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36,537,821 | On Tuesday, Berlin-based British political blogger Jon Worth noticed that he had been given a suggested update of "in favour of leaving the EU" - but not one related to remaining.
Facebook said referendum prompts had now been removed from this list, due to the sensitivity of the vote.
The two options are shown, together, only if users search for "EU".
The British public will vote in a referendum on whether the UK should remain in or leave the European Union, on 23 June.
When Facebook users post an update to the site, it is possible to receive a recommendation for what to say regarding what they are doing or how they are feeling.
After Mr Worth looked under status update suggestions via the Facebook app on his iPhone, however, one option, "in favour of leaving the EU", appeared without another on the side of remaining in the European Union.
A Facebook spokesman denied allegations that the social network was influencing the tone of political debate on the site.
"People who search for 'EU' when they are using our status tool will see a full range of options enabling them to add if they are thinking of leaving or remaining in the EU," he said.
"People scrolling through the list of activities see options based on what their friends and other people have been using."
However, a similar issue arises in a different list when searching specifically for groups to support with a status update.
"In your list of 'supporting', you can choose Leave.EU but you cannot choose [a pro-Remain option]," Mr Worth told the BBC.
The BBC confirmed that this was still the case late on Wednesday morning.
Neither of the official campaigns - Vote Leave and Britain Stronger in Europe - are included in the list.
According to Facebook, this is because neither campaign is listed in the "non-profit organisation" category.
"I don't know how many people have actually clicked on that option in Facebook," said Mr Worth.
"Were this somehow to be replicated more widely, could it [impact the vote]?"
Last month, tech news site Gizmodo accused Facebook of intentionally suppressing stories with conservative political viewpoints in its Trending Topics section.
The company denied there was any truth to the claims. | Facebook has removed pro-Leave and pro-Remain status update suggestions from a list given to users. |
37,465,010 | Stephane Dujarric said the secretary-general was alarmed by reports of air strikes involving incendiary weapons and bunker-busting bombs.
The Syrian government has stepped up strikes on rebel-held areas of the city since a ceasefire collapsed last week.
The UN Security Council is due to meet on Sunday morning in New York.
The meeting was requested by the US, the UK and France.
Meanwhile, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has suggested that a deadly attack on an aid convoy in Syria last week could have been deliberately carried out by Russian aircraft.
If so, he said it could amount to a war crime.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was "not only... handing [Syrian President Bashar] Assad the revolver", he told the BBC's Andrew Marr programme. "He is in some instances actually firing the revolver himself."
Russia has denied carrying out the attack, blaming instead rebel artillery.
Mr Dujarric said in a statement: "Since the announcement two days ago by the Syrian army of an offensive to capture eastern Aleppo, there have been repeated reports of air strikes involving the use of incendiary weapons and advanced munitions such as bunker-buster bombs.
"The secretary-general considers this a dark day for the global commitment to protect civilians."
The northern city of Aleppo has become a key battleground in Syria's bloody five-year civil war.
Last Tuesday, Mr Ban launched a stinging attack on the Syrian government, saying it had killed the most civilians in the conflict.
Meanwhile, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moalem has said that government forces are making great strides against "terrorism".
He told the UN General Assembly in New York on Saturday that his belief in victory was now greater than ever.
Syria refers to all rebel groups trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad as terrorists.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that any revival of the cessation of hostilities in Syria could not depend on unilateral concessions by his country alone.
He said there had to be a collective effort involving all sides.
The UN says the attacks on Aleppo have left nearly two million people without water.
Unicef, the UN children's agency, has warned that fierce air strikes on Friday stopped repairs to a damaged water pumping station supplying rebel-held eastern districts of the city.
In retaliation, Unicef says, a nearby station pumping water to the west of Aleppo has been switched off.
Unicef spokesman Kieran Dwyer said water was being used as a weapon of war by all sides.
He said residents now had to resort to contaminated water and were at risk from waterborne diseases.
UK-based group monitoring the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 25 people were killed in fresh bombardments on Saturday.
Activists say both Syrian and Russian warplanes are taking part in the latest offensive, though Russia has not confirmed its involvement.
Russia supports the Syrian government, while the US backs the opposition. The two powers accuse each other of failing to rein in their respective allies on the ground. | UN chief Ban Ki-moon is "appalled by the chilling military escalation" in the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo, his spokesman says. |
40,550,678 | The new employees will be based at the Lisahally Service Centre near Londonderry and will help deliver Universal Credit services to claimants in England, Scotland and Wales.
The contract, from the Department for Work and Pensions, is agreed initially for two years.
It is expected some of the posts will be filled internally.
A spokesperson for the Department for Communities said: "This is good news for DfC and for Northern Ireland, bringing to 594 the number of new jobs secured by the Department over the past year to deliver Department for Work Pensions (DWP) services.
"This third major contract for DfC is testament to the continued confidence DWP has in our capacity to provide high quality services for customers in Great Britain." | About 125 jobs are to be created after the Department for Communities (DFC) won a £7m contract to deliver services. |
37,223,224 | A 55-year-old man, from Harrogate, was arrested on suspicion of sending alleged direct threats to Mr Karim on Twitter in June.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced the decision was due to a lack of evidence.
The Blackburn-born Conservative MEP, 46, has requested a review. The CPS said a review would be carried out.
Tweets were sent during the run-up to the European Referendum and shortly before the death of MP Jo Cox.
Mr Karim had campaigned for the UK to remain in the European Union ahead of the June 23 referendum.
A CPS spokesperson said no further action would be taken against the accused due to "lack of evidence strong enough to secure a conviction". | A man accused of sending threats over Twitter to North West MEP Sajjad Karim will not face charges. |
34,664,544 | Profit was 33.6bn yen ($278m; £182m) in the three months to September, compared with a 136bn yen loss a year earlier.
The results are big turnaround for the firm that has seen years of losses and undergone a restructuring, which has resulted in job cuts and asset sales.
Its first half restructuring charges were down 35% at 15.7bn yen.
But sales of its smartphones continued to decline.
"In the Mobile Communications segment, sales decreased primarily due to a significant decrease in smartphone unit sales resulting from a strategic decision not to pursue scale in order to improve profitability," the company said.
Overall, its sales fell 0.5% to 1.8tn yen despite the uptick in demand for PS4 games and image sensors.
Expecting to sell more PS4 consoles, Sony left its forecast for earnings for the year ending in March 2016 unchanged.
"Sales are expected to be higher than the July forecast primarily due to an expected increase in PS4 hardware unit sales and PS4 software sales," the company said.
The earnings report comes a day after Sony announced that it would take over Toshiba's image sensor business. | Japanese tech giant Sony swung to a net profit in the second quarter of its financial year, driven by strong sales of its PlayStation 4 video games. |
39,305,653 | Yadira Arroyo, 44, was responding to a call with another paramedic in the Bronx neighbourhood on Thursday night when she was hit.
Authorities charged Jose Gonzalez, 25, with murder, grand larceny and driving while impaired by drugs.
Ms Arroyo was a mother of five children and a 14-year fire department veteran.
The two paramedics were told a man was riding on the back bumper of their ambulance when they stopped to check, according to Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro.
Mr Gonzalez went around to the other side of the vehicle and got into the driver's seat.
He then put the ambulance in reverse and hit Ms Arroyo, who was caught beneath the wheels.
The second unidentified female paramedic was still in the passenger seat when the vehicle was being stolen. She was treated in hospital for minor injuries, police said.
Footage of the incident emerged on Twitter of the incident, showing the ambulance crossing an intersection with one of its doors open and the body of one of the paramedics being dragged beneath the vehicle.
The ambulance then crashed into several parked cars before it came to a halt on a snowbank.
A Metropolitan Transportation Authority K-9 officer and another bystander then apprehended Mr Gonzalez.
"They were acting very bravely. They certainly wanted to continue on their way to the call. This person had no business being in this ambulance," Mr Nigro said.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio praised the "good Samaritans" who helped out.
"A lot of heroism was on display amidst a great tragedy," he said.
Governor Andrew Cuomo said paramedics are "heroes who help countless New Yorkers every day. Tonight's tragedy in the Bronx is horrible. My deepest sympathies to the family". | A New York Fire Department (FDNY) paramedic has died after she was run over by a man driving her stolen ambulance. |
34,843,459 | In October it was confirmed Trevor Purt was stepping down from Betsi Cadwaladr health board, which will remain in special measures for two years.
Board chairman Dr Peter Higson told AMs Mr Purt was being seconded to a health job in England for 12 months.
He said the arrangement was the "best value" for money for the taxpayer.
Senior figures at the health board serving north Wales have been giving evidence to the assembly's public accounts committee on Tuesday.
Dr Higson told AMs Mr Purt had "relinquished" his job in north Wales and his secondment included "payment in lieu of notice".
"I think in the circumstances we found ourselves, the options we had in front of us, this was probably the best value in terms of cost overall, and also in terms of allowing the health board to move quickly to recruit a new chief executive," he said.
According to an online business network profile, Mr Purt is working as an advisor to the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.
Betsi Cadwaladr has been under the highest possible level of Welsh government intervention since June, for what Health Minister Mark Drakeford called "serious and outstanding concerns" about its leadership.
A report in May found "institutional abuse" at the Tawel Fan mental health ward in Glan Clwyd Hospital.
In June, it emerged there was a fraud investigation into aspects of the board's spending plans.
Earlier in November, ministers announced the board would receive extra help, including an improvement team to help managers set key milestones.
Facing questions about what the board was doing to turn things around, interim chief executive Simon Dean told AMs there was no complacency at the top of the organisation. | A Welsh health board is still paying the £200,000 salary of its suspended chief executive while he works in England, AMs have been told. |
35,396,093 | The first set was closely contested, with Brett earning a crucial half with the last bowl of the final end.
But world number one Brett pulled away in the second set, winning the first end 4-0 and never relinquishing his advantage.
Brett adds the singles title to the pairs world title he won in 2014 partnering Greg Harlow.
For Paxton, the 2015 pairs world champion, the wait for a first singles crown goes on. | Nick Brett won his first World Indoor Bowls title with a 9-9 12-9 victory over fellow Englishman Robert Paxton. |
37,638,631 | Saxony's state justice ministry said Jaber al-Bakr was found dead and that an investigation had been launched.
He had been turned in to police on Monday by three Syrian refugees after being on the run for two days.
German police had been watching him for months, but failed to arrest him when they raided his flat on Saturday.
Since his arrest, Jaber al-Bakr, 22, had been on hunger strike and was under round-the-clock surveillance, news website Der Spiegel reported.
Call to reward Syrian refugees who arrested fugitive
He was granted asylum after coming to Germany last year.
German intelligence received reports last week that he might be planning an attack, and they alerted police in the eastern state of Saxony.
Authorities said they discovered last Thursday that the suspect had used the internet to get bomb-making instructions and had obtained explosives.
The BBC's Damien McGuinness in Berlin says al-Bakr's death will now make it even more difficult for police to find concrete information about his plans and about any possible accomplices.
When police raided the flat in the eastern city of Chemnitz, they found 1.5kg of TATP, a home-made explosive used in the deadly jihadist attacks in Paris last year and in Brussels last March. The explosives were "extremely dangerous", police said.
But al-Bakr managed to slip the net, and made his way to the city of Leipzig where he asked the Syrians for help.
The three told police they had heard about the manhunt and tied him up while one of them knelt on him.
They alerted police who finally managed to arrest him.
Since then there have been calls for authorities to honour the three. Bild newspaper described them as "the Syrian heroes from Leipzig".
The authorities believe al-Bakr had links to the group that calls itself Islamic State. | A Syrian migrant suspected of planning a bomb attack on a Berlin airport has killed himself in his prison cell in Leipzig, Germany, officials say. |
36,417,854 | Hull's sixth league victory in a row sets up an exciting contest at second-placed Warrington Wolves on 10 June.
They led 6-4 after a competitive first half, Carlos Tuimavave replying to Rhys Hanbury's early try for the Vikings.
Kirk Yeaman, Josh Bowden, Danny Houghton and Jamie Shaul all crossed for the hosts after the interval, with Chris Dean adding a Widnes consolation.
Shaul's score was the pick of Hull's efforts, racing from inside his own half to touch down.
Marc Sneyd kicked all five of his attempts at goal as Hull's excellent second-half display saw them to a comfortable success.
Widnes were the early pacesetters in Super League, hammering Hull 46-6 and topping the table in March.
However, a run of nine defeats in 10 league games has seen them slip to eighth spot and just three points above ninth-placed Hull KR.
Hull FC coach Lee Radford: "They've got an unbelievable amount of confidence in each other, to come back and clinch wins like they have.
"That's what was disappointing after the Widnes defeat last time around. People asked questions about our togetherness and that frustrated me.
"When you put a new side together like we have, you have to learn the hard way and you can see now that we have naturally progressed."
Widnes coach Denis Betts: "We came in at half-time 6-4 down, having had early chances, but we didn't get over the line.
"They were punching through the line, played with a lot of pace and we wasted a lot of energy in that first half. We got into their 20-metre zone once.
"I thought we had regrouped and talked about building pressure, but they're a quality side and showed why they are top of the league."
Hull FC: Shaul; Michaels, Fonua, Yeaman, Talanoa; Tuimavave, Sneyd; Taylor, Houghton, Bowden, Minichiello, Manu, Ellis.
Replacements: Green, Thompson, Hadley, Washbrook.
Widnes Vikings: Hanbury; Thompson, Runciman, Bridge, Marsh; Mellor, Brown; Cahill, White, Dudson, Houston, Dean, Leuluai.
Replacements: Buchanan, Manuokafoa, Sa, Whitley.
Referee: J Smith | Hull FC maintained their two-point lead at the top of Super League with a home win over Widnes Vikings. |
35,498,317 | Media playback is not supported on this device
In a tight first half Virimi Vakatawa and Damien Chouly crossed for France, but a Carlo Canna drop-goal and Sergio Parisse's try kept Italy in touch.
Canna finished off a burst by Parisse to put the visitors in the ascendancy.
France retook the initiative with Hugo Bonneval's score, but they still needed a late penalty from Jules Plisson to hand a win to new coach Guy Noves.
This was first sporting event held at the Stade de France since the attacks on Paris in November last year.
Former Toulouse boss Noves, 62, had promised to build a more entertaining French side from the one that went out in the quarter-finals of last year's World Cup and finished a disappointing fourth in the 2015 Six Nations.
There was certainly a sense of adventure about Noves's side, personified by powerful sevens international Vakatawa who showed guile and fleet of foot on the wing to score the opening try.
Gael Fickou's quick-tap penalty opened the door for Chouly to cross for their second and Jonathan Danty drew in defenders expertly to release Bonneval for the third, but there remained a fragility to the home side.
Italy, inspired by their captain Parisse, almost took full advantage with a structured, organised performance, in which they won seven turnovers to France's three.
Parisse, who plays his club rugby in Paris with Stade Francais, has for so long been Italy's talisman and the number eight stepped even closer to legendary status for his country with this all-action performance.
The 32-year-old touched down from a catch and drive in the first half and came agonisingly close to finishing off a barnstorming burst after the break, before Canna applied the finishing touch regardless.
In fact, he almost snatched it at the death with an audacious drop-goal attempt that drifted wide, but in the end it was Plisson's monster penalty from near the halfway line that ended up being the difference maker.
France: Medard; Bonneval, Fickou, Danty, Vakatawa; Plisson, Bezy; Ben Arous, Guirado, Slimani, Jedrasiak, Maestri, Lauret, Chouly, Picamoles.
Replacements: Doussain for Medard (77), Mermoz for Fickou (56), Atonio for Ben Arous (50), Poirot for Slimani (50), Flanquart for Jedrasiak (72).
Not used: Chat, Camara, Machenaud.
Italy: Odiete; L. Sarto, Campagnaro, Garcia, Bellini; Canna, Gori; Lovotti, Gega, Cittadini, Biagi, Fuser, Minto, Zanni, Parisse.
Replacements: McLean for Odiete (55), Haimona for Garcia (70), Palazzani for Canna (77), Zanusso for Lovotti (65), Giazzon for Gega (56), Castrogiovanni for Cittadini (65), Bernabo for Biagi (43), van Schalkwyk for Zanni (66).
Referee: JP Doyle (England) | France edged to an unconvincing win over Italy to make a successful start to their Six Nations campaign. |
37,540,187 | A Great Repeal Bill in the next Queen's Speech will end the authority of European Union law in the UK.
Plaid spokesman Steffan Lewis called on the Welsh Labour Government to spell out which EU laws it wanted kept, and which powers should pass to Wales.
The Welsh Government said it was a "massive task" which would take some time to achieve.
Prime Minister Theresa May announced plans for the repeal bill on Sunday at the Conservative party conference, where she confirmed that the formal two-year process of leaving the European Union would be trigged by the end of March.
"Now that the prime minister has announced the creation of a Great Repeal Bill to end the authority of EU law in the United Kingdom, the Welsh Government must not delay before responding robustly," Mr Lewis said.
"The Leave vote on 23 June was a vote to leave the European political union - not a vote to centralise powers in Westminster.
"That is why the Welsh Government must press ahead with publishing a full list of EU laws it wants maintained unchanged, alongside a full list of repatriated functions it wants devolved to the National Assembly.
"There is a danger here that the Great Repeal Bill will become the Great Power-Grab with powers centralised in Westminster unless the Labour Welsh government gets its act together."
Plaid Cymru said all areas that are currently devolved to Wales should remain so, such as agriculture and economic development.
Other matters such as trade deals should be jointly negotiated and agreed by all four UK governments, the party added.
A Welsh Government spokesman said it was a "massive task" to work out which EU laws would need to be transposed into Welsh legislation or replaced, and would "take some time to achieve".
He said First Minister Carwyn Jones told Brexit Secretary David Davis there should not be any "rowing back" by the UK government from the devolution settlement.
In July, Rural Affairs Secretary Lesley Griffiths said Brexit provided the opportunity for a "made-in-Wales" policy on farming support, which is currently set across all 28 EU member states.
Scotland's Brexit Minister Mike Russell has warned the Scottish Parliament might block the Great Repeal Bill if Scotland's interests were not represented in the Brexit negotiations. | Wales could suffer from a "great power-grab" by the UK government after Brexit, Plaid Cymru has claimed. |
38,796,637 | They had been battling a blaze in the 17-storey Plasco building when it came crashing down in a matter of seconds.
Four civilians are also known to have died, while six more are still missing.
The tragedy shocked the nation, and the firemen were laid to rest in the "martyrs'" section of a cemetery in the south of the capital.
"They gave their lives for us. We see it as our duty to attend," one tearful onlooker, 27-year-old Tahereh Sheydayi, told AFP news agency.
The Plasco building, which was Tehran's tallest when it was completed in 1962, contained a shopping centre and dozens of clothing workshops.
Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli told reporters last week that an initial investigation had found that the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit.
Tehran's fire department said on the day of the collapse that the Plasco building's managers had been warned that it was unsafe, with corridors and staircases blocked by goods and no fire extinguishers.
The disaster was the deadliest in Tehran since 2005, when a fire at a crowded mosque in the city centre killed 59 people. | Tens of thousands of Iranians have attended the funeral of 16 firemen who were killed when a high-rise building collapsed in Tehran two weeks ago. |
39,378,870 | A one-day bus strike is taking place and some trains have also been cancelled - leaving one group of 20 fans stuck in Rosslare.
Pre-booked tickets will be refunded but there are no alternative bus or rail services running.
Wales take on Ireland at 19:45 GMT.
Irish Rail passengers have been warned of major disruption across services due to the Bus Éireann strike.
Drivers stopped working at midnight across the country and the disruption has now spread to the rail network due to picketing related to the dispute.
Services likely to affect fans include routes to and from Dublin to Limerick, Cork, Galway, Sligo, Waterford.
Bus Éireann said it was "extremely disappointed" by the action, which it claims would cause major inconvenience to customers and exacerbate the "perilous financial situation at the company". | Wales football fans face travel disruption as transport unions have called strikes ahead of their World Cup qualifier against Ireland in Dublin. |
18,734,189 | The westbound carriageway was closed at the M5 junction near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, up to junction two. It was also shut eastbound between junctions two and one.
The motorway was reopened by 17:25 BST, said
The Highways Agency
.
More than two dozen roads were closed in Herefordshire on Friday.
Stranded motorists were rescued and residents left their homes, while a rest centre was set up in Ross-on-Wye.
Herefordshire Council said it received more than 120 reports of flooding across the county and hundreds of people had turned up at depots for sandbags and help.
More than 4,000 sandbags were handed out.
Properties at a Ross-on-Wye sheltered housing complex were evacuated.
About 20 elderly people in Smallbrook Gardens were taken to a community centre.
Council leader John Jarvis said: "I would like to pay tribute to the hundreds of members of staff from the council, its contractors, the emergency services, our partners and other agencies.
"[They] have again pulled together today to provide an effective response to severe weather."
Earlier, Highways Agency operations manager Neil Taylor said the M50 was "suffering from patches of... water from the local fields but it has got some depth to it in places".
He added: "The ground is sodden and where water runs off, or ditches overspill, it can very quickly put quite a depth of water on to the carriageway."
Andrew Atkinson, ward councillor for Ross-on-Wye east, told BBC Hereford and Worcester the situation was "horrendous".
He said: "We've got extremely heavy rain running straight through people's houses - it's dire.
"Nobody's prepared for it, it's shocked everybody."
Commuter Steve Richmond, from Cheltenham, said: "Once I got to the junction at Roman Way and Archenfield Road in Ross-on-Wye the road was completely flooded and impassable.
"People were either turning back or had tried to get through and got stuck." | The M50 has reopened after part of it was closed due to "severe weather" which saw up to a foot of water in some places. |
32,335,756 | Just like five years ago, Greece is on the brink of default. But 2015 is very different from 2010 in one important respect: other eurozone countries and the IMF are signalling they won't be panicked into rushing through another bailout.
If hints from the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, and more explicit remarks from EU officials are any guide, Greece will be left to flounder, which means that there is a high probability that - at some point between May and July - the Greek government will fail to make repayments on the billions that fall due for repayment to the IMF, and/or the European Central Bank and/or private-sector providers of short term debts.
For what it's worth, the IMF is owed €200m (£144m) on 1 May and €760m on 12 May, while the ECB is due €6.7bn in June and July.
Now this does not necessarily mean Greece would leave the euro at the point that it misses a debt payment.
The government could follow the example of Cyprus and impose restrictions on the export of capital from the country, to conserve as much cash as possible in a banking system too close to collapse for comfort.
And it could create its own IOUs, a sort of parallel domestic currency interchangeable with euros, to pay its employees and trade creditors.
In these dire circumstances, it would not really be part of a proper monetary union, it wouldn't be a full member of the eurozone. But it would still have the euro as legal tender.
This would be a pretty ghastly scenario for the Greek people - who would struggle for a period to obtain the things they need from abroad. And it the economy is limping along now, it would contract sharply for a period, as businesses and banks went kaput.
But strikingly the German government is putting it about that financial contagion to the rest of the eurozone would be limited.
Which may be hopeful, wishful thinking or naive.
It is certainly true that the eurozone and IMF can afford the likely losses on Greece's debts.
But that is not really the point. A Greek default would signal in the starkest way that European Monetary Union is about national convenience, not a political project to integrate the governance and balance sheets of members.
As such a Greek departure risks creating an economic schism between the rich north of Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Finland, and the poorer south and east - with France in an uneasy no-man's land.
Capital would gravitate to the north. Funding costs for businesses and households would be permanently lower there. And the rich north would get richer and richer relative to the stagnating south and volatile east.
If that were to foster resentment on either side of the Alpine divide, it would not be a benign outcome.
As for us, the Greek drama represents unwelcome instability as we choose our next leaders.
But for the avoidance of doubt, the short-term risks to our prosperity are much lower than they were five years ago - whereas the long term risks, of a Europe permanently failing to pull together to create the conditions for sustainable growth and prosperity, may be greater. | There is something a bit too deja-vu-ish about this election campaign, especially the tragic Greek economic backdrop. |
39,600,091 | The HGV went down the embankment on the A82 at Stuckgowan in the early hours of Friday morning.
Police Scotland said the driver was uninjured in the incident.
Traffic was queued between Tarbet and Stuckgowan throughout Friday while the rear of the lorry continued to block one carriageway.
Witnesses said the cab was stopped from entering the loch by a tree, about 3ft from the water's edge.
Temporary traffic lights have been put in place to manage Easter traffic on the popular bank holiday route.
