Author: BBC

PA MediaSir Keir Starmer has not ruled out a National Insurance increase for employers in the Budget, in a BBC Breakfast interview.The prime minister side-stepped questions over whether Labour’s manifesto promise not to raise taxes for “working people” covered employers’ National Insurance (NI).The Labour Party’s 2024 manifesto ruled out raising National Insurance, income tax and VAT.Speaking in Downing Street, Sir Keir said this month’s Budget was “going to be tough” but would “focus on rebuilding our country”.Sir Keir said Labour had been “very clear in the manifesto that we wouldn’t be increasing tax on working people”.He added: “It wasn’t just…

Google has signed a deal to use small nuclear reactors to generate the vast amounts of energy needed to power its artificial intelligence (AI) data centres.The company says the agreement with Kairos Power will see it start using the first reactor this decade and bring more online by 2035. The companies did not give any details about how much the deal is worth or where the plants will be built.Technology firms are increasingly turning to nuclear sources of energy to supply the electricity used by the huge data centres that drive AI.”The grid needs new electricity sources to support AI…

Lisa HawkerThe family of a young girl say her life was saved after a pioneering study was able to diagnose her incredibly rare genetic disorder, leading to better treatment.Jaydi Hawker, 11, has a form of dwarfism thought to affect fewer than 50 people in the world.There are thousands of such genetic disorders and, collectively, they affect one in 17 people in the UK.Jaydi was part of a study pushing the limits of genetic analysis to get families a diagnosis.The disorders are caused by mutations in our DNA, which damage crucial instructions for how our bodies should work. Parents and doctors…

India is withdrawing its high commissioner to Canada after it said he and other diplomats were named as “persons of interest” in the murder investigation of a Sikh separatist.India said it received the news in a diplomatic communication from Canada on Sunday, and reserved the right to respond, stressing it “strongly rejects these preposterous imputations”. The statement refers to allegations last year by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that India’s government may have been behind the killing on Canadian soil, an allegation Delhi rejects.The row led to a deterioration in ties, with India asking Canada to withdraw dozens of its…

The current undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes says he hopes wrestling bonanza WrestleMania will be hosted in the UK within the next five years.The 39-year-old, known as the “American Nightmare” in the wrestling world, told BBC 5Live: “If I’m aiming, it would be cool to get it [in the UK] in the next five years.”WrestleMania is usually held in the US over two nights between mid-March and mid April and is the longest running wrestling event in professional wrestling history.Rhodes said: “There’s some really big venues over here that could host a WrestleMania,” adding, “I think American fans would jump…

Getty ImagesHanni, from the band NewJeans, has previously raised concerns over workplace harassmentSouth Korean pop star Hanni has made a surprise announcement, saying she will testify to the country’s National Assembly in a hearing about bullying in the music industry.The singer, who is part of the girl group NewJeans, said she had made the decision without telling her managers or her record label, Ador.”I believe going forward is the right thing to do, no matter how much I think about it,” she wrote to fans on social media.It comes after she and the other four members of her band raised…

Tesla boss Elon Musk is to unveil the firm’s long-awaited robotaxi prototype, the Cybercab, at the Warner Bros Studios in Burbank, California on Thursday.Self-driving cars have long fascinated Mr Musk and he has made a series of bold predictions about them – including that they will save lives or earn their owners money, through being rented out for rides or even overnight stays.But when he takes to the stage for the event – which the company has billed We, Robot – he will be under pressure to quell persistent doubts about the electric vehicle maker’s ability to execute on his…

UK pharmaceutical giant GSK says it will pay as much as $2.2bn (£1.68bn) to settle thousands of cases in US courts over claims that a discontinued version of its heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer.The firm announced that it had reached agreements with 10 law firms who represent around 80,000 claimants. The settlements account for 93% of all cases.GSK will also pay $70m to resolve a whistleblower complaint by a laboratory that alleged the drugmaker defrauded the US government by concealing Zantac’s cancer risks.GSK did not admit wrongdoing in any of the cases.The company said in a statement to investors that…

Rebekah Vardy has been ordered to pay Coleen Rooney £100,000 this month towards the money she owes following the high-profile 2022 Wagatha Christie libel case.After losing the case, Mrs Vardy was ordered to pay 90% of Mrs Rooney’s legal costs.At the trial, the judge ruled it was “substantially true” that Mrs Vardy had leaked Mrs Rooney’s private information to the press.Barristers for the pair have been back at the High Court this week in a dispute over the costs, which were originally agreed at £540,779 – but have ended up being £1.8m, more than three times that figure.Mrs Vardy’s lawyers…

Shares in the owner of convenience store giant 7-Eleven jumped on Wednesday after it received a new takeover offer from Canadian rival Alimentation Couche-Tard.Japan’s Seven & i Holdings confirmed the new approach but did not reveal any new details.The announcement came after Bloomberg News reported that the new offer valued the firm at more than $47bn (£36bn) – around 20% higher than previously.In September, Seven & i rejected a $38bn approach from Couche-Tard, saying it grossly undervalued the firm and that any potential takeover would face major regulatory hurdles.Seven & i shares ended the day 4.7% higher in Tokyo after…