A person of interest has been detained in connection with a US shooting at Brown University that left two people dead, police said.

Nine others were injured when a gunman opened fire at the university in Providence on Saturday.

Police confirmed on Sunday a person had been detained, and an earlier order for people on the Brown campus and surrounding areas to shelter had been lifted.

Of those injured, medics said one person was in a critical condition, six were "critical but stable" and two others were less severely hurt.

The gunman opened fire in a classroom at around 16:00 local time (21:00 GMT) on Saturday at the Holley engineering building at the eastern end of Brown's campus, according to officials.

The identities of those killed or injured have not yet been released, but Brown University President Christina Paxson told reporters in a press briefing on Saturday that all the victims, including those killed and wounded, were students.

Police had earlier released CCTV footage of a male suspect walking away from the scene wearing all black clothing. Officers said a firearm was not found in a sweep of the building.

Twelve people have died - including one gunman - following a shooting at Australia's Bondi Beach which targeted the Jewish community on the first day of Hanukkah.

According to police, at least 12 others have been injured and two officers were shot during the event, which has since been declared a terror attack by officials. The surviving gunman is in a critical condition.

More than 1,000 people were attending an event on the beach celebrating Hanukkah.

Chris Minns, the premier of New South Wales, said: "Our heart bleeds for Australia's Jewish community tonight.

"I can only imagine the pain that they're feeling right now to see their loved ones killed as they celebrate this ancient holiday".

Mass shootings in Australia are very rare, and the attack at Bondi is the deadliest incident in Australia since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996.

Here's what we know so far:

Where is Bondi Beach?

Bondi Beach is located in eastern Sydney in the state of New South Wales, on Australia's east coast.

It is one of Australia's most popular beaches, attracting millions of visitors each year. The area is a significant attraction for tourists.

What happened?

New South Wales (NSW) police responded to reports of gunfire at around 18:47 local time (07:47 GMT), with video showing hundreds of people fleeing from the coastline.

In their initial statement posted on X, NSW Police urged people at the scene to take shelter and other members of the public to avoid the area.

Around the same time, local media began reporting people "on the ground" in the vicinity of Campbell Parade.

A video verified by the BBC appears to shows two gunmen firing from a small bridge which crosses from the car park on Campbell Parade towards the beach itself.

An event to mark the first day of the Jewish celebration Hanukkah was taking place on Bondi Beach, very close to the bridge where the men were firing from. More than 1,000 were in attendance.

Premier Minns also paid tribute to a man filmed wrestling a gun from one of the attackers.

"That man is a genuine hero, and I've got no doubt there are many, many people alive tonight as a result of his bravery," Minns said at a press conference.

In the video, the man is seen sneaking up on the attacker, before grabbing him in a bear hug.

The now-disarmed man then retreats back towards the bridge, where the other attacker is still firing from.

As the video continues, another man appears to be injured and flees the scene, as a policeman arrives behind the attackers and opens fire at them.

A separate video, also verified, shows several policemen on the same bridge. One appears to be administering CPR to a motionless man as someone shouts "he's dead, he's dead".

How many people were killed and injured?

Apart from police confirming one gunman as dead, details on who has been killed and injured are sparse.

Twelve people including one of the armed men have been confirmed dead by police. Another gunman is said to be in a critical condition.

Officials say 29 other people were taken to hospital, and two officers were also shot during the incident.

One eyewitness, Barry, was attending the Hanukkah event on Bondi when with his children when he heard gunshots.

He told the BBC he saw two men on a bridge shooting towards the crowd.

He said there were bodies on the ground. He and his children were able to escape with a friend in a car, he added.

What is the latest?

Police have declared Saturday's shooting a terror attack.

An exclusion zone has been set up around the scene as police use specialist equipment to check improvised explosive devices (IEDs) found in a car linked to the dead gunman, and police are still urging the public to avoid the area."

