Latest from BBC News
BBC News
20 minutes ago
- Politics
- BBC News
DR Congo-Rwanda ceasefire deal still faces many challenges
Both sides of the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have committed to disarming and disengaging their alleged proxies. But there are dozens of non-state armed groups active in the region and it's not clear whether all of them will adhere to the ceasefire. Just hours before the deal was signed, one of them, the Codeco militia, attacked a displaced persons camp in Ituri province, killing 10 people. Keeping these non-state actors in line will be a tall order. Part of the peace deal involves creating the conditions to allow the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the conflict to return home. That won't be possible without a complete cessation of to the eastern DRC's vast mineral resources, critical to modern technology including electric car and mobile phone batteries, the economic incentives for rebel groups are incredibly tempting, and this deal does not mention alternatives which may convince these groups to stop fighting over valuable territory. Integrating them into an under-resourced Congolese armed force is unlikely to prove enough of a also still not clear what preferential access, if any, the US has been offered to the DRC's minerals. President Donald Trump has made it clear that this is one of his key incentives for agreeing to support the peace process. But granting the US unfettered access to the country's mineral wealth is unpopular with many in the DRC, upset that the country's resources have failed to provide a better life for its to the key questions of whether Rwandan forces will withdraw from eastern DRC, the US position is that once the Hutu-led FDLR, which Rwanda says is backed by the DRC and aims to overthrow the Rwandan government, is dismantled, then Rwanda will also row back on its "defensive measure". This appears to be an oblique reference to the presence of Rwandan armed forces in eastern DRC. If the US is able to convince the Rwandans to do this in earnest, it would be a big victory for Washington and Kinshasa. Rwanda has repeatedly denied its troops are on the ground in eastern DRC, despite credible reports they've actively supported groups like M23 in the region. More about the DR Congo conflict from the BBC: Congolese rebels want peaceful solution to crisis, UN saysEx-DR Congo president returns from self-imposed exile, party saysDR Congo conflict tests China's diplomatic balancing actHow DR Congo's Tutsis become foreigners in their own country'They took all the women here': Rape survivors recall horror of DR Congo jailbreak Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
BBC News
30 minutes ago
- Health
- BBC News
Phage therapy: I found a bacteria-eating virus in my loo
I'm on the hunt for a microbial saviour – a type of virus that can treat infections rather than cause all know the viral bad guys – Covid, flu, norovirus, herpes, chicken pox, measles… the list goes there's a type of virus that's not interested in infiltrating our bodies, instead it preys on known as bacteria eaters, or bacteriophage, or commonly as them could give us new ways of treating infections, including superbugs that are becoming how to catch a killer?I've been promised it's surprisingly easy. The team at the Phage Collection Project sent me some vials to collect samples, along with a pair of gloves. All I need to do is hunt for some dirty water, the dirtier the better, dip the vials in and screw on the lid. I tried a couple of ponds, the juice from a worm-composting bin and then I needed my dirtiest sample. I didn't flush the toilet after a poo and left it for a couple of hours. I pop on a glove and hold my breath as I go in for the final sample. Strict hygiene instructions, including vigorous hand-washing, were followed, at all vials were packaged up for collection and then three days later I headed off to the University of Southampton to see what was inside."They were a bit dirty when I received them," phage scientist Michelle Lin tells me as we don our blue lab-coats and matching gloves to go into the Containment Level 2 microbiology grab my samples from the fridge, which look much clearer now they have been filtered of any… debris. "It's fine, it's needed," Michelle, who had the unpleasant job, reassures me. Filtering is the first step in looking for phage, next they get served dinner – a cocktail of yummy bacteria - to help them grow in comes the really cool bit – finding a useful phage. The scientists have been working with the local hospital to collect bacteria from patients with troublesome grabs a petri dish that's growing bacteria from a patient with a painful, urinary tract infection that keeps coming to my amazement – one of the phage I collected from my toilet was able to kill this infection in the lab."The way to see that the phage has infected bacteria is you get these zones where the bacteria are not growing and that's because they've been killed by the phage," says Michelle. You can see the leopard print pattern in the petri dish where the phage have been making light work of a bacterial