tonight at ten, another tough month for nhs england, as accident and emergency departments struggle to cope with rising demand. the winter pressure on services, continued into january, which turned out to be one of the worst months since records began. many people suffered long waits on trolleys, before being admitted to wards, as nurses expressed their frustration. there is a breaking point — we wonder how long our hard work and goodwill and our enthusiasm and care and professional attitude, how that can be sustained over a long period of time. we'll take a closer look at the figures, and at the problems caused by inadequate social care. also tonight... two british extremists, believed to have been executioners for the islamic state group, have reportedly been captured. the bank of england says interest rates will rise sooner and further than previously thought to combat the threat of inflation. japan's ambassador visiting downing street, warns that firms

won't be able to operate in the uk, if they don't have free access to european markets. the stark evidence of plastic pollution — this time in the arctic sea. we report on the latest findings. i've collected this waste in just a few seconds. some of the fragments may come from norway — some clearly don't, like this elaborate bottle for instance, or this butter tub from spain. and, why the latest superhero film is seen as notjust an adventure, but a major cultural statement. coming up in a sportsday later in the hour on bbc news, a blow for the british team on the eve of the winter olympics. snowboarder katie ormerod is out after breaking her heel good evening.

the latest performance figures for accident and emergency units in england indicate that the pressure on the nhs has continued into january, which turned out to be one of the worst months since records began. many people suffered long waits on trolleys, before being admitted to wards — 1,000 patients waited longer than 12 hours. the four hour waiting target was missed for the 30th month in a row, but over 85% of patients seen within that time, slightly better than december. the official target is 95%. our health editor hugh pym has the latest. the nhs flat out with staff working at a frantic pace just to keep services running. the system under severe strain and patients are feeling it. this mobile team is trying to help reduce pressure on local hospitals. 0k, next, we will go right on to cambridge heath road...

here, a senior a&e consultant is out on the road with a paramedic, literally taking hospital standard care to patients at home. so they don't need to go to hospital. it's a partnership between london air ambulance, london ambulance service, and barts health. they see an elderly man with dementia who has been in and out of hospital. and ensure that he's safe to be left at home with his carer. we carry with us a laptop, giving us direct access to the same hospital system... job! that we have... yes, we've got anotherjob. every day they see the intense pressures on the nhs. there's a lot of frustration. what we want is at the end of the day, we want to be able to say that we have done the best for our patients. and when the system makes that difficult that can be very frustrating. working in an overly congested system sometimes leaves us feeling that we simply cannot deliver the best possible care for our patients.

congestion was certainly clear in major hospitals from early injanuary with overcrowding and trolleys in corridors and ambulances queueing outside hospitals waiting to hand over their patients. this nurse in leeds says even though thousands of routine operations were postponed to help the system the pressure is intolerable. i don't know whether it's sustainable at the moment. it's how long we can maintain this professionalism and keenness and caring attitude. it won't go but it is wondering... people will crack. some take the view that this winter's problems in hospitals are down to years of underfunding and not enough capacity to meet demand. over the last seven or eight years we've cut the number of acute beds in our hospitals which is now unfortunately chickens coming home to roost and we need to redress that balance as a matter of urgency. nice and smooth, actually, someone's looking after you well. keeping people out of

hospital is the aim of this scheme. eliza is in a residential home. her carers were concerned about her condition. the team had enough time to carry out a range of checks to allow her to stay where she is. in the three and a half months since it was relaunched as the seven day a week service more than 300 patients have been treated at home who otherwise would have needed ambulances to take them to a&e. some of them would otherwise have been admitted to hospital, so beds have been freed up for others. it's just one local answer to the problem. the government says more money was invested in the budget but the strain in the nhs this winter suggests there's no sign of any respite. hugh pym, bbc news. one of the complicating factors for the nhs, is that too many patients stay in hospital, because suitable social care is not available. experts say a lack of government planning and funding is undermining social care, at a time when demand is increasing.

