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31,615,218 | Chancellor George Osborne said the £6bn health and social care budget would be taken over by the region's councils and health groups.
Mr Osborne said it was a "really exciting development".
A Labour spokesman said NHS workers would "want to be persuaded of the case for a new layer of management".
The plan will come into force from April 2016.
Mr Osborne added: "This is what the NHS wants to see as part of its own future.
"And it's also about giving people in Manchester greater control over their own affairs in that city, which is central to our vision of the 'northern powerhouse'- so it's a very exciting development."
The plan would see local leaders, and ultimately Greater Manchester's new directly elected mayor, control how budgets are allocated.
The government hopes integrating health and social care services will ease pressure on hospitals and help to improve home care services for patients who need it.
A shadow Greater Manchester Health and Wellbeing board will be appointed, which will work closely with existing clinical commissioning groups of GPs.
The board is expected to run from April, before control of the budget is handed over a year later.
Manchester City Council confirmed 10 local authorities, 12 clinical commissioning groups, 14 NHS partners, NHS England and the government are in discussions on a "groundbreaking agreement for health and social care".
Reacting to the proposals, Andy Burnham, Labour's shadow health secretary, said: "This has to be a solution that works everywhere or that could be offered to everywhere.
"If you're going to stick to the idea of a national health service you can't have a Swiss cheese NHS where some bits of the system are operating to different rules or have different powers and freedoms.
"I am a bit worried what I'm hearing because it does point to further break-up of the idea of the National Health Service."
Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester's Labour-controlled council said: "I had a long conversation with Andy Burnham today and I think he raises a number of legitimate questions. But I have to say that they are questions that we, as local authorities and the clinical commissioning groups, are asking as well."
Nick Triggle, BBC health correspondent
Ever since the NHS was created in 1948, it has remained separate from the council-run care system that oversees help in the home with tasks such as washing and dressing and care home places.
But as the decades have gone by and health care has shifted from curing illnesses to helping people manage long-term conditions such as dementia and heart disease, there has been an increasing sense that the two systems need to become more joined up.
All three main political parties have their own ideas of how this should be done - and NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens signalled his support for greater integration with the publication of his Five-Year Forward View last autumn.
But Greater Manchester has taken the bull by the horns and proposed a pooling of budgets.
At this stage (and it must be said the details are still emerging) it seems to mirror what is being rolled out in Scotland and what has happened in Northern Ireland since the 1970s. So will this catch on across the rest of England?
It could be argued it already has. From April there will be small pooled budgets in all 151 local authority areas - including the 10 boroughs in Greater Manchester - as part of the government's Better Care Fund initiative. They will be worth £5.3bn in total.
That represents less than 5% of the combined spending on health and care nationally, but is clearly a step towards full integration.
More from Nick: The start of something big?
Richard Humphries, assistant director of the King's Fund think tank, said a full transfer of responsibility would be a reform "on a breathtaking scale" but could pose serious risks.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said: "Depending on the detail - and the detail is really crucial and we don't have that yet - you could either see this as a triumph for local democracy or creating real risks of yet another reorganisation of the NHS when it's barely recovered from the last one."
Councillor Mike Connolly, Labour leader of Bury Council, said: "Those decisions need to be made in Greater Manchester and not Westminster, and I welcome any form of devolution to the city region.
"We are all agreed, certainly in the Labour Party, that health and social care must be integrated because it's about providing that primary care - and it can only be good for healthcare across Greater Manchester."
In November, Mr Osborne announced plans for an elected mayor for Greater Manchester to preside over regional issues.
The move, agreed with leaders of the region's councils, will give local politicians greater control over billions of pounds of public money.
Kevin Fitzpatrick, BBC Radio Manchester
If the initial devolution deal for Greater Manchester was ground breaking, then this development changes the shape of local government in a way that would have been unthinkable just a few months ago.
By taking control of the entire NHS budget, the area's 10 councils and the 12 Clinical Commissioning Groups, and then ultimately the elected mayor, will be able to join up health and social care in a way that's never been possible before.
In addition to control of the £2bn of budgets agreed last year for skills and training, transport and planning, the £6bn that comes with this deal means local politicians will decide how more than a quarter of government money is spent in their area.
Local politicians describe the move as an incredible opportunity, but it also comes with risks with just over a year to plan before the money and a huge amount of new responsibility is handed over.
Greater Manchester must ready itself to break more new ground as devolution picks up pace. | Greater Manchester is to become the first English region to get full control of its health spending, as part of an extension of devolved powers. |
34,781,360 | John Conway, who ran Meteor Electrical in Cookstown, recorded the footage.
He provided the material to BBC NI's Spotlight programme.
The employee, Kelley Toner, who subsequently left the bank, was filmed saying: "All I am going to say, you will be visiting me in prison."
After Meteor collapsed, Bank of Ireland sent officials to its offices to chase up money that the business and bank were owed.
Some of it was claimed back using bad debt insurance.
Mr Conway secretly filmed the bank staff after his company went under in 2009, including Ms Toner divulging that she gave false information on claims.
"I have been telling lies, making things up," she is recorded as saying.
In some of the footage, she asks for records to be tampered with in order to make it look like a company owed 12,000 euros to Meteor.
A criminal lawyer, Neil Swift, told Spotlight he believed there was a basis for a prosecution.
"There is evidence of dishonesty from the mouths of the people concerned," he said.
Bank of Ireland has not said whether there was an internal investigation after Mr Conway alerted it to the recordings.
It questioned the "truthfulness" of the footage.
A lawyer for Ms Toner said she "categorically denies any fraud" and that she "did not personally submit any claims to Meteor's insurers".
However, she accepted she made comments that were "ill-judged and inappropriate".
Mr Conway and Bank of Ireland are involved in a dispute.
The bank has pursued a fraud investigation against Mr Conway, reporting him to the PSNI in 2014.
Mr Conway said: "This is a nonsense and it is the bank throwing whatever dirt they can to try to get the attention away from themselves."
Spotlight: At War with the Bank will be available to watch on the BBC iPlayer. | A Bank of Ireland employee was secretly filmed discussing a fraudulent insurance claim as a way to recoup losses surrounding a collapsed business. |
34,679,496 | Neil Thomas Douglas boarded a flight on Thursday night and came face-to-face with his lookalike.
Mr Douglas, a photographer from Glasgow, said: "Everyone around us had a laugh, we took a selfie and that was it."
The selfie was posted on Twitter and has been retweeted thousands of times.
The photographer explained that when he boarded the Ryanair flight to Galway via London Stansted there was already someone sitting in his seat.
He said: "There was a dude already on my seat. When the guy looked up, I thought: 'He looks like me'."
But the pair were later to encounter a further coincidence when they checked into the same hotel in Galway.
Mr Douglas added: "Later that night, I went to the pub and again, there was my twin. Total weirdness. We had a laugh and a pint."
The selfie was posted on Twitter by Lee Beattie, director of Wire Media, who wrote: "Guy on right is the husband of my friend. Guy on left is a STRANGER he met on a flight last night!" | A man has spoken of the "total weirdness" of encountering his doppelganger on a flight. |
35,768,569 | The group pleaded guilty or were convicted of conspiracy to transfer prohibited weapons at Birmingham Crown Court in November and January.
Solicitor General Robert Buckland referred their case on the basis that the prison terms were unduly lenient.
The men sold antique firearms and specially-made bullets to criminals, West Midlands Police said.
Mr Buckland said: "These were professional criminals running a sophisticated operation which involved a high degree of planning.
"The offences had a terrible impact on those who were caught up in violence further down the line."
The bullet type supplied by the gang was the same used in a fatal shooting in the city last year, the court heard.
Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas, who considered the case, said: "There can be only one purpose of acquiring a gun and ammunition - to kill or injure - and those supplying guns plainly knew this."
Eight guns, including a pump action shotgun and a Mac 10 Machine pistol and ammunition, were recovered by police in a sting operation in 2014.
The sentence passed on the gang leader, Nosakhere Stephenson, was increased from 16 and a half years to 22 years and on chief armourer Sundish Nazran from 13 years to 17 years and three months. | Sixteen members of a Birmingham gun gang have had their sentences increased at the Court of Appeal. |
17,268,137 | A former wrestler, the election results prove that he can still pin his opponents down.
His drive - combined with the skill to bounce back from seemingly hopeless political setbacks - has made him a formidable political adversary in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state with more than 200 million people.
In his long political career he has been the state's chief minister three times and also served as India's defence minister.
He is now set to become chief minister for the fourth time since 1989.
Although Mr Yadav, 72, has not been in good health for the last few years and has been grooming his eldest son Akhilesh as his heir, nothing seems to deter this dogged political campaigner from returning to the electoral podium in a career that has been characterised by extreme highs and lows.
Trained as a teacher in his home village in central Uttar Pradesh, Mr Yadav took the plunge into politics at the age of 15. He was influenced by the writing of well-known socialist Ram Manohar Lohia and took part in various socialist movements led by this ideologue.
In his early career, Mr Yadav championed the cause of the lower castes and minorities. They still provide him with bedrock support.
He has been able to exploit a growing perception among many voters in Uttar Pradesh - regardless of which party he represented - that the Congress party was the home only of high caste Brahmins or the elite.
Mr Yadav emerged as the youngest member of the state assembly when he contested elections in 1967 for a socialist party. He was elected in 1974 and again in 1977, when he romped home, still as a fervent socialist, but representing a different party.
