Author: Eka Gerona

South Korean carmaking giant Hyundai has unveiled $21bn (£16.3bn) of investment in the US.The plan includes a new $5.8bn steel plant in the southern state of Louisiana.Hyundai also said it will expand its American vehicle production and invest billions of dollars in new technology including autonomous driving and artificial intelligence (AI). The announcement alongside US President Donald Trump comes as his administration is set to impose new tariffs on trading partners from 2 April.”Money is pouring in. We want to keep it that way,” Trump said during the event at the White House on Monday.”This investment is a clear demonstration…

President Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs of 25% on US imports from countries that purchase oil from Venezuela.Trump described the move as a “secondary tariff” aimed at punishing the Latin American country “for numerous reasons”, including allegedly “purposefully” sending gang members to the US.Separately, Trump suggested he was softening his plans for tariffs on imports from other countries, saying he “may give a lot of countries breaks”.Markets ended the day higher after the comments, which appeared to confirm reports that he was narrowing the taxes he plans to announce on 2 April. Trump has previously said he was…

Liv McMahonTechnology reporterGetty ImagesFacebook and Instagram owner Meta is considering a paid subscription in the UK which would remove adverts from its platforms.Under the plans, people using the social media sites could be asked to pay for an ad-free experience if they do not want their data to be tracked.It comes as the company agreed to stop targeting ads at a British woman last week following a protracted legal battle.Meta already provides ad-free subscriptions for Facebook and Instagram users in the EU, starting from €5.99 (£5) a month.A spokesperson for the firm said the company was “exploring the option” of…

Popular DNA testing firm 23andMe has filed for bankruptcy protection, and announced that its co-founder and CEO, Anne Wojcicki, has resigned with immediate effect.The company will now attempt to sell itself under the supervision of a court. 23andMe said in a press release that it plans to continue operating throughout the sale process and that there “are no changes to the way the company stores, manages, or protects customer data.” On Friday, the Attorney General in 23andMe’s home state of California issued a consumer alert advising customers to delete their data from the site given the company’s “reported financial distress.”23andMe’s…

Disney’s live-action version of the classic fairy-tale Snow White has topped the North American box office chart despite a slew of underwhelming reviews.The movie has taken an estimated $87.3m (£67.5m) globally during its opening weekend, according to Box Office Mojo. Almost half of that figure came from North America.But that is below expectations for a film which reportedly cost more than $270m.The reworking of the 1937 feature length animation had seemed like a surefire hit before running into a series of controversies ahead of its release.The revamp of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs became a flashpoint for social and…

Jacob EvansReporting fromBusiness reporterGetty/Dave BenettRum is one of Jamaica’s biggest exportsRum is a key part of Jamaica’s cultural identity, but what exactly makes a rum Jamaican?That question is at the centre of a dispute that is continuing to rumble on the Caribbean island, as some producers wish to strengthen rules on what can, and cannot, be called “Jamaica rum”.In October of last year, Jamaica’s Intellectual Property Office (JIPO) approved amendments to the geographical indication (GI) designation for Jamaica Rum that was originally set up in 2016. The biggest change is that ageing the rum overseas is now prohibited.The amendment was…

Tom Brooks-PollockNewsnightBBCPeter Kosminsky directed Sir Mark Rylance in the first series of Wolf Hall in 2015 and the second in 2024The director of acclaimed period drama Wolf Hall says filming of last year’s second series was nearly called off weeks before it was due to begin because of budget pressures.Peter Kosminsky told BBC Two’s Newsnight they eventually opted to axe costly exterior scenes in Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light, meaning almost everything in the Tudor drama, screened by the BBC, became “conversations in rooms” instead.He argues public service broadcasters including the BBC and ITV can no longer afford…

Lucy Woodham & George HemmatiBBC NewsBBCIn an old gun barrel factory in Sheffield’s industrial heartland, hundreds of people are raving under the fluorescent lights of Hope Works club for one of the last times before it closes. One young woman has dressed all in black to signify the loss of her “favourite place”.”This is a landmark of Sheffield,” says one reveller. “It’s the reason a lot of people come to university here,” adds another.Its owner Liam O’Shea believes that nightlife venues like this are “the vital underbelly of everything”. “It’s where people find themselves,” he says. “It’s where people find…

The government is to tell the Civil Service it must make savings of more than £2bn a year from its administrative costs by the end of the decade, Whitehall sources have told the BBC.Civil Service departments will be instructed to reduce running costs by 10% by 2028-29 and then 15% the following year, an efficiency target that would save £2.2bn annually.Frontline services directly serving the public are not in the firing line – it will be the spending on sectors such as human resources, policy advice, communications and office management that are to be slashed.But unions who represent rank-and-file civil…

GettyCanada’s Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly has told the BBC she believes Canada can win the trade war which was sparked by a series of tariffs ordered by US President Donald Trump. “We are the biggest customer of the US,” Joly told the BBC’s World Service Weekend programme. “We buy more from the Americans than China, Japan, the UK and France combined.”Joly said tariffs and increased prices are a priority for Canadians as voters prepare to head to the polls to elect a new prime minister later this year.The US president has imposed 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from…