22/05/2014 BBC News at One

Royal Mail posts increased profits - but sends out a warning that

competition could threaten doorstep deliveries in remote rural areas.

Shares are down after the newly-privatised firm

called on the regulator to look again at its obligation to post

We'll be talking to our business editor.

First pictures from the Atlantic Ocean where four British yachtsmen

are missing - as a captain involved in the search reports seeing debris.

A few debris which I have reported to the US Coast Guard with the

position. There is a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel.

Two days after imposing martial law, the military

in Thailand says their action is a coup - and promises reforms.

Police investigating Madeleine McCann's disappearance say

"a substantial phase of operational activity" will begin within weeks.

Sucking heat from the sea - the new technology that can heat

It's cheaper and kinder to the environment.

Fury from house-buyers after a South London housing association puts up

And thousands of bikers lead tributes to Fusilier Lee Rigby a

Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One.

It's only seven months since the controversial privatisation

of Royal Mail, and today it revealed how it's been faring.

Over the last year, it's made an operating profit of

And for the first time, its parcel service overtook

But the company has warned that its promise to deliver post to all

parts of the UK, six days a week, is under threat,

because of competition from other businesses.

At this central London delivery office today, there was little sign

of the extraordinary changes that Royal Mail has faced in the past

year. First came privatisation. Then a landmark industrial relations

deal. Today it delivered solid results but warned of problems

ahead. The huge business handled 14 billion items last year, boosting

revenues to almost ?9.5 billion. Operating profits grew to ?671

million, that is up 12%, a big turnaround on the losses it posted

in the past. Royal Mail faces some big challenges. We are all sending

fewer letters these days, so the amount of letters it carries is

falling. And yet the parcels sector is booming, thanks to online

retailing. And yet last year, the number of parcels carried by Royal

Mail remained flat. Yesterday, Royal Mail said it would start delivering

parcels on Sundays. Experts say that is about keeping up with its rivals.

Parcels are vital for its future. It is a fast developing network with

Internet fulfilment. It is a very, very competitive market. To stay

ahead in the market, they need to be innovative and keep their costs

down, basically. There is competition in letters as well. TNT

operates in London, Manchester and of the pool. The company rejects

claims it is cherry picking the most lucrative areas and it will

undermine six of -- nationwide six days a week delivery. That is

nonsense. Clearly, we are providing choice for our customers. Since we

have started end delivery, we have only delivered 100 million items in

a market of 14 billion. Investors know there are headwinds ahead but

the shares are more than 60% above the float price, leading to fresh

accusations that it was sold off on the cheap.

Let's speak to our business editor, Kamal Ahmed.

How seriously should we take this threat? It is for the future. TNT

only delivers 100 million items of mail. The Royal Mail delivers 14

billion. So these competitors at the moment are tiny. What the Royal Mail

is saying is, if the competition continues at this level, then in the

future it would undermine its business, because all the

competitors want our London, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh,

the easy to deliver lucrative areas, leaving the Royal Mail to take the

birthday card from Cornwall to Shetland which costs a lot of money.

I think where the share prices today, it has gone down, is more to

do with the parcels issue. Parcels is the big growth business. We all

want the parcels to come for Christmas, all the things we'd order

online now. That shows flat volumes. That is where the worry is. Royal

Mail has got to perform up against Amazon and the other delivery

companies in getting on top of that online revolution. Thank you.

Debris has been found in the area of the North Atlantic,

close to where a yacht disappeared, with four British sailors on board.

The captain of a catamaran taking part in the search for the Cheeki

Rafiki says he's now passed on the information to the US Coastguard.

The first pictures have also emerged of the area where

Let's cross to Southampton, and our correspondent, Duncan Kennedy.

The weather is currently worse than it is in the Atlantic as we will see

in a second, but you are right, some debris has been found by one of the

vessels out there. It is described as manufactured wood, not driftwood.