Typical of the mercurial nature of Mr Yadav's career were the elections of 1980. For the first time he lost amid a surge of support for Congress.
But he still managed to be inducted in the upper house of the state legislature where he promptly rose to become leader of the opposition.
A few years later he took the unusual step of getting elected to the lower house of the state legislature as well - thereby achieving the distinction of being the only leader to have held the position of leader of the opposition in both houses.
His first stint as chief minister in Uttar Pradesh - from 1989 to 1991 - was shortlived but not uneventful. It culminated with his party formally separating from Congress, whose support it depended upon.
What cost him dear in the vote was his decision to order security forces at the Ayodhya mosque to fire upon mostly Hindu protesters who had seized it from a group of Muslims. The protesters argued that the mosque had been built on top of a Hindu temple.
His actions during the Ayodhya stand-off were condemned by Hindus and Muslims alike. The former accused him of being excessively heavy-handed while the latter said he did not do enough to stop Hindu mobs going on the rampage.
It was only when the mosque was pulled down in December 1992 that Mr Yadav emerged as a hero among Muslims, who then credited him for saving the shrine in 1990.
In the elections of 1994, following a prolonged period of presidential rule in Uttar Pradesh, Mr Yadav found himself back in power - this time with the support of a new ally, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
But it was a relationship that did not last long. In June 1995 BSP leader Mayawati pulled the rug from under his feet and upstaged him to become chief minister herself with the support of the right wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The two leaders have alternated in power for much of the time between then and now.
Mr Yadav's humiliation at the hands of Mayawati was hard for him to swallow, but his time in the political wilderness was short-lived.
In the summer of 1996, he won his first break in central politics when he was appointed defence minister of India in a United Front coalition led by HD Dewe Gowda.
Ambitious as ever, at one point Mr Yadav even tried to become prime minister, but he always lacked a strong support base despite being at the centre of ceaseless political intrigue.
Evidence of this was clearly seen when he took the decision to oppose Sonia Gandhi's candidature for prime minister after the fall of the 13-day Atal Behari Vajpayee government in 1996.
Mr Yadav described her as a "videshi" (foreigner) - a mistake that came back to haunt him when Mrs Gandhi and Congress refused to support him when he needed it - while trying to form a government in Uttar Pradesh as the single largest party following elections in February 2002.
Their refusal meant his arch-rival Mayawati was able to seize the moment instead.
As on previous occasions he did not allow this setback to linger - he won back the position of chief minister for the third time in 2003 and held it until state assembly elections of May 2007 when he again lost to Mayawati.
For this year's elections, Mr Yadav again cultivated political alliances - this time with a breakaway leader of the BJP.
The move was dangerous because it could have damaged his Muslim vote bank - the BJP is loathed by many Muslims in Uttar Pradesh for its role in the Ayodhya dispute.
It is another interesting phase in the career of this most unpredictable politician who, at different stages of his career, has been politically in bed - and at loggerheads - with a wide spectrum of Indian parties. | Mulayam Singh Yadav has bounced back with his Samajwadi Party winning the assembly elections in the politically-crucial Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. |
35,599,773 | The X Prize was set up to push the boundaries of technology to solve issues such as climate change.
The winner, which will be announced at TED in 2020, will win $5m (£3.4m).
It will be awarded to the team that is deemed to have used artificial intelligence to solve one of the world's biggest problems.
Other X Prizes include one to put a robot on the moon, which was launched in collaboration with Google and one that aims to design a real-life health tricorder - a digital device that can scan the body and diagnose illness.
AI is often associated with dystopian visions of machines working against humanity and the new prize is partly to re-establish it as a technology capable of doing good.
Peter Diamandis, head of the XPrize Foundation, said that the rules and structure of the competition would be loose because it was such a fast-moving technology. What AI is used to improve will be left up to individual teams.
Every year leading up to 2020, teams will go head-to-head at World of Watson, IBM's annual conference, competing for interim prizes and the opportunity to advance to the next year's competition. IBM is jointly running the prize.
The three finalist teams will take the TED stage in 2020 to deliver talks demonstrating what they have achieved.
Ideas will be evaluated by a panel of expert judges for technical accuracy with the TED and X Prize communities choosing the winner.
More details about the competition will be made available in May.
Interested parties can pre-register at the X Prize website. | A new X prize designed to advance artificial intelligence has been announced at the TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conference. |
34,993,447 | His comments came in an email to members after a fresh row erupted over alleged bullying of MPs who voted to bomb so-called Islamic State in Syria.
Shadow home secretary Andy Burnham, who opposed air strikes, has called for a new code of conduct to curb abuse.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed it was assessing a number of online threats relating to MPs.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "The assessment of these threats is ongoing."
Labour MP Neil Coyle told MailOnline he had reported a threatening tweet to the police.
At the end of a joint email to Labour members on Thursday evening, Mr Corbyn and his deputy, Tom Watson, said they backed the right to "protest and lobby" and said MPs had to be "open to hearing the views of their constituents and others".
They added: "But, as we have both said many times, abuse and intimidation have no place in politics. And the party as a whole will not accept such behaviour, from whatever quarter it comes."
He called on Mr Corbyn to take a "firm line" with the alleged perpetrators, saying: "There cannot be abuse by members of the Labour Party or supporters of the Labour Party. That isn't the kind of party I want to be in."
He told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme social media was "in danger of poisoning our politics".
"I think it's because if you are just sitting with a keyboard you can be more offensive than if you are speaking to somebody face-to-face. It's a bad culture and we need to draw a line under it," he added. He said talks were under way in the party about a code of conduct.
Some MPs were sent pictures of dead children by anti-war protesters and faced foul-mouthed abuse - others allegedly had pictures of severed heads pushed through their home letterboxes or had their offices barricaded by protesters.
Here are some of the messages and the MPs' replies.
Former minister Ben Bradshaw, who voted for air strikes, said the party leadership needed to do more to combat online abuse, which "wouldn't be tolerated in any other walk of life" and which seemed to be "worse" for women in the party. He said he dealt with it by not reading the messages.
He added: "Jeremy Corbyn has made it clear he doesn't want this retribution... We can't start having threats of retribution based on what someone has done on a free vote."
Hull North MP Diana Johnson, who voted against air strikes, said she had received an email before the vote warning she would face a no-confidence vote in her local party followed by a move to de-select her "if I didn't vote the right way".
Anti-bombing Labour MP Stephen Kinnock, son of former leader Lord Kinnock, who fought the hard left group Militant in the 1980s, called for Momentum to be "disbanded" if found to be co-ordinating attacks, describing the group as a "sort of organised mob".
Another Labour MP, Ann Coffey, says she was sent messages from an email account previously used by Momentum, before Wednesday's vote, branding her a "warmonger" and saying she would have "blood on her hands" if she supported bombing.
The MP, who backed air strikes, told BBC News the language used by Momentum "creates a threatening atmosphere and other people come behind that with physical threats of assaults".
Momentum, a successor organisation to Mr Corbyn's Labour leadership campaign, said it was "proud" to have helped 30,000 people email their MP asking them not to vote for bombing.
A spokesman said: "It can never be a threat to express your views to your elected representative.
"Momentum strongly disapproves of anyone who engages in abusive behaviour towards MPs or anyone else, and threatening or bullying, whether they are outside the Labour Party (as most are) or inside it.
"We specifically asked our supporters to emulate Jeremy Corbyn, and to keep their messages about the issues and to refrain from any personal attacks."
Campaign group Stop the War, which until recently was chaired by Mr Corbyn, said: "Stop the War condemns the whining complaints from those MPs who apparently do not like being lobbied.
"If an MP is not robust enough to withstand emails and tweets, they should really not be voting for bombing other people - those who wish to be alone with their consciences would do better to consider a life of religious contemplation.
"Stop the War will continue to hold to democratic account all those MPs who vote for war."
A number of groups, including Left Unity, have called for MPs who voted for military action to be sacked by their local Labour parties.
Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy, pictured above, whose office was targeted by anti-war protesters, is facing an attempt to de-select her by a member of the Socialist Party over her pro-air strikes vote.
Nancy Taaffe, who stood unsuccessfully against Ms Creasy in May's general election for the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition, told the BBC's Daily Politics she wanted to see "a conference to make mandatory re-selection the heart of the new Labour project, if you like, the Corbyn project".
She said Labour was "essentially two parties in one" and "peaceful co-existence is impossible" between the Corbyn-supporting membership and "right wing" MPs and councillors.
Momentum said candidate selection was "entirely a matter for local party members and rightly so" but Ken Livingstone said party members had a right to get rid of MPs and candidates that did not back the party leader.
The former left-wing London mayor, who has come back under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership to be co-chair of the party's defence review, told BBC News: "Nobody should be doing abusive tweets or anything else like that, but people expressing their genuine belief that they would rather have an MP who supports the Labour leader rather than undermines them should be free to say that."
Andy Burnham said Mr Livingstone's comments were "disgraceful" as Labour MPs had been given a free vote on Syria and "to then say they should be subject to a witch-hunt or a campaign against them is wrong".
Mandatory reselection of Labour MPs as candidates by their local parties was introduced by supporters of the late Tony Benn in the 1980s. They were frustrated by the leadership ignoring the views of party members and also wanted a chance to get rid of MPs seen as lazy or complacent.
But opponents saw it as an attempt by the hard left to tighten its grip on Labour by getting rid of those on the right of the party.
The system was abolished by then leader Neil Kinnock, pictured above, as part of his war on the "party within a party" Militant.
