Author: BBC

WATCH: The band did not play their set on FridayA string of bands have pulled out of a music festival hours before they were due to perform after Irish folk band The Mary Wallopers claimed they were “cut off” for displaying a Palestinian flag.The Last Dinner Party, Cliffords and The Academic announced on Saturday that they would no longer be performing at Portsmouth’s Victorious festival.The organisers, who initially claimed The Mary Wallopers had their set cut on Friday for using a “discriminatory” chant, have since issued an apology to the band. They also pledged to make “a substantial donation to…

Tom GerkenTechnology reporterAppleBritt Lower stars in the Apple TV+ sci-fi epic SeveranceApple TV+ has put up its prices in the UK and worldwide for monthly subscribers, as the cost of streaming continues to rise.The platform’s cost per month has gone up by £1 to £9.99 a month, though annual prices have stayed the same at £89 per year.It means an Apple TV+ monthly subscription is now double the price it was when launched at in the UK in November 2019.Apple told the BBC while the price was in place for new users immediately, existing subscribers would have until 30 days…

HandoutNine-year-old Rex is allergic to peas and lentilsOne morning before school, Rex, aged nine, ate a hot cross bun. Minutes later, he was struggling to breathe and went into anaphylactic shock.Rex is allergic is to peas and lentils – ingredients you would not commonly expect to find in a hot cross bun. However, when Rex’s mum looked at the packaging, it turned out the glazing used on the bun contained pea protein – causing Rex’s allergic reaction.Pea is not one of the 14 allergens required by law to be listed on food labels but earlier this week, experts said it…

Mitchell LabiakBusiness reporter, BBC NewsGetty ImagesAll UK airports should stop charging blue badge holders for being dropped off close to terminals, a disability charity has said.Several people with blue badges got in touch with the BBC following news that more than half of the busiest airports had raised the so-called “kiss-and-fly” fees to as high as £7 in some cases.Many airports already offer discounts or waive the fee for disabled drivers, but blue badge holders say the system is complex and inconsistent.Graham Footer, chief executive of Disabled Motoring UK, said some airports have “allowed greed to cloud their judgement”, and…

AlamyA man working on the hit show Emily in Paris has died during filming in Venice for the fifth season.La Repubblica named the man as 47-year-old Diego Borella, who was an assistant director on the show.Medics were called to Hotel Danieli in the city at around 19:00 local time (18:00 BST) on Thursday, but were unable to save him, the newspaper said.”We are deeply saddened to confirm the sudden passing of a member of the ‘Emily in Paris’ production family,” a spokesperson from Paramount Television Studios, who produce the show for Netflix, told BBC News.La Repubblica reports that Borella died…

Jacqui WakefieldGlobal Disinformation Unit, BBC World ServiceGetty Images/ Carlos BarqueroWomen who used the Tea app in the US are facing backlash after their data was leakedSally was stalked by her ex-boyfriend.After ending their relationship, he would turn up at work – and even her friends’ houses. She eventually had to move.When she finally got back on to the dating scene, she was wary. She decided to sign up for a new app where women could do background checks and share experiences of men they were dating.Users of the US-based Tea Dating Advice app, which is only available in America, could…

Serena Williams, one of the most successful athletes of all time, has spoken out about using weight loss drugs – she says, to lift the “stigma” around using such medication.Will her outspoken comments instil a new sense of confidence in those using the drugs? And could her honesty quieten the critics?The 43-year-old tennis star, who broke records and won 23 grand slam titles through her career, was the embodiment of fitness and athletic prowess. But, after having kids, even she, like so many of us, has admitted to struggling to shift those extra pounds.In the end, Williams told the Today…

Lily JamaliReporting fromSan FranciscoGetty ImagesUS Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said on Friday that the federal government will take a 10% stake in US chipmaker Intel.”This historic agreement strengthens US leadership in semiconductors, which will both grow our economy and help secure America’s technological edge,” Lutnick wrote on X in a post accompanied by a photo of himself with Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan.President Donald Trump revealed the deal earlier on Friday during remarks in the Oval Office, calling it a “great deal for them”.Shares of the Santa Clara, California-based chipmaker soared more than 5% on Friday.Intel said in a statement…

Mark SavageMusic correspondentBBCViolinist Pathrycia Mendonça will play with the Simón Bolívar Orchestra of Venezuela as Coldplay’s opening act at Wembley StadiumPathrycia Mendonça never has to worry about jet lag.The 26-year-old has just jetted into London, where she’s about to play 10 nights at Wembley Stadium with Coldplay as part of Venezuela’s Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra.The flight took 12 hours and meant leaving her beloved 10-month-old daughter at home with her mother – but the violinist is bursting with energy as she arrives for rehearsals at the iconic Air Studios in north London.That’s probably because, as a 12-year-old student in Venezuela,…

Billionaire Elon Musk and his social media firm X have reached a tentative settlement with former employees who had sued for $500m (£373m) in severance pay.The parties reported the deal in a court filing on Wednesday, jointly requesting the US appeals court in San Francisco to postpone an upcoming hearing to allow time to settle the paperwork.Some workers sued the company over their terminations and severance packages, after some 6,000 staff – more than half its workforce – were sacked as part of a cost-cutting measure after Musk took over the company in 2022.The BBC has contacted X – formerly…