strike over pay. three—day strike over pay. colorado's supreme court bar is donald trump from the state's primary ballot in the 2024 election. the former president says he will appeal to the us supreme court. the head of hamas has arrived in egypt for talks on a fresh ceasefire in gaza as israel says it is willing to agree to another pause in exchange for more hostages. uk inflation fell to 3.9% in november hitting its lowest rate in more than two years. and authorities in iceland say that the volcano that erupted in the south—west of the country on monday night is becoming less active. hello, i'm lucy grey. junior doctors in england have begun a 72—hour strike in their long running dispute about pay. the medical director of nhs england has warned the walkout will cause "huge disruption". this time of year is traditionally

one of the nhs�*s most busy periods. 0ur health correspondent sharon barbour has the story. hospitals across england, already struggling with the pressures that winter brings, are bracing themselves, as tens of thousands ofjunior doctors walk out for three days. whose nhs? 0ur nhs! dr greenhlagh is a surgical registrar. he's already qualified to undertake major knee and hip surgery. every time that i go and see a patient in the accident and emergency department, and i can't examine them in a room because there's no space, and so they're on a trolley in the corridor, it's not right. and when you see how little it seems the government values us, again that is a real blow to many doctors' morale. we're not asking for a huge pay rise. what we're asking for is our pay to stop being cut and to reverse the pay cuts we've already suffered. have you thought about leaving? i think alljunior doctors, to be honest, i think most have thought about leaving. the strike action will mean the cancellation of thousands of appointments and operations.

sally said she was in excruciating pain, and had two appointments for an operation cancelled because of strike action. unable to take it any more, she's now paid more than £13,000 to get her hip operation done privately. it was a big decision, because obviously i'd been saving the money to leave to my kids, or to have a nice holiday. but it's my health rather than this poor soul who's wandering around screaming in pain. what do you say to people who are having their operations, their appointments cancelled or postponed, as a result of the strike action? of course, i'm sorry to anyone who has had their operation or appointment postponed, but unfortunately, the government are just not bringing us a credible offer that we can put to members to end this. with consultants covering for their juniors, and surgical teams diverted to help on the front line,

emergency care will continue, but hospitals are warning of long waits in a&e. we're entering into uncharted territory, and the level of risk and uncertainty is why we in the nhs confederation come together with patients' organisations to call on the government to try to resolve this dispute, or for both sides to at least suspend this action. the government says talks can continue if the junior doctors call off their strikes. sharon barbour, bbc news. joining me now is paul farmer who's the ceo of age uk. you and a couple of other organisations have been calling for this to be downgraded to a partial walk—out. talk us through your concerns. walk-out. talk us through your concern— walk-out. talk us through your concerns. ~ ~ ., ., walk-out. talk us through your concerns. ~ ., ., ., concerns. we know that the impact on older peeple. — concerns. we know that the impact on older peeple. peeple _ concerns. we know that the impact on older people, people who _ concerns. we know that the impact on older people, people who are - older people, people who are vulnerable, of these strikes has now been building for the last nine

months with a significant increase in waiting times. but at this particular time of year we know the nhs is under special pressure, it is christmas, and also into the new year we know that as we speak there are older people sitting in ambulances waiting to get into a&e. so we are calling on all sides to get round the table and suspend this action. it's not the right time to be doing it. action. it's not the right time to be doing it— action. it's not the right time to be doing it. there is almost half the medical— be doing it. there is almost half the medical workforce _ be doing it. there is almost half the medical workforce of - be doing it. there is almost halfl the medical workforce of england be doing it. there is almost half. the medical workforce of england is going to be affected in terms of this strike. i going to be affected in terms of this strike-— this strike. i suppose also it is the duration _ this strike. i suppose also it is the duration of— this strike. i suppose also it is the duration of it _ this strike. i suppose also it is the duration of it that - this strike. i suppose also it is the duration of it that has - this strike. i suppose also it is the duration of it that has an i the duration of it that has an impact as well, isn't it? yes, i think for a lot of people there have rightly been concerns about the impact on accident and emergency services. but we hear day in and day out from people who have had their appointments cancelled, their surgery cancelled, and the long—term impact of that has created an additional 500,000 people on the waiting list, but also lives

