this whole thing has been one of the great blessings of my life. and back in belfast a standing ovation for an emotional bill clinton 25 years after he helped negotiate the good friday agreement. and coming up on bbc news: a champions league semifinal is within reach of manchester city. they beat bayern munich first time around, can they do the same again in germany later? good evening. the cost of living rose more than expected last month thanks largely to the soaring price of food. inflation, that s the rate at which prices are increasing, was 10.1% in march. down from 10.4% in february. but analysts had expected it drop more than that. the rising cost of food and drink takes a lot of the blame it has gone up by almost 20% in a year. our cost of living correspondent colletta smith reports. here come the sausages. it s hot dinner day in this little community kitchen in halifax. started off with about ten potions. in eight weeks it s grown to almost 150 portions. demand
welcome to bbc news, i m yelled we start in sudan where paramilitary fighters battling with the sudanese army say they ve agreed a new 24 hour ceasefire. it was due to come into effect an hour ago, at 1800 local time. a similar agreement on tuesday failed to take effect. meanwhile, 15 embassies in khartoum waiting to evacuate hundreds of foreign nationals have issued a joint statement. they called on both sides to cease fire and observe international obligations to protect civilians, diplomats, and humanitarian workers. 270 people have been confirmed dead. let me show you pictures from earlier today. explosion you could hear an explosion there that was near khartoum airport and, as you can see, plumes of smoke drifting across the sky as the conflict there rages on. the latest fighting is because of a power struggle between these two men general abdel fattah al burhan, president of sudan s military government on the left, and his deputy, mohamed hamdan dagalo, who leads
a lot of the families we assumed originally would be families on benefits and low incomes and it s not, not, it s families where both parents are working but they re just struggling to pay the bills. rising food prices of the biggest reason household costs were on the up in march. potatoes are up 19.3%, pork is up 25.4% compared to last year. and in shopping bag basics, cheese is up a whopping 33.6%. sometimes like cheese is a luxury. corrie is one of the parents taking home a hot casserole and it means tonight the whole family will get a good feed. what increases are really hitting your finances at the moment? sometimes i skip a meal and my children are at that age where they do notice this. a biscuit is a massive treat. i have to buy cheaper shampoo. i know that i m lucky to have shampoo, but it s nice to have nice hair, it makes you feel good, it makes a difference. so yeah, it s not nice opening the fridge and it being empty.
few months for one simple reason. food going up, astronomically. gravy browning, it was £2 one week and then the next time i went to get one it was £4.50! it s staggering. i used to spend just short of £100 on my shopping. it s160 now. i don t get anything different. so lesley and her team have come up with a big batch cook solution, giving one hot meal a week for those who need the help. collect it, you heat it up and you eat it up. it s one night a week where you don t have to worry. are you guys all experienced potato peelers then? we are now. a lot of the families we assumed originally would be families on benefits and low incomes and it s not, not, it s families where both parents are working but they re just struggling to pay the bills. rising food prices of the biggest reason household costs were on the up in march. potatoes are up i9.3%, pork is up 25.4% compared to last year. and in shopping bag basics, cheese is up a whopping 33.6%.