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37,215,407 | The remains of Saima Ahmed, 36, were found in January at Gogar Mount House, on the edge of Gogarburn Golf Club.
Her family have criticised the police response after they reported Ms Ahmed missing from her London home in August 2015.
Her brother has made a new appeal for information about her last movements.
The family have complained that Ms Ahmed's case was treated as "low risk" after she disappeared from the family home in Wembley and did not gather CCTV footage.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) confirmed that five Metropolitan Police officers had been notified they were under investigation, two for gross misconduct and three for misconduct, over the way they handled information and conducted the investigation.
The IPPC stressed that the notices did not imply guilt.
Ms Ahmed's body was discovered in Edinburgh on 9 January but a post-mortem examination has been unable to determine the cause of death.
Subsequent inquiries by Police Scotland suggest the librarian travelled to Edinburgh by rail, via Birmingham, last August.
Forensic evidence indicates she died shortly after her arrival in Edinburgh.
Last week police handed out leaflets in the hope of gathering new clues.
Now Ms Ahmed's brother Sadat has travelled to Scotland and made a fresh appeal at the location where her body was found.
He said: "I have faith in the police. Hopefully they will get to the answers. Whatever happened, we will find out.
"It's been devastating for everyone, not having any answers to what's happened. You just go round and round in circles trying to think what happened."
Mr Ahmed said it was completely out of character for his sister to disappear. He said the family had no links to Edinburgh and that they had no idea why Ms Ahmed would have travelled to the city.
Det Ch Insp Martin MacLean, who is leading the investigation, told BBC Radio Scotland there were many unanswered questions.
"Unfortunately, due to the passage of time and the effects of the elements and nature, following extensive forensic work and toxicology reports, the cause of death is unascertainable," he said.
"This is obviously very difficult for the family and is the reason for this appeal for information from the public. We want help to ascertain exactly why Saima came to Edinburgh and what happened to her that led up to her death."
There is a possible unconfirmed sighting of Ms Ahmed on Portobello Beach about a year ago.
A man walking his dog told police that he spoke with a woman on the beach, who was walking alone and who closely matched Ms Ahmed's description, at about 10:30 on a Monday last August, possibly 31 August, although the exact date is unknown.
The woman said she had wanted to see the beach and said she had travelled up from London and was going back down later the same day.
The police want to know if she stayed in a guest house there the night before, possibly on Sunday 30 August.
Ms Ahmed's exact movements as she travelled to Scotland remain unconfirmed.
Detectives believe she bought a Birmingham to Edinburgh rail ticket at Birmingham New Street Station at about 17:00 on Sunday 30 August 2015.
Officers said there was a strong possibility she then boarded one of two Edinburgh-bound services - either the 17:15 Virgin service due to arrive at Edinburgh Waverley at 22:22, or the 13:30 Virgin Cross Country Network (via York), which was due to arrive at 22:21. | Five Metropolitan Police officers are facing a misconduct investigation over the case of a woman found dead near an Edinburgh golf course. |
39,862,062 | The Hatters face Blackpool on Sunday in the first leg of the League Two play-offs, having failed in four previous campaigns in the last 20 years.
But Jones told BBC Look East: "The old Luton record has nothing to do with me.
"My play-off record's quite good. I've been in three and been promoted in two, so I'm happy with that."
Although he was part of the Yeovil team that were beaten by Blackpool in the League One play-off final in 2007, Jones had tasted success at the Millennium Stadium a few years previously, when Brighton beat Bristol City to earn promotion to the Championship.
And Jones wants to use those sorts of memories to override those of Hatters fans, who watched their side lose to Crewe in 1997, York in 2010, AFC Wimbledon in 2011 and York again in 2012.
"I wasn't here then, so there's nothing I could do," Jones said.
"It's a new group of players with a new group of goals. If the fans get behind us, and we perform, we've got a great chance.
"I can't affect history - I can affect the present."
Having finished fourth in League Two, Luton will start as favourites to be promoted - but Jones is keen to avoid the fate which befell Scunthorpe, who finished third in League One but lost to Millwall in the play-off semi-finals.
"We're delighted to have finished where we have. That's a big statement from us," Jones said.
"But the play-offs are a lottery. We saw in the League One games, Scunthorpe finished third but lost at home 3-2 to a really strong Millwall side, so we have to be wary of things like that.
"The league table tells us we're the fourth best side so we have to prove that." | Luton boss Nathan Jones insists he has no worries about the club's supposed play-off curse - because his record is far better. |
39,425,548 | A letter signed by the prime minister on the green baize table of the cabinet room yesterday afternoon makes real the consequences of Britain's vote to leave the European Union nine months ago.
Once the document arrives in Brussels at lunchtime, passed formally into the hands of the European Council, the triggering of Article 50 begins the process of Britain leaving the European Union - a partnership of nations in which the UK has played its own role for more than four decades - for good, or ill.
The prime minister will promise later to represent every person in the country during what are likely to be fraught negotiations, including those EU nationals who have made their homes here, whose future is still uncertain.
Theresa May will also urge the country to come together, hoping this moment could spell the end of a fractious debate between Leave and Remain. The government's main priorities are clear - withdrawing from European law, controlling immigration and striking a free trade deal from outside the European single market.
Yet there are tensions in Parliament, in the prime minister's own party, between Holyrood and Westminster, and of course, among the public over what Britain's future could, or should look like outside the European Union. She, and we, have two years to work it out.
Theresa May of course was a Remainer to start with, if not the most full-throated advocate for the EU during the referendum campaign.
But after the bloody Tory infighting in the campaign's immediate aftermath, she is sometimes described as being the "last grown-up left standing".
There are doubts in Westminster about the government's capacity to deal with the complexities of what lies ahead, doubts about the Tory Party's capability of sticking together when it gets tough, doubts about the opposition's ability to carry out the kind of intense scrutiny required while this vital set of decisions are debated and discussed over the next two years or so.
Above all perhaps, doubts about whether what Theresa May is asking for is even vaguely realistic. What she does or does not achieve in these negotiations will determine her, and the country's, future. | What was an obscure, technical and legal term today becomes a political move that will change the country. |
21,631,961 | This is the third wave of test results received by the FSA, which has now received a total of 5,430 test results.
Meanwhile, new tests conducted on beef retail products revealed no new cases of horsemeat adulteration, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has said.
This latest round of tests saw 1,797 products being examined.
The FSA has asked retailers to test beef products for the presence of more than 1% of horsemeat, with anything above that figure considered to be a sign of adulteration.
Its latest results have found that more than 99% of tests show no horse DNA at or above the level of 1%.
The affected products are Birds Eye's Traditional Spaghetti Bolognese and Beef Lasagne - which the company took off shelves last week as a precaution; Brakes' Spicy Beef Skewer; Taco Bell's Ground Beef.
Taco Bell has three outlets in Britain and says all its affected stock has been removed. The products had come from a supplier in Europe, the company said.
A spokesman for Taco Bell said: "Once we learned of this issue, we immediately voluntarily tested our product for our three Taco Bell restaurants in the UK.
"Based on that testing, we learned ingredients supplied to us from one supplier in Europe tested positive for horsemeat.
"We immediately withdrew it from sale, and discontinued purchase of that meat and contacted the Food Standards Agency with this information. We apologise to our customers and take this matter very seriously as food quality is our highest priority."
Birds Eye said in a statement: "We are introducing a new ongoing DNA testing programme that will ensure no minced beef meat product can leave our facilities without first having been cleared by DNA testing."
Brakes, which is based in Ashford, Kent, said: "Our testing programme represents a significant proportion of all results the FSA has obtained from across the food industry.
"Brakes have also segregated a frozen burger as a precaution after equine DNA at 1% was reported to the Food Standards Agency."
It said it was "very disappointed to have been let down" by suppliers and that it "sincerely apologised to our customers."
Meanwhile, fast food chain McDonald's announced that none of its meat products had tested positive for horse DNA, adding customers could "continue to trust in the quality of food" served at its restaurants.
The BRC says 95% of its members' products have been checked, including all minced beef lines used by the UK's largest supermarkets.
There have been 361 tests on 103 products carried out since 22 February.
The trade organisation represents a range of retailers, including supermarkets and independent shops.
A total of 1,889 tests have been carried out by BRC members since 20 January, with 0.3% of them finding traces of horsemeat.
The BRC's food director, Andrew Opie said: "The UK's major supermarkets, and a number of other BRC-member food businesses, have now tested all existing processed minced beef products.
"The reassuring news is that another intensive week of testing has produced no new positive results. And, since this testing programme started in mid-January, just a third of 1% of products have tested positive."
Horsemeat was first discovered in January in frozen burgers on sale in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, and since then traces have been discovered in processed beef products and prepared meals across the EU.
A first wave of tests on beef products sold in the UK found horsemeat in some products sold by Aldi, Co-op, Findus, Rangeland and Tesco.
Subsequent rounds of testing revealed adulteration in some products sold by Asda, Sodexo - which supplies food to schools, care homes and the armed forces - and the Whitbread Group.
Last week Ikea withdrew a batch of frozen meatballs from sale in the food section of stores in the UK, and other European countries, after tests in the Czech Republic found traces of horsemeat in those products. | Four beef products sold by Bird's Eye, Taco Bell and catering supplier Brakes have been found to contain horse DNA, the Food Standards Agency says. |
34,714,923 | Police discovered 23-year-old Damon Searson with a chest wound at Stud Farm Park in August. He was taken to Royal Lancaster Infirmary but later died.
Terri-Marie Palmer, 23, of Warton Avenue, Heysham, appeared at Preston Crown Court earlier and was remanded in custody.
A trial date has been set for 8 February.
The judge requested a further plea and case management hearing also be held on 18 December. | A woman has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge after a man was found stabbed in a caravan in Morecambe. |
35,306,084 | Concerns over the electricity strike price - a government subsidy for the power generated - remained a "problem", he told a committee of MPs.
The UK government must give its "full backing", Welsh Liberal Democrats said.
Tidal Lagoon Power, the company behind the plan, said it was "confident" it could hit a "viable" price.
It warned in October that building work was being delayed by a year to 2017.
Questioned about tidal power on Tuesday, Mr Cameron said: "The problem with tidal power, simply put, is that at the moment we have not seen any ideas come forward that can hit a strike price in terms of pounds per megawatt-hour that is very attractive.
"That is the challenge for tidal. Maybe they can come up with something.
"They are very long-term schemes with big investments up front, and they can last for many, many years, but right now my enthusiasm is reduced slightly by the fact that the cost would be quite high."
In response to Mr Cameron's comments, Peter Black, the Welsh Lib Dem AM for South Wales West, called for the UK government to "stop playing games" with the project.
"The Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon will bring undoubted benefits to our area and Wales as a whole, not just in terms of green energy but by creating thousands of new green jobs," he said.
"If we're going to increase our renewable energy generation, we must invest in these new technologies."
It comes after Swansea West MP Geraint Davies said in November it was vital for a "greener future", and accused ministers of "back-pedalling" on their commitment to the lagoon.
Tidal Lagoon Power said: "The prime minister is spot on: tidal power will make a huge contribution to the UK economy, carrying with it a wide range of social and environmental benefits.
"Clearly there is a price at which this prospect becomes viable and through our ongoing negotiation with government we are very confident that we can hit that price." | Prime Minister David Cameron's "enthusiasm" for the proposed £1bn tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay is cooling due to the cost, he has said. |
35,165,201 | The first cars were allowed back onto the crossing at 05:20 after engineers welded a splint onto damaged steelwork.
Heavy goods vehicles will remain banned until further work is carried out, with this scheduled for completion by "mid-February".
The bridge was closed to all traffic on 4 December after a crack was discovered in a truss under the carriageway.
Five heavy lorries have been turned away from the bridge since it reopened.
Bridge operating company Amey said vehicles weighing over seven and a half tonnes are prevented from using the bridge until permanent repairs to a cracked steel truss are made.
Scottish Infrastructure Secretary Keith Brown met the Freight Transport Association and the Road Haulage Association to discuss the problems being caused to operators by the ban on heavy lorries.
Mr Brown said: "Today's discussions with the freight trade associations were very constructive and we have agreed a five point plan to keep HGVs moving as works continue on the Forth Road Bridge.
"Both associations stressed the importance of the relaxation of drivers hours being extended to allow continued flexibility. I assured them that we are taking this forward with the UK Government and European Commission, based on evidence from the freight associations.
Director of the Road Haulage Association in Scotland Martin Reid said: "The RHA welcomes the ongoing dialogue with the minister and Transport Scotland as it is imperative that the interests of road hauliers are recognised, particularly while the essential maintenance is being undertaken at the Forth Road Bridge.
"It is absolutely essential for the Scottish economy that delivery routes are as free of congestion and hindrance as possible especially while hauliers are faced with additional costs due to the diversions in place."
The FTA's Head of Policy for Scotland Chris MacRae said: "The Freight Transport Association is grateful to Transport Scotland and the Scottish government for recognising the importance of keeping freight traffic moving at the busiest time of year for the industry.
"We will seek feedback from our members on how they are being affected by the extended closure of the bridge to goods vehicles in excess of 7.5 tonnes."
In normal operation, the bridge handles 80,000 vehicles each day and closure had caused significant disruption.
Bridge operator, Amey, said: "Traffic has been running very well all day since the bridge reopened. There have been no queues and no delays."
The partial re-opening is ahead of schedule, with officials having previously estimated that the temporary repairs would not be completed until after the Christmas holidays.
Police officers were stationed at both ends of the bridge on Wednesday to redirect any vehicle over 7.5 tonnes.
A police spokesman said the continued ban on HGVs was being well adhered to. By midday five lorries had been turned away.
HGVs account for 32% of the weight the bridge normally carries despite making up approx 9% of overall traffic.
Scottish government transport minister Derek Mackay said the estimated reopening date for HGVs of mid-February "felt accurate" based on the work programme but it was weather dependent and assumed no further faults were found.
He told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: "I am very certain that we'll meet that date of mid-February for the bridge to be open to HGVs.
"Of course it's good news this morning that it's open to 90% of traffic and HGVs should follow early next year. Mid-February is as accurate a date I can give based on engineers' opinion at this time."
Mr Mackay said the revised date for full reopening was based on data gathered from load testing.
"We weren't satisfied with the results. That's why further strengthening works are required. It's partly a precautionary measure to give us absolute certainly that it's safe and effective to allow HGVs across from mid February." | Traffic has returned to the Forth Road Bridge after the completion of temporary repairs. |
32,750,738 | Coasting schools have average results which have often flat-lined over time.
Ministers would be able to force schools rated requiring improvement and missing new government benchmarks to become an academy.
More than 3,300 schools in England are labelled "requires improvement", but the plans are unlikely to cover this many schools.
Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said there was unlikely to be capacity to intervene in thousands of schools, but added it was his first priority to find out exactly what the new Conservative government was proposing.
He said: "Do they really have the capacity in the system to do this? There aren't enough academy chains, multi-academy trusts, system leaders or national leaders of education to intervene in so many schools."
Before the election, David Cameron said he would wage an "all-out war on mediocrity", promising that any school that was not judged good or outstanding would "have to change".
A source close to Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said: "The first thing we will be doing is introducing an education bill, which will feature in the Queen's Speech, in order to tackle coasting schools as per our manifesto pledge. That is definite."
Under the current system, secondary schools are considered to be failing, and therefore eligible for intervention, if fewer than 40% of their students score at least five Cs at GCSE, including English and maths, and they do not meet national averages in pupil progress.
In primary schools, the threshold for intervention is if fewer than 65% of pupils get Level 4 in reading, writing and maths and a below average number of pupils make the expected amount of progress.
It is not clear exactly how coasting schools will be deemed in need of intervention, but it is understood that a new category will be devised covering schools which are rated "requires improvement" and which fail to meet a new set of standards on improvement. | New powers for the education secretary to sack heads and intervene in coasting schools are soon to be unveiled. |
40,216,019 | This weekend the 100th Welsh Athletics Championships will be held in Cardiff and Simpson told BBC Wales Sport that they come at an exciting time for the sport.
"It's a fantastic time for the 100th Championships to come along because it's the lead up to the London World Championships and 2018 Commonwealth Games," he said.
"I think we're going to see some new names and new faces, which is really exciting.
"There's a changing of the guard at the moment with some young athletes just on the verge of the breakthrough and on the cusp of doing something special."
The Welsh Athletics Championships were first held at Newport Athletic Ground, now Rodney Parade, in 1907. Due to breaks for the two World Wars, the 100th edition will be held at Cardiff's Leckwith stadium on Friday 9 and Saturday 10 June.
But things have understandably changed since that first competition more than a century ago.
"In 1907 there were just 10 events - and none for women," said Clive Williams, who competed in the Championships himself in 1962 before going on to cover the event for the BBC.
Media playback is not supported on this device
"Events like the pole vault, triple jump and javelin were held much later when the Championships came to Maindy Stadium in Cardiff in 1951.
"Up until then all of the Championship events were held on grass tracks, laid especially for the day. Most were on rugby pitches like the Arms Park.
Women were finally allowed to compete in 1952.
Half a century ago, Williams says there'd be six or seven thousand fans who'd turn up for the Welsh Athletics Championships, with the Welsh Games (a multi-sport event first held in 1959) attracting as many as 15,000.
It was a prestigious date on the Welsh sporting calendar and an important pathway for any aspiring Olympian.
"To compete at the Championships was the thing to do," said Williams.
"Lynn Davies won countless Welsh titles at long jump and triple jump and remains the only Welsh (track and field) athlete to win an Olympic gold medal (in 1964)."
Former 110m hurdles world record holder Colin Jackson, the late discus thrower Philippa Roles and 1968 British Olympic captain Ron Jones have all competed in the past.
But the most successful athlete in Championship history is Merthyr Tydfil's Venissa Head. She won 25 Welsh titles - including 15 consecutive shot put golds from 1974 to 1988.
Many past champions will parade around the Leckwith stadium on Saturday to mark the 100th Championships.
Scott Simpson admits there isn't a "superstar" of Welsh athletics competing this year - but believes several young stars will soon have made a name for themselves.
Hurdler David Omoregie, 21, middle distance runner Jake Heyward, 18, and sprinter Hannah Brier, 19, are all expected to add to some already promising performances over the coming months.
They all started out at the Welsh Athletics Championships, which may not attract as many as seven thousand fans these days, but hopes to put on a worthy show at its centenary this weekend. | Wales has a number of young athletes who are "on the cusp of doing something special" - according its head of athletics coaching and performance Scott Simpson. |
15,105,920 | Joko Widodo won a closely fought presidential election in July 2014 on promises to break with the authoritarian past, improve welfare for the poor and take on corruption.
The election commission declared the Jakarta governor the winner with 53% of the vote.
His rival, former army general Prabowo Subianto, who won 47%, alleged widespread fraud and said he would challenge the result in court.
Mr Widodo is seen by many as relatively untainted by the county's endemic corruption and in touch with ordinary Indonesians as a result of his humble background.
Known as "Jokowi", the former furniture maker is especially popular with the urban and rural young.
His campaign platform called for "mind-set revolution" to end the corruption, nepotism and intolerance Mr Widodo believes flourished during the 31-year-long dictatorship of former President Suharto.
He also promised a strong focus on education and modern technology, including e-governance.
Critics said he lacked political experience and would struggle to push through his agenda, as his Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P), has only 37% of seats in parliament.
Opponents claimed he would be the puppet of the PDI-P's veteran leader, Megawati Sukarnoputri, a former president and daughter of Indonesia's independence leader, Sukarno. Mr Widodo's allies insist he will be his own man.
Born in 1961 in Solo as the son of a wood-seller, Mr Widodo was elected mayor of Solo - a city in the centre of Java - in 2005 and gained popularity with policies aimed at boosting small and local businesses.
Mr Widodo then went on to run for the position of governor of Jakarta, winning an emphatic victory in 2012. | President: Joko Widodo |
34,664,275 | Fewer than 100 days remain until the first votes are cast in Iowa, and if one of the many candidates languishing in the polls is going to make a move, time is running out.
Although the debate stretched for more than two hours, its lasting importance can likely be distilled down to the outcome of five key confrontations - and who came out on top.
Ohio Governor John Kasich - who recently expressed disgust with the state of the Republican race - was an early aggressor, taking thinly veiled shots at both Donald Trump and Ben Carson and their "fantasy" budget plans.
"Folks, we've got to wake up," he said. "We cannot elect somebody that doesn't know how to do the job."
The responses from the two front-running outsider candidates perfectly illustrated their different temperaments and campaign styles.
Carson had earlier said he would "not be engaging in awful things about my compatriots here" and stuck with it, ignoring the governor's jabs.
Trump, of course, shot back, noting the governor was going on the attack because his poll numbers have "tanked", resulting in his position on the end of the stage.
"He got nasty," Trump said. "So you know what? You can have him."
Winner: Trump won the battle, blunting Kasich's attack in his dismissive style, but Carson likely won the war. The retired neurosurgeon offered a third-straight somnambulant debate performance, which means he'll probably be the undisputed frontrunner when the next polls come out.
It was the Florida showdown everyone has been waiting for. After Rubio parried away a question about missing more than 60 Senate votes while campaigning for president, Bush went on the attack, likening the ease of Senate duties to a "French work week".
"Marco, when you signed up for this, this was a six-year term, and you should be showing up to work," he said. "You can campaign, or just resign and let someone else take the job."
Like a judo master, however, Rubio sent the assault back from whence it came.
The only reason Bush was coming after him, Rubio said, is because "we're running for the same position, and someone has convinced you that attacking me is going to help you."
After that blow, Rubio sought the high ground.
"My campaign is going to be about the future of America," he said. "It's not going to be about attacking anyone else on this stage. I will continue to have tremendous admiration and respect for Governor Bush."
In the very next question, Bush was asked to explain his sinking poll numbers and floundering campaign. It was a devastating few minutes for Bush and likely has more than a few major media outlets freshening up the former governor's political obituaries.
How hard do the French work?
Winner: Rubio, relentlessly on message throughout, won this exchange and likely had the best overall performance of the evening.
If there was a clear kill shot on Wednesday night, it came when Ted Cruz turned on the CNBC debate moderators with unrestrained gusto.
"The questions that have been asked so far in this debate illustrate why the American people don't trust the media," he said.
"Donald Trump, are you a comic book villain? Ben Carson, can you do math? John Kasich, will you insult two people over here? Marco Rubio, why don't you resign? Jeb Bush, why have your numbers fallen? How about talking about the substantive issues?"
He added that nobody believed that any of the moderators have any intention of voting in a Republican primary.
Despite two obvious ironies - that Cruz gave that answer in response to a substantive question about the debt limit and one of the CNBC questioners is widely credited with inspiring the conservative grass-roots Tea Party movement - the audience erupted with the loudest cheers of the evening.
Winner: If Rubio wasn't the clear winner of the debate, it's only because Cruz offered an equally compelling performance. Other candidates would follow suit in media-bashing, but Cruz got there first - and with the most memorable lines.
At one point during the evening's festivities, a debate over an actual issue almost broke out, as former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and New Jersey Governor Christie traded words on reforming the government-run Social Security retirement programme.
After Christie issued his oft-repeated call for means-testing government benefits, Huckabee made his move.
"This is a matter not of math; this is a matter of morality," he said. "If this country does not keep its promise to seniors, then what promise can this country hope to be trusted to keep?"
Christie replied that politicians should tell the elderly the truth and not some "fantasy".
"It isn't their money anymore, Mike, they stole it," he said. "The government stole it and spent it a long time ago."
