Author: BBC

Kevin PeacheyCost of living correspondentBBCPaul and Kate say the cost of buying a home is already tough to deal withHome buyers are scrambling to complete purchases by the end of the month or face paying thousands of pounds extra in stamp duty.First-time buyers in particular could be hit when stamp duty thresholds in England and Northern Ireland change on 1 April. One couple said they felt like they were “in a race, and our prize is £11,000”.Lenders say a significant swathe of the country will be drawn into paying the tax, but the government says it is helping more people…

Annabelle LiangBusiness reporterGetty ImagesUS prosecutors have charged 12 Chinese nationals for being part of an alleged hacking scheme, which sold data of US-based dissidents to the Chinese government.The “state-sponsored” operation also targeted government agencies including the Treasury, according to the Justice Department (DOJ).Hackers also allegedly targeted an American religious organisation, and a newspaper in Hong Kong, the statement added.China has not responded to these specific allegations, but have strongly denied other accusations in the past. In December, the Treasury Department reported a “major” breach by Chinese -sponsored hackers, saying they were able to access employee workstations and some unclassified documents.…

Steven McIntoshEntertainment reporterGetty ImagesLiam Payne, pictured with girlfriend Kate Cassidy in 2022, died last October after falling from a balconyLiam Payne’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy has said she finds it “really hard” to accept he’s gone, almost five months after his death.The One Direction singer died last October at the age of 31, after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina.In an emotional interview on ITV’s Lorraine, Cassidy said she sometimes finds it “hard to get out of bed” and still refers to him in the present tense.”It’s hard for me to refer to him in the past tense, and when…

Nicola Hughes hid a covert camera in a radio in her mother’s bedroom at the care home.Mona McAlindenBBC Scotland newsA woman secretly filmed her mother’s mistreatment in a care home after concerns she raised about her care were ignored.Nicola Hughes, who is a registered nurse, hid a covert camera in a radio in her mother’s bedroom at Barrogil House in Fife.The footage revealed staff roughly handling Janette Ritchie and shouting at her. One carer was filmed holding bedclothes over her head and saying “Rest in Peace”.Five people were dismissed last year after the care home was made aware of the…

The chancellor has earmarked several billion pounds in draft spending cuts to welfare and other government departments ahead of the Spring Statement.The Treasury will put the proposed cuts to the government’s official forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), on Wednesday amid expectations the chancellor’s financial buffer has been wiped out.Sources said “the world has changed” since Rachel Reeves’s Budget last October, when the OBR indicated she had £9.9bn available to spend against her self-imposed borrowing rules.The OBR’s forecast is likely to see that disappear because of global factors such as trade tariffs, as well as higher inflation and borrowing…

Apple is taking legal action to try to overturn a demand made by the UK government to view its customers’ private data if required.The BBC understands that the US technology giant has appealed to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, an independent court with the power to investigate claims against the Security Service.It is the latest development in an unprecedented row between one of the world’s biggest tech firms and the UK government over data privacy.In January, Apple was issued with a secret order by the Home Office to share encrypted data belonging to Apple users around the world with UK law…

Sean CoughlanRoyal correspondentNetflixMeghan appears in a feelgood series about cooking and chatting with friendsBlue skies, picture-perfect flowers, intricately-prepared cakes and Californian sunshine streams through the windows. Oh, and another celeb turns up in the kitchen.Is that like your home too? Of course not. And that’s the point really. The new Netflix series, With Love, Meghan is about escapism and aspiration, it’s a glass of something sparkling on a grey day.We see her standing in a kitchen, albeit not her own kitchen, gathering fruit and herbs in the garden, chatting with friends as she makes food such as foccacia, doughnuts and…

Carolyn Atkinson and Ben RobinsonFile on 4 InvestigatesGetty ImagesIt took a clinical psychologist and others nine years to get Kasibba released (stock photo)An autistic woman with a learning disability was wrongly locked up in a mental health hospital for 45 years, starting when she was just seven years old, the BBC has learned.The woman, who is believed to be originally from Sierra Leone, and who was given the name Kasibba by the local authority to protect her identity, was also held on her own in long-term segregation for 25 years.Kasibba is non-verbal and had no family to speak up for…

BBCJay Forman says he doesn’t have the fat margins of a business like Apple’s to absorb tariffsThe business of the North American Toy Fair, an annual showcase of the latest in silly putty, monster trucks and board games, is fun. But this year at the convention center in New York City, tariffs were killing the vibe.In February, US President Donald Trump raised tariffs on products made in China by 10%. Then last week, with little warning, he announced an additional 10% border tax, which has now come into force on Tuesday, along with tariffs on Mexico and Canada. In the…

US President Donald Trump’s administration is pausing its offensive cyber operations against Russia, officials say, as a diplomatic push continues to end the war in Ukraine.The reasoning for the instruction has not been publicly stated, and it is not clear how long the halt might last. The defence department has declined to comment.The directive reportedly came before Trump ended up in a televised row with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Friday.Since returning to office, Trump has markedly softened the American position towards Moscow in eagerness to reach a deal to end the war – following Russia’s…