It could come from a yacht. It is all being assessed, the information

is being assessed by the authorities in the United States. It will be

another point of focus for the missing men's families. These are

the first pictures from the search seen in the middle of the Atlantic

Ocean. Taken on board a private yacht, they show a crew and the

relative calm of the waves. Visibility also appears good. It was

this vessel which found debris near to where the men went missing. The

skipper says it includes a small piece of wood which has not been in

the water long. We did see some debris which I have reported to the

US Coast Guard with the times and positions. There is a little bit of

light at the end of the tunnel. News of the debris found the macro find

was passed to the relatives of the men this morning, including the

family of Steve Warren. It is something that we are clinging on to

that at the moment. Is he still out there? I hope he is still out there.

I think he is still out there. Other families went to the Foreign Office

today to get an official government update on the debris find. We have

had news that it was wash boards or floorboards may be. The boat was

unable to find it when they turned round for a look. The skipper has

been searching and searching and we are very grateful to him. The US

Coast Guard has been asked to assess the debris to see if it is from the

Cheeki Rafiki. The four men have now been missing for more than a week.

But the search operation is now huge. Already at the scene are three

Hercules, two merchant ships and one sailing vessel. Whilst heading to

the area, is one Coast Guard ship, two more merchant ships and another

Hercules. These first grainy shots from the Atlantic showed the

conditions are now right for a search. Last night, 9000 square

miles 's had already been combed. The families will not rest until

every inch has been covered. Those shots were taken in the past couple

of hours or so. We understand the weather conditions are continuing to

be good without the rain we have got going here. Also you saw all of

those assets going in, huge resources being applied to this

operation. It is still a vast job, 9000 square miles search with a lot

more to go but at least all those resources going in and the fact they

found some debris, now under pressure about what that is, but the

fact they found some debris will provide some comfort to the families

involved in this operation. Thank you.

The army in Thailand says it is seizing power, as it put it, to

The latest coup was announced on television, after two days

of inconclusive talks between the country's rival political factions.

This morning,soldiers surrounded the building where

the talks were taking place and then took away the party leaders.

Let's speak to our correspondent in Bangkok, Jonathan Head.

Two days ago, this was not a coup, now it is. What has changed? The

military has taken over completely. I can tell you it was a pretty tense

scene where the talks were going on. Suddenly, we saw the exit blocked by

trucks, soldiers running everywhere and the leaders bundled away. It was

a very efficient way of carrying out a coup. The army had all the

factions in the room so it was relatively easy to bundle them away.

They are the people who could have roused their supporters to resist

this coup and the army commander went on to announce he was taking

this coup and the army commander full control of the country. We are

now, in effect, under military law now. This is still a very

politically divided country. We have had protests going on for the last

seven months which have crippled the government. The army have given

themselves the job of running the country and eventually having to

deal with that political division. It is one the army commander said

many times he did not want to take on but he says he has been driven to

it because the two sides could not see I. Thank you.

A Russian foreign ministry spokesman has said that if they're true,

comments made by Prince Charles about Vladimir Putin, are

Prince Charles, who is currently on a four day tour of Canada, is said

to have likened some Nazi actions in Europe to Mr Putin's policies.

Later today, a diplomat is to meet a Foreign Office official to ask for

British detectives are to travel to Portugal for what Scotland Yard

called "a substantial phase of operational activity

in the investigation over the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

Police say they're following "many lines of inquiry".

It's seven years since the three-year-old went

It is seven years this month, since Madeleine McCann, then three years

old, disappeared. Today, Scotland Yard announced that the police work

is the sort undertaken in any major investigation. In this case, it is

being carried out many years on. Madeleine was on holiday with her

family in the resort of Praia da Luz in the Algarve. In recent weeks

there has been talk of sites being dug up. Scotland Yard has also said

that in the past, one line of enquiry is a series of reported sex

attacks on young British girls in the Algarve. On the recent

anniversary of their daughter's disappearance, Kate and Jeremy

Campbell spoke to the BBC. I do go back. -- Kate and Gerry McCann. I'd

do go back. That is the last place we were with Matalin. I walk those

streets. It does help me, most of the time -- Madeleine. A senior

police officer said he wanted to tell her parents that they had got

to the bottom of Madeleine's disappearance or that they had

turned over every stone and could not find an answer. British

detectives in Portugal recently. Scotland Yard is stressing that the

work on the ground will be led by the Portuguese police assisted by

British officers. Diplomatic sensitivities have always played a

part in this case. The disappearance of this little girl is a global

story with masses of media interest. Today, Scotland Yard appealed to the

media to behave responsibly in the coming weeks, as the Madeleine

McCann enquiry moves into a new phase.

