live from london, this is bbc news. a doctors�* strike that threatens to be the most disruptive in the history of the nhs begins in england. final preparations for a president —joe biden heads to northern ireland to mark 25 years of the good friday agreement. the head of the uk's largest business lobby, tony danker, has been sacked over misconduct claims. hello and welcome to bbc news. i'm samantha simmonds. we begin here in england, where thousands ofjunior doctors

in england have started a four—day strike that threatens to bring the worst disruption in the history of the health service. it runs all the way through to saturday morning, and could mean the cancellation of 350,000 appointments and operations. the doctors�* union is in a row with the government over pay forjunior doctors, with the british medical association sticking to its demand of a 35% pay rise and the government refusing to negotiate until what it sees as a more reasonable pay demand is met. catherine burns reports. what do we want? pay rise! how do we get it? strike! this winter, we've got used to seeing nhs staff waving banners on picket lines. we're now into the fifth month of industrial action, but this walk—out byjunior doctors in england is bigger in scale than anything that's come before. the bma is being accused of picking dates to maximise disruption. their view is industrial action is meant to cause some disturbance. we've been open and honest and transparent through this whole process.

0ur ask has not changed, because all we are looking to do is restore the pay thatjuniors have lost, but at every opportunity that we might think we can break through it seems they have another precondition, another hurdle, another obstacle for us to go through. nhs bosses will prioritise a&e and areas like maternity, neonatal and critical care. but they expect many, possibly around 350,000, routine appointments to be postponed. including philip fisher's surgery to tackle constant ear infections. he says it shouldn't have come to this. when i received the phone call, i was gutted. i ended up crying. because the pain — unbearable. now, what do i do? what do i do now? i just have to wait. why is it cancelled? who's accountable?

how many more people are like me? this will be the second junior doctor strike this year. they also walked out in march. at the heart of this — pay. they want a 35% increase to make up for years of below—inflation wages. that's a large demand, when you think about it. don't get me wrong, i do think they should have an increase, but 35% is a lot. i support them. i've got nothing against what they're doing. ijust hope that it does get kind of sorted out quickly. it's really unfortunate if you're - needing a major operation or you've been on a waiting list, - but, ultimately, i think it's the only way that things can change. i think they do need a significant pay rise. 0bviously, 35%, they're aiming very high. that approach has had some luck with other unions — nurses, ambulance staff and physios are voting on a 5% pay increase — but not, so far, with the junior doctors. catherine burns, bbc news. and catherine burns

is in leicesterfor us — she gave me this update from the picket line there. i am on the picket line surrounded byjunior doctors who have walked out almost two hours ago and have almost four days to go. it is quiet at this exact second, but all morning there has been beeping from cars going past. i am joined now by twojunior doctors who have taken this decision to go on strike, ben and abby. abby, how easy was it to come to this decision? really difficult. i have a duty to my patients, but i have a duty to provide care and also a duty to tell the truth and stand up for the system, and the nhs as it is right now is broken. what is yourjob like on a daily level? i work in obstetrics and gynaecology, looking after people who have uteruses, women's health and delivering babies. at the moment pretty much every single shift we don't

have enough midwives, don't have enough doctors, we need a strategy meeting in the morning as to who we will be able to do inductions for, who we can do c—sections four and how we can manage the workload because we don't have enough staff. we often do not have enough staff to do everything on the list for the day. 0n the ground we often have patients waiting three or four hours to be seen in the maternity assessment unit because out of hours i am covering the entire unit. how do you cope? honestly, with difficulty. it is really hard coming home feeling like you have not done a good job or given the care you want to give. to be honest, all we do in the nhs right now is our best, we give our best every day but we are all running on empty and we need the government to intervene and do something. you talk about all the nhs but the other unions are voting on a 5% pay offer, you guys are asking for 35%, there is quite a big gap.