infection that modern medicine was struggling to shift."As crazy as it sounds, well done to the toilet sample," says Michelle with great when I was offered the chance to name the phage, well of course it's the Gallagher-phage."Sounds amazing to me," says far this is all good fun in the laboratory, but could my phage ever be given to a patient?"Yes and I hope so," says associate professor Dr Franklin Nobrega as we look at images of my phage captured with an electron microscope. "Your phage, already in just 24 hours, we were able to get in a high concentration and able to be a very good killer, which means this is very promising for patients, so thank you," said Dr remind me of a moon lander – a big capsule on spindly legs – just instead of landing on the surface of the moon they use their legs to select their then hijack the bacteria and transform it into a mass-production factory for more phage, which burst out of their host, killing it in the process. There are pros and cons to phage. They reproduce as they go along so you don't need constant doses like you would with are also very picky eaters. You need a precise match between phage and the strain of bacteria you're trying to treat whereas antibiotics tend to kill everything good and bad. So it is harder to find the right phage, but if you do it comes with fewer side Nobrega tells me infected wounds are a "very good application" for phage because you can apply them directly to the injury, but they can also be inhaled via a nebuliser to treat lung infections or to target urinary tract infections "which is our target currently". Phage - the friendly virus Phage science may sound new and exciting, but it is actually a century old idea stemming from the discoveries of Felix d'Hérelle and Frederick Twort in the therapy was a branch of medicine and the idea was compelling. Even as late as the 1940s there was an active pharmaceutical industry in western countries trying to produce phage-therapy to defeat bacterial it was rapidly eclipsed by the wonder-drug of the 20th century."Antibiotics were working so well that most people said 'why bother'," says Dr Nobrega. Work on phage therapy continued in places like Georgia and there are individual accounts of it working wonders; but there hasn't been the same depth of medical research and clinical trials as there have for just as the initial success of antibiotics suppressed phage research, the failure of antibiotics is reigniting excitement at their than a million people a year are already dying from infections caused by microbes that are resistant to treatment – it's known as the "silent pandemic". By 2050, that figure is projected to reach 10 million a "antibiotic apocalypse" would mean common infections could kill again and undermine modern medicine. The drugs are also used to make organ transplants, open surgery and chemotherapy possible."The predictions around antibiotic resistance are very frightening, but the reality is we're seeing it now and it's only going to get worse," says Prof Paul Elkington, the director of the institute for medical innovation at the University of Southampton. He is also a doctor with a speciality in lung medicine and is already at the point where - after a year of treatment and turning to ever more toxic and less effective antibiotics - "in the end you have to have a conversation [and say] 'we can't treat this infection, we're really sorry'".He says we can't rely solely on antibiotics in the future and phage are a potential he warns the steps needed to get from the laboratory and into patients are "uncharted".Things are changing. Phage therapy is available in the UK on compassionate grounds when other treatments have failed. And the drugs regulator – The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency – has published its first official rules to support the development of phage therapy."If one looks 15-20 years into the future, with the emerging methodologies, it's going to be possible for them to be much more widely available and for doctors to prescribe phage instead of antibiotics for some infections," says Prof you want to see if you can find a friendly virus too then The Phage Collection Project are launching their new sampling kits at the Summer Science Exhibition taking place this week at the Royal Society and through their website."Antimicrobial resistance is something that could affect all of us," says Esme Brinsden from the Phage Collection Project, "when the public get involved they may just find the next phage that can help treat and save a patient's life".Photography by the BBC's Emma Lynch
BBC News
an hour ago
- Business
- BBC News
Benefits U-turn raises questions about Labour's long-term plan
