Author: BBC

Actor Nick Pasqual has been arrested at the border between the US and Mexico, and charged with allegedly stabbing and attempting to murder his estranged girlfriend, authorities have said.Mr Pasqual is accused of breaking into the victim’s home and stabbing her multiple times, shortly after she had taken a restraining order out against him, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney.They did not identify her, but she has been named in US media as Hollywood make-up artist Allie Shehorn.Mr Pasqual allegedly fled the scene and was detained at a checkpoint in Sierra Blanca, Texas.He has had minor roles in films…

32 minutes agoFarouk Chothia,BBC News, JohannesburgReutersSouth Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC) looks set to lose its parliamentary majority for the first time since Nelson Mandela led it to victory at the end of the racist system of apartheid in 1994. It would herald the end of the party’s decades-long domination of South African politics, raise questions about the leadership of President Cyril Ramaphosa and usher in an era of coalition politics. Here are three factors that explain how South Africa got here, why and what the future holds.1) Behind the ANC’s free-fallThe ANC was once a revered liberation movement…

The proposed merger between Nationwide and Virgin Money is to be investigated by the UK’s competition watchdog.The country’s biggest building society announced the £2.9bn deal with its smaller rival in March.It is the largest banking merger since the 2008 financial crisis and create the UK’s second-largest provider of mortgages and savings.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it will examine whether it would result in a substantial lessening of competition within the UK banking sector.The takeover would result in a combined group with 700 branches, second only to Lloyds Banking Group.The combined assets of the groups would total roughly £366.3bn.Virgin…

Nicki Minaj’s latest concert in Amsterdam has been cancelled, its promoter has said, almost a week after the US rapper was arrested in the city on suspicion of trying to export drugs.The star started her European tour in Amsterdam last week but was held by Dutch military police at the airport two days later, before being fined and released.The arrest forced her to postpone a show in Manchester at the last minute on Saturday.She had been due to return to Amsterdam for a second show this Sunday, but promoter Mojo said it would no longer take place “due to the…

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has been moved from a hospital in the centre of the country, two weeks after being seriously wounded in a shooting.The hospital in the central city of Banska Bystrica said he was now receiving “home nursing care”. He was airlifted to the capital, Bratislava, and taken home to continue his long road to recovery, reports say.The 59-year-old was left fighting for his life after being shot four times at close range in the central town of Handlova on 15 May as he greeted supporters after a government meeting.Mr Fico is said to have undergone a…

8 hours agoCraig Williams,BBC Scotland NewsGetty ImagesClimate activists boycotted the the 2023 Edinburgh book festival.The Edinburgh International Book Festival has ended its 20-year funding partnership with sponsors Baillie Gifford after pressure from climate change protesters.The move follows a similar decision by the Hay festival in Wales last week.The investment company, which is based in Edinburgh, has been a major sponsor of UK arts events but has come under scrutiny for its investments in fossil fuels.Book festival chairman Allan Little said they could nor deliver a safe and sustainable festival in August with the constant threat of disruption from activists. The…

57 minutes agoWill Grant,Mexico and Central America correspondentReutersOpinion polls have given Xóchitl Gálvez and Claudia Sheinbaum a wide lead over their rivalsAs Claudia Sheinbaum, the front-runner in Mexico’s presidential election, arrives for a rally in a packed park in the colonial city of Orizaba, the crowd starts to chant “Presidenta!” Those attending are convinced that is what she is about to become: Mexico’s first ever woman president.The polls suggest they may well be right.With her closest rival, Xóchitl Gálvez, also a woman, and the only man in the presidential race a distant third, Mexico is almost certain to set to…

The first head-to-head general election debate will be hosted by ITV next week, the broadcaster has confirmed.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will face each other on Tuesday, 4 June, at 21:00 BST. The hour-long programme – titled Sunak v Starmer: The ITV Debate – will be moderated by presenter Julie Etchingham, who also hosted debates in 2015, 2017 and 2019.ITV said it also planned to broadcast an interview programme with other party leaders and a multi-party debate.The head-to-head debate between Mr Sunak and Sir Keir will take place in front of a live audience.Michael Jermey,…

4 hours agoRajan Datar,Presenter, The Tourist Trap, @rajandatarGetty ImagesThe message was scrawled on a makeshift wooden placard with black marker pen and was in block capitals. It read: “Everywhere you look everyone is foreign.”Police said there were 10,000 marchers on the streets of Palma in Majorca on the last weekend of May at the start of the summer holiday season. Their message was that tourism was making life in Palma unliveable for locals.But why does there suddenly seem to be such a strong sense of grievance in places where for decades large numbers of tourists have been the norm?The answer,…

WeWork is set to emerge from bankruptcy, hoping that less debt and fewer offices will give it a new lease of life. The company which rents out shared office workspaces, founded in 2010 and once hailed as the future of the office, racked up losses during an aggressive global expansion. It filed for bankruptcy last year, reeling from the sharp drop in demand for office space sparked by the pandemic.The company has since used court protection to renegotiate the terms of its rental leases and work with its lenders.WeWork has said it plans to operate 337 shared office spaces globally…