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39,011,668 | In a first half lacking in quality, Forest winger Mustapha Carayol's effort was the only shot on target.
Dan Burn had a close-range shot blocked for Wigan just after the break, before Eric Lichaj curled just wide for the visitors from outside the box.
Carayol forced another save towards the end of the game but both teams had to settle for a point.
With Bristol City drawing at Newcastle, the Latics remain in the final relegation place and are two points from safety, while Forest are still not out of danger as they stay six points above them.
Wigan have won just three Championship games in front of their own fans this season and have scored in only 18 of their 34 league matches.
The draw ends a three-game losing run for Gary Brazil's side, who had won their first four matches under his tenure.
Wigan manager Warren Joyce:
"Some of those players have played every minute of every game - it's not a massive squad. Some of the younger ones, the fitness levels are not the same as the experienced players.
"Lads are coming in because they're not playing at other clubs - they're not coming in ready-made, ready to go, they're not up to the level of 35, 32-year-olds here because they haven't been playing, they're not battle-hardened.
"There's a side issue of getting all those lads up to speed. The fresher ones might not actually be as fit as the ones playing every week."
Nottingham Forest boss Gary Brazil:
"I don't think about how many points we need.
"I think there's 12 games to go and we'll take as many points as we can out of those games. I think there will be an ability for us to get stronger as we go through the season.
"It's not something I'm considering or thinking about. We will get fitter, stronger, work harder and the points will come for us."
Match ends, Wigan Athletic 0, Nottingham Forest 0.
Second Half ends, Wigan Athletic 0, Nottingham Forest 0.
Attempt blocked. Mustapha Carayol (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Britt Assombalonga with a headed pass.
Dan Burn (Wigan Athletic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Ross McCormack (Nottingham Forest).
Attempt missed. Joe Worrall (Nottingham Forest) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Ben Osborn with a cross following a set piece situation.
Foul by Stephen Warnock (Wigan Athletic).
Jamie Ward (Nottingham Forest) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Stephen Warnock (Wigan Athletic).
Eric Lichaj (Nottingham Forest) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Alex Gilbey (Wigan Athletic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Jamie Ward (Nottingham Forest).
Foul by Dan Burn (Wigan Athletic).
Eric Lichaj (Nottingham Forest) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Alex Gilbey (Wigan Athletic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Joe Worrall (Nottingham Forest).
Substitution, Wigan Athletic. William Grigg replaces Omar Bogle.
Substitution, Nottingham Forest. Ross McCormack replaces Ben Brereton.
Corner, Wigan Athletic. Conceded by Joe Worrall.
Offside, Nottingham Forest. Mustapha Carayol tries a through ball, but Ben Brereton is caught offside.
Corner, Wigan Athletic. Conceded by Daniel Fox.
Attempt blocked. Omar Bogle (Wigan Athletic) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Sam Morsy.
David Vaughan (Nottingham Forest) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Stephen Warnock (Wigan Athletic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by David Vaughan (Nottingham Forest).
Attempt saved. Mustapha Carayol (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Ben Osborn.
Corner, Nottingham Forest. Conceded by Dan Burn.
Offside, Nottingham Forest. Eric Lichaj tries a through ball, but Britt Assombalonga is caught offside.
Attempt blocked. Jamie Ward (Nottingham Forest) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Britt Assombalonga.
Attempt missed. Ben Osborn (Nottingham Forest) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses the top left corner. Assisted by Jamie Ward.
Foul by Dan Burn (Wigan Athletic).
Ben Brereton (Nottingham Forest) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt missed. Sam Morsy (Wigan Athletic) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Stephen Warnock.
Sam Morsy (Wigan Athletic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by David Vaughan (Nottingham Forest).
Attempt missed. Eric Lichaj (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from the right side of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Jamie Ward.
Corner, Nottingham Forest. Conceded by Jamie Hanson.
Attempt saved. Jamie Ward (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Ben Brereton.
Substitution, Wigan Athletic. Alex Gilbey replaces Mikael Mandron.
Substitution, Wigan Athletic. Gabriel Obertan replaces Max Power. | Struggling Wigan and Nottingham Forest played out an uneventful goalless draw at the DW Stadium. |
12,151,573 | Inception star Tom Hardy, new Spider-Man actor Andrew Garfield, US actress Emma Stone and Kick-Ass star Aaron Johnson are also in the running.
"I'm in very good company with the other actors who have been nominated," said Arterton, 24, who appeared in 2008 Bond film Quantum of Solace.
The winner will be announced at the Bafta awards on 13 February.
Arteton starred opposite Daniel Craig and Dame Judi Dench in Quantum of Solace, the most recent entry in the 007 film series.
The Gravesend-born actress also appeared in Clash of the Titans, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Stephen Frears' Tamara Drewe.
Film critic and Bafta member Mark Kermode said that Arterton's inclusion summed up what the Rising Star award was about.
"It's not a beginner's list, it's about people on the cusp of stardom," he told the BBC.
He said that despite starring in big budget movies like Clash of the Titans, Arterton "came into her own" in the low-budget kidnap thriller The Disappearance of Alice Creed.
"On the strength of that you could show that to any casting director and say that's the range that she can do," Kermode said.
Garfield, 27, was recently nominated for a Golden Globe award for best supporting actor for his role in The Social Network, about the Facebook website.
He recently landed the lead role of Peter Parker in the next Spider-Man movie, due for release in 2012.
Stone will also appear in Spider-Man, playing the part of Gwen Stacy. The 22-year-old's other films include Easy A, Superbad and Zombieland.
Kermode said: "Being in a Spider-Man movie will irrevocably change anyone's life. It's a big project. Peter Parker is one of the great roles. I thank that what's nice is that this nomination has happened now - in advance of that."
Hardy made his name in Spielberg's TV series Band of Brothers and drew plaudits for his lead role in Bronson, in which he played infamous British criminal Charles Bronson.
The 33-year-old has been linked to roles in the latest Mad Max and Batman films and will be seen later this year in a new version of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
Johnson, 20, played the young John Lennon in Nowhere Boy and was seen last year in comic book movie Kick-Ass.
He and Nowhere Boy's director, the artist Sam Taylor-Wood, had a baby daughter last summer.
Previous recipients of the Rising Star award, sponsored by telecommunications giant Orange, include Shia LaBeouf and Kristen Stewart.
Musician and actor Ben Drew, better known as rapper Plan B, is among this year's judges.
Drew said of the nominees: "They've proved they can act - it's about who can take it to the next level. We're looking for a name that can carry a film, like the DiCaprios of this world." | Former Bond girl Gemma Arterton has said she is "thrilled" to be up for this year's Bafta Rising Star award. |
40,949,536 | Kathryn Bigelow was speaking as Detroit is released in the wake of the violent clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia.
She said she wanted to meet racism "head-on", adding: "To do nothing is not an option".
John Boyega, who stars in the film, said: "We all have a voice and we all have a responsibility to speak out."
The London-born actor has shared footage of the clashes on Twitter, in which one person died and 19 others were injured, when a car rammed a crowd of people opposing a far-right rally.
"It's so weird, the timing of everything - but now it makes this movie very necessary, for perspective and also to see just how little has been done, and to hopefully spark a positive conversation."
Talking about Charlottesville, Bigelow said: "It's just a horrific tragedy and I feel the urgency to have a conversation about race in America is even more vital than ever."
She added: "Even though this story takes place 50 years ago, it feels, sadly, very much like today and therefore tomorrow. Until there's a meaningful conversation about race in America, I'm worried these events will keep happening."
She said she did not see the film, starring John Boyega and Will Poulter, as being "entertainment", but rather "a dramatisation of true events".
To that end, the film mixes in news footage from the riots - and people who were there, including Melvin Dismukes, played by Boyega, and Julie Hysell, portrayed in the film by Skins' Hannah Murray.
Bigelow - the first woman to win a best director Oscar, for The Hurt Locker - added: "If there's the chance for the film to generate a dialogue that's meaningful and positive and can generate some transformation, that would of course be my greatest aspiration.
"Any opportunity to meet head-on with the pervasiveness of racism is really important."
Boyega said at the Detroit premiere that the racism portrayed in the film felt worryingly contemporary.
He said: "It's crazy - I find it hard to even gather my thoughts on it, it's so unexpected and unfortunate. It's mad, the world is changing."
Boyega, perhaps best known as Finn in Star Wars, plays a security guard tasked with protecting a grocery shop from looters, who then becomes embroiled in the Algiers Motel incident, which left three young men dead.
Asked whether it was a departure from the sci-fi franchise, he said: "The best sci-fi has social commentary. And I have the same commitment for Star Wars as I would for Detroit. I only appear in things I would want to watch."
Will Poulter, who plays a Detroit police officer central to the violence inflicted on residents of the motel, said of the current situation in the US: "I think for a lot of people it's hard to believe it's even happening. It feels like a true regression as far as the human race is concerned."
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected] | The Oscar-winning director of a new film about the 1967 Detroit riots says talking about race in the US is "more vital than ever". |
32,263,804 | The court also jailed a US-Egyptian citizen and 36 others for life.
Badie was sentenced in March and is embroiled in some 40 other trials. The sentences are subject to appeal.
Hundreds of people have been sentenced to death in a crackdown on the Brotherhood following the removal of President Mohammed Morsi in 2013.
However, so far only one death sentence has been carried out.
The court session was broadcast live on TV.
The sentences are the final phase in the trial which saw Muslim Brotherhood leaders charged with encouraging members of the group to confront the state and spread chaos following the dispersal of protests in 2013.
They were handed down following advice from Egypt's highest Islamic legal official, the grand mufti.
Two of the defendants were sentenced to death in absentia.
Two of the defendants were sentenced to death in absentia.
Badie was already sentenced to death in a case last year related to attacks on police stations in the southern province of Minya. But the ruling was later overturned and a retrial was ordered.
US-Egyptian citizen Mohamed Soltan was sentenced to life imprisonment for supporting the Brotherhood and transmitting false news.
The son of Brotherhood preacher Salah Soltan, he has been on hunger strike for months and has received attention from local and international human rights organisations.
Critics describe the trials against Brotherhood members as politicised, but the government insists on the transparency and independence of the judiciary.
The August 2013 dispersal of the Rabaa al-Adawiya protest camps in Cairo led to the deaths of more than 600 protesters and several police and provoked international condemnation.
Many more died in subsequent demonstrations across the country. | An Egyptian court has confirmed the death sentence on Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie and 13 others for planning attacks against the state. |
33,224,865 | Tom Rainey, 23, from Devon and Lawrence Walters, 23, from Hampshire left New York on 3 May for Salcombe in Devon.
A spokesman said the pair were being "cautious" about their food, but admitted cutting it was a "struggle".
Team Ocean Valour is raising funds for the Brain Tumour Charity in memory of Tom's father who died from the disease.
Team spokesman Chris Martin blamed the rationing partly on 10 days of rowing in a circle when they were caught in currents about three weeks into their journey.
The pair are 115 nautical miles (132 miles/212 km) to the half-way point.
"The guys have plenty of food but we are doing shallow rationing to give them a bit more of a buffer," he said.
"It's better to be over-cautious than hungry."
Rainey and Walters each consume about 6,000 calories of food a day to fuel their bodies as they take it in turns to row.
"By saving an extra chocolate bar or meal each day now it will boost the duration that the team are able to stay at sea later," said Mr Martin on the team's blog.
But Mr Martin said the pair had been "struggling with even a small reduction in their calorific intake".
As the food was consumed the boat would become lighter with the prospect of making faster progress.
Walters and Rainey are aiming to become the youngest two-man team to row 3,800 miles from New York to the UK. | Two young men attempting to row the Atlantic have started rationing their food close to the half-way point. |
35,850,200 | Mr Duncan Smith said the latest planned cuts to disability benefits were "not defensible" in a Budget that benefited higher-earning taxpayers.
In response, Mr Cameron said they had "collectively agreed" on the proposals, before deciding on Friday to have a rethink to "get these policies right".
Stephen Crabb has been named as Mr Duncan Smith's replacement.
Before he was ousted as Conservative leader in 2003, Iain Duncan Smith was dubbed "the quiet man". But there was nothing subdued or understated about the manner of his departure last night.
Instead, a zinger of a resignation letter, designed to inflict maximum damage on Chancellor George Osborne; a relationship that had long been testy, tested to destruction by this week's Budget.
By questioning, as the Conservatives' critics have long done, the Tory slogan to justify cuts - "We are all in this together" - Mr Duncan Smith knowingly provided the government's opponents with ammunition.
For a man with ambitions to lead his party, these have been difficult days for George Osborne.
This morning David Cameron woke to a vacancy in his cabinet and a wound inflicted on his government.
In his Budget on Wednesday, Chancellor George Osborne had said the government would be spending an extra £1bn on disability but changes to disability benefits announced a few days earlier had suggested the government would save £4.4bn by 2020-21.
They included changes to Personal Independence Payments (PIP), which will replace Disability Living Allowance (DLA) in January 2017, that were expected to save £1.3bn a year and sparked outcry from opposition parties and some Tory MPs.
On Friday, prior to Mr Duncan Smith's resignation, a government source said the planned changes would be "kicked into the long grass".
Baroness Stroud, who worked with Mr Duncan Smith in government and now heads the Centre for Social Justice think tank, which he founded, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Iain came into government... in order to deliver a social justice agenda, a reform agenda of the welfare state.
"He always used to say to me, 'I'm here in order to deliver reform and to protect the poorest'.
"Yesterday he felt that he could no longer protect the poorest... This is a step too far."
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told Today he was also "disappointed" by Mr Duncan Smith's resignation but the welfare reform programme would "go on".
Frank Field, who chairs the Commons work and pensions committee, said: "Behind this is a much, much bigger drama of which Iain was the driver... What he crucially cared about was the balance of resources going to families and children and older people.
"The pensioner element, the biggest part of the Budget, was safeguarded and in fact increased.
"And therefore all these cuts were on people of working age and it's this point that Iain thinks the social contract between generations is being broken."
In his reply to Mr Duncan Smith's resignation letter, Mr Cameron said there had been collective agreement that "the increased resources being spent on disabled people should be properly managed and focused on those who need it most".
"That is why we collectively agreed - you, No 10 and the Treasury - proposals which you and your department then announced a week ago," he said.
"Today we agreed not to proceed with the policies in their current form and instead to work together to get these policies right over the coming months.
"In the light of this, I am puzzled and disappointed that you have chosen to resign."
Mr Cameron's letter also highlighted that they were "on different sides in the vital debate about the future of Britain's relations with Europe".
Sources close to Mr Duncan Smith, who wants the UK to leave the EU, say his resignation was not about Europe.
In his resignation letter, Mr Duncan Smith said that "because of the perilous public finances we inherited from the last Labour administration, difficult cuts have been necessary".
"I have found some of these cuts easier to justify than others but aware of the economic situation and determined to be a team player I have accepted their necessity.
"You are aware that I believe the cuts would have been even fairer to younger families and people of working age if we had been willing to reduce some of the benefits given to better-off pensioners but I have attempted to work within the constraints that you and the chancellor set."
But he went on: "I have for some time and rather reluctantly come to believe that the latest changes to benefits to the disabled and the context in which they've been made are a compromise too far.
"While they are defensible in narrow terms, given the continuing deficit, they are not defensible in the way they were placed within a Budget that benefits higher earning taxpayers."
He added: "I am unable to watch passively whilst certain policies are enacted in order to meet the fiscal self imposed restraints that I believe are more and more perceived as distinctly political rather than in the national economic interest."
BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said: "Tensions with the chancellor had been simmering for some time, but there was little warning of Friday's explosion.
"What seemed to be at its core were briefings by government sources which placed responsibility for the controversial changes to PIP firmly at Mr Duncan Smith's door, while he had in fact felt some pressure from the Treasury to deliver them."
Mr Duncan Smith was Conservative Party leader and Leader of the Opposition from 2001 to 2003, and had been work and pensions secretary since the 2010 general election.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron have both called for Mr Osborne to resign.
Mr Corbyn said: "The resignation of Iain Duncan Smith reveals a government in disarray and a chancellor who has lost the credibility to manage the economy in the interests of the majority of our people." | David Cameron says he is "puzzled and disappointed" after Iain Duncan Smith quit as work and pensions secretary. |
39,510,391 | His agent David Winkle says he still hopes to play tomorrow.
World number one Johnson fell on the stairs on Wednesday and "landed hard on his lower back".
He is said to be uncomfortable but is resting and doctors have advised him to remain stable.
Johnson is due to tee off in the last group at 19:03 BST on Thursday evening.
"Dustin took a serious fall on a staircase in his Augusta rental home," Winkle said in a statement.
"He landed very hard on his lower back and is now resting, although quite uncomfortably.
"He has been advised to remain immobile and begin a regimen of anti-inflammatory medication and icing, with the hope of being able to play tomorrow."
The American, 32, won his third successive tournament when he beat Spain's Jon Rahm in the World Match Play final in late March.
He has won seven of the 17 tournaments he has played since claiming his first major at the US Open at Oakmont in June, racking up another seven top-10 finishes in the process.
BBC golf correspondent Iain Carter:
There is the adage of "beware the injured golfer" but there is no doubt this is a significant blow for Johnson.
Since winning last year's US Open he has been a commanding presence and built a telling aura.
Now his Masters bid is surrounded by uncertainty. His late tee time may prove a blessing as it gives an extra recovery period but there is no doubt this is a considerable setback. | Pre-tournament favourite Dustin Johnson has suffered a lower-back injury following a fall at his rental home ahead of Thursday's opening round of the Masters in Augusta. |
37,504,674 | In June 2009, Liam Campbell and Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt were two of four men found liable for the atrocity.
The civil action was brought by relatives of some of the 29 people killed in the 1998 bombing in the County Tyrone town.
The relatives were awarded £1.6m in damages.
No-one has ever been convicted of murder in relation to the car bomb.
Campbell and McKevitt took their case to Europe, arguing that the civil trial in Belfast High Court had been unfair.
Omagh bomb timeline
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They claimed that due to the severity of the charges the court should have applied criminal, rather than civil, standards of proof.
Seven judges at the European Court of Human Rights unanimously rejected the case.
The Omagh bomb was the biggest, single atrocity in the history of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
It happened just four months after the Good Friday Agreement was signed.
The death toll included nine children, three generations of one family, and a woman pregnant with twins.
In 2009, a judge in Northern Ireland found Campbell and McKevitt liable for the bombing, along with Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly.
In 2011, the Court of Appeal upheld the ruling against McKevitt and Campbell.
Murphy and Daly were successful in upholding their appeals and were ordered to face a retrial of the civil case. They were subsequently found liable for the bombing at a retrial in 2013.
In their submission to the European Court of Human Rights, Campbell and McKevitt claimed the admission of evidence from an FBI agent who was not available for questioning was unfair.
However, the court found that the judge in the civil case had fully considered the need for appropriate safeguards, given the witness absence.
It was also found the defendants were given an adequate opportunity to challenge the agent's evidence and that the judge gave due regard to the appropriate considerations when deciding what weight he attached to the evidence of an absent witness.
In regard to Campbell and McKevitt's claim that the judge should have applied a criminal standard of proof, the court found that this was not necessary because the proceedings had been for a civil claim for damages.
The court found that the Northern Ireland court's findings were not arbitrary or unreasonable and that applicants had not demonstrated that their trial was unfair. | A bid by two men to overturn a landmark civil ruling that found them liable for the Omagh bomb has been rejected by the European Court of Human Rights. |
39,803,374 | It was not enough, however, to give it an outright majority on either local authority.
In the Borders, the Tories took 15 seats followed by the SNP with nine, eight independents and two Lib Dems.
There were 16 Conservatives elected in Dumfries and Galloway with Labour and the SNP tied on 11, four independents and one Lib Dem.
The outcome means negotiations will have to take place to form an administration in both areas.
The leaders of both councils' previous administrations - independent David Parker in the Borders and Labour's Ronnie Nicholson in Dumfries and Galloway - were re-elected.
There was also a place for former Labour MSP Elaine Murray on Dumfries and Galloway Council.
However, a number of councillors failed to retain their seats.
In Dumfries and Galloway that meant no return for independents Marion McCutcheon, George Prentice, Tom McAughtrie, Yen Hongmei Jin, Craig Peacock and Denis Male.
Labour's John Syme and Ronnie Ogilvie along with the SNP's Alistair Witts also missed out.
In the Borders, independents Iain Gillespie, Rory Stewart and Bill White failed in their bids for re-election as did the SNP's John Mitchell and Lib Dem Frances Renton. | The Conservative party has emerged with the most councillors after voting in Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders. |
36,671,328 | The move follows the UK's Brexit vote, which triggered a leadership contest in the Conservative government.
Heathrow and Gatwick airports have been vying with each other over building an extra runway.
Heathrow boss John Holland-Kaye said expansion "must be a key building block in the government's Brexit plan".
"It will allow British exporters to trade with all the growing markets of the world, strengthening Britain's position as one of the great trading nations," he said.
"And at a time of uncertainty, a £16bn privately funded infrastructure investment will create jobs and growth across the UK."
But Gatwick Airport chief executive Stewart Wingate said: "The enormous pollution [of] both noise and air quality that Heathrow inflicts on hundreds of thousands of people, if not millions, it's this issue that politicians are going to have to grapple with."
"If you look at Gatwick, we have a tiny fraction of the environmental impact of Heathrow, yet you get all of the same economic benefits, all of the same connections to short haul and long haul destinations, all at a cheaper price."
Gatwick will press its case with the new leader of the Conservatives, he added.
Last July, the Airport Commission recommended Heathrow be expanded with a third runway - a 3,500-m runway north of the two existing ones - at an estimated cost of £18.6bn.
But in December, the government delayed its decision, saying further work on noise, pollution and compensation needed to be carried out.
On Monday, Gatwick Airport said the Brexit vote showed it was "clearer than ever that only Gatwick can deliver the new runway Britain needs".
Earlier today, the proposal to expand Heathrow took a major blow when the government deferred an airports decision to its next leader.
Boris Johnson was a front runner for the job and he's very hostile to the scheme.
But now he's stepped out of the race, things have become much less clear.
Theresa May and Michael Gove both have constituencies near Heathrow and they've both had to deal with a lot of noise complaints, especially when an experimental new flight path upset a lot of residents a couple of years ago.
But neither has ever come out against building a third runway at the airport and it's not clear what they think now.
And all of that's assuming one of them becomes leader.
