Author: BBC

Ian YoungsCulture reporter andSam Harrison & Helena WilkinsonBBC NewsPA MediaGraham Linehan has pleaded not guilty to harassment and criminal damageGraham Linehan has told a court his life has been “made hell” by transgender activists, including one who he is accused of harassing.Giving evidence on the second day of his trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday, Mr Linehan said: “Trans activists have spent the last 10 years demonising anyone who stands up to them.”The prosecution alleges Mr Linehan “relentlessly” posted abusive comments about Sophia Brooks, 18, on social media last October, before throwing her phone in a road.The Father Ted…

Liv McMahonTechnology reporterTeam CherryThe biggest online video game stores crashed on Thursday as they struggled to deal with high demand for Hollow Knight: Silksong – one of the most-anticipated games of the year.Thousands of users reported they were unable to buy the game on PC store Steam after its release at 15:00 BST, with errors persisting until around 17:30.Social media users also shared their difficulties trying to purchase Silksong on other platforms, including the Nintendo, PlayStation and Xbox game stores.Fans of Hollow Knight have been eagerly awaiting the sequel after the first game’s release in 2017, which has sold more…

Nat WrightHealth Producer andJudith BurnsBBC NewsGetty ImagesErrors by machines used to diagnose diabetes mean at least 55,000 people in England will need further blood tests, a BBC investigation has discovered.Some patients have been wrongly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and even prescribed medication they don’t need – and there could be more people affected, say NHS England.NHSE has confirmed 16 hospital trusts use the machines, made by Trinity Biotech, which have produced inaccurate test results.In a statement, Trinity Biotech says it is working closely with the UK health regulator and has contacted all hospitals which use the machines. The BBC…

Faarea MasudBusiness reporter, BBC NewsGetty ImagesSunny weather and the women’s Euro football tournament helped to lift retail sales in July, according to the latest official figures.Retail sales volumes rose by 0.6% in July, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which was more than analysts had been expecting.Clothing and footwear stores, as well as online retailers, saw strong sales growth during the month. The release of the figures had been delayed by two weeks over concerns about the quality of the statistics, and the ONS admitted it had made errors in how its survey data matched up to calendar…

Ian YoungsCulture reporter andSam HarrisonBBC NewsMoment Graham Linehan appears to grab phone of trans activistFather Ted co-creator Graham Linehan “relentlessly” posted abusive comments about a teenage transgender campaigner on social media before throwing her phone in a road, a court has been told.The Irish writer is on trial in London on charges of harassment and criminal damage. He has pleaded not guilty.Westminster Magistrates’ Court was told that the 57-year-old used social media to publish a series of “abusive and vindictive” posts about Sophia Brooks, 18.Mr Linehan told police it did not amount to harassment. He also said exposing the tactics…

The world’s biggest destination for illegal streams of live sports events has been shut down, according to a leading anti-piracy group.The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) said on Wednesday it had teamed up with police in Egypt to close down Streameast, which had been visited more than 1.6 billion times in the past year.It allowed millions to access pirated streams of sports such as Premier League football matches, Formula One races and Major League Baseball games.ACE chairman Charles Rivkin said it was a “resounding victory in its fight to detect, deter, and dismantle criminal perpetrators of digital piracy”.”With this…

Smitha Mundasad and Judith BurnsBBC NewsMerope MillsMartha Mills died aged 13 after developing sepsis.Martha’s rule, a way for families to seek an urgent second opinion if they are concerned about the care their loved ones receive, will be rolled out across all English hospitals delivering acute or short-term treatment. The telephone helpline, the result of a campaign by the parents of 13-year-old Martha Mills who died after serious failings in her care, has been piloted in 143 hospital sites in England since April 2024.Figures from NHS England show that since then there have been almost 5,000 calls, resulting in 241…

ReutersPerry was found dead in a jacuzzi at his Los Angeles home in October 2023A woman dubbed the “Ketamine Queen” has pleaded guilty to selling the drugs that ultimately killed Friends actor Matthew Perry.Jasveen Sangha, 42, pleaded guilty to five charges in Los Angeles on Wednesday, including one count of distributing ketamine resulting in death or bodily injury.The American-British dual-national originally faced nine criminal counts. Federal prosecutors called her Los Angeles home a “drug-selling emporium” and found dozens of vials of ketamine during a raid.Perry was found dead in a jacuzzi at his Los Angeles home in October 2023, with…

A lawyer representing a California couple who are suing ChatGPT-maker OpenAI over the death of their 16-year-old son has criticised the popular chatbot’s new parental controls.The firm has introduced new rules in the wake of the family’s allegations that ChatGPT encouraged their child to take his own life.OpenAI said parents of teenage users will soon be able to receive a notification if the platform thinks their child is in “acute distress”, among other parental controls.But Jay Edelson, a lawyer representing the family, said the announcement was “OpenAI’s crisis management team trying to change the subject” and called for the chatbot…

Michelle RobertsDigital health editor, BBC NewsGetty ImagesThe government is planning a new law in England to stop anyone under the age of 16 buying energy drinks such as Red Bull, Monster and Prime from shops, restaurants, cafes, vending machines and online.Up to a third of UK children are thought to consume these types of drinks every week, despite most supermarkets having already introduced a voluntary ban.Some popular drinks contain more caffeine than two cups of coffee. Excessive consumption is linked to headaches and sleep problems.Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the government…