Rival station Boom Radio has called on the BBC to let it join its national network as the broadcaster shuts down stations, leaving valuable transmission space up for grabs.
The golden oldies rival to Radio 2, which was launched five years ago, wants to reach more listeners by taking over a slot on the BBC’s national DAB transmitter network – one of three in the country – which is set to become vacant next spring with the closure of digital speech and drama station, Radio 4 Extra.
Boom, which has built an audience of one million listeners with a line-up of veteran disc jockeys coaxed out of retirement, would pay the broadcaster a market rate to “rent” the newly available broadcasting space on its transmitter network.
MI5 monitored Nye Bevan for more than 20 years, records show
Anuerin “Nye” Bevan – feted for founding the NHS – was subject to monitoring by MI5 for more than two decades, according to newly released official files.
What you need to know
Papers released to the National Archives show Bevan first came to the attention of the Security Service in the 1930s amid concern about his links with prominent communists.
The monitoring continued even after he became a minister in the post-war Labour government when he drove through the creation of the NHS.
5 min read
What do the files tell us?
- The files start from 1933, four years after Bevan became MP for Ebbw Vale in South Wales.
- At the time, he was notorious as a staunch critic of Labour prime minister Ramsay MacDonald.
- Bevan met many high-profile left-wing leaders from trade unionists to communists.
- This meant his name commonly appeared in intercepted letters and tapped conversations.
A closer look at the files
- He strongly opposed the government’s handling of the Second World War, which attracted particular MI5 attention.
- MI5 deemed it “sufficiently serious” in May 1949 when Bevan was associated with communist Wilfred McCartney – a serial offender of the Official Secrets Act.
- Prime minister Clement Atlee was informed of Bevan’s maintained relationships with the Communist Party of Great Britain.
3 min read
Bevan was ‘never a spy’
It was previously thought that Bevan was the subject of Security Service surveillance during WW2. This significant set of documents confirms that it was the case for the best part of three decades. What is revealed is that Nye was never a spy but someone who was true to his country and believed in democratic socialism to transform Britain for the better.
NICK THOMAS-SYMONDS, Labour mp and historian
What is PHP – and why did it spark a global cyber security scramble?
A total of 32 government services are offline and four are partially unavailable amid the , a minister has said in the House of Lords.
Organisations around the world have been scrambling to fix a critical security flaw in the programming language PHP.
What is PHP?
- Developed in the 90s to serve dynamic web pages, PHP still powers lots of platforms today, including Wikipedia, online shops and WordPress.
- According to cyber security firm Wiz, which helped uncover the critical vulnerabilities this week, PHP powers 70 per cent of the world’s websites.
The vulnerability
- A group of cyber security researchers disclosed two vulnerabilities within PHP this week, which they warned could upend sites across the internet.
The alert disrupted services globally, from gaming platforms to government portals and online forums.
The impact on the UK
- As of 12pm on Wednesday, 32 UK government services were offline and four were partially unavailable, a minister said in the House of Lords.
- The security of next week’s Government Budget has not been compromised by the flaw.
- A spokeswoman added that it is not “standard practice” to provide a list of government services that are affected.
What happens now?
- Organisations have been warned that Russian state actors or organised criminals could exploit the flaws again.
4 min read
Gusts of 70-80mph in exposed coastal areas and high ground are possible.
The Met Office has announced the second named storm of the year, with Storm Boelo to bring strong winds and heavy rain to parts of Northern Ireland, Scotland and northern England on Saturday and Sunday.
What you need to know
- Storm Boelo is expected to mostly affect northern parts of the country over the weekend.
- Strongest winds will be across Northern Ireland, Scotland and northern England on Saturday.
- Boelo’s arrival comes less than 48 hours after the announcement of the first named storm, Austen, which is set to impact on Friday.
- When Boelo hits, it will bring “impactful winds” to northern parts on Saturday night and through Sunday, the Met Office warned.
3 min read
What to expect
Gusts of 70-80mph in exposed coastal areas and high ground are possible, with 50-60mph gusts more widely. The strong winds will be accompanied by heavy rain, making for an impactful weekend of weather. Severe weather warnings and forecast detail will continue to develop, so people should keep up to date with the forecast.
