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36,676,063 | Vehicle development had been on hold in recent months because of a shortage of cash, but new sponsorship deals mean engineers can now resume their work.
October 2017 will mark the 20th anniversary of the current land speed record - 763mph (1,228km/h), which was set by Thrust SSC in the US desert.
Bloodhound intends to raise this to 800mph, running in South Africa.
The new sponsors are not immediately being identified, but their support puts the British project on a solid financial footing.
"We now have the most vision of forward-funding that we've ever had," said components chief Conor La Grue.
"In the past, we've only ever really had funding to plan two to three months ahead.
"We're now in a position to go all the way through to taking the record."
Engineers that were let go during the hibernation are being brought back; outstanding components needed to fully finish the vehicle are being ordered.
The near-complete car was showcased at Canary Wharf in London last September.
Since then it has been sitting largely untouched at Bloodhound's technical HQ in Bristol.
Now, it will be stripped down from its initial "dry build" and then reassembled, with fluids, ready to go racing.
A key task is to complete the development of the vehicle's rocket system.
Bloodhound will be using a Eurofighter-Typhoon jet engine to get itself rolling and to reach speeds in the low hundreds (mph), but it will need a booster to take it through the sound barrier and on to 800mph.
The rocket itself is being sourced from the Nammo company in Norway, but it will use a Bloodhound-designed gearbox and pump driven by a Jaguar V8.
Testing of these elements all operating together will be conducted in the autumn.
The team intends to employ the rocket in a monopropellant configuration. This means no fuel grain is burned in the motor.
To produce thrust, concentrated hydrogen peroxide is merely pumped at pressure across a catalyst, where it decomposes into steam and oxygen. The hot gases are then directed out through a nozzle at high velocity.
It is the simplest way to use the rocket. Only if Bloodhound attempts to run faster than 1,000mph - something it still hopes to do in 2018 - will the Nammo technology need to burn a rubber propellant.
The new schedule calls for the race-ready car to be doing some trial runs at the Newquay aerohub in Cornwall in May or June of next year.
These runs will only get up to about 200mph but should be very instructive for the engineers, enabling them to check, for example, that all the software has every system working in unison.
"Fortunately, we don't have the millions of lines of code that they had in the space shuttle," said chief engineer Mark Chapman.
"We're talking now about being in South Africa in August/September 2017. This would give us a few weeks of running to shake the car down, increase the speed and then go for the record around October.
"The date would be quite poignant because it would be exactly 20 years since Thrust SSC."
Bloodhound is the direct descendant of Thrust. The project director (Richard Noble), the driver (Andy Green) and the aerodynamicist (Ron Ayers) have reprised their roles.
The big difference this time around is the supporting education programme.
Bloodhound was conceived as a way to enthuse young people into STEM subjects.
More than 5,000 schools have now taken part in learning programmes based on the science of land speed records.
And even though Bloodhound itself may have been sitting idle in Bristol for almost 10 months, the education side of things has been ramping up.
School children who have been building mini rocket cars recently started using the BBC Micro:Bit programmable computer to monitor their vehicles' performance.
[email protected] and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos | The Bloodhound supersonic car project is back on, and now aims to break the land speed record in October 2017. |
37,297,435 | The craft called Maritime Autonomy Surface Testbed (Mast) was displayed on the Thames in London earlier this week.
The Royal Navy said it is to play a part in the inaugural Unmanned Warrior.
The exercise in October is to be held in parts of the sea off north west Scotland, the Western Isles and west Wales, the Navy said.
The service has previously described Unmanned Warrior as its first "robot wars".
It will involve drones, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and machines that can operate underwater.
Companies that manufacture the weapons and Nato member countries have been invited by the Royal Navy to take part.
Since 2014, the Royal Navy has been promoting Unmanned Warrior 2016 to drone technology businesses. More than 40 organisations are expected to take part.
Various scenarios will be run to test the capability of the machines in areas such as anti-submarine warfare, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Unmanned Warrior will be held during the UK-led Exercise Joint Warrior.
Joint Warrior is one of Nato's largest training events and is held twice a year for thousands of army, navy and air force personnel.
The first of this year's Joint Warrior exercises was held in April.
Most of the training takes place in and around Scotland with warships operating out of Faslane on the Clyde and aircraft from RAF Lossiemouth in Moray.
Live firing is also done at Cape Wrath in Sutherland, while large-scale military manoeuvres have taken place in the past at West Freugh near Stranraer. | An unmanned boat designed for military use has been unveiled as one of 50 vehicles and devices that will feature in "robot wars" exercises off Scotland. |
36,327,369 | The 25-year-old was suspended for two weeks for kicking Grenoble's Arnaud Heguy in April, directly after serving a two-match ban for calling Samson Lee "Gypsy boy" during a Six Nations game.
"Whenever you play for England, you have to be 100%," said Marler.
"Unfortunately I'm not in that place. I would be letting my team-mates and country down if I were to tour."
England will face Australia in three Tests - in Brisbane on 11 June, Melbourne a week later and Sydney on 25 June.
Marler will also miss England's one-off Test against Wales on 29 May.
He added the past season - in which England won a Grand Slam for the first time in 13 years and Harlequins reached the European Challenge Cup final - had been "very enjoyable, but sometimes difficult".
Coach Eddie Jones, who confirmed Marler would have been part of the squad, said he supported the decision and "admired his honesty".
"Joe played brilliantly during the Six Nations and he will be a big loss in Australia," added Jones. "He's a young man with a very bright future.
"There's no doubt in my mind he'll use this time wisely and come back feeling refreshed and ready to be part of England again."
Marler played in all five matches during England's Six Nations campaign, starting three and replacing Mako Vunipola in the matches against Scotland and Italy.
Have you added the new Top Story alerts in the BBC Sport app? Simply head to the menu in the app - and don't forget you can also add alerts for your rugby union team, cricket scores, football and more. | Prop Joe Marler has made himself unavailable for England's summer tour of Australia, saying he needs to rest. |
20,919,045 | Walters headed a Cesar Azpilicueta cross into his own net just before half-time and repeated his unwanted trick from a Juan Mata corner.
Frank Lampard made it 3-0 from the spot after Mata was fouled and Eden Hazard smashed in a fourth from 30 yards out.
Walters' misery was completed when he blasted a late penalty against the bar.
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The 29-year-old Republic of Ireland international has won plenty of plaudits for his play for the Potters this season but his 100th Premier League appearance turned into a memorable day for all the wrong reasons.
Chelsea move third in the table with what became a runaway victory but they were under the cosh for long spells early on and were grateful to assistant referee Sian Massey for correctly reversing a decision to award Stoke a penalty with the score at 1-0.
Referee Andre Marriner pointed to the spot when Azpilicueta slid in to bring down Matthew Etherington inside the area, but Massey had already flagged Etherington offside.
Three other players have scored two own goals in a single Premier League game - Gary Breen while playing for Coventry against Manchester United in 1997, Liverpool's Jamie Carragher against Manchester United in 1999 and Michael Proctor while playing for Sunderland against Charlton in 2003.
Statistic courtesy of Opta
Stoke, who have never beaten Chelsea at the Britannia Stadium, had begun the game brightly, bombarding the visitors with balls into the box and seeing Kenwyne Jones fire narrowly wide.
Demba Ba was making his Premier League debut for Chelsea but, in the early stages, he was busier in his own area and twice had to hack clear.
Ba, preferred to Fernando Torres up front, got more involved at the other end of the pitch as the half progressed.
He provided the flick for Lampard to burst into the area and bring a reflex save from Asmir Begovic, then ran clear himself to force another fine stop.
Then came Walters first faux pas, which saw him send a bullet header past Begovic as he tried to beat Mata to a cross.
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His second own goal came moments after Massey had denied Stoke a penalty. This time Walters beat Lampard to Mata's delivery and saw the ball bounce in.
Lampard's powerful spot-kick, from a penalty awarded when Robert Huth pushed Mata, left the home side with no way back.
Stoke's first home defeat in the league since February last year, and their heaviest at the Britannia Stadium since they returned to the top flight in 2008, was confirmed when Hazard span into space 30 yards from goal and unleashed an unstoppable shot into the top corner.
There was more good news for Chelsea when John Terry came off the bench with 10 minutes left for his first appearance in two months, but there was to be no happy ending for Walters.
He was fouled by Terry inside the area with only seconds to go and stepped up to take the spot-kick himself, only to slam it against the bar.
Full Time The referee ends the match.
The ball is delivered by Glenn Whelan, clearance by John Terry.
The ball is delivered by Michael Kightly, Ashley Cole gets a block in.
Power penalty missed by Jonathan Walters.
Foul by John Terry on Jonathan Walters, Penalty awarded.
Substitution Michael Kightly replaces Matthew Etherington.
Unfair challenge on David Luiz by Jonathan Walters results in a free kick. Direct free kick taken by David Luiz.
Short corner taken by Frank Lampard.
Substitution Paulo Ferreira replaces Cesar Azpilicueta.
Geoff Cameron sends in a cross, Petr Cech makes a save.
The referee blows for offside. Branislav Ivanovic restarts play with the free kick.
Frank Lampard takes a shot. Save by Asmir Begovic.
Substitution John Terry joins the action as a substitute, replacing Juan Mata.
Substitution Dean Whitehead is brought on as a substitute for Charlie Adam.
Substitution Kenwyne Jones goes off and Cameron Jerome comes on.
Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Fernando Torres by Robert Huth. Free kick taken by Juan Mata.
Shot from just outside the box by Charlie Adam goes over the target.
Assist by Juan Mata.
Goal! - Eden Hazard - Stoke 0 - 4 Chelsea Eden Hazard scores a goal from long range to the top left corner of the goal. Stoke 0-4 Chelsea.
Kenwyne Jones takes a shot. Branislav Ivanovic gets a block in.
Substitution Demba Ba goes off and Fernando Torres comes on.
Jonathan Walters concedes a free kick for a foul on Ryan Bertrand. David Luiz produces a strike on goal direct from the free kick.
Demba Ba takes a shot. Blocked by Robert Huth. Frank Lampard takes a shot. Save made by Asmir Begovic.
Juan Mata provided the assist for the goal.
Goal! - Frank Lampard - Stoke 0 - 3 Chelsea Penalty taken right-footed by Frank Lampard and scored. Stoke 0-3 Chelsea.
Foul by Ryan Shawcross on Juan Mata, Penalty awarded.
The assist for the goal came from Juan Mata.
Goal! - Jonathan Walters - Stoke 0 - 2 Chelsea Headed own goal by Jonathan Walters. Stoke 0-2 Chelsea.
Inswinging corner taken by Juan Mata from the right by-line.
Demba Ba gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Andy Wilkinson. Glenn Whelan takes the direct free kick.
The referee blows for offside. Free kick taken by Petr Cech.
Centre by Eden Hazard, Robert Huth makes a clearance.
David Luiz challenges Ryan Shawcross unfairly and gives away a free kick. Free kick taken by Asmir Begovic.
Inswinging corner taken by Matthew Etherington from the right by-line, save by Petr Cech.
Steven Nzonzi takes a shot. Petr Cech makes a save. Corner taken right-footed by Matthew Etherington from the right by-line, Robert Huth has a headed effort at goal from deep inside the area missing to the left of the target.
Steven Nzonzi fouled by Ryan Bertrand, the ref awards a free kick. Matthew Etherington crosses the ball in from the free kick.
Ashley Cole takes a shot. Save by Petr Cech. Corner taken short by Eden Hazard.
The referee blows for offside against Jonathan Walters. Branislav Ivanovic restarts play with the free kick.
Eden Hazard fouled by Robert Huth, the ref awards a free kick. Free kick taken by David Luiz.
The ball is swung over by Charlie Adam, David Luiz makes a clearance.
Steven Nzonzi has shot on goal from just outside the box which goes wide of the right-hand upright.
The assistant referee signals for offside against Juan Mata. Asmir Begovic restarts play with the free kick.
The second half kicks off.
Half Time The first half comes to an end.
Assist on the goal came from Cesar Azpilicueta.
Goal! - Jonathan Walters - Stoke 0 - 1 Chelsea Headed own goal by Jonathan Walters. Stoke 0-1 Chelsea.
Inswinging corner taken right-footed by Eden Hazard from the right by-line.
Steven Nzonzi is penalised for handball and concedes a free kick. Frank Lampard produces a shot on goal direct from the free kick.
Free kick awarded for a foul by Andy Wilkinson on Eden Hazard. Free kick crossed right-footed by Frank Lampard, Robert Huth manages to make a clearance.
Glenn Whelan takes a shot. Save by Petr Cech.
Shot by Ashley Cole from outside the box goes high over the target.
Short corner worked by Frank Lampard.
The free kick is swung in left-footed by Juan Mata, clearance by Ryan Shawcross.
Booking Andy Wilkinson goes into the referee's book for unsporting behaviour.
Free kick awarded for a foul by Andy Wilkinson on Eden Hazard.
Juan Mata sends in a cross, clearance made by Ryan Shawcross.
Geoff Cameron crosses the ball, clearance made by Branislav Ivanovic.
Shot from just outside the area by Eden Hazard goes over the bar.
Corner taken by Juan Mata from the left by-line, clearance by Kenwyne Jones.
Demba Ba takes a shot. Petr Cech makes a save.
Unfair challenge on Frank Lampard by Glenn Whelan results in a free kick. Free kick taken by Branislav Ivanovic.
Kenwyne Jones takes a shot. Petr Cech makes a save.
Andy Wilkinson challenges Eden Hazard unfairly and gives away a free kick. Branislav Ivanovic restarts play with the free kick.
Jonathan Walters fouled by Ryan Bertrand, the ref awards a free kick. Indirect free kick taken by Asmir Begovic.
Nascimento Ramires fouled by Steven Nzonzi, the ref awards a free kick. Free kick taken by Petr Cech.
Frank Lampard takes a shot. Asmir Begovic makes a brilliant save.
Effort from inside the area by Jonathan Walters misses to the left of the target.
Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Kenwyne Jones by Branislav Ivanovic. Glenn Whelan crosses the ball in from the free kick.
Glenn Whelan has an effort at goal from outside the box which goes wide right of the target.
Inswinging corner taken by Matthew Etherington from the right by-line, save by Petr Cech.
Corner from the left by-line taken by Glenn Whelan, Ashley Cole manages to make a clearance.
Steven Nzonzi takes a shot. Petr Cech makes a save.
Corner taken by Matthew Etherington, Frank Lampard makes a clearance.
Eden Hazard challenges Charlie Adam unfairly and gives away a free kick. Free kick crossed left-footed by Matthew Etherington, Demba Ba manages to make a clearance.
Foul by Jonathan Walters on David Luiz, free kick awarded. Direct free kick taken by David Luiz.
Juan Mata delivers the ball, Asmir Begovic makes a save.
Matthew Etherington sends in a cross.
Outswinging corner taken from the right by-line by Glenn Whelan, Branislav Ivanovic makes a clearance.
Jonathan Walters challenges David Luiz unfairly and gives away a free kick. Free kick taken by Petr Cech.
Unfair challenge on Steven Nzonzi by Nascimento Ramires results in a free kick. Indirect free kick taken by Asmir Begovic.
Effort from inside the area by Kenwyne Jones misses to the right of the goal.
Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Charlie Adam by David Luiz. Glenn Whelan crosses the ball from the free kick right-footed from right channel, Ashley Cole makes a clearance.
The ball is delivered by Eden Hazard, Robert Huth manages to make a clearance.
Corner taken by Juan Mata, clearance by Kenwyne Jones.
Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on David Luiz by Jonathan Walters. David Luiz takes the free kick.
The referee starts the match.
Live data and text provided by our data suppliers | Jon Walters scored two own goals and missed a penalty as Chelsea thumped Stoke to end the Potters' 17-game home unbeaten run in the Premier League. |
35,904,015 | After three wins out of three, England lead West Indies by two points and will play Australia in the semi-finals if they remain at the top of the group.
Pakistan are third, with one defeat against the second-placed Windies, who play India in their final match.
England captain Charlotte Edwards said: "If we play well we should win but they have played well in the tournament."
England have survived batting collapses to preserve their unbeaten record, beating India by two wickets with an over to spare despite twice losing two in two balls.
Then, against the West Indies, nine wickets fell for 47 before they scraped to victory off the final ball.
"You have got to take the game in isolation because Dharamsala was a completely different wicket to what we are going to face here," Edwards said.
"There are things we can take from the collapses but ultimately we have won two games.
"We are not going to dissect the games and think 'we should have done this, we should have done that'. We won the games and have shown a lot of bottle."
Australia, winners of the last three World T20 tournaments, qualified in second place from Group A behind New Zealand, having lost to the Kiwis by six wickets. | England women will win Group B at the World Twenty20 if they beat Pakistan in Chennai on Sunday. |
33,645,961 | Here are some of your alternative offerings to its given name, Kepler-452b.
Billy Buroo tweets: "Name it after whoever was on duty at time of discovery #planetbob #planetsandra #planetoftheapes"
IDON suggests: "yeah, I think Terraduo sounds better which is just "Earth 2" in Latin!!"
Margaret Newson has a selection: "Skaro; unless the Daleks got there first .., Mondas or Gallifrey?"
And on our Facebook page we have received a number of suggestions:
Scott McMillan says Kemba. Alfred Lynch reckons Democracy.
Rene Rios wants Puria as a name. Russel Mantosh says Hodor and Sean Oliver says Hope.
Joshua C Duplantis asks for Krypton or Planet Vegeta.
Thanks for participating. If you have any more to share, you can do it in the following ways: | Nasa's Kepler telescope has found a world that shares many characteristics with Earth. |
23,899,232 | Insurers also say 37% of local school areas had at least one child road injury each year from 2006 to 2011.
The government said the data was crude, road deaths were at a record low and the number of children injured had fallen considerably in recent years.
Insurers are launching an online tool for parents.
The online index has been compiled by the research group Road Safety Analysis and Axa Car Insurance, who say it will help parents understand "the risks associated with the roads around their local schools to keep their children safe".
The website will show how many vehicle collisions, including those involving children, have happened within 500m (a third of a mile) of the school gate.
The tool draws on data from the past six years, which the backers say shows there were 85,814 child injuries on roads within a 500m radius of schools, the equivalent of 1,190 a month.
Only one in five schools had no children injured in accidents within that distance over that period, the researchers say.
Separate figures used by the site also suggest there were 557,200 vehicle collisions around schools in the period 2006 to 2011, the equivalent of six collisions per school per year on average.
These collisions included any incident reported to police involving any vehicle on a local road, including those that did not result in injuries.
Some of these accidents were in the school holidays and child injury numbers do not necessarily refer to pupils at that particular school.
The website suggests the top area for collisions in the six-year period was London, which accounted for 13% of the child casualties nationally and 22% of collisions overall.
Looking at cities with more than 100 schools, excluding London, the figures showed that from 2006 to 2011 Liverpool had the highest number of road injuries (deaths, serious injuries and slight injuries) around schools, followed by Nottingham, Manchester, Birmingham and Leicester.
Road Safety Analysis director Dan Campsall said: "Translating this wealth of data into something that is meaningful for parents, teachers and community leaders has its challenges.
"However, it is important that these groups are able to understand the immediate road risks around their local schools if they are going to work effectively to secure safer communities for children in the future.
"The data can be used to support changes in local road safety education as well as the road environment, therefore helping to further safeguard pupils across the country."
Government figures show that in 2012, a total of 2,272 children were killed or seriously injured on Britain's roads - down 6% on the previous year.
Over the same period, the total number of "child casualties" in Britain was 17,251 - down 11% on the previous year.
Road Safety Minister Stephen Hammond said: "Road deaths are at a record low and child casualties have fallen considerably in recent years but I am determined to make our roads even safer.
"That is why we are improving road safety education resources for schools, making it easier for councils to put in place 20mph zones on their roads and are increasing fixed penalties for offences such as driving while using a mobile phone from £60 to £100.
"By combining education, enforcement and engineering measures such as these we will continue to reduce deaths and injuries on our roads."
Earlier this year, the government launched its own website to give people local data on accidents in their local areas. | More than 1,000 children a month are being injured on local roads around British schools, insurance industry figures indicate. |
36,248,925 | The acting speaker of Brazil's lower house, Waldir Maranhao, has annulled a vote in the lower house that allowed the proceedings to go on to the Senate.
But the president of the Senate, Renan Calheiros, later said the vote there would happen anyway.
The Senate is scheduled to vote on Wednesday on whether to start an impeachment trial.
The president of the Senate impeachment commission (in Portuguese) also said the vote would take place as scheduled.
In his decision, Mr Maranhao said there had been irregularities during the lower house session in which its members overwhelmingly voted in favour of the impeachment process going ahead.
He said members of the lower house should not have publicly announced what their position was prior to the vote, and that it had been wrong of party leaders to instruct their members how to vote.
Mr Maranhao called for a new vote in the lower house.
But Mr Calheiros said in a special session that he would ignore Mr Maranhao's order, and go ahead with the Senate vote. He accused Mr Maranhao of "toying with democracy".
When I sat down for an extended interview with Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia last week, she was fully prepared for and anticipating her likely suspension as president.
She assumed, like just about everyone else in Brazil, that the country's Senate would vote in favour of a full impeachment trial.
Indeed, Ms Rousseff told me she would fight to clear her name after her expected suspension from office later this week over charges that she illegally hid the scale of the budget deficit.
The decision by the interim speaker of the lower house to annul the impeachment process took everyone - including the president - by surprise.
But if it is a stay of execution for Ms Rousseff it may only be temporary.
The case has already left Waldir Maranhao's jurisdiction and is before the Senate where senior figures have already vowed to ignore the ruling from Mr Maranhao.
Whatever the outcome - and don't bet against the impeachment process getting "back on track" - this fiasco does the image of Brazil and its discredited political system no good.
An increasing majority of Brazilians are not just dissatisfied with the country's situation in general but, in particular, with the behaviour of politicians in Brasilia.
The place is, rightly or wrongly, perceived to be riddled with corruption where politicians serve only in their self interest while the rest of the country struggles with a worsening economy, an ever more violent society and with the country's image being ridiculed overseas.
Mr Maranhao, who opposed the impeachment process in the 17 April vote, only took over as the speaker of the lower house last week, after the previous speaker, Eduardo Cunha, was suspended.
Mr Cunha, an outspoken critic of President Rousseff, led the impeachment drive against her.
Reacting to the news, Ms Rousseff urged "caution", adding that there was a "hard fight ahead".
Ms Rousseff has said the efforts to impeach her amount to "a coup attempt".
She has accused Mr Cunha and Vice-President Michel Temer of being the "ringleaders of the coup".
Mr Temer would step in as interim president if Ms Rousseff were to be suspended from office.
In a BBC interview last week, Ms Rousseff said she was an "innocent victim" and that she would fight on.
She is accused of manipulating the government budget ahead of her re-election in 2014. The president has defended her fiscal measures as common practice in Brazil.
If the trial goes ahead, she will be suspended from office immediately.
Following Mr Maranhao's decision, Brazil's currency, the real, lost more than 4% against the dollar, while the country's stock exchange slipped more than 3%.
Investors have criticised Ms Rousseff and her Workers' Party for what they say are interventionist policies and see Mr Temer as being more market-friendly.
Brazil is in its worst recession in 25 years, with inflation at a 12-year-high in 2015.
The president's approval ratings have plummeted recently, and recent polls suggest most Brazilians support her removal from office. | The impeachment process against Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has been thrown into doubt. |
35,234,839 | Mangan, 29, joined Rovers on a one-year deal in July after leaving Shrewsbury, who had offered him a new contract.
But, after an early season run of seven goals in 22 games, he lost his starting place following injury and has not scored since 6 October.
"At 29, I want to be playing 90 minutes on a regular basis," he said.
"The gaffer (Gary Brabin) could not guarantee that I would get that at Tranmere.
"Shrewsbury made an approach for me and offered an 18-month contract and the chance to be involved in League One.
"I had a long chat with the gaffer about it and he agreed that he would not stand in the way of me going. Any talk of there being a fall out is absolute nonsense."
Shrewsbury boss Micky Mellon is in the middle of a mid-season shake-up, aimed at addressing their worrying position of 20th in League One, a point clear of safety.
He has already seen two strikers leave. Top scorer James Collins has gone out on loan to Northampton Town, while former million pound man Tyrone Barnett has joined Southend United for the rest of the season - and skipper Liam Lawrence is about to tie up a move to League Two side Bristol Rovers.
"The bottom line is we need to find a way of scoring more goals, especially the front men," said Mellon.
Shrewsbury, who re-signed defender Jack Grimmer from Fulham earlier this week, are also in advanced talks with a League One side to bring in another striker - a deal that could be completed in the next 24 hours.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page. | Shrewsbury Town have re-signed striker Andy Mangan from National League side Tranmere Rovers on an 18-month contract for an undisclosed fee. |
38,287,564 | The BBC One show, broadcast at the same time as ITV's X Factor, was watched by an average of 9.5 million viewers.
Seven million viewers tuned in to see Matt Terry crowned the talent show winner during the 20:00 to 21:00 slot.
But BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing had the highest ratings of the night, seen by 11 million between 19:15 and 20:00, according to overnight ratings.
BBC One's Countryfile, was watched by 6.9 million viewers, not far off X Factor's average.
Terry won the X Factor final with just 8% more votes than runner-up Saara Aalto, ITV revealed.
Meanwhile, rapper Honey G - who now has a record deal with Simon Cowell's label Syco - was never a serious contender, peaking with just 12.2% of votes in week eight.
The final results show's average audience of seven million is down on the 2015 final, when overnight figures showed that an 8.4 million tuned in.
This year, Sunday's audience peaked with 7.7 million to see Terry crowned at the end of the programme.
Strictly's audience peaked when 11.7 million saw Olympic gymnast Claudia Fragapane lose to Danny Mac in the dance-off.
That means Mac will compete for the glitterball trophy against Ore Oduba and Louise Redknapp in next week's final.
Planet Earth II has had consistently high ratings since it began airing just over a month ago.
Executive producer Mike Gunton said: "The whole Planet Earth II team have been overwhelmed by the reaction to the series and so pleased to be able to share the wonders of the natural world with so many people."
Sunday's episode included the story of the baby turtles in Barbados that were disorientated by artificial lights and walked inland after hatching, instead of going towards the sea.
However, after many messages of concern, the BBC Earth Twitter account reassured viewers: "Every turtle that was seen or filmed by the #PlanetEarth2 crew was collected and put back into the sea."
It also posted a video of how local conservationists from the Barbados Sea Turtle Project helped rescue as many turtle hatchlings as possible.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]. | The final episode of Planet Earth II has beaten the X Factor final in the Sunday night ratings. |
34,008,073 | Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said they received reports of a break-in on Montmano Drive, Didsbury, at 05:00 BST.
Officers said they found a "heavily intoxicated" man who had gained entry to a flat after he fell when trying to climb up the side of the building.
He was Tasered after resisting arrest, police said, before being taken to hospital where he is under sedation.
His condition at the Manchester Royal Infirmary is described as "stable".
Police said the man was injured as a result of the fall.
A spokeswoman said officers were investigating the circumstances which led to the break-in. | A 35-year-old man who was Tasered by police is being treated in hospital for a collapsed lung. |
35,150,707 | 21 December 2015 Last updated at 09:55 GMT
He says his family spend it in London with family and eat a big roasted turkey for dinner.
He says people imagine his wife, Victoria Beckham, is hard to buy presents for but he says he knows her so well, he doesn't struggle.
He was talking to the BBC's Colin Paterson about being a role model for children too and says it's very important to behave properly when you are a famous public figure.
He was also talking about playing seven football games across seven continents in 10 days for a BBC documentary.
David Beckham: For the Love of the Game is on BBC One on 29 December. | Former England football captain David Beckham says Christmas at home is very traditional. |
19,478,225 | The Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow has admitted five children this year, all under two, who had either bitten into or squeezed the tabs.
They suffered chemical burns to their eyes or throats.
When liquid was swallowed, a tube had to be inserted to aid breathing until swelling in the airways was treated.