Winner: The audience - at least for once. Much of the debate descended into chaos, as the CNBC moderators struggled to control the candidates, but here was a clear exchange of contrasting views. Huckabee burnished his appeal to older voters that are the backbone of his support, while Christie had an opportunity to flaunt his "tell it like it is" persona.
It didn't get any better for Bush later in the debate, when he was asked what his views were on the largely unregulated daily fantasy sports gambling, which has become mired in controversy.
He started boasting about the performance in fantasy football, ticking off some of his better-performing players and forgetting a cardinal rule - no one likes to hear people talk about how their fantasy team is doing. He then called for further study of the gambling issue.
"This is something that needs to be looked at in terms of regulation," Bush said. "Effectively, it's day trading without any regulation at all."
At that point Christie chimed in with an impassioned answer that stood in stark contrast with Bush's lead-footed response.
"Are we really talking about daily fantasy football?" he said. "We have $19 trillion in debt, we have people out of work, we have ISIS and al-Qaeda attacking us, and we're talking about fantasy football?"
Winner: Christie, with ease. Bush's fantasy team may be undefeated, but this debate is another mark in the loss column for the beleaguered Florida ex-governor. | There was a whiff of desperation in the air - along with the sizzle of political pyrotechnics - as Republican candidates took the stage for Wednesday night's presidential debate on cable news network CNBC. |
30,825,269 | 15 January 2015 Last updated at 11:08 GMT
The 35% drop coincides with the government wanting to reduce the country's renewable energy targets.
It all means an uncertain future for wind farms in the state of South Australia, considered one of the industry's global leaders.
The BBC's Jon Donnison reports.
Watch more reports on Asia Business Report's website. | Australia has recorded its lowest investment in renewable energy since 2009. |
30,832,730 | Sheila Hyslop, 49, died of her injuries four days after the fall on Albert Road in Dumfries in March last year.
She was taken to the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh for treatment to a head injury but never recovered.
A fatal accident inquiry at Dumfries Sheriff Court was due this month but extra time has been allowed to prepare. | An inquiry into the death of a cyclist who fell off her bike while delivering phone books in Dumfries has been delayed until May. |
35,456,258 | Police Scotland said the incident was reported at about 17:30.
Members of the coastguard are involved in the search. | A major search has been launched in Inverness after reports of a man falling into the River Ness at Friars' Bridge. |
39,422,234 | Rifat was subjected to "systematic" abuse at the hands of his parents and died of a brain injury on 5 July 2016, the Old Bailey heard.
Mohammed Miah, 37, of Poplar, east London, was found guilty of murder and causing suffering.
The child had 38 rib fractures, eight leg fractures and a broken spine.
Jurors also heard he had been whipped with a mobile phone charger cord and burned on a radiator.
Rifat's mother, Rebeka Nazmin, 32, was cleared of murder but found guilty of causing or allowing the death of her baby and causing him to suffer.
She told the court her husband may have had a problem with Rifat's deformed hand and ear, and may have abused him because of it.
Both parents blamed a young child with autism, who was also in the house, for Rifat's injuries.
However, their stories were contradicted in a police interview with the child in which the child told officers they had been instructed by Nazmin to shake the baby to rouse him.
The child said: "I told [Nazmin] about it and she said I should shake him or put water on him. If he wakes, he's fine. If not, I will have to call the ambulance."
The court heard the child, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, previously had behavioural problems but had been "charming" and delightful" since receiving specialist help in the months before the baby's death.
Nazmin and Miah denied murder.
Miah was cleared of cruelty to two other children. Sentencing is due to take place later. | A man has been found guilty of murdering his 13-week-old son whose death he falsely tried to blame on a child with autism. |
17,488,450 | Almost 10,000 climate simulations were run on volunteers' home computers.
The projections,published in Nature Geoscience, are somewhat higher than those from other models.
The researchers aimed to explore a wider range of possible futures, which they say helps "get a handle" on the uncertainties of the climate system.
People planning for the impacts of climate change need to consider the possibility of warming of up to 3C by 2050, even on a mid-range emission scenario, the researchers say.
The study - run throughclimateprediction.netwith the BBC Climate Change Experiment - ran simulations using a complex atmosphere-ocean climate model.
The representations of physical parameters were varied between runs of the model, reflecting uncertainties about precisely how the climate system works.
And the forecast range was derived from models that accurately reproduced observed temperature changes over the last 50 years.
The low end of their range is similar to that of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its 2007 report, but the high end is somewhat above the range their analysis produced.
Myles Allen of the School of Geography and Environment and Department of Physics, Oxford University, principal investigator of climateprediction.net, said other climate modelling groups' data did not "set out to explore the full range of uncertainty, which is why studies like ours are needed."
The research was described as "an important step toward estimating uncertainty more comprehensively," by Gabi Hegerl, professor of climate system science at the University of Edinburgh.
The results were also described as "very promising" by Prof Corinne Le Quere, director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia.
"Better constrained climate projections are needed to help plan a wide range of adaptation measures, from sea defences to water storage capacity and biodiversity conservation areas," she added.
However, the research was questioned by Julian Hunt, emeritus professor of climate modelling at University College London.
He said: "I have reservations about relying on a model that combines land temperatures - which are clearly rising - with sea temperatures which can be subject to big decadal fluctuations."
He said the higher range of the prediction was looking "increasingly likely", but for three particular reasons: | Global temperatures could rise by 1.4-3.0C (2.5-5.4F) above levels for late last century by 2050, a computer simulation has suggested. |
34,796,833 | Around 303,000 women died of complications during pregnancy or up to six weeks after giving birth in 2015 - down from 532,000 in 1990.
Officials from the World Health Organisation (WHO) said the results showed "huge progress".
However, only nine countries hit targets set by the UN.
"This report will show that by the end of 2015 maternal mortality will have dropped by 44% from its levels from 1990," said Dr Lale Say, coordinator for reproductive health and research at the WHO.
But she warned that the progress was "uneven" - with 99% of deaths happening in developing countries.
While 39 countries reported "significant progress" in reducing pregnancy-related deaths, only nine countries achieved their targets.
"Many countries with high maternal death rates will make little progress, or will fall behind, over the next 15 years if we don't improve the current number of available midwives and other health workers with midwifery skills," said Dr Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the UN Population Fund.
Eastern Asia saw the greatest improvement, with maternal mortality falling from approximately 95 to 27 per 100,000 live births.
The UN now aims to reduce the global ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 by 2030. | Pregnancy-related deaths have fallen by almost half in the past 25 years, according to a report by United Nations agencies published in The Lancet. |
33,069,560 | Nick Bennett's comments follow a report that found such abuse of patients at Tawel Fan mental health ward in Glan Clwyd Hospital, Denbighshire.
A newly-published separate review described the local health board as having a "bullying culture".
The Betsi Cadwaladr board was placed under special measures on Monday.
Mr Bennett told BBC Wales' Y Sgwrs programme on S4C changes are needed to the current system so his office can launch investigations without having to wait for a complaint to be made first.
"I think it's really important, and a test of a mature democracy, that you have independent institutions that are capable of scrutinising public institutions in Wales to make sure that this type of abuse doesn't occur again", he said.
"I think there are a number of reforms that could be put in place including 'own initiative' powers for my own office", Mr Bennett added.
More details have also emerged of the crisis at Betsi Cadwaladr health board, that led up to the decision to put it under more direct Welsh government control.
A newly published review by former head of the Welsh NHS Ann Lloyd says the health board's chair described it as having a "bureaucratic and bullying culture".
The report also raises financial concerns and warns a "mammoth effort" was needed to make the changes needed.
In the document, summing up the view of the board's chair Peter Higson, Ms Lloyd says: "He is very concerned about the lack of creativity within the organisation and considers that the organisation has a rigid, overly bureaucratic and bullying culture."
Describing a series of clinical, organisational, managerial and financial problems, she observes: "It will take a mammoth effort on behalf of the whole of the executive team to enable the organisation to improve."
In the report, Ms Lloyd says "there is a great deal of work needed to bring the (mental health) services up to the standard required".
She also highlights the findings of a review by the Good Governance Institute last year.
It concluded members of the Local Health Board were "not seen as adding value to the organisation", there was "no clear direction/strategy or corporate objectives" and departments were "setting their own objectives and timescales".
On Tuesday, Mr Drakeford announced the deputy chief executive of the Welsh NHS Simon Dean was to take charge of the board after its chief executive was suspended.
More on Nick Bennett's comments on Y Sgwrs on S4C at 21:30 on Wednesday 10 June. | Reforms are needed to "minimise the risk of institutional abuse ever occurring", the public services ombudsman for Wales has said. |
30,492,655 | The author created a letter, written by Paddington to his Aunt Lucy, specially for BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
In the letter, Paddington tells of a theatre visit to watch Hamlet and a trip to a Michelin star restaurant - both of which meet sticky ends.
Hugh Bonneville, who plays Mr Brown in the Paddington movie, recorded a reading of the story for Today.
"I'm sorry to have to say it, but people aren't as polite as they used to be and sometimes they are hard to understand," Paddington writes.
"For instance, I was taken to the theatre recently and a man came on the stage in a terrible state. 'To be or not to be,' he said. 'That is the question.' Nobody called out, so I shouted 'We don't know the question either,' and everybody started booing me!"
In an interview with Today's John Humphrys, Bond said his character started life as a doodle and he had never intended to write a book.
"I had a blank sheet of paper and a typewriter," he said. "I looked around the flat and caught sight of this bear I bought and it crossed my mind I wonder what it would be like if a real bear landed on Paddington station.
"I didn't intend to write a book at all which was a plus, because I wrote it to please myself.
"I put in things like a duffle coat I was wearing at the time and an old government surplus hat - and in 10 days I had what turned out [to be] a book on my hands."
The author also revealed he was "halfway" through writing a new Paddington story.
"I love writing about Paddington because he makes me laugh sometimes because he's so optimistic," he said, adding: "I shall carry on writing the books as long as I can."
Bond's creation has now been given the big screen treatment, and has been a hit at the UK box office.
The 88-year-old said he thought producers had "done a terribly good job with the film".
"What is very nice is it's terribly true to the spirit of the books," he said.
"I was a bit nervous about it in the beginning because if you've written about a bear called Paddington as I have for years and years it's like having a child - you're a bit nervous if he goes out in to the world and what's going to happen to him.
"But I shouldn't be nervous because he's got his feet firmly on the ground." | Paddington creator Michael Bond has written a new short story about the Peruvian bear. |
34,138,156 | Media playback is not supported on this device
The event will run from 7-18 September 2016 and will feature 4,350 athletes from 178 countries.
Over the 11 days of competition there will be 528 medal events taking place across 22 sports.
"Our aim is to build on the success of London 2012 and Sochi 2014," said International Paralympic Committee (IPC) president Sir Philip Craven.
"You could not ask for a more vibrant host city. Brazilians are huge lovers of sport."
A total of 3.3m tickets will go on sale on Monday to Brazilian residents, with 94% of tickets costing less than $23 (£15), while organisers hope to surpass the 2.8m tickets which were sold for London 2012.
Monday is a public holiday in Brazil and as part of the festivities, the city's Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas will stage two 100m races to find the world's fastest female and male Para-athletes with competitors including Ireland's visually-impaired four-time Paralympic champion Jason Smyth and American amputee sprinter Richard Browne.
The Games will feature the biggest number of sports with the inclusion of Para-canoe and Para-triathlon, while the IPC says more broadcasters will be showing the Games than ever before and they are confident of beating the 3.8bn who watched the 2012 Games.
The GB team is expected to have somewhere in the region of 250 athletes, with 93 slots already secured across 12 sports, but the final team size will not be confirmed until next year at the end of the sports' qualification periods.
The most recent qualifiers were the men's and women's wheelchair basketball teams, who secured their places thanks to their performances at the European Championships in Worcester, and the Para-rowing squad, who secured qualification for four boats through last week's World Championships in France.
Sailor Helena Lucas created history in April when she became the first member of the 2016 Olympic or Paralympic team to be selected for the Games.
The 40-year-old won gold in Weymouth in 2012 in the single-handed 2.4mR keelboat and will be aiming to be the first sailor to retain a Paralympic title.
The team won 120 medals, including 34 golds, in London to be third on the medal table behind China and Russia and the UK Sport target for Rio is to beat that total having invested over £72m in summer Paralympic sport over the current cycle.
Brazil finished seventh in the medal table in London - their best ever placing - with 43 medals including 21 golds and their athletes will be hoping for a big performance in front of a home crowd in Rio.
Craven believes the Games will have an impact not just in Brazil, where 50m people have an impairment, but across the whole of South America.
Already, Rio is improving accessibility while in July, Brazil president Dilma Rouseff announced new legislation with the Inclusion of People with Disabilities Act and confirmed additional funding for the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (BPC).
BPC president Andrew Parsons also believes the Games can bring huge benefits.
"I think the Games have to be a catalyst for change but that change is different from the Olympics," he told BBC Sport.
"When we speak about people with a disability or impairment we're talking about a diversity issue as well because we're trying to change the attitudes towards people with disabilities and who are different. This is something the country needs very much and I think intolerance is everywhere.
"You see this throughout the world, because people hate what is different, and I think the Paralympics has the potential to change the perception and respect the difference." | With one year to go to the start of the Rio Paralympics, organisers say they expect the Games to break records. |
29,687,938 | Bryn Parry-Jones will leave following a row over cash payments made to him in lieu of pension contributions.
The payments were judged by the Wales Audit Office to be unlawful.
However, councillor Jacob Williams claimed the pay-off includes £16,695 compensation for breach of contract over missed pension contributions.
Pembrokeshire council has refused to confirm the full terms of the severance deal agreed on Thursday under which Mr Parry-Jones will leave his job at the end of October.
He is the highest paid council chief executive in Wales with a salary of almost £195,000 plus benefits in kind.
But Mr Parry-Jones had been under pressure to resign after nearly 20 years in post following the Wales Audit Office report on his pension arrangements in January.
Police inquiries into the cash payments were launched but later dropped after no evidence was found of criminal offences.
In September the council set up a disciplinary committee to look at allegations about Mr Parry-Jones's conduct after members passed a vote of no confidence in him.
But Mr Williams said the severance deal meant those proceedings would stop, "denying the possibility of a conclusion".
He published details of the agreement on his website, and claimed Mr Parry-Jones would receive:
The Wales Audit Office said: "The Assistant Auditor General is currently examining the detail of the severance arrangements before deciding what, if any, further audit action to take."
Referring to the details published by Mr Williams, Pembrokeshire council said: "All members should be aware of their responsibilities under the Council's Code of Conduct." | The Wales Audit Office is examining details of a pay-off worth more than £330,000 to Pembrokeshire council's chief executive to quit his job. |
30,876,360 | Alex Nash, from Cornwall, was invited to the party just before Christmas.
An invoice for £15.95 was sent by his schoolfriend's mother Julie Lawrence, who said Alex's non-attendance left her out of pocket and his parents had her details to tell her he was not going.
Alex's father Derek said he had been told he would be taken to the small claims court for refusing to pay.
Alex's parents, from Torpoint, had accepted an invitation to the party at a dry ski slope in Plymouth, Devon, just before Christmas.
However, they realised their son was double-booked and due to spend time with his grandparents, which he did.
It is all but impossible that Ms Lawrence will be able to recover the £15.95 party "no show fee".
Any claim would be on the basis that a contract had been created, which included a term that a "no show" fee would be charged.
However, for there to be a contract, there needs to be an intention to create legal relations. A child's party invitation would not create legal relations with either the child "guest" or its parents.
If it is being argued that the contract is with the child, it is inconceivable that a five-year-old would be seen by a court as capable of creating legal relations and entering into a contract with a "no show" charge.
It's amusing to imagine what a children's party invitation seeking to create a contract might say: "I, the 'first party', hereinafter referred to as the 'birthday boy', cordially invite you the 'second party', hereinafter referred to as 'my best friend', to the party of 'the first party'.
His parents said they had no contact information for Ms Lawrence at that time.
They found the invoice in a brown envelope in his schoolbag last week.
Mr Nash said: "It was a proper invoice with full official details and even her bank details on it.
"I can understand that she's upset about losing money. The money isn't the issue, it's the way she went about trying to get the money from me.
"She didn't treat me like a human being, she treated me like a child and that I should do what she says."
In a short statement, Ms Lawrence said: "All details were on the party invite. They had every detail needed to contact me."
Mr Nash said he had been told he was being taken to the small claims court because he was refusing to pay.
The party was held at the Plymouth Ski and Snowboard Centre.
In a statement, the centre said: "We would like all our customers to know that this invoice has nothing to do with Plymouth Ski and Snowboard Centre.
"No invoices are ever sent out from the centre to private individuals. This is a disagreement between the two parents involved and the fact that the centre has been named on the invoice is fraudulent.
"When booking a party there is a small deposit to pay on booking, confirmation of numbers and final balance are due 48 hours before the party.
"On the extremely rare occasion that people don't attend parents are generally offered other activities in compensation."
Read more from the BBC Magazine on the politics of parties
Have you ever committed a kids party faux pas? Email [email protected] with your tale of breaking the rules | A five-year-old was billed for failing to attend a friend's birthday party - resulting in threats of legal action. |
33,746,126 | The incident happened on live TV, sparking claims of a fix and forcing the head of the lottery to resign.
During the broadcast the number 21 was shown on screen before it became the next ball pulled from the machine.
The Serbian State Lottery (DLS) said it was "pure coincidence", but prosecutors have launched an investigation.
Aleksandra Gudelj, the host of the draw, is among those being held by police, AFP reports.
The DLS said a "technical mistake" was to blame for the appearance of the number 21 on screen, as a 27 was drawn from the machine.
The next ball to emerge was a 21, but that was merely a coincidence, the company said.
Nobody won the €1m ($1.09m; £703,000) jackpot.
The national lottery, which is state-run, is hugely popular in Serbia, particularly among pensioners and the unemployed.
Police have seized the lottery machine, balls and computer software as part of the their investigation, according to local media reports.
Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said anyone involved in criminal activity would be "brought to justice".
"The path to prison is very short," he said. | Eleven people are being questioned by Serbian police after a television graphic appeared to predict a winning lottery number before it was drawn. |
36,023,444 | Girls, who are often drugged, were behind three-quarters of such attacks committed by the militant Islamist group in Cameroon, Nigeria and Chad.
It is an 11-fold increase with four attacks in 2014 compared to 40 the next year, including January 2016.
The change in tactics reflects the loss of territory in Nigeria by the group.
The seven-year insurgency which has mainly affected north-eastern Nigeria as well as its neighbours around Lake Chad has left some 17,000 people dead.
Unicef says up to 1.3 million children have been forced from their homes across four countries: Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria and Niger.
It is nearly two years since more than 200 girls were kidnapped from their school in Chibok.
It sparked the global campaign Bring Back Our Girls, but none have yet to be found.
'Boko Haram took my children'
Town divided by Boko Haram legacy
On patrol against Boko Haram
Who are Boko Haram? | Boko Haram's use of child bombers has increased over the last year with one in five suicide attacks done by children, the UN's child agency says. |
36,109,794 | Napoli needed to win to keep the title race going but Roma proved too difficult an opponent to overcome.
The hosts are now within two points of second-placed Napoli, who occupy the final automatic Champions League place.
Nainggolan's 89th-minute winner was a fine, curling effort from outside the box from Mohamed Salah's lay-off.
Roma legend Francesco Totti, whose future is uncertain, was a late substitute and was involved in the build-up to the goal on his 598th Serie A appearance. | Radja Nainggolan scored a brilliant late goal as Roma beat Champions League rivals Napoli - handing Juventus the Serie A title in the process. |
34,982,994 | The Connecting the Capital report features new crossings between Fulham in the west and Dartford in the east
TfL has launched public consultations on two of the crossings at Gallions Reach and Belvedere, both to the east.
The watchdog London TravelWatch said imposing a tolling regime would help regulate traffic and cut congestion.
If Transport for London's (TfL) plans are approved, the new crossings could be delivered by 2050.
The report is planning ahead for a city with a population of 10 million by 2030, up from 8.6 million.
Mr Johnson said: "By creating more links between the north and south of the river, we won't just improve day-to-day travelling across the capital, we'll unlock areas for development and create thousands of jobs and homes.
"From Fulham in the west to Dartford in the east, this is a vital package of crossings that will drive economic growth and get more people walking, cycling and on to public transport."
Click here to see the proposals for new river crossings between Fulham to Dartford
Most of the crossings will be in east London, which could see more than a third of the capital's total population growth.
Currently there are three road crossings and one bus route in the 14 miles (23km) between Tower Bridge and the M25.
A London TravelWatch spokesperson said: "It is important that they make effective provision for public transport and that local roads on either side of the river are accessible and safe for pedestrians and cycles.
"Any new river crossings must also have a tolling regime to ensure that they don't generate additional traffic and associated congestion."
The proposed river crossings:
Consultation is already under way on crossings at Gallions Reach, linking Thamesmead and Beckton, and Belvedere, which will connect Belvedere to Rainham.
It has not been decided whether these should be bridges or tunnels, but the aim is to boost walking and cycling links. If approved, the crossings could open by 2025.
London Assembly Green Party Member Darren Johnson said plans for mixed traffic Silvertown Tunnel, Belvedere and Gallions Reach should be reconsidered.
"London deserves better than toxic roads that will worsen air quality, jam the city up with traffic and distract the mayor from building decent links for cyclists, rail commuters and people who want to get around by foot." | Plans for 13 new London bridges and tunnels along the River Thames will "unlock areas for development", Mayor Boris Johnson has said. |
29,983,651 | But Labour and backbench Tory MPs accused ministers of breaking a promise for a vote on the warrant itself.
The debate ended early when Labour lost its attempt to use a rare Parliamentary procedure to postpone the decision.
Earlier, Commons Speaker John Bercow said people would be "contemptuous" of the government's tactics.
BBC political correspondent Carole Walker said there were "scenes of chaos" in the Commons chamber.
The government opted out of all 133 EU police and criminal justice measures measures in 2013, a decision that will take effect on 1 December.
However, ministers plan to rejoin 35 of the measures, including the European Arrest Warrant, before that deadline.
Supporters, including the government and law enforcement agencies, say the warrant is a vital tool to protect the UK and bring criminals to justice across EU borders.
However, critics - including some Conservative MPs - say the European Arrest Warrant is overused and a threat to the liberties of Britons and the sovereignty of the UK.
Commons clashes erupted after Mr Bercow ruled the debate and vote would not cover the arrest warrant.
Mrs May said only 11 of the EU justice measures needed to be voted on and "transposed" into UK law. But she told MPs the Commons' verdict on these measures would be treated as a vote on the whole package of 35.
The debate came to an end when shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper invoked a rare procedure to ask that the "question be not now put", asking Mrs May to come back with a motion which specifically included the warrant.
Faced with a potential backbench rebellion, Prime Minister David Cameron returned early from the Lord Mayor's Banquet dressed in a white tie, while other Tories were urgently called back to Parliament to take part in the vote.
When Mrs Cooper's motion was defeated by 272 to 229 - a majority of just 43 - the vote on the EU justice measures took place immediately, with MPs voting in favour by 464 to 38.
The government's approach was criticised by Mr Bercow and Conservative MPs.
"There is not today to be a vote on the specific matter of membership of the European Arrest Warrant," Mr Bercow told MPs.
The Speaker said he himself had expected a vote on the warrant, saying it was a "sorry saga" and that "the House should not be put in that position".
"A commitment is a commitment to be honoured," he said, "rather than trying to slip things through some sort of artifice".
He said the public expected "straightforward dealing and they are frankly contemptuous, and I use the word advisedly, of what is not straightforward dealing".
