Author: BBC

3 hours agoBy Jonathan Josephs, Business reporter, BBC NewsGetty ImagesA leading figure in South Africa’s second biggest political party has warned that a failure to fix the economy “might end up with violence that nobody wants”.In the aftermath of the elections Dion George, who oversees economic policy for the Democratic Alliance (DA), has told the BBC that political parties need to “set aside our deeply entrenched ideological perspectives” to get the economy growing again.The African National Congress (ANC), the party that ended white-minority rule in 1994, came first in last week’s polls, but did not win an outright majority and is trying…

41 minutes agoBy Pamela Tickell, BBC News, North East and Cumbria • Jennie Dennett, BBC Radio CumbriaBBCThe motorcyclists on the journey to Barrow from the Ace Cafe in LondonThousands of motorcyclists have begun a ride from London to Cumbria, to celebrate the life of Hairy Biker Dave Myers.The TV chef died in February, at the age of 66, after he was diagnosed with cancer.Dave Day is a remembrance procession with up to 20,000 expected to join the cavalcade to Myer’s coastal home town of Barrow-in-Furness.As the bikers set off from London, his TV fellow Hairy Biker Si King described it as “amazing” and a “celebration…

10 hours agoBy Diana Kuryshko, BBC Ukraine • Sarah Shebbeare, BBC World ServiceValeria SubotinaAndriy and Valeria’s dreams of a future together were crushed by Russia’s invasionMariupol was doomed. Relentless Russian bombing had turned streets into ruins and courtyards into graveyards.But several metres underground in the south-eastern Ukrainian city, a romance was blooming.Valeria Subotina, 33, had been sheltering in the enormous Azovstal steelworks, the final stronghold in the city, as it was surrounded by Russian forces in spring 2022.She had taken cover in one of dozens of Soviet-era bomb shelters built to withstand nuclear war, deep beneath the industrial plant.“You go down a semi-collapsed staircase, move…

Unite, Labour’s biggest trade union backer, has refused to endorse the party’s general election manifesto, saying it does not go far enough on protecting workers’ rights and jobs in the oil and gas industry.Union leaders were at a meeting on Friday to finalise the party’s 2024 election platform ahead of its launch next week.The BBC understands that at the meeting Unite announced they would not endorse Labour’s plans.There is now a question mark over whether Unite will fund the party at the general election. In 2019, Unite gave £3m to Labour’s campaign.Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham had previously warned there…

19 minutes agoBy Joe Inwood and Insaf Abbas, BBC NewsReutersThe search for missing TV and radio presenter Michael Mosley has shifted to a remote mountainous area on the Greek island of Symi. The 67-year-old, known for his TV programmes and BBC Radio 4’s Just One Thing podcast, vanished on Wednesday while on holiday. Dr Mosley was reported to have left Agios Nikolaos beach by foot on Wednesday at 13:30 local time (11:30 BST), and new CCTV footage seen by PA news agency shows him later entering a mountainous path inland from a nearby village.A search and rescue operation, involving helicopters and drones,…

The Brazilian government says it will request the extradition of more than 60 people who fled to Argentina after being charged for their alleged involvement in riots that shook Brazil’s capital last year.The riots were led by supporters of the former right-wing president, Jair Bolsonaro, roughly a week after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office.Thousands stormed government buildings in Brasília on 8 January 2023 after managing to march, largely unchallenged, through the city.Hundreds of Mr Bolsonaro’s supporters were arrested, charged and released on bail.Many of them have fled to Argentina since the inauguration of the right-wing president, Javier Milei,…

Restrictions on carrying liquids over 100ml in hand luggage are being temporarily reintroduced at some regional airports in the UK.The change will apply from 00:01 BST on Sunday 9 June 2024 and will affect passengers at Newcastle, Leeds Bradford, London City, Aberdeen, Southend and Teesside airports.All of the airports affected have Next Generation Security Checkpoints (NGSC) in full operation and had scrapped the 100ml liquid rules after introducing the high-tech CT scanners.The Department for Transport says the move will “enable further improvements to be made to the new checkpoint systems” and is not in response to a specific threat.A spokesperson…

14 hours agoBy Joe Inwood and Insaf Abbas, BBC News, Symi • Nikos Papanikolaou, BBC NewsLive News / Mega TVCCTV footage shows Michael Mosley in the main street of PediNew CCTV images appear to show missing TV presenter Michael Mosley less than half an hour after he left a beach to go on a walk.The footage suggests he completed a walk to the nearby village of Pedi after leaving Agios Nikolaos beach while on a holiday on the Greek island Symi.The presenter, known for his TV programmes and his Just One Thing podcast which airs on BBC Radio 4, was reported to have left the…

The board of Howard University, a historically-black university in Washington DC, has moved to strip Sean “Diddy” Combs of his honourary degree The announcement comes after CNN published a CCTV video of the hip-hop producer hitting an ex-girlfriend in a hotel hallway. In a statement on Friday, the university said his “behavior as captured in a recently released video is so fundamentally incompatible with Howard University’s core values and beliefs that he is deemed no longer worthy to hold the institution’s highest honor.”The rapper apologised after the video was released last month for the attack on singer Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura.”I…

Labour has promised to “pull up the shutters” for small businesses and entrepreneurs if it is elected in the UK general election.On Friday, the party said it would overhaul the business rates system to help High Street shops, as well as cracking down on the late payment of invoices.Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said that “hard-working small businesses have been held back”.The party first put forward a plan outlining how it wants to support Britain’s small businesses back in November.It has drawn praise from trade bodies for its proposals around the business rates system, which sets out taxes payable on…