Dr Lyndsay Fraser, from the hospital's ear nose and throat unit, said: "We have known for some time about the risk of eye injuries from kids squeezing these liquitabs until they burst.
"What we have seen more recently is that children are biting into the tablets, presumably because they think they are sweets as they have the same soft texture and bright colouring.
"The alkaline chemicals in the liquitab cause an immediate chemical burn, causing breathing problems as the airway starts to swell rapidly.
"Getting them to hospital straight away is imperative. In most of the cases seen so far we have had to insert a breathing tube to protect the child's airway from the swelling and help them breathe."
Dr Fraser said that if these children had not reached the hospital on time, their airway "could have closed over completely with potentially fatal consequences".
The medic added: "Once the breathing tube has been inserted, children can be on a ventilator for anything up to two weeks whilst the swelling settles and one child so far has required further surgery to repair the damage caused by the liquitab.
"It really is only good fortune that we haven't seen a death resulting from this type of injury."
Staff at the hospital have been alarmed by the number of children recently admitted as emergency cases.
They have now published a letter in the Archives of Diseases in Childhood to alert medical colleagues and parents to the dangers of liquitabs.
Dr Fraser said: "Most liquitab brands do not come packaged in child proof containers so it is easy to access to them especially if they are left within reach and sight of young children or toddlers.
"Most parents are not aware of the dangers of these common household items, commonly storing them in unlocked cupboards within potential reach of their child.
"It is important parents realise that these liquid capsules are dangerous chemicals and they should be kept locked away so children can't reach them."
Shannon Hutchison backed the hospital's safety campaign after her daughter Orla swallowed the contents of a liquitab at the age of seven months.
She said: "Orla was at my sister's house playing with my two-year-old nephew who managed to get hold of one of these liquitabs.
"He thought it was a sweetie because it was bright and like a jelly so he gave it to Orla who bit into it.
"Immediately we realised there was a problem as she was going in and out of consciousness so phoned an ambulance right away, it was terrifying. I'm just so lucky to still have my little girl."
Orla was rushed to intensive care and spent 10 days in hospital.
Since the incident, Shannon said she had been much more careful about where all her family are keeping liquitabs.
"To kids they do look like bright sweeties and they are not in a sealed box, kids can get into them so easily and I had no idea what could happen until I saw what happened to Orla," she said.
"When we got to hospital the doctors told me they see this two or three a year. Now I make sure that all the liquitabs are locked away and I tell everyone to do the same.
"The boxes they come in really should be child proof and I hope manufacturers do something about this as I wouldn't want this to happen to any other little girl or boy." | Doctors are warning about the dangers of liquitabs used in washing machines and dishwashers, after treating some children for near fatal injuries. |
36,408,238 | The government wants to reduce pensions payable to 130,000 current and ex-steel workers, to make Tata's Port Talbot operations more attractive to a buyer.
Meanwhile the Commons Work and Pensions select committee is investigating the £571m deficit at the BHS scheme.
Now it will also investigate how many pension schemes are at risk of failing.
Proposed changes to the British Steel scheme, from one based on the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), inflation measure, rather than the Retail Prices Index (RPI). could see some future pensioners 17% worse off.
And current and former BHS employees who had not yet reached retirement age when it went into administration in March could see a 10% cut to their pensions.
"The state of the British Steel pension scheme is further worrying evidence of a wider danger to one of the biggest savings successes in Britain during the last century - occupational pension schemes," said pensions committee chair Frank Field.
"The select committees' in-depth case study on BHS is illustrating how such schemes are already creaking from rising life expectancy and record low returns on capital.
"Pension law and regulation must urgently adapt to the issues of the future, rather than the problems of the past. The whole savings edifice is in danger."
Mr Field said that while he welcomed discussions with the government on finding a way forward on the British Steel issue, it was far from an isolated case.
Mr Field said 11 million people had private "defined benefit" pensions, but that more than 5,000 of the associated schemes were in deficit by a total of £805bn.
Meanwhile, the combined surpluses of other schemes was just £4bn.
"This will be a major inquiry considering radical solutions to one of the great problems of this age," said Mr Field, the Labour MP for Birkenhead.
"The inquiry will consider, amongst other things, radical solutions that could be more easily implemented if real returns on capital rise again." | An inquiry is to be launched into the UK's 6,000 occupational pension schemes after question marks about the future of the BHS and British Steel schemes. |
33,722,604 | The leader of Kent County Council has met Home Office officials to request support in dealing with the arrival of hundreds of young migrants in Dover.
And Kent Police has asked neighbouring forces to help manage Operation Stack, where lorries queue on the M20 when Channel crossings are disrupted.
The backlog has grown as migrants make fresh attempts to enter the tunnel.
More than 3,500 attempts have been made this week to get into the Channel Tunnel, with people gathering at fencing at its freight terminal.
In the UK, Highways England said there were nearly 6,000 lorries parked on the motorway as part of Operation Stack, which will continue into the weekend.
It is the first time Kent Police have asked neighbouring forces in south-east England to help deal with the chaos.
County council leader Paul Carter said a "massive logistical exercise" was under way in Kent, with the surge in the number of migrants arriving set to continue.
In the last three months, the number of under-18 asylum seekers in the care of Kent County Council has nearly doubled to 605.
Mr Carter said: "Our social services are working all the hours that they possibly can and we have no more capacity to take many more in the coming weeks if the increase in numbers continues as in the past few weeks."
Mr Carter said the council faced a £5.5m shortfall in covering care costs and it was asking for help "from Theresa May down" to manage the crisis.
A national fostering agency is appealing for families to come forward to help cope with a five-fold rise in unaccompanied asylum-seeking children on its books.
Compass Fostering says it has received 275 referrals from local authorities in the past three months, compared with 56 for the same period last year.
The Local Government Association has urged the government to reimburse the costs councils face when unaccompanied child asylum seekers arrive in the UK.
Deputy Chairman Cllr David Simmonds said councils where children arrive are responsible for every aspect of caring, housing and educating them, through to the age of 25.
"The current situation is placing unprecedented pressure on an already overburdened system," said Cllr Simmonds
The prime minister has said the UK will not become a "safe haven" and warned that illegal immigrants would be removed if they reached the UK.
Speaking in Vietnam during his tour of South East Asia, Mr Cameron said: "Everything that can be done will be done to make sure our borders are secure and make sure that British holidaymakers are able to go on their holidays."
He said the situation was "very testing" because there was a "swarm of people coming across the Mediterranean, seeking a better life".
The Refugee Council attacked Mr Cameron's use of the word "swarm" as "irresponsible, dehumanising language".
Labour's acting leader Harriet Harman said the choice of words was "inflammatory", while Lib Dem leader Tim Farron described it as "deeply alarming" as the prime minister was talking about "some of the most desperate people in the world".
The last official estimates suggest there are about 3,000 migrants in Calais. It is not known how many migrants have reached Britain in recent months via the tunnel.
Are you in Calais? Are you affected by the issues raised in this story? Please email [email protected] with your experiences.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways: | UK police and social services have called for urgent help to deal with the impact of the Calais migrant crisis. |
38,148,443 | It has become the latest UK force to investigate the claims, first raised by former players in England.
A UK-wide hotline has dealt with more than 250 reports in just one week since it launched.
A senior Scottish officer confirmed that the force is working with partners, including the Scottish Football Association (SFA).
In a statement, a Police Scotland spokesman said: "We can confirm we have received reports in connection with non-recent child abuse within football.
"We are working with both Operation Hydrant and the NSPCC to ensure there is a co-ordinated UK police response.
"It would be inappropriate to comment further."
Det Ch Supt Lesley Boal added: "We will continue to work with partners, including the National Police Chiefs Council through Operation Hydrant, the Scottish Football Association and the NSPCC to ensure a co-ordinated police response is in place and that we maintain an accurate picture of child abuse investigations.
"Speaking out about any form of child abuse is incredibly difficult and disclosures are often made many years after an incident took place.
"Police Scotland will listen to any such disclosure, regardless of the passage of time, and will investigate as well as work with partner organisations who have access to advocacy and support during the process of disclosure and investigation."
The police pointed out that a range of organisations can be contacted through Survivor Scotland.
"Keeping children and young people safe is a top priority for Police Scotland and everyone has a role to play in protecting the country's children," said Supt Boal. "Where reports are made, we will assess any current risks and ensure appropriate action is taken." | Police Scotland has confirmed its officers have received reports of historic child abuse within football. |
34,546,899 | US and Scottish prosecutors want to interview Mohammed Abouajela Masud and Abdullah al-Senussi over the atrocity.
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is the only person to have been convicted over the bombing of Pan Am 103 in 1988.
The plane was on its way from London to New York on 21 December when it exploded above Lockerbie.
A total of 270 people died in the bombing, including everyone on board the plane and 11 people from the Scottish town.
Megrahi, who was found guilty of mass murder and jailed for a minimum of 27 years, died in 2012 after being released from jail on compassionate grounds in 2009. He had terminal cancer.
Stephanie Bernstein, a US citizen whose husband was among those killed in the attack, said she was "surprised, delighted and really gratified" by the news that two further suspects had been identified.
"There are many, many people who I hope are not sleeping so well tonight knowing that the Scottish government and the US government are committed to pursuing this case," she said.
Frank Duggan, president of Pan Am 103 Relatives, which represents many of the US victims of the bombing, said he was not confident there would be further prosecutions.
"It's been 26 years. It's too long, people are dead, stories have been forgotten," he said.
"I'd like to think that it will be one small measure of closure but I don't expect the kind of justice that we all hope for."
But Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter died in the bombing, claimed that any prosecution would "need to be supported by very much better evidence" than that used against Megrahi, who Dr Swire believes was not responsible for the attack.
Analysis by Rana Jawad, North Africa correspondent
Abdullah El Senussi is being held in Al-Hadba prison in Tripoli, but Masud's incarceration is less clear.
He is serving a 10-year sentence but there are conflicting claims over whether he is doing so in Tripoli or in a prison in Misrata.
The office of Tripoli's general prosecutor was less than forthcoming in divulging any information when it was contacted following the Crown Office announcement about the new suspects.
It is highly unlikely that any government in Libya would agree to any extradition request from the US or Scottish authorities to interview the two men.
Abdullah Al-Senussi in particular (unlike his shadowy co-suspect) is not an ordinary figure; he is and will forever remain Gaddafi's black box on every crime, atrocity, and back-door dealings that Libya was allegedly involved in during his time in power.
There was always suspicion in Libya that the West wanted to get his hands on him specifically for that reason, and would subsequently never return him.
Investigators would have a better chance trying to interview the men on Libyan soil, a prospect that is complicated given the fact that there are no Western diplomatic missions operating in Libya and no government in Tripoli that the international community recognises.
Both of the newly identified suspects are currently serving prison sentences in Libya, which is in chaos as rival factions fight for control of the country.
Senussi, who is currently awaiting execution in a Libyan jail, was the brother-in-law and intelligence chief of former Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi.
Masud is reported to be serving a prison sentence for bomb making.
Neither of the suspects are in the hands of the recognised government based in Tobruk but are being held by the Islamist-backed administration based in Tripoli.
A request to interview the suspects had been "routed through the British Embassy", the Crown Office said.
Relatives of some of those killed in the bombing welcomed the naming of two new suspects
Both men were named as possible suspects by an American TV documentary last month.
Documentary maker Ken Dornstein's brother David died in the Lockerbie bombing.
He told the BBC's Today programme: "We went in with a list of names that had come from the original investigation, pulled out of the tens of thousands of pages of documents. I established many were dead or missing. Ultimately, I concluded there may be three people left."
On Masud, Mr Dornstein added: "Figuring out simply that he existed would solve many of the unanswered questions to the bombing because he was attached to Megrahi according to the best information there was, including at the airport in Malta on the day that the bomb was said to have been infiltrated into the baggage system and ultimately on to Flight 103."
Megrahi's part in the bombing has been called into question in a series of books and documentaries.
Key developments in Lockerbie bombing case | Families of some of the 270 people who died in the Lockerbie bombing have welcomed the naming of two new suspects. |
38,534,958 | While 70,000 retired Brits use Spain's health system, 81 Spanish pensioners are registered as covered by the NHS.
Across the European Economic Area (EEA) there are 145,000 UK expat pensioners registered, compared with 4,000 EEA pensioners registered to use the NHS.
The figures were obtained after a BBC Freedom of Information request.
Citizens of the EEA - EU states and Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein - can get public healthcare in all EEA states, which is ultimately claimed back from their home country.
The Department of Health figures show that the UK and Spain have the biggest disparity in numbers of pensioners covered by the reciprocal healthcare agreement, as of December 2016.
And while 43,000 British pensioners were registered to use the French health service, only 201 French pensioners were registered as covered by the NHS. In Cyprus 12,000 British pensioners are covered by the health service, but fewer than five Cypriot pensioners were covered by the NHS.
Britain paid £674.4m to other EEA countries to cover expat British citizens' health costs in the 2014-2015 financial year, while it claimed back £49.7m to pay for EEA citizens' treatment in the UK.
Questioned about the small numbers of Spanish pensioners that were choosing to retire in the UK in November, Department of Health civil servant Chris Wormald told a Public Accounts Committee hearing on reciprocal healthcare: "We are not the retirement place of choice."
When Britain leaves the EU, these arrangements would cease to apply if it also left the EEA and would need to be renegotiated as part of any exit deal.
Switzerland, for example, is not a member of the European Union but has negotiated access to EEA reciprocal healthcare arrangements.
Professor Catherine Barnard, Professor of EU law at the University of Cambridge, says that much will depend on the Article 50 Brexit negotiations and any transitional arrangements.
If the terms are not as good as the current ones, she said, pensioners may no longer get the same access to public healthcare in these countries.
"Of course it then becomes expensive for older people to get health insurance, and so it may be they feel obliged to return to the UK," she said.
While some British pensioners who have been living abroad for more than five years might still be granted access to public healthcare under an EU directive, this would still require they have health insurance and sufficient income not to be a burden on the public funds of the member state in which they reside.
Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: "The government needs to urgently tell us if it's their intention to maintain those reciprocal healthcare arrangements after Brexit."
A spokesman for the Department for Exiting the EU said: "The prime minister has been clear that we will work to ensure the best possible outcome for the British people.
"Healthcare arrangements will depend on reciprocal agreement by other countries. We are about to begin these negotiations and it would be wrong to set out unilateral positions in advance."
Caroline Abrahams of Age UK said it was an "anxious time" for retired expats: "We know that reciprocal healthcare arrangements are a vital safety net and people are likely to have made the decision to live overseas based on their existence. Without that safety net many may feel they have no choice but to return."
For the Lib Dems, healthcare spokesman Norman Lamb said the reciprocal deal must be protected adding: "It would be ludicrous if the government, in what appears to be a zealous fixation on reducing migration at all costs, pulled us out of the EEA without due consideration of the security that these deals provide to British pensioners in Europe." | Many more expat UK pensioners rely on European healthcare under reciprocal healthcare agreements than UK-based European pensioners rely on the NHS. |
40,823,677 | It was one of 42 affected at the hospital in Londonderry due to a nursing shortage and vomiting bug.
The Western Trust said that 25 beds across the hospital remain closed a week after its medical director confirmed it was facing challenges.
A spokesperson for the trust said that they do not comment on individual cases.
The woman, who did not want to be named, said she was told there were not enough beds.
She said she is in constant pain, which she can only treat with over-the-counter pain killers because of complications caused by other health conditions.
"I was looking forward to getting the surgery done. I just felt disappointed because I was all ready to go and built up for it.
"I have to have surgery on my toe as I have an extra bone in my toe," she said.
"I would like some clarity."
Representatives from the Royal College of Nursing met the trust on Thursday to voice their concerns.
Garrett Martin, deputy director of the RCN in Northern Ireland, said there are a large number of nursing vacancies.
"Nurses are telling us that they don't feel valued at this moment in time," he said.
"They are telling us that they are not getting breaks and working additional hours."
Dr Dermot Hughes, Medical Director for the Western Trust, said: "Any patient whose appointment had been postponed will be offered an alternative date. The trust is working to recruit more nurses.
"The situation at the hospital is reviewed on a daily basis with a view to making best use of our available bed capacity, and to ensure our most clinically urgent patients receive their scheduled operations and treatments". | A woman has spoken of her frustration after her foot operation at Altnagelvin Hospital was cancelled twice. |
33,946,042 | Lewis Siddall, 24, from Skellow in Doncaster, was found dead at his home at around 05:20 BST on Friday.
South Yorkshire Police said he had reportedly been assaulted in the VDKA bar in Silver Street, Doncaster, shortly after 23:00 BST on Thursday.
The arrested man remains in police custody.
Police said Mr Siddall is reported to have returned home and gone to bed following an incident in the bar. The cause of his death has not yet been confirmed.
Anyone with information should contact South Yorkshire Police on 101. | A 22-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man died in bed following an alleged assault at a bar in Doncaster. |
40,009,412 | The top court has ruled it is unconstitutional to ban same-sex couples from getting married and legally registering those marriages. Parliament now has two years to amend the law, or same-sex couple will be able to marry under existing laws.
Jay Lin and his partner are raising twin sons, conceived with the help of an egg donor and a surrogate mother. Jay, their biological father, told the BBC why a law change was important to him and his family.
I believe the manifestation of love should not have different categories. I have seen so many gay couples in Taiwan who have been together for a long time, longer in fact than heterosexual couples.
And these couples need these legal protection to get married.
I've been with my partner, Jona, for four years. We're not married, but we hope to get married soon.
Last year, my surrogate gave birth to my twins in the US. I brought the twins back to Taiwan when they were one month old.
Since then, we've been doing everything parents would do with newborns: vaccines, bathing and feeding, introducing them to family and friends and adjusting our lives around them.
I work but my partner has quit his job to take care of our kids. Yet when he's taking them to the doctor or nursery schools for instance, he gets immediately discredited as the non-parent.
The problem is that I travel a lot for work, but there are certain things that happen to the boys that need a parent's approval, like medical procedures or school issues.
If I'm not able to sign off or approve certain procedures then the new law would mean that my partner can be there to make those decisions.
Knock on wood, nothing drastic has happened that has put us in a very difficult spot - so far it's mostly been things like doctor's visits or signing contracts to send them to school.
But of course we want Jona to be recognised as the co-parent of these twins so that he has legal rights to them.
Allowing gay couples to marry so they can qualify for adoption is also something that's important to me in terms of wanting to help gay couples who want to have children.
I tried adoptions first in Taiwan, but was told by so many people, "don't even bother, the social workers wouldn't think it's feasible".
Last year the number of adoptions in Taiwan was only around 300. If you include intra-family adoptions it's about 1,000.
Half of the 300 kids adopted by non-family members went overseas, the other half stayed in Taiwan. And that shows there aren't a lot children being adopted by local heterosexual couples.
So gay couples should be allowed to adopt and provide homes for these children.
Surrogacy is costly, and you have to devote a lot of time to the whole process.
There are an estimated 200 gay families registered with the Taiwan LGBT Family Rights Advocacy [these partnerships are not accepted as marriages by the state]. But that's an extremely low number. I'm sure there are thousands of such families, they're just not coming out to be recorded.
There are a lot of underreported cases of such gay partnerships and a lot of people don't know the option [of registering with the advocacy group].
We'd like to have this law passed earlier rather than later. The president will be campaigning for re-election in 2018; issues like this will be sidelined.
The entire goal for a lot of people is to harness all this energy to have something happen by the end of June.
Reporting by the BBC's Cindy Sui in Taipei. | Taiwan has just taken a major step towards increasing rights for lesbian and gay people. |
35,833,583 | The Enterprise and Business Committee is calling for integrated ticketing for bus, rail and metro services - similar to London's Oyster system.
It found falling subsidies, passenger numbers and bus services were having a "severe" impact, especially in rural areas and on vulnerable people.
The committee also called for a traffic commissioner for Wales to be appointed.
Its chairman, South Wales East AM William Graham, said: "Buses are the most widely used form of public transport in Wales, yet the industry is facing an uncertain future.
"We need ambition - which is why we recommend setting a 2018 deadline for a Wales-wide integrated ticket system, of the kind that is already available in London where the use of contactless payment through bank cards and smartphones is commonplace.
"It is technologically possible and passengers want it." | A "smart-ticketing" system is needed for transport across Wales by 2018, a group of AMs has said. |
27,659,885 | Melanie Lakin, from Glascote, Tamworth, died in a collision on the A458 Llanfair Caereinion to Welshpool road on Sunday.
Her family said she was returning from a picnic at Bala lake with her boyfriend on separate motorbikes.
Ms Lakin's death has been voluntarily referred to the police watchdog.
Dyfed-Powys Police voluntarily referred the case to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) because a police vehicle was nearby at the time of the crash.
A marked police motorcyclist was conducting vehicle checks in the area and police say a number of cars were stopped in a line of traffic behind the stationary vehicles.
Initial investigations show the motorcyclist collided with a car in the line of traffic.
The crash happened at about 16:30 BST.
In a statement, Ms Lakin's family said she was "a keen motorcyclist who loved life, people, nature and animals especially her cats Hector and Cleo".
She has completed her first year in diagnostic radiography at Birmingham City University and was looking forward to a successful career in the NHS "combining her love of helping people and a technical, visual subject".
"She had a keen eye and appreciation for photography, music and art and managed to combine all three on many occasions by photographing some of her favourite bands and musicians at music festivals," the family's statement added.
They said she would be sorely missed by her mother Pam, father Nigel, brother Jody, his partner Elena, boyfriend Oliver and the many friends and colleagues who had known her. | The family of a 29-year-old motorcyclist who died in a crash in mid Wales have paid tribute to her as a "kind, caring and generous person". |
40,245,087 | The new 8km road, which is used by 18,000 motorists daily, includes a new roundabout at the Drones Road and three flyover junctions.
Construction of the scheme began in early 2015.
About 27km of drainage pipe has been laid, 32km of fencing used and 24,000 tonnes of concrete has been poured.'
Deidre Mackle of the Department for Infrastructure said: "The upgrade, which has retained the iconic Frosses trees, will have knock-on impacts for the local economy and contribute to wider economic development for the region both in the short and in the long term."
"I am mindful of the inconvenience experienced by local businesses and landowners on the route during the construction phase and would wish to extend my gratitude to them for their patience," she added. | The new £55m A26 Frosses dual-carriageway from Glarryford, near Ballymena, to Drones has opened. |
35,200,910 | Some panels landed on the fourth storey of John Lewis and others on Station Street, which police then shut.
No-one was hurt and there was no damage to property on the street below the department store, a West Midlands Fire Service spokeswoman said.
A spokesman for Grand Central said "adverse weather conditions" meant the tiles had become loose.
Updates on this story and more from Birmingham
Dave Ladkin photographed workers at the top of the building shortly after the panels came off and questioned whether strong winds or poor construction was to blame.
Grand Central shopping centre sits above New Street Station and opened in September, several days after passengers began using the redesigned railway concourse.
It cost about £750m to redesign the railway station and construct the shopping complex in place of the old Pallasades Centre.
In a statement, Grand Central said: "Due to recent adverse weather conditions, a small number of tiles from the roof of Grand Central Birmingham became loose.
"Although no-one was hurt, for precautionary measures, Station Road was temporarily closed while contractors on-site made safe the area to ensure that no further damage occurs." | Nine tiles blew off the roof of Birmingham's newly-opened Grand Central shopping centre during high winds. |
36,812,295 | Mr Hollande, who says the attack was a terrorist act, has already extended a state of emergency by three months.
On Thursday, a lorry driver ploughed through a crowd marking Bastille Day on Nice's Promenade des Anglais.
The driver was later shot dead by police. He was identified as Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, 31.
Prosecutors said he had driven the lorry 2km (1.2 miles) along the famous promenade, zigzagging and targeting people.
Ten of the dead were children. Some 202 people were injured; 52 are critical, of whom 25 are on life support.
At the meeting with the security chiefs, Mr Hollande is expected to review all available options in response to the attack.
In a televised address to the nation on Thursday night, he pledged that army reservists would be called up to help provide security across the country.
A state of emergency was in place across France since November's Paris attacks carried out by militants from the so-called Islamic State group, in which 130 people died. It had been due to end on 26 July.
Mr Hollande said the attack was of "an undeniable terrorist nature".
He warned that the battle against terrorism would be long, as France faced an enemy "that will continue to attack those people and those countries that count liberty as an essential value".
"We will overcome the suffering because we are a united France," he said.
Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said that no group had admitted carrying out the attack but that it bore the hallmarks of jihadist terrorism.
Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was known to the police as a petty criminal, but was "totally unknown to intelligence services... and was never flagged for signs of radicalisation," the prosecutor added.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said he could not confirm links to jihadism, but Prime Minister Manuel Valls told France 2 television that Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was a "terrorist without doubt linked to radical Islamism in one way or another".
Some 30,000 people were on the Promenade des Anglais at the time of the attack, officials said.
Residents of Nice and foreign tourists were killed, among them four French citizens, three Algerians, a teacher and two schoolchildren from Germany, three Tunisians, two Swiss, two Americans, a Ukrainian, an Armenian and a Russian.
The son of Fatima Charrihi, a 60-year-old Nice resident from Morocco, said she was the first to die. He said she "practised Islam in the proper way. A real Islam, not the terrorists' version".
Tunisian security sources said Lahouaiej-Bouhlel came from the Tunisian town of Msaken. He visited Tunisia frequently, the last time eight months ago.
Justice Minister Jean-Jacques Urvoas said the suspect had been given a suspended sentence earlier this year following a confrontation with another driver but this was his only conviction.
Residents of his apartment building said he was a loner who did not respond when they said hello. | French President Francois Hollande is to chair crisis talks with his inner security cabinet following Thursday's attack in Nice that killed 84 people. |
39,817,100 | Mr Davis, the Brexit secretary, claimed that in the six years that Theresa May served as home secretary, from 2010 to 2016, crime came down by 30%.
But Ms Long-Bailey, shadow business secretary, claimed that in the last year "violence against the person" offences had increased by 19%.
Both are talking about England and Wales only because Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate criminal justice systems.
Reality Check has been looking through the figures and what they mean.
The easy answer is that they are selecting figures from different ways of measuring different aspects of crime - neither is wrong but the more difficult question is which best represents how much crime people are actually experiencing.
Let's take each figure in turn.
Mr Davis is using figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales. This is a face-to-face survey of 38,000 adults and children in which they are asked about their experiences of crime in the previous year.
Until 2016, the survey did not include fraud and cyber crime. If you exclude those crimes in order to compare like with like, then between 2010 and 2016, crime fell by 35%.
If you were to include those offences that were added in 2016, it would look like the crime rate has gone up.
The Crime Survey is generally considered a good measure of crime experienced by individuals because it is not affected by changes to how crime is recorded.
It also includes crimes that have historically been under-reported to the police - for example, domestic abuse.
This means the overall crime rate recorded by the survey is always higher than the number of crimes recorded by the police. Only an estimated 42% of all crimes recorded in the Crime Survey are reported to the police.
However, it has some limitations. It does not cover crimes against businesses or people living in communal residences like care homes, prisons or student accommodation. It is also excludes crimes where there is no victim to interview, for example homicides and drug offences.
And there is also a time-lag in the survey, so the figures are older than police figures. This means the survey is very good for looking at long-term trends but less good at spotting emerging ones.
Reality Check: Are there 20,000 fewer police?
Why nobody seems to know whether crime is up or down
Ms Long-Bailey is using police recorded crime to arrive at a 19% increase in violent crime in a year. About half of those recorded offences did not result in injury.
Police recorded crime is a good measure of offences that are well-reported to the police but their accuracy has been called into question in recent years because of changes in methodology and they are no longer designated as national statistics.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) says part of the rise is a genuine increase in crime in some areas, for example knife crime in London.
But some of it will be down to both changes in recording practices, and focused efforts from police to tackle certain crimes which leads to higher levels being recorded.
Two new harassment offences were added to the category "violence against the person". If you exclude these offences, the rise in total violent crimes is 14%.
