Author: BBC

Just nowBy Colin Paterson, Entertainment correspondent GettyShania Twain will take to the stage on Sunday, as part of the festival’s Legends slot Shania Twain hopes to pull off a Glastonbury first by riding a horse to the Pyramid stage on Sunday, ahead of her teatime Legends slot.When asked about any special plans for her appearance, the Canadian singer told BBC Breakfast: “I love horses. I love animals I’m going to see if there’s a horse around, I can borrow.”She continued: “I’d love to ride a horse to the stage,” but admitted, “I’ll have to find out if it’s allowed.”This would be far…

3 hours agoBy James Landale & Tiffanie Turnbull, BBC News, London & SydneyGettyAssange supporters outside the Royal Courts of Justice in May In the end, it was a mixture of diplomacy, politics and law that allowed Julian Assange to take off in a private jet from London’s Stansted airport on Monday, bound ultimately for Australia and freedom.The deal that led to his liberty – after seven years of self-imposed confinement and then five years of enforced detention – was months in the making but uncertain to the last.In a statement, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the possibility of a plea deal…

A court-appointed bankruptcy trustee has indicated plans to sell off right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ Infowars media empire to pay some of the $1.5b (£1.18b) he owes to families of the Sandy Hook school shooting victims. In a court filing filed on Sunday, the trustee, Christopher Murray, said he was planning to close operations of Infowars’ owner Free Speech Systems and “liquidate its inventory”. The news comes a week after a bankruptcy judge decided Mr Jones’ personal assets would be liquidated to pay back the victims for spreading misinformation about the deadly 2012 shooting at a suburban Connecticut school. The…

19 hours agoBy Steven McIntosh, Entertainment reporterGetty ImagesAdrien Brody won an Oscar for 2002’s The PianistActor Adrien Brody is to take on his first stage role in London, in a play which follows the true story of a man who was wrongly convicted of murder. The US star won an Oscar aged 29 for 2002’s The Pianist, making him the youngest ever best actor winner.Later this year, Brody will appear at the Donmar Warehouse in the world premiere of The Fear of 13, written by Lindsey Ferrentino.The play depicts the story of Nick Yarris, a man who spent 22 years on death…

A UN-backed assessment says almost half a million Palestinians across Gaza are still facing “catastrophic levels” of hunger and that a “high risk” of famine persists as long as the Israel-Hamas war continues and humanitarian access is restricted.However, the report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) says the available evidence does not indicate a famine is currently occurring in the north of the Palestinian territory.The previous assessment in March had projected that one was imminent in the area.The amount of food and other aid allowed into the north has increased since then, and nutrition, water, sanitation and health…

More than 100,000 former and current Royal Mail staff will this week be asked to sell their shares to a Czech billionaire.On Wednesday morning, Daniel Kretinsky’s investment group, which wants to buy Royal Mail’s parent company, will publish its formal offer online and send it by post.After which, Mr Kretinsky can then formally start lobbying investors to accept the offer.He needs the approval of shareholders of three quarters of the parent company, but this task will be made easier because he already owns 27.5% of it.Big asset managers including Blackrock, UBS, Vanguard and Schroders own most of the other 72.5%…

4 hours agoBy Holly Honderich, Senior reporter, BBC WorldReutersNetflix is to re-examine the impact of the high-profile, televised defamation case between actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard in a new docu-series released overnight on Tuesday.For six weeks in 2022, the court in the US state of Virginia heard the tawdry details of Depp and Heard’s volatile relationship, and its ultimate, unhappy end.Depp sued his ex-wife for defamation over an opinion article she wrote for the Washington Post, alleging she was a domestic abuse victim, though it did not mention him by name. Heard counter-sued.Jurors awarded Depp – who denied abusing Heard -…

41 minutes agoBy Stewart Maclean, BBC News, NairobiEPAAfter a day of protest, turmoil and bloodshed, Kenyan President William Ruto addressed the nation with a message of sadness and strength.Saying “legitimate” protests against his policies had been “hijacked by a group of organised criminals,” he warned his government would use all means at its disposal to prevent a repeat of the violence – “at whatever cost”.”Today events mark a critical point on how we respond to threats to our peace,” he said. “We will ensure a situation of this nature does not recur again.”The president’s message was an attempt to seize back control…

HSBC has joined two other major lenders in reducing mortgage rates following hints of a summer base rate cut by the Bank of England.Barclays cut the cost of its fixed-rate home loans for new deals on Tuesday, following an earlier move by NatWest.HSBC’s cuts will come into effect on Wednesday, with brokers expecting more mortgage companies to follow suit. However, these reductions are small in the wider context. Borrowers still face relatively high costs, with many paying significantly more in monthly repayments when current cheaper deals expire. Average mortgage rates had been creeping up, driven by a lack of fresh…

During the hot weather, it can be easy to overheat. Environmental temperatures of 40C (104F) can make it difficult to keep the body at its ideal 37C.The advice – be sensible and slow down to stay cool.While heat exhaustion is not usually serious, as long as you can cool yourself down, heatstroke is a medical emergency. Here is what to look for and what to do.