Q&A: European Arrest Warrant
Conservative MP Sir Richard Shepherd said the government's behaviour had been "sly", while fellow Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg called it "underhand".
Tory MP Bill Cash, who chairs the Commons European Scrutiny Committee, said: "This is a disgraceful way of going about a very, very important matter. It is tainted with chicanery, it is not the way this Parliament should be treated."
Despite the speaker's ruling, Justice Secretary Chris Grayling told the Commons the vote would be on all 35 of the EU crime and justice measures.
And Mrs May said the government was not legally required to bring the measures to the House. Transposing some into UK law would usually be done through a special committee of MPs, she said.
When the main debate got under way, Mrs May said she understood concerns over the warrant but said she had legislated to make it "better and safer".
Setting out the case to retain it, she told MPs more than 95% of people extradited from the UK were foreign nationals, including suspects wanted for 124 murders, more than 100 rapes, nearly 500 serious assaults and seven terrorism cases.
The home secretary said "harmful individuals" could walk free and escape justice without the "vital" regulations, saying the process had to be completed by 1 December to avoid an "operational gap".
But Mrs Cooper, who said she supported the European Arrest Warrant, nonetheless said Mrs May had presided over a Parliamentary "shambles".
"You have effectively said ministers are just going to make it up because the Speaker has been very clear that this does not include a vote on the European Arrest Warrant, you are just going to reinterpret it in any way you choose," she said. | The government has won its bid to sign up again to 35 EU justice measures - including the European Arrest Warrant - following a dramatic Commons vote. |
33,278,251 | Several hours of torrential rain brought trains to a standstill and rendered roads impassable in the Black Sea resort.
Sochi international airport had to be closed and a Formula 1 circuit in the nearby Adler district was flooded.
A state of emergency was declared but there were no reports of casualties.
"There's no water, no gas, no electricity. They say it could be back tonight or maybe tomorrow," Alla Atakyan, a resident of Adler, told Reuters news agency.
Footage showed residents with water up to their knees, one attempting to clear her property with a broom. In one village, a snake could be seen swimming through the floodwater.
Anatoly Pakhomov, the mayor of Sochi, told Russia's Interfax news agency that a state of emergency had been declared.
Sochi saw more than three weeks' worth of rain in an hour, environmental officials told Interfax, flooding the Hosta, Kudepsta, and Herota rivers.
Local authorities have reportedly warned that tornados may form off the coast and move inland.
The flash flooding follows a similar but worse episode last week, further south in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.
Severe flooding in the Georgian capital Tbilisi killed at least 19 people and caused extensive damage. Dozens of animals escaped from Tbilisi zoo, including a tiger which killed a man before being shot dead.
A zoo near Sochi was spared flooding on Thursday. Jeanne Zazina, Deputy Director of the Sochi zoo, said: "We are closer to the central area, not in the Adler. We are fine, no one swam away." | Residents have been evacuated from Sochi in Russia after flash flooding submerged part of the city that staged the Winter Olympics in 2014. |
15,472,100 | Writing in the Financial Times, he also predicts non-euro countries such as the UK, Poland and Sweden moving towards closer policy coordination.
David Cameron says he will review the balance of power between the UK and EU.
The prime minister also denied Labour claims the coalition is split on the issue of regaining powers from Europe.
His rebuttal came after opposition leader Ed Miliband said the prime minister "could not speak for the government" as he disagreed with his deputy, Nick Clegg, on how to proceed.
Mr Cameron joined other European leaders in Brussels for a crunch meeting on the eurozone debt crisis.
Meanwhile, in his FT article, Sir John - one of Mr Cameron's predecessors - says deeper eurozone integration "may encourage non-euro member states to seek to repatriate key policies they can't influence".
Sir John predicts a two-speed EU will emerge in which non-euro countries align themselves with each other, moving them away from nations which share a common currency.
He writes: "A more integrated eurozone will also provoke non-euro members of the EU by driving them further away from core decision-making... non-euro members will not wish to be marginalised and may sniff suspiciously at euro-core proposals, rendering decision-making even more of a hurdle.
"If the eurozone integrates and coordinates policy, non-euro members may co-ordinate too."
He goes on to say "outside [the eurozone], a looser union could emerge" and a "pattern of variable alliances is likely", leading him to conclude that "one thing is certain - the EU will not remain the same".
The former prime minister also turns his attention to the push for a referendum on the UK's membership of the EU, which garnered the support of 81 Conservative MPs in a vote in the Commons on Monday.
Sir John says "many are pressing for their nation to leave the EU", which he calls "an extreme option that would throw up far more problems than it would solve".
"For the UK it would be a dangerous mistake but, even so, our relationship within the EU will shift. Cool heads and clear minds are needed: our future depends on it," he says. | Former prime minister Sir John Major fears "confrontation" in the European Union as members in the eurozone "drift towards full fiscal union". |
35,856,986 | Media playback is not supported on this device | Wales boss Chris Coleman speaks to BBC Sport Wales after announcing his squad to face Northern Ireland ahead of Euro 2016. |
34,643,458 | Beckenbauer was the head of the World Cup organising committee, which reports allege made a payment to Fifa in return for a financial grant.
The 70-year-old said a Fifa proposal "should have been rejected".
Germany beat South Africa in 2000 to host the tournament six years later.
Beckenbauer added that he took "responsibility for this mistake".
Der Spiegel magazine reported on 16 October that an alleged slush fund of 6.7 million euros (£4.8m) was used to buy votes for Germany - an allegation denied by the German Football Association (DFB).
Beckenbauer denied sending "money to anyone in order to buy votes" in a statement on 18 October, but gave further details after being questioned on Monday by a law firm hired by DFB to investigate the claims.
"In order to get a subsidy from Fifa [for the organisation of the 2006 World Cup] those involved went ahead with a proposal from the Fifa finance commission that in today's eyes should have been rejected.
"I, as president of the then-organising committee bear the responsibility of this mistake."
Beckenbauer captained West Germany to victory as hosts at the 1974 World Cup, and was coach when they next lifted the trophy in Italy 16 years later.
He then managed Olympique Marseille and Bayern Munich, where he is now honorary president. | Germany's World Cup-winning captain and former coach Franz Beckenbauer has said he made a "mistake" in the bidding process to host the 2006 World Cup, but denied that votes were bought. |
37,586,444 | Ioan Lacatus pleaded guilty to six charges of human trafficking and exploitation.
He forced his victims to work up to 70 hours per week, sometimes for weeks on end without a break.
They were given only limited cold food and shared one toilet and one shower in a house in Portadown.
Sentencing Lacatus at Craigavon court, Judge Patrick Lynch said he was a "greedy, ruthless and manipulative individual", who used his intimidating size and threatening language to control vulnerable people.
The workers controlled by Lacatus were, he said, "subjected to degrading and humiliating treatment".
Lacatus' wife, Cristina Covaci, was given a suspended sentence for connected offences.
Her brother, Samuil Covaci, was given a conditional discharge because of the time he had already served on remand.
The judge said one of the Romanian victims had described their accommodation as "living like rats'' with limited showering and washing facilities and 15 people housed under the roof of a three-bedroomed house.
They were forced to "sleep on mattresses on the floor of every room'' and were told not talk to other workers or leave the house.
Samuil Covaci and his two brothers also lived at the house in Hanover Street.
He added that Lacatus had effectively "stolen'' around £1,000 per week from the agricultural workers who had come from a rural part of Romania with promises of "food, accommodation and €400 (£360) a week''.
On arrival in Dublin, the migrants had their passports taken, were required to sign transfer forms for wages to be paid into the slave master's bank account and sign a waver to the European directive on weekly working hours.
A prosecution lawyer previously told the court that on 13 August 2014, four Romanian nationals arrived at Portadown police station and complained about the conditions in which they were living at 241 Charles Street in the town.
They told police they worked for a gangmaster they called 'The Minister' - Ioan Lacatus.
The wages of the workers were diverted into the bank accounts of Ioan Lacatus and Cristina Covaci.
When they complained about the lack of warm food, Lacatus told them: "You can eat stones.''
The current occupants and owner of the house are not connected to this case, police said.
Det Supt John McVea, head of the PSNI's Human Trafficking Unit, said: "There is an assumption that most victims are trafficked into and around Northern Ireland for the purposes of providing sexual services.
"This is incorrect, the majority of victims are exploited for labour.
"The harrowing accounts of these Romanian victims should serve as an alarm call to everyone in our society that human trafficking is happening right under our noses.
"These victims lived in an ordinary street and worked in an ordinary factory. But they had to endure extraordinary deprivation.
"It is important that landlords, those running employment agencies and managing businesses, take steps to ensure any foreign nationals they have contact with are here legally and are treated in accordance with the law." | A "greedy" Romanian gangmaster who kept 15 people in appalling conditions in a house in County Armagh has been jailed for two-and-a-half years. |
35,738,617 | Kenny Jackett's Wolves were the better side before the break, twice forcing Blues keeper Tomasz Kuszczak, their former loan man, into saves.
Blues took over in the second half, as Clayton Donaldson, Jon Toral and man of the match David Davis all went close.
But it ended up goalless at Molineux for the second season running.
Blues are now four points off the top six in the Championship but Gary Rowett's side, so dominant on their travels earlier in the season, have now gone seven hours and 50 minutes since their last away goal.
The first half produced few chances, but Wolves went closest through midfielders Conor Coady, with a deflected shot, and George Saville, from Dominic Iorfa's cross - both of which drew saves from Tomasz Kuszczak.
The home side were lifted by the half-time introduction of Polish international Michal Zyro, but Blues boss Rowett countered with the more attack-minded introduction of the thrusting Jacques Maghoma and that turned the tide almost totally the visitors' way.
Blues had a possible case for a penalty when Wolves full-back Matt Doherty dragged at Donaldson, who then screwed his left-foot shot just wide as home keeper Carl Ikeme advanced.
Jon Toral wasted an even better chance, firing wide with his left foot from 10 yards, before the inexhaustible Davis turned superbly and wriggled into the box before unleashing a fierce right-foot shot which drew a great save from Ikeme.
Wolves have now lost just one of their last eight league meetings with Birmingham City, having gone nine without a win against them prior to that.
Blues have now failed to score on their last four league visits to Molineux.
It was Wolves' first clean sheet this year and only their second in 11 league games.
Wolves head coach Kenny Jackett:
"I felt that we were the better side in the first half and Birmingham were the better side in the second.
"Local derbies are very tight and the way that things went in the second half I am not displeased with a point.
"We stuck at it during the second period and made sure that we got a clean sheet. We haven't got enough clean sheets at home this season.
"We have worked hard on our goals against column. There are too many times, particularly at home, when we have been easy to score against."
Birmingham City manager Gary Rowett:
"It is still very much in the balance. There are a lot of teams up there and it is who can handle the pressure of having to win almost every game.
"I said at the start of the season that, if we can be in and around the play-offs with 10 games to go, then it would be an unbelievable achievement for us this season.
"We are and we haven't been out of the top 10 all season. If we can get a result from our game in hand then we are probably one win away from getting in and around the top six.
"After the international break we have three home games in a week which I think will be decisive. There is still a lot of football to be played." | Birmingham City's promotion hopes took a slight knock as they were held to a derby draw by West Midlands rivals Wolves at Molineux. |
28,772,478 | When Saddam Hussein built the dam three decades ago, it was meant to serve as a symbol of his leadership and Iraq's strength.
The dam is the latest key strategic battleground in northern Iraq between militants from Islamic State (IS), who took it on 7 August, and Kurdish and Iraqi forces supported by American airpower.
Located on the River Tigris about 50km (30 miles) upstream from the city of Mosul, the dam controls the water and power supply to a large surrounding area in northern Iraq.
Its generators can produce 1010 megawatts of electricity, according to the website of the Iraqi State Commission for Dams and Reservoirs.
The structure also holds back over 12 billion cubic metres of water that are crucial for irrigation in the farming areas of Iraq's western Nineveh province.
However, since its completion in the 1980s, the dam has required regular maintenance involving injections of cement on areas of leakage.
The US government has invested more than $30m (£17.9m) on monitoring and repairs, working together with Iraqi teams.
In 2007, the then commanding general of US forces in Iraq, David Petraeus, and the then US ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, warned Iraq's PM Nouri Maliki that the structure was highly dangerous because it was built on unstable soil foundation.
"A catastrophic failure of Mosul dam would result in flooding along the Tigris river all the way to Baghdad," they said in a letter.
"Assuming a worst-case scenario, an instantaneous failure of Mosul dam filled to its maximum operating level could result in a flood wave 20 metres (65.5ft) deep at the city of Mosul," it said.
Writing to Congress, President Obama cited the potentially massive loss of civilian life and the possible threat to the US embassy in Baghdad.
Those dangers, he wrote, were sufficient reasons for deploying air power to support Kurdish forces trying to recapture the dam.
Relief in Washington and Baghdad will only come when IS militants, who have sought control of water resources before, have been stopped from using the dam as an instrument of war.
The deployment of air power by the US in support of Kurdish forces has shown how seriously the White House takes the potential threat posed by IS control of the dam.
The Fallujah dam, in the Nuamiyah area of the city, in Iraq's western Anbar province, fell under IS control in February.
However, the group has so far failed in its attempts to capture the Haditha dam, Iraq's second largest, from the army.
The 8km-long Haditha dam and its hydro-electrical facility, located to the north-west of Baghdad, supply 30% of Iraq's electricity. Securing it was one of the first objectives of US special forces invading Iraq in 2003.
With the Mosul dam in its hands, the concern is that Islamic State could "flood farmland and disrupt drinking water supplies, like it did with a smaller dam near Fallujah this spring," wrote Keith Johnson in an article for Foreign Policy last month.
In May, a flood displaced an estimated 40,000 people between Fallujah and Abu Ghraib.
Earlier this month, IS militants reportedly closed eight of the Fallujah dam's 10 lock gates that control the river flow, flooding land up the Euphrates river and reducing water levels in Iraq's southern provinces, through which the river passes.
Many families were forced from their homes and troops were prevented from deploying, Iraqi security officials said.
Reports say the militants have now re-opened five of the dam's gates to relieve some pressure, fearing their strategy might backfire if their stronghold of Fallujah flooded.
In the days after they took over the Mosul dam, militants were reportedly blackmailing frightened workers to either keep the facility going or lose their pay.
Analysts fear the Islamic State could now use the dam as leverage against the new Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, by holding on to the territory around it in return for continued water and power supply.
The group already controls other key national assets - several oil and gas fields in western Iraq and Syria.
"These extremists are not just mad," says Salman Shaikh, director of the Brookings Institution's Doha Centre in Qatar.
"There's a method in their madness. They've managed to amass cash and natural resources, both oil and water, the two most important things. And of course, they're going to use those as a way of continuing to grow and strengthen." | Whoever controls the Mosul Dam, the largest in Iraq, controls most of the country's water and power resource. |
15,527,446 | The lively TV scene is dominated by free-to-air networks ABS-CBN and GMA. Some Manila-based networks broadcast in local languages. Cable TV has extensive reach.
Films, comedies and entertainment shows attract the largest audiences.
There are more than 600 radio stations. With around 100 outlets, Manila Broadcasting Company is the largest network.
The private press is vigorous, comprising some 500 newspaper titles. The most popular are Filipino-language tabloids, which can be prone to sensationalism.
Press freedom is guaranteed under the constitution. But violent attacks and threats against journalists are serious problems, says NGO Freedom House.
"The government has allowed unpunished violence against journalists, most of it politically motivated, to become part of the culture," the Committee to Protect Journalists has said.
By 2016 there were 44.5 million internet users (InternetLiveStats). Facebook and Twitter are the most popular social media platforms. | Powerful commercial interests control or influence much of the media. |
36,130,559 | Hamilton is 39 points behind Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, who has won all three races after problems for the world champion in all of them.
With 18 races to go, that is by no means an insurmountable challenge - but it is the effect it will have on the protagonists that makes the season so interesting now.
It is crucial that the Briton does not become frustrated and let the problems he has had get to him.
The key thing for him is to do what he does best - which is to qualify well and race from the front.
Hamilton's problem is that, even if he starts winning, if Rosberg just keeps picking up second places and the odd win when Hamilton has problems, it is going to take a long time to catch him up.
That gives the German something to play on - and he may well want to emphasise that comfort zone whenever he can.
But some statistics help keep things in perspective:
However, Rosberg is stronger and more comfortable than he has ever been before. He has six wins in a row now, dating back to last year's Mexican Grand Prix.
If he wins in Russia this weekend, he will be joint-second in the all-time list of consecutive victories with Alberto Ascari and Michael Schumacher, and he has a confidence and a feel about him that suggests he is in a good place right now.
Rosberg has a momentum that can take him on for another few races and I never liked allowing my team-mates that advantage.
Hamilton will come back I'm sure - but I reckon it will be harder for him than it was in 2014.
Another concern for Hamilton is that the competition faced by Mercedes is far stiffer than it has been for the past two years.
That can play in Hamilton's favour - if he wins and a Ferrari or a Red Bull can get in between him and Rosberg, he will close the gap faster. But of course it can work the other way round as well.
Mercedes say that they face a genuine threat from Ferrari - that the Italian team are every bit as quick as them but have just had three messy races. I'm sceptical about that claim; I think there is a bit of game going on.
Ferrari are closer this year than they were last, there is no doubt about that. But equally there is no question that the Mercedes is the best car - not only the fastest but also the most consistent. Mercedes have got that little bit in hand that makes all the difference - and that makes it hard to tell exactly how much faster than anyone else they are.
Yes, it has looked close from time to time over the weekends this year. But when it matters, bang, Mercedes have turned up the wick and put the car on the front row.
It looks to me as if they still have a 0.4-0.5 seconds advantage over everyone else and I suspect that if Ferrari do get to where Mercedes are, then Mercedes have the potential to take another step forward.
I believe Mercedes are talking up their rivals for two reasons: to take attention away from the fact that they are dominating again, even if not by as much as before; and to keep everyone in their team focused, so no-one sits back and relaxes and takes things for granted.
I've said it before, but to have a chance, Ferrari have got to qualify on the front row with the Mercedes and give themselves the potential to get among them.
When they do that, Mercedes are vulnerable. But it is easier said than done.
Everything was rosy at Ferrari last year following Sebastian Vettel's arrival and a big step forward in performance from a traumatic 2014.
As ever, you get a one-season honeymoon period, which is over now. The time since Ferrari last won a world title just keeps on getting longer and nothing puts the pressure on more than the big boss turning up, as president Sergio Marchionne did in China.
He made it clear it is imperative the team start winning. Marchionne is a businessman with a very hard edge to him and he needs to see a return on his investment.
There is no fear of Ferrari having the carpet pulled from underneath them. Nevertheless, Marchionne's presence in China, a huge market for their car sales, was a very clear statement - so it was a tad embarrassing, after showing good pace in qualifying, for the two drivers to crash into each other.
Vettel was very critical of Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat following that incident at the first corner in Shanghai but for me it was clearly Vettel's fault.
He did not see Kvyat coming until it was too late. The door was open - there was easily a car's width between the kerb and the Ferrari.
Kvyat was under a bit of pressure himself after two poor races in Australia and Bahrain, and being comprehensively out-qualified by team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in China too. He needed to start delivering. He stuck his nose in, was completely alongside, and Vettel sort of got caught between a rock and a hard place, with team-mate Kimi Raikkonen coming back towards the line after running wide earlier in the corner.
Kvyat was quite right to defend himself from Vettel's criticisms, which I suspect were founded in frustration at having the chance to challenge Mercedes taken away, and embarrassment at crashing into his team-mate in front of the Ferrari president.
Ferrari used more engine development 'tokens' than anyone over the winter - 23, leaving only nine for the rest of the season. They are also reputedly considering bringing an engine upgrade to Russia, which with their engine failures in Australia for Raikkonen and Bahrain for Vettel was not expected.
It is possibly a consequence of their realisation that they need to get some traction against Mercedes.
Red Bull are also looking threatening. The chassis looks good, the drivers are sniffing around the podium, and there is a big Renault engine upgrade due in Canada in June.
We will then see whether Mercedes' claims that the competition are close are true, or whether they then make another step forward. Which I suspect they will.
Progress from Ferrari and Red Bull means Williams are slipping back. We saw in the first races of the season that their race pace is not where it needs to be, meaning their chances of finishing third in the championship for the third consecutive year already look slim.
In the circumstances, this is not that surprising. Williams have limited resources compared with the top teams and they have to marshal them carefully.
They have to balance their efforts on the new regulations for 2017, which is a big technical change and a huge investment of manpower and finances, with their energies for this season and car development.
In their situation, focusing more on 2017 is a good plan, because an advantage at the beginning of a new set of regulations can pay dividends for two or three years. Any progress this year will only last for one.
Off track, Mercedes have reiterated their view that F1 is making a mistake in speeding the cars up for 2017 with new rules.
But the reasons why F1 bosses decided upon a wholesale change - which Mercedes initially backed - still apply. The argument for the rule changes was that the drivers needed to be challenged more and the cars needed to be faster and sexier, and back closer to the historic lap-time high of 2004-05.
Back then, drivers were in awe of the cars - and would be tested to their physical limits every time they drove them. That is not the case now.
Mercedes have pointed out that qualifying times this year are now back at 2004-05 levels. Well, that is partly true. In Bahrain, pole was the fastest ever, and in Australia it was just 0.3 seconds off.
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But it was not in China - there, pole was still three seconds off the fastest ever.
That was because Shanghai is the circuit on which power has the smallest effect on lap timeout of the first four races. The 2016 cars are making up much of their lap time on those of 10 years ago on the straights - where they are much faster. That is an impressive fact in itself. But they remain a lot slower in the corners.
And in the races the situation is even starker because of the need to manage the Pirelli tyres to such a large extent.
Comparing this year's race fastest laps to the fastest ever looks like this:
In other words, the reasons to change the rules and make the cars faster - so the drivers and fans are in awe of F1 again - remain as relevant as ever.
Allan McNish was talking to BBC Sport's Andrew Benson | Lewis Hamilton's difficult start to the season has set the 2016 World Championship up beautifully. |
31,844,388 | Armitstead finished second in the road race at the 2012 Olympics in London.
She told BBC Sport: "I think about Rio every day. Every day in training it's something that drives me forward. I want to be Olympic champion.
"I've got a lot of silvers. Second seems to be something I end up being. I don't want to be the bridesmaid forever."
Armitstead, 26, who finished behind the Netherlands' Marianne Vos at the London Games, also finished second in the 2010 Commonwealth Games road race before winning gold in Glasgow last year.
She is also targeting a road world title after admitting getting her tactics wrong at the World Championships last year and finishing seventh.
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Armitstead, a world champion and three-time silver medallist on the track, said: "A world championship medal on the road is something that I'm missing from my CV.
"I wouldn't be happy to retire until I've achieved at least a medal anyway."
The Commonwealth champion has admitted to finding it difficult to appreciate just how talented she is.
"To think that I'm one of the best in the world at something is still hard to get my head around," she added.
"I do have to give myself a kick and say - when I'm surprised at podium results - why am I surprised? I am one of the best in the world and it's a position I should get used to being in."
Armitstead won the overall women's World Cup title last season but said it was not a main priority to defend it this year.
She has started the season well, winning the Tour of Qatar, ahead of the first World Cup race the Ronde van Drenthe in the Netherlands on Saturday.
However it is the Tour of Flanders in Belgium on 4 April which is firmly in her sights. It is a tough course, partly over cobbles, and one that she is relishing.
"Flanders is an iconic race. When you win Flanders you're one of cycling's greats," Armitstead said.
