sarah corker, bbc news, in salford. let's take a look at some of the day's other top stories.o act over four cases of child sex abuse when he was the archbishop of munich. it's claimed the then josef ratzinger allowed priests who were criminally convicted of abuse to continue working for him. he denies the claims. a 33—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering 86—year—old—freda walker who was found dead at her home in langworthjunction in derbyshire on saturday. the attack left her 88—year—old husband kenneth walker with life—threatening injuries. he remains in hospital in a critical condition. bt says it's raising its prices by more than 9% because of a "dramatic increase" in data usage over the past few years. the rise means that, on average, its customers will pay an extra £3.50 per month from the end of march. bt says data usage on broadband services has gone up by 90% since 2018, and on mobile phones by almost 80% since 2019. a giant coral reef in pristine condition has been discovered off the coast of tahiti. coral reefs are among the ocean's most threaten

our correspondent sarah corker reports. the scale of building safety failures across britain. the government says it will pressure the construction sector to pay under the government's £4 billion scheme, people living in blocks between 11—18 metres won't have to pay to remove dangerous cladding. instead, developers will be expected to cover their costs, orface new laws or tax hikes. there will also be a review of the scale of the work needed, and the time limit to sue builders for defects will be extended from six to 30 years. there was some relief here in south london. the government says people like neil in low—rise blocks won't face cladding costs, but he's still worried about unaffordable bills. it seems like a step in the right direction, but at the same time, the cladding section on our bill is only a third of the bill, so there's still two thirds of other things that may need paying for. so it may be helpful, this, but it may actually not help us all that much. we might go from having a six—figure bill to having a fi

sarah corker, bbc news.cinated staff who need to self—isolate because of covid. fully vaccinated staff will receive full sick pay. the company'sjoining a growing list of firms doing the same. the retail giant acknowledges it's an "emotive topic" but says its policy has to evolve with changing circumstances. emma simpson is in north london for us, what's behind this and could this be a sign of things to come? the backdrop to this fiona is that many companies are grappling with rising costs, and staff absences and this is all part of this. now ikea employed 10,000 people across the uk and right now, if any of them get covid, jabbed or unjabbed, they will get full sick pay. the difference is, if they are unvaccinated and are forced to self—isolate, coming into close contact with someone who has tested positive they are likely to end up with the minimum statutory sick pay of £96 a week unless there are mitigating circumstances, that is a financial penalty. wessex water is a financial penalty. wessex water is doi

sarah corker reports.e are owed life—changing amounts of money. the bbc has heard from those who have had to fight to get errors corrected. you expect that the pension department won't make errors, really. itjust doesn't seem right when so much time has been lost, and so much money has been lost in the interim. if we hadn't have been persistent, we wouldn't have got anywhere. l the public accounts committee found errors dating back to 1985. more than 130,000 pensioners, mainly women, were under paid a total of £1 billion. outdated computer systems, manual processing, and complacency in monitoring errors have all been blamed. around 40,000 women have already died without receiving the money they are owed — there's no plan to trace theirfamilies. the dwp needs to sort out the air and get cracking with making sure that people in their estates, when they've died, have the payments that they are owed. but they also need to make sure they are sorting out their it systems for the future — and crucially, we want t

sarah corker, bbc news, salford. the time is 6.18pm. our top story this evening...ease ahead of plan b being dropped completely next week. coming up... after 260 hours in the air, 19—year—old zara rutherford becomes the youngest woman to fly solo around the world. coming up in sportsday on the bbc news channel... beaten in the second round of the australian open — andy murray reflects on the bitter disappontment of his early exit in melbourne. pictures have emerged of the devastation in tonga caused by the eruption of an undersea volcano and tsunami at the weekend. today, the first aid planes landed with urgently—needed drinking water, food and medicines. the queen has said she is "shocked and saddened" by the destruction to the pacific nation, which is part of the commonwealth. rupert wingfield—hayes reports. for the first time since last saturday's huge eruption, we are finally getting to see what has happened to tonga's main island. along the coast, the damage from the tsunami looks extensive, with many buildings destroyed. in tonga's capital, nuku'alofa, there i

