this is bbc news — these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. ukrainian officials say russian forces have launched an all—out assault on the azovstal steelworks in mariupol. president zelensky calls for the un to help civilians still trapped there. we'll also explore how russian targeting of key infrastructure, striking roads and railways across ukraine, is impacting western weapons arriving into the country. energy giant, shell, has reported its highest ever quarterly profits, making more than £7 billion in the first three months of the year. uk interest rates are expected to reach their highest level in 13 years. analysts believe the bank of england could increase the base rate to 1%.

it follows the us central bank announcing its biggest increase in more than two decades yesterday. japan's prime minister has condemned the war in ukraine during a visit to london, where he's also due to agree a new defence partnership with the uk. retiring doctors in england are being urged to continue working, to help the national health service clear backlogs and deal with staff shortages. and coming up this hour, meeting some of nature's newest arrivals. a new study, following great tits near oxford, suggests spring is starting sooner in britain. hello and welcome

if you're watching in the uk or around the world. ukrainian officials say russian forces have launched an all—out assault on the azovstal steelworks, in the besieged city of mariupol. around 200 civilians are still believed to be sheltering inside. moscow says humanitarian corridors will shortly open — for 3 days — to allow people to leave. the hope is that civilians will escape the area to safety, but ukraine has previously accused russian forces of continuing attacks, after announcing ceasefires. a ukrainian commander claims russian troops have entered the tunnels under the site, to try to crush the last pocket of resistance in mariupol. meanwhile, an investigation by the associated press suggests as many as 600 people were killed, when russia bombed a mariupol theatre in march. that would make it the worst known, loss of life, in a single strike,

since the invasion began. mark lobel reports. ten weeks in, russia testing ukraine's resolve at the azovstal steelworks, intensifying its assault as this unverified footage released by pro—russian separatists shows. with what looks like thermobaric or vacuum bombs as a ukrainian regiment claims russians have entered the southern port city's plant. translation: there are heavy, bloody battles. i i am proud of my soldiers who make superhuman efforts to contain the pressure of the enemy. i am grateful to the world for the colossal support to the garrison of mariupol. but that garrison�*s families are worried and there are fears, too, for the 200 trapped civilians, including 30 children still hunkering in the plant alongside thousands of others in need of rescue from elsewhere

in the shattered city. translation: the second phase of our evacuation operation - in mariupol ended today with 344 people successfully evacuated from the city and the outskirts of zaporizhia. our team will greet them like the 150 who came from azovstal and they will get the necessary support from our state. russia's military says it will open humanitarian corridors out of the besieged azovstal steel complex for three days from thursday. but to pressure moscow to stop the fighting, the eu wants to halt the import of russian oil by the end of the year. but it must have support from states heavily reliant on russian oil, such as slovakia and hungary, who say they cannot agree to that even with the offer of an extra year to comply. what we have seen on the table is very far from what we can live with and go with.

not for the reasons of political taste or any taste—like issue, but it is simply the hard physical facts on the ground — there is no substitute. but western countries are still intent on rearming ukraine, as russia continues its attacks in the east. these strikes in dnipro five minutes after an air raid siren, leaving residents a little time to scramble for cover. in the last few days, russian forces have stepped up attacks on infrastructure in ukraine. moscow wants to stop western weapons coming into the country, so it's targeting roads and railways in particular. ben brown reports from kyiv.

day by day, hour by hour, russia is trying to dismantle the entire infrastructure of ukraine. roads, railways and power stations in particular. ukrainians repair what they can as soon as they can. desperate especially to keep supply routes open for weapons being brought in from the west. we are trying to repair everything where it is possible, as soon as possible, and we are successful in many cases. but anyway, ukraine is a large country. i wouldn't believe that they will succeed in order to cut all the supplies, so any way we will find a solution. often, bridges have been targets. sometimes the ukrainians themselves have had to blow up their own bridges to stop russian troops advancing. the ukrainian government says around 300 bridges like this one have been destroyed in different parts of the country. in the short term, they want to replace damaged infrastructure like this with pontoon bridges, but all the ones they have are currently being used by the army, so they are appealing to the international community

to supply them with more. in many parts of ukraine, there are long queues at the pumps, with petrol stations and fuel storage depots being bombed by the russians. we do have a problem with the oil and petrol. we will deal with it. one step at a time. this is my philosophy right now. if i think about how huge the picture is and how huge the problem is and how so many things are out of our control because it depends on the crazy dictator of putin in a bunker somewhere, then you lose control, you lose your mind. eventually, whenever this war is finally over, a generous international aid plan will be needed to repair and rebuild this devastated country. but for now ukraine's priority isjust to keep patching up as much infrastructure as possible so it can continue to wage its war of survival. ben brown reports from kyiv.

our correspondent, joe inwood is in the western city of lviv. he said there had been air—raid sirens there this morning and described the mood in the city. i think lviv is a city that have felt a lot more secure over the last few weeks, over the course of this war. this is a sanctuary city where people have come to flee from the fighting rather than feeling like they might be involved in it, but that peace has on occasion been shattered by missiles that have landed. as you say, about 36 hours ago we had three strike around the city. a couple behind me, and one in that direction. i should say, they were around the city, not in the city. that is because what the russians have been doing here is not targeting civilian populations per se, but targeting infrastructure. they have hit civilians, i should say, but the things they have been targeting it seems are power supplies, rail infrastructure, that kind of thing, because what they are trying to do is disable the flow of weapons and equipment into the country that

comes from nato, from european allies through places like lviv, places like odesa. that is where the equipment comes from before heading to the east. so what we are seeing is them target that infrastructure, but it doesn't mean that it isn't terrifying for the people who live here. it is deeply unsettling to live with air raid sirens as a constant soundtrack of your life. but i think in terms of the safety, we felt personally, and this is a personal decision, i felt safe enough to stay here and broadcast while the sirens went on. joe, obviously, we have heard the announcement from russia saying it is going to allow more civilians to leave. a three—day ceasefire. saying that it could begin today. just how optimistic are people that this humanitarian evacuation will really take place? as with all these things, we can't be certain about anything until it happens, but i would say in this instance not very optimistic at all. it is worth remembering that this is not a un brokered ceasefire, as we have seen before.

this is a unilateral declaration of ceasefire. now, we have seen that before. in the last two weeks, since the siege on the mariupol steelworks, the azovstal steelworks started, on a number of occasions the russians said they would stop fighting. now, they didn't stop fighting that often, and also people didn't take them up on it. so of these two questions, one, would they be serious about the ceasefire? but more to the point, more importantly, would the civilians who had been under bombardment four weeks and months, would they believe them? i think that is very, very doubtful. certainly, the soldiers that are holed up will not surrender. i would put money on that fact. civilians? it is possible, but i think without the guarantee of the united nations and the red cross, as we saw over the weekend, i think it is unlikely. but i have seen stranger things happen in this conflict. with me now is ukrainian mp inna sovsun. thank you forjoining us. there is a

conference taking place looking at supporting ukraine and the humanitarian aid that is needed. what would you like to see come out of it? i what would you like to see come out of it? ., ~' what would you like to see come out of it? ., ~ ., , ,., of it? i would like to see some secific of it? i would like to see some specific steps _ of it? i would like to see some specific steps that _ of it? i would like to see some specific steps that will - of it? i would like to see some specific steps that will be - of it? i would like to see some | specific steps that will be taken of it? i would like to see some - specific steps that will be taken to help ukraine revive its economy. we are speaking about military damage that has been inflicted and the human cost of that. the rest is the economic cost. there was a recent study that showed only direct damage to infrastructure led to about $92 billion of losses and overall losses to the ukrainian economy is over 600 billion us dollars, including private companies, so they are huge

losses we have suffered and we do hope the west will continue its support to current hope the west will continue its support to curren— support to current ukraine militarily _ support to current ukraine militarily and _ support to current ukraine militarily and to _ support to current ukraine militarily and to the - support to current ukraine i militarily and to the economy because _ militarily and to the economy because peoples lives rely on that. iwonder_ because peoples lives rely on that. i wonder if— because peoples lives rely on that. i wonder if you could bring us up to date with some details about the latest of elements taking place in ukraine. we will start off with mariupol. what is the latest news from there? the mariupol. what is the latest news from there?— from there? the latest news is terri in: from there? the latest news is terrifying because _ from there? the latest news is terrifying because russians - from there? the latest news is i terrifying because russians have managed a full—scale attack on the azovstal plant and they are doing everything in their power to take control of the plant. and they want to show that this will be their big victory that they will announce on the victory day on may the night. they are now preparing their parade in mariupol which is basically destroyed which is as hypocritical as you can get. and our houses...

they are not being able to be evacuated and the russians are firing everything they had to destroy the area with people still in hiding. there are hiding civilians, children, wounded people still there in the azovstal plant and they are unable to be evacuated right now. 50 and they are unable to be evacuated riaht now. ,, ., ., ~ ., and they are unable to be evacuated riht now. ,, ., ., ~' ., , right now. so russian talk of this ro osed right now. so russian talk of this preposed three _ right now. so russian talk of this proposed three day _ right now. so russian talk of this proposed three day ceasefire - right now. so russian talk of this proposed three day ceasefire is l right now. so russian talk of this | proposed three day ceasefire is on or off? we proposed three day ceasefire is on or off? ~ ., ., , or off? we have not seen their ceasefire- _ or off? we have not seen their ceasefire. what _ or off? we have not seen their ceasefire. what we _ or off? we have not seen their ceasefire. what we are - or off? we have not seen their ceasefire. what we are seeing | or off? we have not seen their i ceasefire. what we are seeing is or off? we have not seen their - ceasefire. what we are seeing is him firing everything they have against our people over there. so we truly do not understand what sort of ceasefire is about and how can we trust their words. unfortunately, we have not seen the promised ceasefire. is there any ceasefire, we would definitely take it but we are not seeing that. if we would definitely take it but we are not seeing that.— we would definitely take it but we are not seeing that. if ukraine were to lose mariupol, _

are not seeing that. if ukraine were to lose mariupol, what _ are not seeing that. if ukraine were to lose mariupol, what would - are not seeing that. if ukraine were to lose mariupol, what would that l to lose mariupol, what would that mean to you? it to lose mariupol, what would that mean to you?— mean to you? it will mean we will have one more _ mean to you? it will mean we will have one more city _ mean to you? it will mean we will have one more city to _ mean to you? it will mean we will have one more city to fight - mean to you? it will mean we will have one more city to fight back l mean to you? it will mean we will i have one more city to fight back and regain control of. that would be a big loss to all the buzz but right now the crucial issue is to save us many lives in mariupol as possible and then we would fight back and take it again. military wives, that would definitely mean that russia will be able to release it troops and use them in other parts of donbas, so that will create pressure on our troops in donbas overall and thatis on our troops in donbas overall and that is why there recent plight to weapons are so crucial right now so our troops over there will be able to fight against this renewed force of russia, after they take their troops from mariupol and move them to other parts of donbas.— to other parts of donbas. russia are tarauetin to other parts of donbas. russia are targeting that _ to other parts of donbas. russia are targeting that key _ to other parts of donbas. russia are targeting that key infrastructure, . targeting that key infrastructure, railways, to try and cut off that

supply of military age. if that becomes impossible, how do you see aid entering ukraine? thea;r becomes impossible, how do you see aid entering ukraine?— aid entering ukraine? they have attacked our _ aid entering ukraine? they have attacked our infrastructure, - aid entering ukraine? they have attacked our infrastructure, two| attacked our infrastructure, two nights in a row, air raids across all of the country targeting railways. they didn't inflict the damage that would substantially change the supply chains, so we are still able to supply the troops and we hope we will manage to do that in time before they destroy infrastructure any more. but for now, that damage is not as strong as to prevent us supplying weapons to the east of ukraine and we continue to do that. we the east of ukraine and we continue to do that. ~ ., ., ,., , ., to do that. we have had reports that fuel storage — to do that. we have had reports that fuel storage facilities _ to do that. we have had reports that fuel storage facilities have _ to do that. we have had reports that fuel storage facilities have been - fuel storage facilities have been targeted. fuel storage, habitat is that in ukraine? do you have enough fuel? . , , that in ukraine? do you have enough fuel? ., , , ~ , _, that in ukraine? do you have enough fuel? ., , , a fuel? that is terrifying. as you can see, i fuel? that is terrifying. as you can see. i am — fuel? that is terrifying. as you can see. i am in _

fuel? that is terrifying. as you can see. i am in my — fuel? that is terrifying. as you can see, i am in my car— fuel? that is terrifying. as you can see, i am in my car and _ fuel? that is terrifying. as you can see, i am in my car and i - fuel? that is terrifying. as you can see, i am in my car and i didn't - see, i am in my carand i didn't manage to get in time to my home before this interview started because i was driving around trying to find some fuel for my car and i couldn't. there was not a single fuel station in kyiv that i could find. so that is a very big problem right now for all of us and i believe that will be one of the issues that will be discussed at the conference in poland, because without fuel that country cannot run and we do have of problems with fuel supplies right now. they are specifically them. they have destroyed eight oil refinery, and after that all the problems started. so that is a very big issue and we urgently need to sort that out as soon as possible.— urgently need to sort that out as soon as possible. there have been re orts of soon as possible. there have been reports of belarusian _ soon as possible. there have been reports of belarusian military - reports of belarusian military training exercises taking place. how are you reading that in ukraine? ukrainian ministry of defence and the intelligence i think that they have not seen it as a directory to

ukraine. of course belarus in military and a very strong and well equipped and they are not a battle trained at all. but of course that is just a show of what can come and that definitely is used to distract our troops from that big fight in the east. again, we are not seeing belarusian forces entering ukraine but it still means to us that we still have to keep some of our troops in the north of the country, just to make sure that doesn't happen. just to make sure that doesn't ha en. . ~' ,, just to make sure that doesn't hauen. . ~' , just to make sure that doesn't hauen. . ~ , . ., happen. thank you very much for that. and happen. thank you very much for that- and i _ happen. thank you very much for that. and i hope _ happen. thank you very much for that. and i hope that _ happen. thank you very much for that. and i hope that somehow i happen. thank you very much for l that. and i hope that somehow you get home in your car and you manage to frighten and stay safe on the road as well. thank you. thank you. and just to let you know that later ben brown will be answering your questions on the war in ukraine, live from kyiv. ben will have a range of panellists

to answering questions on a range of aspects of the conflict. you can get in touch on twitter, using the hashtag �*bbc your questions' — and you can email us on yourquestions@bbc. co. uk. the headlines on bbc news... ukrainian officials say russian forces have launched an all—out assault on the azovstal steelworks in mariupol — with forces fighting difficult and bloody battles energy giant, shell, has reported its highest ever quarterly profits — making over 7 billion pounds, in the first 3 months of the year. the bank of england is expected to increase the uk interest rate to i%. it follows the us central bank announcing its biggest rate increase in more than two decades yesterday.

