Author: BBC

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 The US Congress had repealed the portion of the code that outlawed consensual sodomy in 2013.This military provision is separate from the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” President Bill Clinton-era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…

Just nowBy Mark Savage, Music CorrespondentBBCThe broadcaster, who was born in Northern Ireland, was adopted as a childSean Rafferty is to leave Radio 3 next April, the BBC has announced.His departure will bring to an end a 28-year tenure on the station’s flagship programme, In Tune, which he first presented in 1997.In a statement, the Northern Irish broadcaster said he would “truly miss” hosting the show, with its mixture of interviews, live performances and classical repertoire.He will be replaced by Petroc Trelawny, who is currently the voice of BBC Radio 3’s breakfast show, alongside current co-presenter Katie Derham.Announcing his departure, Rafferty said:…

Assange ‘needs time… to recuperate’, wife tells reportersJulian Assange has landed back home in his native Australia, after a plea deal allowed him to walk free from a London prison.There were emotional scenes at Canberra Airport, as the Wikileaks founder kissed his wife and hugged his father, his lawyers watching on, visibly moved.”Julian needs time to recover, to get used to freedom,” Stella Assange said at a news conference shortly after her husband arrived.For the past 14 years, Assange has been in a legal battle with US officials who accused him of leaking classified documents, which they say put lives…

The BBC’s Colin Paterson meets festival-goers, at Worthy Farm for Glastonbury Festival. Source link

The use of nitazenes, a type of drug which can be more potent than fentanyl, is spreading across Europe and North America, the UN drug agency has warned.The synthetic opioids have been detected in the UK, US, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Belgium and Canada, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) wrote in its latest World Drug Report.There has also been an increase in the number of deadly overdoses connected with nitazenes.The super-strength drugs, of which there are several types, are significantly more potent than heroin. Their emergence has prompted urgent warnings from health agencies around the world.It follows a…

Watch: Adorable moment girl, six, declares live on air she has a boyfriend Source link

Mr Assange ran Wikileaks, a website that published many confidential or restricted official reports related to war, spying and corruption.In 2010, it released a video from a US military helicopter which showed civilians being killed in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. It also published thousands of confidential documents supplied by former US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. These suggested that the US military had killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents during the war in Afghanistan.The revelations became a huge story, prompting reaction from all corners of the globe, and led to intense scrutiny of American involvement in foreign conflicts. The…