we ll be taking your questions on the war in ukraine, this friday at 11:30. we ll have guests able to answer a range of aspects of the war from how it is being fought, how it is being reported, and how it may end to the human consequences. you can get in touch on twitter using the hashtag bbc your questions and you can email us on yourquestions@bbc.co.uk p&0 ferries has said 800 staff they made redundant will be offered £36.5 million compensation in total with around a0 people getting more than £100 each. the firm has also denied that it broke the law when it sacked the workers without warning last week. however, unions said the compensation package being offered was pure blackmail and threats . let s turn to covid now because today marks two years since the prime minister announced the uk s first official lockdown, telling the country: you must stay at home . since then, nearly 164,000 people have died with covid 19. a memorial concert is being held
will deliver the spring statement and we will get some of those answers. we will leave their spring statement therefore a bit and head to ukraine now. ukraine s president vlodimir zelensky says there is nothing left of the port city of mariupol as it remains under constant russian bombardment. in his nightly address, he said 100,000 civilians remain there with no food, water or medicine. judith moritz reports. the road out of mariupol is the road out of hell. it s a desperate journey, but car after car has run this gauntlet, fleeing a city where there s almost nothing left. and what can life possibly feel like for those still there? the russians have razed this place to the ground. thousands are still trapped, trying to survive in impossible circumstances. translation: as of today, - there are about 100,000 people in this city, in inhuman conditions, completely blockaded,
countryside with a touch of frost. tomorrow mist and fog will lift rapidly. lots of sunshine. still more cloudy especially western scotland and west of northern ireland with the odd shower. temperatures 9 18. again, cooler on the coasts. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: as the chancellor prepares to make his spring statement new figures show the cost of living has risen by more than 6%, the fastest increase in over 30 years. in ukraine, new aerial images emerge of the battered city of mariupol. president zelensky says more than 100,000 civilians remain there without food, water or medicine. two years on from the first coronavirus lockdown, events are held across the uk to remember lives lost, and sacrifices made, during the pandemic. and the women s world number one australia s ash barty says she s hanging up her tennis
that expectations are so incredibly high on the chancellor to put in place measures to mitigate the impact of rising bills, inflation more generally and of course that has been exacerbated by the war in ukraine more recently. ukraine more recently. jonathan, thank ou ukraine more recently. jonathan, thank you for ukraine more recently. jonathan, thank you for resisting ukraine more recently. jonathan, thank you for resisting the i ukraine more recently. jonathan, thank you for resisting the urge l ukraine more recently. jonathan, | thank you for resisting the urge to shout questions at cabinet ministers. you saved allah in your arms there. i want to pick up on that technicality you saved our eardrums. this is in an all singing and all dancing budget but it would normally be a slightly drier affair, and economic. but it shows how extreme the situation is right now. yes, and there has been pressure for some time for the chancellor and for the government to intervene. in part
this is bbc news with the latest headlines. as the chancellor prepares to make his spring statement new figures show the cost of living has risen by more than 6% the fastest increase in over 30 years. rishi sunak is under pressure to promise more help for struggling families as many face soaring energy, fuel and food costs. i used to love going to the beach but i can t even afford that in fuel now. because i have got a car to run as well. so we just do little things like this now. sometimes we ll even get a bus now, won t we, instead? in ukraine, new aerial images emerge of the battered city of mariupol. president zelensky says more than 100,000 civilians remain there without food, water or medicine. two years on from the first coronavirus lockdown,