Voting is underway in the European and local council elections, the

final big test of public opinion before the 2015 general election.

All 73 UK seats in the European Parliament, the EU's only directly

The results will be announced on Sunday.

Meanwhile 4,216 seats on local councils across England and Northern

And David Dimbleby will be your guide to the local council results

Join him and the BBC's team of experts from 11.35 on BBC One

Our top story this lunchtime: Royal Mail has posted increased profits

but said competition could threaten doorstep deliveries in room eight

rural areas. Still to come, friend or foe? Has the reintroduction of

the Beaver been good for the countryside?

Later on BBC London: Hollywood star Kathleen Turner tells us why the

capital fuelled her passion for theatre as a teenager.

And probably the most famous drop kick in English rugby. We are at

How are we going to heat and light our homes in the future

as coal and gas become more scarce and the price increases?

For some, nuclear energy is one option.

For others, it's renewables like wind and wave power.

But what about taking the heat from the sea

Well, that's what a new scheme in Anglesey is examining.

Our environment analyst Roger Harrabin has been to see how

We are travelling to the past, and to the future. This plays in

Anglesey had its heyday in the 18th century, with its wonderful views

over Snowdon. But its new heating system is trend setting in the 21st

century. Heat from sea water will keep this historic mansion warm. It

is barely believable that this sea water has enough heat to heat

anything. It is pretty chilly still at this time of year. But thanks to

an extraordinary technology called a heat exchanger, it is the sea that

is going to heat this house. Water pipes run 60 metres out into the

straights. They are disguised by rocks when they reach the land. The

water is pumped up to the boiler room. It is here that heat exchange

equipment sucks out any warmth from the sea water. It is a similar

technology to your fridge. And here is the result. Hot water pipes,

which are, well, surprisingly hot. Visitors to the house come to see

treasures like this mural by Rex Whistler. It needs to be kept at a

steady temperature. We have an old oil boiler that was very inefficient

and was coming to the end of its natural life. We needed a new

solution that was long-term and. A Marine source heat was the obvious

choice. Installing the heat pump was a major task. It cost over ?500,000,

but it will save ?40,000 each year in fuel. It is subsidised from

people's energy bills, because the government wants to encourage new

forms of heating. For a typical UK households heat pumps are not the

highest priority. But if you live off the mains gas grid or in a well

insulated home, this could be an attractive technology for you and as

we move into the future, with more and more energy from renewable

sources, heat pumps will play a major role. Next month ministers

will publish a map of where else in Britain you can suck heat from

water. 31 people have died in a bomb

attack in the north-west of China. Reports said two vehicles drove

into a busy market in the regional capital of Xinjiang province and

bombs were thrown into the crowd. The government called it a "serious

violent terrorist incident". Within minutes of the attack,

pictures that began appearing on Chinese Internet sights. Victims lie

in the wreckage of market stalls. Many were elderly, out doing their

shopping. The mostly ethnic Han live here in Urumqi. The president has

said terrorists were responsible and must be punished severely. The

attacks seem to be growing. Violence rippling out of Xinjiang is now the

biggest security challenge facing China's communist leaders. The

president finished -- visited last month. He talked of harmony, my fun

bomb attacks on police and government workers are spreading

across China, targeting civilians as well. Xinjiang's Muslim Uighurs are

linked to Turkey and Central Asia by religion and language. A recent

visit to an old city, we found Chinese security everywhere. Young

Uighur men are fizzled out for ID checks. The authorities are on edge

and violence has erupted in many towns. Because of the pervasive

security, many people here are afraid to talk to us openly. It

could be dangerous for them. What has been whispered to others is that

tensions and mistrust are on the increase between Uighurs and

Chinese. TRANSLATION:

If somebody finds you have religious texts, they report you to the

police, then you will be arrested. In another part of China today,

police surround an aircraft. It was heading to Xinjiang but was

grounded. Two passengers taken away. Chinese security forces fearful

after this attack, more may be coming.

There's been a rise in the number of people who came to live

in the UK from other countries in the European Union.

But, overall, levels of immigration were similar to the previous year.

Our home affairs correspondent Naomi Grimley is here.

