they are then shipped to boeing's own plant for final assembly. speaking publicly for the first time, the former quality inspector told the bbc that some managers actively tried to discourage him from flagging up flaws in half—finished planes. our reporter theo leggett asked him just how many problems he would typically find on aircraft reaching the end of the production line. anywhere from 50 to 100, 200. you were regularly finding more than 100 faults on a plane that was being shipped? yeah. and that's because ijust inspect certain areas. so in totality, with all the inspectors, the total amount, yeah, you'll be over 100. now, you were picking up on these faults. you were highlighting them. you were flagging them up to be repaired. what kind of response did you get from your managers? did they support you? my managers weren't always there. the production managers always made a fuss about why i was finding it,

why i was looking at it. and they made a big fuss about everything that i ever found. and it was because of the stage of where the plane was. if i'm looking at a plane that's supposed to be getting shipp and i'm the last person to see it, i shouldn't be finding missing fasteners, missing parts and things like that. so why were they not thanking you for picking up on these things? theyjust wanted the product out. they weren't focused on on the consequences of shipping bad fuselages. they were just focused on meeting the quotas, meeting the schedule, meeting the budget, meeting the numbers. if the numbers looked good, the state of the fuselages didn't really matter. and that's how i think the culture was driven in spirit. throughout all this, you're picking up problems on fuselages that are being sent to boeing. are fuselages getting through to boeing that still have flaws that have not been fixed? the whole time we were there,

boeing knowingly knew that spirit was sending fuselages with many defects — many of them bad. they knew that, they were aware of it. and spirit was wrong for sending defective fuselages, but at the same time, boeing was also wrong for accepting them. boeing has been criticised a lot for allegedly having a culture of putting profits and speed of production over passenger safety. would you say that the same mentality, then, applied at spirit, which is boeing's number one contractor? well, spirit was part of boeing at one point, and i think the culture wasn't something thatjust they became a new factory and the culture over time became bad. i think when they deviated from boeing, a lot of the leadership was still there and a lot of the culture was still prolonged after they became their own company. and it wasn't something that the culture all of a sudden just became bad. i think the culture was bad already, that over time just became worse.

much more on that on the bbc website. to the uk now, where it's a big day for the bank of england, who are meeting today and are due to make their latest interest rate decision at the top of the hour. they are widely expected to keep the cost of borrowing on hold at 5.25% — but any indication of when that may change will be eagerly watched. inflation is currently sitting at 3.2% but has been predicted to fall towards the 2% target in the coming months. joining me now is james smith, developed markets economist at ing. make that link first, just remind us about inflation starting to come down, we expect the bank of england will hold off today but a rate cut is increasingly likely towards the end of the year? mai; is increasingly likely towards the end of the year?— is increasingly likely towards the end ofthe ear? , ., end of the year? may be sooner than that, in fact- — end of the year? may be sooner than that, in fact- i— end of the year? may be sooner than that, in fact. | think _ end of the year? may be sooner than that, in fact. i think there _ end of the year? may be sooner than that, in fact. i think there may - end of the year? may be sooner than that, in fact. i think there may be - that, in fact. i think there may be strong hints today from the bank of england that they could cut rates as

soon as june england that they could cut rates as soon asjune or may be more likely august. you mention the inflation, it's getting a lot better. it will probably be very close to the target in april, and will go more than that later on. some of what the bank of england watch more closely, inflation of the services, like hospitality, for example, and wage growth. so there is a bit of caution there but certainly the bank of england does seem to be getting more optimistic. white and what will be interesting as we will get some more detailfrom the bank interesting as we will get some more detail from the bank of eglin today. also what they tell us about what they are thinking. there is a real divide opening up between what is happening in the us and in parts of europe and the uk?— happening in the us and in parts of europe and the uk? there is. i think that us distinction _ europe and the uk? there is. i think that us distinction is _ europe and the uk? there is. i think that us distinction is very _ that us distinction is very

