Category: World

Email by 'A' from 'Balmoral' asked Ghislaine Maxwell for 'inappropriate friends', Epstein files show5 hours agoShareSaveCachella SmithShareSavePA MediaAn email sent from an individual named “A”, saying they are at Balmoral and asking Ghislaine Maxwell for “inappropriate friends”, is among the latest tranche of Epstein files released on Tuesday.
The message, sent to Maxwell on 16 August 2001, begins: “I am up here at Balmoral Summer Camp for the Royal Family.” Later in the email, the sender asks: “How's LA? Have you found me some new inappropriate friends?” before signing off “see ya A xxx”.
Balmoral Castle is a royal residence.
The emails do not indicate any wrongdoing. The BBC has contacted Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's team for a response. The former prince has previously denied all wrongdoing.
He has also previously said he did not “see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his [Epstein's] arrest and convic..

US regulator approves pill form of Wegovy weight-loss drug2 hours agoShareSaveKwasi AsieduandOsmond ChiaShareSaveReutersThe US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a pill version of the weight-loss drug Wegovy, according to pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk.
It is the first pill of its kind to receive approval from the regulator, marking a new era for weight-loss drugs.
Wegovy's Danish makers Novo Nordisk said the once-daily pill was a “convenient option” to the injectable and would provide the same weight loss as the shot. It comes after Wegovy was approved by the FDA specifically for weight loss.
Others like Ozempic, which has similar weight-loss effects, were primarily approved for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes.
The BBC has contacted the FDA for comment.
The Wegovy pill showed an average weight loss of 16.6% during Novo Nordisk's trials, the firm said on Monday.
A third of around 1,300 participants experienced 20% or greater weight loss in the same trial, it ..

Trump says US 'has to have' Greenland after naming special envoy4 hours agoShareSaveJames Landale,Diplomatic correspondentandRachel HaganShareSaveWatch: BBC asks Trump what the new appointment to Greenland entailsDonald Trump has sparked a fresh row with Denmark after appointing a special envoy to Greenland, the vast Arctic island he has said he would like to annex.
In response to a question from the BBC about the new role of Jeff Landry, the Republican governor of Louisiana, Trump said the US needed Greenland for “national protection” and that “we have to have it”.
Landry, he said, would “lead the charge” as special envoy to Greenland, a semi-autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
The move has angered Copenhagen, which said it would call the US ambassador for “an explanation”. Greenland's prime minister said the island must “decide our own future” and its “territorial integrity must be respected”.
Gov Landry said in a post on X that it was an honour to serve in a “v..

US pursuing third oil tanker linked to Venezuela, official says5 hours agoShareSaveSeher AsafShareSaveReutersThe US seized another oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela on SaturdayThe US Coast Guard is in “active pursuit” of another vessel in international waters near Venezuela as tensions in the region continue to escalate.
US authorities have already seized two oil tankers this month – one of them on Saturday.
Sunday's pursuit related to a “sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela's illegal sanctions evasion”, a US official said. “It is flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order.”
Washington has accused Venezuela of using oil money to fund drug-related crime, while Venezuela has described the tanker seizures as “theft and kidnapping”.
US President Donald Trump last week ordered a “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving the country.
Venezuela – home to the world largest proven oil reserves – has accused the Trump administration of..

In rebel-held Myanmar, civilians face devastating air strikes and a sham election6 hours agoShareSaveYogita LimayeSouth Asia and Afghanistan correspondent in MyanmarShareSaveBBCIang Za Kim had to flee her home after the junta launched air strikes nearbyLate one night last month Iang Za Kim heard explosions in a neighbouring village, then fighter jets flying overhead. She ran out of her home to see smoke rising from a distance.
“We were terrified. We thought the junta's planes would bomb us too. So we grabbed what we could – some food and clothes and ran into the jungles surrounding our village.”
Iang's face quivers as she recounts the story of what happened on 26 November in K-Haimual, her village in Myanmar's western Chin State, and then she breaks down.
She's among thousands of civilians who've fled their homes in recent weeks after the Burmese military launched a fierce campaign of air strikes, and a ground offensive in rebel-held areas across the country, t..

US seizes second oil tanker off Venezuela's coast 3 hours agoShareSaveMax MatzaShareSaveX/Sec_NoemThe US has seized an oil tanker that had recently departed from Venezuela, according to the US Department of Homeland Security.
It is the second time this month that the US has seized an oil-carrying ship off the country's coast.
The move comes after US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he was ordering a “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.
Venezuela has condemned the latest US seizure, describing it as “theft and kidnapping”. Venezuela has previously accused the US of trying to steal its resources.
“These acts will not go unpunished,” a statement from the Venezuelan government said, adding that it intends to file a complaint with the UN Security Council and “other multilateral agencies and the governments of the world”.
The operation was led by the US Coast Guard, similar to the operation earlier this month. The ship was boarded by a s..