we will look at that a little bit further. we will look at that a little bit further. the us central bank has raised interest rates by half a percentage point — the most aggressive increase in more than 20 years. the move is intended to tackle rapidly rising prices, fuelled by the war in ukraine. with us inflation at a ao—year high, further hikes are expected. meanwhile, interest rates in the uk are also expected to rise again today. the bank of england will release its latest decision at midday. analysts are predicting that the base rate could increase to i% — their highest level in 13 years. let's get more on this now with our economics correspondent andy verity. let's start off with what took place

in the us. was it expected or was it a shot? i in the us. was it expected or was it a shot? ~ ., , in the us. was it expected or was it a shot? ~ .,, , , a shot? i think it was broadly exnected _ a shot? i think it was broadly exnected they _ a shot? i think it was broadly expected they would - a shot? i think it was broadly expected they would do - a shot? i think it was broadly expected they would do a - a shot? i think it was broadlyj expected they would do a big a shot? i think it was broadly - expected they would do a big hike in rates and they are expected to do more. inflation in the united states is 8.5%. in the euro area it is 7.5%. in this country it is relatively mild, 7%. but nevertheless we can expect it to write by the. if you look at the cost of raw materials, they have gone up by 20% in the last year. largely because of the cost of fuel but also raw materials like steel and wood. this all started before the war in ukraine. you had a reopening of the economy post—pandemic when demand surged back and supply couldn't match it. that is when prices take off. the theory behind rising interest rates is that you take some of the heat out of the economy to put the brakes on. and the idea is if you make it more expensive to borrow money, people will do less borrowing and there will be less economic activity

and it will so the economy down when it is getting a bit overheated and the overheating is the inflation. but the sources of information here are global, not domestic, so there is very little that raising domestic interest rates can do to stop the global price of petrol from writing. in historical perspective, i%, the highest it has been in 13 years, just think about that. only i% for the last 13 years. that is the extraordinary thing. we have had this extraordinary period of ultralow interest rates. they were supposed to stay down there forjust a few months and they have been abnormally low for 13 years in the create its own distortions. the ultra cheap mortgage is pumped up house prices and those distortions will gradually abate as interest rate rise. but it will be hard for people who have to pay more for their mortgage. haifa people who have to pay more for their mortgage-— people who have to pay more for their mortgage. how have markets resonded their mortgage. how have markets responded to _ their mortgage. how have markets responded to what _ their mortgage. how have markets responded to what happened - their mortgage. how have markets responded to what happened in - their mortgage. how have markets| responded to what happened in the us? i responded to what happened in the us? 4' ., , , ., us? i think there has been no shock.

what will be — us? i think there has been no shock. what will be interesting _ us? i think there has been no shock. what will be interesting is _ us? i think there has been no shock. what will be interesting is if - what will be interesting is if the bank of england rate and by half a point or a quarter of a point. most people are predicting the latter. thank you. the british oil company shell has posted underlying profits of £7.3 billion between january and march. it's the company's highest quarterly figure, and triple the amount it made in the same period last year. shell's rival bp also revealed a sharp rise in income earlier this week. our international business correspondent theo leggett told us these companies are trading in energy products which have come under pressure because of the war in ukraine and the covid recovery. a year ago april of was trading at $65. today it is trading at $110. that is a huge increase and translate directly through into profits for the oil companies and shall has also been making money out of the fact that it produces a lot

of the fact that it produces a lot of refined product and refined products like diesel are relatively in short supply so you bring all of this together and rising prices for oil and gas as well make energy product as a whole, it means that companies are to buy those products are doing well. prime minister borisjohnson hosts japanese prime minister fumio kishida to bolster defence and trade cooperation, which is part of britain's post—brexit policy. today's talks will also focus on measures to put pressure on russian president vladimir putin over his country's invasion of ukraine. the two leaders will agree in principle a defence agreement allowing british and japanese forces to work together. with me now is our diplomatic correspondent james landale to give us more details about the significance of today's visit. it has been described as a landmark agreement. talk it has been described as a landmark aareement. . ~ it has been described as a landmark aareement. ., ,, ., it has been described as a landmark

agreement-— agreement. talk it through that. all agreements — agreement. talk it through that. all agreements have _ agreement. talk it through that. all agreements have that _ agreement. talk it through that. all agreements have that landmark - agreements have that landmark attach, but essentially what it is is a deepening of defence cooperation betweenjapan and the uk. it essentially is an access agreement making it easier for each other�*s forces to operate together, to do exercises together, training together, whether it be in combat are dealing with natural disasters. it is just smooth the way because whenever armies are military people get together, there is an awful lot of stuff that doesn't fit and if you have these agreements it makes it easier for them to cooperate and share information. essentially, there was already cooperation between uk and japanese forces but this is one that makes it deeper and easier and it is the first of its kind that japan has ever had with a european country. so it is a first. it has similar deals with the us. fin it has similar deals with the us. on the agenda is what is taking place

in ukraine as well.— in ukraine as well. what is really interesting _ in ukraine as well. what is really interesting about _ in ukraine as well. what is really interesting about that _ in ukraine as well. what is really interesting about that is - in ukraine as well. what is really interesting about that is japan, | interesting about that is japan, although it is in the far east, is lockstep with the west on this particular issue. much more than with other part of the world. with other part of the world they have sat back, they have let you guys get on with it. japan has said this affects us all, the idea of another nation of using force to affect bodice affects everyone around the world and that is why the japanese have imposed sanctions and condemned it in a speech this morning and the japanese prime minister has accused russians of war crimes and he has been particular about the threat of nuclear comfort because he comes from hiroshima. he nuclear comfort because he comes from hiroshima.— from hiroshima. he has signalled that they are _ from hiroshima. he has signalled that they are looking _ from hiroshima. he has signalled that they are looking at _ from hiroshima. he has signalled that they are looking at nuclear. that they are looking at nuclear energy. that they are looking at nuclear ener: . . , that they are looking at nuclear ener. ., ,,.,,. that they are looking at nuclear ener. ., , , ., energy. that is basically part of toda 's energy. that is basically part of today's discussion, _ energy. that is basically part of today's discussion, what - energy. that is basically part of i today's discussion, what pressure can be put on russia and what

alternative forms of energy are there? his solution is a lot more investment in nuclear energy. just a reminder to viewers in the uk — voting is under way in elections for local councils in great britain and the northern ireland assembly. if you're watching in the uk, you can go to the bbc news website for full details of the elections in your area. in the politics section, you can enter your postcode and get all the details. and there's full coverage of the results here on bbc news in the uk from 11:a0 tonight with huw edwards. this week 32—year old michael murray became the youngest boss of a top uk firm when he took over the running of the frasers retail empire, built up by sports direct tycoon mike ashley.

he's in line for a huge payout if he's successful. but as mr ashley's future son—in—law, he has faced accusations of nepotism, and suggestions that he lacks the experience for the job. he's been talking to emma simpson. this isn't your usual sports direct. no, this is all the hard work and the vision for the group and there will be many more of these to come. and it has cost a lot. it has cost 10 million to open this store, which is a huge investment in the high street. what is the strategy? what is the vision? what are you trying to do here? our vision is to serve our consumers with the world's best premium and luxury brands, and it has looked a bit like a scatter—gun approach over the past few years, acquiring brands like evans, jack wills, game etc. but if you take this store we are in today and you look at how we have pulled that together, whether it is game upstairs with the e—sports arena creating an environment for the grassroots

e—sports players to come and play in the store, adding a diversification and a reason to visit our stores, it is very clear we have just not communicated it well enough to the outside world. you are mike ashley's future son—in—law. what do you say to accusations of nepotism? i'd say the journey that we have come on i have definitely proved myself and my worth to the group, so i think we have achieved so much over the last few years. and what i would say about nepotism is mike would never put me up to a job which he didn't think that i could excel in, because i don't think it would be very popular around the dinner table. is he still pulling the strings? no, mike is not pulling the strings. from the day i became ceo, the final decision lies with me. what cross pressures are you facing across the business right now? well, logistics is going through the roof in terms of the container pricing,

energy bills are going through the roof, steel and manufacturing for the shop fit cost are increasing. that is no secret. that is public knowledge. but in terms of the pricing of the product, we are very much at mercy to our brand partners. they decide the price. the price they want to sell the goods for and we will increase the prices as and when the brands ask us or recommend us to do so. you are in line for a £100 million payout if you get the share price up to... if! if you get the share price up to £15 in three years. do you think you can do that? well, i wouldn't have signed up to it if i didn't believe. i believe we have got a very strong strategy. a bigger than uk market to go after. we have got opportunity in europe as well. and i am determined to get it there. senior doctors in england are being urged to postpone their retirements, in order to help reduce the record waiting lists. in a letter to hospital trusts, the nhs urged for retiring and recently retired doctors to be asked to continue working part—time orfrom home in virtual wards.

our health editor, hugh pym, is here. why are they doing this? is it really that bad?— why are they doing this? is it really that bad? well,, there is this backlog. — really that bad? well,, there is this backlog, this _ really that bad? well,, there is this backlog, this is _ really that bad? well,, there is this backlog, this is a _ really that bad? well,, there is this backlog, this is a policy - really that bad? well,, there is this backlog, this is a policy forj this backlog, this is a policy for england, more than 6 million people waiting for routine procedures and operations, and it is forecast to get higher partly because of the pandemic impact, all those operations which will postpone and cancelled, and now people are coming forward, but there was a growing waiting list before the pandemic. it is a problem for the uk and each of the nations at the moment. this is a policy for england, which is saying to doctors who have just retired or are about to, that staying on is something that would be helpful, they are being urged to consider it, either to help train other doctors or to do some outpatient appointments from home, for example

they will be advising patients on their recovery, or even being in and around operating theatres. and it shows, i think, around operating theatres. and it shows, ithink, they around operating theatres. and it shows, i think, they use the word in a letter that people should consider this urgently, how big a task they say is going to be, and they need to bring in more staff than they have got at the moment, who otherwise would have left, and it also applies to nurses as well who are approaching retirement. so the question is, will people agreed to do that, will they feel they have worked long and hard enough in the nhs and it is time to retire? i nhs and it is time to retire? i don't know if you had a chance to get a feel of the figures involved, in terms of it making a real difference.— in terms of it making a real difference. ~ , . difference. well, the general medical council _ difference. well, the general medical council say - difference. well, the general medical council say about. difference. well, the general- medical council say about 21,000 doctors are due to retire by the autumn, so you'd certainly make a bit of a difference if all of those agreed to stay on. but nhs providers, which represents trust in england, are saying this is a

welcome initiative but the basic problem, in their view, welcome initiative but the basic problem, in theirview, is welcome initiative but the basic problem, in their view, is a shortage of clinicians, be they doctors, nurses, therapists, right across the nhs, and that cannot be solved without a workforce plan for the next decade, because you can't just train people overnight. so i think it is one approach, but it is certainly not going to immediately make a huge difference to that backlog. we make a huge difference to that backlor. ~ ., ., . , backlog. we have heard recently, haven't we. _ backlog. we have heard recently, haven't we, hugh, _ backlog. we have heard recently, haven't we, hugh, about - backlog. we have heard recently, haven't we, hugh, about the - backlog. we have heard recently, i haven't we, hugh, about the waiting lists and the challenges for those who have been recently diagnosed with cancer and treating those patients? in terms of the shortages, how have they come about? weill. how have they come about? well, workforce planning _ how have they come about? well, workforce planning goes _ how have they come about? well, workforce planning goes back - how have they come about? in workforce planning goes back several years, so it was, arguably, problems before, not actually investing enoughin before, not actually investing enough in workforce planning. and the fact that a patient needs have

increased, we have an older population each year, there are more demands on the nhs, and more demands for treatment and a lot of it was held up during the pandemic, including a certain amount of cancer care, as well as routine operations, so all of that added together creates a bigger workload, but only a fairly finite number of nhs staff, although there are plans, certainly, to recruit more, but it will take time. , . ~ to recruit more, but it will take time. , ., ,, , ., , to recruit more, but it will take time. , ., ,, i. , . indeed, thank you. let's return to the situation in ukraine and the desperate negotiation to help evacuate hundreds of civilians from mariupol in the south east. it is called the world's attention. across the donbas region in the east of the country, many thousands of people remain trapped on the frontlines of war. rescue operations are under way, often led by volunteers, taking enormous personal risks to save others. andrew harding reports.

they sit in stunned silence on the school bus thatjust rescued them from hell. still weary with terror. two other buses with them did not make it back. "it was so scary," is all she can manage to say. thousands here are running the russian gauntlet, trying to escape from the kremlin's new offensive in eastern ukraine. but imagine escaping this. and then going back in again and again. that is what a group of remarkable volunteers are doing here in the donbas, including the man who filmed this. a british maths teacher, guy osborn, who came out last month to lend a hand. we have been going quite close to the front and evacuating huddled, bedridden people, a couple of blind

people, people with zimmer frames, people who otherwise may not be reached by perhaps bigger charities. it is quite a risk you are taking? i am quite scared most of the time. who wouldn't be? this footage was filmed by the driver of another school bus, one of the two that went missing. mikhail is a local history teacher. last friday, he left for a rescue mission and never came back. his daughter took to social media to beg for information. "please, bring my dad home," she said. and then, a surprise announcement on russian television. he has been captured alive. the rules of war prevent us from showing him being interrogated by russian forces, who accused him of being a spy

for the ukrainian army. then another surprise. while we are speaking to his wife, her phone rings. it is her husband, still held captive, but calling with important news. "he spoke about a prisoner exchange," she says. "my husband said the russians might swap him for prisoners held by our government." "soon, i hope." "so maybe everything will work out." perhaps it will. but for others still trapped in the town, no help at hand. this is as close as we can get to the town right now. the boom of artillery in the distance and shells landing the other side of this field. we are told all rescue efforts have now been suspended because of the danger, but that still leaves something like 2000 civilians trapped in this town, and we are told many more civilians caught in other front line towns. all evidence of a slow, grinding

conflict with no end in sight. andrew harding, bbc news, eastern ukraine. the city of zaporizhzhia has been welcoming civilians evacuated from the besieged azovstal steel plant in mariupol. i've been speaking to yulia kibkalo, from the media initiative of human rights, who has been hearing their stories. there were lots of people and they had horrendous experience. they were telling us about the conditions. they lived in bunkers under the azovstal steel plant and they said they haven't had enough water and food and even no lights. they went without lighting some bunkers. there were approximately hundreds of people in every bunker. children also. the smallest kids

were six months old. the troops helped those people to survive. they try to provide them with food under constant shelling, because they were shelling every day, 21w. they can't even get outside of the bunkers to see the sun and breathe fresh air. some of them have been in the bunker one and a half months without going outside. what kind of trauma has that left on them? the state is... some of them are depressed, disorientated. some of them were so depressed they couldn't even talk to us.

they just tried to escape further. some of them want to escape abroad because they are scared and do not feel safe in any part of ukraine right now. those steelworks are vast. people would have been hoping they could have got more people out. can you explain the practicalities? was there a list of who could get onto the bus? how was that agreed? this was a safe bus organised by the ukrainian government, the red cross and the un. they helped with their safe bus and stop shelling for a few days. but there are still civilians in the bunkers and approximately 200 people right now under the steel plant bunkers. our troops came and said you have a chance to leave.

grab your stuff and go. it was very rapid and we were speaking to a woman who said they were in a bunker, and they managed to get outside all of them. all 103, they managed to get outside. there are a lot of bunkers still with approximately 40, but nobody knows the exact quantity. they have no communication between each other because there is constant shelling and they cannot get outside. that is why they don't know how many people managed to survive from other bunkers and managed to leave. there was no choice procedure. everyone who managed to be taken from the bunkers were taken and used that safe passage.

