Author: BBC

Stormzy and Maya Jama have announced they have split up.The rapper and Love Island presenter shared a joint statement on Instagram, saying they had been trying to make their relationship work since they got back together last year. “We tried, and it didn’t work, and that’s okay,” they said.The post started: “We’ve been laughing whilst drafting this because we never, ever, in a million years thought we’d be the couple announcing a breakup.”But for the sake of clarity and, more importantly, to allow us the space and grace that’s needed for us both to be able to navigate this next…

A search operation is under way to locate 16 missing crew members, 13 of whom are Indian, after an oil tanker capsized off the coast of Oman.An Indian official told the BBC that the foreign ministry was coordinating the operation with Oman’s maritime authorities.Oman officials said late on Monday that the oil tanker – Prestige Falcon – had capsized 25 nautical miles southeast of its Ras Madrakah peninsula.Three of the 16 missing crew members are Sri Lankan.The Comoros-flagged vessel was on its way to the port of Aden in Yemen when it capsized.Officials from Oman’s Maritime Security Centre told Reuters…

The GMB has narrowly lost its historic bid for union recognition at the Amazon warehouse in Coventry. Some 49.5% of workers balloted voted in favour, while 50.5% voted against. The union needed a majority to vote in favour.If the GMB had won it would have been the first time Amazon recognised a union in the UK. The online giant would have been forced to negotiate with workers on issues such as pay and conditions.In a statement, Amazon said it placed “enormous value on engaging directly” with staff.”We look forward to continuing on that path with our team in Coventry,” it…

43 minutes agoBy Mark Savage, Music correspondentGetty ImagesAdele’s Las Vegas residency will reach its 100th and final show in NovemberAdele has revealed she plans to take an extended break from music after her current run of concerts.”My tank is quite empty at the minute,” the star told German broadcaster ZDF ahead of a 10-date residency in Munich.”I don’t have any plans for new music at all,” she said. “I want a big break after all this and I think I want to do other creative things just for a little while.“You know, I don’t even sing at home at all. How strange…

Fourteen high school students in Tokyo were rushed to hospital after eating “super spicy” potato chips on Tuesday, police said. Around 30 students ate the crisps after one of them brought them to school, local media reported. Soon, some of them started complaining of nausea and acute pain around their mouth, prompting emergency calls to the fire department and police.The 13 girls and one boy who were taken to hospital were conscious and reportedly had minor symptoms.The company that makes the snack, Isoyama Corp, put out a statement, apologising for “any inconvenience” to customers, and wished the students a swift…

Getty ImagesWhatever the new government chooses to focus on in the King’s Speech, it faces big and immediate challenges it will not be able to ignore.Here are some of the most pressing issues Labour has said are part of its inheritance.Public sector payDecisions on pay rises for NHS staff, teachers, police and prison guards in England have to be taken by the end of this month, when the official public sector pay review process for 2024-25 must be concluded.The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) estimates that the government would need to find at least an extra £7bn per year to…

Six people who died in a luxury hotel suite in Thailand were poisoned by drinks laced with cyanide, police have said.Police suspect that one of the dead was behind the poisoning and was driven by crushing debt.The six deceased were found dead by housekeepers at the Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel in the Thai capital Bangkok late on Tuesday.Investigators believe they had been dead for 24 hours by then. Two of the six had loaned “tens of millions Thai baht” to another of the deceased for investment purposes, authorities said. Ten million baht is worth nearly $280,000 (£215,000).Confusion and mystery had…

UK inflation held steady in June as price rises across the country stayed at the Bank of England’s target level for the second month running.Prices rose at 2% in the year to June, unchanged from May and partly driven by hotel prices going up, according to the latest official figures.But price increases in areas such as services, which include everything from restaurants to hairdressers, remain persistent.That could raise questions for Bank of England policymakers over when they should begin to cut interest rates.Darren Jones, the new chief secretary to the Treasury, said prices remained high for families across Britain. “We…

15 minutes agoBy Orla Guerin, Reporting from southern LebanonBBC / Goktay KoraltanExplosions are part of the sound of summer in the ancient Lebanese city of TyreAs the war in Gaza grinds on, there are growing fears another Middle East war may erupt – with devastating consequences for the region, and beyond.Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah (backed by Iran) have been trading fire across their shared border for the past nine months. If this conflict escalates to all-out war, it could dwarf the destruction in Gaza, draw in Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, and Yemen, spread embers around the Middle East and…

Joe Biden is considering backing a host of reforms to the US Supreme Court including ending lifetime appointments, according to US media.Backing such changes would mark a major reversal for the Democratic president. It comes after the high court made a series of decisions including the removal of the federal right to abortion and a ruling that gave Donald Trump immunity from prosecution for “official acts” as president.CBS News, the BBC’s partner in the US, reported that Mr Biden was examining establishing term limits for justices, which are currently lifetime appointments, and bolstering the court’s ethics code.However, changes would be…