Author: BBC

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has promised that there will be “no additional tax rises” beyond those she has set out if Labour wins the general election.In her first major speech of the election campaign, Ms Reeves said that every Labour policy “will be fully funded and fully costed – no ifs, no ands, no buts”.But the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS), an independent think tank, has warned that whoever wins may have to raise taxes or cut spending.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak claimed that Labour’s plans will cost “every working family” £2,000 each.Speaking at the engineering giant Rolls-Royce in Derby, Ms…

14 hours agoSteven McIntosh,Entertainment reporterDisneyDwayne Johnson has said “it’s time to set sail”, as the first full-length trailer for Moana 2 is released.The film is a sequel to 2016’s Moana, which followed an adventurous Polynesian teenage girl who sets on a daring mission across the ocean to save her people.Following the trailer’s release, some fans said they were “so excited” for Moana 2, but others questioned the need for a sequel.Auli’i Cravalho and Johnson will reprise their roles as the voices of Moana and Maui respectively.Allow Google YouTube content?This article contains content provided by Google YouTube. We ask for your…

8 minutes agoMark Lowen,BBC Italy correspondentGetty ImagesThey line up in military-like formation: a thousand strong, most dressed in black, some with tattoos on shaved scalps.At the spot in Milan where Sergio Ramelli, a far-right student, was killed almost 50 years ago by anti-fascists, a leader summons his battalion of loyalists to attention. He shouts “camerata”, or “brother-in-arms”, and Ramelli’s name, as if delivering a roll-call. And then it comes: stiff right arms outstretched and raised, palms facing down, the fascist salute in the heart of Italy’s second city, and the crowd reply on the dead man’s behalf with a roar:…

Former WeWork boss Adam Neumann said he is moving on after trying to buy the bankrupt company that specialises in shared office spaces.Mr Neumann had revealed his interest in buying the firm earlier this year, reportedly offering some $500m (£391m). At the time, he accused the firm of resisting the idea despite its financial issues. WeWork recently submitted a plan to emerge from bankruptcy, which it said would help reduce its rent burden by billions of dollars.In a statement on Tuesday Mr Neumann, who now leads a new property firm called Flow, criticised his former company’s plans. “For several months,…

Law enforcement agencies from around the world have shut down an alleged global malware network which stole $5.9bn. Source link

Vasan has taken on a wide range of roles, from playing an assassin in Killing Eve, to a meek sales assistant in the Black Mirror episode, Demon 79.The latter role secured her a Best Actress nomination at the Bafta TV awards earlier this month, although she lost out to Sarah Lancashire from Happy Valley.But Demon 79 did pick up two awards earlier, at the Bafta Craft Awards, in the writer drama category and for photography and lighting fiction.Speaking to BBC News before the TV awards, Vasan said she “already felt like we’d won” and praised her team, including Black Mirror…

The leading candidates in Mexico’s presidential election have held their final campaign rallies ahead of the vote on Sunday. Either Claudia Sheinbaum, a close ally of left-wing incumbent Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, or Xóchitl Gálvez, a former senator for the country’s main centre-right party, is almost certain to become the country’s first female leader. Ms Sheinbaum, the clear favourite, told a crowd in Mexico City’s central Zócalo Square that Mexico had “changed profoundly for the better” since President Obrador was elected in 2018. “I’m clear that my obligation is to take Mexico along the path of peace, security, democracy, freedom…

But at least there is some wheat growing. The other half of the field has tiny shoots of beans, which will eventually grow into much cheaper cattle feed. Here the winter wheat, sown in autumn 2023, drowned under the long winter rains.”You sort of watch it die,” Mr Wilkins reflects, ruefully.”You put so much effort into planting it, and the money you spend, and then it just fades away. And you have to start again, knowing this will earn you a lot less.”His family have farmed here for nearly a century, but no-one can remember losing so much wheat to…

ReutersCompetition for hotel rooms is fierce ahead of the Taylor Swift concerts in EdinburghA number of homeless people have been sent out of Edinburgh to make way for tourists ahead of Taylor Swift performing in the city, BBC News has learned.Shelter Scotland said several homeless people it supports had been sent via taxi to Aberdeen and Glasgow amid a shortage in accommodation, and one person was offered temporary accommodation as far away as Newcastle.The housing charity said it was “a blatant injustice” for homeless people to be “in direct competition” with tourists.Edinburgh City Council said it was working with affected…

In 2020, China introduced the National Security Law (NSL) for its territory of Hong Kong, transforming the legal and democratic rights of residents in the territory.Created in response to anti-China and pro-democracy protests which had taken over Hong Kong’s streets the year before, the law outlawed a wide range of dissenting acts.Beijing and Hong Kong authorities argued the law was necessary to maintain peace and stability in the city.But critics say it caused “the end of Hong Kong” as it was known, and has repressed free speech and political criticism.This year, Hong Kong authorities also imposed a second security law,…