It is almost exactly a year since the Airports Commission, chaired by Sir Howard Davies, issued its report on expanding airport capacity in the UK,
Three options were shortlisted - an extension of one of Heathrow's existing runways, a new runway at Gatwick, or a third runway at Heathrow.
All three proposals remain on the table. However, the Davies Commission was unambiguous - it said that the best option was a third runway at Heathrow. And although the government postponed its final decision, it was widely expected to follow the Commission's recommendation - until now.
Business campaign group London First said the deferral of the decision was "a huge shame".
London First and Tesco chairman John Allan said the delay would be "a very serious setback, not just for London but for the whole country".
"There's clearly going to be a significant downturn in inward investment over the next few years until there's greater certainty," he told the BBC.
"Carefully judged infrastructure investment would be one way of filling that gap, and also a way of making a statement that the UK is open for business.
"We do want connectivity with the rest of the world, so I think it's a great shame that politicians are putting party interests before the national interest," Mr Allan added.
Paul Wait, chief executive of travel management industry body the GTMC, said: "Current political instability is jeopardising economic growth in many ways.
"For uncertainty on airport expansion to also be caught up in the shifting sands is both short-sighted and dangerous.
"Regardless of political beliefs, every UK business is crying out for messages of confidence and room to find new growth, including outside of Europe.
"Without greater airport capacity, and soon, UK businesses will be collateral damage in the circus that is currently unfolding." | A decision on airport expansion in south-eastern England is to be delayed until "at least October", Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has said. |
31,601,743 | Transitions 20/40 is designed to widen access to the performance and production arts.
Supported by the Scottish Funding Council, it enables talented individuals from poorer communities to take part in RCS classes and workshops.
The actor said he felt "inspired" after meeting the students involved.
It is hoped the training provided by the scheme will prepare the students to go on to successfully interview or audition for further training at degree level.
The Glaswegian, who is best known for playing Hobbit Pippin in The Lord of the Rings films, trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD), which was renamed the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2011.
He said: "If I had this chance as a kid, it would have been a perfect start for me and allowed me to become an actor earlier.
"I had so many great memories of my time at the then RSAMD and feel truly inspired after meeting T20/40 students at RCS.
"It's an exciting place to be and has evolved into a dynamic, beautiful arts hub representing Scotland."
Principal of the RCS, Jeffrey Sharkey said: "We are delighted to have Billy, a world-renowned actor and musician, recognise the power of the arts to inform lives and careers.
"We look forward to working closely with him to ensure the message about the creative potential of young Scots, and the potential of projects like Transitions 20/40, is spread across the whole of Scotland.
"By using his own experience and our outstanding teaching, we can work together to help young people achieve their goals and dreams."
The T20/40 programme is part of the Scottish government's priority area for higher education institutions to "improve access to higher education for people from the widest possible range of backgrounds". | Scottish actor Billy Boyd has been named as ambassador of a Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) training initiative. |
26,595,491 | Pienaar, 29, looked in some discomfort after Friday's game.
The South African underwent a scan on Saturday morning but an Ulster official said there was no news yet on the injury from their medical team.
Ulster's busy period of upcoming games include the Heineken Cup quarter-final against Saracens on 5 April.
Media playback is not supported on this device
Pienaar sustained the injury in the closing five minutes of the game and he was noticeably protecting his right arm and shoulder as he walked to the dressing-rooms after the final whistle.
Prop Callum Black could also be a doubt for Ulster's upcoming games after being carried off in the first half of Friday's 26-13 victory.
Black sustained an injury to his left leg and was also scheduled to undergo a scan over the weekend.
On the plus side for Ulster, Stephen Ferris returned after a 15-month absence as he was introduced in the 63rd minute of Friday's game.
The Ireland flanker made an immediate and trademark impact, driving Jordan Williams back 15 yards after the full-back caught a high ball.
Ulster are back in action in next Friday's Pro12 game against Edinburgh. | Ulster are anxiously waiting for an update on Ruan Pienaar's fitness after he sustained a shoulder injury in Friday's Pro12 win over the Scarlets. |
31,067,366 | Developers wanted to build the 100m high turbines near Romanno Bridge in Peebleshire.
Stevenson Hill Wind Energy, on behalf of West Coast Energy, also applied to construct a new access road from the A701.
The application drew 125 letters of objection and one of support.
They wanted to build the turbines along the ridges of the peaks of Green Knows, Hag Law and Wether Law.
Members of the Scottish Borders Council's planning applications committee raised concerns about its visual impact on the landscape and neighbouring communities.
Archaeologists had also claimed it would cause unacceptable harm to four scheduled monuments of national importance and a historic landscape of "at least regional importance".
Planning officials advised councillors to reject the scheme on landscape impact and potential noise nuisance grounds. | Councillors have unanimously voted to refuse permission for an eight turbine wind farm in the Scottish Borders. |
37,308,985 | Omega Marketing Services was the subject of 177 complaints from the public over calls trying to sell solar panels and green energy equipment.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) took action after establishing the firm had "ignored the rules around telephone marketing".
It said the calls caused "frustration, anger and upset" to recipients.
ICO acted after calls were made to people who were registered with the telephone preference service (TPS) and who had not given their permission to receive calls.
One complainer said: "My mother would have bought the product they were selling just to stop the phone calls."
Another told the ICO: "If someone knocked on your door with such regularity, they'd get arrested for harassment."
Ken Macdonald, head of ICO regions, said: "Omega Marketing Services had no right to make these calls and, in doing so, they caused frustration, anger and upset.
"That's why we took action. The people they were calling took action too - they took the time and trouble to complain, and it makes a difference.
"It helps us identify patterns, trace hidden numbers and build up a case against rogue firms."
He added: "Ultimately, when people complain, we have a better chance of tracking down the rogue companies and stopping the nuisance." | A Glasgow-based marketing firm has been fined £60,000 for making 1.6 million nuisance calls. |
30,164,777 | Heyneke Meyer's side, who beat England last weekend after losing to Ireland, went behind to Kelly Haimona's penalty.
Pat Lambie's kick levelled before Oosthuizen ploughed over from a scrum.
Haimona kicked three more points before the break, but Reinach finished an excellent move before Handre Pollard raced clear to set up Habana late on.
Despite competing well in the scrum against a South Africa side showing four changes to the one that had won 31-28 at Twickenham, Italy could not break down the visiting defence.
Habana's try was his 57th in 105 Tests and ensured that the Springboks head to Cardiff for next Saturday's match against Wales on the back of two victories.
Italy: Andrea Masi, Leonardo Sarto, Michele Campagnaro, Luca Morisi, Luke McLean, Kelly Haimona, Edoardo Gori, Matias Aguero, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Martin Castrogiovanni, Quintin Geldenhuys, Josh Furno, Alessandro Zanni, Samu Vunisa, Sergio Parisse.
Replacements: Andrea Manici, Alberto De Marchi, Dario Chistolini, Marco Bortolami, Francesco Minto, Guglielmo Palazzani, Luciano Orquera, Giulio Toniolatti.
South Africa: Johan Goosen, JP Pietersen, Jan Serfontein, Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana, Pat Lambie, Cobus Reinach, Trevor Nyakane, Adriaan Strauss, Coenie Oosthuizen, Eben Etzebeth, Victor Matfield, Marcell Coetzee, Teboho Mohoje, Duane Vermeulen.
Replacements: Bismarck du Plessis, Gurthro Steenkamp, Julien Redelinghuys, Lodewyk de Jager, Nizaam Carr, Francois Hougaard, Handre Pollard, Willie le Roux. | Tries from Coenie Oosthuizen, Cobus Reinach and Bryan Habana helped South Africa beat Italy in Padua despite a laboured performance. |
36,774,781 | The hosts were well set on 98-1 on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival when rain arrived just before lunch.
After play resumed at 15:05 BST, Quinn claimed the next seven wickets, including skipper Gareth Roderick for 61 as Gloucestershire closed on 218-8.
Young pace bowler Craig Miles was unbeaten on 45 at stumps. | Essex paceman Matt Quinn took 7-61, his first ever five-wicket haul, to put the Division Two leaders in a strong position against Gloucestershire. |
21,496,781 | The company, Hensel European Security Services (Hess), was accused of harassing seasonal workers in a TV documentary aired last week.
It prompted calls for an investigation from the German government.
Amazon said it had now terminated its relationship with the firm "with immediate effect".
"Amazon has zero-tolerance for discrimination and intimidation and expects the same from every company we work with," a spokesperson for Amazon said.
The documentary by state broadcaster ARD showed the conditions of employees at the warehouse in Bad Hersfeld, in the state of Hesse, brought in to help with the Christmas rush.
It claimed employees' rooms were searched, they were frisked at breakfast and constantly watched.
Many of the temporary workers came from Spain and Poland, and foreign workers were shown receiving the worst harassment from security guards.
Hess was under contract to an employment agency, not to Amazon itself.
Hess shares its name with Hitler's deputy in the Nazi party Rudolf Hess, and the documentary showed security guards wearing branded clothing linked with the neo-Nazi movement.
Last week the firm denied suggestions that it supported far-right political views. | Online retailer Amazon has ended the contract of a security firm employed at one of its German warehouses, following complaints about workers' conditions. |
37,552,636 | While mobile users in London can access 4G nearly 70% of the time, in Wales users can connect only 35% of the time, the findings suggest.
Regulator Ofcom receives a large volume of complaints about mobile coverage.
All the mobile companies said they were investing in mobile networks.
The State of the Mobile Network report found that EE had the greatest availability of 4G networks, on 64%, with Vodafone on 60%. 02 was slightly behind on 59.9%. And 3 offered the least availability, with 43.7%.
When it came to average download speeds, EE was again in first place with, 27.9Mbps on average, followed by 3, on 24.4Mbps, Vodafone, on 17.9Mbps and O2, on 16.1Mbps.
Although London has the most availability, the speeds there were not as high as in other regions, due to the number of users attempting to use the network.
"It's clear mobile providers must do much more to improve their networks if they are to provide greater access to their customers," said Alex Neill, Which? managing director of home and legal.
An earlier report from OpenSignal and Which? found that users in the UK were able to access 4G about half of the time on average.
"Finding a 4G signal outside of London can still be a bit tricky," said Brendan Gill, co-founder of OpenSignal, but he added that mobile data speeds were "consistently fast".
Regulator Ofcom is currently compiling a crowd-sourced coverage map and calling on the UK's 20 million Android users to help build it by downloading an app that automatically measures signal strength and data speeds.
In response to the report, Vodafone said: "Thanks to our £2bn investment in our network and services since 2014, with another £2bn expected over the next three years, our customers across the country are experiencing a significantly improving and stronger network every day." | The rest of the UK is lagging behind London when it comes to accessing 4G data services, according to a report from mobile coverage company OpenSignal and consumer watchdog Which? |
35,349,686 | Activists have been sending leaflets the other way for decades, but it's a long time since the North did this. South Koreans have been told to hand in what they find, and soldiers have been out looking for them.
The BBC's Kevin Kim got hold of some of the leaflets and explained what the messages can tell us about the North.
These slogans are very direct. I'm not sure if a senior officer just says it and someone jots it down, but they feel spontaneous and lacking subtlety.
They are quintessentially North Korean, the sort of language you see in their media and propaganda, right down to details like the colours and quality of paper used.
The leaflets sent up North by South Korean activists are more subtle.
Some go into the family history of Kim Jong-un and in the North, where talking about the "royal family" is so taboo it can land you in a prison camp, this feeds into curiosity people might have about their leader.
The North Koreans have been known to be sexist and racist in the past - they have called President Park Geun-hye a prostitute and have published pictures showing US President Barack Obama as a monkey.
Another leaflet dropped on the South had a cartoon of Ms Park in a red bikini being thrown into a rubbish bin as "human filth".
Most South Koreans don't actually take it that seriously, being a democratic society with diverse political views.
South Korea turned on its huge banks of loudspeakers after the North's claim to have tested a hydrogen bomb earlier this month. The North does have its own speakers but they are so faint and unclear even the military along the border can't hear them.
What is new is that the North has chosen a different way of expressing its disapproval rather than shooting at the South Korean speakers - which it has done before - or any other direct military action.
Officials in the North may simply be trying to influence public opinion in the South, but the military in the South is interpreting the strategy as the North engaging in its own psychological warfare.
South Korea really is in a position to up the ante and is considering reinstalling huge light fixtures at the border to display messages as well as vast video screens.
The messages are clearly aimed at the South Korean public, the ones most likely to stumble upon these flyers.
One man found his car wrecked after a sack full of leaflets fell on it, while one activist who flies leaflets the other way found one lying in his front yard.
There are critics of the current president who believe more should be done to reach out to the North.
But the majority of South Koreans just don't care, even after the hydrogen bomb test claim people carried on with their daily life.
There was no panic buying, no stock market crashes. People are fairly oblivious to the leaflets, having far more important things to worry about in their busy lives. | In the past few days, North Korea has sent some one million leaflets across the border to the South, attached to helium balloons. |
38,960,897 | The specially modified Hillman Imp was built in 1966 by the Rootes Group, which had bought the Hillman name.
Auctioneer Richard Edmonds, said: "We're thrilled to be able to offer this historic and much-loved vehicle."
The car, with the registration plate JDU46E will be sold at Richard Edmonds Auctions in Chippenham on 4 March.
Its racing history also includes competing in the Tulip Rally in the Netherlands.
It was also driven in the 1967 Coupe des Alpines, but did not complete the race because a gasket failed. It was also driven in the UK's first-ever televised rally cross event in the same year.
The Imp was manufactured in Linwood, Renfrewshire, as a rival to the Mini, but never gained as much popularity.
Just under 500,000 were sold before the final model rolled off the production line in 1976.
The Imp is being sold by private collector Mark Tudge who has kept it at his home near Malmesbury, Wiltshire.
Mr Tudge, who has owned the car since 2013, said he was selling it for personal reasons.
"I was incredibly lucky to buy the car. I was on holiday in North Wales in 2013 when I saw a classified advert in a local paper selling the car.
"As it was in Cheshire not too far away, I went to see it and met the then owner, a retired banker and rally fan.
"He wouldn't sell the car to me for about a month - not until he was sure I was going to look after it.
Mr Tudge said the car's scratched paintwork was a reminder of its racing days, so it had not been refurbished. | A car that took part in the 1967 Monte Carlo Rally could fetch up to £50,000 at auction next month. |
36,297,907 | Povetkin, 36, tested positive for "low concentrations" of meldonium in April.
On Sunday, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman confirmed on Twitter that the fight would not take place as scheduled on 21 May in Moscow.
The World Anti-Doping Agency said in September it was adding meldonium to its banned list from 1 January, 2016.
Recent Wada figures showed there had been 172 positive tests for the drug this year - 27 of those involving Russians. | This month's WBC heavyweight title fight between American champion Deontay Wilder and Russia's Alexander Povetkin has been called off. |
21,506,482 | For hundreds of years, people could not be tried in the absence of a body after a 17th Century case where the supposed victim reappeared after three people were hanged for his murder.
Now there are about two murder cases without a body each year in England and Wales. This is largely because of a law change following a murder case in Wales in 1954.
April, from Machynlleth in Powys, went missing on 1 October 2012.
Within 24 hours of her disappearance, police had arrested local man Bridger, 47.
He was charged with her abduction and murder five days after she was last seen.
During police interviews and throughout his four-and-a-half week trial, he stuck to his story that he accidentally ran April over and was so drunk he could not recall where he had put her body.
The jury was told fragments of bone consistent with a juvenile human skull were found among ashes in the wood burner at Bridger's home, along with April's blood near to a number of knives, including one which was badly burned.
The "no body, no murder" rule followed a legal case known as the Campden Wonder in 1660, where a 70-year-old man called William Harrison disappeared without trace from the town of Chipping Campden in Gloucestershire.
Mr Harrison's servant John Perry, his brother Robert and mother Joan were hanged for his murder in 1661 after John Perry incriminated his relatives.
But the following year, Mr Harrison reappeared, saying he had been kidnapped and sold into slavery in Turkey.
Cases such as this made any conviction without a body a potential miscarriage of justice minefield. And it was not until 1954 that the "no body, no murder" rule was effectively overturned.
Michael Onufrejczyk, a Polish ex-serviceman from World War II, bought Cefn Hendre farm in Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, after the war and in 1953 went into partnership with fellow Pole Stanislaw Sykut.
Police carrying out routine foreigner checks came to the farm in December 1953 to find Sykut gone. Onufrejczyk told them Sykut had sold him his half of the farm and returned to Poland.
But investigations showed Sykut had left £450 (around £10,500 in today's money) in a bank account and none of his friends knew he had gone. He had also made legal inquiries about dissolving the partnership.
Sykut had previously complained of violent behaviour by his partner. Police arrested Onufrejczyk and charged him with murder.
They were convinced he had chopped Sykut's body up and fed it to the farm pigs.
At the trial, the jury heard evidence of over 2,000 tiny human bloodstains found in the farmhouse kitchen. They did not believe his claim that the marks were rabbits' blood, caused when he skinned them.
He was convicted of murder and sentenced to death, later commuted to life imprisonment.
Just last year, married infrastructure manager David Gilroy was convicted at Edinburgh High Court of killing his lover Suzanne Pilley after she tried to end their relationship.
Ms Pilley went missing on her way to work in Edinburgh in May 2010.
After analysing in detail both of their movements on CCTV and building up a picture of phone calls and texts sent by Gilroy, police arrested him and charged him with her murder a month later.
Despite a lack of direct forensic evidence from the site, police believe he lured her to the basement garage at their shared place of work, killed her and hid her body in a stairwell before transferring it to his car and dumping it somewhere in western Scotland. It has not been found.
Dr Fiona Brookman, reader in criminology and deputy director of Glamorgan University's Centre for Criminology, said although no central statistics on the number of these trials were collated, research by the CPS suggested there were about two each year in England and Wales.
"There are up to five if you take the whole of the UK," she said. "It's not as rare as one might assume.
"There's lots of ways that you can fairly confidently prove that people are no longer alive."
She said changes in technology meant people left behind a trail which ceased rapidly when they were killed.
"Detectives have a patchwork of evidence that they can put together," she explained.
"The body is a central piece of evidence but not critical. The victim's phone suddenly went dead - that's significant. The person's not seen on CCTV. Their bank account is not used.
"All these things show the person isn't with us any more.
"The body is helpful if you want to learn exactly how they were killed and if you want to find evidence from the killer on the body.
"Sometimes the body is not that important in an investigation, particularly if it's a domestic crime. There's always a lot of cross-contamination if the people are connected."
Dr Brookman added that in some cases the body may be discovered by chance after the killer had been convicted.
But, she added, there were many reasons why a killer may not choose to reveal its whereabouts - most obviously failing to accept responsibility or being in denial.
"It also could be about control," she added. "When you have been arrested and are in prison, the one thing you can control is information about that crime.
"Many people who commit crimes are not friends of the police and won't help them."
If the killer had committed a particularly heinous crime they also may not want the details revealed.
"In some cases the killer remains connected psychologically with the burial place of the victim and wants to keep it private." | Mark Bridger's conviction for murdering schoolgirl April Jones came despite the fact the five-year-old's body has still not been found. |
37,504,664 | Gordon lost his place to Dorus de Vries in the wake of the Dutchman's arrival before replacing him at half-time in the 6-1 league win over Kilmarnock.
The Scotland goalkeeper helped ensure Celtic registered their first point after the 3-3 Champions League classic.
"He's the best keeper in Scotland by a country mile," said Griffiths.
"The big man is top drawer.
"It's unfortunate that he got dropped but he earned his place and I don't think he could do much about the goals.
"But at times he's kept us in it and I'm sure he'll be delighted with his performance.
"The Barcelona game wasn't great but we've shown Man City and everyone watching at home that we're a top side."
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Indeed, last season's top scorer believes he and his team-mates proved a point with their stirring performance just 15 days after the excruciating 7-0 drubbing in Barcelona.
"We stood off and admired Barcelona but the manager wanted us to go in there, get right up tight to Man City and show a lot more aggression, passion and desire while getting the ball moved quickly, and we did that," added Griffiths.
"I think they'll be a bit surprised at how well we played at times.
"The gaffer said that our Champions League starts with this game. Barcelona's Barcelona; they beat a lot of teams 6-0 or 7-0, we won't be the first and we won't be the last.
"There was another game that finished 6-0. Borussia Dortmund beat Legia Warsaw away from home but nothing was said about that.
"We've proved a lot of people wrong. We are a top side and can compete at this level."
Like Gordon, Griffiths has also found himself on the outside looking in. He returned to the side from a hamstring injury at the same time as the 33-year-old keeper, as a substitute against Killie, and made a late cameo in the thriller with City.
In that time, team-mate Moussa Dembele has scored eight goals including a derby hat-trick against Rangers and his double Champions League salvo against Pep Guardiola's expensively assembled squad.
"He's on flames," Griffiths said. "Everybody keeps saying 'Moussa's this, Moussa's that' but it's a squad game, I've been injured and the big man's stepped up to the plate.
"There's none more delighted than me that he's scored again. He's keeping me out of the team and rightly so but if the manager can accommodate us both then brilliant.
"If not, I'll need to sit on the bench because he's earned the right to play."
Meanwhile, James Forrest admits the experience against the English Premier League side was something to savour.
"It was definitely up there, the fans were unbelievable," the winger told BBC Scotland.
"It was a great start, we got everybody going. We gave it our all and got a good result.
"They'd won 10 in a row and we've come off maybe a wee bit gutted that we didn't win. It just shows you what we put into it.
"We won't get carried away. It was a good point but we'll take that into the next game." | Leigh Griffiths insists Craig Gordon is the best goalkeeper in Scotland by a distance after he returned to the Celtic team against Manchester City. |
35,366,425 | An immigration tribunal told the Home Office to process their asylum claims because France had not already done so.
The case could lead to further claims if other vulnerable asylum seekers can prove they have links to the UK.
Campaigners said the decision was groundbreaking, although the Home Office may appeal.
The three 16-year-olds, who in legal terms are classed as children, have been living in the so-called "Jungle" camp for at least two months. The fourth claimant is the 26-year-old brother of one of the other three and suffers from a serious mental illness.
All four had fled the Syrian civil war, saying they had witnessed traumatic events including bombings and death. Two of them were detained and tortured by the Syrian government.
None of them had been able to make effective asylum claims in France - but they all have adult brothers who are legally settled in the UK as recognised refugees.
Lawyers told judges at the Immigration and Asylum Tribunal earlier this week that the group were suffering "intolerable" conditions in the massive and unsanitary camp and were desperate to be reunited safely with their siblings.