a conference is taking place in warsaw today to mobilise the humanitarian effort in ukraine, attended by european commission president ursula von der leyen and high—profile european aid donors. the un estimates that more than 12 million people are in need of urgent humanitarian aid, including food, medical supplies and shelter. adam easton is in warsaw. hi, adam, so who is attending today? well, this conference, as you mentioned, isjust about well, this conference, as you mentioned, is just about to kick off, you mentioned ursula von der leyen, and also charles michel, the president of the european council, and it is being co—organised by the polish prime minister and the swedish prime minister, but they will also bejoined by the ukrainian prime minister at this event later today. as you mention, one of the reasons it is being held in poland because of the extraordinary number of people who have been displaced

because of russia's invasion of ukraine, more than a quarter of the ukrainian population has been displaced, more than 7 million internally, but more than 5 million have fled abroad, and that is almost two thirds of ukrainian children have been displaced by this war, and of the people who fled abroad, more than 3 million have gone to poland, and there are hundreds of thousands of people still gradually staying in private homes with polish people, and this is obviously a short—term solution to this crisis, it cannot go on for months and months, and what is urgently needed is vast amounts of humanitarian aid and assistance, not only for, obviously, the people who have fled ukraine, but all the people who remain in ukraine, and this is what it is trying to do. it follows a similar pledging conference which was organised by the european union and

canada, that was hosted here in poland last month, and it raised more than £9 billion from donations for humanitarian aid to ukraine. adam easton, in warsaw, thank you very much indeed, thank you. england's exams regulator, quual, will explore the use of online testing as part of its plans for the next three years. the move could be the first step on the path towards online gcses and a—levels and the potential introduction of adaptive testing, where simpler foundation tier papers are offered to those candidates thought unable to attain high grades. lets now speak with geoff barton, the general secretary of the association of school and college leaders. thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. what do you make of this proposal? i news. what do you make of this ro osal? ~ , , proposal? i think it is refreshing and lona proposal? i think it is refreshing and long overdue. _ proposal? i think it is refreshing and long overdue. i _ proposal? i think it is refreshing and long overdue. ithink- proposal? i think it is refreshing and long overdue. i think if- proposal? i think it is refreshing and long overdue. i think if the l and long overdue. i think if the pandemic has shown us anything about our schools and colleges, and it has shown a lot, one of the things is

this very heavy bureaucracy and reliance on paper and pencil examinations. you know, the average gcse student will sit something between 27 and 35 separate papers. and that is for a qualification which is not the end of their education, and so we welcome the fact that technology can do some of the heavy lifting, take some of the resource that currently goes into a fort knox style security that you have to have in schools, the amount of money spent on invigilating, all of money spent on invigilating, all of that stuff, if that can be done by technology and give young people better quality results, what is to argue against it? is better quality results, what is to argue against it?— better quality results, what is to argue against it? is there a system already being _ argue against it? is there a system already being used _ argue against it? is there a system already being used somewhere - argue against it? is there a system | already being used somewhere else argue against it? is there a system i already being used somewhere else in the world? ., ,., ., the world? there are, so there are examles the world? there are, so there are examples of _ the world? there are, so there are examples of english _ the world? there are, so there are examples of english language - the world? there are, so there are i examples of english language tests, for example, done in the far east and some other places, where there is no human interaction at all. quite interestingly, you sit in front of a computer, which is checking your identity, giving you questions, and it gives you more

difficult questions according to the answers you gave. there are universities with medical students where a student can be sitting an exam next to another student sitting the same exam but getting different questions. this seems to me growing up, sensible, using technology. it is probably going to give better feedback to young people as well, because what the computer is doing is really being able to gauge, in a way that human beings may not be able to, the quality of your learning. able to, the quality of your learning-— learning. we are all wired differently, _ learning. we are all wired differently, aren't - learning. we are all wired differently, aren't we? i learning. we are all wired i differently, aren't we? some learning. we are all wired _ differently, aren't we? some people are more creative, some love the numbers, the letters. do systems like this, you know, account for how differently people formulate information and processes? because there are so many conditions that people are living with which ijust being recognised, which computer systems like that help? i being recognised, which computer systems like that help?— being recognised, which computer systems like that help? i think they robabl do systems like that help? i think they probably do better _ systems like that help? i think they probably do better than _ systems like that help? i think they probably do better than going - systems like that help? i think they probably do better than going and i probably do better than going and doing your maths or english exam

where essentially you are getting the same paper in the same examination hall marks by the same examiner. this actually would start to do something thatjudges you in a more humane way. so for example, this summer, in gcses, one third of young people will get a grade three, two or one in the gcse marking system, which goes from nine to one, and a grade three will be deemed not to be a pass. those young people will feel they are failures. if we can start putting exams in perspective, that you are notjust going to be defined by what you do any exam, but you can bring the other skills and attributes that you have gained during your time and education, and digital technology can store that as well as being able tojudge can store that as well as being able to judge how you can store that as well as being able tojudge how you have done in maths or english, that would see my breakthrough, and it would mean education was giving a real sense of people's potential, theirfull ability, ratherthan people's potential, theirfull ability, rather than by defining you as a grade three or four?

ability, rather than by defining you as a grade three orfour? d0 ability, rather than by defining you as a grade three or four?— as a grade three or four? do you think ai as a grade three or four? do you think al is _ as a grade three or four? do you think ai is the _ as a grade three or four? do you think ai is the future _ as a grade three or four? do you think ai is the future of - as a grade three or four? do you i think ai is the future of education, and it would it answer the criticism about rigour in education, in that when we look at rigour, it should mean that the assessments system is a true reflection of the different strengths of a child? i a true reflection of the different strengths of a child?— strengths of a child? i think the roblem strengths of a child? i think the problem with — strengths of a child? i think the problem with the _ strengths of a child? i think the problem with the word - strengths of a child? i think the problem with the word rigour i strengths of a child? i think the problem with the word rigour is j strengths of a child? i think the - problem with the word rigour is that it is used as a word which means different things to different people. some people would say true rigour is a formal written exam in exam conditions, like in the past, and they would see what we are talking about here, adaptive assessment, use of technology, is not being rigorous. but i would argue that ultimately, in the way that we use technology for shopping and health care and all those things, education has been the last bastion where we have not used technology. if it enables young people and teachers to get better quality feedback on how they are doing, for the teacher to be able to doing, for the teacher to be able to do the things that way the human beings can do while the robots do the boring stuff, that is probably

going to reinvent education. you know, one thing that government is talking about at the moment is tutoring, getting an army of tutors to support young people, and there is already technology that can do really high quality tutoring, by judging what you do and do not know and giving feedback. there is the potential of a brave new world that will make teaching itself more attractive, but also, anywhere you are implying, give young people higher quality feedback and the fulfilment of making progress in their learning. we fulfilment of making progress in their learning.— fulfilment of making progress in their learning. we look forward to seeinr if their learning. we look forward to seeing if this— their learning. we look forward to seeing if this happens. _ their learning. we look forward to seeing if this happens. thank - their learning. we look forward to seeing if this happens. thank you | seeing if this happens. thank you very much indeed, thank you. there's growing evidence that spring is beginning earlier, after a woodland study suggests the timing of the season has shifted forward by three weeks, compared to the 1940s. researchers have come to that conclusion because the great tit birds that live in wytham woods near oxford are laying their eggs earlier than ever. victoria gill reports.

more than 500 plant species, 800 types of butterflies and moths, and in one woodland site of about a square mile, there are 1,200 specially built nest boxes. because wytham woods near oxford is a very special site of scientific interest. is this officially the most studied woodland in the world, do you think? i mean, it certainly must be one of them. we've published more than 350 papers just from the wytham tit project alone. oh, wow, that is impressive. this year marks the 75th anniversary of the wytham great tit project. scientists have systematically monitored every chick hatched in their nest boxes here since 19117. and we're about to meet the newest generation. wow, how many are there?

eight. that's a very standard size for a great tit. eight seems a lot. eight very hungry babies to feed. you can actually see most of their digestive systems. they are almost transparent. mouths open, "feed me, feed me". now these parents have got a lot of work to do. they have got to find about 10,000 caterpillars for these. 10,000 to get them to fledge? that's a lot of work. so i guess mum and dad will be out just gathering caterpillars now and just repeatedly back to the nest. all day long. people are quite divided on whether they think they are cute or ugly. i think they are cute—ugly. they're amazing. it is precisely because this has been a continuous study for all those decades that researchers have been able to see and to measure the change in the timing of spring here. the 75 years that we have been

studying the tits here, we have seen quite a marked shift in the timing of egg laying. so now they are laying about three weeks earlier than they were in the 1940s. that is a big shift. exactly, the tits here are actually managing to track the other members of their food chain quite well. so the caterpillars they feed on and the oak trees the caterpillars feed on. so both the caterpillars and the oaks have also shifted their timing earlier, so the whole sort of food chain has shifted earlier in the spring. the woods were bequeathed to oxford university by a wealthy localfamily back in 1942. since then, they have been the site of dozens of different scientific projects. but the longest running is the great tit study, which chris has been involved in for more than half a century. what has been your involvement with the studies here? i came in �*57. and it is changing, but from year to year, it's a lovely piece of woodland which is maintaining pretty much the same sort of thing.

and what are your reflections on the seasonal shift? my thoughts are that is fine. unless it gets to limits where the trees or the caterpillars or the birds can't do that shift because it's too big. and that is still the question... that is still a big question to answer and a very interesting one. the work here goes on. and whenever spring happens, it's a busy season for the birds and the scientists, because as our climate changes, these rare, decades—long studies that track exactly how the natural world responds become more important as time goes on. victoria gill, bbc news, wytham wood. a massive clean—up operation is under way in valencia, after record—breaking rainfall. dozens of cars were swallowed up, as floodwater cascaded through neighbourhoods of the city, leaving homes and businesses completely waterlogged. wendy urquhart reports. this used to be a road.

now it's a river. dozens of cars were swallowed up, as floodwater surged through the city's neighbourhoods, leaving homes and businesses completely saturated. "a lot of water fell last night," says this man. "just look at the state of the place." "last night, all the neighbours in the building were bailing out water for four hours," says another. firefighters faced an uphill struggle as they try to rescue drivers who were stranded in their cars. horrendous weather forcing authorities to shut down several as torrential rain battered the city for 2h hours nonstop. weather—wise, it is supposed to be dry and sunny for the next few days, which will give people the chance to clean up the mess that the floods have left behind. but they are unlikely to be able to salvage much because everything is completely waterlogged. wendy urquhart, bbc news.

meta platforms is set to open its first physical store. shoppers can try out and buy vr headsets. it's as the company plans to take its virtual reality space, the metaverse, mainstream. emily brown reports. living in a virtual space where people interact is now possible in a real meta store, the first of its kind opening in california. it is the latest push from meta platforms, the company that owns facebook, to promote mainstream interest in what it calls the metaverse. the company is investing heavily in the metaverse by developing hardware devices that provide access to the virtual world. here, consumers can buy headsets and interactive gadgets. last month, it said it would start testing tools for selling virtual experiences within its vr platform. the move comes after the tech giant reported its slowest revenue growth in a decade and warned of a potential revenue drop in the current quarter.

it also noted it will be ditching podcasts, just a year after launching the service. it is a time of change for the company which can be seen in reality or virtual reality by the two billion people who use meta platforms every day. emily brown, bbc news. four crew members from the international space station have been preparing to return to earth. the astronauts have said their goodbyes and entered the dragon space capsule in preparation for undocking. nasa says dragon will splash down off the coast of florida in about 2k hours.

hello again. high pressure is in charge of our weather for most of us today, but we do have some other fronts toppling around the top of it, and they are bringing in some rain, primarily to scotland, but we'll see some of that at times in northern ireland. but nonetheless, you will also see some sunny intervals. so still a lot of dry weather across england and wales, a wee bit more cloud bubbling up through the course of the afternoon, could produce an isolated shower in the midlands, south wales and the south west. ourfirst band of rain clears northern scotland, but we'll see some more rain coming in across the west, with some showers occasionally in northern ireland, temperatures 10—22 degrees. pollen levels are high across much of england and wales today, but low or moderate across the rest of the uk. now, through this evening and overnight, there'll be some clear skies developing,

which means we'll also see some patchy mist and fog, and a weather front bringing in heavier and more persistent rain across scotland and northern ireland. but with all this going on, it's not going to be a cold night. so as we head on into tomorrow, what you'll find is this weather front in scotland and northern ireland continues to sink southwards, and if anything, the rain to the west of the pennines turns that bit heavier, similarly so into north wales. behind that weather front, we see a return to bright spells, sunshine and showers, and ahead of it, after a sunny start, the cloud is going to continue to build across southern england. temperatures, 11—21 degrees. now through the course of friday evening and overnight, that weather front will continue southwards, taking some rain into southern england. and then saturday, you can see high pressure building. that little front not too far away, could produce the odd shower across parts of eastern scotland and north—east england. and it's also going to feel that bit cooler along the north sea coastline on saturday.

but a lot of dry weather, areas of cloud at times, but equally there will be some sunny intervals. and in the sunny intervals, temperatures could get up as high as 19 or 20 degrees in the south. into sunday, then, high pressure still firmly in charge of our weather, still a lot of dry conditions. again, there'll be areas of cloud, but we do have weather fronts moving around that high pressure. and that means for scotland and northern ireland, you will see rain at times, but temperatures ten in lerwick, 20 as we push to birmingham, london and also cardiff.

this is bbc news. i'm ben brown live in kyiv. the headlines: russian forces have reportedly pushed into the azovstal steelworks in mariupol, launching an all—out assault on the last stronghold of resistance in the city. moscow says it will open humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to leave, but ukraine has previously accused russian forces of carrying out attacks during announced ceasefires. we'll also explore how russian targeting of key infrastructure, striking roads and railways across ukraine, is impacting western weapons arriving into the country

this morning's other top stories on bbc news... the bank of england is expected to announce a rise in interest rates in around an hour's time. analysts expect the uk base rate to increase to 1%, a 13—year high. energy giant shell has reported its highest ever quarterly profits, making more than £7 billion in the first three months of the year. hello and welcome to bbc news. we're live in kyiv. it appears to be the endgame in the fight for control of the azovstal steelworks

in the southern city of mariupol, where some 2,000 ukrainians troops have been making a desperate last stand. ukraine says russian forces have launched an all—out assault on the steelworks, where about 200 civilians are still believed to be trapped, sheltering inside bunkers, including 30 children. moscow says humanitarian corridors will open for three days to allow people to leave. the hope is that civilians can escape the area to safety — but ukraine has previously accused russian forces of continuing attacks after announcing ceasefires. this is unverified footage released by russian—backed separatists. experts say it appears to show thermobaric or vaccum bombs being dropped on the industrialfacility. it is unclear when the footage was filmed. denys propokenko, commander of ukraine's azov brigade which is defending the steelworks,

said in a video message from there, that �*difficult and bloody battles' are now under way for the steelworks as russia tries to finally crush the last pocket of resistance in mariupol. meanwhile, an investigation by the associated press news agency suggests as many as 600 people were killed when russia bombed a theatre in mariupol theatre in march, where civilians were taking refuge. if that were true, that would make it the worst known loss of life in a single attack since the invasion began. my colleaguejoe inwood is in lviv, and has the latest on the fighting at the steelworks in mariupol. it could be in many ways what we are seeing now is the last days of the battle for mariupol. this is what we have heard talk about for weeks, but if it is true that the russians are

storming the azovstal steelworks plant, a huge underground network of bunkers and corridors, it will be bloody and brutal but probably will ultimately prove decisive, given the overwhelming force they can bring to bearin overwhelming force they can bring to bear in men, arms and we understand there are soldier still fighting. we heard from one of the azov command us this morning, he said they are under terrible conditions but appreciate the support they have received and will fight to the death. he says they will not surrender. but it is not just soldiers, we have civilians stuck their too and their fate is looking precarious as well if we do see this all out attack. so why is it crucial for the russians to do this? a number of things. firstly, in a couple of days, russia celebrates its victory day, the day when the soviets defeated the nazis, and for president putin to be able to say that they finally have control over all of mariupol, that would be a real pr coup for russia's

president. but there are also other strategic reasons. if they can control this area, they have that entire section of coast towards the crimea under control, but more importantly still it will fill up —— free up the soldiers currently in mariupol, they will be free to go enjoy the rest of their comrades in the east, in the attack on the donbas, and as we know, that is the final strategic aim of this russian invasion. joe inwood reporting. the kremlin is denying that russian forces are storming the azovstal steelworks. they denied it yesterday, they are denying it again now and say that humanitarian corridors are open. difficult to establish the veracity of that, obviously. in the last few days, russian forces have stepped up attacks

