handlers go on strike in england and wales. nhs bosses tell people not to call 999 unless it's a life—threatening emergency. what's terrifying is that right now, people not knowing whether, when they call 999, they will get the treatment that they need. i know there's a lot of controversy about us striking, and that we're not kind of getting those calls and getting to patients today, but in realistic terms, day—to—day, we're not getting to patients. and tonight more strikes are announced. 100,000 civil servants will take action on the 1st of february, among them border force staff and driving examiners. we will have the details. also on the

programme: fighting rages in eastern ukraine in one of the bloodiest battles since the start of the war, as russia sends in mercenary forces. more torrential rain and storms in california wreak damage and put millions of people at risk. and evading rescue: the seal trapped in a fishing lake in essex who, funnily enough, seems to be in no hurry to leave. and coming up on the bbc news channel. england captain 0wen farrell is set to be clearfor their six nations opener against scotland despite a four—week ban for a dangerous tackle. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. ambulance workers in england and wales are striking over pay for a second time. they have been joined this time by call handlers, which is why managers are warning the impact of this strike is likely to be worse than last month's. some of the walkouts

started at midnight, but the duration and scale of the disruption varies across different parts of england and wales. only the east of england ambulance service is unaffected. the prime minister says it's terrifying people don't know what will happen if they call 999. but ambulance staff have said they will leave picket lines to respond to all category one emergency calls, where there's a threat to life. our health editor hugh pym has more. pickets out at dawn in newport, south wales. ambulance staff on strike. members of the gmb union. in gateshead, they had vocal support on the unison picket line. and in lincoln, strikers were brought refreshments by the public. the military presence was clear too in plymouth and other parts of the country, acting as drivers and in support roles. unions have agreed that strikers

would leave picket lines for emergencies and some urgent cases, but patients with serious for emergencies and some urgent cases, but patients with less serious illness and injuries will be told to make their own way to hospital. scott, who is an emergency medical technician, explained why he was on strike. we are here because there has been lack of funding for many years now. the services are struggling and patients are suffering. enough is enough now. harriet, who's 22, is a paramedic. she says it's all about patient care. it's frustrating because you feel empathy for the patients. that elderly patient were lying on their beds, they are not comfortable. they are getting pressure sores, they are thirsty, they are hungry. the hospital can only feed and make so many cups of tea before you just run out of things to say. you can only apologise so many times before it becomes worthless. the government wants new laws

to ensure minimum levels of service during strikes in essential public services, including ambulances, and that provoked clashes at prime minister's questions. all we are saying is that in these emergency services, patients should be able to rely on a basic level of life—saving care. why is he against that, mr speaker? there's not a minimum level of service any day, because they have broken the nhs. so where does this dispute involving ambulance staff and other health workers go from here? as things stand, there are more strike dates on the calendar this month, including nurses next week. it all depends on whether there's any progress with pay talks. some union leaders were a little more optimistic after talks with the secretary of state on monday. they are anticipating some sort of follow—up. we are expecting some news over the next couple of days about what that follow—up will look like.

but i'm always keen to maintain optimism, but, you know, the level of progress will depend on what the next steps he sets out. but there's still stalemate over money, with the government saying a new offer's only possible for the next financial year. call handlers have taken strike action. they're working some of their shift to provide basic cover. at london ambulance service h0, they were applauded by at london ambulance service h0, they were applauded by colleagues at london ambulance service h0, they were applauded by colleagues as at london ambulance service h0, they were applauded by colleagues as they walked out this afternoon. hugh pym, bbc news. let's take a look at the how the strike is affecting wales today. 0ur correspondent hywel griffith is in cardiff. well, sophie, the torrential rain means picket lines have been pretty hard to spot sometimes today, but we

are told that more welsh ambulance staff have ta ken are told that more welsh ambulance staff have taken part in today's strike compared to the last one in december. it is only the gmb union striking here, but they are one of several due to meet the welsh labour government tomorrow to be given a new pay offer. we know that offer will be a one—off cost of living cash payment. it won't be a permanent part of their pay packet. what we don't know is exactly how much it's worth in terms of pounds and pence. a new figure has emerged this evening of potentially around £1000 per worker, and for the ambulance staff, that were naturally helping them overall to something like the inflation level rise they are after. at the welsh could man when put their name to that, or indeed any figure, everyone keeping their cards close to their chest, and in that meeting tomorrow, it will of course be nurses represented, physiotherapists represented, physiotherapists represented, and midwives too, all the health workers who have already voted to take strike action. it will need to satisfy everyone, and if it

