the house of commons is disgrace. the house of commons is debating whether smoking should be banned for future generations in the uk. a muslim student loses a challenge against prayer rituals against school. —— at school. time for a look at the business news now. the global economy is on course for a "soft landing" after years of difficulties caused by the covid pandemic and the war in ukraine — that's the optimistic assessment from the international monetary fund. it's launched its latest outlook as the world's finance ministers and central bankers gather at its annualjoint spring meeting with the world bank in washington to discuss the future of the global economy. the report suggests the global economy will show resilience to grow 3.2% this year — that's a very slight upgrade of 0.1%

compared to the last asessment in january. it's big concern is about inflation — the rate at which prices are rising. on the global measure the imf is using, it thinks it will be 2.8% by the end of this year — and warns that getting inflation back to their 2% target should be the priority for central banks. for many politcians that's been a key concern as they try to ease cost of living pressures for people around the world. here's the imf�*s chief economist. the global economy continues to display remarkable resilience with growth holding steady and inflation declining. but many challenges still lie ahead. global growth was 3.2% in 2023 and is expected to remain at that level both in 2024 and 2025. this represents a 0.3 percentage point upgrade from our 0ctober projections for 2024, with stronger activity than expected in the us, china and other large

emerging markets, but weaker activity in the euro area. 0ur correspondent michelle fleury is following this from new york. let's begin by talking about russia. the russian economy is predicted by the international monetary fund to grow this year at a rate higher than that of all g7 countries — and was a big jump from the imf�*s forecast injanuary — despite sanctions related to the war in ukraine. what's going on? that was one of the surprises in the report, the strength of the russian economy at a time when there are sanctions that were designed to hamper the economy but that does not seem to have worked so it raises questions about the effectiveness of sanctions this was a question which came up during the press conference. —— and this was. the imf economist says some of this is to do with the fact that russia has been successful despite attempts to curtail its

ability to export oil, it has its own insurance, shipping insurance industry develop as a result, since the conflict began, and those who are willing to transport russian oil, a major source of revenue for the country, but other things are playing into the growth, one of that is corporate investment and the other thing is the strength of the private consume in russia who continues to buy goods and that is helping fuel the growth we are seeing which counters some of the sides of the sanctions. by contrast, the eurozone — many forecasts were revised lower since the imf�*s last report card injanuary. what is going wrong for them? germany and france saw significant downgrades compared to three months earlier, but the uk also not looking great either. part of the story goes

to energy prices and the impact that continues to have on euro zone countries but the other factor was something that the head of the ecb referred to, where she talked about, if you draw comparisons with the american consumer who has helped to fuel the recovery in america, the european consumer has been weaker, preferring to save rather than spend, and that has led to a contrasting performance by the euro zone where some of these big countries whether it is germany, france or the uk, have performed less well. ,, ., ., ., ., less well. the us and china are at loggerheads. _ less well. the us and china are at loggerheads, though, _ less well. the us and china are at loggerheads, though, we - less well. the us and china are at loggerheads, though, we seem i less well. the us and china are atj loggerheads, though, we seem to less well. the us and china are at. loggerheads, though, we seem to be in an era of de—globalisation, did the imf have something to say about that? , ., ., the imf have something to say about that? , ., a, y ., a, that? there is a term that you are heanna that? there is a term that you are hearin: in that? there is a term that you are hearing in policy _ that? there is a term that you are hearing in policy circles _ that? there is a term that you are

hearing in policy circles where - that? there is a term that you are hearing in policy circles where you have ministers from around the world getting together and discussing the state of the global economy and they are talking about geopolitical fragmentation. they are worried that you are seeing the world retreat from globalisation and that there is increasingly the emergence of potentially or a move in the direction where at some point in the future you could see the world divided into blocks so the us would align with the euro zone and you could see russia and china on the other side. and that is something that economists are concerned about and they say this will hamper global growth going forward and we are expecting a speech from janet yellen, the us treasury secretary, to talk about the policies that they have pursued, where you try to move supply chains to countries that you are allied with, that are friendlier to you, and that practice will create this fragmentation that the imf is warning against, saying that it will diminish global growth.