There have been recent improvements in recording certain offences, such as modern slavery, which will push up the figures.
However, in the long term injuries from violence recorded by the NHS back up the idea that violence has generally been falling over time, not just under Mrs May's watch but since 1997.
What the crime figures say depends on which ones you choose to look at. Researchers at the ONS say on balance the evidence suggests there have been some genuine increases in certain types of crime over the last year but the long-term trend is that violence has been falling, not just under Mrs May's watch but for the last 20 years.
Read more on Reality Check | In a spat on the BBC's Question Time programme on Thursday, Conservative minister David Davis and Labour's Rebecca Long-Bailey clashed on crime rates in England and Wales. |
35,766,434 | Is he right?
BBC legal affairs correspondent Clive Coleman has the answers.
It means Parliament is the big dog. It can lumber around the constitution passing any law it likes. None of the smaller dogs can challenge the big fella.
Or, if you want a less canine definition, Parliament's own website defines it as "a principle of the UK constitution. It makes Parliament the supreme legal authority in the UK, which can create or end any law. Generally, the courts cannot overrule its legislation and no Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change. Parliamentary sovereignty is the most important part of the UK constitution".
Like I said, the big dog.
Yes, some of it. The big dog agreed to give up some kennel space.
Or if you want that in a less doggy way, in 1972 the UK Parliament passed the European Communities Act. It gave direct effect to EU law and meant that if there was a conflict between an act of the British Parliament and EU law, Parliament lost out and EU law prevailed. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) became a kind of Supreme Court of Europe, interpreting EU law with judgements that were binding on all member states.
Rhodri Thompson QC, a specialist in EU law, puts it this way: "The basic relationship between UK and EU law has been clear since 1972 - Parliament remains sovereign but recognises the binding nature of EU law. The only other mechanism, used by some other member states, is to entrust ultimate national sovereignty to their constitutional courts as guardians of a written constitution."
Germany and its constitutional court is the example often cited, giving the impression it has a muscular German shepherd guarding its constitutional independence, in comparison with the weaker British spaniel. However, that is not the case. Germany does not have parliamentary sovereignty. If the UK moved to a model based upon a written constitution guaranteed by a constitutional court, it would be passing sovereignty to a group of unelected judges and taking it away from Parliament. No-one, including the prime minister, seems to think such a seismic constitutional shift is a good idea.
Down, Fido! Absolutely not. Parliament could repeal the 1972 Act and take back the part of its sovereignty that was lost to EU law. What Parliament gives, Parliament can take back. On its website, Parliament says: "Over the years, Parliament has passed laws that limit the application of parliamentary sovereignty. These laws reflect political developments both within and outside the UK. They include the UK's entry to the European Union in 1973.
"These developments do not fundamentally undermine the principle of parliamentary sovereignty, since, in theory at least, Parliament could repeal any of the laws implementing these changes."
Can we make the big British bulldog bark a bit louder at the EU?
Isn't that what the prime minister meant when he told the BBC's Andrew Marr on 21 February: "We're going to set out in the coming days proposals… to make clear that… the British Parliament is sovereign. We have chosen to join the EU, we could choose to leave the EU, and I think there's some important work to put that point beyond doubt."
Is there some additional power - bark and bite if you like - that can be given to Parliament that rebalances the power relationship between it and the EU? Not according to the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.
He told Andrew Marr on 6 March: "A huge intellectual effort went into creating this language by which we could somehow ensure that... our courts, our Supreme Court, our House of Commons, could overturn judgements of the European Court of Justice if we felt, if Britain felt, that they were in some way capricious or if they were going beyond the Treaty."
But he added that the government lawyers "just blew up. And they, you know, they said this basically voids our obligations under the 1972 European Communities Act, it doesn't work, we can't - and that is, I'm afraid, the reality. You cannot express the sovereignty of Parliament and accept the 1972 European Communities Act. There's no way of doing both at the same time."
There it is, that's the view of the big Labrador of British politics (that's Boris Johnson) of the way the big parliamentary dog is currently kennelled. Yes, I am persisting with this canine imagery.
Is he right? No. Parliamentary sovereignty has never gone away or lost its "expression", because Parliament can scrap the 1972 Act.
But, says Prof Takis Tridimas, chair of European law at King's College London, creating entirely new rules for the UK to ignore or sidestep EU law is not really a runner.
"What is not on offer is selective compliance with EU law, i.e. a situation where Parliament picks and chooses which provisions of EU law to follow and which not to follow on a case-by-case basis. This is not on offer under any international agreement."
In other words, the big dog can't be a member of the club and play by a different set of rules from all the other dogs. It has to obey the rules or leave the club.
If the UK votes to stay in the EU it will have to let sleeping dogs lie, in the sense that it will have to continue to accept the primacy of EU law. If it votes to leave, the big dog is back in charge.
READ MORE: The truth behind claims in the EU debate | Mayor of London Boris Johnson says: "You cannot express the sovereignty of Parliament and accept the 1972 European Communities Act." |
21,534,680 | Media playback is not supported on this device
The 27-year-old from Newtownards, County Down, becomes the first Irishman to win a gold medal at the championships for 117 years.
Irvine won his silver medal in the individual pursuit which was won by reigning champion Michael Hepburn.
Less than an hour later, Irvine sensationally won the 15km men's scratch race in Minsk, Belarus.
The Irish competitor accelerated clear of the field with 10 of the 60 laps to go and managed to hold off his rivals in the finale.
Irvine is the first Irish male competitor to win a medal at the World Cycling Championships since Harry Reynolds took the one-mile amateur title in 1896.
Reynolds also won a bronze a year later.
In 2012, Caroline Ryan won Ireland's first modern World Championships medal with bronze in the women's points race.
In the individual pursuit, Irvine's time of four minutes and 22.53 seconds was a couple of seconds down on the time he had in reaching the final.
Australian Hepburn, 21, built up a big lead and almost caught Irvine coming to the end of the 4km race.
Irvine just had time to receive his medal, change his race numbers and return to the bike before his gold success in the scratch race.
The championships in Belarus represent a significant breakthrough for Irvine.
The Ulsterman won silver medals in the scratch race and the individual pursuit at the Track World Cup in Glasgow in November.
Irvine competed for Northern Ireland at the Delhi Commonwealth Games and was 13th in the multi-discipline omnium event at last year's London Olympics. | Martyn Irvine has made Irish cycling history by winning gold and silver at the World Track Championships. |
36,316,802 | Sunday's game was called off before kick-off after a suspect device - which turned out to be a dummy bomb - was discovered in a toilet.
However, some estimates suggested as many as a third of fans did not return for the rescheduled fixture.
Fans faced strict security controls in and around the ground before kick-off.
Conor McNamara, BBC Radio 5 live's commentator at Old Trafford, said: "I'd guess we're two-thirds full. Loads of empty seats here."
After Sunday's game was called off, United agreed to refund all tickets and to allow ticket holders from both clubs to watch the rearranged game for free.
Bournemouth then offered away fans with valid tickets free coach travel for the 500-mile round trip to the rescheduled fixture.
United have the highest average attendance in the Premier League, at 75,000, and it is estimated that their ticket gesture will cost the club about £3m.
United went into Sunday's final round of Premier League fixtures with a chance of qualifying for next season's Champions League, but Manchester City's draw at Swansea meant Louis van Gaal's side needed an unlikely 19-goal victory on Tuesday.
BBC Sport's Simon Stone at Old Trafford.
"Manchester United are known for their worldwide support and it is true that fans tend to come from far and wide to games at Old Trafford.
"Evidently, with the FA Cup final to come on Saturday, many decided, at 48 hours' notice, this was a match too far.
"United count season ticket holders in their attendance figures whether they are present or not. Officially, since the ground was expanded to its current capacity, their lowest Premier League crowd was 73,401 for the visit of Stoke in January 2011.
"I can say with absolute certainty that the crowd tonight is below that, although the same could be said for the visits of Aston Villa and Crystal Palace last month, when higher figures were recorded."
The Sir Alex Ferguson Stand and the Stretford End were evacuated and sniffer dogs brought in to search the ground, with an "operation red code" alert issued over the public address system.
Supporters who were still in the ground were advised to stay in their seats while the forecourt was cleared of fans who had been in the two evacuated stands.
Fans were then advised that, because of the discovery of a suspect package in the north-west quadrant of the ground, the match was "abandoned" on police advice.
A bomb disposal team carried out a controlled explosion at about 16:30 BST, around the same time United players were seen leaving the ground.
It emerged later on Sunday that the device, found in a toilet, was left accidentally by a private firm carrying out a training exercise at the ground on Wednesday.
Fourteen mock explosive devices were used in Wednesday's exercise. That included the elusive device hidden behind a toilet door, which would have made it visible only from inside the cubicle.
Chris Reid, boss of Security Search Management & Solutions Ltd, said he wrongly logged the "mock up of a pipe bomb" as found.
Greater Manchester Mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd has called for a full inquiry into the "fiasco".
Meanwhile, executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward stressed United and the police "would ensure that robust security measures continue to be of the highest priority" for the rearranged game.
Never want to miss the latest Man Utd news? You can now add United and all the other sports and teams you follow to your personalised My Sport home. | Manchester United have thanked fans for returning to Old Trafford for a rearranged game with Bournemouth, two days after it was abandoned. |
19,987,529 | The mobile phone company reported a net loss of 969m euros ($1.27bn; £787m) for the three months to the end of September, compared with a 68m euro loss in the same quarter last year.
But the shares rose 9% as the results were still better than had been expected.
The Finnish company's sales were down 19% from the same period last year.
Nokia was the world's leading mobile phone maker for more than a decade, but has struggled in the face of competition from Apple and Samsung.
Its third-quarter results were boosted by record profits from its telecoms equipment company, Nokia Siemens Networks.
Nokia is releasing new Lumia 820 and 920 phones next month, which will use Microsoft's latest Windows 8 software.
"We expected that Nokia's third quarter was going to be tough for its smartphone business due to the announcement of Windows Phone 8," said Pete Cunningham at Canalys.
"The fourth quarter will be a tough one as it will take a couple of quarters to ramp up Windows Phone 8 volumes due to the competitive landscape."
The introduction of Windows smartphones has been the big change under chief executive Stephen Elop, who phased out the Symbian operating system shortly after he took control of the company in 2010. | Nokia shares have risen sharply in Helsinki despite the release of another set of quarterly losses. |
40,339,088 | Michelle Lowe, Sevenoaks council's deputy leader, tweeted: "Politicians should go out and show emotion."
She said the intent of the tweet was to show "reserved people" still cared about the suffering of others.
Gary Ridley, the Tory leader in Coventry, where Ms Lowe stood in the general election, said he was "disturbed" by the tweet.
Some Twitter users speculated it was in reaction to backlash against PM Theresa May for her perceived "lack of emotion" in response to the Grenfell Tower deaths.
Mr Ridley said: "I'm disturbed by any attempt to use Adolf Hitler to make a political point."
"He brought pain and suffering to the world on an unimaginable scale and was responsible for the deaths of millions of innocent people.
"To evoke his memory in this way is disrespectful to those who suffered at the hands of this monster and trivialises the crimes of the Nazi regime.
"As Leader of the Conservative Party, in a city which still bears the scars of Nazi aggression, I'm disturbed by any attempt to use Adolf Hitler to make a political point."
This month Ms Lowe failed to get elected as Conservative parliamentary candidate in Coventry South.
"Michelle Lowe doesn't represent, or speak on behalf of, Coventry Conservatives. I'd urge her to reflect on her comments and apologise for any offence which she may have caused," Mr Ridley added.
Councillor Lowe, who represents Otford and Shoreham on Sevenoaks District Council, has responded to the criticism.
She said: "The purpose of the Tweet was not to cause offence but to point out that just because some people are reserved and not as able to be as familiar with strangers as others it does not mean they don't care about their suffering.
"I am sorry for any upset that may have been caused."
Twitter user Jennie Morley said she agreed with Ms Lowe.
"I think it's obvious what the message is: things aren't always what they seem. Good example!" she tweeted.
Ms Lowe was also challenged on social media about whether she was comparing Hitler to the opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn - who was pictured hugging people after the Grenfell Tower fire.
She replied: "I'm not comparing anyone to anyone. Just posted a tweet."
A spokesman for Shoreham and District Labour Party said: "To liken Mr Corbyn to Hitler, if that is what Councillor Lowe was doing, is inexcusable and possibly the worst insult she could make to a socialist.
"If it was some sort of joke, we find it in the very worst possible taste."
Sevenoaks District Council has yet to comment. | A tweet by a Conservative candidate showing Adolf Hitler hugging the public has been branded "disrespectful". |
36,101,632 | Mr Cameron criticised Labour's London mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan on Wednesday for appearing with cleric Suliman Gani.
On the BBC's The World Tonight, Mr Gani said he felt "disheartened and betrayed" at being described this way.
Number 10 declined any further comment.
But at a Westminster press briefing on Wednesday, the prime minister's official spokeswoman said : "The point the prime minister was referring to was that, at events, this individual has spoken up in support of a range of things including the formation of Islamic State."
Conservative mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith previously described Mr Gani as "one of the most repulsive men in Britain".
Mr Gani, a community leader and imam from Tooting in south London, said on hearing this characterisation: "I was shocked - I couldn't believe it.
"I felt very disheartened and betrayed.
"I felt that this is hypocrisy, because I attended a Conservative Muslim Forum event invited by the Conservative candidate for Tooting... to encourage more Muslims to become Conservative councillors."
Of Mr Goldsmith, Mr Gani said "I met him in person, I shook his hand" and that he thought he was "a candidate to really seriously consider as mayor of London".
He also said he supported the Conservatives at the last election.
Mr Goldsmith insisted the cleric had a long record of "saying very extreme things".
Mr Gani vehemently denies he supports the terrorist group.
Throughout the mayoral campaign Mr Goldsmith has accused the Mr Khan, who is also the MP for Tooting, of "giving platforms and oxygen and even cover to people who are extremist".
Mr Khan maintains he has fought strongly against radical Islamists and has himself been a victim of their threats.
Find out more about who's standing in the London elections. | A London cleric who David Cameron described as a supporter of so-called Islamic State has told the BBC he attended Conservative events and feels betrayed by the party. |
35,614,335 | Prof Alan Woodward at the University of Surrey spotted an increase of more than 25,000 .onion "dark web" services.
Prof Woodward said he was not sure how best to explain the sudden boom.
One possibility, he said, might be a sudden swell in the popularity of Ricochet, an app that uses Tor to allow anonymous instant messaging between users.
Tor, or The Onion Router, allows people to browse the web anonymously by routing their connections through a chain of different computers and encrypting data in the process.
On his blog, Prof Woodward noted there had not been a similar increase in .onion sites in the history of the Tor network.
"Something unprecedented is happening, but at the moment that is all we know," he told the BBC.
"It is hard to know for certain what the reason is for the jump because one of the goals of Tor is to protect people's privacy by not disclosing how they are using Tor," said Dr Steven Murdoch at University College London.
Another curiosity described by Prof Woodward was the fact that, despite the rise of hidden addresses, traffic on the network has not seen a comparable spike.
He said there was a chance the spike was due to a network of computers called a botnet suddenly using Tor - or hackers launching ransomware attacks.
It could even be the result of malware that might be creating unique .onion addresses when it infects a victim's computer - though there is no evidence yet for this.
Prof Woodward said that he believed a rise in the use of an anonymous chat app called Ricochet - which has just received a largely positive security audit - is the most likely explanation.
Dr Murdoch said this was indeed a possibility but added that the spike could also be the result of someone running an experiment on Tor.
Ricochet uses the Tor network to set up connections between two individuals who want to chat securely.
The app's website states that this is achieved without revealing either user's location or IP address and that, instead of a username, each participant receives a unique address such as "ricochet:rs7ce36jsj24ogfw".
Ricochet has been available for some time, but on 15 February reasonably positive results of an audit by security firm NCC Group were published.
On his blog, Prof Woodward noted that every new user of Ricochet would create a unique .onion address when setting up the service.
That could account for the surge in services, though he admitted 25,000 new users for the app in just a few days would suggest "spectacular" growth. | A security expert has noticed an unprecedented spike in the number of hidden addresses on the Tor network. |
34,898,919 | The band told fans there were "rumours" the show could be hit by a "next wave of terror attacks" like Paris.
In a Facebook post they said they had worked with authorities and the local promoter to try to boost security.
However they could not "ensure that our fans would be safe at the event" so had been forced to postpone the show.
According to the International Business Times, the threat had been uncovered by the collective of online activists known as Anonymous.
It said it had uncovered information that the Islamic State group was planning several attacks at venues in Paris, the Five Finger Death Punch show in Milan and the WWE Survivor Series event in Atlanta.
"We did our best in a very short amount of time to work with the local promoter and authorities to ensure that security would be adequate," read Five Finger Death Punch's statement online.
"Unfortunately, we did not receive confirmation in time to satisfy our requirements and to ensure that our fans would be safe at the event. Therefore, we were forced to postpone the show to a later date."
The Las Vegas band had called off a show in Strasbourg the week before "out of respect for the victims and to observe France's three national days of mourning".
More than 120 people were killed during the attacks in Paris, 89 of them at the Bataclan concert venue where rock band Eagles of Death Metal had been performing.
In a separate Facebook post published at the time, Five Finger Death Punch told fans: "We followed the tragic events in Paris Friday night with great sadness. We are devastated at the loss of life and have friends and fans who were at the concert."
They added: "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and those affected by the terror attacks in France." | American heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch postponed a show in Milan on Sunday night, over fears it would be the target of a terror attack. |
40,961,373 | But with the chain losing its sheen amid tough competition there are fresh attempts to keep it ahead of the game.
In the latest shake-up at Sir Philip's parent company Arcadia, Topshop's creative boss Kate Phelan is leaving, as is Topman's Gordon Richardson.
Arcadia has announced that they will be replaced in a combined role by former Vogue art director David Hagglund.
In addition to this latest creative appointment, a new chief executive starts next month - Paul Price.
It signals a new era for Topshop, once the go-to destination for young shoppers keen to snap up the very latest fashion trends on the High Street.
Profits at Arcadia, which also includes Miss Selfridge, Burton, and Dorothy Perkins, plunged by 79% last year.
Tough competition in the clothing market - and the failure of the now-defunct BHS chain - contributed to the poor performance.
Ms Phelan moved to Topshop from fashion magazine Vogue in 2011, and Mr Richardson has been at Topman for 17 years.
In Arcadia's statement, Sir Philip said: "The appointment of David Hagglund, in the newly combined role, continues to mark the start of a new era for Topshop Topman in moving both brands forward in their ongoing global expansion.
"I am delighted to welcome David who will be joining Paul Price, our new chief executive, on the same day and I look forward to working with them both to drive the business forward."
Top of their agenda will be Topshop's future. Nimbler online rivals such as Boohoo and Misguided are eroding Topshop's market share. They're cheaper, too.
Online retailer Boohoo saw profits double in April thanks to new overseas markets.
And online fashion retailer Asos has also been eating Topshop's cake, with sales jumping in its latest results.
We will have to wait and see whether Topshop seeks to move upmarket, or tries to up its game in the fiercely competitive online world. | Topshop is the jewel in the crown of billionaire Sir Philip Green's retail empire. |
32,443,562 | The quake hit at 15:36 pm (03:36 GMT) with its epicentre about 66km (41 miles) from the town of Kaikoura.
The US Geological Survey said it was a 5.9 magnitude quake. New Zealand's GeoNet said it was 6.2 magnitude at a depth of 52km.
Residents as far off as Christchurch and Wellington felt the quake but no serious damage is expected.
A store owner in St Arnaud told New Zealand's Stuff news agency that the shock was "very very frightening".
"It started shaking and we just waited. It became very violent so we ran outside," said Sandy Pearce, adding that much of the stock fell off the shelves. | A strong earthquake has struck New Zealand's South Island with reports of "violent shaking" in buildings. |
40,660,998 | Irish electoral law currently does not allow non-resident nationals to vote in their "home" EU elections.
However Irish citizens in the UK can register to vote in European elections.
Brian Hayes said: "When the UK leaves the EU, Irish citizens will automatically lose their right to vote in EU elections.
"In contrast French, Dutch, Spanish and other nationalities residing in the UK will be eligible to vote in their home country."
He is proposing that Irish citizens living in any part of the UK have the right to vote in European elections in Ireland, provided that they were "ordinarily resident" in the Republic of Ireland within the last 10 years.
Northern Ireland people 'could elect Irish MEPs'
He said the Irish government could also extend the right to vote in European Parliament elections to the 50,000 UK citizens registered to vote in Ireland.
His proposal does not engage with the issue of Irish citizens who are normally resident in Northern Ireland.
The European Parliament's Brexit negotiator, Guy Verhofstadt, has suggested those citizens could elect MEPs in the Republic of Ireland.
He said those with Irish passports in Northern Ireland should still have a vote and it will entitle them to remain EU citizens.
Mr Verhofstadt explained that it could be done by increasing the number of European parliamentary seats in the Republic of Ireland. | A Fine Gael MEP has proposed that Irish citizens living in the UK should be given the right to vote in European Parliament elections after Brexit. |
28,687,620 | Mr Ford blamed the shortfall on the ongoing dispute between the DUP and Sinn Féin about welfare reform.
Last week, it was confirmed that Stormont departments, excluding health and education, were to have their budgets cut by a total of £78m.
It was revealed the Justice Department would face the biggest cut - £22m.
However, Mr Ford said that figure - from the June (budget) monitoring round - was only the beginning.
Finance Minister Simon Hamilton also warned that further cuts, amounting to £87m, would be required in October if a deal on welfare reform was not agreed.
"The reality is that the June monitoring round, which of course didn't happen until July, was a deceit because there was an acknowledgement that there would be further significant cuts to be made in October," Mr Ford said said.
"The reality is the Department of Justice is probably facing cuts in the region of £47m as a minimum, that's 4.4% of our budget."
Mr Ford said the cuts would have a severe effect on the work of his department.
"On the 3rd of July the chief constable spoke to the Policing Board about what was then seen as the potential of 2.9% cuts, not 4.4%, and he said that would directly impact on keeping people safe, it would directly impact on police recruitment," he said.
"That is the reality of what is happening and that is because of a fix between the DUP and Sinn Féin, brought about by Sinn Féin's unwillingness to accept the reality of welfare reform and the DUP's unwillingness to produce a realistic budget in the face of that."
Deputy Chief Constable Alistair Finlay said the police would, "discuss a range of proposals and options with the Policing Board to progress what areas will be affected by these significant budget cuts".
"Our immediate priority will be to keep people safe and I would like to reassure our communities we will make every effort to prevent cuts to frontline service delivery."
The Police Federation (PFNI), which represents rank-and-file officers, called for a rethink by the executive.
Its chairman, Terry Spence, said: "Policing cannot shoulder a cutback of this magnitude. We are already understaffed with a shortfall of some 1,000 officers. That situation can only deteriorate further if the PSNI is told to implement these draconian cutbacks".
Northern Ireland is being penalised by the Treasury for not endorsing welfare reforms passed by Westminster in February 2013.
Sinn Féin has led the opposition to the reforms.
On Wednesday, Regional Development Minister Danny Kennedy said that tens of thousands of street lights could be out across Northern Ireland over the winter due to budget cuts to his department. | Justice Minister David Ford has said his department is facing a budget shortfall of at least £47m, once further cuts are brought in in October. |
38,402,913 | The East Midlands Operational Support Service said officers will be visible in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire.
Ch Supt Mark Holland, from Nottinghamshire Police, said there was "no specific threat" to the region.
He said similar "deterrents" were being adopted in other major UK cities.
Mr Holland said the deployment of Authorised Firearms Officers (AFOs) was happening in Sheffield, London and Newcastle among other places as a "course of action" following attacks in Germany, France and Turkey.
Armed police have also been reported patrolling Canterbury cathedral in Kent.
Humberside Police said it would continue to have armed and unarmed patrols, especially around Hull's New Year's Eve event to mark it being UK City of Culture 2017 to which 25,000 people are expected.
Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping, who defined "crowded areas" as market squares and shopping centres, claimed a "policy decision" has been made all over the country to have armed officers on the streets during the Christmas and New Year period.
In Birmingham, police have bolstered security near to the city's Frankfurt Christmas market with new barriers in addition to existing concrete bollards.
West Midlands Police said the extra measures were not because of "emerging intelligence".
Forces in Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire, Dorset and Hampshire have all said they will not be having armed patrols over Christmas.
Derbyshire police, which is not in the East Midlands's support service, said it is not deploying armed officers and is encouraging people to go about their business as usual.
The advice is there has been no change to the "severe" threat level and that the public should be alert but not alarmed.
Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Joint Protective Services, in the east of England, said it does have a "shared armed response" which carries out routine patrols, but armed officers are not specifically being deployed on the streets over the next few weeks.
Ch Supt Holland defended the measures taken in the East Midlands but expects a "mixed response" from the public.
"[Officers] will engage with the public and explain why they're there," he said.
"Stealing a lorry doesn't take a lot of planning so it's important we're visible and make sure we have a good deterrent for that type of attack."
The operation will run until lunchtime on 3 January. | Armed police from forces in the East Midlands are set to patrol "busy and crowded places" over Christmas following the Berlin lorry attack. |
22,999,540 | Media playback is unsupported on your device
21 June 2013 Last updated at 12:31 BST
The Market Hall Cinema in Brynmawr used to be run by the local council but when it announced its funding would stop last month, work began to find a way to keep it going.
In February about 4,000 people signed a petition in support of saving the cinema which is believed to be the longest continuously run in Wales, dating back to 1894.
Here, Peter Watkins-Hughes explains more to BBC Wales Gwent Valleys reporter Paul Heaney. | One of the oldest cinemas in Wales has been saved by a group of volunteers in Blaenau Gwent. |
38,811,821 | Andrew Marshall, of Heiton near Kelso, died at the Bowmont Forest Sawmill in June 2015.
An inquiry into the accident is scheduled to take place at Jedburgh Sheriff Court on 14 March.
A preliminary hearing will be held at the same court on Monday. | A date has been set for a fatal accident inquiry into the death of a 71-year-old man at a sawmill in the Borders. |
38,982,270 | The collection includes a Military Cross and an Albert Medal for gallantry.
They were awarded to William Marychurch Morgan from Jeffreyston, near Tenby.
He led a series of night raids across trenches in Arras in France 1916, and also served as a lieutenant colonel in World War Two.
His medals were brought to an antiques valuation event in Tenby last week, and will now go up for sale in March.
He was first awarded the Albert Medal Second Class in May 1916 after flinging himself on an unexploded grenade during a training session.
The citation revealed how the temporary second lieutenant to the 15 Royal Welch Fusiliers had fumbled about in mud to find the grenade thrown by a colleague, before hurling it away from his troops just in time to avoid deaths and serious injuries.
Then in October 1916 on his second stint in the frontline trenches he led raids into enemy territory.
"On seven consecutive nights, he carried out valuable reconnaissance under intense fire. Later, he led a daring raid himself, accounting for one of the enemy. He has previously done fine work," read his citation for the Military Cross.
It saw him promoted to temporary captain.
Medal specialist for the auctioneers Halls said it was a privilege to be selling such an "exceptional" medal group and anticipates keen interest from collectors.
Just 290 Albert Medals were ever awarded during the hundred years when it ranked as the highest recognition for civilian acts of bravery.
The medal collection goes on sale in Shrewsbury in Shropshire on 22-23 March. | Rare medals won by a Pembrokeshire soldier during World War One are expected to sell for at least £12,000 at auction. |
33,145,215 | University of Aberdeen experts looked at the eating habits of more than 20,000 middle-aged and elderly people.
They concluded that compared to those who ate no chocolate, those who ate up to a small bar a day had an 11% lesser risk of cardiovascular disease and a 23% reduced risk of stroke.
But the researchers warned this did not prove chocolate makes you healthier.
The findings, published in the British Medical Journal's "Heart" magazine, were based on data from the EPIC-Norfolk study which is tracking the impact of diet on the long-term health of 25,000 men and women in Norfolk.
