d Britain may aim for third in 2012 By news.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Mon, 25 Aug 2008 05:34:53 GMT Britain could revise its medals target for London 2012 following the team's success at the Beijing Olympics. Full Article London 2012
d More Britons 'to attend Olympics' By news.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:00:50 GMT Public enthusiasm for attending the 2012 London Olympic Games has risen almost 30% following the Beijing Games, a survey for the BBC suggests. Full Article UK
d Cultural Olympiad plans unveiled By news.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:14:00 GMT Plans for a four-year programme of cultural events ahead of the 2012 Olympics are announced in London. Full Article Entertainment
d 2012 bosses deny demolition plan By news.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:04:04 GMT London 2012 chiefs tell BBC Sport they are not seriously considering a scheme to flatten the Olympic Stadium after the Games. Full Article London 2012
d Plans for 2012 VeloPark unveiled By news.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:53:39 GMT Triple gold medallist Chris Hoy helps unveil designs for London's 2012 Olympic cycling facilities. Full Article London
d London takes over as Olympic host By news.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Sun, 24 Aug 2008 13:06:46 GMT Mayor Boris Johnson receives the Olympic flag to signal the start of London's reign as Olympic host city and spark wild celebrations in the capital. Full Article London 2012
d More from the BBC on London 2012 By www.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:11:34 GMT Full Article separator
d Guide to London's Olympics venues By news.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Mon, 06 Jun 2005 10:52:51 GMT Interactive guide to 2012 Olympics Full Article Olympics
d Jimmy Savile and Newsnight: A correction By www.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Mon, 22 Oct 2012 10:48:11 +0000 The following is a statement issued by the BBC The BBC has launched an independent review, led by former Head of Sky News Nick Pollard, to determine whether there were any failings in the BBC's management of the Newsnight investigation into allegations of sexual abuse of children by Jimmy Savile. However, on the basis of material available now, it is apparent from information supplied by the Newsnight editor and programme team - that the explanation in a blog by the editor of his decision to drop the programme's investigation is inaccurate or incomplete in some respects. By way of correction and clarification: 1.The blog says that Newsnight had no evidence that anyone from the Duncroft home could or should have known about the allegations. In fact some allegations were made (mostly in general terms) that some of the Duncroft staff knew or may have known about the abuse. 2. The blog says that Newsnight had no evidence against the BBC. No allegation was made to the programme that BBC staff were aware of Mr Savile's alleged activities, but there were some allegations of abusive conduct on BBC premises. 3. The blog says that all the women spoken to by the programme had contacted the police independently already and that Newsnight had no new evidence against any other person that would have helped the police. It appears that in some cases women had not spoken to the police and that the police were not aware of all the allegations. The BBC regrets these errors and will work with the Pollard review to assemble all relevant evidence to enable the review to determine the full facts. Update 23 October 2012: The BBC has published an additional statement which it issued to Panorama on 22 October 2012. You can read it here. Full Article
d Goodbye Ceefax By www.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Tue, 23 Oct 2012 12:05:57 +0000 Ceefax - the BBC's teletext service - finally ends its long career tonight when it is due to be switched off at 23:30 BST. There is more on this, and the history of the service, in our news story today and linked coverage. As each part of the UK has in turn gone through the switchover to digital and lost the Ceefax service in the process, it has been a long farewell, which I have written about here before. Now, with the analogue TV signal in Northern Ireland being switched off, the last stage in the process has arrived, and the service will come to an end. The BBC Red Button services will carry on the Ceefax tradition of providing clear and concise news from around the UK and the world, on demand, on your TV. Indeed the Red Button service is in the process of being reinvented for internet-enabled TV sets, and this “Connected Red Button” service will combine the simplicity of traditional Red Button with the flexibility and depth of online. My colleague Daniel Danker has written about this work here and there is already a BBC News app for connected TVs which I wrote about here and here when it launched. At its peak, Ceefax had an audience of some 20 million viewers a week, and as the end of the service has approached, it has received several thousand letters and emails of thanks from viewers. In a tribute to the clarity of Ceefax’s simple, concise format and news stories, and to mark Ceefax's last day, the Plain English Campaign - which campaigns for clear, concise language in public information - has given Ceefax a lifetime achievement award. It's an honour to have received so many tributes from Ceefax viewers, and to get this award, and both are a recognition of the skill and dedication of all the journalists who have worked on the service over the years, and the care they have taken in writing every story. Steve Herrmann is editor of the BBC News website. Full Article BBC News website
