tonight at six, we're live in belfast as northern ireland faces its biggest day of strike action in a generation. health care workers, bus drivers and teachers are among among those who have walked out in a dispute over pay. you know, why is a teacher in england worth £5,000 more than me? why is a teacher in scotland worth approximately £8,500 more than me? union leaders say workers are being used as pawns in negotiations with westminster about restoring power sharing at stormont. also on the programme: 3,000 jobs at risk as tata steel says it will go ahead with plans to close blast furnaces in south wales. we talk to 91—year—old betty —

the oldest victim of the post office scandal. england midfielderjordan henderson arrives in amsterdam to finalise his move away from saudi arabia. and i've hiked in to the mourne mountains this morning to find the stonemasons repairing a 100—year—old wall built by their grandfather. and coming up on bbc news, emma raducanu is out of the australian open after losing to chinese player wang yafan. the brit struggled during the three—hour match, after eight months out with injury. good evening from belfast, on a day when northern ireland has seen the biggest day of strike action in 50 years. more than 100,000 public sector

workers have walked out in a dispute over pay. schools have been closed. health services and public transport have been badly affected. the dispute has been complicated by the fact that there's been no functioning government here for two years. union leaders say workers are being used as pawns in negotiations with westminster about restoring power sharing at stormont. we'll be talking to northern ireland political editor enda mccafferty in londonderry about that in a moment, but first our ireland correspondnet sara girvin has this report from belfast about the impact of today's strike action. public transport stopped... announcement: due to industrial action there'll be no train services today. schools closed. the gritting of icy roads finished at midnight. it's been a day of disruption and demonstrations across northern ireland and some people are pointing the finger at politicians. 0ur leaders are responsible for this. you know, northern

ireland's a great country and we're just completely abusing it, you know, and we need to grow up and get on with it. government need to come back. and they need to they need to sort this out. like thousands of others, breast cancer patient caroline has had medical appointments cancelled due to the strike. just in this weather, it's not great to have to be making extra trips when you don't need to. but having said that, i'm fully in support of nurses going out on strike, because the job they do and they're entitled to equal pay as the rest of the uk. parents of children with special educational needs say strikes hit their families especially hard. they are on strike today, i can't get them out, i can't get them tired out, so likes of bed time will be a lot more difficult for me. probably midday, i will be facing a lot more challenging behaviour. 16 unions came together for today's strike action. the biggest rally was in belfast city centre. those taking part in the mass walk—out say the decision wasn't an easy one, but they believe

it was the right one. make no mistake about it, we will win this fight. - we are facing a massive recruitment and retention crisis. nobody wants to be a teacher any more. there's none of my colleagues want to be on a picket line, but theyjust feel that they have no other option. why should we be being paid any| different a counterpart in england who is doing the same job, - looking after the same patients on a daily basis? ronan is a teacher in lurgan. so, a beginning teacher's wage here in northern ireland is £24,137. now that's before deductions. and my counterparts in education are looking at teachers in england saying, you know, why is a teacher in england worth £5,500 more than me? why is a teacher in scotland worth approximately £8,500 more than me? we feel very undervalued. we feel very sad and we feel neglected. greg has been driving a school bus for 15 years. at times at night i'm wondering,

can i afford to put heating on? and that's the position i am in. i've actually had to take a second job as well just to make ends meet. what sort of difference would a pay raise make to your life? it would be immeasurable so it would. we're not looking a fortune of money, so we are but, you know, £1 an hour or £1.50 an hour would be huge. and it would keep me in the job i love. kerry has been nursing for a decade. please, support the nurses. we're here striking - for our patients and people might think that we're making - the patients suffer on a strike day, but there's 364 otherl days in the year where we're short staffed. it's the government who need to sort things out and not the nurses. - today saw the biggest strike northern ireland has seen in a generation and it also brought a warning from unions — if issues around public sector pay are not sorted out soon, there will be more to come. sara garvin, bbc news. sara, we're only halfway

