this is bbc news. the headlines at six... pressure grows on the government over its pay offer to health service staff in england. more unions have joined the backlash. actually the pandemic really only enhances the case for a pay rise for nhs staff. pope francis delivers an impassioned condemnation of extremism and violence during the first ever papal visit to iraq. the duke and duchess of cambridge talk about the impact of the pandemic in a special programme on the commonwealth. they're usually a sign that spring has sprung but why is this host of golden daffodils being left unpicked? and coming up in sportsday, england slump to defeat in the test series in india. they lost the fourth and final match in ahmedabad.

the group representing health service trusts, nhs providers, hasjoined unions in saying the government's proposed 1% pay rise for health service staff in england is not enough. ministers have defended the rise, saying the pandemic had placed unprecedented strain on public finances. here's our political correspondent, iain watson. if government ministers thought nhs staff in england would be grateful to be

exempted from public sector pay freeze, the reality looks rather different. those run hospital trusts as well as the unions are calling for the government to look again at the proposed pay rise, and claimed that as part of a long—term plan for the nhs, ministers had previously planned to put up the pay by twice as much this year. the assumption is 2.1% which is actually enshrined in an act of parliament so we have got a strong legal bases here to say that the pay rise was there, and obviously that was all set out before the pandemic but actually the pandemic only enhances the case for a pay rise for nhs staff. the government say that enshrined in law, an injection of extra cash for the health service, but not a specific pay increase. they argue, anyway, that lower paid stuff will get more than i%, changes to pay grades will boost some incomes, and newly qualified nurses have benefited from multi—year pay deals. but some of borisjohnson�*s own mps

say he must find an antidote to a politically toxic row. there could be a tax—free bonus as a one—off payment, that might be one way of addressing the issue, but what i do know is that the people that i represent expect and believe that there should be a reward. and that means, i'm afraid, more than i%. the government's proposed 1% increase isn't the final word on pay. in may, independent pay review bodies will make their recommendations and if they're worried about recruitment of nhs staff it's possible they could say that pay should go up above i%, but ministers are very clear that this could only be funded by making cuts elsewhere in the budget. with some health unions considering strike action over pay, the political temperature could continue to rise. iain watson, bbc news. concerns are being raised that thousands of pupils and their households may wrongly be told to isolate because of inaccurate rapid covid test results. secondary school pupils in england are being offered lateral flow tests as schools return next week. these tests are less accurate than the ones carried out at official testing centres

which are analysed in labs. our health correspondent katharine da costa reports. like all secondary schools in england, these pupils in london are getting three rapid covid tests in school followed by two home tests a week, but while tests taken at home could be backed up with a standard lab—based pcr test, under government policy that won't be happening in schools. but lateral flow tests aren't as accurate. public health england suggest that for every thousand carried out, between one and three will give a an incorrect positive result, a so called false positive. and with around 3.4 million state secondary school pupils in england, the number of inaccurate tests could run into many thousands. richard patton's son had a positive lateral flow test result on wednesday. his school told him to take a pcr test which came back negative, but richard says nhs test and trace said the family still needed to isolate for ten days.

it has affected my two kids because they can't go to school. it has affected my wife and myself — i can't work from home. my wife can but it is very difficult. it's incredibly frustrating that we know this is a false positive and yet we can't do anything about it. the government says one in three people with covid don't have any symptoms and that a quick on the spot test like this could help identify asymptomatic cases and help stop the virus from being passed on. but some question the government's decision not to recommend a back—up pcr test following a positive result in school. we're currently at a time when the infection rate is low and so it is essential that positive lateral flow tests for secondary school pupils, as for adults, are subject to confirmation by pcr or by some other means but i'm shocked to think that is not being done.

the department of health says it will keep rapid tests under review. while no test is 100% accurate, many will be reassured by mass testing in schools. others warn the way they are being used risks undermining public confidence. katharine da costa, bbc news. the department of health is expanding its workplace testing programme in england. until now, only businesses with 50 or more employees have been able to get free lateral flow tests. now companies of all sizes are eligible. the tests will be free until the 30th ofjune, and businesses have until the end of this month to register. the latest government figures show there were 6,040 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. which means that on average the number of new cases reported per day in the last week is 6,118.

