Author: BBC

9 hours agoBy Daniel O’Donoghue and William Higgens, BBC North West Investigations Team • Jonathan Fagg, BBC England Data Journalism UnitBBCWinifred Tubb suffered 32 falls in less than a yearThe daughter of an elderly care home resident who suffered 32 falls in only 11 months said she had sent social services “a begging email” to warn her mother “was going to die” unless urgent improvements were made.”She suffered neglect in every way – it was devastating to see,” said Kylie Gobin, whose mother Winifred Tubb lived at St Luke’s in Runcorn, Cheshire. Mrs Gobin spoke to the BBC as part of an in-depth investigation which…

Professional dancer Aljaž Škorjanec is to return to Strictly Come Dancing this autumn after a two-year break.The Slovenian dancer will join 14 other professionals for the 20th anniversary of the show.Speaking on the news, Škorjanec, 34, said he was “ecstatic” to be back.”I had an absolute ball during my nine-year stint on Strictly, during my time away I became a parent, which has been an exciting challenge in itself, and now I’m ready to experience the Strictly magic again. “It feels so right to be coming back, I missed the fun, glitter and the judges of course, and I hope…

Third Avenue Bridge, which connects New York’s the Bronx to Manhattan, got stuck in an open position due to the high heat on Monday.FDNY officers arrived in boats and fired water at the structure to try and cool down the metal, which expanded after high temperatures in the city, officials say.The incident caused major traffic delays during one of the hottest days of the year in New York but reopened on the same day. Source link

Debt-laden Thames Water has said it has enough cash to fund its operations until May next year but that efforts to raise new money are continuing.The UK’s largest water company reported an increase in annual profits for the year to March but its debts also climbed to £15.2bn.Thames Water, which has faced fierce criticism over the number of sewage discharges and leaks, is facing questions over whether it can survive.Later this week, the water regulator Ofwat is due to publish its draft ruling on how much water companies can charge their customers for the next five years.There has been speculation…

Iran’s president-elect Masoud Pezeshkian stood as a wildcard candidate, and defied expectations to win the presidency against hardline rival Saeed Jalili.Mr Pezeshkian is notable because he is “a reformist”. But not the liberal-minded, democracy-loving kind of reformist, in the universal sense.In Iran, “the reformists” are one ideological faction of the Islamic Republic’s ruling elite. They are Islamists, like their conservative rivals, but believe a more moderate version of the regime’s ideology could better serve both the ruling clergy and Iranian society.Reformists led the administration from 1997 until 2005 and were part of a de facto coalition when Hassan Rouhani, a…

China’s biggest electric car maker BYD has agreed a $1bn (£780m) deal to set up a manufacturing plant in Turkey, as it continues to expand outside its home country.The new plant will be able to produce up to 150,000 vehicles a year, according to Turkish state news agency Anadolu.The facility is expected to create around 5,000 jobs and start production by the end of 2026.The deal was signed at an event in Istanbul attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and BYD’s chief executive Wang Chuanfu.BYD did not immediately respond to a BBC request for further details on the deal.The announcement…

A day of mourning is being observed in Ukraine after one of the worst waves of Russian missile strikes in months, with at least 41 people killed and 166 injured.The main children’s hospital in the capital Kyiv was among buildings hit in cities across the country on Monday.Two people died when a missile flattened part of the Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital – Ukraine’s biggest paediatrics facility – and a search for survivors beneath the rubble continued into the early hours of Tuesday.Russia denied targeting the hospital, saying it had been hit by fragments of a Ukrainian air defence missile, while Ukraine…

Brazil has blocked Meta from using Brazilians’ Instagram and Facebook posts to train its artificial intelligence (AI) models.It comes weeks after the company abandoned similar plans to use UK and European users’ posts for the same purpose.On Tuesday, Brazil’s national data protection agency (ANPD) said it would immediately suspend Meta’s latest privacy policy, which allows it to train generative AI models such as chatbots based on posts from its users.A Meta spokesperson told the BBC the company was “disappointed by the decision”, adding that their approach complied with local privacy laws.”This is a step backwards for innovation, competition in AI…

31 minutes agoBy Nadine Yousif, BBC News, TorontoHow car thieves in Canada targeted the same owner twiceLogan LaFarniere woke up one October morning in 2022 to an empty driveway.His brand new Ram Rebel truck, which he’d bought a year and a half ago, was missing. His security camera captured two hooded men breaking into the pickup in the dead of night outside of his Milton, Ontario home, and driving it away with ease.A few months later, that very same truck appeared on a website of vehicles for sale in Ghana, an ocean and some 8,500km away.“The dead giveaway was the laptop holder…

1 day agoBy Natalie Sherman and Nathalie Jimenez, BBC News, New YorkBBC Stacey Ellis works two jobs, but needs to economiseStacey Ellis, a lifelong Democrat from Pennsylvania, should be the kind of voter that US President Joe Biden can count on.But after four years of rising prices, her support has worn thin – and every time she shops at the supermarket, she is reminded how things have changed for the worse.Ms Ellis works full-time as a nurse’s assistant and has a second part-time job.But she needs to economise. She has switched stores, cut out brand-name items like Dove soap and Stroehmann bread,…