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Brigadier Jo Butterfill, who won a Military Cross for leading his soldiers in battle against the Taliban in 2009, is under investigation for a suspected fraud A senior Army officer decorated for gallantry in Afghanistan is being investigated over allegations he falsely claimed an allowance for boarding school fees. Brigadier Jo Butterfill, who won a Military Cross for leading his soldiers in battle against the Taliban in 2009, is under investigation for a suspected fraud. The Royal Military Police probe comes four months after an Army major general was jailed for 21 months for the same offence. Maj Gen Nick Welch was the most senior officer to be court martialled since 1815. He was found guilty of dishonestly claiming £48,000 under the Continuity of Education Allowance . And last month Lt Col Adam Roberts was convicted of fraudulently claiming more than £44,000 to send his children to boarding school. The CEA allows children to remain at the same schools while their parents – one of wh

Australia is slowly cutting itself off from the world after the government announced it will halve the number of people allowed to enter the country, as it struggles to contain the Indian coronavirus variant that has plunged millions into lockdown.  With 12 million Australians - nearly half the population - now under stay-at-home orders, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said quotas for overseas arrivals would be cut by around 50 per cent to help prevent further outbreaks.  It comes as the new lockdown rules were announced earlier this week as cases of the Indian variant have flared up across the country after escaping from quarantine hotels.        Under the current 'zero Covid' strategy, just 6,000 people are allowed to enter Australia on overseas commercial flights each week and arrivals must undergo two weeks of hotel quarantine. That quota will be cut to around 3,000 by the middle of July, Morrison indicated, although the government will at the same time step up its private re

Residents of Brisbane and the neighbouring Moreton Bay region are set to learn if lockdown orders will be extended again after a new local case emerged.  Brisbane residents will learn at midday Saturday if a late mystery case of coronavirus discovered on Friday will keep them locked down.  'The man in his 50s returned a positive result today, after becoming symptomatic on 30 June 2021 and undertaking a test on 1 July 2021,' Health Minister Yvette D'Ath posted on Twitter Friday afternoon.  Residents of Brisbane and the neighbouring Moreton Bay region are set to learn if lockdown orders will be extended again after four new local cases emerged  Brisbane residents will learn at midday Saturday if a late mystery case of coronavirus discovered on Friday will keep them locked down  Queensland recorded four new cases of local transmission on Friday, all of them in the state's southeast corner. Of particular concern are a mother and daughter from the Brisbane suburb of Carindal

A year on from the tragic suicide of her former lover, Liz Hurley has been doing what any loving mother would: gently trying to guide her only son through the conflicting emotions of losing the father he was just beginning to get to know. Although their relationship had been almost non-existent for most of Damian’s life, in the weeks before Steve Bing’s death the multi-millionaire businessman had made tentative steps towards establishing a father-son bond, calling him for the first time on his 18th birthday. Who knows where that first rapprochement might have led? The one solace in the tragedy was that Bing died thinking that his two children — Damian and older half-sister Kira — would be financially secure. He had recently won a court battle, overturning his own father’s attempt to exclude them both from family trust funds believed to be worth up to a billion dollars (£725 million). During a turbulent year, Hurley has maintained a dignified silence, but so appalled is she by the trea

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claimed anti-cannabis laws are racist and an 'instrument of colonial policy' while calling for Sha'Carri Richardson to be allowed to run in the Olympics 100m race.  The progressive congresswoman also slammed the International Swimming Federation for rejecting the use of Soul Cap, a brand of swimming caps designed for athletes with natural black hair, at the Olympics.  'The criminalization and banning of cannabis is an instrument of racist and colonial policy,' Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on Friday. 'The IOC should reconsider its suspension of Ms. Richardson and any athletes penalized for cannabis use. This ruling along w/ IOC denial of swim caps for natural hair is deeply troubling.' Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, pictured, claimed anti-cannabis laws are racist and an 'instrument of colonial policy' while calling for Sha'Carri Richardson to be allowed to run in the Olympics 100m race The progressive congresswoman also slam

Boston authorities are looking into the brutal stabbing of a Boston rabbi as a possible hate crime as the alleged assailant was arraigned on assault charges.  Khaled Awad, 24, appeared in Brighton District Church on Friday and was charged with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon and assault and battery on an officer and will be held without bail until a dangerousness hearing on July 8. Awad allegedly stabbed Rabbi Shlomo Noginksi eight times on the street outside Shaloh House, a Jewish Day School and synagogue on Chestnut Hill Avenue in Brighton, at around 1.19pm on Thursday afternoon.  Rabbi Noginski, who is a teacher and rabbi at the Shaloh House, was reportedly sitting outside talking on his cell phone when the suspect launched his attack on him. Awad allegedly approached the rabbi, drew a firearm and attempted to force him in the car and kidnap him, reports Chabad. But Rabbi Noginski struggled and attempted to run across the street where the suspect stabbed him in th

The heartbroken husband of a 'real-life Disney princess' has revealed how cancer killed his wife just days after she gave birth to their first child. Brooke Marsay, 31, died in Brisbane on Tuesday, 65 days after doctors discovered she had stage four bowel cancer. It had already spread through her body, including her liver and stomach. At the time, the kindergarten teacher at Kawana Waters State College on Queensland's Sunshine Coast was 16 weeks pregnant with the couple's first child. But a seemingly harmless but nagging pain in her ribs led to the tragic diagnosis. Brooke Marsay, 31, died in Brisbane after doctors discovered she had stage four cancer which had already spread through her body when she was 16 weeks pregnant She was immediately transferred from the Sunshine Coast to a hospital in Brisbane where she was treated until her death. The couple's son, Max, was born at 27 weeks on June 24 as Ms Marsay's life ebbed away, but he died 24 hours later of comp