"It's just a hard person that wins it. A Yorkshire lass should win it," she added. | British cyclist Lizzie Armitstead wants to shed her "bridesmaid" tag by winning Olympic gold in Rio. |
35,166,467 | Prices have fallen from more than $110 a barrel in the summer of 2014 to less than $37 a barrel now due to oversupply and slowing demand.
But Opec said oil prices would begin to rise next year and, longer term, would rise due to higher exploration costs.
It expects the market share of Opec producers to shrink by 2020 as rivals prove more resilient than expected.
The group currently accounts for about 30% of the world's oil production, down from 50% in the 1970s.
Part of the reason for this decline is the emergence of vast quantities of shale oil produced in the US. This has also been factor in pushing down the price of oil to 11-year lows.
In its World Oil Outlook report, Opec said it expected supply growth from US shale to slow dramatically next year, as producers struggled to cope with such low prices.
Opec's strategy this year has been to allow prices to fall by maintaining production in the hope that, eventually, US shale producers will be forced out of business.
Another factor in low prices, Opec said, was weaker economic growth, particularly in developing economies. It highlighted China, where the "economy seems to be maturing and growth is decelerating faster than previously expected".
The report also highlighted the "huge reductions" in spending on exploration and production by the industry as a whole due to low oil prices.
These cutbacks will ultimately see supply fall, it said, putting upward pressure on prices.
Another longer-term factor pushing prices up, Opec said, was higher exploration costs, as companies are forced to look harder for oil as traditional supply sources dwindle. Deep water drilling, for example, is considerably more expensive than drilling onshore.
Finally, Opec said population and economic growth would see demand for energy rise by almost a half by 2040, increasing demand for oil.
Opec was founded in 1960 by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
These countries have since been joined by Qatar (1961), Indonesia (1962), Libya (1962), the United Arab Emirates (1967), Algeria (1969), Nigeria (1971), Ecuador (1973), Gabon (1975) and Angola (2007). | Oil producers' group Opec has said it expects oil prices to recover to $70 a barrel by 2020. |
40,660,081 | The Care Quality Commission said there were 3,500 beds in locked facilities across the country, but it believes more people could and should get care in residential settings close to home.
The report said safety on mental health wards was another major concern.
NHS England said progress was being made with higher funding for care.
Claire Murdoch, head of mental health for NHS England, added that while there were reasons for optimism, improvements - in line with the priorities set out by the NHS five-year plan - were needed.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) looked at all specialist mental health services across England - inspecting NHS care and NHS services provided by the independent sector.
It said almost all services were rated as good or outstanding for having caring and compassionate staff and that there were many examples of excellent care.
But the report found several areas of concern.
CQC chiefs said in particular that locked rehabilitation wards (of which two thirds are managed by independent providers) did not provide the right model of care for the 21st Century.
They said some patients spent too long on these wards - with an average length of stay of 341 days.
And this leaves patients at risk of being institutionalised, with the end goal of being rehabilitated back into the community being missed, the report warns.
Dr Paul Lelliott, lead for mental health at the CQC, said: "We weren't expecting to find this many [locked rehabilitation beds].
"We can't say exactly how many of the people on these wards don't need to be in locked facilities, but we do suspect that quite a high proportion of people in these services could, and should be, moved back to be much closer to home and be cared for in residential settings that provide much more independence, and also be supported by community services rather than being in hospital."
Inspectors also said about a third of services needed improvement when it comes to safety.
And one in 20 were deemed inadequate for safety, meaning real and sometimes immediate concerns for patient safety, according to CQC chiefs.
Inspectors pointed to "old and unsuitable buildings" - for example buildings with blind spots in corridors where patients at risk of self harm could not be observed.
Adding to safety concerns were nurse shortages - with a 12% drop in mental health nursing staff between January 2010 and 2017.
Commenting on the report, Brian Dow, from the charity Rethink Mental Illness, said there was a huge level of commitment from people in the sector to deliver a high level of care but that there was an "awful long way to go".
He added: "There is fairly large number of services that the CQC says need improvement and that raises big questions about what is happening in this system.
"Is there enough money in there? Do we have the right kind of people able to deliver the care? Are people involved in their own care and are people supported and trained to deliver the care?"
Meanwhile, Ms Murdoch told the BBC she thought the report was a "really fair" assessment of the state of the nation's mental health services.
She added: "It sets out the fact that most providers of mental health care are now either moving towards the good category or are good and moving towards outstanding - so it is showing improvement. But quite rightly it also looks at what needs to improve next." | Too many patients are locked into mental health rehabilitation wards far from home, a review of England's psychiatric services suggests. |
39,923,783 | It plans to make anyone earning more than £80,000 a year pay the top rate of tax, know as the additional rate, which is 45p.
It is estimated that would drag another 1.2 million people into the higher tax bracket.
Currently, you have to be earning £150,000 a year to attract that 45p tax rate.
The Labour manifesto also pledges to reintroduce the 50p income tax rate on earnings above £123,000.
Labour says these plans would raise an extra £6.4bn.
However, Paul Johnson, the head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, is "genuinely uncertain" it would raise that amount.
Whatever the final figure, Labour's plan would leave the richest carrying even more of the tax burden.
The top 5% of earners already account for 47% of income tax, according to Revenue & Customs data.
And remember, the Scottish Parliament has some freedom to set its own tax rates and thresholds.
Only a tiny proportion of employees make more than £80,000 - according to the Office for National Statistics, it's just 4%.
So who are those big earners?
Well, the ONS collects that data in its annual survey of hours and earnings.
Not surprisingly, companies pay their chief executives and other senior executives extremely well.
According to the ONS, 40% of them will be earning more than £95,000 a year.
The finance industry is also well rewarded.
A quarter of managers and directors at financial institutions, such as banks, make more than £79,700 a year.
Many of the best paid jobs in the public sector are in medicine, including anaesthetists, consultants, GPs, radiologists and surgeons.
The top 40% in those professions can expect to make more than £79,000 a year.
Not as good but still very comfortable livings can be made elsewhere in the public sector.
About a third of senior police officers and a third of top officers in the armed services make more than £64,000 a year.
Finally, we should note the difference between wealth and income.
Wealth is a catch-all term for assets, such as property, shares and other investments.
It is possible to be wealthy without having a high income - imagine an elderly couple on a modest pension who live in a big house.
It is also possible to have a high income and not be very wealthy - imagine a young banker on a high salary who has not bought any property.
But generally the wealthiest people will also enjoy high incomes.
In some cases, they will take sophisticated advice on how to legally avoid tax, perhaps by holding their assets in offshore companies.
Read more from Reality Check
Follow us on Twitter | Under a Labour government the highest earners would be affected by higher taxes. |
30,116,319 | Issues include the update causing Nexus 7 tablets to run slowly and repeatedly crash, with several users complaining they had become "unusable".
The code also appears to remove apps built with Adobe Air and then prevent them from being reinstalled.
Adobe said it had not been aware of this "critical" bug before Tuesday and had escalated it with Google.
A spokesman for the search firm was unable to comment at this time.
Android 5.0 - also known as Lollipop - is described as a "quantum leap forward" by Google and has attracted several positive reviews, fuelling desire for the software.
It revamps the system's user interface, offers greater control over notifications, and makes changes to the way the OS executes code, which Google said should mean fewer "temporary glitches" than before.
At the moment, it is only available to a limited number of machines, because many network operators and device manufacturers have yet to complete their own tests.
However, owners of Nexus-branded machines - which are sold by Google itself - can install the software by downloading it from the firm's website or, in the case of the Asus-made Nexus 7, accepting an over-the-air update.
Nvidia, LG and Motorola have also released Android Lollipop updates for some of their handsets and tablets.
Dozens of messages posted to Google's own forums suggest that owners of the 2012 version of the Nexus 7, in particular, are experiencing headaches.
"Some apps won't work and some crash. I wish I didn't install the update," wrote Kristen Sawyer.
Another user, nicknamed StretchToo said: "Chrome is dead, unusable, Firefox just about works, the keyboard takes over a minute to load, nearly works if you hunt and peck but dies if you try to swipe."
Some tablet owners have, however, suggested potential solutions to such problems.
"Updated and the Nexus is [so] shockingly bad it is basically unusable, lags just rotating the screen, every task takes 10 seconds to perform if it does it [at all]," wrote Gary Looker.
"I've turned off Google Now, changed transitions to zero and limited it to two background apps maximum like the good people here suggested.
"I shouldn't have to do that, and many people won't know where to turn or who to listen to."
Several Android Lollipop users have also highlighted compatibility problems with Air-based apps.
Air allows developers to use Adobe's Flash and Dreamweaver tools to create software, and is particularly popular with indie video game makers.
Examples of titles that use the tech include Machinarium, Hero Mages and Empire Four Kingdoms, while non-gaming examples include Instaweather Pro and Conqu.
"We were previously unaware of this bug and contrary to other reports, were not working with Google on a fix," wrote Adobe product manager Chris Campbell in response.
"However, we are working with Google on another self-signed certificate issue that is impacting in-app purchases. It's possible the two are related, but we do not have enough information at this time to determine one way or the other.
"That said, we'll be escalating this issue with Google immediately."
Reports elsewhere suggest some users are experiencing problems with text messages, the way contacts are managed, and wi-fi connectivity.
Bugs in major software updates are not uncommon.
Apple apologised in September after faults with iOS 8 caused some of its new iPhones to be unable to make and receive calls, and also restricted their Touch ID functionality.
One expert said in general, there were benefits to waiting a few days after a release date before installing upgrades.
"With any software update it makes sense to watch and see if there are any teething problems," said Ian Fogg, from the IHS Technology consultancy.
"Consumers like it and benefit when their devices gain a new lease of life with new features - but they expect what they used to use to continue to work, and that can be tricky.
"What's striking about Android Lollipop is that it's reaching devices from more manufacturers, more more quickly than previous versions of Android.
"Motorola, LG and Nvidia have devices receiving Lollipop almost at the same time as Nexus devices.
"That has benefits to consumers who get it quicker... but of course makes it more complex for Google, which has to manage problems across a wider range of phones and tablets early on." | Early adopters of Google's latest Android operating system are warning others of problems with the software. |
32,356,252 | Lee Thompson, 42, bought the animals at a pet shop knowing his wife had a phobia about them.
He admitted behaving in a manner likely to cause fear or alarm at the house in Caulstran Road in May last year.
Thompson, of Portling, near Dalbeattie, was fined £710 for the offence at Dumfries Sheriff Court.
The court heard the couple had been married for 12 years but their relationship had broken down prior to the offence.
Ann Thompson then took legal action to have him removed from the house and within hours he went to the pet shop and bought the two rats.
When she returned with a friend to the house they found empty boxes from the pet shop with literature about caring for rats.
Fiscal depute Jennifer McGill said: "The wife has a deep-rooted phobia about rats, which he is well aware of."
It was a few days later that the scuttling was heard from the attic and rat traps were put down in the loft.
Ms McGill said: "The first night one of the rats was found dead in a trap and the following day the other was also discovered dead."
Solicitor Carolyn Priestley said the relationship had now resumed and the couple were back living together and working things out.
She said Thompson, who had been going through a period of ill-health at the time, now realised it had been "a stupid thing to do".
She added that the children of the family had been talking about rats as pets and this was partly why he bought them.
Sheriff Kenneth Robb dismissed the suggestion they had been bought with the children in mind and told Thompson: "This was a nasty piece of behaviour to get back at your wife." | A court has heard how a man whose wife took action to evict him from their Dumfries home retaliated by putting rats in the attic. |
38,755,178 | It is understood Ysgol y Parchedig Thomas Ellis in Holyhead was closed after environmental health officers visited on Monday and is due to reopen Friday.
The school is due to shut permanently this year to be replaced by the £10m Ysgol Cybi "superschool" in September.
Anglesey council said the situation would be monitored.
Ailia Lewis, lollipop lady and governor at the school, said the rat was spotted by a cleaner.
"The children are delighted that they're off... but these things happen and it's better for them to be away from the school.
"It's been a good school, there's been no trouble with rats in the past," she told BBC Radio Cymru.
Some parents on a Facebook page about the school initially seemed confused over why it had shut and claimed they had not been told the reason - though it is understood a text was sent to parents to let them know.
Others said the council had done the right thing and it was not the school's fault.
A council spokesman said: "Environmental Health officers visited Ysgol y Parchedig Thomas Ellis after staff saw a rat in the building on Monday.
"Treatment is currently ongoing, and officers will continue to monitor the situation over the coming days." | A primary school on Anglesey has been shut after staff spotted a rat in the building. |
40,611,899 | The sting on Mirza Beg at Bluewater Shopping Centre was streamed on Facebook and had almost 250,000 views.
Beg, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to a child sex offence at Maidstone Crown Court.
The 29-year-old was jailed for three years and three months.
He thought he was meeting a girl called 'Scarlett', who he had sent sexual messages to online, but it was actually a fake identity created by the The Hunted One group.
The court heard how the sting descended into violence as another group of people launched an attack on Beg, who arrived with condoms.
Judge David Griffith Jones said: "You plainly have a sexual interest in young children and a sentence of immediate imprisonment is demanded."
Prosecutor Tom Dunn said: "He sent 'her' pictures of him working in a Shisha bar. He told her that he loved her."
Beg also said she was his girlfriend and he would "teach" her about sex after their meeting on April 16.
On finding out 'Scarlett' was 14, he said "age doesn't matter."
Beg was stopped as he arrived at the bus stop outside the Greenhithe Marks and Spencer by Andy Bradstock, who had run the decoy account and other members of The Hunted One.
He apologised immediately but then a second group arrived and launched an attack on him.
Mr Dunn said: "It's clear that Mr Bradstock and those with him and those at Bluewater were trying to stop the violence on Mr Beg."
Beg admitted arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence when he appeared in court in May.
He has been placed on the sex offenders register and made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order, which will restrict his access to the internet and his contact with children under the age of 16.
Kent Police urged the public "not take the law into their own hands".
The force said: "All allegations are taken seriously but police time spent investigating incidents involving 'pretend' children diverts them from investigating the actual abuse of children.
"The chances of an actual child meeting someone they've met online and becoming a victim of this sort of offence is extremely low." | A man confronted by self-styled paedophile hunters as he prepared to meet who he thought was a 14-year-old girl has been jailed. |
34,350,697 | Richard Collins, 49, from Bedfordshire, broke his forearm after crashing near Tilbrook, Cambridgeshire, on Sunday.
Two 999 and two 101 calls were made between 16:00 BST and 18:15, but no-one arrived until 18:40.
He was eventually taken to Bedford Hospital in a Bedfordshire Police car.
"It was miscommunication, the left hand didn't seem to know what the right hand was doing," he said.
Mr Collins, a service engineer from Everton, near Sandy, was riding on the B645, near where the borders of Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire meet, when he crashed into a ditch to avoid oncoming traffic.
Mr Collins said a member of the public made the first 999 call at 16:00 and left shortly afterwards.
But when no-one had arrived by 17:15 he called emergency services himself and was told an ambulance and police car were on their way.
He then made further calls at 18:10 and 18:15, before a police car arrived nearly half an hour later.
"It was very painful and uncomfortable as my forearm was bent at right-angles," he said.
"I was being passed from pillar-to-post. Apparently there's been an apology, but I haven't received it personally.
"All the police forces need to look at their emergency call procedures, especially when dealing with cases on their borders."
A Cambridgeshire Police spokesman said investigations have since confirmed the incident did take place in Bedfordshire by a few metres, but stated "it remains clear that a better response should have been given by all three forces".
Bedfordshire Police has referred the matter to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
East Midlands Ambulance Service said it was asked to attend the call, which was outside its patch, but due to the high level of emergencies and because Mr Collins' condition was deemed non-life threatening, it could not respond "as quickly as we would have liked". | An injured motorcyclist stranded for hours in a ditch because three police forces could not decide which should attend said he was passed from "pillar-to-post" between emergency services. |
36,586,480 | Media playback is not supported on this device
On Saturday, 25 June people around the UK and around the globe will be showing off their handstands for the world to see.
To join in, post a photo or video of your handstand using #HandstandDay.
Need to brush up on your handstand skills? The Make Your Move how-to guide will give you all the tools you need to do your free-standing handstand. | As we prepare for International Handstand Day 2016 this Saturday, 25 June, we look back at some of 2015's best efforts. |
35,795,151 | Last year it was ruled Canon Jeremy Pemberton was not discriminated against when he was stopped from taking up a new post as a hospital chaplain after marrying his partner.
Mr Pemberton said the Employment Appeal Tribunal will hold a two day hearing.
The Diocese of Southwell has previously said it "remains engaged … in exploring questions relating to human sexuality".
Mr Pemberton, a hospital chaplain in Lincolnshire, was barred in 2014 by the then acting Bishop of Southwell from taking up a job for the NHS in Nottinghamshire.
It was argued he defied Church law by marrying his partner Laurence Cunnington.
He took his case to a tribunal claiming discrimination but it ruled in favour of the Church of England in November. A case of discrimination against Rt Revd Richard Inwood was also dismissed.
Mr Pemberton appealed the decision and said he will have a hearing "later in the year."
"I heard from the Employment Appeal Tribunal that they accepted my application for an appeal," he said.
"It's important to appeal because this is a test case and test cases need testing. The judgement given in the tribunal had some things my lawyers felt needed further testing."
The appeal will only consider legal arguments about the case and no new evidence will be heard. | A gay clergyman who lost an employment tribunal against the church said he has won the right to appeal the decision. |
39,180,176 | Alice Hooker-Stroud took the helm of the party in December 2015. She will be replaced by deputy leader Grenville Ham.
Ms Hooker-Stroud said that the lack of funding for smaller parties in the UK meant it was "untenable" for her to carry on in the voluntary role.
She said: "Parties that have a lot of money can do a lot, and those who have a smaller amount can do less."
Ms Hooker-Stroud, who will step down from the job at the end of March, said that because the party does not take funds from large businesses means members have the "biggest say".
"But it has contributed to my role being effectively a voluntary one, which for me has sadly become untenable," she said.
"The financing of political parties in general needs urgent reform so that politicians aren't just the mouthpieces for big business, and so that alternative voices are heard."
Mr Ham runs a not-for-profit engineering company and is a former Welsh Assembly election candidate.
He is standing in this May's council elections in Brecon. | The leader of the Wales Green Party has resigned from the post. |
37,422,902 | Media playback is not supported on this device
The 20-year-old swimmer from Co Down also won a silver to make her Britain's most decorated medallist in Brazil.
"It's so overwhelming and emotional to see everyone here - I didn't expect this whatsoever and I really am so thankful to everyone," said Firth.
Pupils from her old school were among those to greet her.
Sex and the City's Kim Cattrall was on the same flight from London, but even the arrival of a Hollywood star failed to divert the attention of the cameras awaiting the return of Northern Ireland's golden girl.
Firth was leapt upon by her most enthusiastic fan at Belfast City Airport - the swimmer's pet dog Russell sprinted across the arrivals hall and into her arms.
"I have been away from home for so long and training lots and lots and now I get time with him which is going to be so good," she added.
Bethany said she was delighted to be seen as a role model for aspiring Paralympians and she will soon be back in the pool, training for more glory.
"I really hope I am," she said. "If someone hadn't started me at such a young age I wouldn't be here so I just hope I can inspire others.
"It's a great sport and it brings you so much joy and you get to meet so many people.
"I never put a limit on what I can do, so I just can't wait to get going and see what happens."
Firth won gold in the S14 100m backstroke, 200m freestyle, 200m individual medley and was runner-up in the 100m breaststroke.
She also secured a gold medal at the 2012 London Paralympics. | Triple gold medallist Bethany Firth says it was an emotional homecoming as she returned from the Rio Paralympics to Belfast on Tuesday. |
34,135,172 | Evans, from Cardiff, admitted unlawfully wounding Michael Wilson after they had been drinking at a Gloucestershire pub for "several hours".
Mr Wilson spent four days in hospital following the incident last October with a broken jaw and a displaced nose.
Evans, 24, was told he could face jail and sentencing was adjourned.
He is the current Olympic silver medal holder at welterweight after he was runner up at the London 2012 Olympics.
Mr Wilson told the court he was "shook up still" and "frightened and nervous".
Judge Jamie Tabor QC ordered a pre-sentence report and bailed Evans until 12 October. | The Olympic boxer Fred Evans has admitted punching his cage fighter friend at a pub, a court has heard. |
25,977,215 | Tests in rats, reported in Stem Cells Translational Medicine, showed the human cells could restore some vision to completely blind rats.
The team at University College London said similar results in humans would improve quality of life, but would not give enough vision to read.
Human trials should begin within three years.
Donated corneas are already used to improve some people's sight, but the team at the Institute for Ophthalmology, at UCL, extracted a special kind of cell from the back of the eye.
These Muller glia cells are a type of adult stem cell capable of transforming into the specialised cells in the back of the eye and may be useful for treating a wide range of sight disorders.
In the laboratory, these cells were chemically charmed into becoming rod cells which detect light in the retina.
Injecting the rods into the backs of the eyes of completely blind rats partially restored their vision.
Brain scans showed that 50% of the electrical signals between the eye and the brain were recovered by the treatment.
One of the researchers, Prof Astrid Limb, told the BBC what such a change would mean in people: "They probably wouldn't be able to read, but they could move around and detect a table in a room.
"They would be able to identify a kettle and cup to make a cup of tea. Their quality of life would be so much better, even if they could not read or watch TV."
The cells might be able to help patients with disorders such as macular degeneration or retinitis pigmentosa.
Human stem cell trials are already taking place using material taken from embryos.
However, this is ethically charged and takes several months to prepare the cells. The Muller glia cells can be ready within a week.
Prof Limb commented: "They are more easily sourceable and very easy to handle in the lab so from that perspective they're better, but they do express antigens that could induce an immune response."
It means the donated cells could be rejected like an organ transplant.
The next step is to prepare the cells as a clinical grade treatment in order for human trials to begin.
The researchers believe it could take three years before such a trial takes place.
Dr Paul Colville-Nash, the regenerative medicine programme manager at the Medical Research Council, which funded the study, said: "This interesting study shows that Muller glial cells are another viable avenue of exploration for cell therapy in retinal diseases.
"It's not clear yet which approach will be most effective when these experimental techniques enter human trials, which is why it is important to progress research across all avenues in pursuit of a cure for sight loss." | Cells taken from the donated eyes of dead people may be able to give sight to the blind, researchers suggest. |
36,135,080 | Ravi Bopara was dismissed for 76 and James Foster made a 28-ball 36 as Essex added 90 to their overnight score, before declaring on 441-8.
Porter (5-46) and David Masters (3-27) tore through Northants as they slipped to 6-4 and 14-5, but Adam Rossington's 67 not out helped them to 119 all out.
Following on, Northants closed 174 behind on 148-4 as Ben Duckett made 58. | Jamie Porter's second five-wicket haul of the season has put Essex in charge over Northants. |
36,187,011 | Hoardings have been put up around Marland House - a rundown block of shops and offices which greets visitors at Cardiff Central railway station.
Work has started to flatten the building, along with the adjoining Wood Street NCP multi-storey car park.
The Central Transport Interchange will then be built in Central Square - the base for the city's new bus station.
It has been designed around an enclosed public concourse, with a large waiting area.
There will also be walkways to the adjacent railway station, a bicycle hub, shops and restaurants.
Cardiff council said the site perimeter would start going up around "eyesore" Marland House on Tuesday, followed by preparatory works for the demolition, which is scheduled to be completed later this year.
Pedestrian access to the train station will change while the building work is carried out, with council staff on hand to help commuters.
"The removal of Marland House is another important milestone in the progress of the Central Square regeneration project that is quickly delivering a modern high-quality gateway into the city," the council added.
