that's despite a surge in profits for the first three months of the year. uber�*s "core" profits — before various deductions — came in at nearly $1.1; billion betweenjanuary and march. that's up 82% on the same period last year. the company became profitable last year for the first time, after yea rs of losses. so what is wall street worried about? michelle fleury is in new york for us. give us a sense of what investors think about uber. it's profitable and the figures on the face of it look good but it's about the detail, isn't it? �* , look good but it's about the detail, isn't it? ~ , , ., ., look good but it's about the detail, isn't it? ~ , ., ., , look good but it's about the detail, isn'tit?~ , ., ., , , isn't it? always. demand for uber is robust, isn't it? always. demand for uber is robust. that's _ isn't it? always. demand for uber is robust, that's the _ isn't it? always. demand for uber is robust, that's the message - isn't it? always. demand for uber is robust, that's the message from - robust, that's the message from management to analysts. if you look at its revenue for the first quarter, it was better than many

were expecting, up 15%, thanks to people taking more rides and also using its food delivery service, but the thing is the right hailing and food delivery company still disappointed investors and one thing that wall street was focused on was gross booking. that number came in lighter than forecast and its predictions for the coming three months also were disappointing. so, despite turning in higher revenue, uber posted an unexpected loss of around $651; million, up from 157 million this time last year. earlier, i was speaking to andrew hawkins, transportation editor at a new service covering the tech industry, and he told me what wall street was worried about. while uber's fundamental business model appears to be improving and gaining strength, it's still not completely out of the woods. and what i mean by that is that there are still a lot of regulatory issues, there's a lot of legal expenses that the company

has been having to pay. it had to make a massive settlement brought on by a class action suit by taxi drivers in australia and here in the united states. it's still facing a lot of questions around driver classification. the company obviously classifies its drivers as independent contractors, but a number of courts in state legislatures would like them to classify them as employees and pay them as such. so i think some of that uncertainty, uncertainty as well as issues around the seasonality of the company and its equity investments, are continuing to sort of drag down the company's profits. michelle, staying with the tech world, we are getting reports from reuters that us prosecutors are examining whether tesla committed securities or wire fraud by misleading investors and consumers over its self—driving tech. what more can you tell us? in some ways, this gives us a bit more information. we knew

authorities were sniffing around, if you like, at tesla's self driving technology and in particular the most famous is the autopilot system, which can be a bit confusing, does it suggests or implies that the cars can drive themselves when, in fact, it's still what you call a level two type of assisted driving. so switching lanes, taking over some of the mileage. what we know from this report, which the usjustice department hasn't unconfirmed and neither has tesla, is the specific charges that might surround any investigation, and that is potentially wire fraud, that the company misled investors and consumers about exactly what their self driving technology can do. we have known for a long time that elon musk is very keen to push this along and sometimes it might be a case that his enthusiasm is getting ahead

of reality. that his enthusiasm is getting ahead of reali . . ~ that his enthusiasm is getting ahead of reali . ., ~ i. , here in london, the ftse 100 has racked up another record close. investors are also piling on bets against the pound. they think the bank of england will start cutting interest rates before the federal reserve in the us, making sterling a less attractive bet. we get the latest decision from the bank at midday tomorrow. let's talk to fiona cincotta from city index here in london. the ftse100 extends gains, climbing to a new record, while the pound slips below $1.25. yes, that's right. really good news for the ftse. index really missed out in the last few quarters when we had seen record highs in other european indices, like the dax, and also in the us, but it seems like

the uk index is coming into its own. another record high today. some of this is related to expectations or optimism that the central bank, the bank of england, could start to cut interest rates sooner rather than later. what that means is obviously that would be beneficialfor households, lower borrowing costs is also beneficial for companies, households, lower borrowing costs is also beneficialfor companies, and also beneficial for companies, and it also beneficialfor companies, and it also means the pound is less attractive and, even that there are so many multinationals on the uk index, that makes it a beneficial exchange rate for those multinationals, again helping to boost the ftse. so all eyes will be on the back of england tomorrow. we expect to look closely at that split on the monetary policy committee about who might be voting for a cut, how many, and giving us indication but when that first cut may come. exactly that. as we head into this central bank decision, inflation in

the uk has cooled to 3.2% in march. it's expected to continue cooling towards the central bank 2% target in april. we have heard from a couple of policymakers in recent weeks, and there have been a growing sense that there are some colleagues, policymakers like david ramsden, who might be more leading towards a more dovish vote. in the march bank of england meeting, the vote split was eight to one, so that was eight policy members voted to keep rates unchanged and one voting for a cut. if we see that move towards a more dovish split, so more central bank policymakers voting for a cut, we could see the pound for lower and that could be more good news for the ftse index.— lower and that could be more good news for the ftse index. remind us ofthe news for the ftse index. remind us of the impact _ news for the ftse index. remind us of the impact of _ news for the ftse index. remind us of the impact of that _ news for the ftse index. remind us of the impact of that potential - news for the ftse index. remind us of the impact of that potential cut, l of the impact of that potential cut, the first perhaps of a number of

