by the effects of strikes by public sector workers. the office for national statistics said that a rise in construction activity had been offset by walkouts by teachers and civil servants. it follows a surprise 0.4% jump in economic growth injanuary which brings the uk economy, finally, to a point where it is bigger than it was pre pandemic. the value of sterling rose to its highest level since june of last year, with £1 getting you i dollar and twenty five cents. despite february s flatlining the chancellor described the outlook as brighter than expected . let s get more now with victoria scholar, head of investment at interactive investor. investor. investor. the investor. the last investor. the last few investor. the last few minutes investor. the last few minutes we investor. the last few minutes we had investor. the last few minutes we had at the in the last few minutes we had at the elite has production data from the elite has production data from the euro is aime
president biden will address the irish parliament in dublin this afternoon, as he continues his visit to the island of ireland. today, he s expected to affirm the strong ties between the republic of ireland and the united states. let s take you live to dublin where presdeint biden is due to depart for the the official residence of president higgins, his irish counterpart. he will be departing shortly to address the irish parliament, only the fourth us president to do so. our correspondent, charlotte gallagher, is in dublin. charlotte 7 charlotte? it is a real day of diplomacy and business forjoe biden. yesterday afternoon, which was more about his personal ties, he was more about his personal ties, he was in the towns of carlingford and the local pub, chatting to people who lived there, taking selfies, making a speech. at times it really looked like he was on holiday, to be honest. he said at one point, i don t know why my ancestors left here, it is such a great place to be.
civil servants. meanwhile, separate data from the bank of england shows british lenders reported a sharp increase in the rate at which households and businesses defaulted on loans such as mortgages. the chancellor said the economic outlook was still brighter than expected. let s bring in the chief economist at kpmg. the uk economy remains weaker than any other country in the g7. we still have twin drives of high inflation and rising interest rates. how resilient do the you think the uk economy is? the latest data has been think the uk economy is? the latest data has been more think the uk economy is? the latest data has been more positive - think the uk economy is? the latest data has been more positive than i data has been more positive than what we feared late last year so it seems like the overall economy is more resilient and the majority of the weakness that we saw more recently is related to strikes rather than any fundamental weakness of the economy but obviously w
biden is continuing his official visit to the republic of ireland. he is meeting the irish president, michael d higgins at his residence. he also held talks with the irish prime minister, those are going underway right now. this afternoon, president biden will become the fourth us president tojoin president biden will become the fourth us president to join a sitting of ireland s parliament. michael d higgins and present biden side the physical book. as the irish saying goes, your feet will bring you where your heart is. and then i say, it is an honour to return. i talk about returning to the home of my ancestors, to celebrate the things that bind ireland and the united states, i think the most irish of words used in my family was dignity. anyway, thank you all very much. i m not going home, i m staying here in this incredible place. all you american reporters, it is just like the white house, right? thank you. this is the scene live. a short distance from where those even
of humanity s greatest crimes ceremonies are to be held to mark holocaust memorial day. hello and welcome. in the united states, president biden has called for calm, after five police officers were charged with the murder of tyre nichols, a black man severely beaten after a traffic stop earlier this month. the officers in memphis, tennessee, who are all black, were fired last week, after being accused of using excessive force. their actions were caught on body cameras. that video will be released within the next 2a hours. our correspondent peter bowes has more on the developments. another case of alleged police brutality in america. 29 year old tyre nichols died three days after being stopped the reckless driving in memphis, tennessee. his family say he was severely beaten. five officers were sacked last week after investigation found them to be directly responsible for the physical abuse of tyre nichols. now they are being charged with second degree murder. charged with se