Finding the right period product for you can be a difficult task/SCREENGRABFor many of us, our first lessons about periods were brief and practical, often limited to learning how to use pads or tampons.Alongside these traditional options, there’s now a wider range of products available, including reusable options such as menstrual cups, period pants and washable pads.Making the choice about which one is best for you can be overwhelming. You might wonder how these products work and whether they’re foolproof enough to put the fear of bleeding through your clothes at bay.Dr Tempest, a consultant gynaecologist at the University of…
Author: by BBC NEWS
Researchers ‘hopeful’ after koala chlamydia vaccine approval/SCREENGRABA vaccine which could save Australia’s endangered koala population from a rampant chlamydia epidemic has been approved for rollout for the first time.University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) scientists have spent more than a decade developing a jab to curb the spread of the disease, which has decimated wild koala populations across most of eastern Australia.”Some individual wild colonies, where infection rate can be as high as 70%, are edging closer to extinction every day,” Peter Timms said.With approval from regulators now secured, he said the team hoped for major funding to distribute the…
SCREENGRABEight babies have been born in the UK using genetic material from three people to prevent devastating and often fatal conditions, doctors say.The method, pioneered by UK scientists, combines the egg and sperm from a mum and dad with a second egg from a donor woman.The technique has been legal here for a decade but we now have the first proof it is leading to children born free of incurable mitochondrial disease.These conditions are normally passed from mother to child, starving the body of energy.This can cause severe disability and some babies die within days of being born. Couples know they are…
At least eight people have been killed and 400 injured as thousands took to the streets in a day of protests across Kenya against President William Ruto’s government.Police clashed with protesters in the capital Nairobi and other cities exactly a year on from the wave of deadly anti-government demonstrations that hit the nation in 2024.Many of those demonstrating chanted “Ruto must go” and waved branches as a symbol of peaceful opposition to his rule.The government banned live TV and radio coverage of the protests, but its decree was overturned by the High Court in the capital, Nairobi.Ruto urged protesters not…
When he isn’t preaching the word of God, Reverend Joo Yeong-bong is raising dogs for slaughter.Business is not going well though. In fact, it’s on the brink of becoming illegal.”Since last summer we’ve been trying to sell our dogs, but the traders just keep hesitating,” Mr Joo, 60, tells the BBC. “Not a single one has shown up.”In 2024, the South Korean government implemented a nationwide ban on the sale of dog meat for consumption. The landmark legislation, which was passed last January, gives farmers like Mr Joo until February 2027 to shutter their operations and sell off their remaining…
President Donald Trump fires hundreds of journalists for Voice of America (VOA), shutting down the US-funded news outlet [Getty Images] Hundreds of journalists for Voice of America (VOA) – most of its remaining staff – have been fired by President Donald Trump’s administration, effectively shutting down the US-funded news outlet. The administration said the layoffs were because the agency was “riddled with dysfunction, bias and waste”. Steve Herman, VOA’s chief national correspondent, called the dismantling of the outlet, which was set up during World War Two to counter Nazi propaganda, a “historic act of self-sabotage”. Among those axed were Persian-language…
A man in Norway woke up to find a huge container ship had run aground and crashed into his front garden.The 135m-ship (443ft) missed Johan Helberg’s house by metres at about 05:00 local time (03:00 GMT) on Thursday.Mr Helberg was only alerted to the commotion by his panicked neighbour who had watched the ship as it headed straight for shore, in Byneset, near Trondheim.”The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don’t like to open,” Mr Helberg told television channel TV2.”I went to the window and was quite astonished to see a big ship,” he added, in an interview…
Senait Mebrehtu lost her daughter on Lake Turkana last year/BBCAs the sun set over Lake Turkana, a mother sobbed and threw flowers into the greenish-blue water to remember her teenage daughter who had drowned trying to reach Kenya via a new route being used by people smugglers.Senait Mebrehtu, a Pentecostal Christian Eritrean who had sought asylum in Kenya three years ago, made the pilgrimage to north-western Kenya to see for herself where 14-year-old Hiyab had lost her life last year.The girl had been travelling with her sister, who survived the late-night crossing over the vast lake, where winds can be…
