and coming up on bbc news... he's back for wales after a lengthy knee injury, but will aaron ramsey be fit to start in their euros qualifier against finland tomorrow? good evening. there was some welcome news for the economy today, with a sharper than expected fall in inflation. the rate at which prices go up fell from 4% injanuary to 3.4% in february — it's a long way from the peak there of 11% back in october 2022. but inflation is still some way off the bank of england's target rate of 2%. the prime minister says that the uk economy is turning a corner — but as our economics editor faisal isalm has been finding out — many people are still

feeling the pinch. the first day of spring is often a turning point of renewal. but at this farm shop near crewe, the rebirth of the economy as inflation falls to more normal levels isn't yet hitting home. the energy bills should be coming down by now. not from what i've seen. they keep putting the standard charge for electricity up and gas. but it doesn't feel like... the cost to go out for the day and eating and drink seems to be going up as well. sometimes ijust don't even, like, | pay for my wi—fi because i can't,| so we have to go without. everything isjust going up, isn't it? everything. and you don't think that that's starting to calm down or stabilise? anything you can see in your own bills? maybe our gas and electric is slightly better than it was or not as bad as it was getting, but apart from that, no, not really. the latest figures show food costs and prices in cafes and restaurants helping drive inflation down to 3.4% last month — the lowest level for two and a half years,

well down on its 11% peak. from here, the headline rate of inflation is likely to fall below 2%, that's the government's target, driven by those falls in energy prices next month. but what we're learning is just what a long tail inflationary pressures that we've seen can have. and we are also going to see cost—of—living pressures from increases in broadband, in water bills and car insurance too. hello, a—star. and that can be seen very clearly here at a local taxi firm whose had to halt expansion plans after a crippling insurance bill. i could not believe it. it really... yeah, itjust knocked me back so much, and it's kind of scary as well. when's it going to stop? soon, says the prime minister, who chose to use today's fall in inflation to tell the public things were definitively looking up. i do believe that at the start of this year we have turned a corner after the shocks of the past few

years, and we are in a new economic moment, and 2024 will prove to be the year the economy bounces back. so green shoots of recovery? that's notjust me saying that, if you talk to businesses as i do across the country, they are starting to see that and feel that in what is happening in their shops, or their restaurants or their companies, and you can see it when... wherever you are, in fact, people are seeing that things have turned. and next month, mobile phone bills, broadband bills, water bills, all going up by above inflation, i could go on. car insurance, some people having their bills doubling, are you doing anything about these sorts of bills that are going in the wrong direction? well, look, there's always going to be a mix of things, but the big one you didn't mention, one of the biggest bills that any household has is their energy bills, right? now, that is coming down almost £250 at exactly the same time as all those other things that you mentioned are happening. the opposition said the cost crisis continues. well, i welcome any fall in inflation, but i do think we have

to recognise that people, after 14 years of this government, are not better off. they are seeing the prices in the shops still rising, still significant. the tax burden is still high. if you are renewing your fixed rate mortgage, you are almost certainly going to be paying more. a turning point on mortgage costs is what many households are waiting for, although rents are also surging. the bank of england may focus on the still high inflation in the service sector, holding off from a cut at its meeting tomorrow. faisal islam, bbc news. let's talk to our political editor chris mason — will today's news help placate the prime minister's critics? straight from that meeting with faisal islam and that conversation we just heard, the faisal islam and that conversation wejust heard, the prime minister came down to parliament for a private meeting with his own backbenchers. i was loitering outside the room, the meeting broke up outside the room, the meeting broke up in the last few minutes on the

banging on the desks and applause as the prime minister arrived, if he had arrived from pluto this morning you might imagine rishi sunak had just won a landslide election, not as the polls suggest on the wrong end of labour achieving just that. there are conservative mps who need persuading that rishi sunak is the right man to take them into the general election. the economic news definitely helps. he can make an argument that he is the author of an element of economic stability and steady improvement and there are conservative mps who openly regard those toying with the idea of trying to topple him as being, quite, idiots as one put it to me as he was leaving. there is a keen awareness in downing street and amongst conservative mps of where they find themselves politically. one said to me, if you can hear a themselves politically. one said to me, if you can heara pin themselves politically. one said to me, if you can hear a pin drop it's because i'm still holding the grenade. a rather cryptic line but

