Billy Joel feels 'good' after brain disorder diagnosis

2 hours ago Share Save Tabby Wilson BBC News Share Save

Getty Images The singer-songwriter was diagnosed with Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus earlier this year

Billy Joel says he is feeling "good", two months on from announcing his diagnosis with rare brain condition Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH). Speaking on Bill Maher's Club Random podcast, the five-time Grammy winner said his condition was "still being worked on", and he was struggling with his balance. "I feel good, they keep referring to what I have as a brain disorder, so it sounds a lot worse than what I'm feeling," said the singer-songwriter. Joel was forced to cancel a series of concert dates in May this year, after his doctors told him that his condition had been "exacerbated by recent performances".

NPH is described by the NHS as an uncommon and poorly understood condition that most often affects people over the age of 60. The condition causes a build-up of fluid in the brain, which can affect hearing, vision and mobility. In the original statement shared on the 76-year-old singer's Instagram, Joel was said to be undergoing "specific" physical therapy for his condition, and that he was "fully committed to prioritising his health". His wife, Alexis Joel, wrote in a separate post that the family were "grateful for the wonderful care and swift diagnosis we received", and that they were hopeful for a swift recovery. Joel called off 17 planned performances in North America and Europe across 2025 and 2026, including stadium shows at Murrayfield in Edinburgh and Anfield in Liverpool.

Michael Putland/Getty Images Billy Joel pictured in his New York home in January 1978

Nick Cave donates 2,000 books to charity shop

8 hours ago Share Save Cash Murphy BBC News, South East Share Save

Juliette Parkin/BBC Deputy manager Maggie Rea says Nick Cave's publicist contacted the Oxfam bookshop to ask if it wanted the donation

Nick Cave fans took some of his favourite books into their arms after the singer donated 2,000 from his personal collection to a charity shop in Hove. Cave spent a number of years living in Brighton with his family, before moving to Los Angeles following the death of son Arthur in 2015. Maggie Rea, Oxfam bookshop's deputy manager, said the reaction to the donation had been "absolutely mad". Some of the performers fans have travelled from other towns and cities to grab his old paperbacks, some of which contain annotations by Cave.

Maggie said: "We've been rushed off our feet, the actual Nick Cave phenomenon has landed in Hove. "There have been slight annotations to books - we've found plane tickets, post cards and all sorts - I think being able to have something like that that Nick owned is also very special to people." Ms Rea says the donation, which will take "some time" to put on the shelves due to its size, has been "absolutely fabulous" and tripled the shop's takings. One woman spent £200 in a single day, all on Cave's collection, she said. Sisters Seeta and Lizzie Seetharaman travelled from Kent and London to buy some of Cave's books.

Juliette Parkin/BBC Sisters Seeta and Lizzie Seetharaman are among those to buy books from the donated collection

Lizzie, who bought The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg, says it is "very moving" for her book to have an inscription. "I'm a massive Nick Cave fan - I've been to see him several times," she said. Seeta, who bought The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero by Larry Sloman and William Kalush, said: "You're always in second-hand book stores wondering who owned the book before you. "This time we know, and it's someone very cool."

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'My friend died right in front of me' - Student describes moment air force jet crashed into school

3 hours ago Share Save Abul Azad, Sajal Das, Shahnewaj Rocky and Mukimul Ahsan BBC Bangla, in Dhaka Share Save

BBC Year 10 student Farhan Hasan had just finished an exam when the plane crashed

Farhan Hasan had just finished an exam and left the classroom chatting to friends when a Bangladeshi air force training jet crashed into his school campus - killing at least 20 people. "The burning plane was hitting the building right in front of my eyes," the Milestone School and College student told BBC Bangla. Footage from the school in a northern suburb of the capital, Dhaka shows a huge fire and thick smoke, after the aircraft slammed into a two-storey building. More than 170 people were injured in the crash. The armed forces said that the F-7 jet had experienced a mechanical fault after taking off for a training exercise just after 13:00 local time (07:00 GMT). The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Md. Taukir Islam, was among those killed.

Place crash witness: 'I heard an explosion, saw fire and smoke'

Farhan, who was speaking to BBC Bangla alongside his uncle and his father, added: "My best friend, the one I was in the exam hall with, he died right in front of my eyes. "In front of my eyes... the plane went right over his head. And many parents were standing inside because the younger kids were coming out since it was the end of the school day... the plane took the parents along with it." A teacher at the college, Rezaul Islam, told the BBC that he saw the plane "directly" hit the building. Another teacher, Masud Tarik, told Reuters that he heard an explosion: "When I looked back, I only saw fire and smoke... There were many guardians and kids here."

Hours after the crash, in a residential area which is quite densely populated, huge crowds gathered with people standing on top of buildings to get a view. As people ran in all directions, ambulances and volunteers worked to find their way to carry the injured and many bodies out of the Milestone School and College. At least 30 ambulances were seen moving people out. One woman seeking information at the scene told the BBC her son had called her right after the crash, but she had not heard from him since.

Nur Photo via Getty Images Rescue workers removed rubble and debris from the crash site

More than 50 people, including children and adults, were taken to hospital with burns, a doctor at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery said. Many families and relatives of victims were inside the hospital - including Shah Alam, the uncle of a Year 8 boy, Tanvir Ahmed, who died in the crash. "My beloved nephew is in the morgue right now," Mr Alam said holding on to his younger brother - Tanvir's father - who was unable to speak. Most of the victims inside the burns hospital are minors - most of them are between the ages of 9 and 14.

Many other members of the public came to the hospital to donate blood; while a number of politicians from the two prominent political parties Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami visited. Bangladesh's health ministry said victims have been admitted across seven hospitals in the Dhaka; while the interim government has announced a day of mourning on Tuesday across the country, when the national flag will be flown at half-mast. The pilot had tried to navigate the jet to a less populated area after the mechanical fault occurred, the armed forces statement said. He had only just taken off from an air force base in the capital.