a london labour mps said basketball is very important for inner—city youngsters. almost 60% of adults in this sport are from black, asian or minority ethnic backgrounds. 75% if you look at the figure for adult men particularly. that is staggering. what that is in reality is role models i desperately need. you cannot have role models if there is no prospect of making it elite. and so i say to the minister, when i look at the figures, i have to ask for this urban sport and this sport which attracts black, asian and minority ethnic members in the number that it does, why is it that hockey received 28.1 million and the rugby league received 51.6 million? why is it that canoeing, equestrian, cycling, rowing all do so much better? where is the equity in that formula? and can she satisfy herself that there is no unintended or unconscious bias in the way that judgements are being made about that funding? but the minister was not convinced. as other colleagues have mentioned, basketball is not the only olympic sport that uk sport do not fund. it can offer great opportuniti

let's get more nowjeremy corbyn's clarification of labour's position on brexit. in a speech in coventry this morning mr corbyn said that labour would seek continued membership of a customs union, and a new and strong relationship with the single market. i'm joined by bbc reality check correspondent chris morris. as ever, to clarify the details for us. jeremy corbyn says a new customs deal should be struck at the end of the transition. could you explain the transition. could you explain the difference between mr corbyn's promotes and labour and what the government calls for. sometimes the language sounds the same, union or arrangement. the difference is a technical term in trade talks is a union. a group of countries exposing the same —— imposing the same external tariff. anyone wanting to bring good thing has to pay the same tax at the common external border. customs arrangement can mean anything, whatever you want to set up anything, whatever you want to set up in the future. whatjeremy corbyn was trying to do today was set out very clear water between labou

the telegraph says uk labour leader jeremy corbyn has launched a fresh attack on the city of london by promising to bring financiers to heel as "the servants of industry" if he becomes prime minister. in the ft one of the city of london's most prominent female executives has accused law firms and other partnerships of presenting a skewed gender pay gap analysis due to the fact some of their best—paid male staff are excluded from the data. and finally, queen of fashion anna wintour had pause to rethink her title. after her majesty made a surprise appearance at london fashion week. the queen sat front row, of course, beside vogue's editor—in—chief and watched designer richard quinn's show before presenting him with a british design award. with me is henry bonsu who's a broadcaster and international conference host. is to be back to invite me to the event! —— it is nice. —— they didn't invite me to that event! they didn't invite me to that event! they didn't invite me to that event! they didn't invite me either. in the gulf news, there are headlined, a war of extermination.

the terrorist attacks in london and manchester, the leaked labour manifesto, the tory u—turn on social care, alongside the insistence nothing had changed. and then the night itself. exit polls. victories. defeats. and lord buckethead. that is, perhaps, a journalist's take on it. but what would an artist find? cornelia parker was named the official artist of the 2017 election. and in an exclusive interview with steve smith, she reveals for the first time how she saw it, and what she created from it. it took a lot of negotiating and time and permissions, and nothing moves fast, so it was quite a challenge, but it was fantastic to have that opportunity. i needed a drone, i think, because i wanted to have two cameras in the house, the benign one, a dispassionate camera thatjust watches the drone do its stuff. a kind of malevolent one, which is the drone, which is a free radical that's swooping around and hunting, or surveilling. the film is called left, right and centre, and it's basically filmed at night at the beginning. it's stacks of newspapers on this desk. all the newspapers from the

working as a spy for the then communist czechoslovakian government london. jeremy corbyn and the labour party has said all the way through that even though he may have met a diplomat from the czech embassy once or twice, they categorically deny it was anything more than that. he was certainly never an informer, agent or spy. today the single source at the heart of this story, the former czech spy in question, was interviewed in bratislava by the bbc, and this is a bit of their exchange. you are asserting thatjeremy corbyn was at least an informer for the stb, and you presume he was paid for that? he was very, very good source. good but there is a difference between being a very good source and being an active informer. i am telling you, he was very good source. source. so he did not really add anything at all to the allegations. labour are confident that they are now finishing this story. the archives in prague, the old secret service archives, do not say anything at all about mr corbyn being an informer at all, nor do the stasi files in germany. it feels li