it paints a picture of the backdrop, the gallows humour amongst conservative mps, who privately most acknowledge expect to lose the election. . ~ acknowledge expect to lose the election. ., ~ , ., the private clinic in london at the centre of claims that staff tried to access the princess of wales�* medical records says there's no place for those who breach its patients trust. the daily mirror has reported that at least one member of staff tried to access kate's medical records. the data protection watchdog has confirmed it's assessing the information provided. here's our royal correspondentjonny dymond. privacy and the princess — the mirror makes a splash with a story about an attempt to access private medical information regarding kate, the princess of wales. she was here two months ago for an abdominal operation. since then, she's been out of sight, but hardly out of mind. from the palace, silence. from the hospital, a statement. "there is no place at our hospital

for those who intentionally breach the trust of any of our patients or colleagues." all of this, the hospital visit, the long recovery was supposed to be ordinary — a woman, wife and mother getting better after an operation. the palace has been flabbergasted by the response. the concern often that the princess's right to privacy has been shredded in a world of phone and feed. this is not the first time that the princess's private medical records, some of the most protected personal data there is, have come to others�* attention. a decade ago, phone pranksters duped a nurse into revealing some petty details. this latest controversy comes hard on the heels of the photo issued last week, withdrawn by international publishers, as doubts were cast on its authenticity. the couple may have thought they'd

be able to step back a little to enable a long recovery, but events and rumours and their own mistake have conspired against them. jonny dymond, bbc news. lawyers for prince harry have told the high court that rupert murdoch must have known about phone hacking and other unlawful activity in his british newspaper group — long before denying it in public. our home and legal correspondent dominic casciani is outside the high court. these are quite serious allegations. it is and from one allegation of intrusion in the modern data are more historical one. there have been 1300 cases against the owners of the now defunct news of the world and the sun continuing. allegations of phone hacking and unlawful intrusion into private lives. prince harry's case is one of the ones that isn't settled. he seems determined to go to trial injanuary and his lawyers here today at the high court said

they want to expand his case. they want to basically bring to court evidence of what they say executives knew about what was going on, rather than just focus on what private investigators allegedly did to the duke of sussex. today his lawyers said there must have been a paper trail that they can show in court that goes all the way to the top, to rupert murdoch, back 2011. the newspapers�* lawyers say that�*s simply not sustainable and this must be thrown out. this has been going on for too long. 15 years of cases, time to bring it to an end.- time to bring it to an end. thank ou. junior doctors in england have voted by 98% in favour of continuing strike action for another six months. the turnout was 62%. there have been ten walk—outs so far byjunior doctors since the first one in march last year. the british medical association has asked for a 35% pay rise, but ministers have described the pay claim as unreasonable. the government has banned 15 powerful synthetic opioids that have

been linked to the deaths of more than 100 people in the uk since last summer. the drugs known as nitazenes, believed to come from illicit labs in china, can be hundreds of times stronger than heroin. navtej johal has spoken to one man who nearly died from an accidental overdose. drugs cause so much chaos and disaster. it�*s horrible. i want people to stop. if i didn't have such a high tolerance, i'd be dead. two people who both ended up in hospital after using nitazenes. last summer, matt and sarah from west sussex and nottingham both thought they were using heroin. but, in fact, it was laced with nitazenes, super strength synthetic opioids. nitazene is the most terrifying thing i�*ve ever experienced.

