ in future. talk to me about eumpe by way _ in future. talk to me about europe by way of— in future. talk to me about i europe by way of comparison. because germany was once the powerhouse economy of the eu, which isn't so. where does the uk fit eno

and massively increasing the pressure on the chancellor rachel reeves.strategy at rabobank. it has been quite a start to the year for the likes of you and others within financial markets to follow the uk economy? it markets to follow the uk economy?— markets to follow the uk economy? markets to follow the uk econom ? . . , economy? it certainly has. it was... there _ economy? it certainly has. it was... there was _ economy? it certainly has. it was... there was a - economy? it certainly has. it was... there was a lot - economy? it certainly has. it was. .. there was a lot of- was... there was a lot of terminal last week and the uk government bond market, if you look at that, it ended the week off its was level so a little sign of stability but i think the market in the uk still quite nervous, still quite vulnerable if it were to get bad news. the market watching very closely. notjust bad news. the market watching very closely. not just the political developments but also the economic developments as well. the economic data that we have this week as well.

rachel reeves high. — rachel reeves announces high.reeves announces trade agreements worth £600 million during a visit to china, but is criticised for the timing of her trip. and america's topcoat appears poised to upload a law that bans tiktok over national security concerns unless its chinese parent company sells the platform. hello. i'm leila nathoo. let's start in los angeles, where strong winds that have spread wildfires over a wide area are likely to continue for several more days. we can bring you these live pictures, where firefighters are still battling to contain the devastating wildfires. they the devastating wildfires. began on tuesday across several they began on tuesday across several different parts of the city. we've heard from fire and community officials. these are the key points from a news conference earlier. at least 11 people have been killed and the number of homes and structures that have been destroyed stands at 12,000. thirteen people are missing. the evacuation zone has been expanded around the palisades fire

rachel reeves in beijing. rachel reeves in beijing.l reeves in beijing. rachel reeves in that trip to china which has been criticised given the uk public finances situation, the ongoing turmoil, uk borrowing costs hitting a 16 year high and we fall in the value of the pound as well. rachel reeves maintaining that decision, defending her decision, defending her decision to travel to china in order to, she spoke earlier to say that she wants to improve economic ties with china. and she wants to ensure that growth will be delivered which will make working people in every corner of britain better off, as she put it. she wants that relationship to be improved. any fallout we will bring about we're going back to the ongoing fires across los angeles. we have been watching the destruction of so many homes and we have this report. they got out. that's what matters most. amid the ash and ruin, a hug from dad promises everything will be all right. even if this family doesn't yet know how. when the fires tore through altadena in the dead of night,

what is rachel reeves to do? et me give you the big picture, the labour party really contrasted themselves with the conservatives by saying remember the specter of liz truss? rachel reed has put herself in a straitjacket, she said there will be no more tax rises, no austerity, one physical event in gear and she will stick to her fiscal rules of only borrowing to invest. she has really box herself in here. this is high risk because at the october budget she left herself a big margin for error, really relying with a hope and a prayer that the economy was going to grow. we know that growth has been in the doldrums, so then after the budget, she sat down and had the yield spike and pretty much the headroom was evaporating. now we've got the global bond rout and she is really boxed in. so what is she going to do? she tried to calm the market yesterday, she's off to beijing at the weekend. that's about the long-term to try to rustle up more investment for the future, but she needs to deal with this now. she was planning

the uk bond market crisis deepens — chancellor rachel reeves heads to china after the pound fell to aonth low. also in the programme, nicolas maduro starts his third if it doesn't separate from its chinese owner, byte da nce. the split is required by a biden administration law which says it's necessary to protect national security. tiktok and some its content creators have argued the ban would violate their first amendment rights to free speech. tiktok says it's used by around 170million americans. the new law is set to take effect in nine days time. our north america technology correspondent lily jamali has more. congress passed that law in april on national security grounds. lawmakers expressed concerns that tiktok�*s chinese ownership, bytedance, means that the data of millions of americans could be compromised, and that they are also prone to manipulation by china's communist party. tiktok has consistently denied those allegations. they have expressed confidence that they will get the outcome that they seek from the supreme court. our north america technology correspondent lily ja