i can't talk for other unions and i'm not prepared to speak for nurses or anybody else, it is up to them to say what they want to say on that, but our pay has dropped in real terms by a quarter over the last 15 years. there are doctors on the picket line who graduated 13 years ago and are being paid the same today as they were then in real terms, that is not right. plenty more on those junior doctors strikes here on bbc news. in the last hour, tony danker, the head of one of the uk's biggest business groups — the cbi — has been sacked following an independent investigation into specific complaints of workplace misconduct against him. he'll leave the cbi with immediate effect. our business correspondent emma simpson has more. tony danker was the boss of one of the most influential business groups in the uk, representing the biggest names in corporate britain.

he has been under investigation since complaints of workplace misconduct were made against him — the first complaint injanuary, which had been dealt with, but then further complaints came to light and in march he stepped aside. after fairly swift investigation, we have the results of these. he has been dismissed, as you say, with immediate effect following specific complaints made against him. the investigation has determined his own conduct fell short of that expected of the director—general. this is the first phase of the investigation because since he's stepped aside, other complaints, unrelated to him, have come to light which have absolutely rocked this business group, and we have also learned today that three other cbi employees are no suspended pending further investigation into a number of ongoing allegations. this independent law firm

is continuing with its inquiry but the cbi is also liaising with police and has made clear its intention to cooperate fully with any police investigations. one other update, it has already appointed a new dg, rain newton—smith. she was the former cbi chief economist and she has agreed to come back to rejoin the cbi as its new boss. emma simpson with that update. in northern ireland, final preparations are being put in place forjoe biden�*s visit to mark the anniversary of the signing of the good friday agreement. the white house says the us president is very excited for his trip, which will also take him to the republic of ireland where he has his ancestral roots. he lands in belfast later today, from where charlotte gallagher sent this report. the us president is coming to town. belfast is preparing forjoe biden, with his presidentialjet,

air force one, landing tonight. this building is the location for his main visit to northern ireland. the trip is notjust about celebrating the good friday agreement and its 25th anniversary but also about looking forward to the future of northern ireland and many of the generation studying here do not remember the troubles or perhaps were not born at that time. his trip properly starts on wednesday. a meeting with rishi sunak and a visit to ulster university's new campus. butjoe biden won't be visiting this building — stormont — the home of the devolved government. power—sharing here in northern ireland collapsed over a year ago, with the democratic unionist party refusing to return over post—brexit trading arrangements. the president seemingly wants to avoid the political standoff. from wednesday afternoon,

he'll be in the irish republic, and it will be a mix of political business and personal visits. he'll meet the irish president and prime minister in dublin and his relatives in county mayo and county louth. joe biden describes himself as a proud irish—american, and it's clear his ancestral roots are important to him. this trip will also be a homecoming of sorts. you know, i often say we irish are the only people in the world who are nostalgic for the future. laughter. i think that's true, by the way. but, now, the diplomat, leslie shane, once wrote every st patrick's day, every irishman goes out to find another irishman to make a speech to. i said that this morning. so that's why we asked you here, so we can make speeches. luckily, we don't have to go too far today. and with more than 30 million people in the us identifying

as irish—american, it might be beneficial at the ballot box, too. charlotte gallagher, bbc news, belfast. and i spoke to charlotte a short time ago — she told me more about the security preparations ahead of the president's visit. yes, you can probably see behind me the security operation is well under way. just behind th cordon and is the president's afternoon more than 2a hours before he was due to arrive. we have seen hundreds of police officers on the streets, police land rovers driving around and us security services. this will be one of the biggest police operations in northern ireland for many years. last week they raised the terror threat here and have warned of a possible dissident republican attack over the easter weekend which thankfully did not materialise, but a lot for the

police to do here. it is a huge day for northern ireland on the world stage, in the media spotlight, there is media from right across the world, joe biden due to fly in this evening, tomorrow he has one public engagement in belfast, he will be going to the university, like i mentioned, meeting students, then he will chat with the british prime minister rishi sunak, they will be talking about the political situation here and the lack of a functioning devolved government which is hugely concerning for politicians like rishi sunak and joe biden but, more importantly, for people in northern ireland really fed up with the current situation, so a lot to get through. president biden is expected to push to unite all stormont parties to form a resolution, what are the hopes of him having success? i think it is probably quite doubtful at this moment because the democratic unionist party, the largest unionist party here, want to remain as part of the uk, and they have basically