How does this compare with government targets? Let's start with

net migration, the numbers of people coming here minus the numbers

leaving. But is staying at 212,000. The reason it is relevant is because

David Cameron wants to see it cut by half, by this time next year. So

Home Office officials are going to have to get a move on if they want

to hit that target in time for the next election. What can they do?

Well, when it comes to non-EU migration they have of course

controlled things like student visas, EU migration there was much

more difficult to influence. We have learned from these figures that

93,000 Romanians and Bulgarians came here last year and it is not just

them, also more poles and Italians are signing on here because they

want to get jobs here which they think they can't get in the home

countries -- 23,000. A woman who was kidnapped

and held hostage for a decade has been speaking for

the first time about her ordeal. She told police in the United States

that when she was 15 she was taken prisoner

by her mother's former boyfriend, Police say a 41-year-old man has

been arrested on suspicion of An anonymous plot in a quiet

suburban street, where a couple neighbours knew as Laura and Thomas

lived and apparently unremarkable life. But Thomas was this man,

Isadora Garcia, now accused of kidnapping, race and -- rape and

false imprisonment. Ten years ago he and the girl lived with her mother

in Santa Manor, 20 miles away. Garcia and the mother were in a

relationship. But police say there was a fight. Garcia adapted the

daughter, the start of the decade long are -- ordeal. There was

repeated sexual assault. On two occasions she tried to escape. He

caught her and beat her. She has told -- she was told that her family

was not looking for her. She did not speak English. The young woman still

has not been identified, but last night spoke for the first time. I

was very afraid about everything, because I was alone. My family was

with me. For years, the couple appeared to live a happy,

hard-working life. Garcia, on the left, and his alleged victim, on the

right, pictured in church with a daughter born two years ago. But

there were tell-tale signs too. We would staff out and have

conversations, she would go back inside her house. As if he did not

let her socialise. But in another way, they acted like a normal couple

and kissed in front of people. But it is very weird and crazy to me.

Eventually the girl contacted her sister on Facebook, learning that

her family had never given up on her. She went to the police.

More from our correspondent David Willis, in Los Angeles. How did this

emerge? This only really came to light after this young girl

contacted her sister on Facebook and it was then that she learned that

despite everything she had been told people were looking for her. People

did care about her. She basically had been led to believe that they

had all deserted her. This man, the suspects, Isidro Garcia, had

initially been dating her mother. The mother became suspicious that he

was sexually abusing a child. When she raised that with him he beat her

and he then punched the child, fled with her to a house on the outskirts

of Los Angeles, where she was kept in a garage. He changed her name and

warned her that if she attempted to escape she would be deported, which

is why despite having plenty of opportunities to do so she did not

actually go to the police. Now, it is claimed that she was subjected to

a decade of physical and sexual abuse and made to raise a child with

this man. He is due to appear in court later today, charged with rape

and kidnapping and Folsom prison mud.

