today at 1:00pm, more big profits for energy firms — this time, centrica, owners of british gas, tripling revenues last year. their earnings were £35 billion, compared to less than a billion the year before. british gas has been heavily criticised over the use of pre—payment meters for vulnerable customers. we'll have the latest. also on the programme... after her surprise resignation, the snp meets to draw up a timetable to find nicola sturgeon�*s successor. belarus leader alexander lukashenko says he'll allow russian troops to attack ukraine again from his territory. hope amid the despair. 11 days on, a teenage girl is rescued after the turkey—syria earthquakes. and, the research that says antarctic glaciers are more sensitive to sea temperature changes

than previously thought. and coming up on the bbc news channel, two late james anderson wickets put england in a strong position after day one of the opening test against new zealand. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. the energy company centrica, which owns british gas, has seen its profits more than triple for last year because of rising oil and gas prices. the earnings were £3.3 billion, compared to £948 million from the year before. british gas was recently criticised for using debt agents to force—fit pre—payment meters into the homes of vulnerable customers. here's our business

correspondent, theo leggett. net zero means hydrogen and solar... centrica says it is focused on clean energies of the future, but right now it's making bumper profits because of high oil and gas prices. they soared last year after the invasion of ukraine and the company, which owns british gas, is reaping huge benefits. last year it made £3.73 huge benefits. last year it made £3.3 billion, that's more than three times its profit from 2021. it also paid £1 billion in tax. like other energy companies it has come under fire for making big profits at a time when many consumers are struggling to pay their bills, and that's despite the government's decision to extend the energy profits levy, a special tax on energy businesses that was expanded last month. i energy businesses that was expanded last month. ., �* ~ u, last month. i don't think centrica is profiteering. _

last month. i don't think centrica is profiteering. this _ last month. i don't think centrica is profiteering. this has - last month. i don't think centrica is profiteering. this has to - last month. i don't think centrica is profiteering. this has to be - is profiteering. this has to be remembered that particularly with upstream gas and oil extraction it's a very difficult and challenge activity which is already pretty highly taxed in this country. british gas, which supplies energy to households and businesses, accounts for only a fraction of centrica's profits. the parent company isn't allowed to sell energy more cheaply to its own operation thanit more cheaply to its own operation than it does to other suppliers. that makes it more difficult to pass on the benefits and bumper profits to british gas customers. and there is another problem. it has faced intense criticism after contractors were filmed entering the houses of vulnerable people in order to fit prepayment meters. this houses of vulnerable people in order to fit prepayment meters.— to fit prepayment meters. this is the exciting _ to fit prepayment meters. this is the exciting bit, _ to fit prepayment meters. this is the exciting bit, i— to fit prepayment meters. this is the exciting bit, i love _ to fit prepayment meters. this is the exciting bit, i love this - to fit prepayment meters. this is the exciting bit, i love this bit. i the exciting bit, i love this bit. thank you. the exciting bit, i love this bit. thank vom— the exciting bit, i love this bit. thank yon-— the exciting bit, i love this bit. thank ou. , , ., ., , thank you. emily lives in a housing association — thank you. emily lives in a housing association flat _ thank you. emily lives in a housing association flat with _ thank you. emily lives in a housing association flat with her _ thank you. emily lives in a housing association flat with her daughter. | association flat with her daughter. she allowed a contractor into smit afar into fit a smart meter. despite a