Chris Bulmer, Met Office Deputy Chief Forecaster
The weather warnings for Storm Austen already in place
All the ways Trump’s man in Moscow debased the US in front of Putin
Sat at a big round table in a gilded chair in St Petersburg on Wednesday, face-to-face with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, US envoy Steve Witkoff had the eyes of the world on him. Would this be the beginning of the end of the war in Ukraine? Would he push for peace?
‘All Putin’s Christmases come at once’
One reporter described it instead as “all Putin’s Christmases come at once”. Matthew Sussex, a national security expert at Australia’s Deakin University, warned not to view it as a game of geopolitical poker. Witkoff was “playing tiddlywinks”, he said. A promise to resume trilateral talks would probably amount to nothing.
What Witkoff said to Putin
You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian, you are a humanitarian also, sir. And I salute that. I commend you, and I thank you again.
Witkoff said to Putin, early in the public portion of the talks before they began in earnest behind closed doors
What was he referring to?
- He was referring to Russia’s release earlier that day of Stephen Hubbard, a retired US schoolteacher imprisoned in Russia.
- This is not the first time Witkoff has been effusive in his praise of Putin.
- When he met Putin in September he told the Russian leader that just before the meeting they “were all talking about when we retire, we’ll have all these incredible stories…and yours will be right at the top of it all”.
3 min read
How did Trump react?
Calling Putin a “humanitarian” was such a reach that even Donald Trump tried to qualify it later, saying: “Well, I guess you could say [it] for that particular purpose, for the purpose of allowing a man who was thinking he was going to be in prison for life, out, but you know, I wouldn’t say anything one way or the other, you know?”
Other Republicans found it harder to swallow.
It’s official – Glee will return to our screens
At last month’s series 13 premiere, director Ryan Murphy revealed he’d written an for a Glee reboot.
It’s been 11 years since the final episode of the musical-comedy-drama aired but now “Gleeks” have something to believe in as reported that Disney+ and Hulu officially picked up a revival of the iconic show.
I just finished the script an hour ago, so, we have a script. Brad, Ian, and I, who wrote all the first two seasons, have written something. I’ve been in touch with around 10 of the original cast members.
murphy in an interview with entertainment tonight
Who is coming back for the reboot?
Ryan Murphy seemingly confirmed that 10 of the original cast members are “enthusiastic” about reprising their roles – who are they?
Sources revealed to that Lea Michele, who played Rachel Berry, is “in”. Heather Morris confirmed in an Instagram post that Brittany Pierce “is alive and well” and back for more”. Chord Overstreet, who played Sam Evans, seemingly announced his return on X: “Reunited and it feels so good!”
What will it be about?
Will it pick up from where the series ended in 2015? Or will it fast-forward a decade?
As of the series finale, it left off as:
- Mr Shue becomes the principal of the up-and-coming performing arts school, McKinley High, and names its auditorium in Finn’s honour.
- Rachel wins a Tony Award, marries Jesse St James and becomes a surrogate mother to Blaine.
- Mercedes pursues a career in pop music and ultimately ends up as an opening act for Beyoncé.
A cultural phenomenon
How popular was Glee?
10 million
The chaotic six-series-long drama attracted an average audience of 10 million viewers a week, transforming stars like Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff as household names.
207
Known for its ballads, the show landed 207 covers on the Billboard Hot 100 alongside winning six Emmys and four Golden Globes during its run.
Blood tests could identify men most at risk of prostate cancer
Researchers at Oxford University have discovered signs in men’s blood that could protect those most at risk of the disease.
Here is everything you need to know.
What you need to know
This latest research will help predict which men will develop the cancer most aggressively and hopes that doctors will soon be able to screen for it in hospitals.
- It found that 12 proteins in the blood were linked to a future diagnosis of the cancer – sometimes appearing as late as 15 years.
The expert view
Prostate cancer is not one disease. By measuring thousands of proteins in blood collected years before diagnosis, we can investigate how men who develop aggressive cancer differ from men who do not. We hope this will improve how we assess risk in the future.