that may cause rachel reeves have to | cause rachel reeves have to change things.— cause rachel reeves things. exactly. at the moment there _ change things. exactly. at the moment there is _ change things. exactly. at the moment there is a _ change things. exactly. at the moment there is a lot - change things. exactly. at the moment there is a lot of - change things. exactly. at the i moment there is a lot of nerves displayed on the market. we see that as well being reflected in the sell—off in the pound which is down to the lowest level since april. obviously we are not where we were when we saw the reaction in the market with liz truss in 2022 but obviously there is a lot of comparisons being drawn and i think it is fair to say that we are not at the same level but there is a level of concern and that is being reflected. there are a few months to go but the government will need to think about moving and acting in order to calm the market. part ofthe order to calm the market. part of the problem _ order to calm the market. part of the problem as _ order to calm the market. part of the

our political correspondent damian grammaticas explained what rachel reeves is suggesting.sentially part of the core, sort of part of the government's approach mission, it says, to create growth. now, what she's talking about today is ways to free up the planning system so more big projects can be built. that means streamlining the environmental impact assessment process, reducing the number, or potentially looking at reducing the number, of organisations that would have to be consulted about big projects. so things like environmental inspectorates, historic inspectors, people who would have a view on planning and all of that, she says, is designed to try to speed up the process. one big issue that she was asked about is the potential for a new runway at heathrow airport. she didn't quite go as far as saying that she would be complaining. she said a decision on that is coming soon. this is what she said. a lot has changed in aviation and sustainable aviation and economic growth go hand in hand. we're an open trading economy. we need to bring investment in. but i believe tha

rachel reeves- _ national interest. rachel reeves. to _ national interest. rachel reeves. - president biden has criticised this week's announcement from meta that it is closing its fact—checking operations. mr biden described it as shameful. he made the comments during a wide—ranging press conference intended to highlight his record on the economy. let's take a listen. the idea that, you know, a billionaire can buy something and say, "by the way, from this point on, we're not "going to fact check anything". and you know, when you have millions of people reading, going online, reading this stuff, it is — anyway... i think it's — i think it's really shameful. president biden there. let's head to the supreme court in washington now, where the future of tiktok in the us hangs by a thread. justices have indicated that they will support banning the social media app over national security concerns unless it severs ties with its chinese parent company, bytedance, before a deadline of the 19th of january. representatives from tiktok appeared before the court on friday as the us gov

chancellor rachel reeves announces proposed changes to england's planning system — aimed at boostingnomic growth. belarus is voting in a presidential election — with alexander lukashenko all but certain to secure a seventh term. hello and welcome. we start in the middle east and comments by president trump on gaza. he's said he'd like to see a—million—and—a—half of its residents taken in by other arab nations — including jordan and egypt. he told journalists the strip was "literally a demolition site" and suggested it be "cleaned out". israeli bombardments have reduced much of gaza to rubble. mr trump's comments will be seen as unacceptable by palestinians who see gaza as their homeland, and by arab countries which reject the forced displacement of people. hamas says it will oppose plans to relocate palestinians, while islamichhad says the plans will encourage israel to commit war crimes. but mr trump's comments are already being welcomed by far—right israeli politicians, some of whom want to restore jewish settlements there. let's take a listen to what president trump told reporters

rachel reeves becomes the most senior uk official to visit china for 7 years. she says that agreements reached with china are worth £600 million to the uk over the next five years. a french woman whose father was convicted last month in a mass rape trial tells the bbc he should never be released from jail. i was so close from my father, you can't imagine how hurt it is, it was a nightmare. firefighters in los angeles are still battling to contain the massive and devastating — wildfires, that are now known to have killed 11 people. these are some of the latest developments... california's governor has ordered a review into whether water shortages have worsened the crisis — with �*critical hydrants�* believed to have failed. president biden said the scenes in burned our areas resembled "a war zone" — warning the number of dead was "likely" to rise. about 10 thousand homes and buildings are either destroyed, damaged or at risk. a night—time curfew is in force in the worst—affected areas to protect abandoned homes. and police said anyone involved in what they calle