on infrastructure in ukraine. the russians want to stop western weapons coming into the country, so they're targeting roads and railways in particular. i've been looking at how this country is both defending and rebuilding it's vital infrastructure. day by day, hour by hour, russia is trying to dismantle the entire infrastructure of ukraine. roads, railways and power stations in particular. ukrainians repair what they can as soon as they can. desperate especially to keep supply routes open for weapons being brought in from the west. we are trying to repair everything where it is possible, as soon as possible, and we are successful in many cases. but anyway, ukraine is a large country. i wouldn't believe that they will succeed in order to cut all the supplies, so any way we will find a solution. often, bridges have been targets. sometimes the ukrainians themselves have had to blow up their own bridges to stop

russian troops advancing. the ukrainian government says around 300 bridges like this one have been destroyed in different parts of the country. in the short term, they want to replace damaged infrastructure like this with pontoon bridges, but all the ones they have are currently being used by the army, so they are appealing to the international community to supply them with more. in many parts of ukraine, there are long queues at the pumps, with petrol stations and fuel storage depots being bombed by the russians. we do have a problem with the oil and petrol. we will deal with it. one step at a time. this is my philosophy right now. if i think about how huge the picture is and how huge the problem is and how so many things are out of our control because it depends on the crazy dictator of putin in a bunker somewhere, then you lose control, you lose your mind. eventually, whenever this

war is finally over, a generous international aid plan will be needed to repair and rebuild this devastated country. but for now ukraine's priority isjust to keep patching up as much infrastructure as possible so it can continue to wage its war of survival. and ukraine really does see it as a desperate war of survival. the negotiation to evacuate hundreds of civilians from mariupol in the south has caught the world's attention. across the donbas region in the east of the country, many thousands of people remain trapped on the frontlines of war. rescue operations are under way, often led by volunteers, taking enormous personal risks to save others. andrew harding reports. they sit in stunned silence on the school bus thatjust

rescued them from hell. still weary with terror. two other buses with them did not make it back. "it was so scary," is all she can manage to say. thousands here are running the russian gauntlet, trying to escape from the kremlin's new offensive in eastern ukraine. but imagine escaping this. and then going back in again and again. that is what a group of remarkable volunteers are doing here in the donbas, including the man who filmed this. a british maths teacher, guy osborn, who came out last month to lend a hand. we have been going quite close to the front and evacuating huddled, bedridden people, a couple of blind people, people with zimmer frames, people who otherwise may not be

reached by perhaps bigger charities. it is quite a risk you are taking? i am quite scared most of the time. who wouldn't be? this footage was filmed by the driver of another school bus, one of the two that went missing. mikhail is a local history teacher. last friday, he left for a rescue mission and never came back. his daughter took to social media to beg for information. "please, bring my dad home," she said. and then, a surprise announcement on russian television. he has been captured alive. the rules of war prevent us from showing him being interrogated by russian forces, who accused him of being a spy for the ukrainian army. then another surprise.

while we are speaking to his wife, her phone rings. it is her husband, still held captive, but calling with important news. "he spoke about a prisoner exchange," she says. "my husband said the russians might swap him for prisoners held by our government. soon, i hope. so maybe everything will work out." perhaps it will. but for others still trapped in the town, no help at hand. this is as close as we can get to the town right now. the boom of artillery in the distance and shells landing the other side of this field. we are told all rescue efforts have now been suspended because of the danger, but that still leaves something like 2,000 civilians trapped in this town, and we are told many more civilians caught in other front line towns.

all evidence of a slow, grinding conflict with no end in sight. andrew harding, bbc news, eastern ukraine. now let's talk about the pressure that the international community is trying to put on russia. the eu has proposed a ban on russian oil imports by the end of the year. let's get the latest on that from our correspondent in brussels, bethany bell. there isn't complete eu unity on this, hungary in particular very dependent on russian oil, doesn't want that kind of band. yes. dependent on russian oil, doesn't want that kind of band.— dependent on russian oil, doesn't want that kind of band. yes, this is a complicated _ want that kind of band. yes, this is a complicated issue. _ want that kind of band. yes, this is a complicated issue. there - want that kind of band. yes, this is a complicated issue. there are - a complicated issue. there are countries like poland which want very, very strong embargoes and sanctions on russian energy, but other countries which are finding that much harder to take into account. we know that the european

commission has put forward this proposalfor a commission has put forward this proposal for a complete commission has put forward this proposalfor a complete ban on russian oil by the end of the year, and if they can get that across the finish line, that would be the toughest package of sanctions that they've imposed so far on russia. but four countries like hungary and slovakia, this is a big, big step. they say that in the current form, they can't accept this package of sanctions. one hungarian minister yesterday said it wasn't a question of political will, it was simply a matter of political reality, that it would destroy in his words the hungarian economy, and you have to think that slovakia and hungary are landlocked. it is more complicated for them to find alternative sources of oil that would be supplied by c, but what we understand, though, is that negotiations are continuing to try and find a compromise, that

possibly there could be more exemptions for countries like hungary and slovakia, also the czech republic saying that it wanted more time to find alternative sources, but what we're hearing from diplomatic sources here in brussels is that they still think that it is possible to find compromise on the possibility of an oil embargo, and the ambitious scenario would see this oil embargo come into force by next week. �* ., , this oil embargo come into force by next week-— this oil embargo come into force by next week. �* ., , ., ~' , ., next week. 0k, bethany, thank you ve much next week. 0k, bethany, thank you very much indeed. _ next week. 0k, bethany, thank you very much indeed. that's _ next week. 0k, bethany, thank you very much indeed. that's it - next week. 0k, bethany, thank you very much indeed. that's it from i next week. 0k, bethany, thank you i very much indeed. that's it from me, just to say throughout the day we will be monitoring and bringing you the very latest from mariupol, where ukraine says those fighters are now fighting a bloody battle for control of the azovstal steelworks, making that last stand. russia denying that their forces have stormed the plant, and they are saying, the russians,

that there is a three—day humanitarian corridor to get people out, so very different accounts and very difficult for us to ascertain the truth of what is going on there at the moment in mariupol, but we will bring you updates throughout the day here on bbc news. from kyiv, back to you now in london. the bbc�*s ben brown and all the rest of the team bringing you news from ukraine. we will be with them throughout the day. now, the news dominating the economic front. the us central bank has raised interest rates by half a percentage point — the most aggressive increase in more than 20 years. the move is intended to tackle rapidly rising prices fuelled by the war in ukraine. with us inflation at a ao—year high, further hikes are expected. meanwhile interest rates in the uk are also expected to rise again today. the bank of england will release its latest decision at midday. analysts are predicting that the base rate could increase to 1% —

their highest level in 13 years. our economics correspondent andy verity can tell us whether the increase in the us was expected or a bit of a shock. i think it was broadly expected that they would do a big hike in rates and they are expected to do a couple more. inflation in the united states is 8.5%. in the euro area it is 7.5%. in this country, it is relatively mild so far, the latest figure was 7%. nevertheless, we can expect it to rise further. if you look at the cost of raw materials, they have gone up by a record in the last year, up by 20%, and that is largely because of the cost of fuel but also other raw materials like steel, for example, and wood. and this all started before the war in ukraine. you had a reopening of the global economy post—pandemic when demand was suppressed. suddenly, demand surged back and supply couldn't rise to match it — that is when prices take off. the theory behind raising interest rates is that you take some of the heat out of the economy as a way of putting

the brakes on, if you like. and the idea is that, if you make it more expensive to borrow money, people will do less borrowing and there will be less economic activity and it will slow the economy down when it is getting a bit overheated. and the overheating is the inflation we see. but on the other hand, the sources of inflation here are global, not domestic. and so there is very little that raising domestic interest rates can do to stop the global price of petrol from rising. and you need to put this into a historic perspective, too. 1%, you were saying, the highest it has been in 13 years. just think about that. only 1% for the last 13 years, that is the extraordinary thing. we have had this extraordinary historic period of ultralow interest rates where they were cut to a record low in march 2009, that is the last time they were above 1%. and they were supposed to stay that way forjust a few months. they've been abnormally low now for 13 years, and that creates its own distortions. the ultra—cheap mortgage has pumped up house prices and those distortions will gradually abate as interest rates rise. but obviously it is going to be hard for people to pay more for their mortgage.

andy verity there. the british oil company shell has posted underlying profits of £7.3 billion between january and march. it's the company's highest quarterly figure, and triple the amount it made in the same period last year. shell's rival bp also revealed a sharp rise in income earlier this week. our international business correspondent theo leggett told us these companies are trading in energy products which have come under pressure because of the war in ukraine and the covid recovery. a year ago ayearagoa a year ago a barrel of oil was trading at around $65. today it is trading at around $65. today it is trading at around $65. today it is trading at $110. that is a huge increase, and it translates directly through profits for the oil companies, and shell has been making a lot of money out of the fact that it produces refined products, and refined products like diesel in short supply at the moment. bring all of this together, and rising prices for oil and gas as well, incidentally, energy products as a

whole, means that companies who supply those products doing well. theo leggett there. just a reminder voting is under way in elections for local councils in great britain and the northern ireland assembly. for full details of the elections in your area — go to the bbc news website. in the politics section — you can enter your postcode and get all the details. that's all at bbc.co.uk/news. and there's full coverage of the results here on bbc news from 11.110 tonight with huw edwards. queen elizabeth continues to cut back on public engagments because of mobility issues. buckingham palace today has announced that other members of the royal family will stand in for her majesty when this year's summer garden parties take place. it will be the first time the events have been held since the start of the covid—19 pandemic. details of who will attend are yet to be announced. jonny dymond, our royal correspondent, joins me now.

jonny, i guess this will be disappointed for those who might be invited to the garden parties and were hoping to see the queen, but perhaps not a surprise given all the cuts we have seen in her movements in recent weeks and months. yes. cuts we have seen in her movements in recent weeks and months.- in recent weeks and months. yes, i think ou in recent weeks and months. yes, i think you are _ in recent weeks and months. yes, i think you are right. _ in recent weeks and months. yes, i think you are right. i— in recent weeks and months. yes, i think you are right. i don't - in recent weeks and months. yes, i think you are right. i don't think - think you are right. i don't think it is a huge surprise, particularly because the role of the hosts, the members of the royal family, sometimes the queen, sometimes prince charles, sometimes other members of the royal family, prince charles, sometimes other members of the royalfamily, is particularly a standing one. these parties are large, hundreds of people attend them, and they are long, they go on for hours, and the queen or prince charles, whoever it is, tends to come down at a point that the party and circulate amongst guests, so it lasts a long time and it is a standing job, and we know that neither of those are things that neither of those are things that the queen is up for at the moment because she does have these mobility issues. it will be a disappointment to some. they will get to see other members of the royalfamily there. and

get to see other members of the royal family there. and as get to see other members of the royalfamily there. and as i get to see other members of the royal family there. and as i say, other members of the royal family have substituted now for some time for at least some of the garden parties each year, although it is difficult to recall a year when the queen hasn't gone to any garden parties. but it is simply a function of the fact that she is struggling, it is fair to say, to stand for long periods and move around for long periods and move around for long periods as well, or make any significant movement. the palace as ever is tight—lipped on her medical condition, they say that is a private matter, but they are making it clear she won't be turning up to this. and we will wait to find out if she is going to come to the state opening of parliament as well, which would be another rather challenging one for her, one suspects. flat would be another rather challenging one for her, one suspects.— one for her, one suspects. not to mention the _ one for her, one suspects. not to mention the big _ one for her, one suspects. not to mention the big jubilee _ one for her, one suspects. not to mention the big jubilee weekend | mention the big jubilee weekend ahead. jonny dymond, for now, thank you much. the uk government should feel deeply ashamed for not delivering

on its promise to relocate 20,000 afghans who worked with nato forces, to the uk, according to an ex—army boss. general sirjohn mccoll, who served in afghanistan, described the situation as appalling. the ministry of defence said more than 9,000 afghans and their dependants have been relocated so far. let's get more on this from our correspondent, sima kotecha. watmore have we heard on this? this is a scathing attack on the government who was not only deputy supreme commander of nato in europe, but he was also the uk's special envoy to afghanistan when hamid karzai was the president there. he was president in afghanistan from 2001 to 2006, and today he is saying at the government is accusing them of failing on their promise to relocate those afghans who fought alongside nato forces during the war there. he says that a commitment was made, and that that promise has been

broken. he says that ministers should feel deeply ashamed, and he has made a direct call to the prime minister to sort out what he says are failing resettlement programmes, are failing resettlement programmes, a programme that is there to rehouse and relocate these afghans who stood alongside nato forces, and i think we have got a clip of him here speaking to me earlier. we should reflect on the fact that there _ we should reflect on the fact that there are — we should reflect on the fact that there are afghans who have been hiding _ there are afghans who have been hiding in — there are afghans who have been hiding in sellers every hour of every— hiding in sellers every hour of every day— hiding in sellers every hour of every day since last year, in peril, worried _ every day since last year, in peril, worried for— every day since last year, in peril, worried for the safety of themselves and their_ worried for the safety of themselves and theirfamilies, and worried for the safety of themselves and their families, and we have a system _ and their families, and we have a system which is incapable of helping them _ system which is incapable of helping them and _ system which is incapable of helping them. and if that was the case, if i was a _ them. and if that was the case, if i was a minister, i would feel deeply ashamed — was a minister, i would feel deeply ashamed. so was a minister, i would feel deeply ashamed. ., ., , ashamed. so what has the government said quercia like _ ashamed. so what has the government said quercia like the _ ashamed. so what has the government said quercia like the government - ashamed. so what has the government said quercia like the government has i said quercia like the government has said quercia like the government has said that more than 9000 afghans

have been relocated to the uk along along with their dependents. it is working as quickly as possible to process these applications. we understand from charities that we have been speaking to that around 500 afghans who worked alongside the british forces still remain in afghanistan facing daily threats from the taliban, so general sir john mccoll has said it is an urgent situation that needs addressing now, and there should be no procrastination in this matter because it was a promise that was made succinctly to these people, that he says hasn't been kept to. sima kotecha, thank you very much indeed. we're going to talk more about this to ahmad — not his real name. he's an english teacher from kabul who worked for the british council in the city. he's still stuck there, more than eight months after trying to leave. to protect his identity we're not naming him or showing his face. thank you very much forjoining us. can you just tell us what situation

you are in at the moment? i am can you just tell us what situation you are in at the moment? i am in the worst condition, _ you are in at the moment? i am in the worst condition, i _ you are in at the moment? i am in the worst condition, i am - the worst condition, i am experiencing the worst condition. i haven't slept well, i have lost my confidence, i have lost my dreams for life, my hopes for life. i have lost everything, and i am so tired, nothing is left in my house, i have been here for the last eight months and from 2019 to the collapse of kabul, there was the corona pandemic, and i didn't have anything, i sold pandemic, and i didn't have anything, isold my pandemic, and i didn't have anything, i sold my wife's jewellery, i sold everything in the house including the freezer, all

these important things, and i tried different ways to get out when kabul collapsed, i went to the airport and still i couldn't make it. it was so tough, thousands of people were left, and getting on—board into the aeroplane was not so easy, and i couldn't take my wife there, and i couldn't take my wife there, and i couldn't make it, even i tried, i tried to go to pakistan, and i contacted the british consulate pakistan, and i contacted the british consulate in uk, and they said we can do nothing for you. i applied for the arab scheme, i received one reply but in the last six or seven months i haven't heard anything from them. so

