Author: BBC

Chris BaraniukTechnology ReporterMVV EnergieMVV Energie is building the world’s most powerful heat pump systemsThe pipe that will supply the heat pump, drawing water from the River Rhine in Germany, is so big that you could walk through it, fully upright, I’m told.”We plan to take 10,000 litres per second,” says Felix Hack, project manager at MVV Environment, an energy company, as he describes the 2m diameter pipes that will suck up river water in Mannheim, and then return it once heat from the water has been harvested.In October, parent firm MVV Energie announced its plan to build what could be…

Sir Cliff Richard has revealed he has been treated for prostate cancer.The 85-year-old singer said the cancer was discovered when he had a check-up for a recent tour, but that it had been caught early and had not spread.”I was going to Australia and to New Zealand and the promoter said, ‘Well we need your insurance, so you need to be checked up for something’. They found that I had… prostate cancer,” he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.”The good fortune was that it was not very old, and the other thing is that it had not metastasized. It hadn’t moved,…

Hope WebbBBC Scotland reporterBBCThe workers have been protesting outside the firm’s headquarters in Edinburgh and LondonFormer staff at the firm behind Grand Theft Auto have told the BBC that a “devastating” mass sacking took place allegedly because they tried to unionise.Some 31 employees were dismissed in October for what Rockstar North called “gross misconduct”.The majority were based at the gaming giant’s Edinburgh headquarters, with former workers claiming they were penalised for discussing working conditions in a private online forum.Rockstar North said it was incorrect to suggest the dismissals were linked to union membership or activities. It said it took action…

The US firm behind the Roomba smart vacuum cleaner, iRobot, has filed for bankruptcy protection after facing competition from Chinese rivals and being hit by tariffs.Under the so-called pre-packaged Chapter 11 process, the main manufacturer of its devices, Shenzhen-based Picea Robotics, will take ownership of the firm.The tough commercial landscape had forced iRobot to cut its prices and make major investments in new technology, according to documents filed on Sunday.US import duties of 46% on goods from Vietnam, where most of iRobot’s devices for the American market are made, increased its costs by $23m (£17.2m) this year, the firm said.The…

James Gallagher,Health and science correspondentandCatherine Snowdon,Health reporterGettySome men are having vast numbers of children through sperm donation. This week the BBC reported on a man whose sperm contained a genetic mutation that dramatically raises the risk of cancer for some of his offspring. One of the most striking aspects of the investigation was that the man’s sperm was sent to 14 countries and produced at least 197 children. The revelation was a rare insight into the scale of the sperm donor industry.Sperm donation allows women to become mothers when it might not otherwise be possible – if their partner is…

Helen DrewPolitics London BBCSolomon Smith founded the charity after witnessing poverty among his peersAs Christmas approaches, Brixton Soup Kitchen is busier than ever. Set up more than a decade ago to feed homeless people, the charity now serves anyone who cannot afford to eat. Solomon Smith said he founded the charity with money from his job as a youth worker after being unable to secure funding for the project.He began helping others after witnessing poverty among his peers as a child. He said: “We got cooked meals every day. It’s not until I was actually going to my friend’s house,…

Katy WatsonAustralia correspondent , PerthGetty ImagesCritics say gaming platforms should be included in Australia’s ban on social media for under-16sWednesday afternoons have become a ritual for 15-year-old Sadmir Perviz. It’s a circuitous route from home in Perth to the Fiona Stanley Hospital – but it’s worth it, he says, to sit down for a game of Dungeons & Dragons with people he may not know but with whom he shares a great deal in common.Sadmir and his board game companions are just some of the 300 patients at the gaming disorder clinic, Australia’s only publicly-run institution of its type, helping…

EPASir Keir Starmer has urged resident doctors not to go ahead with “reckless” strikes planned for next week, saying it is “beyond belief” they could take place during a flu outbreak.The prime minister said the NHS is in its “most precarious moment” since the coronavirus pandemic due to soaring flu cases across the UK, and that strikes would put the healthcare system and its patients in “grave danger”.The doctors’ union, the British Medical Association (BMA), is polling its members to see if they are willing to call off the walkout, with the results to be released on Monday.But if they…

Matt Gravellingin Barking and DagenhamBBCVolunteers gathered in Barking to spread some Christmas cheerMore than 100 volunteers have gathered in an east London community hall to wrap thousands of Christmas presents for children across the capital, with organisers saying for some, it would be the only gift they would get this year.The Kindness Offensive, a charity that redistributes donated goods to schools, food banks and community groups, was behind the gift drive.David Goodfellow, the event’s organiser, said the project was focused on children from families facing hardship.”For a lot of the children we are helping today, what they get from this…

A billionaire investor keen on buying TikTok’s US operations has told the BBC he has been left in limbo as the latest deadline for the app’s sale looms.The US has repeatedly delayed the date by which the platform’s Chinese owner, Bytedance, must sell or be blocked for American users.US President Donald Trump appears poised to extend the deadline for a fifth time on Tuesday.”We’re just standing by and waiting to see what happens,” investor Frank McCourt told BBC News.”But if the moment arrives, we’re prepared to move forward… we’ve raised the capital to buy it – we’ll see.”The popular short-form…