this is bbc news. i'm sally bundock, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. more than 20,000 ambulance workers have gone on strike across the uk in a row over pay and conditions. at least 17 people are known to have died in floods and landslides across california, with warnings of more torrential rain to come. peru's attorney general investigates the new president, dina boluarte, for genocide after deadly clashes following the forced removal of her predecessor. joe biden meets the leaders of mexico and canada at what is being called the three amigos summit as they try to thrash out agreements on climate change, green energy and immigration.

and also ahead: a big night in hollywood. have you been round? i haven't been round. have i been round? colin farrell wins best actor at the golden globes. we'll have the latest from the awards, trying to recover from controversy. hello and welcome. we have a fax programme ahead. —— packed programme ahead. we begin here in the uk, where more than 20,000 ambulance and support staff have gone on strike in a row over pay and conditions,

with health service leaders warning the system is in a precarious position. call handlers and dispatchers are also taking part in the industrial action, the second such strike to take place in england and wales in three weeks. people are being warned that ambulances may not be dispatched for some emergencies, such as heart attacks and strokes, and the effect this time is expected to be worse than the first walkout. gareth barlow reports. it is the second walkout by ambulance staff this winter. workers including paramedics, emergency care assistants, ambulance to missions, other 999 crew and controlling staff across england and wales are striking over pay, with nhs managers warning this round of action will be more severe than the last. more than 20,000 ambulance workers across england and wales are due to walk out. only the east of england ambulance service and the isle of wight nhs trust are unaffected. the strike will involve all staff, including paramedics and call handlers,

who are unison or gnb members. between them, the two unions represent about two—thirds of ambulance workers. some of the walkout started at midnight, but the duration and scale of disruption will vary across different parts of england and wales. services in scotland and northern ireland are unaffected, and where walkouts do take place, categoryi calls for immediately life—threatening emergencies such as cardiac arrests will be covered. not every emergency in the next category down will receive an ambulance response. 0ur receive an ambulance response. our main focus is making sure that those people who have life—threatening illnesses have safe services, and that's why i'm confident in saying to the public, ring 999. that is the most important message i can give. there will be disruption on the strike day, that is going to be inevitable, and so if you don't have a life—threatening illness but you need an ambulance, your call handlers may advise you that you may have to wait longer than normalfor an longer than normal for an ambulance or you longer than normalfor an ambulance or you may have to make your own way to hospital.

despite those reassurances, the government has warned that a national deal to agree a minimum level of cover hasn't been agreed, with crews already struggling to respond on time to calls for emergencies such as heart attacks and strokes. ambulance staff, along with other nhs workers, have been offered a pay rise averaging 4.75%. but unions want an above inflation pay increase, saying that low wages are contributing to staffing issues across the service. despite the strikes, the vital message to the public is, if it's a critical, life—threatening emergency, do still call 999. and take a look at our website, because it has all the detail about this strike action that is taking place away, its implications, and analysis from our leading correspondence as well. take a look at bbc online

as it explains the circumstances of today and what it may mean for you. let's get some of the day's other news: police in london are investigating after metal contaminated with uranium was found at heathrow airport last month. the metropolitan police say the amount of contaminated material found in a shipment of scrap metal was extremely small and posed no threat to the public. the bbc understands that one line of inquiry is that the presence of uranium was as a result of poor handling in the country of origin, pakistan. the british—american online influencer andrew tate has lost an appeal to reduce his time in police custody in romania. he will be detained for the full 30 days before going on trial with his brother tristan and two romanian women. they were arrested on 29 december and are facing allegations of sex trafficking, which they deny. the last king of greece, constantine ii, has died at the age of 82. he had suffered a stroke. he ruled his country from 1964 until the abolition of the monarchy nine

years later. the australian prime minister, anthony albanese, has expressed his condolences after the announcement of cardinal george pell�*s death. he said the news will come as a shock to many. pell died on tuesday at the age of 81 from complications following surgery. this will come as a shock to many. this was a hip operation, and the consequences of it unfortunately have been that cardinal pell has lost his life, and i express my condolences to all those who will be mourning today. 0ur correspondent in sydney shaima khalil has more.

