at six — tens of thousands of nurses go on strike again in their biggest day of action so far in england. they chant: claps don't pay the bills, claps don't pay the bills! strike action will intensify next month. ambulance workers will now walk out on the same day as nurses in england and wales, piling huge pressure on hospital bosses. my message, and that of many chief executives around the country, is that this needs resolution. we cannot continue to go through periods of industrial action, and the disruption caused to patients and to our staff. also on the programme tonight... another slight fall in inflation but food prices continue to soar. a

senior ukrainian government minister has died in a helicopter crash in kyiv that has killed at least 1a people. we'll be live in somerset where a major incident has been declared because of the risk of severe flooding good afternoon, here, too. good afternoon. _ good afternoon, here, too. good afternoon. mr— good afternoon, here, too. good afternoon, mr davies! _ and the 100 —year—old war veteran whose latest mission is to help children in cheshire learn to read. and coming up on the bbc news channel: the world of snooker reacts as ten chinese players are charged in connection with alleged match fixing allegations. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. the biggest day of strikes in the nhs so far is now set for monday 6th february, after ambulance workers announced today that they would walk out

on the same day as nurses in england and wales. tens of thosuands of nurses in england are already on strike again today in their dispute over pay — affecting a quarter of hospitals and community health services. thousands of nurses will also strike tomorrow across england — and on the sixth and seventh february in wales as well as england. today ambulance workers added to the nhs crisis as they announced four more dates in england and wales — the sixth and 20th of february and the sixth and 20th of march. the royal college of nursing says it's willing to compromise, the health secretary, steve barclay, says pay rises would take money away from patient care. the head of one of london's largest hospitals says the dispute is hugely disruptive and needs to be resolved swiftly. 0ur health editor, hugh pym, reports from university college hospital on the impact of the strikes. claps don't pay the bills! outside the hospital, the noise from striking nurses and protesters.

claps don't pay the bills! inside, the operating theatres are silent. no planned operations are going ahead. there is no—one in the recovery room. today we would have had two days' worth of operations planned in these theatres, our newest set of theatres, and we have nothing planned at all in terms of surgical activity today or tomorrow. and what normally happens here, what level of activity? normally we'd be busy with orthopaedic or ear, nose and throat surgery. it's one of our busiest surgical hubs in the whole of the uch campus. but not today. university college hospital london gave us access to see how it's affecting them. over 2000 patients will miss their operations and appointments. the boss has called on unions and the government to settle the dispute. disputes like this, industrial action of this scale, is

hugely disruptive, so it's notjust the cancelling of the patients and reorganising their care, it is everything that goes behind that. it's also motivating our staff, retaining our staff, keeping the morale of our staff high. given where this dispute has got to, what's your message to the government? my message and that of many chief executives around the country is that this needs resolution. we cannot continue to go through periods of industrial action and the disruption it is causing to patients and our staff. back on the street, nurses defended their decision to strike. so i'm out here to protest. we need a pay rise. we haven't had a pay rise in ten years in line with inflation, so we deserve better. every single day we are . completely over capacity. it's not a safe _ environment to be looking after the patients and a strike is - unfortunately the only thing we feel like we've got left. what about patients affected today? they've missed out on their operation, their appointment which they might have waited for for a long time. yep, so this is it, . but it feels like this

is the last thing we had to do. as my colleagues have been saying today, it is with deep consideration that we stand here and do this today. | hopefully to do this is to get - what we want and for the future, stop this happening again. feelings are clearly running high on picket lines but the question is, where do things go from here? right now there seems to be a stand—off between the government and the health unions. the health secretary covering england gave his response to the strike action. i'm disappointed by the strikes, obviously. the losers are the patients who suffer the disruption. of course the strikes are in one quarter of trusts, so three—quarters of trusts are not striking and i'm gratefulfor the work that nurses and other staff are doing across the nhs. do a deal! as striking nurses in wigan called for a deal, a march from university college hospital involving nurses and other