The Aberdeen researchers also carried out a review of previously published evidence on the links between chocolate and cardiovascular disease.
Prof Phyo Myint, of the School of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Aberdeen, told BBC Scotland: "This is the observational study therefore we can't imply the cause and effect relationship.
"We can't say for sure it could cause these benefits.
"What we observed is the association between the habitual consumption of chocolate, to a maximum of 100g a day, linked to a reduction in incidence of stroke and cardiovascular disease over longer-term follow-up, in this study 12 years."
About one in five (20%) participants said they did not eat any chocolate, but among the others, daily consumption averaged 7g, with some eating up to 100g.
Those who ate the most also tended to be younger, have a lower weight, waist to hip ratio, and blood pressure, and were less likely to have diabetes and more likely to carry out regular physical activity - all of which add up to a favourable cardiovascular disease risk profile, researchers said.
Eating more chocolate was also associated with higher energy intake and a diet containing more fat and carbohydrates and less protein and alcohol.
Calculations carried out by the researchers suggested that compared with those who ate no chocolate higher intake was linked to an 11% lower risk of cardiovascular disease and a 25% lower risk of associated death.
It was also associated with a 9% lower risk of hospital admission or death as a result of coronary heart disease, after taking account of dietary factors.
The highest chocolate intake was similarly associated with a 23% lower risk of stroke, even after taking account of other potential risk factors.
The study authors also pointed out that dark chocolate is usually said to have more beneficial effects than milk chocolate, but milk chocolate was more frequently eaten by the Norfolk participants.
Prof Myint said chocolate was rich in fat and carbohydrate so it was important to burn off the calories from eating it.
He said: "The group that showed a benefit consumed 16g to 100g a day of chocolate. Most of them probably consumed around 100g a week rather than 100g a day and the results we see are group effects so we can't say eating 100g a day will do good."
Dr Tim Chico, reader in cardiovascular medicine and consultant cardiologist at the University of Sheffield, said: "This study adds to the evidence that people who consume chocolate tend to have lower rates of cardiovascular disease, although such studies cannot say whether the chocolate is the cause of this protective effect.
"There is evidence from other studies that have randomised people to be given chocolate that this can have effects that might reduce cardiovascular disease, such as a reduction in blood pressure.
"These studies taken together suggest that there might be some health benefits from eating chocolate. However, it is also clear that chocolate has the potential to increase weight, which is unequivocally bad for cardiovascular health.
He added: "The message I take from this study is that if you are a healthy weight, then eating chocolate (in moderation) does not detectibly increase risk of heart disease and may even have some benefit. I would not advise my patients to increase their chocolate intake based on this research, particularly if they are overweight." | Eating a moderate amount of chocolate a day has been linked to a lowered risk of heart disease and stroke. |
31,198,765 | Over the 17 days that followed, Great Britain's team enjoyed its most successful Winter Games since the very first edition in Chamonix in 1924.
GB athletes brought home four medals - skeleton gold for Lizzy Yarnold,silver and bronze in curling and a snowboard bronze for Jenny Jones - Britain's first Olympic medal on snow.
Twelve months on, how are winter sports faring in the United Kingdom?
Mike Hay, a former Great Britain curler, was in overall charge of the Team GB delegation in Russia.
He believes the performance in Sochi was a "step change" and stands Winter Sports in good stead in the lead up to the next Games in Pyeongchang in 2018.
"I think we're in pretty good shape. I think that's reflected in the funding. UK Sport have confidence we have podium potential in Pyeongchang," said Hay.
"We have a great age profile of athletes coming through, and we've got much more strength in depth than we've ever had before, so I'm very positive about our chances in Pyeongchang."
UK Sport funding in Winter Olympic Sports has more than doubled for the four-year cycle running up to Pyeongchang.
For the six funded sports the amount awarded has risen from pre-Sochi total of £13,444,638 to £27,374,333.
"I think we can safely say Sochi was a watershed moment for British winter sports," said Simon Timson, UK Sport director of performance.
"Many are still working with a relatively small cohort of athletes, but ones that have the potential to be even more successful in Pyeongchang in three years' time.
"However, no one in British winter sport can afford to rest on their laurels and sit still; we need to make the most of the opportunity that Sochi created.
"We don't expect to see all the fruits in performance terms on the world stage yet."
In skeleton, the extra funding has enabled Team GB to run a talent search programme in order to bring its number of athletes up from 15 to 24 by 2018.
More money is going to sled research and development, while the extra funds have helped send athletes to the Olympic Youth Games and led to the appointment of full-time coaches for the World Cup and Europa Cup.
However, three sports - bobsleigh, short-track speed skating and figure skating - have conditions to meet in year one or they could face cuts to their money.
National Ice Skating Association chief executive Nick Sellwood said the conditions imposed were "only right and proper".
"You've got to keep assessing whether people are on track to deliver medals," he added.
"Our figure skaters have very specific performance targets at the world championships. If they reach those targets, they remain on the programme. If they don't, they'll move off the programme.
"In short-track, UK Sport recognise that we are excelling - we're delivering world, European and world cup medals regularly. But what we haven't done is convert that to Olympic medals.
"We've reviewed all of our programmes and put new strategies and resources in place to address some of the weaknesses in our system so that we're more confident of delivering the medals we're being asked to do."
Many GB athletes who took part in Sochi have built on the team's success in the past year.
Lizzy Yarnold has added to her Olympic gold with three World Cup wins so far this season.
The GB women curlers followed up their bronze with European bronze representing Scotland, although the GB men who won silver in Russia failed to qualify for the event.
There have also been successes for athletes who did not manage to get on the podium in Sochi.
Katie Summerhayes became the first British woman to win a Freestyle World Championships medal when she took slopestyle silver in Kreischberg in January.
In short track, Elise Christie, for whom the Winter Olympics went so badly, refocused to take a world silver medal and was crowned European champion for the first time.
Andrew Musgrave, the cross-country skier who described his Olympic performance as like a 'tranquilised badger', has rediscovered his speed with the best ever finish by a Briton at a World Cup, coming 13th in Lillehammer in December. He also clocked the fastest time by a Brit in a World Cup race earlier this year.
And although they were unable to win another European Championships medal this year, ice dancing pair Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland scored a personal best and won their first prestigious Grand Prix medal with a bronze in Moscow in November.
Ed Leigh is a former professional snowboarder and now co-presents Ski Sunday. He feels snow sports in the UK are enjoying a post-Sochi boost.
"Snow sports in this country are in such rude health," he said. "Jenny Jones's medal has had such an affect on the domestic industry.
"That medal had a genuine trickle-down effect of bringing people into the sport.
"We are the only snowboard industry in the world that is growing at the moment."
Leigh added that Summerhayes's silver medal at the world championships is "an indication of the progress that we continue to make".
Another one of the key things that Sochi has provided is something called 'performance profiling', which looks at the times and performances of the world's best and measures UK athletes against that.
"Snowboard riders like Billy Morgan, Jamie Nicholls and Aimee Fuller are all benefiting from that and we're starting to see real results and a lot of progress being made using that system," Leigh added.
Participation can be tricky to gauge.
Some sports, such as bobsleigh or skeleton, are not readily accessible to a recreational athlete. Other sports have different ways of measuring their numbers - whether it is by website traffic or facility surveys.
However, the general trend is upwards.
Curling recorded over 5,000 people trying the sport in the aftermath of the Sochi Games through the Try Curling website. That number compares to roughly 1,000 people in each year after the 2010 Vancouver Games.
And at the only dedicated curling rink in England they are still witnessing 60% more visitors than they were at this time 12 months ago.
"Immediately after the Games we had so much interest we had to stay open longer than we normally would," said Tracey Brown, manager of Fenton's Rink in Tunbridge Wells.
"We shut between May and October and expected it to level out again but there were still more people coming. We don't know when or if interest will drop."
Ice skating sports have recorded 2,500 more people taking part each week, while in the three months after Sochi Snowsport England recorded a 12% increase in participation at several indoor centres around the country compared to the same period in 2013. | Saturday marks one year since the 22nd Olympic Winter Games got under way in the Russian resort of Sochi. |
38,001,536 | Sir Norman Bettison witnessed the 1989 disaster as a spectator.
He has denied being part of a "black propaganda unit" set up to blame Liverpool supporters and "concoct" a false version of events.
His book, Hillsborough Untold, is his attempt to "put the record straight", he said.
Ninety-six football fans died following crushing at Hillsborough stadium, in Sheffield, during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.
Earlier this year inquests into the deaths concluded the victims were unlawfully killed.
Sir Norman, who previously claimed he was made a "scapegoat", said he wrote the book after being "vilified".
He again denied being part any conspiracy to blame fans or change statements in the aftermath of the disaster.
"Most of what's been said about me is in the category of supposition, smear or just plain wrong facts," he said.
"I'm surely entitled, after all that's been written about me, to put my account there.
"People don't have to read it, they don't have to accept it. But it's there for anybody who's open minded enough and fair minded enough to look at it."
Asked why he had dedicated the book to his grandchildren, he said he was concerned about the permanence of material on the internet and that "Googling Grandpa" might "bring all sorts of stuff back".
"If they should ever be troubled by the unanswered concern that grandpa was a criminal, that he was involved in shameful stuff in the aftermath of a tragedy of immense proportions, then they've got something to turn to and make their own mind up," he said.
Dr Dorothy Griffiths, whose brother Vincent Fitzsimmons died at Hillsborough, labelled Sir Norman's comments "a disgusting and offensive attempt to make himself a victim".
She said: "It's all about him. I have to say that his arrogance and self-absorption [is] absolutely breathtaking.
"We've had the inquests and I'm just shocked that he's named his book Hillsborough Untold, because why didn't he tell all this at the inquests?
"Why has he now brought out this book about a so-called untold truth?"
Dr Griffiths said the retired officer had shown "a complete lack of empathy and understanding" for the families, victims and survivors of the disaster.
Barry Devonside, whose son Christopher Devonside died, accused Sir Norman of timing his book to maximise Christmas sales.
"That's Bettison," he said. "He's a man who looks after himself and there's nothing you can do about that.
"It's an insult. I hope very few people buy his book because as far as I'm concerned he has been a problem for the families."
In the wake of the disaster, Sir Norman was part of a police team that gathered evidence about what had happened for use at a public inquiry.
In 1998, he was controversially appointed Chief Constable of Merseyside Police.
He held the post of Chief Constable in Merseyside from 1998 to 2004 before becoming chief constable of the West Yorkshire force, before resigning in 2012.
The Hillsborough Independent Panel published its report in September 2012, revealing that 164 police statements by South Yorkshire Police officers were altered - 116 to remove or change negative comments about the policing of the 1989 FA Cup semi final.
The HIP report said the review and alteration of statements was part of an attempt by South Yorkshire Police to deflect criticism on to fans.
A day after the publication of the HIP report, Sir Norman said Liverpool fans had made the "police's job much harder than it needed to be" - a comment he told the inquests he "regretted" making.
He remains under investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission regarding his alleged involvement in a police cover-up.
In an interview with BBC Radio Merseyside, Sir Norman said he had "concealed nothing".
He also defended police officers on duty on the day of the disaster.
There were many who "still bear a sense of guilt that they were impotent, that they couldn't do anything, that they didn't do anything to avert a catastrophe," he said.
Sir Norman said that while he does not believe he will ever repair his reputation, he hoped the book would give anyone "curious enough" the opportunity "to check the facts".
Sir Norman also explained why he applied to be Merseyside Police's Chief Constable: "It was a perfect fit for my career. All my experience had been in city policing. Merseyside is a big force.
"Perhaps I didn't read the Merseyside temperature as well as I should've done, but there was nothing in my mind that connected a task I'd done 10 years ago with a job I applied for a decade later.
"There's a lot of misunderstanding that shows my appointment and application to Merseyside in a light different to what it was at the time.
"My honest response was I've done nothing wrong 10 years ago, I'm going to go there and prove it."
He added: "Part of the reason I've written the book is the people who are deserving of the most honest account of what went on are the 96 families that were bereaved and have lost as a result of the events at Hillsborough."
Margaret Aspinall, whose son James Aspinall died, said she felt Sir Norman had been "too late" with his comments.
"The families have gone through torture. He says all this 27 years later, but it doesn't make any difference. And not only the families, the survivors as well," she said.
"Nothing he says impresses me whatsoever. I think he's made a big mistake. He's not done himself any favours."
The book's publishers, Biteback Publishing, said proceeds would be donated to charity.
A spokesman for the IPCC said: "We have read and assessed the book.
"We do not think it has a significant adverse impact on the ongoing criminal investigation and we would need to be able to demonstrate this in order to bring any legal action to prevent publication." | A former South Yorkshire Police chief inspector has defended his book about the Hillsborough disaster, insisting he is "entitled" to tell his story. |
34,316,653 | Alexander Perepilichny, 44, died after collapsing while running near his Surrey home in November 2012.
His death was originally attributed to natural causes but traces of a chemical that can be found in a poisonous plant were later found in his stomach.
Mr Perepilichny had been helping an investigation into Russian tax fraud.
Lawyers for financial firm Hermitage Capital Management, which had been leading the investigation, told a pre-inquest hearing that Russia's FSB internal security service may have been involved in the death of the businessman at his Weybridge home.
The firm alleged that Mr Perepilichny could have been killed for helping it uncover a money-laundering operation involving Russian officials.
Geoffrey Robertson QC, representing the company, told the hearing in Woking: "A Russian dies in Britain, that is not relevant. If that Russian dies by an obscure poison known only by the FSB, that is relevant.
"The FSB is the core element of Russian government that was involved in the [Alexander] Litvinenko case and may well be involved in this case. It is a secret service that Hermitage has upset and (has) left itself open to reprisals.
"At this stage there is very strong circumstantial evidence that he [Mr Perepilichny] was murdered because of the assistance he was giving to Hermitage."
Mr Robertson suggested delaying the inquest until after the public inquiry into Mr Litvinenko's death by radioactive poisoning was completed. Mr Litvinenko was a former Russian spy who died after drinking tea laced with polonium in London in 2006.
Mr Perepilichny's family have said there is no evidence to suggest he was deliberately killed.
Ian Helme, representing his widow and children, said the inquest process was already "taking its toll" and a proposal to widen the scope to include UK deaths of other prominent Russians was "of real concern".
The hearing also heard that scientific tests to ascertain what was in Mr Perepilichny's stomach by a Kew Gardens specialist, ordered earlier this year, have yet to be completed.
The traces of a chemical found in his stomach can be found in the poisonous plant Gelsemium elegans.
A further pre-inquest hearing will take place in November, with the full inquest likely to start in February at the earliest. | The Russian state security service may have been involved in the death of a whistleblower in the UK three years ago, an inquest has heard. |
39,407,387 | He is one of many drivers worried about the state of local roads.
A new survey suggests potholes are an increasing a problem across the UK.
One in six roads across England and Wales is in such a bad state it must be repaired within the next five years, local authorities have said.
Mr Hopson told the BBC that while the local council does repair potholes, those repairs are not built to last.
"The potholes have got worse. After repair, it cracks up again, and we've got the pothole back," he said.
Some road users have had accidents caused by holes in the road.
Ellie in Chessington told the BBC that her car had been damaged by a pothole: "It had burst two of my tyres, and also dented the actual alloy wheel as well."
And Vanessa in Lowestoft said: "On Monday afternoon I had an accident on my bike where I hit a pothole and fell forward off my bike."
These experiences are backed up by the Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance survey (ALARM), which is produced by the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA).
It found that almost a fifth of roads were in "poor" condition.
Councils were almost £730m short of what was needed to keep the road network in "reasonable order", it said.
However, that is a smaller shortfall than the previous year.
The government is planning to pump £1.2bn into roads this year, including for repair and maintenance.
But authorities say it will take an average of 12 years and £12bn to bring the local network "up to scratch".
Councillor Judith Blake, from the Local Government Association, said: "It is becoming increasingly urgent to address the roads crisis we face as a nation.
"Our roads are deteriorating at a faster rate than can be repaired and it would take more than £12bn and be 2030 before we could bring them up to scratch and clear the current roads repair backlog."
The AIA says that roads need to be resurfaced every 10 to 20 years.
Only London comes close to this, with the capital's roads repaired every 23 years on average.
In England, roads are resurfaced every 55 years on average, while in Wales it is every 63 years.
Alan Mackenzie, chairman of the AIA, said the message from the survey was that "highway teams simply do not have enough money to arrest the terminal decline in the condition of our local roads and the network is not resilient enough to meet the challenges ahead".
He added that although the percentage of local roads in England and Wales classed as "good" rose from 48% to 53% last year, so did those in a poor condition, rising from 13% to 17%.
Mr Mackenzie said: "This is clearly not sustainable in the long-term and many highway engineers have warned of a tipping point ahead."
Last year, the government announced £1.1bn for road repairs for 2017 to 2018.
This was increased to £1.2bn in January to include money from the National Productivity Investment Fund and the Pothole Action Fund.
The Department for Transport said: "It is vital councils keep our roads in a good condition to deliver better journeys for drivers.
"We are providing councils more than £6bn over six years to maintain roads and repair potholes.
"On top of this, we announced last autumn an additional £1.1bn to upgrade and repair roads for communities across England." | "We talk about it all the time in the canteen, amongst drivers, our concerns about the safety and comfort for our customers," said Stephen Hopson, a Bristol bus driver. |
36,207,178 | The announcement came as the Edinburgh-based challenger bank saw underlying profit rise by nearly 5%, to £65m.
Total income was up more than 5% to £274m in the year to 12 March.
Sainsbury's said it performed strongly in the personal loans market, with 15% year-on-year growth in the number of advances to new customers.
The bank's portfolio of insurance products also continued to perform well, resulting in new business growth of more than 10% year-on-year.
Sales of new home insurance policies increased by more than 25%.
In an interim results statement, Sainsbury's said: "Given the bank's strong trading performance and the trust people have in the Sainsbury's brand, we have decided to launch new mortgage products in 2017.
"We believe these products will complement our existing financial services portfolio and we expect customers to respond well."
Sainsbury's also reported that it was "making good progress" in moving towards "a new, more flexible" banking IT platform.
It forecasts total transition costs to be "at the top of the £340m to £380m range".
Meanwhile, Edinburgh-based Virgin Money has reported a sharp rise in gross mortgage lending.
It said lending climbed by year-on-year by 30% in the first quarter to a record £2.1bn, giving the bank a market share of 3.4%.
The bank added that residential gross mortgage lending increased by 35%, while buy-to-let lending was up by 17%.
Credit card balances surpassed £1.8bn at the end of the quarter, up from £1.6bn as at 31 December.
Virgin Money said it was looking towards an "accelerated target" of £3bn of credit card "outstandings" by the end of 2017.
Chief executive Jayne-Anne Gadhia said: "I am delighted to report it has been another excellent quarter for Virgin Money.
"We had a record start to the year for mortgages and our savings franchise continues to flourish with a strong inflow of cash ISAs.
"I am particularly pleased with the performance of the credit card business which continues to exceed expectations one year on since launching to the public." | Sainsbury's Bank is set to launch new mortgage products in 2017 after reporting a strong trading performance in the last financial year. |
38,841,191 | The Law Commission's proposals come after it was asked by the Cabinet Office to examine how effective the acts are in the 21st century.
Proposals include replacing three of the acts, from 1911, 1920 and 1939, with a single Espionage Act.
It is the first time in 100 years the acts have been fully reviewed.
The acts aim to protect government information from unauthorised disclosure of classified information, which is protected because it could harm national security or damage international relations.
The Official Secrets Act 1911 is still the main source of legal protection in the UK against espionage, more than a century after it was first drawn up.
The review found it should now be expanded to include offences committed by people other than British subjects.
The Law Commission - an independent body set up to reform the law - also proposed an increase in maximum sentences.
Currently, most offenders prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act 1989 receive a maximum of two years' imprisonment.
The consultation points out that it is the same penalty for information disclosed which damages national security as for a data breach by a National Lottery worker.
It also argues that in the "digital age", the "ability to cause damage to the national interest" and the risk of doing so has increased.
Law Commissioner, Prof David Ormerod QC, said: ""We have made a number of provisional conclusions as to how the legislation could be improved that we believe will enhance the protection that is currently afforded to official information."
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Prof Ormerod said the review was a "once in a century opportunity".
The review is currently at consultation stage- with members of the public invited to respond until 3 April. | Spies and others who leak classified information could face tougher sentences under a proposed overhaul of the four Official Secrets Acts. |
29,475,705 | It has now dropped out of the top four universities in Wales and is ranked 93rd in the UK in one national guide.
The latest rankings means students in their third year have seen the university drop from the top 50 in their time there.
But the university said it aims to be ranked in the top 30 in the UK by 2017.
The Guardian university guide has seen Aberystwyth slump to 88th place, down from 49th place in 2011 while The Times now ranks it 93rd in its Good University Guide.
It has also dropped into the bottom quarter of universities worldwide.
Student Tom Wooldridge said the university had had a "decent reputation but, with it slipping, it's only a matter of time before employers realise it's is not as competitive as the top universities these days.... so it's a worry".
Fellow student Joe Mallinder said: "How has it gone down so quickly in two years, what has drastically changed... and will that have a massive effect on me getting a job?"
Established in 1872, Aberystwyth's history and name has been regarded as prestigious but some students fear it is becoming nothing more than a clearing university with some courses requiring just two E grades at A Level to get in.
The university says it has invested heavily in facilities in recent years.
Pro Vice-Chancellor Rebecca Davies believes the league tables are not a fair reflection on standards at Aberystwyth.
"By 2017 we want to be one of the top 30 universities in the UK," said.
Referring to the recent rankings, she said: "It is always disappointing when you hear news like that but it was not a surprise for us because in Aberystwyth, over the last couple of years, we have been investing so much.
"We have been listening to the student voice to make sure we have the best ever student experience," she said. | Students at Aberystwyth University have expressed concern after the institution has seen a dramatic fall in its rank in UK league table guides. |
31,052,360 | She has just passed all the tests to work under the banner of the Search And Rescue Dogs Association (SARDA), which sounds very serious, but for her it's all a game.
In fact, it's all about her soggy tennis ball.
Trainer David Carlile demonstrates the process.
"Heidi is trained to detect human scent in the air and then follow the scent, she then sees the person, comes back, indicates to me by barking and then leads me back to the person. And then she gets her toy," he said.
That might sound straight forward, but it has been two and half long years of hard work for David and Heidi.
He is a volunteer with the organisation and has had the dog since she was a puppy.
As a search and rescue dog, Heidi is trained to find the scent of living humans, unlike the cadaver dogs sometimes used in hunts for bodies.
Until now, the team have been working with a dog based in County Donegal, but Heidi is the first of those currently being trained to qualify in Northern Ireland.
It is obvious that Heidi will run pretty much anywhere when she knows she will get her soggy tennis ball toy at the end of it and David says that is the crucial ingredient.
"It's the high play drive that makes a good search dog and she definitely has that," he said.
For David, the reward is knowing that he can help people in dire straits.
For his day job, he works as a kitchen fitter, and says being self-employed makes it easier to respond if he is needed.
The SARDA handlers are all volunteers, and are used by the police, mountain rescue and fire brigade.
David says he is ready for their first official call.
"Heidi is with me pretty much 24 hours a day. She comes to work with me, I've a bag packed, and if the call comes through - we're good to go." | Heidi is the first qualified search and rescue dog in Northern Ireland, and she is keen to show off her new skills. |
32,546,258 | A Ford was destroyed at Ballymagowan Park at around 02:00 BST and a Vauxhall was also extensively damaged in Cromore Gardens.
The Northern Ireland Fire Service attended both incidents and police are treating them as linked.
Sean McMonagle from Ballymagowan Park said it was not the first time he had been targeted.
"Criminals and cowards have attacked and burnt our family car at the house. I woke up at about 2am to see my wife's car burning.
"We have four children and although they slept through it last night, it's quite a shock for them to be told this morning.
"My car was attacked before as well as graffiti on my home."
There are no reports of any injuries. | Two cars have been set alight in suspected arson attacks in the Creggan area of Derry on Friday. |
40,400,210 | The move comes two days after the European Central Bank warned that Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca were failing or likely to fail.
The banks' "good" assets will be taken on by Intesa Sanpaolo banking group.
Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said the rescue was needed to protect savers and ensure "the good health of our banking system".
The two banks' branches and employees will be part of Intesa by Monday morning in a move designed to avoid a potential run on deposits that could have spread to other Italian banks.
Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said Rome would also offer guarantees of up to 12bn euros for potential losses to Intesa from bad and risky loans.
"Those who criticise us should say what a better alternative would have been. I can't see it," he told a press conference on Sunday.
Rome's plan has been approved by the European Commission and avoids a bailout under potentially tougher European rules.
The EC's competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, said allowing Italy to use state aid would "avoid an economic disturbance in the Veneto region".
She added: "These measures will also remove 18bn euros in non-performing loans from the Italian banking sector and contribute to its consolidation."
Intesa, Italy's biggest retail bank, has paid a symbolic one euro for the two banks' good assets.
"Without Intesa Sanpaolo's offer - the only significant one submitted at the auction held by the government - the crisis of the two banks would have had a serious impact on the whole Italian banking system," financial analysts at Messina said.
The failure of the two Venetian banks could result in as many as 4,000 job losses, La Repubblica newspaper reported.
Sunday's rescue is the latest twist in the drive to fix the Italian banking system, which is saddled with bad loans worth about 350bn euros - a third of the eurozone's total bad debt.
In early June the European Commission and the Italian government agreed a state bailout for Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) that included big cost cuts, losses for some investors and a pay cap for its top executives.
The agreement followed months of talks over the fate of the world's oldest bank and Italy's fourth-biggest lender - the worst performer in last year's European stress tests.
Monte dei Paschi was forced to ask for state aid in December 2016 to help cover a capital shortfall of 8.8bn euros after investors declined to put more funds into the troubled bank.
The same month Mr Gentiloni said his government had set up a 20bn euro fund - largely to bail out MPS.
Sunday's announcement comes less than a month after Spain's Banco Popular was rescued by Santander.
The European Central Bank said Banco Popular was "failing or likely to fail" due to its dwindling cash reserves.
The bank has struggled after billions in property investments turned sour.
The rescue will cost Santander about 7bn euros (£6.1bn). | Italy's government is bailing out two banks in the Venice region at a cost of 5.2bn euros (£4.6bn; $5.8bn). |
34,039,372 | They pressed for extra capacity at Tweedbank to cope with charter trains.
The Campaign for Borders Railway said that an original "downbeat verdict" could have seen "an embarrassingly sub-optimal offer" for tourists.
The Scottish government said it had included communities and campaigners in the process of reopening the line.
The route between Edinburgh and Tweedbank in the Borders is to reopen next month.
CBR's UK Parliamentary Officer Nick Bethune said that a feasibility study in 2000 had not recognised the tourist potential of the route.
He said that, alongside the Waverley Route Trust, his organisation had argued "long and hard" for a bigger role for the railway.
He said research and lobbying, along with the efforts of MSP Claudia Beamish had prompted the "eleventh-hour decision" to authorise the extension of Tweedbank to accommodate 12-coach tourist charter trains.
He added that the scenic qualities of the route between Edinburgh and the Borders had since been "enthusiastically endorsed" by the transport minister at the time Keith Brown and former First Minister Alex Salmond.
"Our view is that the combination of a half-hourly ScotRail service plus charter trains from across Britain will be enormously attractive to the tourist market," he said.
He said it could bring "substantial new spend" to the Borders economy and Midlothian.
Mr Bethune also highlighted other tourism-related enhancements to the original rail specification which have been secured by CBR's campaigning.
He said those included saving the original Stow station building from demolition, better window and seat positioning and enhanced luggage and bike space.
"The reality is that if it hadn't been for rail campaigners' efforts this new railway would have provided an embarrassingly sub-optimal offer to the tourist market," he added.
A Scottish government spokesman said that, with less than two weeks until reopening the line, the excitement was now "palpable" along the route.