and low levels of pay mean that adult care services in england can no longer fill key posts, as our social affairs correspondent alison holt reports. it is a busy lunchtime at northfield nursing home in sheffield, demanding work for the care staff... who are looking after residents who may have dementia, problems walking or a range of chronic health conditions. joyce, good afternoon, only me, sorry to bother you. today's national audit office report outlines just how difficult it is to find people to do this vital work, but for residents like 97—year—old joyce, the staff make all the difference. it is absolutely essential, if, you know, i see the same face coming in in the morning and thinking, it is a friend. the nursing lead here, tammy ardron, says that recruiting staff is a real issue for them.

it is not as attractive as the nhs, where you have your salary packages, enhanced rates of pay, unsociable hours... and i think that it is hard work, it is busy and constant, you have to be on the ball 2a hours a day. residential and nursing homes are dealing with an increasing number of people with really complex needs and they need the skilled staff to deliver that care. and that is why this report says the government must have a strategy for a sector struggling with low pay and low prestige. there was a staff turnover in 2016/17 of nearly 28%, councils spent 5.3% less than five years before, despite increasing demand. the report is clear that councils struggling with government cuts are not covering the real costs of care, according to the boss of this home, some providers have had no choice but to close or risk

the quality of what they are doing. the only way that these operators can continue, is to cut the standard, because fundamentally, the funding issue is impacting on the resources, the workers, and the delivery of care. a survey of local authorities in england published today says that nearly all planned to put up council tax to try to cope with growing demands for adult and children's social care. 80% still fear for their financial stability. the government insists it is addressing these pressures. that is why they are getting more resources, real terms increase over two years, social care in particular, adult social care in the budget, over £2 billion allocated yesterday in parliament i announced an additional £150 million. this may relieve short—term pressures but in the long term i accept that we need to change the approach to social care. the department for health and social care says it will publish a strategy

for the health and care work shortly. two british men, believed to have been acting as executioners for the islamic state group have been captured by syrian kurdish fighters. they are alexanda kotey and el shafee elsheikh. it is understood. along with mohammed emwazi, the killer nicknamed jihadi john, and aine davis, the four were nicknamed the "beatles", and were linked to a wave of hostage murders in iraq and syria. our security correspondent gordon corera is here. what have you learned? no official confirmation from the british side but in the last few hours and american national security official confirmed to me the capture of these men, alexanda kotey and el shafee elsheikh. they were part of this notorious group involved in the killing of its thought around two dozen hostages including british aid

workers david haines and alan henning. they got that unfortunate name, the beatles. because some of the hostages, you can see them because of their masks, you could hear their british accents, and of the four hostage—takers, mohammed emwazi was killed in a drone strike, he was dubbed jihadi john. aine davis in prison in turkey. alexanda kotey and el shafee elsheikh were picked up by kurdish forces in syria, they had suspicions about the men, so approached us special operations who had access to them. they used biometrics to confirm their identities. the families of their identities. the families of the men didn't know about this ca ptu re the men didn't know about this capture and only learned about it when the bbc approached them this evening. it's not clear what happened to the next, possible they could be sent to the us to stand trial. they were involved in the killing of some american hostages as well. it's even possible they could be send to guantanamo bay as donald trump has talked about in the past. it may not be an issue for the uk

government formally, as it is thought they may have had their uk citizenship stripped using powers the government now has. thanks very much, gordon corera with the latest. the bank of england says interest rates are likely to rise sooner than expected, because of strong global growth driving up inflation. the bank's latest report included improved forecasts for growth over the next three years. today, interest rates were left on hold at a half of 1%, but the governor mark carney said action would soon be needed to restrain inflation, as our economics editor kamal ahmed reports. stitching together a better story on the economy. orders for this firm in manchester are booming, and it's a story repeated around the country, leading to a positive assessment from the bank of england. the last 12 months we've grown by 20% in the uk. europe has been much stronger than that and so we have more than doubled what the growth rate has been in the uk. i'm cautiously optimistic about the future, we are making major investments over the next 12 months. for the governor, there's a simple reason for the better news. 90% of the world economy is now

