hello and welcome if you re watching in the uk or around the world. pope francis has held a symbolic meeting with one of the most powerful figures in shia islam on the second day of his landmark trip to iraq. the pope s encounter with grand ayatollah ali al sistani, the spiritual leader of millions of shia muslims, took place in the holy city of najaf. it is the pontiff s first international trip since the start of the pandemic and the first ever papal visit to iraq. our rome correspondent mark lowen is travelling with the pope and has sent us this report from the city of ur. if the first day of the pope francis s visit to iraq was about the politics and about meeting the country s dwindling christian community, today was about the outreach towards other faiths. most notably a meeting this morning with the country s top shia cleric, grand ayatollah ali al sistani, bringing together the leader of the world s catholics with perhaps the most powerful and influential figure in
in the fourth test to secure the series 3 1. hello and welcome, if you re watching in the uk or around the world. pressure is mounting on the uk government over its proposed pay offer of i% for health workers in england, after it was claimed that a long term plan had assumed an increase of double that. nhs providers, which represents trusts in england, accused ministers of snatching planned pay rises from the pockets of deserving nhs staff. four health unions have written to the chancellor, urging him to reconsider. our health editor, hugh pym, reports. nhs providers is the first employers group to wade into the health service pay row in england. it argues that a long term government financial plan for the nhs in 2019 included a commitment to pay staff a wage increase ofjust over 2% from this april. the organisation said the pandemic has strengthened the case for better staff pay, so it was very disappointing that only i% was now being proposed. government sources said ther
in cricket, india thrash england by an innings and 25 runs in the fourth test to secure the series 3 1. and the fate of the uighurs has become a geopolitical issue, but is anything going to change? we ll be finding out in half an hour s time, on hardtalk. good afternoon. if you have just joined if you havejustjoined us, welcome to bbc news. the group representing health service trusts, nhs providers, hasjoined unions in saying the government s proposed 1% pay rise for health service staff in england is not enough. ministers have defended the rise, saying the pandemic had placed unprecedented strain on public finances. here s our political correspondent, jessica parker. pulling up a very public row about this week s i% pay offer with claims an increase of 2.1% had been baked in as part of a longer term settlement. which is actually enshrined in an act of parliament, so we have got a really strong legal basis here to say that that pay rise was there. obviously, that was all set
click looks at how gaming has helped people with their mental health through the pandemic. hello and good afternoon, welcome to bbc news. let s bring you some live pictures now from the chaldean cathedral of saintjoseph in baghdad where the pope is leading holy mass. the chaldean church is a branch of the catholic church dating back to the 16th century. this is the beginning of mass, the pope has just arrived to give the address. laboursinging singing. the numbers of questions are much diminished, they were persecuted at several stages. number of christians. persecuted during the conflicts that followed the invasion of iraq. victims of the group that called itself islamic state included a forced conversion as an alternative to death. many christians fled iraq, along with many others who tried to get out of the country, to seek sanctuary abroad, means the numbers in iraq have gone down from around a quarter of a million, sorryjust over 2 million, gone down to about 100,00
sneezing. and is the uk media obsessed with westminster? we ll be finding out in half an hour in the media show. good afternoon. the group representing health service trusts, nhs providers, hasjoined unions in saying the government s proposed 1% pay rise for health service staff in england is not enough. ministers have defended the rise, saying the pandemic had placed unprecedented strain on public finances. here s our political correspondent, jessica parker. pulling up, a very public row about this week s i% pay offer, with claims an increase of 2.1% had been baked in as part of a longer term settlement. which is actually enshrined in an act of parliament, so we ve got a really strong legal basis here to say that that the pay rise was there. obviously, that was all set out pre pandemic, but actually the pandemic really only enhances the case for a pay rise for nhs staff. an nhs funding boost was enshrined in law, say the government, but not figures on pay. its proposal will