rachel reeves is with us tomorrow. rachel reeves 2.0.ay when she's going to say everything is go, go go go go go. probably also approving the runway at heathrow, which i'm sure she will not want to say tomorrow morning, but we might have a bit of a go at that. so rachel reeves is with us. kemi badenoch, the tory leader, is also with us for her first the next in our series of leaders interviews for the beginning of 2025. although it might be the end of 2025 by the time we get them all done. but yes, so we have rachel reeves, kemi badenoch and sir paul mccartney on the telly at 9:00 on bbc one tomorrow. how will you get them to talk? i don't know, shy, retiring wallflowers. thank you for listening to this and for improving it. and we'll be back tomorrow. goodbye. newscast. newscast from the bbc. live from london. this is bbc news. scenes of celebration in the west bank, as 200 palestinians are released from israeli prisons. that prisoner release came after hamas releaed four female israeli soldiers. it's the second exchange under the gaza

what has rachel reeves been saying?lining what is essentially part of the core outlining what is essentially part of the cor- part of the core part of the governing's _ part of the core part of the governing's mission - part of the core part of the governing's mission to - part of the core part of the i governing's mission to create growth. she is talking about ways to free up the planning system some more big projects can be built. that means the environmental impact process and reducing the number or looking at reducing the number of organisations that have to be consulted about big projects are things like environmental inspectors and historic inspectors and historic inspectors and historic inspectors and everyone who would have a view on planning. and all of that she says is to speed up the process. one big issue she was asked about is the potential for a issue she was asked about is the potentialfor a new runway at heathrow airport. she didn't quite go as far as to say she would be to turn the decision would be to

chancellor rachel reeves hints a third runway at london's heathrow airport could get government support as part of plans to grow the economy. hello, i'm rajini vaidyanthan. president trump says he'd like to see a—million—and—a—half of gaza's residents taken in by other arab nations — including jordan and egypt. he told journalists the strip was "literally a demolition site" and suggested it be, quote, "cleaned out". israeli bombardments have reduced much of gaza to rubble. hamas says it would oppose any plan to relocate palestinians, while another militant group, islamichhad described the plans as "deplorable". but the us president's comments are already being welcomed by far—right israeli politicians, some of whom want to restore jewish settlements there. let's take a listen to what president trump told reporters on air force one. i'm looking at the whole gaza strip right now- and it's a mess. it's a real mess. you would like jordan to house people? i'd like egypt to take people. i'm talking to the general- tomorrow sometime, i believe. and i'd like egypt to take people i and i'd like

rachel reeves announces trade agreements worth £600 million during a visit to china but is criticisedfor the timing of her trip. and america's top court appears poised to uphold a law that bans tiktok over national security concerns, unless its chinese parent company sells the platform. hello. let's start in los angeles, where strong winds that have spread wildfires over a wide area are likely to continue for several more days. these are live pictures, as firefighters battle to contain the fires, which began on tuesday in several different parts of the city. we've had updates from fire and community officials. these are the key points from their news conference. at least 11 people have been killed and the number of homes and structures that have been destroyed stands at 12,000. 13 people are missing. the evacuation zone has been expanded around the palisades fire, which has now burned more than 21,000 acres. it's now 11 percent contained. that's the area around which an effective barrier has been created, stopping it from spreading. there are now four and the forecast is for more of t

what is rachel reeves hoping to achieve?the prime minister's spokesman was asked did she think about suspending the trip and it was not considered being and had given -- being and had been in the diary for so long. you go back to the pint glass clinking moment with president xi and david cameron and we are a long way from that. keir starmer wants to reset relations but that golden age is not what reeves is going for at all. clearly china also needs to make some friends right now at a huge part of this will be about a focus on opportunities for the financial sector. but it does not stop the fact that the timing is risky. we are just over a week away from doll from being inaugurated. you already had some members of his team expressing concerns that maybe this will show a weak point in the special relationship. we had peter mandelson chosen to be the new u.k. ambassador to washington. he's been a long advocate of better relations with china that might not endear him to the new u.s. administration. the european union is also try