"No stone will be left unturned" in the investigation, New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said.

He said police would not release any information about the gunmen at this time, and urged for calm while police carry out their duties, adding that this was "not a time for retribution".

Police said they cannot confirm if there was a third gunman involved or if there was anyone else involved in the attack, but enquires are ongoing.

During a televised address, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the Bondi Beach shooting "an act of evil antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation".

"We have seen Australians today run towards dangers in order to help others. These Australians are heroes and their bravery has saved lives", he added.

The attack targeting the Jewish community at a Hanukkah event in Australia is "sickening", Sir Keir Starmer has said.

At least 11 people were killed in the shooting at Bondi Beach on Sunday and a further 29 taken to hospital, according to police.

In a statement on X, the UK prime minister said: "The United Kingdom will always stand with Australia and the Jewish community." He added that the government was working with Community Security Trust, a Jewish security organisation, on the policing of Hanukkah events in the UK.

The Metropolitan Police said it was increasing its "police presence, carrying out additional community patrols and engaging with the Jewish community to understand what more we can do".

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• What we know so far about Bondi Beach shooting

"It is an awful reality that Jewish communities across the world continue to face a higher level of threat," the force said in a statement.

"At a time when London's Jewish communities are coming together to begin the celebration of Hanukkah, we know this attack will be the cause of not just terrible upset but also significant heightened concern about safety."

In October, two people were killed in an attack at a synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish religious calendar.

On Sunday, the UK's Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) called on the police and government to protect events celebrating Hanukkah which begins this evening and lasts for eight days.

Hanukkah, also known as Chanukah, is a festival of light usually observed in December.

"We are devastated and angered that in Sydney, Jews appear to have been targeted once again for being Jewish," the JLC said in a statement.

"We know that such hatred also exists in this country, as we are still reeling from the attack on a synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur.

"As we prepare to celebrate Chanukah over the next eight nights, we call on government and law enforcement to work with our community to protect Jewish life in the UK and ensure that events this week can go ahead safely. We must not let hatred extinguish the festival of light."

Specialist rape and sexual offence investigation teams will be introduced to every police force in England and Wales by 2029, the government has pledged.

It is part of a long-delayed plan aimed at halving violence against women and girls within a decade.

The strategy - which will include funding for undercover units operating online, and a roll out of domestic abuse protection orders - is due to be unveiled on Thursday, after being pushed back three times this year.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the measures will help to "bear down on abusers, stopping them in their tracks. Rapists, sex offenders and abusers will have nowhere to hide."

The government says the new teams will have officers with specialist investigation skills for working on rape and sexual offence cases.

More than 50% of police forces already have these teams in place, but the government says every force will have dedicated officers by 2029.

It says staff will have the right training to understand the mindset of abusers and victims.

Announcing the move, the home secretary said: "This government has declared violence against women and girls a national emergency.

"For too long, these crimes have been considered a fact of life. That's not good enough. We will halve it in a decade."

Also announced is a roll out of domestic abuse protection orders, which have been trialled over the last year, across England and Wales.

They can ban individuals from contacting a victim, visiting their home or posting harmful content online, and can also be used in cases involving coercive or controlling behaviour. Breaching an order is a criminal offence.

There will also be almost £2m in investment for special undercover units of police officers operating online - to target those harassing women and girls on the internet.

A report released earlier this month found that more than a quarter of police forces in England and Wales had not implemented basic policies for investigating sexual offences.

It said sexually-motivated crimes against women in public remained widespread, criticised the limited nature of data on them, and called for urgent action to prevent predators from offending.

The publishing of the government's strategy has been long delayed. It was initially expected to be announced in the spring.

In Labour's general election manifesto last year the party pledged to use "every government tool available to target perpetrators and address the root causes of abuse and violence".

On Tuesday, the chairs of three Commons select committees raised their concerns over repeated delays in publishing the plans.