About a quarter of the working age population - those aged 16 to 64 - do not currently have a job. Caring responsibilities and ill health are the most common reasons given by those who would like a four-year mandate and a towering majority, Labour might have been expected to have invested in a long-term plan to help those who are sick get back into the workforce, at least part-time. It may have cost up front, but in the future it could have delivered big its determination to avoid a repeat of the Liz Truss mini-budget led them to target big savings quickly - but it ended up causing perhaps even more trouble, with the government performing a spectacular U-turn to avoid a mass Labour raises significant questions, not just about how this year-old government manages its affairs day to day, but if its overall strategy to renew the country is on track. Long-term reform vs short-term savings The government was adamant that its "welfare reform" changes - announced in March's Green Paper - were designed to get people back to bulk of planned savings came from tightening the eligibility for Personal Independence Payments (Pip), which are paid to support people who face extra costs due to disability, regardless of whether or not they are in work. Independent experts questioned whether more of the savings should have been redeployed to help people with ill health ease back in to the workforce, for example part time. That could mean support such as potential employer subsidies - especially to help get younger people into work and pay taxes, rather than claim benefits long term. It could also help fill jobs - a win win for rebels argued that the upfront cuts were aimed at filling a Budget hole against the Chancellor's self imposed borrowing rules. Their central criticism was that this was an emergency cost-cutting is true that the Chancellor's Budget numbers were blown off course by higher borrowing costs, such as those emanating from US President Donald Trump's shock tariffs, so she bridged the borrowing gap with these cuts. The welfare reform plan to save £5bn a year by 2029-30 helped Chancellor Rachel Reeves meet her "non negotiable" borrowing rules. Indeed when the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which monitors the spending plans, said they would not in fact raise enough money, Reeves announced more welfare cuts on the day of the Spring main point was to raise money to help close the gap in the Budget tell me that the welfare reform plan was in fact brought forward for this purpose. But this was still not a full programme of welfare reform designed to deal with a structural issue of rising health-related claims. 'Top slicing never works' The former Conservative Welfare Secretary Iain Duncan Smith resigned as work and pensions secretary almost ten years ago, saying a similar plan to cut disability benefits was "indefensible".He says the cuts should have formed part of "a wider process" of finding the best way to focus resources on those most in need."Top slicing never works," he says of plans to extract savings from the welfare budget without its heart the problem is perceived to be that the current welfare structure has become overly binary, failing to accommodate a growing demographic who should be able to do at least a bit of work. This rigidity - what ministers refer to as a "hard boundary" - inadvertently pushes individuals towards declaring complete unfitness for work, and can lead to total dependence on welfare, particularly universal credit health (UC Health), rather than facilitating a gradual transition back into some leading experts this is, in fact, the biggest cause of the increase in health-related welfare claims. The pandemic may have accelerated the trend, but it started a decade proportion of working age people claiming incapacity benefit had fallen well below 5% in 2015, now it's 7%.The pandemic period exacerbated the rise as ill health rose and many claims were agreed without face-to-face meetings. These claims were also increasingly related to mental ill health. One former minister, who did not wanted to be named, said the system had effectively broken down."The real trouble is people are learning to game the Pip questionnaire with help from internet sites," he says. "It's pretty straightforward to answer the questions in a way that gets the points."As he puts it, the UK is "at the extreme of paying people for being disabled" with people getting money rather than equipment such as wheelchairs as occurs in other most kinds of mental ill health, in kind support, such as therapies, would make more sense than cash transfers, he some disability campaigners have said that being offered vouchers instead of cash payments and thereby removing people's automony over spending, is "an insult" and "dangerous". These pressures can be seen in the nature of the compromise planned cuts to Pip payments will now only apply to new claimants from November next year, sparing 370,000 current claimants out of the 800,000 expected to be affected by the Meg Hillier, Labour MP and chair of the Commons Treasury committee, along with other rebels, have also pointed out that the application of the new four-point threshold for Pip payments will be designed together with disability is a fair assumption that this so called "co-production" may enable more future claimants to retain this universal credit, the government had planned to freeze the higher rate for existing health-related claimants but the payments will now rise in line with inflation. And for future claimants of universal credit, the