through this 2a hr strike, how much of an impact is having? a massive impact. there is no doubt about that. of course that is what it was designed to do. we are hearing and cancelled medical appointments and the stress that is causing. children with special educationam needs haven't been in school getting the support they rely on. we are in a really cold evening, knowing no roads will be gritted for seven days, because of the strike. people are watching public services crumble in front of their eyes. it will be the most vulnerable in this society who feel that the most. there are big questions too, the public sector workers will be wondering are we going to get pay rises? when might they kick in? those affected by the strikes when should i prepare myself for more of an impact. and many will be

wondering who is running this place and what is next for northern ireland. big questions, no answers, no sign of any answers and that is the problem. no sign of any answers and that is the problem-— the problem. let's talk to enda mcclavty- _ the problem. let's talk to enda mcclavty- is — the problem. let's talk to enda mcclavty. is there _ the problem. let's talk to enda mcclavty. is there a _ the problem. let's talk to enda mcclavty. is there a feeling - the problem. let's talk to enda| mcclavty. is there a feeling that the strikes could hasten a return to power—sharing? the strikes could hasten a return to power-sharing?— the strikes could hasten a return to power-sharing? that is the hope of government. _ power-sharing? that is the hope of government, but _ power-sharing? that is the hope of government, but this _ power-sharing? that is the hope of government, but this is _ power-sharing? that is the hope of government, but this is a _ power-sharing? that is the hope of government, but this is a dispute l government, but this is a dispute like no other, because the government has already accepted the need for pay parity in northern ireland and the public sector workers should get the same and the government has ear marked almost £600 million to make that happen. but it is tied to a package that will only come into place if the dup ends its boycott. it doesn't appear that will happen soon and that has put the secretary of state in a difficult position, because he has waved this cheque at the public

sector workers and told them they can't vit. the question is how sustainable is that? because politically it may feel like the right thing to do, but morally it is questionable when everyone knows the workers are entitled to this money, but they're continued to be denied it. ., ~ , ., tata steel is to push ahead with plans to close both blast furnaces at its port talbot steel works in south wales. the move is expected to lead to the loss of up to 3,000 jobs and is expected to be formally announced tomorrow. the company is due to replace the furnaces with an electric version which is more environmentally friendly, but requires a smaller workforce. hywel griffith reports. forged by over a century of steel making, port talbot is a place dominated by one industry. the site sprawls over three miles.

at its heart, two coal—fired blast furnaces, which produce liquid iron. both will be switched off — replaced eventually by one new electric furnace, which recycles scrap steel. it's a cleaner, greener way to make metal, that needs far fewer workers. sean fears his part of the plant will close. a lot of anger, frustration. disappointment is probably the biggest word. and disbelief. it's just been handled absolutely appallingly, in my opinion. but the news is out now, so we've just got to deal with it. britain's second biggest steelworks, in scunthorpe, is also going electric. it may mean the uk will no longer produce its own so—called "virgin steel" from scratch. steel's important because it has a place in all our lives. from construction to cars, from coins to tin cans, it all starts here. but it's an industry

with a pollution problem. this site in port talbot is one of the uk's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, responsible for 2% of the uk's carbon emissions. tata has known for years it needs to clean up its act. electric arc furnaces are one way of doing that. so, an electric arc furnace should produce less than half the emissions of a blast furnace. there are a lot of things that will depend on, it will depend the material you put in the arc furnace, how much processing that material needs, and also where your electricity is coming from. getting enough renewable energy will be a challenge. trade unions say the plan is decarbonisation on the cheap and are unhappy that thousands of workers will lose theirjobs. at the local school, they fear what that will mean for the next generation. they already run a food bank from here and expect demand to rise. i think, as a community, it's going to have a huge impact. because not only do a lot of our pupils' parents

and families work within tata, but the knock on with the contractors as well. so demand, i'm presuming isjust going to go up to threefold really. tata's expected to make a formal announcement tomorrow and start closing posts in april. a move towards a greener future, clearly coming at a cost. hywel griffith, bbc news, port talbot. iran has condemned pakistan's decision to launch a deadly missile attack into iran — two days after similar iranian air strikes on pakistani soil. pakistan claims its strikes hit what it called "terrorist hideouts". iran state tv says that three women and four children were killed in the attacks. earlier this week, iran struck within the province of balochistan. the two countries have long accused each other of having militant groups along the frontier. 0ur pakistan correspondent, caroline davies, reports. rubble and dust.

