Video game performers go on strike over artificial intelligence
Major video game makers – like Activision, Warner Bros and Walt Disney – are facing a strike by Hollywood performers over the use of artificial intelligence (AI). It follows a year and half of talks over a new a contract between the companies and a union representing more than 2,500 video game performers. The two […]
Could non-alcoholic gin ever be as good as the real thing?
BBC It’s 13:00 on a Wednesday lunchtime and in the Palace of Westminster, a very lively drinks party is in full swing. In the gracious surroundings of the wood-panelled Jubilee Room, corks are popped, beer is guzzled and lemons fizz in free-flowing G&Ts. But despite the prodigious volume of liquid being consumed, there aren’t any […]
UK imports and exports in six charts
Getty Images The Aston Martin assembly plant in Gaydon, Warwickshire Britain must break free of the “constraints” of the EU and become an agitator for free trade, according to the UK’s Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson. But what is Britain’s trading relationship with its neighbours like at the moment? International trade really matters for the British […]
Cameras behind famous hoax pictures analysed
PA Media Frances Griffiths was pictured with what purported to be a band of fairies in images which shocked the world Cameras which supposedly snapped a group of supernatural sprites playing with two young girls more than a century ago have been analysed by new scanning technology. The Cottingley Fairies photographs, taken between 1917 and […]
Living in Indian capital is like watching a dystopian film again and again
Getty Images Pollution has disrupted transport services in Delhi Winter has come to Delhi and with it, a familiar sense of gloom. The sky here is grey and there is a thick, visible blanket of smog. If you stay outdoors for more than a few minutes, you can almost taste ash. You will feel breathless […]
Farmers’ union criticises move to import Polish beef
Getty Images The Ulster Farmers’ Union has criticised a Northern Ireland meat processor for selling imported Polish beef to shops here during the coronavirus crisis. It said the decision by Ballymena-based Doherty and Gray was putting the livelihoods of local producers at risk. But the company refuted claims that it had “disregarded local farmers”. Beef […]
Mother launches music festival in memory of son
The mother of a man who died in a fall on Hastings seafront has organised a music festival in Bexhill-on-Sea in his memory. Jackson Peacock died at the age of 21 last September. His mother, Kate Flett, has organised JackoFest to raise money for child-bereavement charities. Ms Flett, who wrote about her son’s death in […]
Encirc faces energy costs rise of up to 150%
Getty Images High energy costs have been forcing manufacturers across the UK to warn of higher prices for their goods as they pass on increases to consumers A company which operates a glass bottle factory in County Fermanagh has said it faces a rise in energy costs of up to 150% this year. Encirc has […]
Chief constable calls for greater enforcement powers
Reuters Derbyshire Police say they regularly receive complaints about how e-scooters are being ridden Derbyshire’s Chief Constable says she wants her officers to have more powers to tackle e-scooters. Rachel Swann said the force regularly receives complaints from the public about them being ridden illegally and in an anti-social manner. The county’s top police officer […]
The ‘cheesy’ row over pizza toppings tax in India
Getty Images A GST court has ruled pizza toppings attract a higher tax than the pizza itself It can be a challenge to get the right mix of toppings that makes a pizza delicious. An overload of toppings could make the dough soggy and a wrong mix can affect the flavour. But in August, an […]