The HGV is due to be removed early on Saturday morning when both carriageways will need to be closed.
Eddie Ross of BEAR Scotland said: "Roads are busier due to the Bank Holiday weekend. Rather than close the road to recover the vehicle, Police Scotland have arranged for temporary traffic lights to remain in place.
"We've made the area around the HGV safe for road users to get past until full recovery can be arranged." | A lorry driver had a narrow escape after crashing in darkness, feet from the edge of Loch Lomond. |
15,999,754 | Carl Beatson Asiedu, 19, who had appeared in CBBC's MI High, was stabbed in the heart near Club Life nightclub in Vauxhall, south London, in 2009.
Junior Ademujimi-Falade, 21, from Camberwell, south London, was convicted of manslaughter last month.
The Old Bailey heard the victim, who had been performing at the club, was attacked with a friend by a group outside the venue.
Ademujimi-Falade was a friend of the man suspected of inflicting the fatal blow. The suspect is believed to have fled to Nigeria.
Earlier, Mr Asiedu, the son of a pastor and a midwife, and his friend and fellow student Peter Lama - who was also stabbed but survived - had been performing there with their rap group Kid 'n' Play.
Judge Martin Stephens told him: "Your victim was a young man of talent and much promise.
"The devastation to his family is incalculable."
Richard Whittam QC, prosecuting, said: "There has been no suggestion that either of the young men had done anything to invite the violence visited on them."
Mr Asiedu, who had attended St Francis Xavier College in Clapham, south London, was attacked by a group including former school bullies who detectives believed may have been jealous of his success.
Mr Asiedu was about to start the second year of his degree at De Montfort University in Leicester in media production when he was killed.
He had recorded a single in 2007 and worked with the Black Police Association to produce a documentary for schools raising awareness of knife crime.
In addition, he had appeared in a small role in episodes of MI High, children's adventure series about school pupils working as spies.
They were not broadcast until last year, after he died. | A 21-year-old man has been jailed for eight years for killing a TV actor. |
38,979,915 | The change will affect anyone receiving a digital terrestrial signal from the main transmitter at Selkirk.
It will not have an impact on satellite television viewers and those on local relay transmitters.
The switch - on 1 March - is the start of a major project being carried out across the UK from now until 2020.
Some Freeview channels are moving to new airwaves to allow for the future development of new mobile broadband services.
Transmitters across the UK are being updated region by region with the Borders site, which is the first to undergo the change.
Changes at the Selkirk transmitter - which serves about 18,000 homes - will take place at the start of next month.
After that, any viewers receiving their TV signal from Selkirk who find they are missing BBC channels should retune to get them back.
High-definition (HD) BBC channels are not affected by the move.
Freeview said it would be running an information campaign to prepare people for the change, including advertising and on-screen messages.
It said retuning should be straightforward and added that some TV equipment would retune automatically.
Some older aerials may need to be replaced to continue receiving the channels.
Anyone who needs advice has been directed to the Freeview website or advice line on 0808 100 0288. | Thousands of viewers in the Borders will have to retune their televisions as moves begin to develop new mobile broadband services. |
40,031,702 | Judy O'Connor took notes for Marty O'Connor as he studied for his master of business administration at Chapman University in California.
The retired primary school teacher guided her son across the stage in his wheelchair at Saturday's ceremony.
Marty was paralysed from the shoulders down by a fall in 2012.
Mrs O'Connor was taken by surprise when it was announced that she would receive an honorary MBA, at her son's suggestion.
"Mrs Judith O'Connor has attended all the classes with her son Marty," the announcer said, fighting back tears, at the graduation in the city of Orange.
"She has taken notes and worked with Marty throughout his academic career."
Mrs O'Connor said that like any mother she wanted to help her child overcome life's challenges.
"I always believed in him," she said. "I knew he could do it and I just wanted to have his back."
She added that she is "a geek" who loved every minute of studying at the college with her son.
Marty, who received his undergrad degree from the University of Colorado, was working as a salesman for a packaging company in 2012 when he was paralysed after falling down a flight of stairs.
A former competitive snowboarder and volleyball player, he used voice recognition software and a mouth stick to help him during his studies.
He said: "I was just so excited for her because she deserved it so much."
Meet the beauty blogger who is also paralysed
Yes, disabled people do have sex | A US mother who helped her quadriplegic son earn a degree by attending all his classes has been awarded an honorary diploma at his graduation. |
39,688,050 | Ballance (203 not out) hit his second hundred of the match, and third ton in five innings, as Yorkshire lost just three wickets on the final day.
Following-on still 46 runs behind on day four Ballance, who made 103 in the first innings, proved immovable.
He and Tim Bresnan (37) dug in for 42 overs in a 94-run stand for the sixth wicket, which put paid to a home win.
Ballance, whose last Test for England came in their defeat by Bangladesh last October, has scored 120, 55, 108 and 203 not out against Hampshire in their two County Championship encounters this season.
Yorkshire, runners-up last season, have won one, lost one and drawn one from their opening three games while Hampshire, reinstated at Durham's expense following relegation in September, remain undefeated with a win and two draws.
Their hopes of a second victory against Yorkshire this season were briefly lifted when Kyle Abbott dismissed England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow for a single with the first delivery with the second new ball.
With a lead of just 38 at 262-5, Bresnan joined Ballance and was handed a lifeline on 13 when James Vince failed to hang on to a tough slip catch off Abbott.
Reece Topley eventually had Bresnan caught behind after tea, but by then the draw was secured.
Ballance reached his double century with a boundary off Sean Ervine, reaching the landmark off 384 balls with 23 fours to record his highest County Championship score.
Hampshire director of cricket Giles White told BBC Radio Solent:
"We knew it would be hard work, it remained a good wicket all the way through and Gary Ballance played outstandingly, really resilient and very strong mentally.
"When you lose a strike bowler to injury (Brad Wheal) - we've had that in the last two games - it makes it very difficult. But Gareth Berg and Kyle Abbott were outstanding. They did a lot of hard work and showed an awful lot of skill.
"They say good teams are in the field a lot and that's encouraging for us. It's a progression from last year and we are making good sides battle hard for draws."
Yorkshire head coach Andrew Gale told BBC Radio Leeds:
"Given the position we were in, we were backs to the wall. But Gary has had a special game, as he has been for the first couple of games. He has stood up as captain and been resilient but that really was a special knock to save the game.
"On the whole we bowled well but maybe lacked a bit of x-factor like a Liam Plunkett or a Jack Brooks. We toiled well but probably let them off the hook to get 450
We were soft with the bat. We spoke about the mind-set as it definitely wasn't a technical thing. But we showed what Yorkshire cricket is about, if you can't win, don't get beat." | A double century from captain Gary Ballance helped Yorkshire secure a draw against Hampshire. |
38,576,689 | City were reduced to 10 men in the 32nd minute of the match on 2 January when referee Lee Mason sent off Fernandinho.
The Football Association allege that the defender's post, which was later deleted, "questioned the integrity of the match official".
The Frenchman, 33, has until 18:00 GMT on Friday to respond to the charge.
Sagna has played 14 times for the club in all competitions this season. | Manchester City's Bacary Sagna has been charged with misconduct for a "10 against 12" comment posted on Instagram after his side's 2-1 win over Burnley. |
15,558,769 | Mr Atta Mills said the UK could not impose its values on Ghana and he would never legalise homosexuality.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron said at the weekend that aid would be cut to countries which failed to respect gay rights.
Uganda also rejected the threat, with an official accusing the UK of showing a "bullying mentality".
Most Africans argue that homosexuality violates their religious and cultural beliefs.
Mr Atta Mills said Mr Cameron was entitled to his views, but he did not have the right to "direct to other sovereign nations as to what they should do".
He said Ghana's "societal norms" were different from those in the UK.
"I, as president, will never initiate or support any attempt to legalise homosexuality in Ghana," Mr Atta Mills said.
On Monday, Ugandan presidential adviser John Nagenda said Mr Cameron was showing a "bullying mentality" and Ugandans would not tolerate being treated like "children".
"If they must take their money, so be it," Mr Nagenda said.
Mr Cameron said he had raised the issue of gay rights at last week's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia.
Ending the bans on homosexuality was one of the recommendations of an internal report into the future relevance of the Commonwealth.
Mr Cameron's threat applies only to one type of bilateral aid known as general budget support, and would not reduce the overall amount of aid to any one country, correspondents say.
Ghana received bilateral aid from the UK of about £90m ($144m) during the last financial year, of which about £36m was as general budget support.
Mr Atta Mills' communications chief Koku Anyidoho told the BBC the government would not compromise its morals for money.
"If that aid is going to be tied to things that will destroy the moral fibre of society, do you really want that?" he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.
Mr Cameron said he had spoken with "a number of African countries" and that more pressure had been applied by UK Foreign Secretary William Hague, who deputised for him during parts of the Commonwealth summit.
Some 41 nations within the 54-member Commonwealth have laws banning homosexual acts.
Many of these laws are a legacy of British colonial rule, correspondents say. | Ghana's President John Atta Mills has rejected the UK's threat to cut aid if he refuses to legalise homosexuality. |
37,615,163 | Internecine strife among Republicans over Donald Trump risked escalating into a political bloodbath as the party's most senior elected member, Paul Ryan, took the extraordinary step of effectively washing his hands of their standard-bearer. Diehard Trumpistas are enraged by Republican bosses shunning their own presidential nominee. During a conference call, one Congressman lambasted them as "cowards".
Clinton held her biggest campaign event yet, drawing 18,500 people to a rally in Columbus, Ohio, suggesting her base may be rallying round her after Sunday's vicious televised debate. The Democratic candidate also vaulted to an 11-point national lead in an NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll conducted over the weekend.
Nancy O'Dell, the woman who was the subject of lewd comments in the now-infamous Trump sex-boast tape, said: "There is no room for objectification of women," as she hosted her TV show Entertainment Tonight. The creator of The Apprentice, meanwhile, said he cannot legally release footage from the show, disappointing those hoping for a fresh batch of compromising Trump archive clips.
It's not just the Republican establishment that's split - the choice facing the nation has divided households, too, as the BBC's Rajini Vaidyanathan found out...
Following Trump's suggestion that Hispanics in Las Vegas prefer to be called Latinos, BBC Mundo treads carefully into the minefield of US ethnic identity politics.
BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera examines the murky claim that Russia is trying to hack the US presidential election.
And squillionaire Clinton supporter Warren Buffett released his tax details after Trump accused him of exploiting loopholes to dodge paying his dues.
66.5 million - the number of Americans who tuned in for Sunday night's second presidential debate, a sharp fall from the first one two weeks earlier, which attracted a record-breaking 84 million viewers.
But this time the two candidates were up against the NFL game between the Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants, which was watched by 16.6 million people on NBC.
Yet another member of the Bush clan has come out in support of Hillary Clinton.
Lauren Bush Lauren posted a black-and-white photo of the Democratic candidate on her social media accounts with the caption, "#ImWithHer 🇺🇸".
Her grandfather, former president George HW Bush, and cousin, Barbara Pierce Bush, have recently telegraphed their support for Clinton.
Can it be coincidence that Lauren Bush Lauren's father-in-law, fashion designer Ralph Lauren, has dressed Clinton for her big moments during this campaign season?
Both presidential candidates will hit the trail in the Florida, which some analysts say could hold the keys to the White House on 8 November.
As a legal battle rages over extending voter registration in this pivotal battleground state, Clinton will be on the stump down in Miami alongside former US vice-president Al Gore.
Trump will hold a rally at Panama City Beach up in the Panhandle.
Who is ahead in the polls?
48%
Hillary Clinton
44%
Donald Trump
Last updated October 10, 2016 | With just 28 days to go until Americans go to the polls, here's your daily election dig, including a divided family of voters in Pennsylvania, why viewing figures from the debate were low, and Clinton bags another Bush clan endorsement. |
36,016,547 | Thirty Britons were among 38 tourists killed by a gunman at Port El Kantaoui in an attack on 26 June. A UK tourist was one of 22 killed in a separate attack at a museum in Tunis in March.
So-called Islamic State said it had been behind both attacks.
The service for survivors and victims' families was at Westminster Abbey.
David Cameron and Prince Harry both read Bible passages at the service, which was conducted by the Dean of Westminster.
The prince also laid a wreath on behalf of the Queen at Westminster Abbey's memorial to innocent victims.
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner also gave a speech, in which he spoke about being shot six times in June 2004 in a terror attack that left him paralysed from the waist down.
He told the service: "I do share a great affinity with all of you here today because I've known first-hand what it's like to look into those cold, dead eyes of the killers and to be at the wrong end of a smoking pistol."
Read more about what happened during the attack
Tunisia attack: The British victims
Debbie Horsfall, from Huddersfield, attended the memorial with her friend, Ellie Makin.
She told the BBC the pair, who are both 23, had been sunbathing on the beach where the attack happened. She heard what she had thought were fireworks or a car backfiring.
"It was my friend [Ellie] who saw him and shouted, 'Run, there's someone with a gun,'" she said.
"When she shouted I didn't think twice, I just ran. We didn't have any idea what was going on.
"I had no idea whether there were any casualties. We were just fighting for our own lives."
The pair returned to their hotel where they waited until they learned the gunman had been killed. It was only later they learned of all the people who had been murdered.
"I think it's important to remember that so many people lost their lives," Ms Horsfall said.
"It's really important that we remember that although some made it, there were those who didn't."
She added that she and Ms Makin would not have gone to the memorial without each other.
"We were there together, we went through it together, so anything that happens in relation to the attack we'll do together."
Samantha Richards, 43, from Northwich in Cheshire, attended the service with her two sons, Thomas, 22, and Callum, 17.
The trio were forced to flee the beach when the gunman opened fire, and both Mrs Richards and her eldest son were later injured by shrapnel from a grenade blast inside the hotel.
Of the service, Mrs Richards said: "It will never go away, it will always be here but it was just nice to remember it today and those people that died."
Sally Adey, 57, from Caynton in Shropshire, was among the 22 people killed in the separate attack at the Bardo National Museum on 18 March last year.
Police have previously said there were "strong links" between the two attacks.
Last month it was announced that inquests into the deaths of the 30 Britons killed at Port El Kantaoui would be pushed back to next year.
The inquests had been due to begin in November this year but judge and coroner Nicholas Loraine-Smith said there was "an enormous amount of work to be done". | The prime minister and Prince Harry have attended a memorial service to commemorate the British tourists killed in terror attacks in Tunisia last year. |
39,103,242 | Contrary to speculation, the coach had not been provided for Boro to use for their visit to Selhurst Park.
The Eagles used another bus to travel to the Premier League game.
A club spokesman said: "The team bus was covered in graffiti overnight on Friday ahead of the game on Saturday. Police have been informed." | Crystal Palace's team coach was vandalised prior to Saturday's 1-0 win over Middlesbrough, with the club's name and colours sprayed on to it. |
34,909,643 | Ten diamond rings, 15 gold bangles and 20 gold bracelets were taken from Little Jems Jewellers in St Ives.
The store on Tregenna Place was broken into during the early hours of Saturday.
The shop manager said using the gravestone was "absolutely awful" and the incident has been a "real shock" in the town.
More on this story and other news from Devon and Cornwall.
Amber Orchard said: "They managed to get through the shutter and then used the granite headstone of somebody's grave to get through the door... They managed to get the lock off the door by ramming it with the headstone.
"They did set the alarms off immediately but unfortunately they were in and out within 30 seconds," she said.
The contents of two window displays were taken as well as other items and the shop will remain closed for about a week, she said.
Police have urged any people who saw anyone acting suspiciously in the area at the time or who have seen any of the jewellery for sale to contact Crimestoppers. | A gravestone was used to break into a jewellers and steal £30,000 worth of stock, police said. |
39,477,707 | A Coastguard helicopter from Scotland and two lifeboats began searching for a kayaker in distress after a mayday call at about 16:00 BST on Sunday.
A second, linked hoax call followed, and the search was later halted.
The coastguard's Dawn Petrie said those who made the calls had been listening to communications between rescue teams.
It had been a "very elaborate and deliberate hoax", she said, adding that false incidents to which the coastguard responds were "not always on this scale".
"This particular one was unusual in the amount of resources, people's time and expense that it caused," she said.
The hoax is the 10th that the coastguard in Northern Ireland has received this year.
Searches after an initial message on VHF marine band radio - purportedly from a man in trouble kayaking near the Copeland islands, close to Donaghadee - revealed nothing.
Rescuers then responded to a second call - from a woman claiming she was on a yacht and had found an upturned kayak - but neither vessel was found.
The helicopter, which had been dispatched from its base in Prestwick, searched the area for 50 minutes.
"It would appear that he was listening to what was going on, reacting to what we were doing on and carrying it on as far as he could," said Ms Petrie.
The coastguard said it would always carry out a search if it believed someone was in danger, but people making false or misleading calls would be punished "under the full force of the law".
John Ashwood, a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) coxswain who was involved in the search, said he believed the hoaxers had been watching the rescue operation develop on mobile phone apps that track the location of boats and aircraft.
"As the incident progressed you could see a pattern emerging - we had searched an area, then the yacht 'appeared', giving the call to say they were in a position," he said.
"We went back to that position, maybe a quarter of a mile from where we last searched - there were no vessels around and visibility was probably about 10 miles.
"Previous hoax calls have generally been from somebody using a landline or a mobile phone calling in - this one seemed strange.
"It gave you the impression that the people were watching and sending us here, there and everywhere."
Hoaxers can put lives in danger by diverting rescuers away from genuine emergencies, Mr Ashwood added, and false incidents can cost services significant amounts of money.
"It's disappointing that people feel they have to do that, especially when there could be an incident further down the coast and ourselves and the helicopter might be needed.
"The RNLI is a charity and is fully supported by the generosity of the public - the last thing we want to be doing is burning diesel for no reason." | An air and sea rescue operation off the County Down coast that was triggered by "utterly calculated" hoax radio calls will have cost thousands of pounds. |
19,675,297 | The Tory Chief Whip denies claims he swore at a policeman on duty outside Downing Street and called him a "pleb".
The officer concerned has insisted reports of what happened are accurate.
Mr Mitchell has apologised but Labour said No 10 "must make clear" the exact words he used in the confrontation.
The body representing rank-and-file police officers said Mr Mitchell's alleged remarks were "outrageous" while the prime minister said the minister's conduct was "not appropriate".
John Tully, the Metropolitan Police Federation chairman, said the minister's outburst was "disgraceful" and he must resign, adding that the minister was "lucky not to be placed under arrest if indeed he did say those words, and I have no reason to doubt that he did".
Mr Mitchell's behaviour has also been criticised by a number of Conservative colleagues.
The incident occurred on Wednesday after Mr Mitchell, MP for Sutton Coldfield, was told by officers to get off his bicycle as he left Downing Street and use the smaller pedestrian gate instead of the main entrance used by cars.
He is reported by the Sun to have used foul language and told the officer at the gates to "learn your place" and "you don't run this government".
The officer - a member of Scotland Yard's Diplomatic Protection Group, SO6 - reported the incident to his superiors.
The BBC's home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said the officer had backed up the Sun's version of events and the language - including the word "pleb" - that Mr Mitchell was reported to have used.
Downing Street said Mr Mitchell had "apologised profusely" to the officer on the telephone and sources also stressed Mr Cameron had made clear to Mr Mitchell how displeased he is at the confrontation with a police officer.
The source added that the PM still has faith in Mr Mitchell as Chief Whip and that the minister disputes The Sun's version of events.
Mr Cameron said: "He has obviously apologised to me, but more importantly he has apologised thoroughly to the police and that needed to be done."
The prime minister also praised the police, saying they do an "outstanding job".
But Mr Mitchell's apology has not been accepted by police union leaders.
Police Federation national chairman, Paul McKeever, said: "It is hard to fathom how someone who holds the police in such contempt could be allowed to hold a public office.
"Mr Mitchell's half-hearted apology for the comments made whilst leaving Downing Street will do little to build bridges with the police who feel they have once again been treated with a lack of respect and civility by members of this government."
"The lack of regard that some within government appear to hold police officers in is especially disappointing during this tragic week for the service and does nothing for the rock bottom morale of officers in this country."
Who says 'pleb' nowadays?
Backbench Conservative MP Philip Davies said the reported comments were "obviously unacceptable" and that he would tell Mr Mitchell, who attends cabinet but is not a full cabinet minister, so to his face when he next sees him.
And a senior backbencher, who spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity, said the comments were "not out of character" and Mr Mitchell should consider his position.
"I am deeply shocked that a senior member of the government could speak to an officer in this way," he said.
Asked if Mitchell's position was tenable, he said, "I think it's very difficult for him to continue".
Labour have said the reported comments were "appalling" and No 10 has "a lot of questions to answer".
"Downing Street must make clear exactly what Andrew Mitchell said to the police officer," a party spokesman said.
"There are two alternatives. Either the chief whip used appalling and offensive language to an officer going about their duty or Mr Mitchell is saying the officer is lying.
"Downing Street will know. They must make the position clear urgently. A half-hearted apology is not enough."
Mr Mitchell only became Conservative chief whip earlier this month, after being moved from his previous position as international development secretary in Mr Cameron's first major reshuffle.
In his current role, he is responsible for enforcing party discipline and keeping rebellious backbenchers in line. | Pressure is mounting on Conservative minister Andrew Mitchell after police leaders urged him to resign and Labour called for a full account of his outburst at an officer. |
39,179,110 | The Accounts Commission said nearly every council in the country had cut the amount spent on street cleaning in recent years.
In many cases this has also led to a drop in cleanliness.
The figures are contained in the local government spending watchdog's wide-ranging annual review of Scotland's 32 councils.
The annual review sets out the financial challenges facing the authorities.
In its 2017 report, the Accounts Commission outlined a decline in real terms in Scottish government funding - the government gives a typical council around 60p of every pound in its budget.
At the same time, the overview said pressure on services continued to increase. It argued this was particularly true in social care and education which together account for more than 70% of council spending.
The report said councils overall have maintained or improved their performance in the face of these challenges. But public satisfaction is declining and complaints are increasing.
Since 2010, councils have faced a 9.2% reduction in their revenue funding from the Scottish government.
The commission noted that many councils have cut staff numbers to save money but that many do not have actual workforce plans.
Since 2011, the number of people working for councils, expressed as a full-time equivalent, fell from 213,200 to 198,100.
A section on street cleansing highlighted one key area of council performance.
Between 2010 and 2015, all but four of Scotland's 32 councils cut the amount they spent on street cleaning.
The commission said the streets were less clean in 20 council areas.
The biggest drop in cleanliness cited by the commission was in Aberdeen - though a few councils, including Shetland, Angus and Moray, were able to reduce spending and improve cleanliness.
Aberdeen City Council defended its service, telling the BBC: "Additional staff have been brought in to be part of a City Centre Masterplan Hit Squad which targets areas for painting, graffiti removal, cleaning and chewing gum removal.
"The street sweeping service has been working to the budgets allocated, and is currently being reshaped and redesigned to face the challenges ahead. Staff will continue to work to reach the standards set by the city council's communities, housing and infrastructure committee."
On local services more broadly, the Accounts Commission noted that some councils were able to find new ways to provide services more efficiently, but others had not.
It said: "There are wide variations between councils. Some have grasped the nettle in finding new ways to provide services more efficiently.
"Others have been slower off the mark. Councils have made savings by cutting jobs but half of them still don't have organisation-wide workforce plans.
"Councils must learn more from each other and collaborate better to improve services and reduce costs."
It also said councillors elected in May must have the necessary training and tools to do an increasingly complex job determining local priorities.
Ronnie Hinds, deputy chair of the Accounts Commission, said: "New councillors will require time to settle in and develop skills to make strategic plans, consider options for service delivery and scrutinise how well this is happening in practice.
"But they have four years ahead of them, and they need to plan effectively for the longer term, work with their communities to decide key priorities and then make that plan happen.
"We hope our report is helpful to councillors and officers as they strive to maintain or improve services for the public with reduced resources."
Cosla, which represents most councils, said the commission was "100% right" that new councillors would face big challenges.
The organisation said the issue of street cleaning illustrated the challenges of prioritising services in the face of budget reductions.
Cosla president David O'Neill said: "Despite challenging financial circumstances councils continue to prioritise spend in frontline services and the vast majority of productivity, output and outcome measures within councils have improved."
He added: "I think it is a fair criticism in relation to better involvement of communities and hopefully this is something that we can build on positively post the May local government elections.