but what _ chancellor rachel reeves. but what we — chancellor rachel reeves.nment's borrowing costs _ and the government's borrowing costs which have been superhigh for multiple decades. it has eased — for multiple decades. it has eased up a little bit, but they still remain at levels that they— still remain at levels that they have been for decades. the pressure — they have been for decades. the pressure has certainly eased and with— pressure has certainly eased and with the interest rate cut expected, it does look as though— expected, it does look as though it is a bit of a brighter prospect for house—builders. we brighter prospect for house-builders. ~ ., ., house-builders. we have to leave it there. _ house-builders. we have to leave it there. thank - house-builders. we have to leave it there. thank you i house-builders. we have to l leave it there. thank you very much. we are just going to say goodbye to our viewers on bbc two. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. the biggest economy in the european union — germany — shrank last year — fo

uk chancellor rachel reeves hints a third runway at london's heathrow airport could get government supports part of plans to grow the economy. hello, i'm rajini vaidyanthan. tens of thousands of homes in northern ireland remain without power as the aftermath of storm eowyn is still causing chaos across parts of the uk. the majority of the rail network in scotland remains closed with network rail dealing with around 400 separate incidents. david wallace lockhart is in glasgow for us and told us about the impact there. a 19 year old man has died after his car was struck by a falling tree in east ayrshire last friday. shortly before that red warning came into force. and the disruption is still being felt here in scotland. i'm in glasgow central train station, one of the main train stations in scotland. very quiet for this time of day and if you look at the departures board behind me, you can see why. around 20 trains on that and the vast, vast majority of the scheduled trains cancelled, including trains going down to london and manchester. around 20,000 homes in scotland without power current

rachel reeves told the bbc that sustainable aviation and growth can go together and that she'd revealstead of circling london, flights can land at heathrow. a lot has changed in aviation, and sustainable aviation and economic growth go hand in hand. but we're an open trading economy. we need to bring investment in. demand for travel is growing and heathrow is almost at capacity. but opposition to heathrow�*s expansion is well established, with recent objections reaching the courts. it's a long time since we last had a proper economic analysis of what heathrow expansion would deliver, and even when it was last done, it was marginal at best, and i don't think that picture is going to have improved. so there is no economic case for expanding heathrow, and we know how damaging it will be to the environment and to the noise impact on people living all across west and south west london. in the last fortnight, rachel reeves has promoted the uk's aims for growth in china and davos to politicians and business leaders. on wednesday, we'll hear more about those plans. including reforms to the pl

rachel reeves has done a fantasticjob.he full confidence of the entire party. a stuttering economy, spiralling government borrowing costs, and plummeting approval ratings, it is little wonder that smiles in government take a little bit more work these days. wobbling markets can lead to wobbly politicians but downing street insistent tonight they are committed to rachel reeves asked the chancellor all the way until the next general election, what we are seeing here is the hard slog of a government dealing with an economy thatis government dealing with an economy that is flat lining, where it its critics are saying its decisions have made things worse, then that big picture of artificial intelligence, a revolution people say, the thing is with revolutions they up end things and there are losers, so the challenge set out today for the economy in the long—term, and the shorter term and they are big challenges indeed. chris mason our political editor thank you. 0ur chief economics correspondent dharshini david is here to tell u

rachel reeves has become the most senior official from the uk to visit china for 7 years.ive years. a french woman whose father was convicted last month in a mass rape trial says he should never be released from jail. caroleen darian — the daughter of gisele pelicot — spoke to the bbc in her first broadcast interview since the trial. hello. let's return to our top story and those fires in los angeles, where the authorities have declared a local health

rachel reeves hopes to address this this week. with the bank of findling governor and governing council member olli rehn live in hong kong. the opening trade is next. this is bloomberg. ♪ kriti: good morning from london, i am kriti gupta alongside guy johnson and lizzy burden another blowout sending yields of the dollar's ring as p