most severe cases will be spared from a planned halving of the payments, worth an average of £3,000 per these calculations don't take into account the effects of £1bn the government has pulled forward to spend to help those with disabilities and long-term health conditions find work as swiftly as possible. This originally wasn't due to come in until 2029. This change does help Labour's argument that the changes are about reform rather than cost cutting. But this is still not fully fledged radical reform on the scale that is needed to tackle a social, fiscal and economic crisis. The OBR has not yet done the Keep Britain Working review, led by former John Lewis boss Sir Charlie Mayfield, which was commissioned by the government to look into the role of employers in health and disability, has not yet been the Netherlands, where a similar challenge was tackled two decades ago, their system makes employers responsible for the costs of helping people back into work for the first two businesses are concerned about the costs of tax, wages and employment rights policies. And there is already a fundamental question about whether the jobs are out there to support sick workers back into the workforce. Tax rises or other spending cuts The Institute for Fiscal Studies and Resolution Foundation think tanks have estimated the government's U-turn could cost £3bn, meaning Chancellor Rachel Reeves will either have to increase taxes in the autumn budget or cut spending elsewhere if she is to meet her self-imposed spending the income tax threshold freeze again, seems a plausible plan There are still a few months to go, so the Treasury might hope that growth is sustained and that borrowing costs settle, helping with the OBR numbers. It will not be lost on anyone that the precise cause of all this, however, was a hasty effort to try to bridge this same Budget rule maths gap that emerged in questions arise about just how stability and credibility-enhancing it really is to tweak fiscal plans every six months to hit Budget targets that change due to market conditions, with changes that cannot be ultimately idea floated by the International Monetary Fund that these Budget adjustments are only really needed once a year must seem quite attractive today. Is Britain getting sicker? And then there are bigger questions left Britain really fundamentally sicker than it was a decade ago, and if it is, does society want to continue current levels of support? If the best medicine really is work, as some suggest, then can employers cope, and will there be enough jobs?Or was it the system itself - previous welfare cuts - that caused the ramp up in claims in recent years, requiring a more thought-through type of reform? Should support for disability designed to help with the specific costs of physical challenges be required at similar levels by those with depression or anxiety?Dare this government make further changes to welfare? And, in pursuing narrow Budget credibility, has it lost more political credibility without actually being able to pass its plans into law?The government is not just boxed in. It seems to have created one of those magician's tricks where they handcuff themselves behind their backs in a locked box - only they lack the escape skills of a Houdini or will be relief that the markets are calm for now, with sterling and stock markets at multi-year highs. But an effort to close a Budget gap, has ended up with perhaps even more fundamental questions about how and if the government can get things done. BBC InDepth is the home on the website and app for the best analysis, with fresh perspectives that challenge assumptions and deep reporting on the biggest issues of the day. And we showcase thought-provoking content from across BBC Sounds and iPlayer too. You can send us your feedback on the InDepth section by clicking on the button below.
BBC News
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Glastonbury: The 1975 deliver a polished, but safe headline slot
The 1975 emerged from hibernation to headline Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage on Friday, playing their only date of the year, and their first since March they were rusty, it didn't show. The band delivered a slick, crowd-pleasing show, full of streamlined hits and delightfully wonky stage Matty Healy is a fascinating creature. Simultaneously cocksure and anxious, he chain-smoked throughout the set, while delivering verbose lyrics about modern love and digital disconnection."This is really scary and I'm really nervous and I thank you so much for coming," he told the audience as the set kicked off. The band emerged in a flicker of static and staccato strings, accompanied by a lone saxophone, before breaking into was followed by heady rush of their biggest songs: If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know), Love Me and She's American - with Healy adding a few bars of the Backstreet Boys' I Want It That Way for good band were musically tight, mixing the digital textures of modern pop with chunky rock riffs and a healthy dose of 80s yacht rock - but the set often felt a little too safe. Healy's