Author: BBC

Actor Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt has submitted a petition to a Los Angeles court to drop Pitt from her name. The daughter of Hollywood stars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt took legal action to become Shiloh Jolie on May 27, the date of her 18th birthday.Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad Pitt in September 2016, but details of their separation have not been finalised and a settlement agreement is yet to be reached.The couple are also currently involved in a legal battle over Chateau Miraval, a French winery they bought together. Shiloh is the third-eldest of the former couple’s six…

10 minutes agoThomas Mackintosh,BBC NewsReutersOn 29 May, a balloon believed to have been sent by North Korea carrying various objects including what appeared to be trash and excrement was spotted over a rice field at Cheorwon, South KoreaNorth Korea is sending more balloons carrying trash and excrement across the heavily fortified border to South Korea, South Korea’s military has said.It comes just days after North Korea appeared to send at least 200 balloons carrying rubbish over the border in retaliation for propaganda leaflets sent from the south.South Korea’s defence minister Shin Won-sik called it “unimaginably petty and low-grade behaviour”.North Korea…

6 hours agoClaire Ellison,BBC News Society teamBBCSam Hodkinson needs a pension payment soon, after retiring because of ill-healthA former police officer who retired early because of breast cancer and is owed extra pension, says she fears she may not live to see the money paid out.Sam Hodkinson is one of tens of thousands of public sector workers waiting for pension payments.They were found to be victims of age discrimination after changes to their public sector pensions in 2014, from which older colleagues were protected.Pension administrators regret the delays but insist they will meet a legal deadline to issue financial advice…

Lawyers for singer Nick Carter have described claims of sexual assault made against him in a new documentary as “outrageous”.Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter, released this week, includes allegations about the Backstreet Boys singer from three women.Melissa Schuman, Shannon Ruth and Ashley Repp have alleged assaults during the early 2000s and are suing Carter.He has filed a countersuit against all three women for defamation.In a statement to BBC News, the singer’s legal team said the women were “spreading falsehoods”.”These are exactly the same outrageous claims that led us to sue this gang of conspirators,” the statement read. “Those cases…

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has warned China not to cross a red line in the South China Sea, where a standoff between the countries continues to escalate.If any Filipino died as a result of China’s wilful actions, he said, the Philippines would consider it as close to “an act of war” and respond accordingly.Mr Marcos was speaking at a security forum in Singapore attended by defence chiefs from around the world, including the US and China.In response, a Chinese military spokesman accused the Philippines of “deflecting the blame on China” and “smearing and attacking”.In recent months the longstanding dispute…

1 hour agoAlex Taylor,BBC News Culture reporter, @TayloredwordGetty ImagesEminem’s Slim Shady persona sparked constant controversy but also helped break rap’s racial barriersTwenty-five years after bursting on to the scene, it appears rapper Eminem’s provocative alter ego Slim Shady may finally be silenced.The antagonistic Slim Shady, with his peroxide-blond hair and everyman blue jeans, stemmed from Eminem’s self-described “white trash” upbringing.In a surprise April announcement teased as a mock murder news report, Eminem revealed that his new album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), will be released this summer. And on Friday, Shady once again said “guess who’s back”…

US President Joe Biden has urged Hamas to accept a new Israeli proposal to end the conflict in Gaza, saying that “it’s time for this war to end”. The three-part proposal would begin with a six-week ceasefire in which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would withdraw from populated areas of Gaza. There would also be a “surge” of humanitarian aid, as well as an exchange of some hostages for Palestinian prisoners. The deal would eventually lead to a permanent “cessation of hostilities” and a major reconstruction plan for Gaza. Hamas said it views the proposal “positively”. Speaking at the White…

Organisers of a music festival that has been running for the past 60 years have announced that this year’s event will be their last.The family behind Towersey Festival, which started in Oxfordshire, said they have to “bow out after this year”.They cited “economic challenges” caused by the Covid-19 pandemic as one of the reasons for their decision.The independent event founded by Denis Manners MBE in 1965, five years before Glastonbury, has championed roots and folk music.The festival was first held in the village of Towersey but moved to nearby Thame in 2015 and finally settled at the Claydon Estate in…

Russia has accused Nato and the US of “provoking a new level of tension” after the US and Germany became the latest allies to let Ukraine’s military use Western-supplied weapons to strike targets inside Russia.A Berlin spokesman said Germany was convinced Ukraine had the right to defend itself from Russia, especially from cross-border attacks on its second largest city Kharkiv.US officials said American-supplied weapons could be used to counter Russian fire near the Kharkiv region, either where Russian forces were “hitting them or preparing to hit them”.Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said the decision would help protect civilians living in villages…

Hackers are attempting to sell what they say is confidential information belonging to millions of Santander staff and customers.They belong to the same gang which this week claimed to have hacked Ticketmaster.The bank – which employs 200,000 people worldwide, including around 20,000 in the UK – has confirmed data has been stolen.Santander has apologised for what it says is “the concern this will understandably cause” adding it is “proactively contacting affected customers and employees directly.””Following an investigation, we have now confirmed that certain information relating to customers of Santander Chile, Spain and Uruguay, as well as all current and some…