"However, it is missing a crucial point to suggest that the responsibility for this lies solely with local government.
"To realise true efficiencies and have much greater public involvement we need to look more broadly with joined up longer term planning across the whole of the public sector because it is that which will make the real difference to both individuals and communities." | Streets are getting dirtier in most of Scotland, according to the public spending watchdog. |
35,573,547 | The Ivorian, 23, was also shown calling team-mate Angel di Maria a "clown" as he answered questions from fans on social media app Periscope.
PSG play Chelsea in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Aurier later apologised saying: "What I did was really stupid and inexcusable. I really regret what happened."
He told Canal Plus and Bein Sports: "I apologise to the coach and the supporters. I accept all consequences and can only thank Laurent Blanc for all that he has done for me at PSG."
In March 2015, Aurier was banned for three European matches after insulting referee Bjorn Kuipers on Facebook.
Aurier made comments about Kuipers after he sent off PSG striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic in a Champions League draw against Chelsea. | Paris St-Germain right-back Serge Aurier has been suspended indefinitely after appearing to use homophobic language to insult coach Laurent Blanc. |
33,980,954 | The 25-year-old will join the White Rose club for the start of next season.
Willey, who has played five limited-overs games for the national team, took a hat-trick to help Northants win the FLt20 trophy in 2013 and has also claimed 148 first-class wickets.
"I'm looking forward to working with Jason Gillespie and the rest of the lads," he told the county website.
Last week, Willey smashed a 40-ball century against Sussex to steer Northants through to the quarter-finals of this year's T20 Blast competition.
And he admitted it would be a wrench to leave the club for whom he made his first-team debut in 2009.
Media playback is not supported on this device
"This has been a tough decision to make because of my personal attachment to the County Ground. I came here many, many times as a boy and dreamed of playing for Northants," the left-arm quick bowler said.
"I will always be grateful for the years of coaching and mentoring that I have received which gave me the best start to my career.
"However, I feel that the time is right to move on, to experience a new approach to training and to broaden my cricket education. Yorkshire gives me the best opportunity to challenge myself working alongside some of the best players in the country."
Northants head coach David Ripley told BBC Radio Northampton: "He's one of our best players so obviously there's disappointment about that, but certainly no bitterness. He [Willey] has come through the system and been a great ambassador for the club.
"We hoped to keep him for the last year of his contract, but we also appreciate that his desire to play Test cricket might be better suited in Division One.
"It's difficult to argue with that; he's going to a good club and if he makes it to the Test match arena then good on him." | Yorkshire have signed Northants and England all-rounder David Willey on a three-year deal. |
38,732,379 | A professional conduct panel ruled Alexandra Sharman, 31, who worked at Marriotts School in Stevenage, was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.
The relationship came to light after the boy confided in his doctor.
A school spokesman said it takes safeguarding issues "extremely seriously".
Hertfordshire Constabulary did not pursue a criminal case against Ms Sharman.
The National College for Teaching and Leadership professional conduct panel, which met this month, found Ms Sharman had sex with the pupil "on more than one occasion".
The hearing was told Ms Sharman, who joined the secondary school in 2007, had been an "outstanding and popular teacher".
However, another teacher at the school and its former head of behaviour said Ms Sharman told them she had "a sexual relationship" with a student.
One witness told the hearing, which Ms Sharman did not attend, she had been present when the PE teacher told her parents, sister and ex-partner about the sex.
In June 2015, the boy told his GP he had been the victim of alleged sexual abuse when asked why he was "depressed". The doctor informed Hertfordshire Police.
In the same month, Ms Sharman told a colleague she had received a threatening letter from the pupil. Her friend told the school's head teacher and Ms Sharman was suspended.
The pupil did not make a formal complaint when interviewed by police and in December 2015 officers told the school there would not be a criminal case.
In January 2016, the school launched its own investigation and, despite Ms Sharman's voluntary resignation, a disciplinary hearing in March 2016 dismissed her for gross misconduct.
Marriotts School was rated "highly effective" for safeguarding by Ofsted at its last inspection in October. | A PE teacher who repeatedly had sex with a 15-year-old pupil has been banned from teaching indefinitely. |
35,000,309 | Singers Che Chesterman, Louisa Johnson, Lauren Murray and rap duo Reggie N Bollie will all be hoping to make it through to the Christmas finals at Wembley Arena next week.
Famous singer Lionel Richie will be the guest mentor this week, and popstars Sia and Jason Derulo will also be performing.
But, whoever wins will be joining a long line of X Factor singers, here is how the previous winners have got on since winning the show...
Last year's winner Ben Haenow beat Fleur East, and grabbed a Christmas number one with his X Factor debut single, 'Something I Need'.
He's now signed to Simon Cowell's record label Syco, and has recently released his debut album, which even has a duet with famous singer Kelly Clarkson on it.
Sam Bailey managed to score the first X Factor Christmas number one in three years with her single 'Skyscraper' in 2013, as well as giving birth to her daughter.
She has also supported her idol, pop superstar Beyonce, on one of her UK tour dates for her 'Mrs Carter World Tour' in 2014, and performed in a West End show.
James' debut single 'Impossible' became the fastest selling X Factor single of any X Factor winner, and sold over one million copies.
The singer has left Simon Cowell's record label and is currently working on his second album.
He's performed at V Festival and successfully toured the UK this year.
Little Mix were a group of singers who came together on the show to become the first band to win the competition.
Since winning the show they have sold more than five million singles and scooped a fair few awards.
They were the first girl band since The Pussycat Dolls to reach the top five in America with their album. Their new single 'Black Magic' has placed at number 68 in the Billboard Hot 100 Charts in America - That's their highest chart position in the US.
Matt Cardle beat pop mega-group One Direction to take the series seven crown back in 2010.
Matt is currently recording his fourth album which is expected to be released later this year and also starred in a hit musical called Memphis.
Joe McElderry won the X Factor after appearing on the show for the second time in 2009 beating Olly Murs, who now presents the show.
Joe went on to make four albums, and went on to became a reality TV star by winning the shows 'Popstar to Operastar' and 'The Jump'.
He has even been praised by the Queen after he performed for her at the Royal Albert Hall.
Alexandra Burke won the show in 2008 - she had previously auditioned back in 2005 but wasn't picked by Louis Walsh for his final four.
Since then Alexandra has released two albums and is currently starring in the musical 'The Bodyguard'.
She also appeared on the X Factor again as a guest judge, in 2011.
2007's winner Leon was dropped by his record label after just one album.
He became the star of his own web series called Leon's Life which ran until 2008, Leon still performs across the UK and continues to write music.
Leona Lewis is one of the X Factor's most successful artists after selling more than 20 million records worldwide and being nominated for numerous music awards.
Her first single 'A Moment Like This', made it to Christmas number one selling more copies than the rest of that week's top 40 combined.
Since then she's had loads of hit singles and albums, recorded the theme song for the film Avatar and even gone on two world tours.
After releasing four albums Shayne appeared in a West End play called 'Rock of Ages' before being a contestant on ITV's Dancing On Ice show.
Earlier this year he signed a one year contract with the television programme, Coronation Street, to play Michelle Connor's cousin Aidan.
Steve Brookstein was the first ever winner of the X Factor when the programme began way back in 2004.
His first single 'Against All Odds' went straight to number one.
However Steve was dropped by his record label eight months after winning the show, due to a fall out with judge Simon Cowell. | It's the semi-finals on the X Factor this week, so we're taking a look back at the past winners, to see what happened after they won. |
32,085,611 | Thirteen fire crews from Essex were sent to Allied Mills at Tilbury docks in the early hours of Friday.
A spokesman for the fire service said the fire took hold in a grain conveyor belt and was "fanned by high winds".
The height of the fire meant a special system of hoses had to be set up to get water on the flames. The fire was brought under control by 02:40 GMT. | An investigation is under way to find the cause of a fire which broke out at Tilbury docks. |
38,081,732 | Kenneth Smith, 80, spends hours a day standing on the roadside in Mississippi, selling bags of kindling.
Last year, he was joined by Helen, his wife of more than 30 years, as they struggled to pay her medical expenses.
After she died in October Mr Smith was left to raise the money by himself.
Her two-year battle with lung cancer not only took large chunks of their monthly income, but also wiped out their savings.
But then Jessica Pittman spotted the elderly gentleman's mark of respect for a passing funeral cortege - taking his straw hat off as it passed - and she decided to act.
"My heart breaks every time I pass him," Ms Pittman wrote in a Facebook post which has since been shared 9,000 times as she appealed for people to go and buy a bag from Mr Smith.
But they went one step further.
A GoFundMe page was set up by Mr Smith's son, Leslie, to help with the expenses, with donations flooding in from as far afield as Australia.
Ms Pittman told the BBC that she posted the photo "just thinking it would prompt some of my neighbours to stop and buy some wood to help him".
She said she had "no clue" the response would be so overwhelming.
"Although it will not lessen the heartache of losing his wife, I am thankful it will at least take a little worry off of his plate and help him make ends meet," she said.
Ms Pittman said that she lives close to where Mr Smith parks to sell his kindling wood and passed him nearly every day.
"He was always kind and so respectful," she said.
On the occasion of the funeral, police had stopped traffic for the procession.
"I saw Mr Smith standing there in his usual overalls and straw hat. He was standing to attention with his straw hat over his heart. It really moved me... it was an honour to witness. I felt overwhelmed with emotion and even had a few tears."
As for Mr Smith, he too admits he has been "overwhelmed" with the response.
"It makes me think that we live in a good country and this is part of it," he told WLOX. | An online campaign to raise money for a US man trying to pay his late wife's medical bills by selling wood on the side of the road has raised almost $20,000 (£16,136) in just three days. |
40,321,271 | Subjects for the negotiations, which officially start in Brussels later, include the status of expats, the UK's "divorce bill" and the Northern Ireland border.
Mr Davis said there was a "long road ahead" but predicted a "deep and special partnership".
The UK is set to leave the EU by the end of March 2019.
Day one of the negotiations will start at about 11:00 BST at European Commission buildings in Brussels.
Mr Davis and the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier, a former French foreign minister and EU commissioner, will give a joint press conference at the end of the day.
The UK minister, who will be accompanied by a team of British officials, is expected to say: "Today marks the start of negotiations that will shape the future of the European Union and the United Kingdom, and the lives of our citizens.
"We want both sides to emerge strong and prosperous, capable of projecting our shared European values, leading in the world, and demonstrating our resolve to protect the security of our citizens.
"I want to reiterate at the outset of these talks that the UK will remain a committed partner and ally of our friends across the continent.
"And while there is a long road ahead, our destination is clear - a deep and special partnership between the UK and the EU. A deal like no other in history."
The BBC has been told by European Union sources that the talks will follow the EU's preferred pattern of exit negotiations first, with the future relations between the two sides - including the free trade deal the UK is seeking - at a later date.
Five major UK business bodies have come together to call for continued access to the European single market until a final Brexit deal is made with the EU.
In a letter to Business Secretary Greg Clark, they urged the government to "put the economy first".
The letter is from the British Chambers of Commerce, Confederation of British Industry, EEF, Federation of Small Businesses and Institute of Directors.
On the eve of talks, Chancellor Philip Hammond issued a strong warning about the implications of the UK leaving the EU without a deal in place.
Mr Hammond told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that having no deal would be "a very, very bad outcome for Britain" but added that one that aimed to "suck the lifeblood out of our economy over a period of time" would be even worse.
He called for a transition deal to be in place to avoid businesses being affected by a "cliff edge" scenario as the UK leaves.
Mr Hammond has said the UK should "prioritise protecting jobs, protecting economic growth and protecting prosperity". | Brexit Secretary David Davis will call for "a deal like no other in history" as he heads into talks with the EU. |
40,855,329 | The former Crystal Palace, Bolton and Nottingham Forest boss has applied for the role vacated by Ian Cathro, who was sacked last week.
And Freedman says he would relish working under Craig Levein in Gorgie.
"I'm a coach that likes to work on the grass and their infrastructure actually suits me," Freedman said of the set-up.
Former England manager Steve McClaren and ex-Blackburn Rovers boss Owen Coyle are also interested in succeeding Cathro.
Levein's position as Tynecastle director of football has been in the spotlight in the wake of Cathro's disappointing tenure, with former Hearts goalkeeper Neil Alexander saying his role in the club's struggles has been overlooked.
But 43-year-old Freedman believes he would flourish alongside the former Scotland manager.
"The influence of Craig Levein would encourage me because although I'm still young, I'm a very experienced coach, and to bounce ideas off Craig would be fantastic," Freedman told BBC Radio Scotland.
"It doesn't bother me at all. I've been brought up with the English game where the sporting director has pretty much been here the last 10 years and getting stronger. I think it's up to the coach to go in from the very beginning and ask, what is the detail he (Levein) is looking for in a coach, what is the role and where does my remit start and stop?"
Freedman, a former Scotland striker who spent his entire senior career south of the border, says Hearts would benefit from his "network of people" in England.
And he says nurturing talented young players, and feeding them into his first-team, is one of his biggest selling points as a coach.
"If they're looking to get some of their younger players into their team - they've got a fantastic under-20 team and produced some players - I believe that's what my profile says," Freedman added.
"I've managed big clubs, developed international players and I think looking at the Hearts job they could do with a few more in their team. They've got experience - bought some in over the summer.
"I can go on and on about how we've got to win, but deep, deep down, where I've been brought up, fans also want to know some of their own are in there, they want to get some of the players from their youth and academies into the team.
"My CV will tell you that - I will put young players in and develop players. I'm not trying to be chairman-friendly here, I'm only trying to tell you the facts.
"I think they've got a very good squad, I think they are playing the correct shape and it suits their personnel right now. Maybe there's been a mix-up between what the players want to do and what the manager wanted to do, but I think I'm experienced and disciplined enough to let them know exactly what we're going to be doing and who calls the shots on the training ground." | Dougie Freedman insists Hearts' director of football model would play to his strengths if he is appointed the club's new head coach. |
24,275,896 | The firm said it would send out 300 prototype Steam Machines, which are designed for use in the living room.
The company added that other manufacturers would begin selling devices running its games-focused operating system SteamOS next year.
The move was described as "audacious" by one analyst, but another had doubts about who would buy the devices.
Console makers - including Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft - typically do not let the public take hold of their hardware until it is ready for release.
Valve currently offers its Steam platform as software running on others' systems - Microsoft's Windows, Apple's Mac OS, Sony's PlayStation 3 and various Linux-based software. It acts as a marketplace and a way for gamers to play against each other and share titles.
Valve uses Steam to promote its own games - including Half Life, Portal, and Dota 2 - as well as those written by third-party developers, from whom it takes a cut of the sales.
It does not release sales statistics - but estimates from consultancy IHS Screen Digest suggest Steam is responsible for 75% of PC game sales, bringing in about $1bn (£620m) in 2012.
There are close to 3,000 games on the service.
Valve said that members of the public picked would receive a "high-performance prototype" designed for users who wanted "the most control possible" over their hardware.
"The input from testers should come in many forms: bug reports, forum posts, concept art, 3D prints, haikus, and also very publicly stated opinions," it said.
It acknowledged that the majority of games in its library would not run natively on its equipment during the beta trial, but added that "the rest will work seamlessly via in-home streaming", indicating that they can be used if run on another PC.
The firm said a "small number" of applicants would be chosen according to their past contributions to its community, but the majority would be picked at random.
It added that those taking part would receive the boxes this year and could make changes to the hardware and software, including the installation of another operating system.
The news comes two days after the company unveiled details of SteamOS. A third announcement is scheduled for Friday.
"It's an audacious idea to release a Linux-based system this late in the game," said Lewis Ward, a video games analyst at market research firm IDC.
"They're going to listen very closely to their customers to see what works and doesn't work and they will crunch a lot of numbers - what we call big data.
"People may find the experience much worse than existing consoles - and it's natural to compare things - but I assume that Valve has done its homework in advance and is not going to put this out there into their hands until it feels that it's solid."
However, another industry watcher said he was surprised more information had not been provided, adding that Valve still had to prove why consumers needed another box to connect to their TV.
"I don't know who they are trying to sell the Steam Box to," said Rob Crossley, associate editor of Computer And Video Games news site.
"If they are trying to sell it to the PC audience you're saying to someone who has already purchased a £1,000 machine that they should buy another £500 machine on top to play the same games in a different room.
"That is strange proposition and I struggle to think that will be successful."
Valve has indicated, however, that a forthcoming announcement about a controller might help woo the public.
"We have some more to say very soon on the topic of input," it said on its site.
The company's founder, Gabe Newell, told the BBC in March that it was working on a way to use sensors to measure a gamer's body states.
"If you think of a game like Left For Dead - which was trying to put you into a sort of horror movie - if you don't change the experience of what the player is actually feeling then it stops being a horror game," he explained.
"So, you need to actually be able to directly measure how aroused the player is - what their heart rate is, things like that - in order to offer them a new experience each time they play."
Mr Crossley said that this could be a winning idea.
"Valve two years ago hired a behavioural psychologist to read different things that happen to the player as they play video games," he said.
"The intriguing thing is that if a game can know how you are feeling then all of a sudden some incredible things can happen. When you are calm it can spook you, when you are stressed and fatigued it can reduce the challenge.
"This is in some ways a utopian vision for the future of video games." | Valve has invited members of the public to become part of tests for its forthcoming video games hardware. |
22,848,990 | Wing George North scored two of the Lions' six first-half tries, with four more following in an increasingly patchy display after the interval.
It was little more than a training run at times against limited but admirably committed opponents.
But the Lions management will be relieved to avoid any further injury setbacks 11 days before the first Test against Australia.
They will now head to Sydney for Saturday's fifth game of the tour against New South Wales Waratahs, where they are likely to field a majority of their likely Test line-up.
In such an open game it was little surprise perhaps that open-side Justin Tipuric shone, while hooker Richard Hibbard impressed in the loose, even if a couple of line-out throws failed to find their target.
That trend continued when Rory Best replaced the Welshman in the second half, an area the Lions will need to fix ahead of the Test series.
Stuart Hogg enjoyed his first outing at fly-half, linking well with his midfield, putting his back three through holes, while Sean Maitland was prominent in many of the Lions' attacks from full-back.
It took the tourists seven minutes to score their first try, a Tipuric break allowing Brian O'Driscoll to put Alex Cuthbert over in the right corner for his third try of the tour.
"Thoroughly enjoyed my shot at 10 tonight. Job was made a helluva lot easier with Jamie Roberts and Brian O'Driscoll around me."
Stuart Hogg on Twitter
But they rattled along at a point a minute for the rest of the first half, the scores coming at regular intervals.
Cuthbert cut back inside on the angle to release Conor Murray for the second, before Tipuric put Hogg through a gaping hole in midfield and the fly-half scorched through it.
His conversion came back off an upright to leave the score 19-0 after 13 minutes.
Jamie Heaslip was getting plenty of practice at claiming kick-offs, but Hibbard missed the Irishman at the tail of a line-out to initiate a brief spell of pressure for the Country XV.
Maitland had a kick charged down, and Heaslip dropped the ball after claiming a line-out catch to give the Lions some tackling practice, the tourists conceding two quick penalties.
Country kicked both to touch, but the Lions defence resisted their attempts to batter their way over, Tipuric winning the ball back to allow North and Maitland to race away up the left flank, the later sending the former over for his first Lions try.
(provided by Opta Sports)
Hibbard was driven over after a line-out take from Ian Evans, before a slick score from a scrum. Cuthbert came off his wing to make the extra man in the line before it was spread swiftly left for North to grab his second.
There might have been more tries before half-time, Murray going alone with support outside him, while Sean O'Brien was denied by a foot in touch in the right corner when he tried to power through the remaining cover.
Leigh Halfpenny came on for the second half, with Maitland switching to left wing in place of North, while Alun Wyn Jones replaced Richie Gray at lock.
To their credit the Country XV kept the Lions at bay for nearly 10 minutes on the resumption, before O'Driscoll skipped over for his third try of the tour.
Halfpenny, who had taken over kicking duties from Hogg, with the Scot landing four kicks out of six, finished the eighth try to bring the score up to 50.
Thereafter the Lions got sloppy, Best sending a line-out off beam, Toby Faletau missing a routine pass without looking, and Matt Stevens knocking on.
O'Brien powered over from close range, but the Lions' execution let them down at times.
The crowd were briefly stirred when they thought Country replacement Dale Ah Wang, a 22-year-old removal man who plays his club rugby with Barron-Trinity Bulls in Cairns, had scored a try 13 minutes from time.
It would have been deserved reward for a spirited effort, but after referral to the television match official, the score was ruled out for a knock-on.
O'Driscoll was denied a second score in the left corner, but he ensured the Lions finished on a high as his deft chip was collected by Jonathan Davies with the final move of the match, with Halfpenny adding his third conversion.
Combined Country: Nathan Trist; Alex Gibbon, Lewie Catt, Tareta-Junior Siakisini, Tom Cox, Angus Roberts, Michael Snowden; Haydn Hirsimaki, Josh Mann-Rae, Tim Metcher, Phoenix Battye, Blake Enever, Richard Stanford, Jarrad Butler, Tim Davidson (capt).
Replacements: Tom Kearney (for Mann-Rae, 61), Dylan Evans (for Hirsimaki, 53), Rikki Abraham (for Metcher, 68), Rory Arnold (for Battye, 72), Trent Dyer (for Battye, 50), Adam McCormack (for Snowden, 72), Shaun McCarthy (for Cox, 57), Dale Ah Wang (for Catt, 62).
Lions: Sean Maitland, Alex Cuthbert, Brian O'Driscoll, Jamie Roberts, George North; Stuart Hogg, Conor Murray; Alex Corbisiero, Richard Hibbard, Dan Cole, Richie Gray, Ian Evans, Sean O'Brien, Justin Tipuric, Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements: Rory Best (for Hibbard, 50), Ryan Grant (for Corbisiero, 50), Matt Stevens (for Cole, 50), Alun Wyn Jones (for Gray, 41), Toby Faletau (for Heaslip, 54), Mike Phillips (for Murray, 70), Jonathan Davies (for Roberts, 55), Leigh Halfpenny (for North, 41).
Referee: Steve Walsh (ARU)
Attendance: 20,071 | The British and Irish Lions rattled up 10 tries in a one-sided romp over an outclassed Queensland-New South Wales Country XV in Newcastle. |
35,708,302 | Police said they were called to "an industrial incident" at Fresco Environmental Ltd in Widnes, Cheshire, at about 14:30 GMT on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old man was taken from the Everite Road premises to hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival, Cheshire Constabulary said.
They have launched a full investigation with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). | A man has died after a large bale of paper fell on him at a recycling works. |
33,096,261 | Ploughshare tortoises are highly prized for their distinctive gold and black shells and fetch exceptionally high prices on the international black market.
Efforts to steal the animals from their native Madagascar are so relentless that there may only be fewer than 500 left.
So the tortoises are now having their shells permanently engraved with a large serial number together with the initials "MG" for Madagascar.
The hope is that deliberately making the animals less attractive will reduce or even eliminate demand for them.
When the idea was first raised, it faced vigorous opposition from many in the conservation movement, the Madagascar government and also staff within the charity involved, the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.
Carving into the ploughshares' shells to disfigure them is the equivalent of removing all horns from rhinos or tusks from elephants to stop those animals from being poached.
Richard Lewis, director of Durrell's operations in Madagascar, told the BBC that "we hate doing it but it's got to be done to help save the species".
"It goes against every grain and gene in our bodies to do this - everything says we shouldn't do this, what we believe in, what we stand for.
"But we think this can be a major step in stopping people wanting these animals. We believe this will be a genuine deterrent."
According to Mr Lewis, campaigners fighting animal trafficking had spoken to several traders who had made clear that there would be no market for tortoises that had been engraved.
The etching is several millimetres deep and only penetrates the shell, rather than the more sensitive bone underneath, and Durrell staff are convinced that while the process may be uncomfortable for the animals, it does not hurt them.
I watched while one tortoise was engraved. It waved its legs to try to move away as an electric drill was applied but it was not in obvious distress.
The task of marking each animal is one of a range of drastic measures designed to thwart the smugglers and head off the extinction of the species.
The charity runs a captive breeding centre in the Ankarafansika National Park to encourage the tortoises to reproduce - and more than 100 young adults have since been released into the wild.
The breeding centre, itself a target for poachers, is now guarded 24 hours a day with electronic surveillance and a team of policemen.
