Author: BBC

China has accused UK’s Secret Intelligence Service MI6 of recruiting Chinese state employees as spies.In a post on its official WeChat channel, China’s Ministry of State Security said MI6 operatives turned a Chinese man identified only by his surname Wang and his wife surnamed Zhou against Beijing.Both worked in “core confidential” departments in a Chinese state agency. The ministry alleged that MI6 started cultivating Mr Wang when he went to the UK for his studies in 2015, under a Sino-British exchange programme.The operatives took “special care” of him in the UK, such as by inviting him to dinners and tours…

MrBeast has cemented himself as the biggest thing on YouTube by overtaking T-Series in a long-running battle for the most subscribers.Indian music label T-Series, which uploads trailers and music videos, held the record for the largest YouTube channel for five years, before it was toppled on Sunday.MrBeast, real name Jimmy Donaldson, was already the individual with the largest following.But the 26-year-old has now made history on the platform with a seemingly unassailable 269 million subscribers, dethroning T-Series and putting him head and shoulders above everything else.Across nearly 800 videos MrBeast has made a name for himself with massive stunts -…

41 minutes agoMark Savage,Music correspondentGetty ImagesSting will play with his newly-formed trio Sting 3.0The Pet Shop Boys and Sting have been announced as the headliners of BBC Radio 2 in the Park in Preston this September.The festival will also see performances from the Manic Street Preachers, Sugababes, Craig David, Snow Patrol, Travis and Sister Sledge.The event will take place in Preston’s Moor Park on the weekend of 7 and 8 September, with tickets on sale from 08:15 on Tuesday, 4 June.Getty ImagesPet Shop Boys have added songs from their new album, Nonetheless, to their ongoing Greatest Hits tourIt is the…

3 hours agoBBC Eye Investigations, Panorama team and The Missing Cryptoqueen podcast,BBC World Service and BBC NewsShutterstockRuja Ignatova has not been seen since she took a flight from Sofia to Athens in October 2017Now we have gone on her trail to try to discover her fate. BBC Eye Investigations and Panorama have looked at her close ties to a suspected Bulgarian organised crime boss and allegations she was brutally murdered. Did Ms Ignatova enjoy the stolen billions or was she killed by the very people paid to protect her?Oxford University graduate Ruja Ignatova was born in Bulgaria and raised in…

Getty ImagesPatients are sometimes cared for in corridors because of a lack of hospital beds Caring for patients in hospital corridors has become “normal”, despite being unsafe and unacceptable for patients, says a report from the Royal College of Nursing.At its annual conference starting on Monday, RCN boss Prof Nicola Ranger will say corridor care is “a national emergency for patient safety”.The Conservatives said the NHS budget had increased by a third since 2010 and more community diagnostic centres had opened to ease the pressure on A&E.Labour said nurses were sounding the alarm because of 14 years of Conservative neglect,…

More than 50 people have died in India over the past three days as a brutal heat spell continues to grip parts of the country.Around 33 people died in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh over the weekend due to the heat.In Odisha (Orissa) state, about 20 people died due to heat stroke, an official told ANI news agency.Many of these deaths were reported on 1 June as India voted in the last phase of polling for its general election.The results of the election are set to be announced on 4 June.Every five years, India holds its general election in…

BBCThe BBC’s Mishal Husain will host a seven-party debate on FridayThe BBC has announced its line-up of televised general election debates, which will start next week and include what is likely to be the final head-to-head clash between Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer before polling day.The series of programmes will begin on Friday 7 June, with a show involving seven-parties hosted by Mishal Husain. Then, on 20 June, the leaders of the country’s four biggest political parties will be involved in a two-hour Question Time programme presented by Fiona Bruce. Sophie Raworth will moderate a debate between the prime…

27 minutes agoSteve Rosenberg,Russia Editor, in IvanovoBBCRussian propaganda tells people the country is marching on to economic and military successIf the billboards in Ivanovo are to be believed, Russia’s really going places.“Record harvest!”“More than 2000km of roads repaired in Ivanovo Region!”“Change for the Better!”In this town, a four-hour drive from Moscow, a giant banner glorifying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine covers the entire wall of an old cinema. With pictures of soldiers and a slogan: “To Victory!”These posters depict a country marching towards economic and military success.But there is one place in Ivanovo that paints a very different picture of today’s…

2 days agoDanny Fullbrook,BBC News, HertfordshireThis article does reveal the winner of Race Across the WorldStudio LambertThe winners have already planned how they would spend the moneyThe winners of Race Across the World have revealed how they will spend their share of the £20,000 prize fund.St Albans school mates, Alfie Watts, 20, and Owen Wood, 21, were the first to reach the final checkpoint in Lombok, Indonesia, and became the youngest winners of the Bafta-winning BBC One Show.They told BBC London News they hoped to spend their winnings on more travelling.Mr Watts, who is a referee for the Hertfordshire Football…

One person has been killed and at least 24 others injured in a mass shooting in the US state of Ohio.The shooting happened just after midnight local time (05:00 BST) in the city of Akron.Officers at the scene, near Kelly Street and 8th Avenue, discovered dozens of bullet casings and a gun, according to local media reports.No one has been arrested or identified as a suspect and an investigation is under way, the Akron Police Department has confirmed.In a statement to the BBC, the force said at least 25 people had been shot, one of whom had been killed.It also…