campaigners reached westminster and the biggest set of walk—outs by ambulance staff and nurses was announced for a single day in february. hugh pym, bbc news. it's notjust nurses who are on strike today. environment agency workers in england have also walked out in a dispute over pay. and in scotland, rolling teacher strikes continue in 0rkney and fife. several more days of industrial action are planned over the coming weeks. the big day will be february 1st when teachers, train drivers and civil servants all plan to go on strike right across the uk. so is there any chance of resolution? 0ur political editor chris mason is in westminster. is there? we have had this conversation _ is there? we have had this conversation before, - is there? we have had this i conversation before, haven't is there? we have had this - conversation before, haven't we? you asked the only question that really matters in all of this and i stand here and say, no, it does not look like there is any resolution anywhere near, at all, and we were saying that last week and the week before. and speaking to union

leaders who represent workers in the health service, i detect, actually, a souring of the mood over the last week since that meeting several unions had with the health secretary for england at the beginning of last week. there is an exasperation as to why this is not being sorted out. so why this is not being sorted out. so why isn't it? particularly when we had from the rail minister acknowledged that the overall cost to the uk economy of rail strikes is greater than it would have been if the whole thing had been resolved several months ago. the reason is, had they done that, it would have created a precedent. the government would have felt it would have had to settle the public sector unions across the piece, and that would have proved, they think, too expensive because the treasury, who hold the purse strings, say their focus is inflation. yes it is coming down but not by as much as they had hoped, and there is no new money was not any money that to be found, cutting from existing budgets and reallocating it.—

cutting from existing budgets and reallocating it. chris mason, thank ou. reallocating it. chris mason, thank yom strike — reallocating it. chris mason, thank you. strike action _ reallocating it. chris mason, thank you. strike action is _ reallocating it. chris mason, thank you. strike action is taking - reallocating it. chris mason, thank you. strike action is taking place i you. strike action is taking place in france with services to and from calais suspended from 7am tomorrow because of national walk—outs. the pot of dover will come to a standstill because of a day of strikes and demonstrations across france. the government of emmanuel macron wants to push back the official retirement age from 62, to 64, and campaigners say the reforms would unfairly affect the less well off. the rate of inflation fell slightly last mont., a fall in petrol prices and the cost of clothing brought the consumer price index down to 10.5% in december , point—two percent lower than the previous month. our business editor, simonjack, is here to tell us more. simon. it is heading in the right direction. inflation has fallen for the second month in a row and here is why. at the local fuel station, the price of petrol and diesel has fallen quite sharply. but other price of other things remained stubbornly high and rising —

essentials like food. what everyone is hoping is that inflation — the level of prices today compared to a year ago — has peaked. but as you can see, its still rising faster than wages — particularly public sector wages but also private sector pay — meaning our living standards are falling. the chancellor says he wants to cut by half the rate of inflation. any country anywhere in the world with inflation over 10% is seeing it at frankly dangerous levels for stability of an economy, but for families up and down the country now seeing food price inflation of nearly 17%, and that's causing a massive hike in the cost of the weekly shop. and what that really shows is that for us and for other countries, the most important thing is to stick to a plan to bring down inflation. inflation should fall in the month ahead as we compare against rising prices getting my last year.

inflation is mainly the concern of the bank of england. there are primary went to —— weapon is interest reds, which discourages spending and encourage saving, sucking money out of the economy. it is expected to do it again in early february. ruth, the government cannot do that much to bring down inflation. —— in truth. they say it is a key reason why they cannot raise public sector wages but economists are divided as to how much difference that would make it to the global forces which are the real cause of rising prices. that slight dip in inflation has not taken the edge off for millions of households. 0ur correspondent danny savage has been to hawes in north yorkshire, where fuel poverty is above the average for england and almost all the households are heated off the gas grid, heated by by coal, logs or oil. it poses a different set of challenges for the community, as danny has been finding out.