the aftermath of today's strike by pakistan in iran. nine killed, say iran's state media — children and women among them. pakistan says this was about national security. pakistan undertook a series of highly coordinated, and specifically targeted, precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts in sistan and balochistan province of iran. this action is a manifestation of pakistan's unflinching resolve to protect and defend its national security against all threats. most are seeing pakistan's attack as a response to this — iran's missile strike inside pakistan two days ago, on what it claims was a terrorist base. pakistan says two children died. iran's justification is strikingly similar to pakistan's. translation: we won'tl allow them to play games

with our national security. when it comes to the security of our country, we won't stand upon ceremony with terrorists in pakistan — iran has been trying to show its strength in the region with strikes in syria and iraq, too. now it's seen a strike on its own soil and there are fears things could escalate. despite this strike, pakistan says it doesn't want a fight. and you can see the background to this. the economy here is weak. there's political instability. there's an election due in less than a month, and there are already difficult relations with india and neighbouring afghanistan. iran, too, has plenty occupying it, but there's real concern about how it might react. the hope is that they would use one of the many channels they have available to them, foreign office, the embassy in islamabad, the military channels that it has open to it, in order to reach out and try and de—escalate the situation. and there are some indications that that might actually be the case. but considering that the first strike itself was unprecedented, so what iran does next

from a kinetic standpoint is anybody�*s guess. iran has condemned pakistan's attack. the question is, will that be all it does? caroline davies, bbc news, islamabad. the princess of wales is said to be doing well after her "successful" abdominal surgery. prince william visited his wife at the the london clinic in marylebone at lunchtime. the princess was admitted on tuesday and is expected to remain in hospitalfor a couple of weeks. queen camilla had to this to say today about king charles after it was announced he was to have a procedure for an englarged prostate. he's fine, thank you, looking forward to getting back to work. a man has been arrested as part of an investigation into the alleged escape of daniel khalife from wandsworth prison last september. the 24—year—old was arrested yesterday at an address in east london on suspicion of assisting an offender and bailed to a date in late april. police said the man is not

a member of prison staff. the police will check if there were missed opportunities to check on a toddler and his father. it is believed the child starved to death after his father had a heart attack. the chancellorjeremy hunt has told the bbc that they will move "more quickly" to compensate victims of the post office scandal. he said "there was no waiting" for those like 91—year—old betty brown — one of hundreds of subpostmasters who were blamed for financial losses when they couldn't get their books to balance. betty is believed to be the oldest victim. she used to run a post office on the outskirts of durham. emma simpson has been to meet her. absolutely destroyed my whole life.

betty brown's post office was a roaring success before the horizon computer system came along. she says she was hounded out in 2003 and still has the letter from the post office blaming her for the losses, which were increasing by at least £1,500 a week. she had to use her retirement savings to balance the books. so you felt so ashamed about this? oh, yes. you only told your wider family... yes. ..this week? but she's not holding back now. when you would get to bed at night, you didn't sleep. i would lie, shaking, and all of it was funny. all your face used to tremble, your teeth were chattering. it changed me from being a happy, outgoing person into someone who was absolutely tied up in knots inside. what would you like

to say to them now? how could you? why? just why, why, why? her husband 0swald died a year after she was forced out. she believes the stress pushed him to an early grave. he worked for the post office too. i think all the years that he has worked, all the years i have worked, and this is what we get — a kick up the backside, a kick in the teeth. we got the lickings of a dog. this was her post office — and she's never been back, forced to sell up, hugely out—of—pocket. it's 21 years now i have been waiting. it's not compensation, it's repayment. it's repayment. they have stolen all that money from me. they've stolen it. and i want it back. just how quickly do they need to sort out the compensation — you know, for you ?

well, today would be fine! yeah. now! emma simpson, bbc news, county durham. alamein story... 100,000 public sector workers — including teachers and health care professionals are on strike over pay in northern ireland — the biggest walk—out in 50 years. and coming up — spotted off shetland, the rare beluga whale usually only found in arctic waters. coming up on bbc news, gb women's hockey have one last chance to get to the olympics this summer after losing 3—2 to belgium in the qualifiers. team gb play ireland on saturday in a winner—takes—all match.

