Author: BBC

Getty ImagesThe complainants say they have been excluded from more performances at the Royal Albert Hall than the rules allowThree seat holders at the Royal Albert Hall who accused its operator of “unlawfully” depriving them of their rights to seats have lost a High Court bid for damages.Arthur George and William and Alexander Stockler, who were seeking £500,000, claim they have been excluded from more performances than the rules allow by the Corporation of the Hall of Arts and Sciences, commonly known as the Royal Albert Hall (RAH).Their lawyers had asked a judge to declare that the practice of excluding…

Mixed martial artist Sammy-Jo Luxton explains the difficulties of fighting with PCOS and endometriosis.

Anglian Water is facing paying out £62.8m after an investigation by the industry regulator found a “serious breach” in how the company managed its sewage works.Ofwat has proposed a number of improvements Anglian Water must make to its wastewater treatment works and network after discovering “excessive spills from storm overflows”.The firm could have been fined £57.1m but Ofwat said Anglian Water had acknowledged its failures and agreed to fund investments. Anglian – which is one of six water firms banned from paying its chief executive a bonus for last year – said: “We understand the need to rebuild trust with…

Getty ImagesGoogle is rolling out a new tool in the UK that will generate results using artificial intelligence (AI), in a significant shake-up to the world’s most popular search engine.Instead of a list of search results showing links to other websites in blue type, people who choose “AI Mode” will be given an answer written in a conversational style, containing far fewer links to other pages.The new search tool will not replace Google’s existing search platform, which processes billions of queries every day.But experts predict such tools will increasingly incorporate AI, a shift that is concerning organisations, firms and publishers,…

More than 1,000 pubs, bars and restaurants across the UK will host music events as part of a new nationwide festival backed by The 1975’s Matty Healy, who has warned about the talent pipeline drying up.”Local venues aren’t just where bands cut their teeth, they’re the foundation of any real culture,” the frontman said in a statement.”Without them, you don’t get The Smiths, Amy Winehouse, or The 1975. You get silence.”The Seed Sounds Weekender will take place in September in small “seed” venues like those where many big names start out. But like much of the UK’s nightlife scene, they…

Nurses are expected to reject their pay award in England this week, raising the possibility of strikes later in the year, the BBC understands.The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has been holding a consultative vote on their 3.6% pay rise, previously describing it as “grotesque” to award nurses a lower increase than doctors, teachers, prison officers and the armed forces.It will announce the results later this week but the BBC understands it will show an “overwhelming” rejection of the deal.The government said there had been two above-inflation pay rises already, urging RCN members to accept the pay award.Any decision on…

After weeks of tense negotiations between their top trade officials, the European Union and US have finally struck a framework deal – and it comes on the eve of America’s latest round of tariff talks with China.Ultimately it took leaders from Washington and Brussels to sit down face to face to reach Sunday’s agreement.That’s something we’ve also seen with the other deals that President Donald Trump has struck – his personal involvement is what has pushed them over the line – even when the prospects of a breakthrough did not seem bright.The deal matters to both sides because so many…

James Clayton, Anna Foster and Ben DericoBBC NewsEPAGoogle has admitted its earthquake early warning system failed to accurately alert people during Turkey’s deadly quake of 2023.Ten million people within 98 miles of the epicentre could have been sent Google’s highest level alert – giving up to 35 seconds of warning to find safety. Instead, only 469 “Take Action” warnings were sent out for the first 7.8 magnitude quake.Google told the BBC half a million people were sent a lower level warning, which is designed for “light shaking”, and does not alert users in the same prominent way.The tech giant previously…

Rapper Drake has cancelled his concert in Manchester on Monday due to “travel logistics”, according to a statement issued by the Co-op Live arena.The Canadian musician has rescheduled the performance at the venue for 5 August and organisers said “all tickets remain valid for the new date”.He had already performed two gigs in the the city on Friday and Saturday as part of a global tour and is due to stage another concert at Co-op Live on 4 August.A statement on the arena’s website said: “Due to unforeseen ferry schedule and travel logistics, tomorrow’s performance in Manchester on July 28th…

Ruth CleggHealth and wellbeing reporterGetty ImagesIt felt like there was a collective sigh of relief when a study, published this week, suggested 10,000 steps a day isn’t the health utopia we had all been led to believe.The news that we only had to reach 7,000 steps was enough to quite literally stop us in our fervent step-counting stride.So what about some of the other health targets that many of us swear by? Can we fall short of the mark but still live long, healthy and happy lives?We’ve taken a handful of commonly cited healthy lifestyle benchmarks, examined them with various…