The BBC has previously been told that changing attitudes among boys and young men will be at the centre of what is proposed.

It is understood it will be built around three goals: preventing radicalisation of young men, stopping abusers, and supporting victims.

Some domestic abuse survivors have told the BBC the time for talking is over - and these measures must be implemented quickly.

A person of interest has been detained in connection with a US shooting at Brown University that left two people dead, police said.

Nine others were injured when a gunman opened fire at the university in Providence on Saturday.

Police confirmed on Sunday a person had been detained, and an earlier order for people on the Brown campus and surrounding areas to shelter had been lifted.

Of those injured, medics said one person was in a critical condition, six were "critical but stable" and two others were less severely hurt.

The gunman opened fire in a classroom at around 16:00 local time (21:00 GMT) on Saturday at the Holley engineering building at the eastern end of Brown's campus, according to officials.

The identities of those killed or injured have not yet been released, but Brown University President Christina Paxson told reporters in a press briefing on Saturday that all the victims, including those killed and wounded, were students.

Police had earlier released CCTV footage of a male suspect walking away from the scene wearing all black clothing. Officers said a firearm was not found in a sweep of the building.

A shiny new red post box has been given as a gift from King Charles III to staff at a remote Antarctic research station.

The Royal Mail red lamp post box was sent to staff at the Cambridge-based British Antarctic Survey station at Rothera.

The box, featuring the King Charles III cypher, was delivered after Kirsten Shaw, a station support assistant who runs the British Antarctic Territory Post Office for staff, requested an upgrade to their handmade box.

"Being in Antarctica is incredible, but it's full of extremes, so I think it's a special thing to send post back home, to communicate your experiences. It's a moment of your life that you put down on paper and give to someone else," she said.

The Rothera research station, which opened in 1975, is the largest British Antarctic Survey (BAS) facility, and a renowned global hub for climatic research.

It is situated 1,860km (1,155 miles) south of the Falkland Islands.

Staff work and live at the station for months at a time.

Ms Shaw said: "Getting post is really special for the team at Rothera.

"If you're doing fieldwork for many months, the feeling of receiving a letter — an actual tangible, piece of paper with handwriting from friends and family — is such a lift.

"It's a wonderful way to connect people that goes beyond what an email or text message can do."

The box will replace the handmade and painted one currently used at the station.

The BAS said "the Royal Household worked with Royal Mail to arrange this particularly special delivery".

It was delivered to Rothera by the UK's polar research vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough, along with the first major drop of supplies to the station following the long Antarctic winter.

The post box will be installed in the Discovery Building, a new scientific support and operations hub.

Postal logistics in such a remote area are understandably not straightforward.

Ms Shaw's job is to oversee the formal Post Office logistics of getting mail in and out of Antarctica from Rothera, as well as getting post out to staff to other BAS stations and science field camps.

Post has to be gathered and put on board the RRS Sir David Attenborough or on BAS aircraft to the Falkland Islands, where BAS maintains an office in Stanley.

The final leg involves transport to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where letters enter the Royal Mail postal network for onward delivery.

Jane Rumble, HM Commissioner for the British Antarctic Territory said: "Maintaining a postal service in the British Antarctic Territory is far more than a symbolic gesture.

"It reinforces Britain's presence and heritage in Antarctica and provides a vital link to the wider world."

Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

Specialist rape and sexual offence investigation teams will be introduced to every police force in England and Wales by 2029, the government has pledged.

It is part of a long-delayed plan aimed at halving violence against women and girls within a decade.

The strategy - which will include funding for undercover units operating online, and a roll out of domestic abuse protection orders - is due to be unveiled on Thursday, after being pushed back three times this year.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the measures will help to "bear down on abusers, stopping them in their tracks. Rapists, sex offenders and abusers will have nowhere to hide."

The government says the new teams will have officers with specialist investigation skills for working on rape and sexual offence cases.

