The outgoing High Representative, Christian Schmidt, left, at a meeting of the Peace Implementation Council in Sarajevo this week. Photograph: Elvis BarukΔiΔ/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen The outgoing High Representative, Christian Schmidt, left, at a meeting of the Peace Implementation β¦
Scores of Ukrainian drones target St Petersburg in attack Russia calls 'unprecedented' Just now Share Save Add as preferred on Google Vitaly Shevchenko Kyiv X/ @ZelenskyyUa President Zelensky posted a video on social media showing drones and explosions Russian authorities say Ukraine has launched anβ¦
Giant banquets rile radical left in France 53 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Hugh Schofield Paris correspondent BBC Berets are a kind of uniform at the banquets, which include four courses of local gastronomy Three-and-a-half-thousand hungry Alsatians wolf down platters of charcutβ¦
Peruvians will elect their new president Sunday with polls suggesting a polarized but tight race between hard-right candidate Keiko Fujimori and leftist Roberto SΓ‘nchez.
The missing white-tailed sea eagle. Photograph: Ian Griffin View image in fullscreen The missing white-tailed sea eagle. Photograph: Ian Griffin Predator or prey? The confounding case of the missing sea eagle The UKβs biggest bird of prey has been compared to a flying barn door. So how can one fitteβ¦
Giant banquets rile radical left in France 53 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Hugh Schofield Paris correspondent BBC Berets are a kind of uniform at the banquets, which include four courses of local gastronomy Three-and-a-half-thousand hungry Alsatians wolf down platters of charcutβ¦
Fahd Abu Haikal shows a photo of his seven-month- old son, Sam, who was killed on Friday when Israeli soldiers fired at their car. Photograph: Mahmoud Illean/AP View image in fullscreen Fahd Abu Haikal shows a photo of his seven-month- old son, Sam, who was killed on Friday when Israeli soldiers firβ¦
Composite: The Guardian/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Composite: The Guardian/Getty Images Analysis On China, Trump picked the right battle but the wrong strategy Eduardo Porter A long trade war looms. Trumpβs scattershot protectionism, chaotic tariffs and belligerence against our natural alβ¦
A courtroom sketch shows the district attorney pointing at defendant Karmelo Anthony (center) during opening arguments on 4 June, in McKinney, Texas. Photograph: Pat Lopez/AP View image in fullscreen A courtroom sketch shows the district attorney pointing at defendant Karmelo Anthony (center) duringβ¦
Ex-CIA official accused of stashing $40m in gold bars is 'master manipulator', prosecutors say 4 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Nardine Saad Getty Images A former CIA official accused of stashing millions in gold bars at his Virginia home is a "master manipulator" who lied to his neighbours about being a pilot and leveraged his "access to seniority", US prosecutors say. Siding with the federal government, a judge ruled on Friday that David Rush, 49, was a severe flight risk with the means and motive to evade detection, and must remain in jail until his trial. His defence pushed back on "sensational" allegations against him, arguing that some claims "sound bizarre and secretive" because the nature of intelligence work "can be bizarre and secretive". The government also says it found millions in cash and dozens of luxury watches during its search. Ex-US government official arrested after $40m in gold bars found in home At a hearing in Virginia on Friday, government lawyers said Rush "cannot be trusted" and was "fully willing and able to skirt the rules", according to the BBC's US media partner, CBS News. Rush is a former senior executive in a US government agency in Virginia and had top secret clearance and access to classified information, court documents state. CBS News reported he worked for the CIA, while the FBI has said it conducted the investigation and search after receiving a referral from the CIA. Rush was charged with criminal theft of public money in a complaint filed last month and currently faces a single charge related to allegedly fraudulent time-sheets amounting to around $70,000 (Β£52,424). Between November 2025 and March 2026, Rush received gold bars and foreign currency for "work-related expenses", according to court filings. But he allegedly did not document what he did with them and the CIA was unable to locate the bars. The FBI found more than 300 gold bars worth about $40m (Β£29.6m) at his home last month, as well as $2m (Β£1.48m) in cash and more than 30 luxury watches. Prosecutors have alleged that Rush was moving funds into commodities that could be traded, citing "strong evidence" he was trying to hide the money. They have also alleged he fraudulently took military leave with pay after being honourably discharged from the US Navy, and that he lied about his education and military service when applying for his job. Rush is accused of falsely telling employers he had been a navy pilot. The government says large sums of the funds it believes were stolen are still unaccounted for. But Rush's defence lawyer Jessica Carmichael said all the gold bars were accounted for and were a "non issue", CBS reported. She said that when the FBI searched his home, Rush told investigators about the bars, which were locked and stored in his basement, and gave them codes to access them. Carmichael said he never claimed the gold was his and argued that the government "parading around gold bars is a flaw". Rush has been held in sol
Peruvians will elect their new president Sunday with polls suggesting a polarized but tight race between hard-right candidate Keiko Fujimori and leftist Roberto SΓ‘nchez.
