Surf is up. Hello and welcome to todays verified live. 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. The guardian reports that during a Business Meeting in 2019, frank hester said diane abbott made him want to hate all black women and that she should be shot. Mr hester has admitted making comments about her which he described as rude. Mr hester has issued a statement saying that at the meeting in question, he said he abhorred racism. Diane abbott has also released a statement responding to his alleged comments. She said. Government ministers have faced questions from the media and they called his comments unacceptable but stopped short of calling them racist. Well, its clear that what he said was inappropriate. He has, as i understand it, apologised for those remarks. I think the Critical Point here is i dont think what he was saying was a gender based or a race based comment, b
Thats slightly higher than expected and driven mainly by higher costs for gasoline and rents. In the 12 months up to february, the cpi rate increased by 3. 2 , compared to 3. 1 injanuary. The core rate, stripping out those volatile elements such as fuel and rents, fell to 3. 8 from 3. 9 injanuary, but that was still higher than the 3. 7 expected. This latest data suggests there is still some stickiness with inflation that will be scrutinised by the Federal Reserve as it weighs up a highly anticipated Interest Rate cut injune. Lets head over to new york and speak to our north America Business correspondent michelle fleury. As far as the fed is concerned, it is about how they respond to this number. It is not going in the direction they wanted it to. The tricky word direction they wanted it to. The tricky word that direction they wanted it to. Tue tricky word that you direction they wanted it to. Tte tricky word that you were stumbling over, sticky, and a lot of this is to do with housin
Will get to our panel shortly, but first the latest bbc news. The Us State Department says it expects a Transitional Council in haiti to be appointed within the next 48 hours. Once established, it will nominate a new Prime Minister to succeed ariel henry, who quit on monday. Aid agencies say the situation in the capital, port au prince, is desperate, with the city under the control of armed gangs. The White House National security adviser has announced three hundred Million Dollars in aid for ukraine as a Stopgap Measure while a much larger package remains stalled in congress. The eus Foreign Policy chief has said starvation is being used as a weapon of war in gaza. Josep borrell described the lack of aid entering the territory as a manmade disaster. A Romanian Court has agreed to extradite the social Media Influencer andrew tate and his brother Tristan To Britain where theyre facing charges of sexual aggression. Theyre to be extradited after their trial in a separate case in romania.
A ramadan ceasefire unless a ramadan ceasefire unless the rival rsf Paramilitary Group leaves civilian and public sites. Us officials are pushing to open more land routes for aid from chad. The army had closed access points, saying the rsf was using it to transport weapons, and has only re opened one. The fighting must end for the sake of the sudanese people, who face hunger, horrors and untold hardships. In gaza, in sudan and beyond, its time for peace. I call on political, religious and Community Leaders everywhere to do everything in their power to make this holy period a time for empathy, action and peace. The world food programmes regional director for eastern africa. Explained more about the severity of the situation in sudan. We have in extraordinary problem on our hands in sudan at the moment. Notably inside the country but across the region. 8. 4 Million People displaced inside, another 1. 9 million refugees escaping into places like chad in south sudan, countries that dont re
A spokesman for the uk Prime Minister rishi sunak says comments allegedly made by major conservative donor frank hester about the mp diane abbott were racist and wrong, but he was rightly apologised for the offence caused. The Guardian Newspaper claims frank esther said miss abbott made him want to hate all black women and that she should be shot frank hester. He has admitted he was rude about her in a private meeting five years ago but insisted his comments had nothing to do about her gender or skin colour. Miss abbott has reported him to the parliamentary liaison Investigations Team which was set up after the murder of another mp, jo cox, in 2016. She said, to and frightening. She said the comments were worrying and frightening. Chris mason has the story. Diane abbott is a political pioneer. First elected nearly a0 years ago, she was the first black woman mp. Whatever else happens after this, i think nobody can take this moment away from the black community. What did happen after tha