More than 50% of police forces already have these teams in place, but the government says every force will have dedicated officers by 2029.

It says staff will have the right training to understand the mindset of abusers and victims.

Announcing the move, the home secretary said: "This government has declared violence against women and girls a national emergency.

"For too long, these crimes have been considered a fact of life. That's not good enough. We will halve it in a decade."

Also announced is a roll out of domestic abuse protection orders, which have been trialled over the last year, across England and Wales.

They can ban individuals from contacting a victim, visiting their home or posting harmful content online, and can also be used in cases involving coercive or controlling behaviour. Breaching an order is a criminal offence.

There will also be almost £2m in investment for special undercover units of police officers operating online - to target those harassing women and girls on the internet.

A report released earlier this month found that more than a quarter of police forces in England and Wales had not implemented basic policies for investigating sexual offences.

It said sexually-motivated crimes against women in public remained widespread, criticised the limited nature of data on them, and called for urgent action to prevent predators from offending.

The publishing of the government's strategy has been long delayed. It was initially expected to be announced in the spring.

In Labour's general election manifesto last year the party pledged to use "every government tool available to target perpetrators and address the root causes of abuse and violence".

On Tuesday, the chairs of three Commons select committees raised their concerns over repeated delays in publishing the plans.

The BBC has previously been told that changing attitudes among boys and young men will be at the centre of what is proposed.

It is understood it will be built around three goals: preventing radicalisation of young men, stopping abusers, and supporting victims.

Some domestic abuse survivors have told the BBC the time for talking is over - and these measures must be implemented quickly.

A revamp of train timetables has come into effect across the country, involving some of the most significant changes for nearly a decade.

Rail operators are promising more services across the network and faster journeys on some routes as a result of the changes, with the East Coast Main Line to benefit the most.

Passengers are being advised to check the new timetables before travelling.

The level of change has not been seen since May 2018 when an update sparked major disruption and cancellations on some routes.

Rail timetables are changed every May and December, but rarely to this degree.

Network Rail is promising quicker journeys and thousands of extra seats every day, following a £4bn investment over the past decade.

The changes promise a cut of 15 minutes to journey times between London King's Cross and Edinburgh and 10 minutes between Edinburgh and York.

Network Rail says the rail line, which is used by several operators, will have improved connectivity between Scotland, North East, England, Yorkshire and London.

One of the companies using the line, LNER, called the changes "transformational" and said it expected to run 10,000 additional services per year.

Ellie Burrows, Eastern regional managing director for Network Rail, said: "The industry has been preparing for many years for the new timetable.

"Our priority now is to continue working together to deliver the long-term benefits of this timetable change, the biggest in over a decade, for our passengers and the communities we serve."

The changes will also see Northern launch a new hourly fast service between Leeds and Sheffield.

Another operator, Avanti, says there will be more trains between London and Liverpool.

Meanwhile Transport for Wales is introducing more services for Chester, Wrexham and Swansea.

The changes are the biggest since May 2018 when a timetable update triggered major disruption and cancellations on some services.

That led to a full review and eventually the Labour government's decision to create Great British Railways and bring the industry under state control.

Travel expert Simon Calder said he was "pretty confident we won't see the complete collapse of a network, as we did when the Thameslink line had its timetable completely reconfigured in 2018 - that was an absolute shambles".

"There has been an awful lot of thought and time that has gone into this and the whole idea is to extract the maximum possible capacity from Britain's Victorian rail network without jeopardising reliability."

A shiny new red post box has been given as a gift from King Charles III to staff at a remote Antarctic research station.

The Royal Mail red lamp post box was sent to staff at the Cambridge-based British Antarctic Survey station at Rothera.

The box, featuring the King Charles III cypher, was delivered after Kirsten Shaw, a station support assistant who runs the British Antarctic Territory Post Office for staff, requested an upgrade to their handmade box.

