At the emirates. Good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. Downing street has described as unacceptable remarks alleged to have been made by one of the conservative partys biggest donors about the mp, diane abbott, during a Business Meeting in 2019. The guardian claims that frank hester said ms abbott made him want to hate All Black Women and that she should be shot. This morning diane abbott has called the alleged comments frightening. Mr hester has admitted making comments about her which he described as rude, but his spokesperson has said this is not a confirmation of the quotes in the guardian. Henry zeffman has the story. Some people who give millions to Political Parties have high public profile is. Frank hester didnt. Until now. This is what the guardian says mr hester told staff at the Health Care Software company he built from scratch at a meeting back in 2019. Its like trying not to be racist, but you see diane abbott on the tv and you just want to hate All Black Wom
Called for fans at the emirates to play their part in the Clubs Champions League match later against porto. They go into the game 1 0 down after the first leg in portugal. Arsenal are looking to reach the quarterfinals of the competition for the first time in m years. Arteta says a home crowd with a great atmosphere always helps. Its a great atmosphere always helps. Incredible. I don they its incredible. I dont think that they realise we need that noise, we need them playing every single with us for that we need the emotional control as well try and understand the game can go through certain phases and we have to be intelligent in the right moments to get what we want. Its a beautiful opportunity to the its been 14 years. So everything weve put in there will be worth it. In the other match later, barcelona take on napoli. After a 1 1 draw in the first leg. They go into this match with Injury Problems and knowing that napoli are on a good run of form. Manager xavi has told his players,
They will launch an investigation into the industry. And why bananas are getting more expensive a conference in rome is looking at a global problem. Sport now and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. Hello and welcome. Mikael arteta has called for the emirates crowd to Mikael Arteta has called for the emirates crowd to play Mikael Arteta has called for the emirates crowd to play their Mikael Arteta has called for the emirates crowd to play their part in the arsenal match against porto in the arsenal match against porto in the Champions League tonight. They go into the match one down. Arsenal are hoping to reach the quarterfinals of the competition for the first time in m years. It is incredible, i dont think they realise how important they are. We need that noise from the crowd and we need the emotional control as well, to understand that the game can go through phases and we have to be really intelligent to push in the right moments to get what we want, but it is a great opportu
hello and welcome to bbc news. the vatican says pope francis has spent a good night in hospital after being admitted with a respiratory infection. a spokesman said he had been experiencing breathing difficulties, but they also confirmed he was not suffering from covid. the bbc s davide ghiglione is outside the hospital in rome. a spokesperson informed journalists that he spent a peaceful night at the hospital. so his condition remains stable at the moment. the vatican is trying to reassure journalists, people and catholics all over the world. according to italian news agency ansa, the pope should be discharged within the next couple of days. and he should be able to celebrate next sunday s mass. everybody knows at the vatican that the pope has been particularly weak over the last couple of months. we do know already that he was forced to use a wheelchair. so it could be quite tiring for him even if he is able to attend all the ceremonies and easter celebrations. we can get mo
and the cost of living crisis that has triggered. but there are signs of hope are starting to emerge. in the last few hours we ve had the latest monthly inflation figures out of spain and that the pace of prices rises fell to an annualised pace of 3.1% in march when using the measure that allows comparison with other countries. that s a big drop from february s 6% and was mainly due to lower energy costs, with food prices also falling. and in germany, europe s biggest economy, there was also a big drop. by the same measure inflation has now fallen to 7.8% as businesses and households benefited from lower natural gas prices. joining me live now is the spanish economist professor santiago carbo valverde, from the university of valencia. what is causing such a big fall in inflation in spain? lowering vat has helped bring down some of the prices of the food and agricultural prost products. we also have what is called a competition or factor. last march, inflation is computed year