d Election stats - new mobile record By www.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Thu, 08 Nov 2012 13:36:33 +0000 BBC coverage of the US election, which my colleague Jon Williams trailed here a couple of days ago, brought the highest traffic to BBC News Online so far this year, and set a new record for us on mobile. On 7 November, there were 16.4m unique browsers across the website and mobile, 8.1m of which came from the UK. That makes it the highest traffic day of 2012 so far and rivals our two biggest previous days during the August riots and the March Tsunami, in 2011. During the England riots, on 9 August 2011 there were there were 18.2m unique browsers, 10.9m of which came from the UK. The peak traffic point yesterday was 07:00-08:00 GMT, which saw higher usage than lunchtime, maybe as people checked the results as soon as they woke up. UK usage figures yesterday were 50% higher than the average for 2012, and ex-UK usage was 75% higher than average. We spent a lot of time working out how to provide the best possible service on mobile, so it's encouraging to see that nearly 5m mobile devices visited BBC News Online yesterday, a record figure for us on mobile, accounting for about 30% of all users yesterday (on an average weekday, we'd expect mobiles to account for about 24% of users). Steve Herrmann is editor of the BBC News website. Full Article BBC News website
d Mozilla Festival and the fellowship announcement By www.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Fri, 09 Nov 2012 11:40:43 +0000 Back in July we announced that we'd be working with the Knight-Mozilla fellowship for a second year and invited applications from people passionate about working with technology and journalism, and keen to have an impact in this area at the BBC. My colleague, senior product manager Andrew Leimdorfer, has this update: We are pleased to announce that we have decided on our new Knight-Mozilla fellow, Noah Veltman, who will be starting with us in January 2013. Noah is one of eight 2013 fellows who will all be announced at this weekend's sold-out Mozilla Festival in London who will be based in news organisations around the world, including the Guardian and the New York Times. There are so many ways that technology is changing journalism that our first challenge is going to be to make a choice about which of these areas Noah will be helping us with next year. Working on new data visualisations and developing innovative content for mobile web will be high on the list. We welcome Noah to the team and wish all the Knight-Mozilla fellows all the best in 2013. Full Article BBC News website
d Expanded distribution in the US for BBC World News By www.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Fri, 14 Dec 2012 17:11:38 +0000 This week viewers to BBC World News have been watching a series of reports focusing on the Arab uprisings, two years after they first began. Correspondents have been in Damascus, Tunis, Cairo, the Syria-Lebanon border and elsewhere. Their eyewitness TV reporting is accompanied by further explanation and analysis on our website, bbc.com/news. These are expert journalists, with years of experience and knowledge, living the story on behalf of the audience. They demonstrate our commitment to reporting the world, and bringing clarity to complex events. Until now, however, viewers in the world's biggest TV market, the US, have found it hard to access BBC reporting of this kind. The market is saturated with TV channels, but for the past couple of years we've been very focused on securing widespread carriage on the distribution systems which bring TV into most homes. So today the BBC is delighted to announce we have agreed to a partnership with the US cable giant - Time Warner Cable - and through this and other deals, a further 10 million homes in the US will have access to BBC World News 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This means by the end of this year we will be available in 25 million homes, including those in most of the major markets - New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston. There is still some way to go before we can say we have reached everyone - but 2012 has been a year of significant breakthroughs for us in the US. The BBC is already well-known in America through its partnerships with public radio, through the success of our website