-- false imprisonment. Most patients who go to accident

and emergency units do need urgent care, according to a study by A

consultants. A report for NHS England last year

had suggested that up to a quarter of people going to casualty could

have been treated elsewhere. But this latest study showed only

15% could have been treated by their GP - and many of those were children

accompanied by worried parents. Our health correspondent

Dominic Hughes reports. Accident and emergency departments

have been under growing pressure. More patients, many with older

people needing convex treatment. The question is how to ease that

pressure. Now the doctors who run emergency departments seem -- say we

need to rethink how they work. The ideal model of an accident and

emergency department is one that has emergency department at its core,

but associated with that general practitioners and other physicians

seeing a proportion of the patients. Last year, and NHS England report on

it shouldn't care found that a quarter of AMD patients could have

been treated elsewhere, for example in a GP surgery. This figure is

challenged by a new study which finds just 15% of patients could

have been seen elsewhere. That difference amounts to about 1.4

million NHS patients a year in England. Doctors say simply trying

to redirect large numbers of patients away from A is not going

to relieve the pressure is these departments are under. They say

their research shows that the vast majority of patients who arrive at

A really need to be here. There is no sign of a fracture. North

Manchester General they are recruiting GPs to work as part of

the A team, relieving a shortage of senior doctors and helping the

department run more smoothly. This department ought to have about 16

consultants. We have three. Adding four GPs into the mix, working at a

senior doctor level, will enable us to better supervise the juniors as

well as see the patients. NHS England says calculating how many

AMD cases could be treated elsewhere is collocated. It maintains doing so

will ease the pressure on stressed departments. But this boils down to

an argument over where best to direct the limited resources of the

NHS in England. To hospital emergency departments, or to

community services. It's only in the last decade that

beavers have been reintroduced into the wild in the UK after becoming

extinct here 500 years ago. Whilst supporters say they make

a positive contribution to the environment, farmers say they cause

thousands of pounds worth of damage. Our Scotland correspondent

James Cook reports. Captured on camera, a busy beaver

flouting the law. There are at least 100 of the animals swimming wild and

free in Tayside. They should not be here. They are unlicensed. But they

don't seem that bother. This is a damn that was built in the course of

2007. Paul Ramsay's captive Beavers went wild seven years ago. They set

about transforming this landscape from Woodland wetland. There are

enormous benefits on level of biodiversity, for one thing. We have

lost an enormous amount of wetland over the centuries and we have the

whole issue of the water purification that Beavers

contributed with the management of weapons and the creation of dams.

And the Beavers have been busy, building and breeding across

Tayside's rivers. The first people to really notice the signs of

Beavers here were canoeists and they now say those signs are appearing

everywhere. The Beavers seem to be thriving, not just on this river.

What we are looking at here is the consequences of Beavers coming my

farm. But not consequences of Beavers coming my

everyone is happy. They started tumbling in. This Pharma blames

Beavers for bursting his flood defences. He says they have caused

thousands of pounds worth of damage. I would like to get compensation out

of the people that brought them in but that

I would like to get compensation out of I am told is not feasible under

the law at the moment. So if the government wants to keep them the

government has to decide who is going to compensate for the damage.

And to help make that decision, scientists are now studying the

Beavers and weighing up the choices. We think there is probably three

options, to remove all the Beavers, to leave them as they are at the

moment, or to have re-introductions under strict licensing. In theory,

the fate of these animals will be decided by politicians. But is --

with past form as any other guide, the Beavers may have other ideas.

There is more lively weather. The word showers is one you will get

familiar with in the next few days. This is the radar picture from

earlier today. It shows more persistent rain pushing out of

northern England and sitting across eastern Scotland and further south

you can see the showers, more broken up. There are drier interludes.

Showers through this afternoon, pretty heavy and potent in one or

two areas. For East of Scotland it is lingering, heavy outbreaks of

rain and strong winds to contend with. Northern England, pretty grey

with rain on and off. Hopefully a few drier interludes. 11 or 12

Celsius. Heavy showers pushing into Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. A bit

more scattered for East Anglia and the south-east but they could be

heavy and thundery. The Midlands, Wales and the south-west catching

the worst of them and road conditions could get bad thanks to

surface water and spray. They will rattle on through much of the

afternoon and into the evening. Across Northern Ireland, the showers

are scattered but could be heavy and thundery. A few forced in Scotland.

For eastern Scotland it is the heavier, more persistent rain that

will stick around into the evening and strong winds gusting 50-55 mph.

A rough end to the day as the heavy rain drifts northwards. Further

south it calms down briefly through the evening but here we go again for

tomorrow with the next batch of showers pushing up from the south by

the end of the night. Overnight lows, 9-11dC. On Friday, lots of

showers first thing, quite widely spread across England and Wales.

Northern England should get off to a fine start. Much better in East.

Northern Ireland, some scattered showers but tomorrow for northern

England, Wales and the south-west, more lingering rain. The south-east

and Anglia, in contrast to this afternoon, should be quieter. 19 or

20 Celsius. Further north, ten or 11 Celsius. On Saturday, plenty of

showers for England and Wales. Perhaps fewer as they push north of

Scotland and Northern Ireland for Sunday. The bank holiday weekend, we

will save the best until last. Saturday and Sunday are seeing some

unsettled weather working across the British Isles. Bank Holiday Monday,

hopefully the showers isolated and decent sunshine and some warmth for

most of us. Hopefully that will be worth waiting for. More more on the

Outlook online. The top story. Royal Mail has posted

increased profits but says competition could threaten