BBC News

Three-year-old Oliver Chu has astounded doctors with his progress after becoming the first person in the world with his devastating disease to receive a ground-breaking gene therapy.

"Every time we talk about it, I want to cry because it's just so amazing," says the boy’s mother, Jingru.

He has a rare, inherited condition called Hunter syndrome - or MPSII - which causes progressive damage to the body and brain.

In the most severe cases, patients with the disease usually die before the age of 20. The effects are sometimes described as a type of childhood dementia.

Due to a faulty gene, before the treatment Oliver was unable to produce an enzyme crucial for keeping cells healthy.

In a world first, medical staff in Manchester, UK, have tried to halt the disease by altering Oliver's cells using gene therapy. Now, a year after starting treatment - he appears to be developing normally.

Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog

For more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news

#BBCNews

Bollywood star Dharmendra has died in the Indian city of Mumbai at the age of 89.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to the actor, saying his passing "marks the end of an era in Indian cinema".

Dharmendra, who often described himself as "a simple man", commanded extraordinary affection and loyalty from his tens of millions of fans.

Best known as Veeru, the lovable petty criminal in the 1975 blockbuster Sholay, he appeared in more than 300 films, many hits, captivating audiences for decades.

Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog

For more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news

#Dharmendra #Bollywood #BBCNews

It's six weeks since the ceasefire deal was agreed between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

While more aid is now entering the territory, the World Food Programme has said it's been getting in only about two-thirds of the volume of food it hoped to, and that there are still access constraints.

Back in May, as food stocks ran out due to an Israeli blockade, the aid organisation, American Near East Refugee Aid, showed the BBC how it was struggling to feed families at its last community kitchen in Gaza.

The BBC’s Middle East Correspondent, Yolande Knell, has returned to see what's changed.

Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog

For more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news

#Gaza #Israel #BBCNews

Today, Laura and Paddy speak to a packed sofa of financial experts ahead of the government’s crucial budget announcement.

Former Conservative Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, General Secretary of Unite the Union Sharon Graham, and former Chief Economist at the Bank of England Andy Haldane are in the Newscast studio to assess the runners and riders of economic policy that could be announced by Rachel Reeves on Wednesday.

Plus, how much of a moment of political jeopardy is this for the government? And what happens if they don’t pull it off?

Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog

For more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news

#Budget #BBCNews

Russia is pushing hard on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine as negotiations for a peace deal take place in Geneva, . Its forces are believed to have surrounded the key strategic cities of Pokrovsk and nearby Myrnohrad in the Donetsk region.

 

The cities are strategically important.  If they fall it will open the way for Russian forces to advance north and west.   Moscow says its forces have cut off Ukraine troops and there is street fighting in central areas. 

 

It comes as US diplomats meet Ukrainian officials in Geneva to discuss Washington’s 28-point peace plan to end the war.

 

Clive Myrie presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Abdujalil Abdurusalov in eastern Ukraine, Jonathan Beale in Kyiv and Steven Rosenberg in Moscow. 

 

Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog

For more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news

#BBCNews

Fresh talks on the future of the war in Ukraine are under way - with delegations from the US, Ukraine, and its European allies holding discussions in Geneva.

Andriy Yermak, a Ukrainian official, says the mood is constructive. And a US official tells the BBC there’s optimism - and momentum, as he put it.

But what’s on the table is a 28-point peace proposal for Ukraine that reflects Russia’s key demands. Everything from Ukraine abandoning hard-defended land, to a ban on joining Nato.

And US President Donald Trump has given Kyiv until Thursday to sign up.

Met with dismay in Ukraine, the deal’s controversial even in the US - where Secretary of State Marco Rubio had to confirm that this is in fact a US proposal, and not one written by the Kremlin.

Rubio is here today, as are officials from the European Union and UK anxious to ensure that if this is a starting point for a lasting peace deal - a big if - then Ukraine’s voice, and those of all its allies, must be heard.

Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog

For more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news

#BBCNews

Today, the former deputy cabinet secretary, Helen Macnamara, speaks to Newscast about the findings of the recent module of the covid inquiry which found that the UK did "too little, too late".

Helen had a front seat for those momentous decisions that shaped the direction of the country during the pandemic, and has previously told the inquiry herself that a "toxic" environment affected decision-making during the crisis.

She gives her reflections on life inside Downing Street at the time, the inquiry’s findings, and how much has changed 5 years on.

Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog

For more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news

#BBCNews

COP30 has approved the key deal in this year's talks, the Global Mutirão - but no new pledges were made to cut fossil fuels - the main driver of climate change.

The term “mutirão”, originally from the indigenous Tupi-Guarani language, is more of a feeling and loosely translates to "collective efforts".

It was adopted by the COP30 presidency as a slogan to encourage climate action worldwide from all sectors of society, in particular civic society and grassroots organisations.

Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog

For more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news

#ClimateChange #COP30 #BBCNews

The draft US-Russia peace plan has been widely leaked and it proposes to hand over those areas of Ukraine's industrial eastern Donbas region still under Ukrainian control to the de facto control of Vladimir Putin's Russia.

Latest versions of the text also call for Ukraine to cut the size of its armed forces to 600,000 people.

There are 28 key points and there are several on the face of it that could be acceptable to Ukraine. Others come across as vague and imprecise.

The US is keen to press ahead fast under an "aggressive timeline" with this draft, with reports suggesting Ukraine has until Thanksgiving late next week to agree to it.

Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog

For more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news

#Ukraine #BBCNews

US lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene to resign | BBC News Marjorie Taylor Greene has announced she will resign from office, an unexpected turn for the high-profile Republican.

One of Donald Trump's Maga superstars and staunchest defenders, the Georgia congresswoman's relentless calls for releasing files related to late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and recent criticism of some of his policies led to a bitter public feud.

After the US president labelled her a "traitor", she said in a video announcing her departure: "I refuse to be a 'battered wife' hoping it all goes away and gets better."

Trump, who had threatened to support a Republican challenger to unseat Greene, called her resignation "great news for the country" in an interview with ABC News.

She said in her video statement, posted on social media, that she would leave the US Congress on 5 January 2026.

Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog

For more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news

#MarjorieTaylorGreene #Republicans #BBCNews