live from london, that's our top story on monday 26th february. the battle lines are drawn, the labour leader will set out his party's brexit plans. jeremy corbyn is likely to call for full tariff—free access to eu markets — could he force the prime minister to change her position? also in the programme, it's a mobile world after all. smartphone sales are falling for the first time, so what have the industry giants got planned to get us buying again? rory cellan—jones is at the mobile world congress in barcelona. and it is a brand—new trading week, and the markets in europe are all higher on the day following a bumper session in asia. and working part—time but shining all the time. we'll speak one woman whose built a successfuljewellery business that counts the duchess of cambridge amongst its customers, despite only working part—time. as we've been hearing, smartphone sales are in decline. today we want to know have we reached peak smartphone. why and when do you upgrade? let us know — just use #bbcbizlive. hello and welcome to busi

the telegraph says uk labour leader jeremy corbyn has launched a fresh attack on the city of london by promising to bring financiers to heel as "the servants of industry" if he becomes prime minister. in the ft one of the city of london's most prominent female executives has accused law firms and other partnerships of presenting a skewed gender pay gap analysis due to the fact some of their best—paid male staff are excluded from the data.

that‘s why labour were

. -- and labour mayor in london. mr speaker, i am very clear that crime is of course wrong but the way you deal with it is by an effective probation service, is by community service orders, is by the rehabilitation of offenders. and what she said goes to the heart of the prime minister's record. she, mr speaker, was home secretary physics yea rs. speaker, was home secretary physics years. crime is up, violent crime rising, police numbers down and chief constable saying they no longer have the resources to keep communities safe. after seven years, seven years of cuts, will the prime minister today admit that her government's relentless cuts to police, probation services and social services have left us less safe ? social services have left us less safe? the reality is, you can't have public safety on the cheap. well, the right honourable gentleman really needs to reflect on what labour would be doing if they were in government. you can only pay for our public services if you have a strong economy and what would we see

still, it's been a big day for labour's position on brexit. but whatever policy emerges in london — all of it still needs to be negotiated with the other 27 eu countries, and all of them have opinions of their own. chris morris. thank you. the number of people known to have died in an explosion and fire in a building in leicester yesterday has risen to five. search and rescue teams recovered a body from the rubble earlier today. five people remain in hospital, one is critically ill. emergency crews have been continuing to search the ruins of the property, as our correspondent sima kotecha reports. the damage, fully exposed, in daylight. last night, just after seven, an explosion. a shop and the flat above it were destroyed. flames shot up into the air, around seven metres high. towering over the surrounding buildings. ijust heard a big bang. the owner of the shop was inside at the time. i didn't know, what was that? i found myself on the floor. eyes open. looking up. half of my body was under, how to say? rubble? under the bricks and rubble.

the labour leader told a conference in london that the uk should be following "a global tide of public ownership." we need to put britain at the forefront of the wave of international change in favour of public democratic ownership and control of our services and utilities. from india to canada across the world, people are waking up across the world, people are waking up to the fact that privatisation has failed, and taking back control of the public services. north korea's leader kimjong—un has invited the south korean president for talks, at the "earliest date possible." the historic invitation was given by kim jong—un's sister, who's visiting the south for the winter olympics. if talks do take place, they'd be the first in more than a decade between korean leaders. and with all the action from the winter olympics and the rest of a busy day of sport let's join lizzie greenwood hughes at the bbc sports centre. hello, we'll start with red beavers are going on at twickenham in the second week of the six nations. england against wales, it's england 12— wales three just before halfâ

