Author: BBC

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustPaul Read was the first patient recruited in a new therapy trial for treating brain tumoursA man’s brain tumour has shrunk by half in a matter of weeks thanks to a new radioactive therapy.Paul Read, 62, from Luton, was the first patient to take part in a trial aimed at treating glioblastoma, a type of cancer that kills most patients within 18 months.The therapy, at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH), involved injecting low levels of radioactivity directly into the tumour to kill off cancer cells.The doctor who designed the trial said…

HSBC has seen its quarterly profits jump by 10% as the UK-based banking giant embarks on one of the biggest shakeups in its 159-year history.The firm said its pre-tax profits rose to $8.5bn (£6.6bn) in the three months to the end of September, beating analysts’ expectations.It comes just days after HSBC’s new boss announced a major overhaul of the company.The firm will be split geographically into eastern and western markets amid increasing geopolitical tensions and a need to cut costs.HSBC’s new chief executive, Georges Elhedery, said that implementation of the plans will “begin immediately” and promised to share more details…

After a long wait, Apple has finally released its artificial intelligence (AI) tools for iPhone – to a select few.Apple Intelligence, a suite of AI tools announced in June, became available to owners of some iPhones around the world on Monday.The new features include notification summaries, tools to assist users in writing messages, and a glowing new interface for virtual assistant Siri.But they will only be available to people with the latest devices – including all iPhone 16 models, and the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max.Apple Intelligence is also available on Mac computers and iPad tablets that are powered…

Gérard Depardieu’s trial on charges of sexual assault has been postponed until March because the French actor is in poor health, a court in Paris has said.Depardieu, 75, was absent when the trial opened earlier on Monday, with his lawyer asking for a delay to proceedings, citing his client’s health issues.Depardieu is accused of attacking two women while shooting the 2021 film Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters), in the highest profile #MeToo case to hit France.Prosecutors say he made explicit sexual remarks to, and then aggressively “groped”, two members of the production team. If convicted, he could face five…

Watch: Trump rally speaker calls Puerto Rico ‘a floating island of garbage’A comedian at a Donald Trump rally called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage”, sparking fury from Republicans and Democrats and accusations of racism.The comic, Tony Hinchcliffe, was among the speakers at the Madison Square Garden in New York on Sunday. He also made a series of jokes that leant on racist stereotypes.A Trump adviser distanced the former president from the Puerto Rico joke, which was also denounced by Trump’s Democratic rival, Kamala Harris. Harris herself was the target of another Trump warm-up speaker who also sparked controversy.The…

BBCFive times Prof Kevin Fong broke down in tears in a nondescript hearing room in West London, while giving evidence to the Covid inquiry.The 53-year-old has the kind of CV that makes you pay attention: a consultant anaesthetist in London who also works for the air ambulance service and specialises in space medicine.In 2020, as Covid spread around the world, he was seconded to NHS England and sent out to the worst hit areas to support other medics.We’ve long been told that hospitals were struggling to cope during the pandemic. In January 2021, then prime minister Boris Johnson warned the…

There is no special Budget red box commissioned for Rachel Reeves when, mid-morning on Wednesday, she becomes the first woman to brandish one outside Number 11.There will be no such frills, few jokes and don’t expect a big rabbit out of the hat.The number crunchers, bean counters, and abacus economists, so derided by Liz Truss, have taken back control. In that reused Red Box will be a boffin’s Budget.Indeed, it could be defined by being the polar opposite of everything in Truss and her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s infamous mini-Budget two years ago.They notoriously declined the offer of an Office of…

Microsoft Activision BlizzardThe Call of Duty series is one of the best-selling games in historyIt has been eagerly anticipated, but this year’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has finally dropped for gamers to get stuck into.The Call of Duty (CoD) series is one of the best-selling in history with more than 425 million lifetime sales and has made billions of dollars.But this latest edition comes with a bit of a difference, with it being available straight away to subscribers of Microsoft’s Game Pass service – a first for a game of this size.It means those with the existing Netflix-style…

British superstar Adele burst into tears after spotting Celine Dion at her concert residency in Las Vegas. The two singers then shared an emotional hug in the Colosseum Theater at Caesars Palace, a venue originally built for Dion’s 2003 debut residency. “This truly felt like she was proudly handing the keys to Adele,” Nasser, who was in the audience and filmed the moment on his phone, told BBC News. “And when Adele gave her that hug, everyone felt what they felt.”Adele is known to idolise the Canadian icon, while Dion has also spoken in glowing terms about Adele.

A US singer has apologised after she swore on live TV during a performance of the US national anthem. Loomis prompted mockery on social media when she performed The Star-Spangled Banner at an independent candidate debate on Wednesday which was broadcast live on TV station C-SPAN. On Instagram she called the incident a “mishap” and told the team at Free and Equal Elections, who organised the debate: “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to mess up the national anthem.”