nicola bulley hasn't been seen since walking her dog last friday morning — her partner says he can't get his head around her disappearance. right now, it is as though she has vanished into thin air. like, yeah, just insane. we'll have the latest live from lancashire. also this lunchtime: a man who went to windsor castle armed with a crossbow and told a protection officer, "i am here to kill the queen" has pleaded guilty to a charge under the treason act. the public inquiry into

the contaminated blood scandal of the 19705 and �*80s is hearing its final evidence. 30,000 people are thought to have been infected with hiv or hepatitis c. it's this life that i was living perfectly happily and then it went, everything went. it was cataclysmic. energy companies are asked by the regulator to suspend the forced installation of prepayment meters in households that are behind with their bills. the us believes this is a chinese surveillance balloon — it's been spotted over several american states. beijing has appealed for calm following the sightings. and, trying to make football greener... how teams and fans will get together this weekend, to try to reduce the carbon footprint of the game. and coming up on the bbc news channel: can britain's davis cup team overcome the altitude in bogota, and special balls, to beat colombia this weekend?

good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at 0ne. the partner of a woman who's now been missing in lancashire for a week, says he's focusing on staying as strong as he can for their two daughters. nicola bulley, who's a5, hasn't been seen since last friday morning, as she walked the family dog along a river bank in st michael's on wyre. her partner paul ansell says it's as though she's vanished into thin air. a major search has so far found no trace of her. 0ur north of england correspondent, danny savage, has the latest from the village.

exactly a week on from when nicola bulley vanished, her friends staged a roadside appeal this morning — hoping to jog the memory of anyone who was passing last friday. this is nikki in happier times with her pet spaniel, willow. the dog was found close to where she was last seen alive by the river wyre. it's been an agonising week for her partner paul and their two young daughters. my whole focus is my two girls, just staying as strong as i can for them. i'm scared that if i put any focus into anything else it's going to take my, you know, focus off of that. i just can't believe that we're a week on and, as yet, it seems like we're no further on. itjust seems... itjust seems absolutely impossible. right now, it is as though she has vanished into thin air. like, yeah, just insane.

the police were back today, preparing to search the river once again. they are still focused on the theory that nicola bulley somehow ended up in the water. how or why is a mystery. friends, who have been so key at raising the profile of the missing as—year—old, are feeling the strain. nikki is the most beautiful person, you have seen the pictures of her, so she's beautiful on the outside but she's also the kindest soul on the inside. she's thoughtful, she's caring, and then you add to her and paul together, add a bit of magic and they've created these two beautiful humans who are just wanting to know where their mummy is. apart from an abandoned mobile phone and a dog harness, no trace of nicola bulley has been found. the appeals, the search, the hope goes on. just to give you some idea of the lie of the land here, this is the river wyre flowing from left to right as you look at it in the

picture. it meanders around to the right here and comes out at the other side of the trees. you can see the police van with the underwater search teams on the bench when nicola was last seen is about a hundred meters from here at the moment. it is not an easy stretch of water to search. it is deep and murky and has to be searched by touch, if you like, by divers who are in the water. a week on, still no trace of her and the longer it goes on, with still no trace and no explanation as to how she may have ended up in the water and had not got out, just leads more and more people to question what actually did happen and whether that is what happened. there are so many unanswered questions for this community, herfriends, and, of course, herfamily. danny savage, thank you. a man who was caught on the grounds of windsor castle with a loaded crossbow has pleaded guilty to treason. jaswant singh chail was arrested on christmas day in 2021, after telling a royal protection officer that he was

there to kill the queen. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford is at the old bailey. daniel. jaswant singh chail appeared b video daniel. jaswant singh chail appeared by video link — daniel. jaswant singh chail appeared by video link at _ daniel. jaswant singh chail appeared by video link at the _ daniel. jaswant singh chail appeared by video link at the old _ daniel. jaswant singh chail appeared by video link at the old bailey - daniel. jaswant singh chail appeared by video link at the old bailey from | by video link at the old bailey from the high secure broadmoor hospital. he pleaded guilty to three charges. the first was under the 1842 treason act. the offence is intending to injure the queen, the second was possessing an offensive weapon and the third making intent to kill. he was stopped on the grounds of windsor castle carrying a loaded crossbow at 8.10 on christmas day 2021. when challenged by an armed officer, he said, "i am here to kill the queen". in a video he recorded four days earlier and posted on snapchat, he said it was to do with wanting to avenge a massacre in india in 1919. he said, iam wanting to avenge a massacre in india in 1919. he said, i am sorry for what i have done and what i will do, i will attempt to assassinate