Labour now uses a "trigger-ballot" system to decide before each election whether it wishes to carry out the full selection procedure - very few MPs are thrown out in this way.
Mr Corbyn has assured MPs mandatory reselection will not be brought back - but MPs out of step with his brand of politics could be ousted anyway, without an official "purge" from the top, as left wing campaigners increase their influence.
There will be recriminations and, possibly, attempts at constituency level to deselect the recusants (there does not have to be a return to the '80s era of mandatory reselection; the coming Commons boundary changes will ensure most sitting MPs will not face a simple rubber-stamping to become their party's candidate again).
If they succeed, some MPs may quit immediately, forcing uncomfortable by-elections, or simply go rogue in the Commons and vote as they please.
Read more from Mark | Labour will not accept abuse and intimidation "from whatever quarter it comes", Jeremy Corbyn has warned. |
38,586,151 | The game had to be postponed on 25 November only 90 minutes before the scheduled kick-off because the Kingspan Stadium pitch was frozen.
Ulster will face Zebre in Italy on Sunday, 26 February and then take on the Pro12's other Italian club Treviso on 3 March at Kingspan Stadium.
Zebre were hammered 70-6 by Leinster at the RDS last weekend.
The bottom club have lost 10 of their 11 games this season, with their sole victory coming away to Edinburgh in late October.
Ulster, after leading the table following five opening wins, have dropped to sixth spot after suffering five defeats in their last seven games.
Overall. Ulster have lost seven of their last 11 games in all competitions. | Ulster's Pro12 home game against bottom club Zebre has been re-arranged for Saturday, 11 March. |
36,457,637 | In a blue plastic bucket is a macabre sight - the head of a small gazelle stares straight ahead, as a woman chops meat from its limp body to the the strains of a popular song on radio.
Angola is not for the squeamish.
Bushmeat is everyday fare here. They call it "Carne de Zaza" in Portuguese.
Scientists like Steve Boyes of the Okavango Wilderness Project and the leader of a National Geographical Society expeditionary team, monitor the trade.
"This is not about judgement, it is about conservation," he says, as he reveals that $6 (£4) will buy you a monkey and $60 a fine cut of snake.
The consumption of bushmeat is a lingering legacy of survival and tradition, not a sign of bloodlust, among a population still badly bruised by an ugly civil war.
But old habits die hard.
During the war which stubbornly persisted from 1975-2002, communities had little choice but to eat bushmeat, and a man I stumble across in the market speaks bluntly of his distaste for change.
"I had to eat bushmeat during the war years so I intend to continue eating it now… I'd even eat elephant," he boasts.
Another woman told me that she prefers the taste of bushmeat to chicken, or commonly eaten animals.
Now Angola has become a flourishing hub for contraband from across the region, with billions of dollars netted globally from what has been dubbed "environmental crime."
Syndicates are operating on an industrial scale, and the UN and Interpol warn that this illegal activity has now eclipsed arms smuggling in scale.
So long as there is a market and laws are not enforced, it seems, stamping out this lucrative business will be hard.
The latest report on Environmental Crime - a joint initiative from the UN Environment programme (UNEP) and Interpol - comes with a stark warning.
Failure to address wildlife crime now means sustainable development goals may not be reached.
So Angola is trying to ramp up efforts to outwit the poachers, recruit hundreds of former soldiers to re-train as wildlife rangers, and promise strategies to promote conservation.
"We have a big push to manage protected areas and create others for the benefit of our people," said Abias Huongo, director of Angola's National Institute of Biodiversity.
"For us to survive, other species need to survive," he says.
But the sale of the global problem is staggering.
The UN estimates that the value of environmental crime has risen by 26% in two years and now stands at $258bn, only behind drugs, counterfeited goods and human trafficking in terms of criminal enterprises.
Angola hosts Africa's biggest ivory and bushmeat market.
It is a transit point for much of the trade, with ivory smuggled from across the border in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A recent seizure of elephant tusks were displayed incongruously in the airport lounge - testimony to at least 11 elephants which fell prey to this spiralling crime.
Ivory traders face the threat of three years in jail or a hefty fine under Angolan law but insiders admit not enough is being done to enforce the rules.
The government here has threatened to close down Benfica market in the capital, Luanda, to coincide with the launch of the report and UN Environment Day.
Yet it's a mammoth task.
The fact that we were able to find illegal bushmeat at a market just a few miles away from where UN dignitaries met their Angolan counterparts in the province of Cuando-Cubango, is testimony to the vast scale of this illicit global trade.
Just over a decade since the end of the civil war, in a part of the planet which has been locked away from much of the outside world, new territories are now been opened up for exploration.
But it's a race against time, pitting conservationists against poachers.
A carpet of thick African bush fed by waters from four rivers make up the Okovango river system. It is a breathtaking sight when viewed from the air, full of promise but also foreboding.
It is one of the last remaining pristine parts of the planet which offers the prospect of becoming a new front for criminal gangs - or a gift to science and conservation.
That is why the pressure is on Angola to take a lead in law enforcement, roll out education campaigns and provide new job opportunities which divert communities away from wildlife crime.
The Okovango Wilderness Project has proposed a 178,000 sq km protected area which would enable elephants and other wildlife to roam freely without fear of being hunted.
It opens up the prospect of creating jobs in the eco-tourism sector. It is an attractive prospect for a country like Angola that is trying to diversify away from oil.
But conservation is labour intensive and without a major scaling up of global effort and funding, the poachers are likely to continue to have the upper hand.
And the funding may need to be raised "to the tune of $800 per sq km per year", says Paul Funston of the conservation group .
It seems that the world now faces a critical choice - share the burden and costs of African conservation effort, or look the other way. | Angola is home to Africa's biggest bushmeat market but is now ramping up efforts to stop the illegal trade, reports the BBC's Karen Allen from Luanda. |
28,936,383 | Wales and West Utilities said 755 homes were affected when a water leak flooded pipes in Nantyglo, Blaenau Gwent, and gas has been restored to over 600.
A spokesperson said staff were continuing door-to-door visits to re-connect those still without gas.
More than 150,000 litres of water has so far been pumped from about 10km (approximately six miles) of gas pipes.
A spokesperson for Wales and West (WWU), said at 18:00 BST on Tuesday: "We have now restored gas to over 600 properties and continue to visit door to door to reconnect gas supplies.
"All WWU staff will be carrying identification and we are asking people to please give them access to their gas meters to turn their gas supply back on.
"This continues to be a complex operation and we will continue to work around the clock to resolve this issue as safely and as quickly as we can."
Leisure centres in Abertillery and Ebbw Vale have been offering washing and showering facilities but Abertillery's centre was shut on Monday.
About 150 fan heaters and hot plates were given to vulnerable customers.
Tai Calon Community Housing also distributed heaters and microwave ovens for affected tenants to use. | Engineers are trying to restore gas to nearly 150 houses which have been disconnected since last Thursday. |
37,056,624 | She was the favourite to win gold and didn't disappoint with her routine showing off her power and agility.
Biles went ahead straight away, scoring 15.866 on vault, but she dropped back to second place with 14.966 on the uneven bars.
She then wowed the crowd with an acrobatic beam routine to score 15.433 before a floor routine to samba music, including the famous "Biles" move.
She scored 15.933 and burst into tears when the gold medal was confirmed.
It's Simone's second gold medal of the games, with teammate Alexandra Raisman getting silver and Russia's Aliya Mustafina taking the bronze.
The United States have now won the event four times in a row: Carly Patterson in 2004, Nastia Liukin in 2008 and Gabrielle Douglas in 2012.
Great Britain's Ellie Downie came 13th, just missing out on becoming the best performing female British gymnast in an Olympic all-around final.
Video only available to UK users. | USA superstar Simone Biles has won all-around gymnastics gold in the Rio Olympics. |
37,879,954 | The Unite and GMB unions said members had "overwhelmingly" rejected proposals by the Offshore Contractors Association (OCA) following a consultative ballot.
They added they were seeking a meeting with OCA to try to reach a negotiated settlement.
OCA said it remained "committed to doing everything we can to reach an agreement".
In a statement, the unions said: "Unite and GMB members have overwhelmingly rejected the OCA employers' pay and conditions proposals.
"In light of a significant mandate from trade union-organised offshore workers to oppose any further cuts in pay, or changes to other terms and conditions, we now are seeking a meeting with the OCA to try and secure a negotiated settlement to unions' pay and conditions claim."
Responding to the news, OCA chief executive Paul Atkinson said: "We are seeking to reach an agreement that continues to protect employees' earnings by guaranteeing pay and standards while at the same time ensuring that investors have the confidence they need to do business in the UK Continental shelf.
"Throughout the current negotiations, the OCA has been in constant dialogue with the relevant trade unions in an attempt to reach a mutually acceptable position.
"These negotiations are ongoing and we are committed to doing everything we can to reach an agreement."
In July, hundreds of North Sea workers went on strike over plans to cut their pay and allowances.
The action was taken by members of the RMT and Unite unions employed by the Wood Group on Shell platforms.
It was the first industrial action of its kind in the offshore oil and gas industry in almost 30 years. | Two unions have rejected a pay and conditions offer by oil industry contractors. |
39,740,931 | Sgt Alexander Blackman received a life term in 2013 for murder, but his conviction was reduced to manslaughter.
The 42-year-old from Taunton, Somerset, has served more than three years of a seven-year sentence.
Judges at the Court Martial Appeal Court were told he had a recognised mental illness at the time of the killing in September 2011.
