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38,921,730 | DF Concerts repaid the money after confirming in November that the Strathallan Castle event would not take place this year.
It was given a £150,000 grant after the festival was forced to move from Balado in Kinross in 2015.
DF Concerts announced a three-day festival to be held in Glasgow in July in place of T in the Park.
A Scottish government spokesman said: "In line with the grant conditions, DF Concerts have now repaid the Scottish government £50,000 following its decision to not stage the 2017 event." | T in the Park organisers have paid back £50,000 of a Scottish government grant awarded to help the festival relocate. |
33,430,361 | The Peterborough Society of Model Engineers had to leave Thorpe Hall after 20 years after owners Sue Ryder wanted to use the land.
The society wanted to re-locate to the Hostel Site in London Road, Yaxley.
Peterborough City Council's planning committee has rejected planning permission.
The Yaxley site, which is owned by O & H Hampton, would have included a clubhouse and 5,100ft (1,500km) of track offering rides to visitors.
Jim Rowden, secretary of the society, said: "We've been homeless for two years and the Yaxley site is ideal as far as we're concerned.
"Thousands of people will remember the track at Thorpe Hall and we want to resurrect it for ourselves as railway enthusiasts, for the people of Peterborough and for tourists.
"We're disappointed with the decision, but hope to work with the council to find a different site."
Council officers recommended the application was rejected because it was on land earmarked as an open space in the Great Haddon Urban Extension masterplan and the railway would have been fenced-in.
Yaxley Parish Council objected to the proposal on the grounds of road safety and said it would mean the village would lose more "buffer" land between it and Peterborough.
The site used to be an army training barracks and a prisoner of war camp.
The Peterborough Society of Model Engineers said the project would have cost about £50,000 to £60,000.
The society currently has a 328ft (100m) section of track which they can take to provide rides fetes and other outdoor events. | Proposals to re-build a miniature railway in Peterborough, which left its previous site two years ago, have been rejected by planners. |
40,342,348 | They say they have had more than 100 offers from people with holiday accommodation in places including Cornwall, Scotland, Cyprus and Ibiza.
Other donations include counselling sessions, beauty treatments and meals.
Kay Gilbert and Angie Mays from Ilfracombe set up the Facebook campaign and said they had been "overwhelmed".
Ms Gilbert said the pair "just wanted to do something to help".
"We've had quad bike adventures, meal vouchers, photography shoots, hair cuts, beauty treatments, counselling, it's just amazing," she said.
More on the holiday offers to Grenfell victims, and other Devon news
"They've been so generous, we have had so many offers."
Louise Downs, who owns a one-bed holiday flat in Ilfracombe, is backing the Grenfell Tower Holiday Appeal campaign, which was launched on Sunday.
She had already filled her flat with free stays for emergency services staff in November but has extended the offer to December and January.
"I just thought they needed a break and I've had a really good response," she said.
Hetty Thompson, who is offering her Bridgerule holiday let, added: "The support from those in London has been amazing, but I think it's really important for people to realise how much all our hearts around the country and the world go out to them.
"If anyone from further afield is able to offer something to help, however small, let's just do it."
Derrick Wilson of the Tabernacle Christian Centre is also supporting the campaign.
He said: "It's a brilliant idea and I'm sure it will be appreciated."
The scheme was created for residents of the tower block fire but has been extended to emergency services workers.
A Fire Brigades Union spokesperson said: "This is a wonderfully kind gesture for firefighters who have undertaken utterly courageous work in very difficult circumstances." | Two friends are organising free holidays for people made homeless by the Grenfell fire, as well as emergency service workers who helped the victims. |
39,837,607 | O'Brien won Saturday's 2,000 Guineas with Churchill and also won both Classics in 2005 and 2012.
Winter, ridden by Wayne Lordan, denied Ryan Moore a Guineas double as stablemate and 9-4 favourite Rhododendron was second, with Frankie Dettori third on Daban.
O'Brien now has four wins in the race and 27 British Classics wins.
The Irish trainer, who has won 13 of the last 27 British Classics, fielded three runners in a bid to win the fillies' Classic, with Hydrangea his other runner.
While Rhododendron endured a troubled passage, Winter stayed out of trouble wide of the field.
Lordan guided the 9-1 shot to the front entering the final furlong and held off the challenge of Rhododendron, who came home strongly.
"She travelled quite well," said Lordan. "I went forward quite early because she's a filly that gallops and I knew the track would suit her.
"This means a lot. I'm very grateful to Aidan for letting me keep the ride on the filly."
BBC horse racing correspondent Cornelius Lysaght
Punters love it, purists aren't quite so sure, but what everyone can agree on about this near big-race monopoly is that the Aidan O'Brien winner machine is beautifully oiled and working like clockwork.
Here Rhododendron was luckless, not helped as O'Brien's third runner Hydrangea faded, but Winter won well enough that it's uncertain whether it had made the difference.
Coolmore partner Michael Tabor said he was delighted but "this game can turn very quickly", although it has to be said that this has been the situation since high summer last year and shows no sign of changing. | Winter won the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket to give trainer Aidan O'Brien a third double in the Guineas. |
29,282,731 | The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said the two officers under investigation were a detective sergeant and detective constable.
The pair investigated a sexual offence complaint against Savile by a woman who contacted the force in March 2008.
The allegation dated back to an alleged assault in the 1970s.
The IPCC also said two other Sussex officers, who were in a supervisory role in 2008, had been served with misconduct notices.
The Sussex officers investigated the woman's claim that Savile assaulted her in a caravan when she was in her early 20s.
This was referred to prosecutors, along with three other allegations against the performer received by Surrey Police, but in 2009 the Crown Prosecution Service decided no action could be taken.
IPCC deputy chairwoman, Sarah Green, who is overseeing the Savile investigations, said: "The investigation is examining interactions between Sussex Police officers and the victim and whether all lines of enquiry were properly pursued."
Investigators have taken a statement from the woman who reported the assault and expect to interview the four officers soon. A number of Sussex Police policy documents are being examined.
In November the IPCC directed Sussex Police to refer the conduct of the two officers.
The former presenter of BBC's Top Of The Pops and Jim'll Fix It, who also worked as a Radio 1 DJ and received a knighthood in 1990, died aged 84 in October 2011 - a year before the allegations emerged in an ITV documentary. | Two detectives from Sussex Police who dealt with a sex crime allegation against Jimmy Savile have been served with gross misconduct notices. |
40,040,621 | The unnamed captain collapsed and was taken to hospital after the verdict.
Homosexuality is not a crime for civilians, but the South Korea's military law bans homosexual activity by army personnel.
Human rights groups have accused the armed forces of conducting a "witch hunt" to root out homosexuality.
The captain was convicted on Wednesday of violating the Military Criminal Act which states that a soldier engaging in sodomy or "other disgraceful conduct" can be put in jail for up to two years.
His sentence was suspended for one year, and he will dishonourably discharged, the court said Wednesday.
In April, the Centre for Military Human Rights Korea claimed that the Army Chief of Staff Gen Jang Jun-gyu had asked for homosexuals within the armed forces to be tracked down.
The military had then carried out an investigation and and some 40-50 soldiers were put on a list, the group said.
The army has denied these allegations.
"This unjust conviction should be immediately overturned," said Roseann Rife, East Asia research director at Amnesty International in a statement.
"No one should be persecuted based on their sexual orientation, activity or gender identity alone. What counts is their service not their sexuality."
The conviction comes in a week where the region has seen gay men caned in Aceh for having sex, but also Taiwan paving the way for same-sex marriage to be legalised. | A South Korean military court has given an army captain a suspended six-month prison sentence for having sex with another male soldier. |
39,676,922 | Chancellor Philip Hammond said on Thursday there should be "flexibility to manage the system" of taxation.
But Tory party sources have told the BBC it was not a hint at plans to raise taxes in the Conservative manifesto.
The shadow chancellor John McDonnell accused the government of planning "a tax bombshell".
And the Liberal Democrats suggested Mrs May intended to hit the pockets of the "white van man".
Before winning the 2015 general election, the Conservatives promised no rises in VAT, national insurance contributions, or income tax.
By Iain Watson, BBC News political correspondent
The American revolutionary Benjamin Franklin said the two great certainties were tax and death.
And certainly commitments to push tax rates up can prove fatal to political campaigns.
Philip Hammond criticised the constraints placed on him by his party's previous pledges not to raise income tax or national insurance.
But now Conservative insiders are emphasising that does not mean the forthcoming manifesto will automatically abandon this position.
The content of the document is yet to be agreed - but the swiftness of the response suggests that headlines in some Conservative supporting newspapers, speculating on tax rises, were far from welcome.
On Thursday, Mr Hammond told the BBC's Kamal Ahmed that "we do need to make sure that Theresa May and her government have a clear mandate to execute our plan".
"All chancellors would prefer to have more flexibility in how they manage the economy and how they manage the overall tax burden down [rather] than having to have their hands constrained," he said.
"But what we put in the manifesto will be decided in the next few days and we will publish that."
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the chancellor was facing a £2bn gap in his budget following the government's decision not to carry out an increase in the rate of National Insurance contributions for the self-employed.
"He's recognising he's got problems in the economy, he's got problems in the budgeting that he's done and as a result of that there will be tax rises under a Conservative government if they are re-elected.
"This is quite a tax bombshell."
Meanwhile, the prime minister said on Friday that the commitment to spending 0.7% of national income on international aid "will remain" although it must be spent "in the most effective way".
It follows speculation she was ready to drop it from the Tory manifesto.
But Mrs May declined to guarantee existing spending on state pensions, which ensures a minimum 2.5% annual increase. | Speculation that the Conservatives are planning tax rises, if they win the general election, have been played down by party sources. |
35,373,112 | The 19-year-old joined the Blues' youth academy from Rotherham as a youngster but has yet to make a first-team outing for the Premier League side.
The England Under-19 international spent time on loan at Barnsley last year, making five appearances.
"He is a quick attacking wide player and he gives us good flexibility in that area," said boss Steven Pressley.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page. | League One side Fleetwood Town have signed Chelsea forward Alex Kiwomya on a short-term loan deal. |
39,027,998 | She told the Radio Times magazine they have their differences but she "admired him a lot".
"I would always stand by him. Paul and I had our differences about what was important to us, but he is a brilliant bread-maker and I admired him a lot."
She said "no one was more surprised" than her when Bake Off left the BBC.
It was announced in September last year that the show had been bought by Channel 4 after six years on the BBC.
It emerged that the corporation fell £10m short in its offer to Love Productions, which makes the show.
The 81-year-old said she was always going to stay loyal to the BBC and wasn't tempted by a potentially bigger salary at Channel 4.
"No, I wasn't. And anyway, I was never asked to go," she said. "I avoided being asked. It was suggested what would happen if I did go to Channel 4, what I would get, the advantages.
"But I didn't ever have a meeting with them. I'd made up my mind. To me, it's an honour to be on the BBC. I was brought up on it."
The show's hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins also didn't enter into negotiations with Channel 4 and Mary said she was very fond of the "extraordinary" comedy duo.
"It was the BBC's programme, it grew there. So I decided to stay with the BBC, with Mel and Sue."
She is moving on with two new BBC programmes in the works.
But before then she has admitted one issue she had Bake Off - contestants crying over baking mishaps in the early episodes of the series.
"In life you shouldn't keep bursting into tears. There are occasions when you want to cry your heart out, but not on a television programme.
"If you do something that doesn't work out, you have to gather yourself up and keep going."
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]. | Mary Berry has said she is "standing by" former fellow judge Paul Hollywood as he continues with The Great British Bake Off in its new Channel 4 home. |
32,204,840 | The 2012 co-hosts won a vote by the Confederation of African Football's executive committee in Cairo on Wednesday ahead of Algeria and Ghana.
It will be the second time as hosts for the country, which is located on the west coast of Africa, having previously shared duties with Equatorial Guinea.
Original hosts Libya, where a civil war has halted football, withdrew last year from staging the tournament.
Gabon will use four venues for the 16-team tournament, which will be played in January and February.
They will be in Libreville and Franceville, which were used in 2012, plus Port Gentil and Oyem where the stadiums will be ready in 14 months, Gabon Football Federation officials said.
All three candidate countries made presentations to the Caf executive committee on Wednesday before the ballot was taken. Caf did not make details of the voting immediately available.
Also on Wednesday, Caf conducted the draw for the qualifiers, which included Morocco and Tunisia.
Morocco had been banned from taking part in the next two editions of the tournament after they did not host the 2015 event but were reinstated after winning their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Tunisia avoided a ban after apologising to Caf for accusing the governing body of bias.
Morocco were placed in Group F, alongside Cape Verde, Libya and Sao Tome. Tunisia will face Togo, Liberia and Djibouti in Group A.
In one of the toughest-looking groups, 2013 champions Nigeria will take on Egypt - with both sides aiming to avoid failing to qualify for a second successive finals - Tanzania and Chad.
The winners of the 13 groups will book their place at the tournament along with the two best-placed runners-up excluding the group which contains hosts Gabon, whose matches will be considered friendlies and where only the winner will qualify.
Gabon are placed in Group I alongside reigning champions Ivory Coast, Sudan and Sierra Leone.
Full draw for 2017 Afcon qualifiers:
Group A: Tunisia, Togo, Liberia, Djibouti
Group B: Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Central African Republic, Madagascar
Group C: Mali, Equatorial Guinea, Benin, South Sudan
Group D: Burkina Faso, Uganda, Botswana, Comoros
Group E: Zambia, Congo, Kenya, Guinea Bissau
Group F: Cape Verde, Morocco, Libya, Sao Tome
Group G: Nigeria, Egypt, Tanzania, Chad
Group H: Ghana, Mozambique, Rwanda, Mauritius
Group I: Ivory Coast, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Gabon
Group J: Algeria, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Seychelles
Group K: Senegal, Niger, Namibia, Burundi
Group L: Guinea, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Swaziland
Group M: Cameroon, South Africa, The Gambia, Mauritania | Gabon have been chosen to host the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations finals. |
38,212,158 | Rigg, 28, was sent off in the first-half after a challenge on Jake Jarvis.
He now faces a three-match suspension starting with Tuesday's League Two home clash with Stevenage.
"Chances of success at appeal are probably limited because to the letter of the law it was probably dangerous." said Newport boss Graham Westley.
But there is good news for Westley with defenders Darren Jones and Paul Bignot back from suspensions for the Stevenage game.
Westley felt striker Rigg's dismissal was ''harsh'' when compared to the tackle by Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo on Idrissa Gueye which drew a yellow card in the Premier League game with Everton on Sunday.
The Newport manager said: "I think when you watch incidents like Rojo that is red, but the official sees it as he sees it.
"Riggy will, I am sure, feel really aggrieved he is sitting out three games while tackles like that are getting away. It's this consistency thing."
But Westley added: "If I am honest he could probably do with a breather.
"He has been playing a lot of football and he has been brilliant for me since I've been here.
"He has played virtually every minute, though I left him out for a rest during the Wimbledon game.
"Fatigue can set in physically and mentally when you go through a run of games he's had and I'm sure we will have a really refreshed player when he comes back."
Newport will play Plymouth in their FA Cup second round replay at Rodney Parade on Tuesday, 13 December (Kick-off 19.45 GMT). | Newport County will not appeal against the red card given to Sean Rigg in the FA Cup second round goalless draw at Plymouth Argyle. |
36,232,169 | Khan, 29, has jumped two weight divisions to challenge his Mexican rival for the WBC middleweight title at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
At Friday's weigh-in, both men scaled 155lb, bang on the catch-weight limit.
"Khan can win if he doesn't mix it up with Canelo and uses the sweet science instead," Lewis told BBC Sport.
"Khan is a great boxer, moves well and throws great combinations. He will need controlled movement against Canelo, not running around for the sake of it.
"You've also got to remember that it's not him going into the fight by himself, it's him and his trainer [Virgil Hunter].
"So if Khan strays from the game-plan, Virgil is there saying: 'Hey, what are you doing? You were winning each round sticking to the game-plan.'
"I am worried about what will happen when Khan gets hit, but he's been down in other fights and I think mentally he'll be able to overcome it."
Thousands of fans flocked to the weigh-in, which took place in front of the T-Mobile Arena, just off the Vegas Strip.
Many Mexicans are in town to celebrate the festival of Cinco de Mayo, meaning Khan's smattering of followers were greatly outnumbered.
Alvarez-Khan will be the first boxing match to take place at the 20,000-capacity venue.
"It's a big challenge for me, I'm up against a great fighter but I'm focused and 100% confident I can win this fight," said Khan, who is bidding to become Britain's 12th current world champion and only the third former light-welterweight world champion to win a middleweight world title.
"I also feel a bit left out, being one of the best fighters in Britain but not holding a world title. I want to prove that I belong at the top. This is my time."
Also in attendance at the glitzy presentation were boxing legends Evander Holyfield, Julio Cesar Chavez, Robert Duran and Bernard Hopkins, as well as the fight promoter Oscar de la Hoya.
Although the match was made at five pounds under the 160lb middleweight limit, the 25-year-old Alvarez, a natural light-middlweight, is expected to weigh as much as 175lb on fight night, almost a stone more than Khan.
Khan has been knocked out twice in 34 professional fights, leading some experts to believe the fight will be over the first time Alvarez lands clean.
Alvarez has lost once in 48 pro fights, against Floyd Mayweather in 2013, and 32 of his 46 victories have come by way of knockout.
Alvarez's trainer, Eddy Reynoso, has warned that the Mexican people want revenge for Khan's victory over the great Marco Antonio Barrera in 2009.
On that occasion, a clash of heads in the first round opened a cut on Barrera's forehead and caused the fight to be waved off in the fifth.
The result effectively ended the career of the former three-weight world champion, who beat British great Naseem Hamed in 2001 and is perhaps most famous for his trio of fights against fellow Mexican Erik Morales.
"[Khan's victory over Barrera] hurt," said Reynoso. "Canelo beating Amir Khan on Saturday would give satisfaction to the Mexican fans." | British boxing legend Lennox Lewis says Amir Khan can upset the odds and beat Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez on Saturday, if he sticks to his game-plan. |
36,738,682 | According to recent official media reports, the vice chairman of Xinjiang's regional government, Zhu Changjie, recently told reporters that "the government is trying to develop a standardised system to input minority members' names".
Uighur, Kazakh and Tibetan minorities often have problems inputting their names on to official documents, which are built around accommodating short, Mandarin names - often no longer than three Chinese characters, or ten Latin alphabet characters.
The new regulations seek to erase inconsistencies on identity and social security cards, and in medical insurance and education records, but may antagonise ethnic minority groups that see the move as a form of undermining their ethnic identity.
Popular news website The Paper said that moves, including standardising minority names, were being implemented following an "important speech" by President Xi Jinping in December 2015 on the need for national unity.
Government mouthpiece the People's Daily said on 3 July that 27 initiatives were being introduced at regional level in Xinjiang.
The paper said these would help address "outstanding problems over the years in reflecting groups of ethnic minorities".
Over half of Xinjiang's population are Uighur or Kazakh. Another 40% are Han Chinese.
China Daily said that this "problem has only become more significant in recent years as use of the internet and e-commerce took off in China".
In 2011, Bank of China branches introduced a standardised format for users with ethnic names to input what is known as an interpunct or a middle dot, a punctuation mark that distinguishes long surnames and given names.
Most people across China do not require the middle dot, as their names are no longer than three characters.
Other banks and services have been slow to introduce this, leading to calls for a standardised input format for ethnic names earlier this year.
In February, China Daily quoted Xu Taizhi, head of the Xinjiang population management bureau, as saying that across China "many e-commerce developers know little about ethnic names and the format of the dot used in ID card registration."
"Some platforms don't even include the dot in their input system, which has created problems for users who need to verify their ID when trying to use online services," he said.
Without being able to rely on e-commerce company mechanisms, the Xinjiang government has already taken steps towards changing ethnic names on official documents.
According to US-funded Radio Free Asia, "the authorities have so far 'corrected' 20 million names that exist on social security accounts where the data is 'non-standardised'."
However, there is expected to be some backlash as this process extends further, particularly from the region's Uighur communities, who fear that their traditional culture is being eroded as a result of strict central government regulations.
Hong Kong newspaper the Oriental Daily quoted US-based human rights activist Liu Qing on 25 June as saying that the move was ultimately to "increase control of local authorities over minorities".
Weeks earlier, reports that Xinjiang residents were being asked to provide DNA samples to apply for travel documents raised the same concerns.
Minority groups in western China are not the only ones with fears for the future of their regional languages.
In the past six months, a number of moves to increase the spread of standardised Mandarin have been met with opposition in areas where language is a mark of regional identity.
This has particularly been the case in Hong Kong.
In December 2015, the same month in which Xi Jinping delivered his national unity speech, Hong Kong's government issued new recommendations for students to learn simplified Chinese "to expand students' scope of reading and strengthen exchanges with the mainland and overseas".
Both Cantonese and Mandarin speakers read Chinese, although people in Hong Kong use the traditional Chinese script, while people on mainland China use simplified Chinese.
The government suggestions were vilified in Hong Kong's independent media, and subsequent moves to increase simplified Chinese script in the territory have been met with backlash.
In February, Hong Kong's media regulator received more than 10,000 complaints after prominent broadcaster Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) began subtitling one of its Mandarin news programmes with simplified Chinese.
And in May, Japanese game-maker Nintendo's decision to use simplified, instead of traditional Chinese script in its new Pokemon games sparked a petition and protests outside the Japanese consulate.
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook. | Authorities in China's Xinjiang region have announced their intentions to "clear up" inconsistencies in the names of people from various ethnic groups by the end of the year. |
11,277,220 | A report said that two new residential units and a health care facility have improved safety at the County Londonderry jail.
It added that care for those at risk of self-harm was good.
But it warned that poor industrial relations with prison officers was a barrier to further progress.
'Reasonably good'
The report, published on Monday, was compiled by Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJI) and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP).
After their last visit in 2006, inspectors called for a complete rebuild at the prison site.
However, following the latest inspection this Spring, the quality of education, skills and work opportunities available for prisoners was welcomed.
Overall, in each of four categories tested, standards were judged to be "reasonably good" - the second highest rating.
However, inspectors warned that strike action by the Northern Ireland Prisoner Officers' Association (POA) was "seriously limiting" prisoners' time out of their cells.
They found that because of staff restrictions, only 119 education places out of a potential 158 were being used.
The original house blocks were also judged to be "unfit for purpose" with an unsatisfactory night sanitation system.
Cancellation
The wide range of accomodation "spread out over a large, badly planned site meant that it was difficult to get around, especially in bad weather, which could lead to the cancellation of work and classes", the report added.
Dr Michael Maguire, Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland, welcomed the improvements that had been made at the prison.
In a joint statement with Nigel Newcomen, Deputy Chief Inspector of Prisons in England and Wales, he said that the Northern Ireland Prison Service should be commended for the work carried out.
The statement added that it hoped support would be provided to "deal with the seemingly intractable problem of poor industrial relations."
Acting Governor of Magilligan, Gavin Clendinning, paid tribute to staff following the publication of the report.
He made special reference to recently retired governor Tom Woods, who was in charge of the prison at the time of the inspection. | The first major inspection of Magilligan Prison for four years has found that improvements have been made but with "room for further progress". |
38,612,022 | Kieran Dorian became obsessed with the women, who he knew from his school days in Dundee, over the course of four years.
In a separate incident, he spat blood at the officer's feet after making sexually offensive remarks towards her.
Dorian, 20, was sentenced to three years supervision.
He was also ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and placed on the sex offenders register for three years.
A sexual offences prevention order was imposed on him for five years with conditions around his conduct, as well as a non-harassment order preventing him from contacting his stalking victims for five years.
Dorian, of Broughty Ferry, Dundee, admitted four stalking charges committed between October 2011 and May 2015.
He also admitted charges of assault and behaving in a threatening and abusive manner.
Dorian also admitted making lewd sexual comments to two 13-year-olds in the queue at a McDonald's restaurant in Dundee on 30 July before sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl on the same date.
Defence solicitor Douglas McConnell said: "He wants to avoid going to custody and he will have to make any order placed on him work."
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael told Dorian: "This kind of conduct is unacceptable and is firmly within the custodial range of sentences.
"However, in view of all the circumstances and the fact you have already spent some time in custody I can deal with this in a non-custodial way.
"If you breach this order it is very likely you will end up in custody." | A stalker who threatened to rape a police officer and bombarded four victims with messages on social media has been given a community sentence. |
38,000,337 | On the third Thursday in November the occasion is celebrated across France with fireworks, music and other festivities.
It marks the arrival of the first bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau wine which are released at 00:01 under French law.
But Swansea, which was popping bottles of Beaujolais long before yuppies were marking the day in their Filofaxes, continues to cling on to the tradition.
Beaujolais is a a sub-region of Burgundy, north of Lyon, and started promoting its freshly pressed wines as "Nouveau" in 1951.
A post-war British public slowly emerging from austerity soon began to develop a taste for the infant red wine; usually served chilled, just six weeks after harvest.
The Beaujolais run reached fever-pitch across the UK in the 1980s, when the competition to land the first bottle back in London saw the winning team employ a Harrier Jump Jet to deliver it.
But why has Swansea been at the vanguard of the Beaujolais Day craze?
Cultural historian Prof Peter Stead believes he might have an idea.
"Swansea provided the perfect storm for Beaujolais Day hysteria; as they say in Miss Marple, we had means, motive and opportunity.