BBC.com/news, and because of our nightly broadcast on public television fronted by Katty Kay. We believe our brand of high-quality, intelligent and non-partisan journalism has something to offer US audiences, and we're determined to make access to our services as simple as possible. The timing could not be better. We're just a few weeks away from the first broadcasts of BBC World News from our brand new headquarters in central London. Three new studios, a big investment in production and journalism, and working more closely with BBC journalists working in English and 27 other languages - it's more than just a new home, it's a new start. We're delighted to share that even more widely. Richard Porter is controller of English at BBC Global News Full Article BBC World News
d BBC World News moves to Broadcasting House By www.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Mon, 14 Jan 2013 09:02:28 +0000 Moving BBC World News, the BBC's largest television channel, from west London to New Broadcasting House in the centre of the city is a huge project that has taken years of planning. Relaunching and rebranding every hour of its 24 hours of output to give audiences around the world a new exciting polished HD product has made that huge project even more challenging. Hopefully on Monday at 1200 GMT, the hard work of our 100 dedicated staff will give our audiences a bolder, brighter, more engaging look for the channel they trust to give them independent, objective news and analysis from more correspondents, in more locations, than any other international broadcaster. Meticulous planning began about three years ago - everything from the new look of our studios to bicycle parking. We tested our studio systems - literally to breaking point - then fixed them and began the dual-running piloting that has split our newsroom teams between those keeping us on air back at Television Centre and those training and developing our programmes in our new home. We're calling our new location The World's Newsroom because it truly reflects the world we report. We now work with colleagues from 27 language services who report for us from far flung bureaus and in London, allowing us to celebrate their unique expertise - something no other broadcaster can offer. We'll be introducing you to those new colleagues and our new location in special live reports from inside New Broadcasting House and offering enhanced social media access so you can enjoy behind-the-scenes access. Audiences have also told us they want to engage more with the stories we tell - to feel closer to the issues we report. We're going to help you "live the story" with us. It's our new channel ethos. Our correspondents - expert, brave, tough, determined - live and work where they report, and we want audiences to understand their passion for the stories they cover. So expect a new style of reporting from the field. And we'll be everywhere for our relaunch with live and exclusive reports planned from Syria, China, the US and Burma to name just a few. In the studio, trusted and familiar presenters will be sharing the day's top stories - with a sprinkling of new faces on air. We'll have a more dynamic look, with robot cameras whizzing around our studios, improved graphics and high definition screens to enhance our ability to explain and analyse. We even have some virtual reality surprises planned. We're also developing new long-form programmes, so expect to see new hard-hitting and timely documentary series. There'll be fresh new editions of favourites such as HARDTalk with Stephen Sackur (our interrogator-in-chief), Click for the latest on tech and Health Check for medical breakthroughs. BBC World News has come a long way since it launched as a shoestring commercial operation in a backroom at Television Centre more than 20 years ago. Our audiences have grown massively. We're required viewing from the President's White House in Washington to the President's Blue House in Seoul. And in an era when bad mortgages in the US can trigger a global economic meltdown, we know there is a huge appetite for world news delivered fast, accurately and objectively. We hope you'll enjoy our new look. And we hope you'll join us in the world's newsroom. Andrew Roy is head of news for BBC World News Full Article BBC World News
d BBC Arabic and the complexities of the Arab world By www.