He said that the feasibility study in 2000 had been delivered under a previous administration.
However, he said that a "groundswell of interest" had allowed this government to "broaden the scope of the original plans" and "maximise the potential" of the line.
"The Borders Blueprint committee formed by former First Minister Alex Salmond is already working to exploit the full potential of the new railway once it's operational," he added.
"It has been important to the Scottish government to include the communities and campaigners throughout the process.
"We look forward to celebrating the opening with them just two weeks from now." | Borders Railway campaigners have said they helped to avoid embarrassment for the Scottish government by highlighting the route's tourist potential. |
40,288,805 | The plucky Grimethorpe Colliery Band - whose story gave rise to 1996 film Brassed Off - was given the honour as part of BBC Music Day.
It was installed outside the band's rehearsal rooms in South Yorkshire.
The plaque was one of 47 commemorating people or places that have influenced musical culture.
Live updates and more stories from Yorkshire
Brassed Off, which starred the late British acting legend Pete Postlethwaite, featured the fictional town of Grimley and was partly based on the closure of Grimethorpe's pit in 1993.
It used music from the village's band.
Stephen Tompkinson, who starred as Phil in the film, said: I'm incredibly proud the film has lasted and lasted it means so much to people.
"It really strikes a deep note in them, when it would have been far easier just to pack up and stop entirely this band kept playing on.
"They're still there loud and proud today."
Roy Bowater, a tuba player, said: "I think the sound of Grimethorpe is unique, it grabs you by the throat it is just something that gets you from within."
The band was founded in 1917 by workers from the local coal mine.
It survived the closure of the pit in 1993 and relied on sponsorship money from a coal mining company, until 2011. Despite occasional concerns for its future it still continues to make music.
Grimethorpe is about 7 miles (11km) from Barnsley. | A brass band which inspired a box office hit has been honoured with a blue plaque in the group's centenary year. |
35,093,203 | The Portaferry woman received an unexpected boost last week when the Rio 1500m qualifying standard was amended to four minutes and seven seconds.
Mageean twice ran under 4:07.00 last summer with her personal best 4:06.49.
"I was over the moon when I heard and while it takes a bit of pressure off, it doesn't change things," she said.
"My whole season next year is planned around training and racing to make myself as fit as I can be.
"I'm going to follow those plans just the same but it means I can enter races with the security of knowing that I have the IAAF A standard and hopefully Olympic qualification.
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"Next year, I'm going to be wanting to run faster and faster. I'll run (under) 4:06 next year. That's my aim."
The International Olympic Committee has still to officially ratify the new IAAF qualifying marks in several events but that is expected to be a formality, which will ensure Mageean's Rio spot.
Mageean, 23, was out of action for nearly two seasons from the summer of 2012 as she battled against an ankle injury which effectively ended her hopes of qualifying for the London Olympics.
"I was unlucky enough to have a few years burdened by injury and it's great to be able to pull through after all that.
"I narrowly missed qualifying for London after running the B standard. That was bitterly disappointing for me so Rio was my next big goal," adds Mageean, who is now coached in Dublin by 1984 Olympic Jerry Kiernan.
After spending six days at home over Christmas, the UCD student heads to the Algarve on 30 December for a 10-day warm-weather training stint.
Following that, Mageean is planning to have a brief indoor season as she continues her build-up towards next summer's games.
"My fitness is very good at the minute although it's early season yet and I'm getting through my winter training.
"I've a bit to go yet but I'm feeling good and healthy and injury-free." | Ciara Mageean says her training and racing plans for 2016 haven't changed despite having almost certainty booked her spot at the Rio Olympics. |
28,782,962 | The 21-year-old, who had a spell on loan at Hearts last year, was released by Liverpool at the end of last season.
Ngoo goes straight into the Killie squad for Saturday's match against Ross County and said: "It is good to be back in Scottish football.
"I am looking to bring goals and compete for the league. I don't see any reason why this bunch of players can't compete for the league."
And he added: "If we beat every other team, then it's down to Celtic, if that makes sense.
"I watched them [Kilmarnock] play against Aberdeen [who won 2-0] and there wasn't much in the game so I believe that if everyone gets their head down and works hard, I don't see any reason why we can't.
"You can't go into something thinking we will settle for less.
"We have to aim for the best and if the best doesn't come then second isn't a bad position. That's how I feel.
"I am looking forward to tomorrow and if I get some minutes I will show everyone what I can do."
Manager Allan Johnston is delighted to have signed Ngoo, who scored five goals during his previous spell in Scottish football.
"He is a big presence, he did well with Hearts and we are expecting him to play a big part in our team this year," explained Johnston
"So it is up to him to put in good performances on the pitch.
"He is desperate to start playing again.
"The boys have made him welcome and he feels he is part of the squad so he should be a good signing.
"We still have Lee Miller to come back [from a calf injury] so we have options up front." | Kilmarnock have signed striker Michael Ngoo on a two-year contract. |
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Woakes took the key wickets of Kusal Mendis and Angelo Mathews and was well supported by Steven Finn's 3-59 as the tourists slumped from 162-1 overnight, as only Kusal Perera (42) resisted.
Under-pressure England man Nick Compton was out for 19 as the hosts lost three wickets for five runs in reply.
But they closed day three on 109-4, leading by 237.
Jonny Bairstow was out for 32 before the close, one of three wickets for the impressive Nuwan Pradeep, but Alex Hales remains unbeaten on 41.
Victory in this match will give England the series 3-0 having won the previous Tests at Headingley and Chester-le-Street.
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For much of this series, and indeed recent series, England's main wicket-taking threat has come from the enduring class of James Anderson and Stuart Broad.
But instead it was Woakes and Finn who took centre-stage as Sri Lanka's habit of losing wickets in clusters once again bedevilled them.
Woakes should have had a wicket with his first ball on Friday - only to see Dimuth Karunaratne dropped by Bairstow - but this time he did strike with his first delivery of the day, pinning Mendis lbw for 25, before he had Mathews caught at slip for three.
Finn, bowling with by far his best rhythm of the series, then had Dinesh Chandimal lbw for 19 and enticed Lahiru Thirimanne to edge to slip for 17.
Their form will pose a dilemma for the England selectors, with one of the two likely to lose their place when all-rounder Ben Stokes returns from injury.
Having established a 128-run first-innings lead, England were forced to turn to an unfamiliar opening combination, with Alastair Cook unavailable having gone for a scan on a knee injury sustained at silly point.
However, Compton's promotion up the order to the position in which he played his first nine Tests for England did little to revitalise his fortunes, as he nicked Eranga behind.
Having mustered just 51 runs at an average of 12.75 in this series, and with number threes like Scott Borthwick and Tom Westley scoring heavily in county cricket, the likelihood must be that 32-year-old Compton's 16th Test will be his last.
He was swiftly followed back to the pavilion by Joe Root - bowled by a scuttler from Pradeep - and, one ball later, Vince, bowled shouldering arms to the same bowler.
With 54 runs at 13.5, Vince has scarcely fared any better than Compton in this series, and while he will surely be given the series against Pakistan, he still has much to do to prove himself in Test cricket.
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It has been a tumultuous 24 hours for England captain Cook, who was made a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list announced on Friday.
But he was hit on the knee by a lusty drive from Perera and went to hospital for a scan, meaning that - for the first time since 2006 - England opened the batting in a home Test without the Essex man.
However, the scan revealed nothing more sinister than bruising and Cook is expected to bat in the morning.
England bowler Steven Finn on Sky Sports: "We've had a very good day. Only taking one wicket yesterday, to come back and bowl them out for 288 was a very good effort. To be 237 runs ahead and the ball is spinning a little bit...
"If we can get far enough ahead and get an unassailable lead, we can put Sri Lanka under some pressure.
"I've felt good in this game, back to normal. It's good to contribute again. I was maybe feeling for it a bit. Once I got into the spell I thoroughly enjoyed it."
Former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott on BBC Test Match Special: "The England top order has failed. The middle-order batting and the bowlers get England their wins. It doesn't fill you with confidence.
"Keep Vince, they have to give a player a good chance. He's got a bit to do. Compton, sadly, they will have to pick somebody else. The selectors have to identify someone and say 'his chance is now'." | Chris Woakes took 3-31 as England bowled Sri Lanka out for 288 to take a grip on the third Test at Lord's. |
38,905,401 | The 35-year-old was reported overdue on Sunday night after leaving for a weekend trip from Portsoy in Aberdeenshire.
A kayak matching the description of his was found on Monday night near Lybster in Caithness, and safety equipment was found near Portknockie in Moray.
An air, sea and coastline search for the fit but inexperienced kayaker resumed on Wednesday.
His sister Ellie told BBC Scotland from Australia: "The longer this stays in the minds of the nation the better."
She remains hopeful he had made it ashore to cliffs and was injured and would be found.
A Find Dom page has been set up on Facebook by friends, and the local community has been providing food and offers of free accommodation.
Mr Jackson, who lives in Fettercairn in Aberdeenshire and is originally from Uckfield in East Sussex, is believed to have set off in his kayak from Portsoy harbour on Saturday.
The alarm was raised by his flatmate on Sunday night when he failed to return home as expected.
Mr Jackson's green VW Transporter - which he was camping in for the weekend - was found in the Portsoy area. | The search for missing kayaker Dominic Jackson has continued for a third day. |
36,163,188 | Mr Boehner, a fellow Republican, has also reportedly said he will not vote for Mr Cruz if he becomes the nominee.
Their rift dates back to when Mr Cruz led a group of hard-core conservatives to force a government shutdown in 2013, against his party's leadership.
Meanwhile, Mr Boehner has described Donald Trump as a "texting buddy".
He also said they have played golf together for years and that he would vote for the billionaire if he were the Republican nominee, the Stanford Daily reported.
The billionaire is the front-runner on the race for the Republican nomination, ahead of Mr Cruz.
The Texas senator is seen by many Republicans as the only option to prevent Mr Trump from being the party's candidate. Others, however, dispute this, saying he is a divisive figure.
Mr Boehner, who was the most powerful Republican in US politics for a time until he resigned last October, used strong language when he spoke about Mr Cruz during a talk at Stanford University.
"I have Democrat friends and Republican friends. I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life," he said.
John Boehner tells us how he really feels.
At a time when Ted Cruz is struggling to save his presidential campaign, having a former high-ranking member of the Republican Party compare him to Beelzebub is, shall we say, unhelpful. It further reinforces the perception - hammered time and time again by Donald Trump - that Mr Cruz is too divisive, too abrasive, too unliked to be a successful leader.
The Texas senator likely would counter that he has made the right kind of enemies and the ire of the party establishment is a badge he will proudly wear. Unfortunately for him, however, the party establishment is just about the only thing left keeping his candidacy afloat. He has become the vessel for the #NeverTrump efforts - the last realistic candidate between Mr Trump on the nomination - and that movement is populated by insiders who, in any other situation, would not hesitate to stick a knife in Mr Cruz's back.
It seems Mr Boehner, happy in his retirement from politics, had no such reservations.
More about their rift
Mr Cruz is credited with having a large role in the federal government shutdown in 2013, when Mr Boehner was Speaker of the House.
The Texas senator is seen as having an aggressive posture and considers himself as an anti-establishment politician.
He reacted to Mr Boehner's remarks on Twitter, saying: "Tell me again who will stand up to Washington? Trump, who's Boehner's "texting and golfing buddy," or Carly & me?", he wrote, referring to Carly Fiorina, his pick for vice-president in an eventual candidacy."
When asked about the Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, Mr Boehner reportedly impersonated her saying "Oh I'm a woman, vote for me," which received a negative reaction from the crowd.
He later said they had known each other for 25 years and that he finds the former secretary of state to be very accomplished and smart. | US presidential hopeful Ted Cruz has been called "Lucifer in the flesh" by the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner. |
35,447,704 | Romelu Lukaku put the visitors in front with a penalty after keeper Jack Butland had brought down Tom Cleverley.
Seamus Coleman headed in a Cleverley corner and Aaron Lennon intercepted a pass before slotting in as Everton went 3-0 up at the break.
Lukaku also had a header tipped on to the crossbar by Butland, while a poor Stoke struggled to create chances.
Relive Everton's win against Stoke
Follow reaction to Saturday's games
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A lot was made about Everton boss Roberto Martinez's dance moves at a Jason Derulo concert in the week, but it was his team impressing with their performance at the Britannia Stadium.
England manager Roy Hodgson was at the game and he will have liked what he saw from Toffees midfielders Cleverley and Ross Barkley.
The industrious Cleverley burst through before being brought down for Everton's penalty, while his delivery from corners was a constant threat and led to Coleman's goal.
Barkley's attacking instincts also played a part in the win and he could have had an assist when he crossed for Lukaku, whose header from close range was brilliantly saved by Butland.
"I thought we were very strong in every department," said Martinez. "Cleverley had a big influence in the game throughout."
Stoke have endured a month to forget since their last league win against Norwich on 13 January.
Mark Hughes' side have been knocked out the Capital One Cup after a semi-final defeat on penalties by Liverpool, while they were beaten by Crystal Palace in the FA Cup.
The Potters have gained just one point from 12 in the league, dropping from seventh to 11th, and scored just one goal in six games.
The home side gave a debut to record £18.3m signing Gianelli Imbula but, like the rest of his team-mates, the midfielder struggled to make any kind of impact.
"I thought Imbila did OK. I felt sorry for him because as a debut that was a hard one to come into," said Hughes.
Stoke boss Mark Hughes: "We huffed and puffed and didn't really create again and that is a concern for us.
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"A disappointing day. We made mistakes at key times in the game and couldn't recover.
"We have to pick ourselves up and start doing the fundamentals and basics."
Everton manager Roberto Martinez: "We defended really well when we had to but the amount of opportunities we created is pleasing. If anything we should have scored three or four more in the second half.
"We have to make sure we don't drop our standards now."
Stoke's next game is at Bournemouth on 13 February, while Everton host West Brom on the same day with both games kicking off at 15:00 GMT.
Match ends, Stoke City 0, Everton 3.
Second Half ends, Stoke City 0, Everton 3.
Attempt saved. Mame Biram Diouf (Stoke City) header from the right side of the six yard box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Joselu with a cross.
Foul by Peter Odemwingie (Stoke City).
Bryan Oviedo (Everton) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Substitution, Everton. Leon Osman replaces James McCarthy.
Corner, Everton. Conceded by Marc Muniesa.
Substitution, Everton. Kevin Mirallas replaces Ross Barkley.
Attempt missed. Stephen Ireland (Stoke City) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Joselu.
Corner, Stoke City. Conceded by Phil Jagielka.
Offside, Stoke City. Joselu tries a through ball, but Glen Johnson is caught offside.
Attempt missed. Ramiro Funes Mori (Everton) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Tom Cleverley with a cross.
Corner, Everton. Conceded by Jack Butland.
Attempt saved. Arouna Koné (Everton) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Ross Barkley.
Substitution, Stoke City. Joselu replaces Marko Arnautovic.
Substitution, Everton. Arouna Koné replaces Romelu Lukaku.
Giannelli Imbula (Stoke City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Gareth Barry (Everton).
Corner, Stoke City. Conceded by Ramiro Funes Mori.
Attempt blocked. Giannelli Imbula (Stoke City) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Stephen Ireland.
Attempt blocked. Ross Barkley (Everton) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Romelu Lukaku.
Attempt saved. Glen Johnson (Stoke City) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Marko Arnautovic.
Attempt missed. James McCarthy (Everton) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Romelu Lukaku.
Attempt blocked. Ross Barkley (Everton) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Romelu Lukaku.
Attempt blocked. Peter Odemwingie (Stoke City) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Offside, Everton. Seamus Coleman tries a through ball, but Aaron Lennon is caught offside.
Attempt blocked. Ross Barkley (Everton) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Gareth Barry with a cross.
Attempt saved. Romelu Lukaku (Everton) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Attempt blocked. Romelu Lukaku (Everton) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Aaron Lennon.
Substitution, Stoke City. Peter Odemwingie replaces Xherdan Shaqiri.
Substitution, Stoke City. Stephen Ireland replaces Ibrahim Afellay.
Xherdan Shaqiri (Stoke City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Bryan Oviedo (Everton).
Mame Biram Diouf (Stoke City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Mame Biram Diouf (Stoke City).
Aaron Lennon (Everton) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Attempt saved. Romelu Lukaku (Everton) header from very close range is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Ross Barkley with a cross.
Foul by Erik Pieters (Stoke City).
Seamus Coleman (Everton) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Corner, Stoke City. Conceded by Gareth Barry. | Everton moved up to seventh after beating Stoke, who suffered a third successive Premier League defeat. |
39,478,856 | "It's a welcome break, and the view isn't too bad either," he says as he looks across the sea towards the Sunnmoere Alps' snow-covered peaks.
"A bridge across the fjord would obviously make the crossing faster, but Storfjorden is two or three kilometres wide and 700 metres deep, which makes it very expensive to build one," says Mr Bonesmo, IT and operations manager for a consumer goods company.
Many Norwegian fjords present similar difficulties to bridge builders, so instead the country's coastal population relies on ferries that link their often remote communities.
Each year, some 20 million cars, vans and trucks cross the country's many fjords on roughly 130 ferry routes.
Most of Norway's ferries run on diesel, spewing out noxious fumes and CO2.
But this is about to change.
Following two years of trials of the world's first electric car ferry, named Ampere, ferry operators are busy making the transition from diesel to comply with new government requirements for all new ferry licensees to deliver zero- or low-emission alternatives.
"We continue the work with low-emission ferries because we believe it will benefit the climate, Norwegian industry and Norwegian jobs," Prime Minister Erna Solberg said in a speech in April 2016, in which she vowed to help fund required quayside infrastructure.
Ferry company Fjord1, which operates the MF Norangsfjord, has ordered three fully electric ferries that are scheduled to enter active service on some of its routes in January 2018.
Multi Maritime, which designed the ferries, welcomes the growth in demand.
"Several years of investment in sustainable technologies have resulted in us having more than 10 fully electric and plug-in hybrid ferries under construction by several yards," says Gjermund Johannessen, managing director.
In addition to new-builds, the marine division of Siemens, which developed the technology for Ampere, believes 84 ferries are ripe for conversion to electric power. And 43 ferries on longer routes would benefit from conversion to hybrids that use diesel engines to charge their batteries.
If this were done, nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions would be cut by 8,000 tonnes per year and CO2 emissions by 300,000 tonnes per year, equivalent to the annual emissions from 150,000 cars, according to a report penned jointly by Siemens and the environmental campaign group, Bellona.
Long-distance ferries are not well suited to electrification, but about 70% of Norway's ferries cover relatively short crossings, so switching to electric power would pay for itself in a few years, according to the report.
Each ferry would save about a million litres of diesel per year, helping to reduce energy costs by 60% or more, says Odd Moen, head of sales at Siemens' marine division.
"The electricity to power Ampere, with its 360 passengers and 120 cars, across a six kilometre-wide fjord costs about 50 kroner (£4.65; $5.80)," he says.
"In Norway, that won't even pay for a cup of coffee and a waffle."
Ampere's electric powertrain, which was designed by Fjellstrand shipyard using Siemens technology, includes an 800kWh battery pack weighing in at a hefty 11 tonnes, which powers two electric motors, one either side of the vessel.
The batteries are fully charged overnight, but as each of the 34 daily 20-minute crossings of the Sognefjorden requires 150kWh, the battery must be topped up during loading and unloading as well.
During initial trials, the fast charging placed excessive strain on the local grid, designed as it was to service a relatively small population.
To lighten the load, high-capacity batteries were put on constant charge on either side of the fjord, ready to transfer the electricity quickly to the ferry's batteries whilst docked.
The charging added an extra burden to the Ampere crew's busy schedules. But this challenge has been dealt with by the latest electric ferry designs, which incorporate fully automatic charging systems designed by Rolls-Royce, says the engineering firm's Oskar Levander, vice president of marine innovation, engineering and technology.
Emissions from diesel-powered ferries have always been a problem.
"When they're docked, their engines are idling - that's when you see those black fumes coming out of their chimneys - and then they're accelerating hard away from land, so their engines are never operating with maximum efficiency," explains Mr Moen.
Mr Moen says he has registered much interest in the technology from overseas, and urges other governments to require and support a switch from diesel to electric ferries where appropriate.
Indeed, emissions from ferries is a problem not just in Norway, but in coastal communities and cities all over the world.
In Hong Kong, the Environmental Protection Department has long been waging a war on emissions from ferries that are responsible for much of Victoria Harbour's poor air quality.
Similarly, in New Zealand a single ferry visit to Wellington used to pollute the air as much as all Wellington's cars did in a month, according to National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research figures.
Back in rural Sykkylven, where the air is relatively fresh, NOx emissions pose less of a problem than in a congested city.
But CO2 emissions from ferries should be curbed nevertheless to help combat climate change, Mr Bonesmo says, as he steers his electric car off the ferry.
By 2020, an all-electric solution will have replaced the current diesel-electric ferry on the Magerholm-Sykkylven crossing.
"And then my entire commute will be emissions free," Mr Bonesmo grins.
Follow Technology of Business editor Matthew Wall on Twitter and Facebook
Click here for more Technology of Business features | It might be slow, but the romance of commuting by ferry is not lost on Trond Bonesmo as he boards MF Norangsfjord for the crossing from Magerholm to Sykkylven. |
34,034,749 | Although Australia beat England by an innings and 46 runs in four days, the hosts ran out 3-2 series winners after regaining the urn at Trent Bridge.
"The last four days haven't quite gone to plan," Cook told Test Match Special.
"But going into the series no-one gave us a chance, so we can't let that take the gloss off a special summer."
Back-to-back victories at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge gave England an unassailable 3-1 lead going into the finale at The Oval.
However, they were outplayed by Australia, who completed their victory by taking England's last four second-innings wickets on a rain-hit final day.
"There has been a little bit missing in this match - it wasn't complacency - but emotionally to come from such a high at Trent Bridge and be 100% on it was hard and we couldn't quite manage it," said Cook.
Cook's team avenged their 5-0 whitewash down under to extend England's winning Ashes run on home soil to four series dating back to 2005.
But he insisted his young team have plenty of room for improvement after heavy defeats in two of the five Tests exposed flaws in the side.
"Are we near the peak? No, we're not. We're nowhere near the finished article, but we've got a very exciting team and I genuinely believe there will be some really good times," he said.
Australia's retiring captain Michael Clarke bemoaned the state of the pitches for the final three Tests, two of which were won by England inside three days.
Clarke claimed that calls in the English media for green, seaming pitches had influenced groundsmen at the venues.
"I'd like to see groundsmen around the world have the courage to go with what they think is a good cricket wicket," he said.
"In the first Two tests there was a lot of talk from the media and commentators about how flat the wickets were and yet those two matches were over in four days.
"One team won and one team lost. The next three were over in three days. I want to see good fair cricket for batters and bowlers and most importantly a winner and a loser."
Cook said: "The wickets were the same for both sides. In three of the five Test matches we played better than Australia and that's why we've won the Ashes.
"At certain moments we've had outstanding performances by a member of our side and the talent in our squad means we are going to win games quite quickly.
"We have some game-changers in that squad and in the Tests we've won we've really rammed home our advantage quickly."
There were only 18 days' play in the series - the joint lowest for a five-match series - after four-day finishes at Cardiff, Lord's and The Oval and three-day Tests at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge.
Australia coach Darren Lehmann said: "There aren't many matches that go five days, but three and a bit is a bit short.
"The people that miss out are the fans. That's the thing I worry about."
Amid England's celebrations, batsman Ian Bell admitted on Test Match Special that he would consider his future after a disappointing series in which he averaged 26.87.
Cook said he hopes 33-year-old Bell, who has played 115 Tests, decides to continue as England prepare to play Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates in October.
"Ian Bell is a class player and I hope he's around for a few more years," he said. | England captain Alastair Cook said defeat in the final Test at The Oval will not detract from a "special summer" for his Ashes-winning team. |
30,195,857 | The report, written by Sir Stephen Bubb, recommends introducing a charter of rights and more community facilities for people with learning disabilities.
It also says some "inappropriate" in-patient facilities should be closed.
The report comes after abuse was exposed at Winterbourne View care home in Bristol in 2011.
Sir Stephen, chief executive of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO), was asked by NHS England how to address "serious shortcomings" in support for those with learning disabilities.
The report - Winterbourne View - Time for Change - offers 10 recommendations for the NHS, local government, regulators and the government.
Phill Wills, whose son Josh has a learning disability and severe autism, has to travel 300 miles from Cornwall to see him at a treatment hospital in Birmingham.
He told BBC News he has "fought tooth and nail" to have Josh's care provided nearer to his home.
"When we felt that we weren't being listened to, it felt like Josh wasn't being listened to," he said.
Leo Andrade, whose 19-year-old-son Steven also has severe autism and lives in a hospital in Northampton, welcomed the report.
Mrs Andrade lives in London and spends up to four hours travelling to see her son. She said she has "no trust whatsoever in the system".
"I do not want my son again in any other institution," she said. "I also find the idea that having my son away from us is robbing us of having a family."
Other recommendations include a framework to support people with learning disabilities and autism move out of hospitals and into the community.
Its other recommendations include:
Sir Stephen said the Winterbourne View "scandal" had "shocked the nation" and that had led to pressure to prevent such a case from happening again.
Neglect and abuse of patients by staff at the Winterbourne View private hospital, near Bristol, was uncovered by BBC Panorama. Six people were jailed in 2012 and five given suspended sentences.
Sir Stephen said: "We urge immediate action, to close all Winterbourne-style institutions and ramp up community provision.
"We need a new charter of rights to empower people with learning disabilities and their families, and give them the right to challenge the system. We need that system to have the courage to act on these recommendations, and not to promise another false dawn.
"The time for talk is over. It's time for people with learning disabilities or autism and their families to be put first."
Prime Minister David Cameron said: "We have got to do more to get people out of hospitals and into loving and caring homes in the community."
Labour leader Ed Miliband said there were still more people with learning disabilities moving into care than leaving.
Gary Bourlet from advocacy group People First England, who has a learning disability, said: "The report is full of good words. But there's not much here that hasn't been said before.
"We need someone to take charge of making change happen. And that person should be working alongside someone with a learning disability. We call that co-working. And we need a timetable as well."
NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens has called for "radical changes" in care for those with learning disabilities, saying it would mean "challenging legacy models of institutional care".
"NHS England's recent work with people with learning disabilities, and this new report, all now prove that radical changes are needed in NHS and social care," he said.
Jane Cummings, chief nursing officer for England, said: "This report asks every part of the system to respond. We are committed to playing a full and active role in the implementation of the recommendations and call on others to do the same."
She said work was already being done to introduce the recommendations and that the number of people being discharged from hospital was increasing. But she admitted more needed to be done to stop people being admitted.
NHS England said all local NHS leaders must now have a register of inpatients with learning disabilities and autism to create informed local care plans.
It is also carrying out care and treatment reviews, which looks at whether a patient is receiving the right care in the right place and takes into account the patient's requests.
NHS England expects about 1,000 reviews, which are supported by clinicians as well as NHS and local authority commissioners, to have taken place by the end of the year. | People with learning disabilities in England are being kept in hospitals far from home for too long, a review says. |
34,157,266 | The party will devote its opposition day debate in the Commons to the issue, having accused the prime minister of failing to show leadership.
David Cameron has said the UK will take thousands more refugees from Syrian camps.
He has also pledged an additional £100m in aid.
On Saturday, Scottish first minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon confirmed £1m in Scottish government funding to co-ordinate Scotland's practical response to the humanitarian crisis
She has urged Mr Cameron to "do more" to help those in need.
A leading member of the Scottish Catholic Church also called for action, arguing that the UK needed to be "generous in providing a safe haven" for refugees seeking to enter Europe.
The Archbishop of Glasgow, Philip Tartaglia, criticised the "mean-spirited and unhelpful" approach Britain had adopted so far.
In an article in the Herald newspaper, he said the Conservative leader "appeared to offer no hope to those who have already reached Europe".
