Author: BBC

Parents who experience a miscarriage before 24 weeks of pregnancy will be entitled to bereavement leave under a planned law change.The government is set to amend the Employment Rights Bill to give parents the legal right to take time off work to grieve if they experience pregnancy loss at any stage.As it stands, bereavement leave is only available to parents who lose an unborn child after 24 weeks of pregnancy.Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said the change will give “people time away from work to grieve”.”No one who is going through the heartbreak of pregnancy loss should have to go…

Baby CowActress Margaret John, who died in 2011, pictured in the doorway of the home where her character Doris lived in Gavin & Stacey Gavin and Stacey enthusiasts have long flocked to Barry Island to have a nose at the show’s filming locations. But now, fans of the much-loved comedy series have the chance to take it one step further, as the property which acted as the home of the show’s iconic character Doris has gone up for sale. The two-bed mid-terrace on Trinity Street in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, neighbours the houses that also played host to Bryn and…

Suzanne BearneTechnology ReporterSarah SkiddSarah Skidd makes good money improving copy written by AIAI is making me extra money, says Sarah Skidd, a product marketing manager who writes for tech and start-up companies.In May Ms Skidd was approached by a content agency to urgently rework website copy that had been produced via generative AI for a hospitality client.What was supposed to save money had, instead, caused a host of problems. “It was the kind of copy that you typically see in AI copy – just very basic; it wasn’t interesting,” says Ms Skidd.”It was supposed to sell and intrigue but instead…

Kit TaylorBBC News, YorkshireKit Taylor/BBCKirsty’s life changed when she started experiencing brain fog”I didn’t believe it could just be menopause. I thought it must be a brain tumour or dementia.”Kirsty Dixon’s life changed overnight when she started experiencing intense brain fog at 49 years old.Kirsty, from York, was staring at her screen at work one day, when suddenly she could not remember what she was doing.”I just asked myself ‘What is my name?’, and I couldn’t even remember my own name.”I felt like I was going mad, I thought it was only me.”The problems continued when she tried to access…

Grace PickettGrace is still struggling to find a summer job without previous paid work experienceGrace Pickett has been applying for part-time jobs for two years now – with no luck.The 18-year-old from Corby is hoping to head to Liverpool John Moores University to study history in September, and now her A-levels are over, she’s ramped up her job hunt.But she’s found herself facing the same issue many other young people across the UK say makes it hard for them to get their first part-time or summer job – not having enough previous experience.”It is very frustrating,” says Grace, who has…

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has questioned why nobody has been fired at the BBC over its decision to air a Gaza documentary that featured the son of a Hamas official.It comes ahead of a review expected to be published next week into Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone, which was pulled from iPlayer in February.In an interview with The Times, Nandy said “people must be accountable for the decisions that were taken” and she was “exasperated” by the time taken to carry out the review.A BBC spokesperson said on Saturday that findings of the review would be published “as…

Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle has written to the UK’s national institute for artificial intelligence (AI) to tell its bosses to refocus on defence and security.In a letter, Kyle said boosting the UK’s AI capabilities was “critical” to national security and should be at the core of the Alan Turing Institute’s activities.Kyle suggested the institute should overhaul its leadership team to reflect its “renewed purpose”.The cabinet minister said further government investment in the institute would depend on the “delivery of the vision” he had outlined in the letter.A spokesperson for the Alan Turing Institute said it welcomed “the recognition…

Ruth CleggHealth and wellbeing reporter, BBC NewsAbbieAbbie first began using ketamine when she was 16Abbie was 16 years old when she started using ketamine. It was the first time she had felt in control.The negative thoughts that had swamped her mind since a young age began to dissipate.Twelve years later and fresh out of rehab she’s still battling with the addiction that almost took her life.She wants to speak out to explain why ketamine has become such a popular drug – especially among young people with mental health problems – and to talk about the damage it can do long…

Families in Barnsley could soon get up to £100 per child to help with school uniform and equipment costs.The council plans to spend £2.7m on a voucher scheme in time for the next academic year. If the idea is approved, pupils in secondary school would receive a uniform voucher of £100 each, with £50 going to primary school pupils.For pupils in Year 11 a support pack containing study material and information about their health and wellbeing would also be provided.The council’s cabinet meeting on 9 July is due to consider the scheme, which it said was to help remove barriers…

A hugely popular K-pop musical animation has seen songs by its fictional bands top US music charts, beating real-life K-pop groups.KPop Demon Hunters is currently the most streamed movie on Netflix globally, clocking up more than 33 million views in just two weeks.On Friday the song Your Idol by a boy band in the film, Saja Boys, topped the US Spotify chart. This makes them the highest charting male K-pop group in US Spotify history – surpassing kings of K-pop BTS.Golden, a track by the film’s fictional girl group Huntr/x, hit number two on the chart, surpassing Blackpink as the…