"First of all, what is now known as the No Sign Bar on Wind Street was then owned by former Wales rugby captain Clem Thomas, who had a house in Burgundy, so he could get the Beaujolais into Swansea quickly and cheaply, and make money by bringing the new London craze to Wales.
"At the same time there were other entrepreneurs in the embryonic stages of the 'Gastro Pub' market - like a fellow called Tecero who opened The Brasserie - who had to be seen to be outdoing Clem, by putting on even more extravagant Beaujolais Day events.
"But most of all it fitted the Swansea zeitgeist of the late 1960s. This was a community trying to find its feet as a city - looking to gentrify and intellectualise itself - and Beaujolais Day seemed to capture perfectly the spirit best summed-up in Kingsley Amis's 'Old Devils'."
But by the mid 1990s Beaujolais Day had gone the way of Mr Blobby.
The decline of Shoulder Pad culture had put pay to the idea that greed and excess were good.
At the same time, the 'Beaujolais Nouveau' brand had been sullied by over-saturation with poor-quality weak and acidic products.
So why did the tradition live-on in Swansea? Again, Prof Stead thinks he might have the answer.
"We're a city who love to revel in being not-quite-on-trend.
"There's plenty of Swansea City fans who still in their heart-of-hearts hanker for the days when the club was a bit of a joke, and so clinging on to Beaujolais Day was a sort of two fingers to fashion; we'll carry on doing things our way.
"Plus, with the history of Clem and Mr Tecero, there was a sense that Beaujolais Day was something as uniquely Swansea as it was French."
Whilst Beaujolais Day has made something of a mild resurgence across the UK in recent years, there may still be nowhere outside of London who go in for it quite like the people of Swansea.
It is estimated that last year the event contributed around £5M to the local economy; ranking as the third busiest night in the city, only behind "Black Friday" and New Year's Eve.
Russell Greenslade, Chair of Swansea Business Improvement District said: "Beaujolais Day in Swansea continues to grow in popularity over the years, with many other places now following suit.
"A variety of the business sectors benefit from the day, such as retail, hairdressers, beauticians, and of course hospitality; with many booked up well in advance for the occasion."
But as with all major public celebrations, Beaujolais Day in Swansea comes with its own set of problems.
Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board are bracing themselves for a busy night across the region's emergency departments, while South Wales Police say they will be closely monitoring the festivities so that everyone can enjoy themselves.
Though before Swansea starts polishing its Beaujolais crown too vigorously, perhaps it ought to stop and take a look east - a little further afield than traditional rivals Cardiff - Japan is the world's biggest export market for Nouveau, buying almost 60 million litres last year alone.
But for the first time in the 65 year tradition of Beaujolais Day, Thursday's celebration coincides with a Super Moon.
Could revellers on the streets of Swansea end up "howling" in more ways than one?
South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Alun Michael said: "Beaujolais Day will have a different feel to a normal night, however, with alcohol being a direct factor in over 50% of all violent crimes, South Wales Police alongside businesses and partners will be out enforcing the law and protecting those vulnerable.
"By reducing alcohol consumption, you reduce the risk of becoming a victim or perpetrator of alcohol related violence. Stay safe and have fun." | For most of the UK, Beaujolais Day is an 1980s fashion which was ditched as unceremoniously as shell suits - but not in Swansea. |
20,155,944 | Balta Island Seafare Ltd is to install two new electronic seal scarers and introduce stronger nets at its sites off Unst.
It said the move would give better protection to salmon stocks.
The company operates a total of four marine farming sites off the coast of Unst.
The project is being supported with funding by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and the European Fisheries Fund.
Christopher Ritch, from Balta Island Seafare, said: "We have had some success deterring seals with electronic scarers, and these new scarers should exclude seals from an even bigger area around the cages.
"Together with the stronger nets, I think this will go a long way towards allowing us to farm in harmony with the local nature and keep the company growing."
David Priest, from HIE, said fish farming was a major part of the Shetland economy.
He added: "The loss of stock from seals not only damages the business but escaped farmed salmon can also cause environmental damage by threatening the wild salmon population.
"The new nets and equipment installed by Balta Island Seafare will protect these wild stocks while also increasing the profitability of the business." | A Shetland fish farm is investing nearly £100,000 in a project designed to protect stock from seals. |
39,844,663 | Three-time world champion Hamilton has won one of the season's four races and finished fourth at the Russian Grand Prix last time out.
"Lewis had a difficult weekend in both qualifying and the race," said Wolff.
"We've since been unpicking what happened to understand why we couldn't get the car in the right window so he could feel comfortable with it."
Briton Hamilton said he was left mystified by his lack of pace as his team-mate Valtteri Bottas won in Russia, while Ferrari duo Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were second and third at the Sochi track.
The result left Hamilton 13 points behind Vettel in the drivers' standings going into the Spanish Grand Prix, held in Barcelona on 14 May.
"We must give him the tools he needs to do the job in the next races and that will be a big focus for us," added Wolff.
"Barcelona will be interesting as our pre-season was not spectacular in Spain. It's a very different track to Sochi and we'll be running with harder tyres.
"We are taking this season one race at a time. If we deliver the best possible work from Friday onwards, then we'll be ready to win and fight with Ferrari." | There are no "magic bullets to understanding" Lewis Hamilton's car issues, says Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. |
34,645,503 | Rashid was last man out, caught at cover from a mistimed drive, to end England's stubborn resistance on day five with just 6.3 overs remaining.
Prior to that, the 27-year-old spinner had batted 242 minutes for 61.
"I am sure he is reflecting on the shot he played at the end and kicking himself," said Bayliss.
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"I thought he did sensationally well with the bat and showed his all-round qualities. He took five-for in the second innings of the first Test and now his batting in this - the potential for him going forward is very good.
"No-one is blaming him for that shot. If a few of our boys had played in a similar fashion to him throughout the match we wouldn't have been in that situation.
"There are certainly no negatives with Rash. It was a fantastic effort from him and three or four guys at the end of the innings."
Yorkshireman Rashid's 172-ball innings was the backbone of England's late innings resistance after they had stumbled to 193-7 in pursuit of 491.
He was ably assisted by Stuart Broad (30) and Mark Wood (29) but was unable to see the innings out.
The defeat leaves England needing to win the third Test in Sharjah, which starts on Sunday, to draw the series in the United Arab Emirates.
Bayliss revealed that England are likely to stick with Moeen Ali as opener in Sharjah, despite a return of 48 runs in two matches since his elevation to the top of the order.
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However, he admitted that there will be discussions over the position of wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler, who struggled with the bat in the previous series against Australia and has scored just 34 runs at an average of 8.50 in the current one.
"He's [Buttler] disappointed with the amount of runs he's scored," said Bayliss. "I don't think he's far off scoring runs.
"We know he's a class quality player and I believe he'll play a lot for England going forward. We're certainly not concerned about him long term."
There had been suggestions that England could bring in Samit Patel to form a three-strong spin attack in Sharjah, but Bayliss suggested there had been a change of mind following a strong showing from the seam attack in the first two matches.
"We thought about the possibility of playing three spinners there originally," he added. "The difficult thing is I think our pace bowling has been our strength. So if we were to drop one of those guys it might create its own problems."
Meanwhile, England batsman Joe Root has returned to the top of the Test batting rankings.
His 159 runs in his two innings in Dubai, which also took him past 3,000 runs in Tests, moved him three points above Australia's Steven Smith.
Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah took eight wickets in the second Test, which has taken him above England seamers James Anderson and Stuart Broad into second place in the bowlers' rankings behind only South Africa's Dale Steyn. | England coach Trevor Bayliss says no-one is blaming Adil Rashid for the manner of his decisive dismissal in the 178-run second Test defeat by Pakistan. |
34,144,923 | He also argued Britain should be willing to engage in military action in Syria to "restore safety" there.
Ministers have raised the prospect of air strikes on so-called Islamic State extremists in Syria, but say this would only happen with the Commons' approval.
David Cameron has said the UK will fulfil its "moral responsibilities", as pressure mounts to take more refugees.
Writing on a party website, Mr Davies said the images of a drowned boy in the Turkish resort of Bodrum meant it was time to "confront very difficult decisions".
"When parents are willing to risk the lives of their families for the chance to get to safety, it's time to act," he wrote.
"We need to address this issue at source and take steps to stabilise Syria.
"The way to prevent Syrian refugees from making that treacherous crossing at the hands of exploitative criminal gangs isn't to place arbitrary limits on the number of refugees we can take; it's to restore safety to the country from which they flee in such numbers.
"If that ultimately includes military action - or 'boots on the ground' - then we must be willing to step up to the plate."
Mr Davies added: "Ultimately, though, the United Kingdom must be willing to take its share - we have always done so in the past.
"In the 1970s, when Idi Amin ordered the ethnic cleansing of Indians in Uganda, Britain offered sanctuary to more than 27,000 refugees.
"In the 1980s, the UK became home to around 19,000 Vietnamese refugees who fled the country by boat and ship after the Vietnam War."
Meanwhile, Newport City Council has called for other local authorities to take a "greater share" of asylum seekers, saying it was reaching its limit.
The council said it was "extremely sympathetic" to the plight of Syrian refugees, but was "now close to its maximum quota" under government policy. | The UK should "take its share" of refugees from Syria, Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies has said. |
38,833,883 | They backed the government's European Union Bill, supported by the Labour leadership, by 498 votes to 114.
But the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats opposed the bill, while 47 Labour MPs and Tory ex-chancellor Ken Clarke rebelled.
The bill now faces further scrutiny in the Commons and the House of Lords before it can become law.
The prime minister has set a deadline of 31 March for invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, getting official talks with the EU started. The bill returns to the Commons next week.
MPs held two days of debate on the bill, which follows last June's referendum in which voters opted by 51.9% to 48.1% in favour of Brexit.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, a leading Leave campaigner, called the Commons result "absolutely momentous". Speaking on Facebook, he added: "We may be leaving the EU treaties. We are not leaving Europe."
The UK would "forge a new identity" and make "an amazingly positive contribution" to Europe, he said.
By Laura Kuenssberg, BBC political editor
This time last year few in Westminster really thought that this would happen. The then prime minister's concern was persuading the rest of the EU to give him a better deal for the UK.
His close colleagues believed the chances of them losing, let alone the government dissolving over the referendum, were slim, if not quite zero.
This isn't even the last vote on this bill.
There are several more stages, the Lords are likely to kick up rough at the start.
But after tonight, for better or worse, few will believe that our journey to the exit door can be halted.
Read Laura's blog
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Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had imposed a three-line whip - the strongest sanction at his disposal - on his MPs to back the bill.
Shadow cabinet members Rachael Maskell and Dawn Butler quit the party's front bench shortly before the vote, in order to defy his orders.
Also, 13 Labour frontbenchers voted against their own party position, apparently without first resigning.
Mr Corbyn said: "Labour MPs voted more than three to one in favour of triggering Article 50. Now the battle of the week ahead is to shape Brexit negotiations to put jobs, living standards and accountability centre stage.
"Labour's amendments are the real agenda. The challenge is for MPs of all parties to ensure the best deal for Britain, and that doesn't mean giving Theresa May a free hand to turn Britain into a bargain-basement tax haven."
One MP was heard to shout "Suicide" when the result of the vote was announced.
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, seven of whose nine MPs voted against the government, said: "The Tories and Labour have failed future generations today by supporting a hard Brexit.
"Labour's leadership tonight have waved the white flag. They are not an opposition; they are cheerleaders."
MPs will discuss the bill in more detail next week when it reaches its committee stage in the Commons, during which amendments to the government's plans will be discussed.
The SNP's foreign affairs spokesman at Westminster, Alex Salmond, said: "Next week there will be detailed questions and the calibre of the government will be judged by how they respond to the amendments."
Plaid Cymru's Westminster group leader, Hywel Williams, called Labour's stance "deeply disappointing", adding: "This was not a vote on whether to accept the referendum result. It was a vote on whether to endorse the Tories' extreme version of Brexit."
Ken Clarke, the only Conservative MP to defy his party by voting against the bill, said the result was "historic", but the "mood could change" when the "real action" of negotiations with the EU starts.
Earlier, the Commons voted against an SNP amendment aimed at scuppering the bill.
The bill was published last week, after the Supreme Court decided MPs and peers must have a say before Article 50 could be triggered.
It rejected the government's argument that Mrs May had sufficient powers to trigger Brexit without consulting Parliament.
Talks with the EU are expected to last up to two years, with the UK predicted to leave the 28-member organisation in 2019. | MPs have voted by a majority of 384 to allow Prime Minister Theresa May to get Brexit negotiations under way. |
39,838,752 | NHS Providers said the cap, which limits pay rises to 1% a year to 2019, was causing severe recruitment and retention problems in England.
The body, which represents NHS trusts in England, said the next government must look at the issue immediately.
Labour says it would look to increase pay, but the Tories and Lib Dems have not yet set out any pay plans.
Labour wants to increase pay so it better reflects the cost of living, but has not said by how much.
Over the weekend the Lib Dems did announce they would increase income tax by a penny-in-the-pound to boost investment in the NHS.
Last year the Public Accounts Committee warned that the NHS in England was 50,000 people short of the front-line staff it needed - about 6% of the workforce.
NHS Providers chief executive Chris Hopson said his members were now worried the situation was so bad that services were at risk.
"Growing problems of recruitment and retention are making it harder for trusts to ensure patient safety," he said. "Unsustainable staffing gaps are quickly opening up."
He said the seven years of pay restraint, combined with stressful working conditions, had taken a toll on the workforce.
"Pay is becoming uncompetitive," added Mr Hopson. "Significant numbers of trusts say lower paid staff are leaving to stack shelves in supermarkets rather than carry on working in the NHS."
He added that uncertainty surrounding Brexit meant that "vital recruitment from EU countries is dropping rapidly", saying: "Pay restraint must end."
While NHS Providers represents only English hospital, ambulance and mental health trusts, any move on the pay cap would have implications elsewhere as pay recommendations are made on a UK-wide basis.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is polling its members on whether they should strike over the pay cap.
It says a combination of pay freezes and caps on pay rises since 2010 have, in effect, led to a 14% pay cut due to the rising cost of living.
RCN general secretary Janet Davies said: "The government cannot ignore this warning from hospital bosses - poor pay for NHS staff damages patient care.
"If it now pays more to stack supermarket shelves than work on the wards, ministers should hang their heads in shame."
Lib Dem health spokesman Norman Lamb refused to be drawn on whether his party would increase pay.
But he accused the Tories of "running the health service into the ground".
A Conservative party spokesman said: "The truth is that in order to continue to invest in the NHS, grow staff numbers and pay and improve patient care, we need to secure the economic progress we've made and get a good Brexit deal.
"That is only on offer at this election with the strong and stable leadership of Theresa May."
Every 1% increase in pay would cost about £500m.
Get news from the BBC in your inbox, each weekday morning | The pay cap on NHS staff must be lifted because it puts patient safety at risk, NHS bosses say. |
22,756,140 | A modern language is defined in England as one that can be spoken or written - so BSL cannot qualify at the moment.
But deaf awareness charity Signature points out that sign language is included on the education curriculum in Sweden, Norway and Finland.
The government said if a BSL GCSE were created it would count in league tables as a measure of broader achievement.
Signature is developing a GCSE in the subject and is working with the exams regulator to gain approval and wants this to be introduced as a foreign language under the new national curriculum which ministers are currently finalising.
But Signature argues that BSL deserves the same status as other minority languages such as Gaelic and Welsh.
It says making it mainstream would also help give deaf and hearing impaired children equal access to education and employment opportunities.
The charity's communications director Paul Parsons said: "If we believe that one of the reasons for teaching a modern foreign language is because it can bring long term economic value, then there's no reason why BSL should be disregarded."
He added that such a change would open up career opportunities for young deaf people by enhancing their employability and allowing them to look at career opportunities not previously considered.
Mr Parsons added: "If deaf students are able to gain a qualification in their first language whilst still at school, they will feel more comfortable and confident about going to university. We need to do all we can to create an environment of inclusion, widen participation and increase access before it's too late."
The charity points out that in Sweden, sign language is included as an academic subject in its equivalent of the national curriculum.
And Swedish students can undertake the equivalent of a GCSE in Swedish sign language.
These reforms were designed to create a more inclusive education system that reflected the needs of deaf learners.
The Department for Education said while there was no GCSE qualification currently offered by exam boards in British Sign Language, there were other qualifications available ranging up to degree level.
The spokesman added that Signature was in discussion with Ofqual, the independent regulator which approves GCSEs, to ensure that any GCSE in BSL is of the right quality and reflects the richness of it as a language.
"All new GCSEs will count towards the 'best eight' performance measure, which will encourage schools to maintain a broad curriculum for all students. This could include a new GCSE in British Sign Language, if an exam board produces a qualification that is deemed of suitably high quality by Ofqual." | Ministers are facing calls to make British Sign Language count as a modern foreign language at GCSE level. |
21,228,935 | Llewelyn Alberic Emilius Price-Davies, VC, CB, CMG, DSO is best-remembered by followers of Welsh military history as a war hero from the Boer War, who won the Victoria Cross.
On 17 September 1901, as a 23-year-old lieutenant with less than two years' experience, he mounted an audacious horseback solo counterattack on around 400 Boer troops in south Africa; sowing enough confusion in their ranks to allow the British artillery at Blood River Poort to regroup.
Unsurprisingly he was shot from his horse but recovered to rise through the Army during World War I, where writer Peter Robinson believes he made his greatest contribution to history.
Serving as Divisional Corps liaison officer to the famous 38th Welsh Division, Brigadier later Major General Price-Davies was responsible for relaying the orders of the British commander on the western front, General Douglas Haig, to commanders in the field.
Mr Robinson, a retired police officer from Burry Port, started his research as part of a MA in War Studies at King's College, London.
But due to the amount of material uncovered, what started as a dissertation has now been turned into a book.
"I knew about Price-Davies' VC but until I came across his letters at the Imperial War Museum I didn't know a great deal about his First World War."
Coming from an aristocratic Montgomeryshire family, Maj Gen Price-Davies could avoid the War Office censors by sending letters home via the King's own messenger.
Insight
As such they allow an unusually candid insight into the frustrations he felt at the way in which British plans were implemented at the 1916 Battle of The Somme, and in particular the 38th or Welsh division's assault on Mametz Wood.
There, 46 officers and 556 other ranks from the Welsh division killed. When the wounded and those listed as "missing" were counted the total number of casualties amounted to nearly 4,000.
"On the one hand Price-Davies was dealing with elite officers in HQ, and on the other with divisional commanders coping with the reality in the field, and he was part of a small band of middle-ranking officers trying to bridge this disconnect," says Mr Robinson.
"In the early stages of the war communication was a real issue, with no radio and a shortage of vehicles and field telephones. If he was dispatched with orders at one o'clock, very often it would be six or seven before he could deliver and explain them by which time the situation on the ground could have changed completely."
Maj-Gen Price-Davies also writes in his letters of his worries about the way in which the British Army was altering rapidly during the first two years of the conflict.
"Price-Davies was a professional, career-long soldier who came from a relatively small but extremely well-drilled army. But by 1916 you're into the age of the New Army with raw recruits who weren't capable of performing in the same way as battle-hardened veterans. Price-Davies felt that tactics needed to be adapted to take account of this."
Maj Gen Price-Davies not only wrote home about his concerns - he also voiced them to the Army, through official and unofficial channels.
Many of the issues he raised with his brother-in-law - Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Field Marshal Henry Wilson.
As a result he was much more positive about the 38th Welsh Division's next engagement, on Pilckem Ridge at Passchendaele a year later.
"The Army had learnt a great deal by Pilckem Ridge, and Price-Davies felt vindicated by the relative success of the operation," says Mr Robinson.
"Communication was much improved and, thanks to aerial reconnaissance, troops were being carefully targeted at weak points in the German lines rather than hurriedly thrown forwards in blind frontal assaults."
"Whereas raw recruits at Mametz Wood had been completely unprepared for hand-to-hand combat amongst the trees, by Pilckem Ridge the British had mocked-up German trenches, and had exhaustively rehearsed the offensive."
In 1918, Maj Gen Price-Davies was transferred to the Italian front, where his correspondence gives an insight into the disagreements between British, French and Italian commanders, about how many resources it was right to draw away from Flanders, in an attempt to open up a new front following the Russian surrender.
Although Price-Davies officially retired in 1930, he remained in the Army Reserve, and between 1939/44 commanded the Berkshire Regiment of the Home Guard while in his sixties.
"Obviously he was glad that the Nazis never invaded Britain but I think that deep down there would have been a part of him which had secretly itched for more active service," says Mr Robinson.
"I wouldn't say that in isolation Price-Davies did a huge amount to win World War One but he was part of a professional group of old soldiers in the middle officer ranks who made the nuts and bolts of war happen."
"Therefore you could argue that his work on the western front ultimately had far more of a lasting impact on the world than his VC heroics." | A writer believes he has uncovered how a middle-ranking Welsh army officer may have helped to alter the course of World War One. |
40,959,033 | Developers of Horizon Nuclear Power hope to start building Wylfa Newydd, by 2020 but need to secure permission first.
A consultation into plans to widen the A5025 between Valley and Wylfa has been launched.
Horizon said the pre-construction work would reduce building time.
It is the fourth public consultation for the nuclear site by the firm - owned by Hitachi Ltd - and includes plans to improve cycle and pedestrian crossings at the plant.
Plans to widen, reconstruct and add a new surface layer to the A5025 were first put to the public in 2016, the new consultation includes minor changes made after feedback.
Richard Foxhall, Stakeholder Relations Manager at Horizon, said finalising these plans ahead of securing planning permission for Wylfa would help speed up the process.
"These are important pieces of work that we need to complete before we start the main construction phase of Wylfa Newydd," he said.
"We've made some changes to our original proposals for both the site preparation and road improvements, and we're keen that local people have the opportunity to find out what's new and give us their views."
Horizon Nuclear Power hopes to submit a planning application for the power plant to Anglesey council later this year.
When operational, Wylfa Newydd is expected to create 850 permanent jobs and should start generating power by 2025. | Road improvements to prepare for the construction of a £10bn proposed nuclear site on Anglesey are being put to islanders. |
39,576,594 | Supt Steve Furnham, of South Wales Police, was speaking after the Borussia Dortmund team bus was damaged in a series of explosions on Tuesday.
The German club was due to play at home to Monaco in the Champions League quarter-final first leg in Dortmund.
The match was moved to Wednesday.
Cardiff will host the final on 3 June at the Principality Stadium and police have already been given a £1.4m grant from the UK government to help with security.
Supt Furnham said: "The events in Germany yesterday are being fully investigated by the German authorities and we cannot speculate on the matter.
"Detailed safety and security planning and preparation for the UEFA Champions League finals in Cardiff has been going ahead for many months.
"Measures will be taken to restrict vehicular access to a number of areas within Cardiff.
"We are working with our partners here in south Wales as well as with other security forces across the country to ensure a safe and secure environment for the finals in June."
David Griffiths, president of the Football Association of Wales, was the UEFA match delegate on Tuesday and was jointly responsible for taking the decision to postpone the game.
He said: "We met with the police commander and the two teams, and there was no way that Dortmund were going to play last night because all the players were in shock.
"When a team coach is attacked... you don't expect that, but unfortunately this is the world we are living in now and we don't know what's going to happen next."
He praised the German authorities' response to the incident, saying police numbers had increased significantly, triple checks of the stadium in Dortmund were being carried out and there was a ban on bags over a certain size.
Commenting on the final in June, he said: "You look back at the [Euro 2016 tournament] and there was a ring of steel around the stadium. Everything was explained to people last Friday what is going to happen with road closures.
"I think we can expect a severe lockdown in Cardiff in June."
Lee Doddridge, a former member of the UK's National Counter Terrorism security office, said the attack's implications on Cardiff could be varied.
"We need to see the outcome of the current inquiry with the attack on the bus," he told BBC Wales.
"We need to look at the reasons why it was attacked, the explosives that were used and what may come out of the letter that was left at the scene.
"Cardiff is well-versed in dealing with major security operations at large sporting events.
"We may have to revisit the hotel security and the transport and the movement of the players to the final.
"To the fans attending, Cardiff is a secure city centre and the stadium is well used to large numbers at major events." | Everything is being done to ensure the Champions League final passes off smoothly when Cardiff hosts the world football's biggest club competition in June, police have said. |
34,422,024 | The University of Birmingham announced its discovery in July and revealed the manuscript is at least 1,370 years old.
Susan Worrall, from the university, described the manuscript as being "a global treasure".
It is on display at the university's Edgbaston campus until 25 October and tickets are free.
The pages of the Muslim holy text had remained unrecognised in the university library for almost a century, the library said.
One visitor said: "This manuscript could have been handled by the Prophet Muhammad or the best men in our religion... I am just standing next to it - it is really amazing."
"Finding out we had one of the oldest fragments of the Koran in the whole world has been fantastically exciting," said Ms Worrall, who is director of special collections.
Birmingham's Muslim community leaders have expressed their delight at the discovery.
Muhammad Afzal, chairman of Birmingham Central Mosque, said: "When I saw these pages I was very moved.
"There were tears of joy and emotion in my eyes.
At the scene: Amy Coles, BBC Midlands Today
About 2,000 tickets to see the scripts have been taken up and the university expects a lot more to be used before the exhibition ends.
The display area was relatively busy but the tickets are timed so people can get to spend time at the display. I would say there are about ten people in at a time.
The atmosphere is quite hushed and reverential - it seems to be quite an emotional experience for some people.
"And I'm sure people from all over the UK will come to Birmingham to have a glimpse of these pages."
