israeli army special forces are inside nasser hospital in gaza, ignition. and liftoff. and after a successful launch, america aims for its first moon landing in over 50 years. and india's captain leads the way as they make a strong start to the third test against england. and coming up on bbc news. a stunning century from india captain rohit sharma means india are well on top against england in the third test in rajkot. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. the uk has fallen into recession, according to new official figures out today.

the data from the office for national statistics shows the economy shrank by 0.3% in the final three months of last year. the chancellorjeremy hunt has blamed high inflation — labour says the government's economic record is "in tatters". it is thought that the dip may not last long, because the uk jobs market and wage growth remain strong. our chief economics correspondent dharshini david reports. it was a damn end of the year. from construction to manufacturing and retail, the biggest cost of living crunch in decades, and the higher interest rates deployed to combat that took their toll on spending, profits and output, pushing the economy further into reverse. what most would term a mild recession. we are all managing but it is hard sometimes, yes, as pensioners, everything — sometimes, yes, as pensioners, everything is going up, but you just have to _ everything is going up, but you just have to live — everything is going up, but you just have to live it to your means. we

really feel _ have to live it to your means. we really feel the increase of the cost of the _ really feel the increase of the cost of the food — really feel the increase of the cost of the food and _ really feel the increase of the cost of the food and everything. - really feel the increase of the cost of the food and everything. eaten i really feel the increase of the cost of the food and everything. even we went to the — of the food and everything. even we went to the food _ of the food and everything. even we went to the food bank. _ of the food and everything. even we went to the food bank. we - of the food and everything. even we went to the food bank. we are - of the food and everything. even we| went to the food bank. we are doing ve well. went to the food bank. we are doing very well- we _ went to the food bank. we are doing very well. we are _ went to the food bank. we are doing very well. we are not _ went to the food bank. we are doing very well. we are not doing - went to the food bank. we are doing very well. we are not doing too - went to the food bank. we are doing very well. we are not doing too bad. j very well. we are not doing too bad. i have _ very well. we are not doing too bad. i have lteen— very well. we are not doing too bad. i have been retired two years and on a basic pension which hasjust i have been retired two years and on a basic pension which has just gone out in april by £65 so i am feeling really rich at the moment! we are not alone. this is how major economies fared in the second half of last year. typically grappling too with inflation and higher rates. japan entered recession. germany, canada, even france didn't do much better. but having said that, back home, we are counting the cost. accounting for population growth, each person in the uk was equivalent to £140 worse off by the end of 2023 because of that gdp performance. that is just in comparison to the start of 2022.

while the economy dipped right there in the second half of 2023, confounding the government's pledge to grow the economy, it has basically flatlined as a whole over the last year or two. the chancellor admits it has been a challenge. independent forecasters say if we stick to our guns by the early summer we will start to see interest rates falling, so that is why it is an important period now despite this challenging data that we stick to a plan that is seen in vision really start to fall. i don't buy this argument that you need _ idon't buy this argument that you need to— i don't buy this argument that you need to have a recession to get inflation — need to have a recession to get inflation down. other countries are doing _ inflation down. other countries are doing an _ inflation down. other countries are doing an awful lot better at controlling inflation whilst managing to grow their economy which is the _ managing to grow their economy which is the point _ managing to grow their economy which is the point i _ managing to grow their economy which is the point i made about britain being _ is the point i made about britain being acutely exposed to the challenges that we face. now— challenges that we face. now in— challenges that we face. now in 2024, the pace may be picking up now in 2024, the pace may be picking up for some as the jobs market and wage growth for example have been

resilient. . ., , ., , , resilient. cautious optimism. there is a ath resilient. cautious optimism. there is a path of — resilient. cautious optimism. there is a path of recovery _ resilient. cautious optimism. there is a path of recovery over _ resilient. cautious optimism. there is a path of recovery over 2024 - resilient. cautious optimism. there is a path of recovery over 2024 but | is a path of recovery over 2024 but it is a slow and gradual path. inflation is double the bank of england target, interest rates will start to ease, from may at a gradual pace. but growth over the last 15 years has been a fraction of what it was prior to 2008's financial crisis. all politicians will be under pressure to show how they will turbo boost prosperity as the election looms. and dharshi joins me now. dharshini, what's the economic outlook from here onwards? what we have seen over 2023 is the price to the economy as a whole of high inflation and interest rates. they have affected people in different ways which is why we see people experiencing things at different times, that shrinking of the economy last year. as we get past that people are having different expenses, those injobs,

