more disruption to nhs services as nurses begin a two—day strike across england in their dispute about pay. about a quarter of all services are affected, the government saying an wage rises would take money away from patient care. we wage rises would take money away from patient care.— wage rises would take money away from patient care. we have enormous resect from patient care. we have enormous respect and — from patient care. we have enormous respect and gratitude _ from patient care. we have enormous respect and gratitude for— from patient care. we have enormous respect and gratitude for all— from patient care. we have enormous respect and gratitude for all our- respect and gratitude for all our public sector workers, especially those in the nhs._ public sector workers, especially those in the nhs. �* , ., . ., ~ , those in the nhs. ambulance workers are to strike — those in the nhs. ambulance workers are to strike again. _ those in the nhs. ambulance workers are to strike again. more _ those in the nhs. ambulance workers are to strike again. more dates - those in the nhs. ambulance workers are to strike again. more dates in - are to strike again. more dates in february and march have been announced by the gmb union. we will have the latest on all the strike action. also this lunchtime... the rate at which prices are rising has slowed for a second month, but the cost of living

is still close to a ao—year high. ukraine's interior minister is among 18 people killed when a helicopter crashed near a children's nursery, in a suburb of the capital. a major incident is declared by the environment agency after flooding in somerset. and out, down under — defending men's champion rafa nadal and britain's emma raducanu are both beaten in the australian open. and coming up on the bbc news channel. snooker in crisis. masters champion yan bingtao is among ten chinese players facing match—fixing charges as the sport investigates its biggest corruption scandal. good afternoon and welcome

to the bbc news at one. there is widespread disruption to nhs services again today after nurses in england began two more days of strikes about pay. around a quarter of hospitals and community health services are affected, though emergency care will be provided. the union the royal college of nursing has been calling for wages to increase by 5% above inflation. but the health secretary steve barclay has said what he described as unaffordable pay hikes would take billions of pounds away from patient care. in the last few minutes, the gmb union has announced more strike dates for ambulance workers in february and march. our health correspondent dominic hughes reports. # do a deal, do a deal, do a deal! on a freezing morning in wigan, nurses on the picket line outside the town's main hospital. one of more than 50 nhs trusts across england affected

by today's industrial action. what do we want? fair pay! when do we want it? now! for those like karen, a nurse with 30 years experience, going on strike as a last resort. we really need people to understand the difficulties that the nhs is facing and that nurses are facing. i never thought it would have come to this. i never thought i would ever be on a picket line. getting up this morning, i was gutted, really. sad. but ijust think it is the only solution. the nurses leader pat cullen came to meet those on the wigan picket line. but with little sign of a breakthrough in pay talks, she says ministers need to recognise the depth of feeling among her members. this government needs to start to listen to the voice of the patient and the voice of nursing. come on the picket lines, is what i would say to them today. get their warm coats on them and stand amongst

these brilliant people. and i think they will go back into their offices and make different decisions. they will make better decisions on behalf of the people of this country and on behalf of these nurses. today's strike is bigger in scale than the two days of industrial action we saw back in december. affecting probably one in four hospitals and community services in england over the next two days. but health leaders are warning that in the absence of a pay deal, it's the patients who will get caught in a prolonged war of attrition between the government and the health unions. the nurses in wigan are clear about who they think holds the keys to unlocking this dispute. but speaking in the house of commons today, the prime minister told mps health workers are getting support. we have backed them notjust with record funding but also record investment in more doctors and nurses. 15,000 more doctors, 30,000 more nurses. and more life—saving equipment which will help them do theirjobs. and we continue to want to engage constructively in dialogue with them. meanwhile back in wigan,

managers are doing their best to keep disruption for patients to a minimum. although some clinics have had to be cancelled because of the strike. it is certainly challenging. i think we respect people's democratic rights to take industrial action. but from my perspective i need to make sure the hospital is kept working, that we are keeping patients safe and doing what the nhs has been set up to do. more strike dates have already been announced with ambulance workers, physiotherapists and maybe even junior doctors also set to join the nurses on picket lines. dominic hughes, bbc news, wigan. our correspondent sean dilley is outside university college hospital in london. a lot of people on the picket line there, what are they saying to you? well, they may be on strike but they are working hard with lots of energy

to get their message across. when you speak to people on an individual lead full and say why our nurses striking, why are nurses striking, there is a commonality about food bills being very expensive, making the choice between heating and eating and whether or not to buy that extra block of cheese, they say it's a question of that i don't want to let patients down but they say the governments position is not one day agree with. we know of course gmb members, 10,000 ambulance workers, across england and wales, announcing four dates in february and march on the sixth and 20th respectively, what they have in common with his nurses behind me here is they say they want the government to pay them something thatis

