it s three years today since chinese state media reported the first recorded death from covid 19. since then the global economy has been under intense pressure, and now the world bank is warning it is close to falling into recession. in its latest economic forecast, the bank said after surging by over 5% in post pandemic 2021, growth in the world s richest economies is likely to slow sharply from 2.5% last year to just 0.5% this year, and debt caused by the pandemic will take decades to pay off. the bbc s north america business correspondent samira hussain reports from new york. the from new york. world bank expects the global the world bank expects the global economy to grow by 1.7% this year, much lower than the 3% originally predicted by the world bank back injune. now, a number of factors are being blamed. the continued war in ukraine continues to put pressure on global energy prices, and interest rates are rising in many economies to combat the high cost of living. now,
and also ahead: a big night in hollywood. have you been round? i haven t been round. have i been round? colin farrell wins best actor at the golden globes. we ll have the latest from the awards, trying to recover from controversy. hello and welcome. we have a fax programme ahead. packed programme ahead. we begin here in the uk, where more than 20,000 ambulance and support staff have gone on strike in a row over pay and conditions, with health service leaders warning the system is in a precarious position. call handlers and dispatchers are also taking part in the industrial action, the second such strike to take place in england and wales in three weeks. people are being warned that ambulances may not be dispatched for some emergencies, such as heart attacks and strokes, and the effect this time is expected to be worse than the first walkout. gareth barlow reports. it is the second walkout by ambulance staff this winter. workers including paramedics, emergency care assistan
Kiwi acting sensation KJ Apa has just had a whistle-stop visit home to Auckland from his base in Los Angeles. Last weekend, the former Riverdale star posted.
later today japan s prime minister, fumio kishida, will meet with uk prime minsiter rishi sunak in london. mr kishida is on a whistlestop tour of g7 nations ahead of the next summit in hiroshima in may. japan holds the presidency of the g7 this year. this week he has had talks with france s emmanuel macron and italy s giorgia meloni and is said to be on a trust building mission to step up cooperation with western allies. at the end of this week, kishida will be in washington for talks with president biden. and pushing for a free and open indo pacific, with concerns that china, like russia, is taking bold steps to change the current status quo of economic power. let s go live to japan and talk to seijiro takeshita, dean professor at the school of management and information at the university of shizuoka. japan is talking about pushing