notjust to catch the 1056 from brussels to london. we have not a minute to lose, because we want to achieve a deal. but the eu's chief negotiator wants to press on. it is time for bargaining he says as the next round of brexit talks loom. the first priority for him and his host david davis is to agree what happens straight after brexit. do you know what the british government wants? the two years or so timeframe, not much will change but the real posturing is about the longer term. theresa may popped in for a drink after reminding her party that she wants out of the single market free trade area and the current customs union. but she knows, along with these two, there might be mishaps along the way. our negotiating team is starting straightaway, tomorrow certainly, on an intensive period of negotiation and are confident we can get that agreement. yet while this might sound elegant in a french accent it is still a warning. without the customs union, outside the single market, barriers to trade and goods and services are unavoidable. ti

in a keynote brexit speech tomorrow, he is expected to commit labour to backing permanent membership of some kind of customs union, but not remaining in the single market. an investigation by newham council in london has found that some shopkeepers have still been selling corrosive substances like bleach to children — despite there being a voluntary code of conduct in place not to do so. the area has suffered a record number of acid attacks as simon browning reports. almost 400 of london's 1500 acid attacks in the last five years have happened in the borough of newham, the highest amount in the uk. she is annie, 14, part of an undercover sting to see if she can buy corrosive substances from high street shops in the area. i want you to go in to try to purchase caustic soda, bleach, other corrosive substances. she's working with trading standards to test the 182 retailers who have signed up to a voluntary scheme to prevent such sales to shoppers under the age of 21. how much did it cost you? £1. and again and ask for id? no. two shops did not sell to her but three did. the shops sel

labour says the entire system needs to be restructured. a prime minister who free university tuition visits sixth formers in london to discuss student debt and the courses they plan to take. one meant free radical physics. 0h the courses they plan to take. one meant free radical physics. oh gosh. such as the reaction many students and their parents now have about the cost of education in england. the government says the whole system needs to be examined again. we have an issue of fees, concerned notjust from students but families, parents and grandparents about the level of debt the build—up and also a concern that basically universities charge the same whatever course you are doing. currently english universities are free to charge just over £9,000 a year. depending on the course. only a handful charge less than the maximum. graduate in england leave university with average debts of more than £50,000. interest rates on student loans now stand at 6.1%. with labour promising to scrap tuition fees altogether there is pressure on the cons

but with the outstanding amount due to hit £160 billion by 2021, labour argues the system is unsustainable. simon clemison, bbc news. joining me now from somerset is nicholas barr, professor of public economics at london school of economics and an architect of the student loan. thank you for being with us. is the student loan system working? we were hearing claims that maybe there is a lack of public confidence in the fairness of the system. lack of public confidence in the fairness of the systemlj lack of public confidence in the fairness of the system. i can understand the lack of public confidence because there have been so many changes. the system that was introduced in 2006 was well thought through and reforms in 2012 which we re through and reforms in 2012 which were mainly motivated by short—term politics have messed up the system. we have got the right system, but with the wrong gravitas. the interest rate is too high, the threshold is in the wrong place, and the public do not understand that it is not a debt like credit card debt. it isa is not a debt like credit card debt. it i

the shadow brexit secretary has confirmed labour will make a shift on policy on brexit. he says the party will adopt the policy of keeping britain in a customs union after brexit. he says a new treaty would have to be drawn up to do the work of the existing agreement. and that labour had long championed the benefit of a customs union. the policy shift marks a clear difference with theresa may, who is committed to leaving the eu's customs arrangement and the single market. our political correspondent emma vardyjoins me now. this is quite an important change by labour. each shift of policy on the customs union. there have been months of uncertainty on labour's position. what its vision was in times of britain's future relationship with the eu after brexit. this now marks labour moving decisively towards a much softer version of brexit. while a harder version of brexit. while a harder version being pursued by theresa may. it really separates the parties, putting them into clear positions. staying within a cost customs union, labour's new policy, this would mean britain woul

