Author: BBC

Ben KingBusiness reporterBBCAdvert for heated tobacco product on display in a Sainsbury’s store in LondonSainsbury’s and Morrisons are displaying adverts for tobacco products in their stores which Trading Standards says are against the law.Video screens and posters promote devices that deliver nicotine by heating tobacco rather than burning it.The two supermarkets say they believe the laws banning tobacco advertising do not apply to the devices.Heated tobacco is less harmful than cigarettes, but experts say it is probably more harmful than vapes, and less effective at helping smokers quit.Tobacco adverts were banned in 2002. But if you walk into a Sainsbury’s…

Graham FraserTechnology reporterGetty ImagesBarclays bank is experiencing intermittent errors with payments and transfers amid serious IT problems that also earlier affected its app and online banking. Customers have told the BBC it is preventing them making essential transactions, ranging from buying baby milk to completing a house move.Barclays says cards and cash machines can be used as normal – though some customers have said this is not the case.The outage is occurring on what is pay day for many people in the UK, and the deadline for self-assessment tax returns.Barclays has not explained the cause of the IT problems, or…

Steven McIntoshEntertainment reporterBBCCassidy’s exit storyline will coincide with the show’s 40th anniversary in FebruaryActress Natalie Cassidy is to leave EastEnders, more than three decades after her first appearance on the soap as Sonia Fowler.In a statement the 41-year-old said she was “extremely sad” but also “very excited” to be moving on.Her exit storyline has not yet been confirmed, but the BBC said her final scenes would air around the time of the soap’s 40th anniversary in February. Cassidy said: “After another 11 solid years back on the square, I have decided it’s time to move on to pastures new. Natalie…

BBCA friend got Zoe her AI-created book as a Christmas presentFor Christmas I received an interesting gift from a friend – my very own “best-selling” book.”Tech-Splaining for Dummies” (great title) bears my name and my photo on its cover, and it has glowing reviews.Yet it was entirely written by AI, with a few simple prompts about me supplied by my friend Janet.It’s an interesting read, and very funny in parts. But it also meanders quite a lot, and is somewhere between a self-help book and a stream of anecdotes.It mimics my chatty style of writing, but it’s also a bit…

Smitha MundasadHealth reporter, BBC NewsBBCAsiawu Imam says the therapy will make a huge differenceA gene-editing therapy for sickle cell disease, with a price tag of £1.65m, is to be offered to patients on the NHS in England. About 50 people a year with the inherited blood disorder are likely to receive it, experts say. Prof Bola Owolabi, of NHS England, called it a “monumental step forward”, and said the one-off treatment Casgevy, also known as Exa-cel, “holds a very real prospect of a cure”.A confidential agreement has been made with manufacturer Vertex on how much the NHS will pay.Campaigners have…

Colletta Smith and Kevin PeacheyCost of living correspondentsGetty ImagesHouseholds in England and Wales will pay £10 more on average on their monthly water bills from April, final figures show.The rise will see the average annual bill hit £603, but there are significant variations between regions.Water companies have committed extra money for investment in infrastructure, such as reservoirs, and more help for struggling customers.However, consumer groups are warning the rise means more households will fall into debt.’Difficult’ increaseThe average bill increase equates to around £10 a month, from £40 to £50, but millions of households face even steeper rises.Southern Water customers…

US President Donald Trump has signed a legal settlement that will see Facebook and Instagram owner Meta pay out roughly $25m (£20m).Trump sued the social media giant and its chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, in 2021 over the suspension of his accounts after the 6 January Capitol riots that year.In July 2024, Meta lifted the final restrictions on Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts in the lead up to US presidential elections.The settlement was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.Around $22m of the settlement will go to a fund for Trump’s presidential library.The balance will be used to cover legal costs…

Thousands of people with a severe dust mite allergy could benefit from a “life changing” new daily treatment.The National Institute for Healthcare and Care Excellence (NICE) is recommending a daily tablet that has been shown to reduce symptoms.Dr Helen Evans-Howells, a Bournemouth GP and expert in allergy patients, said the evidence “clearly” showed the treatment was an “effective solution”.The tablet, known as Acarizax, is the first of its kind according to a statement released by NICE.The institute has published its recommendations for the tablet, made by ALK-Abello, which is an option to treat moderate-to-severe house dust mite allergic rhinitis.An estimated…

Two Just Stop Oil activists have been charged after a West End production of The Tempest starring Sigourney Weaver was disrupted.Protesters took to the stage of the Drury Lane theatre on Monday, with footage later posted online of a pair carrying a sign that said “over 1.5 degrees is a global shipwreck”. Hollywood actress Weaver, who had been sitting in a chair on stage, was escorted away by a member of the theatre’s staff.Richard Weir, 60, of Tynemouth, and Hayley Walsh, 42, of Radcliffe on Trent in Nottinghamshire, are accused of aggravated trespass.They are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’…

Noel Clarke has failed in his attempt to strike out the Guardian’s defence in his libel action against the newspaper.The actor, writer and director had accused the Guardian of destroying crucial messages and fabricating evidence. It means that the trial of his defamation claim will now go ahead in March.Clarke is suing Guardian News and Media (GNM) over a series of articles which featured claims from a number of women who accused him of groping and sexually inappropriate behaviour on set over a number of years.In a statement at the time, the former Doctor Who star vehemently denied any sexual…