said they will not return to devolved government unless they get significant changes to the post—brexit trading arrangements, they are not happy with them at the moment, not happy with the proposals, so no matter whatjoe biden says it is unlikely they will return to government any time soon unless those issues are addressed, so a pretty brief visit here in northern ireland, he will be spending much more time in the republic of ireland, joe biden, a trip to dublin to meet the president and prime minister and that probably the personal highlight will be those homecoming events in county mayo, county louth, his ancestral homes, he will be meeting his relatives, learning about his ancestors and you can imagine thousands and thousands of people will be out on the streets. already the us flags are being hung from buildings, pubs and shops, people gearing up to welcome the president.

charlotte gallagher. plenty more when president biden arrives in belfast later. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. reading — it's not something that comes easy for everyone, and for 35—year—old aaron, it's been a struggle. i was really scared, i felt embarrassed, quite silly, if i'm honest. but now that i'm as far as what i am, i'm, you know, proud of myself for doing it. twice a week, aaron has a session with coach anne who helps him break down big and complicated words, and he is doing this for one very special person. i've got a little girl, and she likes me to read books and stuff like that. anne, a retired speech therapist, wanted to use her skills to help people like aaron. i'm in awe of the people that come along, because they are so brave to start it in the first place, and hold their hand up and say, "i need some help."

the bbc�*s learning to read at 51 with jay blades also had quite the impact on people, and reading groups in this region went from six in 2021 to 15 by the end of 2022. and there's one more thing aaron wants you to know. if i can do it, anybody can do it. bbc radio 4's file on a programme has discovered that complaints to police forces across england and wales are being regularly dismissed, with many people being forced to take civil action to get accountability, and how one officer with multiple rape allegations against him was given a job in the professional standards department. last week, dozens of metropolitan police officers have been taken away from tackling serious crime and terrorism to investigate wrongdoing in their own force. but there are calls for a complete overhaul of the police complaints system. let us unpick this with sophie naftalin from police action lawyers group. she is a specialist in discrimination law who has

experience in seeking accountability for victims and their families by way of civil claims. thank you for being with us. how widespread is this issue? thank you so much for having me. either a solicitor who acts for victims of police misconduct in cases ranging from deaths in custody to sexual misconduct and i would say that although the complaints system is supposedly the framework in which police officers should be held to account, we very rarely see complaints upheld.- account, we very rarely see complaints upheld. i was complaints upheld. you go on. i was auoin to complaints upheld. you go on. i was going to say — complaints upheld. you go on. i was going to say that _ complaints upheld. you go on. i was going to say that the _ complaints upheld. you go on. i was going to say that the quality - complaints upheld. you go on. i was going to say that the quality of- complaints upheld. you go on. i was going to say that the quality of the l going to say that the quality of the investigation and of the decision—making is very, very poor and often victims of police misconduct are forced to take civil action is another way of trying to achieve accountability to hold individual officers to account. what

individual officers to account. what needs to change, _ individual officers to account. what needs to change, in _ individual officers to account. what needs to change, in your— individual officers to account. what needs to change, in your view? i i needs to change, in your view? i think actually it is a really good start, having serious officers being put into the departments of professional standards —— having senior officers. we need investment in that process so individuals can have faith that when an investigation is happening it is meaningful and officers are being properly questioned, where there is an understanding of issues like discrimination, where they come expect to see cases being upheld and going to tribunal is, where the evidence can be properly tested and scrutinised and the officers who commit this conduct are not welcome in the force, where there is a meaningful process where officers who commit misconduct are rooted out. �* , ., u. who commit misconduct are rooted out. . out. are you confident police investigating _ out. are you confident police investigating other _ out. are you confident police investigating other police - out. are you confident police - investigating other police officers is the right way forward? some say

