again on 23rd january. i know there s a lot of controversy about us striking, and that we re not kind of getting those calls and getting to patients today, but in realistic terms, day to day, we re not getting to patients. we ll be talking to a paramedic in devon who says it s notjust about pay, it s about the intense pressure on staff. it s notjust the nhs, 100,000 civil servants are to strike on 1st february in their campiagn for better pay. also tonight. as russian forces intensify their efforts to occupy eastern ukraine around the mining town of soledar, there s a heightened concern about the fight of two british men who have disappeared in eastern ukraine, where they were helping locals. and could the elgin marbles be sent back to greece on loan? and stay with us here on bbc news for continuing coverage and analysis from our team of correspondents in the uk and around the world. good evening. the national health service is facing the prospects of more is facing the prosp
it s expected to reach the capital manila later today. coming up at 2.30 in we are england, we follow the night road teams working against the clock to maintain the a1. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the household energy supplier octopus energy has reached a deal to buy bulb, which was one of the largest energy companies to collapse last year because of soaring wholesale gas and electricity prices. the government has spent billions of pounds keeping the company afloat since it went into administraton. the agreement means octopus will take onboard bulb s 1.5 million customers. bulb is the biggest - green energy company. it was the biggest energy company to go bust. last november, bulb found itself in administration. it was only kept going by the government, who pumped hundreds of millions of pounds into the business, but now a deal has been struck that it is hoped will give relief notjust to customers, taxpayers but also hundreds of staff. today, octopus were confiden
we think they re the right plans because those plans make our economy competitive. and european countries scramble to protect key infrastructure, following the suspected sabotage of two critical gas pipelines. we start in florida where hurricane ian, a powerful category four storm, is right now making landfall, bringing with it winds of almost 250 kilometres per hour. heavy rain is lashing the west coast. millions of people are braced for catastrophic damage and life threatening storm surges which could be nearly two metres high this is the scene right now in punta gorda. brutal conditions. it s under a state of emergency. the storm had been stregnthening as it hit florida. these are the latest pictures from marco island in florida. and here s the state governor speaking in the last hour. ian will produce hurricane stren-th ian will produce hurricane strength winds and massive floodin-, not ust winds and massive flooding, notjust where it makes the initial landfall but throu
with energy bills expected to continue rising, 70 charities have written to the two candidates to be the next prime minister, calling for £1200 of government support to help low income families make ends meet this winter. ., ., , ., , this winter. throughout history, it has been government s this winter. throughout history, it has been government s role - this winter. throughout history, it has been government s role to . has been government s role to provide support to households who need it in a time of crisis. we saw it during the pandemic using the furlough scheme and the £20 uplift a universal credit per week and we need to see that again now. we need to see that the government at least doubles that support to low income households right now or we are going to be facing a winter of truly terrifying circumstances. fix, to be facing a winter of truly terrifying circumstances. a source of many of terrifying circumstances. a source of many of these terrifying circum
warnings in the uk over the use of disposable barbecues after a weekend of wildfires in parts of england. and coming up. we ll be joined by the lead singer of one of ukraine s top rock bands, as he tells us about life on the frontline. good afternoon. 70 charities and community organisations have written to the two conservative party candidates vying to be its next leader and the next prime minster urging them to show compassion and leadership in dealing with the cost of living crisis. the government has already pledged up to £1,200 to help the most vulnerable families. but, with the energy price cap due to rise this autumn, and then again injanuary, it s claimed the support is no longer sufficient. here s our political correspondent david wallace lockhart. with energy bills expected to continue rising, 70 charities have written to the two candidates to be the next prime minister, calling for £1200 of government support to help low income families make ends meet this wint