They successfully argued that all four should be allowed to enter the UK and apply for asylum here, rather than being forced to remain in France in the hope that its government would eventually consider their case.
A spokesman for the judiciary said: "The tribunal has, subject to conditions, ordered that four individuals, who claim to be refugees, should, in the particular circumstances of their cases, be allowed to enter the UK.
"The tribunal's full judgement is expected within two weeks."
Under European rules, known as Dublin III, asylum seekers must claim asylum in the first country they reach. Those who have a relative living legally in another European country do have a legal entitlement to then apply to seek asylum there, but only if they have already been processed by the first country.
The Dublin rules could be scrapped by Brussels in an attempt to better relocate the unprecedented number of refugees - although the UK is likely to oppose such a move.
George Gabriel of Citizens UK, a campaign group involved in the legal action, said: "We are delighted with the judgment and look forward to being able to see these families, who have been so cruelly separated by war; reunited and safe.
"This judgment highlights that there are safe, legal routes to reconnect families using the Dublin III regulations, and we hope will allow other families to be reunited."
A Home Office spokesperson said: "We will study the full judgement in detail. We stand by the well-established principle that those seeking protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach. The court still requires these individuals to claim asylum in France before they can come to the UK.
"Any request to unite family members under the Dublin Regulation is carefully considered. Where someone seeking asylum elsewhere in the EU can demonstrate they have close family members legally in the UK, we will take responsibility for that claim."
Welcoming the decision, the Refugee Council's Judith Dennis said: "This judgement has shone a welcome light on the plight of refugees seeking protection in Europe who are desperately trying to reach their relatives.
"Everyone has the right to live in safety with their loved ones. European governments must work together to ensure families are reunited safely and speedily, especially when it comes to children and other dependent family members." | British judges have ruled that three Syrian teenagers and an adult in the Calais migrant camp can come to the UK immediately as they have siblings here. |
28,265,064 | Kurdish peshmerga forces are said to have seized control of production facilities at Bai Hassan and Kirkuk.
Kurdish MPs withdrew from Iraq's central government, after Prime Minister Nouri Maliki accused the Kurds of harbouring extremists.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari - a senior Kurdish figure - said Mr Maliki should apologise for his remark.
If the prime minister did not withdraw his comments, the Kurds would find it extremely difficult to work with him, Mr Zebari told the BBC.
Meanwhile, the number of people killed in a car bombing on the outskirts of Kirkuk has risen to 30.
The attack took place on Friday, when a suicide bomber's vehicle struck a petrol tanker at a checkpoint to the south of the city.
The road is used by refugees fleeing violence in the rest of Iraq for the relative safety of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. Police officers and civilians were among the dead.
Kurdish forces have moved into areas of north-western Iraq abandoned by the Iraqi army during the advance of Islamist insurgents led by the Isis (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) group over the past month.
The Kurds have since declared plans to hold a referendum on independence in the areas seized, escalating tensions with Iraq's central authorities.
In a statement on Friday, the Iraqi oil ministry condemned the seizure of oil refineries, adding that they expected Kurdish fighters to "support security forces in confronting terrorist groups rather than using the conditions to raid and occupy oil fields".
Reuters news agency said a senior source within the Kurdistan Regional Government had confirmed the takeover.
The unnamed source said they had been "forced to act to protect Iraq's infrastructure after learning of attempts by Iraq oil ministry officials to sabotage it".
The two oilfields are said to have a combined daily output capacity of some 400,000 barrels per day, AFP quotes a ministry spokesman as saying.
The Kurdish minority in Iraq managed to establish an autonomous region in the north in 2005 after decades of political and military efforts to seek self-rule.
Kurdish officials, including Kurdistan Region leader Massoud Barzani, say they view independence of areas under Kurdish control as their right.
Tensions came to a head when Prime Minister Maliki said on Wednesday that the Kurdish provincial capital Irbil was a haven for Isis fighters.
Soon after, a spokesman for Massoud Barzani said Mr Maliki "had become hysterical" and urged him to step down.
Foreign Minister Zebari told Reuters news agency on Friday that the Kurdish political bloc had suspended all day-to-day government business after Mr Maliki's remarks.
He said the country risked division if an inclusive government was not formed soon, adding: "The country is now divided literally into three states - Kurdish, a black state [Isis] and Baghdad."
This row with the Kurds is the last thing Iraq needs because it is already facing a stunningly successful Islamist insurgency, says the BBC's Mark Doyle in Baghdad.
It is a three-way dispute between the Kurds, the Sunnis and the Shia and it could lead to a three-way split, our correspondent adds.
Separately on Friday, the Iraqi government recalled Iraqi Kurd diplomats based at its UK embassy who were accused of taking part in a demonstration calling for the full secession of Iraqi Kurdistan.
But the diplomats' case symbolises a much more serious dispute, with Iraq's ethnic and religious unity and the very borders of the modern state under threat, our correspondent says.
Meanwhile, activist group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said that Iraqi security forces and militias affiliated with the government appeared to have executed at least 255 prisoners since 9 June.
"The vast majority of security forces and militias are Shia, while the murdered prisoners were Sunni," HRW said in a statement.
"The mass extrajudicial killings may be evidence of war crimes or crimes against humanity, and appear to be revenge killings for atrocities by ISIS," the statement added.
Joe Stork, HRW's deputy Middle East director, said: "While the world rightly denounces the atrocious acts of Isis, it should not turn a blind eye to sectarian killing sprees by government and pro-government forces." | Iraqi Kurds have taken over two northern oilfields amid a growing dispute with the government in Baghdad. |
33,081,583 | Midfielder Arturo Vidal was brought down in the box by Miller Bolanos in the second half and picked himself up to convert the penalty for Chile.
Former QPR man Eduardo Vargas netted the second, calmly slotting home, as Matias Fernandez was sent off late on.
Ecuador's best chance fell to West Ham striker Enner Valencia, who struck the crossbar with a close-range header.
Chile have never won the competition in its 99-year history, coming runners-up on four occasions, the last being in 1987.
And having reached the last-16 of the 2014 World Cup, the Chileans are third favourites behind Argentina and Brazil to lift the trophy this year.
The top two sides from the three groups will progress to the quarter-finals, as well as the two best third-placed teams, with these sides lining up alongside Mexico and Bolivia in Group A.
Chile showed more intent in the encounter with some sharp, crisp passing, while Juventus's Vidal and Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez combined well in the final third.
But they were unable to find a killer touch in front of goal early on as Sanchez stabbed an effort wide, while ex-QPR full-back Mauricio Isla came close as well.
Ecuador, who failed to make it out of their group at last year's World Cup, were happy to sit back and use their pace on the counter-attack.
Striker Fidel Martinez forced Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo into a full stretch save.
The game's defining moment came from Vidal, who seemed to go down easily in the penalty area, but stepped up to score an unstoppable spot-kick into the top corner of the net.
They got their second six minutes from time, punishing poor Ecuador defending, as Sanchez played in Vargas who struck a low finish.
The match ended on a sour note for Chile after substitute Fernandez was dismissed for hacking down Juan Carlos Paredes in injury time. | Hosts Chile began their quest for a maiden Copa America title with victory over Ecuador in Santiago. |
36,740,101 | It is expected to "pause" the sale of the main Port Talbot plant, but go ahead with the sale of its speciality business, which employs 2,000 people in Hartlepool, Rotherham and Stocksbridge.
Tata is thought to be in less of a hurry to sell because of rising steel prices and signs of government support.
Business Secretary Sajid Javid is in Mumbai for talks with the company.
During his trip, Mr Javid will also meet Indian government officials in Delhi to discuss how the trading relationship with India might work with the UK outside the European Union.
Tata is expected to delay the sale of much of its UK business to consider the options and assess the impact of the UK's vote to leave the European Union.
One of the biggest obstacles to the sale of the UK business has been the legacy of the British Steel Pension fund, which Tata inherited when it bought the business in 2007. It has 130,000 members and a deficit of £700m.
The government has been trying to help here by consulting on drawing up special legislation to lower pension benefits for many of the 130,000 members of the old British Steel pension fund.
It has offered hundreds of millions of pounds worth of loans and the taking of a potential 25% stake in the business.
In the meantime, the price of steel has increased, reducing pressure on Tata to sell.
But a delay may only provide short-term relief for some of the workforce. One potential bidder fears the UK business will "wither on the vine" while Tata refocuses its investment on its plants within the EU.
German engineering conglomerate Thyssen Krupp and Tata have held talks on combining their continental European steel operations, as global overcapacity weighs on prices and profits. | The board of Tata Steel is meeting in India to discuss the future of its UK steel operations. |
36,923,829 | Daniel Rodriguez, also known as Grymey D, 28, contacted several girls, aged 14 and 15, online and persuaded them to go to his house in Hackney.
Videos found by police showed him having sex with girls in the house he shared with his parents and sister.
He admitted 15 offences and was sentenced to 16 years by a judge at Wood Green Crown Court.
The charges related to seven different victims and included sexual activity with a child, making indecent photographs and sexual assault.
Scotland Yard found videos of the rapper having sex with four children.
In one, Rodriguez had filmed himself having sex with a 14-year-old girl who had arrived at his house wearing her school uniform.
He was caught when police discovered messages on a 14-year-old's phone which suggested she was in a sexual relationship with him.
The girl told officers he had first contacted her when she was 13 and she had visited his house several times once she turned 14.
On one occasion the girl took a friend, who was also 14, and Rodriguez engaged in sexual activity with both of them, she told detectives.
Charges:
Rodriguez groomed his victims using Facebook, Instagram and Blackberry Messenger by complimenting them about how they looked and telling them he loved them.
Edward Lucas, prosecuting, said on Thursday: "This defendant is predatory. He preyed on young, vulnerable girls around the ages of 13 to 15.
He used his experience, charm and his guile and ultimately his force - his force of personality - to indulge in his own perverted activities."
His relatives were unaware of what he was doing.
The defence had suggested Rodriguez "did not appreciate the gravity of what he was doing" and was "absolutely stunned" when he learnt of the seriousness of the offences.
But Judge Joanna Greenberg QC said "he must be blind and living as a hermit" to have missed news of similar cases involving high-profile celebrities.
She said the rapper had deliberately targeted young girls in order to carry out "deviant sexual fantasies".
"Your desire for them was because they were young girls," the judge said. | A "predatory" rapper who filmed himself having sex with schoolgirls he groomed on social media has been jailed. |
40,535,801 | Rakuten is accused of being the world's largest online retailer for elephant ivory, but will now phase out its sale.
The trade is legal in Japan for items imported before 1989 - but no new stock can be brought into the country.
Many other countries have banned the trade outright over concerns that it contributes to elephant poaching.
Rakuten also banned the sale of sea turtle products on its site, telling AFP news agency it was responding to "growing international concern".
"We expect it will take 1-2 months for all listings of these prohibited products to be removed," it said.
On the day of the announcement, a large number of ivory items were still listed for sale, including many carved personal seals known as "hanko".
Sellers of such items are expected to maintain careful records of their origin, and use only government-regulated ivory stockpiles.
But activists believe the rules are often circumvented and the precious material is often smuggled across borders.
Yahoo Japan, another site which allows the sale of ivory, has previously come under fire for the practice.
However, a spokesman told Reuters it did not plan to halt the trade, saying: "We don't think that the legal ivory trade in Japan has any impact on African elephant numbers."
"It is important to recognise there are cultural differences between different countries," he added.
African elephant numbers have plummeted in the last century, and there are an estimated 500,000 remaining on the continent.
China, a traditional powerhouse in the ivory trade, announced in December that it would ban all ivory activities and trade by the end of 2017.
Conservation groups hailed the decision as "historic" and a "game-changer" - but ivory artists have lamented the loss of a traditional craft. | One of Japan's largest online retailers has banned the sale of ivory, closing a major marketplace for the controversial trade. |
35,115,790 | Robert Garrick, from Perth, sent more than 70 messages to the woman, who was assigned to work with him at a medical day centre.
The sheriff said it was likely that Garrick's habitual use of legal highs had probably contributed to the crime.
The building worker admitted the offences, committed between 11 and 12 November, at an earlier hearing.
Perth Sheriff Court heard Garrick believed he was having a conversation with the nurse because a cocktail of drugs had sparked voices in his head.
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis was told that he had started sniffing gas and smoking cannabis at the age of 11 and had been taking legal highs - also known as new psychoactive substances.
The sheriff said: "You have six previous assault convictions and seven convictions for breach of the peace. There are undoubtedly other issues relevant to your offending.
"Nonetheless, if you didn't take illicit substances then I suspect you wouldn't appear before this court. There is a voluntary aspect in your actions which causes all sorts of problems.
"A custodial sentence may just bring it home to you that taking illicit substances which result in you behaving in this manner then it does have real consequences."
Garrick was given the nurse's work mobile number after she was assigned to him and used it to send numerous texts and voicemails over a 24-hour period, including the threats.
Garrick also admitted possessing an offensive weapon. | A 35-year-old man who threatened to kidnap, rape and kill a nurse has been jailed for seven months. |
37,074,759 | Resuming on 332-7, the visitors added 45 runs to their first innings total before Sussex opener Chris Nash (66) and Wells began to reduce the deficit.
Luke Wright added 54 for Sussex, who reached the close just 41 runs behind, with six wickets in hand and David Wiese (38*) still in alongside Wells.
Craig Miles (2-81) had the best bowling figures as Glos struggled in the field. | Luke Wells made an unbeaten 102 to help Sussex battle back on day two against Gloucestershire at Hove. |
40,348,557 | Jim Entwistle, 33, from North Yorkshire, wrote that he was "retiring the mug after thousands of brews".
The German club noticed the message and asked for his postal address.
The free, replacement mug arrived on Tuesday - with a letter from the club saying: "We are really proud to have fans as loyal as yourself."
Jim, from Tunstall near Richmond, was given his first Bayern Munich mug as a birthday present in 1996.
His uncle - who lives in Germany - sent him the gift after Bayern beat Jim's team, Nottingham Forest, in the Uefa Cup.
Jim said: "I think he (the uncle) thought he was being funny, but over the years the mug and I became quite attached.
"It followed me around the country, through uni and work. Others have come and gone but it's always been there.
"I must have had thousands of brews out of it, but it's starting to show its age so I thought I'd retire it.
"I just threw out a tweet before work one morning (on 8 June). By lunchtime, my phone was going berserk.
"I'd been followed by Bayern and all their fans were tweeting me. One wanted my old mug. What a world we live in.
"So they offered to send me a new one, which was a lovely gesture. I'm giving it to my baby son - I'm hoping he won't be a Forest fan.
"I work in social media (for the Great North Air Ambulance) so it's easy to be cynical about these things. But sometimes it's just nice to be nice, isn't it?" | An English football fan who tweeted that his 21-year-old Bayern Munich mug was "faded and cracked" has been sent a new one - by the club itself. |
38,192,908 | Ali Crawford outfoxed Caley Thistle goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams with a disguised free-kick that crept in at the near post.
Accies counterpart Gary Woods brilliantly denied Greg Tansey, before home captain Ross Draper blazed over.
Larnell Cole equalised after the break with a well-taken dipping half-volley.
Media playback is not supported on this device
Ahead of kick-off, the Scottish Professional Football League and Caley Thistle dismissed reports that the club had asked for the game to postponed as a result of a goalkeeping injury crisis, with both saying they had simply sought clarification of the rules.
First choice Fon Williams suffered a back strain this week, goalkeeping coach and reserve Ryan Esson also picked up an injury having replaced Daniel Hoban, who injured himself in a midweek under-20 match.
The other senior goalkeeper, Cammy MacKay, was unavailable as he is on loan at Elgin City.
So Fon Williams started despite not being fully fit and it appeared to play a part in Hamilton's goal as he was caught out by Crawford at his near post. The Wales goalkeeper had to do better.
Inverness responded well though and were rewarded by Cole, who produced a fine finish to find the top corner from an angle.
Boss Richie Foran will also point to a very strong claim for a penalty in the first half. Lonsana Doumbouya directed a header on target with Dan Seaborne clearly handling.
It wasn't given but to their credit, Inverness continued to press.
Jake Mulraney screwed wide from close range, Tansey dribbled through on Woods but couldn't finish before Draper fired over form a great position.
When Cole struck, the game opened up - and it turned into a very good watch.
Tansey thought he'd netted but his shot was blocked. Cole blazed over. Hamilton pushed back and might have nicked a winner.
The result arrests a run of four defeats for Inverness but they'll be disappointed not to have taken all three points as a first home win since September evaded them once more.
The point moves them off bottom place, into 11th, but perhaps not as far as they'd have wished. It remains very tight at the foot of the table.
There's a predictability about Hamilton; they draw a lot. That's eight in 10 games.
You could write this most weeks about Ali Crawford, but once again, he was simply top-drawer for Martin Canning's side.
As he sized-up a free-kick on the left everyone expected a cross into the crowded box, but Crawford saw the opportunity to catch out Fon Williams at his near post with a crisp strike low to his right-hand post which was perfectly executed.
It would be wrong, though, to simply highlight Crawford - Hamilton have a real team ethic and came close from other areas.
Greg Doherty flashed wide from distance and Darian Mackinnon was unlucky with Fon Williams tipping over.
They rode their luck at times with the penalty claim and the procession of great chances going unpunished.
Accies now face a very difficult run of games against Celtic, Rangers, Celtic again, then Aberdeen.
Tough by anyone's standards, but they've been consistently dogged and in Crawford they have someone who can produce moments of spark at vital times.
Inverness CT manager Richie Foran: "We didn't get a clear, clear penalty - not only has (Seaborne) hand-balled it, he's pushed it with his hand and the referee is in the best position to see it, looking straight at it.
"It's interesting. Very interesting. When you're down there, you probably don't get those decisions. But also, we've got to take our chances.
"Fon Williams is quite upset with the goal - he's been great for us so I can't be too hard on him, and he shouldn't even have played today, the way his back is.
"But our reaction from there, we could have easily folded, but we didn't, we took the game right to them, and we created so many chances, same we did against Dundee. How we didn't win today, I'll never know."
Hamilton Accies player-manager Martin Canning: "It seems to be the story of the season so far. I thought second-half they started on the front foot, they made it one-each, and from then I thought we were excellent.
"We created enough opportunities we should have made more of, and probably scored and won the game. But again, it's another point, another difficult place to come, and I think if we put a couple of wins in there, performance-wise, we're difficult to break down, difficult to beat, we'd be reasonably pleased.
"The fact we're missing two or three wins out of that group of draws, it means now it becomes vital we start picking up three points."
Match ends, Inverness CT 1, Hamilton Academical 1.
Second Half ends, Inverness CT 1, Hamilton Academical 1.
Attempt missed. Rakish Bingham (Hamilton Academical) right footed shot from very close range misses to the left.
Attempt saved. Ali Crawford (Hamilton Academical) right footed shot from more than 35 yards is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Billy King (Inverness CT) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Billy King (Inverness CT).
Dougie Imrie (Hamilton Academical) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner, Inverness CT. Conceded by Grant Gillespie.
Substitution, Inverness CT. Billy King replaces Lewis Horner.
Brad McKay (Inverness CT) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Brad McKay (Inverness CT).
Greg Docherty (Hamilton Academical) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner, Hamilton Academical. Conceded by Josh Meekings.
Corner, Hamilton Academical. Conceded by Lewis Horner.
Corner, Hamilton Academical. Conceded by Carl Tremarco.
Scott McMann (Hamilton Academical) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Jake Mulraney (Inverness CT) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Scott McMann (Hamilton Academical).
Grant Gillespie (Hamilton Academical) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Jake Mulraney (Inverness CT) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Grant Gillespie (Hamilton Academical).
Josh Meekings (Inverness CT) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Dougie Imrie (Hamilton Academical).
Corner, Hamilton Academical. Conceded by Carl Tremarco.
Attempt missed. Ali Crawford (Hamilton Academical) right footed shot from outside the box is too high.
Substitution, Hamilton Academical. Daniel Redmond replaces Alejandro D'Acol.
Substitution, Hamilton Academical. Rakish Bingham replaces Louis Longridge.
Attempt missed. Ali Crawford (Hamilton Academical) left footed shot from the centre of the box is just a bit too high.
Attempt missed. Larnell Cole (Inverness CT) right footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high.
Attempt saved. Iain Vigurs (Inverness CT) left footed shot from more than 35 yards is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Attempt blocked. Ali Crawford (Hamilton Academical) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Foul by Ross Draper (Inverness CT).
Scott McMann (Hamilton Academical) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Dougie Imrie (Hamilton Academical) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Josh Meekings (Inverness CT) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Dougie Imrie (Hamilton Academical).
Attempt missed. Ali Crawford (Hamilton Academical) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.
Corner, Hamilton Academical. Conceded by Ross Draper.
Greg Tansey (Inverness CT) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Darian MacKinnon (Hamilton Academical). | Inverness Caledonian Thistle climbed off the foot of the Scottish Premiership after a 1-1 draw with Hamilton Academical. |
38,316,460 | Ogmore MP Chris Elmore said that he knows of a leading UK manufacturer with "serious" concerns.
He said the company, which wanted to remain anonymous, was already being hit by a downturn in construction and currency fluctuations.
UK ministers suggested MPs spend more time discussing Wales' "positive" jobs news, rather than "scaremongering".
Speaking in a Westminster Hall debate, Mr Elmore said that the firm had told him the scale of the potential change Brexit could bring about was "vast" .
He said that the company needed clarity about the form of Brexit, but that it specifically need to know if the government was going to keep the UK in the single market and the customs union.
"The bottom line is that business in Wales is crying out for a Brexit plan for Wales," he said.
The government's "vague platitudes" on what it wanted from the negotiations "serve only to distract from the fact that, as it stands, we're being led into the night without a torch", Mr Elmore added.
Dwyfor Meirionydd Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts said that there was uncertainty for rural firms about what would replace the Rural Development Programme and the Common Agricultural Policy after Brexit.
She gave the example of South Caernarfonshire Creameries, which she said generated at least £30m a year for the local economy, had expanded with EU monies, and was planning on expanding further.
"Since the vote to leave the European Union however, the government has failed to shed any light on how they intend to compensate for the millions of pounds lost," she said.
Wales Office Minister Guto Bebb said that Wales had performed extremely well from a jobs point of view and "every single measurement on employment has been positive".
He said the best performing part of the UK has been small businesses in Cardiff - with a 12 percent growth in turnover - "outpacing even London", something MPs should be talking more about that rather than "scaremongering", he said.