Central Square's overhaul will include new offices and shops and it will also provide the new home for BBC Wales' headquarters.
Meanwhile, St David's House, near the Principality Stadium, is also scheduled for demolition in 2017. | Demolition work on one of Cardiff city centre's "eyesores" has started, paving the way for a major new transport hub. |
33,329,574 | The writer and broadcaster said: "There is a principle at stake here."
Sir Tim resigned from his honorary post at UCL after making comments about the "trouble with girls" in science.
UCL's president said there had been many calls to reinstate Sir Tim, but there were also many, including women in science, who opposed it.
In a statement earlier this week, Prof Michael Arthur said he "regretted" the "personal difficulty" Sir Tim had been through but his comments had struck such a "discordant note" that action had had to be taken.
Speaking at a lunch during a science conference in South Korea, Sir Tim had said: "Let me tell you my trouble with girls. Three things happen when they are in the lab: you fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticise them they cry."
He later told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he "was really sorry that I said what I said".
"It was a very stupid thing to do in the presence of these journalists," he added.
Dimbleby told the Times newspaper: "It is a big thing to resign from an honorary fellowship, for the individual who does it."
"It may be a matter of no moment to anyone else, but I'm proud of that role.
"There are times, though, where you have to say, 'Sorry, there is a principle at stake here.'" | Jonathan Dimbleby has resigned from his honorary fellowship at University College London, in protest over its refusal to reinstate Prof Sir Tim Hunt. |
36,482,208 | The 31-year-old Portuguese player joined the Owls from Charlton in July 2011 and has made 134 league appearances, scoring once.
However, he featured just 16 times for Wednesday last season as they suffered defeat by Hull City in the Championship play-off final.
Goalkeeper Lewis Price, 31, and striker Caolan Lavery, 23, have also been offered new contracts. | Sheffield Wednesday have offered a new deal to midfielder Jose Semedo. |
35,399,519 | If you have a picture you would like to share, please see below the images for details on how to submit yours.
If you have a picture you'd like to share, email us at [email protected], post it on Facebook or tweet it to @BBCEngland. You can also find us on Instagram - use #englandsbigpicture to share an image there.
When emailing pictures, please make sure you include the following information:
Please note that whilst we welcome all your pictures, we are more likely to use those which have been taken in the past week.
If you submit a picture, you do so in accordance with the BBC's Terms and Conditions.
In contributing to England's Big Picture you agree to grant us a royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to publish and otherwise use the material in any way that we want, and in any media worldwide.
It's important to note, however, that you still own the copyright to everything you contribute to England's Big Picture, and that if your image is accepted, we will publish your name alongside.
The BBC cannot guarantee that all pictures will be used and we reserve the right to edit your comments.
At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws collecting any kind of media. | Each day we feature a photograph sent in from across England - the gallery will grow during the week. |
38,220,810 | Media playback is not supported on this device
BBC coverage starts on Wednesday with the World Cup Dressage and ends on 19 December with the Olympia Grand Prix.
Britain's 2016 Olympic silver medallist Carl Hester is among those competing.
Triple Olympic champion Charlotte Dujardin will take part in a special retirement ceremony for her gold-medal winning horse Valegro on Wednesday.
Dujardin and Nick Skelton, who both won gold in Rio, will also feature in a parade of Britain's medallists from the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Viewers can watch live action from the Olympia Horse Show on BBC Red Button, via the BBC Sport website, app and on connected TVs.
All times are GMT and subject to late changes
Tuesday, 13 December
FEI World Cup Dressage
No BBC coverage today
Wednesday, 14 December
FEI World Cup Dressage Freestyle and Valegro's retirement
Media playback is not supported on this device
Watch: Valegro retires after London farewell
Rio silver medallist Carl Hester, riding Nip Tuck, will hope to repeat his winning performance at last year's Olympia.
Among the riders competing against him will be fellow London 2012 team gold medallist, Laura Tomlinson, who is taking part in her final competition before she goes on maternity leave.
Triple Olympic champion Charlotte Dujardin takes part in a special retirement ceremony for her Olympic gold medal-winning horse Valegro.
Media playback is not supported on this device
Thursday, 15 December
Puissance
The Puissance is a show jumping competition sometimes referred to as 'the big red wall'. The height of the jump is raised each round - if a horse knocks the jump down or refuses they are out. The highest jumping competitor wins.
20:55-22:15, BBC Red Button, BBC Sport website, app and connected TV
Friday, 16 December
Champions Challenge, Christmas Cracker and Olympic and Paralympic Champions Parade
In the Champions Challenge, two teams go head-to-head in a relay show jumping competition in aid of the Injured Jockeys Fund. Frankie Dettori and National Hunt champion Richard Johnson lead the teams while Olympic track cycling champion Victoria Pendleton also takes part.
Find out how to get into equestrian with our special guide.
The Christmas Cracker is a show jumping competition where all competitors with equal faults go forward to a jump off against the clock.
Dujardin and Skelton, who became Britain's second-oldest Olympic gold medallist in his seventh Games, plus three-time Rio gold medallist Sophie Christiansen head the Olympic and Paralympic Champions Parade
The evening also includes international displays from the Portuguese Lusitanos and Santi Serra as well as the Shetland Pony Grand National and the Kennel Club Dog Agility competition.
18:30-22:30, BBC Red Button, BBC Sport website, app and connected TV
Saturday, 17 December
FEI World Cup Driving Leg
Great Britain's Dan Naprous takes on world champion Boyd Exell from Australia for the title.
No BBC coverage
Sunday, 18 December
FEI World Cup Jumping Leg
London 2012 team gold medallists Scott Brash and Ben Maher will be joined by rising Team GB star Jessica Mendoza, as well as William Funnell, Laura Renwick and Anna Power.
13:30-16:35, BBC Two, BBC Sport website, app and connected TV
Monday, 19 December
Olympia Grand Prix
Reigning Olympia Grand Prix champion Michael Whitaker returns alongside his brother John to take on the likes of London 2012 gold medallists Scott Brash and Ben Maher.
The evening also includes international displays from the Portuguese Lusitanos and Santi Serra, as well as the Shetland Pony Grand National and the Kennel Club Dog Agility competition.
Live: 18:45-22:25, BBC Red Button, BBC Sport website, app and connected TV
Wednesday, 21 December
Olympia Grand Prix highlights
12:00-13:00, BBC Two, BBC Sport website, connected TV and app
Media playback is not supported on this device | The 2016 Olympia Horse Show takes place from 13-19 December in London and brings together some of the world's best dressage and show jumping riders. |
35,343,148 | The 40-year-old is the current bookmakers' favourite for the vacant Bristol City job following the sacking of Steve Cotterill on Thursday.
"I'm absolutely delighted here. The way it is at the minute, I'm in the middle of discussing a new long-term contract with the club," he told BBC Oxford.
"From that point of view, I couldn't be any happier."
Former U's CEO Mark Ashton was appointed chief operating officer at Championship side Bristol City on Saturday, having left his role at the Kassam Stadium last month.
Appleton has managed five clubs in less than five years and in January 2013 left Blackpool for Blackburn after just 65 days in charge.
"It's difficult to comment on rumours and speculation and that's exactly what it is," added Oxford chairman Darryl Eales.
"Mark emailed me just out of courtesy to say that he'd been appointed at Bristol City, but I would be utterly astonished if there's even any conversation going on between them and Michael Appleton."
Oxford, who remained third in League Two after Sunday's 2-1 defeat by Bristol Rovers, have also had to deal with rumours about the future of midfielder Kemar Roofe.
"I have had no phone calls or expressions of interest in Kemar Roofe or John Lundstram," added Eales.
"As far as I'm concerned no player is for sale." | Oxford United manager Michael Appleton is in talks about a new long-term deal with the League Two club. |
36,098,769 | Theresa May intends to establish an offence of "illicit enrichment" for cases where a public official's assets have increased significantly without satisfactory explanation.
It is part of a wider shake-up of measures to tackle money laundering.
But Mrs May said it was not a "knee-jerk" reaction to the Panama Papers.
She said the economy was "at risk of being undermined" by money laundering, illicit finance and the funding of terrorism.
Her new proposals - subject to a six-week consultation period being launched in the Commons later - plan to give the civil courts powers to impose new "unexplained wealth orders".
They would force suspected money launderers to declare their wealth, and those who fail to satisfy authorities will face having their property and cash seized.
The government described the plans as "aggressive" and "the most significant change to the UK's anti-money laundering and terrorist finance regime in over a decade".
Mrs May said: "The laundering of proceeds of crime through UK institutions is not only a financial crime, it fuels political instability around the world, supports terrorists and extremism and poses a direct and immediate threat to our domestic security and our overseas interests.
"We will forge a new partnership with industry to improve suspicious activity reporting, deliver deeper information-sharing and take joint action on enforcement.
"And we will act vigorously against the criminals and terrorists responsible, to protect the security and prosperity of our citizens, and safeguard the integrity of Britain's financial economy."
Under the reforms a new administrative power to designate an entity as being "of money laundering concern" is also being considered.
This would require those in the "regulated" sector - such as banks, legal and accountancy firms - to take "special measures" when dealing with them.
In October last year an official national risk assessment said that taken as a whole, money laundering "represents a significant threat to the UK's national security".
In November the anti-corruption body Transparency International UK said billions of pounds of "dirty cash" was entering Britain every year.
Reacting to the new proposals, the organisation's executive director Robert Barrington said: "There are some excellent ideas here, but the proof of the pudding will be in whether they are put into action.
"The powers that are envisaged could make a real difference and, while it is important they are properly debated in Parliament to allay any concerns over civil liberties, it is equally important that they are not watered down by self-interested lobbying during the consultation process." | MPs, councillors and civil servants suspected of corruption are to be targeted by a new law proposed by the home secretary. |
35,481,854 | The attempt was made to pull the 62-tonne tank over 100m (328ft) at Tidworth Garrison, Wiltshire.
The team pulled the Challenger 2 tank at approximately the same speed as the Mk1 tank moved over the Somme battlefield 100 years ago.
Judges will decide in March if a Guinness World Record record was set.
Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Nick Cowey said: "We got going fine but really had to work hard for the last 50 metres.
"As we were pulling down and legs were starting to tire, people had to dig in and started cheering each other on, the crowd were fantastic and we got there."
The idea was thought up by Warrant Officer Class Two Harley Upham to commemorate 100 years since the Army put in the order for the first Tanks which were known as land ships.
The RTR was formed by the British Army in 1916, making it the oldest tank unit in the world.
Source: British Army | Soldiers from the Royal Tank Regiment have staged an attempt to set a new world record as the first regiment to pull a Challenger 2 battle tank. |
34,915,013 | It follows the recent attacks in Paris and also in Mali, where 22 people were killed in a raid on a luxury hotel last week, couturier Alphadi said.
About 1,000 designers, models and celebrities were due to attend.
Niger is battling the Nigerian-based jihadist group Boko Haram in the south-east of the country.
Since February, hundreds of people have been killed by the Islamist militants in Diffa region, which borders Nigeria.
The last Fima show in 2013 was held under tight security amid fears of an attack by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
Alphadi, whose real name is Seidnaly Sidhamed, said the four-day festival would take place "very soon", without giving a date.
Apart from musicians and designers, footballers Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon and Ivorian Yaya Toure were expected for this year's launch which was due to take place at Niger's biggest stadium, the AFP news agency reports. | One of Africa's foremost fashion shows, the Fima festival in Niger, has been called off by authorities amid security fears, the organiser has announced. |
41,011,811 | Last season's Pro12 decider was held in the same venue, which has a 51,700 capacity, with Welsh side Scarlets defeating Munster.
The league has been expanded to include South African sides Southern Kings and Cheetahs.
Cardiff's Principality Stadium was also considered before Dublin was selected to host the match on 26 May.
BBC Sport understands the Principality Stadium pitch will have been taken up before the final, in preparation for hosting music events in the summer.
"Stadium availability always comes into focus as well and once we factored in event clashes in other countries then Dublin became the front-runner for 2018," said Pro 14 chief executive Martin Anayi.
"Aviva Stadium is a world-class arena and that is one of the top-ranking criteria when it comes to deciding upon the venue for our showpiece game.
"Dublin is a fantastic venue for rugby supporters who are used to coming here in the Six Nations."
The league starts on the weekend of 1-2 September, with champions Scarlets taking on Southern Kings in Wales. | The final of the inaugural Pro14 will be staged at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin next year. |
28,289,201 | Peter Humphrey and his wife Yu Ying Zeng, an American national, are charged with illegally obtaining private information, Xinhua news agency said.
The pair were arrested in August 2013.
Mr Humphrey's company, ChinaWhys, was hired by GlaxoSmithKline China, which is embroiled in controversy over alleged systematic bribery of doctors.
Prosecutors say the couple "illegally trafficked a huge amount of personal information on Chinese citizens" for profit, Xinhua reported.
They obtained this information by "secret photography, infiltration or tailing after someone", it said.
"Based on the information, the couple compiled so-called 'reports' and sold them at high prices to their clients, most of which are China-based multinational corporations, including GSK China," it said.
Local courts "will hold [a] hearing about the case soon", the agency added.
•December 2012 - Vivian Shi Wen dismissed from GSK
•January 2013 - Email sent to GSK boss alleging bribery, with sex tape featuring China chief Mark Reilly attached
•April 2013 - Peter Humphrey hired to investigate
•July 2013 - Police detain four GSK employees
•Mr Humphrey and his wife arrested for allegedly buying and selling personal information - no link made with GSK case
•May 2014 - Chinese authorities accuse Mr Reilly of overseeing bribery network
•July 2014 - China says Peter Humphrey and wife will be tried in secret
In a statement earlier this month, GSK said that its China operation hired ChinaWhys in April 2013 "to conduct an investigation following a serious breach of privacy and security related to the company's China general manager".
This is understood to relate to a sex tape said to have shown the general manager, Mark Reilly, who said the footage was filmed without his knowledge or consent.
The video was sent to GSK's London-based CEO Andrew Witty with an email accusing Mr Reilly of being behind systematic corruption in the company's China operation.
GSK suspected a former senior staff member, Vivian Shi Wen, who was dismissed at the end of 2012, had sent the email. ChinaWhys was also asked to find out how the video had been filmed and who was behind it.
Ms Shi has previously denied being the GSK whistleblower. Attempts by the BBC to reach her have been unsuccessful.
Mr Reilly is currently being investigated by Chinese authorities, as are at least two other senior GSK China executives. He is alleged to have pressed his sales team to bribe doctors, hospital officials and health institutions to increase sales of GSK products.
He is currently effectively detained in China, and has made no recent comment.
GSK has described the allegations as "deeply concerning".
"We are learning lessons from this situation and we are determined to take all actions necessary as a result," it said in the statement. | Chinese prosecutors have formally filed charges against a British man and his wife linked to the GlaxoSmithKline bribery claims, state media say. |
34,054,365 | Bangor University's dementia centre is leading the research, which is being run across three sites in Wales and England.
The sessions with participants include art appreciation and hands-on work and is being carried out over three months.
The works are going on display at Age Cymru's shop in Bangor from Wednesday.
The results of the Dementia and Imagination research are expected in 2016. | Art produced by people with dementia - as part of a research project into whether art can improve their well-being - is being exhibited. |
39,313,249 | Nat Wedderburn scored the only goal of the match after a mistake by Morton goalkeeper Derek Gaston.
The hosts pressed in the second half but found Pars keeper Sean Murdoch in wonderful form.
Callum Morris netted but the goal was disallowed for a foul by the Dunfermline defender.
Jim Duffy's side, who play leaders Hibernian on Wednesday, miss the chance to go second as they remain level with Falkirk and four points ahead of fourth-placed Dundee United while Allan Johnston's men are four above the relegation zone.
Morton were bright early on, Lee Kilday's header flying over the bar and Lawrence Shankland going clean through on goal only to be stopped by Lee Ashcroft's intervention.
But it was Dunfermline who went ahead. Kallum Higginbotham's corner was not dealt with at all by Gaston and Nicky Clark flicked the ball on to Wedderburn, who applied the tap-in and was booked for going into the crowd to celebrate.
Shankland was in on goal again following Mark Russell's pass but shot wide and Morton's Ross Forbes was booked for simulation in the Pars' penalty area.
Michael Doyle and Andy Murdoch were denied by Sean Murdoch as the home side searched for an equaliser.
And the Dunfermline stopper produced an impressive point-blank save to prevent Kudus Oyenuga scoring.
Gaston was also tested, doing well to keep Clark's effort out.
The Pars thought they had doubled their lead but Morris's header was chalked off for pushing.
It mattered little, though, as Dunfermline held on for the three points and bounced back from last week's home defeat by Ayr United while Morton can only reflect on a frustrating and disappointing day.
Dunfermline Athletic manager Allan Johnston: "It was an incredible record to go a full year unbeaten at home; it just shows you the consistency they've shown since the start of the season.
"Jim Duffy has done a great job here so we're delighted to come here and get the three points. The win is massive, but the work rate today was exceptional from not just the defence, but the midfield, the wide players getting back in, the strikers dropping back in, it was real team performance today."
Morton manager Jim Duffy: "It's extremely disappointing; a lot of aspects were below par. One or two individuals did ok but defensively I don't think we were anywhere near good enough.
"I think in midfield, the creativity was missing and up front I felt we lacked a spark. Credit to Dunfermline, they score from a mistake but overall, I don't think we can complain about losing that today.
"In open play I didn't feel we were quite calm enough in the final situation, and you've got to show that composure. That's the difference - top players show composure at key moments and I felt that when we got wide, we kind of rushed a cross, or scuffed a cross, things like that. Dunfermline deserved to win."
Match ends, Morton 0, Dunfermline Athletic 1.
Second Half ends, Morton 0, Dunfermline Athletic 1.
Attempt missed. Michael Tidser (Morton) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.
Substitution, Dunfermline Athletic. Joe Cardle replaces Paul McMullan.
Foul by Gary Oliver (Morton).
Jason Talbot (Dunfermline Athletic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Paul McMullan (Dunfermline Athletic) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Michael Doyle (Morton) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Paul McMullan (Dunfermline Athletic).
Substitution, Dunfermline Athletic. David Hopkirk replaces Michael Moffat.
Corner, Morton. Conceded by Paul McMullan.
Attempt saved. Michael Moffat (Dunfermline Athletic) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top left corner.
Attempt saved. Rhys McCabe (Dunfermline Athletic) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match Jason Talbot (Dunfermline Athletic) because of an injury.
Corner, Morton. Conceded by Jason Talbot.
Kudus Oyenuga (Morton) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Kudus Oyenuga (Morton).
Nathaniel Wedderburn (Dunfermline Athletic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt missed. Paul McMullan (Dunfermline Athletic) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right.
Attempt missed. Thomas O'Ware (Morton) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high.
Corner, Morton. Conceded by Sean Murdoch.
Attempt saved. Kudus Oyenuga (Morton) header from the right side of the six yard box is saved in the top right corner.
Attempt saved. Rhys McCabe (Dunfermline Athletic) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
Corner, Dunfermline Athletic. Conceded by Thomas O'Ware.
Thomas O'Ware (Morton) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Callum Morris (Dunfermline Athletic).
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Substitution, Dunfermline Athletic. Rhys McCabe replaces John Herron because of an injury.
Delay in match John Herron (Dunfermline Athletic) because of an injury.
Corner, Dunfermline Athletic. Conceded by Andy Murdoch.
Attempt saved. Paul McMullan (Dunfermline Athletic) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Michael Tidser (Morton) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by John Herron (Dunfermline Athletic).
Substitution, Morton. Kudus Oyenuga replaces Lawrence Shankland.
Foul by Mark Russell (Morton).
Kallum Higginbotham (Dunfermline Athletic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner, Dunfermline Athletic. Conceded by Thomas O'Ware.
Attempt missed. Ross Forbes (Morton) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.
Attempt blocked. Gary Oliver (Morton) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. | Dunfermline ended promotion hopefuls Greenock Morton's year-long unbeaten run at home with a narrow Championship win at Cappielow. |
15,351,898 | A French colony until the 1953, the power struggle which ensued between royalists and the communist group Pathet Lao also saw the country caught up in the Vietnam War. Communist forces overthrew the monarchy in 1975, heralding years of isolation.
After the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, Laos began opening up to the world. But despite economic reforms, the country remains poor and heavily dependent on foreign aid.
Most Laotians live in rural areas, with around 80% working in agriculture mostly growing rice. The state has made no secret of its huge hydropower ambitions and its desire to become the "battery" of Southeast Asia.
The government anticipates that by 2025 hydropower will become the country's biggest source of revenue. But neighbours Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia have raised concerns about the environmental impact of its dam building projects along the Mekong River
Population 6.4 million
Area 236,800 sq km (91,400 sq miles)
Major languages Lao, French
Major religion Buddhism
Life expectancy 66 years (men), 69 years (women)
Currency kip
President: Bounnhang Vorachit
Bounnhang Vorachit was appointed president by the National Assembly in April 2016. four months after being installed as head of the country's ruling Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP).
In his acceptance speech, the president said he would strive for "peaceful international policies, unity, friendship and cooperation".
He has since forged stronger relations with the United States, welcoming President Barack Obama on an official visit in September 2016, the first by a US president.
Mr Vorachit has held several senior cabinet posts including vice-president. As a teenager he joined the Pathet Lao armed movement which fought for Laos' independence.
The communist state exerts tight control over the media, owning all newspapers and broadcast media.
Estimates suggest that there are over half a million internet users and the number is rising.
In 2014, the government introduced strict new internet controls, making online criticism of its policies or the ruling party a criminal offence. The new legislation also demands that web users register with their real names when setting up social media accounts.
Some key dates in the history of Laos:
1893 - Laos becomes a French protectorate until 1945, when it is briefly occupied by the Japanese towards the end of the Second World War.
1946 - French rule over Laos is resumed.
1950 - Laos is granted semi-autonomy as an associated state within the French Union.
1953 - Independence restored after the end of French rule. Civil war breaks between royalists and the communist group, the Pathet Lao.
1975 - Pathet Lao - renamed the Lao People's Front - replaces the monarchy with a communist government.
1986 - Laos introduces market reforms.
1997 - Laos becomes member of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
2011 - New stock market opens in Vientiane.
2013 - Becomes a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). | Landlocked Laos is one of the world's few remaining communist states and one of East Asia's poorest. |
35,455,869 | Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a "creative solution" that would "unify the people of Israel".
Orthodox Jews voted against the move but said they accepted the decision.
Until now, in accordance with Orthodox beliefs, men and women have prayed separately at the Western Wall.
The decision was welcomed by the more liberal Reform and Conservative Jewish movements in Israel and North America and the group Women of the Wall (WOW), which has long held monthly prayers - upsetting the Orthodox leaders of the site.
A founding member of WOW, Anat Hoffman, called it an "historic day".
"We have been fighting for 27 years. We were single when we started; we are grandmothers now. And what we have done is liberate another part of the wall that will be open to all. It will be tolerant and equal and friendly," she said.
Shmuel Rabinowitz, the Rabbi of the Western Wall, said he received news of the decision "with a heavy heart and a sigh of relief", acknowledging the Wall had gone "from being a unifying site to one of incessant quarrels".
"The Western Wall will continue to remain open to any worshipper - man or woman - at all hours of every day, with respect and loyalty to Jewish tradition and Jewish heritage, as the Western Wall is the clear symbol of these," he said.
The new mixed-gender prayer area will be built beside the the current male and female prayer sites and will be managed by a separate committee which includes representatives of the Reform and Conservative movements.
The Western Wall is a remnant of the retaining wall of the mount on which the Holy Temples once stood, and is one of the most sacred sites in Judaism. Every year, millions of Jews from all over the world visit the wall to pray.