sarah, not her real name, didn�*t want her identity revealed. it makes you feel suicidal. like, you really want to kill yourself, because it'sjust horrible. literally, you can't move off your bed. you are that ill. you are aching. just horrendous. is that how you felt, that you wanted to take your own life? yeah. they�*ve both stopped using drugs since then, and their recovery is being supported by drug charities. nitazenes can be hundreds of times stronger than heroin, and just a tiny amount can cause users to stop breathing. last year, the bbc filmed these pictures in afghanistan of the taliban crackdown on heroin production, which it is believed has led to a rise in synthetic opioids. nitazenes are a whole new, whole new ballgame. experts we�*ve spoken to believe the government is behind the curve on nitazenes. there is currently no national system for tracking non—fatal overdoses. despite more than 100 deaths being linked to nitazenes since last summer, in a similar

period, the department of health recorded just 19 non—fatal overdoses. i think that figure is an enormous underestimate. and i think it's worse than useless. the government says it�*s trying to do more. this lab is checking for the presence of nitazenes in heroin and other substances. from today, 15 synthetic opioids will be labelled as class a drugs. the department of health says work is ongoing to improve how it collects information about new drugs. we�*ve pulled together an early warning system, drawing on tests done at the border, tests done on samples that have been seized, post—mortem toxicology, as well as overdose reports, that i think does give us a complete picture. but for those who know first hand the damage nitazenes can cause, they�*re worried about what�*s to come. and the dealers don�*t care. they want your money. don�*t give it to them. your life�*s worth more than a £10 bag. navteonhal, bbc news.

technical problems forced some of greggs 2,400 stores to close this morning. the it issues affected card payment systems, before being resolved. greggs is the latest big name to be hit by technical problems. online deliveries were disrupted for sainsbury�*s and tesco on saturday. mcdonald�*s had problems which halted sales on friday. our business correspondent marc ashdown is outside a greggs store. what�*s going on? what's going on? it may be britain's bi est what's going on? it may be britain's biggest bakery _ what's going on? it may be britain's biggest bakery chain _ what's going on? it may be britain's biggest bakery chain but _ what's going on? it may be britain's biggest bakery chain but anyone - biggest bakery chain but anyone turning up front see in the coffee or breakfast but this morning might have been greeted by a sign instead saying we�*ve got some issues with our tell. some greggs branches had to stay close to the morning, others couldn�*t accept card payments. greggs lend a technical issue, apologised and said by late morning its famous sausage rolls were back on the menu again. mcdonald�*s on

friday, tesco and sainsbury�*s on saturday, greggs today so what is going on? there is no suggestion anyone has been cyber hacked but the cause seems to be computer systems and one security expert told me you can�*t rule out the possibility of an issue with the common underlying infrastructure. the systems tend to be pretty completed and enmeshed and with return it�*s pretty obvious pretty quickly when something goes wrong. all of the above did fix all of their problems within hours, no lasting problems. the hope is this doesn�*t dent consumer confidence in digital payment systems but i would maybe carry a bit of cash just to be safe. the time is 6:15. our top story this evening... inflation falls to its lowest level for two and a half years — coming up, why these easter eggs are being raffled off at a small shop in orkney. coming up on bbc news... former world number one, simona held up reacts angrily after fellow tennis coming up on bbc news... former world number one,

simona halep reacts angrily after fellow tennis pro caroline wozniacki says players band for doping should not be given wildcards when they return. russia�*s president putin has gathered his celebrity supporters for a lavish event in moscow after winning his fifth term as president at the weekend. it was an election that western leaders have called neither free nor fair. the bbc�*s russia editor steve rosenberg got a rare invite to the kremlin. vladimir vladimirovich putin! they say that location is everything, if you want to impress an audience. applause so, vladimir putin invited his celebrity supporters to one of the swankiest parts of the kremlin. he wasn�*t easy to see, but the messaging was clear. in the hall where russian tsars had been crowned... ..russia�*s president thanked the vips for backing his re—election.