On Wales' involvement with the Brexit negotiations, there was an "ongoing engagement" from the Wales Office and across government, he added. | Businesses in Wales are "crying out" for a Brexit plan, a Labour MP has warned the UK government in a debate. |
28,771,598 | PC Chris Young, 46, from Nottingham, appeared at Derby Crown Court charged with committing sexual misconduct in a public office in 2012 and seven other "like" charges.
He was bailed until 24 November for a trial expected to last two weeks.
Mr Young, who was based in Hucknall and has also worked in Worksop, is currently suspended from duty .
At the hearing on Wednesday morning, the court was told he faced one count of sexual misconduct in a public office and seven similar counts, the details of which have not been finalised. | A Nottinghamshire Police officer has denied a number of sexual misconduct charges at a short hearing. |
20,540,013 | It was feared untreated water from Wheal Jane, near Baldhu, could spill into a nearby river if levels continued to rise following the heavy rain.
An additional pump lowered into the mine by the fire service has helped reduce the water levels.
The agency said it would continue to monitor the volume and water quality.
On Wednesday evening seven pumps at Wheal Jane were working at "full capacity" following the heavy rain, yet water levels were continuing to rise.
The Environment Agency said it was concerned if levels had continued to rise faster than pumps could abstract, untreated water could enter the Carnon river.
The water from Wheal Jane mine is contaminated with a range of metals which, untreated, could impact on shellfish and other ecology in the Fal Estuary.
Contaminated water has been abstracted and treated from the mine since 1992 following an drainage burst which caused visible pollution from mine water coloured orange by the high iron content.
As a result of the burst, a government funded treatment plant was commissioned to prevent any future impact on the estuary. | Contaminated water levels at a flooded disused mine in mid Cornwall have improved, the Environment Agency has said. |
27,863,656 | US employees of the firm who work at least 20 hours a week are eligible for the Starbucks College Achievement Plan.
Starbucks staff who are successfully enrolled will receive partial tuition for the first two years, and full tuition for their final two years.
The annual fee for online courses at the university can exceed $10,000.
After they've completed their bachelor's degree, the employees are not obligated to return to employment with Starbucks.
Starbucks staff looking to attend college online at Arizona State University (ASU) can choose from about 40 programmes including business, engineering, education and retail management.
In a statement posted on its website, the university said the initiative was designed to 'support the nearly 50% of college students in the United States today who fail to complete their degrees due to mounting debt, a tenuous work-life balance and a lack of support.'
In that same statement, Howard Schultz, chairman and president at Starbucks said: "There's no doubt, the inequality within the country has created a situation where many Americans are being left behind. The question for all of us is, should we accept that, or should we try and do something about it.
Supporting our partners' ambitions is the very best investment Starbucks can make. Everyone who works as hard as our partners do should have the opportunity to complete college, while balancing work, school and their personal lives."
In addition to the financial aid, students who are admitted under the college plan will also have a dedicated enrolment coach, financial aid counsellor and academic advisor to support them through graduation.
Michael M. Crow, President at the Arizona State University said that Starbucks was "establishing a new precedent for the responsibility and role of a public company that leads through the lens of humanity and supports its partners' life goals with access to education."
The collaboration comes one week after a White House report showed student debt loan balance in the US had jumped to $1.1tn early this year, when compared to $250bn in 2003.
Last week US President Barack Obama signed an executive order allowing millions of student-loan borrowers to cap their payments at 10% of their monthly income. | US coffee chain firm Starbucks will pay college fees for US workers to complete a bachelor's degree online in a tie-up with Arizona State University. |
39,631,369 | There was debate within Scotland over whether these elections were an opportunity to discuss Brexit and independence or whether doing this meant important local issues would be ignored.
The council elections will still take place on 4 May as planned.
But will the nature of the campaigning now change?
Some parties and candidates were highlighting Brexit and the possibility of a second independence referendum - others were focusing on things councils are actually responsible for, or national issues connected to local government.
Naturally, there was the usual claim and counter-claim between parties over just who was doing what and why.
So with an unexpected general election - the first to be completely unexpected for decades - do things now change?
Of course, it is nothing new for council elections to take place in the shadow of an oncoming general election.
For example in 1983, 1987 and 2001 the general election came in June - shortly after council elections in many parts of the UK.
In those days, the date of the general election was effectively in the hands of the prime minister. The Conservatives' performance in some areas in 1983 and 1987 was a factor in persuading Margaret Thatcher to go to the country, convinced by her party's prospects.
In each of those years, the prospect of a June election meant there was plenty of intense debate and informal electioneering for months beforehand.
In that sense, the council elections were overshadowed but the local campaigns took place before the election date had been confirmed and the start of official campaigning.
It is worth noting though that in Scotland, there has been no occasion since a standardised system of local government was introduced in the 1970s when a national day of council elections came to be overshadowed by a UK general election.
There were no widespread local elections in Scotland in May 1983, 1987 or 2001. In a sense, this is now uncharted territory.
In the early years of devolution, council elections took place on the same day as the Scottish parliamentary elections - in 2012 they were consciously moved back to a different day to try to put more focus on local issues although the extent to which this has happened is debatable.
The question now is what an unexpected general election may mean in practice for the Scottish council election campaigns.
Concern had been expressed by some - for example the trade unions Unison and the EIS - that the council elections were being overshadowed by Brexit and the possibility of a second Scottish independent referendum.
There are now two possibilities.
With a general election imminent, it could be argued that this is an opportunity to ensure the local elections really are an opportunity to debate council issues and local services. The chance to express a view on Brexit and the referendum will come a few weeks later.
The other possibility is the complete opposite, of course: will the local elections now become a sideshow or a warm-up act? A party could naturally hope for a strong council election performance to set it up for the battle ahead.
One big question now concerns campaigning.
There are strict restrictions on how much money can be spent on local campaigning by Westminster and council candidates.
But there are, in reality, few financial restrictions on generic national campaigning - posters promoting the party or its leader rather than individual candidates, newspaper advertising highlighting a party's policies and so on.
Will party political broadcasts ahead of the council elections focus on local or national issues? What might the impact be of any national advertising which appears before 4 May?
Local authorities will also now be faced with the practicalities of organising a poll they had not anticipated: sending out polling cards, setting up polling places and organising counts.
For some primary school children, it will mean an unexpected day off school.
So will these council elections become a warm-up act for the general election? Or will the next fortnight see more debate on local issues? Watch this space... | The prime minister's plan for an early general election throws a spanner into the works of Scottish council election campaigns. |
33,423,375 | The Old Bailey heard the only reason 19-year-old Syed Choudhury did not go was because he could not find someone to travel with.
The Cardiff and Vale College student admitted to engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts.
He will serve three years, four months at a young offenders' institution.
Originally from Bradford, Choudhury was living with his aunt in Cardiff.
The court heard he had been radicalised by people he regarded as elders after he left home to study in Cardiff.
His extreme views were revealed when he ranted to officers about Sharia law, saying he wanted to be the one to bring it to the UK while in custody.
"The bluntness of what you said on that occasion is chilling. It reveals your dangerousness," Judge Peter Rook QC, said.
"However I do accept you are immature. You are impressionable to indoctrination.
"You now say 'I'm lucky I came to prison, I'm lucky I got stopped'.
"You have shown some awareness of how misguided your earlier extremist position was."
The court heard how in July 2014, Choudhury took part in a demonstration in Cardiff protesting about the conflict in Gaza.
He carried a banner proclaiming his support for Islamic State which brought him to the attention of anti-terrorism officers.
Prosecutor Sarah Whitehouse QC said in the weeks following the demonstration, Choudhury accessed websites about travelling to Syria and another one that was entitled "10 reasons to join ISIS".
Ms Whitehouse said he also downloaded images that showed his active interest in extremism and had conversations on social media about travelling to Turkey and Syria to fight.
Choudhury was arrested last December and during interview he repeatedly said he supported IS and that he would be happy to kill non-believers under Islamic State rule.
The court also heard throughout 2014 he was downloading extremist ideology and had saved £3,000 working in a fast food restaurant to fund his jihadi travel.
He was due to go on trial on Wednesday at the Old Bailey, but changed his plea after the jury had been sworn in.
Abdul Iqbal QC, defending, said the evidence showed Choudhury's enthusiasm to travel to Turkey or Syria, but said that Choudhury had not got further than making inquiries.
"There are no direct links with anyone in the area of Turkey or Syria who could assist him," he said.
"Naivety, immaturity and lack of insight are the hallmarks of his character," Mr Iqbal said.
Choudhury was vulnerable and was targeted by older individuals in the Cardiff area who indoctrinated him in extremist views, he added.
Following the sentence, South Wales Police Assistant Chief Constable Nikki Holland Police said: "Cardiff is a multi-cultural city and local policing teams, together with partner agencies, work hard to ensure that the people who live there can do so in a safe and peaceful environment.
"It is therefore vital that those who wish to support violent and murderous actions against others are identified both through rigorous policing and the support of communities who can report suspicious actions and behaviour." | A Cardiff teenager with "chilling" extremist views has been detained for planning to travel to Syria to fight with so-called Islamic State |
21,469,091 | Sam Woodhead had failed to return to a cattle station in central Queensland on Tuesday afternoon.
Queensland Police said Mr Woodhead was a little sunburned when he was found but was hydrated and otherwise well.
Mr Woodhead, 18, reportedly from Richmond in south-west London, was reported missing by the owner of Upshot Station, where he was working.
The former Brighton College student is being returned to the cattle station for a medical assessment, before being transferred to a hospital in the nearby town, Longreach.
His sister Emma Lupton said the family had been "very distressed" during his disappearance.
"We heard this morning [that he had been found] from a family friend of ours who lives in Brisbane," she said.
"We didn't know a lot about his condition... but we know that he's been found and is safe and alive.
"You have to stay positive in these situations and you have to keep faith that he would be found."
Mr Woodhead had been in Australia for eight days when he disappeared.
Local authorities launched a search amid fears he may have become lost in the hot, isolated region. Temperatures have been around 37C (100F) in the area this week.
Rescuers searched by land and air. His mother is said to have urged police to widen their search as her son, who is a long-distance runner, could have travelled away from his base. | A British backpacker who went missing after setting out on a run in the Australian outback has been found. |
13,566,878 | Tunny machines helped to unscramble Allied interceptions of the encrypted orders Hitler sent to his generals.
The rebuild was completed even though almost no circuit diagrams or parts of the original machines survived.
Intelligence gathered via code-cracking at Bletchley underpinned the success of Allied operations to end WWII.
Restoration work on Tunny at the museum in Bletchley was re-started in 2005 by a team led by computer conservationists John Pether and John Whetter.
Mr Pether said the lack of source material made the rebuild challenging.
"As far as I know there were no original circuit diagrams left," he said. "All we had was a few circuit elements drawn up from memory by engineers who worked on the original."
The trickiest part of the rebuild, he said, was getting the six timing circuits of the machine working in unison.
The Tunny machines, like the Colossus computers they worked alongside, were dismantled and recycled for spare parts after World War II.
The first Tunny machines were built following the work in 1942 of mathematician Bill Tutte. Plans were drawn up for it after analysing intercepted encrypted radio signals Hitler was sending to the Nazi high command.
These orders were encrypted before being transmitted by a machine known as a Lorenz SZ42 enciphering machine.
Prior to the creation of machines to do the code-breaking, the orders were broken by hand in what was known as "The Testery".
Bill Tutte's analysis enabled the development of the Tunny machine which effectively reverse-engineered the workings of the SZ42 - even though he had never seen it.
The first machine built to capitalise on Tutte's analysis was called Heath Robinson and the more reliable and faster Colossus machines followed soon after.
Tunny worked alongside the Colossus computer, which together with input from the Testery, calculated the settings of an SZ42 used to encipher a particular message. These settings were reproduced on Tunny, the enciphered message was fed in, and the decrypted text was printed out.
By the end of WWII there were 12-15 Tunny machines in use and the information they revealed about Nazi battle plans helped to ensure the success of D-Day.
"We have a great deal of admiration for Bill Tutte and those original engineers," said John Whetter.
"There were no standard drawings they could put together," he said. "It was all original thought and it was incredible what they achieved."
One reason the restoration project has succeeded, said Mr Whetter, was that the machines were built by the Post Office's research lab at Dollis Hill.
All the parts were typically used to build telephone exchanges, he said.
"Those parts were in use from the 1920s to the 1980s when they were replaced by computer-controlled exchanges," he said.
Former BT engineers and workers involved with The National Museum of Computing have managed to secure lots of these spare parts to help with restoration projects, said Mr Whetter.
The next restoration project being contemplated is that of the Heath Robinson machines, which were used to find SZ42 settings before the creation of Colossus.
That, said Mr Whetter, might be even more of a challenge.
"We have even less information about that than we had on Tunny," he said. | The National Museum of Computing has finished restoring a Tunny machine - a key part of Allied code-cracking during World War II. |
36,825,721 | RamJam uploaded Southern Rail Tycoon on Thursday, and so far 45,000 people have played the tongue-in-cheek game.
The aim is to stop guards from boarding trains, which leads to services being cancelled as profits are collected from passengers.
It was inspired by months of cancellations due to an RMT dispute.
Once a sufficient number of train guards board on a train and a delayed service eventually departs, the player loses the game.
Brighton-based developer Tom Jackson said: "We all were planning to go to London a month ago and trains were delayed, then delayed, then delayed and then eventually cancelled.
"We were so frustrated by the whole thing that we've stopped using the trains."
Mr Jackson, along with his colleagues Phil Hart and Toby Funnell, developed the game as a result of that experience.
The 39-year-old said that the purpose of the game was a mixture of providing commuters with something fun to do while waiting for delayed trains and also making people aware of the compensation policy.
When the game is over, links appear to the Southern Rail compensation page and twitter account.
He added: "We like to do pieces that are reactive and demonstrate the impact [news events] have on people.
"It's incredibly frustrating, the train service is an absolute shambles."
A Southern Rail spokesman said: "Southern makes no money by cancelling trains - in fact the opposite is true.
"We are trying hard to give passengers the best service possible under very difficult circumstances and apologise sincerely."
The RMT union and GTR are in a dispute regarding the proposed introduction of more driver-only operated (DOO) services, which would change conductors' roles.
As a result of regular walkouts, Southern cancelled 341 daily train services on 11 July to improve "reliability". Since then 15 have been reinstated.
Rail minister Claire Perry resigned on Friday as a result of the months of delays on the line, managed by Govia Thameslink Railway.
On Monday, new Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said resolving the strike action was "top of his priority list". | Web developers frustrated by months of delays on Southern Rail have used their experience as inspiration for an online game which lampoons the company. |
38,174,726 | The 36-year-old had talks in Milton Keynes on Tuesday, but was in charge of Hearts for Wednesday's Scottish Premiership 2-0 win over Rangers.
That victory took Hearts up to second in the table, but Neilson joins a side currently 19th in England's third tier.
The ex-Scotland international is expected back in Milton Keynes to finalise personal terms on Friday.
He will be joined at Stadium MK by his assistant Stevie Crawford.
MK Dons have been seeking a new manager since Karl Robinson left by mutual consent in October after six and a half years in the role. | League One club MK Dons have agreed terms with Hearts for head coach Robbie Neilson. |
32,428,500 | The most eye-catching of the plans is the push for a military mandate to destroy boats used by people traffickers before they set out to sea.
The idea has the backing of Italy's Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti, who told Italian TV: "The plans for military intervention are there."
But would military action really work - and if not, what would?
The details of the EU's proposals for a military mandate are unclear at this stage.
But a 10-point action plan released before Thursday's emergency EU summit said: "The positive results obtained with the Atalanta operation should inspire us."
Gerry Northwood is the former head of operations for Operation Atalanta, a multi-national force first deployed in December 2008 to stop pirates off the coast of Somalia.
He told the BBC that using a military mandate to destroy boats before they leave would have "limited value".
Boats are "cheap and plentiful" and easily replaced, he added.
And while we do not know what form a direct attack on the vessels might take, Mr Northwood, a former captain in the UK's Royal Navy, said this approach could result in unwanted loss of life.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that any kind of military action could only be based on international law - potentially including a UN Security Council Resolution.
But Hans Lucht, writer and senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, says it may be a challenge to get some countries, especially Russia, to go along with a new intervention involving Libya.
The authorities there have admitted to the BBC that they rarely stop traffickers. The collapse of central government and the rise of Islamic State militants have left the country in chaos.
Meanwhile destroying the boats would not necessary stop the trafficking, Mr Lucht adds.
"We know little about the smugglers. They don't have a main office that you can walk into and arrest everybody.
"Reports show that criminal activity and traffic in illicit goods - not just human beings but also drugs, weapons and smuggled goods - have become widespread and have strong local and ethnic ties.
"You can't just expect to hit one or two smuggling operations and then the whole thing goes away."
Earlier this week, Australian PM Tony Abbott urged Europe to follow his country's lead, saying: "The only way you can stop the deaths is, in fact, to stop the boats."
Australia detains all asylum seekers who arrive by boat, holding them in offshore processing camps.
Military vessels also intercept migrant boats, towing them back to the country they came from or sending asylum seekers back in inflatable dinghies or lifeboats.
The EU's plans include "organising emergency relocation" and the "the rapid return of illegal migrants", although turning boats around is not listed as an option.
Australia's approach has been hailed by some European politicians, but criticised by rights groups and the UN.
Paul Barrett, a former secretary of Australia's defence department, told the UK's Guardian newspaper that returning vessels to Libya was very different from turning them back to countries such as Indonesia.
"If you turn around boats that are fleeing from Libya and send them straight back to Libya you're injecting them straight back into the danger that they've fled," he said.
Any operation would be obliged to observe the international legal principle of "non-refoulement" - meaning that people fleeing conflict or persecution are not sent back to a life-threatening place.
Meanwhile Gerry Northwood said his experience in Somalia showed that migrants were so not easily deterred, with the same people attempting a crossing a "third, fourth, or fifth time around".
Mr Northwood said the main lesson from the Atalanta anti-piracy operation was the need for co-operation between countries, as well as with the commercial shipping sector.
Several EU member states pledged additional resources for naval patrols at the summit on Thursday.
EU leaders also said they would give extra funding to search and rescue operations - although rights groups said they had not gone far enough.
Some EU countries including the UK had previously claimed such operations encouraged more people to attempt the perilous journey.
But Mr Norwood said he backed more naval patrols. "There is value in these patrols in terms of maintaining law and order on the high seas," he said.
However, the only real solution to the problem is to improve conditions ashore, while ensuring the criminal networks "do not have any targets", he added.
For pirates off the Somali coast, this means protecting vulnerable ships. But in the Mediterranean it means working to stop the flow of migrants.
In his closing statement on Thursday, European Council President Donald Tusk said: "We will step up efforts to address conflict and instability as key push factors of migration."
Mr Tusk also said the EU would "co-ordinate the resettlement of more people to Europe on a voluntary basis and with an option for emergency relocation".
The majority of migrants who arrived by sea in 2014 came from Syria, where a brutal civil war has raged for more than four years.
In 2013 Sweden announced it would grant permanent residency to Syrians seeking asylum.
And the deaths of more than 750 people in the Mediterranean on Sunday only served to highlight calls for countries to let more migrants in.
"The root cause of people getting on rickety boats or paying smugglers in the first place is that they have been legally barred from travelling by any other means," says John Lee from the action group Open Borders.
"If EU countries let these people buy a plane ticket in the first place, you wouldn't have the sort of deadly chaos we're seeing now in the Mediterranean."
European leaders facing economic pressures and concerns over immigration in their own countries are unlikely to suddenly transform their policies on this issue.
But Mr Lee argues that the problem will therefore remain.
"Ultimately if you prevent broad swathes of people from living in societies governed by safe and sane rule of law, simply because they weren't lucky enough to be born into those societies, you are going to see civil disobedience to this arbitrary exclusion." | European leaders are scrambling to find a way to stem the flow of migrants across the Mediterranean, after a large spike in deaths drew public condemnation. |
29,971,578 | Media playback is not supported on this device
England led 14-11 at half-time, but the visitors dominated after the break despite having Dane Coles sin-binned.
Lancaster said: "We haven't got the right result, but we don't feel we're far away. In the first half we were pretty close if not level."
It is New Zealand's fifth win over England in 12 months.
The losing run suggests England have some way to go if they are to triumph at next year's World Cup, but Lancaster remains optimistic.
He added: "We've got some good players watching the game, so we'll keep our confidence and maintain the direction in which we're going.
"The All Blacks have played eight games and two-and-a-half months together since we last played them and I thought we put them under pressure.
"We created opportunities in attack but obviously there's a period of play they constructed that shows why they have the experience to close out a game like that.
"That's what we've got to get."
Jonny May's first try for England had given Lancaster's side the perfect start but they squandered a handful of excellent opportunities to turn their early domination into points.
England were left to rue those missed chances as the All Blacks began to dominate and they were rewarded with second-half tries from captain Richie McCaw and replacement Charlie Faumuina.
"We've had one-and-a-half week's preparation and we've got young lads who are 20 and 21 years old making their debuts at Twickenham against the All Blacks - that's a positive," Lancaster continued.
"The performance of the pack was excellent - it couldn't have been far off 100% line-out. We put a lot of pressure on their ball and there was some good rugby on show in the first half.
"We missed one opportunity in the first half which could have made a difference.
"We need to work on the accuracy of our kicking, the pressure we put on ourselves playing in and around our halfway line.
"When the weather turned New Zealand maximised that opportunity well and when the hooker was in the sin-bin they managed that well as well.
"We couldn't get the territory to get close to them in the second half."
New Zealand's match-day squad had 1,023 caps compared to England's total of 437 before kick-off, but Lancaster's counterpart Steve Hansen does not believe his side's greater experience was the decisive factor.
"If your team has more caps than the other and you lose they tell you they are too old and should retire - it's just an excuse," he said.
"The big thing that changed in the second half was that we got a wee bit urgent.
"In that first half England were probably half a click in front of us the whole time, showed a bit more desperation and urgency to get to places."
May will recall his first England try with relish as he fizzed through a narrow gap down the left and then skinned full-back Israel Dagg on the outside.
The Gloucester wing said: "That has been coming for a while. I have kept going and getting opportunities, and that try put us in a good position. I will remember it forever." | Coach Stuart Lancaster insists England are "not far away" from New Zealand despite a 24-21 defeat by the world champions at Twickenham on Saturday. |
34,368,781 | Thousands of people gathered to watch the demolition, which happened at noon.
The 149m-tall chimney stacks had dominated the local skyline for the past 50 years.
The power station, which Scottish Power said generated 150 terawatt hours of electricity in its lifetime, was decommissioned in March 2013.