process, chief was fitted with a prepayment meter instead. 1 process, chief was fitted with a prepayment meter instead. lira; process, chief was fitted with a prepayment meter instead. i try to be olite prepayment meter instead. i try to be polite on _ prepayment meter instead. i try to be polite on the _ prepayment meter instead. i try to be polite on the phone. _ prepayment meter instead. i try to be polite on the phone. all- prepayment meter instead. i try to be polite on the phone. all they i be polite on the phone. all they said to — be polite on the phone. all they said to me — be polite on the phone. all they said to me was they wouldn't remove the prepayment meter until the debt is paid _ the prepayment meter until the debt is paid off _ the prepayment meter until the debt is paid off. i explain howl the prepayment meter until the debt is paid off. i explain how i never consented — is paid off. i explain how i never consented and there was no warrant for him _ consented and there was no warrant for him to— consented and there was no warrant for him to come out and fit it. i spent _ for him to come out and fit it. i spent how— for him to come out and fit it. i spent how my landlord doesn't actually— spent how my landlord doesn't actually allow a prepayment meter, i explained _ actually allow a prepayment meter, i explained everything to them, and they seemed to have absolutely no compassion towards me.— they seemed to have absolutely no compassion towards me. british gas has now apologised _ compassion towards me. british gas has now apologised to _ compassion towards me. british gas has now apologised to emily - compassion towards me. british gas has now apologised to emily and - has now apologised to emily and removed the metre. the regulator 0fgem has banned energy firms from forcibly installing prepayment meters until the end of next month. but the controversy has fanned the flames of discontent against the industry at a time when many customers have been struggling. customers might be thinking, centrica is making all this cash, british gas is making all this cash, they are rich, they can cut prices. the truth is that british gas is not rich, not particularly rich. what

british gas does is buy electricity and gas on wholesale markets and sell it to consumers and businesses will stop it made a profit last year but its profit was about £72 million. the profit made by centrica, the parent company, was £3.73 centrica, the parent company, was £3.3 billion and that's because the parent company makes its money from extracting mainly gas and selling it on the wholesale markets. it also made money from having a share in britain's nuclear energy as well. so why couldn't centrica four exam will give a lot of discounted gas to british gas? well, competition law means it can't do that, it has to sell at commercial rates equally to suppliers. so the reality of it is that british gas itself is in the same position as other suppliers. it doesn't make a huge amount of money when wholesale prices are high but the parent company does. the question is how those profits made by the parent company could be filtered down to help vulnerable consumers and that's where the debate over things like a hire windfall tax for example comes in.

interesting. theo leggett, thank you. the search to find a new first minister of scotland is well underway, after nicola sturgeon's surprise resignation. the scottish national party's executive committee will meet today to draw up a timetable for the leadership race. ms sturgeon, who's scotland's longest serving first minister, says she'll remain in office until a successor is found. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordon has the very latest. who will be scotland's next first minister? the country has had five since the advent of this devolved scottish parliament more than 20 years ago, but who will be the sixth after the unexpected announcement from nicola sturgeon that she is going? i think over the past couple of years there have been many moments when i thought that maybe she will go, particularly after the pandemic, or after an election where there is maybe a natural break. i expected maybe there to be more of a succession plan in place. she is leaving the door wide open. nicola sturgeon was unopposed when she took over from alex salmond,

but her successor is likely to face a competition, not a coronation. no one has yet formally declared their intention to stand. those who might throw their hat into the ring include the deputy first ministerjohn swinney, who has done thejob before, or angus robertson — the former snp westminster leader and now constitution secretary. the finance secretary kate forbes, who is currently on maternity leave, the health secretary humza yousaf, or the mpjoanna cherry, a critic of nicola sturgeon's leadership. 0ne former deputy leader of the snp is calling for this notjust to be a change of leader but style of leadership as well. someone who understands that you never again will develop the cult of personality inside the snp. that's been the undoing of alex salmond, and it's been the undoing of nicola sturgeon. the rules and timing of the competition to succeed nicola sturgeon will be decided at a meeting of the snp's

governing body this evening. and there are also questions about whether the snp party conference next month to decide the strategy for a second independence referendum should now go ahead. we were intending to plot our course going forward, not just for the snp but for the wider independence movement. in my view, that conference should be paused. we should allow a new leader the opportunity and space to set out their vision, their priorities domestically in relation to the nhs, the economy, the cost of living crisis, but also give them the space to chart their course when it comes to that pathway to independence. whoever takes over from nicola sturgeon will have an in—tray full of challenges — health, education, the gender recognition reform bill, and that constitutional issue that divides voters — whether or not scotland should be an independent country. lorna gordon, bbc news, edinburgh.