six or seven months i haven't heard anything from them.— six or seven months i haven't heard anything from them. so you haven't been liven anything from them. so you haven't been given a _ anything from them. so you haven't been given a reason _ anything from them. so you haven't been given a reason as _ anything from them. so you haven't been given a reason as to _ anything from them. so you haven't been given a reason as to why - anything from them. so you haven't been given a reason as to why you i been given a reason as to why you are not able to come to the uk? do you think you should be able to, given your previous work? firstly i talked to the _ given your previous work? firstly i talked to the bbc, _ given your previous work? firstly i talked to the bbc, and _ given your previous work? firstly i talked to the bbc, and i _ given your previous work? firstly i talked to the bbc, and i said - given your previous work? firstly i talked to the bbc, and i said thatl talked to the bbc, and i said that the british only my life. i worked for them, the british only my life. i worked forthem, i the british only my life. i worked for them, i worked for the british council, one of the contractors, and our colleagues left afghanistan on the evacuation flights, and our boss, the head of the company, he is in the us now, and i think our manager is in germany, one of our colleagues in pakistan now. we are a few people left in kabul, we are hidden in the house. my case is one of the worst ones because the

british council contractors have advertised my pictures on a billboard, which is why i am a well—known face. the taliban know me, which is why it is very difficult for me to get out of the house, that is why i never go out of the house, i have changed my style, the house, i have changed my style, the way that i was going out, i try my best not to go out. my wife is going out to get stuff that we need, but rarely. i change my house seven or eight times because they knew where i come from, and they have followed me previously and they stopped me in 2020 before kabul collapsed, when, collapse they try to find me, i went to my brothers house but they beat my brother and

said that he was working for the english and he was teaching english language, he was teaching non—muslim language, he was teaching non—muslim language for the people, and my brother told them, i don't know where he is. 50 brother told them, i don't know where he is— brother told them, i don't know where he is. ., ., , ., ., where he is. so how do you feel now about the fact _ where he is. so how do you feel now about the fact that _ where he is. so how do you feel now about the fact that you _ where he is. so how do you feel now about the fact that you did _ where he is. so how do you feel now about the fact that you did help - about the fact that you did help britain in the past, but you are now not being given any help to flee for your own safety and come to the uk? how do you feel about that? that your own safety and come to the uk? how do you feel about that?- how do you feel about that? that is the worst feeling. _ how do you feel about that? that is the worst feeling. whenever - how do you feel about that? that is the worst feeling. whenever i - how do you feel about that? that is the worst feeling. whenever i think| the worst feeling. whenever i think about it, it makes me cry, because i worked for people, for the people that they didn't care about me, they cared about the dogs, cats, not humans. i work for english language about 15 years, i worked for british contractors for about three years, and they did nothing for me. i

worked for english—language, i worked for english—language, i worked for english people, i also worked for english people, i also worked for english people, i also worked for other companies that were related to americans, but i also applied for them, but i worked with them for a short time, three or four months, but i worked more for the british council, we were hired by the british council contractor which was active in kabul, and it was known as the british council. we were training students who were taking the answers to the british council. it was a known branch of the british council. can council. it was a known branch of the british council.— the british council. can i 'ust ask ou, the british council. can i 'ust ask you. finally. * the british council. can i 'ust ask you, finally, the t the british council. can i 'ust ask you, finally, the british _ the british council. can ijust ask. you, finally, the british government say that they have taken i think about 9000 people, they have tried to help in afghanistan where they can. i don't know whether you have seen that in the uk refugees

fleeing, people fleeing ukraine are being given visas to come here. do you think there is a difference in the way western countries are treating ukrainians compared with afghans? completely different. we gave them a helping hand so the priority should be given to afghans. we are in more danger than ukrainians. most of the aid is given to ukrainians. how about afghans? ukrainians can go to any european country and most can accept them. no one is accepting afghans. the uk government should be doing more for the afghans that work for them. they risked their lives, they did nothing for our people.

priority should be given to us. afghans are the ones that worked with the uk, the us or nato or other forces. priority should be given, all these countries should give priority to afghans, not ukrainians. ahmed, as we are colony of course, thank you for to us. —— as we are calling you, of course. i thank you for to us. -- as we are calling you, of course.— calling you, of course. i wish the vintaae calling you, of course. i wish the vintage officials _ calling you, of course. i wish the vintage officials heard _ calling you, of course. i wish the vintage officials heard my - calling you, of course. i wish the vintage officials heard my sound | calling you, of course. i wish the - vintage officials heard my sound and do something for my condition. i do something for my condition. i understood, i'm sure people will be watching and listening to that plea. more on newsnight later today. now it's time for a look

at the weather with carol kirkwood. feeling warmer than the last couple of days. fair weather developing, some sunshine. rain clearing easter in scotland only to be replaced by more rain in the north—west and the odd shower in northern ireland. still some sunny breaks developing here too, ten in the north to 2122 in the south. patchy mist and fog from it, knew where in scotland and northern ireland, some persistent rain, not going to be a cold night. not a cold start tomorrow, misty, patchy fog lifting rapidly, rinsing southwards, heavy across north—west england, cloud building ahead. scotland and northern ireland, return to sunshine and showers, how is between 11—21.

the headlines... russian forces have reportedly pushed into the azovstal steelworks in mariupol, launching an all—out assault on the last stronghold of resistance in the city. moscow denies any assault, and says it will open humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to leave. but ukraine has previously accused russian forces of carrying out attacks during announced ceasefires. the bank of england is expected to announce a rise in interest rates this lunchtime. analysts expect the uk base rate to increase to 1%, a 13 year high. energy giant, shell, has reported its highest ever quarterly profits — making more than seven billion pounds in the first three months of the year. retiring doctors in england are being urged to continue working, to help the nhs clear backlogs and deal with staff shortages.

i'm geeta guru—murthy. this is bbc news. sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre. good morning. pep guardiola said his manchester city side will have to �*process' their collapse in spain as they conceeded two goals in injury time and then another five minutes into extra time to lose the champions league semifinal to real madrid. it was one of the most stunning results in the competition's history and olly foster was there. what an extraordinary night. manchester city had been just a few minutes away from another champions league final. yes, real madrid have won a record 13 european titles, but this will haunt city for a long time. yes, it's tough for us. we cannot deny it. we were so close to the champions league final. we didn't play much good in the first half. we didn't find our game, but it's normal, you know, in this competition, it's normal. in the second half,

it was much better. and unfortunately we could not finish when we were close. after last week's seven—goal spectacular, the first half fell strangely flat, like aymeric laporte, and tensions rose quickly to the surface. city had the best of the first—half chances, but real were doing their best to rein them in. it was that type of match. inside the last 20 minutes, remember, city only needed a draw, but riyad mahrez lashed in a goal that would surely see them safely through to the final. jack grealish could have put some added gloss on city's night. not to worry, time was almost up. there's always time. in the final minute, the real substitute rodrygo gave them hope. a minute later, bedlam in the bernabeu. rodrygo again. extra time and maybe penalties would have to separate them, but instead it was just one penalty. benzema fouled by diaz, and the frenchman was the calmest amongst 60,000 who would go on to party long

into the madrid night. city can take absolutely no joy that they played their part to the full in one of the best european cup ties of all time. but this was supposed to be the season that they imposed their greatness on this competition. instead, it is the greatest, real who will take their place in the paris final against liverpool. ollie foster. the european drama comes thick and fast. the british sides in the europa league will be hoping to fare better than city. both are a goal down. rangers will have a raucous ibrox crowd hoping to help them overturn a 1—0 first leg semifinal deficit against rb leipzig. west ham will face an equally boistrous crowd as they head to eintract frankfurt having lost 2—1 at the london stadium last week. if they can change things in germnay, it'd be a first european final for the hammers since 1976.

if you get to the semifinal of the european competition, it is huge for anybody. i think for me as well, i want to take the team to the final, i am preparing the team to go to the final, we believe that if we get it right we can do so. we have to manage that and the players are in the same place as i am. we know frankfurt are in front and we have a bit to do. and it's also the semifinals of the inaugural europa conference league... leicester city are in the italian capital to face jose mourinho's roma. the tie is level at 1—1 after last weeks game at the king power stadium we had hoped to be bringing you an update of andy murray against world number one novak djokovic but in the last couple of hours murray has pulled out of the madrid open, citing illness. dan evans is currently in action against andrey rublev, you can follow his progress over on the bbc sport website but for now that's all from me.

thanks, isaac. prime minister borisjohnson is hosting japanese prime minister fumio kishida to discuss defence and trade cooperation which is part of britain's post—brexit policy. todays talks will also focus on measures to put pressure on russian president vladimir putin over his country's invasion of ukraine. the two leaders will agree in principle a defence agreement allowing british and japanese forces to work together. addressing uk business leaders at london's guildhall ahead of his meeting with mrjohnson, mr kishida said japan would utilise nuclear reactors to reduce its dependence on russian energy and spoke out against civilian attacks in ukraine. translation: rush's egregious aggression against ukraine is a clear violation of international law which prohibits the use of force against a nation double sovereignty

and integrity. attacks against innocent civilians violations of international law and acts amounting to more crimes are utterly unacceptable and i condemn them in the —— and amounting to more crimes. —— two more crimes. our diplomatic correspondent james landale has been explaning more about the significance of the meeting today. essentially an access agreement making it easier for each other�*s forces to do exercises together, operate together, do training together, weather it be combat or dealing with natural disasters, it smooths the way. whenever armies, military people get together, there is an awful lot of stuff that

doesn't fit. if you have these agreements it makes it easier to cooperate, share information. there are already cooperation between with japanese forces but this makes it deeper. it is a first with the european country, japan has similar gales with australia and the us. —— similar deals. senior doctors in england are being urged to postpone their retirements, in order to help reduce the record waiting—lists. in a letter to hospital trusts, the nhs urged for retiring and recently retired doctors to be asked to continue working part—time orfrom home in virtual wards. (read on) our health editor, hugh pym explains more. more than 6 million people waiting for routine procedures and operations, and it is forecast to get higher partly because of the pandemic impact, all those operations

which were postponed and cancelled, and now people are coming forward, but there was a growing waiting list before the pandemic. it is a problem for the uk and each of the nations at the moment. this is a policy for england, which is saying to doctors who have just retired or are about to, that staying on is something that would be helpful, they are being urged to consider it, either to help train other doctors or to do some outpatient appointments from home — for example they will be advising patients on their recovery, or even being in and around operating theatres. and it shows, i think, they use the word in the letter that people should consider this urgently, how big a task this is going to be, and they need to bring in more staff than they have got at the moment, who otherwise would have left, and it also applies to nurses as well who are approaching retirement. so the question is, will people agreed to do that, will they feel they have worked long

and hard enough in the nhs and it is time to retire? hugh pym. amber heard has taken the stand for the first time in the defamation trial brought by her former husband johnny depp, telling the court he repeatedly struck her whilst he was drunk and taking drugs. mr depp is suing ms heard over a story she wrote in which she described herself as a domestic abuse victim. he denies the allegations. david sillito has been following their case. will you please state your name? yes, it is amber laura heard. amber heard — over the last three and a half weeks, she has sat in court each day and listened as a series of witnesses and her ex—husband have described her as violent, emotionally unstable and a liar. this was finally her chance to give her side of the story. why are you here? i am here because my ex—husband is suing me for an op—ed i wrote. and how do you feel about that?

i... i struggle to have the words. i struggle to find the words to describe how painful this is. this is horrible. this has been... this is the most painful and difficult thing i've ever gone through. this the beginning of her story of a marriage that she says left her injured and traumatised. and sitting just feet away in front of her, the man who she says assaulted and abused her — johnny depp. do you remember the first time that he physically hit you? - yes. please tell the jury about it. she said johnny depp had been taking cocaine and it was a comment about one of his tattoos that led to abusive language and violence. he slapped me across the face. and i laughed.

i laughed because i... i didn't know what else to do. i thought this must be a joke. he said, "you think it's so funny?" and he slapped me again. it was, she says, just the beginning of years of abuse. he was the love of my life. and he was. he was. but he was also this other thing. he was also this other thing! and the other thing was awful. throughout it all, johnny depp sat head down with his notes and jellybeans. all of it, he says, is untrue, but his ex—wife has much more to say. david sillito, bbc news.

the headlines on bbc news. ukrainian officials say russian forces have launched an all—out assault on the azovstal steelworks in mariupol — with forces fighting difficult and bloody battles. the bank of england is expected to increase the uk interest rate to 1%, with an announcement on any change due this lunchtime. energy giant, shell, has reported its highest ever quarterly profits — making over £7 billion in the first three months of the year. this week, 32—year old michael murray became one of the youngest bosses of a top uk firm — when he took over the running of the frasers retail empire — built up by sports direct tycoon mike ashley. he's in line for a big payout if he's successful. but as mr ashley's future son—in—law — he has faced accusations of nepotism — and suggestions that he lacks

the experience for the job. he's been talking to emma simpson. this isn't your usual sports direct. no, this is all the hard work and the vision for the group and there will be many more of these to come. and it has cost a lot. it has cost 10 million to open this store, which is a huge investment in the high street. what is the strategy? what is the vision? what are you trying to do here? our vision is to serve our consumers with the worlds best premium and luxury brands, and it has looked a bit like a scatter—gun approach over the past few years, acquiring brands like evans, jack wills, game etc. but if you take this store we are in today and you look at how we have pulled that together, whether it is game upstairs with the e—ports arena creating an environment for the grassroots with the e—sports arena creating an environment for the grassroots e—sports players to come and play in the store,

adding a diversification and a reason to visit our stores, it is very clear we have just not communicated it well enough to the outside world. you are mike ashley's future son—in—law. what do you say to accusations of nepotism? i'd say the journey that we have come on i have definitely proved myself and my worth to the group, so i think we have achieved so much over the last few years. and what i would say about nepotism is, mike would never put me up to a job which he didn't think that i could excel in, because i don't think it would be very popular around the dinner table. is he still pulling the strings? no, mike is not pulling the strings. from the day i became ceo, the final decision lies with me. what cost pressures are you facing across the business right now? well, logistics is going through the roof in terms of the container pricing, energy bills are going through the roof, steel and manufacturing for the shop fit cost are increasing. that is no secret. that is public knowledge. but in terms of the pricing of the product, we are very much at mercy to our brand partners.

they decide the price. the price they want to sell the goods for and we will increase the prices as and when the brands ask us or recommend us to do so. you are in line for a £100 million payout if you get the share price up to... if! if you get the share price up to £15 in three years. do you think you can do that? well, i wouldn't have signed up to it if i didn't believe. i believe we have got a very strong strategy. a bigger than uk marketplace to go after. we have got opportunity in europe as well. and i am determined to get it there. michael murray talking to emma simpson. a long—running study of a woodland near oxford has shown that common features of spring are occurring up to three weeks earlier than they did eighty years ago. the scientists involved in the project tracked forty generations of a small species of bird. they found they were laying eggs earlier than ever. victoria gill reports.

more than 500 plant species, 800 types of butterflies and moths, and in one woodland site of about a square mile, there are 1,200 specially built nest boxes. because wytham woods near oxford is a very special site of scientific interest. is this officially the most studied woodland in the world, do you think? i mean, it certainly must be one of them. we've published more than 350 papers just from the wytham tit project alone. oh, wow, that is impressive. this year marks the 75th anniversary of the wytham great tit project. scientists have systematically monitored every chick hatched in their nest boxes here since 191l7. and we're about to meet the newest generation. wow, how many are there? eight. that's a very standard size for a great tit. eight seems a lot. eight very hungry babies to feed. you can actually see most

of their digestive systems. they are almost transparent. mouths open, "feed me, feed me". now these parents have got a lot of work to do. they have got to find about 10,000 caterpillars for these. 10,000 to get them to fledge? that's a lot of work. so i guess mum and dad will be out just gathering caterpillars now and just repeatedly back to the nest. all day long. people are quite divided on whether they think they are cute or ugly. i think they are cute—ugly. they're amazing. it is precisely because this has been a continuous study for all those decades that researchers have been able to see and to measure the change in the timing of spring here. the 75 years that we have been studying the tits here, we have seen quite a marked shift in the timing of egg laying. so now they are laying about three weeks earlier than they were in the 1940s. that is a big shift.

