Author: BBC

2 hours agoBy Ian Youngs, Culture reporterGetty ImagesRobert Towne, who wrote films including Chinatown and Mission: Impossible, has been remembered as one of Hollywood’s greatest screenwriters following his death at the age of 89.Towne won an Oscar for his 1974 crime and corruption thriller Chinatown, which starred Jack Nicholson as a private detective.He was nominated for four Oscars during his career in total, including for co-writing 1975’s Shampoo with the film’s star Warren Beatty.Lee Grant, who won best supporting actress for her role in that film, paid tribute to Towne on X. “His life, like the characters he created, was incisive, iconoclastic…

Greece has introduced a six-day working week for certain industries in a bid to boost economic growth.New legislation, which came into effect at the start of July, allows employees to work up to 48 hours in a week as opposed to 40. It only applies to businesses which operate on a 24-hour basis and is optional for workers, who get paid an extra 40% for the overtime they do. However, the move by the Greek government is at odds with workplace culture elsewhere in Europe and the US, where four-day working patterns are becoming more common. Firms adopting these policies…

Music legend Peter Gabriel talks about A.I. technology and communicating with animals. Source link

7 minutes agoBy Steven McIntosh, Entertainment reporterNetflixJonathan Jacob Meijer declined to take part in the docuseriesA Dutch sperm donor who fathered hundreds of children has described a new documentary about him as “misleading”.A Netflix docuseries, released on Wednesday, focuses on the women who have had children using the sperm of Jonathan Jacob Meijer. One woman has said she felt “betrayed, sad and angry” after finding out how many other children Meijer had fathered.But Meijer told the BBC the documentary is deceptive because it gives prominence to those who are unhappy rather than the many families he says are grateful to him. Responding…

Jeremie Tronet tells the BBC how Hurricane Beryl has impacted his life on Union Island, where he has lived for 15 years.”I lost my house, my businesses, everything,” he says, describing it as “one of the worst hurricanes” the island has ever seen. Mr Tronet said the storm has “destroyed the whole island” so he set up a go-fund-me to help residents.Read more here: ‘Almost whole island homeless’ in Hurricane Beryl’s wake Source link

Google’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 were 48% higher than in 2019, according to its latest environmental report.The tech giant puts it down to the increasing amounts of energy needed by its data centres, exacerbated by the explosive growth of artificial intelligence (AI).AI-powered services involve considerably more computer power – and so electricity – than standard online activity, prompting a series of warnings about the technology’s environmental impact.Google’s target is to reach net zero emissions by 2030 but it admits that “as we further integrate AI into our products, reducing emissions may be challenging.”In its 2024 Environmental Report, Google says…

4 hours agoBy Sophie Law, Charlotte Andrews & Marcus White, BBC NewsPA MediaHamish had neuroblastoma and was given three months to live A mother has admitted giving her terminally ill seven-year-old son a large dose of morphine to stop his suffering and “quietly end his life”.Antonya Cooper, from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, said her son Hamish had stage 4 cancer and was in “a lot of pain” before his death in 1981.Now facing a terminal diagnosis herself, she made the admission to BBC Radio Oxford as part of an effort to change the law on assisted dying.Assisted suicide – intentionally helping another person to…

14 hours agoBy Sarah Turnnidge & PA Media, BBC News, West of England CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2024A painting described as a masterpiece which was found in a plastic bag after being stolen has sold for £17.6m at auction.Rest On The Flight Into Egypt, painted by Venetian master Titian when he was aged just 20 in 1510, was sold by London auction house Christie’s. The work was stolen from the drawing room of stately home Longleat in Wiltshire in 1995, but was found seven years later without its frame in a plastic carrier bag in London. Its sale sets a new world auction…

15 minutes agoBy Cherylann Mollan, BBC News, Mumbai • Salman Ravi, BBC Hindi, HathrasWatch: Survivors recount the horror of India religious event crushThe number of people killed in a crush at a religious gathering in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has risen to 121, making it one of the deadliest such disasters in more than a decade.The incident took place during a satsang (a Hindu religious festival) in Hathras district on Tuesday. Police said the number of people present at the venue was three times the permitted limit and most of those who died or were injured were women.A case has been registered…

A comedian has delayed the start of a show taking place on the day of the general election so people have more time to vote.Ed Byrne was due on stage at Middlesbrough Town Hall at 19:30 BST on Thursday as part of a nationwide tour. But his performance of Tragedy Plus Time will now begin half an hour later.Mr Byrne said: “I’d hate to be the reason people gave for why they didn’t vote.” Middlesbrough Town Hall general manager Kesia Bruce said the venue was “happy to support” Mr Byrne’s suggestion and the venue would still be open from 19:00…