Category Archives: BBC

Killer asks to return to UK to help find victim’s body 55 years after murder

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Nizamodeen Hosein was deported following 20 years in prison for 1969 murder of Muriel McKay

The chilling words of a convicted murderer will soon be heard, peeling back the decades to a winter’s night in 1969, in a revelatory new recorded interview with one of the two brothers who kidnapped and killed Muriel McKay. “Maybe the only solution is to get on the spot. To be there again, I’ll have to retrace my steps,” Nizamodeen Hosein will say.

The notorious killer at the centre of a police hunt that dominated the news 55 years ago has suggested that a trip back from Trinidad and Tobago, where he was deported in 1990 after 20 years in prison, might jog his fading memory about the location of the body of the 55-year-old woman he abducted from her Wimbledon home in an extraordinary case of misidentification.

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Israel spokesperson accuses BBC’s Mishal Husain of pro-Palestinian bias

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Broadcaster defends Radio 4 presenter’s ‘legitimate’ questions to David Mencer, who claimed she was parroting ‘terrorist organisations’

The BBC has defended Mishal Husain, a presenter on its Radio 4 Today programme, after she was accused by an Israeli government spokesperson live on air of “blindly repeating what terrorist organisations … feed you”.

In a tetchy interview on Monday’s programme, David Mencer, said Husain warranted the “pro-Palestinian reporter of the year award”.

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Doctor warned Valdo Calocane could kill, three years before Nottingham stabbings

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Family share medical records of Calocane’s mental illness with BBC that they say show missed opportunities to prevent attacks

A doctor warned that Valdo Calocane’s mental illness was so severe he could kill someone, three years before he stabbed three people to death in Nottingham, his medical records reveal.

Calocane’s family, who were shown the records only after he was sentenced to indefinite detention in a high-security hospital for the attacks, have criticised the missed opportunities they believe could have prevented the killings.

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BBC asks disgraced presenter Huw Edwards to return £200,000 of salary

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Corporation says journalist brought BBC ‘into disrepute’ and requests return of money paid since his arrest

The BBC has asked Huw Edwards to return £200,000 that he was paid following his arrest in November last year, after the disgraced presenter admitted making indecent images of children.

A statement from the corporation said Edwards, who announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II, had “undermined trust in the BBC and brought us into disrepute” and they wanted him to repay his salary.

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Plaque honouring Huw Edwards removed from Cardiff Castle

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Mural featuring disgraced presenter also painted over in his home village of Llangennech, Carmarthenshire

A plaque honouring Huw Edwards at Cardiff Castle has been removed after the disgraced presenter pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children.

Cardiff council took away the wall-mounted plaque after Edwards admitted to having 41 indecent images of children, sent to him by another man on WhatsApp.

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BBC wipes Huw Edwards from archive but role in state occasions presents challenge

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Broadcaster removes image and voice from content as Welsh organisations erase disgraced presenter from websites

Huw Edwards’s image and voice are being urgently removed from hours of BBC archive footage, starting with family and entertainment content on iPlayer, the Observer has learned.

Photographs of the disgraced Welsh television news anchor are also being removed by prominent institutions and charities, and from websites throughout Wales, where he was a national figurehead.

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‘Reputational car crash’: insiders rue BBC’s handling of Huw Edwards

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Staff feel disillusioned with senior management and bitter that his pay had become an unstoppable snowball

For Huw Edwards, once the most trusted newsreader in Britain, now a convicted user of images of the most serious child sexual abuse, the disgrace is total – and nowhere more than in his home country of Wales.

Hours after he pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children as young as seven, a plaque on a building at Cardiff castle commemorating its unveiling by Edwards had already been wrenched off; his voice was also deleted from its guide. He is likely to be stripped of honorary titles at Bangor and Cardiff universities. A mural of the newsreader’s face in his home village of Llangennech, Carmarthenshire has already been painted over by the artist.

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Fresh crisis at ‘toxic’ Strictly as ex-staff claim they faced sexualised comments and cruelty

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Production workers at Strictly Come Dancing allege BBC refused to take their complaints seriously

Production staff who formerly worked on Strictly Come Dancing have complained of a toxic work culture and accused the BBC of failing to take their complaints seriously, in a fresh blow to the corporation’s primetime show, the Observer can reveal.

One former staff member alleged they had been subjected to sexist and sexualised comments, including intrusive questions about their sex life, while another claimed they witnessed “talented co-workers treated with cruelty”.

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Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw to star in Doctor Who spin-off

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Writer Russell T Davies says drama The War Between the Land and the Sea ‘will shake the Whoniverse to its foundations’

Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw are to star in a Doctor Who spin-off called The War Between the Land and the Sea, it has been announced.

They will lead the cast alongside Jemma Redgrave and Alexander Devrient in the series, which was created by Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies. He has co-written the series with Pete McTighe, who has also worked on Doctor Who.

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Craig Revel Horwood says Strictly Come Dancing allegations are ‘shock’

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Accusations of abusive behaviour in rehearsal rooms ‘complete news’ to judge of the dance show

Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood has said allegations of abusive behaviour to past participants on the show have come as a “shock” to him.

Last weekend professional dancer Graziano Di Prima said he was leaving the BBC show after claims about his treatment of reality star Zara McDermott when they competed together last year.

