most of the time patients have a great experience but we must not paper over the problems we face. we expect backlogs to rise before they fall. a teenager is arrested after a 15 year old boy was stabbed outside his school in huddersfield in west yorkshire. five british captives who were held by russian backed forces in ukraine are released in a prisoner exchange. ministers lift their ban on fracking in england in a bid to increase energy production but critics are warning about environmental damage and a risk of earthquakes. retiring tennis champion roger federer will play the final match of his career in a doubles team alongside his long time rival rafael nadal as part of the laver cup tomorrow. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. interest rates have been raised to 2.25%, the highest level since 2008. it s the seventh consecutive time that they ve been increased by the bank of england, in an attempt to curb soaring prices. the rate has gone up from 1.75%. the bank of e
meanwhile, an attack on ukraine s zaporizhzhia region leaves at least 23 people dead. a mounting death toll in florida after hurricane ian, president biden says it could be deadliest storm ever to hit the state. and saying good bye to sammy the story of a retiring guide dog good afternoon. welcome to bbc news. let us go back to moscow, where we have been listening to president vladimir putin officially, in his view, agreeing to the annexation and signing in the annexation of four regions of ukraine. this follows so called referendums that have been held in those four regions. in the east were talking about dunne esque in law hunts, donetsk and lou hanscombe dott. luhansk, hanscombe dott. lu ha nsk, zaporizhzhia. hanscombe dott. luhansk, zaporizhzhia. these areas supposedly wanting to rejoin russia. i think we might have some pictures of these signing ceremony, which took place in the kremlin in front of members of president putin s government. as you can see there, a
we will be examining in detail different areas of the squeeze on the pound in your pocket and some of the solutions individuals and communities are finding. so, we have a panel of experts, sarah pennells is a consumer finance specialist at royal london, which calls itself the uk s largest mutual life, pensions and investment company. sabine goodwin is coordinator at the independent food aid network which provides help to those at the sharp end of the cost of living crisis. and mercedes osborne is a mortgage expert at pointers financial based in exeter. welcome based in exeter. to all of you. also with us this week is our climate editorjustin rowlatt, who is out and about giving tips to householders on simple measures that may help reduce their energy use. we will beat with justin we will beat withjustin a bit later. we have a whole range of topics lined up. first, kevin peacheyis topics lined up. first, kevin peachey is has analysis on working age benefits and whether
a year, with businesses also in line for help. it s expected to be funded by £100 billion of government borrowing. in germany, the government has already brought in subsidies for low income households along with other measures, costing about about 60 billion euros which is £51 billion. injanuary, the french government forced the state owned energy provider to cap wholesale price rises to 4% for a year and they also brought it other measures. that s all expected to cost 45 billion euros which is £38 billion. but of course today we ll find out more about the support there you go, darling. this lunch club in peterborough provides much needed help for people struggling with cost. it s not uncommon that i get to the last two weeks when i waiting for the 15th when i m going to get paid and i ve got barely anything. the basic necessities. i don t get paid until next week and i ve literally got £4 of electric left, so i ve got to scrabble around because i m on a prepaid metre. i
and showing no signs of returning to work, those benefits would be stopped if they didn t take part in some workplace return to the workplace scheme. i m nowjoined by thomas lawson, chief executive of a benefits charity of the thank you for being here for the what did you make of that decision? to stop benefits from those who are not trying to get actively back into work? ., , ., ., , trying to get actively back into work? .,, ., .,, .,, work? crop that was the most concerning work? crop that was the most concerning thing work? crop that was the most concerning thing my - work? crop that was the most. concerning thing my colleagues work? crop that was the most - concerning thing my colleagues heard today to stop what is it really means to completely stop someone but benefits after they have been through a period of perhaps two years try to get into work? chances are there are real issue stopping from working for the it s interesting to hear the conservatives talk about co