Author: BBC

Jennifer McKiernan,Political reporter,Paul Seddon,Political reporterandTom Gerken,Technology reporterBBCOBR boss Richard Hughes said he was “mortified” by the early release of Budget detailsThe Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has drafted in a leading cyber-security expert as it investigates how a document – containing key details of Wednesday’s Budget – went live too early.Rachel Reeves’s statement was thrown into chaos after the OBR’s economic forecast appeared online around 40 minutes before she announced her policies.Even though the document was not listed on the OBR website, journalists – including those at the BBC – were able to access it by guessing its URL, which…

Megan DaviesandCarwyn John,BBC WalesRay BurmistonRussell T Davies, creator of It’s a Sin, has written about life in the ’80s when there was no treatment for HIVIt’s a Sin writer Russell T Davies has warned “the fight is not over” when it comes to eradicating HIV. He said misinformation about the virus made him “despair” and warned we must not “blunder into the future without looking back at the past”. Davies’ warnings come as UNAIDS, the UN’s joint Aids prevention programme, warned the global response to HIV had suffered its most significant setback in decades due to cuts in global funding.It…

Organisers of a Christmas toy appeal are urging people to donate to the project if they are able to, so they can give gifts to thousands of children living in extreme hardship in north and east London. The Hackney Local Buyers Club is running its 12th annual appeal, but fear donations will drop due to increased pressures on household budgets.This year, the project aims to provide new gifts to children living in the boroughs of Hackney and Haringey, which are among the most deprived in England.Organisers say the appeal also helps support independent businesses in the area, as any money…

Liv McMahonTechnology reporterEPAThe Spanish football giant Barcelona has told fans it has “no connection whatsoever” with the digital coin offered by its new crypto partner, following criticism over the deal.Clubs often pick up sponsors in unusual areas to bring in extra money – with Arsenal bringing in Persil as its fabric care partner in 2023, and Kellogg’s becoming Manchester City’s breakfast cereal partner that same year.But far less is known about Zero Knowledge Proof (ZKP), which signed a three-year sponsorship deal in mid-November with Barcelona.ZKP then announced a cryptocurrency, prompting concerns Barcelona fans could be led to invest in it…

Getty ImagesThe UK’s National Screening Committee has recommended that only a very small group of men at high risk of prostate cancer should be screened for the disease.There is currently no screening programme for prostate cancer, the most common cancer in men.But there has been some energetic campaigning for change by high-profile figures, including Sir Chris Hoy, who has terminal prostate cancer, and Lord David Cameron, who recently revealed he’d been treated for it.The expert advice will now be consulted on for the next three months, before the screening committee gives its final recommendations to governments in the four nations…

Thousands of Airbus planes had to be grounded for a software update after it was discovered that intense solar radiation could interfere with onboard flight control computers.Around 6,000 A320 planes were thought to be affected – half the European firm’s global fleet – but many were able to fly again within hours after undergoing the update.The UK’s aviation regulator said there would be “some disruption and cancellations to flights” though the impact at airports appears to be limited.Airbus said it discovered the issue after an investigation into an incident in which a plane flying between the US and Mexico suddenly…

Matthew KenyonTechnology Reporter, Delft, NetherlandsThe sledgehammer testThe final test was a blunt one. Maarten Logtenberg wielded a sledgehammer, which simply bounced off the sample, barely leaving a scratch.After two years of experimentation, the material was finally right: a particular mix of thermoplastics and fibreglass that is strong, has no need of extra coating to protect it from sunlight, and is resistant to fouling and marine growth.The perfect base, says Mr Logtenberg, from which to 3D print a boat.Boats need to withstand the unforgiving nature of the marine environment. It’s one of the reasons why boatbuilding is a notoriously labour-intensive business.But…

Joanne WrittleWest Midlands health correspondent, in ShropshireBBCKayleigh Griffiths lost her one-day-old daughter, Pippa due to maternity failingsWhen Kayleigh Griffiths lost her baby daughter, Pippa, in 2016 through maternity failings in Shropshire, she had no idea how many times she would have to retell her traumatic story at future medical appointments. She has worked to get a so-called “Ockenden alert” on her medical notes – an idea which came out of meetings with other traumatised families. Donna Ockenden is the senior midwife who led the 2022 review which found more than 200 babies and nine mothers in Shropshire could have survived…

Ticket prices for the Louvre museum in Paris will rise by 45% for most non-European Union visitors, the museum’s board decided on Thursday.From early next year, tourists from countries like the US, UK and China will have to pay €32 ($37; £28) to enter the museum, a price hike which is expected to raise millions of euros annually to fund an overhaul of the famous gallery.The museum’s security and management have faced criticism since a brazen heist in October, when a four-person gang stole jewellery worth $102m (£76m) and fled within minutes.An official audit of the museum published shortly after…

Nvidia has claimed it is “a generation ahead” of rivals in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry amid growing suggestions a rival may emerge to threaten to its market dominance – and multi-trillion dollar valuation.Shares in the chip giant fell on Tuesday, following a report Meta planned to spend billions on AI chips developed by Google to power its data centres.In a statement on X, Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company, said it was the only platform which “runs every AI model and does it everywhere computing is done”.In response, Google said it was committed to “supporting both” its own and…