☕️ UK raises terror threat level

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CW: Distressing themes

A prominent surgeon and the partner of former Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has been charged with three counts of rape after police raided a Gold Coast apartment last week.

Police declared a crime scene at a property in Burleigh Heads last Thursday, before the 65-year-old man handed himself in on Friday.

Police have not named the man, though he has been identified by several media outlets as Dr Reza Adib.

On Thursday, police raided Adib’s Gold Coast apartment, before charges were announced on Friday.

Queensland Police said: “It will be alleged the man sexually assaulted a woman in her thirties at a Goodwin Terrace residence on 30 March.

Following extensive investigations, on 30 April, detectives executed a crime scene warrant at the property where several items were seized.

A 65-year-old Indooroopilly man has been charged with three counts of rape, two counts of deprivation of liberty and one count of sexual assault.”

Palaszczuk, who was attending an event for her new book, told media: “I’m not aware of any of that, so I can’t comment,” when asked about the raid. She is not involved in the investigation.

Reporting by Emily Donohoe and Adella Beaini.

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UK security agency MI5 has raised the risk of a terrorist attack to “severe”.

Last week, two Jewish men were stabbed in north London, in what police have now categorised as a terrorist attack. It came weeks after arsonists targeted a Jewish ambulance service, which police are treating as an antisemitic hate crime.

Now, MI5 has declared that a terror attack on UK soil is “highly likely,” putting the country at “severe” risk.

Here’s what you need to know.

MI5 operates the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC), which determines the UK’s level of threat of a terrorist attack.

There are five levels of threat, from low to critical. Since February, the threat level has been “substantial”, meaning it is considered “likely” that there will be an attack.

Last month, ambulances operated by Jewish volunteer organisation Hatzola were set alight in the north London suburb of Golders Green. Police have treated the incident as an antisemitic hate crime.

On Wednesday (UK time), London Metropolitan Police (The Met) responded to a stabbing incident in Golders Green.

Two Jewish men, aged 76 and 34, were attacked.

A 45-year-old man – who also attacked police – was arrested at the scene. Police then formally declared the attack a terrorist incident.

At the 2021 Census, almost half the population of Golders Green identified as Jewish.

On Thursday (local time), JTAC raised the UK threat level from “substantial” to “severe”.

“Severe” is one level below the highest rating, “critical”, which means authorities predict an attack is highly likely in the near future.

The rating applies to England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, but does not include “Northern Ireland-related terrorism in Northern Ireland”. This threat level is “substantial”.

Head of Counter Terrorism Policing Laurence Taylor said it was considered “highly likely that a terrorist attack could happen in the UK,” due to “a rise in both Islamist and Extreme Right-Wing terrorism.”

Taylor noted “an elevated threat to Jewish and Israeli individuals and institutions,” at the same time as “an unpredictable global situation that has consequences closer to home, including physical threats by state-linked actors.”

Reporting by Emily Donohoe.

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The wirelessly powered device, about the size of a blueberry, sits in the skull and sends tiny electrical signals to parts of the brain linked to depression. At least 30% of people diagnosed with depression are classified as being 'treatment-resistant' – meaning their symptoms are not improved by traditional medications and therapies. The device, developed by researchers at Rice University in Texas, received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin human trials. Professor of bioengineering Jacob Robinson said: “The goal for this technology is that it would be the mental health equivalent of a continuous glucose monitor for diabetes”.

Reporting by Emma Gillespie.

A French teenager has been charged in Singapore after a viral video showed him licking straws in a shopping centre vending machine that dispenses fresh orange juice.

Authorities say 18-year-old Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien is facing charges of mischief and public nuisance over the alleged stunt.

The Straits Times reported he was charged on 24 April and has not entered a plea.

To his credit, he did not touch anything else.

Reporting by Pavitra Ravi.