Author: BBC

Google must face a £13.6bn lawsuit alleging it has too much power over the online advertising market, a court has ruled.The case, brought by a group called Ad Tech Collective Action LLP, alleges the search giant behaved in an anti-competitive way which caused online publishers in the UK to lose money.Google parent company Alphabet called the case “incoherent” in its attempts to get the legal action dropped. But the Competition Appeal Tribunal, in London, has ruled the case can now go to trial.“This is a decision of major importance to the victims of Google’s anti-competitive conduct in adtech,” said former…

1 hour agoNoor Nanji,Culture reporter, @NoorNanjiGetty ImagesKeira Knightley is among the stars who have signed an open letter to creative organisationsStars including Keira Knightley and Ruth Wilson have signed an open letter calling on firms to support a crackdown on bullying and sexual harassment.The letter urges creative organisations to help fund a new watchdog, the Creative Industry Independent Standards Authority (Ciisa), which will investigate complaints in the music, film, theatre and TV industries.”Bullying and harassment claims in the industry continue abound,” the letter said.It added that the new body is “very necessary” to help to drive change.Actresses Cara Delevigne, Carey…

A local politician has been attacked in the German city of Mannheim, five days after the fatal stabbing of a police officer in its market square.The man, described as a local election candidate for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, was left with cuts in the attack, German press agency DPA reported. Police confirmed the incident took place on Tuesday evening, close to scene of Friday’s deadly attack that targeted organisers of a rally against radical Islam and which claimed the life of a 29-year-old officer.They said the politician was taken to hospital for treatment, but had not suffered…

Asda’s fuel has become the priciest among supermarket groups – after years of being among the cheapest – despite its pledge to offer the best value, research suggests.According to the RAC, average petrol and diesel prices were higher at Asda at the end of May than at Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s.Asda disputed the findings, saying they covered its whole estate, including convenience shops, and that it still had the best prices at supermarket forecourts.Global fuel prices are falling, but the RAC said supermarket chains were not passing the savings on to customers.The RAC analyed data submitted by the biggest supermarkets…

What is it like to have an AI boyfriend? The women in China who date chatbots. Source link

18 hours agoAurelia Foster,Health reporterGetty ImagesThe best way to avoid sexually transmitted infections was using a condom, the UK Health Security Agency saidA record number of people in England were diagnosed with gonorrhoea last year, annual UK Health Security Agency figures show.Diagnoses rose 7.5% – from 79,268 in 2022 to 85,223 in 2023.Syphilis, meanwhile, rose 9.4% – from 8,693 to 9,513, the highest number since 1948 – with more heterosexual men and women becoming infected.Both have more than doubled in the past decade.Overall, sexually transmitted infection diagnoses, including several different STIs, rose 4.7%.Some of the rise may be due to…

Getty ImagesRussell rose to fame playing Sir Lancelot in the 1965 series Adventures of Sir LancelotOne of Doctor Who’s four original cast members, William Russell, has died aged 99.His death was confirmed and announced on Tuesday by the Guardian newspaper.Russell played schoolteacher Ian Chesterton in the first two series of the BBC’s sci-fi show and was the Doctor’s first companion.He left the show in 1965, but in 2022 he reprised his role and made a cameo in Jodie Whittaker’s final episode, The Power of The Doctor.The actor broke a Guinness World Record for the longest gap between TV appearances. In…

Just nowBernd Debusmann Jr,BBC News, Washington Getty ImagesThe number of migrant arrivals at the US-Mexico border has been steadily falling this year. President Joe Biden has issued a sweeping executive order aimed at curbing record migrant arrivals at the US-Mexico border that have left him politically vulnerable in an election year.Under the order, which took effect at midnight, officials can quickly remove migrants entering the US illegally without processing their asylum requests.That will happen once a daily threshold is met and the border is “overwhelmed”, the White House said in a statement.Rival Republicans say Mr Biden has not gone far…

Rising global conflict means countries will spend the next 10 years restocking arms, the boss of one of the UK’s largest weapons manufacturers has said.Chemring, which describes itself as a key supplier to Nato, said countries are reacting to the wars in Gaza and Ukraine as well as “an increasingly assertive China”.The firm wants sales, which are already hovering around record levels, to quadruple to nearly £1bn by 2030.“The increase in geo-political tensions around the world is driving a fundamental rearmament upcycle which is expected to last for at least the next decade,” said Chemring chief executive Michael Ord.The company…

Australia has abandoned a legal battle to have graphic footage of a church stabbing in Sydney removed from Elon Musk’s social media platform X.Declared a terror incident by police, the attack on bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel in April was livestreamed online and led to riots outside the Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley.Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, an independent regulator, threatened X and other social media companies with hefty fines if they did not remove videos of the stabbing, concerned it could incite further violence. The case was seen as a test of Australia’s ability to enforce its online safety rules…