across the uk, latest data shows the number of patients in hospital with coronavirus is 10,898. 158 deaths have been recorded in the last 2a hours. that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid test. on average in the past week, 220 deaths were announced every day. the total number of deaths so far across the uk is 124,419. on to vaccinations now and nearly 437,463 people had their first dose of a vaccine in the latest 24 hour period. in total nearly 21.8 million people have now had their firstjab. pope francis has met the influential shia muslim cleric grand ayatollah ali al—sistani during the first—ever papal visit to iraq. pope francis is on the second day of his trip to the country. this evening he said mass as a packed congregation gathered

at stjoseph's cathedral in baghdad. 0ur rome correspondent mark lowen is travelling with the pope and has this update on the trip so far. after the first day of this trip was focused on the politics, and on meeting iraq's dwindling and persecuted christian minority, today was about outreach and dialogue with other faiths, chief among them the meeting this morning with grand ayatollah ali al—sistani, an extremely symbolic moment, the leader of the catholic church face to face with the leader of iraqi shia islam and one of the most influential figures in this country. this was a meeting years, decades in the making. previous popes had wanted to meet the 90—year—old cleric. they failed to do so, failed to come to iraq,

pope francis has come here on the first ever papal trip to iraq and had that meeting in najaf. little was released about details but it's thought that they discussed dialogue between faiths, and the pope thanked the shia leader for standing up for some persecuted christians. then the pope went to ur, the birthplace of the prophet abraham in the bible, and in the windswept plains he sat among other religious leaders and spoke of the need for peace and how extremism was blighting religion. this was a day in which pope francis was reaching out to other faiths, other religions, in a country that has been so long torn apart by sectarianism.

there is a lot of symbolism but do people expect anything tangible? i think the symbolism at this stage is more important than the substance and whether anything long—lasting comes from it we will have to wait and see. with iraq in the news for rocket attacks, coronavirus, years of sectarian religious conflict, now the news of their historic visit by the news of their historic visit by the leader of 1.8 billion catholics to a majority muslim country, urging peace and reconciliation, dialogue, that message has gone down well not just among iraqi christians but all those who feel the need for a new perspective for this country. a large group of rangers fans have defied coronavirus lockdown rules to gather outside ibrox stadium with the team on the verge of winning the scottish premiership. supporters crowded

the area around the glasgow ground as the side faced st mirren. some set off flares. the scottish government said it's "extremely disappointed" and condemned the group for what they said was "jeopardising" the safety of others. a man has been arrested in dundee in connection with the disappearance of a 25—year—old woman and two children from kingswood in south gloucestershire. avon and somerset police had issued an appeal last week to trace 25—year—old bennylyn burke, and the two children. from dundee, joanne macaulay reports. police came to a property here in dundeein police came to a property here in dundee in troon avenue yesterday afternoon and they have cordoned off the street and are only allowing residents in or out. they are investigating the disappearance of

25—year—old bennylyn burke and two children. she is from south gloucestershire and was last seen at her home in february. she was reported missing on the 1st of march and avon and somerset police put out and avon and somerset police put out an appeal to try to find her and two children from the area. they say her family have been made aware and are being supported by police officers. meanwhile police here in dundee say they will have an increased presence in this area in the coming days and are asking anyone with any information to come forward. police in london say they're increasingly concerned about the disappearance of a woman in south london. sarah everard, who is 33, spoke to her partner on the phone while walking from clapham junction to brixton on wednesday night, which was the last time anyone heard from her. a friend said it was extremely uncharacteristic for her to go missing. detective chief inspector ian kenward is from the metropolitan police. he gave this statement to reporters on clapham common, one of the areas being searched, this afternoon.