Correspondents say the dispute over the wall became a symbol of the greater tensions in Israeli society between ultra-Orthodox Jews, who abide by a very strict interpretation of Jewish law, and more modern elements of Judaism. | The Israeli government has approved the creation of a new prayer space for non-Orthodox Jews at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, allowing men and women to pray together. |
37,031,929 | 11 August 2016 Last updated at 15:22 BST
The 17-year-old is one of the youngest members of Team GB out in Rio.
Her three younger sisters, Lisa, Emily and Sophie, are supporting her from back home in the UK.
All three of them are interested in weightlifting too.
Lisa tells Newsround: "In our house it's really competitive - you can be having your breakfast and we're just trying to fit each other up!"
Rebekah finished 10th in the women's 69kg event on Wednesday.
Watch her sisters speaking to Newsround ahead of the competition. | The sisters of weightlifter Rebekah Tiler have been telling Newsround what life is like with an Olympic athlete in your family. |
34,880,051 | Scientists at Heriot-Watt University have been investigating how oil flows through the tiny pore spaces in otherwise solid rock.
They claimed the principle can be applied to the movement of blood.
They said this could be important in the treatment of cancer.
The work has won a Queen's Anniversary Prize from the Royal Anniversary Trust which recognises innovative work across different disciplines.
It was carried out by Heriot-Watt's Institute of Petroleum Engineering which has been focusing on experiments and computer simulation of fluid flow in porous media, such as rock and subsea surfaces.
Its director, Prof Dorrik Stow, said: "The Institute has developed mathematical models which demonstrate how oil, water and gas are transported through narrow pathways that form inside porous media.
"But it became apparent that similar modelling techniques could apply to work in the field of blood vessel development."
He said this was important because the of the way blood vessels develop around a tumour, making them less effective in delivering treatments to combat the disease.
The institute's work on oil flow could help scientists understand how anti-cancer treatments could more effectively target tumours.
He said: "Areas of mathematical biology, the dynamic modelling of blood capillaries and the subsequent simulation of intravenous chemotherapy and anti-angiogenic treatments (treatments which inhibit blood vessel formation), are initial areas where the institute's techniques have created a new strand of research, as all of these processes depend crucially upon the blood flow within the vascular network."
The Queen's Anniversary Prize for higher and further education was established in 1990, and is awarded to research which the judges believe demonstrate practical benefit to people in the UK and beyond.
Jo Johnson, UK Minister for Universities and Science, said: "The UK is a world leader in science and research and The Queen's Anniversary Prizes celebrate the achievements of our universities and colleges.
"The outstanding work recognised with these awards brings benefits to the everyday lives of millions of people in the UK and beyond."
Among the other winners at the ceremony held on Thursday at St. James' Palace in London were the University of Edinburgh for work improving the lives of patients with coronary heart disease worldwide and Edinburgh Napier University's research into innovations in UK timber construction which can reduce the carbon footprint. | A Scottish university has been awarded a prestigious prize for research linking oil exploration engineering with studies into the formation of tumours. |
37,239,256 | The children's charity submitted a Freedom of Information request spanning 2013-15 to police across the UK.
This showed 2,031 under-18s were reported for crimes linked to the possession, distribution, or production of indecent images of children.
NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless said children had to be educated about staying safe both offline and online.
The law states that making or sharing indecent photographs of anyone aged under the age of 18 could be classed as an offence - but there have been calls for recording rules to be adapted so children are not routinely criminalised.
The NSPCC sent the 45 police forces across the UK an FOI in May, and found the total offences of this nature recorded, regardless of age, were 4,530 in 2013, 6,303 in 2014, and 10,818 in 2015.
Not all police forces provided age breakdowns, but for those which did, there were 11,697 investigations where the age of the defendant was recorded and 2,031 were under the age of 18.
The charity also said that, of the 1,000 parents and carers from across the UK who took part in a recent online survey, only half of parents knew that children taking nude selfies were committing a crime.
Mr Wanless said recent advances in digital technology has fuelled an "explosion in the production and consumption of child sexual abuse images" that increasingly involves live video streaming.
He added: "As well as pursuing and deterring adults who make and distribute these we must educate children about how to keep themselves safe online and offline and how to get help as soon as grooming or abuse happens.
"And every child who is the victim of exploitation and abuse should get the support they need to rebuild their lives."
And he said that the internet industry must prioritise this issue by working with the public and voluntary sector.
In September, the BBC learned that a boy who sent a naked photograph of himself to a girl at school had the crime of making and distributing indecent images recorded against him by police.
The boy, aged 14, who was not arrested or charged, could have his name stored on a police database for 10 years. | More than 2,000 children were reported to police in three years over indecent images, the NSPCC says. |
37,641,599 | Robert Bull, 40, from Hornchurch, east London, and first officer Francis Simmonds, 46, from Luton, died when their plane came down last October.
Tests showed Mr Bull had a heart problem which may have led to unconsciousness or death.
Investigators said it was the "likely" cause of the crash.
The Beechcraft King Air 200, owned and operated by London Executive Aviation (LEA), had just taken off from Stapleford Airfield, Essex, and was heading for Brize Norton in Oxfordshire when it crashed just before 10:20 BST in a field near Chigwell.
More news from Essex
Mr Simmonds had been unable to take over and recover the aircraft in time to avoid the accident on 3 October 2015.
A post-mortem examination of Mr Bull found evidence of an acute dissection of a coronary artery.
The pathologist was unable to say whether the heart condition occurred before or after the crash, but said it could have impaired consciousness or even caused sudden death.
A report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch said: "If there is no other cause identified for the crash then it is both possible and plausible that this was the precipitating factor."
It concluded "on the balance of probabilities" it was "likely" the pilot lost control of the aircraft due to medical reasons. | A light aircraft crash in which two people were killed could have happened when the pilot suffered a heart problem, an investigation has found. |
26,177,787 | Borko Ilincic, 33, is accused of being involved in the spectacular 11m euros ($15m; £9m) robbery of a jewellery store in Dubai in 2007.
Spanish police said he was arrested as he tried to leave a hotel in a Madrid suburb in a rental car.
He was carrying a false Bosnian passport, though police said his real nationality is Serbian.
The Pink Panthers are an international band of jewel thieves, many of whom hail from the Balkans, who are known for their daring robberies and burglaries.
Interpol says the gang has stolen over 330m euros ($450m; £270m) of jewellery since 1999, and is linked to 340 robberies in 35 countries.
Many of the robberies took place in the French Riviera, but the gang has also struck as far away as Dubai, Tokyo, and London.
The Pink Panthers were given their name when police in London made an arrest in 2003, and found a diamond ring hidden in a jar of face cream - a ploy used in the original Pink Panther comedies starring Peter Sellers. | A suspected member of the notorious Pink Panther jewel thief network has been arrested in Spain. |
36,445,909 | The update to Surgeon Simulator by the British games designer Bossa Studios was released on to the online gaming platform Steam on Thursday.
Players win the game by successfully giving the Republican front runner a heart transplant, but they can also apply makeup, or add some Trump vodka, or Trump steak during the procedure.
Of the 23,195 'operations' carried out in the last 24 hours, only 5,460 have been successful. Unfortunately for Trump supporters, his avatar died the remaining 17,735 times.
Richard Earl from Bossa Studios said that game was designed to allow their fans to express their views on one of the most discussed politicians in the world.
"We have had 6,000 'votes' so far. 2,500 gold hearts vs. 3,500 stone hearts and over the past 24 hours it has remained a fairly constant 40/60 split," he said.
"Since our initial launch of Surgeon Simulator in 2013, this Donald Trump update has been our most popular so far."
On the company's Facebook page many fans asked if there would be further updates to include Democratic candidates or British politicians.
'It's been exciting to start with Trump," Earl said, "but we haven't yet made any decision on whether or not to include other politicians such as Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders.'
It's not the first time that game designers have been inspired by the American Presidential campaigns. In February, a Swedish advertising agency called Animal released TrumpDonald.org where members of the public could blow Donald Trump's hair off with a trumpet. Four months later more than 124 million 'Trumps' have been blown.
The Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders featured a video arcade game on his re-election campaign website while running for the Senate in 2006. The 74-year-old flies a by-plane while trying to avoid obstacles such as 'The Extreme Right Wing' and 'Mud Slingers'. The game does not feature on his Presidential campaign site, but is archived online.
Hillary Clinton, the front runner in the Democratic Presidential race, has not been turned into a video game so far. In 2005 she lead a legislative campaign to have violent video games banned.
Compiled by Hannah Henderson, BBC's UGC and Social News Team | A computer game allows gamers to perform heart surgery on Donald Trump and decide whether he has a heart of stone or gold. |
34,708,477 | The film will "document the journey from the moment in 1991 when Noel Gallagher joined his brother Liam's band" to their acrimonious split.
According to a statement, the film-makers have been given "unprecedented access" to the band and their archives.
Amy director Asif Kapadia has taken a production role on the film.
Mat Whitecross will direct, having previously made the Stone Roses' film Spike Island - a fictional story about a wannabe rock band who tried to get their demo tape into the hands of their idols at their seminal outdoor show near Widnes.
He also won acclaim for Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll, his whimsical, mischievous biopic of punk pioneer Ian Dury, with a head-turning central performance by Andy Serkis.
Amy broke box-office records on its release earlier this year, eventually becoming the highest-grossing British documentary of all time, with takings of £5.4 million.
Oasis's story is less tragic and much more convoluted. Initially called Rain, they were signed to Alan McGee's Creation Records in 1993. A year later their debut album, Definitely Maybe topped the charts - but the Gallagher brothers' fractious relationship was already a story.
In September 1994, Noel walked out of the band after Liam made offensive remarks about American audiences, hitting him over the head with a tambourine during a Los Angeles gig.
They reconciled to record the career-defining album (What's The Story) Morning Glory and, by 1996, were able to play two sold-out gigs at Knebworth, watched by 250,000 fans.
Over the next decade, the band scored eight UK number one singles, 15 NME Awards, five Brit Awards, nine Q Awards and four MTV Europe Music Awards.
But there was a constant backdrop of squabbles and in-fighting. Things eventually came to a head backstage in Paris in 2009, after a row about Liam's fashion business led to a violent dressing room clash.
Both brothers have continued to make music, with varying degrees of success. Last month, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' second record, Chasing Yesterday, won best album at the Q Awards. | A feature-length profile of rock group Oasis is to be produced by the team behind the record-breaking film about Amy Winehouse. |
35,376,436 | 21 January 2016 Last updated at 16:38 GMT
The object, which has been nicknamed 'Planet Nine' by researchers at the California Institute of Technology, is orbiting billions of miles beyond Neptune.
Watch Martin's report to find out more. | Astronomers in the United States say they may have discovered a new planet in the solar system that's about ten times bigger than Earth. |
40,109,823 | Norburn, 24, had been offered a new deal by the Silkmen after scoring five goals in 24 league games in 2016-17.
However, he has decided to join National League rivals Tranmere, whom he scored against in both legs of the FA Trophy semi-final in March.
The former Bristol Rovers and Guiseley player's deal until the end of the 2018-19 season is subject to a medical.
"Ollie is a player we watched closely last season and I'm pleased we are able to bring him to the club," Tranmere manager Micky Mellon told the club website.
"He fits into the type of player that we want to bring to Tranmere: he's young, hungry and ambitious."
Meanwhile, midfielder Lois Maynard has left Tranmere to join Salford City after scoring five goals in 68 appearances for Rovers.
Tranmere had been expected to offer new terms to Maynard after losing the League Two play-off final to Forest Green Rovers, but the 28-year-old decided instead to drop down a division and play for Salford, who finished fourth in National League North. | Midfielder Ollie Norburn has joined Tranmere Rovers from Macclesfield Town on a two-year contract. |
39,356,672 | The BBC understands contingency plans to ensure the "orderly failure" of the 150 year old bank are well advanced.
Co-op Bank customers will be protected whatever happens, but professional investors took a beating on Wednesday.
The bank has been looking for buyers since February and said it was "pleased" with the interest shown.
Its statement added that the sales process was "well-ordered" and it was "engaging with potential bidders as planned".
Some creditors saw the value of their bonds tumble to just 25% of their face value of the amount they lent the bank.
That is down from 50% just a week ago and bond traders told the BBC that indicates a 1-in-4 chance of the bank's survival in its current form.
The loss-making bank put itself up for sale last month, after saying it was struggling to earn enough money to mend its broken finances.
It recently reported an annual loss of £477m, bringing its cumulative losses over the last five years to more than £2.7bn.
The board is still insisting that its preferred solution is a sale of the entire bank, but the short list of buyers is getting shorter.
In an interview with a Spanish newspaper yesterday, the chairman of Sabadell, which bought the TSB from Lloyds, said acquiring Co-op Bank "did not fit our strategy at the moment".
The TSB had been widely seen as a potential buyer for the troubled bank and while sources close to the company had said that a transaction was "possible", yesterday's comments confirmed it was not a high priority.
There are other potential bidders, including Clydesdale and Virgin Money, but financial markets are rapidly reducing the odds on a sale of the bank as a whole.
If a sale doesn't happen, lenders to the bank - which include several American hedge funds - would be asked to write off the money they are owed in return for shares in the company. These shares would be hard to value given the parlous state of the company's finances after massive recent losses and the bank's self-confessed inability to earn itself out of trouble.
That trouble became apparent in 2013 when background checks into Co-op's own ability to buy what is now known as the TSB, revealed a black hole in its finances of £1.5 billion. It narrowly escaped bankruptcy back then by raising money from specialist investors which reduced the wider Cooperative Group share to just 20%.
Co-op Bank has been limping along since then with less shock-absorbing capital than the regulator thinks is appropriate for a four million customer bank and the Bank of England stands ready if other options fail. Ultimately, that could mean the dismantling of a 160 year old financial institution and the biggest financial rescue since 2009.
To be clear, we are not at that point yet.
Potential buyers have until 4 April to submit their bids for the company and there are the options already discussed to raise money after that date. Financial markets are betting heavily against Co-op Bank's survival in its current form, BUT the fact that its bonds are worth anything at all means some investors still think Bank of England intervention is avoidable.
Co-op customers have very little to fear as current accounts, personal loans and mortgages would be taken on by another bank if necessary and deposits up to £85,000 are guaranteed by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Customers of the ethically focused Co-op bank have been very loyal during a period which has seen big losses, branch closures and a drug scandal involving its former non-executive chairman, Paul Flowers dent the financial and ethical integrity of Co-op bank.
It may yet live to fight on, but the Bank of England is braced for its failure. | The Bank of England has placed the Co-op Bank under "intensive supervision" as survival options for the ethically-based lender dwindle. |
29,123,668 | 1917- Britain seizes Palestine from Ottomans. Gives support to "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine through the Balfour Declaration, along with an insistence that "nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities".
1920 - San Remo Allied Powers conference grants Palestine to Britain as a mandate, to prepare it for self-rule. European Jewish migration, which increased in the 19th century, continues.
1922 - Britain separates Transjordan from Mandate Palestine, forbids Jewish settlement there.
1939 - British government "White Paper" seeks to limit Jewish migration to Palestine to 10,000 per year, excepting emergencies.
1940s - Nazi Holocaust of the Jews in Europe prompts efforts at mass migration to Palestine. Jewish armed groups in pursuit of independent Jewish state fight British authorities.
1947 - United Nations recommends partition of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, with international control over Jerusalem and its environs.
1948 - Israel declares independence as British mandate ends. Admitted to United Nations.
1948-1949 - First Arab-Israeli war. Armistice agreements leave Israel with more territory than envisaged under the Partition Plan, including western Jerusalem. Jordan annexes West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, Egypt occupies Gaza. Around 750,000 Palestinian Arabs either flee or are expelled out of their total population of about 1,200,000.
1949-1960s - Up to a million Jewish refugees and immigrants from Muslim-majority countries, plus 250,000 Holocaust survivors, settle in Israel.
1948-1977 - Centre-left Labour Party dominates coalition governments, initially under Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion (1948-54). Promotes a self-sufficient, agrarian and secular Jewish democracy with a non-aligned foreign policy.
1956-1957 - Israel colludes with Britain and France to invade Egypt during the Suez Crisis, in order to re-open canal to Israeli shipping and end armed incursions by Palestinians from Sinai. UN buffer force set up in Sinai and Gaza, Israeli shipping allowed through Suez Canal.
1957 - Israel begins to build a large nuclear reactor at Dimona in the Negev desert, with French assistance. This becomes the basis for the country's widely-reported but officially unconfirmed nuclear weapons programme ten years later.
1961 - Trial in Jerusalem of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, whom Israeli agents kidnapped from Argentina.
The Six Day War was the second conflict between Israel and neighbouring Egypt, Jordan and Syria
Maps: How war unfolded
How 1967 defined the Middle East
1962 - Improving relations and concerns about the Middle Eastern balance of power prompt the United States to sell Israel missiles. When France halts arms supplies to Israel in 1966, the United States increases sales.
1964 - National Water Carrier completed, to carry water from the River Jordan to the Negev. Tensions rise with Arab neighbours over Jordan water allocations.
1966 - SY Agnon is joint winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Six Day War
1967 June - After months of tension, including border skirmishes, Egypt's expulsion of the UN buffer force from Sinai and its closure of the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, Israel launches a pre-emptive attack on Egypt, and Jordan and Syria join the war. The war lasts six days and leaves Israel in control of east Jerusalem, all of West Bank, Gaza, Golan Heights and Sinai. Jewish settlements are set up in all of these areas in coming years, with government approval.
1972 - Palestinian "Black September" gunmen take the Israeli team hostage at the Munich Olympics. Two of the athletes are murdered at the site and nine more killed during a failed rescue attempt by the German authorities.
The Olympic Games in Munich will be remembered for the murder of the entire Israeli team, killed after they were taken hostage by Palestinian militants
On This Day
1973 October - Egypt and Syria launch co-ordinated attack against Israeli forces in the occupied Sinai and Golan Heights in the Yom Kippur or October War. Israel prevails, but only after suffering significant losses. Public mood turns against dominant Labour Party.
1974 - Gush Emunim (Block of the Faithful) movement formed to promote Jewish religious settlements on the West Bank.
1975 - UN General Assembly adopts a resolution describing Zionism as a form of racism. Rescinded in 1991.
1976 March - Mass protests by Israeli Arabs at government attempts to expropriate land in the Galilee area of northern Israel. Six Arab citizens were killed in clashes with security forces. The events are commemorated annually as Land Day.
1976 July - Israeli commandos carry out a raid on Entebbe Airport in Uganda to free more than 100 mostly Israeli and Jewish hostages being held hostage by German and Palestinian gunmen.
Israel and Egypt ended 30 years of war with an historic peace treaty brokered by the United States
1978: Arab-Israeli breakthrough in US
1977 May - Menachem Begin's right-wing Likud party wins surprise election victory, partly by harnessing Mizrachi (non-European) Jews' resentment at hegemony of Ashkenazi (European-origin) Jews. Launches economic liberalisation, brings religious Jewish parties into mainstream and encourages settlements.
1977 November - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat visits Jerusalem and begins the process that leads to Israel's withdrawal from Sinai and Egypt's recognition of Israel in the Camp David Accords of 1978. Accords also pledge Israel to expand Palestinian self-government in the West Bank and Gaza.
1981 June - Israeli air force raid destroys nuclear reactor at Osirak in Iraq.
1982 June - Israel invades Lebanon in order to expel Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) leadership after assassination attempt by small Palestinian militant group on Israeli ambassador to London.
Israel's occupation of Lebanon in 1982 saw the expulsion of the PLO, and the massacre of hundreds of Palestinians in refugee camps
Video: Sabra and Shatila
BBC: Witness
1982 September - Massacre of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila camps in Beirut by Israel's Christian Phalangist allies. Government commission finds Defence Minister Ariel Sharon indirectly responsible and recommends his removal from office. Mass protests against massacre in Israel galvanise anti-war movement.
1984 July - Elections lead to a hung parliament and uneasy coalition between Likud and Labour, whose leader Shimon Peres alternates as prime minister with Likud's Yitzhak Shamir.
1984 November - Covert mass airlift of Ethiopia's Jews begins. Operation repeated in 1991.
1985 - Austerity programme tackles hyper-inflation and stabilises currency, introducing New Israeli Shekel.
1985 June - Israel withdraws from most of Lebanon but continues to occupy narrow "security zone" along border.
1986 - Former nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu reveals detail of Israel's nuclear weapons programme to British press. Israeli agents later abduct him, and he spends 18 years in jail before released under a regime of heavy restrictions on his right of movement and communication.
1987 December - First Intifada uprising begins in Occupied Territories. Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza forms Hamas movement, which rapidly turns to violence against Israel.
Israel faced the first real challenge to its authority when Palestinians rose up to remove the army from occupied land
BBC Learning Zone: Video
1988 September - Israel becomes one of only eight countries at the time to have capability independently to launch satellites with Ofeq reconnaissance probe.
1990 - Soviet Union allows Jews to emigrate, leading to about a million ex-Soviet citizens moving to Israel.
1991 January - Gulf War. Iraq fires 39 Scud missiles at Israel in failed attempt to regionalise conflict. Israel refrains from responding at US request.
1991 October - US-Soviet sponsored Madrid conference brings Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestinian representatives together for first time since 1949. Sets in motion talks to normalise relations. Yitzhak Shamir's reluctant participation, under US pressure, brings down his minority government.
1992 - Labour returns to power under Yitzhak Rabin. Pledges to halt Jewish settlement expansion programme, opens secret talks with PLO.
Negotiations in Oslo led to the mutual recognition between Israelis and Palestinians
History of Mid-East peace talks
1993 - Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat sign Oslo Declaration to plot Palestinian self-government and formally end First Intifada. Violence by Palestinian groups that reject Oslo Declaration continues.
1994 February - Baruch Goldstein of the extremist Jewish Kach movement kills 29 Arabs at prayer at Cave of the Patriarchs near Hebron on West Bank.
1994 May-July - Israel withdraws from most of Gaza and the West Bank city of Jericho, allowing Yasser Arafat to move PLO administration from Tunis and set up Palestinian National Authority.
1994 October - Jordan and Israel sign peace treaty.
1994 December - Rabin, Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres jointly awarded Nobel Peace Prize.
1995 September - Rabin and Arafat sign Interim Agreement for transfer of further power and territory to Palestinian National Authority. Forms basis for 1997 Hebron Protocol, 1998 Wye River Memorandum and internationally-sponsored "Road Map for Peace" of 2003.
1995 November - Jewish extremist shoots Rabin dead in Tel Aviv. Peres takes over as prime minister.
1996 May - Likud returns to power under Benjamin Netanyahu, pledges to halt further concessions to Palestinians. Nonetheless signs Hebron Protocol and Wye River Memorandum. Settlement expansion resumes.
1999 May - Labour-led coalition elected under Ehud Barak, pledges to move ahead with talks with Palestinians and Syria.
2000 May - Israel withdraws from southern Lebanon, although Lebanon disputes status of Shebaa Farms area.
Palestinians were furious when Ariel Sharon, whom they reviled, visited a key Jerusalem holy site in 2000. Violence escalated into the Second Intifada
Ariel Sharon's mark on history
Guide to holy sites
2000 July - Talks between Barak and Arafat break down over timing and extent of proposed further Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank.
2000 September - Likud leader Ariel Sharon visits Jerusalem holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Al-Haram al-Sharif - escalating Palestinian protests into new wave of violence.
2001 January - Failure of last-ditch efforts at restarting Israeli-Palestinian talks in Taba, Egypt, Barak loses elections to Sharon, who declines to continue talks.
