Author: BBC

A band called The Velvet Sundown has had its tracks played hundreds of thousands of times on Spotify since appearing several weeks ago – without anyone knowing for sure what it is.The band has a verified page on the music streaming platform, with more than 850,000 monthly listeners.However, none of the four named musicians in the band have given any interviews or appear to have individual social media accounts, and there are no records of any live performances. It has prompted accusations that they and their music are artificial intelligence (AI) generated – something the band denies on social media.It…

Patrick Clahane and Rebecca WearnBBC NewsBBCIt’s pitch black and we’re crawling along a secret underground tunnel beneath a high street in Hull. We pass rotting beams propped up precariously by stacked breeze blocks. A rusty car jack is helping prevent the shop floor above from falling in.Through the rubble, we follow a Trading Standards Officer, his torch swinging back and forth in the darkness until it rests on a hidden stash of thousands of illegal cigarettes.This is just one such surreal experience while investigating the sale of illegal cigarettes in Hull. In one week we repeatedly witnessed counterfeit and smuggled…

Kevin PeacheyCost of living correspondentJulieDudley the dog is unlikely to feature, but animals are a popular suggestionWhile cash might not be as popular as it once was, the opportunity to fashion the next series of banknotes has got brains whirring and tails wagging.Within a day of reporting on the Bank of England’s public invitation to influence a major redesign of banknotes, there were more than 2,000 responses to Your Voice, Your BBC on the issue.Dudley the British Bulldog, pictured on Cawsand Beach in Cornwall, will be one of the least likely contenders, despite being described as a “national treasure” by…

Musical icon Angélique Kidjo has become the first black African performer to be selected for a star on the prestigious Hollywood Walk of Fame.Kidjo, who comes from the West African country of Benin and has won five Grammy awards, was among the 35 names announced as part of the Walk of Fame’s class of 2026 list.The 64-year-old was hailed as Africa’s “premier diva” during a press conference announcing the list on Wednesday.Singer Miley Cyrus, actor Timothée Chalamet, actress Demi Moore and former basketball player Shaquille O’Neal are also among those set to be honoured with a star on Los Angeles’…

Graham Fraser & Imran Rahman-JonesTechnology reportersBrittany WatsonBrittany Watson started the petition calling for Meta to answer for banning people’s accountsFacebook and Instagram users have been contacting the BBC complaining about having their accounts arbitrarily banned, and struggling to get them reinstated.Last week Meta – which owns the platforms – acknowledged a “technical error” which it said was causing the wrongful suspension of some Facebook Groups.Since then, people who use what is the world’s biggest social media company have been getting in touch with the BBC to describe the impact it is having on them – and say the problem goes…

BBCKaylie Bailey contracted botulism after being given illegal BotoxAn aesthetic beautician left one woman fighting for her life and several others seriously ill in hospital after injecting them with Toxpia, an illegal Botox-type anti-wrinkle treatment. As the BBC names the woman behind the jabs, two of her victims share their stories.The patch over Kaylie Bailey’s left eye is a daily reminder of when her beauty treatment nearly killed her.The 36-year-old mum-of-three from Peterlee, County Durham, had paid Gemma Gray £75 for three “Botox” injections, half of what it had cost on a previous visit – the bargain turned out to…

Karen HogganBusiness ReporterGetty ImagesThe cost of government borrowing has fallen in early trade, partly reversing a surge prompted by the chancellor’s emotional appearance in the Commons the previous day.The yield on UK 10-year bonds fell to 4.52%, down from 4.61% at Wednesday’s close – as markets reacted to the prime minister’s comments that he worked “in lockstep” with Rachel Reeves.The pound, which also fell on Wednesday, rose to $1.3668, although it has not regained all the ground it lost. One analyst told the BBC that financial markets seemed to be backing the chancellor, afraid that if she left her job…

Vanessa PearceBBC News, West MidlandsGetty ImagesGeezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward, Ozzy Osbourne formed Earth, later renamed Black Sabbath, in 1968With Black Sabbath’s final concert just days away, metal bands and musicians explain how the band influenced the course of their lives – and paved the way for a new generation of artists.”Sabbath gave us the blueprint, Sabbath gave us the recipe. They gave us the cookbook, man,” says Slipknot’s Corey Taylor.”The mystique was in the lyrics. It was in the sound. It was in the way that everything was just a little darker.”The song that shares the band’s name…

Tabby WilsonBBC News, SydneyReutersThe airline says there will be no impact to Qantas’ operationsQantas is contacting customers after a cyber attack targeted their third-party customer service platform.On 30 June, the Australian airline detected “unusual activity” on a platform used by its contact centre to store the data of six million people, including names, email addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and frequent flyer numbers.Upon detection of the breach, Qantas took “immediate steps and contained the system”, according to a statement.The company is still investigating the full extent of the breach, but says it is expecting the proportion of data stolen to…

Catherine SnowdonHealth reporterGetty ImagesBabies born to fathers over the age of 60 went up by 14.2% in 2024 compared with the year before, official figures show. Of 594,677 live births in England and Wales last year, 1,076 babies had dads over 60, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).Total births in England in 2024 rose slightly for the first time since 2021. Births where one or both parents were born outside of the UK also increased in both England and Wales.The ONS said the increase in the number of babies born to older dads was “notable”.A number of celebrities…