exactly, the tits here are actually managing to track the other members of their food chain quite well. so the caterpillars they feed on and the oak trees that the caterpillars feed on. so both the caterpillars and the oaks have also shifted their timing earlier, so the whole sort of food chain has shifted earlier in the spring. the woods were bequeathed to oxford university by a wealthy local family back in 1942. since then, they have been the site of dozens of different scientific projects. but the longest running is the great tit study, which chris has been involved in for more than half a century. what has been your involvement with the studies here? i came in �*57. and it is changing, but from year to year, it's a lovely piece of woodland which is maintaining pretty much the same sort of thing. and what are your reflections on the seasonal shift? my thoughts are that is fine. unless it gets to limits where the trees or the caterpillars or the birds can't do that shift because it's too big.

and that is still the question... that is still a big question to answer and a very interesting one. the work here goes on. and whenever spring happens, it's a busy season for the birds and the scientists, because as our climate changes, these rare, decades—long studies that track exactly how the natural world responds become more important as time goes on. victoria gill, bbc news, wytham wood. many fishermen dream of landing a big catch like a pike, or a carp — but not many will haul in a safe full of cash. that's exactly what happened to 15—year—old george when he was magnet fishing in the river witham in grantham. simon spark reports. what's that, then? an old plug. this is george. he's 15 years old and loves magnet fishing. magnet fishing is basically where

you throw a big magnet in a river, like this one down here. this is the one we use. it's a big one. it pulls around 1600 kilos. we just chuck the magnet in and pull it back in and, hopefully, there should be something good on the end. hopefully, there is something left in there. there is something there. you see how it locked on? look at this. what's that? it's a big old pulley, look. but as nice as this pulley find is, it's nothing compared to what he pulled out of the river just a few weeks ago. we were dragging the magnet in and we came across a safe. that's just about where the safe was, just there. we pulled the safe out the river. the door was sort of seized shut on it so we opened the door on it. and we tipped it out and obviously it was full of slop, still, but amongst all the slop there were some wallets. oh, dear, wallets. oh, god, look at all the england notes in it, look. and the last thing we pulled out

it was like a wallet this big. and it was full of australian dollars. 0h, dad! oh, dear. it's full of money! opening that wallet, it wasjustjaw—dropping. there were 2500 australian dollars in this wallet. the safe was stolen from businessman robert everett 22 years ago. no! well, it was a huge shock. i mean, if you take the story- where a couple of teenage urchins broke into the office, - stole the safe and ransacked the office, and then you have got another teenager who gives - it all back. it's a beautiful story. i mean, how could anybody feel, being robbed 22 years ago, and then you get a phone call saying somebody�*s been magnet fishing in the river and found your safe and it's got $2500 in it? we'd like to give it back. i mean that is an odd request, isn't it? it is just so good to see the warmth and the effort that denise -

and george and the family went to find me _ robert says the returned money will go to charity and george, as well as a small reward, has been offered the chance of work experience with robert in the future. but, for now, he is happy seeing what he can find next. a big old bit of metal. he will keep going, i think. that was simon spark reporting. hello again. high pressure is in charge of our weather for most of us today, but we do have some other fronts toppling around the top of it, and they are bringing in some rain, primarily to scotland, but we'll see some of that at times in northern ireland. but nonetheless, you will also see some sunny intervals. so still a lot of dry weather across england and wales, a wee bit more cloud bubbling up through the course of the afternoon, could produce an isolated shower in the midlands, south wales and the south west. ourfirst band of rain clears northern scotland, but we'll see some more rain coming in across the west, with some

showers occasionally in northern ireland, temperatures 10—22 degrees. pollen levels are high across much of england and wales today, but low or moderate across the rest of the uk. now, through this evening and overnight, there'll be some clear skies developing, which means we'll also see some patchy mist and fog, and a weather front bringing in heavier and more persistent rain across scotland and northern ireland. but with all this going on, it's not going to be a cold night. so as we head on into tomorrow, what you'll find is this weather front in scotland and northern ireland continues to sink southwards, and if anything, the rain to the west of the pennines turns that bit heavier, similarly so into north wales. behind that weather front, we see a return to bright spells, sunshine and showers, and ahead of it, after a sunny start, the cloud is going to continue to build across southern england. temperatures, 11—21 degrees. now through the course of friday evening and overnight, that weather front will continue southwards, taking some rain into southern england. and then saturday, you can see

high pressure building. that little front not too far away, could produce the odd shower across parts of eastern scotland and north—east england. and it's also going to feel that bit cooler along the north sea coastline on saturday. but a lot of dry weather, areas of cloud at times, but equally there will be some sunny intervals. and in the sunny intervals, temperatures could get up as high as 19 or 20 degrees in the south. into sunday, then, high pressure still firmly in charge of our weather, still a lot of dry conditions. again, there'll be areas of cloud, but we do have weather fronts moving around that high pressure. and that means for scotland and northern ireland, you will see rain at times, but temperatures ten in lerwick, 20 as we push to birmingham, london and also cardiff.

this is bbc news. i'm ben brown live in kyiv. the headlines... russian forces have reportedly pushed into the azovstal steelworks in mariupol. the ukrainian army says russia is trying to destroy remaining soldiers in an all—out assault on the last stronghold of resistance in the city. moscow denies any move on the plant, and says it is opening humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to leave. elsewhere i'll explore how russian targeting of key infrastructure, striking roads and railways across ukraine, is impacting deliveries of western aid and weapons. the other top stories

on bbc news at 11 o'clock. the bank of england is meeting to discuss changes to the base interest rate, as the cost of living soars. energy giant shell has reported its highest ever quarterly profits, making more than £7 billion in the first three months of the year. i'm ben brown in kyiv. it appears to be the endgame in the fight for control of the azovstal steelworks in the southern city of mariupol, where 2,000 ukrainians troops have been making a desperate last stand.

ukraine says russian forces have launched an all—out assault on the steelworks, where about 200 civilians are still believed to be sheltering inside bunkers, including 30 children. the kremlin denies its troops are storming the plant and says humanitarian corridors will be open for three days — to let people to leave. the hope is people civilians can escape but ukraine has previously accused russian forces of breaking promised ceasefires. this is unverified footage, released by russian—backed separatists. experts say it appears to show thermobaric or vaccum bombs being dropped on the industrialfacility. it is unclear when the footage was filmed. denys propokenko, commander of ukraine's azov brigade which is defending the steelworks, said in a video message from there,

that �*difficult and bloody battles' are now under way for the steelworks as russia tries finally to crush the last pocket of resistance in mariupol. meanwhile, an investigation by the associated press, suggests as many as 600 people were killed — when russia bombed a theatre in mariupol theatre in march, where civilians were taking refuge. that would make it the worst known loss of life, in a single attack, since the invasion began. in the last few days, russian forces have stepped up attacks on infrastructure in ukraine. moscow wants to stop western weapons coming into the country, so it's targeting roads and railways in particular. i've been looking at how this country is both defending and rebuilding it's vital infrastructure. day by day, hour by hour, russia is trying to dismantle the entire infrastructure of ukraine.

roads, railways and power stations in particular. ukrainians repair what they can as soon as they can. desperate especially to keep supply routes open for weapons being brought in from the west. we are trying to repair everything where it is possible, as soon as possible, and we are successful in many cases. but anyway, ukraine is a large country. i wouldn't believe that they will succeed in order to cut all the supplies, so any way we will find a solution. often, bridges have been targets. sometimes the ukrainians themselves have had to blow up their own bridges to stop russian troops advancing. the ukrainian government says around 300 bridges like this one have been destroyed in different parts of the country. in the short term, they want to replace damaged infrastructure like this with pontoon bridges, but all the ones they have are currently being used by the army, so they are appealing to the international community to supply them with more. in many parts of ukraine, there are long queues at the pumps,

with petrol stations and fuel storage depots being bombed by the russians. we do have a problem with the oil and petrol. we will deal with it. one step at a time. this is my philosophy right now. if i think about how huge the picture is and how huge the problem is and how so many things are out of our control because it depends on the crazy dictator of putin in a bunker somewhere, then you lose control, you lose your mind. eventually, whenever this war is finally over, a generous international aid plan will be needed to repair and rebuild this devastated country. but for now ukraine's priority isjust to keep patching up as much infrastructure as possible so it can continue to wage its war of survival.

the plight of the civilians in mariupol has certainly caught the attention of the world in the last few days. across the donbas region in the east of the country, many thousands of people remain trapped on the front lines of war. rescue operations are under way, often led by volunteers, taking enormous personal risks to save others. andrew harding reports. they sit in stunned silence on the school bus thatjust rescued them from hell. still weary with terror. two other buses with them did not make it back. "it was so scary," is all she can manage to say. thousands here are running the russian gauntlet, trying to escape from the kremlin's new offensive in eastern ukraine. but imagine escaping this.

and then going back in again and again. that is what a group of remarkable volunteers are doing here in the donbas, including the man who filmed this. a british maths teacher, guy osborn, who came out last month to lend a hand. we have been going quite close to the front and evacuating huddled, bedridden people, a couple of blind people, people with zimmer frames, people who otherwise may not be reached by perhaps bigger charities. it is quite a risk you are taking? i am quite scared most of the time. who wouldn't be? this footage was filmed by the driver of another school bus, one of the two that went missing. mikhail is a local history teacher. last friday, he left for a rescue mission and never came back.

his daughter took to social media to beg for information. "please, bring my dad home," she said. and then, a surprise announcement on russian television. he has been captured alive. the rules of war prevent us from showing him being interrogated by russian forces, who accused him of being a spy for the ukrainian army. then another surprise. while we are speaking to his wife, her phone rings. it is her husband, still held captive, but calling with important news. "he spoke about a prisoner exchange," she says. "my husband said the russians might swap him for prisoners held by our government. soon, i hope. so maybe everything will work out." perhaps it will.

but for others still trapped in the town, no help at hand. this is as close as we can get to the town right now. the boom of artillery in the distance and shells landing the other side of this field. we are told all rescue efforts have now been suspended because of the danger, but that still leaves something like 2,000 civilians trapped in this town, and we are told many more civilians caught in other front line towns. all evidence of a slow, grinding conflict with no end in sight. andrew harding, bbc news, eastern ukraine. let's talk now about the international community and the pressure they are trying to put on russian economically.

particularly some eu member states, on the decision to phase out russian crude oil over the next six months. earlier i spoke our correspondent in brussels, bethany bell who explained where there was disagreement to the policy. there are countries like poland which want very, very strong embargoes and sanctions on russian energy, but other countries which are finding that much harder to take into account. we know that the european commission has put forward this proposal for a complete ban on russian oil by the end of the year, and if they can get that across the finish line, that would be the toughest package of sanctions that they've imposed so far on russia. but for countries like hungary and slovakia, this is a big, big step.

they say that in the current form, they can't accept this package of sanctions. one hungarian minister yesterday said it wasn't a question of political will, it was simply a matter of political reality, that it would destroy in his words the hungarian economy, and you have to think that slovakia and hungary are landlocked. it is more complicated for them to find alternative sources of oil that would be supplied by sea, but what we understand, though, is that negotiations are continuing to try and find a compromise, that possibly there could be more exemptions for countries like hungary and slovakia, also the czech republic saying that it wanted more time to find alternative sources, but what we're hearing from diplomatic sources here in brussels is that they still think that it is possible to find compromise on the possibility of an oil embargo, and the ambitious scenario would see this oil embargo

come into force by next week. bethany bell reporting, and that's it from me here in kyiv. we will of course bring you latest updates throughout the day with reports on mariupol and the steelworks there, very difficult to know what is happening. ukraine says russian troops are storming the plant right now where there are 2000 fighters and 200 civilians trapped, but the russians are denying that their troops have entered the steelworks. we will bring you more details as we get them, but that is the latest from kyiv. back to you in the studio in london. ben brown and the team, many thanks to everyone there. the bank of england has raised interest rates to 1% from 0.75% and warned that inflation is set to peak at over 10% this year. let's cross live to the bank of england and to our economics

editor faisal islam. interesting information they have just released, faisal?— just released, faisal? yes, it is a big decision. _ just released, faisal? yes, it is a big decision, but _ just released, faisal? yes, it is a big decision, but as _ just released, faisal? yes, it is a big decision, but as much - just released, faisal? yes, it is a big decision, but as much news i just released, faisal? yes, it is a| big decision, but as much news is coming from the bank of england's new forecast as well, that as you say, a quarter percentage point rise, a fourth percentage rise, back up rise, a fourth percentage rise, back up to 1%, the highest level we have seen since 2009. but in this forecast, a dramatic downgrade of the prospects for the uk economy in particular next year, now forecasting that the economy will shrink next year, and although the bank of england hasn't forecast a technical formal recession, that would be two consecutive quarters of negative growth, instead it forecasts two quarters, just not next to each other, that means the risks of a recession are heightened

in this forecast, they are pinning this on the cost of living crisis being worse than they had forecast in february, with energy bills going up in february, with energy bills going up more than they had expected in february, and on some withdrawal of support measures next year too. and on top of that, inflation is forecast at double digits, above 10% at the end of this year, a huge number when you consider the target for this place is 2% inflation. 10%, haven't seen that since 1982. so economic figures are not often dramatic, but this is a dramatic set of forecasts from the bank of england as they raise rates again to try and contain inflation, but you can just see and what i have described the double dilemma. we talk about tight ropes between growth in the economy and trying to temper inflation. this is like trying to cycle a bike across a tightrope, down a tight rope, may be a tandem, with rishi sunak in the

back seat trying to get that balancing act between an economy that they fear will shrink essentially, although not formally recession, and recession at levels we haven't seen in 40 years. bend we haven't seen in 40 years. and when we say _ we haven't seen in 40 years. and when we say the _ we haven't seen in 40 years. and when we say the economy will shrink next year, what does that mean for example forjobs? that next year, what does that mean for example forjobs?— example for “obs? that is a very aood example forjobs? that is a very good question. _ example forjobs? that is a very good question, because - example forjobs? that is a very good question, because the - example forjobs? that is a very i good question, because the shining light in this forecast, and we have seenin light in this forecast, and we have seen in the figure so far, have been thejobs figures. they seen in the figure so far, have been the jobs figures. they are still expected more or less over the next few months to stay below the 4% mark, that is a very low rate of unemployment, vacancies are still high, and that is the beam of light in the economy right now, is definitely the jobs market. in the economy right now, is definitely thejobs market. but in the economy right now, is definitely the jobs market. but even there in this forecast over the next couple of years, as the economy slows, starts to recover but not particularly strongly, they project that unemployment could rise above