Only in April, two Taiwanese men, posing as tourists, attempted to bribe local staff to gain access. They were later arrested leaving Madagascar with dozens of a less threatened species of tortoise in their luggage.
The only habitat where the ploughshare tortoises live in the wild - a remote and arid stretch of sand, rock and bamboo at Baly Bay in northwest Madagascar - has been turned into a national park to offer protection.
Local people have been hired to patrol the area and to keep watch on the animals, many of which are fitted with radio tags.
But the area is too large to be guarded comprehensively and several times a year, perhaps more often, poachers slip in to steal tortoises.
The youngest of the animals - small enough to fit in the palm of your hand - are the easiest to smuggle. In 2013, officials at Bangkok airport found a suitcase that had arrived on a flight from Madagascar containing 54 young ploughshare tortoises. Wrapped in clingfilm, many of the tiny creatures were dead.
Internet searches have revealed the staggeringly high prices that can be fetched by the animals.
One site listed a ploughshare tortoise over 30 years old with a price tag of $37,900. A young adult that was 10 years old was priced at $14,200 and a baby of 8 months at $1400.
In the aftermath of a coup five years ago, there was a period with little or no control by the authorities and leading smugglers, known on the international scene, were spotted repeatedly entering Madagascar.
Mr Lewis says "they weren't coming here for a holiday" and he concedes that the effort to save the tortoise is an uphill struggle with a highly uncertain outcome.
"I'd be the first to admit at this moment that it's three steps backwards and two forwards with the poaching."
And that constant threat led to the extreme idea of defacing the animals, of wrecking the very beauty that makes them so sought after.
"It was clear that what we were doing was not enough, that animals were still going out.
"So when we first talked to the government and said 'we want to take one of your most prized animals and deface it, every one of them', you can imagine the reaction - 'are you crazy or what?'
"But we got the minister to come here [to the captive breeding centre] and after that he said 'I understand, do it'. "
So far about 70 of the tortoises living in the wild have been engraved - it's thought another 400 or so have yet to be found - along with all those bred in captivity that have reached a suitable age.
But now another potential threat has emerged. The tortoises' natural habitat in the area around Baly Bay turns out to be rich in iron and a Chinese company has plans to open an iron ore mine 30km inland.
The proposal would see a new road running through the national park to connect the mine with a massive new port that would be built on the coast.
Although the precise zones where the tortoises live would not be directly affected, the concern is that such major new developments in the area, attracting thousands of people, would vastly increase the risk of the animals being plundered.
It would also set a precedent if industrial infrastructure is allowed inside the boundaries of a national park - at a time when many precious wildlife habitats are under pressure elsewhere in the country.
One member of the Durrell team, Angelo Ramy Mandibihasina, said he understood the balance of interests facing one of the world's poorest countries where 92% of people are estimated to live on less than $2 a day.
"You can think in two ways - if a road is built, it will bring development which is good for the economy but at the same for the environment that will create some bad things that will affect not only the species but the whole park.
"There might some part of the park that will be open for the road and people will come easily and steal the tortoises or cut wood and get some other animals.
The company involved, Wuhan Iron and Steel, told the BBC that it did not wish to comment. | In a desperate bid to save one of the world's most endangered animals, conservationists are taking the controversial step of defacing the last survivors. |
30,346,651 | Mark Ward admitted 20 counts of sexual abuse - which happened between 1979 and 1982 and from 1992 to 1995 - including two rapes and indecent assaults.
Ward, from Netherton, Sefton, was given 10 and seven-and-a-half prison terms for the rapes, to run consecutively.
The 53-year-old's sentences for the other offences, ranging from four to nine years, will run concurrently.
Det Sgt Paul Jones of Merseyside Police led the investigation after Ward's victims came forward in 2011.
Speaking after the sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court, he said: "The victims in this case suffered terribly at the hands of Ward, both at the time he carried out his crimes against them and in the many years since.
"They have shown incredible bravery and courage in coming forward to tell the police what happened to them.
"Victims of sexual offences, however long ago they happened, have a right to be listened to and a right to be believed and I would encourage anyone else out there who has suffered this kind of crime to find the strength within themselves to tell someone." | A paedophile from Merseyside has been jailed for 17-and-a-half years for the historical sexual abuse of two boys. |
37,369,529 | Hick, 50, has been Cricket Australia's high performance coach since 2013.
He said: "The opportunity to work with some of the best players in the world is something I am looking forward to."
Head coach Darren Lehmann said Hick would prove "invaluable" with England set to host the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017, as well as an Ashes series and an ICC World Cup, both in 2019.
Zimbabwe-born Hick played 526 first-class matches between 1984 and 2008, scoring 136 centuries at an average of 52.23 - but only averaged 31.32 in 65 Tests between 1991 and 2001.
The former Worcestershire right-hander will begin his new role before Australia's Test series against South Africa in November. | Former England batsman Graeme Hick has signed a deal to become Australia's batting coach until March 2020. |
40,885,648 | The original bus was on its way to Norfolk when it was engulfed in flames on the A11 near Cambridge in July.
Eunice Jokrassett, landlady of The Crown, and other villagers in Smallburgh, Norfolk, had been fundraising for the bus since February.
It was to be turned into a library, and taken to Ms Jokrassett's home country, the Ivory Coast.
An anonymous businessman, who heard the £6,000 bus had gone up in flames, stepped in and donated a replacement vehicle.
The bus will be packed up with books and school equipment that had been collected by local people.
In September, it will begin its two-week journey to the Ivory Coast.
Once there, it will travel to schools in and around Abidjan.
"It's like an English resource centre, and will allow the children to learn about England, there are loads of books on board for children to learn the English language", said Ms Jokrassett.
In November, she and 20 people from Smallburgh will fly to the Ivory Coast to see the bus in use.
The original bus was destroyed after a blaze started in the engine compartment, the fire service said. | A double-decker bus has been donated to a pub to replace its vehicle that was destroyed in a fire. |
32,445,141 | The man and woman, both in their 30s, were taken to Glan Clwyd hospital in Rhyl after the fire in Prestatyn.
The fire started in a bedroom at about 04:00 BST and the pair were suffering from the effects of smoke inhalation.
North Wales Fire and Rescue Service is investigating the cause of the blaze and fire officers will return to the property later on Friday morning. | Two people have been taken to hospital after a flat fire in Denbighshire. |
30,412,177 | Andrew Murrison was speaking during Northern Ireland Questions.
He was standing in for Secretary of State Theresa Villiers, who is chairing negotiations at Stomont.
"The outcome of these talks will have a big impact on security in Northern Ireland and we all need to understand that," Mr Murrison said.
"All parties need to understand the extent of the stakes. If this process fails, then I'm afraid the future will not look good."
Mr Murrison was responding to a question from SDLP leader Alasdair McDonnell.
Meanwhile, Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt has said he believes there is a parallel negotiation going on at Stormont Castle on budget matters between Sinn Féin and the DUP.
"There has been no discussion of the budget in the all-party talks for quite a number of sessions," he said
"It seems to me this is happening between Sinn Féin and the DUP exclusively, not at Stormont House, but at Stormont Castle, and that's wrong."
Prime Minister David Cameron and Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny will arrive in Northern Ireland on Thursday to try to help broker a deal.
On Monday, Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson has said he hoped the government regards the end of this week as the deadline to reach agreement in the Stormont cross-party talks.
He said that when Mr Cameron and Mr Kenny joined the negotiations on Thursday, they may push the Northern Ireland political parties to get a deal over the line.
However, he added that they in turn would find themselves being pushed on issues that the parties want to see delivered.
The talks concern disputes on flags, parades, the past and welfare reform. | A Northern Ireland Office minister has told the House of Commons the outcome of the inter-party talks will have "a big impact on security". |
35,110,367 | About 400m of safety line which had been installed in November to help the Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade (TVLB) carry out rescues has been ripped out and fixings destroyed.
Harbour masters said it was a "pointless act".
The TVLB said the line is vital for safety.
Peter Lilley, captain of the TVLB, said: "Mounting rescue operations from Tynemouth Pier in stormy weather is one of the most dangerous situations our team can face and we have been very grateful for the support from the Port of Tyne in working to install this brand new safety line.
"We are very disappointed to hear that it has been vandalised within days of its installation, which increases the dangers our volunteers face if called to an emergency situation at this location." | Vandals put lives at risk after damaging £8,000 worth of rescue equipment on Tynemouth Pier, harbour bosses have said. |
39,871,699 | Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union at Arriva TrainCare will walk out on 19 May.
The RMT said the company was not prepared to negotiate pay because it was not the recognised union for its employees.
In a statement Arriva TrainCare described the action as "wholly unnecessary".
The firm is based in Crewe and has sites in Bristol, Gateshead, Cambridge and Eastleigh.
More stories from across Staffordshire and Cheshire
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: "RMT members at Arriva TrainCare delivered a massive 'yes' vote for action and the company should wake up and take notice of the anger amongst their workforce over the pay issue.
"Instead they have ignored their staff and offered an insulting increase that systematically undermines our members' standard of living.
"Our members are entitled to be represented by the union they are members of so we can get on with our job and negotiate decent pay and conditions on their behalf."
Arriva TrainCare said a pay award for employees had been accepted following positive negotiations with Unite - the company's recognised trade union.
"As such there is no dispute over pay, as the RMT suggests, and therefore no grounds to proceed with strike action," a statement said.
"Our priority now is to develop robust plans to ensure our customers can run close to normal services on the affected strike day, and we are confident our contingency planning will achieve this outcome for our customers.
"In the meantime, we urge the RMT to accept the outcome of the approved and recognised collective bargaining arrangements and allow Arriva TrainCare to continue to service its customers and their passengers uninterrupted by needless strike action." | Staff at a train maintenance company are to hold a 24-hour strike in a dispute over pay, a union has said. |
35,723,357 | The Australian Securities and Investment Commission accused ANZ of "unconscionable conduct and market manipulation".
The charges relate to ANZ's involvement in setting the Bank Bill Swap Reference Rate between March 2010 and May 2012.
In a statement, the bank rejected the allegations.
The commission alleges that the bank "traded in a manner intended to create an artificial price for bank bills on 44 separate days" during the period in question.
"ASIC alleges that ANZ was seeking to maximise its profit or minimise its loss to the detriment of those holding opposite positions to ANZ's."
The Bank Bill Swap Reference Rate (BBSW) is the primary interest rate benchmark used in Australian financial markets.
It is Australia's equivalent to the Libor in the UK and is used as a reference rate for banks lending money amongst each other.
In a major scandal which emerged in 2015, several banks in the UK were found to have conspired to influence the Libor by agreeing among themselves to fix the rates.
Barclays Bank, JP Morgan, Swiss bank UBS, Royal Bank of Scotland and Deutsche Bank have all been fined by financial regulators for this practice, which is seen as market manipulation and corrosive to trust in the financial markets. | Australia's markets watchdog has begun legal action against ANZ bank over accusations it fixed the benchmark inter-bank interest rate. |
35,290,384 | The Staffordshire-based adventure park said Galactica would open in April, following two years of planning.
It is resort's first big new ride since one of its rollercoasters crashed in June, seriously injuring five people.
Visitor numbers have been down since the accident, which Alton Towers blamed on "human error".
It said 190 jobs remained at risk and the park would close on several mid-week "quieter days" this year.
Several virtual-reality recordings simulate rollercoaster rides, but Alton Towers said Galactica would combine the two experiences for the first time.
Over the course of the three-minute ride, the headsets will show passengers a journey across a series of different galaxies, timed to coincide with the ride's twists, turns and falls.
Lying facedown, they will experience a maximum g-force of 3.5gs, which the park says is more than astronauts typically experience during rocket launches.
Gill Riley, the park's marketing director, said it represented a "multi-million pound investment".
"Obviously the safety and welfare of our guests is our number one priority," she added.
"Following the incident last year, we immediately put into effect additional safety protocols on our multi-car rollercoasters, of which this is one.
"In addition, once this ride is installed, as with every other new ride and experience, it will be subject to comprehensive pre-opening assessment [by us] and by an accredited independent inspection body."
Rather than build the ride from scratch, the park has re-engineered an existing rollercoaster the Air, which originally opened in 2002.
It experienced technical problems of its own last July when dozens of passengers were trapped face-down for up to 20 minutes.
Two women had legs amputated after the carriage of the Smiler rollercoaster they were riding in collided with an empty carriage on 2 June.
Fourteen other people on the ride were also injured.
Alton Towers' owner, Merlin Entertainments, later said the accident had been caused by operator error rather than a mechanical fault.
"A ride shutdown message was misunderstood by staff at the ride," it said in November, adding workers had overridden the control system to manually restart Smiler.
Ms Riley said the park had learned from the mistake.
"We have enhanced our training and also included an extra level of authorisation when we have to stop and reset and restart a ride, which involves senior management," she said.
She confirmed that Smiler was still set to reopen in 2016, but was unable to provide a date.
Merlin Entertainments' share price sank by more than 20% following June's accident, but is currently trading at about 4% below its pre-accident level.
"Certainly, the accident at Alton Towers has been difficult for Merlin and been a drag on its performance, which is not surprising," said Keith Bowman, an equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
"But other parts of the business - Legoland in particular - have been making progress and generally compensating for this." | Alton Towers has announced plans to open a rollercoaster ride on which passengers wear virtual-reality headsets. |
39,924,340 | The 54-year-old took over at Field Mill in November 2016 and guided the Stags to a 12th-placed finish in League Two.
Swindon boss Luke Williams left earlier this month after their relegation from League One.
Chairman John Radford said Evans was "fully committed" to the club and they would allow for "no distractions" as they look to win promotion next season.
He added: "I have refused Swindon Town permission to talk to our manager and work continues behind the scenes at our club as we put together a squad which we believe will be highly competitive in Sky Bet League Two next season.
"Steve has my full backing as we aim to fulfil the dreams of a town and its people."
Evans, who previously had spells with Crawley, Rotherham and Leeds, has already signed goalkeeper Conrad Logan and defender Zander Diamond for next season. | Mansfield Town have refused Swindon Town permission to speak to manager Steve Evans. |
39,763,152 | The Spaniard - who became the first man in the Open era to win the same event 10 times at last week's Monte Carlo Masters - did not drop a set this week.
Nadal, 30, has now won 10 consecutive matches and is aiming for his 10th French Open title next month.
Meanwhile, Britain's Aljaz Bedene had his 16-match winning run ended by Lucas Pouille in the Hungarian Open final.
The former world number one played all of his matches on the renamed Rafa Nadal court at the Real Tennis Club, and needed just 90 minutes to finish off Thiem.
World number nine Thiem beat world number one Andy Murray in the semi-finals and claimed the first break point of the contest.
However, Nadal broke serve in the 10th game and claimed the first set, before breaking twice in a row in the second to clinch the title on his favourite clay surface.
He was only broken twice in his 47 service games throughout the week.
"It was a close first set and a good quality of tennis - anything could have happened," said Nadal.
"But then I started playing at a very high level and Dominic probably started making a few more mistakes."
British number four Bedene was beaten 6-2 6-1 by French top seed Pouille, who secured his second ATP Tour title.
The world number 14 broke the Briton's first service game, and three further breaks in the second set secured a straightforward victory.
Bedene, 27, was ranked outside the top 100 at the beginning of March but has climbed to world number 68 and will move higher still on Monday.
His streak of 16 straight wins includes back-to-back titles on the second-tier ATP Challenger Tour earlier this month.
But his unbeaten run was finally ended as Pouille won in just 64 minutes.
"I'm a little disappointed because I had problems with my finger and felt uncomfortable hitting my shots," Bedene said.
"I wasn't close to the level I should be at to beat Lucas, but he was playing really well. It was like everything went in for him."
Elsewhere, in Morocco Open qualifying on the women's tour, British number four Tara Moore lost 6-1 6-2 to fiancee Conny Perrin. | Rafael Nadal swept aside Dominic Thiem of Austria 6-4 6-1 to claim his 10th Barcelona Open title. |
38,499,284 | The lawmakers' surprise vote to strip the Office of Congressional Ethics of its independence prompted public uproar and a dressing down from Donald Trump.
"Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance!" the president-elect said.
The secretive move, which overshadowed the first day of the 115th Congress, was reversed in an emergency meeting.
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The ethics committee was set up in 2008 following a slew of scandals that resulted in several House lawmakers being jailed.
Mr Trump made cleaning up corruption in Washington a key theme of his campaign, and he ended his tweet with "#DTS", an acronym for "drain the swamp".
Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan had argued unsuccessfully against the rule change, which was adopted on Monday night in a closed-door meeting, but he defended the proposal on Tuesday.
Donald Trump's tweets have teeth. The president-elect took to social media to express his displeasure with the move and within hours those legislative efforts were abandoned.
The independent ethics investigators had been a source of discomfort for members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, and there was significant interest in limiting their ability to conduct inquiries.
Even after Mr Trump's tweets, many congressional Republicans appeared reluctant to back down. House Speaker Paul Ryan, an initial opponent of the measure, issued a statement defending the change.
That ended up being little comfort to the party rank and file, however, as pressure increased for them to bend to Mr Trump's political will. In his first confrontation with congressional leadership, the president-elect displayed his dominance.
Mr Trump now has a valuable talking point when discussions inevitably turn back to his own ethical questions, such as how he will handle potential conflicts of interest involving his sprawling business empire.
He has made it a bit easier, at least for now, to claim he's standing behind his drain-the-Washington-swamp campaign rhetoric.
"I want to make clear that this House will hold its members to the highest ethical standards and the Office will continue to operate independently to provide public accountability to Congress," he said.
Democrats, led by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, lambasted the Republicans.
"Republicans claim they want to 'drain the swamp', but the night before the new Congress gets sworn in, the House GOP has eliminated the only independent ethics oversight of their actions," she said.
"Evidently, ethics are the first casualty of the new Republican Congress."
As the news spread, internet searches for "who is my representative" rocketed, according to Google Trends.
House Republicans called an emergency meeting and abruptly voted to undo the change.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham took a shot at his party colleagues' decision to neuter the ethics watchdog, telling Fox News radio it was "the dumbest fricking thing I've ever heard".
Under the change:
Mr Ryan - who was re-elected by fellow lawmakers on Tuesday as House Speaker - had urged his party to seek bipartisan support and to wait to push for the change later.
But Virginia Congressman Bob Goodlatte went ahead anyway and submitted the proposal.
The Republican tweeted an op-ed he wrote arguing that the rule change would strengthen the ethics watchdog.
But he faced scathing criticism on social media. "That simply isn't true," one Twitter user replied. "Your disingenuousness is jaw-dropping. Shame on you."
Another posted: "You, sir, are a LIAR. Why did you meet in secret in the middle of the night?"
"You are a traitor to the Constitution you swore to uphold," yet another tweeted.
Mr Trump's remarks about the ethics committee came on a busy morning for the president-elect's Twitter account.
He also warned North Korea about its nuclear ambitions, attacked Obamacare costs and sparked a row with General Motors over its manufacturing operation in Mexico, which the car firm disputes. | Republicans have ditched a plan to gut the independent body that investigates political misconduct after a backlash. |
35,099,060 | It follows talks in Moscow between US Secretary of State John Kerry, his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin.
Mr Lavrov said both sides would keep working on contentious issues, like the make-up of the opposition delegation.
Mr Kerry said they had reached some agreement, such as on terrorist groups.
Russia launched an air campaign to bolster Mr Assad's government in September. It says it has targeted only "terrorists", above all jihadist militants from the Islamic State (IS) group, but activists say its strikes have mainly hit Western-backed rebel groups.
Friday's meeting in New York would pass a UN resolution reaffirming the principles of the peace process agreed in Vienna last month, Mr Lavrov said.
Mr Kerry travelled to Moscow to try to bridge gaps over ways to end the Syrian conflict.
He told President Putin the two countries had "the ability to make a significant difference".
The US and Russia disagree on what role Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should play in any transition.
The US wants him to stand down, but Russia says only the Syrian people should decide his fate.
There has been some confusion (to put it mildly) about whether Russia is or isn't supplying weapons and ammunition to the Free Syrian Army (FSA).
Last week, President Putin said it was - then, a few hours later, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied it.
On Monday, the chief of the Russian general staff said Russia was supporting the FSA with arms, ammunition and material help (copying Mr Putin almost word for word). But a few hours later a Kremlin aide denied that Moscow was supplying anything.
I used the Tuesday morning conference call with the Kremlin to try to get some clarity. Alas, I failed. This is what Mr Peskov said: "I have nothing to add to what's already been said. I have nothing to add and I don't want to explore this subject." No harm in trying.
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"Together, we are looking for ways out of the most urgent crises,'' Mr Putin said ahead of the meeting.
A US-led coalition has been targeting IS positions in Syria since September 2014 and does not co-ordinate its raids with the authorities in Damascus.
"Even when there have been differences between us, we have been able to work effectively on specific issues," Mr Kerry said before the start of his talks with Mr Lavrov.
"The world benefits when powerful nations can find common ground," he added.
Mr Kerry has been comparing notes with the Russians on a meeting in Riyadh last week that united elements of the Syrian political and armed opposition.
Russia took issue with the outcome - a statement of principles to guide peace talks that says President Assad and his aides can play no part in any transitional period.
Russia also sees some of those who participated as terrorists, and it wants all parties to agree on a terrorist blacklist before proceeding further, our correspondent says.
$3.2bn
needed in aid
13.5m
Syrians require assistance
6.5m people internally displaced
4 out of 5 families live in poverty
72% have no access to drinking water
2m children out of school
The BBC's Barbara Plett-Usher, who is travelling with Mr Kerry, says he knows the Russians are indispensable because it is they who could bring Mr Assad to the negotiating table.
On Islamic State, Mr Kerry said Russia and the US agreed it was "a threat to every country".
Mr Lavrov said the IS issue was not limited to Syria, as the group was also active in Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen.
He also said the meeting would cover the matter of Ukraine, with its continued division between the Western-backed government in Kiev and the Russian-backed separatists in its east.
Mr Kerry said: "Nothing would please us more than to solve the problem of Ukraine and move forward on the economic front."
The United States, which supports the Syrian opposition, wants a negotiated settlement based on the 2012 Geneva Communique, which calls for the formation of a transitional governing body. It says President Bashar al-Assad must go.
Russia, which launched an air campaign against Mr Assad's opponents in September, also calls for the implementation of the Geneva Communique. But it says Mr Assad's future is for the Syrian people, and not external powers, to decide.
Most of Syria's political and armed opposition factions now agree on the need for a managed transition, but they demand that the president leave at the start of it.
Bashar al-Assad says peace talks cannot begin until "terrorism" is eliminated, and that his departure is out of the question before elections are held. | The US and Russia say world powers will meet in New York on Friday to pass a UN resolution endorsing the Syria peace process. |
40,238,694 | The Conservatives leader had sought to take the UK out of the single market and end freedom of movement, but her party lost its Commons majority.
Former Chancellor George Osborne said he did not believe a majority of MPs now back a "hard" Brexit.
The Confederation of British Industry plans to canvas its members regarding the implications for business.
Its president, Paul Drechsler, said: "The CBI has been calling on both European and UK negotiators to put the economy and people at the heart of these crucial talks.
"With only days to go before Brexit negotiations begin, the UK needs to be quick out of the blocks and agree on transitional arrangements, guarantee EU citizens' rights and shift the focus of formal talks to future trading relationships."
Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the election result had reduced the risk of a hard Brexit in 2019 and increased the chance of Britain remaining in the single market.
"We judge that the probability of this "soft Brexit" scenario is about 60%, with a 35% chance of a negotiated "hard Brexit" and a 5% chance of no deal, in which the UK falls back on World Trade Organisation rules," he said.
Societe Generale strategist Kit Juckes said the option of leaving the EU without a deal was unlikely to remain on the table.
"We are going to do a deal, so Mrs May's threat that 'no deal is better than a bad deal', where we revert to WTO rules, is over," he said.
Airbus, which employs around 10,000 people at plants in Filton and Broughton, reiterated its call for a "softer" Brexit deal.
Chief executive Tom Enders said that mobility between its European factories was crucial for the plane manufacturer.
"We are a company that obviously has an interest in a free flow of people," he said.
While Mrs May is banking on the support of the DUP's 10 MPs to form a government, she will also need the backing of the 13 Conservative MPs from Scotland - 12 of whom are newly elected.
Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tories leader, campaigned for Remain in the EU referendum last year and said on Saturday she wanted cross-party support with "free trade and economic advancement at the heart of the Brexit deal".