chancellor rachel reeves hints a third runway at london's heathrow airport could get government supportas part of plans to grow the economy. a senior world health organization official tells the bbc it needs to be more nimble and reinvent itself — after trump orders the us to pull out of the agency. an election slammed as a "sham" and a farce — alexandar lukashenko prepares to return to power as belarusian president, with all real challengers either in prison or enforced exile. hello, i'm rajini vaidyanthan. president trump says he'd like to see a—million—and—a—half of gaza's residents taken in by other arab nations — including jordan and egypt. he's told journalists the strip was "literally a demolition site" and suggested it be "cleaned out". israeli bombardments have reduced much of gaza to rubble. hamas says it would oppose any plan to relocate palestinians, while another militant group, islamichhad, described the plans as "deplorable". but the us president's comments are already being welcomed by far—right israeli politicians, some of whom want to restore jewish settlements there.

addressing concerns about increased pollution, rachel reeves said a third runway at heathrow — whichay airport — would mean that instead of circling london, flights could land more quickly, as simon browning reports. after a week of speculation, the chancellor inched closer this morning to backing a third runway at heathrow. rachel reeves told the bbc that sustainable aviation and growth can go together, and that she will reveal more in her speech on wednesday. a third runway will mean that instead of circling london, flights can land at heathrow. a lot has changed in aviation and sustainable aviation and economic growth go hand in hand. we're an open trading economy, we need to bring investment in. demand to travel is growing and heathrow is almost at capacity. but opposition to heathrow�*s expansion is well established, with recent objections reaching the courts. it's a long time since we last had a proper economic analysis of what heathrow expansion would deliver, and even when that was last done, it was marginal at best. and i don't think that picture is going to have improved. s

this is a tricky time for rachel reeves.s, and she is under pressure over decisions she made in the budget, but there is no serious move to oust her, nor any suggestion she is at odds with the prime minister over strategy. but if those government borrowing costs stay high, there will will be tough decisions to make. on budget day, the chancellor surprised businesses with a big rise in their taxes. she said she won't do that again, so spending cuts could be on the cards if she needs to balance the books. you don't turn to cuts, certainly, because not only will that i think would be politically suicidal, it would undermine the political support on which labour got elected, but in addition to that you would be taking demand out of the economy, and you would be looking at, in doing that, turning a crisis into a recession. john mcdonald is currently suspended from labour, but his unease will be shared by some of his former colleagues. the chancellor is relying on growth, and will announce more details soon on how she hopes to mak

rachel reeves reeves trying to assuage the markets, did it work? lizzy: the real test is today, tom, you heard her reiterating that she will meet fiscal rules at all times. another test will come in march when the office for budget responsibility assesses if she has gotten any headroom. she has signaled that if she hasn't, she will pick spending cuts over tax rises rather than breaking those fiscal rules although notably she did not say that yesterday in public. it raises the question of if she will cut spending, how will she maintain credibility? is she going to say she will do it down the line, let's say, after three years? and will that be enough for the market? we were speaking to the former chancellor george osborne's ex-advisor, and he said if she did that, it would be a stroke of the pen, changing numbers on the page not real action. this was not the only drama at the treasury yesterday. you saw the city minister quit. she had was possibility for anticorruption, ironically, it was over a corruption probe.that she was a close ally of the prim

mil speaking about rachel reeves in china. , speaking about rachel reeves in china. �* , china.ppening in _ china. all sorts of things happening in the - china. all sorts of things i happening in the economy china. all sorts of things - happening in the economy this week, cost of borrowing has gone up. rachel reeves as a trainer to start discussions with the government there about how britain and china are improving their change and have attained about 600 millions, quite amount —— like a small amount of benefits. it should not be there with a cap in hand, as he pleaded. the trouble that government is facing on the economy is partly due to the difficult situation that they took over when they won the election. my chancellor, said that the previous government, liz truss and rishi sunak, what they did to the economy cannot be blamed. to the economy cannot be blamed-— to the economy cannot be blamed. , , blamed. the first thing they did when they _ blamed. the first thing they did when they came - blamed. the first thing they did when they came into - blamed. the first thing they i