two youths have appeared at liverpool crown court charged with the murder of brianna ghey. the 16—year—old, who was a transgender girl, was found with stab wounds on saturday afternoon in warrington. today, a boy and a girl, both aged 15, appeared separately via video link, and spoke only to confirm their name and age. the belarusian leader, alexander lukashenko, says he's ready to allow russia to use his country as a staging post for a new offensive in ukraine. last year, the russian military�*s failed attempt to seize the capital kyiv was launched from belarus. here's our diplomatic correspondent, paul adams. a rare meeting with foreign journalists for the man who has ruled belarus for almost 30 years. alexander lukashenko has allowed russia to use his country to attack neighbouring ukraine. he says he'll do it again. translation: yes. neighbouring ukraine. he says he'll do it again. translation: yes, i'm

read . do it again. translation: yes, i'm ready- you — do it again. translation: yes, i'm ready- you say _ do it again. translation: yes, i'm ready. you say invasion. _ do it again. translation: yes, i'm ready. you say invasion. we - do it again. translation: yes, i'm ready. you say invasion. we have i ready. you say invasion. we have differing views on this. i'm ready to provide territory again. but when it comes to — to provide territory again. but when it comes to his _ to provide territory again. but when it comes to his own _ to provide territory again. but when it comes to his own forces - to provide territory again. but when it comes to his own forces getting l it comes to his own forces getting involved, he drew an important distinction. but involved, he drew an important distinction-— involved, he drew an important distinction. �* ., ., , ., distinction. but i'm also ready to wane war distinction. but i'm also ready to wage war together _ distinction. but i'm also ready to wage war together with - distinction. but i'm also ready to wage war together with the - distinction. but i'm also ready to - wage war together with the russians from the territory of belarus, but only if anyone, even one soldier, comes to our territory with weapons to kill my people. aha, comes to our territory with weapons to kill my people-— to kill my people. a year ago, russia and — to kill my people. a year ago, russia and belarus _ to kill my people. a year ago, russia and belarus carried - to kill my people. a year ago, | russia and belarus carried out to kill my people. a year ago, - russia and belarus carried out days of military exercises along ukraine's northern border. russia said it had no plans to invade. and the world wondered whether this was simply sabre rattling. but this was the prelude to war, and when the invasion came columns of russian armour poured in from belarus. could it happen again? for now the border is quiet, no signs here of preparations for another assault. ukraine has gone to greater lengths to improve its defences. if russian forces come this way again they

won't simply drive through as they did a year ago. but with moscow and minsk talking about plans for more joint training, ukraine knows it has to be ready, amid speculation that never quite goes away, western analysts believe another russian invasion from belarus is unlikely. for now the main focus is on the east. in bakhmut, fighting has raged for months. this is where a major russian offensive is expected and may already be under way. russia may want ukraine to think the danger is elsewhere but it's here in the donbas where the two sides are getting ready. paul adams, bbc donbas where the two sides are getting ready. pauladams, bbc news. despite the intensity of the conflict in ukraine, both sides have been cooperating on prisoner swaps. more than 1,700 ukrainian men and women have reportedly made it home in exchange for russian prisoners of war. the bbc has been given rare access to one facility where captured russian soldiers are held in western

ukraine. kyiv says while most prisoners will be swapped, some will remain on suspicion of possible war crimes. our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse has that story. under the watchful eye of ancient ukrainian rulers, and guards, march these russian prisoners of war. both sides have been accused of abusing captured soldiers in the past. so these are the belongings of some prisoners of war who arrived last week. now, it's unlikely they're going to speak freely. but what this is is an insight into ukraine's information war, as well as a look at how prisoners of war are used as currency. now kyiv wants to show us these men, who they insist are being treated fairly. they're using this workshop to take shelterfrom russian missiles. some hide their faces to further protect their identities.