Mr Osborne told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show that "if the [Scottish Conservative leader] Ruth Davidsons of the world are starting to flex their muscles, then in my view that's a good thing".
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said the government's view on Brexit remain unchanged.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told Andrew Marr that his party will put a "substantial amendment" into the Queen's Speech to promote a "jobs first Brexit" and to guarantee the rights of EU nationals to stay in the UK. | There are growing calls for a rethink of Theresa May's Brexit stance in the wake of a hung parliament. |
39,147,533 | Assistant Chief Constable Steven Heywood said Greater Manchester Police (GMP) reviewed surveillance of Anthony Grainger three months before his death.
Mr Grainger, 36, of Bolton, was shot by a GMP firearms officer in a car park in Culcheth, Cheshire, on 1 March 2012.
Mr Heywood was giving evidence for a second day at the inquiry in Liverpool.
It has been told Mr Grainger was monitored as part of Operation Shire, which focussed on a gang thought to be conspiring to commit armed robberies.
Officers believing he and others were planning a robbery at a premises in Culcheth.
Mr Heywood, who now works for the North West Counter Terrorism Unit, gave the authority for firearms to be used in the operation.
Jason Beer QC, counsel to the inquiry, said Mr Heywood's notes on the day appeared to show the only tactical options discussed were intervention or interception.
Mr Heywood said other options were discussed, such as placing an armed vehicle in Culcheth or doing nothing but neither seemed appropriate.
Mr Beer said an organisational review of Operation Shire, requested by Mr Heywood in January 2012, suggested there was a concern about the "expenditure of precious resources".
He said: "By March 1, was there a feeling by you that this operation had run long enough?" He asked if the operation "needed to be brought to a head".
Mr Heywood replied: "We have had operations in the past that have run longer."
The officer said he thought it was "professionally appropriate" to order an organisational review.
But he added: "If this hadn't culminated in the outcome it did would we have continued? Probably."
The inquiry, chaired by Judge Thomas Teague QC, is expected to run until 21 April. | A police operation in which an unarmed man was shot dead was not "brought to a head" because of pressure on resources, a senior officer told an inquiry. |
36,750,398 | It has been a month of late goals, excellent refereeing and feverish atmospheres but also cautious football and an unwieldy structure.
I have been involved in tournaments for the BBC since 1974 and while Wales' run to the semi-final and England's utter embarrassment at the hands of Iceland will live long in the memory, Euro 2016 on the whole has not been the best.
The standard of football, the excitement level and the number of great games have certainly not matched those we have seen in previous tournaments, but France have once again made the most of their host status and look like going on to win Sunday's final against Portugal.
While I may not have spent the whole month out in France, I have logged every minute of every match.
I have always kept my own statistics. I have a handwritten record on my shelf of every international game from 1974 onwards. They have come to my aid many times.
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But I won't be delving into my 2016 annual too often.
There were a lot of matches which didn't get going until the second half. The first half-an-hour of most games produced very little, and frankly the goalkeepers didn't come under a lot of sustained pressure.
Of the 50 matches so far, 21 were goalless at half-time, with 21 goals scored before the 30th minute.
Games didn't catch fire until halfway through the second half but conversely, it felt as if there were more goals in the last five minutes and stoppage time than ever before.
There have been 19 goals scored in the 85th minute or later in this tournament, compared to just eight in Poland and Ukraine four years ago.
Caution tended to mean that defenders came out on top. If you admire defending, there was lots of good play to enjoy. Teams did not run with too many games. There was not a 6-0 win anywhere and it was only when Belgium beat Hungary 4-0 in the last 16 and France defeated Iceland 5-2 in the quarter-finals that a big win was chalked up.
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One of the big attractions of Euro 2016 for fans in the British Isles was the chance to see England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland all playing in the same competition.
And - England aside - they all justified their presence, with Wales' achievements standing out.
Their run to the last four was fabulous and the main target for them is to go on from here and qualify for the World Cup in Russia in 2018.
In a tournament of few truly memorable matches, beating Belgium 3-1 in the quarter-final was absolutely fantastic and it will resonate for years to come. That win, and England's defeat by Iceland, are without a doubt the standout games of the tournament.
Forward Hal Robson-Kanu - who came here without a club - scored arguably the best individual goal of the competition and that will live long in the memory. A Cruyff turn and cool finish!
Northern Ireland have a very limited squad but my goodness they did the best they could with it. They will always remember their victory over Ukraine. And their fans certainly enjoyed themselves too.
The Republic had that last-minute Robbie Brady goal to beat Italy in another standout moment. Martin O'Neill's squad certainly did themselves justice.
On the whole, the sportsmanship throughout was excellent. There was very little confrontation and the refereeing was also very good.
I don't know if Uefa had given any specific instructions but on the whole the officials really let the games flow. They didn't flash yellow cards early in games and there have only been three sendings-off in 50 matches.
The discipline was very good, which was a real plus for this tournament. The game was largely played in the right spirit.
The England debacle was such a shock and it will take many many years to live that down.
Losing to Iceland was a humiliation. There is no other way to describe it.
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It is made worse by the fact that England had such a poor World Cup in 2014. I didn't think they could sink any lower than being knocked out of the World Cup before everyone at the tournament had played two matches, but my word, the defeat by Iceland was bad.
Nothing went the way it should have done. Conceding a goal in the last minute to Russia was careless, beating Wales with a stoppage-time goal was fortunate, and not defeating Slovakia meant that Roy Hodgson's side ended up in the 'wrong' half of the draw.
Yes, Iceland were the big surprises of the tournament along with Wales. It just goes to show what you can do when you build properly from scratch. What a wonderful foundation they have laid.
But if you could have picked any team in the last 16, you would have wanted to face Iceland. England just fell apart. It will rankle with their supporters for a very long time.
England were embarrassed, for the second competition in a row, and nobody really knows what happens next, least of all the Football Association.
Other nations which may feel they have underachieved include Spain - their era is now over and they must rethink - and Germany, who are not the Germany of old and even missed some penalties.
They were unable to respond to adversity against France in the semi-finals, which is not what we expect from them. There must be question marks over their performance. Italy defended well but were lacking up front and I thought Croatia had a great chance in their side of the draw but failed to take it.
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France have been the best team - regardless of what happens on Sunday - and they have overtaken Spain and Germany as Europe's top side.
I expect them to beat Portugal on Sunday and complete a special treble of tournament wins on home soil.
In 1984 and 1998, I was in France to see them win the European Championship and then the World Cup. They certainly make the most of being hosts.
I should think my commentary on the 1984 semi-final between France and Portugal will get an airing on Sunday. That match was probably among the three or four best games I have ever witnessed. If Sunday's final is anywhere near as good, then we are in for a treat.
Each team has been built around a star in the 'number 10' role. In 1984 there was Michel Platini, in 1998 there was Zinedine Zidane and now they have Antoine Griezmann.
Griezmann is almost certain to finish as the tournament's top scorer with six, and only Platini - with nine in 1984 - has ever managed more in a single Euros.
Platini scored in every game that year and Zidane got two in the 1998 final against Brazil, so Griezmann has still got a bit to do. Let's see what he can do on Sunday!
France have been fine hosts. The atmosphere in the stadiums has been a very big plus point for Euro 2016. Every game was a near sell-out, and it was so vibrant. It is how football should be.
We all came into the tournament rather nervously after the terror attacks in Paris last November but mercifully, as of the moment, there have been no scares and security appears to have been largely good.
There were the problems at England's game against Russia - a very unpromising start - and a few incidents involving supporters with flares inside stadiums but there were no big issues and France largely had it under control.
There were a lot of dull group games at Euro 2016 - and the structure is to blame.
Bringing the number of teams up to 24, and a system where a lot of third-placed teams went through, rather cultivated a philosophy of 'if we get one result, we will qualify'.
Teams came into the competition in cautious mood, knowing that if they didn't make any mistakes, they would be in with a shout of qualifying. Portugal got through with three draws and ended up in the final.
I know you can't predict who will win each group but in the end Uefa produced a system which bunched together too many of the 'big hitters' in the knockout stages. In one half of the draw were Wales, Belgium and Portugal but the other had Germany, France, Italy, England and Spain. It became very unbalanced.
The tournament would have been better if they had been spread around more evenly. We might have ended up with a better quality of game.
Uefa took a gamble extending the competition and there were too many games in the early part.
The smaller tournaments are easier to follow. Both the World Cup and the Euros have now got so outsized. I hope the World Cup doesn't go to 40 teams; that would be impractical.
It would be good to see Uefa bring the Euros back to 16 teams but I think we are too far down the road now to turn back.
I didn't like the complicated permutations, of not knowing who would play who in the last 16. They need to look at that and try to clarify it, do it in a different way.
Motty was speaking to BBC Sport's Tom Rostance. | Euro 2016 has been a tournament of great moments, but not great matches. |
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In the depths of winter, staring up from the bottom of the table and about to install their third manager of the campaign, few would have been prepared to wager safety would be achieved with a game to spare.
Paul Clement deserves a huge amount of credit.
It has not always been plain sailing for him, despite a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace the day he took over in January.
After an initial bounce, the Swans suffered a six-game winless run, when it appeared even Clement was perplexed how to alter the seemingly downward spiral.
But minutes after a dismal display at Watford, Clement went for broke. He heaped pressure on his squad by declaring the next game - at home Stoke City - was a "must win".
And in a bid to encapsulate the true spirit of Swansea City, he recalled Leon Britton to the midfield.
The pocket dynamo not only provided impetus on the field, he galvanised his team mates' commitment to the cause of sustaining a top flight place for a club which had been on the brink of Football League survival not too long before.
Fans - particularly at Watford - had called for Britton's return earlier. In hindsight, Clement's timing was near perfect.
The Britton-inspired 2-0 victory over Stoke was pivotal, not least because main striker Fernando Llorente regained his scoring touch and has now delivered three in the last four games.
When clubs are in trouble, they need their big players to deliver most. World Cup winner Llorente and the talisman Gylfi Sigurdsson have done just that to great effect.
Those two players have embodied the Swans' greater quality over their relegation rivals. Sigurdsson would be coveted by most Premier League sides and Llorente's end of season form shows why January links with Chelsea were not so far fetched.
The basis for the revival has been Clement's skill in organising the Swans defensively. His coaching has been exemplary, best shown in a hugely impressive 3-2 win at Liverpool.
The achievement was ample evidence as to why Clement had been so trusted by Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea, Paris St German, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Swansea staying in the Premier League is vitally important for Wales. Paul Clement can look positively at the start of the next season and I'm sure he's got targets in mind
Swansea City have survived despite selling leader Ashley Williams to Everton in the close season; starting the campaign amid divisive acrimony over an American takeover; the cack-handed dismissal of Francesco Guidolin and making a huge blunder in appointing the short-lived Bob Bradley.
But Clement, overlooked when Bradley got the job, has helped avert a potentially disastrous season.
His coaching expertise has been supplemented by some astute January signings. They have not all worked out yet. But Martin Olsson, Tom Carroll and, belatedly, Jordan Ayew have played their parts.
Sometimes-maligned chairman Huw Jenkins called Clement "a good fit" for the Swans. The appointment indicated the club was going back to the Swansea way of doing things.
"Swansea City's strength over many years had been the quality of the football coached on the training field. That has always been at the forefront of our success," said Jenkins.
"There is no doubt in my mind that Paul can not only help us regain that footballing belief, but also restore some much needed pride back into the football club."
There can be no pride in having to fight a relegation fight. But there is pride in successfully doing so.
Clement has done that. Their seventh season at the top table beckons. | After their sixth and most trying Premier League season to date, Swansea City can look forward to a seventh crack at upsetting the odds in the top flight. |
39,218,435 | Concerned staff at Great Ormond Street hospital called police to the site on Monday afternoon.
Officers arrested a 31-year-old man and 25-year-old woman at the scene on suspicion of conspiracy to commit child abduction.
The couple were taken to a central London police station and have since been bailed to a date in mid-April.
Staff alleged they had attempted to gain access to a ward by showing a picture of a baby they claimed was theirs.
Insp Paul Clarke, from the Met, said: "The actions of the staff at Great Ormond Street Hospital, in making all of the necessary checks and the quick response of police in arresting a couple, prevented what could have been a very frightening and harrowing incident."
A hospital spokesman said: "Thankfully this type of incident is exceptionally rare. We are pleased that staff at the hospital acted so swiftly and calmly to ensure the safety of all our patients." | A couple have been arrested on suspicion of trying to abduct a newborn baby from a hospital. |
39,720,167 | NHS figures show 25 patients a month are treated in hospitals more than 186 miles (300km) away while 255 a month travelled more than 62 miles (100km).
Health bosses said patients were only sent far from home if the facilities do not exist in their locale.
Mental health charity Mind said the practice was "unacceptable".
Of the 25 patients being moved more than 300km for a bed each month, Cornwall accounts for about ten of these.
Patients from Norfolk, Suffolk, Devon, Yorkshire, Leicestershire and Manchester are among those sent at least 124 miles (200km) for beds.
The figures relate to adults only and have been compiled by NHS Digital from December 2016 to February 2017.
Vicki Nash, from mental health charity Mind, said the situation was "unacceptable".
She said: "When you're experiencing a mental health crisis your support network of family and friends are instrumental to recovery. Being far from home can make your mental health even worse and can increase the risk of suicide."
Dr Ranga Rao, the Royal College of Psychiatrists' national lead for acute in-patient care, said: "Inevitably, recovery takes longer during out-of-area care because people are away from their home, and don't have access to their friends and family. It can't in any way be beneficial to your recovery."
The Government has pledged to eliminate inappropriate out of area placements by 2020-21.
Pol Hodge is from Cornwall and his daughter Chloe is being treated at an adult facility in Pontypridd, Wales, 200 miles away.
He said: "We calculated we have travelled around the world one a half times visiting Chloe in the last three and a half years.
"It's horrible because it holds up her recovery. Regular visits from friends and family are an important part of the process, but it isn't possible when she is so far away. It's incredibly disruptive but there isn't a place for her in Cornwall."
NHS Kernow, the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said: "Cornwall's figures for out of area placements are generally low, but for some people who need highly specialist care, they may need to be placed in the most suitable setting for their care, which unfortunately may be somewhere out of county.
"This may be because we do not have the facilities in county to support them, either due to the demand for their particular need, or because their needs may be specialist, and only available from particular providers."
The figures for individual trusts and CCGs are rounded to the nearest five.
Last year Cornwall's coroner raised concerns with the health secretary over the care of mentally ill patients far from home.
It came after an inquest jury concluded the death of a man from St Austell was suicide, while undergoing care 140 miles from where he lived. | People with mental health problems are being sent far from home for treatment, with some having to travel hundreds of kilometres. |
21,661,301 | Court cases for failing to send a child to school rocketed from 60 in 2007 to nearly 500 in 2011.
Merthyr Tydfil council said asking for conditional discharges had been more successful than fining parents.
But Education Minister Leighton Andrews said fines were one aspect of policy to tackle truancy.
BBC Wales' Week In Week Out went behind the scenes with Merthyr council officers, whose education department was put in special measures last month.
Suzanne Lewis has a suspended prison sentence over daughter Shauna's school attendance record.
She said: "They want to see me getting her to the school gates. That's what we've done.
"We've got up in the morning, taken her to the school and then we've had phone calls [to] pick her back up, perhaps an hour after.
"She won't go into class with the other children and she will not do any work. I'll most probably end up in prison because of it."
Shauna said: "Mam shouldn't be going through that really because it's not her fault why all this has happened.
"I do feel guilty sometimes. I was scared in case they put her in prison because I don't know what I'd do without my mam."
The council said asking magistrates to impose conditional discharge sentences - requiring parents to co-operate with the authority or face a return to court and possible jail term - has been much more successful than handing out fines.
The Welsh government has finished a consultation on £120 on-the-spot fines for parents who fail to send their children to school.
Councils in England issued more than 30,000 spot fines last year but attendance rates have not improved.
One parent, Gavin Vanden Berg, told the programme that he did not think fines would work. His 15-year-old son Brandon has a sporadic attendance at school.
"If a parent is really trying their best to get their child to school, other than physically taking them to the school themselves, what else can they do?" he said.
Prof Ken Reid, an adviser to the Welsh government on its truancy and behaviour policy, said fining parents was the wrong approach.
"All the evidence from research in England is that actually they don't work at all. All the legal penalties we've had over the last 50 or 60 years on truancy have never made much difference and have never worked."
Mike Cotton, a former school governor and father of four from Morriston, Swansea, said truancy was a "major problem, even with quite intelligent children", and the 700% increase was "absolutely amazing".
He added that parents have overall responsibility for their children, and "teachers are there to teach, not be social workers".
Education Minister Leighton Andrews told Week In Week Out that penalty notices were just one aspect of a national policy to tackle truancy in Wales, based on recommendations made by Prof Reid.
But four years after writing his report, Prof Reid was disappointed with the progress.
"There is no national strategy at all yet on behaviour and attendance despite the assurances we were given that it would happen four years ago."
Week In Week Out - Parents on Trial is on BBC One Wales, at 22:35 GMT, Tuesday 5 March. | Prosecutions of parents in Wales for truancy by their children have risen 700% over the past five years, BBC Wales has found. |
39,048,658 | Hyon Kwang Song is one of three more North Koreans being sought. One of the others is a state airline employee.
Police also confirmed Mr Kim, half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, died after two women wiped a toxin on him at Kuala Lumpur airport.
North Korea's embassy in Malaysia angrily denied the claims.
In a statement, it said the fact that the substance was on the hands of the women proved it could not have been a poison and called for the immediate release of the "innocent females" and a North Korean man.
Speaking at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur earlier on Wednesday, Malaysian Police Chief Khalid Abu Bakar said they were looking for three North Koreans in addition to the previously announced suspects.
One of them is Hyon Kwang Song, 44, the second secretary of the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
The others are Kim Uk II, 37, who works for Air Koryo, and another North Korean Ri Ju U.
Mr Abu Bakar said they had written to the North Korean ambassador to Malaysia asking him to allow police to interview Mr Hyon and the other two men, who are believed still to be in the country.
If the ambassador does not co-operate, "we will compel them to come to us", he said, without giving details.
Four other North Koreans named earlier in the case are thought to have left Malaysia already.
The police chief also said security had been stepped up at the morgue where Mr Kim's body is being kept after an attempted break-in earlier in the week.
"We knew there were attempts by someone to break into the hospital mortuary. We had to take precautions," he was quoted by the Malay Mail as saying.
Mr Abu Bakar also confirmed widely reported details of the 13 February killing.
A leaked video of the incident shows a man resembling Mr Kim being approached by one woman at Kuala Lumpur airport, before another woman lunges from behind and grabs his face.
Mr Abu Bakar said the two female suspects had wiped a toxin on Mr Kim's face with their bare hands "and after that they went away".
Indonesian authorities have said that one of the women, Siti Aisyah, had thought she was taking part in a TV prank, but Mr Abu Bakar said the women had clearly been "instructed to clean their hands" and knew the substance was toxic.
He added that the women practised the move several times beforehand in shopping centres in Kuala Lumpur.
Authorities are still waiting for the results of the post-mortem examination of Mr Kim's body, and are seeking his family members to provide a DNA sample.
North Korea has demanded that Mr Kim's body be returned to them, and has angrily objected to Malaysia conducting an autopsy of the body.
Malaysia has cited the need to carry out an investigation as Mr Kim died on their soil.
Relations between the two countries have become strained over the incident, with North Korea's ambassador to Malaysia saying he did not trust the police investigation and Kuala Lumpur recalling its envoy in Pyongyang.
Ten people have either been named as suspects or are wanted by Malaysian police for questioning in connection to Kim Jong-nam's killing.
Detained
Sought for questioning | Malaysian police have named a senior North Korean embassy official they want to question in connection with the killing of Kim Jong-nam. |
40,946,429 | Two men in the black Mercedes were injured when the car smashed into homes on Ayresome Green Lane in Middlesbrough at about 01:20 BST.
Cleveland Police said a patrol vehicle spotted the car and switched on its lights and sirens "very briefly" before the crash.
Two men, aged 29 and 26, have been arrested. No-one else was hurt.
A police spokeswoman said the men in the car were cut out by firefighters, taken to hospital but later released.
The spokeswoman said senior officers were investigating the build-up to the crash and it has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).
Frank Sayers lives in one house while his daughter Claire lives next door.
She said they were in "utter shock".
She told BBC Tees: "You just don't expect it to happen.
"My mum and dad were trapped in their house, we had to break the door down to get them out."
Mr Sayers said he and his wife were asleep upstairs when the car crashed. | A suspected stolen car crashed into two houses moments after police started to follow it. |
39,200,733 | Replacing the Affordable Care Act became a rallying cry among conservatives for years and here was the first attempt by the party to fashion an alternative.
But just 24 hours later and the mood in the party has changed, with the knives out for the American Health Care Act before it has even reached committee.
It is still a "work in progress", say Republicans who are behind the bill, but what happened within a few hours on Tuesday means that work may be harder than anyone imagined.
So what happened and when? All times eastern (-5 GMT)
Monday evening - last rites for Obamacare?
18:05 - Republican Party release their bill
19:50 - House Speaker Paul Ryan says "this unified Republican government will deliver relief and peace of mind to the millions of Americans suffering under Obamacare". Health Secretary Tom Price says he "welcomes action by the House to end this nightmare for the American people".
19:50 - It emerges that four Republican senators had released a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell before the bill was unveiled, expressing concerns that it would limit future federal funding for Medicaid, which covers people on low incomes.
01:13 (Tuesday) - An influential group of US House Republicans said they had "major concerns" and called it "Republican welfare entitlement", according to a memo leaked to Bloomberg
10:26 (Tuesday) - Heritage Action for America: "That is bad politics and, more importantly, bad policy."
07:13 - An early morning tweet from the president shows he is fully endorsing the House bill, which he says is "wonderful".
13:55 - Health Secretary Tom Price says the legislation is a "work in progress" that represents a step in the "right direction".
15:53 - President Trump told Republican lawmakers at the White House: "There's gonna be no slowing down. There's gonna be no waiting and no more excuses."
16:42 - House Speaker Paul Ryan says: "Obamacare is collapsing... We are doing an act of mercy by repealing this law."
14:36 - Conservative website Breitbart publishes a story headlined "Obamacare 2.0 guts enforcement, gives illegal aliens health care through identity fraud"
15:08 - Influential conservative writer Ann Coulter calls it a "piece of crap"
15:36 - Senator Rand Paul says: "We have to admit we are divided on replacement. We are united on repeal but we are divided on replacement." Earlier, he said the bill was "dead on arrival".
15:37 - Mike Lee, US Senator from Utah, says the bill was "a step in the wrong direction. And as much as anything, it's a missed opportunity."
17:40 - President Trump warns House Republicans of "bloodbath" if they can't pass healthcare legislation, says CNN
19:14 - He then cajoles Senator Rand Paul to end the dissent and rally behind the "great" health care bill.
It seems like passing the recently unveiled Republican Obamacare replacement bill will be about as difficult as making a half-court basketball shot. From a moving car. While blindfolded.
While Republicans know they have to do something on healthcare reform given seven years of promises, when the subject moves to what to do after repeal, party cohesion falls apart. Moderates hate the bill because of its coverage cuts. Conservatives hate the bill because it preserves parts of the existing system. The only real support the bill has is of the tepid variety.
Donald Trump tweeted that the legislation is now open for "review and negotiation", but the various factions within the Republican congressional caucus will be pulling in opposite directions - and the end results could be a proposal that is left in tatters. | Republicans in the House of Representatives unveiled their long-awaited draft healthcare bill on Monday night, amid hopes this was the first step on a road to keeping a key election promise. |
32,247,496 | The New York Post said the two plays, based on Hilary Mantel's award-winning books, were "beautiful but boring".
The paper said the six hours felt "even longer", adding: "It's amazing that a story jam-packed with lust, betrayal, greed and violence can be so... dull."
However Variety's Marilyn Stasio called it a "lucidly told, handsomely staged and emotionally charged production".
She did find the second play "problematic" though.
She wrote: "Just when you expect the drama to move into deeper and darker political territory, it shrivels up and becomes what a lot of American kids took away from high-school history class - the salacious story of a horny king who chopped off his wives' heads whenever he wanted a new bride."
Wolf Hall Parts One and Two - about the court of Henry VIII and his advisor Thomas Cromwell - are based on Mantel's Man Booker Prize-winning novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies.