government to pay them something that is much closer to the rate of inflation as opposed to the nhs independent pay review body, which is an average of 4.75%. listen to this. cheering i can tell you it has been like this constantly. i can tell you it has been like this constantly-— constantly. two days of strikes. ei . ht constantly. two days of strikes. eight o'clock — constantly. two days of strikes. eight o'clock until _ constantly. two days of strikes. eight o'clock until eight - constantly. two days of strikes. eight o'clock until eight o'clock, minimum service levels, that will be maintained. if you've already got an appointment scheduled the advice is to turn up. appointment scheduled the advice is to turn u. ,, . ., ~ appointment scheduled the advice is to turnu. ,, ., ., ~ and you check who is striking where by visting our website. you can enter your local region in the searchbar and double check all those details. that's at bbc.co.uk/news. well, in the commons, in the last hour, prime minister's questions has been dominated by the ongoing strikes. let's talk to our chief political correspondent, nick eardley. lets speak to helen kat at westminster. it's a theme which came up westminster. it's a theme which came up time and again at pm keys. the labour up time and again at pm keys. tue: labour leader up time and again at pm keys. tte: labour leader keir starmer chose to really push on the current state of the nhs in prime minister's questions, using a series of questions to highlight the experiences of individuals trying to

use things like waiting for ambulances, highlighting the extremely long ambulance waiting times for example for people who experience heart attacks and really painting that picture of the problems their are within the nhs at the moment, hitting them on the governments handling of the nhs using examples from across england. he accused rishi sunak of the siding over lethal chaos on his watch and he needed to stop blaming others and take responsibility. you heard a bit of rishi sunak�*s response to that area, talking about there being unprecedented challenges for the nhs, brought about by the covid pandemic and flu season. he was also asked about the strikes which are currently ongoing. he insisted the government wanted to engage

constructively with unions to bring them to an end. he was challenged by labour backbencher dorn butler and askedif labour backbencher dorn butler and asked if he would personally meet the royal college of nursing, something unions have said they want in meetings with the prime minister and the chancellor. rishi sunak did not commit to that, saying the unions have been invited to meet the secretaries of state and more widely in terms of ringing an end to these disputes, it doesn't look like the signs are any closer when it comes to bee health disputes. last week it looked like there was grounds for optimism during some of those meetings between the health secretary steve barclay and the unions, when there was talk and proposals of a one—off payment, backdating a pay award for this

year. that doesn't seem to have turned into any concrete proposal being discussed in government or put to unions. mil being discussed in government or put to unions. �* the pace at which prices are rising has slowed for a second month in a row — but the cost of living remains very close to a 40 year high. in december inflation fell to 10.5%, partly because of lower fuel prices — but food prices continue to soar. hannah miller has been to the yorkshire dales to hear about the impact of rising prices there. in the heart of the yorkshire dales, a town that is isolated but not at all insulated from the rising costs that continue to sweep across the country. almost every home in hawes is reliant on oil heating with cost of living payments for that not due until next month. hi, i'm hannah. kath has taken to working seven days a week, but is still struggling to heat her home. you know, a full tank of oil at the moment, you're talking nearly £1,000 which, you know, is quite a lot of money. you know, many companies you have to pay upfront to get your oil, so if you don't have that money you literally can't fill your tank. that smells amazing. with food and drinks rising even faster than average, this jam factory has tried to make savings to protect customers from rising costs. how manyjars will we get out of this batch? probably get around about 350 i'd say. every single time we run a production run, every single time we make a batch ofjam, maybe it used to cost £10 in electricity and now it's costing £30 in electricity and we have to find that additional money.