2002 March-May - Israeli army launches Operation Defensive Shield on West Bank after spate of Palestinian suicide bombings. Largest military operation on West Bank since 1967.
2002 June - Israel begins building barrier in and around West Bank. Israel says barrier aimed at stopping Palestinian attacks; Palestinians see it as a tool to grab land. Route is controversial as frequently deviates from pre-1967 ceasefire line into West Bank.
Israel's construction of the West Bank barrier has been controversial
Palestinians keep up barrier protest
2003 June - "Quartet" of United, States, European Union, Russia and United Nations propose "road map" to resolve Israeli-Palestinian conflict, proposing independent Palestinian state. Israel and Palestinian National Authority both accept plan, which requires freeze on West Bank Jewish settlements and an end to attacks on Israelis.
2004 July - International Court of Justice issues advisory opinion that West Bank barrier is illegal.
2005 September - Israel withdraws all Jewish settlers and military personnel from Gaza, while retaining control over airspace, coastal waters and border crossings.
2006 January - Ariel Sharon incapacitated by stroke. He dies in 2014, never having emerged from a coma. Succeeded as prime minister by Ehud Olmert in April.
Israel has become a centre of innovation
How Israel became a high-tech hub
Intelligence unit drives hi-tech boom
Hamas Islamist group wins Palestinian parliamentary elections. Rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza escalate. Met with frequent Israeli raids and incursions over following years.
2006 June - Hamas gunmen from Gaza take Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit hostage, demanding release of Palestinian prisoners. Major clashes between Israel and Hamas in Gaza follow.
2006 July-August - Israeli incursion into Lebanon, in response to deadly Hezbollah attack and abduction of two soldiers, escalates into Second Lebanon War. Government faces criticism over conduct of war, which left Hezbollah forces largely intact.
2007 September - Israeli Air Force destroys suspected nuclear reactor in Deir ez-Zor, Syria.
2007 November - Annapolis Conference for first time establishes "two-state solution" as basis for future talks between Israel and Palestinian Authority.
2008 December - Israel launches month-long full-scale invasion of Gaza to prevent Hamas and other groups from launching rockets.
2009 January - Discovery of major offshore natural gas deposits.
Israel launched a major offensive to stop Hamas militants from firing rockets from the territory
Q&A: Gaza conflict
2009 February - Right-wing parties prevail in elections, Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu forms government.
2010 May - Nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists killed in clashes during Israeli boarding of ships attempting to break blockade of Gaza. Relations with Turkey approach breaking point. Israel apologises for deaths in 2013.
2010 September - Direct talks resume between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, only to falter over the question of settlements.
2011 Summer-Autumn - Rising prices prompt major protests. Government improves competition in food market and makes cheaper housing more available.
2011 October - Hamas release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for 1,027 prisoners in deal brokered by Germany and Egypt.
2012 March - Worst clashes since 2008 with Gaza-based armed groups, following Israel's killing of Popular Resistance Committees' leader Zohair al-Qaisi.
2012 May - Israel releases bodies of 91 prisoners and suicide bombers in "humanitarian gesture" to Palestinian Authority, intended to set scene for resumed talks.
2012 November - Israel launches week-long military campaign against Gaza-based armed groups following months of escalating rocket attacks on Israeli towns.
2013 March - Mr Netanyahu replaces most religious Jewish groups with centrist and secular parties in government after the latter's strong showing in January elections.
2013 May - Israeli and Syrian troops exchange fire as Syrian civil war reaches Golan Heights.
2013 July - Talks resume with Palestinian Authority under US auspices. Israel releases 104 Palestinian prisoners in "goodwill gesture". Talks scheduled to last nine months.
2013 December - Israel, Jordan and Palestinian Authority sign agreement to save the Dead Sea from drying up by pumping water from the Red Sea.
2014 January - Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom attends renewable energy conference in Abu Dhabi, leading a business delegation in first visit to United Arab Emirates since 2010.
2014 March - Mass protests by ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem against bill ending wholesale exemptions for religious students from military service.
2014 June - Israel responds to the kidnapping and murder of three Jewish teenagers in the West Bank by arresting numerous Hamas members. Militants responds by escalating rocket-fire from Gaza.
2014 July-August - Israel responds to attacks by armed groups in Gaza with a military campaign by air and land to knock out missile launching sites and attack tunnels. Clashes end in uneasy Egyptian-brokered ceasefire in August.
2014 December - Prime Minister Netanyahu dismisses Yesh Yatid and HaTnua leaders from government in dispute over tax breaks and controversial bill to reinforce Jewish nature of state, prompting early elections.
2015 May - Seven weeks after winning a surprise victory at early elections in March, Prime Minister Netanyahu forms a new coalition government. The main junior partner in the Likud-led coalition - which has a majority of one in the 120-member Knesset - is the right-wing Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) party.
2015 October - Spate of stabbing attacks on Israelis by Palestinians in Jerusalem the West Bank and parts of Israel raises tension.
2015 November - Israel suspends contact with European Union officials in talks with Palestinians over EU decision to label goods from Jewish settlements in the West Bank as coming not from Israel but from settlements. | A chronology of key events: |
19,257,876 | Those with the rarest blood group, AB, are the most vulnerable - they are 23% more likely to suffer from heart disease than those with blood group O.
The researchers do not know why this is, but are now looking at how blood groups respond to improved lifestyle.
The findings are published in an American Heart Association Journal.
The study also found that for individuals with blood group B the risk of heart disease increased by 11%, and for blood type A, by 5%.
Lead author Prof Lu Qi, from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, said: "While people cannot change their blood type, our findings may help physicians better understand who is at risk of developing heart disease.
"It's good to know your blood type the same way you should know your cholesterol or blood pressure numbers.
"If you know you're at higher risk, you can reduce the risk by adopting a healthier lifestyle, such as eating right, exercising and not smoking."
The British Heart Foundation stressed it is important that we all look after ourselves to reduce the risk.
Doireann Maddock, a senior cardiac nurse from the charity said: "Nobody can influence what type of blood they are born with but a healthy lifestyle is something everybody can have an influence over.
"Eating healthily, getting active and stopping smoking are the types of things you should be worrying about, not your blood type.
"While these findings are certainly interesting we'll need more research to draw any firm conclusions about blood type and its role in heart disease risk."
The study did not look at why different blood types appear to have different risks of heart disease.
Prof Qi said: "Blood type is very complicated, so there could be multiple mechanisms at play."
However, blood group AB has been linked to inflammation, which plays an important role in artery damage.
There is also evidence that blood group A is associated with higher levels of the 'bad' type of cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL), a waxy substance that can clog arteries.
While those with blood group O may benefit from increased levels of a chemical which helps blood flow and clotting.
The findings are based on two large US analytical studies - 62,073 women from the Nurses' Health Study and 27,428 adults from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. They were between the ages of 30 and 75 and followed for 20 years.
As this study group was predominantly Caucasian, the researchers say it is not clear if their findings would be reflected in other ethnic groups.
The work is published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, an American Heart Association journal.
The team is now looking at whether people with different blood groups respond differently to changes in lifestyle, such as diet, exercise, cholesterol intake. | People from blood groups A, B and AB are more at risk of heart disease than those with the more common blood type O, a study suggests. |
33,230,516 | He will appear opposite Hiddleston in a restaurant scene.
The book tells the story of a former British soldier who becomes embroiled in the arms trade.
It also stars Hugh Laurie, Olivia Colman and Tom Hollander and is the first television adaptation of a le Carré novel in more than 20 years.
Le Carre also made a brief appearance in a Christmas party scene in the recent film adaptation of his novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, starring Gary Oldman in 2011.
Filming started on The Night Manager this spring and the mini-series will be broadcast in 2016.
It will be a contemporary interpretation of the book in which Hiddleston will play British soldier Jonathan Pine.
He is recruited by an intelligence operative, played by Colman, to navigate the shadowy recesses of Whitehall and Washington and infiltrate the inner circle of an arms dealer played by Laurie.
The book has been translated into more than 20 languages and sold more than one million copies in north America alone since it was published in 1993. | Spy novelist John le Carre is going to make a cameo appearance in the BBC adaptation of his book The Night Manager starring Tom Hiddleston. |
36,939,943 | The dead man went into cardiac arrest after rescuers responding to reports of a drowning found him in the water off St Michaels Road, Stoke-on-Trent, at around 20:50 BST on Sunday, police said.
Two men, aged 29 and 35, are being held on suspicion of murder.
The deceased's name has not yet been released by police.
More on this story and others across Staffordshire. | Two men have been arrested on suspicion of murdering a man who died after being pulled out of a fish pool. |
37,182,988 | But what are they, why do people wear them, and why have they been banned?
Here's Newsround's guide to what's going on.
A burkini is a type of swimming costume that some Muslim women wear, which covers the arms, legs and hair.
To some Muslims, wearing clothes that cover these parts of the body is seen as a sign of modesty and of faith.
There are lots of different types of headscarves that Muslim women wear and some don't wear any.
A burkini is a version of these that can be used when swimming or on the beach.
It's called a burkini because it's a mix of the words 'burqa' - which is a type of Islamic clothing - and 'bikini'.
Some towns in France have banned women from wearing a burkini on public beaches or in the sea.
If they break the ban and wear one, they will have to pay a fine.
This is because in France religion is supposed to be completely separate from other parts of life in public.
This means that symbols of religion are banned in some public places.
Some politicians have now argued this should include the burkini.
Tensions have been high in France since a number of attacks by Islamist extremists and many people are arguing about the best way to respond as a country to what has happened.
Many people in France and in other countries think that it is not right to tell women what clothes they can and can't wear.
They say that it should be a choice whether to wear a burkini or not.
But others think that it is right for the burkini to be banned, as they say that it goes against the values and laws of France.
Some people also think that the burkini is a symbol of women's inequality to men in the Islamic religion. | Burkinis have been in the news because they have been banned on some French beaches. |
37,025,198 | Patricia Smith and Charles Woods, parents of Sean Smith and Tyrone Woods, filed a lawsuit against Mrs Clinton for wrongful death and defamation.
The suit claims the former secretary of state's use of a private email server contributed to their sons' death.
The parents also accuse her of defaming them in statements to the media.
Islamic militants attacked a US diplomatic compound in 2012 and killed four Americans, including ambassador Chris Stevens, while Mrs Clinton was secretary of state.
Though a House Republicans committee cleared Mrs Clinton of any wrongdoing earlier this year, the issue has dogged her presidential campaign.
The suit was filed on behalf of the parents by the conservative group Freedom Watch.
The parents, who have both spoken out against Mrs Clinton, argue her "'extreme carelessness' in handling confidential and classified information" on her private server may have revealed the location of State Department employees in Libya.
Those details, the suit argued, could have been obtained by "hostile adversaries" who may have hacked her server and ultimately led to their sons's deaths.
FBI director James Comey announced last month that it was "possible that hostile actors gained access" to Mrs Clinton's email server, but added the agency did not find conclusive evidence that it was hacked.
Chris Stevens, the sister of ambassador Stevens, told The New Yorker earlier this year that she did not blame Mrs Clinton, saying it was "inappropriate" to make the Benghazi attacks as a political issue.
"The Benghazi Mission was understaffed. We know that now. But, again, Chris knew that," she said. "It is not something they did to him. It is something he took on himself."
Hillary's Clinton's 'emailgate' diced and sliced'
Hackers for Hillary
The suit also claims Mrs Clinton made "false and defamatory statements negligently, recklessly and purposefully and/or intentionally with malice" in public statements.
The parents said Mrs Clinton blamed the attack on a controversial YouTube video mocking the Islamic prophet Muhammad, but later denied making those statements.
Nick Merrill, a Clinton campaign spokesman, said in response to the suit: "While no one can imagine the pain of the families of the brave Americans we lost at Benghazi, there have been nine different investigations into this attack and none found any evidence whatsoever of any wrongdoing on the part of Hillary Clinton." | The parents of two Americans killed in a 2012 attack in the Libyan city of Benghazi have sued Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. |
38,940,302 | The central defender powered home a header from Shaun Whalley's corner to seal a fourth successive home win for Paul Hurst's side.
Wimbledon applied much of the early pressure, forcing a number of corners, but chances were initially in short supply at either end.
Tom Elliott was first to threaten with an overhead kick off target for Wimbledon before Shrewsbury striker Freddie Ladapo's low 20 yard shot was comfortably gathered by visiting goalkeeper James Shea.
Wimbledon almost took the lead on the stroke of half time but a powerful 25 yard shot from midfielder Tom Soares cracked against a post.
The visitors struck the woodwork again early in the second half, Elliott denied by the bar from close range, and then home keeper Jayson Leutwiler had to be alert to keep out a shot from Soares.
Shrewsbury broke the deadlock in the 65th minute when a 25-yard free-kick by Tyler Roberts, on loan from West Brom, took a deflection on its way in.
Wimbledon were level within four minutes as Andy Barcham's low shot from 15 yards beat Leutwiler at his near post for the London club's first away goal in League One in nearly 13 hours of football.
But Shrewsbury had the final word with Nsiala's first goal for the club wrapping up three more points.
Report supplied by the Press Association.
Match ends, Shrewsbury Town 2, AFC Wimbledon 1.
Second Half ends, Shrewsbury Town 2, AFC Wimbledon 1.
Substitution, Shrewsbury Town. Adam El-Abd replaces Tyler Roberts.
Tom Elliott (AFC Wimbledon) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Goal! Shrewsbury Town 2, AFC Wimbledon 1. Aristote Nsiala (Shrewsbury Town) header from the centre of the box to the top left corner. Assisted by Shaun Whalley with a cross.
Corner, Shrewsbury Town. Conceded by Andy Barcham.
Shaun Whalley (Shrewsbury Town) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Darius Charles (AFC Wimbledon).
Gary Deegan (Shrewsbury Town) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Tom Soares (AFC Wimbledon).
Substitution, AFC Wimbledon. Tyrone Barnett replaces Lyle Taylor.
Foul by Tyler Roberts (Shrewsbury Town).
Jake Reeves (AFC Wimbledon) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Shrewsbury Town. Stefan Payne replaces Freddie Ladapo.
Tyler Roberts (Shrewsbury Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Lyle Taylor (AFC Wimbledon).
Attempt saved. Sean Kelly (AFC Wimbledon) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Attempt missed. Freddie Ladapo (Shrewsbury Town) header from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right.
Gary Deegan (Shrewsbury Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Jake Reeves (AFC Wimbledon).
Foul by Ryan Yates (Shrewsbury Town).
Lyle Taylor (AFC Wimbledon) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Corner, Shrewsbury Town. Conceded by Darius Charles.
Substitution, AFC Wimbledon. Dominic Poleon replaces David Fitzpatrick.
Goal! Shrewsbury Town 1, AFC Wimbledon 1. Andy Barcham (AFC Wimbledon) right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Lyle Taylor.
Attempt saved. Darius Charles (AFC Wimbledon) header from very close range is saved in the top right corner.
Corner, AFC Wimbledon. Conceded by Shaun Whalley.
Goal! Shrewsbury Town 1, AFC Wimbledon 0. Tyler Roberts (Shrewsbury Town) from a free kick with a right footed shot to the high centre of the goal.
Freddie Ladapo (Shrewsbury Town) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Sean Kelly (AFC Wimbledon).
Ryan Yates (Shrewsbury Town) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Jake Reeves (AFC Wimbledon).
Attempt saved. Tom Soares (AFC Wimbledon) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Attempt missed. Gary Deegan (Shrewsbury Town) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.
Sean Kelly (AFC Wimbledon) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Dominic Smith (Shrewsbury Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Sean Kelly (AFC Wimbledon).
Foul by Gary Deegan (Shrewsbury Town).
George Francomb (AFC Wimbledon) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Attempt missed. Darius Charles (AFC Wimbledon) header from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right. | Aristote Nsiala headed a last-minute winner as Shrewsbury boosted their chances of staying in League One by beating AFC Wimbledon. |
28,204,560 | The club has gone into a state of mourning following his death on Monday at the age of 88.
As current club president Florentino Perez noted in his emotional tribute, in a symbolic way, Di Stefano simply is Real Madrid. His presence looms so large that he came as close as anybody ever will to the status of being "bigger than the club".
Media playback is not supported on this device
But football history could have been different - very different indeed. Because when the magical Argentine forward first opted for a move to Spain, he appeared to be destined not for Real but their eternal rivals Barcelona.
The story of Di Stefano's transfer to Los Blancos is a fascinating and complex web of claims, denials, counter-denials and conspiracy theories involving five clubs in three countries. There are allegations of treachery, a mysteriously ripped-up contract and - possibly - the personal intervention of a dictator.
In the spring of 1952, Di Stefano was already a player of quite some renown. A 25-year-old Argentina international boasting an almost goal-per-game scoring record, he travelled to Spain for a friendly tournament in Madrid with his Colombian club side, Millonarios.
His performances were breathtaking, immediately prompting both Barcelona and Real Madrid to push hard for his signature.
Barca appeared to take an early lead in a race that was complicated immensely by the fact that Di Stefano's registration rights were also claimed by Argentine giants River Plate, who were still less than delighted about their star player's controversial (and perhaps illegal) move to Colombia three years earlier.
Nevertheless, with hard-nosed nationalist Catalan lawyer Ramon Trias Fargas leading the negotiations, Barca embarked upon slow but steady progress with both South American clubs. However they made what appears to have been a fatal error by underestimating Millonarios when they enlisted the help of another Catalan who was living in Colombia, Joan Busquets.
Busquets just happened to be a director of Millonarios' biggest local rivals, Santa Fe, and his presence at the bargaining table made the Colombian club suddenly reluctant to agree to the move - especially when Barca strangely submitted an almost derisory initial offer, which was promptly rejected.
Apparently believing that Millonarios were irrelevant and that River Plate were the only club they needed to do business with, Barca reacted to having their bid refused by essentially ignoring such an unwanted development.
Instead of taking the rebuffal seriously, they arranged for Di Stefano and his family to leave Colombia and flew them to the north-east of Spain, where he started to settle into life with his 'new' club and even played at least one pre-season friendly for Barca in the summer of 1953.
At that point, however, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) intervened by refusing to sanction the transfer on the grounds that Millonarios had not agreed to it. The RFEF dismissed Barca's complaints that the deal had nothing to do with the Colombian club, who the Catalans claimed had signed Di Stefano illicitly in the first place.
Barca refused to budge from their position that they had an agreement with River Plate, who they believed were the legal owners of Di Stefano's registration.
In the meantime, Real president Santiago Bernabeu had taken advantage of the uncertainty to reach a similar deal with Millonarios. An impasse ensued.
When the RFEF eventually reached its verdict in September 1953, it came to the startling compromise that Di Stefano could play for alternate clubs over the course of four years, starting with a season at Real.
Humiliated Barca president Marti Carreto was forced to resign and the interim board ripped up the contract, freeing Di Stefano to join Real for good on the agreement that Los Blancos paid back to Barca the 4.5 million pesetas fee they had already handed over to River Plate.
The rest, as they say, is history, but plenty of questions remain unanswered. Why did Barca fail to reach a deal with Millonarios? Why did the RFEF refuse to sanction Di Stefano's transfer when Fifa had already waved it through? And why then did Barca, if they believed in their case, tear up the contract rather than sticking to their guns?
The big underlying question is the extent to which Spain's ruler, General Franco, was involved.
Throughout the 1950s, Real were regarded by their (many) enemies as Franco's team or the 'Regime Team'. Although the extent of the dictator's meddling in sporting matters has probably been exaggerated, it certainly was true that he had dealings over the years with Real president Bernabeu and occasionally exerted significant influence upon the RFEF.
Any conspiracy theory carries unusual weight from such a politically explosive era. Strange as it sounds, there have even been unproven claims that one or more of Barca's negotiators were acting as double-agents for Real, deliberately sabotaging the deal to ensure Di Stefano eventually moved to the capital.
Even now, the circumstances of Di Stefano's arrival in Spain is an almost uniquely emotive topic.
Barca fans angrily believe their team was robbed by dark governmental forces. The club's official website bitterly bemoans "a strange federative manoeuvre with Francoist backing".
Real supporters bristle with indignation at the suggestion of underhand dealings and maintain they simply took advantage of Barca's sloppiness rather than enlisting the assistance of General Franco.
Whatever the exact truth of the matter, the end result was that Di Stefano did move to Madrid, making his debut in a friendly against French club Nancy on 23 September 1953.
A month later, the first Clasico of the season took place at the Bernabeu. Real won 5-0… and Di Stefano scored four. A legend was born. | Having been the brightest star in a team that won the European Cup in the competition's first five seasons, Alfredo Di Stefano is almost unanimously regarded as the greatest player in Real Madrid's history. |
23,012,012 | They said they should instead be helped to integrate back into society.
Bolivia's prison service said shutting down San Pedro prison in La Paz would put an end to "cocaine trafficking and other abuses" carried out by prisoners.
The decision follows allegations that a 12-year-old girl became pregnant inside the jail after being repeatedly raped by her imprisoned father and other men.
But a spokesman for the prisoners, Ever Quilche, denied the rape and said the girl was "fine".
"There is no proof that the girl was raped, mistreated or touched," he told the BBC.
"We are waiting for medical tests so that we can deny the allegation."
The girl, who ha been taken into care, was among several hundred children with no alternative but to live in the San Pedro jail while their relatives serve their sentences.
The minors share living space with violent criminals including murderers, rapists, gang members and drug dealers.
"We have been abandoned and we don't know what to do if the jail closes," Mr Quilche complained.
"We need jobs and education so that we can be reintegrated into society."
But the head of the prison service, Ramiro Llanos, said the alleged rape was "the straw that broke the camel's back".
"We have had enough of abuses being committed inside the jail," he told the BBC.
"We cannot control the police. They have orders to stop drugs and alcohol from entering the prison, but to no avail.
"So we will close down the prison altogether."
Mr Llanos explained that no more criminals will be imprisoned there from 18 July, and those already inside will be relocated or released in the next few years.
Originally intended to house around 600 inmates, San Pedro prison now has more than 2,400 prisoners.
Correspondents say the operation of the jail, in central La Paz, has been the subject of constant criticism for its poor infrastructure and overcrowding. | Inmates at Bolivia's biggest prison have said they are protesting against government plans to close the jail. |
37,198,629 | 26 August 2016 Last updated at 17:01 BST
Bus company TM Travel has begun fitting its vehicles with "anti surf" devices after the footage emerged.
Deputy general manager Paul Hopkinson said the products were being installed where there is "a high risk of this kind of behaviour".
The footage of two men clinging to a bus on Greenland Road, in Darnall, was published by Sheffield Online.
Mr Hopkinson added: "Whilst it may seem like fun at the time for these people, they are at risk of falling off and, more seriously, at a very high risk of being hit by other traffic." | Two men have been filmed clinging to the back of a moving bus in Sheffield. |
19,194,824 | The Welsh Music Publishers and Composers Alliance (WMPCA) claims the Performing Rights Society (PRS) changes cost the Welsh music industry £1.2m.
The campaigners said incomes from airplay had fallen by 85% since BBC Radio Cymru was classed as local radio.
A BBC spokesperson said it was "watching developments".
The prospect of a new royalty collection group representing Welsh musicians was first raised in 2010.
It followed changes in PRS payments which the WMPCA said led to a fall in royalties paid to Welsh artists from £1.6m in 2007 to £260,000 in 2009.
In December a group of musicians withdrew permission for BBC Radio Cymru to play their music for one day in protest at the lack of progress in resolving the dispute.
The WMPCA said it was concerned at the changes which it said treated BBC Radio Cymru as a local radio station paying 55p per minute of airtime, claiming it once paid the equivalent of £7.50 per minute.