The Royal Shakespeare Company's stage version, adapted by Mike Poulton, drew rave reviews when it opened at the Swan Theatre in Stratford upon Avon before transferring to London's West End.
A BBC television production, starring Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis, was also a critical success and is currently being aired in the US by PBS.
The Hollywood Reporter called the play "a mighty undertaking", directed by Jeremy Herrin, "with propulsive energy; designed with commanding stagecraft by Christopher Oram and a superb team on lighting, music and sound; and performed with authority and an abundance of sly humour by a first-rate troupe of 23."
Critic David Rooney added: "While it might fall short of the pantheon of all-time great stage events, Wolf Hall is nonetheless an impressive feat, a compelling drama played out across the canvas of a nation soaked in rain and mud and blood."
However the Wall Street Journal's Terry Teachout found "the acting is as devoid of sparkle as the script".
He admitted he had not read Mantel's "much-praised novels" but said: "I can, however, assure you that Mr Poulton's five and a half-hour stage version of Wolf Hall... is competent but dullish, a procession of short, choppy scenes in which nobody ever says anything more memorable than 'Bring up the bodies!'."
But he said the play was "not without merit", praising Paul Jesson as Cardinal Wolsey and director Herrin's "efficient and effective" production.
The Wrap's Robert Hofler said the play took "a good 90 minutes and one intermission to settle into what might be called a good drama".
He praised Ben Miles, who plays Thomas Cromwell for maintaining "an implacable facade regardless of what he's thinking" adding that he "rivets our attention for six hours" in "a masterclass in minimalist acting".
New York Times writer Ben Brantley found the play itself "riveting", calling it "the tastiest dish in town".
He said it was "strictly for fun. That may sound like a weak recommendation to those who wear their brows high. But being fun in period costume for nearly five-and-a-half hours of live theatre is no mean achievement."
Wolf Hall is due to run on Broadway for 15 weeks. | Wolf Hall has opened on Broadway to a mixed reception from New York critics, ranging from "tedious" to "compelling". |
33,879,863 | Members of three unions will stage two 24-hour strikes on 25 and 27 August in the dispute over the proposals.
LU Managing Director Nick Brown said the unions had demanded more money, but unions claim their members wanted to protect their work-life balance.
Talks are due to resume between LU and the unions later.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT), the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) and Unite unions will walk out for 24 hours from 18:30 BST on Tuesday 25 August and at 18:30 on Thursday 27 August.
However, disruption is likely to be felt throughout most of that week owing to the timing of the strikes and the knock-on impact to the service.
The train drivers' union Aslef is yet to decide on the action it will take.
Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Brown said: "We are adding 500 extra staff across the network, train operators, station staff, engineering staff, for the night Tube.
"We are not going into it lightly, we have given many assurances and after the first dispute we reshaped the content of our offer... to take on board the work-life balance issues the unions raised.
"But now they have pulled it back to actually asking about money and the lie to that statement is given by the fact they demanded more money on Monday night."
Announcing the strikes on Tuesday, RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said its members had "made it clear that they are determined to protect their work-life balance and not fall into a trap where they will be forced to wreck their home lives in order to comply with the 'rosters from hell' which have been drawn up to plug the staffing gaps in the night Tube plans".
He said staff were angry Mr Johnson had "ignored" their concerns.
The RMT added that delays on the District Line on Wednesday morning were caused by further industrial action over the night service dispute.
Steve White, operations director for LU, apologised, saying the unions were currently taking action short of strike "which on occasion disrupts the service".
A spokesman for Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: "The union leadership appear hell bent on strike action and the mayor is dismayed at their continued failure to put what is a fair, sensible and generous offer on the table to their members."
However, Manuel Cortes at the TSSA said it was "time for the mayor to start getting his hands dirty and get down to serious direct negotiations" to avoid a week of disruption.
Hugh Roberts at Unite said LU's "vague assurances" about work-life balance and unsocial shifts did not give its members "the security they need to plan their home life over the long term".
The 24-hour service is due to be introduced on 12 September. | Union claims of "rosters from hell" on the new night time Tube service are "not true", London Underground (LU) has said. |
38,740,205 | "Today, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is higher than at any time in the last 650,000 years. #climate," said one of the tweets.
The posts by Badlands National Park in South Dakota were widely shared but had all been removed by Tuesday evening.
The National Park Service shut its own Twitter operation briefly on Friday after an apparent clampdown.
Trump's 'control-alt-delete' on climate
The park service had retweeted photos about turnout at President Donald Trump's inauguration.
But the accounts were reactivated the next day after an apology for "mistaken" retweets.
Since then the park service tweets have been about park news and scenery, but on Tuesday afternoon, the South Dakota park started posting tweets about climate science data.
President Trump has previously called climate change a hoax and the White House deleted the climate change policies on its website on the day of the inauguration.
The park service could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, a media blackout has been introduced at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to the Associated Press news agency.
It bans staff from awarding new contracts or posting on any of the agency's social media accounts,
The main EPA account has not posted anything since 19 January, a day before Mr Trump's inauguration.
The new president angered environmentalists on Tuesday with two executive actions that advance two controversial pipelines.
But Mr Trump said the Keystone XL and the Dakota Access pipelines were important because they would create thousands of construction jobs. | A US national park has posted a series of tweets about climate change that were later deleted. |
23,412,017 | Coloured stones are, of course, much more affordable than their pricier, harder, relatives.
And millions more people, especially in Asia, want to buy them.
But could another explanation be that many more women are now buying gems for themselves?
That is the theory being put forward by one of Hatton Garden's most established jewellers.
Vashi Dominguez, the founder of the firm Diamond Manufacturers, believes prices are now being driven by the choices that women make.
When men choose gemstones for their partners, they often go for diamonds, he says. But when they do the choosing themselves, many women prefer at least one coloured gemstone in a piece of jewellery - a ruby, a sapphire, or an emerald.
They have also received encouragement from celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Penelope Cruz, who can afford diamonds aplenty, but who often choose to wear sapphires and emeralds instead.
Not to mention the Duchess of Cambridge, with the engagement ring she inherited from Princess Diana.
"I have a thing about colour - amethysts and rubies," says Georgina Rycyk, a marketing manager in Hatton Garden, the centre of the UK's jewellery trade.
She has just bought herself what she describes as a "sizeable" ruby.
"I just really like colours. My budget is not in diamonds, although it might be one day," she says.
Many customers appear to think along similar lines. Even if they still want one diamond in an engagement ring, they also want a splash of colour.
"What women want is a vintage setting, with coloured side stones," says Ms Rycyk.
Demand for coloured stones has increased threefold since 2010, according to Diamond Manufacturers' Mr Dominguez.
As a result, the company is selling fewer diamonds.
"It's because women are driving the market," he says, "even in China."
If men choose jewellery, he says, they tend to buy a ring with a single diamond in it, otherwise known as a solitaire.
"Buying jewellery is normally a very daunting experience for a man," he says.
"Often they don't even know the ring size, while women really know what they want. Some women even say, 'Can you change the diamonds to sapphires?'"
Georgina Rycyk believes most men are fishing in the dark when it comes to choosing jewellery for a wife or girlfriend.
"If I was to go into a sports shop to buy a pair of football boots, I would have no idea what to look for," she says.
Source: Gemval/RAPI
"It's the same when men try to buy jewellery."
The market price of coloured stones appears to reflect their growing popularity around the globe.
Gemval, which claims to offer the world's first online valuation tool for gemstones, reckons that the price of sapphires rose by 37% between January 2006 and January 2013.
Rubies rose by 47% over the same period.
Emeralds rose significantly in 2005, but between 2006 and 2013 only rose by about 6%.
According to the RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI), the price for one-carat diamonds has risen by 32% since 2006.
In other words, sapphires and rubies have outpaced diamonds over the past seven years.
But the science of pricing such gems is not exact.
"The problem with coloured stones is that there is no grading," says Martin Rapaport, whose company produces the RapNet index at its headquarters in Israel.
"But if you want a top quality ruby or emerald, they will compete with diamonds at that level," he says.
Jaspreet Chawla, a London-based gemmologist, believes the price rises reflect a growing trend in certain markets.
"In the US and Germany there is a more pronounced move towards coloured stones," she says, "increasingly so after Kate Middleton wore a sapphire.
"But the UK is still diamond-dominated."
Celebrities may indeed be helping to make coloured gemstones fashionable.
Penelope Cruz and Elizabeth Hurley both have sapphire rings, while Halle Berry and Angelina Jolie are fans of emeralds.
Chloe Fuller, a marketing manager from south-west London, bought herself a blue sapphire ring for £900, and a sapphire necklace for £700, after inheriting money from her grandmother.
She dreams of being able to afford a pair of sapphire ear-rings to match.
"Before Kate, everyone was buying solitaires," she says.
"But now a lot of my friends have sapphire rings like this. They're classic, and they won't date.
"I also wear lots of blue, so it goes with what I wear," she says.
But she dismisses suggestions that men are not good at choosing jewellery for their partners.
She brandishes a bracelet with a miniature ice cream attached.
"My boyfriend gave me this, because I like ice cream. I like it, because it's what he likes.
"It's the thought that counts." | Over the past eight years, the price of rubies and sapphires appears to have increased faster than that of diamonds. |
17,898,563 | In a message on TV, they said they held the state broadcasting building, the airport and army barracks after a counter-coup attempt by loyalists of ousted President Amadou Toumani Toure.
However, some gunfire can still be heard in the city. Several people are believed to have been killed.
The junta handed power to an interim government after the March coup.
But the junta - led by Capt Amadou Sanago - is still thought to wield considerable influence in the West African country and opposes plans to send a regional peacekeeping force to the country.
In the TV message broadcast early on Tuesday, the coup leaders said the situation was under control after the clashes with members of the presidential guard and "foreign elements".
Members of the "Red Berets" presidential guards unit earlier reportedly entered the broadcaster's building, which had been controlled by pro-junta forces since the coup.
"These are elements of the presidential guard from the old regime and they're trying to turn things around," junta spokesman Bacary Mariko told the Reuters news agency.
Bamako-based journalist Martin Vogl said the airport and the junta's military base just outside the capital were also attacked.
He says it is not clear where the latest shooting is coming from.
The clashes reportedly came after junta loyalists tried to arrest the head of the presidential guard, whose forces decided to strike first.
One eyewitness told Reuters that the streets of Bamako were deserted. Electricity has been cut in several part of the city.
A spokesman for the regional body, Ecowas, told the BBC he was not surprised by the fighting because the junta was "still meddling" in the affairs of government.
"We urge [the military] to get back to barracks," said Sonny Ugoh.
He said there was "no alternative" to sending troops to Mali but stressed they were to help Mali fight rebels who have seized control of the three northern provinces of Timbuktu, Kidal and Gao - a mostly desert area the size of France.
The rebels are a combination of ethnic Tuareg separatists and Islamists, who want to impose Sharia law across the whole country.
The 22 March coup was led by soldiers who accused former President Toure of failing to combat the insurgency, which took advantage of the unrest to make rapid advances.
Martin Vogl says the coup leaders oppose Ecowas plans for interim President Dioncounda Traore to stay in power for a year while organising elections.
Despite officially handing over power on 12 April, the junta later went on to arrest a number of loyalist to the ousted president, prompting Mr Toure to flee to neighbouring Senegal. | Mali's coup leaders have said they are in control of the situation in Bamako, after hours of fighting in the capital. |
40,573,672 | Pennsylvania officials announced a person of interest on Tuesday as search crews focused on a vast farm owned by the man's parents.
Cosmo DiNardo, 20, was identified and also arrested on an unrelated weapons charge, but later released on bail.
Officials say his arrest was not linked to the criminal investigation.
"I want to be very careful to stress that he's a person of interest," said Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub, explaining that he was not currently considered a suspect.
"Sometimes the chasm between a person of interest, and being a person that is actually accused or arrested, and certainly convicted of a crime, is so wide that we never cross it," he added about Mr DiNardo.
Court records show Mr DiNardo was charged with possessing a shotgun despite having a history of mental health issues, including involuntary commitment.
Search crews using heavy machinery, metal detectors, and cadaver dogs have been scouring the Solebury Township 68-acre farm - about 40 miles (65km) north of Philadelphia.
News helicopters have been hovering overhead broadcasting the workers tearing up concrete and sifting through dirt.
Jimi Patrick, 19, was last seen on Wednesday evening one week ago and was reported missing after he did not arrive for work the following day.
Mark Sturgis, 22, Thomas Meo, 21, and Dean Finocchiaro, 18, were each last seen on Friday evening.
Officials have not yet said what connections the men have to each other or if they believe them to be alive.
Sources tell US media that a ping from a mobile phone belonging to one of the men led investigators to the farmland property.
Cosmo DiNardo was freed after posting 10% of a $1m (£775,000) bail. Authorities had on Monday re-filed weapons charges against him that had already been dismissed in May.
The man's parents, Antonio, 46, and Sandra DiNardo, 47, have been subpoenaed to appear before a county grand jury on Thursday, and have had their mobile phones seized, Fox News reports.
The FBI has been called to aid in the investigation, the district attorney said. | Authorities are searching for four young men who vanished over a two-day period in a wealthy Philadelphia suburb, and say foul play is suspected. |
39,089,614 | The Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) study compared regulations on hunting game birds in 14 different European countries.
The Scottish government said it now planned to look "very carefully" at the report.
It wants to see if it can learn lessons on issues such as tackling wildlife crime and raptor persecution.
All 14 countries studied regulate game bird hunting through legislation and use a system of licensing of individual hunters, with the strictest form of the requirement making harvest quota and bag reporting a condition of the licence.
In many of the countries examined, hunters must pass a two-part practical and theoretical examination in order to qualify for a hunting licence.
All 14 countries are able to revoke hunting licences if the legislation is contravened and most also penalise serious breaches of hunting law.
In Scotland, game birds can be shot during their open season, which vary according to the species.
Other than the firearms legislation, which provides the necessary control for access to firearms, there is very little regulation associated with hunting game birds.
Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: "We will be looking very carefully at these different management approaches to see whether they offer the means to address issues such as raptor persecution.
"Already we have committed to a number of new measures to tackle wildlife crime within Scotland including; increases in criminal penalties, a prevention review and the creation of a dedicated investigative support unit within Police Scotland."
The Scottish government requested the report as part of a package of work to tackle wildlife crime and, particularly, the illegal killing of raptors.
It also forms part of an ongoing, broader discussion about how land is owned and managed for public benefit.
The 14 countries reviewed were Germany, Norway, Sweden, Spain, France, Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Slovakia, Finland, Romania, Estonia, Bulgaria, and Denmark, with five chosen as case studies.
All the case-study countries drew a link between the regulation of sustainable hunting and the conservation of game bird species.
Earlier research found the countries with the most significant problem with the illegal killing of predatory birds included the UK and Spain.
SNH chairman Ian Ross said: "This review provides an in-depth look at how other countries in Europe control game bird hunting to make sure it's safe and sustainable.
"It can also inform our thinking on tackling wildlife crime."
Duncan Orr-Ewing, head of species and land management at RSPB Scotland, said: "We are clear that the failure by grouse moor owners over decades to self-regulate and put a stop to the illegal killing of raptors and the carrying-out of other unsustainable land management practices has led us to this point.
"We support the licensing of 'driven' grouse shooting, with clear sanctions to remove such licences on individual landholdings if there is evidence of illegal practice."
A spokesman for Scottish Land & Estates said: "The research demonstrates that although a licensing system may be in operation, the nature of what that licensing regime entails varies significantly from country to country, and is frequently determined by historical traditions and government structures.
"We have and continue to support tougher sentences for wildlife crime in Scotland, but what this research also makes clear is that wildlife crime remains a concern in many countries that have licensing regulation." | Many other European countries have more regulation of game bird hunting than Scotland, a report has found. |
31,813,207 | The Lynx UK Trust wants to do just this.
It has launched a questionnaire to find out what people think, before it then asks the Natural England and Scottish Natural Heritage for permission to go ahead with trial releases.
Polarised views are likely to be expressed. Some would love to see cute tufty-eared and spotty cats wandering our woods and hills and controlling plagues of deer that are destroying our woodlands.
Others fear that these 'fierce' carnivores would eat our sheep, threaten the livelihoods of farmers and gamekeepers, endanger native British species, and leave pet owners and even parents in fear.
But it is not clear what information is being provided to help people make a dispassionate judgement.
What are the possible advantages and disadvantages?
Medium-sized cat found in western Europe, Russia and central Asia. The last British lynx, closely related to the north European lynx, disappeared around 700 AD.
It hunts deer and smaller species such as rabbit and hare and is highly elusive.
Other European countries which have successfully reintroduced lynx have developed wildlife tourism alongside them.
The animals are solitary apart from during the breeding season.
Adults vary in size from 80-130cm in length and up to 70cm at the shoulder. They can weigh from 10-40kg.
Source: Lynx UK Trust
The Eurasian lynx was the largest wild species of cat in Britain throughout the last 10,000 plus years, only dying out in the first millennium AD, almost certainly as a consequence of human persecution.
It 'belongs' in our countryside. Indeed, we are obliged under the European Habitats Directive to "study the desirability of reintroducing [threatened] species" that have become extinct from our region.
The suggested benefits of reintroducing lynx are to make British ecosystems more natural, attract ecotourism, control deer populations and hence reduce economic damage to forestry, and thus allow forests to regenerate naturally.
This would reduce the need for costly deer fences, increase the amount of undergrowth in woodlands (benefitting some woodland birds), and reduce the numbers of deer spilling out of the woods and eating farmers' crops.
The lynx are also likely to eat 'invasive' muntjac deer and rabbits, neither of which are native to Britain, and they will sometimes kill foxes.
There is a negligible direct risk to humans.
Seems sensible.
Not all benefits will necessarily be realised, and there are some genuine risks.
The numbers of deer killed by lynx in European studies seem insufficient to reduce deer populations to the point that they would allow tree generation.
Benefits in Scotland may be minimal because the main culprit preventing regeneration is red deer, whereas the lynx usually catch the smaller roe deer.
Most European studies find low predation rates on domestic livestock (a farmer compensation system will be needed) in areas where sheep are rare, but a recent study in Norway reported lynx to be killing twice as many domestic sheep as roe deer in summer.
We need to take care in the sheep-strewn British countryside.
They also sometimes eat grouse and presumably pheasants, which will bring them into conflict with landowners even if the actual losses are fairly small.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds will also be unhappy if lynx eat the last 1,300 surviving capercaillies, the largest species of grouse in Scotland.
Then there is the cost.
The Eurasian lynx is one of the least threatened species of cat in the world and it is already increasing in continental Europe.
Why spend hundreds of thousands if not millions of pounds on a species that is not endangered when we could introduce the much smaller Iberian lynx, which is the most threatened species of cat on Earth?
The Iberian species is now restricted to Spain and Portugal, but its ancestors lived throughout Europe before they were displaced by the incoming Eurasian species, which arrived from the east some 130,000 years ago.
The Iberian lynx appears to be the closest surviving relative of the original British lynx - why not introduce this truly-endangered rabbit-eating cat instead? | As each successive 'sighting' of a big cat in the British countryside disappears into a media-stoked mirage, it is time to ask whether we should release real 10-30 kg cats onto our land once more. |
36,972,396 | Unofficial tallies show that 61.45% voted in favour.
The military threw out the old constitution when it took power in 2014, after months of political instability and sporadic violence.
Supporters of the new document say it will restore stability, but critics say it will entrench military control.
Voters also supported a second measure on the ballot, which proposes that the appointed senate should be involved in selecting a prime minister.
Turnout was about 55%, the election commission said - well below its target figure of 80%.
Campaigning against the draft in the run-up to the referendum was banned and dozens of people were detained. Thailand's biggest political parties rejected the constitution.
About 200,000 police officers were deployed to maintain order and there were no reports of protests.
Independent observer groups had requested accreditation to monitor the vote, but this was not granted by the election commission.
The military government took a gamble in holding this referendum. Its performance in the two years since it seized power has been muddled, the economy is in poor shape and the government it ousted was led by a popular party which had won every election held in the past 15 years.
The gamble paid off. Despite strong warnings from human rights groups and prominent politicians about the undemocratic character of the new constitution, a clear majority of those who voted approved it.
But turnout was low, and the repressive climate which preceded the referendum, when campaigning against the charter was banned, will undermine the legitimacy of the result for many Thais.
The military now plans to hold a general election by the end of next year. Under the new voting system, this is likely to produce a weak coalition administration. And a wholly-appointed Senate and other unelected bodies will be given a decisive say over Thai politics, in what might best be described as a guided democracy.
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The 50 million eligible voters were asked to answer yes or no to the question: Do you accept the draft constitution? They were also asked a supplementary question, whether or not the appointed senate should be allowed to join the lower house in selecting a prime minister.
The draft will now become the constitution, enhancing the military government's legitimacy in the run-up to an election which Mr Prayuth, who led the 2014 coup, has promised will happen next year.
The military argues that corrupt politicians are to blame for the last decade of instability and divisive politics.
Made public in March, the draft proposes a voting system which would make it difficult for a single political party to win a majority of seats in the lower house.
One of the most controversial clauses calls for the 250-seat senate to be fully appointed by the military government.
Before the coup, just over half of the upper house seats were directly elected and the rest were appointed.
The change means military-appointed lawmakers will have a decisive say in the likely event that no party holds a majority in the lower house, or National Assembly of Thailand.
Thailand has had more than a decade of fractured politics and instability that has sometimes spilled over into violence.
In this time, parties linked to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra have won every election, but their governments have all been ousted either by court rulings or military coups.
Mr Thaksin fled into self-imposed exile in 2008 to escape a criminal charge of abusing his power, for which he was later convicted in absentia.
His sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, became prime minister in 2011 but was forced to resign by the Constitutional Court just days before the military took power. She was banned from politics for five years in January 2015 after a military-appointed court found her guilty of mismanaging a rice scheme.
"I'm happy that I could still exercise my rights as a [Thai] person," she said, after voting on Sunday. | A clear majority of Thai referendum voters have backed a draft constitution written by an army-appointed committee. |
34,577,943 | It had previously vowed to take in only 2,500 migrants per day.
Croatia has also opened its border with Serbia, where thousands more migrants are trying to reach northern Europe.
Aid agencies have been warning of dire conditions as bottlenecks develop at border crossings in the Balkans.
Hundreds of thousands of migrants, many from Syria, Africa and Afghanistan, have been making their way from Turkey to the Balkans in recent months, in a bid to reach Germany, Sweden and other EU states.
On Monday evening, Germany has seen large rival rallies in Dresden to mark the first anniversary of the anti-immigrant group Pegida.
They come amid fears the group is becoming more radical in response to Germany's decision to take in hundreds of thousands of refugees this year.
No-man's land: Border closures leave thousands stranded
Long winter sets in: EU pins hope on deteriorating weather
Merkel under pressure: Chancellor's migrant policy faces criticism at home
Crisis in graphics: Migration numbers explained
Croatia and Slovenia appeared to ease restrictions on the flow of migrants late on Monday, after thousands of people were stranded for hours in wet, cold and windy conditions.
Both countries imposed stricter controls at the weekend after Hungary, citing security concerns, closed its southern border and forced migrants to switch to a slower route via Slovenia.
Slovenia's interior ministry said on Monday that some 5,000 migrants were allowed to enter from Croatia, and 900 of them had already travelled onwards to Austria by the evening.
Slovenia earlier criticised Croatia for allowing large groups of migrants over the border, and breaking an agreement to limit such transfers to 2,500 people a day.
Meanwhile, Croatia decided to open its border late on Monday, after aid workers warned of "dire" conditions for another 3,000 refugees stuck in cold and wet weather without shelter on the Serbia-Croatia frontier.
Croatian buses transported the thousands of migrants to a nearby reception centre.
Croatia's Prime Minister Zoran MIlanovic said his government had hoped to stem the flow of people but poor conditions on the Serbian side of the border had forced them to let the migrants through.
"It's apparent that this is no solution, so we will let them through. We will send them toward Slovenia," he said.
Before Monday's mass crossing, the UNHCR said 10,000 migrants were stranded in Serbia - with more than 6,000 entering from Macedonia on Monday alone.
Some Serbian officials have also indicated they may in turn hold back arrivals from the south.
More than 600,000 people, most of them Syrians, have reached Europe so far this year compared with just over 200,000 for the whole of 2014
Germany has said it expects 800,000 asylum seekers this year, but it is believed the number could be as high as 1.5 million.
