Author: BBC

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…

2 hours agoBy James Gallagher, @JamesTGallagher, Health and science correspondent, BBC NewsGetty ImagesThe cervix is the canal joining the vagina and the wombMore than one million extra women could have life-saving cervical-cancer checks if the NHS adopted do-it-yourself testing, researchers estimate.The team at King’s College London said the results of its self-testing trial were “fantastic” and “gave power to women”.The kits are like a Covid swab but longer and are posted to a lab for analysis.The NHS called the findings extremely positive and is assessing whether to roll out the scheme.There are more than 3,000 new cases of cervical cancer in the UK…

BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarronActress Molly Rainford says she “constantly worries” about the risk of spiking on nights out Eastenders actress Molly Rainford says it’s “important” for the soap to tackle spiking in a new experimental storyline.Her character Anna Knight stars in a new five-part mini series uploaded by the show’s makers to social media.Called Spiked, it shows what happens to Anna when her drink gets spiked during a night out.The online shorts are accessible via a QR code displayed during the episode shown on BBC One on Tuesday night.Viewers who scan the image with their phones are taken to the five…

Schools and universities across Bangladesh have been shut until further notice after six people were killed in protests over quotas in government jobs.University students have been holding rallies for several days against the system of providing reservations in public sector jobs for the children of war heroes, who fought for the country’s independence from Pakistan in 1971.Some jobs are also reserved for women, ethnic minorities and the disabled.A third of posts are kept for the children of those categorised as war heroes. The students argue that the system is discriminatory, and they want recruitment based on merit.Several cities, including the…

Self-exiled Chinese businessman, Guo Wengui, has been convicted by a US court of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from online followers.He was found guilty on nine out of the 12 criminal counts he faced, including racketeering, fraud and money laundering.Guo’s sentencing has been scheduled for 19 November and could face decades in prison. He is a critic of Chinese Communist party and was and an associate of Stephen Bannon, an ex-White House chief strategist under former president Donald Trump.Prosecutors said Guo raised more than $1bn (£770bn) from online followers who joined him in investment and cryptocurrency schemes between 2018…

Record rainfall from three huge storms has flooded parts of Toronto, cut power and left drivers stranded on the major motorway through the city.Environment Canada reported that almost 100mm (4in) of rain fell on Toronto on Tuesday, surpassing the city’s daily record set in 1941.Images and videos showed severe flooding across the city, cars nearly submerged, and water cascading down the staircases at Union Station.The storm left more than 167,000 customers without power, according to Toronto Hydro.Several flights were also delayed or cancelled out of Billy Bishop Airport, on the Toronto Islands in Lake Ontario.The Don Valley Parkway, a major…