Each of the chimney stacks had 150 holes drilled in it, which were then filled with explosives. The power station's turbine hall was also demolished, with the boiler house due to come down at a later date.
The "button press", which started the demolition of both chimneys, was carried out by East Lothian resident Donald McCulloch, who won a charity raffle.
An exclusion zone was in place from 09:00 to ensure that the demolition was carried out safely.
A flotilla of boats gathered in the Firth of Forth to watch the demolition, with many more people gathering at surrounding vantage points, including Portobello Beach.
The safety restrictions covered the Greenhills, sections of Edinburgh Road and the John Muir Way, as well as extending into the Firth of Forth.
There were also traffic restrictions around the power station from 07:00.
The twin chimney stacks were constructed in time for the coal station opening in 1967. The turbine hall structure is predominantly made of steel. | The twin chimney stacks at the former Cockenzie Power Station in East Lothian have been demolished in a controlled explosion. |
39,269,705 | I am minded to be wary of ministers who adopt strong stances on issues while deferring decisions to other people - but more of that later.
For now, let's assume Mrs Bradley does indeed refer the bid.
Various sources tell me the timing depends on how much parliamentary time is consumed by Article 50, but Mrs Bradley has until Friday, and could announce as early as Wednesday.
She says there are two criteria for Ofcom to look at:
This week, Ofcom said it would, if Mrs Bradley referred the decision, also conduct a "fit and proper" test on James Murdoch.
In this blog, I will answer the following question: what's changed between the Murdoch family's last bid for full control of Sky, which had to be aborted, and this one?
In other words, is this time different?
For James Murdoch - who always saw Sky as unfinished business, and who has spent most of his career growing entertainment rather than news businesses - there are two pillars to the argument that this is not merely a re-run - put simply: "The landscape has changed. We have changed."
Let's take these in turn.
It is undoubtedly true that news is undergoing a revolution.
You'd expect me to say that, given I owe my job to it, but it is true.
According to Ofcom, social media is now the primary source of news for more than a third of British Millennials (those born between 1982 and 2004).
Moreover, Ofcom says Facebook is the third biggest source of news, by number of references, for UK consumers, and as a result of this explosive growth in social media, a new generation is getting more news - albeit of variable veracity - from more places.
The average Brit now gets their news from 3.5 sources, compared with 2.9 back in 2010.
These are numbers used by 21st Century Fox to justify its claim that the news media is undergoing rapid transformation.
No sober observer could argue that the habits of news consumers are the same now as they were six years ago.
When the Murdochs last bid for full control of Sky, it was their news division, News Corporation, that proposed the deal.
In 2013, Rupert Murdoch split his company into entertainment and newspaper operations.
This time, the bid is coming from 21st Century Fox - essentially the entertainment side of the company, rather than the news division.
James Murdoch would argue that both 21st Century Fox and Sky are companies with independent boards, and that what this deal is really about is giving Fox better access to Sky's 22 million customers, who primarily consume entertainment rather than news.
Seeing this as a bid by one entertainment company for another is what James Murdoch means by "We have changed."
Of course, the biggest change between now and the last bid is the political context.
The Murdochs pulled out of their last attempt to take control of Sky because of public revulsion at the criminality within their British newspaper, and - crucially - the concerted effort of political opponents.
Last time round, not only was there a more effective and co-ordinated Labour fight-back under Ed Miliband, who is strongly opposed to what he sees as vested interests in the media, but the Lib Dems were in government and counted enemies of Mr Murdoch among their most senior figures.
It was Vince Cable, of course, who told undercover reporters he had "declared war" against Mr Murdoch.
And, because former News of the World editor Andy Coulson worked for the prime minister, the bid became a prelude to a much bigger story about the relationship between the media, business, and politics.
Now, Mr Cameron is gone, Coulson has been to jail, the Lib Dems are shrivelled and no longer in government, Labour is less vocal on this subject - and, above all, the phone-hacking scandal has receded from headlines (and cultural memory).
Those, then, are the principal differences.
How would opponents of this bid counter these points?
First, they would argue that the division within the Murdoch stable is synthetic: this might be 21st Century Fox rather than News Corporation, but ultimately it's all the Murdoch family.
Secondly, they would argue that we need to have the second instalment of the Leveson Inquiry, which looks at police corruption and corporate governance (not least by James Murdoch), before a fully informed decision can be made.
Former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown said as much to me a fortnight ago.
Next, they would say that the shocking allegations about sexual harassment at Fox News, another Murdoch subsidiary, are another reason to query their corporate governance.
In New York last week, several senior figures in the media industry told me they were interested in whether the Fox News allegations would have an impact on Murdoch's ambitions in the UK.
And finally, these opponents would argue that for all the talk of new digital competitors and the rise of social media, the strength of Rupert Murdoch's newspapers here give him too much influence and control already, resulting in damage to our democracy.
To these counter-points 21st Century Fox would naturally say if you really want to know who has too much influence and control, take a look at the BBC, which is by a huge margin the most powerful voice in British media and culture.
That is a familiar refrain: James Murdoch in particular has been ferociously critical of the BBC.
These, then, are some of the ways in which circumstances have changed since the last bid - or, as some would have it, stayed the same.
In their remarkable history of financial crises, This Time is Different, Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff showed how, over centuries, investors and policymakers failed to learn the lessons of history, falsely thinking each big decision they made had no precedent.
Ofcom's decision on this bid, if indeed the culture secretary refers it, will hinge on whether this time is different.
Has a clearly diversifying media landscape evolved enough to overcome historical concerns about excessive influence and the character of those who most want this deal to happen?
The latest bid, by the way, is wholly consistent with the trend across the media industry of consolidation - namely, the marriage of distribution and content, which I call pipes with ideas.
New competition for eyeballs from digital giants such as Netflix and Amazon is making those people who own the content - the storytelling of drama, news, documentaries, comedy and family entertainment - to get together with those who own the means of reaching customers.
In this instance, 21st Century Fox own the content, and they want full access to Sky's pipes.
As for the culture secretary's intervention, I would be wary of reading too much into the fruity language of her letter saying she was "minded to" refer the bid to Ofcom - or indeed in the energetic rebuttal it received from 21st Century Fox.
There is little political downside to making such a referral: it allows Mrs Bradley to issue bromides about media plurality, give the appearance of standing up to vested interests - and ultimately defer a decision to an independent regulator.
Not that I have any reason to doubt her commitment to a raucous and successful media.
But the bigger decision she has to personally make (in conjunction with Theresa May) is whether to go ahead with the second, promised stage of the Leveson Inquiry.
This decision is just a warm-up.
Several government sources have told me their personal view that this second stage is either rendered unnecessary by the criminal trials since the first inquiry - or that a judge-led inquiry involving high-profile testimony would be a terrible distraction at a time when the government is trying to manage Brexit, and needs newspapers on-side.
When dealing with the Fox-Sky bid, Mrs Bradley knows her decision to refer (or not) won't be subject to the same scrutiny or political heat as her decision, made in conjunction with the prime minister, on Leveson Two. | Culture Secretary Karen Bradley has said she is "minded to" refer the bid by 21st Century Fox for the 61% of Sky it doesn't own to Ofcom, the regulator. |
34,866,962 | The train hit one of three wooden sleepers that fell on the track from a trailer, near Somerleyton in Suffolk.
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said the crash happened on 18 June after Network Rail staff removed old sleepers and rails overnight.
Network Rail said safety rules about observation of loads were reissued to staff immediately after the crash.
A maintenance team spent the early hours of the day removing old wooden sleepers from the track between Somerleyton and Oulton Broad North station.
The report said guidelines had been flouted and no-one was given the job of ensuring "nothing fell off" the trailers.
The report said: "The authorised work plan calls for a person to be appointed to monitor the load on each trailer."
The passenger train from Norwich to Lowestoft was travelling at about 35mph (56km/h) when it hit the sleeper, just after 05:08 BST.
The driver stopped the train before getting out to inspect what it had hit.
The RAIB said he was accompanied by a second driver and they found a wooden sleeper "wedged under the front" of the train, as well as two further sleepers nearby, which they removed.
After deciding the train was fit to move, the driver continued his journey to Lowestoft at a reduced speed.
A spokesman for Network Rail said: "The safety of our network is of the utmost importance to us and we will take any steps necessary to prevent a recurrence of this incident.
"We will be studying the recommendations of the report in detail." | An empty train crashed into a sleeper left on the track by staff who broke safety guidelines, a report has found. |
39,505,117 | Under Mr Jammeh, the National Assembly was frequently ignored as the president enacted executive decrees without consultation.
Expectations are high that under the new president, Adama Barrow, parliament will play a key part in lawmaking.
Mr Barrow has pledged to carry out political, security and media reforms.
As part of his proposed reform, he is setting up a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate abuses committed under Mr Jammeh's rule.
Reports say voter turnout has been relatively low.
"Jammeh was a determining factor which encouraged some people to vote and now that he is gone they are not really motivated," Pierre Gomez from Banjul University told the BBC.
Some of the candidates were also not well known to voters, he added.
Mr Jammeh sparked a political and constitutional crisis by refusing to leave office following his defeat in the December 2016 presidential election.
He finally headed for exile on 21 January after neighbouring countries threatened to remove him by force.
Mr Jammeh's then-ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) won 43 out of 53 seats in 2012.
The opposition largely boycotted the polls and one opposition member was elected. Four independent candidates also won seats.
The president had the power to select a further five members, which he did.
A coalition of seven parties that supported President Barrow during the presidential election has collapsed.
And the list of parliamentary candidates shows parties formerly in the coalition vying against each other in various constituencies.
President Barrow used to be a member of the United Democratic Party (UDP), but quit after being chosen as the opposition coalition's presidential candidate so as not to be seen as favouring one party within the grouping.
Mr Jammeh's APRC remains intact, and is taking part in the election as an opposition party for the first time since he seized power in a 1994 coup.
The National Assembly is made up of 53 MPs who serve for a five-year term.
In the past, 48 were elected by voters while five were appointed by the president.
This time, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has declared that all 53 constituencies will be contested and it has published a list of the 239 candidates contesting seats.
To qualify a candidate must be at least 21 years old but a law requiring candidates to pay $10,000 (£8,000) has recently been repealed.
Any citizen aged 18 years or older and of sound mind has the right to vote.
The IEC rules say voters must be on the electoral register and have a polling card. Also, they must attend the right polling station and avoid turning up drunk.
There are 886,578 registered voters, who will make their choice of candidate by dropping marbles into drums - the method The Gambia has long used in elections.
This is said to prevent possible multiple voting and presiding officers "listen to the sound of the marble/token hitting the drum".
The European Union has deployed an observation mission, with 20 people who will monitor the ballot across the country.
The authorities banned the EU from monitoring the last presidential elections. However, African Union officials were allowed.
Local media have said that the vote will be one of the closest since the country's independence in 1965.
President Barrow needs a majority in the National Assembly if he is to successfully push through his political reforms.
But with the break-up of the coalition that sponsored him at the last election, there are doubts whether now independent parties will continue to back him.
Mr Barrow has campaigned for pro-government candidates, but it is unclear whether the poll winners will continue to support him.
And the opposition APRC may take advantage of the situation to win seats. If it succeeds, it is likely to frustrate the government's agenda.
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook. | Gambians have voted for members of their one-chamber parliament in the the first polls since Yahya Jammeh left power after more than 22 years. |
39,735,904 | Don Catchen said the corpse caused flames to engulf one of his units in the city of Cincinnati.
The fat in the body burned at a higher temperature, prompting the blaze, said the city fire chief.
The blog Confessions of a Funeral Director describes a blaze resulting from the cremation of a morbidly obese person as a "grease fire".
No other parts of the building were damaged, Mr Catchen said.
The fire was contained to the garage where the crematory unit is located, he told BBC News.
The fire began at 21:40 (01:40 GMT) on Wednesday and took about two hours to put out, Mr Catchen told local news outlet WCPO.
"My operator was in the process of cremating remains and [the body] was overly obese and apparently it got a little hotter than the unit is supposed to get," Mr Catchen added.
"One of the cremation containers that we had close got caught on fire and that's what burnt."
No other bodies were damaged in the fire, he said.
"We believe there were some combustible storage boxes that were too close to the ovens," said Cincinnati Fire Chief Michael Washington.
Mr Catchen added the fireproof unit is made of concrete block with a steel roof, but also has a rubberised roof.
A similar blaze at a Virginia facility in October 2014 occurred during the cremation of a 500lb (226kg) body. | A crematorium in Ohio caught fire while burning the remains of an "overly obese" body, according to the owner. |
28,652,624 | The clubs, both borne out of the old Wimbledon, faced each other in the FA Cup two years ago, which MK also won.
This cup tie lacked the hype of the previous encounter, particularly after Kyle McFadzean, Daniel Powell and Benik Afobe had put MK 3-0 up.
Matt Tubbs scored a late consolation penalty, which provoked a mini pitch invasion from some travelling fans.
It is 11 years since the old Wimbledon was moved 60 miles north to Milton Keynes by music mogul Pete Winkelman, and 10 years since the club was rebranded into MK Dons.
But still AFC Wimbledon, the phoenix club created by fans, are searching for the win that may provide them with the smallest sensation of revenge.
Whether beating the enemy would make any of the past decade easier to bear is yet to be seen, but what possibly grates the most is the sight of their rivals building a youthful, attractive team, who were fully deserving of their win.
It was clear to see that the outpouring emotions that set the tone of the first meeting were heavily diluted this time around, with fewer fans from both sides in attendance.
And gone were the banners and signs, that were so prevalent two years ago, proclaiming ownership of the genuine heritage to the now extinct Crazy Gang.
That does not mean old wounds do not run deep though, as some AFC fans who made the trip to Buckinghamshire still harbour enough resentment to feel they needed to rush to the front of the stand after MK's second goal and scamper onto the pitch after their late consolation. Both incidents were quickly quietened by stewards.
AFC, a division below the hosts in League Two, should have led in the game, when Tubbs' parried shot was hit tamely by Sean Rigg on the rebound, and it was just seconds later that MK had the lead.
Media playback is not supported on this device
McFadzean, who has two goals from his first two MK appearances, connected with a near-post flick from a Danny Green corner that somehow found its way in, and from that point onwards Karl Robinson's men looked comfortable.
Powell's effort from the edge of the area shortly after the break wrong-footed James Shea in the AFC goal and then the visitors' defensive duo of Alan Bennett and Mark Phillips got into such a mix-up that Afobe was able to stroll through and calmly finish.
There was still time for a couple of scuffles between players and for Tom Hitchcock to force a goal-saving clearance from Bennett under his own bar, before McFadzean brought down Tubbs, who converted from the spot in injury time.
But, despite a couple of tense moments, the signs are that this fixture may well be close to becoming a reasonably sedate affair. That is until the first meeting at Kingsmeadow, whenever that may be.
AFC Wimbledon boss Neal Ardley:
"I think they were better than us. They have a very, brave open philosophy. To concede from a set-piece is hard because you're chasing the game from that point.
"We want a cup run, but we would have liked to have put a smile on the face of our fans. But we're not defined by whether we can beat Milton Keynes, we're defined by what's happened over the last 12 years.
"[The mini pitch invasion] was disappointing. Obviously they want to celebrate the goal. But it is just a minority who have toppled over the edge with their emotion. I don't think there is too much malice in it."
MK Dons boss Karl Robinson:
"It was satisfactory. It's always a hard fixture. You have to give credit to Neal and his team for how they approached the game. But I thought we looked very clinical.
"It's going to be a very competitive fixture from here on in, regardless of where we play them or whatever league it is in.
"It will never be like the first one. But you have to be careful, because you don't want to undermine anybody and hopefully we've come out of this being very respectful to the opposition." | MK Dons knocked AFC Wimbledon out of the League Cup in the second-ever meeting between the two sides. |
38,332,532 | The Islands instalment of Sir David Attenborough's series has received 3.83m requests on the catch-up service.
The first episode of BBC Three's drama series Thirteen is the second most-requested show of the year to date, having notched up 3.22m requests.
England's Euro 2016 clash against Wales is the third most-requested programme at present, with 2.84m requests.
The opening instalment of BBC One drama The Night Manager occupies fourth place in a list of the 10 most requested individual episodes on BBC iPlayer in 2016 released on Thursday.
It is followed by the second episode of Planet Earth II - Mountains - which has received 2.71m requests to view since its initial broadcast on BBC One on 13 November.
The BBC's figures reveal 2016 has been the biggest year yet for the BBC iPlayer, which received 243m monthly requests on average.
October and November saw the highest number of daily requests the service has ever seen, with each month recording an average of 11.7m.
Charlotte Moore, director of BBC content, said 2016 had been a "record-breaking year" for the corporation's in-house on-demand portal.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]. | The first episode of Planet Earth II is the most requested show on BBC iPlayer so far this year, new figures show. |
37,330,945 | It tells the story of a schoolteacher's thirst for revenge and her feelings of forgiveness after 30 years in jail for a crime she did not commit.
Diaz said the film was a testimony to the struggles of the Philippines after centuries of colonial rule.
Twenty movies competed in the 73rd edition of the film festival.
"This is for my country, for the Filipino people, for our struggle, for the struggle of humanity. Thank you, thank you so much," the 57-year-old director said as he accepted the award.
The film, Ang Babaeng Humayo in Tagalog, has a running time of almost four hours.
Other awards included:
This year's jury was led by British director Sam Mendes, who said the films in competition proved to be of "a wonderful, astonishing variety". | Philippines film The Woman Who Left, a black and white drama by director Lav Diaz, has won the Golden Lion for best film at the Venice Film Festival. |
38,266,709 | Energise Galashiels commissioned artist Chris Rutterford to complete a design for wall space at Douglas Bridge.
It was unveiled by Lord Steel of Aikwood amid celebrations during the Creative Coathanger arts festival.
Nobody had applied for planning permission for the mural but a retrospective application has now been successful.
Planning officer Carlos Clarke said: "The colouring is relatively dark, so the image is not conspicuous.
"It is not for me to comment on the quality of the artwork but the image appears to be very high quality and worthy of both distant and close public exposure."
A third section of the colourful mural, featuring even more recognisable faces from the Galashiels area, is due to be unveiled next spring. | A mural to celebrate the return of trains to Galashiels has been granted permission to remain in place. |
38,339,300 | At least 6,000 civilians and rebels are said to have left Aleppo, Syria's largest city, since Thursday after the government recaptured most of the city.
Among the evacuees are at least 2,700 children, a UN agency reports.
But thousands of cold and hungry civilians remain stranded in the rebel-held east, waiting to be picked up.
"Aleppo is now a synonym for hell," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters in New York, urging a resumption of the evacuation.
US President Barack Obama accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his allies Russia and Iran of "atrocities", saying the world was "united in horror" at the situation.
He admitted he felt responsibility for the situation but defended what he called his country's "best course" over the crisis.
France is calling on the UN Security Council to ensure the operation is co-ordinated by international observers, with humanitarian aid allowed into the city and hospitals given protection.
Four years of vicious fighting in eastern Aleppo left thousands dead, destroyed hospitals and wiped out food supplies.
The battle to control Aleppo may have reached its end, but there is still a fight over the process meant to rescue civilians while it also brings out the combatants, the BBC's chief international correspondent, Lyse Doucet, reports from Beirut.
Confusion reigned on Friday morning when the evacuation, which was taking place along corridors out of Aleppo towards rebel-held areas (Khan al-Asal and Khan Touman), was stopped.
Vehicles came under fire from pro-government militias, according to activists in the area, and their convoy returned to a rebel enclave.
The opposition Free Syrian Army says it still has 6,000 fighters in the city and they will fight to the end if they have to.
Russia insisted the evacuation was complete, saying 9,500 people had been brought out.
"All peaceful civilians and a majority of militants have left the blockaded districts," Lt-Gen Sergei Rudskoi told reporters.
However, Turkey, which supports the FSA, contradicted this, saying many people still wanted to leave.
Speaking in Ankara, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said consultations were under way with Russia and Iran, as well as "elements on the ground".
An unnamed Syrian official overseeing the operation told AFP news agency the evacuation had been suspended "because the militants failed to respect the conditions of the agreement".
Under a deal brokered by Russia and Turkey, the rebels were meant to ease their siege of towns in Idlib province.
Reports suggest the biggest rebel group in Idlib, the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham jihadists formerly known as the Nusra Front, have now agreed to allow injured people to leave the towns, Foua and Kefraya, which are home to some 20,000 people.
Syrian state media also accused rebels in Aleppo of trying to smuggle captives and heavy weapons out with them as they left Aleppo.
The UN's children's charity Unicef says sick and wounded children are among the evacuees from east Aleppo, some of whom left without their parents.
"However, hundreds of other vulnerable children, including orphans, remain trapped inside that part of the city," it added.
"We are extremely concerned about their fate. If these children are not evacuated urgently, they could die."
Abdulkafi al-Hamdo, a teacher who is also still in east Aleppo with his young daughter, told the BBC by phone he did not want to leave his home and city but believed he had no choice.
"The weather is so cold," he said. "Some people have been here since nine AM yesterday and the children are so hungry they are crying. They are freezing. Most of them here are scared of a brutal end to the ceasefire.
"They are afraid that they will not be able to get out. This is the feeling of most people here."
On Thursday, the UN envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, had put the number of people remaining in east Aleppo at 50,000.
Government forces have captured almost all of the rebel-held territory in eastern Aleppo, with the help of Russian air strikes. But the conflict in Syria is far from over.
Friday saw new protests across the world, from Malaysia to Turkey, to condemn violence against Syrian civilians and show solidarity with the country's opposition.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called for all sides to agree to a complete nationwide ceasefire.
In another development on Friday, Syrian state media report that a girl aged between seven and nine, wearing a bomb belt, blew herself up at a police station in the Midan district of the capital, Damascus.
Three police officers were reportedly injured in the explosion. | The evacuation of east Aleppo has been halted, with reports of shooting and rebels accused of failing to respect a deal to lift sieges of their own. |
34,451,390 | The diner ordered a dish of prawns that appeared to be marked at 38 yuan (£4, $6) on the menu, reported local media.
But he was later told the menu had specified the price was for each prawn, and was asked to pay 1,520 yuan (£160; $240) for the dish.
The restaurant has attracted intense criticism on Chinese social media.
The customer, identified as Mr Zhu by local media, was a Nanjing native on holiday in Qingdao with his family. On Sunday they visited the Shande Live Seafood and Barbecued Home-Cooked Dishes restaurant for dinner.
