34 minutes ago About sharing By Chi Chi Izundu, Rob Brown & Jo Adnitt BBC News The X Factor offered its contestants the enticing prospect of instant fame and fortune, but they also ran the risk of humiliation and broken dreams. Twenty years after it first appeared, contestants and staff have told the BBC what…
3 hours ago About sharing By Jack Fenwick BBC Politics Council tax bands in England should be overhauled to fix a crisis in council funding, a group representing northern businesses has urged. The Northern Powerhouse Partnership (NPP) says the decades-old property valuations underpinning the bands should be redone to make them fairer. It wants Chancellor…
28 minutes ago About sharing Smith’s mugshot at the time Alabama has executed convicted murderer Kenneth Eugene Smith with nitrogen gas, the first time the method of capital punishment has been used in the US. Smith, 58, lost two final appeals to the Supreme Court and one to a federal appeals court, arguing the execution…
49 minutes ago About sharing Footage shows timeline of Nottingham attacks and killer’s arrest By Thomas Mackintosh BBC News The attorney general is considering whether judges should review the sentence of killer Valdo Calocane. The 32-year-old fatally stabbed students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, before killing school caretaker Ian Coates last June. He was given…
1 hour ago About sharing By Victoria Gill Science correspondent, BBC News Hermit crabs all over the world, which scavenge shells as armour for their bodies, are turning increasingly to plastic waste instead. The conclusion is based on analysis of photos, taken by wildlife enthusiasts, and published online. Scientists said they were “heartbroken” to see…
1 hour ago About sharing The ICJ’s ruling will be politically significant if it goes against Israel By Anna Holligan and Raffi Berg BBC News, The Hague and London The UN’s top court could issue emergency measures ordering Israel to halt its military operations in Gaza. The session of the International Court of Justice (ICJ)…
30 minutes ago About sharing By Andy Verity BBC Economics correspondent Documents showing Post Office top bosses secretly decided in April 2014 to sack forensic accountants who had found bugs in their IT system have been obtained by the BBC. A Post Office board sub-committee, codenamed “Project Sparrow”, took the decision with the full knowledge…
37 minutes ago About sharing By Brandon Livesay and Nada Tawfik Reporting from court in New York Donald Trump has testified in the defamation trial brought by writer E Jean Carroll, but his much-anticipated time on the stand was kept brief. The civil trial focuses on defamatory comments Mr Trump made about Ms Carroll in…
1 minute ago About sharing The breakdown in talks means British car companies could find it more expensive to sell in Canada By Paul Seddon Politics reporter The UK has stopped its trade talks with Canada, after nearly two years of negotiations on a post-Brexit agreement. Trade between the two countries currently takes place under…
49 minutes ago About sharing The BBC has verified this video showing the moment a Russian aircraft crashed in the Belgorod region By Sarah Rainsford, in Kharkiv Eastern Europe correspondent A representative of Ukrainian defence intelligence has told the BBC that he “does not exclude” the possibility there were Ukrainian prisoners on board the Russian…