postponed. people not able to do the things they want to do, maybe not able to get out and about. and the impact on the long—term physical health and mental health of older people cannot be underestimated as a result of the length of this dispute. result of the length of this dis - ute. ,., result of the length of this disute. ,, . result of the length of this disute. ., ., , _ , dispute. do you have any sympathy for the doctors _ dispute. do you have any sympathy for the doctors who _ dispute. do you have any sympathy for the doctors who are _ dispute. do you have any sympathy for the doctors who are out - dispute. do you have any sympathy for the doctors who are out on - for the doctors who are out on strike? you probably heard in the piece before we came to you one doctor saying people are thinking about leaving and effectively they're getting a pay cut and they are blaming the government for not offering a realistic package. i think our role here is to encourage everybody to get round the table and conclude the talks. this has been going on for such a long time. and to bring into that room come into the room where the talks are taking place, the experiences of older people, of vulnerable people, so that this dispute can be resolved as quickly as possible. unfortunately, we are not in that negotiating room but we would encourage everybody in

that negotiating room to find the right kind of solution.— right kind of solution. thank you for talkin: right kind of solution. thank you for talking to — right kind of solution. thank you for talking to us. _ right kind of solution. thank you for talking to us. we _ right kind of solution. thank you for talking to us. we will- right kind of solution. thank you for talking to us. we will talk- right kind of solution. thank you for talking to us. we will talk to | for talking to us. we will talk to matthew taylor, chief executive of the nhs confederation a little later on in the programme. let's turn our attention to the us now. the state of colorado where its supreme court has ruled that donald trump is disqualified from holding office and is not eligible to appear on the state's republican primary ballot next year. the ruling is based on a rarely used provision of the us constitution that bars officials who have engaged in "insurrection or rebellion" from holding office. it says he's ineligible to appear on next year's ballot because of his role instigating violence onjanuary 6th of 2021 — the day of the attack on the us capitol building. this only applies to colorado's republican primary — but it could have wider implications for mr trump as he attempts to regain the presidency. in a statement, the trump campaign said the court had "issued a completely flawed decision," adding they "will swiftly file an appeal to the united states supreme court."

well, in a campaign speech, the former president said no—one will ever silence him. every time the radical left democrats, marxists, communists and fascists indict me, i consider it actually a great badge of honour. thank you very much. i appreciate it. thank you very much. because i'm being indicted for you. never forget, our enemies want to take away my freedom because i will never let them take away your freedom. it's very simple. i'm not going to let them do it. they want to silence me because i will never let them silence you. and in the end, they're not after me, they're after you, ijust happen to be standing in their way and i always will stand stand in their way. cheering the claim was brought by a group of colorado voters, as well as an advocacy group based in washington, and the lawsuit is viewed as a test case for a wider effort to disqualify the former president, who is currently leading in the opinion polls for the republican primary. mario nicolais, one of the lawyers

representing the plaintiffs, gave his reaction to the ruling. they are thrilled with the outcome. these six individuals, i cannot overstate how courageous they are, to bring a lawsuit like this and to bring it out and basically say that the united states' constitution stands for the fact that this country is a rule—of—law country. and that's what they believed in. so our petitioners include six republic... six people, four of them are republicans, two of them unaffiliated. unaffiliateds can vote in primaries in colorado. but among the republicans, we have our lead plaintiff. norma anderson is a former state and house majority leader in colorado. so, she served as a republican official and a high—ranking official in our state and she has been adamant that she does not think that he's qualified, under the us constitution, to serve in the presidency again. we have a former chief of staff for a republican governor. we have a conservative republican