Campaigners said composers and publishers in Wales would remain full members of PRS and would still receive royalties from the society for other rights, such as international use and live performances.
But UK broadcasting rights for around 50,000 musical works across a range of genres and periods would be assigned to an independent agency to be created in November, seeking higher rates of payment than under PRS.
Gwilym Morus, who is responsible for transferring the broadcasting rights from PRS to the new agency, said it would safeguard an important source of income for the Welsh music industry.
"It's incredible to realise the amount of music that's out there, and it's testimony to how productive composers and authors in Wales have always been," he said.
"It's clear that the new agency is the best way of ensuring that the industry can continue to be just as productive in the future, safeguarding incomes for individuals and companies, large and small alike.
"It means that we can be paid a fair price for our work, while continuing to receive the other PRS royalties."
Sain, Fflach and Ankst are among the major Welsh music publishers said to be joining the agency, along with artists such as Bryn Fon, Caryl Parry Jones, Gai Toms, Gwyneth Glyn and Meic Stevens, and bands including Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog, Yr Ods and Yr Angen.
The alliance plans to hold a meeting at the National Eisteddfod at Llandow, Vale of Glamorgan, on Friday at 16:00 BST to promote the initiative.
It was urging musicians to register with the new agency by mid-September to beat the annual deadline for renegotiating royalty payments.
A BBC spokesperson said: "We are aware that discussions are on-going between the PRS and the Musicians Alliance and, in the best interests of our audiences, we will be keeping an eye on any developments." | A group of Welsh musicians are forming their own agency to negotiate UK broadcasting rights following a five-year dispute over royalty payments. |
38,373,619 | In an unusual move, Mrs Foster said her words had not been cleared with Martin McGuinness.
Some politicians questioned whether she should have been allowed to deliver such a statement.
The first and deputy first ministers hold joint office at Stormont.
The DUP and Sinn Féin are partners in the coalition government in Northern Ireland.
The speaker, Robin Newton of the DUP, has been the subject of intense scrutiny over his links with the community organisation Charter NI .
On Monday, he faced down potentially mutinous MLAs who claimed he had breached standing orders, the provisions by which the assembly operates, by allowing Mrs Foster to continue with a statement on the 'cash for ash' affair after her executive partner said he did not want her to.
MLAs repeatedly asked him if the DUP leader was speaking in a ministerial or personal capacity.
Later, Mr Newton released a letter he had sent to assembly members acknowledging what he said were genuine frustrations and concerns in relation to the nature of the day's business.
He also said it would have been better had the assembly not been placed in this position by the executive office and he would be raising the matter with ministers.
Last week, Mrs Foster said she would outline a plan on how to recoup some of the money due to be paid out as part of the RHI scheme.
Opposition MLAs questioned why she did not present her plan to the assembly on Monday.
On Tuesday, DUP Economy Minister Simon Hamilton said he was "working very hard" on the plan with both Mrs Foster and Finance Minister Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, from Sinn Féin.
"In fact, the finance minister and I plan to meet later today to take our plan forward," Mr Hamilton told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.
"It is important that we take our time to develop a plan that is robust, that is resilient and that will, most importantly, work and achieve the aim of significantly reducing the cost of the RHI scheme to the public purse." | The speaker of the assembly has written to MLAs explaining his decision to allow First Minister Arlene Foster to make a statement without the support of the deputy first minister on Monday. |
26,818,112 | The Digital Paper tablet uses the well-known E-ink display and lets people write notes on and annotate the documents it displays.
Designed for office use, Sony said that the low-power device should work for three weeks without needing to be recharged.
The wi-fi using gadget will go on sale in May and should cost $1,100 (£660).
The tablet is the first to be built using a new version of E-Ink's display technology developed in collaboration with Sony.
All the earlier versions of the low power display are built on glass substrates making them heavy and relatively thick. The new type of display, called Mobius, is built on plastic, making it about half the weight of one made using glass. The screen has a 1200 x 1600 resolution dot display.
The tablet displays documents in the Adobe PDF format and these can be written upon using the gadget's stylus. Documents prepared in other formats are converted to PDF before being displayed.
Despite being a touchscreen the device also retains some of the properties of paper and allows a user to rest their hand on the display while they write.
It has 4GB of internal storage that can be supplemented using micro SD memory cards.
A prototype of the Digital Paper tablet was shown off in May 2013 in demonstrations that emphasised the flexibility of its screen. However, the tablet being released in May is rigid as it has a plastic case. Publicity material provided by Sony suggests versions that retain their flexibility are in development. | Sony has unveiled a tablet barely 7mm thick that is built around an A4-sized touchscreen made of electronic paper. |
40,796,581 | That is how Brian Lenehan describes playing tennis for blind and visually impaired people, which is being offered for the first time in Northern Ireland at Windsor Tennis Club in south Belfast.
Brian is partially sighted after his vision was badly damaged following a collision with a goalkeeper in a game of Gaelic football.
He now has a condition called neuromyelitis optica which means he has virtually no central vision although he retains some peripheral sight.
As a person who regarded sport as a big part of his life before the accident, Brian said Blind VI (visually impaired) tennis has become very important to him.
"When my sight went, it was human instinct to say - 'that's it, everything is finished'.
"To try and get out of that, you need to experience different sports, but you need to do so in the right environment, a safe environment with coaches who know your situation, and who you trust."
The main differences in the game are a larger-sized tennis ball, which rattles to allow players to track it, and the number of bounces allowed.
The size of the court is also altered to about half that of a full tennis court.
The scheme began when Disability Sports NI approached Windsor Tennis Club last year.
It has been so successful that there are now 14 players who are split into two groups.
Simon McFarland, director of tennis at the club, said it was a tough game to play.
"The players have to really listen out for the ball. Tracking it is the most important part rather than hitting it. Hitting the ball is actually quite easy for them."
Torie Tennant is blind and travels from Ballymena to Windsor once a week with her guide dog, Ushi.
"It is fantastic craic. It is great to be involved in a sport that is so inclusive," she said
For Deborah Shaw the experience has changed the way she feels about sport and keeping fit. She has had poor vision since birth and her eyesight has deteriorated further.
"When I was at school I hated sports and was always the last person to be picked for team games. When we did netball I actually ran away from the ball rather than towards it.
"This, with the support from Simon and the supporters, has really given me a new lease of life. I'm just buzzing about it."
Judith Brennan from Disability Sports NI said the organisation hoped to be able to roll out the project further, as they can see the benefits for those who are taking part.
"It is a big social outlet for people - as well as getting active it is a big confidence builder.
"I think we could always do better but I think we are doing a good job in terms of targeting the right people. It can be very difficult for people with sight loss because maybe they can't use social media, there are little barriers there - but that's part of my job to cancel that out and make everything inclusive."
Brian Lenehan is aiming high with the goal of taking part in the international blind tennis championships next year.
"Once I started playing my first game I just knew - this was for me," he said. | "Everything about the game is fantastic - it's given me my sport back" |
39,247,440 | The tourists were unable to add to their overnight lead of 191 as play was abandoned shortly after lunch.
New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor has been ruled out of the second Test in Wellington with a calf injury, with Neil Broom in line to make his debut.
Bowler Trent Boult will be monitored in the build-up to the game, which starts on 16 March, as he has a hip problem.
Taylor could return for the final Test of the three-match series in Hamilton, which begins on 25 March. | New Zealand drew their first Test with South Africa in Dunedin as heavy rain washed out the entire final day. |
35,449,820 | Essex Police had a call about an Audi RS3 being driven erratically at Wickham Bishops near Witham on Friday evening.
Shortly after the police car began its pursuit, the driver lost control, hit a telegraph pole and crashed into the field off Maldon Road.
The two male officers inside the car had minor injuries. The Audi has yet to be located.
Essex Police said the Audi was believed to have been stolen from Allectus Way in Witham on Friday evening.
The squad car, which crashed at 18:45 GMT, contained a police constable in his 30s and a special constable in his late teens, Essex Police said.
Special Inspector Jo van Zanten tweeted photographs of the crashed car and called it "a lucky escape for two Braintree officers". | A police car has ended up on its roof in a field while it was chasing a car which was believed to have been stolen. |
37,054,247 | The Rio 400m freestyle silver medallist, 25, finished in eight minutes, 19.7 seconds.
Compatriots James Guy, 20, and Ben Proud, 21, qualified for semi-finals in the men's 100m butterfly and 50m freestyle respectively.
Proud and Guy will compete in the semi-finals in the early hours of Friday - the action starts from 02:03 BST.
American Katie Ledecky set an Olympic record of eight minutes, 12.86 seconds in her women's 800m freestyle heat to beat the record set by Briton Rebecca Adlington at Beijing 2008.
Ledecky, 19, is the defending Olympic champion and is looking to add to her four medals already won in Brazil.
A silver medal in the 4x100m freestyle relay was followed up by gold medals in the women's 200m and 400m freestyle, as well as the 4x200m relay.
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox. | Great Britain's Jazz Carlin qualified for the Friday's 800m freestyle final as she finished third in her heat. |
39,435,936 | Some of the stories and eye-witness accounts are horrific. US General Stephen Townsend - who heads the campaign against IS - has described the fighting there as "the most significant urban combat to take place since World War Two".
Much of the attention is focussing on an episode in Mosul in which a strike on a building - which the US military authorities have now pretty well accepted that they hit - precipitated the collapse of the whole structure, with the loss of dozens or perhaps even hundreds of lives.
A senior US Air Force general has been put in charge of the inquiry into what happened and US personnel have visited the site to take samples. But already Gen Townsend has insisted that "the munition[s] that we used should not have collapsed an entire building".
All sorts of theories are suggested as to what might have happened. Iraqi sources are quoted as saying that IS had gathered people together in the building as human shields. Maybe - as in other cases - the structure was rigged with explosives that were in turn detonated by the air strike.
Mosul battle: US 'may be responsible' for civilian deaths
Mosul Sunnis fear for the future
Mosul residents face impossible choice (video)
Battle for western Mosul will be toughest yet
As yet there is no adequate explanation of the cause of the tragedy or a reliable estimate of the death toll.
Some have pointed to a potential change in the US "rules of engagement", the strict criteria and procedures that govern the decision to strike any target.
It seems there have indeed been changes to these rules over recent months - described as "relatively minor" by senior US commanders.
These, it seems, are a reflection of the shift away from a defensive campaign to a more dynamic offensive battle.
US commanders insist that none of this has changed the "care or caution" with which combat power is applied.
But the spike in civilian deaths tells its own story. So is less care being taken with regard to civilian casualties?
And just what should the expectations be in this kind of conflict in a closely-confined area?
Here may be part of the answer to the conundrum.
I remember speaking to an expert from an NGO at the time of the Kosovo war who had become the leading authority on civilian deaths in air campaigns.
He acknowledged the huge efforts made to minimise unwanted casualties; but still the deaths occurred.
The obsession with the wizardry of precision-guided munitions and the all-embracing reassurance of strict rules of engagement all seemed to offer the prospect of an almost bloodless war, or, at the very least, one in which only "the bad guys" died.
The technology and accuracy of modern air strikes is impressive. I remember too touring a site in the Kosovan capital Pristina with a Nato damage assessment team.
You could see holes punched in buildings - otherwise largely undamaged - where a specific room or sniper position had been destroyed. But things still go wrong.
In the same campaign there was an air strike on a telephone exchange where the bomb came off the aircraft a second or so too slowly and piled into a shopping area.
The reality is grim but simple. Unlike IS, which uses brutality as its means of holding a population in thrall, the US and its allies have no alternative but to avoid civilian deaths as far as possible.
These are, after all, the people whose trust the Iraqi government is going to have to win in the aftermath of the fighting.
But in a complex urban battlefield - with decisions on hitting specific targets needed in seconds - there are inevitably going to be unwanted civilian casualties.
It is surely right that the US should be held to the highest standards.
But war is and always will be a grim business. As the Confederate commander in the American Civil War General Robert E Lee noted after the carnage of the battle of Fredericksburg: "It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it." | The civilian death toll has risen in Mosul as the battle to evict so-called Islamic State (IS) fighters from the western part of the city has intensified. |
38,478,316 | The 25-year-old joined Eibar in January on an 18-month deal, but the Bees have ended it six months early.
He has made 51 appearances for the west London club since arriving from Celta Vigo in August 2014 and is contracted to them until the end of the 2017-18 season.
Jota will return in time for their FA Cup tie against Eastleigh on 7 January. | Championship side Brentford have recalled midfielder Jota from a loan spell with Spanish La Liga club Eibar. |
31,472,111 | Media playback is not supported on this device
The Briton finished 0:04 of a second ahead of Russia's Maria Orlova with a time of one minute 56.57 seconds.
Yarnold, 26, finished the World Cup season second overall behind Janine Flock of Austria, fourth in Sochi.
It was European champion Yarnold's fourth World Cup win of the season, having missed the race in Calgary.
"I do love this track, I've done a lot of runs here as we had 40 runs here before the Olympics," said the 26-year-old.
"Even though I made a lot of mistakes I was able to relax and enjoy the track."
In first place ahead of Germany's Tina Hermann by 0.45 after her first slide on the Sanki track, Yarnold edged out Orlova following an excellent second run by the Russian.
Yarnold finished the World Cup on 1511 points, 20 behind Flock, having missed the second of the season's eight races, in Calgary, due to dizziness.
Her victory concluded a fine week for Yarnold, who won the preceding World Cup event in Igles, Austria, on the previous Saturday and the European Championships on the same track 24 hours later.
Fellow Britons Laura Deas and Rose McGrandle finished the Sochi event in ninth and 11th place respectively.
With the World Cup season over, interest will now shift to the Bobsleigh and Skeleton World Championships, which begin in Winterberg, Germany, on 23 February. | Lizzy Yarnold won the season's final skeleton World Cup event on the same Sochi track where she claimed Olympic gold on this day a year ago. |
34,592,132 | Pauline Cafferkey, 39, was readmitted to an isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London earlier this month after suffering an apparent relapse.
Health officials confirmed she had been diagnosed with meningitis caused by Ebola and had a "long recovery ahead".
Ms Cafferkey, from South Lanarkshire, contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone.
Dr Michael Jacobs, who is treating Ms Cafferkey at the Royal Free Hospital in London, said: "Pauline has become unwell by meningitis caused by the Ebola virus.
"But to be very clear about this, she hasn't been re-infected with the Ebola virus.
"This is the original Ebola virus that she had many months ago, which has been lying inside the brain, replicating at a very low level probably, and has now re-emerged to cause this clinical illness of meningitis. And this is obviously a serious thing."
Dr Jacobs said Ms Cafferkey had "became critically ill due to neurological complications from the meningitis" while being treated at the specialist isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital.
He added: "I'm really pleased to tell you that in the last few days she's made a significant improvement. She is much better now.
"I think she has a long recovery ahead of her and will be with us for quite a while still."
By James Gallagher, health editor, BBC News website
Unprecedented, extraordinary and unusual - the words used by doctors treating Pauline Cafferkey.
Meningitis has been seen in Ebola patients in West Africa during this outbreak, but only at the height of their initial infection.
This is completely different.
The virus has resurged months later and has been contained to just her brain and spinal cord.
Due to the lack of resources in the affected countries we simply do not know if this has happened to any of the 17,000 Ebola survivors in West Africa.
The World Health Organization says meningitis should be "on the radar" for survivors, alongside eyesight problems and joint pains.
While the virus was briefly detected in Ms Cafferkey's blood, the risk of anyone spreading the infection after recovery is thought to be very low.
Ms Cafferkey, who is from Halfway, Cambuslang, contracted Ebola while working at a treatment centre in Sierra Leone last year.
The nurse spent almost a month in isolation at the Royal Free at the beginning of the year after the virus was detected when she arrived back in the UK.
She was later discharged after apparently making a full recovery and returned to work as a public health nurse at Blantyre Health Centre in South Lanarkshire.
However, she became unwell earlier this month and was admitted to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow for treatment.
On 9 October, she was flown from Glasgow to London in a military aircraft to receive treatment in the isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital.
Last Wednesday, the hospital said Ms Cafferkey was "critically ill" after her condition had deteriorated.
Following treatment her condition improved to "serious but stable" by Monday.
Dr Jacobs said Ms Cafferkey has been treated with "a highly experimental" anti-viral drug in the early stages of development called GS5734.
"We don't know if it's of benefit to her," he said.
And he added: "The crucial treatment is the exceptional nursing care at the Royal Free Hospital, that's what has really made the difference here.
"It's really important to understand we don't use the term critically ill lightly. It means someone is at imminent risk of dying.
"We were extremely concerned about Pauline's condition. That's why we're thrilled to be having this conversation now."
Ms Cafferkey's family have previously claimed doctors "missed a big opportunity" to spot she had fallen ill with Ebola again.
A total of 65 close contacts of the nurse have been identified, with 40 of those offered vaccinations as a precaution.
Health Protection Scotland said: "A number of Ebola tests have been carried out and they have all returned negative.
"All appropriate infection control measures remain in place."
The health agency said no new contacts of Ms Cafferkey had emerged and it continued to monitor those already identified.
It added: "The statement from the Royal Free this afternoon is very welcome news.
"It is clear that there is some learning still to be done with regard to Ebola, and Health Protection Scotland will work with national and international partners to play whatever part it can in that work.
"The announcement from the Royal Free has not changed our assessment that the risk to the public remains extremely low."
The Ebola outbreak in west Africa has killed 11,312 of the 28,457 people infected since December 2013, according to the latest WHO figures. | A Scottish nurse who contracted Ebola while working in West Africa is recovering well after the virus caused her to develop meningitis. |
33,333,788 | It would require most schoolchildren to be vaccinated against diseases including measles and whooping cough.
The bill has faced fierce criticism from some who say parents should decide whether their children are vaccinated.
The move comes after an outbreak of measles at Disneyland in 2014 infected over 100 people in the US and Mexico.
Only children with serious health issues would qualify for exemption from the new measures. Unvaccinated children would have to be home-schooled.
Mississippi and West Virginia are the only other two states with such strict requirements.
Parents opposed to the bill have vowed to take legal action, even though the issue has been upheld in court, including by the Supreme Court.
They argue that some vaccines are unsafe and claim the legislation is eliminating informed consent and trampling on parental rights.
"The science is clear that vaccines dramatically protect children against a number of infectious and dangerous diseases," Mr Brown said in a statement on Tuesday.
"While it's true that no medical intervention is without risk, the evidence shows that immunisation powerfully benefits and protects the community." | California governor Jerry Brown has signed a bill that imposes one of the strictest school vaccination laws in the US. |
15,553,373 | As the country prepares for parliamentary and presidential elections, though, there are signs that the Kremlin is facing a fresh media challenge in the form of an increasingly politicised audience on YouTube.
Over the past few weeks, a number of Russian politics-themed clips on YouTube have achieved over one million views.
The videos are in a variety of genres - political polemic, satire and song - but they have one thing in common: a critical or irreverent attitude to the country's leadership - Mr Putin, President Dmitry Medvedev and their party, United Russia.
Earlier this year, anti-corruption campaigner and blogger Aleksey Navalnyy launched a web campaign against United Russia under the banner "Party of Crooks and Thieves".
One of the latest instalments in this campaign is a clip on his YouTube channel entitled:"Let's remind the crooks and thieves of their 2002 manifesto". The video lists what it says are United Russia's failures and broken pledges, and concludes: "They have not just lied, they have brought the country to such a state that these and other promises seem to be mockeries". It also urges viewers to vote for any party but United Russia in December's parliamentary election.
The video was posted on YouTube on 7 October. By 28 October, it been viewed more than a million times.
Satire
YouTube is not only giving a powerful voice to the opposition, it is also helping to revive subversive art forms.
TV political satire has been virtually extinct in Russia since the puppet show Kukly (along the lines of the now-defunct UK satirical programme Spitting Image) disappeared from the screens shortly after Mr Putin came to power.
Now, though, this kind of satire is making a comeback on the internet. Not all the satire is anti-government, but it is generally irreverent towards authority.
One of its brightest exponents on YouTube is Dmitry Ivanov, who uses the online nicknameKamikadze_d.
Ivanov's fast-talking stand-up routines on the Russian political scene have been growing in popularity for several months now.
The first of them to break the one-million-view mark was a lampoon of a TV debate between leading politicians that was posted on 9 September.
Ivanov quickly repeated the feat with a routine called "Putin's terrible secret", in which he suggests that hidden clones of the prime minister are taking over Russia.
For those who like their satire a bit darker, there is Mr Freeman, a spooky black-and-white cartoon character whose nightmarish visions of the modern world have won him a cult following among Russian internet users.
On 11 October Mr Freeman abandoned satire and posted an"open letter"to President Medvedev, urging him to stop Mr Putin from becoming president again. By the end of the month it, too, had got over a million views.
The clip says Mr Putin's first stint as president "plunged Russia into a medieval gloom" and that the only way to prevent a repeat of this is for Mr Medvedev to sack him from the post of prime minister.
Protest music
YouTube has also helped revive Russian protest music, which, like satire, has been virtually banned from popular mainstream media outlets.
In 2010, hip-hop artist Ivan Alekseyev, aka Noize MC, got over a million views witha songabout his imprisonment for singing anti-police lyrics at a concert in Volgograd.
Another protest song that has gone viral is "Our madhouse is voting for Putin" by the Yekaterinburg-based band Rabfak, which has already reached an aggregate audience of over one million since being posted on YouTube on 11 October.
The song describes how Russia is awash with corruption and abuses, but says that people will still support Mr Putin. And it warns that those who question this will be given "an injection in the backside".
The jaunty refrain runs:
"Our madhouse is voting for Putin; Putin is just the candidate for us"
Politicisation
According to thelatest researchby polling organisation the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), some 60 million Russians now have access to the internet out of a total population of just over 140 million.
Until recently, though, political content on the internet has not tended to attract a mass audience.
In 2010, there were some signs that this was changing - most notably, the growing popularity of protest songs.
The appearance of a spate of overtly political videos with one-million-plus audiences in just a few weeks is unprecedented. The Russian website Gazeta.rulists its 10 favourites. Only six Russian clips got over one million views in the whole of 2010. And it is a further sign that the internet audience in Russia is becoming increasingly politicised.
Moreover, the prevailing political mood is distinctly anti-government.
Since Mr Medvedev became president in 2008, the authorities have made great efforts to influence the internet community. The president himself launched avideoblogand then aTwitter account, which currently has over 625,000 followers.
But on Twitter, as on YouTube, the political traffic appears to be mainly one-way. In October, a pro-government activist tried to celebrate Mr Putin's birthday with the hashtag "SpasiboPutinuZaEto" (ThanksPutinForThat). But his plan backfired, as the hashtag became a magnet for jokes at the prime minister's expense.
Changing perceptions
Anti-government or satirical clips on YouTube are unlikely to have a decisive effect on the outcome of the forthcoming elections.
But they may already be changing perceptions.
Recent research by academics from Moscow State University found that Mr Putin is regarded in a much more negative light today than before the previous presidential elections he fought in 2000 and 2004.
The researchers found that just 17.1% of respondents had a positive view of his professional capacities as against 69% in 2000 and 64 per cent in 2004. According to the website Gazeta.ru, among the negative sides of Mr Putin's rule listed by respondents were"unfulfilled promises", "failure to solve corruption problems", "excessive populism" and "excessive authoritarianism".
Watching political content on YouTube is likely to reinforce these perceptions.
BBC Monitoringselects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaux abroad. | Media control has been one of the key factors that have allowed Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to dominate Russia's political landscape since he was first elected president in 2000. |
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