"Being in Antarctica is incredible, but it's full of extremes, so I think it's a special thing to send post back home, to communicate your experiences. It's a moment of your life that you put down on paper and give to someone else," she said.

The Rothera research station, which opened in 1975, is the largest British Antarctic Survey (BAS) facility, and a renowned global hub for climatic research.

It is situated 1,860km (1,155 miles) south of the Falkland Islands.

Staff work and live at the station for months at a time.

Ms Shaw said: "Getting post is really special for the team at Rothera.

"If you're doing fieldwork for many months, the feeling of receiving a letter — an actual tangible, piece of paper with handwriting from friends and family — is such a lift.

"It's a wonderful way to connect people that goes beyond what an email or text message can do."

The box will replace the handmade and painted one currently used at the station.

The BAS said "the Royal Household worked with Royal Mail to arrange this particularly special delivery".

It was delivered to Rothera by the UK's polar research vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough, along with the first major drop of supplies to the station following the long Antarctic winter.

The post box will be installed in the Discovery Building, a new scientific support and operations hub.

Postal logistics in such a remote area are understandably not straightforward.

Ms Shaw's job is to oversee the formal Post Office logistics of getting mail in and out of Antarctica from Rothera, as well as getting post out to staff to other BAS stations and science field camps.

Post has to be gathered and put on board the RRS Sir David Attenborough or on BAS aircraft to the Falkland Islands, where BAS maintains an office in Stanley.

The final leg involves transport to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where letters enter the Royal Mail postal network for onward delivery.

Jane Rumble, HM Commissioner for the British Antarctic Territory said: "Maintaining a postal service in the British Antarctic Territory is far more than a symbolic gesture.

"It reinforces Britain's presence and heritage in Antarctica and provides a vital link to the wider world."

Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

Everyone should "follow the rules" when guidance on single-sex spaces is released, the new head of the equality watchdog has told the BBC.

Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), said "things could be sorted out if there is goodwill and recognition that everybody has rights", and that "nobody is expecting there to be a toilet police".

The guidance, for businesses and services, was drawn up after a unanimous Supreme Court ruling in April that legally a woman should be defined by biological sex for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010.

The BBC interview, to be broadcast on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, is Dr Stephenson's first in her new role.

The EHRC's guidance was passed to the government three months ago, but it has yet to publish it formally, which would give the code of practice legal force.

It aims to provide advice to businesses and services - such as women's refuges, gyms, hospitals or shopping centres - about how the Supreme Court ruling should work.

Seen by the BBC after it was leaked, the 300-page document says single-sex spaces should only be open to people of the same biological sex, otherwise they cease to be single-sex areas.

That would mean, for instance, that a trans woman – a biological male who identifies as a woman - would not be able to use women's toilets and changing rooms.

The guidance says it may be legitimate for businesses or services to ask people to provide confirmation they are of the eligible sex "by proportionate means".

This has all caused controversy and anger among some transgender campaigners.

Dr Stephenson told the BBC: "Nobody is expecting there to be a toilet police.

"But equally if there are situations where there are complaints about regular problems, then people might need to... improve signage, improve explanations, or make sure they have got alternative provision."

She said she expected both service providers and people using these services to "follow the rules".

Dr Stephenson was challenged on what facilities trans people should use if there were no alternatives, or what businesses should do if they did not have the space or resources to make extra provision.

She said: "There's often unisex provision and where there isn't, as I say, we need to think more broadly about how we make sure those that those facilities are available…

"If you've got, you know, two self-contained cubicles, one of which is labelled men and one of which is labelled women, then the most sensible thing in those circumstances for a service provider to do is to make both of those unisex."

Dr Stephenson was appointed to the role in July and she started earlier this month.

It was greeted with hostility by some trans campaigners, in part because she had donated money to the case of lawyer Allison Bailey, who won part of a tribunal claim that she was discriminated against because of her gender-critical views.

In our interview, Dr Stephenson was adamant she could still be objective when considering trans issues.