The outgoing High Representative, Christian Schmidt, left, at a meeting of the Peace Implementation Council in Sarajevo this week. Photograph: Elvis BarukΔiΔ/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen The outgoing High Representative, Christian Schmidt, left, at a meeting of the Peace Implementation β¦
Brendan Banfield arrives to testify in his double murder trial in Fairfax county, Virginia, in January. Photograph: Tom Brenner/AP View image in fullscreen Brendan Banfield arrives to testify in his double murder trial in Fairfax county, Virginia, in January. Photograph: Tom Brenner/AP US man who plotted with au pair to murder wife given life sentence Brendan Banfield convicted of killing Christine Banfield and man lured to coupleβs Virginia home as fall guy A Virginia man who was having an affair with the familyβs Brazilian au pair was sentenced on Friday to life in prison without parole for the murder of his wife and a man who was lured to the coupleβs home as a fall guy. Brendan Banfield, a former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) law enforcement officer, claimed he shot Joseph Ryan after he came across Ryan attacking his wife on the morning of 24 February 2023. But prosecutors said Brendan Banfield and au pair Juliana Peres MagalhΓ£es set Ryan up in a scheme to kill Christine Banfield, a pediatric intensive care nurse. Judge Penney Azcarate called Banfieldβs conduct evil and calculated. βThe disregard of the life of your wife, someone you supposedly loved, is almost unfathomable,β she said in handing down the sentence, which is mandatory in Virginia for an aggravated murder conviction. The scheme involved βluring a completely innocent man into your deadly trap; continuing on after the murders without a care; and not once β not once β thinking of the impactβ on the Banfieldsβ four-year-old daughter. Brendan Banfield βtook everything from herβ, Azcarate said. In addition to murder, jurors in February convicted Banfield of child endangerment because the coupleβs daughter was home during the killings. Azcarate sentenced Banfield to an additional five years on that charge and three more years on a firearms charge. Speaking at his sentencing, Banfield proclaimed his innocence. Banfield said he loved his wife and, although he had affairs, he never intended to leave her. Azcarate was unmoved, citing his lack of remorse as a reason she felt no hesitation in ordering him to remain behind bars for life. During Fridayβs hearing, Christine Banfieldβs older sister, Danielle Hocker, described her sister as kind, caring, reliable and selfless. She said they grew up chasing fireflies and sleeping next to each other on the floor in sleeping bags. βWhen she was born, βIβ became βweβ,β Hocker said. βI havenβt stopped saying βweβ when I speak about my childhood after her death, except now when I do, it takes my breath away β a pause filled with love that has nowhere to go.β Ryanβs mother, Deidre Fisher, told the court that her son was an βextremely caringβ person who was a caretaker for his grandmother and other loved ones. βJoe was a guy who believed in fighting for the underdog, and even actual neglected dogs,β Fisher said, with a small laugh. βHe would walk into an animal shelter and ask for the oldest, ugliest dogs, bring them home and love them for years.β Explo
The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is refilling after President Trump had it painted "American flag blue." Some visitors say the results of the project β which reportedly cost millions β are subtle.
Brendan Banfield arrives to testify in his double murder trial in Fairfax county, Virginia, in January. Photograph: Tom Brenner/AP View image in fullscreen Brendan Banfield arrives to testify in his double murder trial in Fairfax county, Virginia, in January. Photograph: Tom Brenner/AP US man who plβ¦
Andrew and Tristan Tate face criminal charges in Britain including rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking as well as a civil case. Photograph: Inquam Photos/Eduard Vinatoru/Reuters View image in fullscreen Andrew and Tristan Tate face criminal charges in Britain including rape, actual bodilyβ¦
The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is refilling after President Trump had it painted "American flag blue." Some visitors say the results of the project β which reportedly cost millions β are subtle.
Ex-CIA official accused of stashing $40m in gold bars is 'master manipulator', prosecutors say 4 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Nardine Saad Getty Images A former CIA official accused of stashing millions in gold bars at his Virginia home is a "master manipulator" who lied to his neβ¦
Ex-CIA official accused of stashing $40m in gold bars is 'master manipulator', prosecutors say 4 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Nardine Saad Getty Images A former CIA official accused of stashing millions in gold bars at his Virginia home is a "master manipulator" who lied to his neβ¦
Ex-CIA official accused of stashing $40m in gold bars is 'master manipulator', prosecutors say 4 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Nardine Saad Getty Images A former CIA official accused of stashing millions in gold bars at his Virginia home is a "master manipulator" who lied to his neighbours about being a pilot and leveraged his "access to seniority", US prosecutors say. Siding with the federal government, a judge ruled on Friday that David Rush, 49, was a severe flight risk with the means and motive to evade detection, and must remain in jail until his trial. His defence pushed back on "sensational" allegations against him, arguing that some claims "sound bizarre and secretive" because the nature of intelligence work "can be bizarre and secretive". The government also says it found millions in cash and dozens of luxury watches during its search. Ex-US government official arrested after $40m in gold bars found in home At a hearing in Virginia on Friday, government lawyers said Rush "cannot be trusted" and was "fully willing and able to skirt the rules", according to the BBC's US media partner, CBS News. Rush is a former senior executive in a US government agency in Virginia and had top secret clearance and access to classified information, court documents state. CBS News reported he worked for the CIA, while the FBI has said it conducted the investigation and search after receiving a referral from the CIA. Rush was charged with criminal theft of public money in a complaint filed last month and currently faces a single charge related to allegedly fraudulent time-sheets amounting to around $70,000 (Β£52,424). Between November 2025 and March 2026, Rush received gold bars and foreign currency for "work-related expenses", according to court filings. But he allegedly did not document what he did with them and the CIA was unable to locate the bars. The FBI found more than 300 gold bars worth about $40m (Β£29.6m) at his home last month, as well as $2m (Β£1.48m) in cash and more than 30 luxury watches. Prosecutors have alleged that Rush was moving funds into commodities that could be traded, citing "strong evidence" he was trying to hide the money. They have also alleged he fraudulently took military leave with pay after being honourably discharged from the US Navy, and that he lied about his education and military service when applying for his job. Rush is accused of falsely telling employers he had been a navy pilot. The government says large sums of the funds it believes were stolen are still unaccounted for. But Rush's defence lawyer Jessica Carmichael said all the gold bars were accounted for and were a "non issue", CBS reported. She said that when the FBI searched his home, Rush told investigators about the bars, which were locked and stored in his basement, and gave them codes to access them. Carmichael said he never claimed the gold was his and argued that the government "parading around gold bars is a flaw". Rush has been held in sol