a london-based lore has pleaded guilty to lying to u.s. officials in the 2016 election russian meddling. he admitted misleading investigators about contacts with rick ates, a former associate of paul manafort. he is the fourth person to plead guilty in robert mueller's inquiry. president trump has directed a justice department regulation banning bump stocks. they allow semiautomatic guns to be fired more rapidly. that killed 17 last week used in ar-15 style rifle. a a few minutes ago, i signed memorandum directing the attorney general to propose regulations to been all devices that turn devices legal weapons into machine guns. i expect these critical regulations will be finalized very soon. sebastian: you can lawmakers have published a regulators report detailing disgraceful misconduct of the royal bank of scotland's small business unit. they identified inappropriate treatment to small companies. the rbf says it is deeply sorry for how it treated clients. global news 24 hours a day, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in mor

but labour says that the government position would inevitably involve extra border checks. it described comments from the foreign secretary boris johnson, that the london congestion charge could be a model for avoiding a hard border in northern ireland, as typically facile and thoughtless. 0ur political correspondent alex forsyth reports from westminster. he came to explain which way brexit is heading. applause. thanks very much. in front of business leaders, the international trade secretary restated the government's case, arguing that staying in the customs union would bind the uk to eu rules and limit trade opportunities. it would be a complete sell—out of britain's national interest and a betrayal of voters in the referendum. then there is the issue of constraints on the ability to negotiate independent trade arrangements. a customs union would remove the bulk of incentives for other countries to enter into comprehensive free—trade agreements with the uk. but only hours earlier, this man, who was until recently the most senior civil servant in the department for tra

corbyn and the london mayor sadiq khan. mr corbyn — whose constituency includes finsbury park — has been speaking about the case and said that someone like mr osborne could not succeed in dividing the community. well, it tells us that darren osborne was an extremely racist person and very dangerous who drove into a crowd of people who were leaving the muslim welfare house after late—night prayers during ramadan. it is in my constituency and in my own community and the response of the local community was that we all came together, every community, every fight, we came together and we went to the mosque and muslim welfare house —— every faithful. the answer to dario osborne, —— darren osborne is, you will not divide us, and you will not frighten us either. theresa may is coming under increasing pressure to spell out what she hopes to achieve from the brexit negotiations — including whether britain should remain part of a customs union after it leaves the eu. some leave—supporting conservative mps have urged

in a keynote brexit speech tomorrow, he is expected to commit labour to backing permanent membership of some kind of customs union, but not remaining in the single market. children were able to buy corrosive substances in an area of london which has suffered a record number of acid attacks. an investigation by newham council found that some shopkeepers were still selling items like bleach despite there being a voluntary code of conduct in place. new figures obtained by the bbc have shown that the number of attacks involving corrosive substances in england and wales has more than trebled in five years. actress in the chambers has died at the age of 53. doreen —— the actress emma chambers has died at the age of 53. dawn french posted on twitter saying, i will miss her very much. hugh grant also treated, a brilliant actress, very sad news. —— hugh grant also tweeted. this is the kind of morning when i play up my name. there was this tweet from scotland police yesterday after the outcome of the calcutta cup in murrayfield in which they said, we are receiving calls reporting singi

labour says the entire system needs to be restructured. 0ur political correspondent ben wright has this report. a prime minister who had free university tuition visits sixth formers in west london to discuss student debt and the courses they plan to take. i will be going to university... 0ne mentions theoretical physics. oh, gosh! which is the reaction many students and their parents now have about the 5¥5t5r5 55555 $5 ww as theresa may explained in derby, this review will look at all post—18 education, whether universities, technical, or vocational training. the current problems, she said, were clear. making university truly accessible to young people from every background is not made easier by a funding system which leaves students from the lowest income households bearing the highest levels of debt. with many graduates left questioning the return they get for their investment. and for those young people who do not go on to academic study, the routes into further technical and vocational training today are hard to navigate. the standards across the sector are too varied and the fun