She said she donated to the case because she was frustrated by situations where "women were being harassed and losing their jobs on the basis of lawfully held beliefs".

She said she had been concerned by the experiences of some women "when trying to have meetings to discuss proposed changes in the law".

"I thought it was important that actually in a democracy, if there is a proposed change to the law, people should be able to meet and discuss those changes without violence or intimidation," she said.

"If that's taking a side, it's taking a side on the side of kind of democratic norms and open discussion and dialogue."

The full interview will be on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.

More on this story

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  Published
  16 August

  

Police are searching for a gunman who shot dead two students and injured nine others at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Police say the attacker was a man dressed all in black who fled on foot, and a shelter-in-place warning is in effect for the area surrounding the prestigious university.

The attack on the campus brings the number of mass shootings in the US to 389 for this year, according to the independent analysis website Gun Violence Archive.

It defines mass shootings as having four or more victims killed or injured, not including the attacker.

Here's what we know:

What happened?

The gunman opened fire in a classroom at around 16:00 local time (21:00) on Saturday at the Holley engineering building at the eastern end of Brown's campus, according to officials.

Final exams were taking place in the building at the time of the shooting, the school said.

Barus and Holley engineering building is a seven-story block that includes 117 laboratories, dozens of classrooms and three lecture halls.

An economics professor told local public media outlet Ocean State Radio that the shooting had taken place during a review session for her course, which was led by her teaching assistant.

"He said that the shooter came in the doors, yelled something - he couldn't remember what he yelled - and started shooting," Rachel Friedberg said.

"Students started to scramble to try to get away from the shooter, trying to get lower down in the stadium seating, and people got shot," she added.

Two students studying in the nearby Rockefeller library when the active gunman alert came through told the BBC they "stayed away from the windows" as they awaited police escort.

Officers searched the floor, made them drop their bags and raise their hands before before being led out of the library, the pair said.

Brown University, one of the one of the oldest higher education institutions in the US, is part of the Ivy League, a group of elite universities in the northeast of the country.

The university, which has more than 11,000 students, is located in Providence, Rhode Island's capital city, located about 50 miles (80km) from Boston and 180 miles (290km) from New York City.

Who are the victims?

Two students were killed, and a further nine people are being treated. Medics say one person is in a critical condition, six are "critical but stable", and two others are less severely hurt.

The identities of those killed or injured have not yet been released, but Brown University President Christina Paxson told reporters in a press briefing that all the victims, including those killed and wounded, were students.

"This is a day that we hoped never would come to our community. It is deeply devastating for all of us," she said in a statement.

A ninth victim did not suffer a gunshot wound, according to police, who said they suffered non-life threatening injuries from fragments from the shooting "that had occurred near them".

Who is the gunman?

Very little is known about the gunman so far, but police have released CCTV footage of a male suspect, walking away from the scene of the shooting wearing all black clothing.

There is no weapon visible in the video, and his face is covered. Officials also say a firearm was not found in a sweep of the building on Saturday.

Investigators do not yet know if the gunman was a student, but Providence Deputy Police Chief Tim O'Hara said the suspect was a male who was dressed all in black and appeared be in his 30s.

"We're utilising every resource possible to find this suspect," he said.

Some witnesses reportedly told officers he may have been wearing a camouflage grey mask.

One person was arrested before police determined they were not involved in the shooting and released them.

What is the latest?

A massive operation involving police and federal agents is now underway in Providence as around 400 officers try to locate the suspect.

Residents and students near to the university have been told to stay at home and stay inside, or to stay away until the shelter-in-place is lifted.

Students in the area told the BBC they planned to stay at home until the things calm down and the gunman is caught.

US President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters as he returned to the White House from attending the annual Army and Navy football game, described the shooting as "a terrible thing".

"All we can do right now is pray for the victims and for those that were very badly hurt," he said.

Additional reporting by Pratiksha Ghildial