winter in wensleydale. there is no gas mains here, so it's heating oil, electricity and open fires to keep warm. let's start in a closed pub. mark has been a landlord around here for 43 years. this cuts down on his estimated electricity bill. i've been cutting anything from £50,000-£70,000. we just wouldn't know, once we start switching the electric on, just where we'd be with the cost of it. i'm worried it would run out of control. the potential solution is to open the green dragon just a couple of days a week. i think you have a duty as a licensee, as an innkeeper, to actually try and keep the community together and keep something rolling as best you can. it's just a shame the economics have got in the way. it's a tragic loss for english life, social life. that pub has this spectacular waterfall, effectively in its back garden, but it says something about the economy around here now that the green dragon could only afford to open for say, two, three days a week when it used to trade all day, every day. it says the economy

is going backwards. a few miles downriver is low mill guest house. we were full up at new year. everyone stayed in, no—one went to the pub. they all brought little picnics and stuff to eat and that's the first time that's ever happened in ten years. people's spending habits have changed, so the owners have had to change theirs as well. it's just not viable to open, if you've only got one customer in you have to have all the heating on, all the lights on, the oven on and what have you. so, wejust open weekends, in the winter. in rural areas, discreetly accessing a food bank is important but difficult. this one is in the back of a church, to make it seem less obvious. it's nice that people can be under the radar, if you like, which is quite a hard thing to do in the dales. because everybody knows everybody�*s lives in a way, because it's a close—knit community here? close—knit community, everybody is related in some way or form to other people

who live here as well, which does make it hard. the market town of hawes is a long way from anywhere else. well, you've got kendal college straight up the road. just follow the road and it's about 28 miles, about an hour journey. for young people like jasmine, the cost of getting elsewhere is a big deal. well, i don't have any house bills but i do have car bills which means the cost of petrol going up is going to have a knock—on effect on me getting around because, you know, it's like, 30 miles to our closest supermarket. 30 miles to our closest college. so, everything's a bit of a stretch. you can't really rely on public transport. people out here are hardy and will get on with it. but this is the most challenging time economically in living memory for many. danny savage, bbc news, north yorkshire. all police forces in england and wales are being asked to check any corrupt staff after a serving

officer, david carrick, was found to be a serial rapist. the government has promised reforms that will leave offenders with "no place to hide". our home editor mark easton reports. chanting: no justice! no peace! no rapist police. the reverberations from the carrick scandal continue, with police chiefs and politicians expressing their determination to root out misogyny and predatory behaviour from the ranks. sexist police have got to go! every police officer and staff member in england and wales will be checked against national police databases for any convictions or intelligence that might identify those like carrick, who have slipped through the net. on monday, he admitted to 49 offences, including 24 rapes against 12 women. the prime minister met the

commissioner of scotland yard at a police station in south london. the national police database contains a variety of information out people against which those individuals can be rechecked. it is against which those individuals can be rechecked.— against which those individuals can be rechecked. it is important we do that immediately _ be rechecked. it is important we do that immediately and _ be rechecked. it is important we do that immediately and police - be rechecked. it is important we do that immediately and police forces| that immediately and police forces out to identify and root out anyone who is not fit to serve. h0 out to identify and root out anyone who is not fit to serve.— who is not fit to serve. no one doubts the _ who is not fit to serve. no one doubts the damage _ who is not fit to serve. no one doubts the damage that - who is not fit to serve. no one doubts the damage that the i who is not fit to serve. no one - doubts the damage that the carrick case and other recent scandals have done to trust in particularly among women, but there is urgency in the political response, because of concerns that, without action, public confidence in law enforcement could be damaged still further. carrick was recruited despite being suspected of dust mite offences against women and also passed two internal betting checks, and a home office review will look at what went wrong. the mayor of london, sadik khan, has said carrick should lose his £22,000 per year police pension, a core that has home office report but it is the loss of trust in

policing that will exercise politicians far more. mark easton, bbc news. our top story this evening. nurses and ambulance staff will strike on the same day next month , in what's expected to be the biggest walk—out by nhs staff so far in their dispute with the government about pay. and in tennis, britain's cameron norrie is through to the third round of the australian open. coming up in sportsday on the bbc news channel: we'll be looking ahead to the chicago bulls and detroit pistons' showdown in paris, as the nba returns to europe for the first time since the pandemic.