rachel reeves keeps using the word "pragmatic."cerns, but that brings up some serious issues, because china will bristle at the mention of any human rights concerns, at the mention of allegations that it's supporting russia's war in ukraine and allegations that it's spying on the uk. it seems the meetings went well. the total value of what we have agreed today is worth £600 million over the next five years for the uk economy. the uk imports more than twice as many goods from china than it sends here. this relationship is not one of economic equals, but the chancellor for now is betting on beijing in the hope it will eventually make britain better off. laura bicker, bbc news, beijing. there have been celebrations in parts of sudan — after the army captured the eastern city of wad madani from the paramilitary rapid support forces. the leader of the rsf acknowledged the loss, but vowed to continue fighting the sudanese army until victory, even if it took another 20 years. the rsf militia, which has controlled the city for the past yea

chaceller rachel reeves has been facing criticism, especially from the conservatives, for travellinga during financial market turmoil at home. shadow chancellor mel stride has been speaking about this to laura kuensberg. let's listen to that interview. when this government came into office, at their fastest growth in the g7, near record levels of employment, low level of unemployment, real wages rising in each of 13 consecutive months and were brought inflation down from over 11% at its peak right the way down to bandon 2%... its peak right the way down to bandon 296. . ._ bandon 296... after an absolutely _ bandon 296... after an absolutely horrible - bandon 296... after an i absolutely horrible time, record taxation, huge debts and liz truss blowing up the economy?— liz truss blowing up the economy? liz truss blowing up the econom ? ., , ., , , economy? the real story here is that the government _ economy? the real story here is that the government set - economy? the real story here is that the government set in - economy? the real story here is that the government set in the l tha

chancellor rachel reeves says she will fight everyday to deliver economic growth.ur business correspondent ben boulos has more. what we have learned this morning is that the uk economy grew by the very thinnest of margins, just 0.1% growth in november, and that is below what had been expected. gdp, gross domestic product, is a measure of how much economic activity is going on and how much we are making, building, buying and selling. and more of that is seen usually as a good thing. it means with growth there tends to be more in the way of hiring by businesses, it is easier to get a pay rise. that in turn leads to more people paying more tax, which means more for the government to spend on services. and that's why this figure is being watched so closely. when you look at the detail, different parts of the economy performed to varying degrees. construction, things like house—building, performed most strongly. services, which make up the biggest part of the economy, they grew only very, very slightly. bright spots among the services were restaurants, pubs and it servi

so you get the message by now, the drive for growth is rachel reeves�*s number one priority.rhetoric. with taxes on business rising, and gloomy messages from government about the public finances. so today she talked up the economy and promised to help developers. my optimism has never burned brighter than now and that is why we are going further and faster in removing those things that are blocking investment. that means ministers using powers to approve big projects and simplifying the planning system with fewer legal challenges and less consultation. in a speech this week, the chancellor will back further airport expansion. while she hasn't confirmed support for a third runway at heathrow, it sounds as if it has been cleared for take—off. the third runway will mean instead of circling london, flights can land at heathrow. some in her own party, including the mayor of london, are against expanding heathrow and some opposition politicians are circling. so there is no economic case for expanding heathrow and we know how damaging it will be to the environment and the noise impa

rachel reeves becomes the most senior uk official to visit china for 7 years. she says that agreements reached with china are worth £600 million to the uk over the next five years. a french woman whose father was convicted last month in a mass rape trial tells the bbc he should never be released from jail. i was so close from my father, you can't imagine how hurt it is, it was a nightmare. in los angeles firefighters are still battling to contain those massive devastating wildfires. they've been dropping water onto the fires. in the last few hours more mandatory evacuation orders have been issued as the palisades fire continued to burn toward the 405 freeway and san fernando valley. one of the warnings is in brentwood where the us vice president, kamala harris, has a home. at least 11 people are now known to have died, and about 10 thousand homes and buildings are either destroyed, damaged or at risk. a night—time curfew is in force in the worst—affected areas to protect abandoned homes. police have warned that anyone involved in what they called "despicable" l

