Author: BBC

A growing number of candidates and activists in France have been targeted with violent or verbal attacks in the run-up to Sunday’s tense final round of parliamentary elections.Government spokeswoman Prisca Thevenot was putting up election posters with her deputy and a party activist in Meudon, south-west of Paris, when they were brutally assaulted by a gang of youths.Other election campaigners have come under attack across France, reflecting the febrile mood in politics with the far-right National Rally (RN) the front-runner in the election.The motive for the attack on Ms Thevenot and her colleagues is not clear, but she returned to…

Police in Ecuador say they have freed 49 people who had been kidnapped by a criminal gang in the southern of the country. Two of the suspected kidnappers were arrested during the joint raid by the Ecuadorean security forces in a mining area in Azuay province.The powerful Los Lobos (The Wolves) gang was behind the kidnapping, police said. Ecuador has seen a surge in gang violence in recent years as transnational criminal organisations have expanded in to the Andean country to take advantage of its large ports to export drugs. Video released by police shows heavily armed officers entering what…

Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group has launched more than 200 rockets and attack drones into northern Israel, in response to the killing of one of its senior commander.Israel’s military said one of its officers was killed in the barrage, which started a number of fires. The military also said it had targeted Hezbollah “military structures” and other targets in southern Lebanon in response. Lebanese media reported that one person was killed in an Israeli drone strike in the town of Houla.The latest barrage, which followed one comprising 100 rockets on Wednesday afternoon, was one of the biggest so far in the…

Twenty-five soldiers with the Democratic Republic of Congo’s army have been sentenced to death for fleeing battles against the notorious M23 rebels in the conflict-hit east of the country.The soldiers were also convicted of theft by a military tribunal as they stole goods from shops in a nearby village after abandoning their positions, an army spokesman said. Four of the soldiers’ wives were acquitted by the military court of receiving goods looted by their husbands.In March, the government lifted a moratorium, in place for more than 20 years, on the death penalty being carried out after the justice minister cited…

Embattled rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing another sexual assault case after a woman came forward with fresh accusations against him.The complaint filed him in New York by former porn star Adria English is the latest of several lawsuits filed against the star in recent months. Mr Combs, who is one of rap’s most successful moguls, has consistently denied all allegations of sexual assault and physical abuse, including the latest ones.The star is now reportedly also the subject of a federal criminal investigation, though there is no sign any charges are imminent, according to NBC News.Mr Combs’s legal woes have…

Israel says it is studying a response by Hamas to a Gaza ceasefire plan outlined by President Biden at the end of May.It comes after Hamas’s political leadership said it had contacted mediators Egypt and Qatar “about the ideas” it has been discussing with the aim of reaching an agreement. Up to now Hamas has demanded an end to the war and a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Israel says it will accept only temporary pauses in the fighting until it eliminates Hamas.A Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations told the BBC Hamas is no longer insisting on…

A security guard has been found guilty of plotting to kidnap, rape and murder television presenter Holly Willoughby. Gavin Plumb assembled a tool kit for highly sexualised violence against the former This Morning presenter to fulfil his “ultimate fantasy”.The 37-year-old from Harlow, Essex, was arrested and charged after he unwittingly disclosed his plans online to an undercover police officer in the US.Plumb denied soliciting murder and inciting kidnap and rape between 2021 and 2023, but has been found guilty following an eight-day trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.The defendant wept in the dock as he was told he would be sentenced…

Tens of thousands of people in northern California have been ordered to evacuate as wildfires grow across the state amid a heatwave.Around 28,000 people were told to leave their homes after the Thompson Fire broke out this week, according to reports citing the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire). Dangerously hot, dry and windy weather is expected to continue, with the National Weather Service predicting temperatures could reach 118F (47C) in some areas early next week. The city of Oroville, near where the Thompson Fire started, cancelled its 4 July fireworks celebration, and officials warned residents not to…

Sex toys and many other erotic items are to be banned from online marketplace Etsy – sparking a backlash from sellers.Also prohibited from 29 July will be items which – when modelled – expose body parts such as female nipples or the cleft between the buttocks. Etsy – which focusses on handmade, vintage and craft items – said new rules on sales were being introduced because of “evolving industry standards.”Affected sellers have told the BBC they feel let down by the policy change, which they predict will cause their revenues to plummet.”As creators who have helped make Etsy what it…

US broadcaster and comic Ellen DeGeneres has cancelled four dates on her stand-up comedy tour.”Unfortunately, the event organiser has had to cancel your event,” said a note on Ticketmaster’s website, listing shows in Dallas, San Francisco, Seattle and Chicago as the ones affected.It is unclear why the dates have been dropped as other dates in those cities are still going ahead. The tour is currently scheduled to run until 17 August.It marks her return to the spotlight two years after the cancellation of the Ellen DeGeneres talk show, after employees accused executive producers over “toxic workplace” claims.Three producers were fired…