we were there too. a rare invitation inside the kremlin. a sign, perhaps, of president putin�*s growing confidence. even though the west has dismissed the election as a sham. this is, in effect, vladimir putin�*s victory lap. having won the race, a race so designed that he couldn�*t lose it, the kremlin leader wanted to thank his most famous fans for cheering him on, and was clearly happy to receive their congratulations. and his guests loyally defended a widely criticised election. do you believe the election was free and fair? laughter we created the most open and democratic elections in the bloody world! was there a serious challenger in the election, a serious opponent? is there a need for a serious opponent? why? why is there no need for a serious opponent?

why do you always think the way you live is better than the way we live? even the way you ask questions. "why don't you guys do the way we do it?" because we are not you, and we don't like you much, really. in the kremlin, vladimir putin refer to events in russia�*s belgorod region. it�*s come under sustained shelling from across the border in ukraine. and civilian casualties have been rising. this never happened before russia invaded ukraine. translation: we can, of course, respond in the same way, - striking civilian infrastructure and all similar sites that are the enemy is targeting. we have our own views on that, our own plans, and we will follow them. and, post—election, vladimir putin will claim he has a popular mandate for whatever plans he makes, and whatever decisions he takes. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow.

the irish taoiseach leo varadkar has announced that he will step down before the next general election in the republic of ireland. he said he was resigning immediately as party leader. he announced his unexpected decision, for "personal and political reasons", in an emotional statement. politicians are human beings, and we have our limitations. we give it everything until we can�*t any more, and then we have to move on. the family of a woman who died after a ceiling collapsed at a pontin�*s holiday park in somerset in 2019 has told the bbc they are still waiting for answers five years on. wendyjones was at the park in somerset, when she was crushed by structural ducting. pontin�*s owners, britannia hotels, said the collapse was an "unfortunate accident" and it didn�*t consider the company at fault. the business instead said that the collapse was due to a failure of internal fixings, that could not be checked.

here�*s our special correspondent ed thomas. i spent my mum�*s last birthday in an intensive care unit, with her slipping in and out of consciousness. just gone, in an instant. screaming february 2019. there�*s chaos inside pontins brean sands. an air conditioning duct has fallen, crushing wendyjones. mum had a punctured lung, fractured ribs, fractured collarbones. she never recovered. one of the saddest things that i�*ve experienced was mum waking up saying, "who are you?" the bbc filmed on the night of the collapse. the roof wasn�*t right. it was bowed in. this was the aftermath. on the floor, you can see the fallen air conditioning duct. insulation boards

are packed around it. wendy was crushed, along with her mobility scooter. if your mum was here now, what would she be saying to you? she�*d say, getjustice. my biggest fear was it would collapse eventually. mick forster was general manager at pontins brean sands until summer 2016. in late 2015, he witnessed these insulation boards being placed on the ceiling and air conditioning duct. when he asked me to sign it off, i refused to. mick then says he demanded an inspection of the work. i don't think it would sustain that weight. we�*ve obtained a copy of that 2016 independent surveyors report and showed it to him. " executive summary. the recent insulation has not been safely or adequately installed." the report, however, also stated it was not assessing safe load limits of the ceiling. was satisfactory

remedial work carried out while you were there? no. pontins�* owners, a company called britanniajinkyjersey, disputes mick�*s account. it said the 2015 installation was completed by a specialist contractor. the 2016 surveyors report related solely to the ceiling grid, not the area that collapsed. additional ceiling supports were later installed, and an engineer�*s report, commissioned in 2017, raised no concerns, and no safety issues were raised to senior managers prior to the collapse. it�*s very, very sad. she came to pontins, she didn�*t go home again. in response to our investigation, britannia hotels said the death of wendyjones was an unfortunate accident that could not have been predicted. i don�*t like the word accident to describe this situation. has anybody said sorry to you and picked up the phone? no. show some humility, some decency, some humanity. britannia hotels say it�*s