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:22:24 +0000 By Faris Couri, editor of the BBC Arabic Service It is no secret that recent Arab uprisings have placed enormous burdens on the shoulders of BBC Arabic journalists responsible for reporting news from the region. Covering the Arab world is not always an easy task - we need to mix sensible caution with a dose of courage in covering political issues that attract so many disputed views among Arabic-speaking audiences. Our guiding principles are the BBC's values, its editorial guidelines, its ethical code, which are our reference points to maintain impartial, balanced and accurate reporting. Across the Arab world - whether it's Tunisia, Yemen, Egypt or Libya, Bahrain, Syria and Iraq or the many other countries in the region - we know that audiences want access to objective and independent news, far removed from an agenda that favours one party, religion or sect against another. That is why audiences are turning to BBC Arabic. Last year, our latest figures show that overall audiences to BBC Arabic have risen by more than 17% to a record high of 25.3 million adults weekly. That includes a big surge of 2.9 million in Saudi Arabia and 2.7 million in Egypt, where TV viewers in particular turned to the BBC to better understand the events happening in their own country. Our radio audiences are also holding up despite the reductions in transmission. Online is proving to be more of a challenge, but we are working hard to understand the needs of digital audiences and those for whom social media plays an increasingly important part in their lives. In 2011, following the fall of the Mubarak leadership, we watched as ordinary Egyptians carried banners saying "Thank you, BBC!" But meeting the high expectation of audiences has a price and sometimes it's been a heavy one. March 2011 brought a strong reminder of the risks that our staff face in covering the news - one of our reporters was arrested and tortured by Muammar Gaddafi's forces during the Libya uprising. In early 2012, our reporter in Yemen was beaten and received death threats from supporters of the outgoing president. We are also challenged by those who disagree with our coverage. In countries such as Syria and Bahrain, BBC Arabic has been accused of bias. The criticism comes from opposition and government alike. It may be a valid argument to say that getting criticism from both sides, in the case of Arab world certainly, is an indication of balanced coverage. On Syria, for example, we had a series of documentaries looking at the civil war from a number of perspectives. The first one, exploring what it's like to work for a Syrian television channel that's the mouthpiece of the government, was the butt of criticism and threats from Syrian opposition quarters. We followed it up with a programme charting a day in the lives of six Syrian women, five of whom were anti-government activists. In our day-to-day news coverage, presenting a variety of voices from Syria is essential to us. And that is what distinguishes BBC Arabic from many media outlets in the Arab world which promote political views and agendas, and that is what we are determined to keep. BBC Arabic marked its 75th anniversary in January. Arab politicians and ordinary people have expressed their appreciation of our track record of impartiality and trusted news. I am confident that the coming years will see further achievement on all our platforms - TV, radio and online. Full Article
d School Report News Day 2013 By www.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Wed, 20 Mar 2013 08:20:59 +0000 So it's here. School Report News Day 2013 is upon us - and about 1,000 schools are due to take part, making the news that matters to them. They will appear across BBC News - on TV, radio and online and on regional news programmes. The project is now in its seventh year, and is bigger than ever. School reporters are in Canterbury to witness the enthronement of the new Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, and we also return to the Olympic Park in London to examine the legacy from the 2012 games. And there's more - the BBC School Report website has full details of the range of topics being covered. It is all a far cry from when we began. A small team started School Report with the aim of giving teenagers the opportunity to make the news they thought mattered. Giving them hours of BBC airtime was nerve-wracking, but it proved to be a success. In that first year - 2007 - we worked with 12- and 13-year-olds in 120 schools. What I most remember from that year is seeing school reporters on the Six O'Clock News and thinking that this partnership between schools and the BBC had developed into something bigger than we ever thought it could be. Fast-forward to 2013 and we are able to reach even further, both in geographical terms and into the BBC's output. We'll be broadcasting live from Radio Foyle in Londonderry, and taking over the flagship Radio 4 programme Woman's Hour. There will also be a dedicated School Report Live channel accessible through the Red Button. We'll be updating a live news feed on our website and our @BBCSchoolReport Twitter feed throughout the day, so please follow what our school reporters are doing and let us know what you think. Helen Shreeve is editor of BBC News School Report. Full Article