ukraine needs these soldiers to trade for their own. we're under supervision, but the guards don't interfere. this prisoner tells us he surrendered near the eastern town of soledar last month. several say they just want to go home. some here are just days off the battlefield, a mixture of conscripts, soldiers and mercenaries. many are pale, their eyes glazed over. sometimes history has echoes. this gritty fortress once held soviet and then german inmates in the second world war. everyone here appears to know the drill. air raid alerts seem to be the only breaks from a monotonous routine. the bite of the cold

is followed by the relief of lunch. today it's corn soup and barley and meat before a choreographed finish. "thank you for lunch," they say, in ukrainian. this might look like free time, but the guards have the remote. the pick of the day — a documentary on ukrainian history. but not everyone will speak the language. translation: more or less, i'mj starting to understand ukrainian. these programmes are educational. this looks more like a re—education. these inmates are waiting to make a phone call home. the conversations are recorded.

"where are you?" asks his mum. "i'm in captivity — i can't say more," he says" i can't say more," he says. "with the bloody ukrainians?" she asks. "enough, mum," he replies. "the most important thing is that i'm alive and healthy." this economy of prisoner exchanges has grown, which means they're more valuable to both sides regardless of whether they return to the fight. james waterhouse, bbc news, western ukraine. our top story this lunchtime... energy firm centrica, which owns british gas, makes record profits, tripling it's revenues from last year. coming up — england impress on day one of the first test against new zealand. and coming up on the bbc news channel. players from england's women's rugby team have hailed the rugby football union's new maternity policy as a game

changing moment for the sport, which will normalise motherhood. 11 days on, remarkably there are still people being pulled alive from the rubble, left by the powerful earthquakes that hit syria and turkey. a teenage girl has been rescued from a collapsed building near the epicentre, in the province of kahramanmaras. the number of dead is now more than 41,000 people. our correspondent caroline davie reports from the city of adana, in southern turkey. an incredible story of survival. carefully, with many hands, 17—year—old olena is lifted to safety after 248 hours under the rubble. these stories that have amazed the world are often down to a few factors and chance.

to survive long term, so let's say over a week or ten days or something like that, you need mainly access to two things, airand some sort of water source. so we say people can survive without water intake may be for about three to five days or so. but i do think there is probably a huge psychological component, in the sense that if people have hope and they believe that they will be rescued and that determination probably does play a factor. many fear how long it may take them to be back in the home. in the snow—covered province of kahramanmaras, tent cities have been erected to provide some shelter. in adana a food market is now a camp. but not for long. these tents have been in position for the course of the last ten days, but the authorities here say they are now dismantling them. you can see the tense over

here and people taking some of their belongings as well. now, that's because the authorities say there is greater need closer to the epicentre, but people who have been living here tell us that they are very worried. the authorities say people will be moved to live in other accommodation but some feel they are being moved on too quickly. fatma has been living in the camp since the earthquake hit. translation: it was raining and cold, plus we had to see| dead bodies coming out of the building nearby. it was like a nightmare, i couldn't wash for ten days. this is the situation we are in. our mental strength has broken. the earthquake has already taken so much, but many feel they are now left in limbo, not knowing how or where they can rebuild their lives. 11 days on, there is a real sense the turkish authorities want to show some sign of progress. the national broadcaster has been showing images of homes being rebuilt in areas that

were almost entirely flattened by the earthquake. one turkish geologist has said these areas need to have ground checks done before more construction is done on top of them. speaking to people here in southern turkey, there is still a large sense of fear, but also a sense of distrust. and that may take a while and it is a big challenge for the turkish government to repair. caroline, thank you for that. caroline, thank you for that. caroline davies, live in the city of adana in turkey. the supermarket chain, aldi, says it's looking to increase its workforce in the uk, by more than 6000. the company says it will recruit more staff for its distribution centres, as well as new stores in norwich and newcastle. aldi also said it's proud it pays, the highest hourly wage, in the sector. a new way of screening less urgent 999 calls will be introduced across england, in an effort to improve ambulance response times.