does end up being accepted by those health workers, we might find other public sector workers in wales, such as teachers, demanding the same cost of living cash payout by the welsh government. it will have to come from the welsh labour government has micro—budget. no new money is on offer yet being handed down from the westminster government. and so, ministers he'll had to very, very careful about what they offer and whether or not it will satisfy those workers. thank you. the unions taking action today want above—inflation pay rises, but have not announced a figure. 0ur correspondent danjohnson has spent the day with one paramedic in devon to hear his personal reasons for taking strike action. bbc news at eight o'clock- on wednesday the 11th ofjanuary. beyond the picket line, this is one paramedic�*s story. about four years ago, i qualified as a paramedic.

lewis, an nhs life—saver, in uniform, but not in work. nhs managers say. the impact of today's ambulance strike in england and wales could be worse . than the last one. the winter pressure grows more and more and more, and now, to be sat there holding for hours and hours and hours, that's just something that i've not seen before in my career. how does it leave you feeling about the job? it's upsetting. as i said, the upset is that when you're hearing that radio go off, that, you know, they've got nothing to send. he'd be excited abouti using his skills, and... work pressure follows him home. it's not like it used to be. he'sjust not usingl his skills any more. do you see that stress? yes, definitely. do i come home with stress? yes! if i didn't think it was right, i wouldn't do it, but i can't see any other option we've been left with now, and we are literally fighting for the nhs. it's quite nice to hear the public are behind us.

some people say you're putting lives at risk today because of this action. how do you respond to that? we are not putting lives at risk. we are still responding from the picket line if we need to. what is this about for you? is it pay? no, it's not about pay at all, it's about protecting the nhs. you know, we are short—staffed across the board, and this is all about ensuring that we have an nhs moving forward, in the future. calls were down today. they coped with demand here, but another strike is planned, and lewis says he'lljoin it. danjohnson, bbc news, north devon. 0ur political editor chris mason is in westminster. chris, how do ministers think the service has coped today? the department _ service has coped today? the department of _ service has coped today? tue department of health service has coped today? tte department of health has service has coped today? ttj: department of health has been getting real—time updates every couple of hours and how things appear to be looking. they appear to be satisfied with how things have

gone. the system has held up and the mitigations put in place have worked, but they are conscious they haven't been any critical incidents declared, partially because they haven't been any incidents out and about that have stretched the ambulance service such as it is today beyond breaking point, given the limits of its capacity. elsewhere in government, discussions ongoing privately about how they might be some sort of resolution to all of this, but there is no progress there and more broadly in the last hour, another escalation in terms of industrial action, up to 100,000 civil servants due to walk out at the beginning of next month. we heard the prime minister being a bit more forthcoming than he was a few days ago about his use of private health care? yes, so he has swift questions about his use of private health care ever since he became prime minister, and there are the beginnings of a pattern emerging, because he had bristled about questions relating to his family and there is intrigue about his family because of his colossal family wealth, purported to

run into the hundreds of millions of pounds. and there is a public interest, of course, if you are in charge of public services, to what extent are you reliant on them to make well, today, the prime minister says yes, in the past, he has used private health care, but he has always been registered with an nhs gp. downing street, ithink, clearly concluding that he was vulnerable to not being candid around all of this. and so we have learnt some additional information. we don't know when he stopped using private or whether he would use it again in the future, but we have learnt something this evening that we didn't this morning. thank you, chris. you can find out more about the crisis in the nhs on bbc radio 4's more or less with tim harford. he has been trying to find out how many people may be dying because of treatment delays in accident & emergency departments. you can listen to it now on bbc sounds. the conservative mp andrew bridgen

has been suspended from the party for spreading misinformation about the covid—19 vaccination programme. mr bridgen, who represents north west leicestershire, tweeted that a consultant cardiologist had told him that the vaccine roll—out was the biggest crime against humanity since the holocaust. joining me now is the bbc�*s disinformation and social media correspondent, marianna spring. tell us more about what has happened. tt tell us more about what has happened-— tell us more about what has hauened. , , tell us more about what has ha ened. , , ., happened. it was these comments are shared online — happened. it was these comments are shared online comparing _ happened. it was these comments are shared online comparing the - shared online comparing the holocaust with vaccines, which sparked everything that happened today, the whip being removed and more. but actually, he's also come under fire for promoting this information about covid—19 vaccines, notjust today, but for several weeks, and if we unpick his social media footprint, we begin to understand a bit better how we arrived at this point. a couple of years ago, when the pandemic was much more difficult thanit the pandemic was much more difficult than it is now, he found himself... he was very critical of restrictions on lockdown measures but also supportive of vaccinations and even shared a photograph of himself