elizabeth, queen of the royal family. this is a revenge that those who died in the 1990 massacre. he was also carried a note which said, please don't remove my clothes, shoes and gloves, don't want postmortem or embalming. thank you and i'm sorry. he will be sentenced on the 31st of march and the judge has asked for reports from two psychiatrists. daniel sandford, thank you. the long—running public inquiry into the contaminated blood scandal of the 19705 and �*80s will hear closing statements today. it's now believed that about 30,000 people were infected with hiv or hepatitis c after receiving blood transfusions, or taking a drug imported from the us to control haemophilia. the inquiry has taken evidence from 370 witnesses — and its recommendations are expected later this year. here's our health reporter, jim reed. nobody in the threackall household ever dreamt they could _ be affected by aids. in 1991, the bbc broadcast this

landmark documentary about the aids crisis. i had a blood test which the hospital confirmed was hiv. bob threackall was infected after being given contaminated drugs for the blood disorder haemophilia. you know, you see things on television — it's so far removed from everything you know, you don't even consider that you could be part of anything like that, but you can. now a retired teacher, sue has spent decades trying to find out what happened and what was known about the risks. 0ver that time, we have battled mps, various parliamentarians, civil servants, the medical profession, the pharmaceutical company. i mean, itjust goes on and on and on. bob died just months after that programme was filmed. so, that would have been about �*87, �*88? yeah, about �*87. he was one of thousands infected with hiv or hepatitis after taking drugs imported from abroad, or being given a transfusion.

it's just sad, isn't it, because it's this life that i was living perfectly happily, and then it went — everything went. long—running protests eventually lead to a government apology and the launch of a full public inquiry. i would like to say sorry on behalf of the government for something that should not have happened. since 2018... i swear by almighty god... ..prime ministers and health secretaries have all been questioned under oath. it became more and more real and more and more scary. and those directly affected, including sue, have been given the chance to have their say. we're fed up with hearing people say how sorry they are. this afternoon will see the final closing statements, with a full report expected in the summer. i would like the truth out there. i'd like to know that proper measures are put in place to make sure that this can't happen again.

it was cataclysmic, you know, and itjust ripped families apart, including mine. late last year, the first compensation payments were made to some of those affected. after 40 years, though, many families are still hoping for answers, as this long—running public inquiry draws to a close. jim reed, bbc news. the convicted paedophile gary glitter has been released from prison after serving half his 16 year sentence. the 79—year—old, who was once one of the uk's biggest pop stars, was jailed in 2015 for sexually abusing three schoolgirls. at the time, the judge said it was clear his victims "were all profoundly affected" by the abuse. the energy regulator 0fgem has called on companies to suspend the forced installation of pre—payment meters for customers who are in arrears with their bills, and the association representing the firms has said the meters should never be put into

vulnerable households. it comes after an undercover investigation by the times saw debt agents breaking into homes to fit meters. here's our business correspondent, emma simpson. the undercover story of debt collectors breaking into the home of a single father with young kids to fit a prepayment meter. 0fgem has now asked all energy suppliers to hit the pause button on forced installations. but one former boss says the regulator should have acted sooner. it's been brewing for quite a while and i think that anybody in the industry will have seen quite a large increase in the number of prepayment meters that have been installed, and i think that should have set off alert signals at 0fgem, and 0fgem should have required that the companies were making the due processes and the right checks to make sure the customers who were vulnerable were not having prepayment meters forced on them.

