Author: BBC

Airlines will not refund you for loss of earnings. They are only responsible for covering direct costs, such as hotel rooms, meals and alternative flights. They are not obliged to cover consequential losses.Travel insurance policies will not usually cover loss of earnings either. If you think you’re going to be late back at work because of flight delays, you have a responsibility to contact your employer to let them know you won’t be back as planned, legal experts say.You should agree with your employer how to deal with the absence – for example, by using more annual leave or time…

2 days agoBy Luis Barrucho, BBC World ServiceGettyIn 2018, Brazilian pensioner João sought medical help after he found a wart on his penis.”I started visiting medical clinics to find out what it was, but all the doctors told me it was due to excess skin and prescribed medication,” the 63-year-old recalls.Despite the medication, the wart continued to grow. It started to take a toll on his marriage and João and his wife’s sex life declined. “We were like siblings,” he admits. He was determined to find out what was going on.For five years João, not his real name, went back and forth…

Meg Bellamy, who played a young Catherine Middleton in Netflix drama The Crown, has said she was told by internet trolls she was “too fat” for the role.The actress, 21, starred in the final season of the show which depicted the courtship of William and Kate – now the Prince and Princess of Wales – at the University of St Andrews.Speaking to the Mail on Sunday’s You magazine, Bellamy said when she looked at her phone after a long day of doing press interviews, she found “all this negative stuff” about her body online.”The comments were mostly ‘You’re too fat…

The mayor of the Spanish city of Barcelona has pledged to eliminate short-term tourist lets in the city within five years. Socialist Jaume Collboni told a news conference he does not plan to renew any of the 10,101 tourist licenses granted to landlords when they expire in November 2028. Mr Collboni said the appartments, which are currently advertised on platforms such as Airbnb and Homeaway, would be available to locals instead. Politicians opposing the move accused him of undermining property rights. Mr Collboni said that the measure would be “equivalent to building 10,000 new homes”.Justifying the plan, he said rents…

A Swiss court has sentenced four members of the UK’s richest family to prison sentences ranging from four to four-and-a-half years. Prakash and Kamal Hinduja as well as son Ajay and his wife Namrata were found guilty of exploitation – usury in the Swiss penal code – and illegal employment. But they were acquitted on the more serious charge of human trafficking. Workers who were brought over from India alleged the family paid them as little as £7 ($8) to work 18-hour days, less than a tenth of the amount required under Swiss law. They also claimed the family -…

2 days agoBy Megan Davies & Rosie Mercer, BBC NewsGetty ImagesTaylor Swift smiles as the sell-out Cardiff crowd cheersIt was a long time coming for the thousands lucky enough to get tickets to Taylor Swift’s hotly anticipated Cardiff gig.The recording-breaking US artist certainly made the Principality Stadium shimmer, wowing fans with her Eras Tour setlist for more than three hours.”This is my very first time getting to play a show in Wales and look at this,” she said.”Look what you’ve done, you’ve gone and made me feel so amazing.”From nods to the Welsh language to crowd-pleasing surprise songs, she made the land…

Top comedian-turned-politician Micheal Usi has been sworn as Malawi’s vice-president at a ceremony held in parliament in the capital, Lilongwe.The 55-year-old replaces Saulos Chilima, who died in a plane crash earlier this month, along with eight other people.Dr Usi received a standing ovation when he spoke after his inauguration, saying he accepted the role with a mixture of sadness and gratitude.He promised to honour his predecessor’s memory and thanked President Lazarus Chakwera for believing in him as he takes up his position as vice-president in the power-sharing government.His appointment has certainly left Malawians divided.Some have been sharing clips of his…

If Labour wins the general election it will need an “effective opposition” in Parliament, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has told the BBC. Mr Hunt is the latest senior Conservative to publicly acknowledge his party could be on course for defeat. He urged people not to vote for Reform UK, claiming this would result in fewer centre-right MPs. Earlier, Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said opinion polls suggested Labour was heading towards “the largest majority virtually in the history of this country”.And last week Grant Shapps urged voters not to give Labour a “supermajority”, with the party’s power “unchecked”. With the…

9 minutes agoBy Bonnie McLaren, Culture reporter Getty ImagesSabrina Carpenter’s Please Please Please has overtaken her own hit EspressoSabrina Carpenter is number one and two on the UK singles chart. Please Please Please, her latest single, has overtaken smash hit Espresso, which has been at the top for five weeks.Please Please Please and Espresso are both from Carpenter’s forthcoming sixth album Short ‘n Sweet.The video to Please Please Please stars Carpenter – a former Disney actress – alongside her love interest and real-life boyfriend, Saltburn star Barry Keoghan, as they pull off Bonnie-and-Clyde-esque crimes. Carpenter also visited Radio 1’s Live Lounge earlier…

10 minutes agoBy Vicky Wong, BBC News Getty ImagesA 58-year-old man has been killed in a suspected bear attack in Japan.Construction worker Yasuhiro Kobayashi was found in a forest in Nagano Prefecture on Friday afternoon. He had large wounds on his head and back, a spokesperson from Nagano Central Police Station confirmed. This is the latest incident in a surge of attacks by the animals, which are increasingly venturing into populated areas.Mr Kobayashi was found by a colleague who went looking for him when he failed to return to work after visiting a construction site, Japaneses broadcaster NHK reportedAccording to newspaper Asahi…