It was discovered by PhD researcher, Alba Fedeli, who decided to carry out a radiocarbon dating test.
The tests provided a range of dates, showing that, with a probability of more than 95%, the parchment was from between 568 and 645.
"They could well take us back to within a few years of the actual founding of Islam," said David Thomas, the university's professor of Christianity and Islam.
"According to Muslim tradition, the Prophet Muhammad received the revelations that form the Koran, the scripture of Islam, between the years 610 and 632, the year of his death," he said.
The manuscript, written in Hijazi script, an early form of written Arabic, has become one of the oldest known fragments of the Koran. | Fragments of a Koran believed to be one of the oldest ever found have gone on public display in Birmingham. |
39,225,533 | The AS Port-Louis 2000 (ASPL 2000) goalkeeper was arrested in September after an Anti-Drug Smuggling Unit found 22 doses of heroin in his home in Port Louis.
His lawyer moved for a temporary lifting of the travel ban imposed on Leopold since his arrest but police objected, arguing the accused could seek refuge abroad.
Leopold, formerly a reserve goalkeeper for the Mauritian national team, has denied the charges.
ASPL 2000 are due to play the first leg of their Champions League tie against Al Hilal in Sudan on Sunday.
The 27-year-old keeper's lawyer told the court in Port Louis that his client would respect all bail conditions and gave a guarantee he would not flee as his companion and children are in Mauritius.
The district court magistrate denied the request.
This is the second time Leopold has failed to overturn his travel ban.
The first occasion came in early February when the club travelled to Kenya to play Tusker FC in the preliminary round of Africa's premier club competition.
ASPL drew 1-1 before Leopold participated in the return leg in Mauritius as the team won 2-1 and so qualified for this weekend's clash against Al Hilal.
Leopold, whose ASPL 2000 side are Mauritian champions, was the reserve goalkeeper for his country during the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign. | Mauritius international Joseph Leopold has not been allowed to travel to Sudan for an African Champions League fixture because of drug trafficking charges. |
31,410,300 | Sky won five of the seven TV packages on offer, but paid 83% more than it did in the last auction three years ago.
However, shares in BT rose 3.65% after it paid £960m for two of the TV packages, 30% more than last time.
Analysts at Jefferies said the outcome had been "sobering" for Sky, but "reassuring" for BT.
Sky and BT paid a combined £5.136bn for the live TV rights deal - far in excess of what had been expected.
Jefferies said the deal would be "challenging to explain" to Sky shareholders.
"For Sky, a sobering result," Jefferies said. "Even with some claw back on costs/pricing, we expect [analyst] forecasts to move lower," it said.
The price Sky paid per year was about £330m more than City analysts had predicted.
Jefferies estimated that Sky would try to claw back about £200m a year through cost-cutting and £100m through incremental price rises.
Analysts estimate that Sky Sports has about five million subscribers, out of a total TV subscriber base of between 10.5 and 11 million people.
The BBC understands Sky plans to mainly fund its bid by taking costs out of its non-programming budget.
Sports and entertainment programming will not be affected, but areas such as customer services will find efficiencies by moving more online rather than being focused on call centres, for example.
Sky will also try to reduce the need for service visits by increasing the reliability of its set-top boxes, which are currently around 85% reliable, the BBC understands.
Subscribers are also likely to face some price rises, analysts believe.
Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown, said BT appeared to have got the better deal.
"Sky has paid dearly and is going to have to squeeze costs and customers to keep its finances on track," he said.
"BT has ended up with a good hand - Premiership, Champions League, FA Cup and European leagues, all for a fraction of the annual cost that Sky is paying for its Premiership position," he added.
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that clubs reinvest TV rights money, "making sure the show stays as compelling and as interesting as it is".
He said that money ultimately gets "redistributed right down through grass-roots football".
Although only about 5% of Premier League funds eventually filter down to grass-roots level, Mr Scudamore said he was not in a position to guarantee that the 70% rise in the price of TV rights would be reflected in funding for grass-roots football.
He said it did not make him uncomfortable that Premier League footballers earn up to £500,000 per week, or that clubs employed some staff on the minimum wage.
"The reality is, just like in the film industry, just like in any talent industry, just like in the pop music industry, the talent, the absolute talent... gets paid a disproportionately high amount compared with other people that work in the business."
"We're in the entertainment industry," he added. "The stars that grace the fields of football in the Premier League are world stars, it's a world market, and I don't set that market rate. It's set by the entire world market, and we, and the fans, want the best talent to come and play in the Premier League." | Sky's shares ended the day 2.2% lower after the company agreed to pay £4.1bn to show live Premier League football between 2016 and 2019. |
34,765,936 | Constant Dullaart's 'army', staffed via two volunteers, will be dispatched to add likes to various posts across the social network.
He told the BBC that he wants to protest against what he calls the "quantification of social capital".
It is a violation of Facebook policy to create a fake account.
Facebook uses various techniques, including pattern recognition, to try to halt the spread of fake activity.
The artist admitted that he has not discussed his plans with the firm.
"It might be that Facebook will notice and will start to kill them off," he said.
"If I'm using the analogy of the soldiers - in that sense I feel like I did declare war on this idea that quantified social capital represents quality."
Constant Dullaart intends to bring together artists, philosophers and critics to decide what his fake army should do.
"It will be interesting to have a commission deciding who deserves the extra social attention," he said.
He expects the project to last for up to two months but said he could not be sure about the life expectancy of his invented troops.
"It is not my intention to run it as a business model... but [creating fake profiles] is an enormous industry that deserves the attention."
He is basing the profiles on real members of the Hessian army from the late 1700s but declined to give the names of those he has chosen.
There are currently around 1,000 of them on the site, but there could eventually be up to 20,000, he added.
For a previous art project he purchased fake Instagram accounts and set them up to follow 30 real Instagram users from the art world.
He was trying to give every account he chose 100,000 followers, he said.
One gallery owner complained to Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, that the influx of followers was making it difficult to identify genuine collectors and enthusiasts.
"I wasn't trying to drown out his business," the artist said.
"I wanted to equalise a lot of artists to make them equally important." | A Dutch artist is compiling thousands of fake Facebook profiles, all named after soldiers who fought in the US revolution in the 18th century. |
40,778,372 | Employees in the Unite trade union are disputing a below-inflation pay rise of 1%, which has been imposed.
About 20 union members, including cleaners, security and maintenance staff, are picketing the Bank's headquarters in the City of London.
Some are wearing facemasks of the Bank's governor, Mark Carney.
They have been joined by the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell.
Staff in the Bank's "parlours", which are meeting rooms on the ground floor of the Bank's building in Threadneedle Street, have also walked out.
It is the first time for more than 50 years that workers at the central bank have been on strike.
"The union balloted approximately 2% of the workforce," the Bank said, as only 150 staff work in the three affected departments.
"The Bank has plans in place so that all essential business will continue to operate as normal during this period.
"The Bank has been in talks with Unite up to and including today and remains ready to continue those talks at any time," it added.
The last time Bank of England staff went on strike was in the late 60s and involved printers at the Bank's printing plant in Debden, who were employed by the Bank of England at that time.
Unite said the dispute centred on the "derisory" pay settlement that the bank had imposed on staff without the union's agreement.
It was the second year running that staff had received a below inflation pay offer, it said.
Unite's London and Eastern regional secretary, Peter Kavanagh, said its members had "been left with no choice but to take industrial action".
"Mark Carney should come to the picket lines outside this iconic British bank today and explain why hardworking men and women deserve to face years of pay cuts."
"They are struggling to pay their bills and feed their families because the bank has unjustly imposed a below inflation or zero pay rise," he added.
Inflation was 2.6% last month, according to official figures. | A three-day strike by some Bank of England support staff has begun, after talks at the conciliation service Acas ended without agreement. |
38,921,758 | They will use pig carcasses and smaller animals in a "body farm" as the results will be comparable with human remains.
The aim is to be able to provide data which would help police with murder investigations and non-criminal cases where bodies are found.
Glyndwr University forensic science lecturer Amy Rattenbury said the research was important.
"It focuses on on a area called forensic taphonomy which is essentially all about decomposition," she told BBC Wales.
"It's trying to learn what's happened to a body from the point of death to the point of recovery. It helps us determine something called post mortem interval - how long somebody has been dead for.
"It's really important for the police in terms of their investigation, so if we can say this person has been dead for say, six weeks, and somebody who's a main suspect has an alibi for six weeks ago, then we know we can rule them out of the investigation.
"But we're also understanding more how decomposition works and how it can affect the body and can help us try to identify the remains once they have been recovered."
The "body farm" is understood to be the first of its kind in Wales and is in a wooded area near the university's campus in Wrexham.
Ms Rattenbury said the reaction to the research ranged from one extreme to the others but added the animals are ethically sourced from licensed abattoirs.
"The majority of the research that we do are using pigs simply because they are most anatomically similar to human remains," she said.
"At the moment we can't do human remains research in forensic science in the UK simply because there's too many legal and ethical hoops to try and jump through.
"We have to do that research in order to progress the science." | Forensic science students are studying how animal remains decompose in a bid to help solve criminal investigations. |
39,050,020 | The quick thinking officer asked the lorry driver if he'd seen the boy, who had run away from his parents in Tiverton, Devon.
When the driver said he had seen someone matching the description, PCSO Paul Goodier jumped aboard.
They tracked the boy down close to where the driver had last seen him.
Read more about gritter lorry search and other Devon and Cornwall stories
A spokesman for Tiverton Police said: "In a moment of inspiration, Goodier had a 'follow that car moment'.
"Taking a round-about route to responsibly ensure no area of road was 'double gritted', they went to the area of last sighting.
"The boy's shocked face as our officer of the week climbed down from the cab was apparently a picture, he didn't even think to run off."
The spokesman continued: "He hijacked a gritter."
"I am not sure if he got the driver to raise his right hand and swore him in as his deputy, but this was partnership working, deputising and searching all delicately rolled into one." | A police community support officer flagged down a gritter lorry to help successfully track down a missing boy. |
40,903,790 | The move came after a yearlong league investigation into claims he abused his then-girlfriend in Ohio in 2016.
Prosecutors decided not to charge Elliott, but the league's inquiry found substantial evidence showing physical confrontations with his ex-girlfriend.
The 22-year-old footballer has three days to appeal the decision.
According to a statement by the National Football League (NFL), Elliott will be suspended without pay for "violating the league's Personal Conduct Policy".
According to ESPN, the suspension also voids the guarantees in his four-year - nearly $25m (£19.2) contract - with the Cowboys.
He may also be forced to forfeit other payments received from the team including over $1m in signing bonus pay.
The ruling also requires Elliott to be evaluated for counselling or treatment and to provide evidence that he has followed up on any recommendations made.
The statement described the year-long "extensive investigation" by the league, in which they reviewed "thousands of text messages", spoke to medical experts, witnesses and the victim herself.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell consulted with a team of advisers, the statement says, adding that they were present along with Elliott's legal team when he was interviewed by league officials during a meeting on 26 June 2016 in New York City.
In a statement to ESPN, Elliot's reprensentatives Frank Salzano and Scott Rosenblum said the NFL findings were full of "factual inaccuracies and erroneous conclusions".
They said the report "'cherry picks' so-called evidence to support its conclusion while ignoring other critical evidence".
Tiffany Thompson, who alleges the abuse, described her relationship with the star athlete as "toxic".
She claims that he attacked her five separate times in July 2016 in Columbus, Ohio.
Prosecutors chose not to press charges after witnesses made conflicting statements and found evidence that Ms Thompson had asked friends to lie about one of the encounters.
But despite the decision by the attorney general, NFL officials said they found "substantial and persuasive evidence" of domestic assault.
In Elliott's rookie year with the Cowboys he scored 15 touchdowns and ran the ball for 1,631 yards, setting a team record for a new recruit.
The NFL has been rocked by several domestic abuse scandals in recent years.
Elliot has been involved in a number of off-the-field incidents.
A video in March showed the football star pulling down a woman's top at a St Patrick's Day parade in Dallas.
The NFL cited the video in its letter to Elliott, calling it "inappropriate and disturbing, and reflecting a lack of respect for women", but said it did not factor into its decision.
He also reportedly punched a man and sent him to the hospital during an altercation at a nightclub in July. He was not arrested or charged with any crimes.
If he chooses not to appeal the decision, Elliott's suspension begins on 2 September and he can return to the active roster on 23 October. | Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott has been suspended for six games after domestic violence incidents, the NFL announced. |
36,254,775 | GlenWyvis Distillery Community Benefit Society is working with Community Shares Scotland to raise more than £1.5m in investment.
So far the effort has received more than £517,000 in pledges to take shares in the venture.
The distillery would be built on farmland and be fully community-owned and powered by renewable energy.
Construction could start in June this year with the first run of whisky planned for Burns Night on 25 January 2017.
Farmer John Mckenzie, who is helping to lead the project, said: "From the outset we have envisaged the project as more than a distillery.
"It is an opportunity for all social investors to help reinvigorate the historic town of Dingwall."
He added: "GlenWyvis will be built on its whisky heritage, its community-ownership and its environmental credentials."
The community shares scheme was launched last month and is due to come to an end in June. The project's board have the option to extend the scheme if necessary. | Scotland's first community-owned craft whisky distillery could be created near Dingwall in Ross-shire. |
33,127,672 | Dame Sally Davies is worried that recent controversies over the use of medicines have damaged faith in the way research is carried out and presented.
The review will publish its findings by the end of the year.
A copy of her request was obtained by the BBC's File on 4 programme as part of an investigation into concerns about a clot-busting treatment for strokes.
The CMO told the Academy of Medical Sciences she was very concerned" about a view that doctors and scientists are "untrustworthy".
She set out her concerns in a letter, sent in February, to the president of the Academy, Prof Sir John Tooke.
In this, she cited recent debates over the use of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs for people at low risk of developing heart disease, and the anti-viral treatment Tamiflu.
The letter reads: "There seems to be a view that doctors over-medicate so it is difficult to trust them, and that clinical scientists are all beset by conflicts of interest from industry funding and are therefore untrustworthy too."
She says this is not in the interests of patients or the public's health.
"I have, therefore, reluctantly come to the conclusion that we do need an authoritative independent report looking at how society should judge the safety and efficacy of drugs as an intervention."
The academy's review, which starts on Wednesday, will also consider the use of the clot-busting stroke treatment alteplase - a technique called thrombolysis.
Each year in the UK, there are more than 150,000 strokes. About 85% are caused by an obstruction blocking the flow of blood to the brain.
Patients with this type of stroke may be eligible for treatment with alteplase, subject to tests in hospital.
File on 4 visited the hyper-acute stroke unit at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust to see how staff assessed and administered alteplase.
Dr Jane Molloy, the clinical lead for stroke services, described how they explained the potential benefits to patients and their families.
Doctors would say that for every three people treated with this medication one will make some extra improvement, and one in seven will recover their independence who would not do so otherwise, she said.
They then set out the risks.
"We know that the risk of bleeding with thrombolysis is six in 100 and that will include minor bleeding but also might include major bleeding with the possibility that it could cause a fatal bleed in the brain."
Some doctors say the benefits have been exaggerated. Dr Roger Shinton, a former stroke physician at Birmingham's Heartlands Hospital, is sceptical.
He said: "I'm prepared to accept that there are some patients who could get some benefit, but overall it may be that on balance the number of people benefiting is actually quite small and does not justify the use given the significant harms that we know."
His concerns have won powerful backing from the former president of the Royal College of Physicians, Sir Richard Thompson.
"My worry is that the trials are not consistent, that the evidence is not strong enough to be giving, after all, a very expensive treatment," he said.
"Do we want to recommend a treatment with a marginal effect when we know we are - if you like - killing a few patients and saving others?"
Dr Shinton wants all the trial data on alteplase to be published. Until then, he argues, routine use of the drug for stroke should be suspended.
But Dr Dale Webb, from the Stroke Association, defended the treatment.
He said: "The evidence says that alteplase has made a big impact on the recovery of stroke survivors.
"We have to remember that the number of disabilities associated with stroke is greater than any other medical condition.
"A stroke really can turn your world upside down.
"What alteplase has done is to improve the long-term recovery outcomes for stroke patients."
In a statement, Boeringer Ingelheim - which holds the licence for alteplase in Europe - said its medicine played a vital role in the treatment of acute strokes.
"We are confident in our data, which is supported by the experience of clinicians who have been using our medicine to treat their patients for more than a decade," it said.
"We are incredibly proud of the contribution our medicine makes to patient care at this critical time."
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is carrying out a review into the safety and efficacy of alteplase.
It says it will publish the findings before the end of the year. | The chief medical officer for England has called for an independent review of the safety and efficacy of medicines. |
25,189,059 | Media playback is not supported on this device
Cotterill, 49, who has been out of management since leaving Nottingham Forest in July 2012, has agreed a three-and-a-half-year deal.
City, currently 23rd in the table, have been looking for a new boss following the departure of Sean O'Driscoll - who replaced Cotterill at Forest last year.
O'Driscoll left the club after 10 months on Thursday, with City having won only two league games this term.
City vice chairman Jon Lansdown said: "I'm delighted that Steve has chosen to join Bristol City Football Club.
"I believe he has the drive, energy and ability to get us back to winning ways.
"He is passionate about bringing success to this club and I am looking forward to working with him to achieve that."
Cotterill added his track record of guiding clubs to relegation safety, and his experience with Forest in particular, holds him in good stead.
"If I don't turn this one around, it will be the only one I haven't," Cotterill said.
"And I've been in charge of a few big clubs - Forest were going down quicker than the Titanic.
"I turned that one around. It wasn't immediate, I went in there at the same sort of period, the back end of November when the [transfer] window was shut and you couldn't do anything in regards to players."
Cotterill started his managerial career at Irish side Sligo Rovers before joining Cheltenham Town, his hometown club, in 1997.
In five years, he led the Robins from non-league to League One and went on to take charge at Stoke City.
He then managed Sunderland alongside Howard Wilkinson before spells with Burnley, Notts County, Portsmouth and Forest.
During his time at the City Ground, Cotterill worked with then-coach O'Driscoll, but left when the Al-Hasawi family took over the club.
Cotterill spent time on Harry Redknapp's coaching team at QPR last year but declined the offer of a similar role this term.
The Robins were relegated from the Championship in May and they started life in League One with a run of 12 games without a win.
Results had improved last month but, with the club still in the relegation zone, the board opted to replace O'Driscoll. | League One side Bristol City have named Steve Cotterill as their new manager. |
37,166,163 | The snake was anaesthetised for the seven-hour operation, Dr Taweesak Anansiriwattana told BBC Thai's Issariya Praithongyaem.
Doctors at Klongluang Animal Hospital had to cut through the skin and abdominal cavity wall in order to reach the tumour, which weighed 1kg (2lb).
Tissue samples have been sent for tests to determine if the snake has cancer.
The snake weighed about 52kg (114 lbs).
Most of the tumour was removed but a small part remains as it was too close to arteries, vets say.
The snake was brought to the hospital by a private owner. | Thai veterinarians have operated on a 10-year-old anaconda to remove a large tumour from near its heart. |
29,613,783 | Mohanad al-Akidi, the correspondent for the Sada news agency in the IS-held northern Iraqi city of Mosul, was shot dead at the Ghazlani base on Monday.
Mr Akidi was abducted in July while he travelled to Dohuk province.
On Friday Raad Mohamed al-Azzawi, a cameraman for Sama Salah Aldeen TV, was beheaded by IS militants in the city of Samarra. He had been held for a month.
Reporters Without Borders, which promotes and defends world media freedom, said it was "horrified by the jihadist group's constant crimes of violence".
"Islamic State is pursuing a policy of indiscriminate criminal violence that shows no pity towards journalists and does not hesitate to kidnap, torture and murder them," said its programme director, Lucie Morillon.
"Media personnel need the support and protection of the local authorities more than ever," she added.
The vast majority of foreign journalists have fled the large parts of Iraq and Syria controlled by IS because of the danger, leaving local reporters to document events.
IS has beheaded the American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff in the past two months, and is holding the British journalist John Cantlie, who has appeared in a series of propaganda videos.
Earlier this month, IS issued guidelines for journalists operating in the Syrian province of Deir al-Zour.
They were told to swear allegiance as "subjects of the Islamic State", submit stories for approval, and inform the group of any social media accounts. Anyone violating the guidelines will be "held accountable".
Reporters Without Borders said Mr Azzawi had been threatened with death by IS in September because he refused to work for the group. | Two Iraqi journalists have been killed by Islamic State (IS) in the past four days, Reporters Without Borders says. |
40,171,326 | The nation gathered in towns and cities to grieve for the dead and think of the injured in the wake of the third such onslaught in three months.
The silence was marked at 11:00 BST.
Seven people were killed and 48 injured, 15 of whom remain in a critical condition.
Hundreds of people stood in the rain at locations across London to pay tribute to the victims of Saturday's attack.
One of them, Andrea Liddel, who travelled from Kent for the occasion, said: "I thought it was my duty to come here today - to stand where many lost their lives. I'm here for them."
Flags on official buildings were flown at half-mast and London mayor Sadiq Khan visited the headquarters of the London Ambulance Service to mark the moment.
New Zealand and England cricketers paused during the ICC Champions Trophy match at Sophia Gardens cricket ground in Cardiff.
A large crowd gathered on the steps of Manchester's Central Library, despite blustery showers.
Lucy Hardman, a 26-year-old council worker from Glossop, said it was about the city standing "shoulder to shoulder" with London.
"I think there was so much support shown to Manchester after the attack here, it felt right to show some solidarity," she said.
Debbie Peel, 60, of Saddleworth, added: "It's still a very sad city here, but there has been a lot of positivity too. A lot of people have come out today and it just feels like the right thing to do."
Angie Goff, of Audenshaw, said: "We all stand together and we won't stand for it. It's very upsetting what's happened in both cities. The victims and families, it's just unbearable. To be honest it doesn't feel real."
Ahmed Bhayat, a worker at Birmingham City Council, said he joined the minute's silence as a "mark of respect" to the victims. "People are doing these terrible acts and we should demonstrate we are united as one," he said.
Chris Illsley, who's from Yorkshire and is currently working in Birmingham, was among a small gathering joining the minute's silence outside the city council offices in Victoria Square.
"The reason I'm here is because I'm human," he said.
"I personally have a large family and the thought of what has happened to these families - it would tear you apart, wouldn't it?"
Emma Angell, of Kidderminster, who works in Birmingham as a civil servant said it was "important to pay your respects".
"These people were out enjoying themselves and you wouldn't expect this sort of thing to happen really - but this has followed attacks in Westminster and Manchester," she said.
Ms Angell said she was angry that "all Muslims were being blamed for the attacks when their ideology was peaceful and does not support such actions".
Bristol's Cabot Circus shopping centre fell silent at 11:00 BST as centre staff, customers and shopkeepers lined the balconies of the centre to pay their respects.
There was a low key police presence in the centre, the entrances of which are heavily fortified with steel bollards.
As the announcement was made shoppers stopped what they doing and stood with their heads bowed.
Amanda Black, 43, a civil servant, working for the DWP, is from Washington. She observed the silence at Newcastle Central station where she was waiting for a train to London to see a gig at the Hammersmith Apollo. She said: "I booked the tickets a while ago and will let not the awful events of the last few weeks put me off. I see a lot of police here and I find it reassuring, but I am still apprehensive about travelling to London and going to a concert. But we cannot let terrorism stop us going about our lives and it is important to remember the victims."
Oil rig worker Ron Charlton, 58, of Tristley Wood, Sunderland, was waiting for a train to go back to work in Aberdeen.
He said: "The thing that stands out for me - especially from the London attack was the swift response of our emergency services. They had taken out those responsible within eight minutes from the first call which is so reassuring. I think it is time that we started to consider more extreme measures to deal with the terrorist threat such as internment. It is very important that we never forgot those who lost their lives - a minute's silence is the least we can do for those who have suffered."
Syed Ahmed, a local market trader, said he thought it was important to remember the innocent people who lost their lives.
Mayor Sarah Barber led the town's official tribute, and said: "It is particularly sad that we have gathered here again, so soon after we stood here following the Manchester atrocity.
"And now more innocent lives have been lost and families have been torn apart with grief. But we must all stand together in the face of evil and I thank you all for expressing solidarity."
Among shoppers in Inverness' Eastgate Centre was Sandra Lowe, of Kingussie.
She said she observed the silence out of respect of those who had lost their lives in the London Bridge attack, and also those affected by the Manchester Arena bombing.
"It is heart-breaking," she said, before adding: "It is a disgrace and something needs to be done. I am all for live-and-let-live and this is a United Kingdom for everybody from everywhere, but you live by the laws of the land in which you live."
Margaret Abraham, from Marske-by-the-Sea near Redcar in Cleveland, was one of those to gather in Nottingham, where she is visiting her brother.
"We need to realise that this terrorism is going on all the time all over the world, and we need to not forget that but think about it more. We haven't got to be afraid, we've still got to go about our everyday lives."
Rosey Palmer, from the city said: "I think it's important that we stand together. I wasn't able to be here for the Manchester one, so I felt I had to make more of an effort today."
Bishop James Stapleton, chaplain to the Lord Mayor of Nottingham, said: "To see so many turn out in the rain really shows solidarity with the people of London.
"We just had the same for Manchester, and it was shocking to see what has taken place. We stand together with them in their grief and sorrow."
Emma Sibley and Karl Hucker observed the silence with their young daughter, in their home city of Southampton .
Ms Sibley said they were there "just to remember and pay respect to the families and loved ones. It's horrible we have to do it, it's not right, but it's just out of respect. When you have little ones of your own it makes you think."
