Author: Gulf News Week

PA MediaThe former singer, whose real name is Paul Gadd, pictured in 2015Gary Glitter, the former singer whose real name is Paul Gadd, has been charged with historical sexual offences dating back to 1978, the Metropolitan Police has said.The charges relate to one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13, and three counts of indecent assault on a girl under the age of 14.There is one alleged victim, with the offences said to have taken place between the years of 1978-1981 at a residential address in Kensington.Gadd is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’…

EPAWorshippers at a Mass organised by the Society of Saint Pius X in Switzerland on WednesdayThe Vatican has excommunicated followers of a conservative Catholic splinter sect, the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), a day after it consecrated four new bishops in Geneva against Pope Leo XIV’s direct instruction.In a decree, it said the Society’s total of six bishops were excommunicated – and, in a highly unusual move, it added that any lay members who “formally adhere” to the group “are to be considered schismatic and excommunicated”. But those who left the SSPX would be welcomed back “with sincere affection”.The…

BBCA cast member from Married at First Sight UK has been arrested on suspicion of rape after a BBC Panorama investigation into the hit reality TV show.The individual is not being named. The alleged victim is also not being named; anyone who makes an allegation of rape is entitled to anonymity by law.The Panorama programme, broadcast in May, revealed rape allegations from two female cast members on the show, while a third woman alleged a non-consensual sex act. The men involved have denied all the allegations against them.Channel 4 has commissioned a review into contributor welfare on the show.Following the…

Watch: Cheers and applause as security guard rescued from rubbleEmergency workers managed to free Hernán Gil more than 100 hours after they had first located him under 140 tonnes of rubble.47 mins agoLatin America

Cnews agenciesE CANAVERAL, Fla. (news agencies) — A rush rescue mission to save a NASA space telescope remains grounded, this time because of a last-minute launch problem.Northrop Grumman’s rocket-launching plane took off from the Marshall Islands in the Pacific on Thursday, following weather delays all week. But an issue prevented the team from releasing the Pegasus rocket strapped to the plane’s belly, according to NASA.The rocket holds a three-armed robotic spacecraft built by Katalyst Space Technologies to capture the Swift Observatory, which will come crashing down by October if no help arrives. No new launch date has been set.NASA paused…

Watch: BBC at site of deadly Russian attack on Kyiv flatsRussian forces launched a major drone and missile attack on Kyiv overnight, killing 20 people, in what the city’s mayor has described as the “most massive attack” on the Ukrainian capital.Vitaly Klitschko said around 90 people were injured. He said an ambulance station was among the places hit in the strikes and declared Friday a day of mourning. Although previous attacks have killed more people, this latest barrage deployed the largest number of weapons on the capital and hit locations over a very wide area of Kyiv.Several neighbourhoods were evacuated…

Watch: BBC at site of deadly Russian attack on Kyiv flatsSarah Rainsford reports from the completely destroyed nine-storey block of flats in Ukraine’s capital. 18 mins ago

Getty ImagesThe boss of Berlin Airport has said non-EU nationals arriving in the German capital are having to queue for up to two hours under a new digital border system, and warned the situation is “not bearable over the summer”.Aletta von Massenbach told the BBC that at one terminal in Berlin, where Ryanair and Wizz Air operate, waiting times can run between “an hour to two hours”.Under the EU’s new Entry-Exit System (EES) travellers from outside the bloc must register biometric information when entering most European countries, which is checked when they leave.Airports and airlines say the system is not…

Watch: Debris falls after plane hits Beijing’s tallest buildingThe pilot who crashed his small plane into Beijing’s tallest skyscraper last week was suffering from “chronic insomnia and anxiety” and did so for “personal reasons”, authorities said Thursday.The crash had killed the pilot, officially identified only by his surname Liu, and wounded 13 others.Liu, a 66-year-old Beijing resident, was a divorced freelancer who lived alone, the Chaoyang district government said in a statement, adding Liu’s diary contained “multiple expressions of ending his life”.”The comprehensive investigation concluded that this was a case of endangering public safety caused by personal reasons,” the statement…

SuppliedChizi’s 2026 tour began with the idea of performing in Taiwan – something he says was both risky and appealingWhen one of China’s biggest stand-up comedians opened his show with a joke about the extraordinarily long rule of the country’s leader Xi Jinping, it drew a cheer, alongside a smattering of approving profanities.”This is fire,” a man shouted in Mandarin.Few in China would dare to joke about Xi, who has increasingly centralised power in his nearly 15 years in office.But this was the National University of Singapore, where hundreds had packed into the auditorium, mostly Singaporean Chinese and those who…