thatis is the right way forward? some say that is not satisfactory and they can't really be expected to be impartial. can't really be expected to be impartial-— impartial. most complaint investigations _ impartial. most complaint investigations are - impartial. most complaint - investigations are undertaken by internal departments of professional standards and i think the system itself is has —— is capable of holding officers to account but i do not think there is a culture of holding police officers in the met, as found in the kc review, where the standards of professional behaviour officers are meant to uphold our meaningfully implemented —— the kc review. we see a culture of impunity where there are feelings, beaches, stop and searches unlawfully perpetrated on black communities but generally individual officers are not held to account so they are not disciplined or found guilty not held to account so they are not disciplined orfound guilty of misconduct or gross misconduct, they are not sacked. where allegations of misconduct are of help they are

given petty sanctions, they might be given petty sanctions, they might be given a final written warning, and for victims of police misconduct and brutality, racism, it can be incredibly disheartening, they have taken a step to try to hold those individual officers to account but the system itself does not seem capable all there is an unwillingness to actually hold police officers to account and there seems to be a culture where officers who commit misconduct continue to serve as officers in the force. huge changes needed and having front line terrorism officers to put the effort and time into pop investigating these cases is a good start, because if we are to have a system where we are police by consent we need trust that the officers working our on streets are not abusing their power, they are not racist and that where they are not racist and that where they are, they are held to account.

sophie naftalin, thank you. well, in resonse to this investigation the independent 0ffice for police conduct says in a statement it doesn't dispute there needs to be change. but says police forces are often best placed to handle complaints and restore relationships with complainants. the home office said the reputation of british policing has been damaged, but it was asking police chiefs to root out any current officers unfit to serve and launching a review into police dismissals. the us and the philippines are holding their largest—everjoint military drills a day after china concluded large—scale exercises around taiwan. beijing simulated attacks on taiwan in response to the island's leader meeting the us house speaker last week. plans for the joint exercises between the us and philippines predated china's activities but won't do anything to calm already simmering tensions in the region. 0ur correspondent shaimaa khalil has more details. security personnel will remain

in their posts, they will continue to defend the nation, that's what the taiwanese president tsai ing—wen has said. and even though china announced that these military exercises which started on saturday right after she came back from the united states have ended on monday, we have at least eight warships still in taiwanese water, eight chinese warships. so the drills may have concluded but the presence, the chinese presence is still there, the tension is still there. we have had three days of military exercises, chinese military exercises around taiwan, 0perationjoint sword where china simulated or practiced precision attacks on taiwanese targets, simulated surrounding taiwan, but also we've had jets flying into taiwanese airspace to taiwan's east and this dramatic animation video that showed china attacking taiwan by sea, air and hitting some targets in taiwan with explosions. so quite dramatic exercises there.

a day after that, another set of drills, this time between the us and the philippines, the balikatan exercises. they announced that they are going to be the biggest ever. they are going to involve 17,000 troops and a live fire exercise on a sunken ship in the south china sea. now, we knew these were going to happen, they were agreed on after the us secured a defence deal with the philippines earlier this year, so we knew they were happening, we knew they were going to be be, but this large—scale, if you will, display of american air power in the region could not have come at a more sensitive time in the indo—pacific. we know they are going to happen around philippine waters but also the south china sea. two things you need to know about this area, well, three. it is tense, it is a very, very busy trading route and it's highly contested by china.

and already beijing has expressed it is not happy, even though manila has reassured them that this is to bolster the country's military capabilities. so you've got two sets of drills happening, one after another, at an increasingly tense time here in the region, increasingly high contention between the us and china as those two powers are trying to bolster their military power here in the indo—pacific. shaimaa khalil. the british government will announce new measures to reduce the number of smokers in the population to below 5%. one million smokers will be given a free vaping starter kit to encourage them to give up tobacco products. while pregnant women will also be offered up to £400 to stop smoking. the free vape policy — which is being called "swap to stop" — would be the first of its kind in the world. vincent mcaviney reports. despite a raft of measures in recent years, like the indoor smoking ban, increased duties and plain packaging with graphic health warnings,

