Author: BBC

Bolivia’s presidential palace has been stormed by soldiers as the country’s ex-president warned of an unfolding “coup”.”We are going to recover this homeland,” General Juan José Zúñiga told reporters from Murillo Square after it was taken by troops, according to the El Deber newspaper. Former president Evo Morales accused Gen Zúñiga of planning to seize power, calling on supporters of democracy to strike and block roads.President Luis Arce denounced what he called “irregular” troop movements, saying “democracy must be respected”.In more pointed language, Mr Morales wrote: “A group of the Challapata Special Regiment ‘Mendez Arcos’ took over Plaza Murillo with…

7 hours agoBy Bea Swallow, BBC News, West of EnglandOxfam Stewards are responsible for checking wristbands and directing festival traffic, with 2,000 volunteers always on siteA couple in their 80s who have been volunteering at Glastonbury Festival since 1995 said they were “thrilled” to do their bit for charity. Judy Cole, 81, and her husband Graham, who celebrates his 84th birthday at the festival, are volunteering as stewards to support the work of Oxfam. Glastonbury invited the poverty-relief charity along for the first time in 1993 and have partnered with it ever since, with Oxfam receiving donations from the festival. The couple,…

The US Justice Department has reached an agreement with fugitive financier Jho Low to return more than $100m (£79m) allegedly embezzled from Malaysia’s state-owned wealth fund as part of the 1MDB scandal.The US said artworks by artists Andy Warhol and Claude Monet, and a luxury flat in Paris would be liquidated and assets worth $67m released to Malaysia.Prosecutors allege the assets are linked to cash raised for the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund dating back to 2012 and 2013.Mr Low, a wanted fugitive, remains at large, although his whereabouts are unknown.The assets will supplement some $1.4bn already returned with the…

3 hours agoBy Bea Swallow, BBC News, West of EnglandJason BryantThe knitted doll is a tribute to the singer, pianist and co-founder of ColdplayA naked knitted figurine depicting Coldplay singer Chris Martin has been taken to Glastonbury Festival in a hope it will meet the namesake performer.Avid crafter Sandra Witcombe made the doll “as a bit of fun”, after five of her nude knits became a hit in the window display of The Hive Café in Shepton Mallet, Somerset. The doll is now in the fields of the festival, which opened on Wednesday morning. Ms Witcombe said she hoped “little Chris Martin”…

Juan Orlando Hernández, the ex-president of Honduras who was convicted of drug crimes in a US court, has been sentenced to 45 years in prison.Hernández was found guilty in March of conspiring to import cocaine into the US, and possessing “destructive devices” including machine guns.Prosecutors in New York said he ran the Central American country like a “narco-state” and accepted millions of dollars in bribes from drug traffickers to shield them from the law.“He paved a cocaine superhighway to the United States, protected by machine guns,” prosecutors said in their closing arguments ahead of his conviction.As part of his sentence,…

Music lovers have spent the day lugging air mattresses, rucksacks, refreshments and more across the Glastonbury Festival site in the baking sunshine.Thousands of festival-goers have been arriving at Worthy Farm in Somerset after the gates opened at 08:00 BST. With temperatures of up to 27C forecast for the weekend, some people arriving at the site enjoyed being sprayed down with water. Source link

US President Joe Biden has pardoned thousands of veterans who were convicted of crimes under a military law that banned gay sex for more than 60 years.The veterans were convicted under a provision of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which criminalised sodomy from 1951 to 2013.Mr Biden described the pardon as “righting an historic wrong”. The US Congress had repealed the portion of the code that outlawed consensual sodomy in 2013.This military provision is separate from the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” President Bill Clinton-era policy, which banned openly gay and lesbian Americans from serving in the military.In a statement…

Former Fujitsu software engineer Gareth Jenkins has said he gave evidence in the prosecution of former sub-postmasters based on “informal chats”.Mr Jenkins had testified that “remote access” to sub-postmaster computers was not possible when in fact it was – something that may have undermined their defence in court. Between 1999 and 2015 more than 700 sub-postmasters were prosecuted for fraud and theft by the Post Office based on faulty data from Fujitsu’s Horizon accounting system.Mr Jenkins, who helped to develop the system, was being questioned for a second day at an inquiry into the scandal. On Tuesday he apologised for…

Rishi Sunak has intervened in a row between Kemi Badenoch and actor David Tennant, saying the Doctor Who star is “the problem”. Tennant suggested at the British LGBT Awards last week that he wanted a world where the equalities minister “doesn’t exist any more”, and said she should “shut up”.The prime minister posted on X that freedom of speech was the “most powerful feature of our democracy”, adding: “If you’re calling for women to shut up and wishing they didn’t exist, you are the problem.”Trans rights campaigners have criticised Ms Badenoch’s views on gender.Tennant won a prize for being a…

Kenya’s President William Ruto says he will withdraw a finance bill containing controversial tax hikes after deadly protests which saw parliament set ablaze on Tuesday.In an address to the nation, he said it was clear that Kenyans “want nothing” to do with the bill. “I concede,” he said, adding that he will not sign the bill into law.At least 22 people were killed in Tuesday’s protests, according to the state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNHRC). Mr Ruto said he would now enter into dialogue with the young people, who were at the forefront of the biggest protests to…