inappropriate to engage with wendyjones�*s family at this time. police say they�*re still investigating her death with an open mind. ed thomas, bbc news. vaughan gething has been confirmed as the new first minister of wales. he becomes the first black leader of any country in europe. the 50—year—old, whose parents are welsh and zambian, narrowly won the labour party leadership election on saturday. he succeeds mark drakeford, who governed wales through the covid pandemic. our wales correspondent hywel griffith is at the senedd in cardiff — what kind of challenges will he face? well, after eight years in the cabinet, he will be fully aware of the problem is that the welsh labour government has failed to fix, record waiting lists in welsh hospitals, poor test results in welsh schools and an economy that has struggled to move on from the heavy industry age. most depressingly, perhaps, the prospect of 2000 jobs being lost at the steel plant in port talbot. he is also the leader of welsh labour

and we know there is a general election in the offing. those problems have been referenced previously by the conservatives in the general election, they point to wales as an example of how a labour government would act across the uk. if there is a change of government after the election and labour coming to power, he will need to reset the relationship between wales and westminster. and particularly maybe change the accusations often made here that it is the treasury to blame for problems, because not enough money reaches welsh government coffers. on a personal level, he said he expects to face abuse on social media because of the colour of his skin, but he spoke with pride about wales becoming the first nation in europe to have a black leader. time is running out for rishi sunak, that�*s according to the liberal democrat leader sir ed davey. at the launch of his party�*s local election campaign he accused the prime minister of having bottled a may general election and he claimed that voters were fed up with the government. here�*s our political correspondent damian grammaticas hi, everybody!

a smile on his face. here�*s someone who looks happy it�*s election time again. sir ed davey and his party love a homemade prop. crowd: woah. .. this time, an hourglass. it emptied a bit more slowly than he�*d have liked. but with the message and the noise levels, the lib dems certainly want to give the impression they are feeling energised. people who�*ve had seven chances to vote for me since i first stood in �*97, they�*ve never voted for me, but they�*re thinking of voting for me this time. the liberal democrats are very excited about these local elections, and the general election, whenever it comes. we think we�*ve got a huge chance to beat the conservatives in their heartlands. may�*s elections are local ones, but it�*s notjust local issues the lib dems want to highlight — the nhs, social care, pensions, sewage. ed davey�*s choice of this as the location to launch this campaign tells you a lot about his thinking, because the council here is not one that the liberal democrats are in danger of losing. so really this is all

about the general election, the seats they�*re targeting — ones they used to hold or conservative ones that they think they have a chance of winning. this is harpenden, genteel london commuter land. and there�*s certainly discontent in the air, fuelling lib dem hopes. i�*ve been a conservative voterfor many, many, many years and i don�*t know what to do because i�*m not happy with the way it�*s going. i think i'm so disillusioned with the government at the moment and politics in general that i haven't really decided who i would vote for. so, votes up for grabs. but, weighing against that, old loyalties and time — which, in politics, can change things. damian grammaticas, bbc news, harpenden. this is the latest mural by banksy that appeared overnight in london, two days later it has had to be

cordoned off because it has been defaced with white paint. someone has graffitied the graffiti, throwing paint over the paint that was thrown over this wall, behind this tree stop truth? was thrown over this wall, behind this tree sto— this tree stop why do people do thins like this tree stop why do people do things like that? _ this tree stop why do people do things like that? he _ this tree stop why do people do things like that? he went - this tree stop why do people do things like that? he went to - this tree stop why do people do things like that? he went to the bother of coming here and doing that. we bother of coming here and doing that. ~ .. ., bother of coming here and doing that. ~ ., , ., ., that. we came to see it and we are disappointed. _ that. we came to see it and we are disappointed, whoever _ that. we came to see it and we are disappointed, whoever has - that. we came to see it and we are disappointed, whoever has done i that. we came to see it and we are i disappointed, whoever has done that. does the _ disappointed, whoever has done that. does the white paint ruin it? | does the white paint ruin it? i don't think so. it adds character to it. , ., y don't think so. it adds character to it. , , , don't think so. it adds character to it. somebody puts paint on a wall and everybody — it. somebody puts paint on a wall and everybody loves _ it. somebody puts paint on a wall and everybody loves it, _ it. somebody puts paint on a wall| and everybody loves it, somebody else tries to ruin it, i think they have tried to ruin it, and that is almost like shock, horror, it�*s a crime. defence was not here when i came on monday, it was put up yesterday but did very little to stop the white paint being thrown. but so many people have been here to visit that something had to be done to try to protect it. the work appeared on sunday. some people said it looked like the ill—fated sycamore gap tree. the cherry tree