cardinal george pell was controversial, something he himself had conceded, but he was also a towering figure of the catholic church, both here and abroad. he was australia's highest—ranking catholic cleric and one of the pope's top advisers. before becoming the vatican's treasurer and being in charge of its finances between 2014 and 2019, cardinal pell served as the archbishop of both sydney and melbourne. in 2018 he was convicted of sexually abusing two choirboys in the 1990s, in a case that shocked australia and hugely embarrassed the catholic church. he had always maintained his innocence. he was sent to jail innocence. he was sent to jail in 2019, served overall about 20 months there before australia's top court acquitted him and quash the convictions and he was released in april 2020. he had shortly after gone back to rome, but he was no longer employed by the vatican. in fact, when his term as treasurer ended in 2019, it was

not renewed. he was the most senior church cleric to ever be imprisoned for such offences, but again, he always maintained his innocence. in peru, the attorney general has launched an investigation into president dina boluarte and her leading cabinet ministers following weeks of deadly clashes between anti—government protesters and security forces. the charges include genocide and homicide. dozens have died since protests began last month. the bbc�*s azadeh moshiri has this report. peru is no stranger to political turmoil, peru is no stranger to politicalturmoil, but peru is no stranger to political turmoil, but this chaosis political turmoil, but this chaos is deadly. for weeks, supporters of former president pedro castillo have been out in the streets. more than a dozen people were killed this week in clashes between protesters and security forces.— clashes between protesters and security forces. translation: i

de - lore security forces. translation: i deplore this _ security forces. translation: i deplore this aggression - security forces. translation: i deplore this aggression against | deplore this aggression against the forces of law and order and once again will call for order, peace and tranquillity for all peruvians. we cannot be murdering each other. many were killed when _ murdering each other. many were killed when mr _ murdering each other. many were killed when mr castillo's - killed when mr castillo's supporters storm the airport in the southern city ofjuliaka. the clashes became so violent that a three—day curfew in the region is now in place. it all came to a head last month when under pressure, mr castillo he was dissolving congress and introducing a state of emergency. instead, congress voted overwhelmingly to impeach him. he is now in detention and being investigated on charges of rebellion and conspiracy — accusations he denies. his supporters want him back. translation: we reject the government and congress's response to the murderers and massacres in various regions of

the country. this should not happen. there should be a dialogue. we call for the resignation of president dina boluarte. , , , ., . boluarte. despite the violence and the deaths, _ boluarte. despite the violence and the deaths, peru's - boluarte. despite the violence and the deaths, peru's new. and the deaths, peru's new government vote of confidence in congress on tuesday. that means they can continue governing over a country locked in battle. let's turn now to the latest on the conflict in ukraine, and fighting has been raging in the east of the country as russia continues its attack on the donbas region. the uk's ministry of defence says it is likely that the ukrainian mining town of soledar is now under russian control after fighting intensified over the past four days. this image from five days ago gives a sense of the destruction even before the latest russian attacks. soledar had a population of around 10,000 before the war. now president zelensky says there is almost no life there. two british nationals,

andrew bagshaw and christopher parry, have gone missing in the region. they were last seen heading to soledar on friday. it's thought that soledar is seen by the russians as a stepping stone to capturing the city of bakhmut, where the fighting has been intense. these images are from the front line in recent days. there are reports that the uk may agree to supply tanks to ukrainian forces. 0ur ukraine correspondent james waterhouse has more from the capital, kyiv. soledar is more important to the russians than it is the ukrainians, and i think there are two main reasons for that. firstly, as you were alluding to, it allows the russians to further encircle the significant city of bakhmut. there are deep salt mines there which the russians could well use to station troops and vehicles, and the fear certainly from here in kyiv is

that they could use those tunnels to penetrate ukrainian—controlled territory. but the second reason it is significant is that the russians could effectively give ukraine a taste of its own medicine. until now the ukrainians have effectively isolated thousands of russian soldiers by taking out their supply lines with targeted missile strikes. now, should soledarfall — the ukrainians are saying nothing is falling at the moment — but should the town fall, it will take out a major ukrainian supply line to the city of bakhmut. now, for the russians, the gains are extremely costly, and they are relatively small. but the reason they are throwing everything at it is that there is a big propaganda win here, because soledar would be a vital trophy for vladimir putin, russia's president, to present to critics back in russia. stay with us on bbc news.

