Author: BBC

Actor Toby Jones, who played the lead role in the TV series about the Post Office scandal, has said he “played a hero” in the drama.He starred as Alan Bates in the ITV show Mr Bates vs the Post Office, which tells the story of hundreds of sub-postmasters who were wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting.Many of the reported losses in branch accounts which led to prosecutions were actually caused by faults in Horizon – the Post Office’s computer system.Jones, speaking at the Hay Festival, said Bates – a former sub-postmaster himself, who led the victims’ campaign to…

A police officer who was left in critical condition after a mass stabbing in the German city of Mannheim on Friday has died, local authorities say.The 29-year-old was one of six people, including anti-Islam activist Michael Stürzenberger, to be wounded by the attacker, who was detained at the scene. The police officer was stabbed several times in the head. Despite undergoing emergency surgery, he succumbed to his wounds on Sunday afternoon.”This news has shaken me to the core,” said the leader of Baden-Württemberg, the state in which Mannheim is located.”All our thoughts are with the officer’s family, relatives and colleagues,”…

Michael Ball has paid tribute to Steve Wright, calling his legacy “immeasurable”, as he took over the the late DJ’s Sunday Love Songs programme on BBC Radio 2.Ball, a West End star who has presented on Radio 2 since 2008, was named as the show’s new host after Wright died in February.The 61-year-old said Wright was “missed”, adding: “He created Love Songs, and I am so, so proud to be carrying the baton for him into the future.”Wright joined the BBC in the 1970s, and went on to host shows on Radio 1 and Radio 2 for more than four…

Donald Trump has said his historic trial and criminal conviction have been “very hard” for his wife, former First Lady Melania Trump. Last week, jurors found Mr Trump guilty of falsifying business records to conceal hush-money payments made to former porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election campaign.With the verdict, he became the first US president to be convicted of a crime. He has repeatedly called the trial rigged and politically motivated. In an interview with Fox News over the weekend, Mr Trump vowed that success at the upcoming November US election would be his “revenge”. He is…

The Conservatives have promised to build 100 new GP surgeries in England and boost the number of available appointments by allowing more treatments in the community if they win the election. The party says it would also expand the number of treatments pharmacies can offer without people seeing their GP first. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the plan would make it easier for patients to get the care they need and help relieve pressure on hospitals.Labour said the announcement was the “latest empty promise” from the Tories on health.The Tories said they wanted to expand the Pharmacy First scheme, which…

The winner of Britain’s Got Talent is set to be named in Sunday night’s grand TV final.There are 10 finalists, including a choir, a magician, a Ghanaian dancing duo and a Japanese skipping group.The judges of the ITV show, Simon Cowell, Bruno Tonioli, Alesha Dixon and Amanda Holden, will return for one last time, alongside hosts Ant and Dec.The winner of the 17th series of BGT will receive a cash prize of £250,000 and the chance to perform at the Royal Variety Performance.Public votes will open during the live show, with viewers at home encouraged to have their say.The series…

Flooding and landslides caused by monsoon rains in Sri Lanka have killed at least seven people, the country’s Disaster Management Centre (DMC) has said. In Sitawaka – outside the capital, Colombo – three members of the same family died when their house was flooded. Supplies of electricity have been cut off in several areas and schools ordered to remain shut on Monday.Landslide warnings have been issued in nine districts.DMC Director Pradeep Kodippili told the BBC’s Sinhala service that the risk of flooding was rapidly increasing in Colombo and other areas of the south. “Many areas have reportedly received more than…

16 hours agoEvan Davis,Presenter, The Bottom Line, @evanhdBBCYou want to step out of the world of wage slavery, and set up a business of your own? Preferably a business that will be more than a mere lifestyle for you – one that you can sell and from which you can retire on the proceeds?Well, in thinking about your chances of success, it helps to look at those who have trodden that path and ended up with a flourishing enterprise to their name.In the interview series The Decisions That Made Me a Leader, we spoke to half a dozen successful entrepreneurs…

An “ultra-sensitive” new blood test can predict if breast cancer will return years before the disease shows up on scans, researchers say.It picks up traces of a tumour’s DNA before a full relapse and was found to be 100% accurate at predicting which patients would see their cancer return.It is hoped that the test can allow treatment to start earlier and improve survival rates.The UK research has been branded “incredibly exciting” by experts but is still in its early stages.Breast cancer is the most common form of the disease worldwide, with 2.26 million women diagnosed in 2020 and 685,000 deaths…

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch has married for a fifth time in a ceremony at his Californian vineyard.Mr Murdoch, 93, tied the knot on Saturday with his new wife Elena Zhukova, 67, a retired Russian biologist.He was rumoured to be dating Ms Zhukova soon after his engagement to ex-police chaplain Ann Lesley Smith was abruptly called off in April 2023.Australian-born Mr Murdoch, who has six children, is chairman emeritus of News Corporation, which owns Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, the Sun and the Times.He stepped down as chairman of Fox and News Corp last year, leaving his son Lachlan to…