Author: BBC

Getty ImagesThe proportion of IVF cycles funded by the NHS has dropped from 40% in 2012 to 27% in 2022, the UK fertility regulator says.The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) says funding for in-vitro fertilisation treatment varies “considerably” across the UK.Its latest data also shows people starting IVF later – with the average age for first-time treatment now over 35.The success rate declines with age, it warns, and early access to treatment is crucial. ‘Postcode lottery’About 52,500 patients had IVF treatment across the UK in 2022, compared with 50,000 in 2019. In England, NHS funding depends on criteria set…

Seven people have died, including three young children and a teenager, in a fire that broke out in the early hours of Thursday in the southern French city of Nice.The local prosecutor said officials were investigating the blaze as a potential arson attack. Flames engulfed the upper floors of an apartment block in the Moulins area of Nice, close to the city’s airport.The mayor of Nice said they had images that clearly showed the fire had been caused by petrol poured into a stairwell by hooded people during the night. Visiting the scene later, caretaker Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said…

Getty ImagesA spitting cobra’s incredibly potent venom can quickly destroy skin, muscle and bone around the site of a biteA drug commonly prescribed to thin blood can be repurposed as a cheap antidote to cobra venom, a team of scientists based in Australia, Canada, Costa Rica and the UK has discovered. Snakebites kill about 138,000 people a year, mostly in poorer rural areas in low- and middle-income countries in Africa, South and South East Asia.More than 400,000 others develop necrosis, when the tissue around the bite dies and turns black. Cobras account for most bites in parts of Africa and…

1 hour agoBy Oliver Coe, BBC Scotland NewsMadame TussaudsCan you spot the real Ncuti Gatwa?Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa has come face to face with his waxwork doppelganger as it was unveiled at Madame Tussauds in London.In a video capturing the meeting between the Scottish actor and his wax clone, the 31-year-old was left shocked and giggling at the uncanny likeness.”Oh God. It’s the teeth. The teeth are so accurate,” Gatwa said as he studied the statue.The 15th Doctor’s waxwork will be open for the public to view from Friday.Madame TussaudsRussell T Davies unveiling the finished waxworkGatwa, who made his name as…

Ursula von der Leyen has been re-elected as the President of the European Commission following a secret ballot among MEPs.She secured the backing of 401 Members of the European Parliament at a vote in Strasbourg on Thursday – 40 more than she needed. Ms von der Leyen, of the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), was first elected in 2019.She will now serve another five years at the helm of the EU.In a speech to MEPs ahead of the vote, Ms von der Leyen said she would champion European defence with increased military spending, and committed to sticking to climate targets.…

51 minutes agoBy Nick Triggle, Health correspondent, @nicktriggle • Jim Reed, Health reporterGetty ImagesSignificant flaws in the UK’s pandemic planning meant Covid caused more deaths and economic costs than it should have, the first report of the Covid Inquiry says.The 217-page report called for radical reform of the systems, saying the UK government and devolved nations “failed their citizens”.It said the UK planned for the wrong pandemic – a mild one where spread of a new virus was inevitable – and this led to the UK turning to “untested” lockdowns.Part of the blame, it said, was groupthink by scientists and too little challenge from ministers.But it…

French Roman Catholic priest Abbé Pierre, remembered as a champion of the homeless, has been accused of sexual assault 17 years after his death.One of France’s most revered figures, Abbé Pierre died in January 2007, aged 94.But now the country has been shocked by allegations that he sexually assaulted or harassed seven women between 1970 and 2005.The news was broken by the Emmaus anti-poverty movement which he founded. The organisation said it had heard testimony from the seven women and it believed them.”These revelations have shaken our organisations, where the figure of Abbé Pierre plays a major role,” the charity…

The 17-year-old granddaughter of Donald Trump, Kai Trump, addresses the Republican convention. Source link

2 hours agoBy Jane Wakefield, Technology reporterJaime TeevanJaime Teevan thinks that AI can transform work meetingsWork meetings can sometimes be incredibly powerful.Like the one Jaime Teevan, chief scientist at Microsoft, says she had a few years ago with her chief executive Satya Nadella, and Sam Altman the founder of leading AI firm OpenAI.It had such a visceral impact on Ms Teevan that afterwards she sat in her car and screamed, elated at the possibility of AI.“I have never done that before, but there was just too much emotion,” she says.The meeting was a demonstration of the potential of OpenAI’s now popular AI…

3 hours agoBy Anthony Zurcher, @awzurcher, Senior North America correspondentEFEJD Vance took the stage on Wednesday night at the Republican national convention and introduced himself to an American public that frankly knows little about him.The 39-year-old also set the parameters for what could become a more clear and forceful ideological foundation to the populist conservative movement that Donald Trump brought to the White House, sometimes haltingly, in 2016.The Ohio senator, first elected to public office just two years ago, began by recounting Donald Trump’s brush with death by an assassin’s bullet on Saturday.He then turned to his own personal story – of a…