unemployment is still low, wages rising at a decent rate. some businesses looking at more up—to—date surveys are saying things are gradually getting better. you have to contrast that with others are still having a hard time. over1 million families or householders will be remortgaging this year and will be remortgaging this year and will see high interest rates, and businesses, feeling that. on balance we should see a gradual increase in growth, the bank of england is aware of that which is why it doesn't really change the picture for interest rates. but don't forget the fact we had this long—term issue of how we escape the stagnation track, why does this matter? if we carry on growing 15 years ago, we could have been theoretically thousands of pounds better off. few of us can afford to ignore that. thank you. let's go to westminster now, and our political ter now, and our political correspondent helen catt. helen, what are the political

ramifications of all of this? last year rishi sunak made it one of his promises he invited people to judge him on as prime minister that he would grow the economy. we have got to one year on and find the economy has gone the opposite way and has shrunk which is clearly a political problem. the government argument broadly is growth will come if it sticks with its plan. for the opposition and this is an opportunity to say this is a failure and specifically rishi sunak�*s failure. both labour and the liberal democrats have quickly taken to dubbing this richey�*s recession. as the government is keen to play this down, labour is keen to play it up as a significant political moment and we saw that through the way rachel reeves responded in a press conference that highlighted that. she faced questions of her own about exactly how labour would plan to grow the economy because the wider context to this is a challenge both

political parties will have to grapple with, that the economy hasn't grown significantly for a long time. but the immediate pressure is squarely on rishi sunak, can he deliver that promise, and if so, when? our political correspondent helen catt. a boy aged 16 has been fatally stabbed in bristol. police say he was attacked by two people wearing masks who escaped on bikes. the killing comes weeks after two teenagers were stabbed to death elsewhere in the city. our correspondent dan johnson is at the scene. dan, what do we know at this stage? police are telling us this boy was stabbed here in this part at around 6pm last night. you can see the yellow and white forensic tent surrounding one of the benches in the park. two figures masked and on bikes the police have described, we understand this boy was able to run from this park is seeking assistance. he apparently was able to flag down a motorist who tried to take him to the local police station

but found that closed, then dropped him off at a local shop where people try to save his life while they waited for the ambulance. this is the third teenager to lose his life by stabbing in the city in the last month. there have been other attacks leaving teenagers were dead. police say there is no evidence of this was linked to any other but they are aware of the heightened concern and have announced extra patrols in the city and extra action to tackle knife crime. a murder investigation is under way and the questions people are asking here is why so many teenagers are caught up in life —— knife crime and where are the emergency services to stop that happening or to save lives. israeli special forces have raided the main hospital in southern gaza, after saying they had credible intelligence that hamas had been holding hostages there. israel describes it as a "precise and limited" operation at the nasser hospital in khan yunis. hamas — which is designated a terrorist organisation by the uk government — has called israel's claim "lies". jenny hill sent this

report from jerusalem. where there should be healing and hope, chaos and injury. shouting. this is the nasser hospital in khan younis. corridors filled with smoke and panic. "we are being attacked by israel," this doctor shouts. he checks for casualties. gunfire. "there is shooting," he shouts. "get your heads down." yesterday, israeli forces ordered civilians to leave the hospital. this was, they claim, a precision strike, because they believe hamas fighters held israeli hostages here. we have credible intelligence from a number of sources, including from released hostages, indicating that hamas—held hostages at the nasser hospital in khan younis and that there may be bodies of our hostages in the nasser hospital facility.

israel continues its assault on gaza. earlier, its forces claimed to have killed more hamas fighters. talks aimed at a temporary ceasefire and the return of israeli hostages are ongoing, but there's no sign of a breakthrough, and so the eyes of the world are on rafah. more than a million displaced civilians have sought refuge in gaza's southernmost city. but israel believes hamas fighters are hiding here too and despite growing international protest, plans a major ground offensive. among those voicing their concern, the german foreign minister. "more than half of gaza's population is currently seeking "shelter in rafah," she says. "many have nothing more than small children in their arms "and the clothes on their backs. "these people cannot simply vanish into thin air." some are trying to move away, but where to go? there are few safe options and right now little hope of peace. jenny hill, bbc news, jerusalem.

