Author: BBC

BBCThey are two competing views on where desk-based employees work best.Amazon is ordering its staff back to the office five days a week, just as the government is pushing for rights to flexible working – including working from home – to be strengthened.The tech giant says employees will be able to better “invent, collaborate, and be connected”.But just as the firm’s announcement became news, the UK government was linking flexibility to better performance and a more productive, loyal workforce.Few are short of an opinion on how effective working from home is and for a government there are broader considerations such…

Ross JarmanIhab Amed working on the test jet engineIn a building on the edge of a business park outside Sheffield, researcher Ihab Ahmed is preparing to fire up a small jet engine.Originally used as an auxiliary power unit for a commercial airliner, it has been turned into a testbed for new fuels developed in a laboratory next door.The arrangement is a centrepiece of Sheffield University’s Sustainable Fuels Innovation Centre (SAF-IC), a research facility set up to allow synthetic fuels to be prepared and evaluated on a small scale, before being put into large scale production.On a bank of computer screens…

Getty ImagesParents are not to blame for “fussy eating”, researchers say, as a large study suggests fussy eating tendencies are mostly down to genetics rather than parenting styles.And the tendency to be fussy over food can persist into early teenage life, the team says, building on their previous work looking at toddlers. The UK study compared the eating habits of identical and non-identical twins from 16 months to 13 years old to tease out how much is due to genetics and how much to the environment. Identical twins were much more similar in terms of how fussy or adventurous they…

Getty ImagesDavid Graham appeared at a Thunderbirds event at WonderCon in 2016 in Los AngelesDavid Graham, the actor who provided the voice for characters in TV series including Peppa Pig, Thunderbirds and Doctor Who, has died aged 99.As the voice behind the evil Daleks in Doctor Who, Graham terrified successive generations of children between the 1960s and late 70s.He was also well known as the voice of Aloysius Parker, the butler and chauffeur in 1960s TV series Thunderbirds and its film sequels. But to today’s generation of children, he will be most familiar as the voice of Grandpa Pig in…

Getty ImagesThousands of people have lost their jobs after the UK operations of the international construction giant ISG collapsed into administration.Some 2,200 workers have been made redundant with immediate effect, joint administrators EY said in a statement on Friday.The business, owned by the US firm Cathexis, had been struggling financially for some time.Attempts to secure a rescue deal failed, while 200 employees will be kept on to assist the administrators in winding down the business, which holds more than £1bn worth of government contracts.Apple, Barclays and Google are also among ISG’s private sector clients in the UK.In a widely-reported email…

LinkedIn has suspended the use of UK user data to train its artificial intelligence (AI) models after a regulator raised concerns.The career-focused social networking site, owned by Microsoft, quietly saw users around the world opted into their data being used to train its AI models.But the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said on Friday that it was “pleased” LinkedIn had confirmed that it had paused on using UK users’ information.LinkedIn said it welcomes the chance to engage with the ICO further.”We are pleased that LinkedIn has reflected on the concerns we raised about its approach to training generative AI models with…

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is advising people with a peanut allergy to avoid consuming foods that may contain mustard, because they could be contaminated with peanuts.Mustard ingredients – including mustard powder or flour – can be found in dips, sauces, salads and pre-packed sandwiches, the FSA said.It is trying to identify how many products may be affected – around 50 have already been recalled.Parents of children with a peanut allergy should check the labels of food they are buying and ask restaurants and take-away outlets about foods that might contain mustard, the agency says.Some of the products being recalled,…

A British businessman, who was a former contractor for South Africa’s ailing power utility Eskom, has been extradited from the UK to face 65 counts of corruption. Michael Lomas is accused of taking kickbacks on contracts between his firm, Tubular Construction, and Eskom for work at the Kusile power station, which were worth in excess of 1.4bn rand ($80m; £60m).”He allegedly manipulated contracts. He was previously arrested, got bail and fled the country to the UK,” national police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe told AFP. He has not yet commented on the allegations against him.Eskom has been beset with corruption allegations…

Hundreds of Sky Glass television and Sky streaming service customers have reported issues with their devices. Users first reported technical glitches seemingly preventing some Sky Glass TVs from working properly or even turning on Thursday evening.Reports to platform outage monitor Downdetector were in the hundreds shortly before 21:00 BST on Thursday.But many customers were still flagging issues with their devices on Friday morning.”We are sorry that some Sky Glass and Stream customers are currently experiencing issues when trying to switch on their devices,” a Sky Spokesperson said.It said customers should try to manually restart their TVs and devices, by following…

Getty ImagesThe longest-running measure of consumer confidence fell sharply in September, raising concerns about whether government rhetoric about Budget “pain” has spooked people.GfK’s Consumer Confidence Index had been recovering after years of rolling crises, higher interest rates and inflation gradually creeping up.But since the end of August, it fell by seven points to -20 overall, which GfK has said does not provide “encouraging news” for the UK’s new government.Some economists have linked the drop to officials’ warnings of a “painful” Budget at the end of August.There were “major corrections” – or double digit falls – for consumers’ perception of the…