columnist for the denver post. we just have a great group of people, who, basically, said, "look, we think this is our duty "as citizens in this country to stand up for our constitution "and to say that when you cross the line "to engaging in insurrection, after taking an oath "to protect that constitution, you're no longer eligible "to hold office, you're no longer eligible to run for office." i'v e i've been getting more details from cbs correspondent jarred hill in i've been getting more details from cbs correspondentjarred hill in new york. cbs correspondent jarred hill in new york. ~ . �* . cbs correspondent jarred hill in new york. ~ . �* , , , york. what's interesting here is the su - reme york. what's interesting here is the sunreme court. _ york. what's interesting here is the supreme court, state _ york. what's interesting here is the supreme court, state supreme - york. what's interesting here is the | supreme court, state supreme court in colorado, delayed this ruling from even taking effect until january because they were anticipating these challenges to come in the courts. and so if this does indeed end up standing this would only impact at least directly the state of colorado and their republican primary which looking at

the polling right now former president trump doesn't even need colorado in order to win the nomination of his party, if that is what actually happens. but this could come as you mentioned, be a test case for a number of other states which have similar challenges going through their core systems right now where they're trying to block president trump from being on the ballot. all of this again centring around this section three of the 14th amendment. they have been similar attempts in other states which have failed, haven't they?— other states which have failed, haven't they? that's correct. this has failed in _ haven't they? that's correct. this has failed in other _ haven't they? that's correct. this has failed in other states - haven't they? that's correct. this has failed in other states and - haven't they? that's correct. this has failed in other states and this is again why we are seeing this potentially getting to the point of the us supreme court where they would have to decide a number of things, one of which is if this part of the us constitution applies to the president. the presidency has never really been named in this section, only saying an officer of

the united states, so the question is, is the president and officer of the us? that's not something explicitly laid out in this section of the 14th amendment. another question here is whether the local courts, the supreme courts in the states can make a distinction that former president trump violated the 14th amendment by his actions on january the 6th when that's not something that has been said in any of these other court challenges quite yet. it's not something that's been said by the us congress yet either. and so again, the questions with this are all around whether the provision itself says that it can be the president and if this applies in general because of where the legal challenges are.— general because of where the legal challenges are. jarred hill from cbs in new york- _ the leader of hamas — ismail haniyeh — is expected to visit cairo on wednesday. hamas has said it won't negotiate an exchange of prisoners as long as the israeli military operation continues in gaza. israel has indicated it's willing to agree to another pause

in fighting in exchange for more hostages. meanwhile, the un delays for the second time a vote on a resolution calling for a cessation in fighting in the gaza strip. the language in the resolution still stands in the way, with the un having to compromise for a �*suspension' of hostilities. that's watered down from the original, stronger call for a ceasefire in the original draft. the us has vetoed the previous resolutions. here's white house national security spokesmanjohn kirby. i don't have an update for you on the progress of talks to try to get another humanitarian pause in place, so that we can get hostages out. we continue to work this, literally, by the hour. we don't support a permanent ceasefire at this time, it would validate what hamas did and leave hamas in power in gaza which would be unacceptable to us and give them a longer time line to plan additional attacks. which is unacceptable to us and to our israeli friends and, of course, it would give them a much longer time line to prepare and plan additional attacks. we do support smaller,

more localised, more targeted humanitarian pauses to get hostages out and to get more aid in. yolande knell has the latest on the delayed vote. we yolande knell has the latest on the delayed vote-— delayed vote. we have seen talks really moving _ delayed vote. we have seen talks really moving forward _ delayed vote. we have seen talks really moving forward in - delayed vote. we have seen talks really moving forward in the - delayed vote. we have seen talks really moving forward in the past| really moving forward in the past day and now we have confirmation from hamas that its leader ismail haniyeh has arrived in cairo where he is expected to meet the intelligence chief and both egypt and qatar have served as key mediators in deals in the past. we have had the messaging from the israeli president saying to ambassadors of many countries meeting yesterday that his country was ready for a new humanitarian pause in the fighting. we had the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu meeting a select group of hostage families last night, saying that bringing the hostages home remains a number one priority. and then on top of that, adding to the domestic pressure and we have had these two videos in recent days released by first hamas showing three older men in captivity and then islamicjihad, two men that they are continuing to hold, they say. that all adds to the public