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Strictly dancer admits kicking his celebrity partner during rehearsals

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Spokesperson for Graziano Di Prima says he accepts he ‘crossed the line’ in the incident with Zara McDermott

Graziano Di Prima was removed from Strictly Come Dancing after he kicked his celebrity partner Zara McDermott during rehearsals, his spokesperson has said.

Di Prima, who joined the Strictly lineup in 2018, announced last weekend he was leaving the programme.

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Iranian TV presenter stabbed in London moves abroad for safety

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Exclusive: Pouria Zeraati ‘no longer felt safe in UK’ as Tehran regime steps up threats and attacks on critics in exile

An Iranian television presenter, who was attacked in London by men believed to be acting for the Tehran regime, has moved abroad, saying that he no longer felt safe in the UK.

Pouria Zeraati said the UK’s approach to the threat posed by Iran on British soil could not guarantee his safety.

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Billie Eilish latest star to read CBeebies bedtime story

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Oscar-winning singer chooses book by Oliver Jeffers that highlights importance of protecting nature

Billie Eilish has become the latest star to read a CBeebies bedtime story, having chosen a book that teaches children about interacting with nature.

The Oscar-winning singer of What Was I Made For? and Birds of a Feather read This Moose Belongs to Me by the author and illustrator Oliver Jeffers.

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Lineker and Shearer v Keane and Wright: does BBC or ITV have the stronger Euro 2024 final lineup?

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The two big channels prepare to slug it out for viewers for the climax of the tournament

Forget La Roja versus Three Lions. Sunday’s battle between the big two terrestrial channels, which will simulcast the action, looks set to be an equally tasty clash.

Last Wednesday, a peak of 21.6million viewers watched England’s nervy semi-final win over the Netherlands on ITV1. Ratings will rise even higher for the showpiece final, but this time fans must decide whose coverage to watch. ITV hoped to gain an early edge by scheduling its build-up to begin at 6.30pm, ahead of the 8pm kick-off. Initially BBC1 wasn’t slated to start until 7pm until the Beeb made a last-minute change to replicate its rival – the broadcasting equivalent of a late Jude Bellingham equaliser. Here’s how the TV teams will line up…

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Keir Starmer commits to keeping BBC licence fee after years of Tory hostility

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Broadcaster suffered severe cuts under Conservatives, which reneged on inflation-linked deal

Labour will support the BBC licence fee, Keir Starmer has pledged, in stark contrast to the years of Conservative opposition to the funding model.

The levy of £159 a year on households with a television used to receive live broadcasts (or watch BBC iPlayer) raises £3.2bn annually for the BBC and the Welsh channel S4C.

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Sunak cites ‘confidential’ inquiry as he refuses to answer questions over aide and election date bet – live

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PM again declines to say whether he told Craig Williams in advance about his decision to hold the election in July

Rishi Sunak is returning to the campaign trail on Thursday, PA reports, after a two-day hiatus for the Emperor and Empress of Japan’s state visit and preparations for the final head-to-head debate with Sir Keir Starmer.

With one week to go until polling day, the deepening gambling scandal is still likely to feature heavily when he faces the media during a tour of the East Midlands and Yorkshire.

He is expected to visit a factory in Derbyshire and hold an evening campaign event in Leeds.

Keir Starmer accused Rishi Sunak of using transgender issues “as a political football to divide people” during their head-to-head debate on Wednesday.

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Vernon Kay uses CDs to keep BBC Radio 2 show going after technical issue

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Presenter forced to improvise after track cuts out because of computer system failure

“Please don’t stop the music,” Rihanna once sang. On Thursday, producers at BBC Radio 2 scrambled to oblige as Vernon Kay was forced to use CDs to play music on the station after its digital system failed.

The radio presenter, 50, was playing Won’t Get Fooled Again by The Who towards the end of his show when the issue occurred. At about 11.30am, the track cut out and he came back on air laughing. He said: “This has never happened to me, where the computer system has just failed.”

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Sunak and Starmer clash over tax, borders and Brexit deal in final head-to-head before polling day – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed, you can read our full report on this debate here

YouGov will have a snap poll on who won the debate, with the results available minutes after it finishes.

This is what Labour is putting out ahead of the debate, in a stateement from Pat McFadden, the national campaign coordinator.

Tonight, the British people will witness the choice at this election: five more years of chaos with Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives or change with Keir Starmer and Labour.

On 4 July, the British people will have the chance to vote for change. To stop the chaos, turn the page and start to rebuild our country with Keir Starmer and a changed Labour party.

Tonight, Keir Starmer has the opportunity to announce loud and clear to the British public what his intentions are.

Throughout this campaign we have challenged the Labour party, time and time again, to come clean on their plans for taxes. Time and time again they have declined to do so.

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Rishi Sunak says he is ‘incredibly angry’ about betting allegations in BBC Question Time election special – as it happened

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Prime minister says suspects must face ‘full force of law’ if found guilty; Labour, SNP and Lib Dem leaders speak during programme

The next question comes from Linda, who says Davey’s antics during the election campaigns (fun photo opportunities, often involving him getting wet) haven’t looked prime-ministerial.

Davey says he has been trying to grab attention.

It was very difficult governing with the Conservatives. We couldn’t get everything we wanted …

You either had to stay in and fight inside the government or leave. I think the easy choice for me would be to leave, vote against it, and tour the media studios and complain. The hard choice was to stay in, roll up my sleeves and really fight.

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