celebrating his vaccine. fast forward to the autumn just gone, and instead, he started posting tweets and comments that were sceptical of the vaccine, sometimes expressing legitimate concerns, but then soon tipping into these false ideas that vaccines somehow had killed lots and lots of people and that this was being covered up. and then we fast forward to today, and i think this tells us a lot about the pipeline that can go from having legitimate questions and concerns and then arriving at this point where you are making these really quite extreme comments about the holocaust that have sparked widespread condemnation. marianna, thank you. merseyside detectives investigating the murder of elle edwards, who was shot at a pub in wallasey on christmas eve, have arrested a man on suspicion of murder. the 22—year—old man from wirral was arrested following enquiries in mid—wales. a 23—year—old woman, also from wirral, has been held on suspicion of assisting an offender. three people who were previously arrested over the shooting have since been released. the time is 6:13.

our top story this evening: tens of thousands of ambulance workers and call handlers go on strike in england and wales. and still to come: we report from essex on the anglers banned from fishing because of a seal that is stuck in there coming up in sportsday on the bbc news channel. england's netballers begin their world cup preparations this evening with the first match of their international test series against jamaica. torrential rain continues to fall in californina as the latest storm in california as the latest storm sweeps in from the pacific. mudslides have cut off roads and communities. at least 17 people have died in the american state after a month of heavy rain and flooding. tens of thousands of people have had to leave their homes. officials say 33 million people are threatened by the severe weather. the us president has declared a state of emergency. james clayton reports from california.

santa cruz is famous for surf, but not quite like this. its historic pier has been smashed, beach—side houses destroyed. this is supposed to be a picturesque beach, but it's absolutely covered in detritus, wood, even entire trees that have been swept into the sea by swollen rivers. the president has declared a state of emergency across the state. here in los angeles, two vehicles plunged into this huge sinkhole that opened up on the road as a result of flooding. local media reported that two people were taken to hospital with minor injuries. the small town of felton near santa cruz has been under water as the local river burst its banks. karen hendrick realised the water was coming up to her house too late. she couldn't get out, stuck above the water as it rose around her home. is it scary when you're surrounded by floodwater like that? this was the first time that i was scared, yeah.

in the past, i always thought, you know, "oh, we'll get three, four, even five feet of floodwater come through". this one didn't seem like it was going to stop. and i was imagining, you know, ten, 12 feet of water. so that was pretty scary. 2a hours ago, the floodwater was about up here to my chest. it's now receded, but what its left is this thick, glutinous mud, which has covered what is, in fact, a paved road. and of course, the mud hasn'tjust stuck to the streets. it's covered the inside of people's homes, too. audrey baxter is a student who lives in the town. she lost childhood memories. it'sjust something i used to read as a child, and it's alljust soaked all the way through. many other areas across california are being deluged — floods, landslides and blackouts, the governor of california scrambling for resources and worried about what's to come. have you ever seen anything like it? not at this scale. i mean, i've seen isolated incidents.

these experiences are unique in that respect. they're novel, but they're also predictable because this is our reality with this weather whiplash and the extremes. and it's likely we'll see more of this in our future. and with more storms forecast to hit the coast, california is braced for yet more rain and more damage to come. james clayton, bbc news, santa cruz. some of the bloodiest battles since the start of the war in ukraine are taking place around a town called soledar in the east of the country. russia is fighting hard to take it. its importance is both symbolic and strategic. russia wants a decisive win on the battlefield after a series of retreats in recent months. if they manage to capture soledar, it would mean that russian troops could encircle ukrainian forces in the city of bakhmut, where heavy fighting has been raging for months. russia has been sending large numbers of the so—called wagner group mercenaries to the frontline near soledar, tens of thousands of fighters, among them convicts who've been sent to capture the town. for now, ukraine says its soldiers

are still holding out, despite the fierce opposition. 0ur ukraine correspondent james waterhouse reports. the situation in soledar depends on who you ask. it's under control as of this morning, according to this ukrainian commander. "they will never break us", says his injured comrade. "we are winning". but if you ask these two, "wagner are clearing the city," they say. russian, yes, but not from the regular army. they are from a private military group called wagner, a network of mercenaries who do a lot of russia's fighting. its boss, yevgeny prigozhin, has recently recruited