and what we don't want to do is pass it on to consumers, customers, because we know the last thing anybody needs at the moment is costs of goods going up. the falling fuel prices that contributed to today's slight easing of inflation are particularly welcome here in an area where many people are reliant on their cars to get around. clothing and footwear also contributed to the slight drop in inflation, but that was offset by price rises in restaurants and hotels. the government has set its sights on inflation falling by half before the end of the year, though global energy prices are out of their control. many analysts believe today's figure shows inflation is now on a downward trend. we are already seeing signs that inflation will cool, because of external issues, so commodity prices have come down. we've got producer price inflation coming down, as well, so that's the amount we have been charged for stuff when it's

leaving the factory door. and people here are hoping that the worst of the price rises are behind them. in a rural community like here, you'd probably pay more than in a big supermarket, but you've got to support the local businesses. that's really important. i it does weigh on you a little bit. when you know you've got to feed everybody and you're never really sure whether it's _ going to go up again. the thought of it settling down a bit, not continuing to go up... how does that make you feel? a little bit more hopeful for the future. but despite inflation easing, economic conditions remain challenging as the country continues to adapt to higher costs and prices that are unlikely to fall. hannah miller, bbc news, hawes. our economics correspondent andy verityjoins me. a fall according to these new figures. how much further could it

90, figures. how much further could it go, andy? figures. how much further could it no, and ? ~ figures. how much further could it 0, and ?~ ., go, andy? well, it can go some way further and — go, andy? well, it can go some way further and in _ go, andy? well, it can go some way further and in fact _ go, andy? well, it can go some way further and in fact that's _ go, andy? well, it can go some way further and in fact that's what - go, andy? well, it can go some way further and in fact that's what the i further and in fact that's what the official forecast is saying that it will drop back into single digits from double digits now somewhere in the middle of this year, going on to drop further down to about 4—6% by the end of this year but we should remember that right now we are going through one of the hardest squeeze is on living standards we've been doing more than four decades. food price inflation at 16.8%. that's the highest it's been since 1977. those cheaper fuel prices aren't yet feeding through to the prices of other goods which are still rising by more than 13%. so they are expecting inflation averaging overall 7.4% for the coming year partly because those fuel prices

came down by 8% in december alone, but we should remember inflation as a year—on—year comparison, so after the big spike in fuel prices which was last february on the invasion of ukraine there was a big striking difference between january then and january now. as you move on past that spike a year ago the difference is smaller and that's why inflation is smaller and that's why inflation is likely to come down in a year or two, coming down to zero or even deflation. but it won't be enough to make up for the big rise in the cost of living of the past two years. fig]!!! of living of the past two years. all right, andy, thank you for now. andy verity. rishi sunak has told mps that serial rapist david carrick�*s crimes were a "truly sickening" abuse of power and promised police reforms so offenders would have "no place to hide". the former metropolitan police officer admitted 49 sexual offences, including rape, against 12 women. he used his job to frighten his victims — some of whom he met through dating websites. in the last hour it national police chief counsel will ask all police forces to check their offices and staff national police databases. the home office as this will help identify anyone who has slipped through the net before vetting standards were toughened. let's get

more on that from our home editor, mark easton. so that is a striking announcement, the announcement about vetting. announcement, the announcement about vettinu. ~ ., ., vetting. well, the fallout, the olitical vetting. well, the fallout, the political fallout _ vetting. well, the fallout, the political fallout from - vetting. well, the fallout, the political fallout from this - political fallout from this appalling case, continues. rishi sunak raising it at pmqs today. he is meeting the commissioner of the metropolitan police later today and in the case will be top of their conversation agenda. yes, all police forces in england and wales are now doing what the metropolitan police has already been doing, which is putting every single member of their staff, both officers and civilian staff, both officers and civilian staff, against what we know on the national police databases, that's notjust national police databases, that's not just convictions national police databases, that's notjust convictions but also going to be intelligence, and the expectation is a significant number perhaps of individuals will be found not to have revealed all that they should have done about their past. i think one of the important things about this case is the awareness,

the red flags as they are called, missed, the dots were notjoined up, and that was how carrick was able to get away with it for so long. but in addition to that sort of trawl through the records of all those who worked for police forces, the government has also said that the angelini review, they review into police systems, will also be looking at vetting and standard procedures to see if they need to be tightened up. to see if they need to be tightened u. �* to see if they need to be tightened u -. �* ,., , to see if they need to be tightened u . _ �* , ., , ., up. also, in terms of carrick himself there _ up. also, in terms of carrick himself there has _ up. also, in terms of carrick himself there has been - up. also, in terms of carrick himself there has been a . up. also, in terms of carrick. himself there has been a great concern expressed by some about the fact he could, despite all his crimes, potentially be entitled to his police pension?— crimes, potentially be entitled to his police pension? that's correct, es. the his police pension? that's correct, yes. the lender _ his police pension? that's correct, yes. the lender mayor _ his police pension? that's correct, yes. the lender mayor at - his police pension? that's correct, yes. the lender mayor at sadiq - his police pension? that's correct, l yes. the lender mayor at sadiq khan has said that he will do what he can to strip carrick of his £22,000 a year pension. and it is understood that the home office ministers and the home secretary are keen for that

