Author: BBC

58 minutes agoBy Sofia Ferreira Santos, BBC NewsReutersPresident Biden and the First Lady arriving in New Jersey for a fundraiserUS President Joe Biden has assured Democrat donors that he can still win the presidential election against Donald Trump, after a poor debate performance fuelled concern about his candidacy.The president, 81, attended a series of fundraising events in New York and New Jersey on Saturday, and defended his performance in CNN’s Presidential Debate.Speaking at one of the events, Mr Biden admitted “I didn’t have a greatnight, but neither did Trump” on Thursday.”I promise you we’re going to win this election,” he said.The president…

An on-air tribute to Nick Owen after his MBE award in the King’s Birthday Honours left the BBC Midlands Today presenter in tears – after a message from his son was read out. On Friday, it was announced he was being honoured for his services to charity and broadcasting. Many hundreds of congratulatory messages were posted on social media over the weekend and a few of them were read out on Monday evening’s programme. Correspondent Ben Godfrey surprised his colleague with the final message from Tim Owen. Last year, his father underwent treatment for prostate cancer and talking publicly about…

We asked our readers to send in their best pictures on the theme of “shadows”. Here is a selection of the photographs we received from around the world.Mike FinnMike Finn: “A chance meeting with a lesser kestrel in Portugal.”Jane LuetkensJane Luetkens: “I was given this Indonesian shadow puppet more than 50 years ago by my father. I was recently struck by the amount of colourful, detailed decoration.”Marylise VigneauMarylise Vigneau: “On a rooftop, a group of young girls play with their own shadows [in Havana, Cuba]. In the background, one can see the black smoke produced by the nearby power station.…

2 hours agoBy Aurelia Foster, Health reporter, BBC NewsGetty ImagesThere has been a small rise in the number of Covid cases in EnglandThere is some talk of a “summer Covid wave” at the moment. We all seem to know someone who has had it lately, or a friend who has been off sick. But have cases really gone up and are there any new variants we should be worried about? What else do we know right now?Is there a spike in infections?Possibly, but it is difficult to tell.We do know there has been a very small increase in the number of people…

2 hours agoBy Mark Savage, Music CorrespondentGetty ImagesThe band played for two hours, racing through hits like Fix You and YellowIs there such a thing as a band that’s too big for Glastonbury?If so, Coldplay might be it.People are climbing up scaffolding, security guards are standing on emergency vehicles, actual Tom Cruise is watching from a viewing platform, accompanied by Gillian Anderson and Simon Pegg. Michael J Fox even joins them to play guitar on Fix You.At other stages around Worthy Farm, A-list artists floundered, with some fields barely at one-third capacity.Everyone, it seems, is straining for a glimpse of rock’s most…

At least 18 people have been killed and 30 injured in a series of deadly blasts in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state, officials say.One of the suspected bombings is reported to have killed six people and injured others at a wedding ceremony on Saturday.The state’s emergency management agency said the suspected suicide bombers attacked a wedding, funeral and hospital in the town of Gwoza.Borno state has been at the centre of a 15-year insurgency by Boko Haram Islamist militants, which has displaced more than two million people and killed more than 40,000.Boko Haram gained international notoriety in 2014 when it kidnapped…

Getty Images The former Honda site in Swindon will become a warehousing and logistics facilityAmid a vast expanse of rubble, dust and noise, a green crane yanks away at a corrugated roof like a frustrated dentist attempting to extract a particularly stubborn wisdom tooth.Swindon’s Honda factory – once one of the world’s most advanced car factories – is being demolished, three decades after it opened.This used to be one of the fastest-growing towns in Europe. It was one of the jewels in the crown of investments attracted to the UK by Margaret Thatcher’s brand of 1980s enterprise. Swindon voted for…

Getty ImagesThere was a lot to chew on in the party manifestos on health and the NHS, with promises to cut waiting lists, modernise hospitals and create more GP and dentist appointments.But plans around prevention were in short supply on these political menus – as were proposals about how to help us stay healthier.With a developing obesity and diabetes crisis, as well as increasing numbers of children needing emergency treatment because of rotting teeth, some experts say keeping people out of hospital is just as important as caring for them once they get ill. A recent report from the Health…

8 days agoBy Mark Savage, Music CorrespondentGetty ImagesSheryl Crow: “AI can do lots of things, but it can’t go out and play live”Sheryl Crow has something to get off her chest.Over the years, the nine-time Grammy winner has never been scared to voice her opinion. Known for the classic roots rock of songs like My Favourite Mistake and All I Wanna Do, she has also used her voice to campaign on issues like gun control and climate change. Now, she has her sights set on Artificial Intelligence.The title track of her new album, Evolution, grapples with the impact of AI on people…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has renewed his appeal for more long-range weapons and air defences after a missile attack killed seven people including two children.The Russian attack on the town of Vilniansk, near the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, also injured 31 others, Ukrainian officials said. In total, at least 11 civilians were killed and a further 37 wounded in missile attacks across Ukraine on Saturday, Reuters reported.”Our cities and communities suffer daily from such Russian strikes,” Mr Zelensky wrote in a post on Telegram.But he added that there were “ways to overcome this”, including “destroying Russian missile launchers, striking with…