Author: BBC

An Australian soldier and her husband have been arrested and each charged with spying for Russia.Investigators say the couple – both Russian-born Australian citizens – obtained Australian Defence Force (ADF) material to share with Moscow.However, Australian police say “no significant compromise” of military secrets has been identified.It is the first time stricter foreign interference laws – introduced by Australia in 2018 – have been used to lay espionage charges.The 40-year-old woman, an army private, and her 62-year-old husband will face court in Brisbane later Friday, each on one count of preparing for an espionage offence – which carries a maximum…

Post Office boss Nick Read is stepping back from front-line duties so he can prepare for the “critical” next stage of the Horizon IT inquiry.In a note to staff the chief executive officer said he wanted to give his “entire attention” to the final hearings in September, which come as the company faces intense scrutiny over its role in the scandal. The inquiry is scrutinising the failings that led to more than 900 sub-postmasters being wrongly prosecuted for stealing between 1999 and 2015 because of incorrect information from an IT system called Horizon.The next and final stage will focus on…

British artificial intelligence (AI) chip firm Graphcore – once considered a potential rival to market leader Nvidia – has been bought by a Japanese conglomerate.Softbank has not disclosed how much it paid – but it is thought to be considerably less than the £2bn the UK company was valued at after a financing round in 2020.Graphcore head Nigel Toon told the BBC it was “a tremendous endorsement of our team”. However, the deal is likely to raise questions about the UK’s ability to develop firms which can take on the biggest players in the booming AI chip market.It is not…

Urgent repairs to fix a leaking roof at a theatre in Plymouth are set to cost the council £288,975.Plymouth City Council said the Theatre Royal needed work to stop water getting through the fly tower and smoke vent roofs.The council, which is the landlord to the building, said the costs would be funded through corporate borrowing.Councillor Chris Penberthy, cabinet member for Housing, Cooperative Development and Communities, said the theatre was “a cultural powerhouse” that needed to be kept in good condition.He said: “As landlord for this important and listed building, we accept that from time to time we need to…

US President Joe Biden mistakenly referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin” while speaking to reporters about Nato’s support for Ukraine. He later corrected himself, before Zelensky took the microphone. “President Putin?” Biden said, correcting himself. “President Zelensky. I’m so focused on beating Putin.” Source link

7 hours agoBy Andrew Turner, BBC News, HoltShaun Whitmore/BBCThe picture, owned by Stephen Fry’s mother, was stabbed by a border guard checking people were not being smuggled out of AustriaAn exhibition of art that Hitler tried to ban is to go on show at a Norfolk festival.The Holt Festival, in North Norfolk, is hosting a collection of works titled German Expressionists & The Third Reich from this weekend.It features paintings that were deemed “degenerate” by the Nazi dictator, and includes an artwork owned by Stephen Fry’s mother, Marianne.The painting was damaged when her stepmother’s family fled Austria as border guards using bayonets…

Just nowBy Nadine Yousif, BBC News, WinnipegBBCFamily of Rebecca Contois hold up her photo outside a Winnipeg courthouse following Friday’s verdict Tearful cheers erupted in a packed Canadian courtroom on Thursday as a judge found a serial killer guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of four indigenous women. But in the court gallery, Jeremy Contois’ reaction was reserved.His younger sister, Rebecca, was one of the women killed in the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba two years ago.“I feel a little sense of relief,” Mr Contois said, but will not get full closure until the killer, Jeremy Skibicki, is formally sentenced.In his oral…

3 hours agoBy Ian Youngs, Culture reporterGetty ImagesShelley Duvall spent 20 years out of the Hollywood spotlightUS actress Shelley Duvall, known for films like The Shining, Annie Hall and Nashville, has died at the age of 75.Her partner Dan Gilroy confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter. “My dear, sweet, wonderful life partner and friend left us. Too much suffering lately, now she’s free. Fly away, beautiful Shelley,” he said, according to the outlet.She died in her sleep of complications from diabetes at her home in Texas, Gilroy said.Duvall’s other credits included 1977 drama 3 Women, directed by Robert Altman, for which…

Liverpool footballer Darwin Núñez was involved in an altercation with fans after his national team Uruguay were beaten by Colombia. Disorder broke out close to where friends and family members of the Uruguay team were located, according to local media reports. Video shows the striker physically confronting Colombia fans in the stands after the final whistle in the Copa America semi-final, which was being held at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. Uruguay captain José María Giménez said the players were trying to defend their families, Reuters reported. Núñez is yet to comment publicly on the incident.…

The government will no longer defend a decision, made by the previous government, to allow a controversial new coalmine in Cumbria.The new Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Angela Rayner, has accepted there was an “error of law” in the decision to grant planning permission for the mine in December 2022.Consequently, the government will not now be defending two legal challenges next week against the mine – by Friends of the Earth and South Lakes Action on Climate Change (SLACC).It has instead informed the court that the decision to grant planning permission should be quashed.BBC News has…