important because andrew bailey, the governor, has been saying, the situation here is quite different to the us, where inflation has been coming down less quickly than expected. i think that will be the messaging from the bank today. you mention the divided committee and i think what that means is there will be a reluctance to pre—commit to anything today. so there will be at the optimistic —— an optimistic view. we are getting closer to that rate cut, maybe injune or august but don't expect the bank of eglin to clearly tell us that today. find to clearly tell us that today. and one thing we _ to clearly tell us that today. and one thing we won't _ to clearly tell us that today. and one thing we won't get today is a return to the... we one thing we won't get today is a return to the. . ._ return to the... we are over 5% interest rates, _ return to the... we are over 596 interest rates, that _ return to the... we are over 596 interest rates, that is _ return to the... we are over 596 interest rates, that is very - interest rates, that is very restrictive. the bag is telling us we don't need the interest rates any

more, they so worried about inflation, over the next decade, it will be higher than over the last. we will be going back to 2% or 3% interest rates rather than those rates you mentioned.— interest rates rather than those rates you mentioned. great to speak to ou, rates you mentioned. great to speak to you. thank _ rates you mentioned. great to speak to you. thank yon — us presidentjoe biden has taken a shot at donald trump's economic record over a failed foxconn plant in wisconsin. this came as he announced a big investment from microsoft in the midwestern state. from new york, here's more from michelle fleury. president biden made his pitch to american voters unhappy with the overall economy on wednesday, chiding his 2024 general election rival while he was at it. during a visit to the swing state of wisconsin, he highlighted how he is helping to create jobs with the private sector, championing a major microsoft investment at the same site where donald trump's technology deal with foxconn fizzled. they wasted hundreds of millions of dollars,

your state and local tax dollars, to promise a project that never happened. foxconn turned out to be just that. a con. on my watch, we make promises and we keep promises. the new project aims to create 2,300 constructionjobs and 2,000 permanent jobs. microsoft has said it will use the new centre to train about 100,000 workers across the state on generative ai by 2030. this isjoe biden's fourth visit to wisconsin, a state that is part of the blue wall that donald trump won in 2016 and which biden flipped in 2020. the president and his cabinet have been visiting swing states to convince voters that mr biden's three signature pieces of legislation his infrastructure, clean energy and chips bills are creating plenty of good paying jobs. michelle there in new york. to china now, where the latesst data is showing signs that its sluggish

economy may be turning a corner. the details now from our business reporter monica miller in singapore. trade figures for april came in stronger than expected, and, after contracting in the previous month, shipments from china grew 1.5% year on year last month. they fell 7.5% in march. imports for april jumped 8.4%. reversing a 1.9% fall in the previous month. some analysts say imports of tech purchases and items like semi conductor chips are driving up the numbers. although they question whether this momentum is sustainable. china's economy has hit a bumpy road over the past few years, due to weak consumption. and one of the real challenges facing china is its real estate market, which overheated due to speculation. prices have plummeted and demand for homes has dropped, due to debt crisis among property developers. the chinese authorities have been slowly ramping up measures to prop up the troubled sector. this week alone, two companies have announced they're removing purchase restrictions for buyers, after government leaders called for measures to support

the property sector. staying in china, as the head of public relations at the search engine giant baidu has been caught up in a social media storm over work life comments made online. qu jing apologised after her comments glorifying a work—till—you—drop culture sparked a public outcry. for more on this, i'm joined by the bbc�*s china media analyst kerry allen. just explain what exactly went on here. this was the idea that workers should keep their phone on 2a hours a day? it should keep their phone on 24 hours a da ? . , should keep their phone on 24 hours a da ? ., , should keep their phone on 24 hours ada ? , should keep their phone on 24 hours ada? , g should keep their phone on 24 hours ada? ,, g should keep their phone on 24 hours ada? ,,_ , a day? it was. so qu jing, as she is known in china, _ a day? it was. so qu jing, as she is known in china, she _ a day? it was. so qu jing, as she is known in china, she posted - a day? it was. so qu jing, as she is known in china, she posted a - a day? it was. so qu jing, as she is| known in china, she posted a series of video on china's version of tiktok. they were talking about white culture, being a woman in the workplace, but she was advocating the idea of working till you drop,

