Author: BBC

23 minutes agoBy Kayla Epstein, Senior JournalistReutersUS President Joe Biden has welcomed Nato leaders to Washington DC with a forceful speech that seemed pitched to reassure allies overseas and closer to home that he can fight off a looming election challenge from Donald Trump.In brief but strongly delivered remarks at the opening of the summit, the president declared the military alliance “more powerful than ever” as it faces its greatest challenge in a generation with the war in Ukraine.He called it a “pivotal moment” for Europe and the world.Warning that “autocrats have overturned global order” and terrorist groups continued to pose a…

27 minutes agoBy Colin Paterson, Entertainment correspondent20thCentFox/Everett/ShutterstockHomer Simpson and Cypress Hill in the prescient episode, called Homerpalooza It was back in 1996 when an episode of The Simpsons featured a joke where Cypress Hill believed they had mistakenly booked the London Symphony Orchestra, whilst under the influence.On Wednesday night, that joke becomes a reality at the Royal Albert Hall. After years of fan pressure, the American hip-hop group reached out to the LSO over social media and a deal was struck.The one-night only performance in London is based around their acclaimed Black Sunday album. It sold more than three million copies in…

50 minutes agoBy Matt Fox, BBC News NIDetained in DubaiIrish woman Tori Towey is in “the most appalling circumstances” in the United Arab Emirates, the Dáil heardTaoiseach (Irish prime minister) Simon Harris has said he is ready to “intervene” in the case of an Irish woman who is facing criminal charges in the United Arab Emirates in what he called “the most appalling circumstances”.Mr Harris was responding to a question from Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald in the Dáil (Irish lower house of parliament) on Tuesday, according to Irish broadcaster RTÉ.Ms McDonald told TDs (Irish MPs) Tori Towey from County Roscommon…

1 hour agoBy Kevin Peachey, Cost of living correspondentGetty ImagesSaving money regularly can help improve sleep, a new report suggests.Putting a monthly amount aside, however small the sum, also helped people to relax and be more optimistic about the future, the study by academics at Bristol University found.Regular savers on low incomes have similar life satisfaction levels as richer non-savers, they said.A quarter of UK adults have savings of less than £100, surveys have suggested.Saving money has been tough in recent years, owing to sharply rising bills and food prices – even though the interest paid by banks and building societies has…

US officials say they have taken action against an AI-powered information operation run from Russia, including nearly 1,000 accounts pretending to be Americans.The accounts on X were designed to spread pro-Russia stories but were automated “bots” – not real people.In court documents made public Tuesday the US justice department said the operation was devised by a deputy editor at Kremlin-owned RT, formerly Russia Today.RT runs TV channels in English and several other languages, but appears much more popular on social media than on conventional airwaves.The justice department seized two websites that were used to issue emails associated with the bot…

On Monday Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital was hit by a missile, killing two adults and injuring 300 people, including children. Russia claimed the blast was caused by a misfiring Ukrainian air defence missile, but the UN said it was highly likely Moscow was behind the attack – a conclusion shared by analysts who spoke to BBC Verify.See BBC Verify’s visual analysis above. Source link

40 minutes agoBy Jonathan Amos, @BBCAmos, Science correspondentAFPEurope’s big new rocket, Ariane-6, has blasted off successfully on its maiden flight.The vehicle set off from a launchpad in French Guiana about 16:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on a demonstration mission to put a clutch of satellites in orbit.Crews on the ground in Kourou applauded as the rocket soared into the sky. Developed at a cost of €4bn (£3.4bn), Ariane-6 is intended to be a workhorse rocket that gives European governments and companies access to space independently from the rest of the world.It already has a backlog of launch contracts, but there are worries its…

At least 29 Palestinians have been killed and dozens wounded in an Israeli air strike on a camp for displaced people outside a school in southern Gaza, hospital officials say.Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said the strike hit next to the gate of al-Awda school in the town of Abasan al-Kabira, east of the city of Khan Younis, and put the initial death toll at 25.One video showed more than a dozen dead and seriously wounded people, including several children, on the floor of a local hospital.The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports, which come a week after…

Harvey Weinstein is being investigated for “additional violent sexual assaults” months after a previous conviction in New York was overturned, a court in Manhattan has heard.Nicole Blumberg, an assistant district attorney, told Tuesday’s hearing that the alleged assaults fall within the statute of limitations and could be charged as crimes.The disgraced film mogul, 72, is already facing a retrial after his 2020 conviction for sexual assault and rape was overturned in April on the basis that it was unfair.”As we said in 2020, there were women who were not ready to proceed with the legal process. Some of those women…

Labour revealed plans to scrap the non-dom regime in April 2022.Former Conservative chancellor Jeremy Hunt then announced in the March 2024 Budget that the non-dom tax regime would be phased out.According to Mr Hunt’s plans, people who move to the UK from April 2025 will not have to pay tax on money they earn overseas for the first four years.After that period, if they continue to live in the UK, they will pay the same tax as everyone else.Those people who currently have nom-dom status will be allowed a two-year transition period, during which they will be encouraged to bring…