pressure on mr netanyahu and his war cabinet to switch parities at this stage where there has been very intense fighting and look to bringing more of those hostages home. yolande knell in jerusalem. home. yolande knell injerusalem. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some of the news. france is not parliament has given the go—ahead to a new immigration law. the government says will make it easier for migrants working in sectors that lack labour to get a residency permit but would also make it easier to expel illegal migrants. india's parliament has seen heated protests after 49 more opposition mps were suspended taking the total number to 141. most of them have been barred for the rest of the winter session which ends on friday,

but around two dozen could stay away for longer. chinese authorities say they are reaching the end of the search of survivors after monday's earthquake, killing at least 131 people, and injuring over 1,000 others. the 6.2—magnitude earthquake was the deadliest in the country since 2014, and the search is limited due to the sub—zero temperatures. you're live with bbc news. here in the uk, inflation fell by more than expected in november to 3.9%, hitting its lowest rate in more than two years. that was down from 4.6% in october and followed a sharp drop in fuel prices, along with slowing food costs. inflation has fallen from its peak in 2022, but is still almost double the bank of england's 2% target. the chancellor of the exchequerjeremy hunt outlined what this means for families. a year ago, inflation was 11.1%, now it's fallen to 3.9%, the lowest for over two years. and that shows the government's plan

for the economy is working. but, nonetheless, it is very tough for a lot of families and that's why, from next month, national insurance contributions will go down by 2%. that's worth £450 a year for someone on the average wage. and i hope that will make a difference to a lot of families up and down the country. chief political correspondent henry zeffman says this is good news for rishi sunak. bi zeffman says this is good news for rishi sunak— rishi sunak. at the start of this ear rishi rishi sunak. at the start of this year rishi sunak _ rishi sunak. at the start of this year rishi sunak made - rishi sunak. at the start of this year rishi sunak made five - rishi sunak. at the start of this - year rishi sunak made five pledges for the things he wanted to achieve in 2023. some of them have gone a bit awry but his pledge on inflation he has met. he said at the start of the year that he wanted to halve inflation. actually, he got there last month when inflation fell below 5%. now it is below 4% and i'm sure you will hear rishi sunak and i'm sure you had the, jeremy hunt, the chancellor, saying their economic strategy is working. lots of people would point out that actually the

biggest driver of inflation is out of the government's control. you have monetary policy sent by the bank of england which has been independent for more than 20 years. nevertheless, we are heading into an election year next year in the united kingdom. rishi sunak is desperate to reclaim the mantle of economic competence after i think that was a little bit scuppered by liz truss's brief dalliance in downing street. and this is going to be a key part of their argument as they run up to that election. ben boulos gave us this reaction from the market in birmingham. it’s from the market in birmingham. it's a bus from the market in birmingham. it�*s a busy morning. it's always busy but particularly busy in a few days before christmas, a lot of restaurants, cafes, bars, small local shops coming and stocking up on all the produce they need. the traders here are very well aware of the price rises. i've been down here several times over the last year or two and finally they are seeing the rate of price rises for all sorts of

things in the economy start to slow down. the figure of 3.9%, the headline figure for uk inflation in november, yes, to slow down significantly from where it was but prices are still rising, albeit not as quickly as they were. remember, inflation is a look at a typical basket of goods and services we would spend our money on how much those prices have changed compared with a year ago. 3.9%, if you spent £100 on all sorts of things in november last year, those same things would now cost you £103.90 on average. it is on average, so some things will have gone up more sharply than that. a notable example is food and drink. that is rising at over 9% compared with 12 months earlier.