the england midfielder jordan henderson has touched down in amsterdam amid reports he is about to finalise his move from the saudi arabian club al—ettifaq to ajax. the former liverpool player signed up to al—ettifaq last summer in a move that was controversial with some lgbt campaigners. he later apologised. natalie pirks reports from the netherlands. it was all smiles in the beginning, but a mere six months afterjoining the lucrative saudi pro league, it looks as if the dream has turned sourforjordan henderson. he's had a medical this afternoon, with the expectation he'll soon sign for dutch club ajax. the big—money move had sparked heated debate. henderson has always been a vocal lgbtq+ ally, but angered the community by moving to a country where homosexuality is illegal, and punishable by death.

this was jake daniels, currently england's only out professional footballer, last november. henderson message me when i came out. i have the dm on my phone, you know? he was backing me the whole way. he was, like, we're proud of what you've done. and then seeing him move to saudi, it's kind of like... slapped me in my face, really, haven't you? henderson has always denied the reason forjoining was the reported £350,000 weekly wage. he apologised for any hurt he caused, but defended the move, saying he thought he could help grow the league into one of the best in the world. at ajax, the 33—year—old can expect a huge pay cut, albeit still very well paid. ajax's biggest wage packet for a top player over the years has been 5 million. we understand that ajax are breaking the bank and they will make him the best paid player ever in the eredivisie and at ajax. and that shows how much ajax want him. saudi arabia is making huge moves in the world of sport,

having invested millions in the likes of sailing, boxing, formula 1 and golf. some of the biggest stars in world football have joined the pro league. insiders say no—one's being blamed, and no—one's upset at henderson's departure. but life in saudi was a world away from the adoration henderson enjoyed at anfield, attendances are far lower and al—ettifaq haven't won a match since october. he also wants to make the england squad for the euros this summer. jordan henderson has his first goalfor england! amsterdam could, then, provide an unlikely platform to help him stay in gareth southgate's plans. natalie pirks, bbc news. the home office has been reprimanded for publishing figures that claimed the asylum backlog had been cleared, when thousands of cases remained. the uk statistics authority says the announcement could have affected public trust in the government. at the time, the prime minister's

opponents called the figure is a barefaced lie. 0ppenheimer leads the nominations for this year's bafta film awards. christopher nolan's epic about the creation of the atomic bomb has 13 nominations, including best film and best director. its big summer box office rival barbie received five, and missed out on a nod for best film. our culture editor katie razzall has been casting her eye over the nominees. discharged and preparing for glory. is this the year director christopher nolan wins his first ever bafta? we are in a race against the nazis. 0ppenheimer has 13 nominations, including best actorfor cillian murphy as the theoretical physicist behind the atomic bomb. this is the best day ever. it is the best day ever. maybe not the best day for barbie, with just five chances of a bafta win next month. the most popular movie

across the world last year, but not in the running for best film, though its producer, margot robbie, is up for best actress. does pregnant barbie — emerald fennell — see it as a snub? ijust think barbie speaks for itself. it's a complete and utter masterpiece. why don't you come home with me? come to saltburn. fennell wrote and directed the gothic romance and social media sensation saltburn, which also has five nominations, including 0utstanding british film... beautiful eyes. ..and acting nods for rosamund pike, jacob elordi and lead barry keoghan. saltburn is an entirely british crew. we were over 50% women on our cast and crew as well, which meant a great deal to us. so, you know, something like bafta means the world to us. this is bella. the fantastical coming—of—age comedy poor things is also riding high with 11 nominations. and the heart—warming 19705 drama the holdovers is up for seven awards. i heard you got stuck with babysitting duties, how did you manage it?

..including for paul giamatti as a teacher. it means a lot, i would call it when i was younger the british 0scars. so ijust got nominated for an oscar today. among bafta's omissions, martin scorsese isn't on the best director list for killers of the flower moon. his true crime story about the murders of native americans is up for best film. but neither of the stars are nominated. though robert de niro is. it would be his first ever bafta win. the bbc has obtained rare footage that shows north korea publicly sentencing two teenage boys to 12 years of hard labour for watching south korean tv dramas. the footage, thought to have been filmed in 2022, shows the 16—year—olds handcuffed in front of hundreds of students at a stadium.