i'm here today to appeal for information for the whereabouts of sarah everard. she was last seen on wednesday the 3rd of march. she had been to a friend's house in leathwaite road. we believe she left about nine o'clock and was heading home towards brixton. we are not clear on which exact route she took, but the a205 south circular would certainly be a sensible route to take but we are not sure and we have not had any contact from sarah and neither have herfamily. you have had search teams in clapham common where we are now. why have you got search teams here, do you suspect she may have gone through the common? yes, we suspect she may have gone through the common. as i say, the south circular is one of the most natural routes you would take to get back to brixton, through the common. the reason we have search teams, we have a number of enquiries, so we are looking for potential evidence and it is one of many, many inquiries that

are under way at the moment. the headlines on bbc news... pressure grows on the government over its pay offer to health service staff in england — more unions have joined the backlash. concerns over unnecessary self—isolation for school children in england, because of inaccurate coronavirus test results. the duke and duchess of cambridge talk about the impact of the pandemic in a special programme on the commonwealth. the duchess of cambridge has spoken of how the pandemic has enhanced public support for all those working on the front line. her comments were made during the bbc programme �*a commonwealth celebration�*. prince charles also pays tribute to the extraordinary determination of people throughout the commonwealth during the covid crisis. jon donnison reports. once you have had the vaccine, you have a feeling of, you know...

for the queen, the country and the commonwealth, the global pandemic has meant it has been a year like no other. zoom meetings and lockdowns, the new normal. royal visits to commonwealth countries a thing of the past. this pandemic has shown us... prince charles will be among several royals to join the queen for a special pre—recorded bbc programme to celebrate the commonwealth in this most difficult of years. the coronavirus pandemic has affected every country of the commonwealth, cruelly robbing countless people of their lives and livelihoods, disrupting our societies and denying us the human connections which we so dearly cherish. amidst such heartbreaking suffering, however, the extraordinary determination, courage and creativity with which people have responded has been an inspiration to us all. the duke and duchess of cambridge also feature in a video call

with dr zolelwa sifumba, a south african advocate for the rights of health care workers. here in the uk, there has been masses of public recognition of the amazing work the frontline are doing and it is sad almost that it has taken the pandemic for the public to really back and support all those working on the front line. but there are two royals who are unlikely to appear in tomorrow evening's special bbc programme. they will, though, undoubtedly be getting a fair amount of airtime. the duke and duchess of sussex's much trailed appearance on the oprah winfrey show will go out in full in the us just a few hours later. jon donnison, bbc news. and that programme �*a commonwealth celebration�* will be broadcast tomorrow afternoon at 5pm on bbc one. in myanmar an increasingly brutal crackdown by police and the military has not stopped protests against the military coup. meanwhile the un's special envoy on myanmar has urged the security council to restore democracy to the country.

in a private meeting in new york, members were told that anti—coup demonstrators were beginning to lose faith in the united nations. mark lobel reports. gunfire. the crackdown continues on citizens calling out the coup. they chant. they remain defiant, despite the deadliest week here. appealing for international support, these signs are reference to the un's responsibility to protect principle, to prevent mass killings. now, a month after the un's top security body called for a return to democracy and for the immediate release of detainees, including aung san suu kyi, it's met again. we requested this morning's meeting following further deterioration of the situation in myanmar. as of today, more than 50 people have been killed and many more

injured since the coup began. over 1,000 people have disappeared or are unaccounted for, the economy is in a state of deterioration, and up to a million people face a humanitarian crisis. but diplomacy can take time. it's significant that security council members and myanmar�*s neighbours and trade partners — china, russia, india and vietnam — agreed to this meeting. but until a joint statement is issued, we won't know how far they are prepared to go. we'll be exploring further national sanctions and stand ready to consider possible measures under the un charter should the situation deteriorate further. that could mean an asset freeze, travel ban or even arms embargo to cripple the junta. but at the meeting, the un special envoy on myanmar warned of the consequences of no action.

