Author: BBC

Government borrowing in May hit the highest since the Covid crisis but was lower than the UK’s fiscal watchdog had forecast. Borrowing reached £15bn last month, which was £800m higher than May last year. It means that the public sector spent more than it received in taxes and other income, leading the government to borrow billions of pounds. It is the third highest figure for May since records began in 1993, surpassed only by the pandemic years.However, borrowing was £600m less than the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had expected. With the general election fast approaching, whichever party wins will…

Nvidia has handed back the position as the world’s most valuable company to Microsoft after its share price fell by more than 3.5% on Thursday.The artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant briefly held the top spot from Tuesday, with a stock market valuation of $3.34tn (£2.64tn).But Nvidia’s shares fell to $130.78 on Thursday, sending its value down to around $3.22tn, with Microsoft reclaiming the title as it held steady at more than $3.3tn.Nvidia’s rise has been fuelled by its dominance of what analysts call the “new gold or oil in the tech sector” – the chips that power AI.Nvidia, Microsoft and…

2 hours agoBy David Farrell, BBC Scotland NewsMarvel star Karen Gillan is not scared of being cancelledIt’s one of the worst things that can happen to a celebrity working and living a life in the public eye.But Karen Gillan hadn’t really considered being a victim of cancel culture. The Scots actress has managed to successfully navigate the perils of fame despite her A-list roles in Hollywood blockbusters including Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy franchise.But now the 36-year-old from Inverness has been forced to face the modern phenomenon.Karen’s new ITV drama Douglas Is Cancelled tells the story of news man, Douglas Bellowes, and…

Vladimir Putin has warned South Korea it would be making “a big mistake” if it arms Ukraine in the war against Russia. His comments come after Seoul said it was considering such a possibility, in response to Russia and North Korea’s new pact to help each other in the event of “aggression” against either country.Moscow “will… [make] decisions which are unlikely to please the current leadership of South Korea” if Seoul decides to supply arms to Kyiv, Mr Putin told reporters on Thursday.The Russian leader was speaking in Vietnam, shortly after a lavish visit to Pyongyang where he signed a…

The Italian government has fined a car company $6.4m (£5m) for allegedly branding vehicles that were made in China as being produced in Italy.DR Automobiles misleadingly marketed cars as being produced in Italy, even though they were mostly made in China, according to the country’s competition regulator.The firm said it would appeal against the fine as it had never claimed its vehicles were completely made in Italy.Southern Italy-based DR Automobiles assembles low-cost vehicles, using components produced by Chinese car makers Chery, BAIC and JAC.The regulator said cars under the company’s DR and EVO brands were sold as being Italian-made but…

A gang of cyber criminals causing huge disruption to multiple London hospitals has published sensitive data stolen from an NHS blood testing company.Qilin has been trying to extort money from NHS provider Synnovis since they hacked the firm on 3 June.The gang previously told the BBC they would be publishing the data unless they got paid.Overnight on Thursday they shared almost 400GB of the private information on their darknet site and Telegram channel.The data includes patient names, dates of birth, NHS numbers and descriptions of blood tests. It is not known if test results are also in the data.There are…

GettyThree popular sunscreen lotions offer less protection than they claim, according to consumer organisation Which?In spot checks on 26 sunscreens – including some cheaper options from supermarkets Aldi and Lidl – lotions from Calypso Sun, Bondi Sands and Asda failed to pass all the tests. Asda questioned the validity of the Which? tests, saying independent tests of the same batch had confirmed the lotion provided the level of protection on the label.Calypso Sun said all products were carefully tested and passed European Union standards.Which? says these products failed some of its checks:Calypso Sun Press & Protect Sun Lotion SPF30Asda Protect…

With less than a week to go, a mix of sunny spells and light rain are currently forecast for this year’s Glastonbury Festival.The gates will swing open at Worthy Farm on Wednesday, with revellers looking forward to a line-up headlined by Coldplay, SZA and Dua Lipa. On Wednesday, festival-goers may be pleased to know sunny intervals, temperatures of 25C and a gentle breeze are currently forecast.But music lovers are advised to take the current forecast with a pinch of salt, as there is still uncertainty in predictions for the Glastonbury period.Light rain is currently set to make an appearance on…

2 hours agoBy Sally Nabil, BBC ArabicBBCTariq (right) says his 77-year-old mother Effendiya (left) “couldn’t take the baking heat”Hundreds of people are thought to have died amid soaring temperatures at the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. Those who have perished come from more than two dozen countries, with most fatalities from Egypt. The BBC visited one community there which has lost more than 20 people.Many Egyptian pilgrims come from poor villages. They spend their life savings on the spiritual journey to the holiest city in Islam. Effendiya, a 70-year-old mother of five from the northern province of Menoufiya, sold her jewellery to…

BBCMany people have got in touch with the BBC via Your Voice, Your Vote to say that housing is the most important issue for them in this general election.The BBC’s cost of living correspondent Kevin Peachey answers your questions on this topic, plus other personal finance matters. ‘What will parties do to help homebuyers?’Daniel, 32, from Nottinghamshire wants to know how the main parties will help people like him get on the housing ladder. He and his partner both work full-time and rent their home privately. They feel “penalised for something that’s not our fault and would like to own…