convicts from russian jails, and they've been spearheading the attack on soledar, claiming to now be in full control. we chat to one ukrainian soldier on the front to see if that's the case. don't believe russian propaganda. it's not true. bakhmut and soledar have ukrainian control. kyiv has described the battle for soledar and bakhmut as the bloodiest scenario yet. and that's all we can say with real certainty. small amounts of territory are being fiercely fought over, and the human cost is huge. but the kremlin is less keen to acknowledge that, instead accusing ukraine of exaggerating the situation to secure more military support, which is continuing to arrive. on a visit to western ukraine, poland's president duda

is the latest to announce the supply of tanks. volodymyr zelensky wants more to follow suit. in russia, there seems to be division. the kremlin claims there is still fighting in soledar, at odds with wagner's take. translation: i understand that the situation in the new entity is difficult and hostilities continue in some territories. peaceful life has not been restored everywhere, and the safety of people has not been injured. moscow is continuing to claim everything is going to plan in its quest to occupy the eastern donbas region. you wonder what will be left, whether it succeeds or not. james waterhouse, bbc news, kyiv. the family of a british—iranian dual national sentenced to death in iran have told the bbc that authorities are preparing to execute him. alireza akbari was arrested more than two years ago and accused of spying for the uk, which he denied. the foreign office has urged iran to release him and say they are supporting his family.

royal mail says it is unable to send letters and parcels overseas after cyber incidents. it is telling customers to stop sending items overseas while it tries to resolve the issue. the firm said there were also minor delay deliveries into the uk, but domestic deliveries are unaffected. the uk's culture secretary, michelle donelan, says the collection of ancient greek sculptures, known here as the elgin marbles, should continue to belong to the british museum. report suggested the museum's chairman george osborne is close to a deal returning the works to athens, but ms donnellan says this would be a dangerous road to go down and could lead to some british museums losing their entire contents. two nationalist parties in northern ireland, sinn fein and the sdlp,

have refused to attend a meeting with the foreign secretary, james cleverly, because sinn fein�*s leader mary lou mcdonald wasn't invited. mr cleverly travelled to belfast for talks to try to end the current political stalemate there. disagreements over post—brexit trade arrangements have stopped the northern ireland assembly functioning. the northern ireland protocol means goods going from mainland britain to northern ireland have to be checked because they are still subject to some eu rules. after brexit, special trading arrangements were needed because northern ireland has a land border with the republic of ireland, which is part of the eu. stormont�*s power—sharing government collapsed almost a year ago when the democratic unionist party pulled its first minister out of office in protest over the protocol. 0ur ireland correspondent, emma vardy, reports. the wait goes on in the corridors of power—sharing, but the moment a government is restored still feels some way off. today, the uk's foreign secretary became acquainted with the thorny nature of doing politics in northern

ireland. as the leaders arrived for talks in belfast, sinn fein announced they were pulling out as the dublin—based leader of the all—ireland party, it said, was being excluded. i travelled for that meeting and in an unprecedented way, the british government chose to seek to exclude the leader of sinn fein from a leaders' meeting. the whole thing is absolutely bizarre. the government said the leader of sinn fein at stormont, michelle 0'neill, was invited. it is understood it is not practical for the foreign secretary to meet the opposition leader of the irish parliament before meeting his irish counterpart. the dup, who are blocking a return to power sharing, emphasised their opposition to checks on goods coming to northern ireland, which it wants the eu to scrap. this was an invaluable opportunity for us to put forward our concerns. they recognised that a deal with the eu that doesn't work for unionistsjust isn't going to fly.