we had a text from a mum who said this had happened to her daughterjust the day before... and she then told them how she found out. i she's been in hospital for threel weeks and i went up to her house i last night, just to check on herl mail and to make sure her house was ok, and i thought. somebody had broken in. if she comes home and feels that somebody can get into her housej without her permission _ when her door's locked, you know, next time she's in a psychosis, she's going to be _ thinking about that i and that's going to be detrimental to her health. the company involved is looking into her case. it stays in there, it stays on the machine. prepayment meters are more expensive than direct debits. you have to pay up front too. customers should only be forced onto them as a last resort. but the surge in energy costs mean many more people are falling behind with their bills. citizens advice says more than 3 million people across great britain ran out of credit last year because they couldn't afford

to top up their metre. and more than 2 million are being disconnected at least once a month. the whole system needs to be rewired so the regulation of the energy market starts with the principle that the greatest protection is in place for the most vulnerable households. we're1 million miles from that, so good the temporary injunction on forced installations. but we need a whole root and branch review of prepayment so it works for householders — notjust for suppliers concerned about bad debt. the regulator is already looking into the use of prepayment meters. it's also now telling all suppliers to get their house in order to protect their most vulnerable customers. emma simpson, bbc news. the us and canada are tracking the progress of what's believed to be a chinese surveillance balloon. a pentagon official said the balloon entered us airspace two days ago — it's been spotted over the states

of alaska and montana. military officials say they considered shooting it down, but didn't because of concerns about falling debris. in montana, it's believed the balloon flew over a number of sensitive sites, including a nuclear missile field at the malmstrom air base next the city of west falls. people in the state have spotted the object in the sky. i was looking out the window, like i normally do, and ijust happened to spot it out of the corner of my eye. at first, i thought it was a star, but i thought that was kind of crazy because it was broad daylight and when i looked at it, it was just too big to be a star. that was what one man saw. let's head to washington, dc and joined gary 0'donoghue. what more is the us saying, gary? the pentagon is saying this balloon has been around for a few days now.

they have obviously had to acknowledge its existence because of people frankly being able to see it from the ground. they say it is of no danger to aircraft or indeed to people on the ground and they also say, and perhaps they would say this, that it is of limited value, in terms of gathering intelligence. there are more efficient ways like satellites. nevertheless, they have protested to the chinese here in washington and have done the same in beijing. the chinese have not acknowledged it is their balloon at this stage. they say they are still investigating it. but it does come at an extraordinary moment really, when you think that the secretary of state antony blinken is on his way to china. he is meant to be meeting with the chinese president and the americans have announced the use of these new bases in the philippines. so tensions... it could not be a more sensitive moment. so if this was deliberate, it was an extraordinary way of raising the temperature at a moment when things are already pretty fraught. gary.

are already pretty fraught. gary, thank yon _ are already pretty fraught. gary, thank yon gary _ are already pretty fraught. gary, thank you. gary o'donoghue. . are already pretty fraught. gary, | thank you. gary o'donoghue. the are already pretty fraught. gary, thank you. gary o'donoghue. the time thank you. gary 0'donoghue. the time is edging up to 1.16. our top story this lunchtime. the partner of a woman who went missing while walking her dog in lancashire says it seems as if she's vanished into thin air. also coming up, how this very hungry six—year—old managed to run up a takeaway bill of over £800. coming up on the bbc news channel: all eyes will be on chelsea tonight as they hope to play the record signing enzo fernando is for the first time. they take on fulham who are above chelsea in the premier league. for nearly four months, russia has been systematically targeting ukraine's energy infrastructure — the country's power stations and distribution network. throughout that period, ukraine's state and private energy companies have been working around the clock to repair the damage

and keep electricity flowing during the tough winter months. and they seem to be succeeding. the bbc�*s paul adams has been granted rare access to the network and the teams involved. ukraine's energy war... ..a constant battle for heat and light. a race to keep up with russian attacks. siren blares. for a week, we follow the teams fighting this war. what the missiles destroy, they rebuild... ..in places where people are living on the edge. for months, russian missiles and drones have rained down on ukraine's civilian infrastructure, causing untold damage all across this vast country. artillery explosion. so what happened here? this power plant in central ukraine

has been hit repeatedly. it's a huge place, but this is what well—aimed russian missiles have done to its transformers — vital links to the world outside. for security reasons, we've been asked not to identify the plant or its manager. these. these, these. everywhere across here. translation: every time | the equipment is damaged, it gets all of us right here in our soul — because it's our life, it's our second family. millions of people depend on this coal—fired power station, built in the soviet era. fantastic machine. its great turbines churning away at the heart of ukraine's sprawling power grid. but the staff here know they're in russia's sights. siren blares. so there's the siren. we had been expecting it this morning.