d iPhone and iPad app update By www.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Tue, 02 Apr 2013 11:35:15 +0000 On Tuesday we are releasing an update to the BBC News iPhone and iPad app in the UK designed to make the app faster and more stable, with bigger, better quality images on the home screen. We are busy doing some research and thinking at the moment about what people are looking for in our News apps in the longer term, but we thought that in the meantime, it was important to fix one or two bugs affecting some users of the existing app and to make it a better, slicker experience overall. We want to make sure the current app remains a great way to get a quick overview of the top stories across a wide range of subjects, easy-to-scan on a mobile and, once the stories have loaded, handy to read offline too. So, it will now be quicker to start up the app and to update it, and it should feel smoother and faster as you scroll and swipe through the screens and stories. The larger homescreen images we've introduced serve two purposes: first, you can see what's in them more clearly and there's more room for the headlinesecond, their positioning makes it clearer that you can scroll horizontally in each news category to reveal more stories (we noticed that in user testing some people assumed there were only three stories a section). There is a new layout on iPad when you view the home screen in portrait mode - designed to show more headlines and make it easier to find the stories you're interested in. Among the bugs that we've fixed is an issue that sometimes caused the app to get stuck when updating, and another where you sometimes saw duplicate stories within a single news category. For our product team, these improvements required a fairly major reworking of the app's code. The good news is that they are now working from a more stable base which can be built on with new features and functionality. This revising of our code is something we've already done with our Android app, so we'll now be able to release upgrades simultaneously on both iOS and Android, which are by far the largest mobile platforms for us in terms of users. This latest update is already available internationally. If you're a user of the app, or decide to try it out, we hope you'll like the improvements we've made. And as we think about our apps generally and plan our next steps, we'd like to hear about what you'd most like to see in future. Steve Herrmann is editor of the BBC News website. Full Article BBC News
d The Editors' blog is moving By www.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:00:42 +0000 As of Thursday, the Editors' blog will move to a different address on the BBC News website. While this page will no longer be updated, it will stay here for reference. Full Article BBC News
d When will VAT be added to private school fees? By www.bbc.com Published On :: Wed, 30 Oct 2024 18:58:07 GMT Labour says removing the current tax exemption will help to fund 6,500 new teachers in England. Full Article
d Everything you need to know about student loans By www.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Mon, 04 Nov 2024 17:59:10 GMT What can I borrow and when do I have to start paying back my loans? Full Article
d School leaders know fixing problems a marathon, not a sprint By www.bbc.com Published On :: Thu, 31 Oct 2024 14:50:43 GMT But school leaders do not agree on how quickly the government should be pacing itself. Full Article
d Educating Greater Manchester head teacher banned By www.bbc.com Published On :: Thu, 07 Nov 2024 17:28:38 GMT Drew Povey's school was featured on the 2017 Channel 4 documentary series. Full Article
d How a Chinese maths 'prodigy' unravelled in cheating storm By www.bbc.com Published On :: Thu, 07 Nov 2024 23:06:09 GMT A 17-year-old student was hailed as a genius, until it emerged she'd cheated. Full Article
d The robots helping children go back to school By www.bbc.com Published On :: Fri, 08 Nov 2024 06:43:58 GMT Robots are used to help support children who struggle emotionally going to school. Full Article
d Former students urged to check for loan refunds By www.bbc.com Published On :: Sat, 09 Nov 2024 12:06:41 GMT New figures show university graduates could be eligible for refunds worth nearly £200m. Full Article
d Too much debt or value for money? Students divided over tuition fee rise By www.bbc.com Published On :: Sun, 10 Nov 2024 08:14:16 GMT University fees are rising to £9,535, meaning students will be left in more debt after their course. Full Article
d Jamie Oliver pulls 'offensive' children's book from sale By www.bbc.com Published On :: Mon, 11 Nov 2024 14:40:06 GMT The 400-page fantasy novel is accused of stereotyping Indigenous Australians. Full Article
d Edinburgh University warns students not to be 'snobs' By www.bbc.com Published On :: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 12:45:49 GMT The institution admitted class-related prejudice was a problem on campus. Full Article
d Schedule/results 2012 By news.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Wed, 14 Mar 12 09:23:25 GMT All the results from around the world as well as the latest schedule. Full Article
d Jury shown video of father slapping Sara Sharif By www.bbc.com Published On :: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 16:59:48 GMT The home video was filmed less than 13 months before Sara was found dead with multiple injuries. Full Article