to happen. there is actually a technical and legal point here which is that of course pensions are made up is that of course pensions are made up both of employer contributions and employee contributions and it will probably be difficult to prevent carrick from having access to the money he paid into his own pension fund. nevertheless, there is, as you say, an attempt to ensure he will not benefit from the police service a pension that he is due. thank you. ukraine's interior minister is one of at least 18 people who've been killed in a helicopter crash in a suburb of kyiv. the helicopter came down next to a nursery and three children are known to have died. others are being treated in hospital. it is believed the crash was an accident, in poor visibility. frank gardner reports. an early morning helicopter crash, and ukraine is left reeling.

the aircraft, believed to be a french built super puma, was carrying the interior minister and several senior officials. it came down beside a nursery school, and children are amongst the casualties. translation: i asked my friend what happened. - he said something fell on the kindergarten, and he started to help, pulled three children age six and seven out of there. translation: we were l walking and heard a noise. it was such a noise. at that time, there was a terrible flame. a helicopter was circling. i froze. early investigations did not reveal any sign of the helicopter being shot down. it was flying low in foggy conditions en route to the city of kharkiv. it belonged to the state emergency services. the loss of such a key government minister on board has been called a national tragedy. very patriotic guy, did a lot

of things for ukraine and made police reform in ukraine, and it's actually a tragedy for ukraine, for his family. denys monastyrsky was often at scenes like this, inspecting damage to the latest target of a russian missile attack. he was a personal friend of the president and was well known to several western leaders. they've been sending their condolences. despite this setback, ukraine's war effort is unlikely to slacken off. the country remains focused on resisting russia's missile attacks and on preparing for a coming spring offensive by both sides. frank gardner, bbc news. the time is1.19.. our top story this lunchtime.

nurses begin a two—day strike in a dispute about pay. about a quarter of services are affected. still to come. you're the best teacher in the world! we meet the 100—year—old who made the new year's honours list — who's been volunteering at his local schools. coming up on the bbc news channel. iceland captain sara bjork gunnarsdottir says winning a claim against former side lyon for failing to pay her a full salary during pregnancy is a "wake—up call" for clubs around the world. the environment agency has declared a major incident in somerset because of the risk of flooding. it said the move was in response to a number of incidents in the county, as well as a flood risk in the bristol avon area and rising water levels in dorset. let's talk to our west of england correspondent danjohnson.

the image behind you tells its own story. the image behind you tells its own sto . , , ' ., _ story. this is the effort by the environment _ story. this is the effort by the environment agency - story. this is the effort by the environment agency to - story. this is the effort by the environment agency to drain l story. this is the effort by the - environment agency to drain water from the somerset levels. they declared a major incident to alert people but not to alarm them they say but the risk of flooding is serious and sell these pumps have been brought in to try to get the water away from the land and into the river and up to the bristol channel. the intensity of rain that has fallen in the past week is why river levels have been rising and why there's so much water. we can show you aerial pictures taken yesterday showing how much farmland is currently under floodwater and the risk is that that will keep rising if they're not able to pump it quickly enough. we had intense flooding here in 2014, farms, fields and homes were under water for weeks

and homes were under water for weeks and some people were out of their houses for months on end after that so there is fear that that could be about to happen again. there has been some criticism that the environment agency and other authorities had not been in place to deal with this earlier at the start of the week but the environment agency says there is major incident will allow them to get the right pieces of equipment in place now and they think that they can hold off they think that they can hold off the west of the flooding but it has just started raining again. dan johnson, thank _ just started raining again. dan johnson, thank you. the government is being challenged in parliament today about plans to scrap thousands of eu—era laws by the end of this year. critics say the move would give too much power to ministers and civil servants, rather than to mp5. the government insists that removing regulations will help to drive economic growth. the trial has begun of a man accused of the manslaughter of his 16—year—old daughter. kaylea titford was found dead at the family home

in powys in october 2020 after becoming morbidly obese. her mother has already admitted manslaughter. our wales correspondent hywel griffith is outside mold crown court. this is a tragic case, a teenage girl who because of her disability is depended on the care of others. kaylea titford was 16 at the time of her death and had a spinal condition which meant she depended on a wheelchair and hydro catalysts or fluid in the brain which meant that she needed help but when the first national lockdown came in march 2020 and schools closed in the words of the prosecution she then became entirely dependent on the care of her parents but over the months that followed her weight increase massively and she became morbidly obese with the way nearly 23 stone at the time of her death. when she was found her skin was ulcerated and