Bashir Chohan, 59, said: "The only straightforward message is to unite us. Terrorists would like to divide us and we would like to have unity with our communities.
"We don't want to see this kind of atrocity again, let's hope that it never happens again in our life."
The silence was observed at Mold Crown Court. Judge Niclas Parry said: "This morning, at this time, throughout the country, millions of lives are being paused in memory of those who lost their lives and for all the others injured or affected as a result of the tragic events in London on Saturday night."
Conwy county borough council chairman Brian Cossey said: "It's something that is really touching every member of the population of Britain.
"Our hearts go out to those who were injured, to the families of those who died, and to the people who witnessed this who weren't injured themselves. The tragedy will live with them forever."
John Lowe said he used the silence to "reflect on the loss of life and the impact it's having on the population in general. There is an element of fear involved. You have to turn out for these things to mark this occasion."
Nona Dean said she was there "out of respect for all of those who've died in London as well as Manchester. We're just so lucky to live where we do [in Truro]. I just feel so sad for everyone who's been lost and their families and the ones that are in hospital." | A minute's silence has been held across the UK as a mark of respect for those affected by the terror attack in London on Saturday night. |
33,436,549 | The Belarusian was defeated in three sets by Serena Williams in Tuesday's Wimbledon quarter-final and faced post-match questions over her noise levels.
"I'm tired of these questions," she said. "It's annoying as guys grunt.
"I was practising next to Nadal and he grunts louder than me and nobody noticed it. Look at the good stuff."
Azarenka lost 3-6 6-2 6-3 in a high-quality match in front of 15,000 spectators on Centre Court and claimed the focus should have been on the standard of play rather than the noise levels.
She added: "Maybe it is time to put it aside and not talk about it all the time because this is not what is important when there are two players playing on Centre Court.
"Stop bringing up this ridiculous stuff. Let's put aside the noise, how she looks and look at the game. The game proved itself today."
Denmark's former world number one Caroline Wozniacki has recently raised the issue of sexism in the game, claiming women do not receive as many opportunities as men to play on Wimbledon's show courts.
"I would love to play on a big court," said Wozniacki. "The women really haven't gotten the opportunity here to play on the big courts. You only get one women's match on Court One and Centre Court.
"It's definitely different, that's all I can say. I think a lot of us women feel like we deserve to play on the big courts in front of a big crowd, as well."
Meanwhile, Williams' next opponent, Maria Sharapova, also deflected questions about her grunting during her victory over Coco Vandeweghe of the USA.
"I don't say anything. Do I have to?" said the Russian. "I have nothing to say. It's nothing new. It's not a new question."
Vandeweghe said afterwards that the noise from her opponent "didn't bother me whatsoever", but she did accuse her opponent of unsporting behaviour, claiming Sharapova had tried to put her off while she served.
"What I experienced, what I felt from her moving around in between my serving motion was not, I don't think, sportsmanlike," Vandeweghe said.
"She said she didn't believe she was doing it during the motion. I strongly disagreed."
Sharapova refused to be drawn on the accusations. "It is what it is," the 2004 Wimbledon champion said. "What she said, I'm not going to argue against her words." | Victoria Azarenka has defended her on-court grunting and insists former men's champion Rafael Nadal is louder than her. |
35,433,051 | Adam Haywood denied causing 29-year-old Louise Wright's death by careless driving in Nottingham in 2014.
The city's crown court heard Mr Haywood, 30, of Langley Mill, Derbyshire, had failed to indicate when Ms Wright was crossing a city centre junction.
A retrial will take place at Derby Crown Court on 19 September.
Updates on this story and more from Nottinghamshire
Ms Wright suffered "catastrophic" injuries as a result of the collision at the junction of Lower Parliament Street and Pennyfoot Street in July 2014.
The prosecution alleged Mr Haywood had not indicated and hit Miss Wright's rear wheel.
He previously told the court he had checked his mirrors while at traffic lights and did not see the cyclist.
He said he would usually indicate on approach to a junction but on this occasion he could not remember if he had done so.
He had not realised anything was wrong until he heard people screaming and shouting, he said.
Judge James Sampson said the reason for discharging the jury could not be reported. | The jury in a trial of a man accused of killing a cyclist when she was dragged under his lorry has been discharged. |
32,872,350 | A tiny breeding colony of the northern bald ibis - a critically endangered species - was found near the city in 2002.
Only one female returned from the wintering grounds in spring 2013.
Three further birds held in captivity were abandoned last week after their Bedouin guards fled the fighting. Their fate is unknown.
The Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon has offered a reward of $1,000 (£646) for information on the whereabouts of Zenobia (named after the queen of Palmyra), the only remaining bird who knows the migration routes to wintering grounds in Ethiopia.
Without her, birds bred in captivity cannot learn the migration routes and the species could go extinct in the wild in Syria, say ornithologists.
"Culture and nature, they go hand in hand, and war stops, but nobody can bring back a species from extinction," Asaad Serhal, Head of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon, told the BBC.
The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says that for several decades the species was thought to be extinct in the Middle East until seven birds were found nesting near Palmyra more than 10 years ago.
Despite being protected, and breeding, their numbers dwindled to just four wild birds by 2012.
A tagging project in 2006 discovered that the birds from the Syrian colony were wintering in Ethiopia. But it was unclear what was happening to the fledgling or immature birds.
Background: Dr Steve Portugal, Royal Holloway University of London
Bald ibis were originally widespread across Europe, Africa and the Middle East, but due to hunting, habitat loss and pesticide poisoning, they underwent dramatic population declines and are now only found in Morocco and Syria.
These two populations are incredibly small, with the Moroccan population being unusual for the species in that they are not migratory, spending all year at the same site in the Atlas Mountains.
Most historic populations were highly migratory, and the relic Syrian population contains the only remaining individuals who have the knowledge of historic migration routes from Syria to wintering grounds in Ethiopia.
The loss of this remnant population would result in the loss of the last migratory bald ibis, while also losing the genetic diversity that these migratory individuals contain.
The fall of Palmyra came just days after IS captured the major Iraqi city of Ramadi.
The capture of the ancient ruins at the World Heritage site next to the modern city of Palmyra has raised international alarm.
IS militants have destroyed several sites in Iraq - most recently the ancient city of Nimrud, one of Iraq's greatest archaeological treasures. | A rare bird may become extinct in Syria because of the capture of Palmyra by Islamic State, experts say. |
30,986,137 | At first glance, Lance Armstrong is as he always seemed: supremely fit, ultra-confident, smart and eloquent.
But look into the whites of his eyes from a few feet away, as I did when we spoke at length in Texas last week, and you see it - a weariness, at times even a sadness. It is then you see the subtle but inevitable toll sport's most spectacular fall from grace has taken.
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Armstrong's infamous doping confession to Oprah Winfrey two years ago shattered sport's greatest fairytale. Now, after months of negotiation, he had finally agreed to meet for his first television interview since that day in January 2013.
It would happen on familiar ground for the 43-year-old, Mellow Johnny's - the bike store he owns in Austin, the city in which he has kept his head down since he went from the ultimate all-American hero to pariah.
The meeting would take place after dark, once the shop had closed, and no customers or passers-by could cause any grief.
We were politely asked to try to avoid filming him with any of the Trek bicycles on display. Trek had quickly cut ties with Armstrong after he became toxic. A little too quickly for Team Armstrong's liking. They saw it as an act of treachery after he had done so much to boost their sales.
As we waited for him to arrive, it was hard to know what to expect.
After all, not so long ago, Armstrong had everything. Having beaten cancer, the Texan became a global sporting icon for the 21st century, winning perhaps sport's most gruelling event, the Tour de France, seven times in succession.
He made millions from sponsorship deals, and helped raise even more through the Livestrong cancer charity he founded. He took cycling in the US from the margins to the mainstream, had a private jet, was engaged to rock star Sheryl Crow, and even made cameo appearances in Hollywood hits.
Armstrong was a living legend. Then came the great fall.
After years of suspicion, allegations and denials, Armstrong was finally exposed as a fraud, the ringleader - according to the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) - of "the most sophisticated, professional and successful doping programme sport had ever seen".
He was there alongside Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson in the race for the title of sport's most notorious cheat.
Armstrong was banned from sport for life, stripped of his Tour wins, kicked out of his own charity, and deserted by his sponsors.
He had lied under oath, sued journalists he knew had been right, and ruthlessly bad-mouthed former friends who stood up to him. His subsequent confession to Oprah only made things worse, Armstrong coming across as unrepentant, evasive and arrogant.
And now he was on his way to meet us. His first tentative steps towards what he hopes will be an unlikely redemption.
Had he become a recluse? Was he broke? Depressed? Wracked with self-hate?
Far from it.
Armstrong arrived. An hour late, after dinner with his family, but he had honoured his agreement.
He was polite, friendly, fixing us each with that hypnotic stare, the charisma intact. He seemed to have everything under control, doing just fine.
But then I looked him in the eye, and saw that damage had been done.
The fallout, he told me, had been "brutal".
His biggest fear is that one of his older kids will get hassle at school and come home "in pieces". It has not happened yet, but will "rock him" when it does.
The "deepest cut" had been Livestrong severing ties - "it doesn't get worse than that".
Lawyers still make up his "top three calls every day" and boredom is an issue now his life has gone from "100 to 10mph".
But life is far from unbearable either. Armstrong still runs six-minute miles and plays golf every day.
He remains a very wealthy man. The financial ruin that many predicted has been avoided. Despite the loss of his many sponsorship deals and several legal settlements, he still has millions in the bank.
He may have had to sell the $10m (£6.6m) mansion overlooking the Colorado River in Austin's most exclusive neighbourhood, but he still has a beautiful home close to downtown, as well as other houses in Aspen and Hawaii. A federal lawsuit worth as much as $120m (£79.9m) hangs over him, but his people seem confident.
But has Armstrong learnt from his mistakes? Was he more contrite two years on?
There was no shortage of apparent remorse, especially for the vicious way he treated people when covering up his doping.
He admitted he had been "a complete **** to a handful of people" and "that's something I need to spend the rest of my life trying to make right".
He has tried to apologise to them, continues to do his bit for the local cycling community and sends messages of support to people with cancer, many of whom still regard him as an inspiration. He is clearly a devoted father to his five children, and seemed to be looking forward to the school run the following morning.
Yet, in other areas, Armstrong remains defiant. He clearly wants his life ban lifted.
"Of course I want to be out of timeout. Has it gone too far? Of course I'm going to say yes," he said.
On the issue of his titles, which he still regards as legitimate, he wants them back: "I feel like I won those Tours."
And on the subject of forgiveness. "We're getting close to that time".
Many will be appalled at the suggestion. But polarising opinion is what Armstrong does like no-one else in sport.
His argument is familiar: it could not be cheating when practically the whole of the peloton was doping too, a "collective decision".
He has a point. Over his seven-year reign at the Tour between 1999 and 2005, an incredible 87% of the top-10 finishers were confirmed dopers, or suspected of doping.
It is on this basis Armstrong believes he has been harshly treated, with other dopers given shorter bans, and keeping their titles while he lost his.
"Haven't we got to look at the whole play?" he asked.
That inconsistency is wrong, he said, adding the fact he cannot take part in organised events like marathons, and raise money for good causes.
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But what example would it set if his sanction was reduced? Yes, he raised vast amounts for charity. But are punishments such as his not meant to act as a deterrent?
"At the expense of others?" he countered. "I don't think anybody thinks that's right. I want to get back to a place where I can help people."
The ban, he argued, ignores the greater good, preventing him from the opportunity to make amends and rehabilitate his reputation in a way the likes of former US President Bill Clinton have.
Over the course of the next hour and a half, I put it to Armstrong that far from being the "level playing field" he recalls, the tragedy of doping is that no-one knows if he was the best rider (which he may well have been), or just the best cheater.
I suggested he might want to take down the seven yellow jerseys that hung defiantly on a wall above us; that he had "led the band" as he admitted, that the other cyclists had not lied under oath or bullied friends, like he had; and that crucially the others had co-operated with Usada, whereas he refused. In short, that he absolutely deserved a heftier punishment.
Against each of these charges, Armstrong listened, thought briefly, and had none of it.
The team-mates who testified against him, he insisted, had been offered a deal he was never granted. He had been a scapegoat for an entire generation, a prize scalp.
"Usada needed a splash," he said. He was, he added, the victim of an agency hell-bent on taking him down and proving its worth at a time when its funding was under threat.
Armstrong, as always, was fighting. Even now he knows no other way. Fighting was how he escaped his troubled upbringing in Dallas, the way he had beaten cancer, and the way he dealt with those who accused him of cheating.
But such have been the lies over the years, it is hard to know what to believe.
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I asked Armstrong if he was any clearer now than he had been with Oprah over his alleged admission of using drugs in an Indiana hospital back in 1996.
His 'no comment' to that question had dismayed his former friend Betsy Andreu, who has always maintained the incident happened.
This time, Armstrong told me he simply could not remember. That will anger Andreu, who recently said on Facebook "the Armstrong delusion is alive and well".
He stuck rigidly to his insistence - widely considered implausible - that he rode clean in the 2009 and 2010 Tours when he made his comeback after retirement.
People think you're still lying, I told him. "I've got patience on that," he responded calmly.
Many will point to other exchanges in our interview, and conclude he remains in denial. But what is certain is that Armstrong has met twice with the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC), set up by governing body the UCI to investigate cycling's doping past, and insists he answered all their questions.
Meanwhile, both UCI president Brian Cookson and Travis Tygart, head of Usada, have been making positive noises about the possibility of his ban being reduced if he finally explains how the doping was orchestrated.
"I think about it every day," said Armstrong about the report CIRC is set to complete next month. It is expected to paint a bleak picture of the entire era Armstrong rode in, and could even recommend that Armstrong's ban be reduced in return for his co-operation.
But while cycling hopes to draw a line under its past, if it thought Armstrong's demise symbolised a decisive victory in the war against drugs, it was sadly mistaken.
The UCI has been criticised for giving the Astana team a licence to race this season despite a number of positive tests, and Usada has just combined with anti-doping agencies in Denmark and Netherlands to ban former Rabobank and Team Sky doctor Geert Leinders for life.
The spectre of performance-enhancing drugs continues to hang over this sport and others, as the recent allegations of institutionalised doping in Russian athletics prove.
It is in this climate, then, that Armstrong wants to at least start a conversation about his ban.
Some will argue the real question is not how long his ban should be, but whether he should be in jail. They say this is all a smokescreen, and that the only role Armstrong should play in sport now is as an example to others.
Others, however, recognise the inconsistency in Armstrong's inability to run a marathon for charity, while confessed doper Bjarne Riis, to pick one example, is still in the records as the 1996 Tour winner.
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Many would prefer it if Armstrong just faded away, and the media - including us - lost interest in him.
Interviewing such an extraordinary individual was a compelling experience, but also a strangely sad one. This is not how we want to see our sporting heroes: inspirational athletes talking about regret and contrition make for uncomfortable viewing.
At his peak Armstrong personified hope, but now he causes unease, a reminder of our own weaknesses.
Who among us can be sure that faced with the same circumstances, we would have resisted the temptation to cheat? And why were most of us so easily duped? Should we give him another chance? The Texan forces us to confront difficult questions.
There is something of the Shakespearean villain about Armstrong. There is certainly good there as well as bad. It is not black and white.
Scorned and spurned, jilted and angry, he implores us to understand. Part of you wants to believe he is truly sorry. But the backstory prevents you from doing so.
For many, Armstrong needs to show genuine remorse for doping in the first place. The irony is that this would require him to lie. His admission that he cannot regret something he feels he had no choice but to do, and which he still sees as a means to an end, will disappoint many.
His biggest mistake, he said, was the comeback in 2009. Without that the myth would have been preserved.
That, I told him, may be the honest answer, but it reinforces the view he is only sorry for being caught, rather than doping in the first place.
"I get that," he said. "I think we're all sorry we were put in that place."
For many, that is simply not good enough.
Not everybody cheated, I reminded him, and if refusing to dope would have meant leaving the sport, he would have done so with his integrity intact.
"I know very few people that are left with their integrity, then," he countered. We were done.
Do not be surprised if one day Armstrong is accepted back into the sport. America loves a comeback story, after all. Many Texans I met believe it is time to move on.
But forgiveness usually hinges on contrition, and when it comes to the doping, Armstrong clings to the idea that he was more sinned against than sinner. Maybe he has no choice. Perhaps it is that belief that enables him to carry on.
But the danger is that it may stand in the way of redemption.
The road back for Lance Armstrong could be a long one.
A 30-minute documentary, Lance Armstrong: The Road Ahead, will be broadcast on BBC News at 20:30 GMT on Thursday, 29 January, and again over the following days on that channel and BBC World News. An extended edit of Dan Roan's interview will also be available on the BBC iPlayer. | Look into his eyes and you notice it. |
33,507,633 | It's hoped it will take the clearest pictures ever of the surface and the data taken will help scientists to learn lots more about the dwarf planet.
You can keep up to date with the very latest on the fly-by on our live page.
But here's Newsround's run-down of some of the coolest things we already know about Pluto.
Pluto was officially discovered in 1930 by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, who was using one of the most powerful telescopes at the time at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona, USA.
Pluto was named by an 11-year-old schoolgirl from Oxford, England, who liked classical mythology and chose to name it after the ancient god of the underworld.
For more than 70 years Pluto was classed as a planet, until 2006, when the International Astronomical Union down-graded it to a dwarf planet.
A dwarf planet orbits the sun just like other planets, but it is smaller. Pluto is so small it cannot clear other objects out of its path.
Pluto is around 3.6 billion miles away from the Sun.
As Pluto has an oval orbit, it means it can sometimes be slightly closer, and other times further away, depending on where it is in its cycle.
As Pluto is so far away from the Sun it is very very cold, and scientists estimate the temperature of the planet to be around 375 to 400 degrees below zero.
Scientists think Pluto is made of rock and covered in ice. | After nine years of travelling, and a three billion mile journey, the New Horizons probe is getting close to its fly-by of Pluto. |
35,056,753 | He said at a city council meeting he promises "complete and total" reform after the death of Laquan McDonald, who was shot 16 times.
Hundreds of people blocked traffic and chanted "16 shots and a cover-up", demanding Mr Emanuel resign.
Jason Van Dyke, the white officer who shot McDonald, was charged with murder.
"I take responsibility for what happened because it happened on my watch," said Mr Emanuel.
"And if we're going to fix it, I want you to understand it's my responsibility with you.
"But if we're also going to begin the healing process, the first step in that journey is my step."
He criticised the police department for its actions and said its "supervision and leadership" had failed.
The apology was not enough for protesters, who broke through a police line and marched down Michigan Avenue, one of the main streets of the city.
Some participated in a sit-in, which appeared peaceful but blocked traffic.
A video of the shooting was kept from the public for more than a year and only ordered to be released by a judge in November.
Days of protests followed, and Mr Emanuel announced a new police accountability task force and fired the police chief, but many say the mayor was complicit in a cover-up of the McDonald case and must go. | An apology by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel over the shooting death of a black teenager by police has sparked peaceful protests in the city. |
34,105,483 | 17 February 2017 Last updated at 07:07 GMT
MOTD Kickabout is on every Saturday morning at 7:45am on the CBBC channel.
You can also watch the latest episode on CBBC iPlayer. | Look ahead to the weekend's FA cup matches with Match of the Day Kickabout's build-up. |
31,909,344 | Representatives of St Paul's Eye Unit, based at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, were presented with the award at Liverpool Town Hall.
Lord Mayor of Liverpool Erica Kemp said the unit's "reputation for world class excellence" deserved to be recognised.
Prof Simon Harding, from the centre, said the award was "testament to the dedication and talent of our staff".
The chair professor of clinical ophthalmology at St Paul's Eye Unit said: "It is a highly prestigious accolade and one we are extremely proud to receive."
Ms Kemp said the eye centre formed an "important part of the fabric of our city's health heritage".
The unit was nominated for the honour by former Lord Mayor of Liverpool Roger Johnston.
Mr Johnston, who has type 2 diabetes, credits the eye clinic with saving his eyesight after it diagnosed diabetic retinopathy.
He said: "If I hadn't attended the screening appointment and benefited from the clinical trial I would now be blind and not a day goes by when I don't appreciate the quality of care and treatment I was given.
"The staff at St Paul's were incredible and I really felt that I received five star treatment from world class professionals."
The unit's origins date back to 1871 and it treats 100,000 patients each year.
The unit, which has been marking the award with a week of events including an Eyes Revealed exhibition featuring interactive demonstrations designed to showcase the workings of the eye and new treatments, will receive the freedom scroll in a ceremony at 16:30 GMT. | An eye hospital in Liverpool has been given the freedom of the city. |
20,471,694 | Jean-Francois Cope officially won the UMP election on Sunday but Francois Fillon demanded a recount after it emerged 1,300 votes had been omitted.
UMP mediator Alain Juppe has asked the two to meet him by Sunday evening.
He also demanded an end to the name-calling which has marked the very public dispute.
Mr Fillon, who was prime minister under President Nicolas Sarkozy until his electoral defeat in May, has likened Mr Cope's allies to "a mafia" while his rival has described him as a "sore loser".
As a result, leftist French bloggers were mocking the UMP on Twitter on Friday with the hashtag "mafia".
Adding to the party's woes, Mr Sarkozy, who has stayed out of the dispute in public, was questioned for 12 hours on Thursday by an examining magistrate over alleged illegal party donations during his 2007 presidential campaign.
Mr Juppe, a former foreign minister, announced his initiative to journalists on Friday in Bordeaux, the south-western city of which he is mayor.
Both Mr Fillon and Mr Cope accepted the call to the meeting but the latter rejected a request to remove allegedly partisan members of the UMP appeals commission which is due to hear Mr Fillon's complaint.
If the two men accepted his conditions, Mr Juppe said, he expected the dispute to be resolved within a fortnight "at most".
The "mafia" controversy arose when Mr Fillon told RTL radio: "A political party is not a mafia. It's not a place where you can suppress matters and refuse to tell the truth."
Mr Cope, a former UMP secretary general, later responded that the term mafia was "deeply shocking, totally unworthy and unacceptable".
Mr Fillon says votes from three overseas French territories, omitted from the original count, would hand him victory by 26 votes.
He lost Sunday's ballot of the party membership by just 98 votes amid scenes of chaos and rancour.
Without a solution, there are questions over what kind of party Mr Cope will lead, the BBC's Christian Fraser reports from Paris.
Under his leadership - and in mind of the insults flying - unity looks impossible, our correspondent says.
He flirts with the rhetoric of the far right and is supported by many in the party, but centrist voters who follow Mr Fillon will not back him and a split now looks a dangerous possibility, our correspondent says. | The two rivals in the disputed leadership contest for France's conservative opposition have been called to face-to-face talks. |
34,229,726 | Rhodes turned in Grant Hanley's header from a Craig Conway corner just before half-time to put the hosts ahead.
Substitute Tom Lawrence crossed from the right to set up Scotland international striker Rhodes for his fourth goal in three games.
And Lawrence finished an excellent team move with a powerful shot into the roof of the net for Blackburn's late third.
Charlton actually had the first clear chance of the game but Tony Watt's lob was not on target.
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Addicks 'keeper Nick Pope had twice denied Rhodes, before the striker gave Rovers the lead with a close-range header following Hanley's flick on.
Although behind, Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Watt both went close to equalising before Rhodes turned home at the near post to extend Rovers' lead.
Wales international Lawrence scored 10 minutes after coming on as Blackburn moved out of the relegation places with their first three points of the season.
Blackburn manager Gary Bowyer: "We know if we create the chances, we've got the best finisher in the league (Rhodes).
"They were terrific after a tough week, two trips to London and back, all the travelling. They were outstanding today, but that's what we were - ruthless in both boxes.
"There's a good feeling in the dressing room but it's just the start, we won't get carried away and hopefully now we can kick on because the level of performances has been sky high."
Charlton manager Guy Luzon: "I thought that our attitude today was good. We started the game well, organised in defence and in attack we created some good occasions in the first half.
"In this division it's very important to score the first goal and, unfortunately, Blackburn scored in the last minute of the half."
Match ends, Blackburn Rovers 3, Charlton Athletic 0.
Second Half ends, Blackburn Rovers 3, Charlton Athletic 0.
Attempt saved. Johann Berg Gudmundsson (Charlton Athletic) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Ahmed Kashi.
Corner, Blackburn Rovers. Conceded by Conor McAleny.
Foul by Tom Lawrence (Blackburn Rovers).
Chris Solly (Charlton Athletic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Adam Henley (Blackburn Rovers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Igor Vetokele (Charlton Athletic).
Substitution, Charlton Athletic. Karlan Ahearne-Grant replaces Tony Watt.
Substitution, Blackburn Rovers. Lee Williamson replaces Corry Evans.
Goal! Blackburn Rovers 3, Charlton Athletic 0. Tom Lawrence (Blackburn Rovers) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Adam Henley.
Corner, Blackburn Rovers. Conceded by Chris Solly.
Attempt saved. Ben Marshall (Blackburn Rovers) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Craig Conway.
Corner, Charlton Athletic. Conceded by Adam Henley.
Attempt blocked. Conor McAleny (Charlton Athletic) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Tony Watt.
Foul by Jordan Rhodes (Blackburn Rovers).
Alou Diarra (Charlton Athletic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt blocked. Johann Berg Gudmundsson (Charlton Athletic) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Igor Vetokele.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Substitution, Blackburn Rovers. Hope Akpan replaces Danny Guthrie.
