Swansea tidal lagoon: Taxpayers loaned companies £2.5m
Tidal lagoon: ‘Welsh Government loans kept firm afloat’ £2.5m of taxpayers’ money was loaned to companies behind the snubbed Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project. First Minister Carwyn Jones said it had not been wasted and government funding was normal to develop new technology. He said he wanted to prevent the company collapsing as it awaited […]
US plans to curb nicotine in tobacco
Getty Images The new rules will affect e-cigarettes as well The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is seeking to limit nicotine content in tobacco products, for the first time in its history. The policy announced on Friday has a goal of cutting back on nicotine levels in order to discourage addiction and lower the […]
Are we ready to live more of our lives online?
Getty Images Baroness Lane Fox says technology will “recede” in our lives Lockdown has catapulted us into a future where we live more of our lives online – but are we ready for it? And does Boris Johnson and the rest of the government understand the scale of what has happened? “I think we’ve probably […]
The shock of rising prices in Japan
BBC While many parts of Asia grew richer over the last three decades Japan’s prosperity stagnated As a child growing up in Japan, things very rarely seemed to get more expensive. My favourite lunch was always available for a 500 yen coin ($3.90; £3.10) and it remained that way until 2021. The same for shoes […]
Germany votes for 50m euro social media fines
Getty Images Facebook risks large fines unless its community managers handle extremist content quickly enough Social media companies in Germany face fines of up to 50m euros ($57.1; £43.9m) if they fail to remove “obviously illegal” content in time. From October, Facebook, YouTube, and other sites with more than two million users in Germany must […]
JD Logistics shares deliver in Hong Kong debut
Getty Images Shares in the logistics arm of Chinese online retail giant JD.Com rose on their Hong Kong market debut. JD Logistics raised $3.2bn (£2.3bn) in the Asian financial centre’s second-largest initial public offering (IPO) this year. The company has a huge delivery network across mainland China and is known for its army of red-jacketed […]
French MPs begin debate on no-confidence motion against PM Michel Barnier – live updates
If Barnier goes his budget goes toopublished at 15:48 Greenwich Mean Time 15:48 GMT Hugh SchofieldParis Correspondent Hidden behind France’s political crisis is the small matter of the 2025 budget. In a nutshell, if Michel Barnier is voted out, there won’t be one. Remember that when the prime minister pushed the social security budget through […]
Palm oil firms depriving tribes of millions of dollars
Nopri Ismi The Orang Rimba are one of the last nomadic tribes in Indonesia Buy something in a supermarket and there’s a good chance it will contain palm oil. Follow it back through the supply chain and eventually you’ll find an oil palm tree, likely in Indonesia. But the companies that sell it to major […]
Why do some people become addicted?
Getty Images Taking risks is part of human nature. Whether it is gambling on a slot machine or riding a skateboard, every day we engage in activities offering both a potential risk and a potential reward. Risk-taking can help to advance the human race when it leads to entrepreneurship, innovation and enhanced creativity. But problems […]
The secret cinema hidden in an Edinburgh basement flat
Take a look inside the secret cinema club that has been documenting Edinburgh life since the 1930s A basement flat on a residential street in Edinburgh’s New Town has a secret which dates back almost 90 years – it is home to a hidden cinema. For decades, people have been walking past the Georgian townhouse […]