Scuffles broke out during protests in Dresden on Monday, as 20,000 Pegida supporters confronted a similar number of counter demonstrators amid an angry backlash over Germany's open-door policy towards migrants.
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. | Slovenia says it has allowed most of the 5,000 people who were stranded in wet and muddy conditions on its border with Croatia on Monday in the country. |
32,843,186 | Two different videos show Kim Jong-chol visiting the Royal Albert Hall on successive days.
He has previously been seen attending Clapton concerts abroad.
One North Korea observer confirmed the man in the footage was Mr Kim, who was taken out of the leadership succession several years ago.
Video filmed by a Japanese television network on Thursday shows a car arriving outside the venue in west London, and a woman wearing a green leather jacket and sunglasses emerging from inside.
Cameras follow her briefly before Mr Kim, dressed in almost identical clothes, also walks out of the car.
He is asked a number of questions by journalists but does not speak. Several minders surround him, and they push journalists and cameras away from the man.
The same visitors were also seen at a Clapton concert in the same venue on Wednesday night.
Simeon Paterson, a BBC journalist who attended Thursday's concert, said: "He was just like any other fan, but there were officials all around him.
"They were obviously not Clapton fans, and looked really out of place. But he was having a great time, singing along to all the words."
Kim Jong-chol has attended Eric Clapton concerts in Germany in 2006 and Singapore in 2011.
Mike Madden, who runs the North Korea Leadership blog, said he could confirm it was Kim Jong-chol. Mr Madden said he had been told members of the Kim family were travelling to the West in May.
Mr Madden said one man who holds Mr Kim's arm in Wednesday's video was a trusted aide to the Kim family. "He knows everything that the Kim family is up to at all hours of the day - an important man," said Mr Madden.
He added that Mr Kim and his aides were likely to have been travelling on diplomatic visas issued by the North Korean embassy in London, or on passports from other countries.
The South Korean news agency Yonhap said (in Korean) that Kim Jong-chol stayed at the Chelsea Harbour Hotel in west London, where rooms can cost more than £2,100 ($3,290) a night. The hotel did not respond to the BBC's requests for a comment.
He had been due to board a flight to Moscow on Friday, Yonhap said.
According to the North Korean Leadership blog, Kim Jong-chol is the oldest child of the fourth wife of former ruler Kim Jong-il, and is 33 years old.
It says that, like his full brother Kim Jong-un, he was educated in Switzerland before returning to North Korea.
Kim Jong-il's former sushi chef said the former ruler saw his son as being "no good because he is like a little girl."
Kim Jong-chol had at one point been considered for the North Korean leadership, but was overlooked by his father in 2009. Kim Jong-un eventually took over when his father died in December 2011.
The North Korean Leadership blog says that Kim Jong-chol has "a pleasant, outgoing personality" and plays an important support role for his brother. At one point, he worked in North Korea's propaganda department. | Footage has emerged showing North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un's elder brother in London - attending two Eric Clapton concerts. |
39,882,764 | The social network is tweaking the algorithm that picks posts for feeds to do a better job of spotting "low quality" web pages.
Instead, the algorithm will seek out more informative posts.
It said the change was part of broader work it was doing to make Facebook less profitable for spammers.
The change was aimed at sites that contained "little substantive content" and were set up only to profit from users' attention, it said.
Facebook said it had already worked on ways to stop spammers from advertising on the network and now it wanted to do more to take on "organic posts" that turned up in news feeds.
Users had told it they were "disappointed" when they clicked on links that seemed to point to a news site but instead put them on a page built largely around adverts, Facebook said.
And these included pages with intrusive pop-up or interstitial ads, or that used pornographic pictures for dating sites or shocking images for treatments that purported to tackle many different ailments.
Facebook said its analysis of hundreds of thousands of web pages helped it to identify those run by spammers.
And this "fingerprint" of a spam site was now being used to spot whether posts for feeds had similar characteristics.
Facebook said the updated algorithm would be rolled out across its many territories over the next few months.
"The change could help Facebook fight fake news, as fakers are often financially motivated and blanket their false information articles in ads," wrote Josh Constine on news site TechCrunch.
He added that the change was important as it would help build trust in the content users were being fed. | Websites that harbour "disruptive, shocking or malicious" adverts will appear less frequently on user's news feeds, Facebook has said. |
37,693,103 | The teenager, who cannot be named, was 14 when she and her boyfriend plotted to kill Elizabeth Edwards, 49, and her daughter, Katie, 13, as they slept at their home in Spalding, Lincolnshire.
Jurors heard the victims were smothered with pillows and repeatedly stabbed in a "cold, calculated and callous" act.
A 15-year-old boy admitted murder at the start of the trial.
The girl had denied murder but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
What drove teen sweethearts to murder?
During the six-day trial, Nottingham Crown Court heard the love-struck teenagers' relationship compared to that of US gangsters Bonnie and Clyde.
Jurors had heard how the teenagers meticulously planned the murders before carrying them out "to the letter".
The seven men and five women of the jury took just two and a half hours to reach their verdicts.
More on this and other stories from across Lincolnshire
The bodies of Mrs Edwards and her daughter were found in their beds on 15 April.
Mrs Edwards was stabbed by the boy eight times, twice in the throat in a deliberate attempt to ensure her daughter was not woken by screams or cries for help. One blow injured her jugular and the other almost completely severed her windpipe.
Katie Edwards was stabbed twice in the neck with severe force before she was smothered by the boy.
The girlfriend, who did not physically take part in the killings, told police she heard Mrs Edwards "struggling and gurgling" and said she heard Katie Edwards say "I can't breathe" as she was set upon.
Following the killings the couple shared a bath, had sex and watched four Twilight movies before they were arrested.
The court heard the teenagers had planned to commit suicide after the killings but decided not to go through with that part of their plan.
The knife used in the murders - a black-handled kitchen knife with a 20cm blade - was found discarded in Katie's bedroom.
Prosecutor Peter Joyce QC described the murders as "cold, calculated and callous".
In her police interview the girl told officers she had "felt like murdering for quite a while".
She told detectives she and her boyfriend formed their plan on 9 April, four days before the killings, and once the mother and daughter were dead she "felt fine".
The court heard she told police interviewers: "I was OK with it. Just the fact that it happened so quickly gave me peace of mind."
These two teenagers now have the notoriety of becoming the youngest couple in Britain to have killed. It was a planned double murder born out of an intense relationship. They were two 14-year-olds who in the court appearances following their arrest exchanged smiles and loving looks.
But when the boy pleaded guilty to murder last week, the body language between the two was very different. No furtive looks, no smiles. They coldly ignored each other. It emerged over the coming days they had split up. Hardly surprising as they've both been kept in separate secure accommodation.
What ruins they have left behind though. Drawn together by suicidal thoughts, they convinced each other over a McDonald's meal that the solution to the grudge she had against 49-year-old Liz Edwards was to kill. Intense planning followed where the murder of Ms Edwards' daughter was also approved.
The boyfriend wounded the school dinner lady terribly before smothering her with a pillow. It wasn't quick - she struggled and fought for her life while the girl watched on.
The girlfriend had reservations about creeping into Katie Edwards' smaller room with its bunk bed and killing her too. Those concerns weren't strong enough to stop the boy. The account of how he murdered the 13-year-old are some of the most harrowing details I have heard in 17 years of court reporting.
Their crimes of passion are truly shocking. It's worth pausing for a moment to reflect on what two children did to another child and questioning just how their relationship got to the stage where their murderous plan seemed perfectly plausible.
In the girlfriend's defence, psychiatrist Dr Indranil Chakrabarti said he believed the teenager, who did not give evidence, had been suffering from an adjustment disorder at the time of the killings.
He said as a result she was unable to form a rational judgment and unable to exercise self control.
But consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Philip Joseph disagreed with that diagnosis. He stated that even if the girl had been suffering from such a disorder "it is blindingly obvious that it has got nothing to do with the killings".
He told the court how during his interview with the girl in September she was "inappropriately upbeat" and did not look upset or show remorse.
Comparing the teenagers to American crime duo Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, Dr Joseph said: "If they hadn't got together and had the intense, toxic relationship, they [the killings] would never have happened."
As the verdicts were read out the girl showed little emotion, but a number of people in the public gallery cried, sobbed and gasped.
The judge, Mr Justice Haddon-Cave, paid tribute to the detectives involved in investigating what he described as an "exceptional case by any standards".
He adjourned sentence on both defendants until November and will also rule on whether they should be identified at a later hearing.
Speaking outside court, Det Ch Insp Martin Holvey said: "This case was distressing for the families involved, for Katie's school friends and for Elizabeth's colleagues, friends and the children at the school where she worked as well as having a shocking impact on the wider community of Spalding.
"What makes this case even more shocking is that these two were just 14 when they planned and committed these callous, senseless and unprovoked attacks.
"This case has left a number of lives in ruins not only Elizabeth and Katie's families but also the two juveniles who committed this horrendous crime." | A 15-year-old girl has been found guilty of murdering a mother and daughter. |
18,423,478 | The
Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (Nustar)
was sent into space on a Pegasus rocket operated out of the Kwajalein Atol in the central Pacific.
Nustar will study high-energy X-rays coming from exotic sources such as black holes, exploded stars and the hot gas in galaxy clusters.
The observatory will capture its target X-rays using a novel optics system held on the end of a 10m-long extension.
"Nustar will open up a whole new window on the Universe by being the very first telescope to focus high-energy X-rays," explained Fiona Harrison, Nustar's principal investigator from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California.
"As such it will make images that are 10 times crisper and 100 times more sensitive than any telescope that has operated in this region of the spectrum."
Nustar will be sensitive to X-ray photons with energies in the range of six to 79 kiloelectron volts (keV). This is beyond the vision of the two large-class observatories currently in orbit -
Nasa's Chandra telescope
and the European Space Agency's
(Esa) XMM-Newton facility
.
Nustar's breakthrough is the new technology that has gone into its nested shells of highly reflective grazing mirrors, and the detectors it will be using in its camera system. The long mast that gives Nustar its 10m focal length has never been deployed on a space telescope before but borrows heavily from the extendable mechanism flown on the shuttle radar topography mission of 2000.
Nustar's total mission budget is $170m (£110m), which includes the cost of development, the launch vehicle and two years of in-orbit operations.
Nasa could extend the mission in 2014 if it feels the telescope is delivering on its science goals. These include generating sky maps of high-energy X-ray sources. At the moment, such maps are very coarse. It is hoped Nustar will resolve many more objects than has previously been possible.
Nustar will also study the region in the immediate vicinity of black holes, where the immense gravitational attraction of these objects is shredding and accelerating the gas and dust that has got too close.
"By studying atoms in the X-ray band as they circle around the black hole, before they disappear into it, we can actually detect the effects of this strong gravity; and by teaming up with other telescopes such as Chandra and XMM-Newton, we can tell things for example like how fast the black hole is spinning," said Prof Harrison.
In addition, Nustar will investigate the material recently shed by supernovas to help get a better understanding of how stars explode and how they synthesize heavy chemical elements in the process.
Nustar will even turn its gaze on our Sun, to probe the processes driving the extraordinary million-degree temperatures in its
outer atmosphere, or corona
.
"One of the dominant theories explaining it is nanoflares, but no telescope prior to Nustar has had the sensitivity to see whether nanoflares actually exist," said Dan Stern, Nustar project scientist.
"Within a few hours of observations, Nustar will answer this long-standing question that solar physicists have been scratching their heads about for years."
Nustar went into space on the air-launched Pegasus XL rocket.
This vehicle was carried to a height of about 41,000ft (12.5km) under the belly of a L-1011 Stargazer aircraft.
The Pegasus was then dropped, igniting its motor to take the telescope payload the rest of the way into space.
Nustar's ascent to the planned 600km-high, equatorial orbit took about 800 seconds.
The telescope's first task was to open solar array panels to charge its battery. It will be another week before the mast is extended.
"After the mast is deployed, the optics and the detector are at the right separation to make a high-resolution X-ray image, so we can start instrument calibration which lasts approximately three weeks," said Yunjin Kim, the project manager for the mission at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory also in Pasadena.
"After instrument calibration is completed, Nustar is ready to listen to what the X-ray Universe has to tell us."
[email protected] and follow me on
Twitter | The US space agency (Nasa) has launched its latest orbiting X-ray observatory. |
22,327,439 | A group of inmates used homemade knives and picks to attack rivals at the La Pila prison, the state attorney general's office was quoted as saying.
Authorities took several hours to bring the fighting under control.
Deadly outbreaks of violence are common in Mexico's overcrowded jails, which house inmates from rival drug gangs.
Dozens of people were injured - some seriously - in the fighting that broke out at La Pila, situated in the state capital, early on Saturday morning, officials said.
The authorities in the northern state of San Luis Potosi have begun to name the dead and warned concerned families waiting for news that the number of fatalities may rise.
Violence began when a group of prisoners took action after being harassed by other inmates, news agency AP quoted the state attorney general's office as saying.
Rivalries between criminal gangs frequently spills over into Mexico's antiquated and dangerous prisons, correspondents say. Studies say some prisons are effectively run by gangs.
Human rights groups say the penal system suffers from chronic overcrowding and is in urgent need of an overhaul.
Despite assertions that the prison system would be reformed after the last major incident, in which 44 inmates were killed, there have been no tangible improvements, neither during the final year of the previous administration nor in the first six months of President Enrique Pena Nieto's government, says the BBC's Will Grant in Mexico City. | At least 13 people are dead after a battle broke out between prisoners at a jail in the central Mexican state of San Luis Potosi. |
40,204,060 | Yusuf Sonko was found injured in Tagus Street, Toxteth, on Friday evening and later pronounced dead.
The bikes, which police said had been damaged by fire, were found on the corner of Corinto Street and Upper Stanhope Street on Wednesday night.
Two people have been held on suspicion of murder in connection with the death.
Det Ch Insp Mark Tivendale, of Merseyside Police, said: "I would appeal to anyone who lives in the area around Upper Stanhope Street who may have seen anyone riding these bikes in the past few days, or seen anyone acting suspiciously on the patch of land at the junction of Corinto Street to get in touch.
"I would also ask any taxi drivers with dash-cam footage or anyone with CCTV footage that may be relevant to get in touch."
He added officers were "keeping an open mind into the motive for the shooting" and renewed an appeal for witnesses to contact them.
A post-mortem examination found Mr Sonko died from a single gunshot wound to the head. Police have said they believe the attack was targeted.
A 21-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder has been released on bail pending further inquiries.
A 17 year-old boy, also held on suspicion of murder, has been released under investigation. | Two abandoned bicycles are being examined by police investigating the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old man in Liverpool. |
32,299,253 | Can you recite the constituencies of prime ministers? Do your friends roll their eyes if you mention the recounts in 1974?
Jeremy Vine asks five questions to sort the hanging chads from the swinging marginals.
If you can answer Jeremy's questions, without cheating, email your details and your answers to [email protected]
We will publish a video here with the answers later on Tuesday 14 April.
You can submit your own question for the ultimate election geek. | Are you the ultimate election geek? |
29,527,838 | This year's BBC Price of Football study found that the average price of the cheapest match-day ticket in the top four divisions of English football is up 4.4% from 2013.
The BBC contacted 207 clubs for the study. Of those, 176 were in England, Scotland and Wales and another 31 in Europe.
Start by choosing your team and entering your costs below. You can scroll down to see full data tables.
Rangers FC are omitted from the survey and calculator because they did not provide data to the BBC. Full details on how the calculator works, and how the survey was compiled, can be read here.
*This figure was amended on 4 February, 2015, in accordance with further details supplied.
(Conversion rate: I EUR= £0.78 (September 24)
(Conversion rate: I EUR= £0.78 (September 24)
(Conversion rate: 1 EUR= £0.78 (September 24)
Conversion rate 1 SEK = £0.08 (September 24)
Conversion rate 1DKK = £0.10 (September 24)
Conversion rate 1 NOK = £0.10 (September 24)
Conversion rate 1 EUR = £0.78 (September 24)
Conversion rate 1 EUR = £0.78 (September 24)
Conversion rate 1 EUR = £0.78 (September 24)
Conversion rate 1 EUR = £0.78 (September 24) | How much will you spend supporting your team this season? |
18,108,519 | Flanker Williams, 36, will win his 100th Wales cap against the Barbarians on Saturday, 2 June.
Wales captain and Blues man Warburton said: "I was disappointed, to be honest, with the last game at the Blues when there was only about 3,000 there.
"And for a player like Martyn, you think he deserves a better send-off."
Williams' final game for the Blues came in the Pro12 League at Cardiff City Stadium on Sunday, 22 April when they beat Edinburgh 38-13 in front of an official 3,580 attendance.
Saturday, 2 June: Wales v Barbarians (Millennium Stadium, 14:00 BST)
Saturday, 9 June: Australia v Wales (Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane; 11:00 BST)
Tuesday, 12 June: Brumbies v Wales (Canberra Stadium, Canberra; 10:30 BST)
Saturday, 16 June: Australia v Wales (Etihad Stadium, Melbourne; 11:00 BST)
Saturday, 23 June: Australia v Wales (Aussie Stadium, Sydney; 06:00 BST)
That crowd figure and other disappointing support at the home of Cardiff City Football Club prompted the Blues to return to Cardiff Arms Park for regular fixtures from next season.
But Warburton hopes Wales' fans can at least turn up in enough numbers for the Barbarians visit to give Williams "his just reward".
And the player who Williams helped nurture at the Blues also believes the former Pontypridd player would rue missing out on a century of Wales caps if the opportunity had not arisen.
"[It's] brilliant for him, yeah. He does really deserve that 100th cap and it would have haunted him for the rest of his life," said Warburton.
"He might not admit that, but I think he'd desperately want it. So I'm really chuffed for him that he's got that [coming]."
Williams was on the winning side when Wales met the Barbarians in 2011 as the invitation club to a dramatic 31-28 win over his own nation.
That was Williams' only match at that level since Wales' November 2010 Tests and was followed by a 99th cap against Argentina in August 2011 as Wales completed their build-up for the 2011 World Cup.
He was left out of the tournament squad and failed to win favour for the 2012 Six Nations in which Warburton's injury paved the way for Osprey Justin Tipuric to make his mark.
When Tipuric was also injured during the Six Nations, Scarlet Aaron Shingler made his debut at openside having built his reputation elsewhere in the back-five.
Those openside preferences have left Williams on the sidelines for their last 13 Tests.
Earlier in his career he was overlooked in favour of Brett Sinkinson, a New Zealander who won 20 caps while playing for Neath.
Sinkinson won 15 of those caps before being ruled ineligible for Wales amid the Grannygate scandal that broke in 2000, and five more after he later qualified for Wales on residency grounds.
If, as is likely, facing the Barbarians is Williams' Test swan song, he will bow out against long-time Wales team-mates Shane Williams, Stephen Jones and Duncan Jones.
However, former Cardiff RFC and Pontypridd flanker Williams is also on standby for the Australia series.
With only seven days in between facing the Barbarians at the Millennium Stadium and taking on the Wallabies, Wales send a 15-strong advance party down under to acclimatise for the tour opener in Brisbane.
Warburton is expected to be among the advance guard as he continues to recover from the shoulder injury that ruled him out of the latter stages of Wales' 2012 Six Nations Grand Slam campaign.
FORWARDS: Ryan Bevington (Ospreys), Luke Charteris (Newport Gwent Dragons), Ian Evans (Ospreys), Bradley Davies (Cardiff Blues), Toby Faletau (Newport Gwent Dragons), Rhys Gill (Saracens), Richard Hibbard (Ospreys), Paul James (Ospreys), Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Rhodri Jones (Scarlets), Ryan Jones (Ospreys), Dan Lydiate (Newport Gwent Dragons), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Matthew Rees (Scarlets), Aaron Shingler (Scarlets), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Josh Turnbull (Scarlets), Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues), Martyn Williams (Cardiff Blues).
BACKS: Ashley Beck (Ospreys), Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Andrew Bishop (Ospreys), Aled Brew (Biarritz), Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues), Will Harries (Newport Gwent Dragons), James Hook (Ospreys), George North (Scarlets), Mike Phillips (Bayonne), Rhys Priestland (Scarlets), Harry Robinson (Cardiff Blues), Rhys Webb (Ospreys), Lloyd Williams (Cardiff Blues), Scott Williams (Scarlets), Liam Williams (Scarlets).
BACKS: Isa Nacewa (Fiji), Mils Muliaina (New Zealand), Ian Balshaw (England), Cedric Heymans (France), Shane Williams (Wales), Paul Sackey (England), Sailosi Tagicakibau (Samoa), Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu (Samoa), Mike Tindall (England), Damien Traille (France), Felipe Contepomi (Argentine), Stephen Donald (New Zealand), Stephen Jones (Wales), Rory Lawson (Scotland), Jerome Fillol (France).
FORWARDS: Schalk Brits (South Africa), Benoit August (France), John Smit (South Africa), Aled de Malmanche (New Zealand), John Afoa (New Zealand), Duncan Jones (Wales), B J Botha (South Africa), Neemia Tialata (New Zealand), Jerome Thion (France), Mick O'Driscoll (Ireland), Anton van Zyl (South Africa), Pelu Taele (Samoa), Raphael Lakafia (France), Antoine Burban (France), Akupusi Qera (Fiji), John Beattie (Scotland), Pedrie Wannenburg (South Africa), Juan Manuel Leguizamon (Argentine). | Openside flanker Martyn Williams deserves a better career send-off than he experienced for Cardiff Blues, according to Sam Warburton. |
40,805,224 | It follows acid attacks in London last month, where the victims included riders delivering by bike or moped.
Since then, over 70 Deliveroo riders have said they did not want to complete a delivery because of safety fears.
Among the measures being introduced are a new app feature that allows riders to raise security concerns, plus a trial of helmet cameras.
Last month, two riders working for Deliveroo and UberEats were among five people injured within 90 minutes in north London by moped riders who threw acid in their faces.
Deliveroo drivers are all self-employed so are not entitled to sick pay if they get attacked. They also use their own bikes and mopeds to deliver.
The company says it has upgraded its app for its riders, allowing them to raise safety concerns about specific delivery addresses.
These will then be shared with the company's headquarters and local authorities.
It is also conducting a trial with helmet-mounted cameras to allow riders to gather evidence, and to pass on information to the police.
The trial is taking place in Hackney, east London, which has become a trouble spot for riders.
Deliveroo is also hiring 50 new staff who will have a focus on rider safety.
Delivery rider Jabed Hussein was the first victim in the series of acid attacks last month. He was working for delivery company UberEats.
He told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme: "It was like getting fire on my face, I was screaming on the street.
"This shouldn't be a job where your life should be put at risk.
"Drivers I know are now clocking off at 22:00, it's too dangerous after then.
"Most of them won't work after this, whereas we used to work until 01:00.
"Now, I feel I'm working in some sort of jungle, like anything can eat me, I'm not safe."
Deliveroo managing director Dan Warne said: "The safety of our riders is the most important thing to us, and it's our responsibility as a company to step up our efforts so they can feel safe all of the time."
Watch the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme on weekdays between 09:00 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel. | The food delivery company Deliveroo is introducing safety measures to try to protect its riders from violence. |
38,875,675 | Emergency services found the 22-year-old with "life changing" injuries inside the vehicle on High Road, Ilford, just before 05:00 GMT.
Detectives from Trident, the Met Police's specialist gang crime unit, are investigating. One man has been arrested on suspicion of affray.
A witness travelling past the scene described it as resembling a "war zone". | A man has been found shot and stabbed in a car East London. |
33,619,252 | Andrea Constand sued Mr Cosby but settled for an undisclosed sum.
Excerpts from his testimony appeared in the New York Times on Saturday, which detailed how he pursued women.
Mr Cosby, 78, is facing a series of sexual assault accusations dating back to the 1970s.
He has always maintained his innocence and has never been criminally charged.
His lawyers said Ms Constand should be "sanctioned" for breaching their confidentiality agreement.
Ms Constand was a former employee of Temple University - the Philadelphia college with which Mr Cosby was once closely associated.
She claimed she was tricked into taking drugs before being sexually assaulted by the comedian. She sued after a prosecutor declined to press charges.
All documents from the 2005 lawsuit were sealed, until a federal judge released redacted excerpts earlier this month.
They contained testimony from Mr Cosby, in which he admitted under oath to obtaining a sedative, Quaaludes, to give to women he wanted to have sex with.