the focus will be on category two calls, which range from suspected heart attacks and strokes, to burns and urgent headaches. crews will be asked to review each call to see if a patient could be better treated elsewhere. here's our health correspondent, dominic hughes. ambulance, is the patient breathing? ambulance call centres have seen record levels of demand in recent months... has she lost any blood? ..and that's contributed to some of the worst ever response times. so in london and the west midlands, they have been experimenting with a new way of dealing with calls in an effort to make sure help gets where its needed the most. this new system will allow a clinical conversation between a nurse, a paramedic or a doctor and the patient, and between them they will be able to decide whether an ambulance is the best response for that patient, or they are better cared for in a different environment. it's really important that people know it does not mean anyone loses their place in the queue. what it does is provide more individualised care for an individual patient. but also allows us to free up the resources for our most vulnerable patients. category two ambulance call—outs make up over half

of all emergency calls. they're meant to cover an immediate risk to life, things like a heart attack or stroke, but they also include conditions such as burns, diabetes or headaches, where the severity of the problems can vary enormously and some of which do not always need an immediate response. through having a more detailed conversation with some of those patients, a pilot scheme found around one in five of all category two calls could be better treated elsewhere and did not need an ambulance. i'm just calling back to follow up on your earlier call... with ten years experience as a paramedic, dave godden has used the new scheme to help a patient who called 999 after getting a nasty cut on his hand. when i phoned back and we assessed him, the bleeding had stopped, he was in a much calmer state, he able to speak a bit clearer, the pain had subsided somewhat, and i was able to give him advice to make his own way to the urgent care centre to treat his wound, which saved an ambulance but got him the right care that he needed.

those running the pilot scheme say no patients were disadvantaged. some patients even found themselves moved from category two to the most urgent, category one. the scheme is now being expanded to all ten ambulance services across england, with the hope it can help improve response times and focus help for those who need it. dominic hughes, bbc news. doctors are warning the lives of thousands of severely disabled children, are being put at risk because of long ambulance waits. the british academy of childhood disability, warns many young people suffer life—threatening emergencies on a daily basis, and can't access the care they need. the government says it's reducing delays, by investing in 800 new ambulances. here's ruth clegg. is that emily's favourite song? it's 7:00am in the watson household, and the morning routine has just begun. so for breakfast, christopher has about seven different meds.

emily has seven as well, but a different combination. it's busy, it's intense, and for emily and christopher, it's life—saving. christopher has got a tracheotomy and emily has got choking issues. the 12—year—old twins were born prematurely and have complex medical needs. are you ok, emily? each one on their own could be life threatening. if we have a problem with christopher's breathing tube, his tracheostomy, and we're unable to resolve it, he'd be dead within minutes. get the lady to come round here and see. just before christmas, with ambulances in short supply, and hospitals declaring critical incidents, christopher started to have problems with his breathing tube. he was presenting in a way we have never_ he was presenting in a way we have never seen — he was presenting in a way we have never seen before, he was presenting in a way— never seen before, he was presenting in a way we _ never seen before, he was presenting in a way we are not trained to deal with _ they called for an ambulance, but were told that despite christopher being a category one, which means paramedics should arrive within ten minutes,

it could be a three—hour wait. what's going through your head at this point? you've tried everything. you literally know that it's got to be emergency care. it's scary. yeah, it's scary. and you start to think, "what's going wrong now? what can we do? how is this going to end up?" like nearly 100,000 children across the uk, emergency care is a crucial part of their everyday lives. normally we would be saying to them, "well, you know, if this is happening, this is when you call the ambulance, and don't worry, they'll be there within 10, 20 minutes." at the moment, you can't rely on there actually being an ambulance able to come in that short length of time. got emergency blue box with a standard tracheostomy tube. fortunately, an ambulance was diverted and within a0 minutes christopher was rushed to hospital where a resuscitation team were ready and waiting. these children need that