Pallbearers are now lifting up the Pope’s coffin to be taken in procession to the church of Santa Maria Maggiore shortly.Cardinal blesses coffin with holy waterCardinal Giovanni Battista Re has just blessed the Pope’s coffin with holy water, before burning incense in a thurible – a symbol of cleansing.The bells have just rolled three times – at midday local time on the dot – after the blessing of the coffin was carried out.There is total silence, bar the helicopter overhead.Priests distribute communion to thousands in the streetsA bit earlier, a procession of priests in white made its way right to…
Pope Francis/FILEAfter lying in state for the past three days, Pope Francis’s coffin will soon be removed from St Peter’s Basilica and carried out to St Peter’s Square – located just outside the front doors.The funeral mass will be held outdoors, with heads of state and tens of thousands of mourners expected to gather in the public square.The ceremony will begin at 10:00 local time (09:00 BST) and is expected to last for around an hour and a half.After the mass has ended, Francis’s body will be transported to the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome for burial.A nine-day mourning period will then begin.A hushed Rome reckons…
Pope FrancisHis ascension to the papacy was one that heralded many firsts.Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 17 December 1936, he was the eldest of five children. His parents had fled their native Italy to escape the evils of fascism.Francis was the first Pope from the Americas or the Southern Hemisphere and was also the first Jesuit to be elected to the throne of St Peter – Jesuits were historically looked on with suspicion by Rome.Many Catholics had assumed the new pontiff would be a younger man – but Cardinal Bergoglio of Argentina was already in his…
The funeral of Pope Francis will be simpler than those of previous popes, following instructions he set out himself.But as a head of state and leader of more than a billion Catholics worldwide, it will still be a spectacle of ceremony and tradition.His death has drawn famous figures, politicians, and thousands of followers to Vatican City to pay their respects.What time does the funeral start?Archbishops and bishops will start gathering at 08:30 local time (07:30 BST) in the Constantine Wing, a corridor adjacent to St Peter’s Basilica.At the same time, Catholic priests will congregate in St Peter’s Square.Half an hour later, at 09:00…
Pope Francis’ coffin is now being carried out from St Peter’s Basilica out into St Peter’s Square.Remember: today’s proceedings are going to look a bit different than previous papal funerals.For instance, Pope Francis will be laid to rest in a simple wooden casket and instead of being buried in three coffins, he’d asked to only be entombed in one.These more humble last wishes also reflect who he was as the leader of the Catholic Church.Throughout his tenure, he often times sided with the plight of refugees and urged compassion for people fleeing their homes.”Sometimes foreign people are invisible,” Cedric Musau Kasongo told…
Pope Francis/BBC SCREENSHOTHundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday in St Peter’s Square, among them world leaders, Catholic officials and mourners from around the globe.Many heads of state and royals have confirmed their attendance, including Prince William, French President Emmanuel Macron, Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, and Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.Political figures will be out in full force at the ceremony, the most prominent gathering of world leaders since US President Donald Trump’s inauguration.Pope Francis’s vocal opinions on global issues occasionally put him at odds with leaders -…
People in Rome to attend Pope Francis’ funeral, April 26, 2025/SCREENSHOT, BBCThe Vatican says 200,000 people are attending the Pope’s funeral in St Peter’s Square and the surrounding area.Meanwhile, Italian police have updated their earlier figure, putting the number at around 150,000 – that includes around 50,000 gathered in St Peter’s Square itself.Who is leading today’s funeral service?Pope Francis’ funeral service this morning is being led by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re.The 91-year-old Italian was ordained for the Diocese of Brescia in 1957. In 2001, Pope John Paul II proclaimed him as a cardinal.He was elected…