Blackman - who was known as Marine A during the original trial process and fully identified when he was convicted - was serving his sentence at Erlestoke Prison, near Devizes, Wiltshire.
His original murder conviction was quashed in March, after the hearing was told he had a recognised mental illness when he committed the offence.
Blackman's appeal hearing came after his wife Claire led a campaign alongside author Frederick Forsyth and the Daily Mail newspaper. | The Royal Marine jailed for shooting dead a wounded Taliban fighter has been released from prison. |
31,019,034 | Media playback is not supported on this device
Mourinho made his comments after his side were denied a penalty in the 1-1 draw with Southampton on 28 December.
The Football Association ruled Mourinho's quotes were "improper and brought the game into disrepute".
But the Chelsea boss, who was warned about his future conduct, was cleared of implying bias by referees.
During the game at St Mary's, referee Anthony Taylor booked Cesc Fabregas for diving after going down in the box under Matt Targett's challenge.
After the draw, the Stamford Bridge manager told BBC Sport: "The media, commentators, other managers are all doing it [putting pressure on referees]."
In his news conference later, he added: "There is a campaign against Chelsea. I don't know why there is this campaign and I do not care.
"Everybody knows it was a penalty."
Mourinho was also issued with a formal warning for comments ahead of Chelsea's 2-0 win at Stoke on 22 December.
The Portuguese called on referee Neil Swarbrick to produce a strong performance at the Britannia Stadium. | Jose Mourinho has been fined £25,000 for comments claiming there is a "campaign" to influence referees' decisions against his Chelsea side. |
37,614,797 | The Divergent star was arrested at a construction site as she was broadcasting the protest, which involved about 200 people, on Facebook.
Police say she was one of 27 people arrested on charges of criminal trespass and engaging in a riot.
The Dakota Access pipeline project has drawn huge protests.
Native Americans have halted its construction in North Dakota, saying it will desecrate sacred land and damage the environment.
In the Facebook Live footage, Ms Woodley, 24, said she had been walking peacefully back to her vehicle when "they grabbed me by my jacket and said that I wasn't allowed to continue... and they have giant guns and batons and zip ties and they are not letting me go".
As she was led away with her hands cuffed, she said she had been singled out from hundreds of other protesters "because I'm well known, because I have 40,000 people watching".
The video spread quickly on social media and by early evening had been viewed more than 2.4 million times.
Ms Woodley, a star of The Divergent Series and the movie Snowden, has previously joined members of North Dakota's Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to protest against the $3.7bn (£2.8bn) pipeline.
The protest on Monday took place at a construction site about two miles (3.2 km) south of the town of St Anthony.
More BBC coverage of the North Dakota pipeline protests:
Life in the Native American oil protest camps
Ms Woodley, a star of The Divergent Series and the movie Snowden, has previously joined members of North Dakota's Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to protest against the $3.7bn (£2.8bn) pipeline.
The protest on Monday took place at a construction site about two miles (3.2 km) south of the town of St Anthony.
The pipeline will run 1,168 miles through North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois.
Energy Transport Partners, the company behind the project, has said it will boost local economies and is safer than transporting oil by rail or road.
But environmental protesters believe the transporting of up to 570,000 barrels of crude oil a day will imperil local waterways.
Native American tribes believe the pipeline would also damage historic sites. | US actress Shailene Woodley has been arrested during a protest in North Dakota against a huge oil pipeline project that will cross four states. |
30,408,424 | The double amputee was jailed for five years in October for killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
Judge Thokozile Masipa said prosecutors could appeal against the acquittal, but not the five-year sentence given for the lesser charge of culpable homicide.
Pistorius' lawyers had opposed the appeal request.
The case will now go before South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal.
Why Pistorius and Dewani cases are not failures
The athlete's father Henke Pistorius said it "should not have gone this far", AFP news agency reports.
"Oscar is strong, he has to be strong, he grew up like that. There's lots of things in life, especially for a man like him that is... not fair," he is quoted as saying.
Prosecutors argued that Judge Masipa misinterpreted the law when she cleared Pistorius of murder on the basis that he did not intentionally shoot Ms Steenkamp. Judge Masipa granted the appeal in the ruling in a Pretoria court on Wednesday.
"I cannot say... that the prospect of success at the Supreme Court of Appeal is remote," she said.
However, Judge Masipa dismissed the prosecution's argument that the sentence should be reviewed because Ms Steenkamp's parents had been extremely dissatisfied with it.
She also said the public interest in the case was "irrelevant" and she had ruled only on the basis of the prosecutors' case.
In court - By Pumza Fihlani, BBC News, Pretoria
Today was a big win for the state prosecutors. Although they lost their bid on the sentence, Judge Thokozile Masipa gave the go-ahead for them to appeal the conviction. This was always Gerrie Nel's main intention.
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) will now decide if the principles of law were applied correctly.
A panel of up to five judges has the power to not only overturn Judge Masipa's conviction but can also rule on a minimum sentence - which in the case of murder would be 15 years in prison.
Although the sentence appeal was denied, veteran advocate Mannie Witz told me that before the SCA this would make little difference. The appeal judges' power is such that they can also consider the sentence and find that the appeal should have been granted.
For Pistorius, this means the case is far from over and if the state has its way, the worst is yet to come.
Outlining his case on Tuesday, prosecutor Gerrie Nel said the sentence was "shockingly inappropriate and does not fit the crime and the accused".
Pistorius could be eligible for parole and house arrest after serving 10 months of his five-year sentence.
He will remain in prison while the appeal process takes place.
Prosecution spokesman Nathi Mncube welcome the judge's ruling on Wednesday but said prosecutors would still attempt to challenge the sentence.
The prosecution had called for the maximum 15-year sentence for culpable homicide, or manslaughter.
Ms Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, was shot dead at Pistorius' home in Pretoria in the early hours of Valentine's Day last year. He said he feared there was an intruder.
Pistorius was acquitted by Judge Masipa of both premeditated murder and the lesser murder charge of dolus eventualis, also known as common-law murder.
In South African law, this charge applies if the accused knew they might kill someone but still went ahead with their course of action.
Pistorius is serving the sentence in the hospital wing of Pretoria's Kgosi Mampuru II prison.
The appeal is likely to be heard next year. | A South African judge has ruled that prosecutors can appeal against the acquittal on murder charges of Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius. |
27,884,437 | The Women in IT scorecard looked at gender trends from secondary education through to the work place.
It indicates women account for just 16% of the UK IT workforce.
And the problem starts early - despite consistently out-performing boys in computing A-level results, girls account for just 6.5% of those taking the exam.
The study was compiled by BCS, the chartered institute for IT, and E-skills UK.
Other highlights from the report include:
Gillian Arnold, chairwoman of BCS Women, said: "The continuing decline in women entering the IT profession is a real threat for the UK and an issue that clearly we need to address."
Karen Price, chief executive of E-skills UK, said: "Women have a significant contribution to make to the IT sector, and it is vital for the economy that we ensure they have the opportunity.
"This joint report provides the evidence we need to face the problem head-on, and to develop hard hitting and effective interventions to solve it."
There has been a glut of charities and groups set up to fight gender imbalance, determined to offer good role models to young girls and dispel the myths of an industry run by geeks.
For example, Stemettes is a group of volunteers set up to help combat the lack of girls studying so-called Stem subjects - science, technology, engineering and maths. | The UK faces a worsening gender gap in its flourishing IT industry, according to a new study. |
36,921,841 | The 48-hour stoppage, which follows a 24-hour strike on Tuesday, will begin at 06:30 on Thursday 4 August.
Members of the Unite and RMT union are in dispute with their employer Wood Group over pay and conditions.
Wood Group said it was "hugely disappointed" that "significant movements" made to reach resolution had "not been acknowledged by the unions".
Wood Group has denied claims it is imposing cuts of up to 30% in payments.
The 24-hour strike on Tuesday was the first industrial action of its kind in the North Sea in nearly 30 years.
The industrial action, which affects the Shearwater, Gannet, Nelson, Curlew, Brent Alpha, Brent Bravo and Brent Charlie platforms, has also included an overtime ban and a series of shorter stoppages.
Production on the installations involved, all owned by Shell, has so far not been affected.
In February, Wood Group announced it was cutting rates paid to about a third of its UK contractor workforce.
It blamed the "continuing cost and efficiency challenges affecting the UK North Sea oil and gas sector".
Workers are also disgruntled that a two-week working cycle has been changed to a three-week cycle. leaving many away from their families for a longer time.
Unite regional officer John Boland said: "Industrial action is always a last resort and throughout this dispute the trade unions have sought to find a resolution in direct talks with Wood Group and at the conciliation service, Acas.
"However, the solid actions this week and the support that the workers received is a clear demonstration of the strength of feeling and their resolve to resist these attacks on pay and allowances.
"The workforce is clearly of the view that enough is enough.
"Wood Group needs to drop the cuts and get back round the table with us if it genuinely wants to avoid further industrial action."
Dave Stewart, chief executive officer for Wood Group's eastern region business unit, said: "We are hugely disappointed that the significant movements we have made to reach a resolution have clearly not been acknowledged by the unions.
"I must stress, none of our employees are being offered terms and conditions below the Offshore Partnership Agreement, agreed by the unions only this year; nor will they be.
"The majority of our employees will still be paid significantly above these terms and conditions.
"Safeguarding these jobs in the North Sea now and in the future against the backdrop of an extremely challenging economic climate, remains our firm commitment.