still to come: austin butler wins best actor for his portrayal of elvis presley at the golden globes. we'll have the latest from the awards, trying to recover from controversy. day one of operation desert storm to force the iraqis out of kuwait has seen the most intense air attacks since the second world war. tobacco is america's oldest industry, and it's one of its biggest. but the industry is nervous of this report. this may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettes. there is not a street that is unaffected. l huge parts of kobe were simplyl demolished as buildings crashed into one another. this woman said she had been given no help and no advice i by the authorities. she stood outside the ruins of her business. j tens of thousands of black children in south africa have taken advantage of laws

passed by the country's new multiracial government and enrolled at formerly white schools. tonight sees the 9,610th performance of her long—running play the mousetrap. when they heard of her death today, the management considered whether to cancel tonight's performance, but agatha christie would have been the last person to want such a thing. in the us, tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes as life—threatening storms bring heavy rain and flooding to large parts of california. at least 17 people are now known to have died, with officials warning the conditions could lead to further dangerous landslides. from california, our north america correspondent james clayton reports.

sa nta santa cruz is famous for serve but not like this. the city has seen a seemingly endless amount of storms. this is supposed to be a picturesque beach but it is absolutely covered in the breeze, even entire trees swept into the sea bass swollen rivers. a state of emergency has been declared here and it is notjust the coast has been declared here and it is not just the coast that has been declared here and it is notjust the coast that has been hit. up in the mountains, a small town has been underwater as the local river post its banks. this woman realised too late and it could not get out of. stuck as a water rose. is it scary when you are surrounded by floodwater?_ you are surrounded by floodwater? , , , floodwater? this is the first time that — floodwater? this is the first time that i _ floodwater? this is the first time that i wasn't _ floodwater? this is the first time that i wasn't scared. i floodwater? this is the first | time that i wasn't scared. in the past, i always though, we would get three, four, even

five feet of floodwater but this one did not seem to stop and i was in managing 10—12 feet of water so that was pretty scary. 2&1 feet of water so that was pretty scary-— feet of water so that was pretty scary. feet of water so that was re sca . ., ,., ., pretty scary. 24 hours ago, the floodwater _ pretty scary. 24 hours ago, the floodwater was _ pretty scary. 24 hours ago, the floodwater was about - pretty scary. 24 hours ago, the j floodwater was about appeared to my chest. it has now receded but it has left a think glutinous mud which is covered what was in fact a paved road and the mud has not stuck to the street, it has covered the inside of people's homes as well. audrey is a student who lives in the town. she lost childhood memories. mi; lives in the town. she lost childhood memories. my art ortfolio childhood memories. my art portfolio when _ childhood memories. my art portfolio when i _ childhood memories. my art portfolio when i was - childhood memories. my art i portfolio when i was younger... no, no. ., ., ., no, no. cannot a look? it might be in one _ no, no. cannot a look? it might be in one of— no, no. cannot a look? it might be in one of the _ no, no. cannot a look? it might be in one of the trash _ no, no. cannot a look? it might be in one of the trash bags. - be in one of the trash bags. this is silly sally. it is just something i used to read as a child and it is alljust soaked all the way through.- child and it is alljust soaked all the way through. santa cruz is not alone, _

all the way through. santa cruz is not alone, many _ all the way through. santa cruz is not alone, many other - all the way through. santa cruz is not alone, many other areas| is not alone, many other areas across california are being deluged. floods, blackouts. the governor of california is scrambling for resources and worried about what is to come. have you ever seen anything like it? not at this scale. these experiences are unique. but they are also predictable because this is our reality. we will see more of this in our future. .. ., will see more of this in our future. ., _ , future. each weather system would not — future. each weather system would not do _ future. each weather system would not do much - future. each weather system would not do much damagel future. each weather system i would not do much damage by itself but it is the insistent nature of the weather, storm after storm pumping the state and with no end in sight, california is brace for yet more rain and more damage to come. james clayton, bbc news, santa cruz. we can take it to beverly hills in california. the golden globes have returned to american television, a year after the hollywood awards show was dropped by the us broadcaster, nbc, over a row about diversity. it was revealed in 2021 that there were no black