thanks forjoining us. and in that imf assessment there is a warning that china's economy continues to be troubled by the huge debt crisis in its property sector. however, in the first three months of this year it appears to have shrugged that off, with beijing reporting growth at a faster than expected annualised rate of 5.3%. despite that, concerns remain about weak consumer spending and uncertain demand for the stuff china makes to export to the rest of the world. that was one of the major topics on the agenda as president xijinping met his german counterpart 0laf scholz in beijing. laura bicker has more from beijing. 0laf scholz came to china with a clear message: we will do business with beijing, but they want china to play fair. now, what he means by this is, there is real concern, both

in europe and the united states, that china has subsidised its green technologies. now, by that i mean solar panels, electric vehicles, wind turbines, and that has driven costs down. i mean, the cost of a solar panel has been halved in the last year. china produces more than 80% of the world's solar panels. about half of all their exports go to europe. and that's one of the reasons why european businesses are very worried, because they believe that china is driving those costs down and driving them out of business. so the clear message coming from europe is they want china to play fair. now, china's argument to this is that it's not state subsidies that are helping reduce the costs of their solar panels, it's their own innovation. they say they are good at this, this is something that people want to buy and they are providing a product. they also say that cheap solar panels are good for the likes of africa, south—east asia, as well as their customers in europe

and the united states. so what we're seeing is the edge of what some fear are new trade tensions between east and west. now, what 0laf scholz didn't say is that he supported new tariffs, new curbs against chinese goods. he stopped short of that. other european leaders are calling for more measures and more tariffs to be put on chinese goods, as have the united states. so we'll have to see how things play out over the coming weeks, whether or not europe will decide that china needs to curb its production and whether china is making too much. in other news... the uk unemployment rate increased to 4.2% between december and february. that's the highest level for six months. the number of people who are "economically inactive" — not in work or looking for employment — rose, partly due to long—term sickness. economists suggest the data could push the bank of england

to cut interest rates in the summer. the spanish airline iberia express is planning to resume flying from madrid to tel aviv on wednesday. but the british airline easyjet has suspended its flights to israel until the end of october. several airlines have paused flights to israel and others are avoiding nearby airspace because of the security situation since iran's missile and drone attack. the us paper and packaging giant international paper has agreed a $9.9 billion deal to buy its rival ds smith. the british firm — like the rest of the industry — has been doing well out of the boom in online retail but it's struggled with high costs. the merger could lead to the elimination of 400 jobs. to tesla now — and a whistleblower who's battled elon musk and the carmaker through the courts for a decade has spoken to the bbc. cristina balan says she is still seeking a public apology for how

she was treated after raising safety concerns about its vehicles. until 2014, ms balan was a rising star at tesla in the us. i was the only woman in the team, like, engineering team, and in the beginning, it was great. in the early days, christina balan was doing so well at tesla, her initials were engraved on the cars' batteries. but she says it wasn't long before things took a turn for the worse. everything went south when i realised that they were hiding some critical safety issues. she claims they pretended that they didn't know. and you decided to go right to the top? you went to elon musk himself? i tried to. and what exactly was the safety concern? they realised that they make a design and engineering mistake on the carpets. you know the carpets that you have under the pedals and in the front of the car?

so what happened is those carpets, they were curling under the brake and under the acceleration. cristina further claims that she'd heard there were complaints made about this issue, so she believes tesla was aware of it. she claims that when she shared her worries, tesla's management turned hostile. she lost herjob, sued the firm and won. but then tesla did something unexpected. they dared to accuse me of serious crimes like embezzlement. theyjust purely invented those with one scope in mind — to give a lesson to everybody who dare to speak up. tesla said in a public statement that cristina had used company resources for a secret project. she denies this, and the firm has never provided proof. what do you want to get out of this now, this long running battle with this company? i want to clear my name. i wish elon musk had

the decency to apologise. i am battling the most aggressive type of breast cancer, and elon musk and their lawyers knows that. and they were willing to allow a little boy who i'm his hero for him — you know, i'm the mummy who does airplanes and cars — to let my memory of me for him be shadowed forever, that his mum stole from tesla. and i want to do something for all the cancer patients out there and especially breast cancer patients. wow, you're setting me off. my goodness. bbc news put her claims to tesla, but the firm has not responded. on its website, tesla says...

"safety is the most important part of every tesla. "we design our vehicles to exceed safety standards." this lab could have done the right thing for so many years, and they didn't. it'll now be up to the california courts to decide the next chapter for cristina, who's currently in remission from her cancer. but there's no court date set yet. in remission from her cancer. zoe kleinmann, bbc news. in remission from her cancer. around the world and across the uk. in remission from her cancer. this is bbc news. in remission from her cancer.