5% over the next couple of years. so, yes, it will matter, the fact that the economy could fall. what we're seeing essentially is what everyone is at home. where you have bills, people's direct debits going up bills, people's direct debits going up from say £100 a month for an average you fuel bill, people we have met seeing that double or treble, that is taking thousands of pounds out of household disposable income, and of course that is going to rebound back on the economy, and thatis to rebound back on the economy, and that is what we are seeing now. we are seeing a squeeze on living standards reflected back on the overall economy, what people can spend. and it is terrible timing, because itjust happens at the moment when the economy was reopening after the pandemic, where retailers and restaurant owners and people running hospitality businesses were starting to think, we are over covid, and we can start to get back to normal. you now have

this acute hit, and the bank of england reflecting that that will reflect back on the economy, a bit like the equivalent of a tax rise. obviously covid numbers are still there of course in the background too. in terms of whether this interest rate rise is going to help with the inflation numbers and all our shopping bills, with the inflation numbers and all ourshopping bills, is with the inflation numbers and all our shopping bills, is that clear? are we looking at potentially more rate rises quickly? can you still hear us? it rate rises quickly? can you still hear us? ., ., rate rises quickly? can you still hear us? ~ rate rises quickly? can you still hear us? ,, ., rate rises quickly? can you still hear us? ~ ., hear us? it looks like we have lost that line sadly. _ hear us? it looks like we have lost that line sadly. i _ hear us? it looks like we have lost that line sadly. i think— hear us? it looks like we have lost that line sadly. i think you - hear us? it looks like we have lost that line sadly. i think you are - that line sadly. i think you are asking a question about rising prices, and the inflation rate up at 10% is again obvious for people looking at their energy bills and also their food looking at their energy bills and also theirfood bills looking at their energy bills and also their food bills are now affected, that is five times the target, and it means that we were expecting to see prices go up, inflation rates go up eight or 9%,

but it won't be the peak in this coming few weeks. so a very, very difficult balancing act. walking a tightrope, cycling a tightrope is a more appropriate analogy to try and work out how you balance reining in inflation at these huge levels, never intended levels, at the same time as trying to have some sort of soft landing for an economy that is only delicately reopening after the pandemic. only delicately reopening after the andemic. ., , ., ., ~' pandemic. faisal islam, thank you very much — pandemic. faisal islam, thank you very much indeed, _ pandemic. faisal islam, thank you very much indeed, if— pandemic. faisal islam, thank you very much indeed, if you - pandemic. faisal islam, thank you very much indeed, if you can - pandemic. faisal islam, thank you very much indeed, if you can hear| very much indeed, if you can hear us, outside the bank of england. just a reminder voting is under way in elections for local councils in great britain and the northern ireland assembly. for full details of the elections in your area, go to the bbc news website. in the politics section, you can enter your postcode and get all the details. that's all at bbc.co.uk/news. and there's full coverage of the results here on bbc news from 11.40 tonight with huw edwards.

the headlines on bbc news... ukrainian officials say russian forces have launched an all—out assault on the azovstal steelworks in mariupol — but moscow denies any move on the plant uk interest rates rise to 1%, the highest level since 2009. the bank of england also warns that inflation will peak at more than ten % this year energy giant shell has reported its highest ever quarterly profits — making over £7 billion, in the first 3 months of the year. sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here's isaac. real madrid put a pin in all the chat about an all english champions league final this year. the spanish champions stunned manchester city to book a date with liverpool in paris. city threw away a 2—goal aggregate

lead to lose 6—5 overall. pep guardiola's side led 4—3 from a pulsating first leg, and looked to have made the final when riyad mahrez scored in the second half. but real then staged an astonishing fightback with 2 late goals from rodrygo to force extra—time. city were reeling, ruben diaz brought down karim benzema and the frenchman stepped up to book real�*s place in the final against liverpool. guardiola and his side left to concentrate on their push for the premier league title. what tends to happen with managers is when everybody is down here and they are on the floor, some of them crying as well, he has got to be here, and he has got to be saying, now we have just got to focus on the job in hand. there is only whatever games there are left, and we can do it. the european drama comes thick and fast. the british sides in the europa league will be hoping to fair better than city.

both are a goal down. rangers will have a raucous ibrox crowd hoping to help them overturn a 1—0 first leg semi—final deficit against rb leipzig. west ham will face an equally boistrous crowd as they head to eintract frankfurt having lost 2—1 at the london stadium last week. if they can change things in germnay, it'd be a first european final for the hammers since 1976. and it's also the semi—finals of the inaugural europa conference league. leicester city are in the italian capital to face jose mourinho's roma. at the king power stadium. weave also showed not just the experience but we have shown we can complete _ experience but we have shown we can complete the task, so you have to embrace _ complete the task, so you have to embrace that. it is where you play, you want— embrace that. it is where you play, you want to — embrace that. it is where you play, you want to take it steady, most of the sport _ you want to take it steady, most of the sport will be against you, but that is— the sport will be against you, but that is ok — the sport will be against you, but that is ok. we have won games before in those _ that is ok. we have won games before in those circumstances, and we will io in those circumstances, and we will go out _ in those circumstances, and we will go out there — in those circumstances, and we will go out there with no fear, looking to win _ go out there with no fear, looking to win the — go out there with no fear, looking to win the game, and that's how our mindset— to win the game, and that's how our mindset will— to win the game, and that's how our mindset will be.

we had hoped to be bringing you an update of andy murray against world number one novak djokovic but murray pulled out of the madrid open earlier this morning, citing illness. dan evans is currently in action against andrey rublev. they're into a tie break in the opening set, you can follow his progress over on the bbc sport website but for now that's all from me. isaac, thank you very much indeed. the british oil company shell has posted underlying profits of £7.3 billion between january and march. it's the company's highest quarterly figure, and triple the amount it made in the same period last year. shell's rival bp also revealed a sharp rise in income earlier this week. our international business correspondent theo leggett told us these companies are trading in energy products which have come under pressure because of the war in ukraine and the covid recovery. a year ago a barrel of oil was trading at around $65. today it is trading at $110. that is a huge increase,

and it translates directly through pretty much into profits for the oil companies, and shell has been making a lot of money out of the fact that it produces refined products, and refined products like diesel in relatively short supply at the moment. so you bring all of this together, and rising prices for oil and gas as well, incidentally, energy products as a whole, means that companies who supply those products doing well. theo leggett there. senior doctors in england are being urged to postpone their retirements in order to help reduce the record waiting lists. in a letter to hospital trusts, the nhs urged for retiring and recently retired doctors to be asked to continue working part—time orfrom home in virtual wards. our health editor, hugh pym is here. i was just saying to you before we came on that my dad, aged 88 is a consultant and is still working. it is a good idea, isn't it? late]!!! consultant and is still working. it is a good idea, isn't it? well done him to carry _ is a good idea, isn't it? well done him to carry on — is a good idea, isn't it? well done him to carry on after _ is a good idea, isn't it? well done him to carry on after no _ is a good idea, isn't it? well done him to carry on after no doubt - is a good idea, isn't it? well done i him to carry on after no doubt many hours, days, months and years in the

nhs to still be practising. so what nhs to still be practising. so what nhs england are saying is they were doctors who are coming up to retirement or who have just retired who they need really to carry on because of this backlog of elective surgery and procedures which were postponed, nearly 6.2 million. and the general medical council which regulates doctors says 21,000 in england will give up their licences in september as a result of retirement, and that is why nhs england is saying that they could carry on. so what are they being asked to do or being urged to do? going into the bank, that means a sort of freelance pot which could be called upon in freelance operations, to help with training junior

doctors, talking about the recovery pathway leading up to a procedure, and also trying to change existing consulta nts' and also trying to change existing consultants' contracts and also trying to change existing consulta nts' contracts to and also trying to change existing consultants' contracts to enable hospitals to be a bit more flexible and using them. i should say this offer to retiring staff also applies to nurses. �* ~' ., offer to retiring staff also applies to nurses. �* ~ ., ., to nurses. and we know that there has been a — to nurses. and we know that there has been a shortage _ to nurses. and we know that there has been a shortage of— to nurses. and we know that there has been a shortage of medical. to nurses. and we know that there i has been a shortage of medical staff for a long time. there is also a financial disincentive potentially for doctors staying in the workforce?— for doctors staying in the workforce? , , workforce? there is a pensions issue, it workforce? there is a pensions issue. it is _ workforce? there is a pensions issue. it is very _ workforce? there is a pensions issue, it is very complicated i workforce? there is a pensions| issue, it is very complicated but workforce? there is a pensions i issue, it is very complicated but in a nutshell it means that pension pot rules have been reached the ceiling, and after that, there is a tax implication, so carrying on working could affect doctors' pensions, and some of them are retiring because they feel they have got their maximum pension and they don't want to carry on, and there are issues of burn—out and they just want to relax a bit, which is entirely understandable. nhs england sources say they can deal with that, but they will need to work fast to

convince senior doctors that they can address that pensions issue, and nhs providers, which represents trust in england, have said it is a welcome initiative but it doesn't get away from the fact that there just aren't enough staff in many areas of the nhs, and of course it takes years to train new doctors and nurses and therapists.— nurses and therapists. given that there has been _ nurses and therapists. given that there has been a _ nurses and therapists. given that there has been a shortage - nurses and therapists. given that there has been a shortage for - nurses and therapists. given that i there has been a shortage for some time, why are not more staff being trained, youngsters who are very keen to go to medical schools and go into nursing, and how have things changed in terms of getting international staff to come and work here? .., international staff to come and work here? ,., . ~' international staff to come and work here? , ., international staff to come and work here? ., , .,, here? going back severalyears, workforce _ here? going back severalyears, workforce planning _ here? going back severalyears, workforce planning takes - here? going back severalyears, workforce planning takes time, | here? going back severalyears, i workforce planning takes time, so what we have now to a certain extent reflects decisions made. it takes seven years to train a doctor. decisions made sometime before about funding. you have also got demand having increased as the population gets older, an older patients are needing more care, and of course the

pandemic resulted in a lot of cancelled work, and surgeons not being able to do what they normally do, and now this backlog, so it has been described by some as a perfect storm, and certainly needs a lot of thought, but the absolute immediate priority for nhs england seems to be to urge doctors and nurses who are retiring to stay in there, and no doubt your father will carry on, but good luck to him! he doubt your father will carry on, but good luck to him!— good luck to him! he is, he loves it, he refuses _ good luck to him! he is, he loves it, he refuses to _ good luck to him! he is, he loves it, he refuses to stop. _ good luck to him! he is, he loves it, he refuses to stop. well - good luck to him! he is, he loves it, he refuses to stop. well done | it, he refuses to stop. well done him. it, he refuses to stop. well done him- thank— it, he refuses to stop. well done him. thank you _ it, he refuses to stop. well done him. thank you very _ it, he refuses to stop. well done him. thank you very much, - it, he refuses to stop. well done | him. thank you very much, hugh it, he refuses to stop. well done - him. thank you very much, hugh pym. queen elizabeth continues to cut back on public engagments because of mobility issues. buckingham palace today announced that other members of the royal family will stand in for her majesty when this year's summer garden parties take place. it will be the first time the events have been held since the start of the covid—19 pandemic — details of who will attend are yet to be announced. jonny dymond, our royal correspondent, explains more.

the role of the hosts, the members of the royalfamily, sometimes the queen, sometimes prince charles, sometimes other members of the royalfamily, is particularly a standing one. these parties are large, hundreds of people attend them, and they are long, they go on for hours, and the queen or prince charles, whoever it is, tends to come down at a point of the party and circulate amongst guests, so it lasts a long time and it is a standing job, and we know that neither of those are things that the queen is up for at the moment because she does have these mobility issues. it will be a disappointment to some. they will get to see other members of the royal family there. and as i say, other members of the royal family have substituted now for some time for at least some of the garden parties each year, although it is difficult to recall a year when the queen hasn't gone to any garden parties. but it is simply a function of the fact that she is struggling, it is fair to say, to stand for long periods and move around for long periods as well,

or make any significant movement. the palace as ever is tight—lipped on her medical condition, they say that's a private matter, but they are making it clear she won't be turning up to this. and we'll wait to find out if she is going to come to the state opening of parliament as well, which would be another rather challenging one for her, one suspects. jonny dymond, our royal correspondent. now it's time for a look at the weather. helen, i have got some address on because i was feeling optimistic. are we going to get sunshine? this was edgbaston earlier, but i hope you have brought your umbrella just in case because there is the outside chance of a shower. we do have more cloud further north, northern ireland may well brighten up northern ireland may well brighten up a little this afternoon but there is a lot of cloud across scotland, particularly north and west, so the best of any brightness will be in the east, but quite warm, more

widely than yesterday, and that is a theme that will continue for the rest of this week and into the weekend. but that rain takes shape rather more overnight, looking quite wet for northern ireland and for scotland, and of course we need some rain, but that is on its way tonight in the north, in the south a little nest, a few spots of drizzle, nothing useful really around the coast of wales in the south—west, but through the day we will get some usable rain across northern england as it moves away for scotland and northern ireland, and in across wales, but there is some uncertainty as to how much we will get of that rain when it finally arrives in the south tomorrow evening and tomorrow night. ahead of it, 21 degrees, behind at 18 in the sunshine too.

hello this is bbc news with geeta guru—murthy. the headlines... the ukrainian army says russia is trying to destroy remaining soldiers at the azovstal steelworks in mariupol in an all—out assault on site. moscow denies any move on the plant, and says it is opening humanitarian corridors to allow

civilians to leave. interest rates increase to 1% — the highest level since 2009. the bank of england warns inflation will grow past 10% this year as fuel, energy and food costs soar. energy giant shell has reported its highest ever quarterly profits — making more than £7 billion in the first three months of the year. voters in scotland, wales and much of england, are taking part in local elections today. in northern ireland, people are choosing a new assembly. retiring doctors in england are being urged to continue working, to help the nhs clear backlogs and deal with staff shortages. a new study suggests spring is starting sooner than it used to — with great tits near oxford laying their eggs earlier than ever.

the japanese prime minister is in the uk for talks with prime ministerjohnson. this is mr kishida's first visit as pm and it has been marked with a raf flypast and a guard of honour. the flypast included two typhoon fighter jets and the raf voyager vespina. mr kishida took office in october last year, succeeding yoshihide suga who stepped down after just a year in office. addressing uk business leaders at london's guildhall ahead of his meeting with mrjohnson, mr kishida said japan would utilise nuclear reactors to reduce its dependence on russian energy and spoke out against civilian attacks in ukraine. translation: russia's egregious aggression against ukraine - is a clear violation of international law, which prohibits the use of force against a nation's double against a nation's sovereignty and territorial integrity. we have also witnessed the appalling, inhumane attacks

against innocent civilians in cities such as bucha. the violations of international law and acts amounting to war crimes are utterly unacceptable and i condem them in the strongest terms. our diplomatic correspondent james landale has been explaning more about the significance of the meeting today. essentially, what it is is a deepening of defence cooperation betweenjapan and the uk. it essentially is an access agreement making it easier for each other�*s forces to operate together, to do exercises together, training together, whether it be on combat or dealing with natural disasters. it is just smoothes the way because whenever armies are military people get together,

there is an awful lot of stuff that doesn't fit and if you have these agreements it makes it easier for them to cooperate and share information. essentially, there was already cooperation between uk and japanese forces, exercises before, but this is one that makes it deeper and easier and it is the first of its kind that japan has ever had with a european country. so it is a first from that point of view. it has similar deals with the us and australia. the uk government should feel deeply ashamed' for not delivering on its promise to relocate 20,000 afghans, who worked with nato forces, to the uk — according to an ex—army boss. general sirjohn mccoll, who served in afghanistan, described the situation as appalling. the ministry of defence said more than 9,000 afghans and their dependants have been relocated so far. our correspondent sima kotecha gave us more detail. he was in afghanistan from around 2001 to 2006. and today what he said is that the government, he's accusing them of failing on their promise to relocate those afghans who fought alongside nato's

forces during the war there. he says that a commitment was made and that that promise has been broken. he says that ministers should feel deeply ashamed and he has made a direct call to the prime minister. so to sort out what he says a failing resettlement programme that is there to house and relocate these afghans, as i said, who stood alongside nato's forces. and i think we've got a clip of him here speaking to me earlier. i think they should reflect on the fact that we have families who have been in hiding in afghanistan since september last year, in cellars, every day, every day, every hour of every day, in peril, worried for the safety of themselves and their families. and we have a system which is incapable of helping them. and if that was the case, if i was a minister,

