the inquiry looking at the uk s response to the covid 19 pandemic starts hearing evidence today. it s expected to last at least three years, with witnesses including borisjohnson and matt hancock. police in nottingham say they ve closed a number of roads in the city as they deal with what they re calling an ongoing serious incident. officers have been called to several locations. trams are also suspended. figures show regular pay not including bonuses were 7.2% higher in the three months to april, helped in part by the rise in the national living wage. but despite the surge, pay continues to be outstripped by rising prices. the american actor, treat williams, has died in a motorbike crash in vermont he was 71. in a 50 year career, he had more than 130 on screen credits, including the musical hair and tv series everwood. yes, the covid inquiry. what do you want? it starts today. remember all those five o clock faces, rishi sunak, chris whitty, patrick vallance and the
welcome to the programme. a smaller workforce represents a serious economic challenge. it makes it harder for employers to filljobs. it adds to wage pressures that drive inflation. it holds back growth. it reduces the tax revenues available to fund public services. there is an imperative in helping people back to work. the trouble is many parents in this country can t afford to because many would see their take home pay wiped out by the £15,000 average annual cost of full time childcare for a two year old. right now, uk childcare costs are double the 0ecd average. the only two countries where parents spend a higher percentage on childcare are switzerland and new zealand. when i had my daughter, who s five, i had to quit myjob because we couldn t afford childcare. i look forward to going back to nursing. my plan is to go back to nursing. if there d been more options and if childcare had been either cheaper or there was more flexibility, that would ve definitely been something
job vacancies in the uk fall for the eighth time in a row, according to latest figures published ahead of wednesday s budget whether government is expected to encourage more people back to work. a state of emergency s been declared in malawi, after tropical storm freddy struck the country for a second time, killing nearly 100 people. hello and welcome to bbc news. the leaders of the us, britain and australia, meeting in california, have unveiled details of their plan to create a new fleet of nuclear powered submarines, aimed at countering china s influence in the indo pacific region. under the aukus pact australia is to get its first nuclear powered subs at least three from the us. beijing has strongly criticised the significant naval deal. our political editor, chris mason, has more from san diego. military band plays. a packed and democracies coming together to tackle a new and growing adversary, china. , . . . china. australia and the united kinudom china. australia
mischievous asia s richest man hits back against us traders who raised doubts about his finances, wiping $10 billion off his companies share prices. and never too late to influence why brands are seeking out older people to push their products hello. we start here in the uk, where in a few hours time the government s finance chief chancellor of the exchequerjeremy hunt will announce plans to boost the economy and tackle the country s poor productivity. central to those plans, freeing the city of london s giant insurance firms from eu rules on how much cash they have to keep in reserve. they say it could release 100 billion pounds to invest in things like clean energy and infrastructure. mr hunt will also warn against an attitude of declinism amid accusations from business that post brexit uk is in danger of getting left behind in an increasingly competitive world economy. the future looks very uncertain because you have that ira, the 350 billion dollars been spent in