the general election begins in india on friday and most predictions say narendra modi will win another victory, his third consecutive mandate. he has amassed a huge following of support despite some seeing him as a controversial

figure. from the uttar pradesh state which is a stronghold of mr modi's bjp party, yogita limaye reports. cheering narendra modi is the reigning superstar of indian politics. rallies like these are an integral part of an indian election, but only a few leaders have evoked such a response in the country's history. what we are seeing here is the confidence of the party that very much believes it's going to win another resounding victory. and what we've also seen amidst the crowd is confidence about being indian on the global stage — one of the things that prime minister modi's tenure will be remembered for. mr modi is a divisive figure. but here, among his mostly hindu following, he can do no wrong. translation: he's like god for me. | he's made women like us feel safe. |

translation: he's a good speaker i and he has built drains and roads. in villages and cities. no one had done that till now. building infrastructure has been one of the strengths of mr modi's government. a few miles from the rally in uttar pradesh, we saw a road that was made just over a year ago and met farmer ashoke singh transporting his produce. translation: we can move freely now, and security is better, too. _ but unemployment and price rise are big issues for us. the realities on the ground might be mixed, but the picture that reaches voters, overwhelmingly one that the ruling party wants people to see. mr modi's bjp runs an exhaustive

and unparalleled campaign, door to door, as well as on social media. it is a crucial power to influence what people believe to be true. ultimately, it will affect how they vote. yogita limaye, bbc news, mairead. a muslim student in london has lost a high court challenge against a ban on prayers at school. the michaela community school introduced the ban last year, after some pupils began praying in the school playground during breaks. the challenge had argued that the ban discriminated against muslim pupils — a claim rejected by the court. the uk's education secretary — gillian keegan — welcomed the ruling, saying head teachers must be allowed to decide school policy. our education editor branwenjeffreys told me more about the case, from the newsroom. well, michaela community school

is a small secondary in london. it's known for its extremely strict rules and very traditional approach to teaching, including learning lots of things by rote. among the rules is the fact that no more than four pupils are allowed to gather together at lunchtime in the schoolyard. last march, more than 20 pupils started praying at lunchtime outside in the yard — that led the school to introduce a ban which was at the heart of this case, in a challenge brought by one pupil and her mother, who argued that it discriminated in particular against muslim pupils. and what has the judge said here? the judge has said that the school made its strict rules very clear. it is a non—religious school. it's always been very direct about its secular ethos. he accepted the school's argument that there are other secondary

schools nearby which the pupil could have chosen instead, which do provide space for prayer for their muslim pupils. he didn't accept, in the light of that, that the ban that was introduced was disproportionate because it was in line with the school's stated policies of welcoming children from all faiths and none, but expecting all of them to adhere to a very traditional way of teaching, very traditional and strict way of rules, and a set of what the school describes as british values. and the head teacher, as well as the legal team representing the family, have both put out statements, haven't they, today? that's right. katharine birbalsingh described it as a victory for all schools because basically this supports the right of a head teacher and governing bodies that are in a state funded, non—religious school to make the decision for themselves. she pointed out that half the pupils

at the school are now muslim and that families choose this school, which is oversubscribed because, as she put it in her statement, they recognise that the traditional values that the school espouses make it a joy to be in. the family, however, said that they were profoundly dismayed. the mother said that they had brought this case because it was important to them that it was recognised how intrinsically part of being a muslim, of the identity of being a muslim, the practice of prayer is and that they were extremely disappointed with this result. you are watching the bbc news.

a new study has found that around one in four cases of breast cancer in the uk are preventable. with factors like alcohol consumption — or even choosing to breast—feed — having an impact on the chances of being diagnosed. the report points out that despite being the world's most common cancer, gaps in our knowledge continue to prevent effective action. dr simon vincent is a director of research, support and influencing at breast cancer now. he gave me his thoughts. this report is a global report looking at evidence across the world, so it is pulling together information we already know but having it all together really gives a wake—up call to us in the uk as well as governments across the world, as to the challenge that we face. so we do know what many of these risk factors are for breast cancer, it is really challenging to see them laid out so clearly here but the good news is that there are things people can do about some of these things. what are the key risk factors? we think up to a quarter of all breast cancers could be

prevented by risk factors that we can do something about. you have highlighted a few of those, alcohol increases your risk of developing breast cancer and being overweight, as well, and also not being physically active is also a risk factor for breast cancer and also there are other things that can cause breast cancer. for many cancers we cannot pin down exactly why somebody is developing breast cancer but people can take actions to try and reduce the risk through some of those things we talked about. do you think this knowledge is not sufficiently out there? should the nhs and the government, should they be pushing it? the information is there but maybe not known enough and unfortunately some of these are maybe not very popular or easy messages to hear. many of our colleagues in other charities looking at other diseases will say that lifestyle can make a massive difference to lots of diseases and they are messages

