Author: BBC

Getty ImagesThe Hamilton production will come to Cardiff for the first time ever this NovemberLin-Manuel Miranda has described Welsh as “one of the most beautifully musical languages ever, that would be so fun to write in”. But the creator of the Pulitzer prize-winning musical Hamilton said it may still be too soon after 2012’s movie Brave, which is set in Scotland, for a Disney animation set in Wales.”The thing is, it’s sort of like a bus, it’s got to come all the way back around the world and back again, so here’s hoping,” he said.Miranda said he fell in love…

Cristiano Ronaldo has hit 1bn total followers across his various social media accounts – making him the first person to reach that mind-boggling figure.The number is calculated by combining his total number of followers across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Chinese social media sites Weibo and Kuaishou.It does not equate to one billion individual followers, as many people will follow him across multiple platforms, and some will be fake accounts, known as bots.Nonetheless social media expert Paolo Pescatore, from PP Foresight, described it as a “staggering number” that media and brands would pay close attention to.”What an achievement, and it…

A ban on junk food adverts being shown on TV before 21:00 will come into force on 1 October 2025, the government has confirmed. Labour said the watershed on junk food advertising would be enforced alongside a total ban on paid-for online adverts, both aimed at tackling childhood obesity.The Conservatives had previously committed to the ban in 2021 when Boris Johnson was prime minister, but it was pushed back to give the industry more time to prepare. Health Minister Andrew Gwynne said confirming the scope of restrictions and the date they would be implemented provided clarity for businesses.Gwynne said the…

Getty ImagesFalling mortgage rates may, at last, be bringing some relief to embattled homeowners and first-time buyers.In a market described as “frenetic”, lenders are locked in intense competition for new customers while simultaneously trying to hold on to borrowers already on their books.On supposedly unlucky Friday the 13th alone, big-name providers such as the Nationwide, HSBC and NatWest reduced their fixed rates. In an unusual move, TSB did so for the second time in a week.Analysts expect further cuts to come, but brokers say the fear of missing out (FOMO) on better deals is paralysing some borrowers. Failing to act…

Germany has agreed to open the doors to 250,000 skilled and semi-skilled Kenyan workers in a controlled and targeted labour migration deal. Kenya is struggling with increasing difficulties in providing work and sufficient income for its young professionals, while Germany is facing a shortage of skilled labour. Five Kenyan bus drivers have already been welcomed to Flensburg, in the north of Germany, in a pilot project. Migration agreements are a central pillar in the German government’s efforts to curb immigration. The agreement will also simplify the repatriation of Kenyans who are in Germany without legal permission.Immigration is a huge issue…

CCTV video shows the moment the Banksy artwork is stolen from a London galleryTwo men have been charged after a Banksy artwork was stolen from a central London art gallery, the Met Police has said.An investigation was launched after a burglary at Grove Gallery on New Cavendish Street at about 23:00 BST on Sunday.The work, Girl with Balloon, was the only item stolen and has since been recovered and returned.Larry Fraser, 47, of Evelyn Denington Road, Beckton, and James Love, 53, of Elvin Drive, North Stifford, appeared at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, a Met spokesperson said.Nick JohnsonThe Girl with…

Zoe CorbynHow does beanless coffee taste? Zoe Corbyn has been finding outI am in a high-end coffee shop in a tech-heavy area of San Francisco, staring suspiciously into a cup of espresso. This is no conventional coffee: it is made without using a single coffee bean.It comes from Atomo, one of a band of alt-coffee start-ups hoping to revolutionise the world of brewed coffee.“We take great offence when someone says that we’re a coffee substitute,” says Andy Kleitsch, the chief executive of Seattle based start-up Atomo, from whose pure, beanless ground product my espresso has been made.Traditional coffee substitutes have…

Getty ImagesThe first “citizens’ jury” on assisted dying in England has backed a change in the law to allow people who are terminally ill to end their life.A jury of 28 people concluded it should be an option for those judged to have capacity to make their own decisions.While it has no legal powers, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, which set up the jury, said it represented a crucial new piece of evidence in the debate as it allowed the public to consider the issues more deeply than they could in surveys.However, campaigners questioned the validity of the exercise, as…

Vodafone and Three have rejected claims by the UK’s competition watchdog that their proposed merger would lead to higher prices for millions of mobile users.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has “provisionally concluded” the deal would weaken competition between mobile networks.It has particular concerns that customers who are least able to afford mobile services would be most affected.The findings are the latest from the CMA’s ongoing probe into the merger, which it launched in January.The regulator will now consult on its findings and potential solutions to its worries over competition.These solutions could include legally binding investment commitments, and measures to…

Cheers as Isaacman steps out of the hatchA billionaire and an engineer have become the first non-professional crew to perform one of the riskiest manoeuvres in space – a spacewalk.Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis stepped out of the SpaceX spacecraft around 15 minutes apart, starting at 11:52BST, wearing specially-designed suits.”Back at home we all have a lot of work to do, but from here Earth sure looks like a perfect world,” Mr Isaacman said as he exited.It was commercially funded by Mr Isaacman. Before, only astronauts with government-funded space agencies had done a spacewalk.Images broadcast live showed the two crew…