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Inflation has eased slightly to 10.1% from 10.5% the previous month as fuel price rises slowed.

Decreased transport costs were one of the main drivers of the lower inflation rate, along with restaurants and hotels, as prices dropped in cafés and restaurants from the December Christmas period to January.

Cost of living – latest: Semi-skimmed milk and children’s jeans – the details behind inflation

The rate eased in January from December in the latest sign that the UK might have seen the worst of inflation after a 41-year high of 11.1% was recorded in October.

Spending calculator: See which prices have gone up or down

The reduction is bigger than economists polled by the Reuters news agency had expected but is in line with a forecast by the Bank of England’s money policy committee earlier this month.

Inflation – the rate at which prices rise – had remained high as food prices continued to increase faster than the regular rate of inflation. Food inflation hit 16.8% in December but the latest figures suggest that may have peaked. The rate of food inflation dipped slightly to 16.7%.

Industrial food production is dependant on energy and so is vulnerable to price rises.

Greater price rises in alcohol and tobacco partially offset the inflation suppressing effects of slower transport and hotel and restaurant price rises.

Inflation began to increase in late 2021, when supply chain problems linked to COVID-19 lockdowns and the associated worker shortages meant demand for goods could not be met.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exacerbated the problem as many countries, particularly those in Europe, scrambled to find other energy sources and reduce their use of Russian gas. This pushed up the cost of energy and many other goods as a result.

Responding to the figures, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said any decline in inflation is welcome but “the fight is far from over”.

He said: “High inflation strangles growth and causes pain for families and businesses – that’s why we must stick to the plan to halve inflation this year, reduce debt and grow the economy.”

But Labour’s shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said: “With inflation still close to a 40 year high, people will be asking if 13 years of Tory government has left them and their family feeling better off? The answer will be no.

“Despite Britain’s enormous potential, in April households will be hit by another economic blow when energy prices go up.

“Labour would be bringing in a proper windfall tax on oil and gas giants now to stop energy bills going up in April.

“Our long-term plan to sprint to clean power and insulate 19 million homes will keep bills low for the future too, and get our economy growing.”

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Director of one of last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza detained in Israeli military raid

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Director of one of last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza detained in Israeli military raid

The director of one of the last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza was arrested in a raid the Israeli military said was targeting a Hamas command centre.

The Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry said Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, was held by Israeli forces on Friday along with dozens of other staff and taken to an interrogation centre.

Sky News has spoken to patients who say they were forced outside and told to strip in winter weather after troops stormed the hospital.

Israel‘s military said it “conducted and completed a targeted operation” as the hospital was being used as a command centre for Hamas military operations.

Dr Hussam Abu Safiya
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Dr Hussam Abu Safiya. File pic

An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) statement said more than 240 terrorists were detained, some of whom tried to pose as patients or flee using ambulances.

Among those taken for questioning are the hospital’s director, who it said was suspected of being a “Hamas terrorist operative”.

Around 15 people involved in last year’s 7 October attack on southern Israel, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 250 others abducted, were also detained, the IDF said.

More on Israel-hamas War

The Israeli military said hundreds of patients and staff were evacuated to another hospital before and during the operation, and it had provided fuel and medical supplies to both hospitals.

Militants fired on its forces and they were “eliminated”, while weapons, including grenades, guns, munitions, and military equipment, were also seized in the raid, it said.

‘It was humiliation’, says injured patient

After news spread on Friday of Kamal Adwan – one of the last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza – being burnt and raided by Israeli forces, a haunting video emerged, writes Sky News correspondent Yousra Elbagir.

Half-stripped men treading over rubble through a scene of full scale destruction with their arms raised and large tanks on either side.

One of the injured patients made to take the walk was being treated in the hospital with his wife and children by his side.

In the hours after being released he shared his experience from the safety of al Ahli hospital.

“The army came the night before and started firing rockets at the hospital and surrounding buildings,” he says. He looks weak and his clothes are grey with concrete dust.

“Yesterday between 5.30 and six, the army came to the hospital and called out [with a loudspeaker] that the director of the hospital must hand over all the displaced, the sick and wounded.”