"Wood Group's focus does not change. We remain committed to continuing to engage openly with our employees and the unions to reach a resolution."
The Offshore Contractors Association (OCA) has urged both sides to return to the negotiating table. | Workers on seven Shell installations in the North Sea are to stage a second strike next week. |
36,898,880 | This guy that they'd known for his fearsome reputation as one of national hunt racing's hardest, and most difficult opponents to beat, was now motionless from the neck down, and struggling at times to breathe let alone speak.
But, remarkably, McNamara and his wife Caroline refused to be downcast, preferring to confront their plight head-on, politely asking visitors to take any tears they might care to shed outside the room.
It was that attitude of bloody-minded determination not to give in - AP McCoy had a tone of awe in his voice, I thought, when describing his friend on BBC radio as "very mentally strong" - that made him such an inspiration to so many.
And, my goodness, strength of extraordinary quantities was needed after the winner of Cheltenham Festival trophies and holder of point-to-pointing records was so cruelly propelled from saddle to 24-hour care that March afternoon in 2013.
Miraculously, when you consider the gloomy prognosis as the air ambulance took him away from the racecourse, he eventually got home to County Limerick, the area of his birth, to a specially-designed bungalow, and started working with a small number of horses and even making occasional trips to the races.
His changing room colleagues have, of course, felt it all most keenly, in the knowledge that this fate could so easily have befallen them; horses fall in jump races every day of every week, and an inch here or an inch there can make all the difference in terms of walking away or not.
But in addition, McNamara's story resonated across the racing world and on to the wider public probably to a large extent because of its poignancy.
When Galaxy Rock fell, at the first fence, in the Festival's Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Chase, the then 37-year-old was considered to still be very much at the top of his game, and memories of great days and celebrations with Cheltenham winners like the prolific Spotthedifference and Teaforthree were fresh in the memory.
Although he'd never turned professional, the principal reason had nothing to do with ability, but, crucially, that amateur status allowed him to remain a big riding fish on Ireland's renowned point-to-pointing circuit, something of a show window for potential buyers.
So, he was, as they say, going well, but he'd also spoken to friends about the possibility of retiring in the not too distant future; heartbreakingly, the decision was never his to make.
And then last year, in a barely believable twist, his first cousin Robbie McNamara was confined to a wheelchair by a fall, in Ireland, on the eve of the Grand National at Aintree in which he was due to take part.
Happily, Robbie has recovered enough to be training and, to considerable all-round pleasure, saddled his first winners in July to create some rays of light in what has otherwise been a desperately sad series of events.
The story of JT McNamara will, however, never be forgotten: memories of his rampant success in the saddle won't allow that, nor will his extraordinary courage in the face of adversity.
He leaves behind three young children and their loving mother, all of whom have much to treasure. | Former colleagues and one-time rivals who visited John Thomas - JT - McNamara when he was lying in hospital, terribly injured, in the days and weeks after his paralysing Cheltenham Festival fall, understandably found it difficult to contain their emotions. |
21,458,437 | Figures obtained by the BBC show that there have been more than 300 disciplinary incidents in the past three years on the navy's 13 submarines, including 42 cases of misconduct or unfitness through alcohol or drugs.
The list of disciplinary offences, provided following a freedom of information request, itemises 13 instances of misconduct or unfitness due to alcohol or drugs on the four Trident submarines, which carry nuclear weapons as the nation's nuclear deterrent.
It also details eight drink or drug related incidents on HMS Astute, the submarine on which a junior rating shot dead an officer in April 2011 after binge drinking while on shore leave. All eight cases occurred after this shooting.
An inquest last month into the death of Lt Cdr Ian Molyneux focused attention on what was described as a culture of excessive drinking among the submarine's personnel.
The inquest was told that Able Seaman Ryan Donovan had drunk more than 20 pints of cider and lager over two days before the attack, in which he also shot and injured another officer while the submarine was docked in Southampton.
Police investigating the murder were so alarmed about heavy drinking by the crew while ashore that the senior officer wrote to Hampshire's Chief Constable to highlight the issue and the warning was passed to military authorities.
The coroner Keith Wiseman said a culture of drinking to excess had to stop, and recommended that a system of random alcohol testing for crew should be introduced.
The Royal Navy has tightened its rules on alcohol consumption before duty. "We take all disciplinary offences seriously," a navy spokesman said.
"Although alcohol is available on board Royal Navy ships and submarines, its consumption is extremely limited and the RN's promotion of healthy living, coupled with the professionalism of modern sailors, means that fewer sailors drink at sea than ever before," he added.
"This is particularly true of the submarine service due to the demands of operating the boat and the restrictions of working a continuous six-hour watch routine."
The most common form of misconduct within the submarine service is going absent without leave, which accounts for about half the incidents.
Alcohol and drug related misbehaviour is the next most frequent issue. According to the Ministry of Defence, these cases mainly involve alcohol rather than drugs.
Those involved are generally punished by a mixture of fines, restriction of privileges and stopping of shore leave.
The navy provided the BBC with details of 311 disciplinary incidents since January 2010 involving service personnel serving on submarines. This covers the 13 submarines in the service, but it can be difficult to contrast the disciplinary records of the various vessels without knowing their schedules and extent of times at sea.
The four Trident submarines are the V-class ones, Vanguard, Victorious, Vigilant and Vengeance. | How serious is the problem of drunkenness and indiscipline within the Royal Navy's submarine service? |
37,491,989 | It was just bought by Chinese buyers for A$88,888,888.88.
The number eight is considered lucky in Chinese as it sounds like the word for "prosperity".
That luck might come in handy - the deal comes just as Sydney was awarded the fourth spot on UBS's global housing bubble index.
Sydney follows Vancouver, London and Stockholm in the ranking which seeks to identify the world's most risky real estate markets.
The lucky price of A$88,88m (US$68.2m; £52.5m) bought 333 Kent Street in Sydney's central business district.
Fortunately it's not a triple four address, as four is pronounced similarly to the word "death" and so considered unlucky.
The offer was made by Chinese firm Bridge Capital and Australian iProsperity Group, who plan to turn the property into a residential building and hotel with a view of the Darling Harbour.
"This is not the first time that Chinese buyers have chosen to offer a price that includes numbers that are considered lucky," Vince Kernahan of Colliers International, the real estate company handling the sale, told the BBC.
In this particular case, "the buyer's offer was very close to several other offers. They just chose these numbers for luck and as it turned out their luck was with them".
According to Swiss bank UBS, the housing market in Sydney "has been overheating since the city became a target for Chinese investors several years ago".
The bank's annual housing bubble index looks at real estate markets around the world to spot the ones where the price rise is "out of touch with fundamentals" and "out of proportion to differences in local economic growth and inflation rates".
The report said housing prices peaked in the second half of 2015 and since then been slightly corrected. But the growing demand from foreign investors has led to the residential market "tripling in value over the last three years."
"Increasing supply and further tax measures to reduce foreign housing investments may end the price boom rather abruptly."
According to the UBS index, Sydney is followed by Munich, Hong Kong and San Francisco. | Business sense suggests you try to buy property at the lowest possible price, but that was not the case for one property in Sydney, Australia. |
21,839,884 | Iraqis previously "rose up in large numbers and were killed in very large numbers", the former UK PM said.
Mr Blair also warned the West could pay a high price if it decided not to intervene in Syria.
He spoke to the BBC ahead of the 10th anniversary of the invasion, led by the US in coalition with the UK and others.
The invasion, which started the Iraq War, began on 20 March 2003.
The UK lost 179 servicemen and women, of which 136 were killed in action, before the last British troops were withdrawn in April 2009.
Conservative estimates put the number of Iraqis killed in the invasion and ensuing sectarian violence at about 100,000.
Mr Blair told the BBC's Norman Smith that, had troops not invaded Iraq, "without any doubt at all there would have been a move to topple him".
"I certainly think that if Saddam had still been in power, it's true there would have been, probably, an uprising amongst his people," he said.
"But I think it would look a lot more like Syria and probably a lot worse than Syria."
Thousands of Syrians have lost their lives in the battle between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and those opposed to his rule.
Mr Blair said he regretted how difficult Iraq had been and the loss of life, but he did not regret the decision to oust Saddam.
Mr Blair said Saddam Hussein had used chemical weapons on his own people "and that's why, when people say to me, 'do you regret removing him', my answer is 'no - how can you regret removing somebody who was a monster, who created enormous carnage - not just amongst his own people but amongst the people of the region'".
Mr Blair said he believed "very sincerely and deeply" that the former Iraqi leader was "a security threat" who had to be dealt with.
"And if you look at what's happening in the Arab Spring today and you examine what's happening in Syria - just reflect on what Bashar al-Assad, who is a 20th as bad as Saddam, is doing to his people today and the number of lives already lost.
"Just ask yourself the question: 'What would be happening now in Iraq if he had been left in power?'"
Speaking about the Syrian conflict, the former prime minister warned there was "no end in sight" and the cost of not intervening would be "very high".
"If things continue as they are in Syria today, within a few months, proportionate to the size of the population, more people will have died in Syria than in the whole of the conflict since 2003 in Iraq," he added.
In 2010, at the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War, Mr Blair was questioned about the controversial claim in a September 2002 dossier that Iraq could deploy weapons of mass destruction at 45 minutes' notice.
He told the inquiry that it "assumed a vastly greater significance" afterwards than it did at the time.