He wrote: "In my view the refugees crisis is a test, not of political shrewdness, but of common humanity. What is happening in the Mediterranean, Calais and other access points is an affront to human dignity."
The archbishop's comments came after Ms Sturgeon hosted an emergency summit in Edinburgh on Friday involving the Scottish Refugee Council, council leaders, religious groups and opposition politicians to discuss what could be done.
The Scottish government has agreed to set up a taskforce to co-ordinate the country's response to the crisis, with £1m of funding being provided to support its work.
The first minister said Scotland should accept 1,000 people as a "starting point" for further help, and council leaders across the country have signalled a willingness to shelter refugees.
SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson said the prime minister "has failed to show any leadership on the refugee crisis".
"He must attend this parliamentary debate and show that he is serious about taking action and moving beyond what, to date, has been a slow and wholly inadequate response from his government," Mr Robertson said.
"The prime minister must outline the full details of whether the UK Government will now offer asylum and protection to its fair share of refugees, and how he intends to work with other EU leaders to ensure multi-lateral action and a long-term solution to the crisis."
Labour's Shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray had earlier written to Mr Robertson urging the SNP to use its Opposition Day debate to press the UK government on what he described as its "shameful" response to the crisis.
He said opposition parties at Westminster must speak out with "one voice" on the issue, and called for the UK to provide more support for refugees.
Earlier this week, Mr Cameron said accepting more people was not the simple answer to the situation.
But on Friday, he said the UK had a "moral responsibility" to help those displaced by the four-year conflict in Syria and more details would follow next week following discussions with organisations working in the region. | The SNP has confirmed it will use an opportunity on Wednesday to hold the UK government to account over its stance on the refugee crisis. |
40,249,644 | The prime minister's room for manoeuvre in the reshuffle was limited when her party was left with 318 MPs and Labour had 262.
Here's what we know so far. The list will be updated as new appointments are made.
Theresa May stays as prime minister despite not achieving the mandate for Brexit she had called the election for. The UK's second female PM took up the role after David Cameron resigned in the wake of the EU referendum result.
She had previously been home secretary for six years.
Theresa May: Full profile
Election 2017: Key points at-a-glance
Damian Green has been promoted to a new role the prime minister did not have in her first cabinet - that of first secretary of state. As the same time he also replaces Ben Gummer as minister for the Cabinet Office after Mr Gummer lost his seat in the election.
The move effectively makes the former work and pensions secretary, a friend and ally of Theresa May, her second in command. It could see Mr Green standing in for Mrs May at PMQs when she is not available.
The role - which was previously held by George Osborne and, under Labour, Peter Mandelson - gives Mr Green seniority over other cabinet ministers.
Philip Hammond remains as chancellor of the exchequer. He was foreign secretary under David Cameron from 2014 to 2016, having previously served as defence secretary and transport secretary.
Mr Hammond, 61, is seen at Westminster as the ultimate safe pair of hands steering Britain's economy through the post-Brexit period ahead.
Sometimes mocked as "box office Phil" for what some see as his dull delivery, he forged a reputation in the shadow Treasury team as the Tories' public spending "axeman".
No change at the Foreign Office as Boris Johnson keeps his job. Despite hints from some of the newspapers that Mr Johnson, 52, may turn his hand to trying to lead the party, he has categorically dismissed such claims.
Mr Johnson said that while the public would be wondering about the future of the current government, Mrs May had got the biggest Conservative mandate anyone had achieved for decades.
"I'm going to be backing her, and absolutely everybody I'm talking to is going to be backing her as well."
Amber Rudd remains as home secretary despite only narrowly holding her seat as MP for Hastings and Rye. During the election campaign, she stood in for the PM in the BBC's televised debate in May.
Ms Rudd was previously energy and climate change secretary, a position she held for just one year.
The former investment banker, venture capitalist and financial journalist, aged 53, decided to enter politics in her 40s in order to get "a grip on her life".
David Davis keeps his job of secretary of state for exiting the European Union - or "Brexit secretary". The role was created in July to take the lead in negotiating the UK's exit from the EU.
A veteran Eurosceptic, he has previously held the positions of Conservative party chairman and shadow deputy prime minister. Between 2003 and 2008, he was the shadow home secretary under both Michael Howard and David Cameron.
Mr Davis, 68, lost to David Cameron in the 2005 Tory leadership contest.
Michael Fallon has kept his job at the Ministry of Defence - a position the 65-year-old has held since 2014.
He was Conservative MP for Darlington from 1983 to 1992 - initially during Margaret Thatcher's time in Downing Street - and after leaving Parliament was later re-elected as MP for Sevenoaks in 1997.
A former Conservative Party deputy chairman, Mr Fallon has previously served as energy and business minister, and before that secretary of state for business and enterprise.
Liam Fox, 55, continues as the secretary of state for international trade. He was made secretary of state for defence in 2010 but resigned in 2011 over allegations he had given a close friend, lobbyist Adam Werritty, access to the Ministry of Defence and allowed him to join official trips overseas.
Mr Fox stood in the leadership race against Theresa May but was eliminated in the first ballot after winning the support of just 16 MPs.
He told reporters he was "delighted" to keep the job he has held since July last year.
"It's now time for the whole of the Conservative party to rally behind the prime minister and get a government in the national interest."
Former Leader of the House of Commons David Lidington gets the job of justice secretary, replacing Liz Truss.
He had been Europe Minister since 2010 but moved across to aid the smooth running of the Commons in 2016.
The Cambridge history graduate and father-of-four has been MP for Aylesbury since 1992. He previously worked for BP and mining firm Rio Tinto.
Baroness Evans of Bowes Park keeps her job as the leader of the House of Lords. When appointed in 2016, it was her first ministerial role since being ennobled by David Cameron in 2014.
She attended London's Henrietta Barnett School and Cambridge University before becoming deputy director of the Conservative research department, deputy director of the Policy Exchange think-tank and chief operating officer of the New Schools Network - the organisation which ran Michael Gove's free schools programme.
Jeremy Hunt remains in his post despite the problems within the NHS.
He took over the health portfolio following a cabinet reshuffle in 2012, and at the time described the appointment as the "biggest privilege of my life". But in a tweet he admitted there were "challenges ahead, but also huge opportunities to make our NHS even better".
Last year, Mr Hunt was locked in a battle with the British Medical Association over a new contract for junior doctors, which led to a series of strikes.
Justine Greening has kept her roles as education secretary and minister for women and equalities. She is part of the most diverse Parliament yet as she openly defines herself as a lesbian.
At London Pride in 2016, the 48-year-old announced in a tweet she was in a same-sex relationship, saying "I campaigned for Stronger In but sometimes you're better off out!".
Ms Greening replaced Nicky Morgan at education in 2016, leaving her international development secretary post, which she was promoted to in 2011.
She has been MP for Putney since 2005.
Chris Grayling remains as transport secretary in Theresa May's cabinet.
The former Leader of the House has been dealing with Southern Rail's disrupted services, the question of Heathrow's third runway and the high speed rail link, HS2.
He also served as shadow transport secretary from December 2005 to 2007.
Karen Bradley has kept her role as Culture, Media and Sport Secretary. She had been working with Theresa May as a Home Office minister since 2014.
She was first elected MP for Staffordshire Moorlands in May 2010.
Michael Gove has made a comeback, with the prime minister bringing him back into cabinet and appointing him environment secretary.
In the 2016 reshuffle he was sacked as justice secretary and before that he served under David Cameron as education secretary and chief whip in the Tory-Lib Dem coalition.
Despite campaigning alongside Boris Johnson for Brexit, he withdrew his support for Mr Johnson to be Conservative leader and prime minister, choosing instead to stand himself. He was eliminated in the final round of voting by MPs, coming third.
Mr Gove's surprise move to stand for the leadership effectively dashed his colleague's hopes of winning and prompted Mr Johnson's withdrawal from the contest.
A sideways step for David Gauke, with the PM appointing him as the new work and pensions secretary. He was previously the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, who attends cabinet but does not have a ministerial role.
Mr Gauke has been the MP for Hertfordshire South West since 2005. He is a qualified solicitor and worked for a leading City firm until he was elected.
Sajid Javid keeps his job as secretary of the department for communities and local government.
He held this position in 2014 before being appointed to business secretary a year later.
A former managing director of Deutsche Bank, Mr Javid has been MP for Bromsgrove in Worcestershire since 2010.
He stood on a "joint ticket" with Stephen Crabb for the leadership election, hoping to be chancellor if Mr Crabb had become PM.
James Brokenshire continues as the Northern Ireland Secretary. He previously worked with the PM at the Home Office, where he was immigration minister.
From 2011 to 2015, he served as security minister at the Home Office with responsibility for domestic national security and counter-terrorism. This included supporting the home secretary with oversight of the work of MI5 and the national police counter-terrorism network.
Mr Brokenshire's responsibilities also included the government's counter-terrorism strategy and he was part of the prime minister's "extremism taskforce". He also led negotiations with the Jordanian government to secure the deportation of the radical cleric Abu Qatada.
Alun Cairns, MP for the Vale of Glamorgan, remains in his cabinet role as secretary of state for Wales.
The 46-year-old, who was born in Swansea and is a graduate of the University of Wales, Newport, was elected in 2010.
He worked in banking for a decade before his election to the Welsh Assembly.
David Mundell will continue as secretary of state for Scotland. He is one of 13 Scottish Conservatives to be in Parliament after this snap election.
Former prime minister David Cameron first appointed Mr Mundell to the post when he held his Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale seat for the third consecutive election in 2015.
In January 2015, Mr Mundell became the first openly-gay Conservative cabinet secretary.
Patrick McLoughlin remains as the Conservative Party chairman and chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
He left his role as transport secretary in 2016 but has been an MP since 1986.
The former miner also served as chief whip after being appointed to the role in David Cameron's first cabinet.
Andrea Leadsom has been given the job of the Leader of the House of Commons. She was the former environment secretary who dramatically pulled out of the Conservative leadership race.
Mrs Leadsom's public reason for withdrawing from the leadership race was to allow a rapid transition at the top, and give the economy certainty in the aftermath of the Brexit vote.
Greg Clark keeps his job as secretary of state of business, energy and industrial strategy.
The role, when it was created by Labour's Gordon Brown, was originally called the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
Last year, it was merged into the new department and lost the "climate change" part of its name.
Environmentalists immediately expressed concern that the reshaping of departments showed the government was downgrading climate change as a priority.
Priti Patel remains as International Development Secretary. She was promoted from her role as employment minister, which she held for a year, in 2016.
Ms Patel became MP for Witham in 2010 and joined the front bench as a Treasury minister in 2014.
She is no stranger to controversy, having previously advocated bringing back the death penalty and was accused of "divide and rule politics" during the referendum campaign for claiming that "biased" immigration policy prevents curry chefs from outside the EU from working in the UK.
On her appointment, she immediately faced calls to guarantee the UK's legal commitment to spending 0.7% of GDP on overseas aid. | Theresa May has formed her new government after the Conservatives lost their majority in the general election. |
22,796,191 | The seven-time champion, 27, saw off Djokovic 6-4 3-6 6-1 6-7 (3-7) 9-7 in four hours and 37 minutes.
Nadal will play David Ferrer in Sunday's final after his fellow Spaniard overcame France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets.
It will be Nadal's first Grand Slam final since he beat Djokovic at Roland Garros last year, having missed seven months with a serious knee injury.
Friday's first semi-final had been the focus of attention ever since the draw paired the duo in the same half, and it did not disappoint.
While not quite matching the five hours and 53 minutes of their 2012 Australian Open final, there was drama every step of the way.
Nadal failed to serve out the match in the fourth set and Djokovic let a 4-2 lead slip in the fifth, before the Spaniard proved the stronger as the decider headed past one hour and 20 minutes.
"It's very, very special for me," said Nadal. "I want to congratulate Novak, he's a great champion and he will win here at Roland Garros one day, I'm sure.
"Serving for the match at 6-5 in the fourth, I was serving against the wind, so I knew it was going to be a difficult game. I was ready for the fight. In Australia 2012 it was a similar match - today it was me [that won]. That's the great thing about sport."
World number one Djokovic said: "It's been an unbelievable match to be part of, but all I can feel now is disappointment. That's it. I congratulate him, because that's why he's a champion.
Rafael Nadal has lost just once in his 59 matches at Roland Garros - a fourth-round defeat to Sweden's Robin Soderling in 2009
"That's why he's been ruling Roland Garros for many years, and for me it's another year."
With the temperature pushing 30C, Nadal's fearsome forehand had dominated the early stages, helping him to break at 3-3 and go ahead early in the second.
Djokovic would prove to be at his most dangerous when behind, however, stringing together a brilliant four games to level and letting out an almighty roar after one rasping forehand.
The two tournament favourites landed blow after blow on each other, with Nadal responding superbly to dropping the second set by breaking at the start of the third when a line call went against Djokovic.
Nadal closed it out after a brisk 37 minutes, interrupted only when Djokovic headed off court with the trainer, and the champion twice led by a break in the fourth against the apparently fading top seed.
Djokovic refused to yield, however, recovering to 4-4 before some magnificent returning denied Nadal as he served for a place in the final at 6-5.
With the wind in his sails once again, Djokovic raced through the tie-break, levelling the match with a fizzing forehand that caught out Nadal at the net, and got his first glimpse of a place in the final with another great return at the start of the fifth.
Djokovic, looking for the one Grand Slam title that has so far eluded him, made it to 4-2 before Nadal began to reel him in, levelling in a thrilling game that saw the Serb miss an easy put away by touching the net at deuce.
Both men produced brilliant tennis, and the occasional shocking miss, as the games ticked by and the tension rose, but several missed smashes and complaints to the umpire about the slippery court suggested Djokovic was the edgier.
When the end came, it was swift, as Nadal fired a forehand winner on his way to three match points and Djokovic sent a tired forehand over the baseline.
It might only have been a semi-final, but the Spaniard's reaction showed how thrilled he was to reach his first Slam final after 12 months so disrupted by injury. | Rafael Nadal won a stunning heavyweight clash with world number one Novak Djokovic to reach his eighth French Open final. |
39,842,975 | The finds, including a well-preserved skull, bolster the idea that the Homo naledi people deliberately deposited their dead in the cave.
Evidence of such complex behaviour is surprising for a human species with a brain that's a third the size of ours.
Despite showing some primitive traits it lived relatively recently, perhaps as little as 235,000 years ago.
That would mean the naledi people could have overlapped with the earliest of our kind - Homo sapiens.
In a slew of papers published in the journal eLife, Prof Lee Berger from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, Prof John Hawks from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, US, and their collaborators have outlined details of the new specimens and, importantly, ages for the remains.
The H. naledi story starts in 2013, when the remains of almost 15 individuals of various ages were discovered inside the Dinaledi chamber - part of South Africa's Rising Star Cave system.
At the same time, the researchers were exploring a second chamber about 100m away, known as Lesedi ("light" in the Setswana language which is spoken in the region).
The finds from Dinaledi were published in 2015, but remains from the Lesedi chamber had not previously been presented, until now.
The latest specimens include the remains of at least three individuals - two adults and a child.
One of the adults has a "wonderfully complete skull", according to Prof Hawks. This tough-looking specimen is probably male, and has been named "Neo", which means "a gift" in the Sesotho language of southern Africa.
Examination of its limb bones shows that it was equally comfortable climbing and walking.
The fact that Homo naledi was alive at the same time and in the same region of Africa as early representatives of Homo sapiens gives us an insight into the huge diversity of different human forms in existence during the Pleistocene.
"Here in southern Africa, in this time range, you have the Florisbad skull, which may be an ancestor or close relative of modern humans; you've got the Kabwe skull, which is some kind of archaic human and possibly quite divergent; you've got evidence from modern people's genomes that archaic lineages have been contributing to modern populations and may have existed until quite recently," said Prof Hawks.
"You have this very primitive form of Homo [naledi] that has survived alongside these other species for a million years or more. It is amazing the diversity that we are now seeing that we had missed before."
As to how H. naledi held on to its distinctive characteristics while living cheek-by-jowl with other human species, Prof Hawks said: "It's hard to say it was geographic isolation because there's no boundary - no barrier. It's the same landscape from here to Tanzania; we're in one continuous savannah, woodland-type habitat.
He added that the human-sized teeth probably reflected a diet like that of modern humans. In addition, H. naledi had limb proportions just like ours and there is no apparent reason why it could not have used stone tools.
"It doesn't look like they're in a different ecological niche. That's weird; it's a problem. This is not a situation where we can point to them and say: 'They co-existed because they're using resources differently'," Prof Hawks told BBC News.
The researchers say that finding the remains of multiple individuals in a separate chamber bolsters the idea that Homo naledi was caching its dead. If correct, this surprising - and controversial claim - hints at an intelligent mind and, perhaps, the stirrings of culture.
By dating the site, researchers have sought to clear up some of the puzzles surrounding the remains.
In 2015, Prof Berger told BBC News that the remains could be up to three million years old based on their primitive characteristics. Yet the bones are only lightly mineralised, which raised the possibility that they might not be very ancient (although this is not always an accurate guide).
In order to arrive at an age, the team dated the bones themselves, sediments on the cave floor and flowstones - carbonate minerals formed when water runs down the wall or along the floor of a cave.
Several techniques were used: optically stimulated luminescence to date the cave sediments, uranium-thorium dating and palaeomagnetic analyses for the flowstones and combined U-series and electron spin resonance (US-ESR) for dating three naledi teeth.
By combining results together, they were able to constrain the age of the Homo naledi remains to between 236,000 and 335,000 years ago.
"We've got a geological bracket based on flowstones overlying the fossils and we've had direct dates on the teeth themselves," said John Hawks.
The team sent samples to two separate labs to perform their analyses "blind". This meant that neither lab knew what the other was doing, or what their analytical approaches were. Despite this, they returned the same results.
"This is now the best dated site in southern Africa - we threw everything at it," said John Hawks.
Commenting on the dates, Prof Chris Stringer, of London's Natural History Museum, said: "This is astonishingly young for a species that still displays primitive characteristics found in fossils about two million years old."
Apart from one well known exception (the Indonesian "Hobbit"), Prof Stringer explained, "the discovery and dating also question the usual assumption that... selection universally drove the evolution of a larger brain in humans during the last million years."
Many mysteries remain about this intriguing member of the human family tree. Not least of them is H. naledi's evolutionary history up until the point the remains show up in the Rising Star cave system.
Researchers currently envisage two possibilities. The first is that H. naledi represents one of these earliest branches of Homo - perhaps something like Homo habilis. It retains a rather primitive anatomy while evolving in parallel with the branch of the human family tree that eventually results in modern humans.
The other possibility is that it diverged more than a million years ago from a more advanced form of Homo - perhaps Homo erectus - and then reverted to a more primitive form in some aspects of its skull and teeth.
Follow Paul on Twitter.
Get news from the BBC in your inbox, each weekday morning | A new haul of ancient human remains has been described from an important cave site in South Africa. |
32,427,673 | As reported earlier this week on the BBC, the UK's biggest banks have lost some customers following a change to the switching system.
It now takes seven working days to change accounts, rather than up to 30 as was the case previously.
All regular payments are automatically moved over to the new account.
For 36 months after the switch, payments accidentally made to or requested from the old account are automatically redirected to the new one.
Banks including Barclays, NatWest, HSBC, Lloyds Bank and RBS were among those recording the biggest losers of customers using the switching service between July and September last year, figures show.
Meanwhile, Halifax, Santander, Nationwide Building Society and Tesco Bank made net gains in current account customers using the switching service.
The Payments Council, which oversees the switching system, said 1.14 million current account customers switched to another deal in the past 12 months, a 7% year-on-year increase.
Andrew Hagger, of MoneyComms, said: "The figures show that although more people are voting with their feet and looking for a more suitable banking relationship, the vast majority are refusing to budge from their existing provider despite the array of enticing upfront cash incentives on offer.
"The confusing array of different tariffs on offer for credit interest, cashback, rewards and overdraft charges means the current account market remains a minefield for customers looking to find the most appropriate deal." | Major High Street banks are among the biggest losers of customers switching current accounts, figures have confirmed. |
37,649,892 | And high-profile international league tables are a very public form of this pecking order.
While these might measure a whole range of factors - from reputation and staff ratios to research output - what they do not compare is the ability of students who have been taught in these universities.
But the OECD, in its annual Education at a Glance, has published test results comparing the ability of graduates in different countries.
And it shows a very different map of higher education than the ranking tables, which are dominated by US and UK universities, such as Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge and UCL.
The OECD tested literacy skills among graduates - and the high-flyers were not in the US or UK, but in Japan and Finland.
These figures, based on test results rather than reputation, show a very different set of nationalities from the usual suspects.
The OECD's top 10 highest performing graduates
None of the countries in the top places make much of an appearance in conventional university rankings.
But while the names of US Ivy League universities are familiar around the world, Norwegian and Australian universities seem to be turning out more capable graduates.
In the QS World University Rankings, there were 32 US universities in the top 100, but only one from New Zealand.
But graduates from New Zealand are higher achieving than their US counterparts.
There is also the question of cost - and the return on investment in higher education for both students and taxpayers.
The Dutch university system, with low fees, outperforms the United States and England, which charge much higher tuition fees.
Scotland and Wales are not included in this OECD measure, but Northern Ireland is in 14th place.
It casts a light too on how an efficient school system might not translate into success in higher education.
South Korea and Singapore, both high achievers at school level, are below average in the graduate rankings.
And what does it mean for the value of university degrees in countries such as Italy, Spain and Greece, who are languishing at the bottom of these graduate test results?
Andreas Schleicher, the OECD's education director, says the results show ability levels can "vary hugely among people with similar qualifications".
They might all have degrees, but "there are major differences in the quality of higher education".
"When it comes to advanced literacy skills, you might be better off getting a high school degree in Japan, Finland or the Netherlands than getting a tertiary degree in Italy, Spain or Greece," says Mr Schleicher.
These OECD test results may be completely different from conventional university rankings, but the two sets of findings are not incompatible, says Ben Sowter, director of the QS World University Rankings.
While the OECD has compared standards across national higher education systems, the university rankings are focused on an elite group of individual universities.
Mr Sowter says if every university in the US was measured in rankings, it would show "they have a share of the worst as well as the best".
The US has a highly polarised education system, but that is not apparent from a ranking system that focuses only on the top.
QS World University Rankings 2016-17
The success of a country such as Finland in the quality of its graduates could owe as much to its school system as its universities, Mr Sowter says.
And it is likely to be "harder to run a bad university in Finland than in the US".
But Mr Sowter says the OECD findings highlight a longstanding question about priorities for higher education.
Should countries invest in making sure there is a good overall standard - or should they focus on cultivating a few world-leading institutions?
There would be a good economic case for arguing for a consistently high standard across all universities rather than a landscape of peaks and valleys.
More stories from the BBC's Global education series looking at education from an international perspective, and how to get in touch
University rankings can highlight differences between individual institutions, but Mr Sowter says they cannot be used to evaluate how well a higher education system is performing.
The OECD runs the Pisa tests, which compare standards in secondary schools in more than 70 countries.
And there was an attempt by the think tank to set up a higher education version, so that comparisons could be made between individual universities.
But universities, particularly in the US, were not at all keen, and there seems little imminent sign of university league tables based on the quality of the students they produce.
Even though there might be scepticism about how international league tables are calculated, there is no avoiding their importance, when universities have to compete as much as brands as academic institutions.
When Oxford was named for the first time this year at the top of the Times Higher Education world rankings, it was headline news.
But according to the OECD tables, maybe the celebrations should be among graduates in Japan and Finland. | Higher education has a strong sense of hierarchy. |
35,561,182 | Here Sarah Scott describes the shock she experienced when details of her medical history, which were so personal her own mother did not know about them, were brought up in court by her rapist's QC.
My name is Sarah. I live in the north east of Scotland. I am a mother. I am a rape survivor.
In May 2011, my rapist, Adrian Ruddock, was convicted at the High Court in Aberdeen and sentenced to eight years imprisonment.
In the days that followed my rape, I struggled to cope mentally and emotionally. I didn't want to deal with it - I couldn't. The pain, the trauma, it consumed me.
This culminated in me attempting to end my life. I was admitted to A&E and given life-saving treatment.
It was here, in my fragile mental state - still dazed, confused, traumatised, still bleeding from the tears when he ripped me open - that I was given a piece of paper to sign by police officers.
It was a consent form for my medical records to be used as evidence. I wasn't given any legal advice, I wasn't even offered a choice. It was handed to me and I was to sign it.
I was never told what this information would be used for. I was certainly never told that my rapist's QC - Ronald Renucci - would broadcast personal information from my childhood in court.
I tried to prepare myself in the months that followed for giving evidence. I made detailed notes - I filled notebooks with everything that could be asked of me in court.
I was determined to be prepared for everything and anything. But I placated myself with the belief that legislation would prevent my rapist's QC from attacking my character. I was wrong. Very wrong.
Giving evidence can only be described as re-victimisation and secondary violation. In other words: being raped all over again.
I knew that I would have to tell the court in chilling detail precisely how this man violated me, I knew the defence were going to paint me as some scorned temptress, I knew it was going to be difficult.
Look, to the world I epitomise the old cliche of "asking for it". I am the perfect imperfect rape victim. I was drunk. I was wearing a short skirt. I knew the man who attacked me. I willingly, albeit under false pretences, went back to his home.
But nothing prepared me - or rather, no one prepared me - for the fact that my previous mental health records were going to be lambasted in a courtroom full of strangers.
While cross examining me, Renucci asked something that shocked me. He asked me if I had ever self-harmed in the past.
I was confused. I was angry. I didn't understand. When I was a young teenager - around 13-years-old - I was bullied at high school. I was depressed.
I resorted to self-harm to deal with my pain. I had only confided this detail to a school psychologist, maybe my doctor. I hadn't even told my own mother.
But here, at the trial of my rapist - some seven or more years later - this incredibly personal information was being broadcast to all - journalists, the jury, the judge, and worst of all, the man who only five months prior had repeatedly raped me.
I am sure he could see the colour drain from my face, I am sure everyone could. My heart felt like it had 1,000 anchors pulling it to the ground. I wasn't prepared for this.
All those hours of taking notes and I didn't see this coming. I was blindsided. Completely blindsided. I looked around, desperate for someone to save me, to help me, to see that this was not right. But it was in vain. I proclaimed something along the lines of: "Do I have to answer that?".
The judge, Lord Bracadale, told me that I did, in fact, have to answer. He told me that only the prosecution were allowed to object to a line of questioning. They didn't.
So there, alone, I had to tell the world that when I was a little bullied girl I cut myself to deal with the pain.
Normally in life when someone is verbally attacking you and your identity and character you can walk away. You can ignore them. You can leave the room. I couldn't do this. I had to answer his questions.
I was so traumatised that I didn't want to go back in that courtroom. I told staff that I was running away. I was told I had no choice - a warrant for my arrest would be issued otherwise.
It sounds cliche, but I truly did feel like I was on trial - I was on trial for being raped.
Why were my mental health records brought up in court that day?
My rapist was convicted after a majority verdict. I will never know how many of those jurors thought that I was lying. I will never know what their reasons were, but in my mind it's clear: it's at least in part because of those medical records. I may be wrong, but that's truly what I believe.
My experience is not unique: since my assault, I have spoken to countless survivors who have experienced the same thing I have. It's not right. It's not fair. It cannot continue. Something has to change. | Campaigners have welcomed a ruling by a senior judge that abuse victims should be able to access legal aid to fight attempts by lawyers to obtain their medical records. |
24,429,466 | A third (32%) of support staff in UK state schools polled by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) said they took classes for absent teachers.
Over a fifth (22%) said they took more classes in 2012-13 than in 2011-12.
A Department for Education (DfE) spokeswoman said: "The rules are clear - they should not be teaching."
The DfE said teaching assistants and other classroom support staff played a vital role in the classroom, short of teaching whole classes of children.
