BBC news

UK engineers are building a satellite called Biomass that will map the state of the planet's trees.

They're hanging off a panel that is waiting to be attached to one side of the bus. "In space, pyrotechnics release a pin, and a motor then drives the system. Trees are a two-way valve in the climate system. "The satellite will be shaken to simulate launch vibrations, and it will also go in a thermal vacuum chamber to simulate the conditions in space." A case had to be made to the International Telecommunications Union to open up a small window in this sensitive part of the electromagnetic spectrum to enable a science application. The engineers executed a "pop and catch" test on Monday, to check the performance of the mechanism that will release the antenna and its 7m boom when the satellite arrives in orbit.

Harry Peksa loves hedgehogs and cycled from Lands End to John O'Groats to raise money for them.

or cycle across America". But he said he had just one tyre change and said there was only one day of rain on the entire trip. "We were at a pub when the England football final was on and the landlord just pulled out a hat and people started putting money into it," the 45-year-old said.

A Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team volunteer made the crossing during the rescue of three hillwalkers.

To avoid a long walk around the loch to the other side, a team member trained and equipped for a water rescue crossed the reservoir. A rescuer crawled, waded and swam through the mud and water of a reservoir during an operation to rescue three hillwalkers. To save time, a Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team volunteer crawled and swam the loch to reach two of the group

The way Google calculates the climate impact of your flights has changed. Your flights now appear to have much less impact on the environment than they did ...

"The industry has hidden this problem for decades... "I worry the impact of the equivalent of hundreds of millions of tonnes of CO2 will be ignored because it has become invisible to customers," says Kit Brennan, a founder of Thrust Carbon, a UK company specialising in helping businesses reduce the effect their travel has on the climate. "Current scientific knowledge is sufficient to state that non-CO2 effects represent two thirds of the total climate impact of aviation", it says. But it argues the company's priority is the "accuracy of the individual flight estimates" it provides to its consumers. "It now significantly understates the global impact of aviation on the climate", says Professor David Lee of Manchester Metropolitan University, the author of the most comprehensive scientific assessment of the contribution of air travel to global warming. Flying affects the climate in lots of ways in addition to the CO2 produced by burning aviation fuel.

Former Newsnight presenter says former No 10 communications chief Sir Robbie Gibb on board acting as 'arbiter of impartiality'

“Why had the BBC immediately and publicly sought to confirm the government spokesman’s opinion? She added: “And yet every day that we sidestep these issues with glaring omissions feels like a conspiracy against the British people; we are pushing the public further away. But by then we are so far along the path of passivity, we’re cooked.” A phone call of complaint was made from Downing Street to the BBC News management. Within hours, a very public apology was made, the programme was accused of a failure of impartiality, the recording disappeared from iPlayer, and there were paparazzi outside my front door. She added: “It was only the next morning that the wheels fell off.

In her keynote lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival ex-BBC journalist Emily Maitlis warns of the perils of fake news and the consequences when the agenda is ...

Admitting she told her editor at the time, "we can't possibly put this out. Prior to working in No 10 for the Conservative Party between 2017 and 2019, Gibb also had a successful 25-year career at the BBC, culminating in his role as head of BBC Westminster. That will have to wait till next time." "When we hear Donald Trump or Zac Goldsmith or Nadine Dorries or Marjorie Taylor Greene talking about 'a witch-hunt', or Boris Johnson going the way of 'Deep State' chat, our senses should be primed. It is made up of executive and non-executive members from a range of backgrounds." We should ask why they're so afraid of scrutiny." "We - journalists, management teams, organisations - are primed to back down, even apologise, to prove how journalistically fair we are being. Critically, it's lose - lose for the audience. The role of the board is to ensure the BBC delivers its mission and public purpose. Referring to the speed of the BBC response to a Downing Street complaint over her comments on Cummings, Maitlis said: "Put this in the context of the BBC Board, where another active agent of the Conservative party - former Downing Street spin doctor, and former adviser to BBC rival GB News - now sits, acting as the arbiter of BBC impartiality." In response to Maitlis's speech, the BBC told Sky News: "The BBC Board has collective responsibility in protecting the BBC's independence and ensuring it delivers on its mission and public purposes. Journalist Emily Maitlis has hit out at the BBC - her former employer - claiming its board has been infiltrated by a Conservative Party agent and former Downing Street spin doctor whom she claims is now an "arbiter of BBC impartiality".

FORMER BBC journalist Emily Mailis has whinged that the BBC would provide one pro-Brexit voice and one pro-Remain perspective in broadcasts, branding the ...

She referenced the BBC coverage of the [Brexit Referendum](/latest/brexit%20) as she explained how producers poured effort into presenting reports as impartial and the Newsnight veteran slammed what she called "both-sides-ism". Ms Maitlis spoke of her experience within the BBC during the 2016 EU Referendum, during which she claimed the broadcaster attempted to display a “both-sides-ism” approach to debates. [BBC](/latest/bbc), hit out at her ex-employer as she appeared to suggest the broadcaster’s coverage of key political events, including the discussion surrounding Brexit, featured too much of both sides of the debate.