He has insisted that, on the basis of the intelligence available at the time, it was "beyond doubt" Iraq was continuing to develop its weapons capability.
Last month, Mr Blair's deputy prime minister at the time of the 2003 invasion, Lord Prescott, said it "cannot be justified as an intervention".
He said he could not "just disown it" but he now thought the war was wrong. | Iraqis would have rebelled against Saddam Hussein if there had been no invasion and it would have been "a lot worse than Syria", Tony Blair has said. |
36,573,082 | It estimates that 65.3m people were either refugees, asylum seekers or internally displaced at the end of 2015, an increase of 5m in a year.
This represents one in every 113 people on the planet, the UN agency says.
Meanwhile, the UN refugee chief says a worrying "climate of xenophobia" has taken hold in Europe as it struggles to cope with the migrant crisis.
The influx of people, the biggest since World War Two, has led to greater support for far-right groups and controversial anti-immigration policies.
In its annual report marking World Refugee Day, the UN said it was the first time the number of refugees worldwide had passed the 60m mark.
Over half of the total comes from just three countries: Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia.
Are more people on the move?
Migrant crises through history
65.3m
people are refugees, asylum seekers or displaced, that's
1 in 113
of all people on the planet
12.4m were newly displaced by conflict or persecution in 2015
24 people a minute were forced to flee in 2015
54% of refugees came from just 3 countries: Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia
Half of all refugees are children under 18
Despite the huge focus on Europe's migrant crisis, the UN said 86% of the world's refugees were being sheltered in low and middle income countries.
Turkey is the biggest host country for refugees worldwide, with 2.5m people, followed by Pakistan and Lebanon.
More than 1,011,700 migrants arrived in Europe by sea last year, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), although other agencies put that number much higher.
Some 35,000 arrived by land, the IOM said.
The preferred destinations for most of them were richer northern countries like Germany and Sweden.
This is reflected in the UN's figures for new asylum applications in 2015, which show that Germany was the largest single recipient, followed by the United States and Sweden.
Most Syrian refugees in Turkey are covered by the Turkish government's temporary protection scheme so do not count as asylum claimants.
The European migration crisis has caused significant political rifts within the EU, with some states inside the border-free Schengen area putting up fences and re-imposing frontier controls.
The European bloc reached an agreement with Turkey in an attempt to limit the mass movement of people into the EU, a deal that has been heavily criticised by human rights groups.
In separate remarks, the UN refugee chief said European leaders needed to do more to coordinate policies and to combat negative stereotypes about refugees.
"Those who do the opposite, who stir up public opinion against refugees and migrants, have a responsibility in creating a climate of xenophobia that is very worrying in today's Europe," Filippo Grandi told AFP news agency.
He said it was unfortunate that some decisions taken by the EU to handle the crisis "were not implemented", calling it "a missed opportunity".
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. | The number of people displaced by conflict is at the highest level ever recorded, the UN refugee agency says. |
33,199,040 | Currently economy and transport minister, Mrs Hart's previous posts included local government and health.
Mrs Thomas has been deputy social services minister, chaired committees and led a safeguarding children review.
The announcements follow news that Labour Llanelli AM Keith Davies is also leaving Cardiff Bay next year.
All three AMs are expected to tell their constituency Labour parties of their decision to stand down on Friday evening.
Mrs Hart said it had been an "honour and a privilege" to serve her constituency for 16 years.
"I am very grateful for the support they have given me during this time, and I will continue to represent their views vigorously until the end of the assembly term next year," she added.
Mrs Thomas said: "It has been a privilege to be part of Wales' political journey, but most of all, I am happy to have had the chance to work for communities I love and call home."
First Minister Carwyn Jones paid tribute to the women, and added: "I know that for both Gwenda and Edwina, representing their 'home' areas was incredibly important to them - and both Neath and Gower are losing very talented and passionate advocates."
A major figure on the Welsh political scene, Mrs Hart showed leadership when she took the decision to dramatically shrink the number of health boards in 2008, just five years after a previous reorganisation under a predecessor.
But she lost out to Carwyn Jones in the battle for Welsh Labour's top job a year later.
More recently, she has been at the centre of a major row over plans for an M4 relief road, the decision on which will now be taken by another minister after the election.
The announcement by Mrs Hart that she is leaving the Senedd follows a shock general election result in her Gower constituency.
Labour lost a seat it had held for more than a century to the Conservatives.
Also an AM since the assembly's creation in 1999, Mrs Thomas has been regarded as a strong voice for her Neath constituency, offering support to the local community at the time of the Gleision mine disaster.
As a deputy minister, she steered a major piece of legislation overhauling social services through the assembly and also chaired the housing and equal opportunities committees.
The departure of Mrs Hart and Mrs Thomas from Cardiff Bay, in addition to Mr Davies, means the Labour benches in the Senedd will look rather different in 2016, regardless of the outcome of the assembly poll. | Gower AM Edwina Hart and Neath AM Gwenda Thomas are to stand down at the 2016 assembly election. |
35,283,439 | Fraser of Allander Institute (FAI) analysis suggested the rate of recovery was constrained by companies in the north east.
New business levels eased during the three months to the end of November with an overall balance of just 3%, compared with 18% a year ago.
FAI said it was likely this slowdown would end and recovery improve.
In the three months ending November 2015, 34% of the firms surveyed in the Scottish Business Monitor reported an increased turnover, 33% experienced static turnover and 33% a decrease. This latest result indicates a slowing in the pace of the improving trend identified last spring.
Grant Allan, FAI deputy director, said: "Growth in the Scottish economy slowed in the final quarter of 2015, while expectations of growth have remained broadly positive.
"We await the GDP figures for the third quarter of 2015, and following only slight growth of 0.1% in the second quarter, we will then learn whether growth through last year will be at the moderate levels forecast earlier in the year."
He added: "Internationally, the US Federal Reserve's decision to increase interest rates during December 2015 suggests their confidence in recovery. However, it remains to be seen how the US economy - a vital trading partner for Scottish non-UK exports - responds to this decision.
"Concerns about a slowdown in Chinese growth as we begin 2016 suggests ongoing weakness in the global economy. This feeds back to Scottish activity both through lower exports and a low price of oil affecting activity across the country, and particularly in the north east of Scotland."
A brief summary of some of the other findings in the survey suggested volumes of repeat business were showing a slight decline in the latest quarter; export activity was continuing to fall; firms' assessments of their immediate prospects in the next six months were on a rising trend throughout 2013 and reached highs in the first two quarters of 2014.
This is the 12th successive Scottish Business Monitor showing a positive net balance for turnover expectations.
These expectation levels suggest the private sector of the Scottish economy will show growth close to, but below, the trend level in the fourth quarter of 2015, and slower growth in the three months to February 2016 compared with the period to November 2015. | The Scottish economy slowed down towards the end of 2015, according to new figures. |
40,188,414 | It is not really the weather for it but you might have one of these in a drawer somewhere.
A hand-warmer. A small plastic pouch filled with a gel.
Click the little piece of metal inside and you set off a chemical reaction.
The gel begins to turn into a waxy solid. As it does it gives off heat.
You can reverse the process by immersing the hand-warmer in hot water. The energy you are adding turns it back into a gel, ready to go again.
There's a name for the stuff in the pouch: a phase change material.
It's a bit like water when it freezes and changes from liquid to solid ice.
Except that gel is "freezing" at more than twice the temperature of boiling water.
So you get toasty hands (or feet - one of my colleagues has been known to stuff them into her socks when camping) and a wee bit of science theatre.
It took a creative leap to take the idea further: could you scale up the phase change process so a hand-warmer became a house-warmer?
Several big corporations - over several decades - tried to make it happen but each time the research petered out.
Now an East Lothian company with fewer than 30 employees has succeeded.
The equipment Sunamp have developed at their base in Macmerry has already been installed in 650 Scottish homes, providing heat and hot water for about half the cost of gas.
Joan and Alexander Maclean's house is just a few miles from Macmerry.
The solar panels on the roof are a clue to how cosy it is inside.
The secret lies in a discreet white metal box in the airing cupboard. A box that Joan says "makes a lovely difference".
She says: "It saves a lot of money, put it that way. You're getting your hot water for free.
"Before that, this house was a really cold, cold house."
With copper pipes coming and going from it, the box could be mistaken for a gas boiler.
But it's more sophisticated than that. It's a battery that stores heat instead of electricity.
At the heart of it a heat exchanger is immersed in a phase change material.
Like a handwarmer, the material melts when heat is put in from the solar panels.
Then when you turn on the tap in the kitchen or bathroom cold water flows into the heat exchanger, prompting the gel to solidify. Hot water flows out instantly.
It does it again and again. Each box is capable of thousands of cycles.
It is the result of eight years of work by Sunamp's CEO Andrew Bissell. The former Edinburgh University academic wanted a better way of storing renewable energy until it was needed.
"It occurred to me that if you actually look at the pie chart of energy usage, far more of it is heat than electricity," he says.
"And yet far more of the effort goes into electricity compared with heat.
"So I said, 'I want to make a heat battery'."
There is a heat battery on the table in front of us. A red plastic cell containing the heat exchanger and the gel. (They also do blue cells - cold batteries.)
The red cells can be stacked together inside units like the one in Joan Maclean's cupboard. Other units are the size of small fridges, some even bigger than that.
Sunamp have a particularly imposing black one that rises from floor to ceiling of their kitchen and is reminiscent of the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The principle may seem straightforward enough but there's been more to it than filling plastic boxes with gallons of handwarmer gel.
