Author: BBC

The oldest surviving victim of the Post Office Horizon scandal has had her offer of compensation increased but she said “it’s still not good enough”.Betty Brown, 92, was originally offered less than a third of what she had claimed for, but she has now received a new offer of 60%.However the former sub-postmistress told the BBC justice was still being denied.Post Office minister Gareth Thomas, who had previously promised to look at her case, said it was always the government’s priority to pay as much redress as it could.Betty said she was forced out of her branch in Country Durham…

OpenAI is suing Elon Musk over claims he has tried “nonstop” to slow down its business for his own benefit.The company accuses the Tesla boss of using “bad-faith tactics” against OpenAI to help him control cutting-edge AI technology.Mr Musk sued OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman last year in a bid to stop him from changing its corporate structure. Mr Musk co-founded OpenAI with Mr Altman but left several years ago. The BBC has approached his lawyer for a response to OpenAI’s lawsuit, which was filed on Wednesday. The countersuit opens up a new front in the high-stakes battle between two…

Mark SavageMusic CorrespondentGetty ImagesJarvis Cocker said the new music had been recorded over three weeks in the first half of 2024Indie icons Pulp have announced a new album, More, and shared their first single in almost 24 years, called Spike Island.Speaking on BBC 6 Music, frontman Jarvis Cocker said the band had been tempted back into the studio by the overwhelming response to their 2023 reunion tour.”We did play one new song towards the end of the tour, and nobody threw things at us, or left to go to the bar,” he said. “So we just thought we’d carry on…

US President Donald Trump says he will soon announce “major” tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals, a move that could end decades of low-cost global trade in medicines.For years, most countries, including the US, have imposed few or no tariffs on finished drugs, thanks in part to a 1995 World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement aimed at keeping medicines affordable.This shift comes after Trump introduced a blanket 10% tariff on other imports last week, as part of a broader effort to bring manufacturing back to the US.His new “reciprocal” tariffs – including a duty of 104% on goods arriving from China – came…

Tesco has said it expects to make lower profits this year amid a potential price war among the UK’s major supermarkets.The UK’s biggest grocer has forecast profits of between £2.7bn and £3bn compared with the £3.1bn it made for the financial year that has just ended.Chief executive Ken Murphy said the lower profit prediction would give Tesco the “flexibility and the fire power to maintain our position in the market” due to the increased competition.The company’s share price plunged last month after Asda launched big price cuts to try to restore its fortunes.Tesco said it was more competitive on price…

Getty ImagesBanning phones in schools should be a decision for head teachers and not “imposed nationally by the government”, England’s children’s commissioner has said.Nine in ten secondary schools restrict the use of smartphones, according to a survey of 19,000 schools and colleges commissioned by Dame Rachel de Souza.Dame Rachel said children were racking up hours of screen time at home instead, and that “the people with the real power here are the parents”.Her comments come as the general secretary of the UK’s largest teaching union said a government ban on phones would “take the pressure off schools”.Speaking to BBC Breakfast…

Danny FullbrookBBC News, BedfordshireUniversal Destinations & Experiences/ComcastThe park’s site will be spread over 476 acres on the site of the former Kempston Hardwick brickworks near Bedford (artist’s rendering)The first Universal theme park in Europe will be built in the UK, the government has promised.The attraction is planned for the site of a former brickworks near Bedford and could create an estimated 28,000 jobs before opening in 2031.Universal estimated the 476-acre complex could attract 8.5 million visitors in its first year.Sir Keir Starmer said the multibillion-pound investment by the company would “see Bedford home to one of the biggest entertainment parks…

Tony Smith and Angus CrawfordBBC News InvestigationsBBCJoe Nihill took his own life after learning on the forum how to buy and use a toxic chemicalA pro-suicide forum is under investigation by the UK’s online regulator – its first using new powers under the Online Safety Act.The forum, which Ofcom has not named, is understood to be a site BBC News has been investigating for the last three years, linking it to at least 50 deaths in the UK.The site has tens of thousands of members, including children, and users discuss methods of suicide, sharing instructions about how to buy and…

British Steel is at risk of running out of raw materials within weeks, raising fears over the company’s future.The government is considering nationalising the steel company which has said its two main furnaces are “no longer financially sustainable”, prompting fears the some 2,700 jobs could be lost.Simon Boyd, managing director of REIDsteel, a British Steel customer, told the BBC that government intervention was the “only solution if we want to keep steel making in the UK”.He said the firm’s Chinese-owner Jingye only has “days left to secure the order of materials to prevent the forced closure of the blast furnaces…

Ethan GudgeBBC News, OxfordWarner BrosJack Black (left) and Jason Momoa (centre) star in A Minecraft MovieA cinema has told customers to behave during showings of A Minecraft Movie after rowdy behaviour at other screenings went viral on social media.A sign displayed at Cineworld in Witney, Oxfordshire, has warned people any form of anti-social behaviour would see them removed without a refund.The film, which received underwhelming reviews from critics, made an estimated $300m (£233m) globally at the box office on its opening weekend.Its popularity has spread online, with videos of young audience members shouting responses and celebrating the appearance of different…