this is bbc news. the headlines at 11pm: millions face higher electricity bills after british gas announces a 12.5% price hike. they seem to overcharge, the bills go they seem to overcharge, the bills 9° up they seem to overcharge, the bills go up when the prices go up and then they don't go down when the prices go down. i'm not sure where british gas are coming from but the only other option you got an suppose is choose another supplier. at least 60 people have died this year after overdosing on the painkiller fentanyl, dozens more deaths are being investigated. moped menace. police reveal new tactics to tackle the two—wheeled crime wave that's hitting the capital. on newsnight, as the crackdown in venezuela intensifies, we hearfrom an opposition senator in caracas. what does this sound and fury over brexit signified? —— signify.

good evening and welcome to bbc news. more than three million british gas customers are facing a big rise in their electricity bills. from september the company will charge 12.5% more for electricity. it means a typical household on a dualfuel tariff will see its annual bill go up by £67. british gas says it's putting up prices for the first time in nearly four years because its own costs have risen. but the government and consumer groups have condemned the move. here's our business editor, simonjack. electricity, a basic need, a simple product. it's the same wherever, or whomever, you buy from. if you buy it from british gas, it will be 12.5% more expensive from september as the uk's largest supplier hiked prices for the first

time in four years. given wholesale costs have come down over that period, why raise prices now? we do agree that, over the last few years, since we dropped electricity prices the last time, wholesale costs have indeed fallen by about £36 on a typical bill but we've seen these other factors of transmission and distribution costs, and energy policy costs, go up by nearly £100. that's the main driver. electricity may be a simple commodity but the factors that influence its price are complicated. 22% of the bill is made up of the compa ny‘s operational expenses. there's also 5% vat in there. the wholesale price makes up 36% of the bill. that's the price at which the energy suppliers buy the energy they then sell onto us. british gas concedes that this has actually fallen since the beginning of the year. then there's the cost of delivering the electricity to our homes. that makes up 29% of the cost.

british gas says rising costs here is one reason responsible for today's hike. figures from ofgem shows these costs fell over the last year. the other one is government policy. that makes up 13%. that includes increased use of renewable energy, and promoting energy—saving measures like insulation. british gas says they are going up. ofgem says, yes, they are, but only by 2%. no wonder some consumers are confused. they make them as complicated as they can and people don't understand them. the bills aren't very clear, i don't think. i'm not sure where british gas is coming from but i guess the other option you've got is choose a different supplier. the fact the wholesale prices have stayed the same, or going down, as far as i'm aware, the fact they're putting them up, for the consumer, is pretty disgusting. british gas froze prices when others raised them earlier this year, so it's catching up with the rest of the pack. consumer groups say

it is the government's responsibility to take industrywide action. the government needs to urgently look at what it does for those customers who are paying over the odds. there has been so much discussion about the energy market and that it doesn't work for consumers. the discussion needs to end we need to see some action. according to the opposition, that action should include a cap on energy prices. we've said from the labour party we'd introduce a price cut initially, but also we would develop alternative energy supplies so that this cartel we have now can't control pricing levels, and hold us over a barrel ever again in the future. i think they're exploiting their customers. policies like capping energy prices to support working families. the conservatives had a cap in their manifesto. it was dropped from the queen's speech, and now the government wants ofgem to find ways to keep the bills down. once again, energy is a hot political issue. simon jack, bbc news. we're just getting some breaking

news connected with venezuela and the troubles and protests there. the foreign office is updating us saying the british embassy in caracas are withdrawing diplomatic staff and dependents as a precautionary and temporary measure. that is obviously about concerns for safety following on from the protests there have been after an attempt by president maduro to create a new constitutional assembly. that has been met with much violence, deaths on the streets, so clearly the foreign office deciding that in the british embassy in caracas they are going to withdraw diplomatic staff and their dependents. they say it is a precautionary and temporary measure. the national crime agency says that 60 people have died in the uk in the past eight months after taking the painkilling drug fe nta nyl. it's 50 times more potent than heroin and is the drug that was linked to the death of the rock star, prince.

now dozens more deaths are being investigated. the painkiller is usually given to cancer patients, but it's increasingly being added to heroin and other class a drugs asjune kelly reports the rock legend prince died suddenly last year at the age of 57. fans gathered near his home in minnesota where his body was found. # purple rain... 12 months on, medical examiners concluded his death was due to an accidental overdose of fenta nyl. now the drug that killed this showbiz a—lister is responsible for an increasing number of deaths in the uk. fentanyl is a painkiller used to treat cancer patients. it's 50 times stronger than heroin. it's been linked to the deaths of 60 people in the uk and there's an even more powerful substance which can be up to 10,000 times stronger than street heroin.