Sunamp had to find just the right formulation to ensure maximum heat transfer and battery life.
A huge number of possible formulations were screened using the Diamond Light Source - the UK's massive synchrotron in Oxfordshire.
It is not the sort of thing the average small to medium business could afford but Sunamp had entered into a partnership with Edinburgh University.
The company got the science and the head of the university's school of chemistry Prof Colin Pulham says he and his colleagues benefited in return.
He says: "The governments are very keen that basic research leads to socioeconomic impact.
"This is a classic example of where something has been taken from the bench all the way into a product and has the potential to have a major impact economically, but also improving people's quality of life - and also of course reducing CO2 emissions."
The matchmaker between Sunamp and the university was a publicly funded organisation called Interface.
In its 12 years of operation it has introduced well over 2,500 Scottish businesses to academic partners.
"We've worked with a range of companies," says its director Dr Siobhan Jordan.
"From food and drink companies that want to use hyperspectral imaging, a fantastic technology developed for the defence sector, to enable them to see inside cakes.
"We've worked with chocolate producers in looking at how the chocolate has flavinoids that are really healthy.
"But we've also worked with crofters, with farmers, with other energy companies - a whole range of different ideas."
Sunamp's heat batteries have given them a shot at success. Growing demand has attracted investors and the company is looking for bigger premises.
There's another success story. Sunamp's third employee came to Macmerry from Edinburgh university.
Then David Oliver was a postgraduate student. Now he's the company's materials scientist - and Dr Oliver, having completed his PhD on phase change materials.
He helped arrive at the final formula for the gel/solid in the heat batteries. The correct chemical description, he explains, is an alkali-soluble polymer.
He says: "A lot of people think of polymers as being plastics, hard materials.
"But some polymers also exist in a solution.
"So you can dissolve these plastics in other materials and you get some quite dramatic changes in properties."
Sunamp's formula contains several tweaks and additives.
But it's not too far removed from the stuff used to flavour some brands of salt and vinegar crisps.
We do not advise you to crack open a heat battery and having a taste.
No, definitely don't try that at home. | A tech firm has taken the principle behind hand-warmers and turned them into big batteries that can heat a house using solar power. |
37,646,293 | The musician has won the Nobel Prize for Literature for creating "new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition".
Here is just a small selection of lyrics that have helped make his reputation as one of the world's greatest singer-songwriters.
How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind
BLOWIN' IN THE WIND, 1962
Copyright 1962 by Warner Bros. Inc. Renewed 1990 by Special Rider Music
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside and it is ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'
THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN'
Copyright 1963, 1964 Warner Bros. Inc. Renewed 1991, 1992 Special Rider Music
I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it
I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it
I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin'
I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin'
I saw a white ladder all covered with water
I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children
And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard
And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall
A HARD RAIN'S A-GONNA FALL
Copyright 1963 Warner Bros. Inc. Renewed 1991 Special Rider Music
Far between sundown's finish an' midnight's broken toll
We ducked inside the doorway, thunder crashing
As majestic bells of bolts struck shadows in the sounds
Seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing
Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight
Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight
An' for each an' ev'ry underdog soldier in the night
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing
CHIMES OF FREEDOM
Copyright 1964 Warner Bros. Inc. Renewed 1992 Special Rider Music
Maggie comes fleet foot
Face full of black soot
Talkin' that the heat put
Plants in the bed but
The phone's tapped anyway
Maggie says that many say
They must bust in early May
Orders from the DA
Look out kid
Don't matter what you did
Walk on your tip toes
Don't try "No Doz"
Better stay away from those
That carry around a fire hose
Keep a clean nose
Watch the plain clothes
You don't need a weather man
To know which way the wind blows
SUBTERRANEAN HOMESICK BLUES
Copyright 1965 Warner Bros. Inc. Renewed 1993 Special Rider Music
You never turned around to see the frowns on the jugglers and the clowns
When they all come down and did tricks for you
You never understood that it ain't no good
You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you
You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat
Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat
Ain't it hard when you discover that
He really wasn't where it's at
After he took from you everything he could steal
How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?
LIKE A ROLLING STONE
Copyright 1965 Warner Bros. Inc. Renewed 1993 Special Rider Music
She lit a burner on the stove
And offered me a pipe
"I thought you'd never say hello," she said
"You look like the silent type"
Then she opened up a book of poems
And handed it to me
Written by an Italian poet
From the 13th Century
And every one of them words rang true
And glowed like burnin' coal
Pourin' off of every page
Like it was written in my soul from me to you
Tangled up in blue
TANGLED UP IN BLUE
Copyright 1974 by Ram's Horn Music. Renewed 2002 by Ram's Horn Music
Oh, the gentlemen are talking and the midnight moon is on the riverside
They're drinking up and walking and it is time for me to slide
I live in another world where life and death are memorised
Where the earth is strung with lovers' pearls and all I see are dark eyes
DARK EYES
Copyright 1985 Special Rider Music
And, finally, one that may not have contributed to the Nobel panel's decision...
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead
WIGGLE WIGGLE
Copyright 1990 Special Rider Music
Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram at bbcnewsents, or if you have a story suggestion email [email protected]. | Over a career lasting more than five decades, Bob Dylan has written hundreds of songs - ranging from elegant ballads to anthemic protests. |
40,271,835 | The world number two will play at Dundonald Links the week before The Open at Royal Birkdale in July.
McIlroy, 28, has been troubled by a rib problem this year but insists he is "totally fine" to play in this week's US Open at Erin Hills, Wisconsin.
The four-time major winner will be making his first Scottish Open appearance since 2014.
He withdrew from the 2015 event at Gullane after picking up an injury playing football.
"I'm going to play (the) Scottish, so I'm going to play Irish (Portstewart), Scottish and The Open, which is a great links run," said the Northern Irishman.
"I don't know much about Dundonald. I know it's close to Troon. That's really about it. I know I can drive there. Having to get the boat from Larne to Troon will be fine." | Rory McIlroy has added the Scottish Open to his schedule as he works his way back from injury. |
35,779,133 | The three-part documentary series, produced by independent company Top Hat, will be aired later this year.
Filming will take place over several months, in a format similar to the Inside the Commons documentary which was broadcast on BBC Two last year.
It aims to "see how public perception stacks up to reality", the BBC says.
The House of Lords has been under renewed scrutiny since it acted to delay tax credit cuts in October 2015.
The controversial move prompted the government to launch a review of the Lords' powers, which recommended they should lose their absolute veto over secondary legislation.
The BBC says the documentary will show the "characters" who populate the upper chamber and "their aims, dilemmas and frustrations".
The programme will take in the current arguments about whether, and how, to pursue reform of the House of Lords.
Fiona Campbell, head of BBC Current Affairs, hailed it as a chance "to shed some light for our viewers on the inner workings of this long-standing pillar of politics in this country".
Lord Speaker Baroness D'Souza said: "The House of Lords is often misunderstood because there are few opportunities for the public to find out about its role and work."
She described the series as an "opportunity to see the important work that is done by the House".
Peers held a debate in January on their public image in which a number of members complained about the lack of understanding of their role and the way they are portrayed in the press.
Lord Hodgson of Astley-Abbots, who tabled the debate, expressed his concern about "the rising number of snide, unfounded and unhelpful articles about your Lordships' House that are quite unconnected with our legislative activities". | BBC Two has commissioned a series filmed inside the House of Lords which it says will give "unprecedented" insight into peers' work. |
40,198,347 | Two men, aged 34 and 37, were detained in Newham, while a third man aged 33 was arrested at an address in Waltham Forest.
All three have been taken to a south London police station.
The arrests are not connected to the attacks on London Bridge and in Borough Market, Scotland Yard said.
In a separate investigation, counter-terror police made a series of arrests in Ilford, east London, on Wednesday night in connection with the London Bridge atrocity.
They came five days after eight people were killed and dozens injured when three men launched a van and knife rampage on Saturday night.
All the attackers were shot dead by police. | Three men have been arrested on suspicion of terror offences following a series of raids involving armed police, in east London. |
33,936,769 | James Young rode the Raptor rollercoaster at Cedar Point amusement park and then jumped over a fence to get his phone when he was hit.
A coroner confirmed he was looking to retrieve his mobile phone. The park confirmed Young's death in a statement.
"At 5pm, a guest entered a restricted, fenced area of Raptor and was struck by the ride," Cedar Point tweeted.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family."
Young was 45 years old, said Phil Frost of the Sandusky Police Department.
"He jumped over a fence into a restricted area under the Raptor and was looking for his items," Mr Frost said during a press conference.
Cedar Point is located near Lake Erie in Sandusky, Ohio, and considers itself one of the best theme parks in the world. | A man trying to retrieve his mobile phone has been struck and killed by a rollercoaster at a theme park in Ohio. |
39,640,470 | The US firm reported profits up 74% to $1.84bn (£1.4bn) for the three months against the same quarter last year.
The gain came as investment banking and bond trading revenues jumped, and the bank was able to set aside less money for credit losses.
The growth also reflected a rebound from 2016's rocky start.
"We reported one of our strongest quarters in recent years," chief executive James Gorman said.
"All our businesses performed well in improved market conditions. We are confident in our business model and the opportunities ahead, while recognizing that the environment remains uncertain."
Morgan Stanley's profits and revenue growth beat analysts' forecasts. On Tuesday, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America also reported quarterly growth, although there was some disappointment that the figures were not higher.
