16 countries take the stage in liverpool later for the second semifinal. sticking with the eurovision theme, we are in liverpool at the shopping centre right in the heart of liverpool, surrounded by these beautiful eggs, i will tell you about them later on. the bank of england is expected to raise interest rates again today to 4.5%, the highest level in 15 years. it will be the 12th consecutive hike since december 2021, meaning mortgage payments could rise further for millions of customers. our business correspondent hannah miller reports. this is the first home gheev has owned, bought with his girlfriend two months ago. but since they agreed their mortgage, the monthly payments have gone up twice in line with the base rate of interest set by the bank of england. when we were coming to find a mortgage, the fixed rates were astronomically high. we figured that if the bank of england base rate goes up by another two or three percentage points, we re actually better off staying
4.5%. risen by a quarter of a percent, that is from our economics editor, faisal islam, who has tweeted that. just getting that information in that, as expected, interest rates in the uk are now at 4.5%, up from 4.25%, a quarter rate rise. 0ur cost of living correspondent is watching these developments for us, kevin, news that will impact on so many people s lives for their mortgages and make life just that bit more difficult as they have seen those rate rises so many times, for the 13th time in a row? it many times, for the 13th time in a row? , ., . many times, for the 13th time in a row? ,., ,, many times, for the 13th time in a row? , ,,, row? it is not a surprise, but clearly the row? it is not a surprise, but clearly the impact row? it is not a surprise, but clearly the impact is - row? it is not a surprise, but clearly the impact is still - row? it is not a surprise, but| clearly the impact is still very real. it will make borrowing more expensive for many, many pe
but not fast enough to keep up with price rises. our economics correspondent, andy verity, has more details. all good? business has been challenging, up and down. it has been consistently inconsistent. one day we are super busy, we can t keep up. the next day we don t have any work on. a year ago, construction companies like this builder of grand design style renovations, based near heathrow airport, were struggling to cope with the surge in demand for new projects as the economy bounced back from the pandemic. there was no lack of work, but profits were squeezed by the rocketing cost of raw materials and the shortage of skilled staff that sent wages soaring. it is difficult to meet demand when there is also less money in the jobs because the cost of labour has risen so much. so we have labourers earning the money which plumbers and carpenters were earning, like, two and a half, three years ago. but everybody wants the job to be cheaper because they have no certainty and the
move that was expected. the cost of borrowing is now at its highest in 16 years, but is the fed finally done with rate hikes? the bbc s samir hussein reports from new york. inflation remain steadily high. to try and get the cost of living back down to more normal levels the federal reserve, america s central bank, has raised interest rates ten times in a little over a year, and now it seems it may be ready to perhaps take a pause. the committee perhaps take a pause. the committee will perhaps take a pause. the committee will take - perhaps take a pause. the committee will take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy, the legs tightening of monetary policy, the legs with which it lacks inflation and economic and financial inflation and economic and financial developments. the legs financial developments. the legs we financial developments. the legs. we will make that determination meeting by meeting. determination meeting by meetinu . ., de
it will include the models behind popular chatbots like chatgpt. ai industry has faced scrutiny from regulators lately, over the pace at which it is developing technology to mimic human behaviour. the uk watchdog will assess whether or not ai provides an unfair advantage to companies that are able to afford the technology. let s speak now to stephanie hare, who s a tech expert. what will this review focus on? it will focus on may two things. because this is the competition authority, it will focus on ensuring open competition and consumer protection. that is very different from what we have been hearing leaders in al worrying about, which is a existential threat to humanity. it was only in the last few weeks that the godfather of ai quit and he talked about the dangers of ai. do we know what the risks are in regard to consumer protection? it we know what the risks are in regard to consumer protection? to consumer protection? it depends on how we want to consumer protection