Author: BBC

Facebook and Instagram owner Meta is launching paid subscriptions for users who do not want to see adverts in the UK.The company said it would start notifying users in the coming weeks to let them choose whether to subscribe to its platforms if they wish to use them without seeing ads.EU users of its platforms can already pay a fee starting from €5.99 (£5) a month to see no ads – but subscriptions will start from £2.99 a month for UK users.”It will give people in the UK a clear choice about whether their data is used for personalised advertising,…

Jenny ReesWales health correspondentBBCLana Boocock says her symptoms were dismissed by various doctors for yearsWhen Lana Boocock gave birth to her first child, the labour lasted for a gruelling 85 hours.Her baby then needed to spend time in neonatal intensive care.Ms Boocock, now a mum-of-two, said difficulties giving birth to both of her children became easier to understand when she was later diagnosed with adenomyosis, a condition which is believed to affect more than one in 10 women.Pregnant women with adenomyosis are at a greater risk of complications during labour, according to consultant gynaecologist Anthony Griffiths, but the risks are…

Luxury department store Harrods has warned customers their personal data may have been taken in an IT systems breach.It said information like names and contact details of some online customers was taken from the systems of a third-party provider.Harrods described the breach in an email sent to customers on Friday evening as an “isolated incident”, and that no passwords or payment details were taken.It said in a statement: “The third party has confirmed this is an isolated incident which has been contained, and we are working closely with them to ensure that all appropriate actions are being taken. We have…

Joe TidyCyber correspondent, BBC World ServiceGetty ImagesHackers holding pictures and private data of thousands of nursery children and their families to ransom say they will publish more information online unless they are paid.Criminals calling themselves Radiant hacked the Kido nursery chain and posted profiles of 10 children online on Thursday and a further 10 on Friday.They have also published the private data of dozens of employees including names, addresses, national insurance numbers and contact details.Kido has not responded to the BBC’s requests for comment. But it is working with the authorities and the Met Police is investigating.Speaking on BBC News…

Rob Sissons, East Midlands health correspondentBBCJordan was one of the first donors to give stem cells at the new centre, which collects cells for NHS transplants from people across the UKThe UK’s first stem cell collection centre strictly dedicated to transplants has started welcoming donors.The Anthony Nolan Cell Collection Centre, based at Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC), will help more people across the UK donate potentially life-saving cells to patients with blood cancers and disorders.The Anthony Nolan charity said the centre would create 1,300 new donation slots a year, helping to tackle a “longstanding global shortage of cell collection facilities”.Jordan,…

US President Donald Trump has announced a new wave of tariffs, including a 100% levy on branded or patented drug imports from 1 October unless a company is building a factory in the US.Washington will also impose a 25% import tax on all heavy-duty trucks and 50% levies on kitchen and bathroom cabinets, the US president said as he unveiled the industry-focused measures.”The reason for this is the large scale ‘FLOODING’ of these products into the United States by other outside Countries,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Thursday, citing the need to protect US manufacturers.The announcements come…

Zoe CorbynTechnology Reporter, San FranciscoGetty ImagesE. coli has been used in many discoveries in genetics and molecular biologyEarlier this year an extraordinary new way of using waste plastic made headlines. A common bacterium was genetically engineered to eat a plastic-derived molecule and then digest it to produce the everyday painkiller, paracetamol.The microbe used by Stephen Wallace, professor of chemical biotechnology at the University of Edinburgh, was Escherichia coli, better known as E. coli.The rod-shaped bacterium is found in the intestines of humans and animals, and you might be more familiar with it as an unpleasant bug that can make us…

The price the NHS pays for medicines will need to rise to stop a wave of pharmaceutical investment leaving the UK, science minister Patrick Vallance has said.His comments follow several recent announcements from some of the world’s largest drug companies either pausing or scrapping UK projects.Critics in the sector say low prices for new drugs, a lack of government investment, and tariff pressure from US President Donald Trump have been pushing firms away from the UK.Lord Vallance told the BBC “price increases are going to be a necessary part” of solving that problem.”Where the additional money would come from to…

Chi Chi IzunduInvestigations correspondent andMark SavageMusic correspondentReutersTicketmaster will have to give music fans more advance information about ticket prices, after complaints about Oasis’s reunion tour last year.The Competition and Markets Authority says the company has agreed to tell fans 24 hours in advance if a tiered pricing system is being used, as it was for Oasis standing tickets, and give more information about ticket prices during online queues.It comes after the CMA said Ticketmaster “may have misled Oasis fans” with unclear pricing last year.Platinum tickets sold for almost two and a half times the standard the price, but Ticketmaster did…

Imran Rahman-JonesTechnology reporter andJoe TidyCyber correspondent, BBC World ServiceGetty ImagesA person has been arrested in connection with a cyber-attack which has caused days of disruption at several European airports including Heathrow.The National Crime Agency (NCA) said a man in his forties was arrested in West Sussex “as part of an investigation into a cyber incident impacting Collins Aerospace”.There have been hundreds of flight delays after Collins Aerospace baggage and check-in software used by several airlines failed, with some boarding passengers using pen and paper.”Although this arrest is a positive step, the investigation into this incident is in its early stages…