so i think it was a useful discussion in that respect. the foreign secretary denied excluding sinn fein from the talks as he heard about the problems with the protocol at this garden centre, which is struggling to get plants and seeds over from britain because of the eu's rules. for some other businesses, there are advantages. i got to hear about what elements of the protocol were working, and i heard that from both politicians and business leaders. what i want to do is make sure that the resolution to this protects the things that need to be protected and are working, but address the very real concerns that have been raised with me. ending the political stalemate in northern ireland depends on the uk's negotiations with the eu. although there has been a recent breakthrough on sharing data and trade, there is still no sign of a deal which would persuade the dup to go back into power—sharing. another deadline for restoring a government looms next week,

all but certain to come and go without a resolution. emma vardy, bbc news, belfast. this is the seal that's been trapped in a lake in essex for the past month, despite repeated attempts to rescue it. rochford reservoir is a lake for anglers, which probably explains why the seal is in no hurry to leave. a ban on fishing in the lake has been put in place to protect the seal. but it is ignoring the ban completely and eating its way through the fish stocks, much to the despair of local anglers. no wonder it's looking so relaxed! helena wilkinson reports. basking in the winter sunshine with not a care in the world. this young seal may appear carefree and cute, but it's been causing havoc in this quiet fishing lake in essex. it's taken up residence at the rochford reservoir for nearly a month, and in that time, it's eaten its way through £3,000 worth of fish.

the owner of the fisheries, nick north, has had to turn away regular users due to plummeting fish stocks. devastated, i think, would be an understatement of what's happened. after all these years building up, and then within a month, to see it come crashing down. it's thought the seal made its way upstream along a nearby river in december. since then, it's put on a good amount of weight, thanks to the abundance of fish on offer. it has little incentive to leave. so far, two attempts have been made to made to try to get the seal out safely, but it's managed to evade capture. seals can live healthily in fresh water, but it's not ideal. rescuers are going to make another attempt next week to try to get the seal out and back into its natural habitat. catching this one is a completely different kettle of fish.

when the net has closed in, he's just either swum underneath it or hopped over the top, so we do need to change tack a bit. there was some concern about injuries to the seal on its tail and eye, but experts say they don't appear to be causing it any discomfort. having a sunbathe. for now, until the next rescue attempt, the seal remains in this reservoir, to the delight of locals enjoying this rare and very well—fed guest. hannah wilkinson, bbc news, rochford in essex. time for a look at the weather. here's louise lear. well, it's already the 11th of january and i'm fed up of about rain. iam january and i'm fed up of about rain. i am sure you are fed up of looking at it as well. so i am starting off with a little ray of sunshine because we have seen some sunshine because we have seen some sunshine today, but it has been a day of sunshine and showers, most of the shout out to the west. a lot of those drifting steadily eastwards. i

just want to draw your attention to this threatening looking cloud out in the atlantic, more wet weather to come, some of it really quite heavy as well, tonight. so the winds are going to strengthen. gale force gusts of wind, some rain very heavy indeed across south wales and parts of the moors. there was a risk for localised flooding before that system clears through. by contrast, look at scotland. under clearer skies and lighter winds here, there could be a touch of frost first thing in the morning. but that cloud and rain is still lingering for a time. then we will see another area of low pressure bringing some wet and windy weather into the north—west. sandwiched in between the two, there will be some drier and brighter interludes for many, but it's going to be a windy afternoon. gusts of winds on exposed west facing coasts close to 50 miles an hour. south—westerly wind direction, so we are back in the milder air, direction, so we are back in the milderair, but direction, so we are back in the milder air, but that is academic if you are caught in the showers, particularly to the far north—west. 0n the southern flank at that

through the night and into the early hours of friday, we could see gales or severe gales. worth bearing in mind. 0nce or severe gales. worth bearing in mind. once that lowe clears away, a northerly wind, a cooler source but a quieter day. friday, we should see some sunshine and a few scattered showers out of the west, but hopefully, not too bad a day. a little bit cooler once again. single figures for many, just double figures for many, just double figures into the south—west. but it is all change as we head into the weekend. i'm afraid there is more wet and windy weather heading in our direction is another area of low pressure moves in. so there will be some rain on saturday. showers or longer spells of rain, windy with it and quite a showery sunday to come as well. and noticeably cooler as we head into sunday in the beginning of next week. thanks, louise. and that's bbc news at six on wednesday, january 11th. huw edwards will be here at ten. the news continues here on bbc one,

as now it's time to join our hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm laura mcghie. england begin their netball world cup preparations this evening. we'll be live at the first of a three—match series against jamaica. 0wen farrell is set to be available for england's six nations opener with scotland, but will the new england head coach be breathing a sigh of relief? we'll look ahead to the last two quarter—finals of the english league cup. can pep guardiola become the most successful manager in the competition's history? also coming up in the programme — one of britain's rising tennis stars has told the bbc how the sport saved him as he dealt with "loneliness and anxiety". and formula 1's first and only black driver, lewis hamilton, discusses the lack of diversity within motorsport.