cuts, as inflation starts to ease. and that really frees up the wheels of the economy, and makes it cheaper to borrow cheaper for business to invest, and the idea then is that the economy can be firing on something a bit more normal. that's riuht. something a bit more normal. that's right- given — something a bit more normal. that's right. given that _ something a bit more normal. that's right. given that we _ something a bit more normal. that's right. given that we had _ something a bit more normal. that's right. given that we had that - something a bit more normal. that's right. given that we had that slow i right. given that we had that slow down, headed into a recession at the end of last year, we have seen growth starting to pick up again, as we have gone through the first quarter. pmi data, which looks at service sector activity and manufacturing, as shown a move towards growth again, which is an encouraging sign but, if we find that interest rates are cut and, at the moment, the markets say around 40% probability of a first rate cut injune, and it's been fully priced injune, and it's been fully priced in at a 25 basis point rate cut in august, so we are getting closer to that point. when we see that cut

happen, it does mean that households, those with mortgages, will have potentially more disposable income, for businesses as well, there will be borrowing costs lowered, so it does mean that suddenly we can start to see improvements in economic growth, and also improvements in the service sector and in spending from consumers. it is a positive, when we get there. it's just a matter of when we will start. irate get there. it'sjust a matter of when we will start.— get there. it'sjust a matter of when we will start. we will keep a close e e when we will start. we will keep a close eye on _ when we will start. we will keep a close eye on the _ when we will start. we will keep a close eye on the back— when we will start. we will keep a close eye on the back of— when we will start. we will keep a close eye on the back of england | close eye on the back of england tomorrow to dip thank you, fiona. we will have full coverage of that bank of england decision tomorrow. japan's toyota is still the world's biggest car maker by sales and earlier today it revealed record annual profits of over $31 billion. unlike some rivals, toyota has been slow to get into electric vehicles, preferring to focus on hybrids. it pioneered those more than two decades ago with the prius. how do the numbers stack up?

well, toyota sold more than 10 million vehicles last year. of those, more than a third were hybrids. but just 1% were full electric vehicles or evs. toyota's warning it will have to invest heavily in the transition to evs, which will hit profits. but for now, its focus on hybrids has paid off. what we've seen over the last few years is the early adopters have all enthusiastically got on board the people who want electric cars. and now the hard yards begin because it's convincing ordinary, average consumers who in most cases don't really care whether their car is powered by petrol, diesel, electricity or fairy dust. frankly, theyjust want a good, safe, reliable car that suits their needs. so convincing ordinary people that the next car should be an electric car is a much harder task than convincing the people who already wanted one. here in the uk, big tech firms are being told they must do more to protect children online. 0fcom — the uk communications

regulator — says social media firms must "tame toxic algorithms". it has outlined more than a0 practical steps that services will need to take under the new 0nline safety act. they include robust age checks to prevent children seeing harmful content, as saqib bhatti, the uk's minister for the digital economy and tech, explained to the bbc earlier. social media companies are now going to be expected to verify those people who access, and those children actually, who access their online services. what they have suggested is, where it is things like facial id, it might be credit checks, a number of things, they are telling social media companies they must put in mechanisms to verify who accesses social media. we spoke to belinda parmar, a consultant who helps big business become more ethical and empathetic.

she says big tech firms have so far failed to address criticism, and need tougher regulation. well, the thing is, these tech firms have had between nine and 20 years, they've been around between nine and 20 years to actually self regulate. the issue is they don't want to self regulate and there's no incentive for them to do that. and, you know, this morning i went on instagram, but i put in self harm. and you get this one page which says, do you need some help? and then, oh, let's take you to the content. you know, the fact that our children can in 30 seconds access content, which is harmful with no regulation, i think is really, really scary. 0fcom, who are regulating this act, they can deliver fines of up to 80 million or 10% of global revenue. but these are just, you know, these are tiny if you think about how much money these companies make. it takes them seconds, 27 minutes,

apparently to make £80 million. so these fines are not big enough. we asked firms for their response. snapchat said they "support the aims of the 0nline safety act" and a spokesperson for meta — which owns facebook and instagram — said, "content that incites violence, encourages suicide, self—injury or eating disorders breaks our rules and we remove that content when we find it". and on the website right now, news that the boss of scottish beer giant brewdog is to step down from his role as chief executive. james watt said he would move to a newly—created position it's of "captain and co—founder". it follows claims from staff that the firm had a "culture of fear" and "toxic attitudes" to junior staff. more at bbc.com/business. see you very soon.

let's return to our top story. talks aimed at securing a ceasefire

and hostage release deal in gaza have resumed in cairo, hours after the israeli military stepped up its bombing of the south of the territory. the israeli bombardment of southern gaza continued overnight after israel's seizure of the vital rafah crossing with egypt. palestinian medical staff say seven members of a family were killed in one airstrike. israel says it's reopened one of the main crossing points for aid. kerem shalom was closed last week following a hamas rocket attack. humanitarian workers say there are also concerns about food shortages. from jerusalem, our middle east correspondent, yolande knell, reports. you may find some of her report distressing. the panic and confusion as rescuers pull the wounded from the rubble after an overnight israeli airstrike in rafah. and today, another all too familiar scene in gaza,

a mother struggling with unbearable loss.