Dr Zhe Huang, a postdoctoral epidemiologist at Oxford Population Health
How does this research change current practices?
- The research found that the immune system may be keeping early cancerous stages in check before diagnosis.
- It opens avenues to identify the processes that drive aggressive forms of prostate cancer.
- It could help implement a national screening programme, which does not currently exist in the UK.
- It could help prevent unnecessary biopsies and treatments for slow-growing tumours.
- While these proteins do not always equate to cancer, they help reveal biological changes which can lead to the increased likelihood of it.
Prostate cancer – in numbers
- 7proteins linked to aggressive cancer.
- 1,500men a year will be offered tests under the latest NHS proposals, unless they have symptoms.
- 12,000men a year die from the disease in the UK.
- 63,000men are diagnosed with the cancer annually in the UK.
The move would go some way in helping to alleviate the BBC’s current financial crisis while extending Boom’s reach nationally, although the rival station has already poached former regular Radio 2 listeners since the departure of high-profile DJs such as Ken Bruce.
If agreed, it would improve reception for Boom’s DAB listeners – the BBC transmitters reach over 99 per cent of the UK – and allow its second service Boom Light, a spin-off playing 50s and “easy listening” music, to also reach a nationwide audience.
Boom offer ‘worth £1m a year’
Radio 4 Extra’s slot on the BBC’s network could be worth up to £1m a year, industry sources suggested.
But the BBC could earn substantially more if it upgraded its radio stations to the higher standard DAB+ format and sold slots on its current DAB transmitter network to other commercial stations which currently lack national reach.
“The BBC could earn £10-15m annually from renting out spare capacity,” one insider told The i Paper. “At a stroke that wipes out all the cuts to Radio 4 programmes. If the BBC closes more stations as it moves online-only, it shouldn’t be allowed to squat on spectrum others can use.”
‘Black spots’ that Boom can’t reach
Boom said the growth of Boom Light was significantly hampered by its lack of national DAB coverage.
There are two other national broadcast systems, Digital One and Sound Digital, used by commercial networks but all the space has been allocated, with two giant radio groups, Global and Bauer, controlling around 75 per cent of the capacity.
Phil Riley, Boom co-founder, told The i Paper: “There are still listening black spots Boom Radio can’t reach and we can’t expand Boom Light nationally. But the BBC will have significant transmission capacity with nothing on it.
“We would like to take over Radio 4 Extra’s slot and we have the resources to offer a good deal for the licence-fee payer and the BBC to do it.”
BBC like ‘ageing couple refusing to downsize’
The broadcaster faces a backlash if it failed to open up its resources to support the wider UK radio industry, Riley warned.
“The BBC is acting like an ageing boomer couple who live in a big old house and refuse to downsize, even though they’re not using all the bedrooms. Boom would be good tenants,” he said.
The closure of youth channel BBC Three next year will also present opportunities to commercial stations.
BBC Three was granted prominence by Ofcom when it relaunched on TV in 2022, guaranteeing it a valuable position within the first 24 slots on the electronic programme guides used by Sky, Freeview and Virgin Media.
BBC Three position on EPG ‘could be leased’
One former TV executive said: “BBC Three shares broadcast hours with the CBBC channel, which is continuing so it could lease out capacity from 7pm to 7am. That would be attractive to specialist channels, like shopping channel as it is limited hours. It would probably be worth more than £1m a year.”
The broadcaster announced the closure of Radio 4 Extra along with the TV channels BBC Three and BBC Scotland this week.
Launched in 2002 to give classics another airing from the drama and comedy archive, 4 Extra hit a peak audience of two million listeners a decade ago.
Actors union Equity said the closure was a “significant blow” to audio artists who rely on repeat fees for income. The BBC said some of the channel’s programming will be available on BBC Sounds.
The savings come as part of a wider £500m programme of cuts to shows, stations and jobs. Around 550 jobs have already been axed in news while 30 jobs losses were announced in the sport division.
Ministers are set to publish a White Paper in December, setting out a new funding mechanism to put the corporation on a “sustainable” financial footing, including an expected change to the licence fee.
The BBC was approached for comment.