extra level of care. it's not their fault that they need it. christopher survived and is back at school. but the worry is always there. if the health service breaks down and doesn't function, if christopher has an episode like that, he would not be here. the government says it is planning to improve services with 5000 more beds and 800 new ambulances. check off you've got everything they need to keep christopher safe. ruth clegg, bbc news. researchers using an underwater robot, have found that antarctic glaciers may be more sensitive to changes in sea temperature, than previously thought. scientists have been

analysing thwaites glacier, which is the size of britain, and if it melted completely, could raise sea levels by more than half a metre. our climate editor, justin rowlatt, joined the scientists, at the start of their research four years ago. west antarctica is a challenging place to work. it is the stormiest part of the world's stormiest continent. it took more than a month and more than a dozen flights to get the scientists and their equipment to the front of the glacier. ice—hardened ships brought in fuel and other bulky supplies, which were then dragged over the ice in an epic 1,000 mile overland journey. this was the final destination. a campsite at the point this vast glacier goes afloat. if we are thinking about what is sea level going to be like in ten years, this glacier is the place to be. boilers turned snow into water. hot water was used to

melt down into the ice. this is a historic moment. the first time anyone has tried to drill down through this glacier. beneath the 600 metres of ice below me is the most important point of all, the point at which the ice meets the ocean water. for the first time ever, scientists could take measurements under the ice, to the surprise of some local creatures. they sent down ice fin, a remotely operated robot submarine, packed with scientific instruments. oh—ho—ho! yes! what we could see is that instead of this kind of flat ice that we had all pictured, there were all kinds of staircases and cracks in the ice that weren't really expected. a team from the british antarctic survey using different instruments also found that the overall melt rate was lower than expected. it showed how sensitive the glacier is to even small changes in sea water temperature. what the results show us is that you actually don't need to increase the melt rate that much to drive very fast retreat. so has the glacier passed a tipping point where collapse becomes inevitable? our observations don't necessarily tell us that, but what it does tell us is how

the ice shelf is currently melting and we can use that knowledge from today to produce better models which will tell us more about the future. thwaites is at the bottom of the world, but what happens here will affect us all. the better the processes that work under this glacier are understood, the better forecasts we will have of how our seas will rise in the decades to come. forewarned is forearmed, they say. that is particularly important because carbon emissions, which are driving the processes warming this glacier, continue to rise rapidly. justin rowlatt, bbc news, thwaites glacier. england had the best of the opening day's play, in the first test against new zealand in mount mowngan—ui. the visitors reached 325 for nine declared, and took three quick wickets before the close. here's our sports correspondent, andy swiss. there was a time when test

cricket was calm, cautious, but england have rewritten the rule book. they began against new zealand with the same swagger that brought such success last year. ben duckett blasting his way to 50 in under an hour. it has been entertaining from the first ball. that said, not everything worked. joe root with a reminder that their aggressive approach is a risky business. but it's also a thrilling one. oh, what a shot that is. a blaze of boundaries led by harry brooks' 89... allowing england to declare on 325. and under the floodlights, new zealand's batsmen were soon under pressure. oh, no, he's gone. he's gone. the two ollies, pope and robinson, made the breakthrough before ao—year—old jimmy anderson showed his timeless talent. that could be close. kane williamson was initially given

not out, but the replays showed otherwise and england's delight wasn't done. as anderson also removed henry nicholls before the close. there we go, anderson does it again. england's day and once again, never a dull moment. andy swiss, bbc news. time for a look at the weather, here's ben rich. good afternoon. it is pretty cloudy for most of us. it is very mild but broadly speaking it is quiet. it is not going to stay that way. there is more turbulent weather on the way for some of us over the next 2a hours and are first named storm of the season, which will bring very strong winds through tonight and tomorrow morning across the tops of scotland the pennines, north—east england and travel disruption does look quite likely. it is gathering under this area of cloud and it doesn't look like much on the satellite picture but within the shield of cloud we will start to see

a deepening area of low pressure.