so saying things like, keep your phone on 24 hours a day. and trying not to show your emotions at work. she is the phrase, i am not your mother to talk about hearing colleagues' work problems. and very much promoted an idea that many people in china have been critical about, the idea of working excessive overtime and in china, there is afraid that a lot of people use online to describe this which is 996, which is basically working from 9am to 9pm, six days a week. so she seemed to be advocating this 996 culture and it has had fierce criticism in china.— culture and it has had fierce criticism in china. �* ~ �* ., criticism in china. and the ali baba founder also _ criticism in china. and the ali baba founder also referring _ criticism in china. and the ali baba founder also referring to _ criticism in china. and the ali baba founder also referring to that - criticism in china. and the ali baba founder also referring to that 996 l founder also referring to that 996 work culture as well. and we have all seen those images of people asleep at their desks, china that have sleep pods, wake and sleep at the office and go straight back to work. how much of problem is that culture? it

work. how much of problem is that culture? , ., ., , , culture? it is an absolutely huge roblem culture? it is an absolutely huge problem and _ culture? it is an absolutely huge problem and it _ culture? it is an absolutely huge problem and it will— culture? it is an absolutely huge problem and it will get - culture? it is an absolutely huge problem and it will get a - culture? it is an absolutely huge problem and it will get a lot - culture? it is an absolutely huge i problem and it will get a lot worse. the reason for it is up for many decades, china had one—child policy in place, meaning that a lot of young workers nowadays in china don't have any siblings which means that the older demographic are much bigger and they are starting to retire. it means the labour pool is shrinking. china is dependent on people coming from overseas to help out and that is not happening at great speed. with a pandemic, there were lockdown the people not able to enter the country. it is a huge problem and means that now people accept that they have to work excessive overtime.— accept that they have to work excessive overtime. thank you. we will kee- excessive overtime. thank you. we will keep an — excessive overtime. thank you. we will keep an eye — excessive overtime. thank you. we will keep an eye on _ excessive overtime. thank you. we will keep an eye on that. _ excessive overtime. thank you. we will keep an eye on that. the - will keep an eye on that. the interest rate decision from the bank of england due very shortly. let me show you how markets are looking right now. 3100, still continuing its record streak, is yesterday as

another record high. markets in germany and france a little high. you are up to date. we will see very soon.

hello from the bbc sport centre. i'm hugh ferris. carlo ancelotti described it as "unexpectable", while one of his star players jude bellingham said it was because of their never say die attitude. but real madrid produced a dramatic comeback to reach another champions league final. there were just two minutes of normal time left and real were trailing bayern munich 1—0 at the bernabeu after alphonso davies' goal. but it was another substitute who made the difference. joselu made it 3—3 on aggregate and then 4—3 to madrid just a few minutes later. they're heading to wembley to play borussia dortmund injune as they attempt to win the european cup for a 15th time.

translation: it is something ma . ical. translation: it is something magical. there _ translation: it is something magical. there is _ translation: it is something magical. there is not - translation: it is something magical. there is not much - magical. there is not much explanation, considering we played well, i think the game was a difficult game but we had chances, good control of the game and we had a strength not to lose all minds when they scored. little by little, recovered the game i think it is obvious to me to thank the fans, thank the club and above all, the players have had a season that no one expected. having been hit by real�*s late sucker punch, bayern thought they'd had a reprieve themselves with mathijs de ligt finding the back of the net deep into stoppage time. but the assistant�*s flag had already gone up for a close offside. a decision that thomas tuchel called �*disastrous�* and �*against every rule of modern football'. and insisted the linesman apologised for. to raise the flag in a situation like this where you can never be sure that this is offside, to raise, to have the guts to raise the flag in a situation like this is a huge

call and it is the wrong call.