mr netanyahu mr neta nyahu has mr netanyahu has despite that international protest vowed to go ahead with what he described as a powerful ground assault. he has described her masters as maggie demands in negotiations as delusional. he will be keeping an eye on israel's northern border with lebanon where exchanges of fire have been happening daily since the conflict broke out in gaza where hostilities have intensified in the last 24 hours. our correspondentjenny hill, injerusalem. assaults and abuse targeting jewish people have reached a record high, according to a charity which monitors anti—semitism across the uk. the community security trust recorded reports of more than 4,000 anti—jewish hate incidents last year — up from around 1,600 the previous year. here's our education correspondent elaine dunkley. there are guards and high—rise fences, security is tight. this is a jewish

school in manchester. inside the king david high school, pupils tell me they feel safe. outside the school, they are experiencing increasing levels of anti—semitism. a few weeks ago, i was threatened, and i reported it, and the police have dealt with that. a person who would have been walking down the street, i have had people shouting at me from cars. and it has had quite an impact. i get public transport to school and ijust feel a lot more wary. actually coming to school there has definitely been an increased police presence around our school. thisjewish girls' school in london was targeted and vandalised in the aftermath of hamas' attacks on israel in october last year. today's figures published by the community security trust are compiled from people calling their helpline to report anti—semitic attacks they have experienced or witnessed, and are also taken from police data. the report indicates anti—semitic incidents affecting school children have more than trebled, compared to 2022.

it says 87 incidents took place atjewish schools. and 127 were recorded at mainstream schools. and there were 111 incidents affecting children travelling to or from school. rabbi benjy rickman has been working with different faith schools across manchester for more than a decade, and says education is the key to tackling anti—semitism. when you can humanise the other, then you realise how much similarity exists between groups. and over the years, before our student population became more diverse, we took ourjewish kids to muslim schools, we did quite a lot of activities with schools in south manchester. some of the most beautiful moments are when you have those real nuggets of education when a young person goes, "0h, we are not so different after all." the government says it has ringfenced £7 billion to help schools in england tackle anti—semitism. these schoolchildren are hundreds of miles away from the conflict in the middle east, but say

their lives here in manchester have changed significantly. i think it is quite important to represent my identity, but it is the thing that makes me afraid. elaine dunkley, bbc news. british gas has announced its profits for 2023 increased ten—fold to £750 million. it says the jump from £72 million in 2022 was because the regulator ofgem allowed it to recover £500 million worth of losses from the aftermath of russia's invasion of ukraine. while oil and gas firms made record profits when energy prices spiked, suppliers that took on the customers of bust retailers made hefty losses. the number of patients in england waiting more than 12 hours for a bed on a ward after being seen in a&e was 19 times higher this winter than it was before the pandemic, nhs england figures show. the king's fund think—tank said long delays were becoming normalised. our health editor hugh pym is here. hugh, tell us more.

health leaders say hospitals are even busier than this time last year and saying at the time that was very pressurised. one result is these long waiting times in accident and emergency for a people being given a bed after a decision to admit. in december and january we have a figure of 98,000 who had waited more than 12 hours, that was no improvement on last year. let us look at what it was if you years ago before the pandemic. the number was 5000 -- before the pandemic. the number was 5000 —— what before the pandemic. the number was 5000 -- what it before the pandemic. the number was 5000 —— what it was a few years ago. it wasn't long before that that these wedding times were unheard of. nhs england have said they have had to cope with industrial action, more flu cases than this time last year, that they put in place a lot of preparations to deal with the expected high demand including beds, but those beds have been occupied, 95% across all hospitals. the think—tank says there is a danger of

this poor performance becoming normalised. hugh pym. our top story this afternoon. the uk is in recession, after the economy shrank again at the end of 2023. and coming up... russia's president putin says he would preferjoe biden, rather than donald trump, to win this year's us coming up on bbc news... crystal palace are set to sack manager roy hodgson, with former eintracht frankfurt boss oliver glasner a strong favourite to take the job. palace have won just three of their last 19 matches. an uncrewed american spacecraft has blasted off from the kennedy space center in florida, on a mission to land a robot on the moon. if it goes to plan in a week's time, it will be the first american moon landing in more than 50 years. the mission is part of nasa's artemis campaign, which aims to put humans back on the moon by the end

of the decade. our science correspondent pallab ghosh reports. fuelled up and ready for launch. on board the odysseus spacecraft. three, two, one, ignition... ..and lift off. go spacex, go im—1 and the odysseus lunar lander. lighting up the night sky and on its way to the moon. you can see the blast from the rocket�*s powerful first stage, as it sends it hurtling away from earth's gravity. inside the rocket, separation of the first stage, itsjob now done. now, the protective nose cone peels away, the legs of the lander now in clear view. at the control centre, staff watch nervously

