Author: BBC

Rents for new lets have increased by 6.6% in the year to April, but this is the slowest annual rise for two-and-a-half years, according to Zoopla.The property portal said the average rent on a new let had risen by £80 a month compared with a year earlier.Although demand had eased, there were still 15 people on average chasing every home for rent.Before the pandemic, the average was six people, Zoopla said.”Rents continue to grow faster than average earnings although the gap is much narrower than a year ago,” said Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla.The increase in rents is at…

Researchers from the University of Michigan are using artificial intelligence (AI) to better understand what a dog’s bark conveys about whether it is feeling playful or angry.They are also digging into whether AI could correctly identify a dog’s age, gender and breed based on what it woofs.The scientists were able to make progress towards decoding canine communication by repurposing existing computer models trained on human speech.”Advances in AI can be used to revolutionize our understanding of animal communication,” said University of Michigan AI Laboratory head Rada Mihalcea.”Our research opens a new window into how we can leverage what we built…

5 hours agoMark Savage,Music correspondentGetty ImagesTaylor Swift will play the 98th, 99th and 100th shows of the Eras Tour in Scotland this weekendThe most lucrative concert tour in music history lands in the UK on Friday, when Taylor Swift plays the first of three nights at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium.The star will take to the stage shortly after 19:00 BST, playing to almost 73,000 fans, who’ve come from all over the world to see her career-spanning, three-hour show.It will be the first of 17 UK dates, culminating in a record-breaking eight-night run at London’s Wembley Stadium.By then, she will have played…

A selection of the week’s best photos from across the African continent:Amanuel Sileshi/AFPAs the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games draw near, athletes warm up at training session in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, on Saturday, in the hopes of winning the gold.Sayed Hassan/Getty ImagesOn Thursday, a man carries a sheep in an Egyptian market in the city of Giza in preparation for Eid al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice – a major Islamic holiday.Alaister Russell/ReutersOcean baptisms are performed at a beach in the South African city of Durban early on Sunday morning.Rajesh Jantilal/AFPThe next day tornado-like storms hit the country’s…

A Scottish woman who allegedly inspired the character Martha in the hit Netflix drama Baby Reindeer is suing the streamer for defamation, negligence and privacy violations.Fiona Harvey, who says Martha is based on her, argued in a lawsuit filed in a California court on Thursday that Netflix told “brutal lies” about her to over 50 million viewers around the world.The lawsuit seeks over $170m (£132m) in damages for Ms Harvey, who claims the Baby Reindeer series falsely depicted her as a convicted criminal who spent time in prison for stalking. Netflix did not immediately respond to BBC’s request for comment.Ms…

3 hours agoNicola K Smith,Technology ReporterCybrothelDolls are being equipped with artificial intelligenceLater this month, people in Berlin will be able to book an hour with an AI sex doll as the world’s first cyber brothel rolls out the service following a test phase.Customers will be able to interact verbally with the AI dolls as well as physically.“Many people feel more comfortable sharing private matters with a machine because it doesn’t judge,” says Philipp Fussenegger, founder and owner of Cybrothel.“Previously, there was significant interest in a doll with a voice actress, where users could only hear the voice and interact with…

1 hour agoMichael Sheils McNamee,BBC NewsBBCWallace and Gromit’s will face their arch-enemy, evil penguin Feathers McGraw, when they return in a new full-length feature film this Christmas, the BBC has confirmed. The 70-minute adventure, titled Vengeance Most Fowl, will see the iconic due face off against their nemesis who was last seen in the 1993 Oscar-winning short film The Wrong Trousers.Creator Nick Park said he decided to bring back McGraw having been asked by fans if the character would ever return.Wallace, the cheese-loving inventor, and his long-suffering dog Gromit were last seen in 2008’s A Matter of Loaf and Death.Wallace…

Conservation scientists are studying the health of Antarctic whales using a custom-made crossbow.The researchers use the device to take remote biopsies from wild humpback whales in order to study the health of the animals.It’s an effort that is revealing how the food supply of Antarctic whales could be affected by climate change. With sea ice declining at an alarming rate in this fragile environment, the whales’ giant bodies hold clues about the effect that’s having on the whole marine ecosystem.BBC science correspondent Victoria Gill joined a whale research mission, led by the wildlife charity WWF, in the Antarctic Peninsula.Filmed by…

Getty ImagesLabour says it will make permanent a scheme designed to ensure low-deposit mortgages are available for first-time buyers, if it wins the general election.The mortgage guarantee scheme was introduced by the Conservatives in 2021 when Rishi Sunak was chancellor of the Exchequer.It was extended until July next year by current Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he wanted to “turn the dream of owning a home into a reality”.The measure sees the government act as guarantor for part of a home loan – to encourage lenders to offer low-deposit deals.The Labour Party says its plan will help…

26 minutes agoAnnabelle Liang,Business reporterReutersMr Huang was a draw for attendees of Taiwan’s Computex eventThese days, wherever Jensen Huang goes, adoring crowds chant his name and scramble for selfies and autographs.The chief executive of Nvidia has nothing short of rock star status and during a visit to Taiwan this week, it was on full display. He posed for countless pictures and even scrawled his name on a woman’s top, just below her cleavage. It was pure “Jensanity” as locals put it.His peers know the kind of fan frenzy that Mr Huang can stir. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has described him…