Author: BBC

Hundreds of social media posts and websites operated by financial influencers are to be taken down following action by the City regulator.The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said the move was part of an international crackdown, which has led to three arrests in the UK.So-called finfluencers can legitimately give financial tips on social media to large audiences, but sometimes this can stray into illegal financial advice.That can include a lack of authorisation and a failure to explain the risks – all packaged in promotional posts using the pretence of a lavish lifestyle.Regulators across across the UK, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Italy…

Joe TidyCyber correspondent, BBC World ServiceBloomberg via Getty ImagesAn abusive email sent by the Marks & Spencer hackers to the retailer’s boss gloating about the hack and demanding payment has been seen by the BBC.The message to M&S CEO Stuart Machin – which was in broken English – was sent on the 23 April from the hacker group called DragonForce using the email account of an employee.The email confirms for the first time that M&S has been hacked by the ransomware group – something that M&S has so far refused to acknowledge.”We have marched the ways from China all the…

BBCKeisha Buchanan is one of the three original SugababesA former professional footballer has appeared in court charged with assaulting Sugababes singer Keisha Buchanan, and controlling when she could shower, wear lipstick or go to the gym.Taiwo Leo Atieno, 39, faces eight charges relating to his ex-girlfriend, Ms Buchanan, during an approximately 13-year period.The former Luton Town and Kenya national team player appeared via video-link wearing a suit and tie.He was granted conditional bail and is due to enter pleas in August.Mr Atieno, from Brixton, south London, is charged with assaulting the founding Sugababes member between 2012 and 2015, causing her…

A woman who purchased weight-loss jab Mounjaro online says she is now considering coming off the drug, as she believe it is causing her to lose hair. Rebecca Quarmby lost two stone (12.7kg) on a Slimming World programme, but decided to opt for the jab to lose further weight. She told the BBC’s Natalie Bell that she doesn’t believe her GP would have prescribed the jab, had she approached them. Hair loss is listed as a “common” side effect, according to Mounjaro’s patient information leaflet. There are also other concerns related to the jab, with the Medicines and Healthcare products…

A lawyer for 16 families of the victims of a fatal Boeing 737 Max crash, has told the BBC that a deal between the aviation giant and the US Justice Department (DOJ) is “morally repugnant”.The firm said it agreed to pay $1.1bn (£811.5m) to avoid prosecution over two crashes that killed 346 people, in a filing on Wednesday.Sanjiv Singh, counsel for family members of some of the victims of a 2018 crash in Indonesia, says the deal allows the firm to “sidestep true criminal accountability”.Boeing has previously said: “We are deeply sorry for their losses, and remain committed to honouring…

Tom GerkenTechnology reporterPeter GillibrandNewsbeat reporterBloomberg via Getty ImagesThe Nintendo Switch 2 has been released worldwide, with stores opening at midnight so fans could get their hands on the long-awaited console the moment it became available.Some shops have the devices available to buy off the shelf – but in most cases customers have been picking up consoles they had ordered in advance, with UK retailer Currys calling it its “biggest gaming pre-order ever.”Despite the excitement there have been some setbacks, with one supplier, Game, cancelling some pre-orders. In the US, Nintendo briefly pulled Switch 2 pre-orders in April over concerns around…

Paul GlynnCulture reporterStian AndersenThe singer also co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo in 1996A-ha frontman Morten Harket has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.The news was announced on Wednesday on the Norwegian synth-pop band’s official website in an article written by their biographer Jan Omdahl, which also revealed the singer had already undergone brain surgery twice.Harket, 65, said he had “no problem accepting the diagnosis”, adding: “With time, I’ve taken to heart my 94-year-old father’s attitude to the way the organism gradually surrenders: ‘I use whatever works’.”A-Ha are best known for their megahit Take On Me, taken from their 1985…

Elen HughesElen Hughes says if she was investigated while grieving, it “might well have been the end of me”Women’s bodies are still controlled by “Victorian era” laws, a mum has said, after police issued new guidelines which allow officers to search grieving women for abortion drugs. Elen Hughes, from the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd, whose baby was stillborn, called the plans horrifying.They include allowing searches of mothers’ mobile phones if a baby dies unexpectedly in the womb.The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said such cases were rarely investigated and only if there was suspicion an illegal abortion had taken place,…

Mitchell LabiakBusiness reporter, BBC NewsGetty ImagesThe UK has been temporarily spared from US President Donald Trump’s executive order doubling steel and aluminium tariffs from 25% to 50%.The order raises import taxes for US-based firms buying the metals from other countries from Wednesday – but the levy remains at 25% for the UK.However, the UK could end up facing the higher rate if its deal signed with the Trump administration last month, which would see steel and aluminium tariffs axed, does not come into force. Imports of UK steel into America are currently subject to tariffs, but the UK government said…

Aylo, the company which runs a number of pornographic websites, including Pornhub, is to stop operating in France from Wednesday.It is in reaction to a French law requiring porn sites to take extra steps to verify their users’ ages.An Aylo spokesperson said the law was a privacy risk and assessing people’s ages should be done at a device level.Pornhub is the most visited porn site in the world – with France its second biggest market, after the US.Aylo – and other providers of sexually explicit material – find themselves under increasing regulatory pressure worldwide.The EU recently announced an investigation into…