growing above trend, and the global expansion is increasingly being driven by investment. uk net trade is benefiting from this robust global demand, and the past depreciation of sterling. the economy is heating up, and the threat of interest rate rises to control inflation has increased. governor, this is a warning on interest rates, that they are likely to come earlier, and then to rise more rapidly than you originally expected? it will be necessary, likely to be necessary, to raise interest rates, to a limited degree, in a gradual process... the bank of england has upgraded growth — this year it is expected to rise from 1.5% to1.7%. next year, better news, as well — growth up from 1.7%, to 1.8%. but prices will continue to rise, inflation is now expected to be at 2.9% by the end of the year. before falling back

next year to 2.3%. with wages increasing, might that income squeeze be coming to an end? bank of england expects that wages will accelerate, and the reasons for this are, they see the unemployment rate falling further, strong demand for labour, and fewer people entering the labour force. and together that means higher wages. it will not necessarily feed into stronger consumption. households are squeezed by still high inflation. certainly better news today on the economy today from the bank of england but that news laced with a very significant signal on interest rates. if you have a mortgage, if you borrow money, be ready for higher bills. and if you're a saver, at last, get ready for better returns. the bank did warn again about brexit risk. but for britain, an exporting

nation, the good news from the rest of the world is keeping the economy buoyant. kamalahmed, bbc news. the japanese ambassador to britain has warned that no company would be able to continue to operate here, if the uk failed to secure free access to european markets, after brexit. the ambassador was speaking in downing street, where theresa may met the bosses of 20 japanese firms, including honda. our business editor simonjack has more details. for decades, japan has been investing in the uk. car companies like nissan were encouraged by margaret thatcher to come and build in britain. it revived the british car industry and made the uk an exporting machine. the eventual plan is to export cars to europe, bypassing the import controls and acting as a springboard into this market. it worked. japanese firms now make half the cars made in the uk, and most of them are exported to the eu.

executives from many industries filed into number ten today to find out how much that will change when we leave the eu. the prime minister conceded there were challenges. as we look ahead, of course, i recognise that the uk's forthcoming exit from the european union is no small undertaking. but importantly it does present the opportunity to strike free trade deals around the world and build on ourdirect... already very strong relationship that we have with japan. it is already strong. there are in fact 1000 japanese companies with operations in the uk. together they invested £46 billion during 2016 in manufacturing, finance technology and pharmaceuticals, which supported 140,000 jobs. for regions like the north—east, japanese companies are the biggest employer by far. the japanese government was one of the first to express its concern on the impact on business of brexit.

it sent this 15 page document in september 2016 outlining the things it would like to see preserved. for example, maintain current customs procedures, maintain the single passport so japanese banks can sell from the uk into europe. and also it wanted to keep regulation and standards harmonised between the uk and eu. now none of those things are currently on the table, and that is why the japanese government and its ambassador had these concerns. his message was clear. if profits fall, so does investment. if there is no profitability of continuing operation in uk, notjapanese only, no private company can continue operation. so it's as simple as that. this is all high stakes that i think all of us need to keep in mind. japanese businesses are in no hurry to leave the uk. like everyone else,

they'd like some answers. soon. simon jack, bbc news. our chief political correspondent vicky young joins me now. we see pressure from the japanese and the government is trying to set out its strategy is matt yes, we have seen cabinet ministers locked away trying to thrash out what the longer term relationship will be with european union. and then we get this morning, a reminder in the sta rkest possible call this morning, a reminder in the starkest possible call terms. this is ultimately about investment in this country and people's jobs. they have not given much away about what they have been discussing behind closed doors. theresa may said to the cabinet committee that the government had to be ambitious about the deal it was seeking and she said the deal it was seeking and she said the starting point was to aim for

something that had not been done before, tizita bogale. but before they get to the longer term relationship, there is the small matter of the implement nation period, the transition period where businesses will have maybe two years to get used to what is coming next. there will be more talks from brussels on that tomorrow. head of that, the rhetoric will be ramped up. it says it a mechanism whereby we punish britain if it breaks the rules in that time. we have had a response from david davis in not exactly diplomatic language, where he said it was not in good faith to publish a document with frankly discourteous language. tough talk on both sides but we know they will have to at some point find a compromise. thank you. on the eve of the opening ceremony of the winter olympics in south korea, north korea has staged a huge military parade in the capital pyongyang. it featured the intercontinental ballistic missiles which, according to the the regime, could reach the united states. but as our correspondent laura bicker reports, america has once again threatened new sanctions, unless north korea abandons its nuclear ambitions.

