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Reform to challenge Labour at Senedd poll - Farage

Nigel Farage says Reform will be Labour's "main challenger" in 2026 at the party's Welsh conference.




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Blair-era health secretary returns as NHS advisor

Campaigners raise concerns about Alan Milburn's private sector links in his new role overseeing NHS reforms.




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Defence chief calls for more spending on military

Treasury minister Darren Jones says defence spending should rise to 2.5% of GDP, but avoids saying by when.




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Wales pushes ahead with tourism tax plans

New law would allow councils to charge tourists to stay overnight in Welsh hotels.







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Probability of operating an alarm clock Rubix cube, doable with hours of concentration Qauntum physicists have yet to unravel the mysteries

Probability of operating an alarm clock







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Why colouring clothes has a big environmental impact

Start-up firms are looking for ways to dye clothes using less water and heat.




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School calls time on pupils' smart devices

A Sheffield school bans pupils from using smartphones and watches on its premises.




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Tech Life: Will AI replace call centre workers?

We speak to the man who says AI will create call centre jobs – rather than replace them.




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Watch: Why is the latest SpaceX rocket test a big deal?

The BBC's Pallab Ghosh explores why this world first test is a big deal for space exploration.




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Gamer role introduced in children's hospital

Steven Mair is the Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity's new gamer in residence




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Social media faces big changes under new Ofcom rules

Ofcom warns social media companies could face fines if they don’t comply with the new Online Safety Bill




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Trump says Apple boss called him to complain about EU

The EU ordered Apple to pay Ireland billions in unpaid taxes in September.




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Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launches with eyes on Game Pass

It is available straight away to subscribers of Microsoft’s Game Pass service, a first for a game this big.




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Instagram lowering quality of less viewed videos 'alarming' creators

The revelation has sparked concern among some creators it may impact their reach on the platform.




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Apple's AI features roll out on iPhones - but not for all

The new features include notification summaries and tools to assist users in writing messages.




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DNA-testing site 23andMe fights for survival

Once millions used it to find out about their family histories - this week it was almost delisted. What went wrong?




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The environmental campaigners fighting against data centres

A growing global movement is seeing people object to data centres in their locality.




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Australia plans social media ban for under-16s

The government says it wants to mitigate the "harm" social media is inflicting on children.




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Sale on The Law Audiobook

Through March 31st, the audiobook edition of The Law is 80% off on Audible!




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UK Warriorborn Kindle Deal

We’re excited to let you know that Warriorborn has been selected for a Kindle Deal on amazon.co.uk starting 3/18/2024 and ending 3/18/2024. During this time the ebook will be £0.99!




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eBookDaily Deal on The Aeronaut’s Windlass

Get it for $2.99 today!




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This weekend at Comicpalooza!

Jim will be attending Comicpalooza May 24th-26th in Houston Texas! Tickets are available on Comicpalooza’s website. For schedules and for any changes in times or location, please visit their website.




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Coming this November to Hal-Con!

Jim will be attending Hal-Con this November 8th-10th in Halifax, Nova Scotia! For tickets, head to Hal-Con.com. Please visit their website for all information about schedules and events.




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NunTok: How religion is booming on social media

Nuns, imams and Buddhist monks are among those sharing successful - and often fun - short-form videos on social media.




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How the Falklands conflict shaped my identity

The British overseas territory was invaded 40 years ago, beginning a short but bitter conflict.




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UK farmers call for toxic weedkiller ban

Some farmers say studies suggest Paraquat could be a factor in the onset of Parkinson's Disease.




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Cultural Olympiad plans unveiled

Plans for a four-year programme of cultural events ahead of the 2012 Olympics are announced in London.




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Mozilla Festival and the fellowship announcement

Back in July we announced that we'd be working with the Knight-Mozilla fellowship for a second year and invited applications from people passionate about working with technology and journalism, and keen to have an impact in this area at the BBC.