Pictures of the restaurant's menu carried by news outlets showed it had listed "ocean-caught large prawns" for 38 yuan. Mr Zhu said he ordered the dish and was served a platter of 40 prawns stir-fried in garlic.
When presented with the bill, which came up to 2,700 yuan including the cost of other dishes, Mr Zhu confronted the restaurant owner, who pointed to a line at the bottom of the menu which stated that "the seafood listed above is priced per item".
Mr Zhu refused to pay, and said the restaurant owner pulled out a stick and threatened to beat him up. The police were called in, and after negotiations Mr Zhu paid 2,000 yuan.
The unnamed restaurant owner told Beijing Youth Daily that he charged such high prices because his prawns were freshly caught.
The case has made waves on microblogging network Sina Weibo, where "38 yuan large prawn" has become a trending topic. Netizens have lambasted the restaurant owner as greedy and shameless.
Said user Maitianiam: "After cheating people he still wants to justify himself, he knows no shame."
"The next time I'm having a meal in Qingdao I'd better ask how much each grain of rice or each noodle costs, or else I might get beaten up!" said YanchixiaS.
Others noted that Mr Zhu still had to pay a large sum of money for the meal, and took issue with local authorities for failing to help him.
"What's hateful about this isn't just this unscrupulous merchant, but also the police and industry bureau... where can consumers get help from?" said user ACmilanshefuqinke. | A Chinese customer left a seafood restaurant in the city of Qingdao with a bad taste in his mouth after claiming he was overcharged for prawns. |
36,054,840 | Nearly 6,000 have arrived since Tuesday alone, it says.
In the week to 13 April, arrivals in Italy were 173% higher than the previous week, while arrivals in Greece were 76% lower.
Officials in Libya say they fear the closure of the migrant route through Greece is leading to the surge.
A deal between Turkey and the EU came into force last month with the aim of deterring migrants, mainly Syrians and Iraqis, from making the crossing between Turkey and Greece.
However, the IOM said there was no evidence yet that the Turkey-EU deal was linked to the latest surge. Those currently arriving in Italy from Libya are predominately citizens of African countries.
IOM spokesman Joel Millman said that of the 6,021 migrants and refugees making perilous sea crossings since Tuesday, only 174 had reached Greece.
He warned that the return of better weather would probably mean persistently high numbers making the crossing to Italy.
Rescued migrants who reached Italy said they had all travelled from Libya, mostly in overcrowded dinghies.
Federico Soda, the head of the IOM's office in Rome, said in the statement: "Many of them were from sub-Saharan Africa, and we have noticed an increase in numbers from the Horn of Africa, particularly Eritreans.
"There have been very few Syrians leaving from Libya in recent months."
Italy has asked its local authorities to find another 15,000 beds for asylum seekers.
The BBC's Orla Guerin, who has travelled to Libya, says one senior figure there said that hundreds of thousands could depart for Italy.
She says Libya's new unity government is struggling to get control of its capital, let alone the long coastline. With three rival administrations and numerous competing militias, the resulting chaos and insecurity has made smuggling a growth industry.
Earlier this week, the president of the European Council also warned Italy and Malta to expect large numbers of would-be migrants departing from Libya.
Donald Tusk told MEPs that it would not be possible to apply the same approach used for the Balkans to Libya.
So far this year, the IOM has recorded more than 23,000 arrivals in Italy and more than 153,000 in Greece.
A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants. | A huge recent surge in migrants arriving in Italy by sea is set to continue, the International Organization for Migration has warned. |
36,091,302 | The Scots actor appears in Generation Hope, which focuses on the charity's projects in Malawi, Haiti and India.
The 30-minute film, by US director Charles Kinnane, will be exhibited at the festival's Short Film Corner.
Mary's Meals now feeds more than one million of the world's poorest children every day they attend school.
Butler has supported Mary's Meals for several years and has visited one of its sites in Liberia.
He previously appeared in a short film about the charity's work, titled Child 31.
Mary's Meals was born in 2002 when Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, from Argyll, visited Malawi and witnessed the plight of youngsters there who did not have enough to eat.
Mr MacFarlane-Barrow said: "When we were filming Generation Hope we couldn't have imagined it would enjoy the exposure offered by such a high-profile international event.
"It's an incredible gift to bring our work to new eyes, new ears and new hearts in this way."
Describing what the film is about, he said: "Children who used to miss school are now in classrooms, children who were once too hungry to concentrate can now learn, children who used to be unhappy are laughing in their playgrounds, and children who were resigned to having no energy are chasing footballs.
"Now we see that a beautiful revolution is taking place as a new generation, once fed by Mary's Meals, begins to find its voice.
"We call them 'Generation Hope' and this is what this film is about - the university students, singers, farmers, teachers, DJs, footballers and other young people who, well-nourished and well-educated, are now finding their own way in life."
Generation Hope will be shown at the Cannes Film Festival in May. | Hollywood A-lister Gerard Butler will feature in a documentary being shown at the Cannes Film Festival about the Scottish charity Mary's Meals. |
39,466,922 | The charity, named The Carpenter's Arms after the disused Leicestershire pub it was formed in, has taken over the Six Hills hotel on the A46.
The £1m project will create 30 treatment beds but will also offer eight rooms for the public.
Organisers said they did not think people would be put off by the background of the staff.
As well aiming to bring in money from paying guests, the hotel will help train recovering addicts in service and building skills.
It is aiming for a partial opening by the end of 2017.
Richard Cowlishaw, who lost his banking job due to addiction, has been made manager at Six Hills.
He said: "Without places like this being available, I don't know where I would be - still addicted or dead maybe.
"Places like this are needed all over the country. It is a big opportunity for people who are in the same position as I was to come to change their lives."
Judith Spence, from the charity, said they did not think people would be put off by the nature of the hotel.
She said: "These are people who want to change their lives."
"When members of the public come here, they won't know which members of staff are our residents and which live locally."
The charity acknowledged some nearby villagers objected to the plans, fearing it would bring crime and drugs to the area.
But they issued an open invitation to look around and said a visit would show there was no risk. | A drug rehabilitation charity is hoping to open a "boutique hotel" and farm shop to be run by recovering addicts. |
34,785,262 | The company makes tyre pressure gauges for the car industry. It employs about 1,000 people in Northern Ireland.
Schrader said it had increased its workforce temporarily towards the end of last year to meet increased demand.
It said it was undertaking a phased return to its "standard manufacturing pattern" as demand had now stabilised. | The US firm Schrader Electronics is to release 42 temporary employees from its Carrickfergus, County Antrim, plant before the end of the year. |
38,893,472 | The shots went through a lounge window and the front door was set alight in Whinfield Road in Thornton at about 19:30 GMT on Monday.
No-one was in the lounge at the time and officers believe the attack was a case of mistaken identity.
Merseyside Police said the family were "new to the street" and are hunting the offenders, who fled in a white car.
Ch Insp Mark Morgan said: "Criminals who choose to use weapons do not care about putting other people at risk or the fear they bring to their own communities.
"There were children in this house, including a very young baby. The actions of those responsible were hugely reckless and we could easily have been dealing with a far more serious incident."
Police said recently that there had been an escalation in gang violence, including two murders.
Aaron Lewis, 26, was shot three times outside a chip shop in Wavertree while Thomas Baker, 44, was shot in the head at Old Swan meat market. | Shots were fired into a house with children, including a baby, inside, police said. |
40,646,586 | A letter to Theresa May signed by 56 MPs urges her to review the gender balance of the negotiating team, one of whose nine top members is female.
It warns that women's input is needed to ensure workplace rights, such as maternity leave, are not watered down.
As prime minister, Mrs May is ultimately in charge of the talks.
The negotiations are being led on a day-to-day basis by Brexit Secretary David Davis and civil service "sherpas" led by Oliver Robbins, the permanent secretary at the Department for Exiting the Union (Dexu), and Sir Tim Barrow, the UK's permanent representative to the EU.
Of the nine senior figures listed by the government on the opening day of the negotiations last month, only one - Dexu's director of market access and budget Catherine Webb - is a woman.
Among signatories to a letter calling for the make-up of the team to be reviewed is Labour's former deputy leader Harriet Harman and Yvette Cooper, the chair of the home affairs select committee.
The letter points out that nearly half of the EU's negotiating team, which is led by former EU commissioner Michel Barnier, is female.
"While women form 51% of the population, 32% of Parliament, 50% of the shadow cabinet and 22% of your current cabinet, women form only 11% of the UK's negotiating team," they write.
"Brexit negotiations will need women's voices on mainstream issues like the economy as well as on directly addressing, for example, how we maintain workplace rights - much of which are underpinned by EU legislation.
"A watering-down of workers' rights would impact women the most."
Ms Harman told the Guardian that the team the UK was sending into battle was "out of touch with modern Britain" and looked like "the Kremlin from the 1950s".
"This is the old boys' network at the top of the civil service laid bare," she said. "This is not a meritocracy, it is a boys club... This is a self-perpetuating oligarchy of men at the top of the civil service."
There is one woman in Dexu's four-strong ministerial team, Baroness Anelay, while senior civil servants in the department include director of strategy and planning Joanna Key, director of planning and analysis Susannah Storey and director general Sarah Healey.
The first substantive week of Brexit talks is taking place in Brussels, with the issues on the table including citizen's rights, Northern Ireland, financial settlements and separation issues. | Labour MPs are calling for women to be given a stronger voice in the Brexit process, warning the talks are becoming "just another job for the boys". |
40,785,651 | Police have been searching five properties across Sydney after four men were arrested in raids on Saturday.
Investigators have said the alleged plan most likely involved detonating an improvised explosive device.
Police did not name the airline involved, but officials have described the operation as "sophisticated".
"The Etihad Airways aviation security team is assisting the Australian Federal Police with its investigation and the matter is ongoing," the airline said in a brief statement on Tuesday.
"Etihad is complying fully with the enhanced security measures at airports in Australia and monitoring the situation closely." It did not give further details.
Local media reported the men planned to use poisonous gas or a crude bomb disguised as a meat mincer, but police have not confirmed details of the alleged plot.
Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull has said the raids had been a "major joint counter-terrorism operation".
On Sunday, a magistrate gave permission for an additional period of detention, meaning the four can be held for up to seven days without charge.
Police said no charges have been laid.
Australian airports have increased their security measures and passengers were left waiting in lengthy queues after being advised to arrive earlier than usual.
The national terror threat level remains at "probable". | Etihad Airways has said it is assisting Australian police with their investigation into a suspected terrorism plot to bring down a plane. |
36,657,445 | Police say Ado Halliru Daukaka, who is currently recuperating in a hospital, was found unconscious and emaciated.
Daukaka told the BBC's Isa Sanusi that he was tricked into a car on Friday morning by kidnappers.
He had released a song mocking politicians who don't keep their promises and he says this is why he was targeted.
One of his wives told police unknown people had visited his home the day he disappeared.
He told our correspondent that the kidnappers had driven him out of Yola city and then played his new song, and began asking him why he had recorded a track mocking politicians.
"They threatened me and said they would take my life and repeatedly asked why I was criticising politicians and warned me to stop or lose my life," Daukaka said.
He said they kept him without food for two days during his captivity.
On Wednesday morning, the kidnappers blindfolded him and let him go in a forest, Daukaka said. | A Nigerian singer known for singing about corrupt politicians has been found five days after he was kidnapped. |
35,727,025 | The teams last met in 2003 when the FA did not take their Istanbul ticket allocation due to crowd trouble fears.
England will host Turkey at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium on Sunday, 22 May with the kick-off yet to be confirmed.
"There is a risk assessment to it," Glenn admitted. "The timing of the kick-off will reflect that."
He added: "We wanted the best possible opposition. You do that in consultation with the security people and police."
Roy Hodgson's men will play three warm-up matches as part of their preparations for this summer's European Championship, which begin on 10 June.
After the meeting with the Turks, Australia will visit Sunderland on Friday, 27 May and Portugal will be the guests at Wembley on Thursday, 2 June.
Asked about the choice of venues for the matches, Glenn explained: "We wanted to create a tournament feel. We wanted the notion of travelling.
"It became a commercial discussion. They were really keen to have us, with the training facilities."
Hodgson had requested games away from Wembley and said: "I'm happy we have secured three challenging opponents."
The Turkey game will take place the day after the FA Cup final, while the Australia match is a day before the Champions League final.
Turkey and Portugal have both qualified for Euro 2016 along with England, who have been drawn alongside Wales, Russia and Slovakia for the tournament in France.
Uefa rules previously allowed teams to play only one other Euro 2016 participant in the month before the tournament, and none from the same group.
However, new regulations state two friendly matches can take place against other qualifiers, provided they are not in the same group. | Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn has revealed security advice was taken before agreeing England's warm-up match with Turkey. |
10,592,671 | The eclipse, which was only visible from small sections of land, ended over southern parts of Chile and Argentina.
The eclipse started at 1815 GMT about 700km (440 miles) south-east of Tonga, and reached Easter Island by 2011 GMT.
The population of the island - a Unesco World Heritage site - doubled to about 8,000 for the event.
Some forecasters had warned that cloudy skies could dash hopes of a clear view of the eclipse.
But as the moment neared on Easter Island, stormy weather gave way to bright sunshine .
"It was like being in the stadium at night with artificial light. It was like being in a dark room with a 10-watt bulb," local official Francisco Haoa told AFP news agency.
"It started with a shadow. The skies were perfectly blue, with lots of wind which chased away the clouds. Everyone applauded."
In Tahiti, where the eclipse began, crowds of football-mad Polynesians turned away from the World Cup final on TV to look to the skies instead.
"It was like the Sun was smiling," said eight-year-old Hinanui. "The Sun seemed like a horizontal crescent, then the Moon covered up the bottom of the Sun which reappeared again as a crescent."
A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth, blocking its rays and casting a shadow.
The eclipse followed an 11,000km (6.900-mile) path over the South Pacific. The longest time of eclipse - five minutes and 20 seconds - was over the sea.
Easter Island's governor has insisted it can cope with the influx, but there has been increased security at sacred sites, including for the famous Moai stone statues.
The island was partly evacuated after Chile's earthquake in February and the authorities want to show that it is back on the tourist map.
Local mayor Luz del Carmen Zasso told Agence France-Presse news agency: "Easter Island is an open-air museum, and the eclipse is part of this museum." | A total solar eclipse has crossed the South Pacific, with thousands of tourists and scientists gathered on Chile's Easter Island to witness it. |
36,261,241 | It was expected that the buildings, on York Street would be open in September 2018.
However, following a report in the Irish News, a UU spokesperson said students would not begin to use the buildings until September 2019.
Construction has begun on the site of the former Interpoint and Orpheus buildings.
Work is not expected to finish until autumn 2018.
It will affect mainly those in computing, engineering, business studies and social sciences, transferring from the Jordanstown campus.
"It is not unusual for major construction projects to experience some delays and we remain in close contact with the contractor as the project progresses," the spokesperson said.
The contractor Lagan Construction Group - which is in a joint venture with Somague Group on the project - did not respond to a BBC inquiry about the reason for the delay.
The old 'art college' part of the Belfast campus has been rebuilt and is already in use.
The new £250m campus will eventually accommodate around 15,000 students and staff.
UU plans to sell over half of the 172-acre Jordanstown site for up to 600 new homes, along with some shops and office use.
They have appealed a decision by Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council to refuse planning permission for the development. | Part of the new Ulster University Belfast campus will open to students a year later than planned. |
36,194,505 | Media playback is not supported on this device
The men's and women's champions will each take home $45,000 (£30,675).
The tournaments will both take place in Manchester from 9-17 December - just the second time they have been held side-by-side.
Professional Squash Association chief Alex Gough says the parity in prize money is "a huge step forward that everyone in the sport can be proud of". | The 2017 men's and women's World Squash Championships will have equal prize money for the first time. |
23,620,554 | The 25-year-old, Spurs' fourth signing of the summer, has joined for a fee believed to be in the region of £9m.
Capoue, who made 174 appearance for Toulouse, scoring 13 goals, has won seven caps for France and can also play as a central defender.
He was named in the French league's Team of the Year in 2012, alongside Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
Capoue joins Brazilian midfielder Paulinho from Corinthians, Belgium winger Nacer Chadli from FC Twente and Spain striker Roberto Soldado from Valencia - who arrived for a club record £26m - at White Hart Lane.
Tottenham are short in defence after Steven Caulker moved to Cardiff, while Jan Vertonghen and Younes Kaboul are recovering from injuries.
His arrival could pave the way for a midfielder to leave White Hart Lane, with Scott Parker linked to West Ham and Queens Park Rangers. | Tottenham have completed the signing of France midfielder Etienne Capoue from Ligue 1 club Toulouse. |
37,057,122 | Huddersfield also have two wins from two after beating title favourites Newcastle, while Aston Villa picked up their first win by thumping Rotherham.
Have a read of Saturday's reports:
SATURDAY
Aston Villa 3-0 Rotherham United
Barnsley 2-0 Derby County
Brentford 2-0 Ipswich Town
Burton Albion 1-2 Bristol City
Leeds United 1-2 Birmingham City
Newcastle United 1-2 Huddersfield Town
Preston North End 1-2 Fulham
Wigan Athletic 3-0 Blackburn Rovers
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 Reading
Norwich City 0-0 Sheffield Wednesday
SUNDAY
Cardiff City v Queens Park Rangers | Victories for Bristol City and Fulham ensured they maintained their 100% record in the Championship. |
38,710,647 | The A4232 was shut after a car overturned on the northbound carriageway at the junction for Culverhouse Cross just before 09:00 GMT.
South Wales Police said the driver had been taken to hospital but was "conscious and breathing".
Traffic was queuing in both directions, but congestion began to ease after the road reopened at about 11:40.
Check if this is affecting your journey | One of the main roads in Cardiff has reopened following a crash. |
36,810,438 | The body of 27-year-old Christopher Butler was discovered at a flat in Waverley Road, Southsea, Hampshire, on New Year's Day.
Brendon Michael Willis, who previously pleaded guilty to murder, was sentenced to a minimum of 18 years in prison.
Hampshire Constabulary described it as an "unprovoked and brutal" attack.
The court heard Willis, 33, of Waverley Road, told friends before the killing he wanted to know what it would be like to murder someone.
He later claimed he had taken the legal high Spice, which he said made him violent.
Gavin Sumpter, of the Wessex Crown Prosecution Service, said it was a "tragic case" in which Mr Butler was the victim of "a premeditated, extremely violent and gratuitous attack".
He said that when Willis was in prison in 2015 he confided in a psychiatrist that he was concerned he might hurt someone.
Mr Sumpter added: "Shortly before Christopher's murder he told others that he had been wondering what it would be like to murder someone, saying: 'I want to see what it's like to kill someone. I've got an axe. I want to do it before New Year, I want to be famous. Blame it on Spice. You smoke it and it makes you go mad. It makes you violent'."
Willis was arrested and charged on 6 January following a police appeal to find him.
"This was a particularly challenging investigation because the number of people we needed to speak to and their reluctance to speak to the police," Det Supt Becky Riggs said. | A man who killed his victim by striking him with an axe up to 25 times has been jailed for life. |
35,568,731 | The retired British gymnast, 30, had fractured vertebrae fused together after she was injured while training for the winter sports TV programme.
Tweddle says doctors at the hospital in Austria are happy with her progress.
"I've started to feel a lot better in the past 24 hours and I've begun walking by myself," she said.
"It's still a case of taking one day at a time, but I'm setting myself goals and I'm determined to be up and about as soon as I can.
"Next week we will have a better idea of when I can be discharged from hospital."
Olympic swimming champion Rebecca Adlington, 26, Holby City actress Tina Hobley, 44, and Made In Chelsea star Mark-Francis Vandelli, 26, have all withdrawn from the show because of injury.
Tweddle, who has won five World Championships medals in her career, including three golds, has been in hospital since hitting a barrier last week.
She thanked those who have sent messages of support.
"My mum and dad have been reading them to me," added Tweddle. "One day, I'll be able to reply to you all, it really has meant a lot to me, so thank you."
She is Britain's most successful female gymnast, featuring at three Olympics and claiming Commonwealth Games gold in the uneven bars in 2002.
She has won 11 medals across eight European Championships and seven consecutive national titles.
The Jump follows celebrities as they try to master various winter sports, including ski jumping, skeleton and speed skating.
Channel 4 said it had asked producers to review safety procedures on the reality TV programme.
Adlington, who won two swimming gold medals for Britain at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, suffered a shoulder injury, while Hobley dislocated her elbow and suffered two fractures to an arm. | Olympic bronze medallist Beth Tweddle has taken her first unaided steps since having neck surgery following her fall on Channel 4's The Jump. |
39,304,899 | The former Chancellor will continue as MP for Tatton for the foreseeable future while taking the top chair at London's afternoon paper, as I exclusively revealed on Friday.
He starts in mid-May and replaces Sarah Sands, who is joining the BBC as editor of Radio 4's flagship morning news programme Today. in June.
Osborne has spoken to Standard staff in the newsroom.
He will not be in charge of the Standard's website. David Tomchak, former head of digital at No 10, was appointed digital director of editorial earlier this month and will report to Zach Leonard, managing director for digital across ESI Media, which houses the Standard, The Independent, and TV station London Live.
It marks a sudden return to the fray for Osborne, who was summarily dismissed from cabinet by Prime Minister Theresa May last summer.
Like May, Osborne backed the Remain campaign in the Brexit referendum. Unlike May, he was central to its ultimately doomed strategy, despite having doubts about whether the referendum should have been called in the first place.
Since last summer he has spoken strongly in parliament on the subject of Aleppo's destruction, and repeatedly resisted suggestions that he should begin his memoirs.
But he has also been in the headlines for less flattering reasons.
Having signed up to the Washington Speakers Bureau, Osborne has capitalised on his high stock to earn fees such as £81,174 and £60,578 for speeches to JP Morgan. In total he earned £786,450 from 15 speeches in 2016.
More controversially, the former chancellor, still only 45, signed a deal with BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, worth £650,000 a year for just four days work a month.
That revelation was made public on Budget day, causing some to suggest that he had lost none of his expertise in media management. At BlackRock he will work with Rupert Harrison, his closest adviser while in No 11.
Osborne flirted with a career in journalism before becoming, together with David Cameron, the outstanding Tory adviser of his generation, rising to shadow chancellor at 33.
His latest job is undoubtedly a tremendous coup for the newspaper, whose staff will be galvanised by the appointment of such a high-profile figure.
It also appears to be a notable win for Evgeny Lebedev, the owner of ESI Media, who was my boss when I was editor of the Independent.
