Author: BBC

Hiring in the US surged unexpectedly last month, continuing to defy predictions of a slowdown while raising fresh questions about when interest rates will fall.Employers added 272,000 jobs in May, the US Labor Department said, above expectations of 185,000 new roles.The larger-than-expected gain emerged despite the highest borrowing costs in more than 20 years, which analysts have been expecting to weigh on the economy. The US central bank has raised interest rates sharply since 2022 to fight inflation, which measures the pace of price rises. The Fed has cited the strength in employment as a sign that the economy can…

Taylor Swift fans have given their reaction to the first UK Eras Tour show in Edinburgh. The gig at Murrayfield Stadium was the start of a run of 17 British concerts by the American star. For three and a half hours, the star chronicled her journeys through country and pop, love and tragedy, success and notoriety – all in the form of hits like 22, Shake It Off, Bad Blood, Karma and Anti-Hero. Source link

Details about how the United States Supreme Court justices made money in the past year were made public Friday through the court’s financial disclosures. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was gifted Beyoncé tickets from the singer and Justice Clarence Thomas disclosed two trips gifted from major GOP donor Harlan Crow — a news report about the gifted trips landed the justice in hot water earlier this year. Four of the justices disclosed financials related to book deals. The reports, which cover the 2023 year, were made public for eight of the nine justices with Justice Samuel Alito requesting a 90-day extension…

The firm in charge of selling The Body Shop in the UK has set a deadline for buyers to submit bids in a race to save 1,500 jobs. The BBC understands that FRP Advisory, which is overseeing the sale, has asked firms to make an offer by next Tuesday.The Body Shop still operates 112 stores in the UK after Aurelius, a private equity firm, put the company into administration in February only a few months after buying it.There have been 75 expressions of interest in The Body Shop but it is understood that Aurelius is not among the bidders.Prior to…

1 day agoBy Ian Youngs, Culture reporterPatch DolanLes Dennis is playing Malvolio in Twelfth Night at the Shakespeare North PlayhouseLes Dennis has ticked off almost every high and low possible in a long showbiz career, from prime-time stardom and stage acclaim to reality TV ridicule and tabloid torture. He’s now finally fulfilling one of his last long-held ambitions.If Taylor Swift thinks her career’s had a lot of eras, she should pop a few miles down the road when her tour reaches Liverpool next week and have a chat with Les Dennis.Les’s own Eras Tour, if he were to mount one, would be…

11 hours agoBy Laura Gozzi, BBC News, RomeGetty ImagesGiorgia Meloni has enjoyed steady ratings since becoming PM in 2022Italians will begin voting on Saturday afternoon on the third of four days of European elections where people across 27 countries will choose members of the next EU Parliament.Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is hoping the result will tighten her grip on Italian politics. She has even urged voters to “just write Giorgia” on their ballot.Most EU countries are voting on Sunday, after a turbulent few weeks in which two European leaders and several other politicians come under physical attack.On Friday evening Denmark’s Prime Minister…

3 hours agoBy Jonathan Josephs, Business reporter, BBC NewsGetty ImagesA leading figure in South Africa’s second biggest political party has warned that a failure to fix the economy “might end up with violence that nobody wants”.In the aftermath of the elections Dion George, who oversees economic policy for the Democratic Alliance (DA), has told the BBC that political parties need to “set aside our deeply entrenched ideological perspectives” to get the economy growing again.The African National Congress (ANC), the party that ended white-minority rule in 1994, came first in last week’s polls, but did not win an outright majority and is trying…

41 minutes agoBy Pamela Tickell, BBC News, North East and Cumbria • Jennie Dennett, BBC Radio CumbriaBBCThe motorcyclists on the journey to Barrow from the Ace Cafe in LondonThousands of motorcyclists have begun a ride from London to Cumbria, to celebrate the life of Hairy Biker Dave Myers.The TV chef died in February, at the age of 66, after he was diagnosed with cancer.Dave Day is a remembrance procession with up to 20,000 expected to join the cavalcade to Myer’s coastal home town of Barrow-in-Furness.As the bikers set off from London, his TV fellow Hairy Biker Si King described it as “amazing” and a “celebration…

10 hours agoBy Diana Kuryshko, BBC Ukraine • Sarah Shebbeare, BBC World ServiceValeria SubotinaAndriy and Valeria’s dreams of a future together were crushed by Russia’s invasionMariupol was doomed. Relentless Russian bombing had turned streets into ruins and courtyards into graveyards.But several metres underground in the south-eastern Ukrainian city, a romance was blooming.Valeria Subotina, 33, had been sheltering in the enormous Azovstal steelworks, the final stronghold in the city, as it was surrounded by Russian forces in spring 2022.She had taken cover in one of dozens of Soviet-era bomb shelters built to withstand nuclear war, deep beneath the industrial plant.“You go down a semi-collapsed staircase, move…

Unite, Labour’s biggest trade union backer, has refused to endorse the party’s general election manifesto, saying it does not go far enough on protecting workers’ rights and jobs in the oil and gas industry.Union leaders were at a meeting on Friday to finalise the party’s 2024 election platform ahead of its launch next week.The BBC understands that at the meeting Unite announced they would not endorse Labour’s plans.There is now a question mark over whether Unite will fund the party at the general election. In 2019, Unite gave £3m to Labour’s campaign.Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham had previously warned there…