that has prompted accusations from the labour party that mrjohnson should remain quiet about the subject of which he is ignorant. his comments have been described as thoughtless and facile. let us listen to what he said. we think we can have very efficient facilitations systems to make sure there's no need for a hard border and excessive checks between ireland and northern ireland. there's no border between islington... camden and westminster, but when i was mayor of london we invisibly took hundreds of millions of pounds from the accounts of people travelling between those two boroughs without any need for border checks whatever. added into the mix we have also heard from the former top man at the world trade organisation, who has said he does not believe there is any way that a hard border can be avoided in northern ireland if the uk is determined to be the single market and the customs union. and for good measure he questions whether the proposed two years for this transition period is going to be long enough. norman, much to chew over. many thanks. the headlines on bbc newsroom live.

: tom, we are still following the speech of jeremy corbyn, the opposition leader of the labour party, and he said a union. will seek this is important. he said exiting single market rights standards and protections would be accepted by labor, but it would negotiate protection and exemptions that could help workers in industries to allow governments to intervene to help struggling sectors. it puts theresa may and her proposition and a much tougher spot, tom. tom: francine, thank you so much. francine, why don't you pick it up with kevin cirilli. francine: we had a pretty engaging conversation with charles myers. saying that he does not see the president staying in power for the next several months. joining us is kevin cirilli, our bloomberg chief correspondent. kevin, good morning to you. a lot of the focus is still on the probes and we have a memo being published relating to russia. what are you most looking for this week? kevin: well, i think in terms of the investigation, most people in washington are really keeping their eye on the robert mueller investigation. there has been no ev

london newsroom. good from our london newsroom. morning to you, thani much good morning to you, thank you very much forjoining us. do you regret to have been partly responsible for where we are now? i think the decision to introduce a part payment by stu d e nts decision to introduce a part payment by students for university education was the correct one, it allowed us to expand places significantly so it was socially equitable and it allowed us to give a better deal to universities where staff were being grossly underpaid. the big problem was the decision in 2010 with the conservative and liberal democrat coalition two travel tuition fees overnight, they were £3000 before, there wasn't great controversy about that and they broke the cross—party consensus overnight by trebling the fees —— to treble. they lost the support of students, they were broadly happy with the deal before 2010 because it was a good deal, after 2010 when the fees went up to £9,000... £9,000 is more than the cost of a lot

they are hugely in many northern seats, but they are very critical to labour. they have voted to support government policy on key moments. francine: please come back. he is conservative mp and former party leader with our own london bureau chief david merrick. from brexit to banking, mediobanca has joined the lenders aiming to pay out 40% full-year earnings. that is after it posted second-quarter profit that beat estimates. how confident is mediobanca about the path i had? joining us is the chief executive from . thank you for joining us this morning. we have a massive short from ray dalia, shorting all the italian lenders, saying the march elections will be disruptive. what do you tell mr. galliano? r. dalio? >> i think the italian election could not represent the real problem or threat. vote that electoral is a bit cumbersome. it has been drafted and introduced not to give clear leadership to a party, so a coalition government is the likely outcome. the positive is that all parties have a pro-europe program and i think the coalition that can be made will be a

in a speech this afternoon the labour leader will call for a "fundamental rethink" of the finance sector and how it is regulated. he will also promise to give the government new powers to intervene to prevent "hostile ta keovers". it's expected that many of kfc‘s 900 uk outlets will remain closed today — because of a continuing lack of chicken. the fast food chain has blamed teething problems after switching to a new logistics deal with dhl and quick service logistics. kfc is encouraging staff to take holiday while outlets are closed. they say salaried staff will be paid as normal. but the majority of outlets are franchises — which means many workers could be hit hard. a legal battle that could have far reaching consequences for the so—called "gig economy" reaches the supreme court this morning. pimlico plumbers is appealing a ruling that one of its employee's is entitled to basic workers' rights — even though he was hired as a freelancer. lower courts previously ruled the employee was entitled the national minimum wage and paid holiday, although he is technically self—employ