oil supplies look to tighten from next month, after saudi arabia and other opec plus oil producers announce output cuts of about 1.1 million barrels a day. saudi arabia said the move was aimed at stabilising the market. well, oil prices are currently trading higher, after the move by 0pec+. this is the second time the cartel slashed productions. the group last did so in october, cutting output by two million barrels per day. jonathan robinson is global power & energy research director at frost and sullivan. this move by saudi was something of a surprise. the us publicly ruled out new crude purchases to replenish its own strategic stockpile. how much of a collision course does it put ridadh on with america? it is interesting because russia had cut its production separately in march so it suggests a bit of co ordination between russia and saudi arabia and clearly they want to put a floor under the price of oil and see it recovering to the side of $90 a barrel, where it has been
uk port authorities apologise and say there ll be a review of plans ahead of the easter weekend. hello and welcome. i m ben thompson. we begin in eastern ukraine, where russia s mercenary wagner group claims it s in control of the fiercely contested town of bakhmut. the head of the group unfurled a russian flag at bakhmut s city hall and declared this. translation: this is the private military company s translation: this is the private military company s flag, - translation: this is the private military company s flag, in - translation: this is the private military company s flag, in the i military company s flag, in the legal sense, military company s flag, in the legalsense, it military company s flag, in the legal sense, it is ours. it remains. the commanders who captured the building in the district will carry on and put these flags up. that s a claim disputed by kyiv, which says its forces still hold the town. the wagner chief also paid tribute to the leading russian m
of the country s most influential aboriginal leaders, yunupingu, who has died at the age of 7a. hello and welcome. let s look at some of the main stories in the uk. uk passport office workers are staging five weeks of industrial action over pay, pensions and job security. union reps say walking out now will cause maximum disruption, because people will be trying to renew their passports in time for summer travel. the british government has called the industrial action disappointing and says it s working to manage the impact it may have. our employment correspondent zoe conway reports. it s at this time of year that the passport service is at its busiest as people get their passports renewed in time for the summer. the pcs union says it s going on strike now to cause maximum disruption. 1,900 civil servants are directly involved in issuing passports. the union says more than 1,500 of them will go on strike. the union says there needs to be a dramatic improvement on last year
at the port of dover uk authorities apologise, and say there ll be a review of plans ahead of the easter weekend let s return to some breaking news this hour and schools in england face fresh strikes this spring after members of the national education union rejected the government s pay offer. rejected the government s pay teachers have been gathering for the union s annual conference in harrogate, where pay and workload are among the issues being discussed. ministers say the pay offer is fair and reasonable . live now to our uk education editor branwen jeffreys who is in harrogate. bring us up to date. the government says the pay offer is fair but the unions do not agree. i says the pay offer is fair but the unions do not agree. unions do not agree. i have ust ste ed unions do not agree. i have ust stepped out fl unions do not agree. i have ust stepped out of i unions do not agree. i have ust stepped out of the i unions do not agree. i have just stepped out of the c
finland s conservative leader petteri orpo wins a nail biting three way election race, defeating prime minister sanna marin. hello and welcome. i m ben thompson. russia s investigators have detained a 26 year old woman, darya trepova, in connection with the murder of the pro war blogger vladen tatarsky, who was killed by a bomb in st petersburg on sunday. media reports said the explosion occurred shortly after he had been given a statuette by a woman at an event in a cafe. russia s security service has accused ukraine of being behind the blast, but ukrainian officials have denied this. a short time ago russia s anti terrorism committee said it believes the attack was planned by ukrainian secret services, jointly with people cooperating with jailed opposition leader alexei navalny s anti corru ption foundation. our correspondent will vernon in moscow has more. i m just seeing a short statement that has come in from the russian investigative committee, which is russia s versi