at the next critical stage. im—1 odysseus lunar lander, separation confirmed. the start of an eight dayjourney to the lunar surface. beautiful launch, so exciting. and its mission. characterising the surface of the lunar south polar region, which is an extremely challenging environment to operate in, and it's preparing us for sending humans to the lunar surface. the south polar region is rocky, so odysseus will be testing out a light reflecting beacon to guide future missions to landing sites. it will also be trying out a new type of rocket fuel, which could be made on the lunar surface. but first, it will have to land successfully. space is hard. small mistakes can doom you. we know they're very talented, they're very well organised, - we're really impressed - with the depth and technical skills of this team, - but you have to stay focused and you've got to make sure you nail everything and stick the landing. - a private company is leading this mission, one of many that nasa has turned to, to help it send astronauts back to the moon and to build

a continuous human presence. what is now at this stage is you have a mission almost every fortnight to the moon and these missions are going to be much smaller, much nimbler and they will go to various areas of the moon that have never been visited by the apollo missions. that was more than 50 years ago and the very last time the us was on the moon. if the odysseus lander succeeds, it will be the first time a private company will have touched down, marking a new era in space flight. pallab ghosh, bbc news. hundreds of people attended a vigil on sunday to mark a year since 16—year—old brianna ghey, who was transgender, was murdered by two teenagers in warrington. brianna's mum, esther, is now campaigning for better mental health support for children, and for tighter regulations on social media use. she told the bbc it wasn't feasible to expect parents to be able to work full—time,

raise children and keep on top of the latest technology. young people are so much more tech savvy than parents and they've got so much more free time to really sort of teach themselves how to use phones, and there's new apps, there's new social media apps that are coming out all of the time and i just don't think it's feasible for parents to do that. it was also a big argument point in our house for me to try to limit brianna on her phone and, yeah, ifeel like it's not only the parents' responsibility, but the responsibility of the government and tech companies as well. the russian president vladimir putin says he would preferjoe biden, rather than donald trump, to win the us presidential election this november. in an interview on russian state television, mr putin said he'd rather work with mr biden, who was more experienced and predictable.

straight now to moscow and our russia editor, steve rosenberg. steve, some might be surprised by this apparent support forjoe biden? iurge i urge caution, with a big letter capital c. keep in mind the relations between russia and the west are so bad right now that any public endorsement by putin for an individual us politician really does that politician no favours at all, quite the opposite. second, itjust doesn't quite add up if you compare whatjoe biden has said in the past a about putin and russia to what donald trump as that. joe biden has labelled vladimir putin a murderous dictator and a pure thug. donald trump has called him smart. he has used the word genius. he has even suggested that he would encourage, he, donald trump, would encourage

russia to attack nato countries who hadn't paid their bills as part of the western alliance, so who would you be rooting for if you were in the kremlin? one thing is for sure, if donald trump does become the republican party nominee for the 2024 presidential election and if his opponents accuse him of being soft on russia, or even of being the kremlin's choice, team trump now has a handy convenient putin quotation it can point to to deny everything. steve, thank you for that. one person has died and 21 people were wounded, including nine children, in a mass shooting at the super bowl victory parade in kansas city. president biden has said it should shock and shame america into bringing in tighter gun controls. our washington reporter will vernon has the story. gunshots. gunshots ring out in central kansas city — the streets packed with families and sports fans.

police rushed to the scene, as the injured are given first aid. guys, guys, guys, something's going on! this reporter for local tv about to go live as the chaos unfolds. eyewitnesses described scenes of panic. all of a sudden, people started crushing forward. everybody started running. there was screaming. we didn't know what was happening. but this day and age, when people run, you run. people had gathered for this — a victory parade to celebrate the local american football team's win in the super bowl — america's biggest sporting event. over 800 police had been deployed to protect the crowds. the mayor of kansas city said that shootings like this were becoming all too common in america. i think that's something that all of us who are parents, who are just regular people living each day have to decide what we wish to do about it.