d Innocent man's identity used to scam football fans By www.bbc.com Published On :: Wed, 13 Nov 2024 00:19:02 GMT Richard Russell was named on official documents as the boss of the online ticketing site. Full Article
d Hill scores as Dolphins beat Rams to end losing run By www.bbc.com Published On :: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 12:27:06 GMT Tyreek Hill scores his first touchdown since the opening week of the season, as the Miami Dolphins beat the Los Angeles Rams 23-15 to end a three-game losing streak. Full Article
d Wittich 'steps down' as F1 race director By www.bbc.com Published On :: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 17:36:55 GMT Niels Wittich leaves his role as Formula 1's race director with immediate effect. Full Article
d Lineker to stop hosting Match of the Day, BBC confirms By www.bbc.com Published On :: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 13:05:26 GMT The BBC has "agreed in principle a contract extension through to the 2026 World Cup," with Lineker. Full Article
d 'Seminal review can end Premier League deadlock' By www.bbc.com Published On :: Wed, 13 Nov 2024 00:00:26 GMT EFL chairman Rick Parry tells BBC Sport's Dan Roan about his hopes for the new football regulator as the Football Governance Bill has its second reading before parliament. Full Article
d COP29: In Donald Trump’s shadow By www.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 09:10:00 GMT Can the world fight climate change without the US? Full Article
d Trump and Putin, Call Me Maybe? By www.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Mon, 11 Nov 2024 19:45:00 GMT Plus, Bishop calls on Archbishop to resign over Church abuse scandal. Full Article
d Premier League footballer questioned over rape claims By www.bbc.com Published On :: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 21:51:50 GMT A Premier League footballer has been further questioned by police over allegations of rape. Full Article
d Sue Gray will not take up new nations and regions role By www.bbc.com Published On :: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 22:50:27 GMT The senior official was initially appointed to the role after departing as the PM's chief of staff. Full Article
d Post Office jobs and branches at risk in shake-up By www.bbc.com Published On :: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 20:13:57 GMT Hundreds of head office workers are facing cuts and loss-making branches are under threat of closure. Full Article
d Speed of cricket balls could stump housing scheme By www.bbc.com Published On :: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 21:34:35 GMT Developers and Sport England disagree over the risk from cricket balls to future residents. Full Article
d Archbishop of Canterbury resigns over Church abuse scandal By www.bbc.com Published On :: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 19:48:18 GMT His resignation comes after a damning report into a prolific child abuser associated with the Church. Full Article
d ‘Adults buying kids toys to escape global turmoil’ By www.bbc.com Published On :: Wed, 13 Nov 2024 00:00:57 GMT Retailers are increasingly targeting the "kidult" market as family finances are squeezed. Full Article
d Why Tesla, crypto and prisons are Trump trade winners By www.bbc.com Published On :: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 21:17:02 GMT As the dust settles on a post-election stock market rally, some firms have already gained. Full Article
d First sighting of Belarusian political prisoner in more than 600 days By www.bbc.com Published On :: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 21:16:45 GMT Maria Kolesnikova, jailed for her part in mass political protests in 2020, was allowed to see her father. Full Article
d 'I might be dead before a decision is made': Terminally-ill people on assisted dying By www.bbc.com Published On :: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 17:50:20 GMT Nik is worried assisted dying could lead to coercion - but Elise, who has cancer, wants the choice. Full Article
d Dating fraudster could have scammed 'hundreds' more women By www.bbc.com Published On :: Wed, 13 Nov 2024 00:00:52 GMT Women were seen as targets by a serial scammer, but together they ensured he would face the truth. Full Article
d The Papers: Welby quits and hospital chiefs get waiting times warning By www.bbc.com Published On :: Wed, 13 Nov 2024 01:24:57 GMT The resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury and new performance measures for the NHS lead the papers. Full Article
d Inside the secret summit that tried to stop deadly rap wars By www.bbc.com Published On :: Wed, 13 Nov 2024 03:55:04 GMT Before Shakur's murder, Jones brought stars together to discuss state of hip-hop and try to end rap violence. Full Article
d Girl dies on M5 after getting out of police vehicle By www.bbc.com Published On :: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 18:50:19 GMT The 17-year-old was being transported to custody when she left the vehicle and was hit by a car. Full Article