some smokers are still struggling to quit. but the government has set an ambitious target to make england smoke—free, meaning reducing rates to 5% or less, by 2030. currently, around 13% of people in england still smoke. so the government's latest idea to help kick the habit is to offer a million smokers vape starting kits in the hope they swap, whilst the 9% of women who still smoke during pregnancy will be offered behavioural support and up to £400 in vouchers to give up. it's hoped this will reduce the number of babies born underweight or underdeveloped, with health problems requiring neonatal and ongoing care, as well as reducing the risk of miscarriage and stillbirth. the plans also include a crackdown on underage and illicit vape sales to stop the rising problem of children taking up the habit. the scheme is estimated to cost

around £115 million over two years and will be funded by the department of health and social care. campaigners have welcomed the measures as being a step in the right direction, but say they are nowhere near sufficient. tobacco remains the single biggest cause of preventable illness and death in england. up to two out of three lifelong smokers will die from smoking, and recent data shows one in four deaths from all cancers were estimated to be from smoking. with such a high cost of treatment to the nhs, it's hoped this direct approach to smokers might keep them from filling much needed hospital beds in the years to come. vincent mcaviney, bbc news. lots more to come on bbc news, you can check out all the latest on all the stories we are covering on the bbc website. 0r the stories we are covering on the bbc website. or of course on the news app. 0ur head story, tony

danker, head of the cbi business group, has been sacked in the last hour or so. group, has been sacked in the last hour orso. i group, has been sacked in the last hour or so. i will be back shortly, thank you for watching. hello again. after a fairly dry and sunny start to the day, things are changing for many of us as we head on through the afternoon. it's going to be wet and windy. some of us already have this combination. some of us have it coming our way. so a lot of dry weather across parts of scotland and eastern england, but the rain already in the west and the south west is going to continue to push northwards and eastwards and some of this rain will be heavy. the winds also increasing in areas adjacent to the irish sea. temperatures nine in the north to about 1k in the south. now, as we head through the latter part of the afternoon, this is when the winds really start to strengthen, especially the west of the coasts and hills, could have gusts 50 to 60 miles an hour. but even inland, we're going to have gusty winds as the rain

continues to push east and north, depositing snow above 300 metres in the highlands, we could have 5 to 10 centimetres of snow above 300 metres and it's going to be windy across the northeast of the north sea, including the northern isles. another chilly night. so a chilly start to the day tomorrow as low pressure anchors itself across the uk. but look at the isobars, particularly in the southwest and through the english channel. here is where we'll have the strongest winds through the course of tomorrow. so we start off with the wintriness ess above 300 metres in the highlands. we could see some wintriness in the tops of the pennines, the cumbrian falls, the welsh mountains and the moors for a time. but that will revert back to rain and showers. and these black circles represent the strength of the gusts of wind. so wherever you are, it's going to be a windy day, but especially so south wales, south west and the english channel coastline. it will feel chilly,

too, in the showers, serene in the wind, 7 to 12 degrees being our maximum the rain and the wind, 7 to 12 degrees being our maximum temperatures during wednesday into thursday, the low pressure drifts off in the direction of the north sea. the isobarrs really widen. so it's not going to be as windy a day. it'll still be breezy and it's going to be a day of sunshine and scattered showers. the showers in england and wales pushing eastwards, some of those heavy and thundery, and temperatures eight to about 1k degrees. but you can see something just waiting in the wings behind me there. that rain has the potential to cross some southern areas. the northern edge of it still open to question. but in the north of the country, it's more likely to be showers. but into the weekend, it turns milder.

hello and welcome. thousands ofjunior doctors in england have begun a four—day strike that's likely to mean the cancellation of hundreds of thousands of appointments and operations. nhs england has warned of unprecedented disruption, although staff will be available for emergencies. the action is part of an ongoing dispute about pay. the british medical association is demanding a 35% pay rise, which it says makes up for 15 years of below—inflation increases. the government says that is unaffordable and that the strike

will risk patient safety.