parades, rallies, schools, movies. it seems like almost nothing is safe. the kansas city chiefs' star player posted on social media that he was heartbroken over the tragedy. travis kelce said, "kansas city means the world to me." another wrote simply, "praying for kansas city." in a statement last night, president biden said joy had been turned to tragedy, and he called on americans to find the resolve to end what he called the senseless epidemic of gun violence. will vernon, bbc news, washington. voters in kingswood and wellingborough go to the polls in two by—elections today. both seats were won by the conservatives in 2019. the vote in kingswood in gloucestershire was triggered by chris skidmore's resignation as an mp, while the seat for the wellingborough

by—election in northamptonshire is being contested after peter bone lost his seat following a recall petition. polls close at 10pm tonight. red bull's formula one team boss christian horner will make his first public appearance on thursday since a complaint of inappropriate behaviour was made against him. the 50—year—old is under investigation by red bull, but is expected to be at the launch of the team's new car. mr horner has denied the allegations. the welsh coastline is home to some of the largest seabird colonies in the world, including gulls and gannets. but a new study, by the rspb, has found that bird flu has had a devastating impact on the number of migrating species arriving in the uk. brendon williams reports. just two years ago, there were 34,500 northern gannet nests on this pembrokeshire rock, once the fourth—largest colony in the world. but in 12 months, bird flu wiped out more than half of grassholm's population,

and gannets are not alone. black headed gulls were red listed before bird flu emerged in 2021, and numbers have declined by 77% in recent years. and in its first ever report trying to quantify the effects of bird flu, rspb cymru says common and sandwich terns have also seen a catastrophic drop of 40%. we are really concerned. we don't know what the future holds. these seabirds are long—lived and they only have one or two chicks a year. it could be another decade before we truly know what the impact of this is, even if it were to stop today. so we are genuinely concerned that it poses a real threat for some species of extinction, like great skua in scotland and the black—headed gull in wales. this is a real tipping point. bird flu is what could tip them over the edge, and that's why it's really important. that's why rspb cymru is calling on the welsh government to draw up a well funded, well monitored seabird

conservation strategy, to tackle the other things that are the other pressures that are facing seabirds. when outbreaks occur in farmed birds, it's possible to try and contain avian flu. in migrating wild species, it's practically impossible. but the rspb wants a strategy that helps protect them from other threats, such as offshore energy, non—native species, and fishing. the welsh government says there are currently no reported cases of bird flu among wild species, but bear in mind that most of them aren't actually here yet. they'll be making their way here in the coming months. and by about mid—april, the little orme, here in llandudno, will hopefully be buzzing with a variety of different species and there will be wardens and people monitoring their numbers in the hope bird flu doesn't return. trying to boost resilience to avian flu and other emergencies will be

the aim of a seabird conservation strategy, which the welsh government says it's committed to delivering this year. birds like these will soon make the journey back to wales. the question is — how many? and will bird flu travel with them? brendon williams, bbc news. to cricket — the third test between england and india began today in rajkot, with the series level at 1—1. despite a strong start from england, india's batsman dominated the day, reaching 326—5 at the close of play. joe wilson was watching. traffic at rajkot pace, outside the stadium. inside, mark wood, 90 miles an hour. gone, first wicket. he took two indian wickets rapidly. another one. then tom hartley bowled his slow stuff, 33—3. well, hold that sign high, india's players needed to see it. captain rohit sharma on 27 should have been caught there. instead he started attacking, here.

he has his great swing of the bat. respect to the bowler, but the day was now for the batters. rohit making his way to 100. ravi jadeja added his experience and controlled aggression, their partnership over 200 runs together. just when it seemed rohit could hit the ball anywhere, he found ben stokes. this is what england desperately needed. he was gone. mark wood was back. sarfaraz khan was making his debut. he looked at ease for india, got to 50 and looked up to see his dad. jadeja batting on 99 seeking another run, sarfaraz at the other end responding, and run out. spot the reaction from india's captain. well, england rather misused their reviews. they couldn't remove jadeja. his hundred, his flourish, he's still there. india 326—5 setting the pace. joe wilson, bbc news.

time for a look at the weather. his darren bett. we have high temperatures, the highest temperatures in england and wales. temperatures have reached 17 degrees in worcestershire and also in suffolk and it's even 15 degrees in suffolk and it's even 15 degrees in bradford and also in manchester. it's not quite as warm as that in northern ireland, but it's turning drier and it's still very mild here. temperatures picking up across southern parts of scotland but it's been a bit of a struggle across more northern areas of scotland. quite a different picture here in aberdeenshire from earlier on where we've got misty, foggy weather and some rain around. that's the radar picture over the past few hours. it's drying off in northern ireland. we have rain developing across wales and west in england. that's going to be heavy in the south—west and the

rain will push its way