The director of Kamal Adwan hospital Dr Hussam Abu Safiya had been sharing videos online sounding the alarm on intensified Israeli attacks on the hospital in a 10-day siege before the full raid. He has been detained in the raid.

“We all started leaving then the army stopped us and told the director, ‘I want them in their underwear without any clothes on and they should leave without clothes on’,” says the patient.

“So, we went out without clothes and walked a long distance to a checkpoint. They made us sit there still without any clothes all day in the freezing cold. Once we entered the checkpoint – it was humiliation, cursing and insults in an unnatural way.”

“When they finished the search they placed a number on the back of our necks and on our chest. After we were done with the search they loaded us on to trucks – still naked without any clothes on.”

He says they waited in the trucks for four hours before they were released and that the injured, sick, the medical staff and visitors all faced the same humiliating treatment.

The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 45,400 Palestinians, over half of them women and children, and wounded more than 108,000 others, according to the health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The hospital has been hit multiple times over the past three months by Israeli troops waging an offensive in largely isolated northern Gaza against Hamas fighters it says have regrouped.

The health ministry said a strike on the hospital earlier this week killed five medical personnel.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) said it was “appalled” by Friday’s raid, which it said put northern Gaza’s last major health facility “out of service”.

“The systematic dismantling of the health system and a siege for over 80 days… puts the lives of the 75,000 Palestinians remaining in the area at risk,” a statement said.

The Israeli military said in a statement: “The IDF will continue to act in accordance with international law regarding medical facilities, including those where Hamas has chosen to embed its military infrastructure and conduct terrorist activities in blatant violation of international law.”

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Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to undergo surgery to have prostate removed

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Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to undergo surgery to have prostate removed

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will go into hospital to have his prostate removed, his office has said.

The 75-year-old was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection resulting from a benign prostate enlargement.

Mr Netanyahu is expected to go into hospital on Sunday to undergo the operation.

Earlier this year, he had surgery for a hernia and had a pacemaker fitted last year.

The announcement comes after the Israeli military raided one of the last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza, arresting its director.

Israel has been at war with Hamas for more than 14 months since the 7 October attacks in which around 1,200 people were killed and 250 others abducted.

More than 45,400 Palestinians, over half of them women and children, have been killed and more than 108,000 others wounded, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

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Narendra Modi among mourners as former Indian PM Manmohan Singh cremated after state funeral

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Narendra Modi among mourners as former Indian PM Manmohan Singh cremated after state funeral

Former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh has been cremated after a state funeral as politicians and the public mourned his death.

Widely regarded as the architect of the country’s economic reform programme, he died on Thursday aged 92.

His body was taken on Saturday morning to the headquarters of his Congress party in New Delhi, where party leaders and activists paid tribute to him and chanted: “Manmohan Singh lives forever.”

Former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh pictured in 2014. File pic: AP Photo/Anupam Nath
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Former Indian PM Manmohan Singh pictured in 2014. File pic: AP

Abhishek Bishnoi, a party leader, said Mr Singh’s death was big loss for the country.

“He used to speak little, but his talent and his actions spoke louder than his words,” he said.

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Later, Mr Singh’s body was transported to a crematorium ground for his last rites as soldiers beat drums.

Government officials, politicians and family members paid their last respects to Mr Singh, whose casket was adorned with flowers and wrapped in the Indian flag.

Indian President Draupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who called Mr Singh one of the country’s “most distinguished leaders”, attended the funeral ceremony.

Gursharan Kaur (right), wife of Mr Singh, attends his funeral. Pic: AP Photo
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Gursharan Kaur (right), wife of Mr Singh, attends his funeral. Pic: AP

Mr Singh’s body was then transferred to a pyre as religious hymns played and he was cremated.

Authorities have declared a seven-day mourning period and cancelled all cultural and entertainment events during that time.

Mr Singh was prime minister for 10 years and leader of the Congress party in parliament’s upper house.

He was chosen to be prime minister in 2004 by Sonia Gandhi, the widow of assassinated former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Mr Singh was re-elected in 2009, but his second term was clouded by financial scandals.

This led to the Congress party’s crushing defeat in the 2014 national elections by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

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