the envoy said that "the people of myanmar, including committed civil servants, are the real heroes and protectors of their nation's democratic progress. "but," she warned, "the hope that they have placed in the united nations and its membership is waning." however, china and russia are unlikely to rush towards implementing sanctions, and other asean nations — of which vietnam and myanmar are both members — are seeking their own solutions, too. nonetheless, there is no doubt at the shared frustration now building globally at the myanmar military�*s increasingly violent approach. mark lobel, bbc news. pakistan's prime minister, imran khan, has won a vote of confidence in parliament, days after suffering an unexpected political setback. mr khan himself called the vote in response to the failure of his finance minister, abdul hafeez shaikh, to win a seat in the senate.

a victory for the populist leader had been expected — with opposition mp's deciding to boycott the vote. thousands of indian farmers are blocking a highway near the capital, delhi, in their latest protest against agricultural reforms. farmers have parked cars, trucks and tractors on the multi—lane expressway — blocking toll booths and disrupting traffic. they're marking a hundred days since their protests started. the government says the reforms will benefit farmers. famous faces from the nation's favourite cookery shows have joined forces with the nhs to tackle covid vaccine hesitancy and boost uptakein the british bangladeshi community. launching the campaign in a video message, nadiya, winner of the great british bake off in 2015, says education is empowering and by educating ourselves around vaccination it allows us to encourage our family members, loved ones and communities to get the vaccine. lets have a listen. if we want to get back

to celebrations and spending quality time with ourfamilies, we need to find a way out of this pandemic. we have been given that opportunity with the covid—19 vaccine so i encourage you to read around the vaccine and ask questions to your doctors. my sister has had the vaccine and suffered no side effects. when the time comes, i'll be getting my covid—19 vaccine, too. i spoke to one of the three chefs fronting the campaign, the chef and restauranter asma khan. she told me that boosting the take—up of vaccines was vital to the bangladeshi community. very, very important. but it is beyond just a business interest that, you know, i think that people need to look at it. it's really about our livelihood and our responsibility, because we all need to get back to normal. but if there are too many people in our community who are hesitant and not taking the vaccine we will never be completely safe. and this is really important. we've been through one year of yo—yoing and agony and three lockdowns.

i think the only way forward is for all of us to invest in the community which we are a part of. how much has the bangladeshi community lost over the last year in terms of its traditional culture, in terms of the way people normally spend time together? i think there's going to be a huge impact for a lot of bangladeshis who run the curry houses, the little restaurants along the way, because i know, i'm a restauranteur, it's hugely debilitating what has happened over the last year. but also part of every bangladeshi family is getting together, eating together. in some ways, everyone feels bereaved. but it is so important because, talking of bereavement in bangladesh, i've lost three members of my family within 30 days — in the first wave of the pandemic. so i'm notjust involved in this because i think it is important as a community, but personally i know our family will never recover.

no ramadan and no eid will ever be the same without those three men, who went just suddenly. it is so important that actually all of us understand. and over 100,000 families have already been through this in this country. vaccine is not a life choice, it is necessary. as far as we say in my community, it is your duty to take the vaccine. do you have a sense of where the hesitancy comes from among, in particular, bangladeshis in britain? well, i mean, it is about politics. they have always felt marginalised by the majority community, often felt on the fringes of society. one of the reasons why so many bangladeshis came into this country in the 60s and set up restaurants was because they could not find any otherjob. they couldn't rent a house, they couldn't get loans, they set up these little restaurants and hired their own family. so this is a very resilient community who has always worked outside, in some ways, in the mainstream. and this is the price we are paying now. they have never felt that their voices counted, that they counted.