we talk about people playing russian roulette with these type of drugs. it is an extremely dangerous game now with the fentanyl addition to be heroin. sean, who does not want his face shown, lost his sister to a suspected fentanyl overdose. she had bought some. she knew what she bought as it was from the dealer. they found her two days later on the toilet dead. in most of the deaths, fentanyl had been mixed with heroin for a biggerfix. they are that far gone on heroin and the other drugs and the lifestyle they lead, nothing matters to them. all they are bothered about is that relief, getting out of their head and getting away from the world for an hour or two. fentanyl is so lethal that this is how police were kitted up

when they raided a suspect‘s house. officers had to be protected against breathing it in. so why is it coming onto british streets? we believe this is partly down to the ongoing need for dealers to be trying to compete with each other and sometimes introducing drugs into the marketplace they believe might give them a competitive edge and might enhance their profits. fentanyl is what is known as the synthetic opioid. most of the uk deaths have been in yorkshire and the north—east of england. police are highlighting the dangers but, have addicts got the strength to heed the message? june kelly, bbc news. police in london are having to adopt new tactics to deal with an upsurge in moped crime. criminals on two wheels have been riding round the city targeting people with mobile phones or bags. police say the number of incidents has tripled in the last year. our special correspondent lucy manning has been

examining the growing threat from moped gangs. last night near harrods the police and fire brigade rushed to a moped gang attack. liquid, possibly acid, thrown at the victim as they tried to steal his watch. a few months ago in east london and a motorcyclist is surrounded by four mopeds. a fire extinguisher let off in his face. in london it is increasingly the crime of choice for teenage offenders. police telling the bbc the average age of moped gangs is 15. with somejust 13. please send me the location of where he is... delivery driverjabed hussain was attacked three weeks ago on his moped when acid was thrown at him as they stole his bike. he's now part of a social media group with hundreds of moped drivers warning if a gang is spotted. another alert comes in. just turning left to go towards my next job. two guys on one bike. just be careful. how often are people posting that they are seeing these mopeds around ?

today, so many. police do not stop or chase them. this is why they're getting away with it. we go with jabed to meet other delivery drivers, some have stopped working after 10pm at night, so scared of the moped gangs. where are you seeing the mopeds? everywhere, everywhere around and police do not care. it's not men, it's kids. 14, 16. your life is in danger. some of them will come when we are just stopped at traffic lights. someone could attack from behind. as we talk, a bike cuts across the pavement, the driver and passenger with their faces covered. don't film me!

the delivery drivers say this is one of the moped gangs, they threaten our team. later we check the number plate, the bike isn't taxed or insured and has changed colour. police believe the characteristics of a stolen bike. in the last year there were 16,000 moped related crimes in london. three times as many as the previous year. but the bbc has been told police are testing a new way of catching the attackers. spraying them with liquid that can later be traced. we're looking at a spray that delivers a unique dna piece which sprays on them and can be tracked back to them later on. if equipment or clothing or the bike is uvd. and is this spray on them as they are taking off? potentially, yes. it's being tested under home office guidelines. police insist they often give chase. there is a misconception that there is less pursuit and people do not pursue because they think they might get into trouble.

that is not true, in fact our number of pursuits has increased over the last 18 months. you do not pursue every moped gang when a call comes in? some do get away? that is true but the reality is by the time we get the call for most of these offences, that moped has already gone. online it's also brazen. bristolbiketa ker, with pictures of mopeds, masked riders and bolt cutters. avon and somerset police, who are investigating, say the account is used to taunt the owners of stolen bikes. others appear to offer keys for sale to unlock mopeds. and teenagers post videos of themselves driving recklessly, breaking traffic laws. this is believed to be riders filming themselves being chased by the police. and police video shows phone thieves fleeing up the wrong side of the m11. the bbc has been told mopeds gangs are now coming into london from kent, sussex, surrey and buckinghamshire. police believe this growing problem in the capital will spread across the country. lucy manning, bbc news. a great day at the white house,

that was donald trump's assessment last night after his new director of communications, anthony scaramucci, was sacked even before he'd formally taken up the post. but the president's take on events seemed not for the first time at odds with many observers of his us administration, as our north america editor jon sopel reports. it's being billed as the last supper. anthony scaramucci last night having dinner at, where else, the restaurant in the trump hotel just hours after he'd been unceremoniously dumped. at roughly the same time came this extraordinary tweet from donald trump. what? are you kidding? well, no, he wasn't. the swearing in of generaljohn kelly as chief of staff being seen as a new beginning for this administration. he will do a spectacularjob, i have no doubt, as chief of staff. so could this mark the end

of what's been a turbulent, dysfunctional six months for all the president's men? the former national security adviser was the first to go. fired afterjust 2a days in the job, after he lied about his contacts with the russian ambassador. three months after being fired, trump's first communications director, the rather anonymous mike dubke, handed in his resignation. he cited personal reasons. then came the super sacking. the high profile and brutal dismissal of the former fbi director, james comey. infuriating the president with his investigation into links between the russians and the trump campaign. 11 days ago, it was the turn of beleaguered press secretary sean spicer. he walked, furious that president trump had hired anthony scaramucci as communications director. the departure of reince priebus came as little surprise after he was subject to a vicious verbal attack by incoming communications director scaramucci.

but what goes around comes around. afterjust ten days into the job, mooch was front stabbed by the incoming chief of staff. the profound hope among those close to president trump is that with general kelly in charge, there'll be a fundamental change in the way this place operates. organised, disciplined, united. but we've seen this movie before. a change in personnel leading to high expectations, followed by a swift return to normal. time will tell. in the meantime, the late night comedians are making hay. the president has been very busy repealing and replacing his staff, most notably anthony scaramucci, the mooch. the mooch lasted as communications director for only ten days.