After buying a majority stake in the Standard from Daily Mail owner Lord Rothermere in 2009, when it was threatening to lose £25m or more, Lebedev made it a free product and transformed its fortunes, turning a profit a few years ago.
In the year to September 2015, the Standard recorded a pre-tax profit of £3.4m on revenues of £71.3m.
But while this is refreshing news for the Standard - which has a circulation of between 850,000 and 900,000, a readership of around double that, and unrivalled influence in the capital because of its monopoly position among afternoon commuters - it is a further blow for his constituents in Tatton.
This time last year, their MP was the chancellor of the Exchequer, a strong contender to be future prime minister, and in prime position to champion his Northern Powerhouse initiative.
Now he is a backbench MP who has a new and more exciting job - quite aside from his four days a month at BlackRock.
Though an advisory committee in the civil service has not yet objected to this appointment - a decision is pending - many of his constituents will.
The Standard is an afternoon paper, which means that the daily edition is sent to the printers at 11:00 GMT. Osborne will get into the office around 05:00 GMT, work until midday, and then balance his other duties thereafter.
But aside from persuading constituents he is still available to them, he faces a huge challenge in keeping the Standard profitable.
As a free paper, with no cover price to raise, the Standard generates the vast majority of its revenues through print display advertising - a market that is in structural decline to the tune of around 20% annually.
Though standard.co.uk is growing, virtually all newspapers are finding digital advertising is growing far more slowly than print advertising is falling.
Aside from this monumental structural threat, the sharp rise in the cost of newsprint as a result of the fall in the pound after Brexit has damaged the balance sheet of almost all newspapers.
Simple mathematics dictates that, even if it significantly outperforms the rest of the display advertising market (as it is currently doing), the Standard will struggle to maintain profitability.
Therefore Osborne's task will be as much commercial as editorial: finding fresh revenue streams, perhaps through ticketing, data, and above all events in London.
With a roster of high-level international contacts, including in the world of finance, he is uniquely well placed to deliver that. Indeed I suspect he sees this as an attraction to his job. But it will require a considerable time commitment beyond his hours in the office.
Another challenge, which I know he will relish, is picking fights with the government - particularly on the issue of Brexit. To be seen as a Tory lackey, or someone who held back from sharp attacks on former colleagues and friends because he didn't want to damage his still simmering political ambitions, would be fatal for his journalistic integrity.
Having dispatched him to the back-benches in a rather brutal manner, Mrs May could soon find that the pages of the Standard are a vehicle for vengeance. Osborne is nothing if not mischievous.
He has long had a reputation as one of the hardest-working people in Westminster. He will need to work harder than ever in his new capacity and outline a clear editorial strategy for the paper.
The sheer thrill and power of being an Editor, and the chance to make things happen in his native city, will at least initially help to carry him and his staff.
Lebedev has long argued there's life in print yet. After this - the most interesting, unexpected and bold appointment of an editor in living memory - who could doubt him? | George Osborne's appointment as Editor of the London Evening Standard is a remarkable move that will dazzle the worlds of politics and media. |
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But on Sunday, 11-time Swedish champions AIK honoured 12 elderly supporters - all aged between 81 and 96 - by letting them walk out onto the pitch with the players before the top-flight league game against Gefle.
Former Uefa president Lennart Johansson, who is the Stockholm club's honorary president, led them to deliver the match ball.
The fans appeared arm in arm with the home players, receiving a standing ovation from the 13,000 crowd in the Friends Arena.
"It's a lovely gesture," said 96-year-old Ake Jigstedt, the oldest of the supporters. "I've been a member since 1936 and I think this is something extra special."
AIK chief executive Mikael Ahlerup added: "It was wonderful to see the pure happiness and excitement in the eyes of our senior club members as they entered the pitch."
And their was a perfect finale to their day as third-placed AIK beat Gefle 1-0 in Allsvenskan after a late goal from Finnish striker Eero Markkanen.
Take part in our new Premier League Predictor game, which allows you to create leagues with friends.
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox. | Children accompanying professional footballers as they walk out of the tunnel before a match is a familiar sight - not pensioners. |
35,377,079 | Mr Shkreli's lawyer informed the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, that he would invoke his right against self-incrimination.
The former hedge fund manager hit the headlines when his company raised the price of a life-saving drug by 5,000%.
He also faces separate criminal charges that he defrauded investors.
The committee sent a letter to Mr Shkreli requesting he testify about his former company Turing Pharmaceuticals' decision to raise the price of the drug Daraprim.
In a statement, Congressman Elijah Cummings, a member of the committee said: "If he [Mr Shkreli] plans on trying to use his own intentional inaction as some kind of bogus excuse for not showing up at Tuesday's hearing, people will see right through such a juvenile tactic."
On Wednesday, Mr Shkreli posted a picture of the subpoena letter on his Twitter account and wrote, "Found this letter. Looks important."
In December, Mr Shkreli was arrested in New York on charges he defrauded investors at a drug company he previously ran, Retrophin, and a hedge fund, MSMB Capital Management, where he was a fund manager.
He has denied the charges and was released on bail pending the trail.
The FBI allege Mr Shkreli "engaged in multiple schemes to ensnare investors through a web of lies and deceit".
The US Securities and Exchange Commission separately charged him with defrauding investors to hide poor investment choices.
Neither of those cases are connected to Daraprim's price increase or Turing Pharmaceuticals.
Mr Shkreli stepped down as Turing's head after his December arrest. | Former pharmaceuticals chief executive Martin Shkreli has said he would remain silent if called to testify at a congressional hearing on drug prices. |
36,331,078 | Mr Mickelson said he had no desire to benefit from trading in stock that regulators found questionable.
The SEC alleged that gambler William Walters - a friend of Mr Mickelson - had passed on a trading tip to the golfer.
Mr Walters is alleged to have been given tips about Dean Foods stock from its chairman Thomas Davis.
According to the SEC, Mr Davis provided Mr Walters with information on Dean Foods' earnings and plans to spin off a subsidiary called WhiteWave, allowing Mr Walters to net tens of millions of dollars.
The pair used prepaid phones to communicate, and referred to Dean Foods as the "Dallas Cowboys" to try to cover their tracks, the SEC said.
The SEC alleges that in July 2012 Mr Walters urged Mr Mickelson to buy Dean Foods stock, which he did through brokers. Mr Mickelson owed Mr Walters money at the time.
About a week later, Dean Foods stock price jumped 40% after announcements about the WhiteWave spin-off and strong second quarter results.
Mr Mickelson was named as a "relief defendant" in the SEC suit. He is not accused of participating in insider trading, but of receiving money as a result of the scheme.
He will repay the money, plus more than $100,000 interest, the SEC said.
In a statement released through his attorney, Mr Mickelson said he takes "full responsibility" for having become part of the SEC probe.
Mr Mickelson, who has won three Masters golf titles, added that he appreciated that the companies he represents had decided to continue their sponsorship agreements with him. | Golfer Phil Mickelson will return $931,000 in profits linked to an insider trading scheme. |
32,620,119 | Oscar Holderer, who was 95, suffered a stroke last week and did not recover, his son Michael said.
Mr Holderer was one of about 120 engineers who moved to the US after World War Two, bringing technology used in the German V2 rocket.
They played a key role in the Saturn V rocket used in the 1969 Moon landing.
The team, led by Wernher von Braun, was part of a project called Operation Paperclip that transferred technology used in Germany's V2 and other rockets to the US.
They were originally based at White Sands, New Mexico, but moved to Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, in 1950 where they used early computers and slide rules to design the Saturn V.
Michael Holderer said his father had designed the high-speed wind tunnel used to develop Saturn and oversaw its construction at Nasa's Marshall Space Flight Center in Redstone.
"He was one of the more hands-on members of the team. He had his own machine shop here in town as a hobby," he said.
Ed Buckbee, a space historian and former Nasa publicist, paid tribute to Mr Holderer.
"He was a very talented man, not only an aeroballistics expert but very accomplished in design and fabrication."
Mr Holderer became a US citizen in 1955. After retiring from Nasa in 1974, he built training devices that are still in use at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville. | A member of the German engineering team that designed the rocket that took US astronauts to the Moon has died in Alabama. |
40,472,926 | Ben Ashworth, 38, from Preston, was diagnosed with the disease in 2012 and told he only had months to live.
Since then he has run marathons, including four ultras, to raise money for charity and combat the stigma of bowel cancer.
His wife Louise said his family was "heartbroken" but "in awe" of how he "defied the odds".
The former librarian, who has three daughters, started his charity runs in April 2014 in Blackpool.
While undergoing chemotherapy he ran other marathons including Windermere, Wakefield, Northampton and the Isle of Man.
His final few marathons, Greater Manchester, Temple Newsam and London, were completed last year, taking his final tally to 24 in 24 months.
A statement written by his wife Louise was posted on his Facebook page, Ben's Bowel Movements: "This is the hardest post to write. Ben found peace early this morning.
"With myself and his mum holding his hand, he drifted away to meet our Heavenly Father.
"We are heartbroken, but we are also in awe of the time we have been blessed with.
"How he has defied the odds. The way he won every race. We are grateful this wasn't a marathon and his last days were spent surrounded by those he loves and we were able to keep him at home."
Before he became ill Mr Ashworth had completed the Great North Run and a half-marathon, but said it was his dream to conquer a full marathon. | A man who completed 24 marathons after being diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer has died. |
33,985,054 | Between the first and second quarters of this year, prices rose by 3% and are 6% higher than they were a year ago.
The standardised average price of a home in Northern Ireland is now just over £113,000.
Prices rose in all council areas over the quarter, except Londonderry and Strabane, where they were unchanged.
Between 2005 and 2007, Northern Ireland house prices doubled before collapsing and finally reaching a low point in early 2013.
Prices have been gradually recovering over the last two years and are now slightly above where they were in 2005.
However, they are still more than 40% below peak levels.
Analysis: Return to 2005 level symbolic of normalising market
The last time the local housing market could be described as normal was probably 2005.
After that, prices doubled in two years and then crashed and kept falling.
There were very few transactions and not many houses were being built.
So the return to 2005 price levels is symbolic of a market that has been normalising over the last couple of years.
There are also variations among property types: Detached and semi-detached houses are now 7% above 2005 levels.
Apartments are still 11% below 2005 levels and terraces 6% below.
The highest prices are in North Down and Ards, the lowest in Derry and Strabane.
There were 4,600 verified sales in the second quarter of 2015, which was up over the quarter but lower than the same period last year.
These figures produced by Nisra, Stormont's statistics agency, are considered the most accurate guide to house prices in Northern Ireland.
The figures are based on all verified residential properties sales as recorded by HM Revenue and Customs. | House prices in Northern Ireland have returned to 2005 levels, according to the latest official figures. |
35,950,195 | The service took place at the Ahmadiyya Muslim mosque in the Yorkhill area of the city.
The 40-year-old was found seriously injured in Minard Road in Shawlands at about 21:05 on Thursday 24 March. He died in hospital.
Tanveer Ahmed, 32, from Bradford in Yorkshire, has appeared in court charged with his murder.
Police Scotland had previously described the incident as a religiously prejudiced attack and said both men were Muslims.
Mr Shah was an Ahmadiyya Muslim, a group known for its non-violence and interfaith concerns, that is persecuted in many parts of the world.
Ahmadiyya are banned by the constitution of Pakistan from referring to themselves as Muslims.
Friends and family of Mr Shah, as well as politicians, attended the funeral at the Bait-Ur-Rahman Mosque at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Centre.
A message on the wall inside the hall at the mosque reads "Love For All Hatred For None".
Prayers were led at the hour-long service by Mansoor Shah, vice president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK.
After the service, Mr Shah said: "I think it was an extremely important service. I have been to Pollokshields this morning and I saw the bunches of flowers and I met a couple of neighbours down there and it was very moving.
"I was attached to this man. I saw what a lovely man he was and I was extremely sorry to see someone so lovely go away like this.
"We are the Islamic community and we do not believe in any kind of extremism. We must live in this country as law-abiding citizens.
"We are glad that the people of Scotland have come together. And shared their views with us and stood behind us. And we are extremely grateful to all the people of Scotland for having shown this solidarity."
Abdul Abid, president of the Ahmadiyya community in Scotland, said: "We are sad that a very popular man of our community is not with us anymore.
"I don't know how we will survive without him. He was a polite, gentle person.
"Today's service is in his memory and we are proud to have had such a wonderful person amongst our community."
Lawyer Aamer Anwar said: "There has to be a legacy of Asad Shah. This city has seen sectarian strife for over 150 years. We need to make sure that we don't import the politics of hatred, of sectarianism from Pakistan into our communities and to our streets.
"Anybody who attended the vigil, anybody that attended the funeral today of Asad Shah would know that Asad Shah was a well-loved man who has devastated his family by leaving them behind. We can't have another life lost to such hatred."
Mr Shah was killed just hours after he posted an Easter message on Facebook to his customers.
This message said: "Good Friday and a very happy Easter, especially to my beloved Christian nationx"
The night after he died a silent vigil was held outside his shop attended by hundreds of people including First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Hundreds of floral tributes were also left at the scene.
A fundraising page on GoFundMe, set up to help Mr Shah's family, has raised more than £111,000.
Mr Shah was born in Rabwah, Pakistan, and moved to Glasgow in 1998 to join his father in business.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was founded in 1889. Its origins are in British-controlled northern India. The community identifies itself as a Muslim movement and follows the teachings of the Koran.
The community's website says it has tens of millions of members across 206 countries. Its current headquarters are in the UK.
The Ahmadiyya community takes its name from its founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who was born in 1835 and was regarded by his followers as the messiah and a prophet.
Ghulam Ahmad saw himself as a renewer of Islam and claimed to have been chosen by Allah.
The community "categorically rejects and condemns every form of terrorism" and also endorse a separation of the mosque and state. | The funeral of Asad Shah, who was killed in an attack outside his shop in Glasgow, has been held. |
38,966,663 | The 76-year-old cookery expert confirmed she had had two auditions for the show which switches to Channel 4 this year.
Leith previously spent 11 years as judge on BBC Two's The Great British Menu.
Channel 4 said it would be announcing the programme's line-up "in due course".
Speaking at a charity event on Tuesday, Leith said she was "certainly one of the runners" to be a judge on the show alongside Paul Hollywood, the only member of the current on-screen team who has chosen to stay with the show.
"I can wish. I can dream," she said. "I've had two auditions with them and lots of meetings.
"So I mean I think I'm close but I know there are two people in the running. One other person.
"Of course I'd love to do it. Who wouldn't want to do it?"
She added: "I've known Mary [Berry] for years and she loved it."
Leith's agent confirmed to the BBC that she was interviewed for a job on the show at the end of last month.
But she said neither she nor Leith had received an offer from the show's producers so far.
The Great British Bake Off has been without one of its judges since Berry, 81, confirmed she would not be following the show to its new home.
Co-hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins also said they would not be "going with the dough", leaving Hollywood as the lone survivor from the BBC's version.
Born in South Africa in 1940, Prudence "Prue" Leith learned to cook at Le Cordon Bleu in London and opened her first restaurant in 1969.
She was made an OBE in 1989, a CBE in 2010 and is the chancellor of Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]. | Prue Leith says it would be a "dream" to land a job on the revamped Great British Bake Off. |
40,301,329 | George "Johnny" Johnson was 22 when he took part in the 1943 air raid using experimental bouncing bombs in Germany.
The 96-year-old, who has been the subject of a number of campaigns to get him knighted, said the MBE was "as much honour" as he could "really expect".
He added he was "pleased" and "very grateful to all those who signed the petitions and made this possible".
Bomb-aimer Mr Johnson, who now lives in Bristol, is the last British survivor of the 133-strong squadron which dodged anti-aircraft fire to drop the four-tonne skipping bomb on dams in the Ruhr Valley.
Codenamed Operation Chastise, eight of the 19 planes were lost, 53 men died and three were captured.
In the past few years, there have been a number of high-profile petitions wanting recognition for Mr Johnson.
In January, TV presenter Carol Vorderman and Gulf War veteran John Nichol took a 237,000-signature petition to No 10 calling for Mr Johnson to be knighted.
The bid was backed by the Dambusters Museum in Germany and followed a petition by campaigner Paul Walmsley.
But instead of a knighthood for his part in one of the most famous episodes of World War Two, the pensioner has been made an MBE for his "services to World War II Remembrance and the community in Bristol".
Mr Johnson, said if he had been offered a knighthood he would have had "difficulty in accepting it".
"It's not me, I'm the lucky one, I'm still alive - I'm representing the squadron and it's the squadron that's been honoured with this not me," he said.
He added that he has raised "thousands of pounds" over the years for charity but views his fundraising as a "bit selfish" because he enjoys it.
"I can't think how it all happened in the first place but I'm honoured that it has and I shall be very pleased to go to the investiture," he said. | The last surviving British member of the Dambusters raid has been made an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours. |
37,887,329 | Having brought down a bouncing ball on the right, Smith took one touch before powering home a half-volley from 25 yards out.
Zach Clough should have equalised for the visitors but his 73rd-minute effort from six yards was blocked.
A minute later, Chris Forrester had a similar effort blocked for Posh.
Peterborough move up six places to fifth in League One.
The end of Bolton's five-game winning streak in the league leaves them one point behind second-placed Bradford City.
Match ends, Peterborough United 1, Bolton Wanderers 0.
Second Half ends, Peterborough United 1, Bolton Wanderers 0.
Hand ball by Lawrie Wilson (Bolton Wanderers).
Lee Angol (Peterborough United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Liam Trotter (Bolton Wanderers).
Attempt missed. Paul Taylor (Peterborough United) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.
Attempt saved. Gary Madine (Bolton Wanderers) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Corner, Bolton Wanderers. Conceded by Michael Smith.
Substitution, Bolton Wanderers. James Henry replaces Sammy Ameobi.
Substitution, Peterborough United. Gwion Edwards replaces Chris Forrester.
Attempt missed. Chris Taylor (Bolton Wanderers) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high.
Mark Beevers (Bolton Wanderers) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Lee Angol (Peterborough United).
Corner, Bolton Wanderers. Conceded by Ryan Tafazolli.
Attempt saved. Lee Angol (Peterborough United) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
Jack Baldwin (Peterborough United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Gary Madine (Bolton Wanderers).
Attempt missed. Gary Madine (Bolton Wanderers) header from the centre of the box misses to the left.
Attempt missed. Leonardo Da Silva Lopes (Peterborough United) right footed shot from outside the box is too high.
Attempt missed. Chris Taylor (Bolton Wanderers) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left.
Attempt missed. Leonardo Da Silva Lopes (Peterborough United) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.
Substitution, Peterborough United. Lee Angol replaces Tom Nichols.
Substitution, Peterborough United. Paul Taylor replaces Shaquile Coulthirst.
Attempt missed. Marcus Maddison (Peterborough United) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is close, but misses to the left.
Substitution, Bolton Wanderers. Chris Taylor replaces Tom Thorpe.
Attempt missed. Zach Clough (Bolton Wanderers) right footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left.
Attempt blocked. Josh Vela (Bolton Wanderers) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked.
Attempt saved. Josh Vela (Bolton Wanderers) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
Attempt missed. Leonardo Da Silva Lopes (Peterborough United) right footed shot from more than 35 yards is too high.
Attempt missed. Michael Smith (Peterborough United) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left.
Attempt missed. Zach Clough (Bolton Wanderers) right footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the left.
Chris Forrester (Peterborough United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Josh Vela (Bolton Wanderers).
Foul by Ryan Tafazolli (Peterborough United).
Gary Madine (Bolton Wanderers) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Attempt blocked. Michael Bostwick (Peterborough United) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Corner, Peterborough United. Conceded by Lawrie Wilson.
Attempt missed. Michael Bostwick (Peterborough United) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left from a direct free kick.
Marcus Maddison (Peterborough United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Liam Trotter (Bolton Wanderers). | Michael Smith's excellent first-half strike extended Peterborough's winning streak to four games as they beat third-placed Bolton in League One. |
36,682,059 | The Israeli army says it is sending hundreds more soldiers to Hebron and officials are withholding some tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority.
It comes after an Israeli man was killed and his wife and two children wounded after their car was fired on near the Jewish settlement of Otniel.
It was the second fatal attack on an Israeli in the West Bank in two days.
Thirty-five Israelis have now been killed in a wave of knife, gun and car-ramming attacks since October.
More than 200 Palestinians - mostly attackers, Israel says - have also been killed in that period.
On Friday a group of world powers known as the Quartet issued a report warning of "perpetual occupation and conflict" between Israelis and Palestinians unless both sides take positive action.
The Hebron closure will limit movement except for humanitarian cases, Israeli military spokesman Lt Col Peter Lerner said.
He added that this was the military's "most substantial" move since 2014. The Hebron area is home to some 700,000 people.
The victims of Friday's attack were members of the same family. Local media named the dead man as 48-year-old Michael "Miki" Mark, a father-of-10.
He was killed when the car crashed after the attack. His wife and two children were taken to hospital for treatment.
Israeli forces were still searching for a Palestinian gunman.
In the wake of the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered Israel to deduct from tax it collects on behalf of the PA the equivalent amount which the PA pays each month to Palestinian militants jailed in Israel.
"Israel believes that the encouragement of terrorism by the PA leadership - in incitement and in payments to terrorists and their families - constitutes incentive for murder," the prime minister's office said.
The shooting happened on Route 60, about nine miles (15km) south of the settlement of Kiryat Arba, where a day earlier 13-year-old Hallel Yaffa Ariel was stabbed to death in her bedroom by a Palestinian as she slept.
Her attacker, from a nearby village, was shot dead by settlement guards.
Hours before the shooting attack, a Palestinian woman was shot dead by security forces in Hebron, adjacent to Kiryat Arba, after drawing a knife, police said.
Police said the woman had tried to stab a policewoman who was searching her at the entrance to a shrine revered by Jews and Muslims.
Elsewhere in the West Bank a Palestinian man died during clashes at the Qalandiya checkpoint, near Ramallah, where Muslims were trying to cross to Jerusalem for prayers.
Local hospital officials say he had a heart attack brought on by inhaling tear gas. | Israel has sealed off the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, following an upsurge in deadly attacks. |
35,772,174 | Flanker Freeman scored twice from mauls in the first half while Bedford wingers Pat Tapley and Dean Adamson went over to make it 12-12 at the break.
Bedford took a 15-12 lead thanks to Jake Sharp's penalty.
But with Camilo Parilli-Ocampo in the sin bin, Jersey took advantage as Freeman went over for the winner.
