Author: BBC

44 minutes agoBy Daniel Thomas, Lora Jones & Lucy Hooker, Business reporters, BBC NewsGetty ImagesThe biggest order 17-year-old Michaela says she ever made on Shein was for £150, when she bought “16 plus items”.Like millions of others, she’s a huge fan of the ultra-fast fashion giant, mostly because of how affordable it is. She also likes the way the influencers on YouTube she watches offer Shein discount codes, which makes her “buy more”.Over the last decade, Shein has gone from a little-known brand among older shoppers to one of the biggest fast fashion retailers globally.The Chinese firm – which also sells a…

Microsoft is making changes to a controversial feature announced for its new range of PCs powered by artificial intelligence after it was flagged as a potential “privacy nightmare”.The company billed the “Recall” feature for Copilot+ as a way to make users’ lives easier by capturing and storing screenshots of their desktop activity.But after people claimed hackers might be able to misuse the tool and its saved screenshots, Microsoft is making the feature opt-in instead.The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s data watchdog, had told the BBC it was “making enquiries” with Microsoft about the tool after concerns were raised.”We have…

PACEMAKER PRESS INTERNATIONALRose-Marie died suddenly in Blackpool, said presenter Robin ElliottThe Northern Ireland singer and entertainer Rose-Marie Kane has died.She was 68.Originally from County Down, the entertainer released 19 albums. She sold out the London Palladium on several occasions and appeared in The Royal Variety Show. She was also a television and radio personality and was a former judge in the BBC talent show Go For It.’Miss her terribly’Ms Kane grew up on a farm outside Newry and was the eldest of six children.A post on her Facebook page said: “It is with heavy hearts and enormous great sadness, that…

Diane Rwigara, an outspoken critic of Rwandan President Kagame, has been barred from standing in next month’s presidential election.Only Mr Kagame and two other politicians – Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party and independent Philippe Mpayimana – were cleared by the electoral body.Ms Rwigara, who was also disqualified from the 2017 poll, took to X, formerly Twitter, to express her disappointment to Mr Kagame.“Why won’t you let me run? This is the second time you [have] cheat[ed] me out of my right to campaign,” she said.The 42-year-old, who is the leader of the People Salvation Movement (PSM), had earlier…

Parents earning six-figure salaries could be able to keep some or all of their child benefit payments, under proposals put forward by the Conservatives. The party says that if re-elected on 4 July, it would increase the income threshold at which someone starts to lose their child benefits from £60,000 to £120,000.It has also re-committed itself to changing the rules so the threshold level takes into account a household’s income, rather than an individual’s.The previous system of calculating the threshold based on one earner has been criticised for unfairly penalising single parents and families with one high earner. The Conservatives…

6 hours agoBy Marcus White, BBC NewsBritish Heart FoundationThe Hulk-branded gaming device is in a vivid greenA rare Xbox console that was gifted to a charity shop could fetch thousands of pounds at auction.The green gaming device, created to promote the 2003 Hulk superhero film, is one of only 50 ever made, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) said.The charity said it was “generously donated” to one of its shops in Oxford and could be worth up to £9,000.The console, in working order, has so far attracted a bid of more than £400 in an online sale, which runs until 15 June.Paul Smith,…

Taylor Swift Eras Tour: Fans arrive in Edinburgh for first UK show – BBC News BreakingBreaking newsClose breaking news SummaryThousands of Taylor Swift fans have descended on Edinburgh for the first show in the UK leg of the Eras TourThe Cruel Summer singer will be performing the first of three shows at Murrayfield Stadium, in a concert spanning at least three hoursIt’s the first time she’s performed in Scotland since 2015, with the tour tipped to become the highest grossing run of concerts everPolice say a “proportionate and comprehensive” plan is in place to “minimise disruption”Live ReportingRelated Stories Source link

An Australian astronomer who appeared on the BBC’s Stargazing Live alongside Professor Brian Cox, has died aged 62.Greg Quicke from Broome, 2,000km (1,240 miles) north of Perth, was also known as “Space Gandalf” for his distinctive white beard.In the 2017 Stargazing Live Australia series he played the practical astronomer to Professor Cox’s theoretical particle physicist.The series featured a report from Mr Quicke on why the night sky looks different in Australia compared to the UK. His media career also included a 10-part series on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) called A Stargazers Guide to the Cosmos and books including Is…

Rents for new lets have increased by 6.6% in the year to April, but this is the slowest annual rise for two-and-a-half years, according to Zoopla.The property portal said the average rent on a new let had risen by £80 a month compared with a year earlier.Although demand had eased, there were still 15 people on average chasing every home for rent.Before the pandemic, the average was six people, Zoopla said.”Rents continue to grow faster than average earnings although the gap is much narrower than a year ago,” said Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla.The increase in rents is at…

Researchers from the University of Michigan are using artificial intelligence (AI) to better understand what a dog’s bark conveys about whether it is feeling playful or angry.They are also digging into whether AI could correctly identify a dog’s age, gender and breed based on what it woofs.The scientists were able to make progress towards decoding canine communication by repurposing existing computer models trained on human speech.”Advances in AI can be used to revolutionize our understanding of animal communication,” said University of Michigan AI Laboratory head Rada Mihalcea.”Our research opens a new window into how we can leverage what we built…