so that is still putting the squeeze on households. and that is also connected with the bank of england's decision to have raised interest rates, the base rate, up to 5.25% and kept it at that 15—year high. the idea being that it makes borrowing more expensive, it limits people's spending power. if we have less money to go and spend, it tends to lower demand and that should stop price rises from running away as we have seen them doing over the last year, 18 months. the uk government has stressed that the fact that inflation is now less than half what it was a year ago means that the target has been met, the prime minister's priority of halving inflation has been met. make no mistake, 3.9% is still way above the bank of england's target. it likes to see inflation at 2%, so don't expect to see interest rates being cut by the bank of england any time soon. ben boulos. aus a usjudge has ordered the release of the names of more than 150 people linked to the american financier and sex offenderjeffrey epstein, including victims, associates and

suspected accomplices. court documents containing the identities of part of a subtle civil lawsuit brought against epstein's former girlfriend ghislaine maxwell who were sentenced last year to 20 years in prison on a sex trafficking and other charges. those named have untiljanuary one to appeal. polls have opened in elections in the democratic republic of the congo, despite some calls for the elections to be postponed amid fears about security in some areas. president felix tshisekedi is seeking a second term in office with another 18 candidates vying to replace him. let's get the latest on the pollen with our correspondent in the drc emery makumeno. talk us through the security concerns. the security concern here is one of the biggest issues. the country has 7 million internally displaced. that number has been added on with the

recent fighting that erupted in the north de voux province where since october, 500 freshly internally displaced people were obliged to flee their homes to fighting opposing government troops, or pro—government militia to the 23 rebel group, it is a rebel group are largely dominated by congolese duty, which the congolese government accuses one of sponsoring and one that has always denied any involvement or any support through the m23 rebel group. in involvement or any support through the m23 rebel group.— involvement or any support through the m23 rebel group. in terms of the o- osition, the m23 rebel group. in terms of the opposition, there _ the m23 rebel group. in terms of the opposition, there are _ the m23 rebel group. in terms of the opposition, there are 18 _ the m23 rebel group. in terms of the opposition, there are 18 candidates, | opposition, there are 18 candidates, aren't they? lots of people to look out for on the ballot paper, aren't there? 'j~ out for on the ballot paper, aren't there? '3 ~ " out for on the ballot paper, aren't there? 'j~ " ., out for on the ballot paper, aren't there? " ., , , _ there? 18, 19 for the presidency, but in all we _ there? 18, 19 for the presidency, but in all we have _ there? 18, 19 for the presidency, but in all we have four _ there? 18, 19 for the presidency, but in all we have four elections |

but in all we have four elections going on and the number of candidates are 100,000, at least 100,000, so the 44 million are having to choose a great deal of candidates. forthe having to choose a great deal of candidates. for the presidency you have the incumbent president felix tshisekedi but you also have a successful businessman, he came second in the last poll and the nobel peace prize laureate. the opposition has not been able to federate around one man. all the discussions and consultations have not borne any fruit so they are very divided. . ~ not borne any fruit so they are very divided. ., ~ , ., ., ., ~ , divided. thank you for talking us throu~h divided. thank you for talking us through it. _ divided. thank you for talking us through it, emory _ divided. thank you for talking us through it, emory any, - divided. thank you for talking us through it, emory any, in - divided. thank you for talking us i through it, emory any, in contrast, thank you.

