welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... the biggest air disruption in america since 911 — officials say a damaged database file caused a technical fault that forced flights to be grounded across the us. tens of thousands of ambulance workers and call handlers go on strike in england and wales. six months after protests over the cost of living, sri lanka imposes huge tax hikes and slashes spending. and he's described as one of the greatest ever guitarists — jeff beck has died at the age of 78.

live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. we begin in the united states where the federal aviation authority says that an investigation has shown that the failure of the safety messaging system which led to all departing flights being grounded early on wednesday was caused by a damaged file in a database. a tweet confirmed that there is no evidence of a cyber attack. flights have been getting back to normal. our north america correspondent gary o'donoghue reports. it was in the early hours that the problems began to emerge with the notam system, which warns pilots of any dangers before they take off. byjust after 7:00am, the federal aviation authority was ordering all carriers across the us to ground their planes until further

notice, causing chaos for early morning travellers. i'm a little annoyed. a little nervous. we're going on a cruise. we have a cruise to catch at 6pm. i feel bad for the people who are actually sitting on planes right now. i mean, we're at least lucky that we're still in the airport and if i truly wanted to, i could go back home. you would not think that this could happen in this day and age, you know, with all the money that's pumped into transportation, but here we are again. in a tweet, the white house said the president had been informed and that there was no evidence that a cyber attack was responsible at that point. thousands of flights were delayed, affecting all airlines from coast to coast. the all—clear was given around 9:00am. by that time, huge backlogs had occurred. the transportation secretary said the problems had resulted from irregularities in the safety messages being transferred to pilots, and it was important to find out why the usual redundancies in the system hadn't

prevented the failure. when there's a problem with a government system, we're going to own it, we're going to find it and we're going to fix it. my top priority right now, now that the system is working again as of about 9:00 this morning, is to understand the root cause, understand how it could have led to this level of disruption and understand how to make sure that it does not happen again. the transportation department has begun an inquiry and a senate committee has said it will do the same. given the disruption that's been caused and the fact that the faa doesn't currently have a permanent administrator in post, answers will be demanded as soon as possible. gary 0'donoghue, bbc news. well, we can now speak to henry harteveldt — president and travel industry analyst at atmosphere research group. we now know from the faa that

it is an outage that was caused by that damaged database file. how unusual is this, do you think, and why were they not any back—ups in place? it is any back-ups in place? it is extremely _ any back-ups in place? it is extremely unusual- any back-ups in place? it is extremely unusual and - any back-ups in place? it is extremely unusual and it i extremely unusual and it suggests there are back—ups but clearly the back—up system either didn't work or wasn't activated. so there are multiple points of failure that need to be investigated and importantly we need the results of those investigations to be shared with the public. find of those investigations to be shared with the public. and how lona do shared with the public. and how long do you _ shared with the public. and how long do you think— shared with the public. and how long do you think an _ long do you think an investigation of this nature might take? as my colleague gary 0'donoghue was reporting there, lots of questions being asked about how something of the scale could happen. my the scale could happen. m understanding is the scale could happen. mg understanding is the problem began on tuesday afternoon and somehow the system continued to function but then overnight, tuesday to wednesday, the failure occurred. some airlines

may have had their own back—up systems but clearly the overall systems but clearly the overall system failed the airlines and the travelling public here in the travelling public here in the us. it should not take too long for this investigation to be completed. i hope it would be completed. i hope it would be more —— no more than four weeks and possibly sooner. it seems they know what the culprit is. what they also need to determine is how to make sure this never happens again. i suppose something reassuring that has come out from the faa today in a tweet they have said there is no evidence of the cyber attack, there were some concerns, some speculation that might have been one of the reasons, but after something like this, how convinced are you about the robustness and security of us systems? well, i am confident _ security of us systems? well, i am confident the _ security of us systems? well, i am confident the systems - am confident the systems themselves are robust. 0ne themselves are robust. one thing that the faa and other government agencies need to understand is the need to protect themselves against cyber attacks. and so i do view

it as a positive news that this is not a cyber attack. what concerns me is this may not have been a cyber attack, could the next one be? a big challenge we have in the us is that the faa has been perennially underfunded, even though the agency is also tasked with modernising our air traffic control system, and within it the various databases and tools that it uses. cyber protection is critical there. i just hope the necessary priorities remain in place. the faa clearly deserves to have adequate funding.— faa clearly deserves to have adequate funding. indeed, and all of this happening _ adequate funding. indeed, and all of this happening of - adequate funding. indeed, and all of this happening of course | all of this happening of course as it is wintertime in some parts of the united states, travel is expected to peak over the coming weeks, what are some that the biggest concerns you might have over travel as people start travelling over the coming weeks?- people start travelling over the coming weeks? look, we have had a winter _

