Author: BBC

A series of events are to be held at Wolverhampton’s libraries in a bid to bring communities together during the colder months.The Winter Warmth and Wellness sessions will take place at venues across the city between 4 December and 27 January.Councillor Bhupinder Ghakal, of City of Wolverhampton Council, said they would give people “a chance to come together” and take part in activities that support their wellbeing.The sessions will include hot drinks, mindfulness activities, board games, crafts and puzzles, the local authority said.

The BBC’s Tyler Edwards asks under 25s in Cardiff if they think the minimum wage increase is enough.

Laura CressTechnology reporterGetty ImagesA firm considered one of the leading global voices in encryption has cancelled the announcement of its leadership election results after an official lost the encrypted key needed to unlock them. The International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR) uses an electronic voting system which needs three members, each with part of an encrypted key, to access the results. In a statement, the scientific organisation said one of the trustees had lost their key in “an honest but unfortunate human mistake”, making it impossible for them to decrypt – and uncover – the final results.The IACR said it…

Sue Kinnear,BBC Radio WiltshireandKirsten Robertson,BBC WiltshireClare BrixeyClare Brixey and Tim Swimburn are recovering well following their four-hour operationTwo people who met through tragic circumstances have united for a life-saving kidney transplant.Tim Swinburn, from Melksham in Wiltshire, met Clare Brixey, from Standerwick in Somerset, in 2004, when he had to knock on her door to explain her 20-year-old son, Ashley, had died in a car crash.At the time, Ms Brixey was already suffering from kidney failure and reliant on dialysis. The pair kept in touch and when Mr Swinburn found out her previous transplant was failing, he offered her his kidney.”Giving…

Plans to relax restrictions on new oil and gas licences in the North Sea will be unveiled on Wednesday under the government’s North Sea Strategy.Chancellor Rachel Reeves will announce the publication of the strategy in the Budget, the BBC understands. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero will issue a document on it shortly after.The strategy is expected to contain a more liberal interpretation of manifesto pledge to ban new oil and gas exploration licences to allow new exploration in generous extensions of existing fields. This idea for allowing new drilling in a way that can be “tied back”…

Joe TidyCyber correspondent, BBC World ServiceBBCSue had her digital life hijacked by scammersData breaches are getting so common that it can be hard to know how to react when it happens to you. It’s often easy to shrug it off, but there’s a risk.Being a victim of a data breach increases your chances of being targeted by criminals and scammers.Sue told the BBC how scammers went after her. We found her details had been leaked online.She was a victim of what’s known as a Sim swap attack – where scammers trick a network operator into thinking they’re the account holder…

Tatiana Schlossberg, granddaughter of former US President John F Kennedy, moved many Americans over the weekend with her emotional essay about being diagnosed with terminal cancer shortly after giving birth to her second child. In the New Yorker, the 35-year-old stunned readers, writing that she was battling acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), an aggressive blood cancer, and had less than a year to live. Doctors and researchers say the essay helped raise awareness about the deadly illness and critical need for more funding and research to tackle treatment-resistant cancers. “It’s such an obviously moving and courageous essay,” said Vijay Sankaran, a…

Kate Whannel,Political reporterandNick Eardley and Harry Farley,Political correspondentsReutersRachel Reeves has urged Labour MPs to unite behind her Budget as she vowed to stay on as chancellor in the years ahead.Speaking to a meeting of Labour’s Parliamentary Party on Monday evening, Reeves warned MPs they must “stick together” if they wanted to win the next election. The Budget, which is expected to contain tax rises, will be delivered on Wednesday following weeks of speculation.Reeves said she thought Labour MPs would like 90-95% of her spending plan but warned they would have to accept the tougher measures as well saying: “It’s a…

Online marketplace Vinted says it has removed sexually explicit adverts, after a mum reported seeing a video depicting what she believed to be a pornographic scene while browsing for clothes. Kirsty Hopley, 44, from Carlisle, said she was searching the app for a dressing gown when the ad popped up.She was sitting next to her teenage daughter at the time.Ms Hopley reported the content to Vinted and later contacted Ofcom.She told BBC News the video, which started playing automatically, showed a “sickening” graphic and violent sexual encounter. The law and criminology teacher said she had installed content filters on her…

Michelle RobertsDigital health editorGetty ImagesFormer prime minister Lord Cameron has revealed he is being treated for prostate cancer.It is the most common cancer in men in the UK, with around 55,000 new cases every year.What is prostate cancer?The prostate is a gland that is about the size of a walnut which sits just below the bladder within the pelvis.It surrounds the urethra – the tube that takes urine out of the body through the penis.Prostate cancer – abnormal and uncontrolled cell growth – often develops slowly.There may be no signs or symptoms for years and some people never develop any…