Britney Spears’ father has agreed to step down as the singer’s conservator, pledging to participate in an “orderly transition” to a new legal arrangement. The pop star’s lawyer said it was “a major victory for Britney Spears and another step toward justice”. However, Jamie Spears’ lawyer insisted there were “no actual grounds” for him to step back and gave no timetable for when he would relinquish his role. The singer’s career has been in the hands of legal guardians since 2008. She filed a petition to stop her father controlling her estate in July and has said she will not perform again while he remains in the role. In court papers filed on Thursday in response to the star’s petition, Mr Spears’ lawyer said he would be “in a position to step aside” when certain matters were resolved, and “when the time is right”. Mr Spears, the 15-page filing states, “intends to work with the court and his daughter’s new attorney to prepare for an orderly transition to a new conservator”.(BBC)…[+]

An Olympic gold medallist will be given a new medal after the mayor of her hometown chomped on the first. Takashi Kawamura, mayor of Japanese city Nagoya, sparked fury online when he lowered his mask and bit on softball athlete Miu Goto’s medal at an event. He was accused of ignoring Covid-19 restrictions and “lacking respect”. Now, Olympic officials say they will swap Ms Goto’s medal for an untarnished one, after the mayor apologised and said he would pay for a replacement. The mayor faced a backlash after putting the medal between his teeth at a ceremony last week to celebrate Japan’s victory over the USA in the women’s softball final. Social media users said the act was unhygienic and impolite towards the athlete. “Apart from showing a lack of respect for athletes, he bit it even though [athletes] are putting on medals themselves or on their team-mates during medal ceremonies as part of infection prevention measures. Sorry, I can’t understand it,” Japanese silver medallist fencer Yuki Ota wrote on Twitter.(BBC)…[+]

Brazil’s lower house of Congress has voted in favour of expelling a lawmaker who has been accused of ordering the murder of her husband. Evangelical gospel singer and pastor turned politician Flordelis de Souza has always maintained she is innocent. The 60-year-old’s husband, Anderson do Carmo, was shot 30 times at their home in Rio de Janeiro in June 2019. Prosecutors allege he was killed by Ms Souza’s son on her orders with a gun purchased by one of her adopted sons. The couple were famous for raising 55 children, most of whom they had adopted.In an overwhelming vote, 437 members of the lower house of Congress voted in favour of stripping Flordelis de Souza of her seat for “conduct incompatible with parliamentary decorum”. Only seven lawmakers voted against the motion and 12 abstained.(BBC)…[+]

Authorities in north Germany have asked more than 8,000 people to get repeat Covid vaccinations because a nurse is suspected of having injected saline instead of vaccine in many cases. Police are investigating the nurse’s actions at a vaccination centre in Friesland, near the North Sea coast. Initially just six people were believed to have received the harmless salt solution there in March and April. Many of those affected were aged over 70 – a high-risk group in the pandemic. Inspector Peter Beer, quoted by Süddeutsche Zeitung, said the 40-year-old woman had been sharing “corona-critical information” on social media, criticising the government’s restrictions aimed at curbing the virus’s spread. Regional broadcaster NDR says 8,557 people have been asked to go back for repeat vaccinations, and so far about 3,600 new appointments have been confirmed.(BBC)…[+]

Instagram has announced new features designed to restrict abusive messages during “sudden spikes”. Its new “limits” feature automatically hides comments and messages from people who do not follow – or just started following – users who switch it on. It was designed to stop abuse from large numbers of people “who simply pile on in the moment”, Instagram said. The company specifically referenced the racist abuse following the men’s Euro 2020 football final as one example. In the wake of England’s defeat in a penalty shootout, black players found themselves subjected to a torrent of racist abuse, including on social-media platforms.(BBC)…[+]

A British man has been arrested in Germany on suspicion of spying for Russia.  German federal prosecutors said the man – named only as David S – worked at the British embassy in Berlin. He allegedly passed documents to Russian intelligence “at least once” in exchange for an “unknown amount” of money. He was arrested in Potsdam outside Berlin on Tuesday and his home and workplace have been searched. A spokesman for Germany’s foreign ministry quoted by AFP news agency said Berlin was taking the case “very seriously”, and said spying by “a close alliance partner on German soil is unacceptable”. The arrest was the result of a joint UK-German investigation, the statement read.(BBC)…[+]

At least two people have died and dozens more are trapped under debris in a huge landslide in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Falling boulders have buried a truck, a passenger bus and other vehicles, according to local reports. Police and local officials have begun rescue efforts, said Jairam Thakur, chief minister of Himachal Pradesh. There have been several deadly landslides in India in recent months during an unusually heavy monsoon. It’s still unclear what caused Wednesday’s landslide – it happened on a highway in Kinnaur district. Local reports say five people have been rescued, but around 30 others are still trapped. Indo-Tibetan Border Police teams have been dispatched to help with rescue efforts and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has also been put on alert.(BBC)…[+]

North Korea has failed to respond to phone calls from the South, just weeks after the two countries restored hotlines, officials in Seoul say. It comes hours after the influential sister of North Korea’s leader said the South should pay a price for holding military drills with the US. The drills have increased tensions weeks after the hotlines were restored. Kim Yo-jong, sister of leader Kim Jong-un, said the North would strengthen its pre-emptive strike capabilities. The two Koreas remain technically at war after a conflict between the two sides ended in 1953 with an armistice, rather than a peace treaty. They typically check in with each other twice a day over two hotlines. North Korea cut the lines in June 2020 as relations soured following a failed peace summit.(BBC)…[+]

The Nigerian government has condemned an assault on one of its diplomats in Indonesia. Footage circulating on social media showed Abdulrahman Ibrahim, a consular officer based in Jakarta, being held down in a vehicle by several men. Between yells of protest, Mr Ibrahim repeated: “I can’t breathe.” Those “manhandling” the diplomat were Indonesian immigration officials, Nigeria’s foreign ministry said in a statement.  One of the officials, who was wearing a face mask, put his hand on the diplomat’s head and pushed it back against a seat. Later in the one-minute-and-30-second clip Mr Ibrahim was heard saying: “My neck, my neck.” (BBC)…[+]

A US woman who alleges she was brought to the UK aged 17 to have sex with the Duke of York has filed a civil case in New York claiming he abused her. Virginia Giuffre, who was an accuser of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, claims she was sexually assaulted by Prince Andrew in London and New York. A spokeswoman for Prince Andrew, 61, said there was “no comment” on the case, which was filed under New York’s Child Victims Act. He has consistently denied the claims. The case alleges the prince sexually abused Ms Giuffre – then known as Virginia Roberts – at the London home of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and at Epstein’s homes in Manhattan and Little St James in the US Virgin Islands. It claims the prince engaged in sexual acts without her consent, knowing how old she was and “that she was a sex-trafficking victim”. The case also says the “extreme and outrageous conduct” continues to cause Ms Giuffre, now 38, “significant emotional and psychological distress and harm”.(BBC)…[+]