sarah corker reports.been following the stories of those who have battled to get errors corrected. itjust doesn't seem right when so much time has been lost and so much money has been lost in the interim. and john's mother was short—changed for 20 years. it was £107,852, which is an amazing amount. so what went wrong? a damning reports by the public accounts committee shows mistakes going back as far as 1985. in total, 134,000 pensioners are owed an estimated £1 billion. some widows, divorcees and women able to claim through their husbands pension contributions have been underpaid. complex rules, outdated computer systems and manual handling have all been blamed. the dwp needs to sort out the error and get cracking with making sure that people and their estates where they have died have the payments that they are owed, but they also need to make sure they are sorting out their it systems in future, and crucially we want to see proper compensation. it was former pensions minister steve webb who first reveal

sarah corker reports.the pension department won't make errors, really. itjust doesn't seem right when so much time has been lost, and so much money has been lost in the interim. if we hadn't have been persistent, we wouldn't have got anywhere. l the public accounts committee found errors dating back to 1985. more than 130,000 pensioners, mainly women, were under paid a total of £1 billion. 0utdated computer systems, manual processing, and complacency in monitoring errors have all been blamed. around 40,000 women have already died without receiving the money they are owed — there's no plan to trace theirfamilies. the dwp needs to sort out the air and get cracking with making sure that people in their estates, when they've died, have the payments that they are owed. but they also need to make sure they are sorting out their it systems for the future — and crucially, we want to see proper compensation. some women will now be fully repaid. but others, like jan in fife, can only backdate claims for 12 months —

our business correspondent sarah corker has more.moving dangerous cladding — the grenfell tragedy exposed the scale of building safety failures across britain. the government says it will pressure the construction sector to pay and protect innocent leaseholders. secretary of state gove! the housing secretary had strong words for property developers today — pay up or we will force you to. to those who mis—sold dangerous products, like cladding or insulation, to those who cut corners to save cash as they developed or refurbished people's homes, and to those who sought to profiteer from the consequences of the grenfell tragedy — we are coming for you. but labour says the focus is on cladding only and the measures don't address the wider safety problems found on thousands of buildings. mr speaker, you cannot make a building half—safe. given that he recognises the injustice of all leaseholders caught up in the building safety crisis, why is he abandoning those who are hit with bills for non—cladding defects? under the government's £4 bill

in an updated documentary, the bbc�*s sarah corker investigates the severe financial and mental healthrapped in dangerous homes. who should pay to fix britain's dangerous buildings? it's four and a half years since the grenfell tragedy. yet more than half a million people are still living in flats wrapped in flammable materials. from london to leeds, manchester to merseyside. many homes are unsafe and unsellable. what work needs doing on building, what needs to be replaced? so if you look at all the timber cladding that you see, that all has to come down. those who can least afford it are facing life changing bills. i'm on universal credit. every penny literally counts. we're still facing high, huge, out of this universe type of bills. there are warnings this is becoming a mental health crisis, too. it's a financial strain that has kind of forced me to take medication for my mental health just to keep afloat. safety checks have exposed the failure of building regulations over decades. we were having meetings with government in 2009, 2010 with our concerns about the quality issues on on

sarah corker, bbc news.tice4grenfell, says she thought the housing reform package offered by michael gove was an improvement on suggestions the government made before but still didn't go far enough. it does sound different, and he has made a lot of recommendations. he has been very persuasive. but i still think it falls short of a real enforcement. we are still having to wait. and rememberjustice delayed isjustice denied. i don't think he isjustice denied. i don't think he is coming down on it as heavy as he should be, on the building firms. and we have to understand that it was their focus on money that made grenfell happen in the first place. he also made mention today that, with the top building companies, the top seven, over the last three years, they have made a profit of £16 billion. so in no form of monetary incentivise asian for them is going to work. people need to know —— no monetary incentives. people need to know what is going to happen, that is not clear today. i am not sure that every home affe

sarah corker, bbc news. categorised as �*critical industries' will begin to receive lateral flow tests in the workplace from today, and be encouraged to test daily. it comes as ministers attempt to alleviate the staffing shortage crisis gripping britain, with huge numbers of workers testing positive and isolating. a competition to design a pudding for the queen launches today. the platinum pudding contest is open to budding bakers to create a dessert to mark her majesty the queen's 70 years on the throne. it's one of numerous events to mark the historic platinum jubilee, and the entrants will be judged by baking royalty, including mary berry. did you not for mary? here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. it will be a pudding fit for a queen, or more precisely, for a queen's jubilee. in celebration of her 70 years on the throne, buckingham palace is asking britain to get baking. it's a nationwide competition to create the platinum pudding. recipes need to be submitted by the 11th of february, then fi