the coming weeks? look, we have had a winter of _ the coming weeks? look, we have had a winter of air— the coming weeks? look, we have had a winter of air travel _ the coming weeks? look, we have had a winter of air travel this - had a winter of air travel this content so far between a massive operational disruption in southwest airlines just at week or two ago and today's disruption. we have the martin luther king holiday coming up this weekend in the us and we will soon be approaching the holiday travel for presidents weekend here, and spraying and of course summer vacation travel. and business travel starts to resume this week so i am very concerned. when you buy an airline ticket, you want to walk into the airport feeling confident that you will be able to travel from point a to point b not having a feeling of impending doom. air travel is already stressful enough. we need to be confident that the faa and our airlines can get us where we need to go on time and safely. right now, that trust is weak. . ~ safely. right now, that trust is weak. ., ~ , ., ., is weak. thank you for thoughts. _ is weak. thank you for thoughts, it _

is weak. thank you for thoughts, it was - is weak. thank you for thoughts, it was a - is weak. thank you for - thoughts, it was a pleasure to have you newsday. to the uk now where the national health service is facing the prospects of more strikes by staff after 14 trade unions said they would no longer work with the nhs pay review body for next year's awards. the news came as ambulance crews in england and wales took strike action on wednesday for the second time in the uk's winter period. 0ur health editor hugh pym has more details. 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. 0h, bless you. 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. horns honk. unions have agreed that strikers would leave picket lines for emergencies and some

urgent cases, but patients with less serious injuries will be told to make their own way to hospital. scott, who's an emergency medicaltechnician, explained why he was on strike. we're here because there has been lack of funding for many years now. the services are struggling and patients, ultimately, are suffering. enough is enough now. harriet, who is 22, is a paramedic. she says it's all about patient care. it is frustrating because you feel empathy for the patients. that elderly patient who in lying on our bed. 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 teas before you just run out of things to say. you can only apologise so many times before it just 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're 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 and they're 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. i am always keen to maintain optimism, but, you know,

the level of progress will really depend on what next steps he sets out. but there's still stalemate over money, with the government saying a new offer is only possible for the next financial year. call handlers who are unison members took strike action for the first time in this dispute, after working limited hours providing basic cover. at a london ambulance service, they were applauded by colleagues as they walked out this afternoon. call volumes in the system was said to be lower than usual, though nhs leaders are concerned about a possible sharp rise tomorrow. hugh pym, bbc news. to the conflict in ukraine now, and russia's defence ministry says fighting is continuing in soledar in eastern ukraine, despite earlier claims by the head of the russian mercenary group, wagner, that his forces had taken the town.

ukraine's president zelensky said in a video address in the past hour that the battle was ongoing. distant artillery fire. 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're 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 entities is difficult and hostilities continue in some territories. peaceful life has not been restored everywhere, and the safety of people has not been ensured. 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. in other news for you today, the rock guitaristjeff beck has died at the age of 78. beck — who played with the yardbirds and led thejeff beck group — died on tuesday. often described as one of the greatest guitarists of all time, he won eight grammys. beck, whose fingers and thumbs were famously insured for £7 million, was known

as a keen innovator. you're watching nerwday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... more torrential rain and storms in california — wreak damage and put millions of people at risk

this is newsday on the bbc, i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. 0ur headlines... aviation officials say a damaged database file caused the technical fault that forced flights to be grounded across the us. as the ambulance workers strike in england and wales ends, the government says it's too early to assess the impact of wednesday's action. china is continuing to move away from its strict zero—covid regime of the past, with the country's borders now open and millions

of people travelling ahead of the new year holidays later this month. but one of its neighbours — north korea — appears to be continuing its attempts to suppress the virus. to discuss how effective this might be, we're joined by mason richey, associate professor of international politics at hankuk university of foreign studies. it's wonderful to get you on the programme again, professor. i think the last time we spoke, we were talking about how bad the situation is, with regards to the pandemic in north korea, what is your sense of where it is at now?— is at now? well, the short answer to _ is at now? well, the short answer to that _ is at now? well, the short answer to that is - is at now? well, the short answer to that is we - is at now? well, the short answer to that is we are l is at now? well, the short i answer to that is we are not entirely sure but the longer answer is that the regime declared in august victory over covid was achieved and we don't have a great sense of what the public health situation in

north korea is as a whole but at least two judge from the assembly meeting in september and the meeting in december of 2022, there were lots of people at these meetings who weren't wearing masks, and at least therefore in pyongyang and some of the larger cities, it does seem at the very least covid is under control. we have less information about what is going on in the secondary cities and in the countryside, so i think it seems like at least for the moment that the regime are largely has eight under control or at least was to give that impression internationally and to its own people. ln impression internationally and to its own people.— to its own people. in terms of where you _ to its own people. in terms of where you see _ to its own people. in terms of where you see the _ to its own people. in terms of| where you see the momentum going next, isuppose, could you see a situation where north korea follows on from china's lead and begins to gradually reopen? lead and begins to gradually reo en? , lead and begins to gradually reoen? , ~ .,

