Author: BBC

Chinese robotaxis could be set to hit UK roads in 2026 as ride-sharing apps Uber and Lyft announce partnerships with Baidu to trial the tech.The two companies are hoping to obtain approval from regulators to test the autonomous vehicles in London.Baidu’s Apollo Go driverless taxi service already operates in dozens of cities, mostly in China, and has accrued millions of rides without a human behind the wheel.Transport secretary Heidi Alexander said the news was “another vote of confidence in our plans for self-driving vehicles” – but many remain sceptical about their safety.”We’re planning for self-driving cars to carry passengers for…

Hospitals across the UK have been seeing high levels of flu cases this winter.You can use our tool below to find out how many flu patients there are in hospitals near you.Produced by Christine Jeavans, Wesley Stephenson, Rob England, Aidan McNamee, Phil Leake and John Walton.Developed by Allison Shultes, Steven Connor and Grace Richardson.Figures relating to flu cases in hospitals are collected in different ways in each UK nation.In England it is the weekly number of beds occupied by patients with a laboratory confirmed flu case.This data is provided at NHS Trust level. Trusts are organisations which include hospitals, community…

A US judge has temporarily blocked the detention of British social media campaigner Imran Ahmed, who took legal action against the US government over having his visa removed.The Center for Countering Digital Hate founder was among five people denied US visas after the Trump administration accused them of seeking to “coerce” tech platforms into censoring free speech.The move brought a backlash from European leaders defending the work of organisations monitoring online content.Mr Ahmed, a US permanent resident, had warned that being detained and possibly deported would tear him away from his American wife and child. Praising the judge’s decision, he…

Chris BaraniukTechnology ReporterThe Washington Post via Getty ImagesData centres can’t function without cooling systemsThey work 24/7 at high speeds and get searingly hot – but data centre computer chips get plenty of pampering. Some of them basically live at the spa. “We’ll have fluid that comes up and [then] shower down, or trickle down, onto a component,” says Jonathan Ballon, chief executive at liquid cooling firm Iceotope. “Some things will get sprayed.”In other cases, the industrious gizmos recline in circulating baths of fluid, which ferries away the heat they generate, enabling them to function at very high speeds, known as…

Some of the lamps – which are often used for Seasonal Affective Disorder – are available to loan for up to three weeks.

Faarea Masud & Simon BrowningBBC NewsGetty ImagesThe number of passengers passing through UK airports will be the most ever seen on any Christmas Eve since records began in 1972, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said.It projects over 335,000 people will be flying in the UK on Wednesday, which is up 5% from Christmas Eve in 2024, though minimal disruption is expected.Britain’s roads are also expected to see one of the busiest Christmas Eves since records began said the RAC, though another motoring lobby says traffic peaks for the season have passed.The RAC said the worst time to travel on Wednesday…

Vince Zampella, who co-created the popular video game series Call of Duty, has died in a car crash in California, aged 55. Zampella’s death was confirmed by Electronic Arts, which owns Respawn Entertainment, a game studio he co-founded.The influential video game developer was travelling in a Ferrari with another person, when it crashed and caught fire on a highway in Los Angeles on Sunday. “This is an unimaginable loss, and our hearts are with Vince’s family, his loved ones, and all those touched by his work,” a spokesperson for Electronic Arts told the BBC.Officials said the person on the vehicle’s…

The amount of flu circulating has started to fall in England, latest data suggests.The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it was encouraging news heading into Christmas, but warned the virus could always bounce back in the new year.The UKHSA uses a range of different measures to monitor flu rates, including sample testing in hospitals and in GP practices.The latest data covers last week up to Sunday with the UKHSA concluding the virus was circulating “at medium levels”.Similar trends are being seen elsewhere in the UK. Public Health Scotland said it had seen two weeks of cases decreasing.The fall in…

BBCYazz Gough uses the Re:dish Good Stuff social supermarket in the Reddish area of StockportA customer of a social supermarket has said she “can afford a few extras for Christmas” thanks to the money she saves there on her weekly groceries.Yazz Gough, who goes to the Re:dish Good Stuff in the Reddish area of Stockport, Greater Manchester, said: “I save a fortune because I’ve got two teenage kids at home who never stop eating!”The 56-year old said: “I buy a lot of the fresh fruit and vegetables to make things like apple strudels, chips or shepherd’s pie, so it has…

The US State Department said it would deny visas to five people, including a former EU commissioner, for seeking to “coerce” American social media platforms into suppressing viewpoints they oppose.”These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states – in each case targeting American speakers and American companies,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.Thierry Breton, the former top tech regulator at the European Commission, suggested that a “witch hunt” was taking place.Breton was described by the State Department as the “mastermind” of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which imposes content moderation on…