Delay in match Igor Vetokele (Charlton Athletic) because of an injury.
Goal! Blackburn Rovers 2, Charlton Athletic 0. Jordan Rhodes (Blackburn Rovers) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Tom Lawrence with a cross.
Substitution, Blackburn Rovers. Tom Lawrence replaces Bangaly-Fodé Koita.
Corner, Charlton Athletic. Conceded by Shane Duffy.
Substitution, Charlton Athletic. Conor McAleny replaces Zakarya Bergdich.
Grant Hanley (Blackburn Rovers) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Grant Hanley (Blackburn Rovers).
Tony Watt (Charlton Athletic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt blocked. Ben Marshall (Blackburn Rovers) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Corner, Blackburn Rovers. Conceded by Patrick Bauer.
Corner, Blackburn Rovers. Conceded by Patrick Bauer.
Attempt missed. Tony Watt (Charlton Athletic) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Johann Berg Gudmundsson.
Offside, Blackburn Rovers. Jordan Rhodes tries a through ball, but Bangaly-Fodé Koita is caught offside.
Substitution, Charlton Athletic. Igor Vetokele replaces Mikhail Kennedy.
Attempt missed. Craig Conway (Blackburn Rovers) right footed shot from a difficult angle and long range on the left is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Jordan Rhodes.
Bangaly-Fodé Koita (Blackburn Rovers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Jordan Cousins (Charlton Athletic).
Foul by Grant Hanley (Blackburn Rovers).
Johann Berg Gudmundsson (Charlton Athletic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Offside, Charlton Athletic. Morgan Fox tries a through ball, but Tony Watt is caught offside. | Jordan Rhodes scored a goal in each half as Blackburn beat Charlton to register their first win of the season. |
35,985,436 | Caledonian Railway said the cost of the damage to the LMS brakevan at its Brechin station could be as much as £25,000.
It said last night's blaze was a "huge blow" to the volunteers who operate the railway.
Dundee Museum of Transport said the incident was "stomach-churning" and offered support "in any way we can".
Caledonian Railway runs steam engines and diesel locomotives between Brechin and Bridge of Dun.
In a statement posted on social media it said: "The wooden body of our recently restored 1940's LMS brakevan was set on fire and has unfortunately been completely destroyed.
"This has been a huge blow to the volunteers who operate the railway and costs of the damage are estimated to be in the range of between £20,000 and £25,000.
"Details on damage to the vehicle's underframe and the culprits behind this are still being collected and we would like to thank the police and fire and rescue service for their assistance. "
Dundee Museum of Transport posted: "As a trust, we are extremely disappointed at the lack of respect shown towards the restoration and work that goes into the preservation of our transport heritage.
"We hope the culprits behind this abhorrent attack are caught.
"It's stomach-churning to think we have absolute fiends in our society that would carry out such an unprovoked and pointless act."
A police spokeswoman said: "Police Scotland is appealing for information after a fire at Caledonian Railway, Park Road, Brechin yesterday evening.
"The carriage of a train was damaged sometime between 10.45pm and 11pm." | A recently restored 1940's brakevan at a volunteer-run Angus railway has been destroyed by fire-raisers. |
38,526,697 | Shin Hyun-woo was found guilty of accidental homicide and falsely advertising the deadly product.
Reckitt Benckiser is one of several firms linked to the deaths.
Lotte Mart, Homeplus and other retailers were also found guilty of selling the toxic product.
Mr Shin was head of Reckitt Benckiser's Oxy subsidiary from 1991 to 2005.
The seven years were the maximum prison sentence the court could give.
Reckitt Benckiser withdrew its product from the market after South Korean authorities suggested a link between chemicals to sterilise humidifiers and lung conditions in 2011.
It is thought that about 100 people have died from the products from the various manufacturers and many more suffer from related health problems.
The firm has offered compensation to the families of those who died, as well as the hundreds more who were injured.
The company also said it was setting up a multi-million-dollar humanitarian fund for the victims and their families. | A former South Korean executive of UK-based Reckitt Benckiser has received a seven-year prison sentence over a humidifier disinfectant linked to the death of around 100 people. |
34,546,206 | Three live operations from Belfast City Hospital were, this week, beamed to the largest cardiovascular interventional conference in San Francisco.
About 450 health professionals from around the world watched cardiologists perform procedures on three women.
These patients had serious heart complications.
Although the procedures are performed regularly in Northern Ireland, they are unfamiliar to many cardiologists in other countries.
It is all down to two doctors who, less than a decade ago, realised Northern Ireland was going to experience a massive cardiovascular problem and set to work looking at alternative ways to perform non-invasive heart surgery.
Speaking to the BBC just minutes before the live link-up with America, Dr Colm Hanratty, an interventional cardiologist, said it was a proud moment for the team.
"We are sharing our skills, very specialist techniques that don't involve open heart operations but, instead, intervention through the arm or leg, giving little access to the heart," he said.
"Until recently this wasn't available. People had to go on living with their debilitating conditions or some may have died."
The Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutic (TCT) conference is the world's largest and most important educational meeting.
It is the first time such a broadcast has taken place in Northern Ireland, the second from the island of Ireland.
According to Dr Hanratty, it is significant not only for the Belfast Health Trust, but for the entire Northern Ireland health system.
"Northern Ireland was selected for the work that we do - these procedures are not performed in every country - but they are in Belfast, Derry and Craigavon, with a majority in the Belfast Health Trust," he said.
The three patients involved in Wednesday's live link-up were all women with serious heart conditions, so serious and frail that their bodies would not withstand open heart surgery.
All three had stents inserted and were awake during the process.
To insert the stent, a fine hollow tube, with a small inflatable balloon at its tip, was passed into an artery through the arm.
It is directed up to the heart and into a coronary artery until its tip reaches a narrow or blocked section.
The balloon is then gently inflated widening the artery and allowing the blood to flow more easily.
A stent - which is a small tube of stainless steel mesh - about two inches in length is already in place on the balloon. As the balloon is inflated, the stent expands opening the artery. The balloon is let down and removed, leaving the stent in place.
Dr Simon Walsh, who has been leading this pioneering work, described what was happening as the procedure unfolded.
"What we're doing is a minimally invasive procedure through the wrist artery passing a number of tubes up round to the heart arteries and implanting stents to relieve some blockages and narrowing there," he said.
"That means stretching the heart artery open using the balloons first and leaving a little bit of wire mesh in to prop the artery open and restoring blood flow."
A third cardiologist doctor who also assisted in the broadcast was Dr James Spratt, originally from Northern Ireland, but now performing similar heart procedures in Glasgow.
Twenty-four hours after watching Pat McConnell, a woman in her 80s, undergo the procedure, I spoke to her from her hospital bed at the Belfast City Hospital.
"I feel fine, in fact I feel very well," she said.
"I was aware of what was going on - it was a little painful at the start. I was more concerned about the TV cameras from San Francisco as I had no make-up on."
As the BBC left the ward, Mrs McConnell was informed that she was going home.
Every year 2,500 cardiac interventions are carried out in the Belfast health trust, with 500 valve procedures.
All of these help men and women lead more normal lives - in fact, for many, it keeps them alive. | Northern Ireland is at the centre of cutting-edge pioneering heart interventions that are leading the way across the world. |
34,529,237 | An internal report claims the technology has also been used in other African countries and in Syria.
The Ugandan government denies the operation exists.
The firm, Gamma Group, says it does not assist or encourage any government agency in the misuse of its products.
Technology companies are duty bound not to sell "off-the-shelf" systems to countries if they have any concerns about how they will be used.
Surveillance systems are not regulated in the same way as arms equipment, an anomaly that has raised concerns among MPs and human rights groups. They fear the technology can be used for internal repression.
The BBC has been working with Privacy International, who were leaked a top secret memo and other documents purportedly detailing the use of the technology for the use of internal repression in Uganda.
One top secret document was prepared by a senior intelligence official for President Museveni and describes a surveillance programme codenamed Fungua Macho, which involved more than 70 intelligence analysts.
Dated January 2012, the document says the Finfisher technology bought from Gamma Group International has been used "to spy on the enemy, collect data, intrude enemy systems, intercept enemy communication and also manipulate transmissions.
"It can covertly be deployed in buildings, vehicles, computers, mobile phones, cameras and any other equipment deemed worthy for information extraction or surveillance."
The document says the operation has already gathered "hordes of information revealing secret plans" of the main Ugandan opposition party, the FDC.
It says the aim of the operation is to "to manage and control the media houses and opposition politicians.... which... may involve blackmailing them."
"I am glad to inform you that since we started we have managed to collect substantial amount of information from different targets... people deemed dangerous to state security like government officials and opposition politicians are being surveilled."
The document says the technology "is being used by countries like Nigeria, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Senegal and most recently Kenya. It is also the main tool that has been employed by the Syrian government; although it came a little too late when the demos were out of hand but has to a greater extent managed to contain the situation."
The BBC asked the Ugandan government to give details of its surveillance operations and explain why it was targeting opposition politicians.
Government spokesman Colonel Shaban Bantariza told Newsnight: "I am not aware of an order having been given or having been authorised to surveil anybody so those who are making that allegation, the onus is on them to prove it that they are being surveilled - that their phones are being tapped. When did they do that? What did they tap? What did they cause? So the onus is on those who are alleging to prove - we have no evidence they are being surveilled."
The Ugandan government, which received £1bn in UK aid and investment last year, did not respond to follow up questions about the surveillance programme.
However, in a letter to Privacy International, a Ugandan government spokesman denied the operation existed.
"President Museveni does not use criminal blackmail as a political tool to win over or deal with opponents... it does not add any value as (the) government enjoys broad political legitimacy and support."
Gamma Group International is a British-based company with affiliates in a number of countries, including Germany. It says it sells surveillance technology to governments for counterterrorism purposes.
In a statement, the company said it was unable to to give details of any alleged orders.
"Gamma undertakes an absolute obligation of confidentiality to the governments which purchase its products and systems.
"Gamma does not assist or encourage any government agency in the misuse of Gamma's products and systems.
"These products and systems have been effective in many countries in the course of police and other government agency action against terrorist threats, drug cartels, other major organised crime, and paedophile rings."
Gamma Group said it has a human rights policy, but declined to share a copy of it.
Gus Hosein, director of Privacy International, said: "The documents say that the surveillance industry will sell to just about anyone. And it is proof of the fact that we have been trying to raise all along - that these technologies are far too powerful to be in the hands of governments and that governments will go ahead and abuse them."
Last year Gamma was criticised in a ruling by the UK National Contact Point for the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development. The OECD said the company's approach to selling technology was "not consistent with the general obligations to respect human rights".
Nick Hopkins' full report ran on BBC Newsnight on Thursday 15 October. You can catch up on iPlayer
Update 29 January 2016: The Ugandan government was given 13 days to respond to detailed questions from the BBC about its surveillance programmes before this story was published and did not do so. Since then, the Ugandan government has denied in public, and later in correspondence with the BBC, that it is spying on opposition politicians. It says the documents leaked to Privacy International that purport to set out such activity are fakes.
Gamma says there are inconsistencies in the report around dates and it claims the signatures in the report differ from those in other documents subsequently provided to it by the Ugandan government.
However, the Ugandan government has confirmed that it met representatives from Gamma over a number of days in 2012 and in 2013, but it insists it did not buy any equipment from the firm. The Ugandan government told the BBC: "The government of Uganda wishes to emphasise that the political opposition is Uganda is not an enemy, perceived or otherwise."Gamma says it cannot confirm or deny any dealings with customers.
A spokesman for Privacy International said it stood by the report: "The Ugandan government has in numerous instances alleged that documents have been forged when information unfavourable to it has been made public."
For the avoidance of doubt, we'd like to make clear that a company with a similar name, Gamma Communications, is not related to Gamma Group International - and is in no way involved in this story. | A UK-based firm has sold surveillance technology to Uganda which has been used to crush and potentially blackmail opponents of the president, according to documents seen by BBC Newsnight. |
37,092,989 | While some regions on the map appear to meet national standards in terms of offering regular reviews and support, others fall short, says Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
He said tackling the disease was a key priority and the new atlas should drive improvements.
Charities said the "postcode lottery" of care was unacceptable.
The atlas maps five themes of care - prevention, diagnosis, support, living with dementia and end of life care - using benchmarks for each.
For example, every person living with dementia should have an annual check-up to review their care needs.
In some areas of England, such as Aylesbury and North East Lincolnshire, around 85% of patients get these face-to-face meetings.
In other areas, the figure is much lower. In Somerset, for example, the figure is 50%.
Regional variation in population density and age could explain some of the differences, but not all, say dementia charities.
George McNamara from the Alzheimer's Society charity said: "The causes of variation need to be investigated to ensure care is never a gamble."
Caroline Abrahams of Age UK said: "In some areas we know help is really good but elsewhere services are frankly not up to scratch, with only a few people receiving at least an annual review of their care following diagnosis.
"This is an unacceptable postcode lottery of care. We must continue efforts to improve both access to, and quality of, care for the growing number of us living with dementia."
There are 676,000 people living with dementia in England and this figure is set to rise.
Mr Hunt said that by publishing the current levels of care "we are shining a spotlight on areas where there is still work to be done, whilst highlighting where we can learn from best practice".
The atlas also shows which areas of England are dementia-friendly communities - places that have taken steps to make life easier for people with dementia and their carers. This might include training local shopkeepers on how to interact with customers who have dementia, for example.
While much of West Midlands and Yorkshire are now dementia-friendly, many other regions north and south of these areas are not.
The Alzheimer's Society has appointed actress Carey Mulligan as the first UK Global Dementia Friends Ambassador.
Mulligan's new role will see her draw attention to the importance of making communities dementia-friendly.
Her grandmother Margaret, known as "Nans", was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2004.
The award-winning actress said: "My Nans has dementia and I have experienced first-hand how devastating it can be.
"It affects everyone differently and it's so important that everyone affected by the condition is treated with the respect and dignity that they deserve. At the moment, there's not nearly enough awareness and as a global society we have a duty to change that.
"The first step involves educating people and breaking down stigma - not just on our doorstep, but across the world.
"I've seen my mum doing this in her role as a Dementia Friends champion - now I'm honoured to become the first Global Dementia Friends Ambassador and help Alzheimer's Society and the Government change global attitudes towards dementia." | A new dementia atlas, published by the government, reveals patchy NHS care for the condition across England. |
38,351,838 | The boy had been at Sutton Lakes at Sutton at Hone, near Dartford, and was reported missing at 13:45 GMT on Friday, Kent Police said.
Kent Fire and Rescue Service are at one of the lakes, which is owned by the Dartford and District Angling and Preservation Society.
The lakes remain closed to the public while the search continues. | A search is under way for a 16-year-old boy who has gone missing at a fishing lake. |
35,982,521 | Willie Mullins has a strong team as he bids to beat Paul Nicholls and become the first Irishman to win the British trainers' title since the 1960s.
Mullins saddles Champion Hurdle winner Annie Power in Thursday's Aintree Hurdle and Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up Djakadam in the Betfred Bowl.
The field for Saturday's Grand National will be finalised at about 10:00 BST.
Last year's winner Many Clouds is the current 8-1 favourite as he attempts to become the first horse since Red Rum in the 1970s to win back-to-back runnings of the Aintree marathon.
Other leading hopefuls include Silviniaco Conti for Nicholls, with victory likely to thwart the Mullins attempt to emulate legendary trainer Vincent O'Brien by winning the British jumps championship.
Several leading National contenders require withdrawals before Thursday's deadline if they are to be guaranteed a place in the race, which has a maximum of 40 runners.
Lower-rated horses are balloted out and 2014 winner Pineau De Re - now a veteran aged 13 - is listed at 46 and needs six defections to make the cut.
Others in danger of missing out are Becher Chase winner Highland Lodge (47), Alvarado (48), who has twice finished fourth in the National, and Cheltenham Festival winner Cause Of Causes (49), who is rated about 20-1 to win the race.
Bishops Road, winner of the Grand National Trial at Haydock in February, is at number 41 for in-form rookie trainer Kerry Lee.
Annie Power faces Cheltenham runner-up My Tent Or Yours, trained by Nicky Henderson, as the first four home in the Champion Hurdle renew their rivalry.
Mullins also has Nichols Canyon, while The New One represents Nigel Twiston-Davies.
Leading steeplechasers will fight out the Betfred Bowl, with Mullins stablemates Djakadam and Don Poli - third at Cheltenham - taking on Cue Card, a late Gold Cup faller when in contention for the race eventually won by Don Cossack.
The Fox Hunters' Chase will see runners go over the National fences for the first time at the 2016 meeting.
Officials believe modifications to the fences introduced three years ago have helped improve safety.
Since the changes, there have been no fatal injuries in the National, although there were two equine fatalities in other races at the three-day meeting last year.
On The Fringe seeks a double double, having won the Cheltenham and Aintree Fox Hunters last year and followed up at Cheltenham in March.
Opposition includes Pacha Du Polder, runner-up in 2015 and fifth at Cheltenham under former cyclist Victoria Pendleton. Will Biddick rides this time for Nicholls.
Full race schedule: (Time, race, status, distance)
13:40: Merseyrail Manifesto Novices' Steeple Chase (Grade 1) 2m 4f
14:15: anniversary 4YO Juvenile Hurdle (Grade 1) 2m 1f
14:50: Betfred Bowl Steeple Chase (Grade 1) 3m 1f
15:25: Doom Bar Aintree Hurdle (Grade 1) 2m 4f
16:05: Crabbie's Fox Hunters' Steeple Chase (Class 2) 2m 5f
16:40: Red Rum Handicap Steeple Chase (Grade 3)2m
17:15: Goffs Nickel Coin Mares' Standard Open NH Flat (Grade 2) 2m 1f | Annie Power and Cue Card are among the favourites on the first day of the 2016 Grand National meeting at Aintree. |
35,864,248 | Leader Nicola Sturgeon, who is also the country's first minister, believed the move was wrong.
However, she said that if her party won the 5 May election then "no taxpayer" would see their income tax bill rise.
In April 2017, Holyrood will receive new powers to set bands and rates which apply to Scotland alone.
That will allow the Scottish government not to follow Chancellor George Osborne's plans, announced in his Budget last week, to increase the threshold for 40p tax payers to £45,000 next year.
Ms Sturgeon made clear that although she was rejecting the UK government's plan, the 40p threshold would still rise by the CPI inflation rate, taking it from £43,000 to £43,387.
She said: "That increase will prevent higher rate taxpayers from receiving a real terms cut in their tax bills, but nor will they see their bills increase."
In addition, the SNP is not proposing to increase the additional rate - for those earning £150,000 or more - from its current 45p level.
372,000
Approximate total number
10%
Working population
£190m Value of 40p tax cut plan
14,000 Workers removed if cut adopted in Scotland
332,000
Approximate total for the UK
17,000
Approximate total for Scotland
The party's plan also includes:
Ms Sturgeon said she believed the approach "balanced the need to invest in and support our public services".
She added: "By adopting a different path to the UK government we could generate more than £1bn of additional revenues, enabling us to protect the public services we all rely on. We believe that this proposal is reasonable, it is balanced and it is fair."
By BBC Scotland's business and economy editor Douglas Fraser
One perhaps confusing element of these tax plans which might need explanation is the starting threshold for basic rate tax. George Osborne aims to put that up from £11,000 to £12,500 by 2020.
Nicola Sturgeon says she wants to put it up to £12,750 by the following year.
But it is a threshold controlled by Westminster. It's still "reserved". How can the SNP, Labour or anyone else claim to be able to set it at Holyrood?
The answer seems to be a zero rate band. That is, if the Chancellor at Westminster has a starting level at £12,500, and the Holyrood administration wants a higher starting level, it could set the first, say, £250 of tax at a zero rate, and nothing is paid on it.
Similarly, food, newspapers and children's clothes are brought within the VAT net, but they are zero rated for it.
However, as such a move on income tax might appear to challenge the spirit, if not the letter, of the Scotland Act, it could be open to challenge. No doubt some MSPs, and lawyers, would quite like that.
Read more from Douglas
Scottish Labour - Leader Kezia Dugdale said: "Nicola Sturgeon had the chance to be bold, but instead what's clear is that the SNP will make no significant changes to income tax. A year ago, the SNP said they would support a 50p tax rate on people earning more than £150,000 a year - the top 1% of earners. Even on this change - which would see the most well off bear more of the burden - the SNP have bottled it." (Against the 40p threshold change.)
Scottish Conservatives - Leader Ruth Davidson: "Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed today that she wants to make Scotland the highest taxed part of the UK. In the last five years alone, 140,000 Scots have been dragged into paying the higher rate of income tax, including public sector servants such as nurses, teachers and policemen and women. Nicola Sturgeon could have chosen to support them today but instead she has decided not to. That is bad for the Scottish economy and bad for Scottish jobs." (For the 40p threshold change.)
Scottish Greens - Co-convenor Patrick Harvie said: "In the independence referendum, and in the Smith Commission, the Scottish Greens argued alongside Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney that Scotland needed the power to build a fairer, more equal society and an economy that protects our vital public services and invests in our young people's future. To finally win these powers and then not use them is extraordinary." (Against the 40p threshold change.)
Scottish Lib Dems - Leader Willie Rennie said: "The SNP's proposals are pathetically timid. This plan raises no extra money, not a single pound more, for public services desperately in need of investment. This is a missed opportunity; the SNP are refusing to use the full set of new tax powers coming to us at Holyrood. The Liberal Democrats' penny on income tax for education would make a transformational investment in education. £475m a year for nurseries, schools and colleges." (Against the 40p threshold change. )
April 2016
April 2017
Read more here | The SNP said it would not adopt UK government plans to raise the starting point at which workers in Scotland pay the 40p tax rate. |
36,013,424 | The trees in Victoria Park were felled to restore the link between the Arch of Remembrance and the park's gates.
The Friends of Victoria Park said it was not "obvious" how many trees would be lost when it was consulted.
Leicester City Council said all the trees would be replaced as part of the £1.8m Centenary Walk project.
Work to create a new, tree-lined processional route from the Grade I-listed war memorial arch to the park gates, both designed by British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, began in March.
Mags Lewis, of the group, said: "When you look at the scale of the devastation it does look pretty stark... people are quite shocked.
"There was a consultation several years ago, but I don't think people felt it was completely obvious so many trees would be lost.
"Although the council has said it will replace one tree for a new one, it's going to be years before we see the benefits."
Bryan Stafford, project manager at Leicester City Council, said: "With all the trees around this area, it was quite difficult to see the war memorial from inside the park.
"[Cutting the trees has] made a big difference, but I think it has been a shock for people."
Defending the decision, Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby, said: "While the loss of any tree is regretted, this was fully discussed with the group in Victoria Park and very warmly welcomed by those who care and love the special park."
The redevelopment is due to be completed in 2018 to mark the centenary of the end of World War One. | Chopping down about 50 trees in a Leicester park to improve the route to a "significant" war memorial has been described as "devastating". |
40,904,542 | Media playback is not supported on this device
Briton Farah, 34, will retire from the track this month to concentrate on marathons, while Jamaican legend Bolt's last event will be the 4x100m relay.
"Those boys are coming for me - they are hungry," said Farah, who is aiming to defend his 5,000m title after winning 10,000m gold at the World Championships in London.
"You could see in the heat, they wanted to prove a point and show me."
Bolt, the 30-year-old eight-time Olympic champion, finished third in Saturday's 100m final as Justin Gatlin took gold and fellow American Christian Coleman silver.
It was the first time Bolt had lost a World Championships 100m final he had started, having been disqualified for a false start in Daegu in 2011.
The 4x100m relay takes place at 21:50 BST on Saturday.
Media playback is not supported on this device
Farah's triumph in the 10,000m last Friday - the opening night of the competition - remains Britain's only medal at London 2017.
"It would be pretty amazing," he said of his bid to win a fourth world 5,000m gold following victories in 2011, 2013 and 2015. The race starts at 20:20 on Saturday.
He added: "No-one has ever done it. It would mean the world to me but at the same time I don't take it for granted.
"You've seen it with Usain Bolt. It would have been nice to see him win but it didn't happen and no-one is going to give it to you, no matter who you are, even Usain Bolt."
Farah, a four-time Olympic champion, suffered a knee injury and a cut leg when he was spiked in Saturday's 10,000m final.
He finished second in Thursday's 5,000m heat in 13 minutes 30.18 seconds, behind Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha.
"The 10k did take a lot out of me and I'm a little beaten up, but I'm OK," Farah said.
He will end his track career in the 5,000m at the Zurich Diamond League on 24 August.
Media playback is not supported on this device | Mo Farah says he will take "nothing for granted" following Usain Bolt's failure to win the world 100m gold medal as the pair prepare for their final major championship appearances on Saturday. |
34,127,168 | NHS Highland will hold the sessions in Dingwall from 14 September until the end of the month.
The classes on techniques will be run as part of this year's Lip Reading Awareness Week, which runs from 14 to 19 September.
Speech and language therapist Liz Kraft said the skill could help people feel less isolated.
What's happening in Scotland today? Keep in touch through our live page.
She said: "Deaf, deafened or hard of hearing people, who do not use sign language, and are not part of the deaf community, can struggle to stay in touch with their own language and be part of any community.
"Lip reading and managing hearing loss classes have been shown to be of huge benefit and allow anyone with hearing loss to do the very best they can to help themselves." | A Scottish health board has offered adults with hearing loss taster classes in lip reading. |
11,784,073 | The 63-year-old received the National Book Award for non-fiction for her work, which chronicles her youth in 1960s New York.