—— emery makumeno. let's turn to iceland — where the dramatic volcano eruption is calming after days of lava spewing hundreds of metres into the sky from a crack in the earth that's now several kilometres long. the area is a volcanic and seismic hot—spot — not far from the capital, reykyavik. experts say the eruption could last weeks — or maybe even months. this is as close as we could get to the volcano before the authority stopped us. it is very cloudy this morning so it is quite hard to see the volcano in the distance. but overnight, more lava has been flowing and the authorities here are asking people not to come to this area for their safety but also to allow scientists and responders to assess the situation on the ground. but i can tell you we can still smell the smoke and we can see ash

floating in the air, and every so often we can feel the vibration underneath our feet. the authorities here say that this eruption does not pose a threat to life. and so far there have been no reports of any injuries. the biggest risk for people who live near the volcano is volcanic fumes. they are not dangerous but they can be very uncomfortable for elderly people or for people with breathing problems. now, we spoke to a local police officerjust a now, we spoke to a local police officer just a few now, we spoke to a local police officerjust a few minutes ago and she told us that the priority now is to try and save the town of grindavik. it was evacuated a few weeks ago as a precaution. but there are risks now that the lava could damage the town. and so the police are working on a plan to go back to people's houses and collect the most valuable belongings. so the people who have been evacuated are probably

not going to be able to get back to their homes any time soon. studio: sofia bettiza reporting. let's leave you this half hour with pictures from japan's capital tokyo. what you are seeing there is the tokyo tower surrounded by some of the 800,000 blue and white led lights that have been strung up on trees to make them look like they are frost covered and it really does work, to pay homage to an area known for its craftsmanship. the event features a six metre tall centre, at the first floor plans are created in collaboration with local illustrators and craftsmen. holiday season injapan is actually very lengthy. christmas and new year festivities stretch right across december and january. they can't get enough of it. stay with us on bbc news. windy weather on the way for the next 36 hours

with outbreaks of rain affecting northern and western areas. this area of cloud we are keeping a close eye on because this is a deep area of low pressure or will be a developing area of low pressure moving close towards iceland and it has been named by the danish metrological institute as storm pia. it will strengthen and it will give us breezy conditions. today, some rain affecting western scotland, north—west england and wales, the south—west as well. early sunshine in eastern areas will be replaced by cloud moving its way in. maximum temperatures this afternoon for most getting into double figures. in shetland, colder air and temperatures will be about 4 celsius. through tonight, we will continue with lots of cloud and still some rain affecting these western areas. the wind will pick up particularly across the north of scotland with some gales developing in the early hours of thursday morning.

overnight temperatures down to about 9 or 10 or 11, above the average for night—time temperatures. here's that storm. storm pia, named by the danish met service, will move its way into scandinavia and you can see white lines, the isobars close together in northern areas, the strongest winds and showers moving their way in. cloudy skies for england and wales, outbreaks of rain which will move its way south. these are the wind gusts, a windy day for all of us, 40, 55 mph but up to 75 and 80 mph around the far north, north—east and there will some big waves down the north sea coasts. temperatures will come down across scotland. temperatures about celsius two in shetland, mild further south. that colder air gives a few wintry showers towards northern and eastern areas on friday. some outbreaks of rain across england and wales with fairly cloudy skies. we will keep the generally milder conditions here, temperatures 10—12. again, feeling a bit chilly

across scotland and the far north. christmas weekend and christmas day, for many it will be fairly unsettled, some dry weather around but those temperatures 7—11, about average for this time of year. goodbye.

patients in england are expecting major disruption as junior doctors stages 72 hour strike over pay. colorado's supreme court bar is donald trump from the primary ballot in the 2024 election. the former president says he will appeal to the supreme court. the head of hamas has arrived in egypt for talks on a fresh ceasefire in gaza as israel says it is willing to agree to another pause in exchange for more hostages. uk inflation fell to 3.9% in the year to november hitting its lowest rate in more than two years. warned more on oui’ warned more on our top story. nhs bosses are warning of disruption, as junior doctors begin a 72 hour walk out this morning. the british medical association says it's members are striking in a dispute with the government over pay. the government's urging junior doctors to "come back to the negotiating table." junior doctors make up more than half of the medical workforce.