Author: BBC

2 hours agoKevin Peachey,Cost of living correspondentGetty ImagesA new IFS report suggests sluggish income growth since 2009 and lower working-age incomes than other major economiesLiving standards have been in the doldrums, a new report has suggested, with calls for any new government to help boost productivity.The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), an independent think tank, said income growth had been slow for rich, poor, old and young.While events such as the pandemic and energy price rises had influenced the situation, the UK had fallen behind some other countries, it said.The IFS said the next government had a critical role in…

1 hour agoCarrie King,Technology ReporterDoctolibDoctolib says it covers almost all the French populationDoctolib is one of the French start-up scene’s great success stories.Founded in 2013 by Stanislas Niox-Chateau and his three co-founders, the software firm assists healthcare providers with administrative tasks, primarily appointment booking and management.Rather than having to contact practices directly, patients can use Doctolib to check availability and book medical appointments online. In a world where we book everything online, this might seem like a simple innovation, but in the slow, data-sensitive, bureaucratic healthcare industry, any software that can reliably simplify complexity and free up time is a…

40 minutes agoFergus Walsh,Medical editorBBCElliot Pfebve is taking part in the trialThousands of NHS cancer patients in England are expected to get access to trials of a new type of treatment using vaccines to fight their disease.Thirty hospitals so far have signed up to the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad.It is designed to match patients with forthcoming trials using mRNA technology, as found in current Covid jabs.The vaccines are designed to prime the immune system to recognise and destroy any remaining cancer cells and reduce the risk of the disease recurring.Elliot Pfebve, 55, is the first patient to be treated with…

10 minutes agoAnnabel Rackham,Culture reporterRich Cain/NetflixEmily Carey as Harriet Manners with her love interest Nick Park, played by Liam WoodrumMany of us would love to play our favourite book character in a film or on TV – but Emily Carey has managed to live the dream.The 21-year-old is the star of teen drama Geek Girl, an adaptation of the book series of which she was a “huge fan” growing up.”I loved these books, I think I read the first one when I was about 10 or 11,” she tells the BBC.Carey plays Harriet Manners, a high-flying secondary school student who…

A selection of the best photos from across the African continent this week. Source link

The owner of the hit online game Wordle is legally challenging a geography-based spinoff called Worldle.In the filing, the New York Times, which purchased Wordle for a seven figure sum in 2022, accuses its near-namesake of “creating confusion” and attempting to capitalise “on the enormous goodwill” associated with its own brand.But the creator of Worldle, software developer Kody McDonald, is vowing to fight back on the grounds that there are many other games with similar titles.“There’s a whole industry of [dot]LE games,” he told the BBC.“Wordle is about words, Worldle is about the world, Flaggle is about flags”, he pointed…

Getty ImagesJameela Jamil has previously opened up about her decades-long battle with body imageThis story contains descriptions of eating disorders that some readers may find distressing.Jameela Jamil has said her battle with an eating disorder has “destroyed” her bone density and damaged “my kidney, my liver, my digestive system, my heart”.The actress added that she had taken “so many laxatives” in her teens that she was “amazed” she hadn’t done more damage to her digestive system.Speaking to Kelly Ripa on her Let’s Talk Off Camera podcast, Jamil said the condition started at a young age, after she had to weigh…

US President Joe Biden has given Ukraine permission to use American-supplied weapons to strike targets in Russia, but only near the Kharkiv region, US officials say.One told BBC News that his team had been directed to ensure Ukraine was able to use US weapons for “counter-fire purposes” to “hit back at Russian forces hitting them or preparing to hit them”. While Washington’s policy of not allowing long-range strikes inside Russia has not changed, Moscow will likely view the latest measure as an escalation.Russian forces have made gains in the Kharkiv region in recent weeks after a surprise offensive in the…

Sainsbury’s has confirmed that problems with its card payment system are affecting some same-day deliveries and some in-store payments.Complaints by customers on social media indicate widespread frustration at card terminals not working. One customer said shopping was being left around the shop after people were unable to pay, and some stores are taking only cash.The UK’s second largest supermarket said the issue has been intermittent since Thursday morning and that it is still working to resolve it.It is unclear how many stores and shoppers have been affected by the outage.With the weekend approaching, shoppers out on Thursday expressed their frustration…

A leading London-based opera company has announced that it will permanently relocate to Sheffield within two years.English Touring Opera (ETO) will open a base in the city as part of its sponsor Arts Council England’s funding programme, enabling cultural organisations to leave the capital.The company was founded to bring opera to areas of the country that would not usually have access to productions, and said the move would be a “natural extension” of its mission.Sheffield City Council said it was “delighted” by the news.A temporary office would open this year and a permanent headquarters would be occupied by 2025, an…