"all hail to the general!" they shout in numbers. tens of thousands of loyal soldiers display their adulation and they're rewarded with rare words from their leader. translation: at a time like this, when the us and its followers are making such a fuss around the korean peninsula, our military should remain on high alert and step up preparations for a fight. peeking from behind a pillar is kim jong—un‘s influential sister. she will be the first ever member of the kim dynasty to travel south and will represent the regime at the winter olympics. on display were missiles that kimjong—un claims can reach the us. it's bound to heighten tensions on the eve of a winter games that south korea had hoped would be known as the peace olympics. just a few hundred miles away

in seoul, the us vice president is meeting the south korean leader with a message of his own. the us wants president moon to keep up the pressure on the north and has announced an increase in sanctions. earlier, as he addressed troops in japan, he warned pyongyang that us warships and squadrons stand ready. let the world know we will defeat any attack. and meet any use of conventional or nuclear weapons with a response that is rapid, overwhelming and effective. this small village 50 miles from the north korean border will stage the latest chapter of a tense 70—year—old drama. as the athletes parade into the stadium, all eyes will be on the politicians in the grandstand. the sporting events have yet to start. but the propaganda games are well underway. north korea's charm offensive has arrived in the form of what is known here as an army of beauties. chosen for their looks, intelligence

and loyalty to the regime, they are the pin—ups of pyongyang. this is a former member, and was part of an elite group which performed for kim jong—un‘s father. translation: we were supposed to promote the north korean ideology. we were not only to cheer, but we were to go into combat at the heart of our enemy, and show off our pride and the greatness of our country. in the battle for public opinion in south korea, this display is far more powerful than any missile. it has raised hopes, whatever the north's future intentions, the olympics have provided a unique opportunity and they found it too tempting to turn down. scientists have expressed deep concern about the amount of plastic waste that is building up in arctic sea. they've found it in higher concentrations than anywhere else in the world's oceans,

and it's affecting fish, sea birds and even polar bears. the norwegian environment minister said the magnitude of the problem should be a call to action. our environment analyst roger harrabin reports from tromso in the norwegian arctic. plastic pollution has reached the furthest corners of the planet. arctic sea ice is created when sea freezes. it looks pristine but it definitely is not. in fact, ice cores show sea ice contains more fragments of plastic per square metre than anywhere else in the open ocean, it's because sea ice freezes from the top and that's exactly where the plastic bits are floating. one litre of melted sea ice contained 234 plastic fragments like these. it's a serious problem and you have a situation in the world now that there is nowhere that is so far

away that it is not affected by plastic waste. in the norwegian arctic, this local conservationist is trying forlornly to clear it up. here's what the plastic does. this reindeer‘s antlers were trapped by a discarded fishing net. it died. this arctic tern met its death by starvation. this polar bear was tangled in another fishing net. we try to sell this as arctic and pristine and untouched. and it looks that way on pictures, but once you get here and you start to walk along the coastline, you get a completely other picture. the plastic is here with a vengeance. i've collected this waste in just a few seconds. some of the fragments may come from norway,

some clearly don't — like this elaborate bottle for instance, or this butter tub from spain. norway can try as hard as it likes to clean up the arctic, but unless all nations cooperate, it can't succeed. scientists blame fishing for most of the plastic pollution here. the crews say they have stopped dumping nets. we have, for years, for decades, been collecting all the garbage that we produce on—board. in big waste bags, big bags, compressing it, taking it out to shore. so where this comes from today, i'm not sure of. the fishermen say they've stopped dumping lengths of rope into the ocean. but look at that. it's clearly been deliberately cut. so has that. arctic scientists don't know yet whether the plastic tide will affect local fish stocks, but it is another human threat to a fragile environment already being transformed by man—made climate change. roger harrabin, bbc news, in the norwegian arctic. an inquest has found that a man