one of the ukrainian government's most senior ministers has died in a helicopter crash in kyiv — that's killed at least 14 people our ukraine correspondent, james waterhouse, sent this report from the scene, and a warning you may find some of it distressing. sobbing. even with the backdrop of war, it's been one of ukraine's bleakest days. in the mist of the morning, a helicopter came down next to a children's nursery. translation: we ran - into the street and turning. there were bodies and debris lying around. there was smoke, blood and clothes, and mothers were running. from the moment the helicopter finally stopped, the a nswers slowly ca me. all nine people on board were killed. so too were those caught in its path. translation: i heard a loud sound, turned and saw- an explosion of flames. i wasn't thinking about what i saw.

we soon learned a child was among the dead. then, news it was senior government officials on a journey east towards the front line. they included this man, ukraine's interior minister denys monastyrsky, a strong ally of president zelensky. they were together yesterday. he also handed medals to some of ukraine's national guard... ..and said the war was taking lives, health, strength and nerves. speaking to world leaders today, president zelensky addressed what happened. i4 ukrainian families lost their loved ones today and many more families are losing daily, because of the war. denys monastyrsky was travelling eastwards to the front line, before his helicopter came down into the heart of this nursery. rescue teams are still going through the rubble. there are body bags in the playground.

and he would often makejourneys like this at low altitude, which of course comes with its own risks. you can't go much higher than the tree line to avoid being targeted. as for the obvious question, the cause is not known. in times of war, many suspect the enemy. these are dangerous times to be a ukrainian. james waterhouse, bbc news, kyiv region. the environment agency has declared a major incident in somerset because of risk of flooding, saying that it is "prudent to plan for the worst". pumping began yesterday to clear water off the somerset levels with authorities keen to avoid a repeat of the 2014 floods that devastated the area. our west of england correspondent danjohnson is at northmoor green in somerset. this is one of the pumping stations at the centre of this serious effort to try and clear some of the floodwater before it gets into

people's homes and they know here how devastating that can be because they've suffered so badly in the past. that's why so many residents here are tonight really concerned. the somerset levels are once again submerged, and people here are holding their breath. we've got winter barley, winter oats under water, grass seed underwater. farmers risk losing more thanjust crops, and there is frustration. it's coming up so fast. we have a press release saying 7—10 days before pumps are in. a lot of that is red tape. the trigger points were put in place so we'd have rapid reaction. it hasn't been rapid. the water's been rapid in rising, but the pumps going in hazard. the water's been rapid in rising, but the pumps going in hasn't. more pumps are being brought in. the idea is to lower the levels by taking water off the fields and pouring it into the rivers. but a major incident declaration is recognition of what could be about to come.

localauthorities, government agencies, the military if necessary are all getting the same information. they're all on the front foot and ready to respond if things get worse. this is why people are nervous. nine years ago they were under waterfor six weeks. some villages cut off, some homes uninhabitable for months. so, lifelong residents like martin are worried. they emphasise to us that it wouldn't happen on this level again but it is looking like that scenario again. last time it took five weeks for the water to reach this level. now it's happened in five days. the rainfall is more intense and so is the flooding and the science tells us we have to be prepared for more of this. and although there is a major incident here, it's not the only county feeling the impact of flooding. danjohnson, bbc news on the somerset levels.

ten chinese snooker players accused of being involved in match—fixing have all been charged today, as snooker�*s governing body investigates the sport's biggest corruption scandal. the allegations include manipulating games, approaching players to cheat, betting on snooker and fixing matches. our sports correspondent, andy swiss, has the story. the champion, yan bingtao! he's the biggest star in what is snooker�*s biggest scandal. only last season, yan bingtao was a top ten player who reached the quarterfinals of the world championship. now, he's being charged with match fixing, one of ten chinese players accused of corruption. they also include zhao xintong, who won two titles last season... liang wenbo! ..and the experienced liang wenbo, who's alleged to have approached others to fix matches. to have so many players charged with cheating is a dark day for the sport. well, it's very damaging.

