rises by a chancellor wanting to cut taxes, working for a prime minister with problems of his own. the scene is set for a pay showdown that may have onlyjust begun. simon jack, bbc news. soaring food prices are contributing to the squeeze on family budgets, but today russia s foreign minister denied the war in ukraine was the cause, even though there s been a collapse in essential ukrainian exports of grain. sergei lavrov made his comments in turkey, where talks are ongoing to find agreement on how to unblock shipments from ukraine. the world trade organization said that grain shortages as a result of the war will lead to a disastrous situation worldwide. our global trade correspondent dharshini david reports. ukraine s crops can usually feed 400 million mouths, but russia stands accused of turning that breadbasket into a stealth missile.
and the situation is set to worsen. india s meteorological department has issued red alerts, indicating the torrential rainfall is expected to continue. sarah campbell, bbc news. in england, there s confusion and growing criticism over the government s plans to allow some key workers to take daily covid tests instead of self isolating. this would include transport workers, police and those controlling the power network. business leaders says the scheme needs to be significantly expanded within days to tackle staff shortages. our economics correspondent dharshini david reports. from the outside, not much to tempt the taste buds, but supermarket depots keep us all fed. they re taking on a new order acting as testing centres to allow staff at risk of infection to keep working. it comes as over a million people across the country isolate, meaning some gaps on shop shelves and even closures.
not be, so there could be more train cancellations to come. increasingly, businesses are asking why the date for scrapping isolation rules, just three weeks away, can t be brought forward? once again, this pandemic means balancing public health with our social and economic well being, and everything has a cost. dharshini david, bbc news. this is bbc news. the headlines: the sport is under way: the opening ceremony of the tokyo olympics has taken place and the man in charge has described it as a day of hope. in england, there s confusion over government plans to exempt some key workers like those in food depots from covid self isolation. a high courtjudge in northern ireland has said there should be an investigation into whether the security services could have prevented the ira bombing in the town of omagh in 1998.
to have a blanket exemption. for us, it seems unfair that there s one rule for one sector and another rule for another. railway signalling staff will be exempt, but drivers may not be, so there could be more train cancellations to come. increasingly, businesses are asking why the date for scrapping isolation rules, just three weeks away, can t be brought forward? once again, this pandemic means balancing public health with our social and economic well being, and everything has a cost. dharshini david, bbc news. there s been a fall in the number of new covid cases in the uk for the third day in a row. the latest government figures show 36,389 new infections in the latest 24 hour period, which means an average of 44,249 new cases per day in the last week.
and drinking water. a high courtjudge has ruled there should be a new investigation into whether the security services could have prevented the omagh bombing in 1998. twenty nine people were killed in the attack, including nine children and three generations of the same family. in 2013, the government said it would not hold a public inquiry. our ireland correspondent emma vardy reports. on a busy summer s day, the bomb which exploded in the centre of omagh was the single worst atrocity of the northern ireland troubles. no one was ever convicted. today, relatives of victims welcomed the ruling of a high courtjudge, who said there was a very real prospect that it could have been prevented by the security services, and called for new investigations on both sides of the irish border. nobody wanted to hear that message. not the irish government, not the british government. but now, we ve an independent person who s said it, and i think that s hugely relieving. i didn t sleep much last