Author: BBC

A ban on baby milk price promotions should be overturned to stop parents “paying over the odds” for formula, a government watchdog has suggested.The Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) interim report on baby milk formula said the market needed a shake-up to help parents struggling to afford it.Recommendations included the government issuing NHS-branded baby milk and removing branding from baby milk in hospitals.It stopped short of recommending price controls, but said they remain a possibility, adding parents have been “shouldering the costs” of price increases in the market for years.”We’re concerned that companies don’t compete strongly on price and many…

Getty ImagesSmall but influential Qatar is a key US ally and hosts a major air baseQatar has withdrawn as a mediator in ceasefire and hostage release talks between Israel and Hamas, reports say. It comes after senior US officials reportedly said Washington would no longer accept the presence of Hamas representatives in Qatar, accusing the Palestinian group of rejecting fresh proposals for an end to the war in Gaza. Anonymous diplomatic sources told the AFP and Reuters news agencies that Hamas’s political office in Doha “no longer serves its purpose” due to “a refusal to negotiate a deal in good…

Actor Tony Todd, best known for starring in the Candyman horror films, has died aged 69.The American actor died at his home in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, according to reports.He starred as the title character in the horror series, depicting the ghostly Candyman character with a hook for a hand, summoned by saying his name five times in front of a mirror.Todd continued as Candyman from the first film in 1992 through follow-ups in 1995 and 1999, and reprised the role in 2021 for a fourth film serving as a direct sequel to the original.Throughout his 40-year career, Todd…

The police watchdog will review how Metropolitan Police officers handled allegations of sexual offences against former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed.The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) will review two cases the Met Police investigated in 2008 and 2013 after the force referred itself. Hundreds of people have contacted the BBC about Harrods and the billionaire since the documentary Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods aired.Over 70 of those were from women who sent the BBC their accounts of abuse by Al Fayed including sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape.The Met said it had received complaints from two women regarding prior…

Getty ImagesDonald Trump made the first official hire of his incoming administration, announcing 2024 campaign co-chair Susan Summerall Wiles as his chief of staff.The president-elect’s transition team already is vetting a series of candidates ahead of his return to the White House on 20 January 2025.Many who served under Trump in his first term do not plan to return, though a handful of loyalists are rumoured by US media to be making a comeback.A new group of colleagues also now surrounds the 78-year-old Republican.There are more than 4,000 positions to be filled across Trump’s cabinet and White House, and across…

Getty ImagesLiam Payne died on 16 October in the Argentine capital Buenos AiresThree people have been charged in connection with the death of One Direction star Liam Payne, Argentine authorities have announced.Payne died on 16 October after falling from a hotel balcony in the capital, Buenos Aires.On 6 November, his body was released to his family to be flown back to the UK, having previously been held while toxicology and laboratory tests were carried out. Here’s what we know so far about the police investigation and the circumstances surrounding Payne’s death.Why was Liam in Argentina?Payne was visiting his former bandmate…

Zoe CorbynFifty of these giant driverless trucks work in the Greater Nammuldi iron ore mineIt doesn’t get much more remote than this. I’m in inland Western Australia, at Rio Tinto’s Greater Nammuldi iron ore mine. It’s about a two-hour flight north from Perth in a region called the Pilbara. No-one lives permanently here. Around 400 workers are on the site at any one time, and they are flown in, working between four and eight days, depending on their shift pattern, before flying home. Giant trucks the size of townhouses, capable of hauling 300 tonnes, criss-cross red-earth roads in various sections…

BBCAn NHS mobile lung-cancer screening clinic in Gorton, Manchester.A lung-cancer screening programme that sees mobile clinics visit local communities in England has detected the disease earlier in more than 5,000 people. Specially adapted lorries have been visiting supermarkets, football grounds and town centres in areas with the highest rates of the disease, as part of the biggest initiative of its kind in NHS history.Since the programme’s launch, in 2019, 5,037 lung cancers have been detected, with 76% of those at the earliest stages of the disease. People are nearly 20 times more likely to survive for five years if their…

The Entertainer toy shop chain says it has been forced to drop plans to open two new stores after the government said it would raise National Insurance (NI) Contributions for employers.Chief executive Andrew Murphy told the BBC the higher taxes, announced in last week’s Budget, meant it could no longer go ahead with the shops and it had also frozen hiring at its head office.A number of companies, including Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer, have hinted that Labour’s changes to NI could result in higher prices for customers. The Treasury said: “We had to make difficult choices to fix the…

Getty ImagesThe party that will control the US House of Representatives for the next two years is still in the balance. Republicans were seven seats short of the 218 seats needed to take control on Thursday morning. Democrats need 15 more.The Senate, or upper chamber, and the White House have already flipped to Republicans so President-elect Donald Trump could have total control when he is sworn in on 20 January 2025.Control of the House, the lower chamber, gives a party the power to initiate spending legislation and launch impeachment proceedings against officials.Under Trump, a unified Republican Party could more easily…