with a learning disability died from complications caused by constipation, because opportunities to give him life—saving treatment were missed. richard handley, who was 33 and had down‘s syndrome, died in ipswich hospital in 2012. our correspondent michael buchanan reports. richard handley had a lifelong but wholly manageable problem with constipation. he also had down‘s syndrome and learning disabilities, and that, say his family, is why this bubbly, humorous man is dead. i think richard was treated differently because he had a learning disability. i think, you know, as his sister, and as someone who doesn't have a learning disability, if i died very suddenly at the age of 33, i think the reaction would be different. today, a coroner in ipswich found multiple failures in richard's treatment. when his residential care home in lowestoft became a supported living complex in 2010, giving richard more independence, his care deteriorated.

gone was the healthy diet. he was allowed to eat what he liked. the monitoring of his bowel movements was reduced. without this chain of events, say the coroner, richard's death would not have occurred. i think the main thing was the bowel monitoring, i don't see how anybody could justify getting rid of that for somebody who's got a chronic bowel problem. large quantities of faeces built up in richard's bowels. his stomach was described as being as large as that of a full—term pregnancy woman. in november 2012, with his health deteriorating, richard was taken to ipswich hospital, where they removed more than a stone and a half of faecal material. right to the very end, the evening things start to go bad, until that point, nobody thought his life was in danger. but the blockage wasn't properly cleared. bowel waste got into richard's lungs, and he choked on his own vomit.

today, the hospital apologised for what the coroner described as a gross failure to provide proper care. it's a waste of a life, isn't it. absolutely. i don't understand how the sudden unexpected untimely death of a 33—year—old didn't raise serious alarm bells. the coroner's conclusion reinforces what his family have always known. richard handley should still be alive. michael buchanan, bbc news, ipswich. members of parliament could lose their seats or be expelled, under new plans to tackle bullying and sexual harassment at westminster. a new code of conduct is to be set up, for all those working at the palace of westminster, along with an independent complaints procedure. this report by our political correspondent alex forsyth includes some flash photography. in the bars and backrooms of westminster, claims of bullying, intimidation, sexual harassment, allegations that prompted investigations and some resignations. and reflection on how to change a culture that allowed abuse.

the leader of the house, lord president of the council. today, mps from all parties unveiled their plans. it is a right, not a privilege, to be treated with dignity and respect at work, and this ambitious report is a major step towards a safer and more professional environment. part of the problem had been those working here are often employed directly by mps, with only political parties to complain to. so this report proposes a new code of behaviour for everyone working in parliament and a new complaints and investigation system, independent of political parties. and there will be sanctions for inappropriate behaviour, anything from an apology to a possible suspension. in the worst cases, mps could face a public vote to keep seats, not under new rules but using existing ones. there are some questions about the fact complaints will be

kept anonymous but broadly, the report has been welcomed, beyond the detail, some are worried this alone will not bring about the change in culture that is really needed. damian green was one of those accused of inappropriate behaviour which he has always denied. his accuser says that today's report is a welcome step but a bigger shift is needed. you cannot make people take things seriously unless there is a serious culture change. that concerns me in parliament. there is still a lot of mps who don't understand why behaviour they have been getting away with for 20 years, people are suddenly noticing and complaining about, that is the problem. the focus on this shadowy issue might have started the process of change, but most recognise there is still a long way to go. the latest superhero film from marvel had its european premiere tonight in london, but what makes it different is its predominantly all—black cast, playing the heroes. the film's become a sensation

on social media, with many fans using the hashtag "what black panther means to me", to highlight its significance for black audiences. our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba has the story. a free cinema trip would have been welcome enough for these american schoolchildren — their sheerjoy is because the movie is black panther. such is the film's significance, people around the world are crowd sourcing money so that children who might otherwise not get the chance, can get to watch it on the big screen. people like actress jade anouka from peckham in london — she has so far raised around £4,000 for a screening at her local cinema. i think it's just a film you don't really see, you don't see black superheroes in big blockbusters. the positive representation is good for people growing up in this area