i would feel deeply ashamed. so what has the government said? well, the government is saying that more than 9,000 afghans have been relocated to the uk along with their dependents. it says that it's working as quickly as possible to process these applications. now we understand from charities that we've been speaking to around 500 afghans who worked alongside the british forces still remain in afghanistan, mainly, facing daily threats from the taliban. so general mccoll has said it's an urgent situation, it's a situation that needs addressing now and there should be no procrastination in this matter because it is a promise that was made very succinctly to these people that he says hasn't been kept to. sima kotecha. this week, 32—year old michael murray became one of the youngest bosses of a top uk firm — when he took over the running of the frasers retail empire — built up by sports direct tycoon mike ashley. he's in line for a big

payout if he's successful. but as mr ashley's future son—in—law — he has faced accusations of nepotism and suggestions that he lacks the experience for the job. he's been talking to emma simpson. this isn't your usual sports direct. no, this is all the hard work and the vision for the group and there will be many more of these to come. and it has cost a lot. it has cost ten million to open this store, which is a huge investment in the high street. what is the strategy? what is the vision? what are you trying to do here? our vision is to serve our consumers with the worlds best with the world's best sports, premium and luxury brands, and it has looked a bit like a scatter—gun approach over the past few years, acquiring brands like evans, jack wills, game etc. but if you take this store we are in today and you look at how we have pulled that together, whether it is game upstairs with the e—sports arena, creating

an environment for the grassroots e—sports players to come and play in the store, adding a diversification and a reason to visit our stores, it is very clear we have just not communicated it well enough to the outside world. you are mike ashley's future son—in—law. what do you say to accusations of nepotism? i'd say the journey that we have come on i have definitely proved myself and my worth to the group, so i think we have achieved so much over the last few years. and what i would say about nepotism is mike would never put me up to a job which he didn't think that i could excel in, because i don't think it would be very popular around the dinner table. is he still pulling the strings? no, mike is not pulling the strings. from the day i became ceo, the final decision lies with me. what cross pressures are you facing across the business right now? well, logistics is going through the roof in terms of the container pricing, energy bills are going through the roof, steel and manufacturing for the shop fit

costs are increasing. that is no secret. that is public knowledge. but in terms of the pricing of the product, we are very much at mercy to our brand partners. they decide the price. the price they want to sell the goods for and we will increase the prices as and when the brands ask us or recommend us to do so. you are in line for a £100 million payout if you get the share price up to. if you get the share price up to £15 in three years. do you think you can do that? well, i wouldn't have signed up to it if i didn't believe. i believe we have got a very strong strategy. a bigger than uk market to go after. we have got opportunity in europe as well. and i am determined to get it there. muchael murray talking to emma simpson. bill gates has urged world leaders to do more to prevent future pandemics. the microsoft co—founder is calling for greater sharing of information and a faster response to stop such large—scale disease outbreak happening again. he's been speaking to

the bbc�*s mishal husain. she started by asking him how ready we should be for another pandemic. the risk is there every year, and definitely going up as people travel around the world more. as climate change causes species to seek new habitats and population growth, particularly in asia and africa, means we are invading more natural habitats. it's very unlikely that we will go 20 more years without another outbreak that has a chance of becoming a global pandemic. which is sobering, and a hard thing to think about, at a point psychologically when there is a joy to getting back to the things that we couldn't do for such a long period, but you essentially want us all to think about preparing for the next one, which is kind of a tough ask at a time like this. oh, definitely, and this pandemic is not completely over. we could have a surprise variant. i don't think that is high probability, but yes, people are ready for this one to end, no doubt. hopefully they keep in mind how awful it has been,

so we take the reasonably modest measures that are required to reduce the chance of it happening again. which are spending on practice, on modelling, on proper active preparedness. yes, practice would be key, and having a dedicated team that helps manage that practice and makes sure that every little outbreak gets a quick investigation, including genetic sequencing, so we can understand, is this a respiratory virus that is threatening to become another covid? on covid itself, the thing you just hinted at, i think you are saying it is possible that the worst is even yet to come if we get a new, more dangerous variant than what we have seen?

not likely. we have a lot of immunity. the variants escape some of that immunity. particularly if we get the elderly to keep up to date on boosters, then the amount of severe disease and death is dramatically less. so we can't completely ignore this pandemic, but we do not yet have the tools where you take the vaccine once and you are protected for life and it stops you getting infected. that is the kind of tool that we need to really put this behind us and for future pandemics. do you think any of the preparedness you would like to see is really going on as you look around the world now? the idea of building a global group, that i call germ, for global

economic response and mobilisation, at the who level, there is not yet a consensus, but the debate is beginning. and my book, i think, will help kick off the debate. i would love to see in the next year that funded, because the cost is pretty small, yet that is the central group that will make sure that we practise and have dramatically less impact. what did you think about novak djokovic saying that he was not vaccinated because it is essentially about his freedom of choice, the choice of what he puts in his body? i wonder if you think when someone is in the public eye, is there a wider responsibility than just your own body? being vaccinated helps the community you are in. they're not perfect at blocking infection, but they do reduce infection. it's unfortunate someone's health concerns are so extreme that they feel they cannot participate in that

community protection. if they are an inspirational and trusted person, then they are spreading that, and itjust makes it tougher to get the vaccination levels that we really need. so i admire him in a lot of ways, but i wish his views on vaccines weren't that way. on you personally, you have had a big change in your life in the last year with the end of your marriage. how has that affected you? well, my life is very different. my kids are gone from the house, the last one left for college a year ago. the divorce is a big change. although there is one part of my relationship that i treasure a great deal,

which is our work together at the foundation, and that continues, and i'm very happy with that. the divorce was very hard. it was a tough year. this year is a lot more upbeat. she seemed to have seen something injeffrey epstein on the occasion that she met him that you didn't in your meetings with him. is that right? she said that she met him once and as soon as she walked in the door, she felt he was abhorrent and evil personified. i made a mistake ever meeting with jeffrey epstein. maybe her instincts on that were keener than mine, but any meeting i had with him could be viewed as almost condoning his evil behaviour. so, you know, that was a mistake. bill gates, thank you very much.

bill gates and mishal husain. a massive clean—up operation is under way in the spanish city of valencia after record—breaking rainfall. dozens of cars were swallowed up as floodwater cascaded through neighbourhoods of the city, leaving homes and businesses completely waterlogged. wendy urquhart reports. this used to be a road. now it's a river. dozens of cars were swallowed up, as floodwater surged through the city's neighbourhoods, leaving homes and businesses completely saturated. "a lot of water fell last night, says this man. "just look at the state" of the place. state" of the place." "last night all the neighbours in the building were bailing out water for four hours," says another. firefighters faced an uphill struggle as they try to rescue drivers who were stranded in their cars. horrendous weather forcing authorities to shut down several roads in valencia and the metro system also ground to a halt, as torrential rain battered the city for 24 hours nonstop. weather—wise, it is supposed to be dry and sunny for the next few days, which will give people the chance

to clean up the mess that the floods have left behind. but they are unlikely to be able to salvage much because everything is completely waterlogged. meta platforms is set to open its first physical store. shoppers can try out and buy vr headsets — as the company plans to take its virtual reality space — the metaverse — mainstream. emily brown reports. living in a virtual space where people interact is now possible in a real meta store, the first of its kind opening in california. it is the latest push from meta platforms, the company that owns facebook, to promote mainstream interest in what it calls the metaverse. the company is investing heavily in the metaverse by developing hardware devices that provide access to the virtual world. here, consumers can buy headsets and interactive gadgets. last year it said it would start

testing tools for selling virtual experiences within its vr platform. the move comes after the tech giant reported its slowest revenue growth in a decade and warned of a potential revenue drop in the current quarter. it also noted it will be ditching podcasts, just a year after launching the service. it is a time of change for the company which can be seen in reality or virtual reality by the two billion people who use meta platforms every day. emily brown, bbc news. a long—running study of a woodland near oxford has shown that common features of spring are occurring up to three weeks earlier than they did 80 years ago. the scientists involved in the project tracked 40 generations of a small species of bird. they found they were laying eggs earlier than ever. victoria gill reports.

more than 500 plant species, 800 types of butterflies and moths, and in one woodland site of about a square mile, there are 1,200 specially built nest boxes. because wytham woods near oxford is a very special site of scientific interest. is this officially the most studied woodland in the world, do you think? i mean, it certainly must be one of them. we've published more than 350 papers just from the wytham tit project alone. oh, wow, that is impressive. this year marks the 75th anniversary of the wytham great tit project. scientists have systematically monitored every chick hatched in their nest boxes here since 1947. and we're about to meet the newest generation. wow, how many are there? eight. that's a very standard size for a great tit.

eight seems a lot. eight very hungry babies to feed. you can actually see most of their digestive systems. they are almost transparent. mouths open, "feed me, feed me". now these parents have got a lot of work to do. they have got to find about 10,000 caterpillars for these. 10,000 to get them to fledge? that's a lot of work. so i guess mum and dad will be out just gathering caterpillars now and just repeatedly back to the nest. all day long. people are quite divided on whether they think they are cute or ugly. i think they are cute—ugly. they're amazing. it is precisely because this has been a continuous study for all those decades that researchers have been able to see and to measure the change in the timing of spring here. the 75 years that we have been studying the tits here, we have seen quite a marked shift

in the timing of egg laying. so now they are laying about three weeks earlier than they were in the 1940s. that is a big shift. exactly, the tits here are actually managing to track the other members of their food chain quite well. so the caterpillars they feed on and the oak trees that the caterpillars feed on. so both the caterpillars and the oaks have also shifted their timing earlier, so the whole sort of food chain has shifted earlier in the spring. the woods were bequeathed to oxford university by a wealthy local family back in 1942. since then, they have been the site of dozens of different scientific projects. but the longest running is the great tit study, which chris has been involved in for more than half a century. what has been your involvement with the studies here? i came in �*57. and it is changing,

but from year to year, it's a lovely piece of woodland which is maintaining pretty much the same sort of thing. and what are your reflections on the seasonal shift? my thoughts are that is fine. unless it gets to limits where the trees or the caterpillars or the birds can't do that shift because it's too big. and that is still the question... that is still a big question to answer and a very interesting one. the work here goes on. and whenever spring happens, it's a busy season for the birds and the scientists, because as our climate changes, these rare, decades—long studies that track exactly how the natural world responds become more important as time goes on. victoria gill, bbc news, wytham wood. interest rates rising to 1%, interest rate inflation to 10% this year. governor andrew bailey from bank of england has been taking

questions including from our economics editor. this appears to be close to a recession. how can you justify to households hit by this cost of living crisis further exacerbating that in the middle of what looks very much like recession. very sharp slowdown, technical definition— very sharp slowdown, technical definition of recession, put that to one side, — definition of recession, put that to one side, a — definition of recession, put that to one side, a sharp slowdown in activity — one side, a sharp slowdown in activity a _ one side, a sharp slowdown in activity. a very good question, why should _ activity. a very good question, why should we — activity. a very good question, why should we increase the bank rate at this point? — should we increase the bank rate at this point? i— should we increase the bank rate at this point? i will come back to the analogy— this point? i will come back to the analogy i — this point? i will come back to the analogy i have used recently, the narrow— analogy i have used recently, the narrow path and the challenge, the other— narrow path and the challenge, the other side — narrow path and the challenge, the other side is where the inflation is, the — other side is where the inflation is, the risks as we are going forward _ is, the risks as we are going forward i_ is, the risks as we are going forward. i would is, the risks as we are going forward. iwould highlight is, the risks as we are going forward. i would highlight the is, the risks as we are going forward. iwould highlight the risks are on—

forward. iwould highlight the risks are on the — forward. iwould highlight the risks are on the upside to inflation going forward _ are on the upside to inflation going forward. that comes to two things, we have _ forward. that comes to two things, we have a — forward. that comes to two things, we have a very tight labour market. unemployment currently at 3.8%. it is interesting looking back over the last two— is interesting looking back over the last two years or so how much we now know _ last two years or so how much we now know there _ last two years or so how much we now know. there was huge uncertainty through— know. there was huge uncertainty through the covid period on this question. — through the covid period on this question, a very important question. the path _ question, a very important question. the path has — question, a very important question. the path has been very different. the path has been very different. the labour— the path has been very different. the labour market is very tight. i spend _ the labour market is very tight. i spend a — the labour market is very tight. i spend a lot — the labour market is very tight. i spend a lot of time going around the country— spend a lot of time going around the country talking to businesses, i am sure you _ country talking to businesses, i am sure you do — country talking to businesses, i am sure you do as well, the first, second — sure you do as well, the first, second and _ sure you do as well, the first, second and third thing they want to talk about— second and third thing they want to talk about recently is the tightness of the _ talk about recently is the tightness of the labour market, challenges and recruitment. and what that means for p5y~ recruitment. and what that means for pay the _ recruitment. and what that means for pay. the second thing is one of the things— pay. the second thing is one of the things we _ pay. the second thing is one of the things we have highlighted before, the covid _ things we have highlighted before, the covid period led to substantial build up _

the covid period led to substantial build up in — the covid period led to substantial build up in unexpected saving. in the economy. the question is, under the economy. the question is, under the new_ the economy. the question is, under the new setting, the state of the economy, — the new setting, the state of the economy, how are those savings going to be used. _ economy, how are those savings going to be used, are they going to be used _ to be used, are they going to be used to— to be used, are they going to be used to buffer demand? we have to look at _ used to buffer demand? we have to look at that— used to buffer demand? we have to look at that from the point of view of the _ look at that from the point of view of the risk— look at that from the point of view of the risk to inflation. we are walking — of the risk to inflation. we are walking this very narrow path. to your— walking this very narrow path. to your question, the reason for raising — your question, the reason for raising the bank rate at this point, it is not— raising the bank rate at this point, it is not only— raising the bank rate at this point, it is not only the current profile of inflation, what is the, and what that could — of inflation, what is the, and what that could mean for inflation expectations but the risks as well. i expectations but the risks as well. i would _ expectations but the risks as well. i would emphasise the risks. andrew bailey _ high pressure is in charge of our weather for most of us today, but we do have some other fronts toppling around the top of it,

and they are bringing in some rain, primarily to scotland, but we'll see some of that at times in northern ireland. but nonetheless, you will also see some sunny intervals. so still a lot of dry weather across england and wales, a wee bit more cloud bubbling up through the course of the afternoon, could produce an isolated shower in the midlands, south wales and the south west. ourfirst band of rain clears northern scotland, but we'll see some more rain coming in across the west, with some showers occasionally in northern ireland, temperatures 10—22 degrees. pollen levels are high across much of england and wales today, but low or moderate across the rest of the uk. now, through this evening and overnight, there'll be some clear skies developing, which means we'll also see some patchy mist and fog, and a weather front bringing in heavier and more persistent rain across scotland and northern ireland. but with all this going on, it's not going to be a cold night. so as we head on into tomorrow, what you'll find is this weather front in scotland and northern ireland continues to sink southwards, and if anything, the rain to the west of the pennines turns that bit heavier, similarly so into north wales. behind that weather front, we see a return to bright spells, sunshine and showers, and ahead of it, after a sunny start, the cloud is going to continue to build across southern england.

temperatures, 11—21 degrees. now through the course of friday evening and overnight, that weather front will continue southwards, taking some rain into southern england. and then saturday, you can see high pressure building. that little front not too far away, could produce the odd shower across parts of eastern scotland and north—east england. and it's also going to feel that bit cooler along the north sea coastline on saturday. but a lot of dry weather, areas of cloud at times, but equally there will be some sunny intervals. and in the sunny intervals, temperatures could get up as high as 19 or 20 degrees in the south. into sunday, then, high pressure still firmly in charge of our weather, still a lot of dry conditions. again, there'll be areas of cloud, but we do have weather fronts moving around that high pressure. and that means for scotland and northern ireland, you will see rain at times, but temperatures ten in lerwick, 20 as we push to birmingham, london and also cardiff.

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