As she collected her $10,000 (£6,254) prize, Smith urged publishers not to let technology kill traditional books.
"There is nothing more beautiful than the book, the paper, the font, the cloth," she said at the New York event.
Jaimy Gordon won the fiction award for Lord of Misrule, about a horseman's scheme to rescue his failing stable.
It was a surprise win for Gordon, who has been releasing books through small publishers for the last 20 years.
She said she had not expected to win, but that friends had told her she had given them hope just by being nominated.
The poetry award was presented to Terrance Hayes for his fourth collection, Lighthead
Kathryn Erskine won the young people's literature award for Mockingbird, about an 11-year-old with Asperger's syndrome coping with her brother's death.
Best-selling author Tom Wolfe was presented a medal for distinguished contribution to American letters.
The 79-year-old author of The Bonfire of the Vanities sang a few lines from The Girl of Ipanema as he collected his honour on Wednesday.
The National Book Awards have been presented annually by the National Book foundation since 1950. | Veteran rock singer Patti Smith has won a prestigious US book award for her memoir, Just Kids. |
34,142,512 | Amid chaotic scenes, police ordered journalists from the scene at Bicske, declaring it an "operation zone".
The train had left Budapest hours after police let migrants into the railway station following a two-day stand-off.
Meanwhile, there have been sharp disagreements among European leaders over how to deal with the crisis.
As it happened: Thursday's developments
In Brussels, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban described the situation as a "German problem" as Germany was where those arriving in the EU "would like to go".
But European Council President Donald Tusk said at least 100,000 refugees should be distributed across EU states.
In other developments on Thursday:
The human cost of the crisis was put into sharp focus on Wednesday when five children were among 12 migrants who drowned in Turkish waters while trying to reach Greece.
Images of the washed-up body of three-year-old Alan Kurdi, who died alongside his mother and five-year-old brother, circulated widely on social media.
Will image of dead child change views?
Drowned boy denied Canadian asylum
Syrian reaction to Alan Kurdi images
Drowned boy's father tells of ordeal
Alan Kurdi: A family forced to flee
Earlier on Thursday, migrants who had been camped outside Budapest's Keleti railway station surged on to the platforms as soon as police withdrew.
Nothing illustrates how difficult this crisis is to resolve than what has happened to these several hundred refugees who are currently on this train at Bicske.
There were some police on board. We got as far as Bicske and when the train pulled in, there were loads of police waiting for them on the platform. The plan seemed to be to take them to a centre where they would be properly identified. Some people left the first carriage, but almost immediately there was resistance. A lot of people were banging on the windows - some were shouting "Germany! Germany!" The police put on riot gear.
Some refugees who had been taken off the train began pushing and jostling and there was a little bit of fighting with riot police. And then they forced their way back on the train, which is where we are at the moment with police on the platform and several hundred refugees on the train.
UK 'will fulfil moral responsibilities'
Migrant crisis in graphics
Volunteers step up
Hungary lays bare EU East-West split
International services were suspended at Budapest's station but hundreds crammed on to the first train hoping it would take them to the Austrian border.
Instead, the train stopped at the Hungarian town of Bicske about 40km (25 miles) west of Budapest which hosts a major refugee camp, and police lined the platforms.
Some migrants at first left the train but then forced their way back on when they realised where the authorities wanted them to go.
They fear that registering at the camp will make it harder for them to seek asylum in Germany and other countries.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is a political leader who thrives on conflict.
While he tolerates no dissent within his Fidesz party, he enjoys taking on his opponents. But in the refugee crisis now overwhelming Hungary, he is attacking not only the migrants themselves, but, increasingly, Germany.
Mr Orban himself has described proposals for binding quotas of refugees to be accepted by all EU countries as "idiotic" - a personal insult to Chancellor Angela Merkel.
His game now seems to be two-fold: to stir up xenophobia at home by appearing both patriotic and powerful and to reach out to anti-migrant opinion across Europe.
Back in Budapest, about 2,000 migrants are still camped outside the Keleti station with more in nearby John Paul II square and at Nyugati railway station across the city.
"I think (the train) was a trick by the government, the police and the train company, " said Marton Bisztrai, a volunteer at Keleti.
"The train looked like it was going to Germany."
Five obstacles to an EU migrants deal
Those who risk everything for a better life
Global failure to help Syrian refugees
The number of migrants entering Europe has reached record levels this year. Germany expects to take in 800,000 asylum seekers this year - four times last year's total.
The surge in numbers has created tension and disagreement over EU migration policy. Germany has been prepared to accept large numbers of asylum seekers, but other countries have not.
During a tense press conference in Brussels with European Parliament President Martin Schulz, Mr Orban, who heads the anti-immigration Fidesz party, said Hungarians "were full of fear because they see that the European leaders... are not able to control the situation".
"Nobody would like to stay in Hungary, neither in Slovakia nor Poland nor Estonia. All of them would like to go to Germany. Our job is only to register them," he said.
Mr Tusk took Mr Orban to task for saying in a newspaper interview that Hungary was being "overrun" with refugees who threatened to undermine Europe's Christian roots.
"Referring to Christianity in a public debate on migration must mean in the first place the readiness to show solidarity and sacrifice," he said.
Mr Tusk's call for at least 100,000 asylum seekers to be redistributed across EU states is a sharp increase on a previous European Commission target of 40,000.
The word migrant is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as "one who moves, either temporarily or permanently, from one place, area, or country of residence to another".
A refugee is, according to the 1951 Refugee Convention, any person who "owing to a well-founded fear" of persecution is outside their country of nationality and "unable" or "unwilling" to seek the protection of that country. To gain the status, one has to go through the legal process of claiming asylum.
The word migrant has traditionally been considered a neutral term, but some criticise the BBC and other media for using a word they say implies something voluntary, and should not be applied to people fleeing danger.
Battle over words to describe migrants | Scuffles have broken out west of the Hungarian capital, Budapest, after police tried to force migrants off a train at a refugee camp. |
39,843,135 | Services were cancelled or delayed on Monday morning after the problem occurred between Dingle Road and Cardiff Central.
Replacement buses were laid on while the line was closed and Cardiff Bus was accepting train tickets via reasonable routes.
Network Rail apologised to "anyone who was late as a result".
Andy Thomas, route managing director at Network Rail, said: "This morning a crucial set of points, which allow trains to cross from one track to another, failed between Dingle Road and Cardiff Central stations.
"Most trains that run on the Vale of Glamorgan line require the use of these points.
"Working with our partners Arriva Trains Wales, we have done all we can to keep passengers moving and get normal services up and running again as swiftly as possible.
"Our people got to the site quickly to fix the problem to minimise the impact on customers.
"We'd like to apologise to anyone who was late as a result of the delays and disruption this morning."
Some passengers had reported being stuck on trains for more than an hour, with some taking to social media about their delays.
Arriva advised passengers to retain tickets in case they were entitled to compensation. | Trains into Cardiff from Barry and Penarth are now running normally after an earlier points failure. |
37,618,624 | Writing in Plos Medicine they suggest that less blood reaches the brain during these moments, leading to brain cell damage over time.
Dementia experts say this is a "robust study" and "plausible explanation" that needs further investigation.
Charities point out that factors such as smoking carry higher risks.
But they say the work adds to growing evidence that changes in blood pressure have an impact on the brain.
Previous studies have linked high blood pressure to types of dementia.
But in this paper scientists focused on transient periods of low blood pressure - also known as postural hypotension - which become more common in older age.
These episodes can sometimes leave people feeling dizzy or give them "head rushes" when standing up suddenly.
Researchers from the Erasmus Medical Center, in the Netherlands, tracked 6,000 people for an average of 15 years.
They found those who suffered repeated periods of low blood pressure on standing were more likely to develop dementia in the years that followed.
Researcher Dr Arfan Ikram said: "Even though the effect can be seen as subtle - with an increased risk of about 4% for people with postural hypotension compared to those without it - so many people suffer from postural hypotension as they get older that it could have a significant impact on the burden of dementia across the world."
He told the BBC: "If people experience frequent episodes of dizziness on standing, particularly as they get older, they should see their GPs for advice."
But he added that young people, who have one-off episodes of dizziness when standing up because of dehydration for example, should not be unduly worried.
Prof Tom Dening, from Nottingham University, described the research as "an important study".
He added: "The suggestion is that feeling dizzy, which results from a fall in blood pressure, may interfere with the circulation of blood round the brain and that over time, this causes damage which may contribute to dementia.
"This is a plausible hypothesis and has support from other research. It is possible that something else may be going on."
He said: "A dizzy spell is not a death sentence nor does it mean you are certain to develop dementia.
"On the other hand, if this problem occurs frequently, then it is worth seeing your doctor as there may be remediable causes, for example if you are taking medication it should be reviewed."
Dr Laura Phipps, of the charity Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "While the risks found in this study are reasonably small compared to other known risk factors for dementia, it adds to a growing and complex picture of how blood pressure changes throughout life can impact the brain.
"As well as maintaining a healthy blood pressure, the best current evidence suggests that not smoking, only drinking in moderation, staying mentally and physically active, eating a balanced diet, and keeping cholesterol levels in check can all help to keep our brains healthy as we age," she said. | People who experience frequent drops in blood pressure or dizziness when suddenly standing up are at increased risk of dementia, scientists say. |
39,063,733 | Competing "follicly challenged" individuals strived to pull a suction cup, connected by a single red rope, off their opponent's head.
The Bald Men Club has attracted about 65 members from all over the country since it was formed in 1989.
It aims to encourage people to view baldness in a more positive manner.
"My head still hurts," Toshiyuki Ogasawara, 43, was said after taking part in the tug-of-war. "I think I need to ice it!"
Another participant, Masatomo Sasaki, 64, is making a first appearance at the tournament north of Tokyo. He said that he used to feel concerned about his lack of hair but is now more positive.
Our weird lack of hair may be the key to our success
"I feel proud. Or maybe I should say, I feel good about being a bald man," he said, "And that is thanks to this bald men's club."
Bald Men Club Chairman Teijiro Sugo, 70, said the hope was that the club would attract more members and become much bigger.
"I want all the bald men all over the world to gather here so we can organise a bald men's Olympic tournament," he said. | More than 30 bald men in Japan are holding their annual get-together which includes an unusual variant of the tug-of-war rope pulling game. |
11,451,159 | Actually, it's only three. But with peak chart positions of 1-2-1, it could yet become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Born Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu Jr, the 21-year-old has become renowned for his witty, autobiographical wordplay.
So, as his debut album, Disc-Overy, hits the shelves, we asked the star to talk through the stories behind the lyrics.
"I like to do it differently every single time," he says of his approach to writing.
"Sometimes I record voice notes on my Blackberry, sometimes I write on my laptop - which is fun, because my handwriting is hard to read. And sometimes, I just write on paper, or on a wall, anywhere.
"If I take a different approach, I feel like something will come out of it.
"But I was quite anxious throughout the recording process, because this album will be what the world hears and judges me on."
I was born in Peckham and I grew up in Plumstead. When you're a teenager growing up in any inner city, there are loads of things that try to keep you at bay.
Even if you think of the schooling system - they teach you how to get a job, but they never teach you how to be entrepreneurial and how to make money. You never leave school and the head teacher says: 'Good luck, I hope you become millionaires off of what you've learnt here.' You just wind up in some job.
That line, 'the high rises can block your horizon,' is literally true. You can't see when the sun sets. But I also meant it as a metaphor. There are huge estates in South London - some of them look like they've been designed to mentally and physically oppress you. Really grey buildings with very short walkways and really cramped spaces. Some of them actually have a pharmacy and a surgery in them - everything to make sure you never leave that place. Those high rises literally block your ambition.
I'm not talking about my upbringing, I'm talking about the point where I decided to pursue music by myself.
I said to my parents: 'I'm going to be independent, and I don't want to rely on you guys. I've gone against your wishes about going to university, so I'm not going to come to you and ask for £20 every time I need it.'
So it's about the past two years, when there was no food in the kitchen. I'd try to fall asleep but I was so hungry I couldn't.
But also in a metaphorical sense, it's about being hungry to achieve your ambitions. Last year, I got to the point where a lot of my peers were signed - Chipmunk and Tinchy Stryder - and I'd sit at home watching them topping the charts and winning Mobo awards and I literally didn't want to sleep. I wanted to keep making music until I got to the point where I had a record deal, do you get what I mean?
My mum is the major influence in my life. I adore her greatly. She came from Nigeria at the age of 21, which is how old I am now, and she had me a year later.
She went from the bottom, starting out as a cleaner, to owning three or four properties in England. It was quite a big achievement. To watch someone do that is an inspiration. She set the benchmark in my life. That's why she's all over the album.
It wasn't so much that my parents argued. What was worse was that every time my mum did have an issue, my dad would brush it to the side - and I would always bear the brunt of that. 'Your dad's not listening to me, and this needs to be done, or that needs to be done'.
I was only nine or 10 and I would just wish I was anywhere but there.
I'm a huge mummy's boy, but I've got to the point where I had to start seeing things from different points of view. My dad would work all the time, so I had this automatic bias.
It got to the point where, because of that, I don't know him as well as I should. But recording this album was the moment of realisation - because I'd moved out of home and suddenly my dad started calling a lot more, asking what's going on and giving me advice. You could tell that he'd always wanted that.
When I was recording Frisky with (producer) Labrinth, I went in to do the demo vocal and that sentence just came out!
Up to this day, I've never told anyone what it means. I've gone all over the world - from America to Spain to Denmark - and everyone has their own interpretation of it. And some of them are so vulgar, so disgusting!
[Blackman later wrote on Twitter: "Not only is it a GREAT song, but I get a name check. I'm so thrilled! Thx, Tinie."]
My sister read Noughts and Crosses and she told me how amazing the concept was, and how creative it was. And I did some research and realised Malorie Blackman was also from Peckham. So when I was writing Written In The Stars, it was only natural to put that line in.
She [Blackman] has been quite supportive, so that's a big deal. It would be a crazy creative process to do something with her.
This is the first line of my debut album. It will be judged for the rest of my life. I really wanted to say something that summed up who I was in two lines.
The whole extra-terrestrial thing is, like, I like to consider myself as something out of this world.
When I say: 'I came out of the dirt like a vegetable', the dirt is a non-specific place. It could be outer space, but I like to think of the dirt as the grind, the struggle.
I think I actually would. I think I actually would.
Let Go is for the public. It's saying: 'It's all about the music, I don't really want to be a pop star, I don't want to be the guy who falls out of clubs with a supermodel, I just want to be focused on making great music.'
So sometimes, I'm going to do a show and I'm going to concentrate so much on making it great and epic that I won't want to talk to anyone before or after. This is a track letting you know that, so brace yourself for it.
I really wanted this album to be representative of the generation we're in. We all have Jay-Z and Coldplay in our record collection. Did you see Cher Lloyd on X Factor? She is the perfect definition of our generation. She's a 16-year-old white girl from middle England who is very in tune with hip-hop and American culture and black culture. Because of the internet, because of YouTube, because of how cosmopolitan England has become, that is our culture.
When I said 'no' to the labels, I kind of said it the way a baby would refuse food: 'NAH!'.
There was a bit of a bidding war, but I feel like I went with the right label, who allowed me to express myself. And just to be able to say that, I felt very satisfied within myself.
I feel like a new and improved person. I've made the first step into fulfilling my dreams. It's almost like something divine has happened to me, hence the imagery in the lyrics. It's in the song titles, too - Written In The Stars, Illusion, Wonderman. It's a big deal.
I traded friends for fans… I mean that in both the figurative and metaphorical sense. It doesn't mean that I've stopped hanging around with my friends. It means that my friends would now listen to my album the way they'd listen to Jay-Z and Kanye. And that's all I've ever wanted.
Disc-Overy is out now on Parlophone. | "I've got more hits than a disciplined child," raps Tinie Tempah on his latest single, Written In The Stars. |
37,653,055 | John Pennington, deputy leader of the Conservative group on Bradford City Council, said the sound was "noise pollution" and was getting worse.
He is due to bring up the matter at a council meeting on Tuesday, the Telegraph & Argus reports.
Emergency services criticised his suggestion as "misguided".
Speaking to the BBC, councillor Pennington said he appreciated the importance of sirens but claimed their use impacted the "impression people get of a city".
He said: "We frequently see ambulances blasting sirens with no traffic in front of them. Why don't you just switch them off?
"It's a noise pollution we don't need as much of, there's an awful lot of it."
He added: "It doesn't present a good image of the city to people - subconsciously, people think 'what a horrible place', and it isn't."
Councillor's question to city council
In light of the endless sound of blue light sirens in the city centre, rightly or wrongly giving visitors the impression of a city gripped by lawlessness, would the leader of the council consider bringing pressure to bear on the services in question, for a more discreet approach where possible?
David Williams, West Yorkshire Fire Brigades Union secretary, described it as a "weak argument".
He said: "It doesn't mean that there's lawlessness, we often need to send several vehicles with sirens to a single incident.
"Minutes really do matter, and if it means putting a siren on and getting there thirty seconds quicker then that's a sacrifice people in a city have to deal with."
Nick Smart, West Yorkshire Police Federation chairman, said: "It's to get to the incident in the safest manner and it's there to warn people there's an emergency vehicle.
"I don't advocate turning off sirens for the sake of tourism."
The use of emergency service sirens is controlled by Regulation 99 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986. | A councillor has said emergency services should limit the use of sirens as they gave the impression of "a city gripped by lawlessness". |
38,915,854 | The violence, sparked by the alleged harassment of a young Hindu woman by a Muslim man, lasted two days.
A few days later, seven women, all Muslims, went to the police alleging that they were gang-raped during the violence that broke out in their villages. The police took a year to arrest all the 29 accused, who were later released on bail.
The trials were supposed to be completed in special fast track courts within two months. But nearly four years on, the women are still waiting for justice.
Amnesty International's Mariya Salim has worked on a report tracing the legal journey of the women and says there is a clear lack of will on the part of the administration to ensure they get justice.
"Research tells us that there have been only three convictions in rape cases during Hindu-Muslim communal riots since the country's partition, and that hasn't changed even now. We have seen delays at every stage", Ms Salim says.
The BBC's Divya Arya travelled to the area to listen to the women's stories.
"No video recording and no photos on the internet," was how Rubina greeted me when I visited her new home, 30km from the village where she lived before the riots.
In the aftermath, many Muslims were forced to leave and settle elsewhere.
The Muzaffarnagar-Shamli districts are now dotted with ghettos, where those displaced by the riots have bought land and constructed houses after the Supreme Court directed the state government to pay them compensation.
Rubina is a middle-aged woman. She stood before me with a baby resting on her elbow and shoulders and two young children tugging at her tunic.
"I am tired of having my grandchildren complain to my daughter that they are humiliated at school because some child saw their 'rape victim' grandmother's photo," she told me later.
Rubina said she was gang raped by four men, including her neighbours.
"I fell unconscious, and when I came to, I just ran, with everyone else in the village."
They had no time to pack or take any money with them.
Together they lived in relief camps for months on end. Shared trauma and difficult circumstances bred strength and sisterhood.
But then there were the threats.
"The accused threatened to kill my children, so I once retracted my statement, but after my husband and lawyer reassured me I testified before the judge with the complete truth."
Charges have still not been framed in her case, despite her giving testimony, undergoing medical tests and attending endless rounds of court hearings.
Rubina said she didn't see the point of continuing. Struggling to make ends meet, she feels uprooted and lost.
"All I've got is the tag of fallen woman, I'm exhausted. Why should I pursue the case?"
Just like the other alleged rape survivors, Nafeesa cannot read or write.
"I had only ever heard of the Delhi gang rape incident before my own rape, so I thought the accused would get punished as soon as I identified them in my complaint," she said.
"Little did I know these cases can take so long."
Nafeesa grew quiet as if remembering that night all over again, where she says she was raped by five men, all known to her.
She alleged they threatened to kill her two-year-old son to stop her screaming.
Nafeesa now lives in a colony of the riot-displaced only 2km from her village.
"We would never go back there, there is nothing left for us, and they (Hindus) would dare not come here. We are safe here among people of our own religion," she said.
But it's a tough life. Many of these colonies have no electricity connections, drainage or roads.
Then she said: "Sometimes I wonder why I filed this case. I haven't got any justice, and the threat to my life still remains."
"They [the accused men] live in their villages and roam free, they lost nothing; we lost everything."
Her voice stood out clear, crisp and fresh. If there were any signs of fatigue with the long legal battle, she hid them well.
"I won't leave them unpunished", she said over the phone.
"I haven't lost courage and I haven't forgotten anything, they will have to pay for my countless sleepless nights."
Khalida is exceptionally brave. She has left Uttar Pradesh, where she alleges she was attacked by three men during the riots. They found her in fields where she had fled.
She is now in hiding with her children, but I was able to speak to her after meeting her husband.
He told me that the threats to their family are still grave and the pace of the trial very slow, so Khalida's lawyer has petitioned that her case be heard outside Uttar Pradesh.
But that petition was filed a year ago and is still waiting to be heard.
Just like the other women who have come forward, their livelihoods have also been disrupted by riots and fighting the rape case is as much a legal matter as it is a financial one.
But Khalida's husband told me he'd go to any length to support his wife's quest for justice.
As I began to hang up the phone, Khalida said: "He is very fond of me... I'll continue to fight with his strength."
Names of all the rape survivors have been changed | More than 60 people died and thousands were forced to flee their villages when Hindu-Muslim riots erupted in two districts of the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in 2013. |
32,923,384 | The 25-year-old has made over 200 appearances for the Stair Park club in six seasons and replaces departing Kyle Letheren in the Dens Park squad.
Bulgarian defender Kostadin Gadshalov, who joined the Dark Blues in January, agreed a new one-year deal last week.
Gary Irvine, Jim McAlister and Stephen McGinn have also been offered contract extensions but the latter is expected to move on.
Meanwhile, Dundee and Queen of the South remain apart on their valuation of Kevin Holt, with the prospect of the fee being settled by a tribunal.
Holt has signed a pre-contract with the Dens Park club, joining new recruits Kane Hemmings, Nicky Low, Rory Low and Daryll Meggatt.
The Doonhamers are believed to be looking for around £100,000 for the 22-year-old left-back.
Forwards David Clarkson and Paul Heffernan, defender Kyle Benedictus, and midfield duo Iain Davidson and Jamie Reid have all been released, along with goalkeeper Letheren. | Dundee have signed Stranraer goalkeeper David Mitchell on a two-year deal. |
36,127,511 | Gloucestershire Police said it launched a large scale response following a report of the boy being put into the boot of a vehicle and driven away.
Officers spent two hours investigating on Sunday before locating the boy and his "extremely apologetic" family.
Social care workers have been contacted by the police following the incident.
A member of the public called the police shortly after 21:00 BST to say their son had witnessed a kidnap on Caernarvon Road.
Two adults were seen picking up the boy from the street before putting him in the boot of a vehicle which was then driven away, the force said.
A spokesman added: "The boy had been in the boot for a few minutes while the car was driven home and the family were extremely apologetic.
"The boy told police he knew it was a prank very early on.
"While we were satisfied there was no criminal intent and won't be taking any police action, due to the inappropriate and potentially dangerous nature of their actions we have referred the family to Gloucestershire County Council's social care team." | A prank abduction involving a 12-year-old boy in Cheltenham has been slammed by police as "inappropriate and potentially dangerous". |
37,987,826 | The drama, in Russia's western Pskov region, was streamed live on the video app Periscope by the boy, Denis, and his girlfriend Katya. Dozens of their friends watched it, Russian media say.
Special forces finally stormed the house and found the children's bodies. They had apparently shot themselves.
They had run away after a family row.
In the Periscope video, broadcast on the Russian NTV channel, Denis and Katya are heard laughing - apparently drunkenly - as Denis gives a running commentary while shooting at a police van.
At one point during Monday's siege Denis said he had shot and killed two dogs in the village, called Strugi Krasnyye.
The children also uploaded pictures of themselves to the social network Instagram during the siege and posted two tender farewell messages.
Police say they did not return fire, but tried to persuade the children to surrender, but in vain. The bodies showed "clear signs of suicide", an official statement said.
After the teenagers stopped answering the phone, the investigators said, the 15-year-old boy first shot the girl and then killed himself.
Katya said they got hold of two rifles, a pistol and ammunition by breaking into a safe in the cottage, which belonged to her stepfather. He was in the special forces, she said - which is why there were guns in the cottage.
They had broken in by climbing through a window.
Katya said they had got to the village by bus, having stolen money from her mother.
Police are now questioning their parents and blood samples have been taken from the bodies to test for alcohol and drugs. Bottles of liquor were visible in the Periscope video.
In the video Katya said she had run away from home with Denis three days earlier, after a violent argument with her mother. During that clash, she said, she had grabbed a knife and Denis had shot her mother in the right hip using an air pistol.
During the siege, their parents went to the scene and implored them to surrender, but they refused. At one point Katya filmed Denis throwing a TV set out of the window. Investigators now say that Denis had played truant from school and had got poor academic results.
"It all started when I had a row with mum," Katya said.
Her mother had refused to let her stay out late, but she left home anyway. "They found me at night and beat me up cruelly. In front of Denis and his mother. Then I went home, but ran away again... and we hid here," she said on Periscope.
Russia's Lenta.ru news website quoted a farewell message posted by both Denis and Katya on social media during the siege, on Monday. It appeared to express teenage angst about being misunderstood by adults.
"I loved you, but you did not notice how you had ruined my mind and life," it said.
