Author: BBC

51 minutes agoBy Nick Triggle, Health correspondent, @nicktriggle • Jim Reed, Health reporterGetty ImagesSignificant flaws in the UK’s pandemic planning meant Covid caused more deaths and economic costs than it should have, the first report of the Covid Inquiry says.The 217-page report called for radical reform of the systems, saying the UK government and devolved nations “failed their citizens”.It said the UK planned for the wrong pandemic – a mild one where spread of a new virus was inevitable – and this led to the UK turning to “untested” lockdowns.Part of the blame, it said, was groupthink by scientists and too little challenge from ministers.But it…

French Roman Catholic priest Abbé Pierre, remembered as a champion of the homeless, has been accused of sexual assault 17 years after his death.One of France’s most revered figures, Abbé Pierre died in January 2007, aged 94.But now the country has been shocked by allegations that he sexually assaulted or harassed seven women between 1970 and 2005.The news was broken by the Emmaus anti-poverty movement which he founded. The organisation said it had heard testimony from the seven women and it believed them.”These revelations have shaken our organisations, where the figure of Abbé Pierre plays a major role,” the charity…

The 17-year-old granddaughter of Donald Trump, Kai Trump, addresses the Republican convention. Source link

2 hours agoBy Jane Wakefield, Technology reporterJaime TeevanJaime Teevan thinks that AI can transform work meetingsWork meetings can sometimes be incredibly powerful.Like the one Jaime Teevan, chief scientist at Microsoft, says she had a few years ago with her chief executive Satya Nadella, and Sam Altman the founder of leading AI firm OpenAI.It had such a visceral impact on Ms Teevan that afterwards she sat in her car and screamed, elated at the possibility of AI.“I have never done that before, but there was just too much emotion,” she says.The meeting was a demonstration of the potential of OpenAI’s now popular AI…

3 hours agoBy Anthony Zurcher, @awzurcher, Senior North America correspondentEFEJD Vance took the stage on Wednesday night at the Republican national convention and introduced himself to an American public that frankly knows little about him.The 39-year-old also set the parameters for what could become a more clear and forceful ideological foundation to the populist conservative movement that Donald Trump brought to the White House, sometimes haltingly, in 2016.The Ohio senator, first elected to public office just two years ago, began by recounting Donald Trump’s brush with death by an assassin’s bullet on Saturday.He then turned to his own personal story – of a…

The UK’s job market is continuing to cool and wage growth has slowed, according to the latest official statistics.The number of job vacancies has fallen while growth in the number of employees on payrolls has slowed, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.The unemployment rate remained at 4.4% in the three months to May.Wage growth slowed to 5.7% in the same period, but is still outpacing rising prices.“We continue to see overall some signs of a cooling in the labour market, with the growth in the number of employees on the payroll weakening over the medium term and unemployment gradually…

Ahead of JD Vance’s primetime speech at the Republican convention, the stage became a family affair with Trump’s relatives flocking to the mic. The ex-president’s eldest granddaughter Kai made her first public address before her father Donald Trump Jr spoke at the convention. Usha Vance, the wife of Trump’s VP pick, introduced JD Vance before his speech which reflected a lot on his upbringing. Source link

How do athletes use technology to improve their performance? Source link

Technology stocks around the world have slumped on fears about the global computer chip industry.The selloff came after a report that the Biden administration could be set to further tighten restrictions on exports of semiconductor equipment to China.Comments by former US President Donald Trump that Taiwan, the biggest producer of chips, should pay for its own defence added to the concerns.In the US, the tech-heavy Nasdaq index closed 2.7% lower, while chip stocks have also tumbled in Europe and Asia.In Asia, chip making giant TSMC was trading more than 3% lower in morning trade on Thursday, while semiconductor equipment maker…

A large dinosaur’s skeleton has fetched $44.6m (£34m) at a Sotheby’s auction in New York City – the most ever paid for a fossil.The plant-eating stegosaurus – nicknamed Apex – is 11ft (3.4m) tall and 27ft long from nose to tail, and “ranks high among the most complete skeletons ever found”, Sotheby’s said.It was sold to an anonymous buyer, who said: “Apex was born in America and is going to stay in America” – in what is seen as a hint that it might be loaned to a US institution.Apex was discovered by chance by a palaeontologist in 2022 near…