reopen? yes. so, i think that north korea _ reopen? yes. so, i think that north korea will— reopen? yes. so, i think that north korea will move - north korea will move cautiously to open up, you know, watching the china experience closely. i think there are a number of factors that the regime will balance, the first is the pedicle and health risk consequences of opening up, especially in pyongyang and some of the larger metropolitan areas. as i said, the regime has declared victory over covid largely so backpedalling would be undesirable. they will balance that, of course, with opening up that, of course, with opening up in terms of the benefits that that is going to bring in trade with china, goods and commodities, including fertiliser, obviously outbound trade increasing to china as well would be beneficialfor the regime. the regime will look at the value that it has in terms of control over its borders via covid closure, this has reduced information penetration from outside which is obviously something the regime likes. he does vastly reduce the number of people who

have crossed the border, escapees or defectors, that is something the regime also wants, so it will balance that value with a sustainability of closing down, in terms of how it affects regime security going forward, i think those are the three most important factors. mason rishi at hankuk university, thank you for joining us. to sri lanka next, where the government is planning big spending cuts, saying that it has barely enough money to pay salaries and pension of public servants. the international monetary fund has agreed a bail—out loan of nearly $3 billion but it wants sri lanka to raise taxes and cut public services. ben chu reports. six months ago in sri lanka, amid sovereign debt default and economic chaos, there was a revolution. a new president has since been installed.

an international monetary fund bailout has been agreed. but half a year on, are the lives of ordinary sri lankans actually any better? is a new day dawning for the country's agricultural sector, on which a quarter of the population depends? sri lankan tea pickers like these earn a day rate of around 1,000 rupees, a little less than three usd. and though inflation in the country has eased slightly since last year, food prices in sri lanka last month were still 65% higher than a year earlier. translation: rice, sugar and everything else is expensive. l even bus fares are expensive. everything is a problem now. i can't say we have enough food. i'm afraid for my child's future. more than eight million people, more than a third of sri lanka's population,

are today estimated to be food insecure by the united nations. the fuel queues that snaked around this country six months ago have gone thanks to a digital rationing system. tourists are returning. a different world from the capital colombo can be found a two—hour drive south down the coast. a million people in sri lanka are estimated to be reliant on fishing for their living. the cost of boat fuel for these fisherfolk in beruwala is still four times higher than before the crisis struck last year, making each trip into an economic gamble. places like this feel like the sharp end of sri lanka's economic crisis at the moment. it's clear that in some parts of the country, life has got somewhat better in recent months, but in places like this, it's reallyjust as painful as it was before the fall of the government. after a bad storm, there's often an extensive repairjob. this is a lesson a still

economically broken sri lanka knows well. torrential rain continues to fall in californina 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. the us president has declared a state of emergency. here's james clayton. 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, and 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, 10—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't just 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 seenl 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. that's all for now — stay with bbc news.

hello there. we are stuck in repeat mode, i'm afraid, which means yet more wet and windy weather to come. in actual fact, to close out this week, it's going to be a case of showers, longer spells of rain at times and the winds will always be a feature. now, for the time being, we've got some wet weather pushing its way across england and wales, with the heaviest pulses of rain across south wales and parts of south—west england. it could lead to some localised flooding here, accompanied by gale force gusts of winds as well. so that weather front will linger first thing thursday morning. another area of low pressure nudging into the far north—west of scotland as we go through the morning will gradually bring wetter and increasingly windy weather here as well. sandwiched in between the two, there will be some drier, brighter interludes, and eventually that rain in the south will start to pull away. wind gusts, though, quite

a feature, in excess of 40, close to 50 mph on exposed coasts at times, so a blustery afternoon. a south—westerly wind direction, so on your thermometer, temperatures will peak at about 12—13 degrees, but it may well feel a bit cooler if you're caught in the cloud, the wind and the rain. as we go through the night, we could see strengthening winds for a time as that low pressure drifts its way eastwards, so severe gales not out of the question along the southern flank of that low. with the cloud and the rain around, temperatures will hold up above freezing, but that low pressure will start to pull away on friday, over to scandinavia. and we start to see the isobars open up. this little bump, this ridge of high pressure will quieten things down for friday, although the wind direction's swinging back around to more of a northerly or north—westerly, so a slightly cooler source. but there will be some sunshine around on friday. it will be a drier day, just a few scattered showers driven along the coast by the strength of those winds.

top temperatures in scotland between five and eight degrees. highest values further south, perhaps just scraping into double figures once again. more wet and windy weather arrives, though, in time for the weekend. once again, a low centred to the far north will introduce some cooler weather as well, some wintry showers to higher ground, but there is a chance that we are going to see some pretty wet weather on saturday. fingers crossed, something just that little bit drier as we move into sunday.