"Goodbye all - friends, family and acquaintances. Don't worry, I'll leave in a beautiful way. Good luck to everyone in life, and please don't fear to live however you want or feel is necessary. A life of pleasure is the best life. I love you." | Two 15-year-old Russian youths fired at police from a cottage window for several hours before their bodies were found with gunshot wounds. |
38,048,247 | In October Southern tweeted: "Time to get back on track. Tweet @RMTunion & tell them how rail strikes make you feel."
Dozens of passengers immediately responded by criticising Southern.
The union's leader Mick Cash said it was shocking Southern had spent money "bullying" its own staff.
The latest strike in the long-running dispute over the role of conductors on trains is due to start at midnight.
Alex Foulds, deputy chief operating officer of Govia Thameslink Railway, which owns Southern, was questioned by councillors in the London Borough of Lambeth.
Mr Foulds said the adverts were a "mistake". He said the relationship with the RMT was "very tense" and the union had also made mistakes during the dispute.
He also apologised for the level of service being provided by Southern after months of industrial action by the RMT and high levels of staff sickness hit train services between London and Surrey, Sussex, Kent and Hampshire.
Mr Foulds said: "This has made it very difficult to run a reliable service."
Lambeth Labour councillor Ed Davie said it was "absolutely shocking" the company would spend tens of thousands of pounds on adverts calling on its customers to attack the union.
Jennifer Brathwaite, member for environment and transport on the Labour-run council, said: "The service provided by Southern is nothing short of scandalous.
"London's mayor agrees, as does nearly every other local authority affected by Southern's abysmal service, so we need the government to stop dragging its feet and put in place a clear plan for this franchise to be transferred as soon as possible."
Mr Cash, the general secretary of the RMT union said staff had been "set up for abuse and assaults" by the ad campaign.
He said: "It is shocking that hundreds of thousands of pounds of fare payers money has been wasted by Southern on attacking and bullying their own staff.
"That money could have been invested in keeping guards on the trains and keeping the public safe."
Members of the drivers' union Aslef on Southern are currently voting on whether to go on strike in a row over the driver-only trains. | A Southern rail boss has admitted adverts urging passengers to tell the RMT union how they felt about ongoing strikes were a mistake. |
40,515,422 | She will say an international agreement on tackling climate change should not be renegotiated.
The talks on Friday will also focus on missile testing by North Korea.
Mrs May invited the president on a state visit to the UK but there was no mention of it in last month's Queen's Speech.
The prime minister expressed her "disappointment" when, in early June, Mr Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement, which calls on all nations to help stop the warming of the planet.
Trump to give major speech in Poland
An official within the UK government said Mrs May was expected to raise climate change with the president at the meeting in Hamburg, and would stress that Britain "remains fully committed" to the agreement.
"She will say that we don't see any need for renegotiation - we support the Paris Agreement because it delivers."
Following North Korea's latest missile test, the US said it will use its "considerable military forces" on that country "if we must".
Britain has supported US calls for action against the threat, and Mrs May will tell the G20 meeting that it is "essential" the international community unites in condemnation of North Korea.
"Our focus is on working with the US and international community on how we can increase pressure and find a peaceful solution to the ongoing threat North Korea poses to international security," the official added.
"We will continue to play a central role at the UN - supporting resolutions on sanctions that will limit North Korea's ability to pursue its nuclear weapons programme." | Prime Minister Theresa May will challenge US President Donald Trump over climate change when they meet at the G20 summit in Germany. |
37,693,073 | Media playback is not supported on this device
Northern Premier League club Moors qualified for the first round proper with a 3-0 win at Lincoln United, their fourth cup tie of the season.
There is a gap of 85 places between the two teams in the football pyramid.
"It would have been better if it was at home, but what a fantastic stadium to go to," Ainsley told BBC Tees.
"It's what dreams are made of - a team in League One against lowly Spennymoor Town and what an upset that would be if we make it.
"We're delighted just to be in the first-round draw, it's going to be a monumental occasion."
First-round ties are to be played over the weekend of 4-7 November.
Take part in our new Premier League Predictor game, which allows you to create leagues with friends.
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox. | Spennymoor Town's FA Cup first-round tie at League One side MK Dons will be a "monumental" occasion, says manager Jason Ainsley. |
37,119,012 | A recent report argues that those entering apprenticeships after school could earn much more over their lifetime than those going into graduate careers.
So has avoiding university fees and heading straight into work after A-levels become the smart choice?
Three students tell us why university is not for them.
Honor did her A-levels in the hope of going to university to study history.
"I have chosen not to apply for university last year as I couldn't decide where best to study history - there's not enough time to decide where to study," she says.
"I have decided to put it off for a year so I could give the choice my full attention rather than let it distract me from my coursework.
"But now I think I'd be better off doing an apprenticeship or just starting work.
"I want to work in the media and I've been hosting a show at my local radio station. I love getting out there and actually doing it.
"That's how you prove your worth and build a career.
"Media companies are looking for young people so why wait three years when I could start now?"
Incurring university fees was also a factor in Honor's decision.
"It's also a lot of time and money to spend on something you're not sure about," says Honor.
"I've heard horror stories where if you go and don't like it they won't refund your money.
"I suppose there is a slight fear of missing out, as everyone seems to reminisce about their uni days.
"But there's no reason why the experience of uni can't be matched by getting a job or doing an apprenticeship, you get to meet new people, have new experiences and you can go on nights out with them, which I suppose could be like Freshers' Week.
"The only thing is the chance of being away from home, but hopefully that will eventually happen."
After his A-levels, Daniel plans to start work full-time in a company he set up when he was aged 15.
"My results have no immediate effect on what I plan on doing next," he says.
"At school my friend and I started a video production company. We wanted to get some real experience of work.
"We had a camera and we approached a local company that let us film a video for them.
"It did well so we covered something else for them and then we started to get approached by other companies.
"It's grown to a point where we've decided to take it on full-time.
"It's a big step up from being part-time and we will have to make more sales to sustain it, but we're enjoying it a lot.
"I only went to sixth form after GCSEs because it was the next logical step.
"I went to a good school and enjoyed certain subjects so went on to do them at A-level.
"I found the maths, economics and physics much harder than at GCSE and my enjoyment of them went down.
"I did intend on going to university initially, but this changed during sixth form.
"When I went to university open days last year I realised that university wasn't the route I wanted to take, and how much I actually enjoyed work.
"As much as university is right for some people, continuing to grow our business is what we want to do.
"I am slightly annoyed about missing the social side, mostly living by myself, but some good friends are staying as well."
Liberty decided not to apply for university and opted to do an apprenticeship in engineering.
"I feel there is more security as you train on the job," she says.
"People studying engineering at uni will learn for exams but an apprenticeship gives you the chance to put what you learn into practice.
"It's more focused learning that you need.
"I'm more practically-minded and the university system is more for academic people.
"I also have various learning difficulties and learning always took me a bit longer."
Finding an apprenticeship has proved more difficult than Liberty had hoped. She thinks a lack of support from her college hasn't helped.
"I've been searching for more apprenticeships yet they are very hard to find," says Liberty.
"It's said that companies want more women in engineering but where do we look?
"I found that at college everything was geared towards going to university; the personal statement, UCAS.
"I feel like I have slipped through the net as when I asked for help there was no one able to help me.
"I really want to stay in England but I feel like I'm being pushed towards Germany as there are more opportunities there.
" I've already worked there for six months in my gap year."
Living alone in Munich has convinced Liberty that she doesn't need to go to university to enjoy a full social life.
"I've done a lot of what I would do at uni," she says
"I even did an evening course at a university there.
"It would be nice to see people around my age but I'm good just visiting friends." | Is going to university really the best option for A-level students? |
34,811,990 | Congestion seems to have increased through a combination of routine roadworks, public space alterations and the cycling superhighway works.
The traffic experts INRIX have measured the speeds at a couple of sites, and they confirm what everyone who uses the roads in London already knew.
At Elephant & Castle last year in morning rush hour the average speed was 14.9mph. Today, the average speed is 11.4mph.
It's even lower during the evening peak.
Elephant & Castle
AM 2014: 14.9mph
AM 2015: 11.4mph = down 23%
PM 2014: 12.6mph
PM 2015: 9.1mph = down 27%
On Embankment, where the flagship East-West cycle superhighway is partially open but still under construction, it's a similar picture with speeds down by 30%:
Embankment
AM 2014: 21.4mph
AM 2015: 14.8mph = down 30%
PM 2014: 17.5mph
PM 2015: 9.1mph = down 48%
(Data is based on the morning and early-evening peaks from a Thursday to a Wednesday, including the first half of a half-term week 22-28-October 2014 vs 21-27-October 2015).
Greg Hallsworth, a traffic data analyst at INRIX says: "With average speeds dropping by nearly half in the Embankment area and drivers' speeds decreasing by a quarter around the Elephant & Castle renovations, in both morning and evening rush hours, it is clear that the roadworks around the capital are slowing drivers down.
"Whilst in the short term this is frustrating for drivers who have to experience longer commutes to work, these roadworks are a step towards creating a more sustainable modernised road network in the capital. It's important we take into consideration the long-term benefits such improvements will have on London's congestion problem."
Of course, roadworks aren't the only cause of congestion. The Mayor has blamed it on a big rise in the number of private hire vehicles. London's growing population and a recovering economy create more construction and delivery traffic.
There is some good news, as we're told the works on the cycle superhighways should start to ease in the new year.
The bad news is congestion is going to get worse in the run-up to Christmas.
This is what the Cycling Commissioner Andrew Gilligan told me on Monday when I asked him what he'd say to those affected by his cycle works:
"I apologise to them. But I say to them most of them [the works] are temporary. We're almost at the worst now. It'll start getting better in a few weeks' time. Probably just before Christmas is the worst point and it will then start getting better.
"There will be some permanent loss of road capacity but not very much and we've changed the schemes considerably to make them less capacity-taking. But in the end the vast majority of journeys in central London aren't made by car."
And many will, of course, welcome safer cycling routes and say the short-term pain is worth it. | It's not been an easy few months for those who drive in central London. |
40,015,216 | Stevens, 26, completed a move to Championship-bound Sheffield United on Monday after two seasons at Pompey.
"The manager (Paul Cook) has a lot of experience of taking clubs up from League Two to League One," the left-back told BBC Radio Solent.
"He always lets the players make mistakes and express themselves."
Stevens has signed a three-year contract with Sheffield United and the former Aston Villa defender will join the Blades after his two-year deal at Fratton Park expired.
Having missed just one game all season, he helped Portsmouth to the League Two title on the final day of the season.
"Ending on a high was obviously the best way I could have left the club," he said.
"It was a difficult decision to leave as I enjoyed myself so much, I enjoyed living in the area and the club is a massive and great one to play for.
"But, I felt the opportunity to play in the Championship was one I couldn't pass up. It's exciting to go to a club that got 100 points in League One this season.
"It's going to be tough to get in the side, but it's up to me to work hard to make it happen." | Departing Portsmouth defender Enda Stevens has backed his former team-mates to have a successful campaign in League One next season. |
40,506,014 | Spaniard Clotet, 40, was appointed as successor to Michael Appleton on Saturday having previously worked as Garry Monk's assistant at Leeds United.
"I'm excited to start this project," he told BBC Radio Oxford. "I'm impressed with the positive, hard-working culture at the club and among the players."
Clotet said he needs more time with the squad before making any signings.
"My goal is to familiarise myself with the current squad over the next week," added the former Swansea academy consultant and assistant.
"We're assessing the squad as it is now and giving a lot of value to what the club have been doing.
"The culture that Michael Appleton and Derek Fazackerley have brought into the squad, I want to keep it going and I see myself as helping that process grow."
Clotet will take charge of the U's for their opening pre-season friendly against Oxford City on Saturday before a week-long trip to Portugal, where they will play Middlesbrough and Hull City in friendlies. | New Oxford United manager Pep Clotet believes he has strong foundations to build at the League One club. |
28,490,744 | The engine of the Foton-M4 satellite, with several experiments on board, has stopped responding to ground control.
All other systems are intact, the Progress space centre stated, including "one-way" transmission of information.
The five geckos are in space for a study of the effect of weightlessness on their sex lives and development.
The Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos, said the six tonne satellite could continue to operate on its own "for a long time".
A space expert cited by Interfax said it could stay in space for as long as four months.
The satellite was launched on July 19 but yesterday failed to respond to a command to lift into a higher orbit.
Russian news agency ITAR-TASS reported that "specialists are restoring stable connection with Foton and are providing for fulfilment of [the] planned orbital mission program".
"The equipment which is working in automatic mode, and in particular the experiment with the geckos is working according to the programme," Oleg Voloshin from Russia's Institute of Medico-Biological Problems (IMBP) told AFP.
The two-month experiment involving the geckos included video-cameras and was a "study of the effect of microgravity on sexual behaviour, the body of adult animals and embryonic development" according to the IMBP website.
The lizard sex investigation was among several planned experiments, including other biological studies of plant seeds and Drosophila fruit flies.
There was also a special vacuum furnace designed to examine the melting and solidification of metal alloys in low-gravity conditions. | A Russian satellite containing geckos, fruit flies and mushrooms could plummet to earth if control is not regained, according to reports. |
36,479,018 | It is the biggest tranche of funding it has ever announced in the region.
The capital - together with additional top-up cash from Stormont - will allow 4,700 low-rent, social homes to be built over the next five years.
The money is being split between the Choice (£150m) and Apex (£130m) housing associations.
The Luxembourg-based bank lends money on low-interest, long-term deals.
Previously it provided £150m towards the cost of the new Ulster University campus in Belfast.
It has also funded road projects, but until recently its activities in Northern Ireland have been considered modest.
Michael McDonnell, Chief Executive of Choice Housing, said the loan was "the most cost-effective long-term finance arrangement ever used in Northern Ireland".
"Ultimately that means we can make public money go further and put more social homes in the areas where they are needed most."
Martin Doherty, chairman of Apex, said the money will underpin Apex's development plans and enable the association to continue its current programme programme of transforming disused brown field sites in Belfast, such as North Queen Street police station. | Two Northern Ireland housing bodies have secured a combined £280m from the European Investment Bank. |
34,391,655 | Pendyffryn Medical Group in Prestatyn announced it was terminating its contract as it was unable to recruit enough doctors to continue to run it.
The local board has had to take over three other practices in north Wales in the last 18 months due to GP shortages.
A doctors' leader said it was an "emerging trend".
Practices can be run by GPs who run them as their own business or by GPs employed by health boards directly, such as three practices in north Wales which are being run by Betsi Cadwaladr health board - in Wrexham, Conwy county and Gwynedd.
Earlier this year, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) in Wales highlighted a "desperate workplace crisis" with too many GPs leaving and a slump in the young medical graduates looking to train as GPs.
"It is a crisis but there are solutions," said Dr Rebecca Payne, chair-elect at RCGP in Wales, referring to health boards managing practices directly.
She said the Welsh government, which announced a range of proposals including an extra £4.5m towards recruitment and training, was moving in the right direction although action was needed sooner rather than later.
Analysis by Owain Clarke, BBC Wales health correspondent
Several GPs I've talked to describe it as a "perfect storm".
They say they're working harder than ever - partly because they're seeing more elderly patients who often have several health problems at the same time. As demand goes up also we see increasing concern about staff shortages especially in north and west Wales and some valleys communities.
It's not uncommon to hear of surgeries closing, or having to be taken over by health boards who have to employ temporary staff to keep them open. Several things are going on here.
A generation of GPs are retiring - with almost a quarter of GPs in Wales aged over 55.
Younger doctors often choose to stay near to where they trained at medical school or are drawn to the big cities, or even to work abroad.
Meanwhile, the traditional model, where a GP or a group of GPs own and run their own surgeries, is becoming less attractive to those who don't want the burden of paper work, don't want to commit to working in one place or want to work flexibly.
And, it's claimed, there's a perception that general practice isn't popular perhaps as specialist medicine or hospital care.
None of these issues are confined to Wales. Yet the effect here can be more pronounced, especially when you consider Wales has a higher proportion of elderly people than many other parts of the UK with many choosing to move to rural areas to retire - the very parts of Wales where the shortages are most acute.
In a joint statement with the Pendyffryn Medical Group, Betsi Cadwaladr health board said: "The health board is responsible for making sure that people in north Wales have access to these services.
"It is therefore working closely with Pendyffryn Medical Practice to plan how their patients will continue to get the local services that they need from April 2016 onwards."
A Welsh government spokesman said: "We are pleased the practice is working with the health board to ensure services are maintained while new management arrangements are put in place.
"We recognise the importance of primary health care, which is why this year we have allocated £40m new funding to work together with our new Primary Care Workforce Plan."
Geoff Ryall-Harvey, chief officer for patient watchdog the North Wales Community Health Council, said increasing numbers of salaried GPs to run practices for health boards was only one way forward and other solutions should also be indentified.
He said the situation going forward at Pendyffryn Medical Group would be watched by other GPs given it was regarded as the biggest practice in north Wales. | Health officials have vowed to maintain care for 18,000 patients at a GP practice in Denbighshire after doctors said they could not continue. |
19,388,515 | The boat grounded on Saturday near Mangrove Cay, Andros Island, in heavy seas caused by Tropical Storm Isaac.
Officials have ordered a search of the nearby waters as they fear more migrants may have been on board and could have drowned.
In June, 11 Haitians died when their boat capsized off the Bahamas.
The survivors told officials at least 170 people had been aboard the boat.
They said they had left Cap-Haitien, in Haiti, on 18 August.
Doctors said the migrants were in good health, except for some who showed signs of dehydration.
It is not clear whether they were heading to the Bahamans or if their final destination was the United States.
Fatal accidents at sea involving migrants from Haiti, the Western hemisphere's poorest nation. are not uncommon.
In December, 38 migrants were found dead after their boar sank just off the eastern tip of Cuba.
And in 2009, US Coast Guard officials called off their search for about 70 migrants from Haiti whose boat capsized off the Turks and Caicos Islands. | Immigration officials in the Bahamas say 152 illegal migrants from Haiti have been detained after their boat ran aground in bad weather. |
15,737,880 | He will take up his new post alongside the newly appointed Cabinet Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood.
Both will start in January 2012 and both will be paid the same salary of £200,000.
A No 10 spokesman said Sir Bob had been appointed after an open competition process. He declined to say how many other senior civil servants had applied for the post.
Sir Bob will also continue in his current role as the top civil servant at the Department of Communities and Local Government.
He replaces Sir Gus O'Donnell, who has held the post of civil service head - as well as cabinet secretary - for six years.
His retirement on 31 December signals a major overhaul at the top of the Civil Service, with his role being carved into three parts.
Mr Heywood will be the prime minister's principal policy adviser as well as being the new cabinet secretary - but not head of the civil service as Sir Gus had been.
Prime Minister David Cameron decided to split up the roles because of the scale of the work involved.
Mr Cameron said Sir Bob, a former chief executive of Sheffield Council and the Homes and Communities Agency, would bring a "wealth of experience" to the role.
He added: "This is a time of significant change and challenge for the Civil Service, driven by the demands for new skills and capabilities, and the delivery of substantial financial savings without compromising on standards.
"I feel absolutely confident that Bob and Jeremy will provide the leadership to ensure that our civil service continues to be admired around the world for its strength and professionalism."
Sir Bob Kerslake said he was "delighted and honoured" to be offered the role at an important time for the Civil Service, which employs more than 450,000 people.
"We have immense strengths in the service that we should be justly proud of, but we must also embrace change. I want to engage all parts of the Civil Service in the reform process."
The recruitment process was led by Sir David Normington, First Civil Service Commissioner and the former top civil servant at the Home Office. | Sir Bob Kerslake has been named as the new head of the Civil Service. |
33,963,320 | Jason Buchan, 35, and David Stead, 47, have been missing for a week after their boat capsized close to the village of East Wemyss.
A third man, Birrell Stewart, 30, was pronounced dead after being picked up from the water on 10 August.
Police said forensic examinations were under way after the remains were found on beaches at St Andrews.
Ch Insp Adrian Annandale said the first discovery was made by a member of the public at about 11:30 on Sunday. The second was found at East Sands at 10:00 on Monday.
He said that family liaison officers had informed the relatives of the two missing fishermen and would continue to maintain contact with them throughout the investigation.
Police have been continuing to carry out searches and specialist divers from the force's marine unit were deployed to the East Wemyss area over the weekend. | The families of two missing Fife fishermen have been told that human remains have been found by police. |
35,610,329 | At least 15 people were injured on Thursday after a rally by the Jat community, demanding better access to jobs and education, turned violent.
The protesters blocked major highways, stopped railway traffic and clashed with rival caste groups.
The Jat community wants quotas in government jobs, but other caste groups have opposed their demands.
The police have also suspended mobile internet services in Rohtak and banned any gathering of more than four people.
Rohtak's superintendent of police Shashank Anand said that the measures were taken "to maintain law and order" in the district.
Extra paramilitary forces had been deployed to help the police in keeping the city calm, he added.
The Haryana state administration has also tightened security in the neighbouring towns of Sonepat and Jhajjar.
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar held an emergency meeting on Thursday night to asses the situation in the state.
The Jats are currently listed as upper caste but they are demanding the status of Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
The community's leaders say that the quotas for OBCs and other lower castes puts them at a disadvantage in government jobs and state-run educational institutes.
The Indian government has divided people from lower castes in three categories as part of its affirmative action policy to offer quotas in jobs and educational institutes.
The communities listed as the Scheduled Castes (SCs) are essentially the lowest in the Hindu caste hierarchy, locally referred to as Dalits.
The Scheduled Tribes (STs) are the people who mostly live in remote areas.
The OBCs are educationally and economically backward but do not face so much exclusion or isolation. | Authorities in the northern Indian town of Rohtak have tightened security to control caste-related violence. |
33,224,573 | Artist Barnaby Barford cycled more than 1,000 miles, visiting every postcode in London to take pictures of shop fronts.
The photos are being turned into ceramic transfers and fired onto fine bone china individual shops.
It will be displayed in the museum's Medieval and Renaissance Galleries from 8 September to 1 November.
The tower will have derelict shops at the base and at the pinnacle, which will look more precarious, the most exclusive boutiques and galleries will be housed.
The artwork is described as a "monument to the British pastime of shopping" and the Tower "likens efforts to find fulfilment through consumerism with the biblical Tower of Babel's attempt to reach heaven".
Describing the installation, Barford said: "This is London in all its retail glory, our city in the beginning of the 21st Century and I'm asking, how does it make you feel?"
The V&A is also making the buildings available to purchase "blurring the lines of art and commerce".
Alun Graves from the V&A called the work "part-sculpture, part-shop display, The Tower of Babel is an act of curated commerce".
"It's about retail as a pastime, and the idea of shopping as a means (or not) to attain happiness. It is about how we identify ourselves as consumers and how we construct our sense of self through the choices we make when buying.
"Ultimately it's about who we are, and where we position ourselves in the extraordinary metropolis that is London." | A six-metre high ceramic tower made up of bone china buildings depicting real-life London shops is to go on display at the V&A in September. |
32,939,134 | The report was commissioned by Údarás na Gaeltachta, the body which oversees economic development in Irish-speaking areas of the Republic of Ireland.
It found that spoken Irish in the Gaeltacht - areas where the bulk of the population speak the language - is becoming confined to academic settings.
The research is based on Irish census figures for 2006 and 2011.
It said that social use of Irish in the Gaeltacht is declining at an even more rapid rate than predicted in their last report in 2007.
Of the 155 electoral divisions in the Gaeltacht, only 21 are communities where Irish is spoken on a daily basis by 67% or more of the population.
'Worrying decline'
67% is regarded as a tipping point for language survival.
Some elements of the recommendations are highly critical of the Irish State's approach to the language in the Gaeltacht.
The Gaeltacht is spread across seven separate areas of the Republic of Ireland, covering parts of counties Donegal, Mayo, Galway, Kerry, Cork, Meath and Waterford.
Rónán Ó Domhnaill, the Irish language commissioner, said the reports show how difficult it is to keep Irish alive in Gaeltacht areas despite efforts by community members. | New research suggests Irish will no longer be the primary language in any Gaeltacht community in ten years. |
32,571,330 | The name of their second child - sister to Prince George - could be announced later and members of the Royal Family and the duchess's parents may visit.
The princess, who is fourth in line to the throne, was delivered at 08:34 BST on Saturday at St Mary's Hospital in London, and weighed 8lbs 3oz (3.7kg).
Tower Bridge was among several London landmarks lit up in pink in her honour.
For full coverage see our royal baby special report here.
Trafalgar Square's fountains and the London Eye were also illuminated on Saturday night to mark the birth.
The Cambridges will spend the next few days at Kensington Palace; afterwards they are expected to travel to their country home Anmer Hall on the Queen's Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
Bookmakers have said Charlotte and Alice have emerged as the favourite names for the princess, followed by Olivia, Victoria and Elizabeth.
A spokeswoman for Ladbrokes said: "We've never known a day of royal speculation like it. Charlotte is the new favourite, but Olivia is the name on the nation's lips."
Meanwhile, almost all of the UK's national newspapers have given over the entire front pages of their Sunday editions to the birth and a photograph of the new princess.
Charlotte, the feminine form of Charles, has a long royal pedigree and became popular in the 18th century when it was the name of George III's queen.
The King bought Buckingham House in 1761 for his wife Queen Charlotte to use as a family home close to St James's Palace - it became known as the Queen's House and is now Buckingham Palace.
Charles is the name of two former Kings and of the Prince of Wales, the princess's grandfather.
Charlotte also has a connection on the duchess's side, as the middle name of her sister Pippa Middleton.
