Strike across lufthansa through till saturday morning. 0n strike across lufthansa through till saturday morning. On top of that there is Security Staff at cologne and dusseldorf and frankfurt airports are causing wild widespread cancellations. Anybody trying to travel to, from, or within germany at the moment is looking pretty shaky. Let pretty sha ky. Let us pretty shaky. Let us Focus On Cliff why are they such trouble with the unions . Partly because the entire aviation world suffered very much during the covid pandemic. Things are bouncing back. There is remarkable profits numbers at lufthansa, i billion euros, around 3 billion in profits, very similar to what the company which owns iberia of spain and British Airways did. They have earned that because there is huge demand for travel, but in europe in particular, capacity is still way down on pre pandemic times. Very simply, supply and demand kicks in. The unions are seeing the profits that are being made and they are very simply saying, we want some of that. Lufthansa, of course, particularly because there is so much competition, especially from the budget airlines, ryanair and easyjet. Unfortunately we are seeing repeated strikes involving lufthansa, which of course does nothing to help the passenger. I have been hearing from travellers stranded anywhere from the west coast of the United States to vietnam desperately trying to find some way home. Is this going to rumble on, this disruption . Is this going to rumble on, this disruntion . Is this going to rumble on, this disruption . This current round, which is effectively disruption . This current round, which is effectively paralysing l which is effectively paralysing travel within germany, on german railways, lufthansa operations down to about 10 , 20 , this should be over by the weekend, and things can start to recover. But the unions are keen to press their point and we could see repeated Strike Action. Well worth seeing that other european air passenger rights rules, anyone whos lufthansa flight is cancelled because of Strike Action cancelled because of Strike Action can be flown to their destination as soon as possible, including on a rival airline, at lufthansas rival airline, at luftha nsas expense. Rival airline, at lufthansas exnense rival airline, at lufthansas exense. ~ rival airline, at lufthansas exense. ,. , expense. Sage advice there. Thanks very much here in the uk, Business Leaders and households are weighing up the impact of wednesdays Spring Budget the last before a general election. It comes against the backdrop of a struggling economy and a cost of living crisis affecting millions. There were measures to cut National Insurance contributions and boost access to Child Benefit. But there have been warnings that ministers could find it hard to balance the books. Emma simpson reports. Did you catch any ofjeremy� s budget . It was a chance to turn around the fortunes of the conservative party. But was it enough . I think its good that the workers are going to get money back in their pockets. But then if you think about the cost of living and how everything is going up, then maybe they could have given a little bit more back. Anything that cuts taxes, i wish he would have done something a bit more for savers, were in a position where were living off savings. I think theyre trying to do it in light of a general election and probably not really thinking about what the benefit to the country is. The centrepiece of this budget was a 2p in the pound cut to National Insurance, a tax paid by workers. So who are the winners and losers if you include all the changes to tax and thresholds so far . Here are some examples. If youre a low earner on £15,000, youll bejust over £400 worse off a year. Youll also be a little worse off if youre on £75,000. But if youre a middle earner, youll be better off. For instance, if youre on 35k, youll be up by £352. There are changes to Child Benefit too. Currently, if you earn over £50,000, you have to pay some of it back. But now the starting salary will be 60 grand, helping parents like tim and maddy. Yeah, if they changed the threshold, then yeah, that would be a good thing for us because our biggest outgoing really is childcare. Thats the most expensive thing for us. But other taxes are being raised to help pay for it all, including a new one on vapes. Cigarettes are going up and so will business and premium flights. The windfall tax on oil and gas firms will be extended and the governments stolen labours idea of abolishing tax breaks for so called non doms, wealthy foreigners who only pay uk tax on money made here. The chancellor says things are heading in the right direction. Our plan to get the economy back on its feet after the invasion of ukraine is working. Inflation is falling, growth is coming back. If we stick to that plan, we can see growth rates returning to the kind of levels we were used to before. But the backdrops challenging with Public Services under pressure. The risk for the future is that these tax cuts come alongside promises of very, very tight Spending Control over the next parliament. So if were going to keep these tax cuts, were going to get cuts in spending. If were not going to have those cuts in spending, im afraid taxes will rise later on. Difficult choices lie ahead for whoever wins the next election. Emma simpson, bbc news. The European Central banks makes its latest decision on Interest Rates today. Many people are expecting it to keep the cost of borrowing steady at 4 which is a record high. But the big question is, will there be any hint as to when rates might start to come down . Sylvain broyer from s p told us what hes expecting. Its