Comedian Diane Morgan has joined a group of public figures pressing the government to make the BBC portray farmed animals more honestly.The letter, sent to media secretary Lisa Nandy, is backed by names including Brian May, Athena Turner, Kirsty Gallacher, Jenny Seagrove and Will Young.It is also supported by 16 animal welfare organisations that have submitted a joint proposal to the Department...

Konrad Bien-Stephen, who rose to fame on The Bachelorette Australia and later reached the semi-finals of The Challenge Australia, has died at the age of 35, his manager has confirmed.Ella Dolan, speaking on behalf of his team, said they were mourning his loss and requested privacy for his family while they come to terms with the news.No information about the cause of death has been...

Tom Hanks has long pointed to Stanley Kubrick's 1968 science-fiction epic 2001: A Space Odyssey as his top pick when asked about his favourite movie.The actor has talked about the film repeatedly over the years, telling Collider in 2012 he'd watched it roughly 120 times and listing it alongside other favourites like Fargo and The Best Years of Our Lives.Hanks admires 2001 for taking audiences...

Senior US officials are warning that the fallout from the conflict with Iran could trigger a major retreat of Gulf capital from the United States.President Donald Trump is set to convene a Cabinet meeting to address the growing tensions and their wider implications.A report in Politico cites anonymous insiders who say strikes linked to Iran have alarmed Gulf leaders. Officials from countries...

A Los Angeles jury has found Instagram and YouTube deliberately designed to be addictive and negligent in protecting a young user, awarding $6m (about £4.5m) to the plaintiff known as Kaley.The woman told the court the platforms left her with body dysmorphia, depression and suicidal thoughts.Meta and Google say they will appeal — Meta argues a single app cannot be held solely responsible for a...

British military units are poised to board and detain ships from Russia's so‑called shadow fleet after the prime minister authorised action against vessels operating near UK shores.The shadow fleet is accused of sailing without proper flags to sidestep sanctions and move oil that helps finance Moscow's war in Ukraine.Ministers say they identified a legal route in January under the Sanctions and...

Two Russian men have gone on trial in Angola accused of running a covert influence campaign to stir anti-government unrest and interfere in next year’s presidential vote.Igor Ratchin and Lev Lakshtanov were arrested in August and face 11 charges between them, including terrorism, espionage and influence peddling.Angolan prosecutors say the pair worked with a wider network that grew out of...

Five women who say they were abused by Jeffrey Epstein met on camera for the first time in a BBC Newsnight session to share how the crimes still shape their lives.One of them, Joanna Harrison, said she had kept silent for years but was forced into the open when US government files were published with insufficient redactions.That disclosure stripped her of anonymity and pushed her to speak. The...

Denmark went to the polls as Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen pursues a third consecutive term after calling an early election amid a surge in popularity following the diplomatic row over Greenland.Frederiksen’s Social Democrats remain the single largest party in opinion polls, but support has slipped since their strong 2022 result.Even with the lead, the party appears unlikely to secure the 90...

France's Socialist incumbents held onto the country's four biggest cities — Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Lille — in local elections that offered a boost to established parties ahead of next year's presidential contest.The results suggested a retreat from political extremes in many urban centres, even as the far left and far right made selective advances in other areas.Parties across the...