we need to get across about healthy living and there are things that government can do, policies that governments can take around food and physical activity and alcohol that can make a difference. although it is a real challenge i know, and the important thing we want to get across is that even small changes and starting now, irrespective of what might have happened in the past, can make a difference to reducing the risk of developing breast cancer in the future. almost 100 days before the start of the olympic games in paris, the sacred flame has been lit at a ceremony in greece. the event took place — as it always does — at the temple of hera, the birthplace of the games, in olympia. there was plenty of hidden symbolism in the event — we asked sofia bettiza to decode it for us. this ceremony is a choreographed event, inspired by the traditions of ancient greece. now, the whole thing is performed by actors,

and this is the actress playing the role of the high priestess. now, she is making an appeal to apollo, the ancient god of the sun. she asks for his help to light the flame. now, in ancient times, the flame was lit with the energy of the sun, but today, with no help from the greek gods, the actress lit the flame holding a fuel—filled torch to a parabolic mirror. and then she hands it to the first torch—bearer along with an olive branch which you can see right here, and that symbolises peace, and that symbolism matters. the organisers of the olympics have said that the flame has been a symbol of peace and friendship among nations since antiquity, and that in these difficult times, the olympics can bring people together. now, a big part of the ceremony

is a dance performance, and this was rehearsed for months and kept secret until today. the dance was inspired by ancient greece, and you can see that they are recreating poses from ancient greek vases. and look at the fashion — these tunics are styled to resemble ancient greek columns. so now, what happens next? well, more than 10,000 torchbearers will carry the flame through greece, then onto a boat crossing the mediterranean sea and finally, to paris for the start of the olympic games injuly. we can now have a look at the weather forecast. hello, there. it's not been as windy today. there's still a number of showers around. if we look out in the atlantic, this is where we've got high

pressure at the moment. and around that, there is some cloud coming in. we'll get some of that later tonight and into tomorrow. but ahead of that, we've still got these north to north westerly winds. they are feeding in this colder air and a mixture of sunshine and showers, some of which could be heavy, had some threatening clouds already. and we're going to find some heavier showers pushing into the south east of england later on in the day. these are the temperatures, so we're still below average. could make double figures, though, across the central belt and 14 perhaps in south wales. but there will be some heavier showers as we head towards the end of the afternoon. those in the south east will move away. we'll see another band of showers pushing across northern england and wales and some further wintry showers overnight in northern scotland. but there will be some clearer skies around it as well and the winds will continue to ease down a bit, too. so it is going to be quite chilly out there with a frost more likely across the northern half of the uk. heading into tomorrow, and this is the cloud that's coming in from the atlantic. that's going to bring a little rain to northern ireland and eventually into wales. but elsewhere, after a fairly bright and sunny start,

we'll see the cloud building up. we'll see more showers breaking out, not quite as heavy, not quite as widespread as we've seen over the past couple of days. but if anything, after that colder start, temperatures could be a bit lower in the afternoon, typically only ten degrees on wednesday afternoon. now that cloud comes on that weather front there, which sinks its way southwards around the high pressure. another weather front arrives overnight into thursday morning for northern parts of the uk. but with clearer skies and light winds across england and wales, there is actually a risk of a touch of frost here. sunny start maybe, but we've got more cloud for scotland and northern ireland. some outbreaks of rain, the heavier rain over the hills of western scotland. some of that rain pushes southwards into northern england with the sunshine hanging on towards the south west with cloud elsewhere and temperatures typically around 12 degrees. now the weather system bringing that rain is going to move very quickly southwards overnight and during friday. and then following on from that, we get the high pressure that's in the atlantic, finally building back towards the uk and that will bring us some much needed drier weather in time

for the weekend. it could, though, bring a fair bit of cloud and it's certainly not going to be as warm as it was last weekend.

live from london. this is bbc news. israel says it has killed a senior hezbollah commander in southern lebanon. it comes as israel launches a diplomatic offensive: for sanctions on iran. after its

unprecedented attack which iran says was in legitimate self—defense. i am in jerusalem was in legitimate self—defense. i am injerusalem to bring you all the latest as tensions grow in this region after iran's attack this weekend. region after iran's attack this weekend-— region after iran's attack this weekend. �* ., ., ., with our other top stories. donald trump returns to court in new york — for the second day ofjury selection in his hush—money criminal trial. he calls the case a disgrace. a muslim student loses a high court challenge in london against a ban on prayer rituals at school. and house of commons debates whether smoking should be banned forfuture generations in britain. this is bbc newsjoining us in jerusalem at a seven o'clock in the evening in the last two hours a

reminder, if one was