members of the body that selects the winners. changes were then brought in. the biggest winner was stephen spielberg who picked up best director for his film fabelmans. the film itself won best drama — often viewed as the most prestigious award of the night. the dark tragic omedy, banshees of inisherin also bagged mutliple awards including best musical or comedy and best actor in a musical or comedy for colin farell. it was directed, written, and co—produced by martin mcdonagh who won best screenplay for his effort. austin butler also walked away with a statuette for his role in elvis. as did cate blanchett who won best actress in a drama. at the hollywood reporter, rebecca sun, the event's organisers have not made much of an improvement after the controversy that surrounded the event. they suddenly moved on, i think thatis they suddenly moved on, i think that is safe to say because for the most part, other than the

host's monologue at the beginning, the telecast was really kind of business as usual. we had a few absent winners. three winners were not there and gave reasons for not being there but everybody else showed up and seemed really honoured to receive a golden globe award from this organisation that did promise a number of reforms. the reason for the controversy two years ago was that it was a very small voting body, the diversity controversy you are alluding to is 80 something members, not a single black members, not a single black member which ended the 2020's for an industry that is supposed to cover hollywood, is pretty disproportionate. but they had other issues as well, such as a lot of accusations of payola, excepting because she

prizes and access to celebrities... as sorry cushy trips and access to celebrities for exchange for votes. that will take a matter of time to see whether those reforms have really taken place. president biden and the leaders of canada and mexico said they had strengthened a regional partnership after a three way summit in mexico city. 0ur correspondent will grant has more. even president biden's arrival bore the hallmark of his host. the administration of mexico's president andres manuel lopez 0brador had requested that air force one land at a new airport, outside mexico city, a project championed by president �*amlo' and considered by his critics to be an unnecessary expensive vanity project. it is not clear what the two men discussed on their long shared drive but at the early photo opportunities, their body language was warm enough, which then contrasted sharply with the mexican leader's public rebuke of washington.

translation: it is time to put an end to this oblivion, - this abandonment and disdain for latin america and the caribbean, which runs contrary to the good neighbor policy of the titan, president franklin roosevelt. for his part, presidentjoe biden did not miss a beat, defending his administration's record in the region. the united states provides more foreign aid than every other country just about combined in the world. unfortunately, our responsibilityjust does not end in the western hemisphere. fanfare trumpets. as the bilateral meeting between biden and amlo grew into the full meeting of the so—called three amigos, with prime ministerjustin trudeau of canada, the emphasis was on finding shared solutions to common problems. some analysts, though, say it remains a huge challenge in a series of areas — from energy policy and security, to, crucially, immigration. mexico has insisted a lot,

for instance, on the importance of regional development and subregional development, in central america in particular, as a way to address in the mid—to long—term the issue of immigration. and it is true, the us is concerned about how you get to that mid—term solution. you need a solution now. and that is true as well and that is not solved in one meeting. at the end of the two—day summit, the three leaders try to present a united front yet as they discussed the issues which they'd touched upon, the spaces between them seemed as big, arguably bigger, than the areas of common agreement. for all the talk of progress in areas of mutual interest, such as climate change, green energy, immigration and the opioid crisis, this summit will be viewed by some as a missed opportunity. it was a chance, after years of pandemic and economic downturn, for the so—called three amigos to show that they do in fact share a political and economic vision

for the region. if they do, many of those watching on here, in mexico city, remain unsure as to exactly what it is. will grant, bbc news, mexico. let's catch up with all the latest sports news. hello i'm tulsen tollett and this is your sports news where we start with the news that manchester united and newcastle united are into the efl cup semi—finals after both won their respective games on tuesday. marcus rashford came off the bench to score twice as manchester united ran out 3—0 winners over charlton athletic, at old trafford, while newcastle had goals from dan burn and joelinton see them into the last four as they beat leicester 2—0 at st james's park. the last two quarter—finals take place later on wednesday, with nottingham forest at home to wolves, and manchester city travelling to southampton. if city win the league cup, it would make their boss pep guardiola the most successful manager in the competition's history.

