Author: BBC

Nathan BriantSouth of England Annette BevanAnnette Bevan wants other mums to feel that they can play rugby after having a childThe co-founder of a rugby club for women who have had children said the sport is ideal for new mums who want to stay active.Annette Bevan, a mum-of-two who currently plays for Reading Abbey RFC, is one of the coordinators of the Maa Maas club.It has about 920 mums following its Facebook page and about 150 signed up to play matches, with one set to take place in Newcastle in April.”You have to carve out that time for yourself,” she…

Kevin PeacheyCost of living correspondentGetty ImagesAs the new year got into its stride, so did the UK’s index of leading shares.The FTSE 100 climbed above 10,000 points for the first time since it was created in 1984, cheering investors – and the chancellor, who wants more of us to move money out of cash savings and into investments.The index tracks the performance of the 100 largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange and rose by more than a fifth in 2025.But with many people still struggling with everyday costs, and with talk of some stocks being overvalued, does the…

The UK government says X limiting Grok AI image edits to users who pay a monthly fee is “insulting” to victims of misogyny and sexual violence. It follows backlash after Elon Musk’s AI engine digitally changed images of people by undressing them – something it says it now can only do for those who pay a monthly instalment. The BBC’s technology editor Zoe Kleinman explains what’s happened and why.

Becky MortonPolitical reporterGetty ImagesSome people are waiting more than a year to have their disability benefit claims processed, which risks pushing them into debt and poverty, MPs have warned.The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) aims to process 75% of new claims for Personal Independence Payment (Pip) within 75 working days but in the last financial year only 51% of claims were processed within this timeframe.A report by the cross-party Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the department was providing “unacceptably poor service levels”.The DWP said that at the end of October, the average time taken for a Pip claim to…

Kevin PeacheyCost of living correspondentGetty ImagesDebt charities say they are receiving an influx of calls as people worry their financial situation has slipped towards becoming unmanageable.The first weeks of January are usually the busiest time of year for helplines following a particularly expensive period.Advice charity StepChange said Monday was busier than any single day last year, and credit counselling service Money Wellness said a fifth of those accessing its services at the turn of the year did so between 22:00 and 03:00.Dave Murphy is working his way out of debt and said demands from creditors could have become overwhelming, but…

Elon Musk’s platform X has limited image editing with its AI tool Grok to paying users, after it came under fire for allowing people to make sexualised deepfakes.There has been a significant backlash after the chatbot honoured requests from users to digitally alter images of other people by undressing them without their consent.But Grok is now telling people asking it to make such material that only paid subscribers would be able to do so – meaning their name and payment information must be on file.The BBC has approached X for comment.It comes after the government urged regulator Ofcom to use…

Joanne WrittleBBC Midlands Today Health Correspondent, BirminghamBBCTom Blyth, a consultant at Heartlands Hospital, said patients sometimes carry knives while in hospitalKnife amnesty bins are being installed outside hospitals in Birmingham and Sutton Coldfield after weapons were found by health workers in toilets, on a footpath and even just before a patient’s MRI scan.A bin for people to safely dispose of blades is already in operation at Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham.More will be installed at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the city and Good Hope at Sutton Coldfield next week.”People do attend the hospital carrying knives and they can sometimes be…

High Street shops, pharmacies and music venues have called on Rachel Reeves to axe the looming increases to business rates for them as well as pubs.The government is expected to announce a climbdown on the increases to business rates bills faced by pubs in England in the coming days.Landlords and pub owners have been fiercely critical of the impending hikes, with more than 1,000 pubs banning Labour MPs from their premises.But other lobby groups and backbench MPs have urged the government to widen the relief, saying many other kinds of businesses will not be able to pay the higher bills.In…

Faisal IslamEconomics editorInside the secretive lab which stores the world’s most powerful computerIt looks like a golden chandelier and contains the coldest place in the universe.What I am looking at is not just the most powerful computer in the world, but technology pivotal to financial security, Bitcoin, government secrets, the world economy and more.Quantum computing holds the key to which companies and countries win – and lose – the rest of the 21st Century.In front of me suspended a metre in the air, in a Google facility in Santa Barbara California, is Willow. Frankly, it was not what I expected.…

Laura MaguireLaura Maguire said she often spends days in bed due to painMarie-Louise ConnollyHealth correspondent, BBC News NIA woman waiting for endometriosis treatment has said the pain she experiences is like having barbed wire in her body.Laura Maguire, who is 25 and from Londonderry, has been put in an early medicated menopause as she awaits surgery – a wait which she has been told could take several years.According to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), 59,733 women in Northern Ireland are now on gynaecology waiting lists, an increase of almost 18% in 12 months.The Department of Health has…