here is still standing, as well as the stencilled gardener. but banksy has been a victim of vandals plenty of times, even as far away as ukraine. well—meaning cleaners later unwittingly defaced this work by wiping it off entirely.— unwittingly defaced this work by wiping it off entirely. graffiti and street art, wiping it off entirely. graffiti and street art. it _ wiping it off entirely. graffiti and street art, it gets _ wiping it off entirely. graffiti and street art, it gets hit _ wiping it off entirely. graffiti and street art, it gets hit by - wiping it off entirely. graffiti and street art, it gets hit by the - street art, it gets hit by the weather, it gets hit by people with their own paint, and there is a limited supply of ores you can draw on. but it is a real shame when somebody as talented as banksy gets their work ruined by somebody who, i think it is fair to say, it�*s not quite as accomplished an artist. additions by others are within the rules of engagement of street art. look closely, the white paint isn�*t the only one here. spare a thought for a shop owner in orkney who has been getting ready for easter. he reckoned he needed 80

for easter. he reckoned he needed 80 for his customers and order them online. let�*sjust say for his customers and order them online. let�*s just say he discovered the perils of online ordering. dan�*s shop serves a tiny community on the island of sanday. he was ordering chocolate eggs for easter, but he got eggs—tra by mistake. i got online, ordered 80 easter eggs, or so i thought. but in reality i�*d ordered 80 cases of easter eggs. these kind of boxes and boxes and boxes of eggs were coming off the lorry. there are 60 pupils at the only school on the island. with 720 chocolate eggs, that�*s 12 each. probably too many. so dan hatched a plan. i went straight on the ordering system ready to make a complaint, "can you come and get all of these eggs?" before it became clear that, actually, it was my mistake, and 100% my error. dan�*s customers have been cracking jokes about the situation. yeah, a lot ofjokes, a lot ofjokes, a lot of fun about it, a lot of people coming in and asking if we�*ve got any easter eggs. dan couldn�*t return the egg—cess,

so scrambling for a solution, he decided to raffle 100 of them for one lucky winner for charity. being a small island surrounded by sea, the rlni is obviously very close to her heart. many instances over the years where the rnli have come to the rescue of people here, and itjust seemed kind of right and natural that we would try and benefit the rnli for my silly mistake. the charity says it�*s extremely grateful, so the shop has been able to see the sunny side. katrina renton, bbc news. what a lot of chocolate. time for a look at the weather, here�*s stav danaos. it was a mild day, certain for the time of year, temperatures above normal. even where it was raining on the north of eglin and the midlands. where we had the sunshine, it pushed temperatures up to 18.8 celsius, 19 celsius, the warmest day of the year so far in england. there was more to

come as we head through tomorrow, but maybe not quite as warm as that. any rain through northern and eastern england were clear overnight. many places dry. clear spells, turning wet and windy across scotland and northern ireland. temperatures here recovering by the end of the night. a chilly night for part of ireland and wales. a largely fine day for england and wales. look at that, quite a blow affecting the northern part of the uk through tomorrow, bringing wet and windy weather. 50 or 60 mph in exposure across northern and western scotland. the rain coming and going, a bit of brightness year. england and wales, a bit of cloud around. there will be sunshine and light wind. temperatures up to the mid—teens for many, to 7018 celsius, depending on how much sunshine there is. friday, a cold front sinking southwards, bringing cloud and rain behind it. behind it, the rain will turn much cooler and it will be a blustery day, with blustery showers. turn increasingly wintry on hills across scotland. temperatures coming down and feeling

a little bit cooler for england and