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Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Weeds can be used to make bioplastics for car parts Cars are responsible for a lot of the carbon emissions that contribute to global warming, but so is their manufacture. Could plastic made from weeds, modular designs and other innovations help the motor industry reduce its carbon footprint? Everyone […]

An alternative to urban trees known as “bio-curtains” is being developed by a team of architects and scientists in London. The curtains use the power of algae to absorb carbon dioxide from the air. The architects EcoLogicStudio created the technology in collaboration with University College London and University of Innsbruck. A smartphone film by digital

Image copyright Getty Images The timing couldn’t be worse. Just as many of us are preparing to jet off on our much awaited summer holiday break, the pound has taken a further tumble. Tourist exchange rates are based on how the pound trades on international money markets. Lately it hasn’t been good. This week, sterling

Image copyright Getty Images The government has insisted that a review of the cost of a new high-speed railway linking London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds is continuing. The assurances come despite the project reportedly needing an extra £30bn. HS2 chairman Allan Cook has written to the Department for Transport to warn that the project will

Image copyright Stena Bulk A British-flagged oil tanker has been seized in the Gulf by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Iran media say. The owners of the Stena Impero, which was bound for Saudi Arabia, say they have been unable to contact the vessel and it is “heading north towards Iran”. They say there are 23

Image copyright Getty Images London Mayor Sadiq Khan has called for the power to introduce rent controls to help lower housing costs in the city. It is an idea that has been tried in many cities worldwide, but what is rent control and how does it work? What are rent controls? There are a number

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media captionWATCH: “It starts to look like censorship” YouTube has defended its video recommendation algorithms, amid suggestions that the technology serves up increasingly extreme videos. On Thursday, a BBC report explored how YouTube had helped the Flat Earth conspiracy theory spread. But the company’s new managing director for

Image copyright Getty Images Zero-hours and “gig economy” workers who have shifts cancelled at short notice could be paid compensation under new government plans. The proposal is part of a package of measures aimed at improving the rights of low-paid flexible workers. Under the proposals, they could receive the full value of the shift cancelled

Image copyright Getty Images Britain’s largest supermarket, Tesco, has increased the price of more than 1,000 products in the past two weeks. The firm raised prices on products including cheese, chocolate and bananas by an average of 11%, according to the Press Association. Tesco says it held off raising prices for as long as it

Image copyright Getty Images Public sector net borrowing rose sharply in June because of higher debt interest payments and rising spending on services, figures show. It totalled £7.2bn, according to the Office for National Statistics, up from £3.3bn in June 2018. It was the highest June borrowing since 2015, the ONS said. The government took