Alice, the previous bookmaker's favourite, was the name of the Duke of Edinburgh's mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg and of his great-grandmother, who was the third child of Queen Victoria.
During the First World War, his mother's family changed Battenberg, the family name, to Mountbatten - the name which Prince Philip adopted when he became a naturalised British subject in 1947.
Other royal Alices include the Queen's aunt by marriage, Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester and one of Queen Victoria's granddaughters, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone.
Also in the running, according to the bookmakers, are the names Olivia, Victoria and Elizabeth.
While Olivia has no immediately apparent royal connections, it was the second most popular girls' name for babies born in England and Wales in 2013, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Victoria and Elizabeth are arguably the most famous female names in British royal history - with Queen Victoria the longest reigning monarch, and the present Queen Elizabeth II set to surpass her record on September 9, 2015.
The Queen Mother was also called Elizabeth, and it is the middle name of the duchess's mother, Carole Middleton.
Queen Victoria is associated with Britain's great age of industrial expansion, economic progress and, particularly, empire. While the 45-year reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England, the daughter of Henry VIII and the last Tudor monarch, is considered one of the most glorious in English history, including the defeat of the Spanish Armada and the first works of Shakespeare.
The duchess was admitted to the private Lindo Wing at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, west London, at 06:00 BST on Saturday.
The birth was announced by Clarence House on Twitter at about 11:00 BST, but also with the traditional bulletin on a gilded easel outside Buckingham Palace - a practice that dates to 1837. The easel will remain outside the palace until early afternoon.
With their new daughter wrapped in a white shawl, the duke and duchess emerged from the hospital to crowds of well-wishers and the world's media, a little less than 10 hours after the birth.
They stood on the steps of the Lindo Wing briefly before heading back inside to put the sleeping princess in a car seat. Prince William, who had been present for the birth, then drove them to Kensington Palace.
The couple did not speak to the media as they had done at the time of Prince George's birth in July 2013.
But when Prince William left the hospital shortly before 16:00 BST, to fetch his son for a visit to his new sister, he told those outside he was "very happy".
In a statement issued after the birth, Kensington Palace said: "Their Royal Highnesses would like to thank all staff at the hospital for the care and treatment they have all received.
"They would also like to thank everyone for their warm wishes."
The duke's father the Prince of Wales, who had said he wanted his second grandchild to be a girl, and Duchess of Cornwall were left "absolutely delighted" by the news, Clarence House has said.
William's uncle Earl Spencer said: "It's wonderful news - we are all thrilled for all four of them."
Messages of congratulations also came from the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and political leaders including Prime Minister David Cameron, who called it "wonderful news".
US president Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle wished the duke and duchess "much joy and happiness on the occasion of the arrival of the newest member of their family".
On Monday, the princess's birth will be marked by gun salutes in Hyde Park and the Tower of London.
Soldiers from The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery will ride out in procession from Wellington Barracks, near Buckingham Palace to sound 41 shots in the park at 14:00 BST. A 62-gun Salute by the Honourable Artillery Company will take place at the Tower of London at the same time.
The princess's first public appearance, with her parents, leaving hospital, will be the exception not the rule.
Prince William and his wife will shield the fourth in line to the throne in the same way they have her brother, Prince George.
Her lack of exposure in her early years will not limit or diminish the global fascination this baby will attract. It's a fascination which began while she was still in the womb.
Soon we'll know her name. The absence of knowledge hasn't stopped the speculation. Elizabeth, Victoria, Alice and Charlotte have all attracted bets at the bookies.
And will Kate and William honour his mother and choose Diana for one of their daughter's names?
Read more from Peter | The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have spent the first night with their new baby daughter at Kensington Palace. |
40,327,969 | Gareth Jones told a meeting of the full council on Monday that party politics "should not distract us".
However, two other Plaid members named as members of the cabinet have quit.
Plaid Cymru said it was a proudly grassroots party "governed by the will of its membership".
The former Plaid Cymru AM announced earlier in June he wanted to appoint a cabinet representing all groups after no party won a majority in May's local election.
However, on Friday Plaid Cymru's national executive committee rejected the proposal to include Conservatives in his administration.
The cabinet is currently made up of two Plaid Cymru councillors - including Mr Jones - five Conservative and one independent. Labour had declined the invitation.
Mr Jones said he wanted to reassure people there was "no impasse with delivering services" and the council was "proceeding with full speed".
Presenting his team to the full council, Mr Jones said: "I respect the people of Conwy and how they voted. That's what's important, not a diktat that isn't democratic.
"Party politics should have no place here and should not distract us."
A party spokeswoman said: "Plaid Cymru is a proudly grassroots party that is governed by the will of its membership.
"Gareth Jones' proposals were put to the party's National Executive Committee where they were rejected in a democratic vote.
"Plaid Cymru will not enter into this proposed coalition on Conwy council."
Party leader Leanne Wood met Conwy's Plaid Cymru councillors following the full council meeting.
When asked if Mr Jones would remain a member of Plaid Cymru, she replied: "You'll have to ask him".
Mr Jones said he was likely to stay on as leader, but not in the name of Plaid Cymru.
"I believe that the way forward would be for me to relinquish that [membership], to maintain the leadership and try again to persevere towards this consensus," he said.
"It might be a more positive step forward that I do that as an independent than in the name of Plaid Cymru."
Mr Jones is expected to make a final decision after a meeting of the local Plaid Cymru branch on Tuesday. | The leader of Conwy council has said he may quit Plaid Cymru after forming a cabinet with Conservatives in defiance of what he called a "diktat" from his party bosses. |
30,190,224 | Michael Brown was shot by a white police officer, Darren Wilson, on 9 August, sparking protests.
A police chief said the latest violence in the suburb of St Louis, Missouri, was "probably much worse" than on any night since the teenager's death.
St Louis County police chief Jon Belmar said rioters had fired 150 shots.
Many in the African-American community had called for Mr Wilson to be charged with murder, but after three months of deliberation a Missouri grand jury - of nine white and three black members - made no recommendation of charges.
President Barack Obama joined the teenager's family on Monday in appealing for calm, urging Americans to accept the decision was "the grand jury's to make''.
The sun's shining this morning on South Florissant, which saw some of the most violent demonstrations outside the Ferguson Police Department last night.
Local residents have been up since the early hours cleaning up the streets. Shopkeepers are boarding up shops. A small group of protesters is yelling at half a dozen police standing outside the department.
A group of residents is standing outside a beauty parlour which was looted last night. Its windows have been smashed in and they're hoping to stop anyone else coming in and looting.
"We're trying to come together and get past this", says Judy. Everyone's expecting more demonstrations tonight.
"They let our town burn," says Anastasia Knowles. "They sacrificed us for Clayton," she says referring to the choice to deploy the state national guard there and not in Ferguson.
Authorities said more than 80 people were arrested amid chaos in several areas of St Louis overnight. Sixty-one of those arrests were in Ferguson, with charges including burglary and trespassing.
The fabric of the community, Mr Belmar said, had been "torn apart" in Ferguson, which is a predominantly black community patrolled by a mainly white police force.
The BBC's Rajini Vaidyanathan (@rajiniv) will be taking your questions on the grand jury decision and the violence that followed from 18:00GMT on the BBC News Facebook page - facebook.com/bbcnews
As protesters charged barricades, hurling glass bottles, police responded with smoke and tear gas.
One protester, Charles Miller, told the BBC that while he did not advocate violence, he understood why people were angry.
"You can't just go shoot an 18-year-old who's unarmed on the street, despite what the story may have been," he said.
Thousands of people also protested in other US cities, from Los Angeles to New York.
In Oakland, California, they blocked traffic on a major highway in the San Francisco Bay area.
Mr Wilson said he tried to block Mr Brown and another man in the street with his police vehicle in connection with a robbery, but when he tried to open the car door, Mr Brown slammed it shut.
The police officer said he managed to reopen the door, pushing Mr Brown back with it, and then the teenager hit him in the face. In the struggle which followed, Mr Wilson said, the teenager tried to grab his drawn gun while insulting him.
Mr Wilson said he fired several shots during the struggle before Mr Brown ran off. When Mr Brown stopped running, the officer said, he ordered him to get on the ground but Mr Brown advanced on him instead, putting his right hand under his shirt in the waistband of his trousers. Mr Wilson said he then fired the fatal shots.
Read more of Darren Wilson's testimony (Warning: Explicit language)
The workings of the grand jury explained
Much of the debate since August has centred on whether Michael Brown was attempting to surrender to Darren Wilson when he was shot, and protesters have adopted the chant "Hands up, don't shoot".
But state prosecutor Robert McCulloch, speaking after the grand jury decision, said physical evidence had contradicted some of the witness statements.
Police say there was a struggle between the teenager and the officer before the shooting.
Mr Wilson himself says that before the shooting, Mr Brown had pushed him back into his car, hit him and grabbed at his drawn gun.
The jury was made up of 12 randomly picked citizens from the state of Missouri. At least nine votes were needed in order to issue an indictment.
Mr Brown's family said in a statement: "We are profoundly disappointed that the killer of our child will not face the consequence of his actions."
But they also appealed for calm, saying: "Let's not just make noise, let's make a difference", and calling for all police to wear body cameras.
Mr Brown's mother, Lesley McSpadden, wept at news of the jury's decision as she was comforted by supporters outside the police station in Ferguson.
Mr Brown's family could yet file a wrongful-death lawsuit against Mr Wilson.
Meanwhile, a justice department investigation is still under way into whether the police officer violated Mr Brown's civil rights.
Darren Wilson, 28, is currently on paid leave and has kept out of the public eye.
The department is also investigating practices at the Ferguson police department. | The US town of Ferguson has seen rioting and looting after a jury decided not to bring charges over the killing of a black teenager. |
34,357,383 | Iran's Supreme National Security Council accused the Saudis of "incompetence" and urged them to "take responsibility" for the deaths.
Nigeria has dismissed remarks by the Saudi health minister blaming pilgrims for "not following instructions".
King Salman has ordered a safety review for the Hajj pilgrimage.
In pictures: Aftermath of the stampede
Accounts from Mina
Disaster puts pressure on Saudis
Hajj's safety concerns
The crush occurred at 09:00 local time (06:00 GMT) on Thursday as two million pilgrims were taking part in the Hajj's last major rite.
The pilgrims throw seven stones at pillars called Jamarat, which stand at the place where Satan is believed to have tempted the Prophet Abraham.
With temperatures around 46C, two massive lines of pilgrims converged on each other at right angles at an intersection close to the five-storey Jamarat Bridge in Mina, a large valley about 5km (3 miles) from Mecca.
This is the deadliest incident to occur during the pilgrimage in 25 years.
It is also the second disaster to strike in two weeks, after a crane collapsed at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, killing 109 people.
Hajj stampede: What we know so far
Why do millions gather in Mecca every year?
Deadly pinch point at Jamarat Bridge
Iran, Saudi Arabia's regional rival, has reported the greatest number of deaths among foreign nationals - 131 - and has reacted with the greatest anger.
On Friday, the spokesman for its Supreme National Security Council, Keyvan Khosravi, told the Isna news agency: "The unavoidable fact is that the Saudi government has been incompetent in this regard and with regard to the management of the Hajj pilgrimage, and Riyadh must accept responsibility for this."
He was echoing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who said on Thursday that Saudi "mismanagement and improper actions have caused this catastrophe".
Iran has declared three days of national mourning. Protesters marched in Tehran shouting slogans against Saudi Arabia's ruling al-Saud family.
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of an Iranian parliamentary committee for national security, called on other Islamic countries to lodge protests with the Saudis.
The incident may worsen relations between the two countries, already strained by opposing stances on the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.
Deaths reported so far by nationality
Saudi helplines: 00966 125458000 and 00966 125496000
Timeline: Deadliest stampedes
The Saudis have spent billions on improving transport and other infrastructure since the last major Hajj incident nine years ago. The millions of pilgrims who come each year also bring billions of dollars to the Saudi economy.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayyef, who chairs the Hajj committee, has begun an immediate inquiry into the tragedy, with "fast" results promised.
Offering his condolences to the relatives of the dead, King Salman said: "We have instructed concerned authorities to review the operations plan and to raise the level of organisation and management to ensure that the guests of God perform their rituals in comfort and ease."
The number of pilgrims was fewer on Friday, AFP reported, and there was more organisation from the authorities at entry points.
Health Minister Khaled al-Falih told el-Ekhbariya television that if pilgrims "had followed instructions, this type of accident could have been avoided".
One Mecca resident, Fathima Mohamed, told the BBC: "I was in the crowd and most people... are very peaceful. Then you get the young people and the heat is quite unrelenting. People want to do it quickly, they want to finish everything and because of the fact that it would get hot, people were pushing."
However, the head of Nigeria's Hajj delegation, the Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi II, told the BBC the crush "happened on the designated ways for incoming and outgoing pilgrims to the site, [where they were] crossing each other" - something he said should not have happened.
"We are therefore urging the Saudi authorities not to apportion blame to the pilgrims for not obeying instructions."
The UK Foreign Office said it was urgently seeking more information about whether British nationals were involved.
The Hajj is the fifth and final pillar of Islam. It is the journey that every able-bodied adult Muslim must undertake at least once in their lives if they can afford it.
Lebanon's pro-Hezbollah al-Diyar newspaper says the Muslim world "has been shaken in its entirety". In Egypt, a banner in al-Dustur reads "Blood on the Jamarat Bridge", alongside images of rows of dead bodies.
There is some strong criticism of Saudi Arabia. Syria's al-Ba'th blames the government for its "failure" to manage the Hajj properly while Iran's al-Vefagh quotes an official as saying that Riyadh has shown for years that it is "inadequate" in handling the stone-throwing ritual.
However, the Qatari newspaper al-Rayah says the organisers "are not to blame. The kingdom has proved its competence in handling the Hajj". A commentator in Bahraini daily al-Wasat accuses Riyadh's critics of "gloating over what happened", saying "Saudi Arabia did nothing wrong".
Saudi pro-government dailies are similarly defensive. "Nobody should criticise the kingdom, given the efforts it makes to serve pilgrims", al-Watan says, adding that Saudi Arabia would "spare no efforts" in its investigations. | Iran has led growing criticism of Saudi Arabia after at least 717 people died and 863 were injured in a stampede near the holy city of Mecca on Thursday. |
33,933,010 | Cecil Henry Hight, 22, was brought down by German bombers during a combat mission off Portland on 15 August 1940.
He bailed out of the plane and deployed his parachute, but it failed to open.
The memorial has been placed at the crash site where the fighter came down on the corner of Leven Avenue and Walsford Road.
The Portland stone was unveiled on the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain by Mayor John Adams and MP Conor Burns.
It is thought once shot, he piloted the plane away from the centre of Bournemouth to avoid killing civilians.
Cecil Hight, originally from Christchurch, New Zealand, served as a pilot officer with the RAF's 234 Squadron based at Middle Wallop, Hampshire.
He was buried with full military honours in Boscombe Cemetery.
After the war Pilot Hight Road in West Howe, Bournemouth was named after him.
In 2010 a new road sign was installed bearing a picture of a Spitfire in tribute. | A memorial to a RAF pilot who died when his Spitfire was shot down during World War Two has been unveiled in Bournemouth, Dorset. |
31,844,847 | The company, Etecsa, said initially the link would only be for phone calls.
Telephone calls have until now passed through a third country, making them very expensive.
It is the first agreement signed by the two countries since the announcement last December that the two states would renew diplomatic ties.
Americans and Cubans will now be able to make direct calls to each other's countries.
"The re-establishment of direct communications between the United States and Cuba contributes to providing better infrastructure and better communications quality between the people and our two countries," Etecsa said.
Etecsa's American counterpart, New Jersey based telecommunication firm IDT Domestic Telecom, said: "Ultimately, the agreement will make it easier and more affordable for our customers to call friends and family in Cuba."
According to the Miami Herald newspaper, the two companies were in talks to restart international long-distance traffic between the two countries before the announcement in December.
A key part of the decision of the Obama administration to restore diplomatic ties with Cuba was to help boost telecommunications on the island, the BBC's Will Grant in Havana reports.
Our correspondent adds that in the long run it is hoped in Washington that it will lead to greater Internet access.
A US delegation led by Daniel Sepulveda, the State Department Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs co-ordinator for international communications and information policy, will head to Havana later this month to meet their Cuban counterparts.
Cuban officials have said they are ready to work with US telecommunications companies.
"We confirmed we are ready to receive US telecom companies to explore business opportunities - business that could be of benefit to both sides," Josefina Vidal, the Cuban foreign ministry official heading the Cuban delegation, said after the first round of US-Cuba talks in January.
Only an estimated 5% to 25% of Cubans have any type of Internet service.
However, since the December announcement, Cuba has temporarily cut the price of state-run Internet cafes from $4.50 (£3) an hour to $5 for over two hours.
The government has also said it plans to open more than 100 additional cafes this year.
Last year, Etecsa also launched a mobile email service, Nauta.cu.
In February, Netflix announced that Cubans with high-speed Internet connections and access to international payment methods would be able to subscribe to its popular film and TV show service.
However, few Cubans will be able to afford to access their service at the moment. | Cuba and the United States have re-established direct telephone links for the first time in 15 years, Cuba's state telecommunications company says. |
37,677,081 | Officers were called to a disturbance at Penicuik Way in Carntyne at about 04:00 on Sunday.
It was reported that a man in his mid 20s to early 30s suffered head injuries but left in a taxi and did not contact emergency services.
The man was described as white, of a slim build, about 5ft 6in tall with short dark hair.
He was wearing a black leather jacket and dark jeans.
The driver of the taxi confirmed that the man was dropped off in Kinsail Drive, Penilee. Door-to-door inquiries in the area have so far been unsuccessful.
Officers want to speak to him to make sure he is safe and well and does not require medical attention.
Det Con Jennifer Carey said: "We are in the process of establishing the circumstances of what has happened in the house where the disturbance took place.
"We are making every effort to try and trace the injured man and I'm appealing for him to contact us so that we can be assured he is all right." | Police are keen to trace a man who suffered head injuries following a serious assault at a house in Glasgow. |
37,085,083 | E.On's mistake happened when it mixed up measurements from older imperial gas meters with modern metric ones - affecting thousands of people.
The regulator has ordered E.On and other energy suppliers to refund any customers who have been overcharged as a result.
But prize for the most costly measurement belongs to Nasa.
The US space agency lost one of its own $125m spacecraft on a mission to Mars because the rocket thrusters used to put the probe into orbit around the planet were fired incorrectly.
Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory running the mission expected everybody to be working in metric measurements. Unfortunately one contractor, Lockheed Martin, used imperial.
The Mars Climate Orbiter, launched in 1998, was designed to study the Red Planet's climate, atmosphere and surface.
Over its nine-month journey, the spacecraft's rockets were fired to keep it on course. But the figures used to fire the thrusters were in pound-seconds, not Newton-seconds(Ns).
So the instructions to the probe were out by a factor of 4.45 - as one pound force = 4.45 Newtons.
Nobody spotted the mistake in time, and as a result, the orbiter wasn't where it should have been when it got to the Red Planet.
Instead of entering orbit at an altitude of 226km, later calculations showed it passed as close as 57km, well below its minimum safe altitude, and most likely broke up in the Martian atmosphere.
In 1983, an Air Canada flight ran out of fuel while flying between Montreal and Edmonton.
The amount of fuel that had been loaded was miscalculated due to confusion about the weight of fuel - the airline had just switched over from using the imperial system to the metric system.
The plane's onboard fuel gauge was not working, and the initial fuel load had been incorrectly calculated.
The ground crew had calculated the fuel in pounds instead of kilograms. So instead of 22,300kg (27,770 litres) of fuel, the aircraft's tanks had 22,300lb (12,598 litres) on board.
In other words, the airliner had about half the amount required to reach its destination.
When the engines failed, the pilot - who was himself an experienced glider pilot - was able to land the aircraft safely on a former airfield at Gimli, giving the plane the nickname "Gimli Glider".
Luckily, nobody was seriously injured, and the crew later received awards for outstanding airmanship. | Energy firm E.On's measurement error over some of its customers' gas payments is not the only time that organisations have made a mistake with imperial and metric measurements. |
35,955,150 | Schaaf, 54, was appointed during the mid-winter break but has since overseen one win and 10 defeats with Hannover 10 points from safety with six games left.
The club said former under-19 coach and ex-player Daniel Stendel, 41, would take over until the end of the season.
Schaaf was previously in charge of Werder Bremen for 14 years and last season was Eintracht Frankfurt boss. | Hannover have sacked coach Thomas Schaaf after just 11 matches in charge of the struggling Bundesliga side. |
39,315,393 | John Rayne Rivello, 29, of Maryland, sent Kurt Eichenwald an animated image with a flashing light on Twitter in December, causing the seizure.
He has been charged with criminal cyber stalking and could face a 10-year sentence, the New York Times reports.
"You deserve a seizure for your post," he is alleged to have written.
Mr Eichenwald is known to have epilepsy. He is a senior writer at Newsweek magazine, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and a best-selling author of books including The Informant.
Investigators found that Mr Rivello had sent messages to other Twitter users about Mr Eichenwald and a plan to attack him virtually, including one that read: "I hope this sends him into a seizure".
Tweet 'caused' epileptic seizure
"Spammed this at [victim] let's see if he dies," another message read, according to the justice department.
Investigators found a screenshot on his iCloud account of an altered Wikipedia page for Mr Eichenwald, falsely listing his date of death as 16 December, a day after the image was sent.
He had also researched epilepsy seizure triggers on the epilepsy.com website.
The Twitter message was no different from "a bomb sent in the mail or anthrax sent in an envelope," Steven Lieberman, a lawyer for Mr Eichenwald, told the New York Times. "It triggers a physical effect."
Mr Rivello will have his case heard in Texas, where his alleged victim is based.
The justice department did not say what motivated the attack, though reports have speculated that it may have been related to Mr Eichenwald's frequent criticism of US President Donald Trump on Twitter.
Mr Eichenwald is reported to have suffered the effects of the seizure for several weeks. He tweeted on Friday that more than 40 people had sent him "strobes" after learning about the case.
After the attack was reported in December, Stefano Seri, a professor of neurophysiology at Aston University in the UK, said the material in the tweet must have been carefully constructed.
"Abrupt changes in light intensity, or luminance, can trigger seizures. The most sensitive range is about 15-25 flashes per second," he said.
"The picture would need to occupy most of the visual field. It would take some very sick people to do this, but technically, it is possible.
"Modern LED screens are not as provocative as older ones. It takes a very carefully designed stimulus to induce a seizure," Prof Seri added. | A man accused of sending a flashing image to a writer in order to trigger an epileptic seizure has been arrested, the US justice department says. |
29,206,256 | Thai Union, which owns the 'John West' and 'Chicken of the Sea' brands, is looking to increase earnings overseas to offset slowing sales at home.
The purchase comes days after it bought French smoked salmon producer MerAlliance, for an undisclosed amount.
The deal is expected to close later this year pending regulatory approvals.
Thai Union president and chief executive Thiraphong Chansiri called it a "relatively small, but highly strategic acquisition for our group".
"It will give us a unique position and an opportunity to build 'King Oscar' brand in the market worldwide and into our global brand portfolio," he said in a statement.
"In addition to organic growth, mergers and acquisitions will continue to be the company's key strategy for business expansion in both short and long term."
Thai Union said it was aiming to increase sales to $8bn (£4.9bn) by 2020 following the purchase of King Oscar, which is one of the world's largest suppliers of canned fish such as premium-quality sardines.
King Oscar has two factories in Poland and Norway that help churn out 90 million cans per year. The privately-owned company logged sales worth $80m last year.
Geir-Arne Asnes, chief executive of King Oscar said the deal marked an "expansive phase" for the brand globally.
"Now we will be part of one of the strongest seafood companies in the world," he said. | The world's biggest producer of canned tuna, Thai Union Frozen Products, is buying Norwegian seafood firm King Oscar, for an undisclosed sum. |
32,788,128 | Olive Cooke, 92, was found dead in the Avon Gorge, Bristol, on 6 May.
A friend said Mrs Cooke had been "exhausted" by charity requests, but her family said while the requests were "intrusive", they were not to blame.
Granddaughter Jessica Dunne said: "Nan would have wanted the work of charities to be promoted."
Mrs Cooke's friend Michael Earley said she was being sent 180 letters from charities a month and was plagued by phone calls.
He told BBC Radio Bristol that while he would not blame her death entirely on charities "pestering" her - she had been "under pressure".
Ms Dunne said her grandmother believed charities were the "backbone to our communities".
She said: "I think that the amount of contact from charities was starting to escalate and get slightly out of control, and the phone calls were beginning to get intrusive, but there is no blame or suggestion that this was a reason for her death."
Ms Dunne said her grandmother had left the family a note to explain the reasons for her death, and that it made no reference to charities but mentioned depression and being elderly.
She added: "Nan was not a victim. She did suffer with depression, but on the whole she was a happy soul."
She said her grandmother had been "brave and courageous" throughout her life.
"There was a headline that upset me, that she was 'killed by kindness' - it was not that at all," she said.
The mother of three is believed to have sold around 30,000 poppies, having started when she was 16.
Mrs Cooke, who lived in Fishponds, had sold poppies for the Royal British Legion (RBL) charity appeal for 76 years and was presented with the Lord Mayor's Medal for her work.
The Institute of Fundraising (IoF) Standards Committee said it would bring together representatives from across the charity sector to review the case. | The family of one of the UK's longest-serving poppy sellers said charities had been "intrusive" but were not responsible for her death. |
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