‘Sunshine Saturday’: UK firms expect 5% January rise in holiday bookings

UK travel companies are bracing for one of their busiest periods for bookings as winter-wearied consumers plan sunny breaks, with package holiday bookings forecast to be up 5% this January.The Civil Aviation Authority, the regulator that administers the Atol travel financial protection scheme, has forecast that 200,000 more holidaymakers will book trips this month compared with the 4.3 million who did so in the same period last year.January is well known as a boom time for holiday planning as households crave something to look forward to after Christmas, with demand peaking at the weekends, particularly the first one – known in the industry as Sunshine Saturday for its bumper number of bookings.However, booking patterns are forecast to shift this year towards quieter destinations, such as Malta’s sister island, Gozo, and long-haul locations, according to TravelSupermarket

China’s BYD overtakes Tesla as world’s biggest electric car seller

China’s BYD overtook Tesla as the world’s largest electric carmaker in 2025, after the US company run by Elon Musk reported a slump in deliveries at the end of the year.BYD sold 2.26m battery electric cars during the year, easily outstripping the 1.63m deliveries reported on Friday by Tesla for the same period.The switch is a symbolic moment in the rise of China’s car companies, which have used the transition to electric cars to try to dominate the global automotive industry

Reddit overtakes TikTok in UK thanks to search algorithms and gen Z

Reddit, the online discussion platform, has overtaken TikTok as Britain’s fourth most visited social media service, as search algorithms and gen Z have dramatically transformed its prominence.The platform has undergone huge growth over the last two years, with an 88% increase in the proportion of UK internet users it reaches. Three in five Brits online now encounter the site, up from a third in 2023, according to Ofcom.Its popularity is rising fastest with younger internet users. It is now the sixth most visited organisation of any kind by UK users aged between 18 and 24, up from 10th a year earlier

Elon Musk’s Grok AI generates images of ‘minors in minimal clothing’

Elon Musk’s chatbot Grok posted on Friday that lapses in safeguards had led it to generate “images depicting minors in minimal clothing” on social media platform X. The chatbot, a product of Musk’s company xAI, has been generating a wave of sexualized images throughout the week in response to user prompts.Screenshots shared by users on X showed Grok’s public media tab filled with such images. xAI said it was working to improve its systems to prevent future incidents.“There are isolated cases where users prompted for and received AI images depicting minors in minimal clothing,” Grok said in a post on X in response to a user

Emma Raducanu ruled out of United Cup opener in false start to new season

Emma Raducanu remains hopeful that she will be able to compete this week at the United Cup after her 2026 season began with a concerning false start when she was forced to withdraw from her opening match in Perth.Raducanu pulled out of her highly anticipated clash with Naomi Osaka just an hour before play began but a significantly weakened Great Britain team admirably battled hard in the searing heat.Billy Harris, who had replaced the British men’s No 1 Jack Draper, opened the tie with a strong win, defeating Shintaro Mochizuki 7-6 (4), 6-3. Raducanu was replaced by Katie Swan, who lost 7-6 (4), 6-1 to Osaka.Before Swan took to the court, Raducanu, who has been managing a foot injury since the end of last season, opted not to elaborate on her physical health but struck a hopeful tone: “I think, at the end of the day, it’s a team event and Katie’s playing great so it gives me an extra day, so looking forward to this match,” Raducanu said

‘I’m here to win’: champion Luke Littler has ominous words for his rivals

Luke Littler has warned his rivals that he intends to be around for a very long time – and win plenty more PDC world titles – after adding a second crown by defeating the Dutchman Gian van Veen in a one-sided demolition.And the 18-year-old didn’t entirely rule out chasing down Phil Taylor’s record of 16 world titles after emphatically proving himself as the best darts player on the planet again by winning 7-1.“Obviously it’s so far away,” he said. “I’ve still got 14 to go. Another 15-16 years I’d say