and tributes for the hollywood film starand model, raquel welch, who s died at the age of 82. hello and welcome if you re watching in the uk or around the world. the search has begun for the next leader of the scottish national party and first minister of scotland following nicola sturgeon s surprise decision to stand down on wednesday afterjust over eight years in power. the snp s national executive committee will meet on thursday to draw up a timetable for a leadership race. nominations have already opened. the party s constitution says a candidate for leader needs to have the backing of 100 members from at least 20 different snp branches. if there s more than one candidate a vote of party members will choose the new leader. ms sturgeon plans to remain in office until her successor is elected and continue on as an msp until at least the next holyrood election. with more on wednesday s events, here s alexandra mackenzie. scotland s first female and longest serving f
from its phones and devices. hopes of a breakthrough today to end the long running pay dispute in the health service. dramatic footage said to show a russian jet intercepting an american drone and dumping fuel in its path over the black sea. and how this avenue of trees in plymouth was cut down under cover of darkness. and coming up on the bbc news channel. a big night for both manchester united and arsenal as they look to make it through to the quarterfinals of the europa league. good afternoon. the chancellorjeremy hunt has been defending his budget saying it will get people back to work and won tjust benefit the rich. but labour says the move to abolish the cap on the lifetimes pensions allowance is a tax cut for the top 1% of earners. it s planning to force a vote in parliament on the issue next week. meanwhile, the independent economic thinktank the ifs has warned households will feel continuing pain over the coming year, with incomes squeezed amid a freeze on tax thre
serving. in the european union has told the staff to delete their social media app tiktok from their phones to protect data and increase cybersecurity. it s 7:00am in the morning in singapore, and 1:00am in kyiv, where it s now exactly one year since russia began its full scale invasion of the country. estimates suggest tens of thousands of people have lost their lives but still, both sides remain defiant. on the eve of the anniversary, the united nations adopted a resolution condemning russia s actions and calling for peace as soon as possible. this is how the ukrainian foreign minister reacted to the vote. 1m countries and states of the united nations reiterated their equivocal support to ukraine s territorial integrity and sovereignty and they reiterated their demands to the russian federation to withdraw its armed forces from ukraine within its internationally recognised borders. the us ambassador to the united nations, ambassador linda thomas greenfield, also spoke after