we have to get out of the turbine hall and head straight for the shelter. on days like these, hours are spent underground. anxious moments as news comes in of a fresh wave of attacks. their colleagues at a power station in the west have taken a direct hit. they know this could have been them. and closer to home, word is spreading of something much worse. across town, a tragedy is unfolding. a missile — almost certainly aimed at the power station — has struck an apartment building instead. the rescue effort is frantic. 46 people have died here. we travel south towards communities under fire. ukraine's army of engineers racing from one repairjob to the next. "this happens all the time",

vladimir tells me. "we're on our way to a village shelled just last night." in the village, the sound of artillery has the mayor ducking for cover. how long do you think you can carry on living here in this situation? translation: those who wanted to leave left already. _ those who can't leave, stay. as long as we have even a bit of electricity and water, we'll carry on living. russia thought it would break ukraine, but this energy war isn't working. half the grid may be in tatters, but in helmets and body armour, these men are keeping it alive. paul adams, bbc news, eastern ukraine. senior european union officials are holding talks with president zelensky in kyiv today. ursula von der leyen — president of the european comission — will lead discussions. the bloc is expected to promise more

sanctions against russia — though officials from multiple countries are warning that ukraine's hopes of a fast track to eu membership are likely to be rebuffed. the australian tennis player nick kyrgios has pleaded guilty to assaulting his then girlfriend in 2021. a court in canberra heard that kyrgios pushed chiara passari to the ground during an argument. he avoided a criminal conviction because the magistrate said the offence was a "single act of stupidity", and not premeditated. the world number 20 said he was sincerely sorry. rail passengers face severe disruption again today because of another strike by train drivers belonging to the aslef and the rmt unions. many services across england and into scotland and wales will have no trains all day, and it's likely that tomorrow morning's services on some lines will also be affected. passengers affected by the strikes can apply for refunds.

the gmb union in wales has postponed their strike action involving nhs workers on monday. in order to consider an improved pay offerfrom the welsh government. although full details of the offer haven't been disclosed, the bbc understands that a one—off pay deal as well as an improved consolidated pay rise has been put forward. about a quarter of the ambulance service in wales, including paramedics, koroma staff and ambulance technicians are represented by the gmb union. bill gates, the billionaire co—founder of microsoft, says he'd rather pay for vaccines than travel to mars — which he doesn't think is a good use of money. bill gates has donated tens of billions of pounds to global health causes, including fighting malaria and tackling climate change. he's been talking to the bbc�*s amol rajan. i decided that the death of children, when i read that diarrhoea

was killing 500,000 children and that the vaccine to stop those deaths was being given to the rich kids but not to the poor kids, i said, "wow, now i know the area of inequity most of my money will go on." well, and you can watch that interview in full tonight: that's amol rajan interviews: bill gates at 7.30pm on bbc two. it will also be on iplayer and as a podcast on bbc sounds. when we think of eurovision, we may well think of bucks fizz, abba, or sam ryder. you probably don't think of the sex pistols. but this year, john lydon, best known as the frontman — johnny rotten — of the 19705 british punk band — i5 bidding to become ireland's entry. his song hawaii celebrates his wife, nora forster, who's living with alzheimer's disease.

the couple have been together for more than 40 years and the musician hopes his bid to compete at eurovision will bring awareness to the disease and what families go through. daniel rosney reports. # god save the queen...# when you listen to this, you probably aren't thinking of this. # snowdrops and daffodils, butterflies...# john lydon, the most famous man in punk a5johnny rotten, could join the likes of dana by representing ireland at eurovision, with his band public image ltd. he told me why. i have to do this. i have to bring awareness to this problem. i miss her like mad. and yet i'm in the middle of this competition. so it's, like, win—lose are both the same things for me at the same time. the song is personal — it's a love letter to hawaii, a special place for the couple. # falling in our hearts...#

one of the joys of doing this programme is i'll be able to show the words on the bottom and she can read them because she's fluent reading, right, loves to read still. and that will make it all the more poignant for us. and that's what this is all about. it's actually a very beautiful reason that he's here. he loves his wife. he wants her to be recognised. he wants her her disease to be spoken about and he wants her disease to be spoken about and hopefully eventually cured. whatever happens, the prize forjohn will be flying home to la and showing nora his performance. when i get back, i'll bring the tapes. that's what we do — we'll sit down and have a family day out of it and watch it all together. she can read the words. yeah. johnny! daniel rosney, bbc news.