he's currently level with sir alex ferguson, jose mourinho and brian clough with four wins. we wa nt we want to win it but to really change my love, they have been amazing, the competition. to produce something special to have the same as brain, so alex. people say it is a less important competition but we tried to do our best. the opening leg of the first spanish super cup semi—final will be played in saudi arabia later as real madrid go up against valencia. real coach carlo ancelotti goes up against a former player of his at ac milan in gennaro gattuso, the now manager of valencia. the other last four tie also takes place in riyadh as real betis face barcelona on thursday. barry hawkins thrashed uk champion mark allen 6—0 to reach the last eight at the masters

in london's alexandra palace. hawkins dominating the match throughout. allen is one of the form players this season but this is the the fifth year in a row he's lost at the first—round stage. hawkins will now face either judd trump or ryan day on friday. wales's mark williams has also made it through to the quarter finals where he'll face ronnie 0'sullivan. he raced into a 4—0 lead over dave gilbert and then held off a comeback from the englishman to win by six frames to two. rafa nadal is known for his skills on a tennis court but the 22—time grand slam champion has become a new team owner in the world's first all—electric race boat championship. nadal will enter his own team for the first ever season of the uim e1 world championship, which is set to begin later this year. the spaniard follows a growing list of sports stars to own a team in the championship, including red bull's formula one driver sergio perez. you can get all the latest sports news

at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. but from me, tulsen tollett, and the rest of the team, that's your sports news for now. now time for the weather. hello. 0ur wet and windy week of weather continues on wednesday, with the low pressure still very much driving our weather. there's going to be heavy downpours for some of us through the day and actually over the next few days. 0ften we're going to see rain, strengthening winds. mainly still quite mild for the time of year. but gales developing. 0vernight, rain sweeping its way eastwards, so, by the time we get to about 6:00 on wednesday morning, most of us generally frost—free, but some heavy showers from the word go pushing in from the north and the west. and low pressure is going to sit to the north of the uk through the day. you can see the proximity of all these isobars on the chart. that's showing us that it is going to be a blustery sort of day. plenty of showers driven in from the atlantic, so the heaviest of the downpours will be in the west during this morning — parts of scotland,

northern ireland, and also then pushing into wales and western england too. gales around coastal parts of the english channel, through the irish sea coasts, up towards the western isles for instance, so 60mph gusts possible there, but even further inland, we're looking at 30mph, possibly 40mph gusts of wind through the day on wednesday, so a blustery day. heavy downpours reaching eastern areas during the afternoon, after a fairly bright morning here, and temperatures a little cooler than recent days — about 7—11 degrees. feeling colder if you're exposed to the brisk wind and those heavy showers that many of us will see. some snow for a time over the higher ground of scotland too. 0vernight showers ease in the north, but the next batch of heavy rain sweeps eastwards across much of england and wales. so it's going to be a really quite damp start to thursday morning, i think. could be a touch of frost for some sheltered glens of scotland, but still mild to start the day towards the south on thursday. and thursday's weather driven by yet another low—pressure system, this time just moving in towards the north—west. this occluded front bringing some heavy showers. but down towards the south, we've also got more heavy rain across southern parts of england, lingering on that frontal system, combined with gales that

are once again going to develop through the english channel, around some of these irish sea coasts, and turning windy later in the day across the northwest too. so the next band of rain crosses from west to east, followed by sunny spells and scattered heavy downpours moving in from the northwest. temperatures still about 7—9 in the north, but up to about 13, possibly 14, down towards the southeast. so it stays mild. a hint that through the weekend things turn a little less unsettled, and those temperatures are going to drop a little bit by the time we get to sunday. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, with the latest business headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. it is three years today since the first death from covid was reported. we look at how the pandemic has shaped the global economy japan's prime minister is on a whistlestop tour of g7 nations as tokyo looks to shift the balance of power away from china. today's stop is the uk. how to avoid being overwhelmed by emails. we hear tips from the boss of dropbox. and take a back seat. we hear from the company that is betting big on self—driving technology.