My colleague, senior product manager Andrew Leimdorfer, has this update:

We are pleased to announce that we have decided on our new Knight-Mozilla fellow, Noah Veltman, who will be starting with us in January 2013.

Noah is one of eight 2013 fellows who will all be announced at this weekend's sold-out Mozilla Festival in London who will be based in news organisations around the world, including the Guardian and the New York Times.

There are so many ways that technology is changing journalism that our first challenge is going to be to make a choice about which of these areas Noah will be helping us with next year. Working on new data visualisations and developing innovative content for mobile web will be high on the list.

We welcome Noah to the team and wish all the Knight-Mozilla fellows all the best in 2013.



  • BBC News website

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The Great British class calculator

We've had a huge response to our class calculator this week, particularly across social media, following a major survey by BBC Lab UK. The survey suggests that traditional categories of working, middle and upper class are outdated and we all fit in to one of seven new classes.

The class calculator - which lets you work out where you might fit in amongst the new categories - has attracted about six million page views on the BBC News site, making it the second most popular article of 2013 to date. (The most viewed article this year has been the helicopter crash in Vauxhall in January.) Nearly 1.9 million of those views have come from those of you accessing the site on mobiles and tablets.

But one thing that really stands out is how widely the story has been shared across social media, with more than 300,000 shares so far. More than a quarter of links to the calculator have come from social networking sites.

More than half a million referrals came from Facebook alone, and about 107,000 from Twitter. This is a much higher number than we usually see shared across social media. If you compare the class calculator with the other top stories of the week, usually about 5% of known referrals come from social media sites.

So why has it proven so popular with our audience? Michael Orwell, a producer at BBC Lab UK, worked closely on the survey and said one of the best things about the project was that the audience contributed to new research with top academics.

The calculator itself, produced by the BBC News Visual Journalism team in collaboration with BBC Knowledge and Learning, lets everyone engage with the new model and discover where they might fit in.

Steve Herrmann is editor of the BBC News website.




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Will Wales hike university tuition fees?

The body representing universities in Wales says "pressing, urgent challenges" are being faced.




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Too much debt or value for money? Students divided over tuition fee rise

University fees are rising to £9,535, meaning students will be left in more debt after their course.




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Jamie Oliver pulls 'offensive' children's book from sale

The 400-page fantasy novel is accused of stereotyping Indigenous Australians.




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'My autistic son is like a prisoner in hospital'

Sebastian has been deemed fit for discharge but the 19-year-old has nowhere suitable to go.




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Innocent man's identity used to scam football fans

Richard Russell was named on official documents as the boss of the online ticketing site.




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Rugby player, 24, won't return over mental health

Harri Morgan took a break from the game he once loved and does not now want to return.




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'Seminal review can end Premier League deadlock'

EFL chairman Rick Parry tells BBC Sport's Dan Roan about his hopes for the new football regulator as the Football Governance Bill has its second reading before parliament.




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COP29: In Donald Trump’s shadow

Can the world fight climate change without the US?




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Trump and Putin, Call Me Maybe?

Plus, Bishop calls on Archbishop to resign over Church abuse scandal.




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Premier League footballer questioned over rape claims

A Premier League footballer has been further questioned by police over allegations of rape.




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VW launches $5.8bn tie-up with Tesla rival Rivian

The firms will share EV technology as they face slowing demand and competition from Chinese rivals.




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Speed of cricket balls could stump housing scheme

Developers and Sport England disagree over the risk from cricket balls to future residents.




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Archbishop of Canterbury resigns over Church abuse scandal

His resignation comes after a damning report into a prolific child abuser associated with the Church.




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‘Adults buying kids toys to escape global turmoil’

Retailers are increasingly targeting the "kidult" market as family finances are squeezed.




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First sighting of Belarusian political prisoner in more than 600 days

Maria Kolesnikova, jailed for her part in mass political protests in 2020, was allowed to see her father.