this is bbc news. the headlines at 5pm. interest rates rise to 1% their highest level since 2009. the governor of the bank of england says they could rise further, as the bank tries to deal with soaring inflation. because of this very, very narrow path that we are on, we can see a case in which there will need to be a further rise in the bank rate, but it depends how the economy evolves. profits at energy giant shell almost triple to £7.3 billion in the first three months of this year its highest ever quarterly figure. the mother of baby p the toddler who died in 2007 after months of abuse is set to be released from prison. the parole board has rejected a government challenge against its ruling to release tracey connolly.
andy verity there. the british oil company shell has posted underlying profits of £7.3 billion between january and march. it s the company s highest quarterly figure, and triple the amount it made in the same period last year. shell s rival bp also revealed a sharp rise in income earlier this week. our international business correspondent theo leggett told us these companies are trading in energy products which have come under pressure because of the war in ukraine and the covid recovery. a year ago ayearagoa a year ago a barrel of oil was trading at around $65. today it is trading at around $65. today it is trading at around $65. today it is trading at $110. that is a huge increase, and it translates directly through profits for the oil companies, and shell has been making a lot of money out of the fact that it produces refined products, and refined products like diesel in short supply at the moment. bring all of this together, and rising prices for oil and gas as well, incidentally,
we had hoped to be bringing you an update of andy murray against world number one novak djokovic but murray pulled out of the madrid open earlier this morning, citing illness. dan evans is currently in action against andrey rublev. they re into a tie break in the opening set, you can follow his progress over on the bbc sport website but for now that s all from me. isaac, thank you very much indeed. the british oil company shell has posted underlying profits of £7.3 billion between january and march. it s the company s highest quarterly figure, and triple the amount it made in the same period last year. shell s rival bp also revealed a sharp rise in income earlier this week. our international business correspondent theo leggett told us these companies are trading in energy products which have come under pressure because of the war in ukraine and the covid recovery. a year ago a barrel of oil was trading at around $65. today it is trading at $110. that is a huge increase,
this is bbc news. i m ben thompson. the headlines: interest rates rise to 1%, their highest level since 2009, as the bank of england tries to curb soaring inflation. profits at energy giant, shell, almost triple to £7.3 billion in the first three months of this year its highest ever quarterly figure. ukraine says russia is trying to destroy the last group of soldiers holding the azovstal steelworks in mariupol. but the kremlin denies storming the complex. the coronavirus pandemic caused 15 million excess deaths around the world. that s according to new research by the world health organization, which reveals the true death toll from covid 19. if you don t count it, then it doesn t matter and i think
look to the us for their interest rates decision last night, actually their central bank only see interest rates on top of the cycle at about 3%, so some of your viewers who may be used to double digit interest rates, i think even in this inflation environment they are unlikely to see them in the cycle. yes, and do something we will all see the impact of at some stage. some, thanks so much. simon french there at the investment bank, panmure gordon. staying with business. the energy giant, shell, has announced its highest ever quarterly profits. the company made nearly £7.3 billion in the first three months of this year. that s a three fold increase on the same period in 2021. earlier our business editor, simonjack, explained what was behind the rise in profits. increased costs of things like oil, gas, which have filtered through to petrol and our heating bills meant that companies like shell, as bp did earlier this week, have made bumper profits. we saw oil, crude oil prices, already