Author: BBC

1 hour agoJennifer Meierhans,Business reporterGetty ImagesNew supermarket “challenges” that reward shoppers with extra loyalty points for buying more could lead to overspending, consumer groups have warned.Four of the UK’s biggest supermarkets – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons – are now offering members of their loyalty schemes bonus points if they hit spending targets.The supermarkets all say their schemes offer customers better value and more personalised savings. But consumer group Which? and debt charity StepChange warned that setting shopping challenges could encourage people to spend more than they can afford.These challenges are the latest development in supermarket loyalty card schemes which…

1 hour agoElna Schutz,Business reporterYasmin Shaheen-ZaffarYasmin Shaheen-Zaffar uses an AI chatbot to help with her writingWhile for many of us AI chatbots are perhaps just an interesting novelty, for some people they are proving to be transformational.Yasmin Shaheen-Zaffar, from North Yorkshire, has dyslexia, dyspraxia, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).As a result of these conditions, she would struggle with written assignments. Then AI came into her life.“It was a few years ago that I was introduced to [popular AI chatbot] Jasper, and that transformed my life,” says Ms Shaheen-Zaffar, who is a qualified psychotherapist. “It became my friend.”She uses Jasper…

22 minutes agoSandro Gvindadze,BBC Monitoring, TbilisiRybar.ruA Ukrainian soldier is portrayed surrendering and changing his name to its Russian versionWar-themed comic books are being used by the Kremlin to sell its vision of the war in Ukraine to the youth.During the first months following the start of invasion of Ukraine, a poll by the Russian state pollster suggested that young Russians were the least supportive of the war.It now seems the Kremlin is taking steps to ensure that changes. In April, the Russian defence and education ministries started distributing tens of thousands of comic books that praise the invasion of Ukraine…

US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has rejected political pressure to remove himself from crucial election-year cases after a controversy over flags outside his homes.Justice Alito, a conservative, said in a letter to Democratic senators that the banners in question had been flown by his wife.An upside-down US flag and a pine tree, or ‘Appeal to Heaven’, flag were pictured outside his home in suburban Virginia and a holiday home in New Jersey.Justice Alito said the matter did not affect his impartiality in cases involving Donald Trump and Capitol rioters.“My wife is fond of flying flags,” he wrote in a…

The Evening Standard newspaper has announced plans to drop its daily print edition and go weekly.The London paper launched in its original incarnation in 1827, and became free of charge in 2009.An email to staff on Wednesday said more home working, and the availability of wi-fi on the Tube, were among the factors that had harmed its fortunes.It said “a proposed new weekly newspaper would replace the daily publication”.The paper’s circulation has dropped from 850,000 to 275,000 in the past five years, and it has lost £84.5m over the latest six years.There has been speculation about its future for some…

A guitar used by John Lennon has become the most expensive Beatles instrument ever sold at auction.The Framus 12-string Hootenanny acoustic guitar was found in an attic after being presumed lost for more than 50 years, auctioneers said.It sold for $2.9m (£2.3m) via a telephone bid at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York.Lennon played the song You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away on the guitar in the 1965 film Help!It was also used on recordings on the album of the same name. The guitar was sold by rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia auction house, Julien’s Auctions, which has broken…

Israel’s military says it has taken control over a strategic zone along the border between Gaza and Egypt, known as the Philadelphi Corridor.A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that about 20 tunnels used by Hamas to smuggle weapons into Gaza had been found there. Egyptian TV quoted sources denying this, and said Israel was trying to justify its military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.The announcement comes during a period of heightened tensions with Egypt. “In recent days, IDF troops established operational control on the Philadelphi Corridor, on the border between Egypt and Rafah,” IDF…

It is not just styles from the 1990s that are making a comeback. One of the decade’s biggest brands is too. Abercrombie & Fitch appears on track for a second year of double digit sales growth – its first such streak in more than a decade.The company, which also owns Hollister, has told investors it expects sales this year to rise 10% from 2023.That is nearly double its prior forecast, and comes after a 16% surge last year. Known in the 90s for appealing to teens, and infamous for its shirtless models, the company is now going after grown-ups with…

Another former executive of FTX has been jailed over his part in the cryptocurrency giant’s implosion in late 2022.Ryan Salame, who was the co-CEO of FTX’s Bahamian subsidiary, was sentenced to 90 months in prison, US federal prosecutors said.Salame – who was a top lieutenant to Sam Bankman-Fried, the bankrupt crypto exchange’s founder – pleaded guilty in September last year to violating political campaign finance laws and operating an illegal money-transmitting business.Earlier this year, Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for stealing $8bn (£6.3bn) from FTX customers.”Salame’s involvement in two serious federal crimes undermined public trust in American…

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said: “This is more ‘copy and paste’ politics from Labour, who have no plan. The NHS has faced unprecedented challenges which it can only overcome if supported by a strong economy. “That is why the Conservatives have a clear plan and will take bold action to strengthen the economy and continue to deliver the technology and innovation the NHS needs to keep cutting waiting lists.”She pointed out that in Labour-run Wales, waiting lists had also gone up. Its waiting time target was last hit in 2010.Mr Sunak has also said more patients could have been treated…