Mr Cosby also revealed he offered money to Ms Constand, and other women who had made allegations, in the form of educational trusts.
The rise and fall of Quaaludes
Bill Cosby: America's dad under fire
On 8 July Ms Constand applied to have the entire deposition unsealed and to break free from any confidentiality restrictions.
The New York Times later acquired its own record of the 1,000-page deposition and posted details on its website.
But his lawyers argue Mr Cosby's admission to using Quaaludes in the 1970s does not mean he drugged and sexually assaulted women.
"Reading the media accounts, one would conclude that defendant has admitted to rape," the filing to the District Court in Philadelphia said.
"And yet defendant admitted to nothing more than being one of the many people who introduced Quaaludes into their consensual sex life in the 1970s."
They called Ms Constand's request to release the full details of the settlement as an "obvious attempt to smear" the performer.
She should be also be sanctioned for leaking the deposition to the New York Times through her "own hired court reporter", they added.
"This massive breach of protocol and of the parties' settlement agreement dwarfs the petty complaints (Ms Constand) makes in her motion," the filing states.
Most of the claims of sexual assault against the star are barred by statutes of limitations. They restrict the length of time in which legal actions can be taken after an alleged crime has been committed.
The accusations, which Mr Cosby has described as "fantastical" and "uncorroborated", have led to some of his stand-up shows being called off and the cancellation of some TV projects.
2002: Lachele Covington, a 20-year-old actress, reportedly files a police report saying she had been inappropriately touched. No further action was taken.
2005: Andrea Constand sues Mr Cosby for sexual assault. The case is eventually settled out of court in 2006.
2014: Over the year, dozens of women make public accusations that Mr Cosby sexually assaulted them. Live shows are cancelled across the country amid protests
November 2014: TV network NBC scraps plans for a new show with the comedian following allegations by TV presenter Janice Dickinson that he had assaulted her in 1982. Repeats of the Cosby Show are also pulled from cable TV
December 2014: Judy Huth sues Mr Cosby for molesting her in 1974 when she was 15 years old. Mr Cosby counter-sues, claiming she is trying to extort money from him
May 2015: Mr Cosby speaks publicly about the allegations for the first time. "I can't speak; I just don't want to argue; I don't talk about it," he told ABC News. | Actor and comedian Bill Cosby has filed for court sanctions against a woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2005, claiming she leaked a deposition transcript to a newspaper. |
31,113,499 | Media playback is unsupported on your device
24 March 2015 Last updated at 17:15 GMT
Ahead of the country's presidential elections on 28 March, BBC Africa tells you what you need to know about Nigeria and the naira.
Produced by Baya Cat | Nigeria is officially Africa's biggest economy, but just how strong is it? |
34,998,778 | Ten victims are still being treated at two hospitals after the shooting and officials are investigating a motive. But police have described how Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27 had an arsenal of weaponry in their home.
Here is a look at the numbers behind the US' latest mass shooting.
14
people dead in initial shooting at Inland Regional Center
21 people injured
2 police officers injured
While some individual family members have come forward to confirm the loss of their loved ones, police have not named all 14 killed in the attack. Officials are still notifying relatives.
65-75
rounds fired by Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik during initial shooting
1600 bullets found on couple after they died in gun battle with police
More than 3,000 rounds later found inside their home
While inside the Inland Regional Center, the two suspects fired dozens of shots, but had vastly more ammunition on hand.
Bombs and bomb-making tools
3
pipe bombs attached together left at Inland Regional Center, but failed to detonate
12 pipe bombs found at attackers' house
100s of tools found at home police say could be used to construct more bombs
In addition to large numbers of rifle and handgun rounds, Farook and Malik had a number of already assembled pipe bombs and elements for even more in their home.
deadliest
mass shooting since Sandy Hook Elementary School (2012)
6th Deadliest since 1949 (14 - same number of deceased as 1986 post office attack)
33 Number of people killed in deadliest mass shooting incident overall (Virginia Tech, 2007)
Virginia Tech remains the deadliest single-day shooting in the US but this attack is not far from that distinction, matching the number of killed in a 1986 post office shooting (not including deaths of perpetrators). | Fourteen people have been killed and wounded 21 at a social services centre in California after two people entered a social services centre and began firing at a group of county health workers on Wednesday. |
40,452,609 | Ellen White, who captained the side for the first time, lifted the ball over the head of goalkeeper Stina Lykke to score the opener just before half-time.
Denmark skipper Pernille Harder levelled in the second half with an impressive free-kick from just outside the area.
White then claimed her second of the night, poking home from inside the area after Simone Sorensen's bizarre backpass hit her own bar.
With a much-changed line-up, the Lionesses spent long periods of the first half defending, and Denmark had an early goal disallowed.
However, the second half brought an improved performance as England posed a constant threat to the side ranked 15th in the world.
The result sees England head into the Euros having gained four wins and a draw from their past six games.
Boss Mark Sampson made 10 changes to the side that beat Switzerland, with left-back Demi Stokes the only player to keep her place in the starting 11.
And several players used their last opportunity to impress with hard-working performances to give Sampson plenty to consider before the tournament.
White's two goals were indicative of a gritty performance, which saw the forward tirelessly chase down the Danish defence.
Midfielder Fara Williams, earning her 163rd cap, controlled the midfield impressively and produced set-pieces that handed England some of their more threatening moments in the game.
Stokes showed once again why she has been a permanent fixture in Sampson's squad since missing out on the World Cup in 2015.
Of the squad of 23 players, only left-back Alex Greenwood has not featured in the past two games as she returns from a long-term injury.
After their victory against Denmark, the Lionesses travel to Valencia on Sunday for a week of warm-weather training.
Following that, the players will be given two days off before travelling out to the Netherlands for the European Championships on 13 July, with the tournament set to begin three days later.
England open their campaign in Utrecht against Scotland on 19 July, before facing Spain on 23 July in Breda and finishing the group stage in Tilburg against Portugal.
There will be commentary on all of England's matches on BBC Radio 5 live.
England boss Mark Sampson: "I'm proud of the team and our supporters.
"It was a performance full of hard-work, resilience and grit - key qualities for us this summer."
Match ends, Denmark Women 1, England 2.
Second Half ends, Denmark Women 1, England 2.
Pernille Harder (Denmark Women) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Millie Bright (England).
Foul by Sanne Nielsen (Denmark Women).
Laura Bassett (England) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Pernille Harder (Denmark Women) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right.
Attempt missed. Maja Kildemoes (Denmark Women) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right.
Attempt blocked. Sanne Nielsen (Denmark Women) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Pernille Harder.
Substitution, England. Lucy Bronze replaces Fara Williams.
Foul by Simone Sørensen (Denmark Women).
Jodie Taylor (England) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Katrine Veje (Denmark Women) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Alex Scott (England).
Substitution, England. Jordan Nobbs replaces Karen Carney.
Offside, Denmark Women. Line Sigvardsen Jensen tries a through ball, but Pernille Harder is caught offside.
Substitution, Denmark Women. Janni Arnth replaces Luna Gewitz.
Attempt missed. Karen Carney (England) right footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the right.
Karen Carney (England) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Katrine Veje (Denmark Women) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Karen Carney (England).
Attempt missed. Pernille Harder (Denmark Women) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.
Goal! Denmark Women 1, England 2. Ellen White (England) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner.
Substitution, England. Carly Telford replaces Siobhan Chamberlain.
Substitution, England. Millie Bright replaces Isobel Christiansen.
Substitution, England. Jodie Taylor replaces Nikita Parris.
Hand ball by Maja Kildemoes (Denmark Women).
Attempt missed. Maja Kildemoes (Denmark Women) right footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Simone Sørensen with a headed pass following a corner.
Corner, Denmark Women. Conceded by Siobhan Chamberlain.
Corner, Denmark Women. Conceded by Demi Stokes.
Attempt blocked. Sanne Nielsen (Denmark Women) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Maja Kildemoes (Denmark Women) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Fara Williams (England).
Goal! Denmark Women 1, England 1. Pernille Harder (Denmark Women) from a free kick with a right footed shot to the top left corner.
Fara Williams (England) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Katrine Veje (Denmark Women) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Fara Williams (England).
Substitution, Denmark Women. Nicoline Sørensen replaces Stine Larsen.
Attempt missed. Simone Sørensen (Denmark Women) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Pernille Harder with a cross following a set piece situation.
Nikita Parris (England) is shown the yellow card. | England Women's final warm-up match before this summer's European Championship ended in a battling win against Denmark in Copenhagen. |
35,222,090 | In November, consumers owed a total of £178.2bn on credit cards and loans, figures from the Bank of England show.
The monthly increase was the largest since February 2008 and compares with a rise of £1.2bn in October.
The rise in consumer credit follows signs of increased spending on the High Street.
Retail sales volumes rose by 5% in November compared with the same month in 2014, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The Bank of England figures mean that the average person in the UK now has borrowings of £2,759, even before mortgages are taken into account.
The Money Advice Trust, the charity which runs National Debtline, said it was concerned by the figures, and expected an increase in personal debt in the months ahead.
"These figures confirm that we do need to keep a watchful eye on the huge growth in consumer credit we are now seeing," said Joanna Elson, chief executive of the Money Advice Trust.
"Increased borrowing is to be expected in an economy that is recovering - but such steep rises in borrowing in recent months are a cause for concern."
£1.5bn
extra consumer credit
£0.4bn on credit cards
£1.1bn loans and overdrafts
It also comes at a time when consumers are saving less.
In the last quarter of 2015, the ONS said households saved 4.4% of their income, the equal lowest ratio for 50 years.
"This will fuel concern that consumers are borrowing more and saving less to finance their spending, which is likely a consequence of relatively high consumer confidence and extended low interest rates," said Howard Archer, the chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight.
However, other experts said that increased consumer borrowing provided a useful boost to economic growth.
"Credit flows are continuing to strengthen gradually, providing much-needed support to the economy as growth is hindered by slowing real income gains, the fiscal squeeze and the strong pound," said Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. | The amount of money being borrowed by consumers in the run-up to Christmas rose by £1.5bn, the largest rise for nearly eight years. |
32,303,134 | David Cameron tried to re-brand the Conservatives as the party of working people - the day after Ed Miliband claimed that Labour was the party of economic responsibility.
It is not just the language that has changed it is the tone.
Today the Tory leader tried to re-discover the rhetorical "sunshine" he was once associated with - with his promise to deliver "The Good Life" in a country which he claimed was on the "brink of something special".
So, gone is the "age of austerity". Gone too the warnings of red flashing lights on the dashboard. Gone all talk of difficult decisions.
In their place comes not one but three give-aways - an extension of the right to buy, a doubling of free childcare and a promise that tax allowances will rise to ensure that the minimum wage is tax free. This after a series of others - not least the pledge to cut inheritance tax and spend at least £8 billion a year on the NHS.
What today's Conservative manifesto does not spell out is who will pay. Which budgets will be cut (police, colleges, councils…)? Which benefits will be stopped? Whose taxes will be raised?
David Cameron and George Osborne used to warn against unfunded spending commitments. They are gambling that their reputation as protectors of the public purse is good enough to risk looking like they can't wait to get spending again.
There is, of course, a reason the Tories and Labour are trying so hard to look like each other. It is because the two big parties are stuck in the opinion polls. Neither shows any sign of breaking away. Neither can be confident of getting enough support to get a majority government.
The question after this manifesto launch is raised by David Cameron's own rhetoric - do you really see him as leader of the workers' party? Do you believe that the Tories can deliver the Good Life? | This week of political cross dressing goes on. |
37,172,959 | The Transocean Winner drilling rig ran aground on Lewis two weeks ago.
It has now arrived at Broad Bay after being refloated and towed from the other side of the island.
Salvage experts said the operation had gone smoothly despite concern about further spillages of fuel from the damaged rig.
Two tug boats pulled the rig on a 54-mile journey to Broad Bay where experts will assess the damage.
The journey has taken longer than initially estimated with a travelling speed of 1-1.5 knots (1.15-1.72mph).
The Maritime & Coastguard Agency has been conducting counter pollution flyover checks in the area to examine the water for any sign of discharge, sheen or pollution from the rig.
There was no pollution reported in the Dalmore Bay area, but a slight sheen was detected as the aircraft continued to follow the path of the rig.
The sheen is said to be associated with the ongoing pressurisation of tanks to maintain the rig's stability, but a Brigg's Marine and Environmental Services team is accompanying the tow and assisting by "breaking up the light sheen".
A temporary exclusion zone remains in place at Dalmore Bay, where the rig initially ran aground, until the seabed has been checked for any debris or environmental impact.
Hugh Shaw, the Secretary of State's representative for maritime salvage and intervention, said: "We are taking advantage of the favourable weather conditions following this big step forward, and we will continue to closely monitor the rig whilst it is under tow.
"Once everything is declared safe, I will be looking at releasing the exclusion zone in Dalmore Bay.
"I would like to offer my sincere thanks to the Western Isles Council and community for their patience and their gracious hospitality during this challenging and disruptive period.
"This salvage operation has required the united cooperation from so many different organisations who have spared no effort to ensure that this rig reaches safer waters."
Eight anchors are being laid out in Broad Bay to hold the rig in place when it arrives.
Transocean will then begin the assessment process - which includes putting divers in the water - to look at the damage the rig has suffered; a process which could take until the middle of September.
The semi-submersible structure was blown ashore at Dalmore during a towing operation on Monday 8 August. The towline between the rig and its tug was lost en route from Norway to Malta amid high winds and heavy seas in the early hours that day. | A 17,000-tonne oil rig that ran aground in the Outer Hebrides and was successfully refloated has arrived at a temporary location. |
32,525,180 | Governor Jerry Brown issued an executive order to bring down emissions to 40% below 1990 levels, in the next 15 years.
The US state was already one of the most ambitious in its previous targets and has forced companies to pay for their carbon pollution.
Mr Brown said the new target must be met for the sake of future generations.
He called the plan "the most aggressive benchmark enacted by any government in North America to reduce dangerous carbon emissions".
There were few details about how he intends to meet this target, but the governor has previously talked about increasing renewable electricity sources, reducing petrol use in vehicles and improving the energy efficiency of existing buildings.
Mr Brown mentioned by name some sectors that will have to reduce emissions - industry, agriculture and energy, plus state and local governments.
"With this order, California sets a very high bar for itself and other states and nations, but it's one that must be reached - for this generation and generations to come,'' he said in a statement.
California is the second-biggest producer of carbon dioxide through fossil fuels among US states.
The new target brings California in line with a similar commitment made by the 28 countries of the European Union, but beyond what the US federal government has set.
The state is already well on its way to meeting the 2020 goal set by Mr Brown's predecessor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
California has been enduring one of the worst droughts in its history, and the governor made clear as he issued the new order that he links this problem to greenhouse gas emissions and the warming of the Earth.
Climate change, he said, "poses an ever-growing threat to the well-being, public health, natural resources, economy, and the environment of California".
The loss of snowpack, drought, rising sea levels, wildfires, heat waves and smog were examples of how the state was feeling its effects, he added.
Three years ago, California launched one of the largest "cap-and-trade" programmes in the US, which sets a limit on carbon emissions and penalises businesses that exceed their emission allowance.
Mr Brown's announcement was praised by organisers of the UN conference on climate change to be held in Paris later this year.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the state - which has 12% of the US population - produces 6.9% of the country's total emissions.
However, Texas - which has only 8.5% of the US population - produces 12.8% of the country's emissions. | California has stepped up its attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by setting tough new targets for 2030. |
38,593,499 | Three other children and their mother have been hospitalised after escaping the blaze.
Baltimore City Fire Department spokesman Roman Clark said firefighters arrived to see large flames coming from all three floors.
"The building was fully engulfed when they arrived on the scene," he said.
Mr Clark said all nine children caught up in the inferno belonged to one family, and ranged in age from 8 months to 11 years old.
The woman has been named as Katie Malone, who works in the district office of Baltimore Congressman Elijah Cummings.
It remains unclear what sparked the fire in the early hours of Thursday. Heavy machinery has been brought in to clear the debris so investigators can access the building.
Reports suggest the blaze has been contained, but not yet controlled. One body has been found at the scene.
The fire department said the woman and two of the surviving children are in a critical condition, while the third child's condition is serious.
However, William Malone, the father of all nine children, said one had been released from hospital and that Mrs Malone was stable.
He said he had not been at home during the blaze as he was working at a restaurant.
Neighbour Michael Johnson, who can see the house from his residence, described the fire as so intense that he had not thought anyone would survive it. He saw a woman emerge from the house, screaming, he told Associated Press.
Congressman Cummings said in a statement that Mrs Malone has worked as a special assistant in his Catonsville office for nearly 11 years.
"My staff is a family, and this unimaginable tragedy is shocking and heartbreaking to us all," he said. | Six children from the same family are missing, presumed dead, after fire tore through a house in northeast Baltimore, a fire official said. |
36,618,756 | The UK voted to leave the EU. The vote north of the border was to remain.
Bertie Armstrong, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation, said government cooperation was needed.
Earlier this month, a flotilla of fishing boats sailed up the Thames to urge Parliament take back control of British waters.
The SFF's Mr Armstrong said: "The result of the referendum brings both opportunities and challenges for the fishing industry.
"The Scottish Fishermen's Federation will be doing everything in its power to ensure that the best possible deal is achieved for fishing during the exit negotiations.
"To aid this process, it is vital that we have clarity from both the UK and Scottish governments on their future intentions for fishing.
"Our national governments must work closely with the industry over the coming months and years to ensure that the right framework is put in place to deliver a prosperous future."
Mike Park, chief executive of the Scottish White Fish Producers' Association (SWFPA), said: "European Union fisheries policy is flawed - that is why so many fishermen voted to leave.
"But we need to recognise that there are significant dangers to the industry if the UK and Scottish governments do not react to the very clear message by focusing on a new approach that recognises fishermen themselves and their communities as the key stakeholders.
"Members of the SWFPA insist that we stay on course with regard to sustainable harvesting and sensible fishing, and they are equally insistent that unworkable laws be changed."
Peter Willox, a founding member of the Fishing for Leave campaign, told BBC Scotland: "It's a brand new set of challenges.
"The industry should revert back to an own-government system where the leaders at the top are accountable for decisions."
The Scottish government said before the result that EU membership was in the "best interests" of Scotland's fishing industry.
In 2014, Scotland exported £449m of fish and seafood to Europe - 68% of the total value of Scottish food exports into that market.
Worldwide, seafood exports are the second largest food and drink export behind whisky, and the industry supports thousands of jobs. | The UK leaving the EU offers the Scottish fishing industry "opportunities and challenges", industry leaders have said. |
33,359,648 | The 18-year-old, who was 14 at the time, was involved in rioting in the city in July 2010.
CCTV images of him rioting were later published in two newspapers.
They were published as part of a police campaign called Operation Exposure.
The teenager's family complained that the publication of the images breached his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.
The legal firm representing the teenager have said they will now try to challenge the ruling at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
Solicitor Barbara Muldoon told BBC Radio Foyle: "The Supreme Court got it wrong.
"Featuring these pictures in newspapers was a breach of human rights.
"Different standards and different tests should apply in the case of children. They are not the same as adults.
"Children don't make reasoned decisions. We have to remember that some of the photographs featured children as young as eight. Some of the children were bystanders.
"It was established that this 14-year-old threw two stones.
"Rioting seems to be the word used as matters progressed. It was originally described as disorder.
"We don't accept that human rights were taken into consideration."
PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Stephen Martin said: "We welcome the decision by the Supreme Court to dismiss this appeal.
"The judgement confirms our decision to release the images was properly considered and justified given the significant level of violence that was happening in the area on an almost nightly basis and was in no way excessive given the circumstances.
"Extensive checks and balances are always put in place to ensure that all images we release are appropriate and proportionate.
"At all stages of the process we seek and fully take on board human rights legal advice and the final decision is authorised by a senior ranking police officer.
"At the core of this operation was the need to protect those living in those interface areas and prevent young people from becoming drawn further into a world of violence and criminality.
"As a police service we need to take positive action to protect communities, particularly those who are vulnerable."
Following the release of the images in July 2010 there has been an 85% reduction in interface violence. | Lawyers for a Londonderry teenager, who lost a Supreme Court battle over a picture of him being published as part of an investigation into rioting, are to take the case to Europe. |
37,917,467 | Witnesses said the polling station in Azusa, about 40km (25 miles) east of Los Angeles, was put on "lockdown" after shots were heard.
Police called to the scene exchanged gunfire with the attacker.
A female suspect with an automatic assault rifle has not been apprehended so far but the area is "contained", a police spokesperson said.
Unconfirmed reports suggest a second, male suspect is in the area.
An eyewitness told the Los Angeles Times he had seen "a heavily armed man" fire at least 10 rounds at people before retreating into a house.
Acting chief of police Captain Steve Hunt said the incident appeared to be focused in the residential area, rather than on the polling station itself.
Nearby buildings have been evacuated.
The Azusa Police department said one victim was dead and two were taken to hospital in critical condition. | One person has been killed and at least two people injured in a shooting near a California polling station, police say. |
18,921,974 | The Aberdeen-born former Manchester United star said it was an emotional moment as he revealed the statue.
It was inspired by him scoring for Scotland in a famous 3-2 victory against then world champion England in 1967 at Wembley.
He said: "My family and I are delighted with the sculpture - it looks fantastic."
The football legend added: "Despite having lived outside Aberdeen for most of my life I still have a strong connection to the city and am honoured to have a statue commemorated to me in my home town."
Denis Law Legacy Trust member Graham Thom said: "Denis is such an admired figure in Aberdeen.
"The 1967 goal represents such a positive time in Scottish footballing history and was an obvious choice as a moment to be captured forever.
"The Trust was set up not only to erect a permanent statue of Aberdeen's most famous sportsman, but to support the advancement of the arts, heritage and culture, as a long-term benefit to the people of Aberdeen."
In 2010, Denis Law was guest of honour at an event to mark the official opening of the £28m Aberdeen Sports Village.
He hailed it as a world class facility to inspire a new generation of sporting stars.
He said at the time: "I only wish that I'd had the benefit of such fantastic sporting facilities on my doorstep during my childhood days in Aberdeen." | A life-size bronze statue of Scottish football legend Denis Law has been unveiled at Aberdeen Sports Village. |
36,038,905 | While many patients with acute and chronic problems get treatment within weeks, some areas have current waiting times of up to 50 months.
The British Medical Association in Wales called the delays "unacceptable".
Welsh Labour, who have run the NHS in Wales since 1999, said mental health spending went up £3m last year.
The longest delay was within Aneurin Bevan University Health Board area, where patients can wait for up to 50 months to see a clinical psychologist.
A board spokeswoman put this down to "long-term sickness issues" and said it was "currently seeking to appoint more staff".
British Medical Association in Wales spokeswoman Charlotte Jones said: "It's unacceptable. It's not right for the patients of Wales. We need to see more investment - we need to see a true commitment to resolving this once and for all.
"We continue to highlight it as a problem in general practice, but secondary services are also overwhelmed with demand.
"We are talking a lot more money, but it's worthwhile."
Mental health charity Gofal said it was frustrated that despite investment, waiting times were still too long in many areas.
It wants more counselling provision and better data monitoring.
In England, treatment and waiting times data is collected quarterly from mental health service providers but most Welsh health boards initially said this information was not available.
The Liberal Democrats said it was time mental health was treated "as seriously as physical health".
A spokesman added: "We would introduce a core set of mental health data, and would work with mental health experts to introduce new waiting time standards for mental health, including for access to psychological therapies."
A UKIP spokesman said their party would increase health care spending with £100m saved "elsewhere from the Welsh budget" and would implement an 18-day referral target for cognitive behavioural therapy.
Plaid Cymru said it would increase funding by 2% - or £68m - a year until 2020/21, and the current poor standards of data meant "increased investment in our mental health won't be as effective as patients deserve".
A spokesman for the Conservatives said the party would create a new 28-day target for access to talking therapies, and increase spending on mental health.
But Labour maintained it had made significant improvements to mental health care in Wales, including the introduction last October of a 28 day-treatment target for 80% of mental health patients.
"The majority of treatment following emergency and urgent referrals will start immediately following assessment," a spokesman said.
"The National Psychological Therapies Management Committee action plan includes a target time for treatment in secondary care of 26 weeks - the same as for treatment for physical conditions." | Patients are being asked to wait several years for some specialist mental health treatment, figures obtained by BBC Wales have shown. |
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