we have to deliver pure live sport, competed to the highest level. and to do that, we must know the sport is clean. so the damage for me is short—term. we have to take the short—term pain now, we have to clear this issue up and we have to move on. snooker is no stranger to match fixing. in 2013, stephen lee was banned for 12 years, but one former world champion shaun murphy believes the sanctions need to be even stronger. my overriding feeling is i feel complete betrayal. if these players are found guilty of fixing the outcomes of snooker matches, i don't think we should ever see them again on the tour. i think it's that straightforward. zhao xintong! the ten charged players are all suspended until they face a hearing, but the integrity of their sport is now under the sternest scrutiny. andy swiss, bbc news. drama at the australian tennis in

melbourne has continued with a second—round defeat in pain for the defending champion rafael nadal. britten�*s norrie made his way through but emma raducanu was defeated. here is a grand slam champion and a young player still finding her career. emma raducanu is both. coco gauff has been playing on the tour since 2019. she is stilljust 18. seventh seed took the first set, 6—3. raducanu's serve faltered, and at times physically she seemed troubled. but through the second set raducanu kept running and improving. in the tie—break she was still pushing for points. well, she says, she was pleased just to be playing after recent injuries. gauff sealed the match. raducanu had at least stretched one of the world's highest ranked players, and this is the elite company she needs to keep. after rain delays, cameron norrie eventually beat constant lestienne of france. in the fourth set at 1:27am, never

too late to celebrate, or too early. if you want more pain, look at rafael nadal and indeed his wife. by the third set of his match, the great man could barely run in the points he won. limping to the ball but did get there. it's a hip issue of uncertain severity. the score was clear. straight sets defeat. we may wonder if we'll see nadal at the australian open again. but he praised his opponent. mackenzie mcdonald has said he is one quarter scottish, with english and chinese heritage. and yes, he's american. joe wilson, bbc news. he is 100 years old and fought in world war ii but now peter davies's mission is to help children at his local school learn to read. he's been volunteering for six years and has been honoured with the british empire medal for his work. has been honoured with the british empire medalfor his work. graham satchell went to meet 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! wonderful story. that was graham satchell reporting. weather in a moment but before we do that spare a thought for the extraordinary people taking part in one of the world's toughest enducance races — along the penine way right now — it's called the montane spine race. the race is 268—miles long — all the way up to the scottish borders. more than a hundred people set off from the peak district on sunday at 8am. they've had to contend with 70

mph winds and temperatures as low as —17 degrees. but look at that countryside — spectacular in the snow. not very easy to run on. let's go to the weather with nick miller. let's hope they have extra thick lycra for that. the respite is going to come earlier for some than others. most of the wintry showers over northern and western parts of the uk. to the east, staying dry. lots of sunshine but that didn't melt the frost. it's that cold. the reason for most of the snow showers to the north and east is the wind direction to the west and north, favouring these areas. tonight, turning very icy in players. i mentioned the end inside and over the weekend and milder weather over the weekend and milder weather over the north and west of the uk. the blue holding on in the south—east, cold weather lingering through the weekend. snow showers to western parts of england, wales, northern ireland, into northern and western

scotland where it will turn very icy and there are some met office warnings. overnight, clear but all of us have a widespread frost, possibly close to —10 in the coldest parts of scotland. again the icy start, wintry showers in the west, rain and sleet in the northern isles into northern mainland scotland. elsewhere, wintry showers easing during the day so many places in the afternoon, dry with sunny spells. strengthening wind in northern scotland. it may feel a bit less cold elsewhere than it did today. another frosty start on friday, maybe some foggy patches in the west. the odd shower over the north sea coast. over the next couple of days, weatherfronts sea coast. over the next couple of days, weather fronts trying to move into the west with limited success and a cold day in scotland. then the change to milder conditions over northern and western parts of the uk over the weekend whereas the east and south—east will have to wait a bit longer.

and that's bbc news at six on wednesday