"The government's recent review of school efficiency showed that, when properly trained and deployed, teaching assistants play an important role in helping to improve learning," the spokeswoman said.
"It is for school leaders to use the expertise of all staff to ensure any disruption to pupils is minimal and that taxpayers get value for money."
The ATL polled more than 1,400 of its members working as support staff in state schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
A spokeswoman for the union said the rules allow classroom assistants to teach small groups of children under the supervision of a qualified teacher, but they should not teach whole classes or prepare teaching material.
Higher level teaching assistants may contribute to lesson planning and deliver lessons to whole classes to assist an assigned teacher, while cover supervisors are employed to supervise classes while pupils complete work set by a teacher.
A quarter (25.4%) of the teaching assistants and learning support workers surveyed and almost half (49.1%) of higher level teaching assistants said they were asked to cover lessons.
Of the 400 who said they stood in for the regular class teacher, 60% said they did the same work as fully qualified teachers, claims the union, while a third (31%) of these staff said they had been used to take classes for three or more consecutive days.
The union quotes a higher level teaching assistant at a secondary school in England: "I prepare, teach and mark at least four lessons for two year-7, bottom-set classes, and a year-8 set for at least three hours a week. It is teaching on the cheap."
A cover supervisor said: "I have even been asked to give copies of lessons I have prepared to members of teaching staff."
A primary school teaching assistant added: "It is unfair that many teaching assistants are teaching classes in the absence of a teacher, and doing the same job as a teacher for much less money."
ATL general secretary Dr Mary Bousted said: "Schools are selling children short by using teaching assistants to teach classes when the regular teacher is unavailable.
"We are totally opposed to this exploitation of support staff who are being used as a cheap option to teachers.
"It is grossly unfair on them and on the children and their parents who rightly expect their children to be taught by qualified teachers." | Classroom support staff say they are increasingly being asked to stand in for fully qualified teachers, a union is claiming. |
37,301,666 | The former Celtic and Chelsea defender was asked if would rather attend the Old Firm clash (12:00 BST) or encounter between United and City (12:30 KO).
"Manchester's a great game, great city, great managers, great players," said Elliott, who had two years in Glasgow.
"But I'd love to be among the Celtic supporters in that intensity."
The Old Firm rivals have only met twice in cup competitions since financial problems led to Rangers playing four seasons in the lower divisions.
"Scotland suffered commercially, environmentally, socially because of that," Elliott told BBC Scotland's Sportsound ahead of Celtic and Rangers' first Scottish Premiership meeting of the season.
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"It is a huge game and especially with the circumstances.
"I think it is wonderful that this weekend the two biggest clubs in Scotland have reconnected and we've got a fantastic game in prospect, not just for Scotland but for Britain and maybe for the whole of Europe as well.
"Being in that environment, in that intensity, after a five-year absence, being part of an Old Firm game - that's where I would want to be."
Elliott, who also played for Charlton, Luton, Aston Villa, and Pisa in Italy, says he "never experienced such a rivalry, a day-to-day intensity" as his time with Celtic from 1989 to 1991.
"Two huge clubs, two global brands within a three-mile square radius," he noted.
"I was in Italy before, playing at a slow, far more moderate tempo and build-up.
"Coming from that tempo, at times in Glasgow I felt like I needed an extra lung to keep up with the play. It took me three or four months to just get used to the tempo."
Former Netherlands full-back Arthur Numan joined Rangers in 1998, nine years after Elliott arrived at Celtic, despite knowing little about Scottish football.
His Old Firm debut was a 5-1 drubbing at Celtic Park.
"The atmosphere was unbelievable," recalled the 46-year-old, who spent five years with Rangers after joining from PSV Eindhoven. "Sometimes I was looking around me and thinking 'what is happening?'.
"I had just come back from the World Cup, so I was playing at the highest level against the big teams and against the best players.
"But to be honest, playing in an Old Firm game was still the highlight of my career.
"Nothing can beat the Old Firm and all my friends who came over said it was absolutely fantastic and all wanted to come back, even now." | Paul Elliott says he would rather be at Celtic Park than Old Trafford as the Glasgow and Manchester derbies compete for worldwide attention on Saturday. |
35,924,192 | Ni Yulan had hoped to travel this week to accept the state department's International Women of Courage Award.
But she says she was refused a passport. She also alleges she and her husband were forcibly evicted from their home and he was beaten up.
Ms Ni, a lawyer, is known for defending property rights of citizens.
She had been due to attend the US award ceremony in Washington on Tuesday, and had applied for a new passport last month.
"When I went to get a passport I was told I was forbidden to travel abroad," she told the BBC. "They raised my involvement in a criminal case in which I had supported the defendants and written some articles on their behalf."
She said there was no legal reason for withholding her passport: "It was an excuse and a violation of my rights."
Earlier, she told overseas Chinese-language news sites that Beijing authorities refused her permission to travel because of her links with a group of human rights lawyers who were arrested in July last year.
She also said she was also told by her property agent to vacate her rented Beijing home. The agent said the police had put pressure on him to end her rental agreement prematurely.
On Saturday a large group of men - some of them wearing black uniforms - barged into their home and threw them out, she said, adding that they also confiscated money from her.
"Some of them started beating up my husband, another group rushed into the interior of our home and started flinging out items," she told Voice of America (in Chinese).
"After beating my husband they dragged him out to the courtyard entrance where they continued to beat him and stomped on him with their feet."
The couple have since moved in with a friend.
Ms Ni is known for helping a group of Beijing residents whose homes were demolished to make way for structures built for the 2008 Olympic Games.
She has been jailed repeatedly by Chinese authorities and uses a wheelchair - a consequence, she and her supporters say, of mistreatment by police over the years. | A Chinese human rights activist says she has been barred from leaving the country just as she was planning to travel to the US to accept an award. |
31,853,206 | The 19-year-old spent time in League Two on loan at Cheltenham this season, making six appearances.
Jones moved to Liverpool from Plymouth's academy and played for the Wales Under-19 team before switching his allegiance to England.
"His experience at this level with Cheltenham will help him," said Stanley boss John Coleman.
"Defence is probably the one area that we're a bit short in and Lloyd will be a great addition to our squad."
The centre-back is available for Accrington's game at Burton on Saturday. | League Two side Accrington Stanley have signed Liverpool defender Lloyd Jones on loan for one month. |
23,898,955 | Waverley Borough Council said preparatory work on the Brightwells area will begin in September.
The government has confirmed a compulsory purchase order for the Marlborough Head pub and the removal of two public footpaths.
The scheme includes a town square, cinema, shops and 239 homes.
It was originally approved in 2008 but was delayed after protesters objected to the loss of the theatre, increased traffic and the loss of trees and historic features. | The redevelopment of Farnham town centre has moved closer after the government approved two compulsory purchase orders allowing work to begin. |
36,670,480 | Barclays is "staying anchored in Great Britain" he told BBC business editor Simon Jack.
Some banks have warned that the Brexit vote may affect jobs.
But Mr Staley said: "Right now we are not making any plans to pick up and move people from one location to another."
That said, Barclays "wants to be involved in the capital markets globally" and wants to "stay connected to the European capital markets".
The bank will aim to take on new employees if access to Europe is restricted by Brexit, he said.
"You might have to increase your presence in another location - that doesn't necessarily mean you have to decrease [at] your location here," Mr Staley said.
"We saw the one of the biggest one day declines in global wealth in history and the financial system worked fine".
That was Barclays chief executive Jes Staley's stoic reflection on Friday's $2.5 trillion market reaction to the UK's vote to leave the EU, which he said caught him and the markets by surprise.
Barclay's own shares lost nearly a third of their value last Friday. A rout he put down to fears that a political upheaval could lead to an economic downturn.
Now the market storm has subsided, many shares, excluding the bank's, have regained lost ground, and the focus moves on to the real economy and the impact on investment and jobs.
Several of Barclays neighbours in Canary Wharf have said jobs may move to Europe.
HSBC ruled out moving its global HQ from the UK but has said 1,000 jobs may go to Paris.
American bank JP Morgan has said up to 4,000 of its 16,000 UK workforce may be relocated.
Mr Staley was keen to emphasise that Barclays was a British bank that will remain anchored in Britain and although he conceded Barclays might set up a subsidiary in Europe, it wouldn't necessarily be at the expense of UK jobs.
As an American in the UK he drew parallels between the Brexit vote and the political landscape in his home country.
"There is definitely something going on here and in the US… the establishment needs to hear the narrative that globalisation and free trade is not working for the man on the street".
Major banks such as Barclays, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs employ thousands of people in the UK.
One of the reasons these banks find the UK so attractive is so-called "passporting" - their being able to employ people in one EU country, and offer services in another.
But there is a fear that banks in the UK could lose this right following the vote to leave the EU.
After the vote to leave, shares in banks including Barclays and RBS plummeted by around 30%.
Barclays shares are still trading around 20% down.
Mr Staley said: "Bank stocks took a real hit."
He said one of underlying factors in the drop were "a sense that the political crisis will lead to an economic crisis".
"I'm not sure that's true, but I think underlying there's this view that there may be a UK recession, and as a British bank we would be vulnerable to that." | Banking giant Barclays has no plans to move jobs out of the UK following the vote to leave the European Union, chief executive Jes Staley has said. |
35,985,112 | Property prices increased by 10.1% in the year to March compared with a year earlier, the lender found, making the average home worth £214,811.
This annual growth accelerated from 9.7% seen in the previous two months.
But the housing market could "soften" over the coming months amid uncertainty over the EU vote, the lender said.
The UK will have a referendum on 23 June on whether or not to remain a member of the European Union.
Martin Ellis, housing economist at the Halifax, also said that "worsening sentiment" regarding the UK economy might also be a factor in slowing the market.
However, the number of homes on the market is still outstripped by demand. This, alongside low interest rates and low unemployment, leads Mr Ellis to conclude that there is still likely to be "robust" house price growth ahead.
Last week, the Nationwide Building Society reported that in the year to March, house price inflation across the UK stood at 5.7% - up from 4.8% in February and the fastest rate for more than a year.
Last month, the Office for National Statistics revealed that the regional gap in house prices was widening. Prices rose by 8.6% in England in the year to the end of January, it said, compared with a 0.1% rise in Scotland, a 0.8% rise in Northern Ireland, and a 0.3% fall in Wales over the same period.
Commentators agree that a lack of supply is likely to hold up prices.
"At the coalface there is still a general shortage of the sort of property that people want to buy," said north London estate agent, Jeremy Leaf.
"Although more property is coming onto the market, much of it is aimed at investors who understandably are more reluctant to proceed because of higher stamp duty charges."
Since 1 April, landlords and those buying a second home have faced a 3% stamp duty surcharge on new purchases.
The Halifax said house prices have risen by 2.9% in the first three months of the year compared with the previous quarter, and by 2.6% in March compared with February.
Various surveys record UK house prices on a monthly basis, but they all have slightly different methodology.
The house price index by the Nationwide Building Society is the quickest to be released. It uses an average value for properties after considering components such as location and size. The survey is based on its own mortgage lending which represents about 13% of the market.
A survey by the Halifax, now part of Lloyds Banking Group, is published a few days later. Lloyds is the biggest mortgage lender in the UK with 20% of the market and, like the Nationwide, uses its own home loan data.
Figures from the Land Registry are widely considered to be the most robust but are published much later than the lenders' data. It calculates the price change for properties that have sold multiple times since 1995. This survey only covers England and Wales.
A survey is of house prices in Scotland is published by the Registers of Scotland, using a simple average of house prices. The Land and Property Services assisted by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency produces a quarterly house price index in Northern Ireland.
The official UK statistical authority - the Office for National Statistics - is another well-regarded survey, used for reference by government. It offers a UK-wide regional breakdown. It draws on data from the regulated mortgage survey by the Council of Mortgage Lenders, so excludes cash buyers of property.
Housing market sentiment is reflected in the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) survey of some of its members.
Various other surveys include a Hometrack review of house prices in UK cities, and a Rightmove survey of asking prices. | UK house prices are rising but uncertainty ahead of the EU referendum could slow the market, according to the Halifax. |
39,926,520 | The university said it would remove investment from extraction and production companies by 2025.
In 2015, students from 'Fossil Free QUB' occupied part of an administration building in protest against the policy.
A number of politicians attended a protest in support of the student group's campaign.
The move is part of a wider commitment to environmental sustainability, said Queen's President, Prof Patrick Johnson.
"We are currently implementing a comprehensive carbon management strategy which will significantly reduce our CO2 emissions by 2020," he said.
"Our new objective to disinvest from indirect investments in fossil fuels, subject to this not materially impacting on expected investment returns, further highlights our commitment to the green and environmental agenda in line with the University's Social Charter."
Divestment campaigns have emerged in universities across the world, aiming to fight climate change by removing investment from companies that produce or burn fossil fuels.
Students' Union President Seán Fearon, who was involved in the original protests, welcomed the move.
"Queen's University has made a bold statement about its commitment to combating climate change," he said.
"The Students' Union has led a long campaign to raise awareness about the impact of climate change and bring the divestment agenda to the forefront of student politics.
"With this announcement, the university places itself on the right side of history, and adds to the hundreds of public bodies who have pledged to take a stand against the most significant challenge facing our world today and move towards a fossil free society." | Queen's University Belfast is set to disinvest from fossil fuels after a two-year student campaign. |
29,180,421 | Christopher Penman, 58, was found dead in his bed in Beaumont Leys, Leicester, on 22 February. He had been stabbed 23 times.
Police believe Awat Akram, 25, of Beaumanor Road, Leicester, killed Mr Penman in an act of jealousy over his ex-partner.
At Leicester Crown Court, Akram was told he would serve at least 28 years.
The court heard how on the evening Mr Penman's body was discovered, Akram, who is deaf, went up to police at the cordon around the house and gestured to officers he ought to be arrested.
Leicestershire Police believe Akram broke into the house, looking for his ex-partner, a deaf woman who was then in a relationship with Mr Penman.
Speaking after the trial, Det Insp Shaun Orton said: "This was a particularly challenging investigation, as not just Akram is deaf, but the majority of witnesses were also deaf or hard of hearing.
"Akram killed Christopher in a brutal manner. He then went on to deny his involvement in the murder and told police several lies designed to mislead and obstruct the investigation.
"I know it was particularly traumatic for Christopher's family listening to the details of how he was killed whilst Akram showed no remorse in court."
In a statement after sentencing, Mr Penman's family said: "Dad [Christopher] was a good person; he would not have hurt a soul.
"Everyone in the deaf community will also deeply miss him. He was taken away too young and in such a horrible way." | A man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing a man in a "brutal" stabbing attack. |
36,382,131 | The Everton midfielder's thigh injury has prevented him from training fully since he linked up with the Republic squad on Monday.
McCarthy, 25, may not be risked in Friday's friendly against the Netherlands but O'Neill said he would "definitely" be in his Euro 2016 squad.
"The doctor tells me he's making good progress," said O'Neill on Wednesday.
"He's got a little bit of time. He's been an important part of the team over the last two years.
"It's one of those things you just want to be right rather than rushing back."
McCarthy, who has won 33 Irish caps, missed the Euro 2012 finals to be with his ill father.
O'Neill reported that Ciaran Clark's ankle injury is "improving" while Shane Long was able to train even though he still has stitches in his knee injury.
While McCarthy's squad spot is secure, the Republic boss has decisions to make over his midfield options.
Eunan O'Kane, Harry Arter, David Meyler, Stephen Quinn and Darron Gibson are all battling to impress O'Neill and the manager admitted that he has still to make up his mind on his central midfield permutations.
"That's an area we'd certainly be having a look at and we'll be looking until after the second game (against Belarus).
"There are one or two places at this minute that are still undecided.
"The players I am talking about may have not had much game time, so it is these training sessions and matches that will ultimately make my mind up."
O'Neill also has a decision to make on which three goalkeepers to bring to France and Shay Given may be handed an opportunity to prove his sharpness in Friday's game against the Dutch.
West Ham keeper Darren Randolph looks certain to be named in the squad with Given, Millwall's David Forde and Sheffield Wednesday's Keiren Westwood the contenders for the remaining two positions.
Given, 40, returned to Stoke duty last month after being out of action since sustaining a knee injury in the Republic's win over Germany last October.
The veteran hobbled off at half-time in Stoke's defeat by Manchester City four weeks ago but fears that he suffered a serious groin injury proved unfounded.
The Republic play the Dutch in Dublin on Friday night before facing Belarus in Cork on 31 May.
Their first match at the tournament is against Sweden in Paris on 13 June, with Belgium and Italy their other opponents in Group E. | Republic of Ireland boss Martin O'Neill has eased concerns over James McCarthy's fitness for Euro 2016. |
34,278,886 | Many migrants want to get asylum in Germany or Sweden, but those countries want their EU partners to show "solidarity" and share the burden.
Many have fled the conflicts and abuses in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Eritrea.
But there are also many economic migrants fleeing poverty in the Balkans and countries like Nigeria and Pakistan.
Why is Europe so divided over migrants?
The Greek islands near Turkey are the main focus of EU attention, as thousands of migrants continue to come ashore there daily.
For months tensions have been escalating between Greece and some of its EU partners. They accuse Athens of deliberately waving through migrants who ought to be registered as soon as they enter the EU.
The row with Austria got so bad in February that Greece withdrew its ambassador to Vienna.
Greece insists that it cannot become Europe's holding centre for migrants - it demands fair burden-sharing.
In January-February this year more than 120,000 migrants arrived in Greece - out of more than 130,000 who crossed the Mediterranean to reach the EU, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said.
The total in just two months was nearly as many as in the first half of 2015.
So far this year more than 400 migrants have drowned in the Aegean Sea, highlighting how risky the journey is.
The EU has given Greece until 12 May to fix "serious deficiencies" in its control of the EU's external border in the Aegean.
Four extra reception centres - called "hotspots" - are nearly ready on the islands.
The EU plans to give Greece €700m (£544m; $769m) in emergency aid to tackle the crisis. It is the first use inside the EU of funds earmarked for humanitarian disasters outside the EU.
Improving co-operation with Turkey on the migrants issue is a top priority for the EU.
But progress has been very slow. Meanwhile, people-smugglers in Turkey remain very adept at shipping desperate migrants across the Aegean, for extortionate fees.
Turkey is reluctant to readmit large numbers of migrants - but it is under intense EU pressure now to do so.
Under the current rules, only migrants who have no right to international protection can be sent back to Turkey. That means economic migrants.
The reason is that only one EU country considers Turkey "safe" for returning migrants. EU data shows that 23% of asylum claims from migrants of Turkish origin were deemed well-founded in 2014.
Turkey is demanding a high price for its co-operation, arguing that it has already spent €8bn helping refugees from the Syrian war. It is struggling with the influx, already housing 2.5 million in camps.
As a candidate to join the EU, Turkey wants to see real progress in its accession negotiations. The EU has pledged that, and is offering visa-free travel for Turkish citizens in the Schengen passport-free zone.
Historic tension between Greece and Turkey makes the Aegean operation to stem the migrant flow difficult - as does Turkey's long, zig-zagging coastline.
Schengen: EU free movement deal explained
A migrant bottleneck has built up on the Greece-Macedonia border since Macedonia put up a razor-wire fence at the Gevgelija-Idomeni border crossing.
More than 10,000 migrants are camping in squalid conditions near the fence. Some - children among them - are sleeping rough in icy conditions, with little food or medical help.
Some of Macedonia's Balkan neighbours have sent border guards to help police the new flashpoint. Anger boiled over in early March, with migrants battering down a gate before police fired tear gas to chase them away.
Migrants continue flocking to the border because they want to get to northern Europe. Yet under the EU's controversial Dublin Regulation a migrant's asylum claim is supposed to be processed in the country where he/she first arrives.
Macedonia also hopes to join the EU, but this crisis is just adding to the obstacles in its bid.
Its migrant policy appears discriminatory: it has been letting in small numbers of Syrians and Iraqis, but not Afghans.
Desperate migrants plead to escape 'hellish' Greek camp
Last year Hungary became a gateway for migrants bound for Germany.
It became the focus of world attention when Hungarian riot police fired water cannon and tear gas at a big crowd of migrants at the border with Serbia in September.
There was widespread criticism of Hungary for its decision to build a razor-wire fence and prosecute migrants entering illegally. But many Hungarians supported their government's tough stance, according to reports.
After completing the Serbia section Hungary extended the fence to stop migrants entering from Croatia.
The conservative Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said Europe's Christian heritage is under threat because most of the migrants are Muslims. He accused Germany of encouraging the influx by welcoming so many migrants.
Hungary and its northern neighbour Slovakia refuse to be part of an EU quota plan for distributing 160,000 migrants across the EU. They are currently in Greece and Italy - and so far fewer than 600 have been transferred.
The European Court of Justice is now considering a Hungarian-Slovak complaint against the EU.
Last year migrants poured into Austria from Hungary, en route to southern Germany. The authorities did not push them back.
But Austria re-imposed border checks - as did Germany on its border with Austria - as a temporary, emergency measure, allowed under Schengen rules. Slovakia - on Austria's eastern border - did so too.
The crisis caused major disruption to road and rail travel between Austria and its neighbours. Crowds of migrants gathered at Vienna's main stations, waiting for trains to take them north.
In the latest twist, Austria set new daily limits: a maximum of 80 asylum applications and 3,200 migrants in transit to other countries.
The European Commission has protested to Austria, saying those limits violate EU law.
Around 1.1 million asylum seekers arrived in Germany in 2015 - a record number. That put great strain on local authorities, who had to create emergency campsites.
Chancellor Angela Merkel says Germany will look after genuine refugees, fulfilling its international humanitarian duty.
That welcome does not extend to the many economic migrants. Those from Balkan countries like Kosovo, Albania and Serbia can now being sent back - Germany recently classified those countries as "safe".
Mrs Merkel has been much criticised for her "open door" policy on refugees. The critics include fellow conservatives, notably the Bavarian CSU party.
Last year there was an outpouring of sympathy and help for the new arrivals from many ordinary Germans.
But there were also many street protests by the right-wing Pegida movement, which claims to be defending Germany from "Islamisation".
There have been hundreds of attacks on migrant hostels - usually empty buildings allocated for new arrivals. In many cases they were gutted by fire.
Anxiety was fuelled by the Cologne attacks, when hundreds of women were assaulted at New Year, many of them sexually molested. Victims and witnesses mostly blamed gangs of migrant men from North Africa.
Germany wanted its EU partners to accept mandatory quotas, to spread the migrants EU-wide. France, Italy and Greece backed Germany on that - but EU leaders as a whole decided on a voluntary scheme.
French demolition squads have been tearing down migrant shacks at the "Jungle" - a squalid campsite in Calais, where about 4,000 migrants are hoping to get across the Channel to the UK.
Basic, clean shelters have been erected instead - but migrants yearning to reach the UK do not want to stay there, and are avoiding registration.
The UK has immigration checkpoints at Calais and Dunkirk, under an agreement with France.
There have been warnings that France could end that arrangement if British voters reject EU membership in the UK's June in-out referendum.
Most of the Calais migrants are from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Eritrea or Sudan.
France re-imposed police checks on its border with Belgium after the November Paris attacks, in which jihadists murdered 130 people.
News that two of the killers had passed through Greece fuelled alarm about freedom of movement under Schengen.
Marine Le Pen's National Front (FN) is a major force in French politics - it is anti-EU and deplores mass immigration.
Last summer Greece became the main Mediterranean gateway for migrants - previously it had been Italy.
Several factors have made it riskier for migrants to head for Italy by boat: hundreds have drowned in repeated disasters at sea; war-torn Libya is extremely dangerous; the voyage is longer - even to Lampedusa, a tiny island near Tunisia.
More EU resources have been put into Frontex, the border agency now monitoring migrant routes from Libya. But EU officials say a bigger effort is needed, as the sea area is vast.
Italy is angry that some EU partners are so unwilling to share the migrant burden. Its reception centres - especially in Lampedusa and Sicily - are overcrowded, like those in Greece.
The Danish stance on immigration is among the toughest in Europe. Controversially, Denmark has given police the power to seize valuables worth more than 10,000 kroner (€1,340; £1,000) from refugees to cover housing and food costs.
In January Sweden introduced identity checks for travellers from Denmark in an attempt to curb migrant numbers.
The clampdown has slowed transit across the Oresund bridge - a rail and bus link - as now all travellers have to present their ID at checkpoints. And rail commuters have to change trains at Copenhagen Airport.
More than 160,000 asylum seekers arrived in Sweden in 2015, more per capita than any other country in Europe.
Sweden introduces border controls
A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants. | Big fault lines have opened up across the European Union - both east-west and north-south - because of the migrant crisis. |
29,445,063 | "This is Crusader-Arab treachery, a war on all Sunnis," read a placard at a recent protest in Syria against civilian casualties said to be the result of US air strikes.
If bombing is killing some civilians, it is no surprise. Islamic State is a relatively small, irregular force, dispersed among the population.
But more than that - in the conservative, rural Sunni Arab heartland, most of the IS fighters are local tribesmen. The jihadists are not some foreign blight. They grew out of the soil of Iraq and Syria.
At the start, the Arab Spring and the promise of democracy seemed to make al-Qaeda, or its variants, irrelevant. But two years into Syria's civil war, I remember bumping into a senior officer with the Free Syrian Army (FSA), one of those touted by Western diplomats as a secular moderate.
I learned later that he had just appeared on YouTube next to a notoriously bloodthirsty Chechen jihadist commander.
"We kiss the hand that holds the trigger against Assad," he had declared.
As the civil war ground on, the rebels began to change. Some I knew who had not seemed particularly religious started to pepper their conversation with quotes from the Koran.
The explanation was partly that fighters who risked their lives every day, and saw death all around them, had rediscovered and strengthened their faith.
They had also lost hope that serious Western help would ever come. Instead, they had turned to the jihadists, funded by rich patrons in the Gulf.
One of those jihadist groups was the al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda's Syrian subsidiary, which is now being bombed along with Islamic State.
We encountered them back in January 2013, just as they were emerging from the shadows.
This feared and secretive group agreed to speak to us. I asked them whether the jihad would continue if a democratic Syria rejected their aim of establishing an Islamic state.
"That will never happen," said a commander. "Syria is an Islamic country and people love Islam. They're fed up of secular regimes. It's impossible that they would reject Sharia."
Well-funded, and well-organised, less inclined to the thievery and kidnapping practised by parts of the FSA, al-Nusra quickly became one of the strongest rebel groups. They began a bloody struggle over who would control Syria's revolution against the jihadists who now make up Islamic State.
Other rebel groups - mostly from the FSA - sided with al-Nusra in that struggle and - this time last year - joined them in issuing "Communique No 1". That also broke with Syria's Western-backed political opposition, the National Coalition.
Communique No 1 was a clear statement that the rebels were fighting for Sharia, not democracy. It was an evisceration of Western policy - increasingly, Western governments would find it difficult to identify rebel groups they could back in Syria's uprising.
Meanwhile, there was a civil war within the civil war - a struggle between different groups of Islamists. Al-Nusra and the other rebel groups pushed Islamic State out of Aleppo and back to their headquarters of Raqqa.
IS - ever flexible - turned to Iraq. There, Sunni grievances against the Shia-led government, had presented them with an opening. They seized it in June of this year when they took control of Iraq's second largest city, Mosul.
I suspect that even IS was surprised by the speed and scale of the victory in Mosul.
The immense corruption in the Iraqi security forces was partly to blame. And Shia soldiers did not want to fight for predominantly Sunni cities like Mosul or Tikrit, while many Sunnis viewed the Shia-led government in Baghdad as murderously sectarian.
In Mosul, IS captured tonnes of weapons and ammunition, and hundreds of armoured vehicles and tanks. They also captured the propaganda initiative - young Sunnis flocked to the cause. In Syria, therefore, IS was able to go on the offensive once again.
The jihadists are closing in, advancing along the main road to Kobane; the Kurds know they must stop them there or lose the town.
