Author: BBC

33 minutes agoBy Marina Daras, Gloria Aradi & Pascal Fletcher, BBC News & BBC MonitoringReutersAfter months of controversy and legal challenges still in play, Kenya has sent its first deployment of 400 police officers to curb gang violence in Haiti.Rocked by decades of instability, the Caribbean nation has seen an escalation of violence following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse three years ago. Rival armed groups took control of the capital, Port-au-Prince, earlier this year, forcing Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign weeks later.Armed gangs now control an estimated 80% of the city.A “robust use of force” is needed to tackle them,…

A new Universal Studios theme park in the UK could open 365 days a year.Universal Destinations and Experiences confirmed to the BBC it planned to open all year round after it bought a 476-acre site in Kempston Hardwick, near Bedford.A new report highlighted the construction would create a total of 20,000 jobs and, while operational, the resort would generate nearly £50bn for the UK.The US-based company also recently undertook a period of public engagement to determine if it could proceed with its plans.The Economic Impact Assessment was commissioned by the company to determine the resort’s financial impact on the UK.It…

6 hours agoBy Philippa Roxby, Health reporterReutersMpox, formerly called monkeypox, is a viral infection and can be deadlyA new strain of the mpox virus spreading quickly along the eastern border of Democratic Republic of Congo is “incredibly worrying”, say health officials monitoring its spread.The virus, which can cause lesions across the whole body, is making some people very ill and can be deadly.The current outbreak has been driven by sexual transmission but there is evidence this strain can also be passed on through close skin-to-skin contact.Global health experts say the new variant risks cross-border and international spread of the virus, with one…

24 minutes agoBy Lili Sheppard, BBC News, West of England • Sarah Turnnidge, BBC News, West of EnglandThe green gates to Worthy Farm were opened by Emily EavisThe gates to Glastonbury Festival 2024 have officially opened.Emily Eavis unbolted the gates to the site at 08:00 BST on Wednesday, as she has done with her father Sir Michael Eavis in previous years. Thousands of ticket holders have begun filtering into the site, which is set to benefit from a sunny week with temperatures forecast to hit 27C on Wednesday before cooling down for the rest of the week.To celebrate the opening of the world-famous festival there…

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has walked free from a US court after pleading guilty in a deal to end a years long legal battle. Source link

Perrie Edwards says launching a solo music career after more than 10 years in Little Mix was “so scary”.The 30-year-old has just released her second single, Tears, after her debut Forget About Us in April.”I’m really happy now the first song’s been and gone,” she tells Radio 1. “The pressure’s kind of gone now.”Not to wish it all away, but the suspense and the emotions that were running through my body before I launched with anything, it was so scary.”Perrie has followed Leigh-Anne Pinnock – who released My Love and Don’t Say Love last year – as a Little Mix…

When Julian Assange published a huge cache of leaked files in 2010 that provoked global uproar over US tactics in foreign conflicts, he could hardly have foreseen the long legal battle ahead would culminate on a remote ocean archipelago.The Northern Mariana Islands is a string of tiny dots in the Pacific Ocean that until this week was known for its secluded beaches and wartime shipwrecks.But it found itself on Wednesday briefly at the centre of a geopolitical chessboard whose pieces have been manoeuvring in the shadows for years from Washington DC to London and beyond. Assange pleaded guilty in a…

Getty ImagesRapman says he is “so proud of having made something so special” Heroic superheroes fighting evil and the gritty streets of south London aren’t two worlds that would usually collide, but for Rapman it was a match made in heaven. The 35-year-old rapper and director has created a new Netflix sci-fi series about five black south Londoners who unexpectedly gain superpowers. At the London premiere, Rapman, real name Andrew Onwubolu, jokes that he wishes he could have the power of teleportation given that he almost turned up late to his own event. He says that the inspiration behind the…

6 hours agoBy Sam Cabral, BBC News, WashingtonGetty ImagesUS Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has declared gun violence a public health crisis, a move aimed at curbing the US’ role in leading the world in shooting deaths. In a first-of-its-kind report urging action, the country’s top doctor noted that a majority of Americans or their family members have experienced gun violence. A public health approach could help, Dr Murthy argues, as it did with changes to seatbelt safety in vehicles and warnings about health impacts of smoking cigarettes. He hopes to remove politics from an issue that has bitterly divided lawmakers and instead…

For nearly 15 months, Evan Gershkovich has been locked away in a Moscow jail.But the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter is standing trial a thousand miles from the Russian capital, in the city of Yekaterinburg. This is where he was arrested while on a reporting trip. Prosecutors say Mr Gershkovich was collecting classified information about a Russian tank manufacturer near Yekaterinburg on behalf of America’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He, his employer and the US government fiercely reject the accusation and the charge of espionage. If convicted, Mr Gershkovich could face up to 20 years in prison.“This is a bogus…