also in davos — chasing growth — the chancellor rachel reeves is there with the message that britainness". welcome to business today. so let's get started and once again the business news is dominated by the announcements coming from the white house. president donald trump has unveiled major new investment in artificial intelligence by the private sector. the chief executives of open ai, oracle and the japanese investment fund softbank were with the president at the white house on tuesday afternoon to announce they will work together and raise hundreds of billions of dollars for building data centres for artificial intelligence across the us. called "stargate" donald trump said the joint venture is a "declaration of confidence in america". let's explore this more now with cathy li, head of ai, data and metaverse at the world economic forum. she's in davos this week, mixing with opinion formers — business leaders and politicians especially. let's start with the announcement from donald trump bringing together the tech bosses. what difference will it make to have that sort of leadershi

rachel reeves under quite a bit of pressure over this trip to china given what is going on in the ukaying the trip is important for uk trade & investment. china is a uk's fifth largest trading partner with $68 billion worth of trade going from china to the uk last year. miss reeves will be the most senior british official to visit beijing in seven years and as you mentioned there is a concerted effort by labour to build bridges with china. ties have been strained in recent years with allegations of chinese hacking and spying and its jailing of pro—democracy figures in hong kong. ms reid says travelling to china with senior financial figures including the governor of seniorfinancialfigures including the governor of the bank of england and the chair of hsbc -- bank of england and the chair of hsbc —— miss reeves. as for what is in it for china, one of the main goals is more cooperation in financial services. china is moving up the value chain. the uk could help, given its expertise in services and financial services. china is expected to be at the sharp end of donald trump's aggressive

here's rachel reeves speaking in beijing — explaining the business reasons behind her visit.ke our country better offer. the's why i'm in china, to unlock tangible benefits for reduced businesses, exporting and trading around the world, to ensure that we have greater access to the second biggest economy in the world, and when we have these pragmatic conversations with chinese leaders, and indeed chinese businesses, we will always be acting in britain's national interest. as the uk makes an effort to work with china on trade, the us appears to be taking a more combative stance. american users are getting ready to say goodbye to the chinese—owned social media app tiktok. it's set to be banned here in just over one week — unless bytedance sells off the company in the us. tiktok�*s legal team gave theirfinal plea in hopes of overturing the ban at a us supreme court hearing on friday. they were joined by content creators, many of which rely on the platform as a means of income. president—elect donald trump has also argued against a ban. and while more than a third of americans use

five he was also speaking to laura kuenssberg and he was going after the rachel reeves who is at the on the economy this week, the cost of borrowing has gone up. rachel reeves has gone to china to try and start some discussions with the government there about how britain and china improve their trade. she's obtained about 600 million, which is quite a small amount in benefits over the next five years. mel stride said she shouldn't be there, cap in hand, as he put it, but it was put back to him that the trouble that the government is facing on the economy at the moment partly comes from the fact that they inherited a very difficult situation when they took over six months ago, won the election. and mel stride, the shadow chancellor, said that the previous governments, liz truss and rishi sunak and what they did on the economy could not be blamed for what is happening now and labour is dealing with. this is what he said. the first thing they did when they came into office was to talk the economy down in order to pitch roll, for reneging on the promises they made, particularly on tax an

we saw rachel reeves going to china. she also went to brussels.ems that it's to the outside world they are looking at trying to have greater lengths with other parts of the world. do you think that is the right approach because that sort of policy takes a while to take momentum? >> well, i think it is the right approach. one of the issues of brexit is we were cut off from our main trading partner and i think the labour government is quite right to want to improve britain's trade opportunities. now, as you say that it's not obviously going to work next week or next month, but the government has to think about the long term as well as the short term. >> right. we appreciate your time today. thank you for joining us. martin at kings college london and former member of the bank of england as well. >>> on to corporate stories today. deliveroo sees the adjusted ebitda to the 110 to 130 pound range. $2. 2.07 billion wounds. >>> wise was driven by sustained volume growth. the fintech company said it has seen rapid customer growth as well. >>> in uk home b