wilder excesses - kissing fans in the front row, eating raw meat - were notably absent. And the untamed, punky energy of People was the only number where the band were really allowed to cut loose. But as a tour through The 1975's greatest hits, the set was impeccable. Formed in Cheshire 23 years ago, songs from their self-titled debut album - including Chocolate, Sex, and Robbers - are now old enough now to be considered classics, and they were all met with screams and It If We Made It was urgent and bleak and hopeful, as it dissected the overwhelming nature of modern life. And Give Yourself A Try felt cast Healy as an older brother, dispensing well-meaning advice to young festivalgoers. "You learn a couple things when to get to my age," he sang. "Like friends don't lie and it all tastes the same in the dark / When your vinyl and your coffee collection is a sign of the times / You're getting spiritually enlightened at 29." 'A generational poet' After Part Of The Band, Healy stepped up to the microphone with an important announcement."I have this thing where it's difficult to tell when I'm being sincere," he said. "But I want to be sincere."What this moment is making me realise is that I, probably, am the best songwriter of my generation. "The best poet, ladies and gentlemen, is what I am. A generational poet."He then cued up Chocolate - a song about fleeing from the police with a stash of marijuana. I can't quite decide if that self-deprecation is The 1975's greatest strength or their Achilles' heel. At one point, a big sign flashes up between songs, saying "Matty is changing his trousers". It deconstructs the artifice of a rock show, making The 1975 seem more human - but equally, it deflates the excitement of watching a band in full flow. Or maybe I'm overthinking it. That's what The 1975 do to the most significant moment came towards the end, as Healy explained why the notoriously outspoke band, who've been banned from Malaysia for protesting it's anti-homosexuality laws, had steered clear of politics for the night."We don't want our legacy to be one of politics, we want it to be one of love and friendships. Go out into the world and there's loads of politics out there, and we need more love and friendship."Perhaps they were biting their tongues, aware of unfamiliar audiences watching at it will be interesting to see how that retreat from social commentary affects their forthcoming sixth album. The 1975 topped the bill in a day that saw several surprise performances across the site - although none of the secrets were particularly well Capaldi made a triumphant and emotional comeback, two years after he was unable to make it through a career-making performance on the Pyramid that performance, where a combination of anxiety and Tourette's conspired to make him lose his voice, the musician took a two year break from the laid those ghosts to rest on the Pyramid Stage just before tea-time, emerging to a huge swell of support from the audience."I just wanted to come and finish what I couldn't finish first time around," he told them, as tears welled in his more about Lewis Capaldi's comeback. Earlier, festival bosses had to close down the Woodsies field at 11:15am after word spread that pop star Lorde would open the spilled out of the tent and into the field as she arrived on stage shortly afterwards, to play her new album, Virgin, in was an interesting ploy. The album had only come out a couple of hours earlier, leaving most people unfamiliar with the material. While the audience made a concerted effort to grasp the new shapes and sounds, there was a noticeable uplift when Lorde closed her set with Ribs and Green more about Lorde's secret setOther surprise sets came from Jarvis Cocker, who played a DJ set on the Greenpeace stage, and Olivia Dean, who appeared in the Strummerville rumours spread that Foo Fighters' frontman Dave Grohl was handing out programmes at one of the festival gates; and Paul McCartney was spotted watching Irish band Inhaler from the side of the Pyramid Stage. Highlights of the first day included CMAT, who drew a huge crowd to the Pyramid Stage, making them laugh, dance, cry and sing along to her spirited country-pop songs."I'm CMAT, I have middle child syndrome, an amazing ass and the best Irish rock and roll country band in the world!" she declared, not says she still faces abuse after viral songOver on The Other Stage, Wet Leg proved they deserve higher billing than their mid-afternoon slot, with a set full of shaggy rock riffs and sardonic the heat, singer Rhian Teasdale poured cans of water over her head between fan favourite songs like Ur Mum and recent single Catch These Fists, but the biggest reception was reserved for their breakout hit Chaise Longue. Bringing a very different energy was hip-hop legend Busta Rhymes, whose cartoonish energy and breakneck rap flow was guaranteed to get the audience on side."We represent that real hip-hop culture," he boasted, after a run of hits that included Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See, Scenario and Woo Hah!! (Got You All In Check)."We don't need no special effects," Busta