now we turn to sport but in the sense that the carbon footprint of football is huge. the game has a new plan to tackle it. tomorrow the first ever green football weekend will spotlight climate change at fixtures acro55 will spotlight climate change at fixtures across the country. pub5, player5 fixtures across the country. pub5, players and fans will all take part. nesta mcgregor explains. port vale might play their actual football in england's third tier but they are top—five in the uk when it comes to trying to save the planet. as part of green football weekend players like funso 0jo and fans can collect points for the club by scoring green goal5 for things like ditching single—use pla5tic5, swapping the bus for a bike, or beef for broccoli. the midfielder has completed more than 260 activities this season, which organisers say could equate to half a tonne'5 saving of carbon emissions.

i go on walks, i see plastic and pick it up. if i can bring a change to five young kids it's going to make a change in the world and there's hundreds, thousands of footballers so if we all do our bit and get some more awareness and education out there we can do something. this weekend teams across the footballing pyramids, including manchester united, liverpool and tottenham are making the issue of climate change part of their match day agenda, as will championship leaders burnley. sunday league games are affected all the time by pitches being flooded, people get trains cancelled because of the heat. the players talk about what they do as individuals, or as the full team, it can only serve as a positive to make people think. football has come and continues to use its reach to effect social change, tackling racism, homophobia and now climate change, which could be its biggest challenge yet. football at the moment - is an unsustainable practice. looking at the fixture schedule would be a good start. - you know, we are seeing games every three days. | it's incredibly intensive and that|

obviously means that clubs have to rely on more carbon intensive| forms of transport like air travel. turning down your heating and wearing more in the layer up challenge is another way fans can get involved in the green football weekend. 0rganisers say we all have a part to play — a green goal might score points for your team, but it's a win for everyone. nesta mcgregor, bbc news. experts say it's one of most important ancient sites in britain — and yet it's almost completely unknown to the general public. the thornborough henges near ripon in yorkshire — will be opened to visitors. the site is made up of three giant circles which date back to between 3500 and 2500 bc. historic england said archaeological finds in this area suggested the henges were probably built as ceremonial or ritual centres and may also have served as trading centres as well. now here's a cautionary tale about letting children play with your phone.

a six—ear—old in michigan in the us has managed to order more than £800 worth of takeaway food from his dad's mobile. mason stonehouse fancied a snack while playing — multiple orders later, and the stonehouse family was inundated with pizza, sandwiches and so much more. karen morrison explains. this is a six—year—old with a very big appetite for spending. i gave him my phone to play and i wasn't paying attention, i was watching my show. mason stonehouse spent more than £800 within minutes using a delivery app on his dad's phone. he made multiple orders from several food outlets. pizzas and rice and chilli cheese fries. i looked out the window and he popped up and said, "who's here? who's here?" and cars were coming in the driveway while cars were leaving the driveway. i looked down at my phone and it said chase fraud alert, $439 for pizzas. and then he tipped 25% on every single order. but mason's actions had consequences. his parents raided his piggy bank

to repay some of the money. they took my money. how much money did you have in your piggy bank? _ 115. and how much do you have now? 0ne dol—... uh, 1 cent. this is my lesson, you know, first and foremost, and hopefully parents out there see and learn from this. the main takeaway, think twice about who you give your phone to. karen morrison, bbc news. and also, a 30—year—old portuguese dog has been named as the world's oldest ever. bobi is a pure—bred rafeiro do alentejo — a breed that has an average life expectancy of 12 to 14 years.

but his owners say the secret to his 20 long years is the "calm,