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| | Energy firms warned over prepayment meters | |  | | | | | | | | | The man who runs British Gas owner Centrica has admitted to being horrified at reports debt agents working on his company's behalf had broken into a single father-of-three's home to fit a prepayment meter. In the wake of the investigation by the Times newspaper, British Gas has suspended forcefully installing these meters - which are more expensive than paying by direct debit - until at least after the winter. EDF, Britain's second largest supplier, has followed suit.
Now energy regulator Ofgem has asked all suppliers to suspend the activity. Firms can apply for a court warrant to fit a prepayment meter to cover ongoing energy use and debt repayments - but only as a last resort. Even then, rules stop them forcing the meters on people in vulnerable situations. In light of the reports, Ofgem wants suppliers to review the use of court warrants to enter customers’ homes and examine any incentives offered to contractors who execute them. Read our report for one woman's account of the "violating" experience of arriving home to find someone had changed her meter while she was out. | | | | | |
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| | Infected blood scandal: What we've learned | | | | | | | | | It's been called the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS. And today - after five years, thousands of documents and testimony from 370 witnesses - an inquiry into the infected blood scandal will hear its final evidence on an episode that left tens of thousands of patients infected with HIV and hepatitis between 1970 and 1991. Here are five things we've learned during the inquiry, from the sheer scale of the scandal and its impact on children to the warning about the use of contaminated blood products from the US that went ignored. | | | | | |
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| | Don't go to Mars... make vaccines, says Gates | | | | | | | | | Some of his peers near the top of the world's rich list are fixated on exploring space but, in a rare interview, Bill Gates says he has other priorities. "It's actually quite expensive to go to Mars," says the Microsoft co-founder. "You can buy measles vaccines and save lives for $1,000 (£814) per life saved... Don't go to Mars." Mr Gates is increasingly focused on philanthropy. So, he tells interviewer Amol Rajan of his surprise at becoming the "boogeyman" of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as addressing his contact with sex offending financier Jeffrey Epstein and why his grandmother would find him "crazy". See what he has to say. | | | | | |
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| | | | | | | | | | | There has never been a visit like it and it has been years in the planning. A Pope and an Archbishop of Canterbury make a foreign trip together for the first time, joined by the most senior figure in the Church of Scotland. "After centuries of division, leaders of three different parts of the Church are coming together in an unprecedented way," says Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.
Their mission is to bring hope and to encourage leaders to find a lasting peace in South Sudan. But this trip comes at a time when the country is suffering severe political instability, its people facing crushing poverty, and many observers view the outlook as bleak. | | | | | | | | | | | | Aleem Maqbool & Nichola Mandil | | Juba | | | | | | | | | | | |
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| | | | | | | A Bank of England forecast that the UK will enter recession this year - but it will be shorter and less severe than previously thought - makes headlines. "Don't jump for joy just yet... but slump to end next year," says the Daily Express's front page. The Financial Times says global stocks rallied after investors bet interest rates on both sides of the Atlantic would soon peak. But the Daily Telegraph says the Bank warned the economy was "on a path to stagnation", with thousands having given up jobs or retired since the Covid pandemic. See all the front pages. | | | | | |
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| | | | | Cancer Why you should get a blood test - young survivors | | | | | | | Spy balloon? US tracking suspected Chinese surveillance device | | | | | | | Kyrgios Tennis star admits assaulting ex-girlfriend | | | | | | | | | | |
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| | If you watch one thing today | | | | | | | | | | |
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| | If you listen to one thing today | | | | | | | | | | |
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| | If you read one thing today | | | | | | | | | | |
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| | Need something different? | | | | | | | | | Tony North's photograph of a rare plant on the Canary Island of La Palma has won not one but two photographic competitions. Check it out, along with International Garden Photographer of the Year category winners, such as a breath-taking shot of a tree in front of an enormous sand dune and a portfolio capturing the beauty of slime moulds - yes, really!
And it might not be a conventional photograph but the flight plan of US cargo airline Atlas Air's shiny new Boeing 747 makes a pretty picture when seen on a tracking app. In honour of the jumbo - the last of its kind to be manufactured - the crew flew a path that traced the shape of the crown and the numbers seven, four and seven. Take a look.
And, finally, it's Friday - so don't forget to test your news knowledge in our quiz of the week. | | | | | |
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| | | | | 1966 The Soviet Union lands its Luna 9 probe on the Moon - becoming the first nation to make a controlled landing on the lunar surface. | | | | | | |
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| | | Let us know what you think of this newsletter by emailing bbcnewsdaily@bbc.co.uk. If you’d like to recommend it to a friend, forward this email. New subscribers can sign up here. | | | | | |