in the words of the paramedic who discovered her body after an emergency 909 call, there was a rotten smell in the room. many of the details of the case are too upsetting to be broadcast but it is the prosecution because my case that both parents failed to look after their daughter. the man on trial is 44—year—old alun titford and his father and he says he was not aware of how bad her condition had become. he was not the one responsible for her day—to—day care and hygiene. he has pleaded guilty to two charges of gross negligence and causing or allowing the death of a child. his partner has already pleaded guilty to both of the charges at a previous hearing but the defence for alun titford is it was not his responsibility and he was busy with other things and not deeply involved in her care. we will hear his defence over the course of the trial which is expected to last for four

weeks here at mold crown court. the world's oldest person, a nun who lived in the south of france, has died at the age of 118. lucile randon, known as sister andre, died in her sleep at her care home. she told reporters last year that she worked until she was 108 and said caring for others had kept her alive. she entered the guiness book of world records last april as the world's oldest person. 10 chinese snooker players suspended as part of an on—going match fixing investigation have all been charged by the sport's world governing body. the allegations range from fixing matches, approaching players to cheat and betting on snooker. one of the players charged, yan bingtao, won the masters tournament in 2021. they each face a lengthy ban if found guilty of the charges.

in tennis, there's been a shock at the australian open. the top seed and defending men's singles champion rafael nadal has been knocked out in the second round. nadal appeared to be struggling with an injury as he lost in straight sets to the american mackenzie mcdonald. and britain's emma raducanu is also out, beaten by the 18—year—old american coco gauff in a much—anticipated match. our sports correspondent joe wilson was watching. maybe don't look at a grand slam champion here, but see a young player still finding her career. either way, emma raducanu knows the world is watching. her opponent, coco gauff, has been playing on the tour since 2019. she's still just 18. the seventh seed was too powerful too often in the first set. took it 6—3. well played. raducanu's serve faltered and physically she seemed troubled. 0-40. but no collapse. through the second set, raducanu kept running and improving. in the tiebreak, she was still pushing for points,

still feeling some pain. gauff overcame her own nerves to seal the match. the consolation for raducanu was that she'd stretched one of the world's highest ranked players. this is the elite company she needs to keep. well, if you want more pain, look at rafael nadal, and indeed, his wife. by the third set, the great man could barely run in the points he won. it's a hip issue of uncertain severity. the score was clear. straight sets defeat in round two. it's natural we wonder if we'll see nadal at the australian open again. but he praised his opponent. mackenzie mcdonald has said he's a quarter scottish, with english and chinese heritage. but, yes, he's american. joe wilson, bbc news. "my street cred is tremendous". those are the words of 100—year—old peter davies who received the british empire medal in the new year's honours list for his work volunteering

with children at a local school, helping them to read. graham satchell has been to meet him and some of the pupils who have been inspired by him. peter davies is 100 years old. twice a week he heads to his local primary school. peter has been helping year two students with their reading. good afternoon, year two. good afternoon, mr davies. right, off you go. animals can help us in lots of ways. a boy was at sea with his family, he fell into the water. but he couldn't. .. could not swim. oh, the kids are great, they really are. it's lovely to think that when i first get hold of them, some of them are very, very poor readers. and yet after a term, how good readers they are.

he is inspirational. he is generous, he is considerate. he is thoughtful and he is somebody who has gifted his time for so many children over the last six years to instill a love of reading, that we will never be able to say thank you. peter started volunteering after his wife died. they had been married for 72 years. peter says he became a lost soul and volunteering saved him. if i make a mistake, you get a point. when you read that one, if you made a mistake, i geta point. please take me out of this zoo... i used to be very bad at reading and now i'm really good at reading. because he has helped me a lot. in the new year's honours list peter was given the british empire medal for his work as a reading volunteer. the oldest person on this year's list. what's the score? 2-1. who's got two?!

me! i'm just a run—of—the—mill guy who just does something which has helped me get through my week. i get more out of it than the children i'm sure do. plus the fact that my street cred is tremendous! i'll be going anywhere in the village, as it were, and a child will shout out, hello, mr davies! and i feel ten feet high! i belong. the best reading teacher in the world! goodbye! bye, mr davies! not a nota dry not a dry eye in the house! graham satchel with that report. time for a look at the weather. here's ben rich. we have had quite a change in the

weather. things now look