Author: BBC

Family handoutSusan was no more than puzzled when she saw the first results from her home DNA testing kit.Now a woman in her mid 70s, she had never known much about her grandfather, and paid for the private test to see if it threw up anything unusual.”I did notice there was a lot of Irish heritage, which as far as I knew was wrong,” she says.”But I just pushed it aside and didn’t think any more of it. I stopped paying for my subscription and that was that.”Except it very much wasn’t.It took another six years for Susan – not…

Annabelle LiangBusiness reporterAlamyThe Nike Air Jordan 1 is, in some ways, the iconic US shoe. It’s a popular sneaker line by a large American brand, created four decades ago for homegrown basketball legend Michael Jordan.But although Nike sells most of its products in the US, almost all of its shoes are made in Asia – a region targeted by President Donald Trump’s tariffs salvo against foreign countries he accuses of “ripping off” Americans.Nike’s shares fell 14% the day after the tariffs announcement, on fears over the impact they could have on the company’s supply chain.So what will all this mean…

Russell Brand has been charged with rape, indecent assault and sexual assault between 1999 and 2005.The charges relate to four separate women.The comedian and actor has been interviewed multiple times by police since an investigation by the Sunday Times, the Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches in September 2023 revealed multiple serious allegations against him.The 49-year-old has previously denied the allegations, calling them “very, very hurtful”.The Metropolitan Police’s detective superintendent Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said: “The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers.”The Met’s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who…

Tom GerkenTechnology reporterBBCAfter months of speculation, Nintendo has confirmed the successor to its wildly popular Switch console will be released on 5 June, when it will cost £395.99 to buy in the UK.But it’s not so much the price of the Switch 2 but its games that have been raising eyebrows, with the new Mario Kart World that is being released alongside it coming in at a whopping £74.99 for a physical copy.Fans will have to wait weeks before seeing what the new console and game are like – and whether they are worth that sort of money – but…

Fergus WalshMedical editorCamilla HorroxGlobal health producerBBCApril Hubbard sits on the theatre stage where she plans to die later this year.She is not terminally ill, but the 39-year-old performance and burlesque artist has been approved for assisted dying under Canada’s increasingly liberal laws.Warning: This article contains details and descriptions some readers may find disturbingShe is speaking to BBC News from the Bus Stop Theatre, an intimate auditorium with a little under 100 seats, in the eastern city of Halifax, Nova Scotia.Illuminated by a single spotlight on a stage she has performed on many times before, she tells me she plans to…

Shares slid again on Friday as markets continued to react to the uncertainty surrounding the economic impact of US tariffs.European markets saw further falls as trading got under way, with both the UK’s FTSE 100 index and France’s Cac 40 down more than 1%. Asian markets had also declined earlier.The sweeping new tariffs announced by President Donald Trump on Wednesday triggered a slump in global stock markets, with the US S&P 500 having its worst day since the impact of Covid in 2020.Traders are concerned the tariffs will increase prices and weigh on growth in the US and abroad.Trump told…

Tate Modern has announced it has received a major gift from a couple of art collectors in the form of a painting by the US modern artist Joan Mitchell.It was unveiled on Thursday as one of a group of works being donated by the Miami-based philanthropists, Jorge M and Darlene Pérez.The six-metre-long triptych, entitled Iva 1973, can now be viewed for free at the London gallery next to Mark Rothko’s Seagram Murals. Tate director Maria Balshaw said the gift was “one of the most important” it has received, describing the donation as “transformational”.”To place such a significant and valuable work…

BBCBen Black publishes a fake news story every year for April Fools’ DayEvery year, journalist Ben Black publishes a playful fake story on his community news site Cwmbran Life for April Fools’ Day. Since 2018 the 48-year-old has spun yarns including a Hollywood-style sign on a mountain to a nudist cold-water swimming club at a lake.In 2020, Mr Black published a fake story claiming Cwmbran had been recognised by Guinness World Records for having the most roundabouts per square kilometre.Despite altering the wording of his article that afternoon, when he searched for it on 1 April he said he was…

Fergus WalshMedical editorCamilla HorroxGlobal health producerBBCThis is the last picture of Wayne with his wife Stella (right) and children Emily and Ashley (left), taken on the day of his deathIt’s 10am, and in a little over two hours, Wayne Hawkins will be dead.The sun is shining on the bungalow where the 80-year-old lives in San Diego, California with his wife of more than five decades, Stella.I knock on the door and meet his children – Emily, 48, and Ashley, 44 – who have spent the last two weeks at their father’s side.Wayne sits in a reclining chair where he spends…

Getty ImagesStock markets in London, Paris and Berlin fell as trading began on Thursday after US President Donald Trump’s sweeping announcements on tariffs.The UK’s FTSE 100 share index was down 1% while France’s Cac 40 fell 1.7%.Earlier Asian markets had slid, while the price of gold, which is seen as a safer assest in times of turbulance, climbed to a record high.Traders are concerned about the global economic impact of Trump’s tariffs, which they fear could stoke inflation and stall growth.Markets across Asia had fallen sharply after Trump’s announcement, with the Nikkei in Japan closing down nearly 3% and Hong…