it s wednesday, 31st january. our main story. scotland s former first minister, nicola sturgeon is due to give evidence about the decisions she took during the pandemic, when she appears before the covid inquiry today. ms sturgeon, who led the scottish response to the coronavirus outbreak is expected to face questions surrounding lockdowns, and missing whatsapp messages as the inquiry continues sitting in edinburgh. our scotland correspondent lorna gordon reports. 1,044 positive cases were reported yesterday. nicola sturgeon was at the helm throughout scotland s pandemic response. as head of the scottish government, she was the key decision maker and first in the firing line when things went wrong. we will have made mistakes on all aspects of the handling. now about to be questioned on that handling and how decisions the truth, the whole truth. the former first minister s closest political ally amongst those who admitted texts between the pair no longer exist. are those t
the worst loss of life for the israeli army, since its offensive began. 21 of the soldiers were killed inside buildings they were preparing to demolish, moments before an attack by palestinian fighters. hundreds of people have been attending funerals today. reports from israel suggest the government may be considering a new deal with hamas, which could lead to a two month to a two month pause in fighting while prisoners are exchanged. intense fighting is continuing in gaza, with the israeli army saying its forces have encircled the southern city of khan younis. the hamas run health ministry says nearly 200 palestinians have been killed in the past 2a hours. from jerusalem, our middle east correspondent, yolande knell. and a warning, her report contains some distressing images. buried with a prayer and full military honours, this was the first in a series of funerals for 21 soldiers killed in israel s biggest single loss since the start of the ground war in gaza. the israeli m
biden administration ceased on the moment. here is the president in the battleground state of wisconsin. economic growth is stronger than we had during the trump administration. thanks to the american people, america now is at its strongest growth and lowest inflation rate of any economy in the world. all this week, joe biden s advisors have been on the road with the message that the president s strategy to help the middle class is working. on wednesday, the president picked up a major endorsement from the united auto workers. donald trump is a scab! cheers here is the thing, with trump trouncing biden in polling but the economy at the end of last year the white house is trying to change the narrative. pouncing on the latest gdp data to help make its case. overnight, oil prices havejumped to highest levels this year. as you can see, they are up about 3% as tensions in the red sea continue to disrupt global trade. financial survey alliance has forecast that if the crisis conti
into north west england. again falling on pretty saturated ground. the winds will pick up but it will not be as windy as it is today. on friday, a chilly start but a much more settled deal weather for most. this is bbc news, the headlines: funerals are being held for 2h soldiers killed in israel s deadliest day since the war in gaza began. there s been intense fighting around khan younis israel says it s surrounded the southern gaza city. but could a hostage deal be close? israel proposes a two month pause to negotiate prisoner exchanges with hamas. the us and uk carry outjoint strikes against houthi targets in yemen for the second time in two weeks. and oppenheimer leads the oscar nominations with 13 but barbie s margot robbie and director greta gerwig miss out. we will take you through the oscar nominations in about ten minutes time. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here s chetan. afternoon. afternoon, thank you. we start dennis. cash we st
benjamin netanyahu was speaking after the deaths of 2a israeli soldiers in one day the worst loss of life, for the israeli army, since its offensive began. 21 of the soldiers were killed inside buildings they were preparing to demolish, moments before an attack by palestinian fighters. hundreds of people have been attending funerals today. reports from israel suggest, the government may be considering a new deal with hamas which could lead to a pause in fighting, while prisoners are exchanged. intense fighting is continuing in gaza, with the israeli army saying its forces have encircled the southern city of khan younis. the hamas run health ministry says nearly 200 palestinians have been killed in the past 2a hours. from jerusalem, our middle east correspondent, yolande knell and a warning, her report contains some distressing images. buried with a prayer and full military honours, this was the first in a series of funerals for 21 soldiers killed in israel s biggest sin