continued. "You know why? Because we are the special effects." Spoons for Alanis After Lorde's set, the Woodsies stage continued to draw huge crowds all day, with Lola Young, Myles Smith and Shed Seven all getting a rapturous heroes Blossoms rattled off a mini greatest hits set, before CMAT burst out of a gift-wrapped box and duetted with them on the single I Like Your had a moment of vulnerability, telling the audience she'd worried she wasn't "big enough to do this stage".But the response to songs like Illegal and Stateside, from her recent mixtape Fancy That (a career best) put those fears to rest. She even had to ask people to stop cheering after Boy's A Liar, in case her set overran. Alanis Morissette made her Glastonbury debut on the Pyramid Stage, running through the highlights of her 1995 album Jagged Little Pill, which somehow turned 30 two weeks like Right Through You and You Oughta Know have lost none of their caustic edge in the intervening years; while the softer songs (You Learn, Head Over Feet) remain encouraging and optimistic."I'm blown away that the songs I wrote when I was 19," she told BBC News. "I can still stand by them now."On stage, Morissette barely spoke to the audience, other than to introduce her band, but they were too busy singing to standout moment came during Ironic - a song that, ironically, misunderstands the concept of irony - when 10,000 fans held up spoons. And all she needed was a knife. Who would have thought? It figures. Glastonbury continues on Saturday with performances from Charli XCX, Neil Young, Doechii, Kaiser Chiefs, Kneecap, Raye and Scissor Pyramid Stage also boasts another surprise set, from a band billed only as can follow the action on BBC radio, television, iPlayer and BBC Sounds.
BBC News
an hour ago
- General
- BBC News
Autism centre in Northern Ireland gets glow up after Facebook SOS
"I need your help!"When Gerard Donaghy, from Millisle, County Down, shared those words on his Facebook page, he had no idea how people would had a vision of bringing together painters and decorators from across Northern Ireland to give a building that serves the community a much-needed glow Saturday, a resource centre for families living with autism will be given a free makeover - thanks to more than 50 volunteers."You don't have to look far to find bad news these days - it can weigh you down - but something like this reminds you that there's still plenty of good out there," the father of two told BBC News NI. As well as looking for volunteers, Gerard, who runs Paintworks NI with his wife Danielle, asked for nominations for a building needing a successful nominee was Helping Hands Autism Resource Centre in Dundonald, on the outskirts of Belfast."As a dad of a daughter with additional needs, this one's personal," Gerard said."I walked into their space and saw what they were trying to do and I just knew we could help make it better."A coat of paint might not seem like much to some, but when it's done with care and pride, it changes how a place feels - and that's what these families deserve." 'Act of kindness' Caroline Birch, chairperson of Helping Hands, said the organisation is "incredibly grateful for this act of kindness"."It means the world to our family members and the local community as well," she said."We are absolutely delighted that Gerard and all the other guys have generously volunteered their time, equipment and expertise to support our charity by redecorating our premises." "The makeover will create a brighter, more welcoming space for the children and families that Helping Hands supports every day," she added. Rising costs and funding difficulties can be stressful for Caroline says the transformation has lifted the atmosphere and will allow them to "truly reflect the care and inclusion we strive to provide". "The Paint It Forward initiative stands as an excellent example of local businesses giving back and making a meaningful difference - we cannot thank them all enough," she said."Here's to a colourful brighter future for our charity." Paint It Forward was something Gerard said he had been thinking about for years."What if we could get a crowd of decorators together, just for one day, to completely transform a place that really needs it? No hoops to jump through, no funding, just people showing up and using their skills to do good."Last year, he met the chairman of the Painting Contractors Association in the US, Nick Slavic, who told him: "It starts with one.""That conversation was the fuel that lit the fire," he said."From the minute we mentioned it, people jumped on it. 'We all have skills' "I had painters messaging saying 'Count me in', without even knowing the full details."Suppliers stepped up with no hesitation... They just said yes - along with loads of local businesses who are chipping in too."At the heart of it, it's just people wanting to be part of something positive.""I'd love to see this spark something across the board," Gerard said."Whether you're a roofer, a joiner, a landscaper, a plumber, we all have skills."If every trade gave one day a year to a cause in their community, imagine what we could do?"