sarah corker reports. for four decades, for thousands of women under in the uk have been underpaid on their pensions. some are owed life changing amounts of money. are owed life changing amounts of mone . ., , . ., are owed life changing amounts of mone. ., ,. ., , money. you expect that the pension department — money. you expect that the pension department don't _ money. you expect that the pension department don't make _ money. you expect that the pension department don't make errors, - department don't make errors, really. department don't make errors, reall . �* �* , department don't make errors, reall. “ , ., ., really. the bbc has been following the stories of— really. the bbc has been following the stories of those _ really. the bbc has been following the stories of those who _ really. the bbc has been following the stories of those who have - the stories of those who have battled to get errors corrected. it just doesn't seem right when so much time has _ just doesn't seem right when so much time ha

sarah corker, bbc news.renfell disaster and there have been many broken promises on the way. anything now that moves this forward is welcome, of course it is, but i would prefer that there is a plan rather than just a promise. the terms of what is going to happen is still very vague but after four years and many broken promises this is an important and welcome step. and you can watch that statement from michael gove here on the news channel at 1530 this afternoon. the headlines on bbc news... novak djokovic says he's pleased and grateful that he's won his appeal against a decision to refuse him a visa to enter australia. he's now back on the tennis court ahead of the australian open. the housing secretary is to update mps on his plans to make builders pay for the removal of unsafe cladding from low—rise buildings in england. labour welcomes the move but says it's very late. the last seven years have been the hottest the world has ever seen according to new climate data. the prime minister, borisjohnson, says

sarah corker, bbc news. this is outside source, live from the bbc newsroom. our lead story is...new report by the eu's climate change monitoring service. the report's authors say the past seven years have been the warmest in recorded history by a clear margin. justin rowlatt has more. deadly floods heralded the new year in brazil, and there've already been wildfires the us state of colorado, as 2022 looks to continue the trend of extreme weather we saw last year. these latest temperature figures confirm that europe experienced it's warmest summer on record, as well as devastating floods in germany and belgium injuly. the data collected by european satellites shows 2021 was the fifth hottest year ever recorded. it also shows the concentration of warming gases in the atmosphere continuing to rise, with record levels of both carbon dioxide and methane. the with record levels of both carbon dioxide and methane.— with record levels of both carbon dioxide and methane. the new data confirms that _ dioxide and methane. the new data confirms that the _ dioxide and methane. the new data co

we can get more details now from our business correspondent, sarah corker.women have been underpaid the state pension for decades and the public accounts committee found the stakes going back as far as 1985. it's been described by mps as a shameful shambles. more than 130,000 pensioners, mostly women, have been underpaid. those affected are widows, divorcees and women able to claim through their husbands pension contributions. some people are still unaware they're missing out. they are huge sums of money, in some cases, life changing amounts. what went wrong? complex rules, outdated computer systems and manual processing have all been blamed. mps say these mistakes at the department for work and pensions just were not detected early enough and they are worried that some errors are still being made. it was former pensions minister steve were who first revealed the scale of these issues. it is clear to me mistakes are still being _ it is clear to me mistakes are still being made today, i hear from people who are _ being made today, i hear from people who are t

sarah corker, bbc news.f the common cold in the past it might be giving you more protection against covid, which is really interesting. it is something scientists have been thinking about for ages but it is one of the first studies suggesting that. the whole t cell thing has been widely discussed so i guess this is the next part of the jigsaw. in terms of what it means going forward, what can be done with this information? the authors of this report are really keen to point out you can't rely on this. partly because you do not know if you have a common cold exactly which form of that you have been exposed to and you can't go as far as saying if you have the odd sniffle or a rough throat a couple of months before you are in any way going to be protected against covid. but it does offer a glimpse into how vaccines could change in the future. at the moment they are developed around the spike protein on the outside of the virus. the concern is over time that protection might fade. the protection you get from the