far too early for the ecb to cut rates this week. The door will open later this year, but for now its too early. Inflation is still above target, especially core inflation. Wage growth is still more or less at peak 4 to 5 , far above Productivity Growth in the eurozone. The Labour Market is strong. Activity is improving. Geopolitical developments In The Red Sea exert upward pressure on prices again. And well see that later probably this year. The door will open this year for the ecb, but probably not before june. What would be probably in sync with the fed. What the ecb really needs is more data evidence that wage growth is moderating and we will not get that statistical evidence before april may. So probably there is a small chance that the ecb starts cutting rate slightly before the fed, but probably the ecb will cut at the same time, namely injune. Lets stay with that theme, because the boss of the us central bank, jerome powell, has been giving his twice yearly testimony before congress. Financial markets are always on high alert for any hints about the path of Interest Rates. But mr powell was playing his cards close to his chest. Erin delmore has the details in new york. Fed Chairjay Powell sat squarely in the spotlight on capitol hill wednesday, previewing whats to come in the year ahead as fed officials contemplate when to cut Interest Rates and by how much. We believe that our policy rate is likely at its peak for this tightening cycle. If the economy evolves broadly as expected, it will likely be appropriate to begin Dialing Back Policy Restraint at some point this year. Powell appeared before the House Financial Services committee, the first stop in his two day tour of capitol hill. And he pointed to considerable progress on the economy and said that while inflation remains above the feds 2 target, it has been easing without significantly increasing unemployment. But while rate cuts are likely this year, he said that the fed is looking for more evidence that inflation is falling sustainably back down to the feds target. And he reiterated that members are being careful not to misstep in either direction, whether thats cutting Interest Rates too soon or too little too late. Hell have more to say in front of the Senate Banking committee on thursday. A former Google Software engineer has been charged in the us with stealing Trade Secrets about Artificial Intelligence while secretly working for two chinese companies. Joao da silva in singapore has the details. Its a story that reads very much like a spy novel in the age of intensifying competition for al supremacy. According to the indictment, he was hired by google as a Software Engineer in 2019. A few years later, he allegedly began uploading information stored in googles network to a personal google account. Meanwhile, he was also spending time in china, where a Startup Tech Firm offered him the job of chief Technology Officer and a salary of nearly 15,000 a month. He also started his own tech firm there with a focus on al. The prosecutors say all of this was happening without him telling google about his work for those other companies. Just before the end of 2023, he returned to the us, booked a One Way Ticket from San Francisco to beijing and resigned. Thats when google really took action, search his activity history, saw the unauthorized uploads and alerted the authorities. He stands accused of stealing more than 500 confidential files and faces up to ten years in prison and 250,000 in fines on each count. The us Attorney General says he was seeking to enrich himself by covertly working for companies that were seeking an edge in the Ai Technology race and with the us china Tech Rivalry Continuing to intensify. Its likely stories like this will only become more common. In other news the uk faces nearly 20 years of lost pay growth, according to a think tank which focuses on low and middle income earners. The Resolution Foundation said that, after taking account of rising prices, the average wage will not regain its 2008 level until 2026. Meanwhile, the government has cut its for forecast for inflation. Nationwide Building Society has reached an agreement to buy virgin money in a 3. 6 billion deal which would see the brand eventually disappear. The deal would create one of the uks largest mortgage and savings groups. If the deal goes ahead, it would be the biggest uk Bank Takeover since the 2008 financial crisis. Hello from the bbc sport centre. The Champions LeagueQuarter Finals are shaping up nicely, with real madrid and holders Manchester City securing their places in the draw for the last eight. Madrid beat rb leipzig, with city cruising past fc copenhagen. Pep guardiola praised his squad, which had several changes, as they swept aside the danes 6 2 on aggregate, making the Quarter Finals for the seventh successive season and becoming the First English Club to win ten consecutive matches in the competition. Guardiola knows the opposition will be tough next up though. I care all of them. Absolutely. Just this week, Bayern Munich were out. Real madrid. Liverpools hopes of success in both domestic and European Competition have been boosted by the return of Mohamed Salah as they face Sparta Prague in the Europa League later. Managerjurgen klopp revealed that the egyptian had trained for two days prior to the team travelling to prague, and that salah will be involved in their round of 16 first leg clash. But he urged caution given liverpools intense schedule, which includes the premier League Leaders hosting Manchester City on sunday. It is so good that he is back. You can see in his face he is very unhappy. We wa nt we want to be careful. We have to be careful