Why are gadgets banned but mobiles ok? Daniel Sandford explains The US and UK are banning laptops from cabin baggage on flights from certain countries in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as Turkey. The US ban on electronic devices larger than a smartphone is being imposed as an anti-terrorist precaution.

Parents will not be happy about the ban on laptops and tablets When the laptop ban on some flights to the US and UK was announced, there was an audible groan from business people across the world who use those precious hours to keep on top of work. But there was another group who took an even deeper intake of breath: parents. "@realDonaldTrump this is absurd," wrote one panicked Twitter user. "My

It's a Friday night and I'm about to meet a hot date I hooked up with on a dating app. But how do I know he's really who he says he is? After all, online dating fraud is on the rise and it seems easy for people to adopt false identities, stealing photos from other websites and concocting plausible back stories. Luckily, my date seemed legit, but if I'd been concerned I could have used a service li

Travelling for business may sound glamorous, but it can actually be pretty stressful. Booking tickets and hotels, co-ordinating journey times, coping with queues and scrums for taxis, can all leave you frazzled before you've even entered the room to make your pitch. Booking.com research finds that more than nine in 10 business travellers suffer from stress. So wouldn't it be wonderful if technolog

Ivanka Trump - the company - must be careful to untangle potential conflicts of interest Ivanka Trump's brand is booming, says the fashion firm, as one estimate says sales have jumped five-fold. Abigail Klem, president of the US first daughter's eponymous clothing line, says it has seen "some of the best performing weeks" in its history. The reported sales surge comes amid an ongoing boycott targe

Fitness-tracking devices have helped Peter Dumbreck beat his personal best times for cycling three days in a row. The racing driver and keen cyclist uses a Garmin 810 Edge cycle computer, a heart rate monitor and a power meter. "The power meter is embedded into my left crank arm and talks via Bluetooth to my Garmin device, as does my heart rate monitor," he says. "I can see my power [the force his

With the clicking of poles and a determined stride, the Winchester Nordic Walking group is a distinctive sight as its members pound the Hampshire countryside. The day I bumped into them, all but one was using some form of fitness tracker. A few Fitbits, a Garmin smartwatch, a couple of phone apps and one basic pedometer - and all, they claimed, were roughly counting the same paces. "Before I had a

The Brexit debate in the UK is focusing on the rights of EU migrants in the country, among them about 300,000 Germans. Many people are worried about what will happen to them after Brexit. But how are the 100,000 Brits in Germany feeling? The BBC's Damien McGuinness says many are hurrying to apply for citizenship. "So, when are you becoming German?" It's one of those questions that always seems to

Trudy and Barclay Patoir met during World War Two at a time when mixed-race relationships were still taboo. More than 70 years later they reveal the obstacles they had to overcome to stay together. When Trudy Menard and Barclay Patoir told friends and family they were going to get married, no-one thought it was a good idea - because Trudy was white and Barclay was black. "When I told them at work

The resort blends in with the natural environment of the island (Credit: Rob Roberts) When Ben and Lisa Newton sold their businesses and homes to sail through the South Pacific, they never expected to own one of the islands they dreamed about. As we waited for Ben's boat to appear, birds searched through the sandy mud exposed at low tide. The tropical sun beat down, its heat only tempered by the t

There have been times when Nick Heilmann has looked around his hometown and wondered if there’s a single person there who thinks the way he does. In August, when the US presidential election came down to two candidates, neither of whom he liked, Heilmann and his family decided to move from the US state of Indiana to Victoria, Canada. When he told friends and family about his plan to move, many won

Google has spent years testing its autonomous car's control systems Google has patented a system that would make a car "crumple" before impact to lessen the severity of a crash. The patent suggests ways to make panels on the car withdraw to soften the impact on a pedestrian or other object. Google suggests coupling the panels with sensor data to gauge the size of approaching objects and decide wha

There are many reasons for lateness – such as procrastination (Credit: Getty Images) It’s not always rudeness or scatter-brained behaviour – it can be something much deeper, writes Laura Clarke. Confession: I am a late person. At least, one in recovery. In fact, I’ve repeatedly, and embarrassingly, missed the deadline for this article. I’d love to pretend this is some journalistic form of ‘method’

It can be helpful to to treat coming home like any other foreign assignment, with cultural differences and challenges (Credit: iStock) After years away on a foreign posting, coming ‘home’ can be overwhelming and isolating. Here’s how many people cope with fitting back in. Last week, we identified an important, but often overlooked problem of being a long-term expat: how a foreign posting can affec

It’s not just loud and sniffly, open offices are actually hurting our brains. Now some businesses are bringing back walls and doors. Four years ago, Chris Nagele did what many other technology executives have done before — he moved his team into an open concept office. His staff had been exclusively working from home, but he wanted everyone to be together, to bond and collaborate more easily. It q

The method is suited to hiring for jobs involving a lot of communication (Credit: Alamy) With fewer humans in human resources, speech analysis software is helping employers hire new candidates, judge suitability for promotion and gauge stress levels among workers.

Middle-aged people in England face a health crisis because of unhealthy lifestyles, experts have warned. Desk jobs, fast food and the daily grind are taking their toll, says Public Health England. Eight in every 10 people aged 40 to 60, external in England are overweight, drink too much or get too little exercise, the government body warns. PHE wants people to turn over a new leaf in 2017 and make

Editor’s Note (23 December 2016): Through the end of the year, BBC Capital is bringing back some of your favourite stories from 2016. I’ll never forget the first time I sat naked, thigh-to-thigh on a wooden sauna bench with my boss. It was week one of a new job with a computer start-up near Heidelberg in Germany. I’m from Scotland, where socialising after work means going to the pub for drinks. I

One of the very early Hoffice events in Sweden (Credit: Amrit Daniel Forss) Would you trade your office desk or your dining table to work in someone else’s home? A co-working movement launched in Sweden claims it will make you more productive and even happier. It’s 13:30 and 28-year-old Mårten Pella’s smartphone starts pinging, a signal that it’s time for us to stop working around his living room

Maserati GranCabrio review: two world-class powertrains in one stunning convertibleJust as engaging and well-engineered as its coupe sibling, but gains extra cachet as a drop-top