the uk bond market crisis deepens — chancellor rachel reeves heads to china after the pound fell to ath low. the price of re—sale tickets for live events could be capped in the uk under the government's plan to clamp down on touts. jeff bezos�*s blue origin plans to launch its first orbital rocket on sunday — its long—awaited entry into the lucrative orbital launch market. back now to those devastating wildfires in los angeles, where it's been confirmed that at least 10 people have been killed — double the death toll previously reported. these are live pictures. the biggest fires are burning for a third night. the los angeles county sheriff says it hasn't been safe to reach many of the hardest—hit areas and the number of people who have lost their lives is definitely "going to change". weather forecasters are warning that more high winds may fan the flames further. around 180,000 people have been told to leave their homes under mandatory evactuation orders, though some peeople have ignored those orders stayed in their homes despite the dangers. let's get the latest from david willis.

the conservatives say rachel reeves budget policies have killed growth stone dead, but today's figureaction of the chief secretary to the. i think the planned change is working _ think the planned change is working and the fact that inflation is coming down is a sign — inflation is coming down is a sign of— inflation is coming down is a sign of that. it is good that inflation _ sign of that. it is good that inflation is broadly stable around _ inflation is broadly stable around the 2% target. it is good — around the 2% target. it is good that is starting to come down, — good that is starting to come down, but there is no denying the fact— down, but there is no denying the fact that many people at home — the fact that many people at home are still struggling with the cost — home are still struggling with the cost of living and we know we have — the cost of living and we know we have more work to do to help them _ we have more work to do to help them get — we have more work to do to help them get more pounds in their pockets — them get more pounds in their pockets at the end of each mon

for the chancellor rachel reeves it has been a tough couple of weeks and she will no doubt breathe aief. she says these are welcome figures but still too high for working families and she is fighting to put more money in the pockets of people. the tories say policies from the budget have killed growth stone dead. growth in gdp, we get that figure tomorrow, is the economy growing now? rachel reeves then goes to the snowy hills of davos for the world economic forum next week when there will be more financial animals and ski animals and she will have to convince them that her economic policies have not veered too far off piste.- veered too far off piste. thank ou, veered too far off piste. thank you. marc _ veered too far off piste. thank you, marc ashdown. _ survivors of a fatal dive boat sinking in the red sea allege that the subsequent investigation tried to cover up safety failings they believe contributed to the disaster. the sea story sank in november last year, with at least 11 people dead or missing. for more than a month, our correspondentjoe inwood has been speaking to people

so you get the message by now that drive for the - by now that drive for the growth is rachel reevess on business and gloomy messages from overman on public finances. so today she talked up finances. so today she talked up the economy and promised to help developers. my up the economy and promised to help developers.— help developers. my optimism for britain _ help developers. my optimism for britain has _ help developers. my optimism for britain has never _ help developers. my optimism for britain has never burned i for britain has never burned brighter— for britain has never burned brighter than it does now and that— brighter than it does now and that is— brighter than it does now and that is why we are going further_ that is why we are going further and faster in removing those — further and faster in removing those things that are blocking investment.— investment. that means ministers _ investment. that means ministers using - investment. that means ministers using powersl investment. that means l ministers using powers to approve big projects and simplifying the planning system

rachel reeves has been lambasted to go to china on longer trade deelsz. deals.here is a case the media is smelling blood. there is more talk, of course, about tax rises. tax rises got us into the situation in the first place. so, i don't think we'll see the story go anywhere short-term. >> i want to share this comment from you. we have been hearing from companies and prepare the comments for the viewers. highlight the message. i found the narrative similar across all of the companies. if i take a look at what indeed said, ies slow more than similar countries. hiring headwinds. higher than the budget. this is after what the recruitment company told us earlier. when you hear all of these comments from the recruitment firms, what is the outlook, the economic outlook for the uk economy? with are we likely to see a recession this year? >> the story is the economy should pick up through the year. that is partly government spending coming in and attention on things like infrastructure and nouncements recently on a.i. were recently positively. i think these are indicati