Author: BBC

People who are struggling to pay fuel bills are among those who have been urged to apply for help from a council initiative. Staffordshire County Council said its Warm Homes: Local Grant scheme prioritised the “most vulnerable” and would provide free heating and insulation upgrades.Demand is “expected to be high” for the scheme which aims to support people affected by fuel poverty, living in cold homes, or with health conditions made worse by the cold, the council said.People can check if they are eligible online for the help which funds work such as smart heating controls and loft and wall…

Italian luxury fashion house Valentino is facing criticism after posting “disturbing” adverts made using artificial intelligence (AI) for one of its luxury handbags online.The brand announced a collaboration with digital artists as part of what it dubbed a “digital creative project” promoting its new DeVain handbag.But an AI-generated advert it posted on Instagram has been met with intense criticism from fans, who called the visuals – and use of AI – “sloppy” and “sad”.The BBC has approached Valentino for comment.The Instagram post promoting the handbag, which has a label to say it was made using AI, shows a “surreal” collage…

Women aged in their 50s and 60s have been urged to practise safe sex after a rise in new cases of HIV in heterosexual groups.As World Aids Day is marked, campaigners say women in this age group could be at greater risk of catching the virus because some are not using condoms.Blue Sky Trust, a sexual health charity working across north-east England and Cumbria, says it is seeing increasing numbers of older women coming forward for support, while a parliamentary committee noted a rise in women across all age groups being infected through sex with men.Trust members have also been…

Archie MitchellBusiness reporterGetty ImagesVirgin Media has been fined £23.8m for leaving thousands of customers without access to lifesaving telecare alarms during the digital switchover.Communications watchdog Ofcom fined the telecoms giant after ruling it failed to protect vulnerable users of the devices, typically elderly and disabled people, during the transition from analogue to digital.The industry is currently changing landline services from analogue to digital, with Ofcom describing the copper-based network as “beyond its intended lifespan and increasingly unreliable”.Virgin Media said it had not got everything right in the transition but added it has launched “a comprehensive package of improvements” for customers.Ofcom…

Jennifer McKiernan,Political reporter,Paul Seddon,Political reporterandTom Gerken,Technology reporterBBCOBR boss Richard Hughes said he was “mortified” by the early release of Budget detailsThe Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has drafted in a leading cyber-security expert as it investigates how a document – containing key details of Wednesday’s Budget – went live too early.Rachel Reeves’s statement was thrown into chaos after the OBR’s economic forecast appeared online around 40 minutes before she announced her policies.Even though the document was not listed on the OBR website, journalists – including those at the BBC – were able to access it by guessing its URL, which…

Megan DaviesandCarwyn John,BBC WalesRay BurmistonRussell T Davies, creator of It’s a Sin, has written about life in the ’80s when there was no treatment for HIVIt’s a Sin writer Russell T Davies has warned “the fight is not over” when it comes to eradicating HIV. He said misinformation about the virus made him “despair” and warned we must not “blunder into the future without looking back at the past”. Davies’ warnings come as UNAIDS, the UN’s joint Aids prevention programme, warned the global response to HIV had suffered its most significant setback in decades due to cuts in global funding.It…

Organisers of a Christmas toy appeal are urging people to donate to the project if they are able to, so they can give gifts to thousands of children living in extreme hardship in north and east London. The Hackney Local Buyers Club is running its 12th annual appeal, but fear donations will drop due to increased pressures on household budgets.This year, the project aims to provide new gifts to children living in the boroughs of Hackney and Haringey, which are among the most deprived in England.Organisers say the appeal also helps support independent businesses in the area, as any money…

Liv McMahonTechnology reporterEPAThe Spanish football giant Barcelona has told fans it has “no connection whatsoever” with the digital coin offered by its new crypto partner, following criticism over the deal.Clubs often pick up sponsors in unusual areas to bring in extra money – with Arsenal bringing in Persil as its fabric care partner in 2023, and Kellogg’s becoming Manchester City’s breakfast cereal partner that same year.But far less is known about Zero Knowledge Proof (ZKP), which signed a three-year sponsorship deal in mid-November with Barcelona.ZKP then announced a cryptocurrency, prompting concerns Barcelona fans could be led to invest in it…

Getty ImagesThe UK’s National Screening Committee has recommended that only a very small group of men at high risk of prostate cancer should be screened for the disease.There is currently no screening programme for prostate cancer, the most common cancer in men.But there has been some energetic campaigning for change by high-profile figures, including Sir Chris Hoy, who has terminal prostate cancer, and Lord David Cameron, who recently revealed he’d been treated for it.The expert advice will now be consulted on for the next three months, before the screening committee gives its final recommendations to governments in the four nations…

Thousands of Airbus planes had to be grounded for a software update after it was discovered that intense solar radiation could interfere with onboard flight control computers.Around 6,000 A320 planes were thought to be affected – half the European firm’s global fleet – but many were able to fly again within hours after undergoing the update.The UK’s aviation regulator said there would be “some disruption and cancellations to flights” though the impact at airports appears to be limited.Airbus said it discovered the issue after an investigation into an incident in which a plane flying between the US and Mexico suddenly…