they've always made do, they haven't got stuff from the state. they didn't live off benefits, they worked very hard, they made their own lives, they educated their children, and many of the people who are running this campaign now are doctors and medics whose families were restauranteurs. and it is so important that they understand that now everything matters — their lives matter and the vaccination is there for everyone in the community. and this is where there is a level playing field and they must participate. ear cropping, where part or all of an animal's ear is removed, is illegal in the uk — but the rspca says there's been a sharp rise in the number of dogs that have had the procedure. the charity blames the increase on celebrities and reality tv stars who have dogs with cropped ears, and post pictures of them on social media. a warning — some viewers may find some of the details in charlotte gallagher's

report distressing. this is eton, who is a neapolitan mastiff, when he was just a tiny puppy, his ears were cropped for no reason other than how it looked. it has affected him in so many ways. if you go to touch eton around his head, if you are someone he does not know, he is incredibly wary. it's like he's waiting for something unpleasant to be done to him. ear cropping is a painful procedure. dr samantha gaines is from the rspca. in some cases, part of that ear structure will be removed, then it will be splinted and then taped, so that the ears then grow and heal back erect so that they stand up right. but in other cases, and what we are seeing quite a lot of now, particularly with american bully dogs, it's just where their ear is completely removed, so the entire ear flap is removed. in 2015, the rspca received 14 reports about ear cropping from callers in england and wales.

by last year, that figure had risen to 101, a rise of 621%. the rspca says celebrities with these dogs is driving what it calls "a worrying trend." leigh—anne pinnock from little mix, love island's jack fincham, and the premier league footballer jesse lingard all own dogs with cropped ears. jesse lingard and jack fincham's pets came from firms that specialise in personal security dogs. these animals are imported from countries where ear cropping is not banned, and the companies are not breaking the law. leigh—anne pinnock�*s came from a uk breeder that was later prosecuted for cutting puppies' ears to make them look tougher. there is no suggestion the singer knew what was happening or condoned it. pinnock and lingard have not commented. jack fincham says he did not buy the dog, it was a rescue and going to a rehoming centre,

adding that he does not condone ear cropping and thinks it is cruel. some celebrities are speaking out against the practice. people that have got a platform and social media presence, who are looked at as role models, they should be telling people no, this is not a good idea, rather than showing off their dog and saying, this is what it should be like. ear cropping is illegal in the uk, but it does still happen. however, one of the biggest problems is dogs being bought from overseas with their ears already cropped, that you can see on eton here. the rspca is now working to ban these imports. it is a measure that is supported by some mps. we could introduce a ban very simply in the act that is coming up, the agricultural bill coming up. we could introduce a ban on the import of dogs with cropped ears. the rspca believes unless this ban

happens and attitudes changed towards ear cropping, we will see cases continue to rise in the uk. charlotte gallagher, bbc news. finally, spring is on the way, and that means it's daffodil season. britain produces 90% of the world's crop, but this year, millions of the flowers will rot in fields because of a shortage of seasonal workers to pick them. growers say the impact of the pandemic and the post—brexit visa scheme have led to the labour shortage. jon kay reports from cornwall. it is a beautiful springtime sight, but not for daffodil farmerjames walkers. it is heartbreaking, it is heartbreaking. it's just saddening to see flowers going to waste. when they're yellow, it is too late to pick them,

so 50 million daffodils are being left here to rot. everybody loves to see it, it looks really, really nice as you drive round the county, but to a grower it's a crop loss. like other farmers, james has come to rely on seasonal workers from europe, but this spring he only has half the number he needs. friends have stayed away. there are some that don't want to come any more because of the brexit, especially this year. there are not many people in the field, as you can see. farmers hoped they may be able to turn back the clock and attract more local workers like they did in the past. how many british workers have you got here now? none. no british workers at all. we had five young lads who came to work for us and then it got wet and it was windy and their backs

ached, theyjust said they couldn't hack it any more. the government has given 30,000 visas this year to foreign fruit and vegetable pickers, but farmers say the scheme also needs to include flowers. ministers have promised they will make sure that all sectors have the labour they need in future. if you're wondering why the farmers don'tjust use machinery to pick the daffodils instead, well, they say it's not really practical because there are so many different varieties of flower, all growing at different heights and blooming at different times. they say without changes, their industry could also wither and die. jon kay, bbc news, cornwall. now it's time for a look at the weather with tomasz. hello, the weather's been quite settled for a while now.

it's a little on the nippy side — for most of us,