The Kurds say that air strikes have not stopped IS from moving forces up to confront them. They are pleading for a more decisive Western intervention. Islamic State fighters filmed themselves on the road to Kobane happy and relaxed. They believe victory is within their grasp.
Still, in Kobane, the US has a Kurdish infantry that can take advantage of air strikes. It may simply take more intensive strikes to tip the balance.
Elsewhere in Syria, there are hundreds of Sunni Arab armed groups, many of them Islamist.
Al-Nusra is talking about uniting with its old rival, Islamic State, and could take other rebel groups with them.
For bombing to work in Syria, the US and other Western powers must find a reliable partner among the rebels groups. That is something they have struggled to do in three years of civil war.
It is another reason why - as the politicians have warned - the struggle against Islamic State will be a long war. | As Islamic State (IS) seeks to expand the territory under its control in Iraq and Syria, attacking the border town of Kobane, the BBC's Paul Wood charts the rise of jihadist groups in the region. |
40,110,399 | "The fast-food factories: McJobs are bad for kids" a headline announced over a report about thousands of teenagers employed in McDonald's US kitchens.
The term took hold, to such an extent the Oxford English Dictionary still defines McJobs - 30 years later - as a catch-all for "unstimulating, low-paid jobs with few prospects, especially ones created by the expansion of the service sector".
Job insecurity is a common feature.
Fretting about "McJobs" has returned as the world of work changes rapidly.
And whoever wins the next general election will need to deal with this most fundamental of changes, away from the world of the nine-to-five, permanent job with a single employer, and towards a world of flexibility where people and technology become more entwined.
The very wealth of our economy depends on riding this wave - a global trend - successfully.
One of the first challenges the new prime minister will face is how to react to the most significant inquiry into the new world of work at present being finalised by Matthew Taylor, the head of the Royal Society of Arts.
He was commissioned to undertake the review by Theresa May last autumn, and has said he will deliver the report to Number 10 shortly after 8 June.
Much of this new world of work is said to be negative.
The number of zero-hours contracts - which offer no guaranteed work - has grown from 143,000 in 2008 to over 900,000 now.
Alongside that development comes the expansion of "self-employment" which has accounted for 45% of all employment growth over the same period (although it is worth remembering that more than 80% of working adults are still in more traditional, permanent employment).
Are zero hours contracts simply the return of "casualisation", where employees are at the beck and call of profit-hungry and often unscrupulous employers?
Or a nod to new, modern needs for flexibility, so that work can be balanced with the rest of life?
Is hiring from the new army of the "self-employed" simply a way of businesses avoiding tax and pension responsibilities and bypassing the rights - such as holiday and maternity leave - guaranteed to full time workers?
Or a nod to individual autonomy, where people work to their own rhythm and receive just reward for their entrepreneurial flair?
Of course, it depends which businesses you speak to.
Especially if it's the business that was the original butt of the McJobs attack - McDonald's.
"We have restaurant managers that look after 100 people, they are running businesses over £2m [in revenues] and they are responsible at a young age for their fortunes and their future," Paul Pomroy, the chief executive of McDonald's UK, told me.
Many of those managers started in the kitchens - not actually flipping burgers, it turns out, as machines fry the beef patties on both sides and there is no need to turn them over.
Indeed, when I put it to one manager, Liz Stephenson, that working in McDonald's is not all "flipping burgers", she replies archly: "I've never flipped a burger."
Snobbery is one word that comes to the mind of people like Liz when they consider how some view a career like hers, which started behind the counter on casual hours when she was at school and now involves being the company point person for restaurant managers who are running businesses with revenues counted in the tens of millions of pounds a year.
We have long had a rather romanticised vision of manufacturing jobs - even low-skilled ones - and have yet to fall in love with the service economy - such as retail - despite the fact it makes up the vast proportion of our economy.
"McDonald's offer training and a real career," Ms Stephenson (who is off to Chicago to receive a global company award for her achievements) tells me. "I've heard all the jokes."
Whatever the protestations of businesses which say they have worked hard improving their employment practices (McDonald's offers zero-hours workers rights to sick and holiday pay and has never demanded employees abide by "exclusivity clauses"), chief executives know controversies over companies such as Sports Direct and Uber can muddy all their reputations.
"Businesses take decisions that do damage," Mr Pomroy said, making clear he is not referring to any specific examples.
"Businesses in the modern world need to open up more, be transparent and be honest about how they treat their people and how they treat their customers.
"The internet has such a vast array of information, you can't sit back and hide anymore and not be front foot."
He added: "People up and down our workforce want to be treated with respect, they want a fair chance, they want progression, they want to have fun when they are working, they want to feel part of a team.
"I want to be able to walk into our staff rooms and look people in the eye and know we are treating them fairly - whether it is the 16-year-old school leaver or the 35-year-old mum who is using our flexible contacts to interweave with childcare."
Mr Pomroy dismisses claims that zero-hours contracts, for example, are simply a method for firms to keep people in insecure, low-paid work.
As I wrote last month, when offered the chance to move on to fixed-hours contracts, 80% of McDonald's staff affected said they preferred zero-hours.
The other big, robotic, beast in the room when it comes to the new world of work is technology.
The fear is that while we worry about zero-hours and self-employment, artificial intelligence and computers that can crunch "big data" in the blink of an eye are going to replace millions of us in the workplace.
For services industries like his, Mr Pomroy is not so sure.
"Since we have introduced technology - you can place your order on giant screens - it hasn't actually saved us labour in terms of reducing the number of people we need," he said.
"We've actually used that as a springboard to put more people out in the dining area, so giving hospitality.
"We've introduced table service. Using technology to enhance the customer experience is what is critical - not cutting the number of jobs we offer.
"So since we have been introducing technology, we've recruited a further 5,000 people - taking our total workforce to 115,000."
That jobs growth will continue, he insists, revealing plans to recruit 2,000 to 3,000 jobs a year.
"We have over half our restaurants open 24 hours a day, five days a week, and there is still opportunity to extend the number of restaurants that operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
"We are also a growing business. We have had 11 years of consecutive sales growth. I've got no plans to slow that down."
In 2007 McDonald's launched a campaign to have "McJobs" removed from the dictionary.
They are still trying.
"I would love it to go," Mr Pomroy said.
"Not for me, I'm the CEO. It's more for the 115,000 people that work in our restaurants; they would love it to be removed."
McDonald's spawned the "McJobs" tag in the 1980s and insists it has moved on.
Mr Pomroy's problem is that other businesses could now be taking on the mantle as the new world of work throws up a very 21st century challenge. | It was the Washington Post that first coined the term in 1986. |
38,605,812 | The hosts, who beat Championship side Ipswich in the FA Cup on Tuesday, broke the deadlock after nine minutes when Dover defender Tyrone Sterling turned Sam Habergham's cross into the back of his own net.
Dover came close to levelling things up on the brink of half-time but Ricky Miller's hooked effort was kept out by Imps goalkeeper Paul Farman.
Both teams hit the woodwork in the second period, with Sean Long's cross-cum-shot clattering the bar in the 46th minute and Miller's free-kick clipping a post after 62 minutes.
Dover pushed for an equaliser as the second half wore on but it was Lincoln who found the back of the net seven minutes from time when Terry Hawkridge drilled in from the edge of the area.
Report supplied by the Press Association.
Match ends, Lincoln City 2, Dover Athletic 0.
Second Half ends, Lincoln City 2, Dover Athletic 0.
Sam Magri (Dover Athletic) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Substitution, Dover Athletic. Tyrone Marsh replaces Moses Emmanuel.
Substitution, Lincoln City. Bradley Wood replaces Terry Hawkridge.
Goal! Lincoln City 2, Dover Athletic 0. Terry Hawkridge (Lincoln City).
Substitution, Lincoln City. Alan Power replaces Adam Marriott.
Substitution, Dover Athletic. Joe Healy replaces James Hurst.
Substitution, Lincoln City. Theo Robinson replaces Matt Rhead.
Second Half begins Lincoln City 1, Dover Athletic 0.
First Half ends, Lincoln City 1, Dover Athletic 0.
Own Goal by Tyrone Sterling, Dover Athletic. Lincoln City 1, Dover Athletic 0.
First Half begins.
Lineups are announced and players are warming up. | Lincoln extended their lead at the top of the National League after beating fellow promotion-hopefuls Dover. |
35,205,948 | Ex-archbishop George Carey said Peter Ball was in "torment" as a result of a police investigation, letters released by the Crown Prosecution Service show.
Ball, 83, was jailed in October for a string of offences against young men.
The Church of England apologised "unreservedly" to Ball's victims.
He was sentenced to 32 months for misconduct in a public office and 15 months for indecent assaults, to run concurrently.
In one of Lord Carey's letters he told police it was "improbable" he was guilty.
He also wrote in a letter to Barbara Mills - then the director of public prosecutions - that Ball's health was fragile and the decision to prosecute should be made "as speedily as possible".
The letters have been released by the CPS in response to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request by the BBC and others, after it emerged that personal letters had been written which were supportive of Ball.
Ball was eventually told he would not be prosecuted but received a caution instead. He resigned as Bishop of Gloucester in 1993, a position that followed a previous period as Bishop of Lewes.
However in October 2015, following repeated claims of a church cover-up, Mr Ball pleaded guilty to abusing 18 young men in the 70s, 80s and 90s. He was jailed for two years and ten months.
One of his victims was Neil Todd, whose attempts to take his own life triggered the police investigation in 1993 which prompted hundreds of letters of support for the Bishop.
In his two letters Lord Carey said he had no wish to influence the legal process. He makes no reference to the allegations of sexual abuse or Mr Todd, who finally took his own life at the end of 2012.
The letters also include one to the police from a senior judge at the time, Lord Justice Lloyd, who said that Ball was "the most gentle, upright and saintly man" he had ever met.
"He has obviously suffered far more already than any of us can imagine... He tells me if it goes on much longer, he feels he may well go off his head," he said.
While making it clear he did not want to influence the criminal process Lord Justice Lloyd wrote: "I find it difficult to accept that such an awful fate could have befallen so good a man."
The Old Bailey heard in October that while he was a bishop, Ball had used his position to groom and exploit his vulnerable victims.
Another of the 12 letters released by the CPS was from the former Conservative minister and Sussex MP, Tim Renton, who wrote to the director of public prosecutions in 1993 that "Peter has suffered terribly over the past six weeks," and urged that he should not be prosecuted.
The Conservative MP for Lewes, Tim Rathbone, wrote: "I find it literally inconceivable that he would ever become involved with anyone in the way the newspapers have described or insinuated."
James Woodhouse, the former headmaster of Lancing College in Sussex wrote that Ball was "acutely distressed" by some aspects of 20th-century culture, including "sexual permissiveness".
In his letter the warden of Radley College, Richard Morgan, said he had dismissed the allegations against Ball as "impossible" since the bishop had lived a life of "discipline".
However, the CPS said it not seen or received any correspondence from the royal family, despite Ball's claims to have been a friend of Prince Charles.
The CPS said it had taken the decision to release letters from "significant people" of influence at the time but not other "non-senior" individuals.
A spokesman for the Church of England said: "It is a matter of deep shame and regret that a bishop in the Church of England was sentenced earlier this year for a series of offences over 15 years against 18 young men known to him.
"There are no excuses whatsoever for what took place, nor for the systematic abuse of trust perpetrated by Peter Ball." | A former Archbishop of Canterbury wrote to police in 1993 with letters of support for the then Bishop of Gloucester who was being investigated for sex offences, it can be revealed. |
40,859,622 | The thief struck at about 18:10 on Monday after gaining access to a common close in Milovaig Street in Summerston, Glasgow.
Police said he escaped with a three-figure sum.
The elderly woman was checked over by medical staff but did not suffer any injuries, although she was extremely shaken.
The suspect was described as being about 16 years old, 5ft 1in tall with a slim build and acne on both of his cheeks.
He was wearing a black woolly hat and a black tracksuit.
Det Insp John Morrison said: "This is a despicable crime carried out by a young man who clearly has no conscience and no regard for others.
"I am appealing to people in the area to think about the description and consider if they recognise it or know who the person is.
"Perhaps you noticed him in the area prior to the incident occurring or did you see him run off along Milovaig Street?
"Please, if you have any information or knowledge, get in touch and pass your information on." | A robber locked a 90-year-old woman in her bathroom before stealing money and bank cards from her home. |
33,668,588 | People were evacuated from Prior Deram Park in Canley, Coventry, during the blaze on 17 July.
The boy, who is local to the area but cannot be named because of his age, is also charged with assault and two counts of burglary.
He is due before Coventry Youth Court on the 13 August. | A 12-year-old boy has been charged with arson following a fire which caused £20,000 of damage at a park four days after it had opened. |
38,287,829 | Google's Android rules the roost by powering nine out of 10 smartphones sold in India. But other major international players have struggled to expand their base.
India is the world's second fastest growing market for smartphones behind China. Smartphone sales are expected to exceed 100 million in 2016.
But, for a country where more than 80% of the population does not understand English, reaching out to new consumers in small towns and villages can be a challenge for smartphone manufacturers.
And Mumbai-based Indus OS has been quietly making rapid inroads by plugging that gap.
Its biggest selling point is that it is available in 12 Indian languages, which covers 90% of India's population.
Now, it's not exactly a new operating system built from scratch, but the developers have tweaked the Android platform to meet the unique demands and culture of India.
"We wanted to create a product specifically for the Indian consumer," Rakesh Deshmukh, co-founder and chief executive of Indus OS, tells the BBC.
According to Counterpoint Research, it had captured 7.1% of the market share during the July to September quarter, making it the second most used operating system for smartphones behind Android.
Mr Deshmukh says that, during the company's research, it found many people who wanted to migrate from a basic phone to a smartphone were reluctant to do so due to language inhibitions.
Apart from multiple languages, Indus OS also offers simplified predictive typing and translation between regional languages - a technology patented by the company.
It also has an in-house app store like Google Play, offering 35,000 apps in various regional languages that consumers can download on their devices.
Unlike with other operating systems, consumers don't need a credit card or an email address to download apps. They can pay via their phone bills.
More than half of India's population is without a debit or credit card, and a fraction of the population uses email.
"On an average our customers use 25 apps, which includes first-time smartphone users," says Mr Deshmukh.
The company has tied-up with leading Indian mobile phone manufacturers such as Micromax and Intex, which are selling some of their smartphones with Indus OS.
To expand its market share, firms are also in talks with Chinese mobile phone manufacturers that have a huge presence in the Indian market.
Indus OS is currently available on six million smartphones, with the aim of adding 100 million users by 2019.
The company is also looking to explore new markets such as Indonesia, Nepal and Myanmar during this period.
While it has done well in acquiring customers since its launch, the task going ahead could be challenging.
That is because other operating systems are trying to localise their products to meet the demands of consumers as they go deep into the Indian market.
For example, Google's Android benefits from the fact that the firm's search engine is now available in nine Indian languages.
It is also expected to come out with versions of other products such as Gmail and Google Maps in more Indian languages in the future.
And with Android already being the preferred choice for most consumers - players like Indus OS may feel the heat.
But Mr Deshmukh believes that Android's efforts to create more products in Indian languages will help Indus OS.
"If we can offer a Google Map on our phone in multiple languages that makes our operating system more attractive," he says.
The other hurdle that analysts point out is that becoming profitable in the long run will be a challenge for firms such as Indus OS - that are operating in a niche segment.
The process of translating content and apps into multiple languages requires a lot of resources and is an expensive affair.
"Operating systems need to keep evolving by launching new features continuously to stay relevant," says Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner.
Mr Deshmukh accepts that mobile manufacturers are hungry for unique features and there's constant pressure to deliver. But he is confident of turning profitable as they scale up.
"Indus has an in-house app store - which is available in so many Indian languages. We will use that as a platform to attract advertisers," he adds.
It's estimated that over the next three years some 300 million people in India will migrate to smartphones, and an overwhelming majority of them will be users who don't understand English.
And companies like Indus are hoping that these consumers will buy smartphones not for their features or the price tag but rather for the languages they understand. | Indus OS - a mobile phone operating system built in India - has become the country's second-most popular smartphone platform, surpassing Apple's iOS. |
39,355,468 | First I heard shouting at the security entrance then I saw policemen bundling members of the public and then moving others like me back from the entrance.
Then through the glass doors, I saw dozens of members of the public rushing along the riverside. MPs and staff were rushed to one of the emergency exits but were then moved back to the main part of the building.
MPs tell me they heard three or four gunshots on the way to a normal vote and then they ran. It still seems unclear what exactly has happened but with eyewitnesses reporting bodies on Westminster Bridge this is clearly the most serious kind of situation.
The normal routine of a Westminster Wednesday afternoon shattered. | In a closely guarded part of Westminster, several hundred people are now in lockdown. |
39,660,797 | An opponent has yet to be announced for 30-year-old Barnes but the contest will be at the Waterfront Hall in his home city of Belfast.
Barnes made it two pro wins from two with a points victory in a six-rounder against Adrian Dimas Garzon in March.
Jamie Conlan will also feature on the bill at the Waterfront.
Unbeaten Conlan defeated Yader Cardoza on a split decision to take the vacant WBC International Silver super-flyweight crown on 10 March.
Conlan, also 30 and from Belfast, is aiming to secure a world title eliminator having won all 19 of his professional fights. | Two-time Olympic bronze medallist Paddy Barnes is to fight for the WBO European flyweight belt in what will be his third professional bout on 17 June. |
36,815,716 | Price, 31, joined the Owls on a one-year deal last summer but only played seven games, with just three starts.
The former Ipswich, Derby and Crystal Palace goalkeeper has made 130 career league appearances.
"It was important to get someone in with experience," Millers boss Alan Stubbs told the club website.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page. | Rotherham United have signed goalkeeper Lewis Price on a two-year contract following the end of his deal with rivals Sheffield Wednesday. |
33,462,792 | The alleged victim said PCs David Scott and Greg Mead punched him "20 to 30 times" and smashed his head on his kitchen floor, in September 2013.
But the panel said the evidence was unreliable and the case was dismissed.
Observers at the hearing were told not to use social media while evidence was presented and to remain silent.
They had to pledge not to leave the room until a break in proceedings and were not allowed to enter the room until there was a break.
Northamptonshire Police said 12 conditions were set to ensure" as little disruption as possible.
The move followed a Home Office directive earlier this year that such cases should be held in public. | The first public misconduct hearing held by Northamptonshire Police has seen the case of two officers accused of beating a man being dismissed. |
35,814,283 | Hundreds of the amphibians laden with eggs cross the B869 Lochinver-Stoer road in Sutherland to reach lochs and lochans.
The toads are usually on the move for about three weeks from mid-March.
Highland Council countryside ranger Andy Summers has been helping Assynt Field Club put up the signs.
It is hoped the warnings will encourage motorists to safely avoid squashing the amphibians. | New warning signs have been erected on a road in the Highlands in an effort to improve migrating female toads' chances of survival. |
33,345,747 | The story, about a father who keeps his daughter captive in the wilderness, under the pretence they are the last people alive on Earth, was described by judges as "shocking and subtle".
The shortlist also featured Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey and A Song for Issy Bradley by Carys Bray.
Fuller was awarded a cheque for £10,000 along with the prize.
Louise Doughty, who chaired the judging panel, said: "Our Endless Numbered Days is both shocking and subtle, brilliant and beautiful, a poised and elegant work that recalls the early work of Ian McEwan in the delicacy of its prose and the way that this is combined with some very dark undertones."
Presenting the award, she called for UK publishers to offer support for debut novelists, far beyond their first books.
She said: "Ian Rankin and Hilary Mantel both wrote for years before making the big time with sales.
"Ian Rankin famously succeeded with his seventh novel - and Hilary Mantel wrote brilliant, strange and wonderful books time and time again before Wolf Hall, her 10th.
"I call on the publishers of all the books on our wonderful shortlist to support these writers not only with their sparkling debuts but with their fourth, fifth, sixth novels.
"Short-termism in publishing is not only devastating for the authors who don't get the support they deserve, it's bad for business."
Fuller originally studied sculpture at Winchester School of Art before running her own marketing company for 23 years.
She began writing fiction in her 40s and belongs to a club of authors who have published their debut books in their 40s or later, called The Prime Writers.
The prize is presented in the name of the late publisher and literary agent Desmond Elliott.
Last year's winner was Eimear McBride for A Girl is a Half-formed Thing. | Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller has won this year's Desmond Elliott Prize for first novels. |
36,158,947 | Among those killed in the MSF-supported al-Quds hospital was one of the city's last paediatricians, MSF said.
Local sources have blamed the Syrian government or Russian war planes, but there has been no official comment.
Monitors say attacks by both sides left 34 dead and dozens wounded on Thursday.
Violence in Syria has intensified in recent days, despite a partial truce.
The upsurge in violence comes amid reports that the Syrian army, backed by Russian air power, is gearing up for a major offensive in Aleppo.
The escalation has threatened to derail the UN-brokered peace talks, which resumed last month.
On Wednesday, the UN envoy to Syria urged the US and Russia to intervene "at the highest level" to save the talks.
"MSF-supported hospital in Aleppo destroyed, at least 14 patients and staff killed, toll expected to rise," MSF tweeted on Thursday.
It said that the hospital was well known locally and had been hit by a direct air strike on Wednesday.
"We condemn the destruction of the al-Quds hospital, depriving people of essential healthcare," the charity added.
An activist at the scene, named as Zuhair, told the BBC that buildings around the hospital were also hit.
"It was an air strike by two rockets, heavy rockets from [a] Russian air strike," he said.
"Near the hospital one building on five floors just crumbled and just crashed down and we don't know how many dead will be under these ruins."
The civil defence agency, which is staffed by volunteers, said the hospital and surrounding buildings were hit by four consecutive air strikes.
Rami Abdurahman, head of the monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, named the paediatrician killed as Mohammed Wasim Moaz, 36.
He told the BBC that Mr Moaz was the last paediatrician in the rebel-held part of Aleppo and another was to be sent on Thursday to take his place.
The Observatory said rebel rocket fire on government-held areas on Thursday had killed 14 civilians while attacks by pro-government forces on rebel neighbourhoods had killed at least 20 people.
The two-month-old "cessation of hostilities", which brought at least a relative lull to some parts of Syria, is indeed "hanging by a thread" as the UN mediator Staffan de Mistura put it.
One of the reasons why it is now at death's door was reflected in the fact that from the outset it was not called a ceasefire or even a truce, because several factions were excluded, including not just the Islamic State militants but also the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.
Nusra fighters are present in almost all combat zones, and are mixed up with other groups such as Ahrar al-Sham that Russia is now pressing to have added to the international terror list.
That has meant that hostilities have continued and intensified in many areas, with the government able to claim its attacks are legitimate.
Now state forces are reported to be building up in Aleppo as violence escalates there, raising fears that a long and costly all-out battle for the contested city may be looming.
That would put paid both to the lull and to the Geneva peace talks, prompting the UN envoy to urge the US, Russians and others to press their clients on the ground to ease off, so that stalled negotiations have a chance of resuming.
Syrian state news made no mention of the hospital attack but also said that rebel shelling had killed at least 14 civilians in government-held areas in the north of the city.
Over the past week, more than 100 civilians have been killed in renewed bombardment by both rebel and government forces in Syria's largest city, according to the UK-based Observatory.
Speaking on Wednesday after briefing the UN Security Council on the peace process, the envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, warned that the fragile cessation of hostilities agreed in February could collapse "at any time".
He said that over the past 48 hours an average of one Syrian had been killed every 25 minutes and one wounded every 13 minutes.
For the peace talks in Geneva to succeed, he added, hostilities would need to be reduced to the levels immediately following the February agreement.
Calling on the US and Russia to co-operate, Mr de Mistura said the legacies of both President Barack Obama and President Vladimir Putin were linked to the success of the peace process in Syria.
More than 270,000 people have been killed since Syria's bitter civil war conflict erupted in 2011 and millions have been forced to flee. | At least 14 patients and three doctors have been killed in an air strike on a hospital in the Syrian city of Aleppo, the charity Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) says. |
33,160,803 | Jordan Watson's body was found in the graveyard in Carlisle early on Tuesday morning; Cumbria Police initially said a man had been killed.
A post-mortem examination revealed he died from multiple wounds to the head and neck caused by a sharp implement.
Detectives said they were shocked by the murder and said for a child to die in such circumstances was "appalling".
The body was found in Upperby Cemetery, next to St John The Baptist Church in Manor Road, at about 07:45 BST on Tuesday.
Police patrols have been increased across the Carlisle area while the investigation continues into the death of Jordan, who lived in Ridley Road in the city.
Det Supt Andrew Slattery said: "Jordan has lost his life as a result of a savage and brutal attack which has shocked the officers working on the case.
"For a child to die in these circumstances in Carlisle is appalling.
"The offender or offenders must be apprehended and I appeal to any members of the public with information to come forward.
"If anybody heard or saw anything unusual in the area of the cemetery on Manor Road overnight, I would urge them to report it to our incident room."
The Reverend Jim Hyslop, vicar of St John The Baptist Church, said the first he knew of Jordan's death was when he saw police vehicles outside his house opposite the cemetery.
He said: "Nothing like this has ever happened in the 20 years I have been at the church.
"Jordan's body was found in the older part of the cemetery, which has been here since the church was founded in 1840.
"We haven't been told too much and I've not spoken to many people about what has happened. My thoughts are with his family at this time."
Carlisle's mayor, Steven Layden, said the entire city had been left "shocked and appalled" by the murder.
He said: "This is outside the normal life of people in Carlisle. It's absolutely shocking and the savagery and brutality of this murder makes it doubly appalling.
"It is utterly, utterly shocking that a 14-year-old can die in such a way." | A 14-year-old boy found dead in a cemetery was the victim of a "savage and brutal attack", police have said. |
37,464,362 | Goals by Switzerland striker Eren Derdiyok and winger Bruma gave Galatasaray a commanding lead.
Brazilian defender Marcelo started the comeback after half-time before forward Cenk Tosun sparked wild celebrations with a 78th-minute equaliser.
A five-year ban on away fans attending football derby matches in Istanbul was lifted for the game.
Both clubs have 11 points from five games but Besiktas are second in the Super Lig table, one place above their rivals, on goal difference. | Turkish champions Besiktas fought back from 2-0 down to clinch a home draw with Galatasaray in the Istanbul derby. |
39,494,659 | What particularly sticks in my mind, though, is a report on what happened in police stations: even people picked up for petty crimes were tortured.
Egypt's security state has always been ruthless, but in those days the brutality was more under the surface.
Which made the American alliance with Arab autocrats like Hosni Mubarak easier.
Egypt had, after all, stepped out on a limb to make peace with Israel.
It proved to be a reliable partner in guaranteeing that peace, for which it was paid $1.3bn (£1bn) a year in military aid. A pillar of regional stability.
It was not an easy balance to navigate, however, and under George W Bush the administration began to question the wisdom of seeking stability at the expense of democracy.
Barack Obama went further. He rolled with the revolutionary wave of the Arab Spring, then shunned the strongman, Army General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, who took power in the debris of its aftermath.
That was largely because there were legal questions about whether the US could continue supporting a regime that seized power in a coup.
The White House never called the military takeover a coup, but it did freeze military aid for two years.
It was also because the brutality had risen to the surface: Sisi oversaw a vicious security operation that killed hundreds of protesters in the streets. He has since jailed tens of thousands of his opponents.
But he has also cracked down on Islamist terrorism, and that is the language the Trump administration speaks.
So President Sisi has been rehabilitated, validated by a visit to the White House.
Is this Washington reverting to the comfort zone of supporting Arab autocrats, in a time of great instability?
Yes, but it's more than that.
After the demonstration of mutual admiration yesterday, I think it's fair to say that President Trump feels comfortable with Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, The Autocrat.
More so than with Angela Merkel, The Democrat, says Tom Malinowski, a veteran diplomat responsible for the human rights file in the Obama administration.
That is new.
Trump era heralds warming of US-Egypt ties
Paying the price for seeking freedom in Egypt | When I was based in Egypt during the 1990s, we regularly got human rights reports about dreadful abuses in military prisons. |
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