Borders village ‘heart ripped out’ by battery site plans
BBC Villagers are fighting against the proposed battery storage facilities A rural community in the Borders is warning that Scotland’s renewable energy revolution is coming at a cost. Residents of Leitholm – a village between Coldstream and Greenlaw – claim the heart is being ripped out of their community with the arrival of battery storage […]
Vodafone boss says prices won’t rise after Three ‘mega-merger’
The boss of Vodafone has insisted the telecom company’s merger with rival Three – which has finally been approved by the regulator – will not result in higher prices. The £16.5bn tie-up will create the UK’s biggest mobile network, with 27 million customers. It has been given the go-ahead conditional on the merged companies agreeing […]
96 jobs go in PB Leiner bone gelatin factory closure
The owners of a factory in south Wales with 96 staff have announced its closure due to “difficult conditions” in the industry. Belgium-based Tessenderlo Group said there was no “viable path forward” for its PB Leiner plant in Treforest, Rhondda Cynon Taf, blaming “difficult market conditions” for its bone gelatin which is used in food […]
Elizabeth line passenger hurt after getting hand stuck in moving train doors
BBC A passenger’s hand became trapped in the doors of an Elizabeth line train at Ealing Broadway station An investigation has been launched after a passenger’s hand became trapped in the closing doors of an Elizabeth line train as it was leaving London’s Ealing Broadway station. The incident on 24 November saw the passenger having […]
Farmers protest changes to inheritance tax
Dozens of farmers have staged a go-slow tractor protest on the roads of Dover over changes to inheritance tax. The protestors called on the government to “stop betraying” British farming and rural communities. From April 2026, inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1m, which were previously exempt, will be liable to the tax at 20%, […]
The controversial machine sending CO2 to the ocean and making hydrogen
Equatic Equatic is among a wave of start-ups exploring how the ocean could be harnessed to capture and store carbon. But not everyone is sure it’s such a good idea. A separate challenge, but just as relevant to climate change, is the scale up of green hydrogen, which is often viewed as the key to […]
‘Italian’ purees likely to contain Chinese forced-labour tomatoes
Getty Images “Italian” tomato purees sold by several UK supermarkets appear to contain tomatoes grown and picked in China using forced labour, the BBC has found. Some have “Italian” in their name such as Tesco’s “Italian Tomato Purée”. Others have “Italian” in their description, such as Asda’s double concentrate which says it contains “Puréed Italian […]
Telegram app recommends extremist content to users, study finds
Getty Images The social media platform Telegram uses an algorithm that promotes extremist content, a new study shared exclusively with the BBC has revealed. The report, from the US civil rights organisation the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), found that the “similar channels” feature introduced last year recommends extremist channels even to users browsing subjects […]
Jersey shellfish exporters call for more government support
BBC Shellfish exporters in Jersey are awaiting a border inspection post in Granville Shellfish exporters have called for more support from the Government of Jersey amid delays in the opening of a new border inspection post in France. Since Brexit, all shellfish exports have had to go through St Malo, France, a costly and lengthy […]
Google unveils ‘mind-boggling’ quantum computing chip
Google The new Willow chip Google has unveiled a new chip which it claims takes five minutes to solve a problem that would currently take the world’s fastest super computers ten septillion – or 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years – to complete. The chip is the latest development in a field known as quantum computing – which is […]