Villa Vie Residences remains in lough

Villa Vie Residences remains in lough

A round-the-world cruise ship, which set sail on Monday after months of delays, remains in Belfast Lough on Tuesday night. The ship’s passengers remain upbeat despite some being told the ship might not sail until Wednesday morning due to final pieces of paperwork needing completed. Villa Vie Residences’ Odyssey was scheduled to leave the city…

Five (or maybe 10) of his best songs

Five (or maybe 10) of his best songs

Kris Kristofferson was always modest about his talent. He disliked being called a poet and preferred it when other people performed his songs. “I sing like a bullfrog,” he once told record producer Fred Foster. “Yeah,” Foster replied, “but a bullfrog who communicates.” Kristofferson’s plainspoken vocals may have lacked range but they carried something more…

TV menopause doctor concerns probed by watchdog

TV menopause doctor concerns probed by watchdog

England’s health watchdog, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), is looking into “information of concern” at clinics run by one of TV’s best-known menopause doctors. Dr Louise Newson has also lost her British Menopause Society accreditation, over the prescribing of high doses of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), BBC Panorama has learned. More than a dozen patients…

Injured Gaza girls make it to Italy for treatment after long wait

Injured Gaza girls make it to Italy for treatment after long wait

Warning: Readers may find some of the details within this report upsetting “Higher,” the little girl demands, her eyes bright with excitement. “Higher, higher.” Zeina’s being pushed on a swing in a small playground in the suburbs of the northern Italian city of Padua. A normal scene anywhere in the world. But Zeina, two, can’t…

How a British man allegedly tricked Brazilian sailors into trafficking cocaine

How a British man allegedly tricked Brazilian sailors into trafficking cocaine

For Daniel Guerra, an aspiring Brazilian sailor keen to travel the world, the job ad was a dream come true. A British yacht owner was seeking two deck-hands to help sail his boat from Brazil across the Atlantic, one of the great ocean journeys. There would be no salary, but all expenses paid – and,…

‘Still saving lives’ – Breast cancer campaigner Kris Hallenga’s twin on her legacy

‘Still saving lives’ – Breast cancer campaigner Kris Hallenga’s twin on her legacy

“It almost looked like she was walking on clouds that day,” says Maren Sheldon, twin sister of the late breast cancer campaigner, Kris Hallenga. Maren is remembering the “living FUNeral” her sister had organised last year in Truro Cathedral in Cornwall. For the occasion, Kris wore a sequinned top with “YODO” on the back –…

McDonald’s and supermarkets failed to spot slavery

McDonald’s and supermarkets failed to spot slavery

Signs that modern slavery victims were being forced to work at a McDonald’s branch and a factory supplying bread products to major supermarkets were missed for years, the BBC has found. A gang forced 16 victims to work at either the fast-food restaurant or the factory – which supplied Asda, Co-op, M&S, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and…