Maitlis left the BBC earlier this year and said the media was often guilty of 'normalising' populist views in the name of balance.

After describing how she tried to balance the actor’s claims about Mr Trump, she said: “We finish the pre-recorded interview; Adam Cumiskey is the output editor and he’s a big film buff. “So, back to the speed of response. But as we are heading up in the lift I turn to Adam and say, ‘We can’t possibly put this out. Within hours, a very public apology was made, the programme was accused of a failure of impartiality, the recording disappeared from the iPlayer, and there were paparazzi outside my front door.” A phone call of complaint was made from Downing Street to the BBC News management. [Terms of use,](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/user-policies-a6184151.html) [Cookie policy](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/cookie-policy-a6184186.html) and [Privacy notice.](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/privacy-policy-a6184181.html) [Privacy policy](https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en) and [Terms of service](https://policies.google.com/terms?hl=en) apply. What I’m saying is it’s normal for government spin doctors to vocalise their displeasure to journalists. A BBC spokesperson said: “The BBC places the highest value on due impartiality and accuracy and we apply these principles to our reporting on all issues. Maitlis said the media shows its impartiality when it reports “without fear or favour” and “when we are not scared to hold power to account, even when it feels uncomfortable to do so”. “What was not foreseen was the speed with which the BBC sought to pacify the complainant. [Emily Maitlis](/topic/emily-maitlis) said the BBC “sought to pacify” Number 10 by issuing a swift apology for her Newsnight monologue about [Dominic Cummings](/topic/dominic-cummings) as she said the programme’s introduction received “way more attention than in truth it ever deserved”.

Well that didn't take long. It's only been a few months since the former Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis left the BBC, and already the broadcaster seems ...

Steerpike imagines that she wasn't referring to the ways MPs attempted to stop the Brexit vote... 10 after she was found by the BBC to have broken impartiality guidelines for starting Newsnight by declaring that ‘Dominic Cummings broke the rules’ during lockdown. In one section, when the presenter seemed to get a little carried away, Maitlis even compared the government's suggestion it may break international law in a limited way to committing a murder.

Former Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis has accused the BBC of caving in too fast to Government complaints over her speech about Dominic Cummings's ...

Focusing on the speed of the BBC’s response to Government, she said: ‘Why had the BBC immediately and publicly sought to confirm the Government spokesman’s opinion? But, she added: ‘What was not foreseen was the speed with which the BBC sought to pacify the complainant. It makes no sense for an organisation that is admirably, famously rigorous about procedure - unless it was perhaps sending a message of reassurance directly to the Government itself?’ She also confirmed that a phone call of complaint was made to BBC news management by Downing Street the day after she had given the monologue. She asked whether the BBC was ‘perhaps sending a message of reassurance directly to the Government.' Miss Maitlis, pictured, was at the centre of a row after BBC chiefs decided she had breached impartiality rules in her broadcast about

In her highly structured former life as a corporate consultant, Afsaneh Parvizi-Wayne would regularly take two days of holiday each year to celebrate an ...

"The whole team has so many responsibilities during Ramadan that it's often all hands to the pump. Being flexible with bank holidays is a great way of showing how much you trust your team. Her assistant, Bea, likes to celebrate her name day, as is a common custom in countries across Europe and Latin America, so she works over the Summer bank holiday too. For Laura Mallinson, a digital PR strategist at Seeker Digital, it means she can better align holidays with her teacher husband, as opposed to having to work most of the time when he is off. If we have nothing planned during bank holidays, then my husband takes care of the kids, then I can use those extra days during summer holidays. "Switching bank holidays helps me in saving money we used to spend on childcare.

American Larrisa Payne lives in Swindon and has been unable to work due to the delay in receiving a UK visa.

It has an impact on your marriage, on the way you parent because you just think when is it going to end?" "It's the worst thing to have to take a two-year-old from his dad," she said. Ms Payne said she was unable to claim benefits because she has not lived in the UK long enough, does not have settled status and is not a UK citizen. "It's difficult. Ms Payne, who had a baby just before the pandemic, said she just wants to get out and work but "the government isn't allowing me". Spending over £25,000 in visa fees over the course of their 10-year relationship, Ms Payne said she may have to leave her husband in the UK and return to the US with her two-year-old son "if the visa doesn't come back in a few weeks".

It aims to create a working model for all England and Wales police forces. Police and crime commissioner (PCC) Philip Wilkinson, said: "We want victims to feel ...

"I hope this new innovation will assist Wiltshire Police to improve the service that both they, my office and the criminal justice sector provide to victims, both locally and nationally." Police and crime commissioner (PCC) Philip Wilkinson, said: "We want victims to feel more empowered and have more confidence that their interests will be protected." Wiltshire Police will take part in a Home Office-funded research programme with the help of leading academics.