Author: BBC

Octopus Energy will pay nearly £3bn to the government as part of a pledge to return the taxpayers’ funds it received for rescuing Bulb, its collapsed competitor.It means the Treasury will recoup almost all the cost of temporarily nationalising Bulb back in 2021.Past forecasts had suggested that it could have been the government’s biggest bailout since the financial crisis. However, lower wholesale energy costs have seen the expected final bill slashed.Octopus has already begun paying the sum but expects to this to be completed in September, according to the Financial Times, in a boost to whoever wins the general election…

23 hours agoBy Guy Lambert, Entertainment ReporterGettyThe multi-award winning actor is expected to return to the Player Kings cast when the show moves to BristolSir Ian McKellen will not be returning to his starring role for the final three West End performances of Player Kings, after falling from the stage on 17 June.It is hoped the veteran actor will return to the cast when the play moves to Bristol on 3 July.The role of Sir John Falstaff will be played instead by David Semark, who plays Sir Richard Vernon, but is also Sir Ian’s understudy, the play’s production team said.Sir Ian, 85,…

Former Juventus and AC Milan footballer Roberto Baggio has been injured in an armed robbery at his home in northern Italy.The incident began at 22:00 local time (21:00 BST) when at least five people broke into the 57-year-old’s villa in Altavilla Vicentina, local media reported.The veteran footballer was taken to an emergency room in Arzignano and was treated with stiches to his forehead after one burglar hit him with a gun. In his first public address since the incident, Baggio thanked well wishers, adding: “Now all that remains is to overcome the fear.”Baggio added that “fortunately the violence I suffered…

Chinese car companies have called on Beijing to hit European Union rivals with import taxes of up to 25% if the trading bloc imposes tariffs on vehicles from China, the country’s state media has reported.The demand was reportedly made at a closed-door meeting organised by China’s Ministry of Commerce, which was also attended by representatives of European car firms.The measures would target cars from the EU with large petrol-driven engines.Last week, the EU threatened Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers with tariffs of up to 38% from 4 July.The meeting in Beijing was attended by four Chinese and six European car…

Small roles in British film and television followed, among them appearances alongside Christopher Lee in the horror films Castle of the Living Dead and Dr Terror’s House of Horrors.The first of these was directed by Warren Kiefer, whose surname Sutherland gave to his oldest son Kiefer when he was born shortly afterwards.Other roles around this time included parts in episodes of The Saint, one of which was directed by its star Roger Moore.It was on the strength of that episode that Sutherland landed his breakthrough role in World War Two action film The Dirty Dozen.Sutherland was not the first choice…

A New Zealand tribunal has dismissed a woman’s claim against her then-partner after he failed to take her to the airport, leading her to miss her flight ahead of a concert with friends.She accused her boyfriend at the time of allegedly breaching a “verbal contract” in which he agreed to take her to the airport, stay in her house and look after her dogs.According to a legal document which only gives the applicant and respondent’s initials, the woman (CL) said she asked her boyfriend (HG) to collect her from her home and take her to the airport between 10:00 and…

10 hours agoBy Kevin Peachey, Cost of living correspondentGetty ImagesSome people already pay income tax on their state pension, a report suggests, despite a Conservative pledge that it will stay tax-free.The standard new state pension is currently below the threshold of £12,570 after which income tax is paid, but future rises may bring it above that level.The Conservative manifesto includes the triple lock plus – a plan to raise the tax-free threshold so the new state pension is not dragged into the income tax net.However, pensions consultancy LCP says the amount people already receive in the state pension varies and means some…

The US has announced plans to ban the sale of antivirus software made by Russian firm Kaspersky due to its alleged links to the Kremlin.Moscow’s influence over the company was found to pose a significant risk to US infrastructure and services, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Thursday.She said that the US was compelled to take action due to Russia’s “capacity and… intent to collect and weaponise the personal information of Americans”.”Kaspersky will generally no longer be able to, among other activities, sell its software within the United States or provide updates to software already in use,” the Commerce Department…

3 hours agoBy Joe Lemer, BBC News, Bristol • Carys Nally, BBC News, West of EnglandBBCOlympic silver medal-winning swimmer Siobhan-Marie O’Connor trained Daisy Ridley for her role in new biopic Young Woman and the SeaAn Olympic silver medal-winning swimmer said it was “surreal” to be involved in a new biopic based on the first woman to swim across the English Channel.Siobhan-Marie O’Connor, from Bath, spent six months training actress Daisy Ridley for her role as Trudy Ederle in the film Young Woman and the Sea.A silver medallist at the 2016 Rio Olympics and Commonwealth Games champion, Ms O’Connor retired in 2021 after struggles with ulcerative…

Tens of thousands of supporters of Taiwan’s ruling party are expected to gather outside parliament on Friday after it pushed ahead with a hugely controversial “contempt of parliament” bill.The opposition Kuomintang party (KMT) says the new law is badly needed to redress the power imbalance between the legislature and Taiwan’s very powerful presidency.But the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) says it’s an unconstitutional power grab, aimed at taking revenge on the DPP government led by President William Lai Ching-te.The bill will give Taiwan’s parliament more power to interrogate and investigate the executive – to subpoena government officials and private individuals,…