The islanders had never made the knockout stages of the tournament before this season, and will travel to either Moseley or Yorkshire Carnegie next week in the semi-finals.
Jersey were ahead within eight minutes at Goldington Road when Freeman rolled around the edge of maul to crash over.
The Blues, captained by former Jersey back Michael Le Bourgeois, were quickly level though when Tapley's superb run set fellow winger Adamson free to score.
Tapley's converted try in the corner soon after saw the hosts lead 12-5, but Freeman's second just before the half-hour mark made it all square again.
Sharp's penalty after half-time should have been cancelled out by Brendan Cope's penalty at the other end, but his seemingly straightforward kick went wide.
Bedford front-row replacement Parilli-Ocampo was shown yellow for an infringement at the scrum and four minutes later Jersey were ahead when Freeman was driven over from close range, with centre Lewis Robling then converting.
Blues had a chance to snatch the win in the dying seconds when full-back Piers O'Conor and Tapley broke with pace, but the ball was fumbled forward and the opportunity was lost.
Jersey know the prize on offer for a semi-final win will be a home final at St Peter in April.
Bedford: O'Conor; Tapley, Le Bourgeois (capt), Griffiths, Adamson; Sharp, Burns; Lundberg, James, Currie, Howard, Tupai, Blanchet, Buggea, Conlon.
Replacements: Clare, Parilli-Ocampo, Boulton, Wells, White, Dorrian, Staff.
Jersey: Adair; Howe, Evans, Robling, Lane; Cope, Dudley; Lockwood, Buckle, Kerrod, Campbell, Phillips, Rae (capt), Freeman, Haining.
Replacements: McCarthy, Selway, Herriott, Kolo'ofa'i, Graham, Moates, Otto.
Attendance: 2,455 | James Freeman scored a hat-trick as Jersey won their first-ever knockout match in the British and Irish Cup, beating Bedford 19-15. |
35,009,006 | The garden sits in the grounds of the crematorium, and includes specially designed plaques inscribed with the names of 149 babies.
It was created as one of the recommendations in the report by Dame Elish Angiolini in January 2013.
A second memorial is also proposed, in Princes Street Gardens, as some parents do not want to return to Mortonhall.
Dorothy Maitland, a former operations manager for infant deaths charity Sands, said: "I think it's very important to have a memorial and I know some parents will find it very difficult to go back to Mortonhall but I'm hoping that they will change their mind when they see the garden.
"Some parents are still finding it so difficult to accept what happened that right now a memorial is not of any comfort.
"I really hope that in time when they heal a bit more that they will be able to visit the garden and have their baby's name added and find comfort by doing this.
"It means so much to many parents to have somewhere where they can go that is nice and tranquil. It shows to everyone that each of these babies matters whether their names are on the memorial or not - it's for all babies.
"Obviously there has been a lot of hurt but the council have taken what has happened very seriously and made sure all of Dame Elish's recommendations have been met. The memorial has been done in a very sensitive way which speaks volumes."
Dame Sue Bruce, former Edinburgh city council chief executive, said: "This has been a very difficult process for so many people over the past three years so I want to acknowledge my personal appreciation of the support and feedback from parents in helping choose such a fitting memorial.
"The design reflects their wishes for a garden that will provide a private and peaceful place for personal contemplation and reflection."
Andrew Kerr, chief executive of Edinburgh city council, said: "The work of the Mortonhall Multi-Agency Working Group will continue so nothing like this can happen again.
"Lessons have been learnt and the action plan produced last year has now been fully implemented so we can ensure the highest possible standards are adhered to at Mortonhall." | A memorial to infants at the centre of the Mortonhall baby ashes scandal has been opened in Edinburgh. |
36,035,842 | The Liverpool Irish Volunteers were 50 young men and women who took up arms as part of the rebellion to overthrow British rule in Ireland.
The Republican flag that was raised over the General Post Office was done so by Joe Gleeson, a Liverpool man.
Photographs, medals and letters show why the volunteers took action.
Teachers and journalists, clerks and dockers were united by their commitment to Irish independence.
The exhibition - compiled by Liverpool Easter 1916 Commemoration Committee - also features the King brothers. George, Patrick and John King crossed the Irish Sea to fight in the rebellion.
Dr Kevin McNamara said the archive material unearthed from descendants, families and the libraries of Liverpool shone a spotlight on a "forgotten chapter" in the city's history.
He said the exhibition provides "a focal point enabling people to explore the motivations of the men and women who travelled to Ireland and the reactions of those in Liverpool when they returned".
"It is a significant chapter both in Ireland's history but also in the shared heritage this city has with Ireland".
The display at the Museum of Liverpool is part of events in the city to mark the centenary of the battle for independence in Ireland.
Some of the Liverpool Irish Volunteers went on to take part in the Irish War of Independence (1919-21) and the Irish Civil War (1922-23).
Others returned home and continued to meet at the Irish Centre in Liverpool's Mount Pleasant until the 1980s.
The Easter Rising was quelled within six days by British troops, but despite its failure it is seen as a significant stepping stone to the eventual creation of the Republic of Ireland and the partition of Ireland.
More than 450 people were killed and 2,500 injured during the fighting.
1916 Easter Rising: the Liverpool connection opens at the Museum of Liverpool on 20 April | The stories of volunteers from Liverpool who fought in the Easter Uprising in Dublin in 1916 are being told at an exhibition in the city. |
35,656,854 | Activists said seven members of a group known as the Black Spring were told they would be allowed to make one journey abroad for good behaviour.
One of the seven, Marta Beatriz Roque, said she believed the move was a concession ahead of next month's visit to Cuba by President Obama.
The US government has been pressing for more freedom for Cuban dissidents.
"It appears to be some kind of gift they want to present to Obama, but in reality it is nothing concrete because when we come back we will return to legal limbo," said Martha Beatriz Roque.
The decision to grant seven of the most high profile dissidents the right to travel, albeit for a single trip, serves several purposes.
First it gives the Cuban government a recent example of fairer treatment of dissident leaders on the island. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly to the Castro government, the dissidents may choose to stay in the United States, removing them from the debate inside Cuba altogether.
While human rights organisations generally welcome any easing of the restrictions on the group, some of the dissidents themselves have voiced scepticism at the move.
The thorny question of human rights in Cuba will inevitably be back in the spotlight of the world's media soon during President Obama's trip.
75 people were arrested in the Spring of 2003 during a crackdown on opposition activists.
Most were freed about five years ago on the condition that they moved abroad.
But eleven dissidents refused the terms of the amnesty and have remained in Cuba, though they have be allowed to serve their sentences outside of prison.
President Obama has said his trip to Havana on 21 and 22 March is aimed at pushing the Cuban government to improve conditions for its people.
In Washington, a White House spokesman welcomed the decision to let the dissidents travel outside Cuba.
When the thaw began in Cuba and the US's relations in December 2014, the Cuban government released 53 people considered by Washington as political prisoners.
But, according to the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (an independent human rights organisation considered illegal by the Cuban government), Cuba has resumed detentions.
The Commission says on average more than 700 people were detained temporarily each month in 2015. | The Cuban government has eased travel restrictions for some of the country's best-known dissidents. |
39,710,111 | The eight-stage event, won last year by Britain's Steve Cummings, will conclude with a 180km stage finishing in the Welsh capital on 10 September.
It will be only the fourth time since the race was revived in 2004 that it has finished outside London.
Welsh government economy secretary Ken Skates has called it "a real coup".
"I am sure people in Cardiff will come out in their droves to support the race," he added.
Wales has hosted a stage of the Tour of Britain annually since 2010, including the opening stage from Anglesey in 2015. | Cardiff will host the 2017 Tour of Britain final stage for the first time, with the race to open in Edinburgh on Sunday, 3 September. |
39,097,019 | No 10 policy unit head George Freeman said personal independence payments (PIP) reforms were needed to roll back the "bizarre" decisions of tribunals.
Ministers say the changes will save £3.7bn but leave a "strong safety net".
But disability charity Scope criticised Mr Freeman's "crude" distinction between physical and mental health.
And Labour said the comments were "an insult to disabled people".
Responding to criticism online to his interview on BBC 5 live's Pienaar's Politics, Mr Freeman later tweeted that he had suffered from anxiety and depression in childhood, adding: "I don't need and lectures on the damage anxiety does."
The government is proposing changes to PIPs, which replaced the Disability Living Allowance (DLA), after two tribunal rulings at the end of 2016 which it said would have added £3.7bn to the benefits bill by 2023.
The benefit is intended to help people cope with the extra costs of living with ill health or disability and are made according to the points a person scores in an assessment of their needs.
In his BBC interview Mr Freeman said: "These tweaks are actually about rolling back some bizarre decisions by tribunals that now mean benefits are being given to people who are taking pills at home, who suffer from anxiety," he said.
"We want to make sure we get the money to the really disabled people who need it."
The Conservative MP for Mid Norfolk added that he and the prime minister "totally" understood anxiety. "We've set out in the mental health strategy how seriously we take it," he added.
After the interview, shadow chancellor John McDonnell tweeted: "This is an insult to disabled people. (George Freeman) should apologise immediately or Theresa May should make him."
And Scope chief executive Mark Atkinson said: "It is unhelpful to make crude distinctions between those with physical impairments and mental health issues because the kind of impairment someone has is not a good indicator of the costs they will face.
"Many disabled people will now be anxiously waiting to hear as to whether or not these tighter rules will affect their current PIP award.
"The government must offer clarity and reassurance that these new measures will not negatively affect the financial support that disabled people receive now or in the future, and that they stand by their commitment to making no further changes to disability benefits in this Parliament."
Disabilities minister Penny Mordaunt said she was reforming the PIP payments to "restore the original aim of the benefit" to make sure support was given to the most needy.
Mr McDonnell said he was "furious" about the proposed changes to PIPS, and said Labour would pressurise the government to reverse them in next month's Budget.
"Next week the Tories will make out that the economy and the public finances are doing better, however, they are planning to go ahead with a £3.7bn cut to the disabled," he said.
The cuts would mean many people with severe disabilities "are going to be trapped in their homes", he added.
The Liberal Democrats said the government was using court losses "as an excuse to severely restrict disability benefits".
A DWP spokeswoman said the government was "committed to ensuring our welfare system is a strong safety net for those who need it". | Disability benefits should go to "really disabled people" not those "taking pills at home, who suffer from anxiety", a key Theresa May aide says. |
33,369,208 | BBC Wales director Rhodri Talfan Davies said there were "no easy answers" to questions over how many jobs were at risk.
It follows the announcement by director general Tony Hall of plans to save £50m a year.
The number of job cuts in Wales are not expected to be confirmed until the autumn.
Most job losses are likely to affect managerial roles, as well as the BBC's support teams including HR, marketing, finance, project management and business affairs.
Mr Davies said: "This is obviously tough news and I'm not going to pretend there are any easy answers.
"The additional savings targets announced today by Tony Hall are very challenging and will inevitably impact on important teams that do vital work at the heart of BBC Wales.
"But the financial context for the BBC is clear and we will sit down with the affected teams and the unions to work out the best way forward.
"By looking for savings outside programming areas, the BBC will do everything possible to minimise the impact of the changes on the output and services we deliver to audiences."
Lord Hall said the BBC was facing "difficult choices" due to the financial climate.
Any new savings will need to be delivered alongside the existing BBC savings plan - Delivering Quality First - which has already seen BBC Wales cut more than 100 posts and reduce its budget by £10m since 2012.
While the majority of cuts at BBC Wales have affected support areas, management and overheads, the BBC's investment in English language programming for Wales has fallen 32% - or £10m - in real terms over the past eight years. | BBC Wales has warned that plans to cut 1,000 jobs across the corporation will "inevitably impact" its operation. |
34,384,548 | There were reports ex-WBO cruiserweight champion Maccarinelli, 35, and Jones, 46, would fight for the WBA 'super' world cruiserweight title.
But the WBA said this was a "false rumour", in a quote attributed to president Gilberto Mendoza.
Mendoza also told BBC Sport: "There is no approval for the mentioned fight from the WBA."
He added: "It has not been requested to the championship committee."
Neither Maccarinelli nor Jones Jr are rated in the governing body's top 15, with Russian Denis Lebedev the WBA champion since 2012.
Jones's last defeat was by Lebedev in 2011, while Maccarinelli has competed at light-heavyweight in recent years.
American Jones is one of the greatest fighters of the modern era and in 2003 became the first former middleweight to win a heavyweight world title for 106 years.
However, he has not held a world title since 2004, when he lost his light-heavyweight title to compatriot Antonio Tarver.
Maccarinelli, meanwhile, has not been a world champion since losing his WBO cruiserweight title to David Haye in 2008.
The Welshman last fought for a world title in April 2014, losing to WBA light-heavyweight champion Jurgen Brahmer after suffering a badly cut eye in an early clash of heads.
But he got back to winning ways with a first-round stoppage of Gyorgy Novak in Manchester in March 2015.
"There's always been a lot of doubters. This [beating Jones] would prove a lot of the doubters wrong," said Maccarinelli's trainer Gary Lockett.
Jones, who is originally from Florida, officially became a Russian citizen after he was presented with his Russian passport in Moscow on Tuesday.
Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a decree to grant citizenship to Jones in September after meeting the boxer in Crimea in August. | Welsh boxer Enzo Maccarinelli will face former four-weight world champion Roy Jones Jr in Moscow on 12 December. |
11,117,544 | Transport Minister Juan Molinar said the airline's operations would "definitively cease" by noon on Saturday local time (1700 GMT).
The action will also apply to two budget carriers affiliated with Mexicana - Link and Click.
Mexicana had already axed some of its routes and had stopped selling tickets.
The airline flew 220 routes to 65 destinations including London, Madrid, Montreal, Chicago and cities in Central and South America.
The 89-year-old airline has debts of about $800m (£500m).
It filed for bankruptcy protection after failing to reach a deal with trade unions on cost-cutting.
Plans to sack about 1,000 flight attendants to enable a takeover by a Mexican investment group were blocked by the government earlier this week.
The firm suffered heavy losses during Mexico's recession in 2009, as well during an outbreak of swine flu the same year.
The flu outbreak caused a sharp fall in tourism in the country.
After filing for bankruptcy protection Mexicana proposed deep pay cuts for pilots and crew, as well as a 40% reduction in the workforce. | One of Mexico's biggest airlines, Mexicana de Aviacion, is to suspend all flights, three weeks after filing for bankruptcy protection. |
35,563,785 | Mr Thomas is stepping down from his seat as Plaid Cymru AM for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr before May's assembly election.
He described his appointment as a "huge privilege".
Mr Thomas will start work at the Aberystwyth library on 6 April and will be in post for four years. | The new president of the National Library of Wales has been named as Rhodri Glyn Thomas. |
39,671,543 | The 60-year-old died suddenly on 17 April, collapsing while walking his dog on the Isle of Man.
Mr Lambden represented the island at the 1982 Commonwealth Games and had a personal best at the London Marathon of two hours 43 minutes.
He has been descried as a "true ambassador for Manx athletics".
A spokesman for the Manx Harriers Athletics Club said he was "not only a fabulous athlete but... a giant of Manx athletics".
His sister Margaid Gosschalk is planning to stand with a Manx flag at the five-mile point, where he would have been standing to cheer his fellow athletes on.
She said: "As he won't be there, we have ordered a Manx flag and I will be there. It's the least we can do in Murray's memory.
"He was proud to represent both the Isle of Man and GB and the incredible tributes I have been reading on so many sites from athletes and friends shows just how much people appreciated all he did to support and encourage others."
The married father of two's achievements included winning the 85-mile Parish Walk.
In recent years he was an ever-present at sporting events with his camera and administered the Parish Walk website. | More than 100 Manx runners will wear a red bow while competing in the London Marathon, in memory of Murray Lambden who died last week. |
29,218,808 | The retailer went in to administration on Monday, putting 5,596 jobs at more than 700 outlets at risk, after Vodafone, EE and O2 did not renew their contracts with the company.
This was an "unprecedented assassination", Mr Caudwell told the BBC's Today programme.
The mobile firms rejected his claims.
Mr Caudwell, who sold Phones 4U to Providence Equity and Doughty Hanson for £1.5bn in 2006, has called on the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate the networks' actions.
He suspects the companies may have colluded to remove Phones 4U from the high street in an attempt to reduce competition, but admits that he has no evidence.
John Fingleton, former chief executive of the Office for Fair Trading, said: "It doesn't look very pleasant, it looks very sudden and very abrupt. But that's a very different thing than alleging that the phone companies have got together to try and raise prices or to exclude somebody with the intention of raising prices. And I see no evidence for that."
EE told the programme its decision to end its relationship with Phones 4U was based on its strategy to focus on its own shops and cut out intermediaries, while Vodafone rejected an suggestion that it had acted inappropriately during contract negotiations.
An O2 spokesperson said:
"We informed Phones 4U of our decision to stop connecting new customers through our partnership back in 2012.
"We subsequently took the decision not to extend our contract beyond 31st January 2014. This was a commercial decision we made independently as part of our regular review of our sales distribution."
Accountancy firm PwC has been appointed to see if any of the 560 stores and 160 concessions can be re-opened or sold.
The retailer, now owned by private equity firm BC Partners, has said established mobile contracts taken out through Phones 4U would not be affected, although phones ordered and not despatched - for example anyone ordering the new iPhone 6 over the weekend - would be.
In a statement, PwC said: "Our initial focus will be to quickly engage with parties who may be interested in acquiring all or part of the business, and to better understand the financial position and options for the company. The stores will remain closed while we have these conversations.
"We will also be talking to network operators and suppliers, and trying to access funds to pay for the costs of the business, including wages.
"These conversations will determine whether we can re-open stores and trade, and also if and when we can pay the arrears of wages to employees. Our hope is that we will be able to pay all the outstanding wages arrears." | John Caudwell, the founder of Phones 4U, has blamed the demise of his former company on the "ruthless actions" of "predatory" mobile phone networks. |
15,749,339 | The Geneva-based tech investor has bought a stake in Zuora - a firm that sets up and runs billing services.
Zuora's software helps its clients offer flexible subscriptions. Customers gain greater choice over the length and substance of the service taken out.
For example, a magazine could offer a digital delivery of its sports section every other month of the year.
Zuora's current clients include newspapers, cloud-based service providers and business information publishers.
However, Index believes the model is applicable to a much wider range of sectors.
"We don't see an end or a limit in sight," Index Ventures partner Michelangelo Volpi told the BBC.
"On the consumer side there isn't a big large up-front outlay of cash which is favourable to the consumer, and on the business side there is an ongoing long-term relationship... which can potentially be more lucrative.
"It wouldn't be crazy to think that more than half the things we consume are going to be some kind of a subscription-based relationship."
Index has not disclosed the size of its investment beyond the fact it was the lead investor in a $36m (£23m) deal.
Zuora is the brainchild of Tien Tzuo, a California-based veteran of the business software subscription service Salesforce.
He set up the company four years ago and has since attracted customers including the Financial Times, News International, Hewlett Packard, Dell, Thomson Reuters and US internet radio provider Pandora.
Mr Tzuo believes that within the next three years, Europe will account for 50% of his firm's revenue.
"The world is moving away from a manufacturing economy to a services or subscription economy," Mr Tzuo told the BBC.
"[So] flexibility in how you package, price and figure out what the customer really wants becomes really critical."
Zuora offers clients the ability to offer adaptable subscription plans - whether that means renting a car for irregular periods of time or selling certain sections of a newspaper rather than the whole publication.
It then automates the collection of payments and, if the client permits, allows customers to make changes to their subscription package when they want.
Businesses have access to their subscribers' details, aiding marketing and advertising sales.
This is popular with publishers who are unhappy that Apple has refused to share information on users signed up via its Newsstand and app store subscription services. The iPad maker only makes an exception if customers give it permission to pass on their data.
Zuora's clients takes on the responsibility for storing customers' credit card details. Its clients therefore avoid the risk of an embarrassing hacking attack or theft by a corrupt employee.
"The credit cards never touch their systems, they never touch their servers, they never touch their disc drive, they never even have to touch their network," Mr Tzuo said.
"So we handle it all, and we invest a ton on security on our side".
Zuora is targeting companies of all sizes. One of its smaller customers is the London start-up Social Go, a social network software designer.
Chief executive Alex Halliday said he had had teething problems with Zuora's service and had to work to make their systems compatible. However, he said it was still the best subscription platform on the market.
"We were looking for a platform that would let us avoid having to build our own, and would scale as our business grew, allowing us to solve a variety of complex billing problems that we were facing," he said.
"There were simpler offerings that would have done what we needed today, but probably wouldn't have done what we needed tomorrow."
Index Ventures needs others to follow Social Go's lead if it is to cash in a profit after its typical four-to-six year investment timetable.
The firm's previous success stories include the online gambling website Betfair, the movie rental service Lovefilm and the webchat provider Skype.
It also took a recent stake in Dropbox - an online storage rental company - with the same 500m euro ($674m, £428m) fund it used to invest in Zuora. | Index Ventures has placed a bet on subscription services overturning traditional sales models. |
20,810,834 | The 35-year-old will be one of the side's overseas players during August and September when George Bailey is likely to be involved in Australia's Twenty20 squad against England.
Ajmal previously played county cricket for Worcestershire in 2011.
"He is one of the best bowlers in the world in all forms of the game," said Hampshire manager Giles White.
"He will add real quality to the squad at the business end of the season."
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Ajmal was the scourge of England at the start of the year, taking 24 wickets to help Pakistan to a 3-0 Test whitewash against England - who at the time were ranked number one in the world - in the United Arab Emirates.
And he proved similarly effective during his spell at Worcestershire two summers ago when he picked up 17 wickets in three first- class fixtures, including match-winning figures of 6-124 against Sussex, and 16 in eight Twenty20 appearances
Though nominally an off-spinner, much of Ajmal's success has been attributed to his variations, particularly his use of the doosra and subtle changes in speed and flight.
"I am very pleased to be joining Hampshire to play in the County Championship," said Ajmal.
"I have always enjoyed playing in England and look forward to playing my part in helping Hampshire get promoted." | Hampshire have announced the signing of Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal for the latter part of the 2013 season. |
28,956,786 | The 27-year-old has won two caps for Argentina and won the Europa League with Sevilla last season.
He is Tottenham's fourth summer signing after Swansea pair Ben Davies and Michel Vorm and defender Eric Dier from Sporting Lisbon.
The centre-back will replace Michael Dawson in the Spurs squad after his move to Hull this week. | Tottenham have signed defender Federico Fazio from Sevilla on a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee. |
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