0fficers reprimand the boys for not "deeply reflecting on their mistakes". south korean entertainment is banned in the north. in the australian open tennis it's been a tough day for many of the british players — with emma raducanu — in yellow — losing her second round match to china's wang yafan. jack draper and katie boulter are also out — but cameron norrie came back from two sets down, to win against italian qualifier guilio zeppieri. norrie is the only brit still in the singles competition. a critically endangered western lowland gorilla has been born at london zoo. the tiny infant was born yesterday following an eight month pregnancy. the sex has yet to be confirmed. the number of western lowland gorillas in the wild has declined by more than 60% over the past 25 years. last night was the coldest of the

winter for many parts of the uk — with temperatures dropping to minus 13 degrees celsius in parts of scotland. but the icy conditions have delighted whale watchers off shetland — with a rare sighting of a beluga whale in the icy waters asjothohnston reports. with shetland's shivering and freezing conditions, perhaps it was no surprise that a visitor well used to arctic temperatures would choose to venture into nearby waters. this lone beluga whale was spotted off the coast of hillswick, to the delight of seasoned local whale watchers. we arrived to a beautiful big bay, but in absolutely freezing, arctic conditions, and we were there for maybe five minutes, looking out on what was really dark water, and suddenly this incredible ivory—coloured whale surfaced in front of us. it was just the most magical moment. david attenborough: elsewhere

in the arctic, belugas _ are gathering in their thousands. it's not unusual to see other wales off the coast of shetland, but the beluga is more often found around the arctic circle, as it was here in david attenborough's blue planet. this latest confirmed sighting was just the sixth in scottish waters. the earliest sighting was back in 1976, so you're looking at six sightings over the course of many years, so this is an extra special treat for anybody who is a whale and dolphin — orjust a wildlife — enthusiast. the beluga whale is still in the waters around shetland, and with temperatures set to remain very cold until the weekend, it's likely to feel at home for some days to come. jothohnston, bbc news, lerwick harbour. it's very cold here in northern ireland as well. but the freezing temperatures don't stop the people who are rebuilding parts of an historic dry stone wall across the mourne mountains.

i drove down there this morning — it's almost a0 miles from here — to meet the stonemasons who are following in their grandfather's footsteps. in subzero temperatures and a biting wind, it is a long hikejust to reach the part of the wall the stonemasons are working on. it can be treacherous up here. the weather changes in an instant. we walked for about half an hour, and there they are, finally, repairing this part of the mourne wall. what a commute! up here are andrew and brian rooney, fifth—generation stonemasons. these mountains run through their blood. good morning! good morning. i cannot believe you do this every single day! it's an iconic wall and our grandfather worked on it, and that makes it so special for us to be back 100 years later, knowing that they worked on this wall. and, yeah, it's a privilege to be working on it. the mourne wall crosses 15 mountains.

it's 22 miles long, every bit of it was built by hand. it was constructed to keep cattle off the land, so they didn't contaminate the reservoir below. as you can see from here, when you look inside there, you can see what a balancing act the whole thing is, isn't it? it is, yep, yep. and as you see the two skins, and then you have your three stone that ties these two skins together. they've repaired around 900 sections of this wall since they started back in 2017, all of it using the same techniques as their grandfather. now, their work here is nearly done. what is it you love about doing this job? ijust, i love everything about it. i like where it's at. like we always say, our office, you couldn't beat it. it's just beautiful up

here in all weathers. even the gorgeous day in the summertime, you've got the heat, the scenery and just everything about it, and especially getting the wall back to its original state, knowing it's going to be there hopefully for another 100 years. the most spectacular place to work. very cold, there. time for a look at the weather, here's sarah keith—lucas it has been chilly across the british isles too, this isjust south of where soviets, county antrim. very snowy scenes, right down to the coast. 0ver antrim. very snowy scenes, right down to the coast. over the next 2a hours or so we are going to keep the cold air and the snow showers across northern areas. but it's all change into the weekend as milder air arrives. it's turning wet and windier, but certainly another day of arctic air with us. this is where it has been snowing today. the snow showers have been rolling in across the north of scotland and northern ireland. some of them filtering through the cheshire gap. we've had

a bit of snow across parts of north—west england,