Total revenue at Morgan Stanley increased 25% from the same period in 2016, reaching $9.7bn.
Trading revenue rose 57% to $3.2bn, amid a surge in the fixed-income unit.
The $1.7bn in fixed income trading revenue marked the best quarter in two years and the fourth quarter in a row that Morgan Stanley hit its $1 billion target for bond trading revenue.
"This is quite a number for a company that just two years ago was setting a billion dollars a quarter as an aspirational goal, and it stands in sharp relief to Goldman's air ball yesterday," Oppenheimer analyst Chris Kotowski said in a note to clients. | Morgan Stanley profits rose sharply in the first quarter as the Wall Street giant became the latest bank to see growth in the period. |
35,825,616 | The artwork, titled DHEAD, was originally donated for the fundraising ARTAID 98 exhibition in the city in 1998.
His portrait was auctioned during Lyon & Turnbull's contemporary paintings sale, making £22,500. It had been valued at between £3,000 and £5,000.
Bowie died on 10 January this year after a battle with liver cancer.
A one-time art school student, Bowie's paintings focus on abstract head studies influenced by the bizarreness and esotericism of 1930s era German Expressionist art.
Charlotte Riordan, picture specialist at Lyon & Turnbull, said: "Best known of course as a singer/songwriter, Bowie's entire career was spent actively blurring the lines between the art forms of music, performance and design; the visual playing as big a part as the aural." | A self-portrait by David Bowie has gone under the hammer in Edinburgh, making four-times its valuation. |
38,930,689 | Alan Pearmain added a comment to a post of an ape wearing lipstick saying: "Forget the London look, get the Diane Abbott look" in December.
The deputy chairman of the South Ribble Conservative Association tweeted: "Nice lips kid. But a shade too much rouge".
But Mr Pearmain asked the BBC: "Why is it particularly offensive?
"People will take offence about everything, won't they?"
A Conservative spokesman said: "His comments are completely unacceptable and he has been suspended from the party, pending an investigation."
Asked in an interview with BBC Radio Lancashire whether his comments were appropriate, the parish councillor in Farington, Lancashire, said: "I suppose in retrospect, no".
But he added: "To me this stinks of false news but you know, you have to live with these things."
He said he was "disappointed" at being suspended by the party but said: "I also feel a bit annoyed at myself for letting them down.
"In retrospect it's going to reflect on them for three or four months and that I should apologise for".
Asked if he would say sorry to Ms Abbott, he said: "I would love to apologise to her but I would also ask her to explain some of the comments I've read that she's made - but I suppose you can because she's important and I'm not, people can pick and choose what they want to publish and how they do it.
Mr Permain describes himself in his Twitter profile as "positioned slightly to the right of Attila the Hun".
Labour councillor for Middleforth, Keith Martin, said he noticed the tweet and reported it to the Labour Party, describing it as "racist, degrading and offensive."
Lancashire police said they have not received a complaint.
The Labour Party and Ms Abbott's office have been contacted for comment. | A Conservative politician suspended over an offensive tweet aimed at Labour MP Diane Abbott has admitted his actions were inappropriate. |
36,387,714 | Dennehy, 33, from Peterborough, is serving life for murdering three men whose bodies were found in ditches in Cambridgeshire in 2013.
She also attempted to murder two men in Hereford.
Dennehy had claimed continued isolation left her "tearful and upset".
More on this and other stories from Cambridgeshire
She was refused permission to appeal the decision herself but Dennehy's legal team has been given 35 days to ask the Court of Appeal to hear her case.
The killer, who was given a whole-life sentence at her Old Bailey trial and jailed in February 2014, challenged Justice Secretary Michael Gove over HMP Bronzefield's decision to continue to keep her separated from other prisoners, which entailed long periods of isolation.
The High Court heard Dennehy was initially segregated while on remand after a "credible escape plan" involving her and two other prisoners had been uncovered.
One aspect of the alleged plan was that "the finger of an officer would be cut off in an attempt to deceive the biometric security system at the prison".
Government lawyers conceded the segregation period between 19 September 2013 and 4 September 2015 was technically unlawful because it was not properly authorised by former Justice Secretary Chris Grayling but said it was fair, justified and lawful due to the nature of Dennehy's offending and the escape risk she posed.
In her High Court challenge, she claimed she had been "unfairly and unlawfully" held, with barrister Hugh Southey QC arguing continued isolation left her "tearful and upset" and she had at times resumed her practice of self-harming.
The woman who murdered men for fun
My sister, the multiple murderer
He said the escape allegations were never properly put to her and no further action was taken.
She insisted that the alleged plot was nothing more than a "doodle" found in her diary, Mr Southey said.
Jenni Richards QC, for the prison, had said she was "arguably the most dangerous female prisoner in custody".
At today's hearing, Mr Justice Singh ruled her segregation since September 2015 had been "in accordance with law" and "at all material times it has been necessary and proportionate".
Dennehy murdered Lukasz Slaboszewski, 31, Kevin Lee, 48, and John Chapman, 56, in March 2013 before dumping their bodies in ditches in and around Peterborough.
She went on the run and subsequently stabbed dog walkers Robin Bereza, 64, and 56-year-old John Rogers.
Dennehy is only the third woman to be given a whole-life prison term.
Moors murderer Myra Hindley and serial killer Rose West are the other two. | Triple killer Joanne Dennehy has failed in a bid to get compensation for solitary confinement in jail after claiming it was a violation of her human rights. |
33,754,901 | Pre-tax profit was $13.6bn (£8.7bn) in the first six months, compared with $12.3bn a year ago - higher than forecasts which were for $12.5bn.
The lender also announced the sale of its Brazil unit to banking giant Banco Brandesco for $5.2bn.
The move comes as it tries to reduce costs with plans to cut 50,000 jobs.
"We are executing the actions that we announced at our investor update in June and our focus is on making significant progress during the remainder of the year," the London-based bank said in a statement on Monday.
The sale of its Brazilian operations marks the bank's retreat from the second-largest emerging market, where it has about 21,000 employees.
The bank has been looking to withdraw from underperforming markets and also wants to sell its business in Turkey. It operates in 70 countries worldwide.
HSBC has also been considering moving its global headquarters from London, and confirmed a decision by its board would be made by the end of this year.
Its revenues rose by 4% to $30.8bn in the same period, with its Asian operations helping to drive earnings.
Asia accounted for nearly 70% of the bank's pre-tax profit as the firm considers moving its headquarters to Hong Kong.
HSBC's Hong Kong listed shares were up 1.4% after the results, outperforming the benchmark Hang Seng index, which is down almost 1%. | Profit at Europe's largest bank, HSBC, was up 10% in the first half of this year compared with a year ago on strong earnings in Hong Kong. |
35,822,082 | James Purdie was caught with 115 images on his computer after police raided his home in Ardrossan.
The 32-year-old, who had file-shared with other paedophiles, told officers: "Everything you have found is mine."
Purdie admitted downloading and possessing the images at two addresses in Irvine between November 2014 and November 2015. Sentence was deferred.
Kilmarnock Sheriff Court heard that several of the pictures were at the highest level of depravity, featuring girls as young as two being abused.
Purdie's name was also added to the sex offenders' register. | A man from North Ayrshire caught with images of children being tortured and sexually abused is facing jail. |
29,723,819 | Roger Marshall testified on 2 and 8 October that he policed 27,500 fans at a rugby league match at the ground on 26 December 1989 with 12 officers.
The court was told he was not at the tie and it was not held in Sheffield.
In a statement read to the jury, Mr Marshall offered "an unreserved apology for misleading the court".
Ninety-six fans died following a crush at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at the Sheffield ground on 15 April 1989.
Giving evidence on 2 October, the jury heard Mr Marshall explain he was match commander for a rugby league match between Wigan and St Helens on Boxing Day 1989, which he said was held at Hillsborough.
Mr Marshall compared that match with the FA Cup semi-final, in which 801 police officer were on duty - 38% of the force's manpower at the time.
"It might interest you to know that on Boxing Day the same year Wigan and St Helens played at Hillsborough [and] 27,500 people came to that game," he said.
"Do you know, I policed that game, I policed it with 12 policemen."
On 8 October, he was asked how he had policed that game with only 12 officers with "no public order problems".
The former superintendent said: "It is a family game, family people, no problem."
He also remarked how "it can't be said of rugby league that it is some upper middle-class dilettante sport" and that "just as with some football supporters" those who go to watch rugby league "like a beer as well".
The 1989 Boxing Day game between Wigan and St Helens actually took place in Greater Manchester - at Wigan's then home ground, Central Park.
In a statement read to the court on Tuesday, Mr Marshall said: "It has been brought to my attention that... I gave erroneous evidence in that: 1. I did not police the Wigan-St Helens game on 26 December 1989 and 2. That game was not played at Hillsborough.
"I offer my unreserved apology for misleading the court. I am embarrassed and distressed that I made this mistake."
The inquests, being held in Warrington, have now adjourned until 3 November.
BBC News: Profiles of all those who died | A former superintendent who served at Hillsborough has apologised after discovering part of the evidence he gave to the inquests was incorrect. |
34,946,294 | The four men were arrested on Wednesday in connection with suspected tax evasion.
The Irish News reports HMRC has asked to see files held by C&H Jefferson. The firm says it is "complying with this request".
C&H Jefferson is not accused of any wrongdoing.
The four men arrested are Jon D'Arcy, Eamonn Donaghy, Arthur O'Brien and Paul Hollway, KPMG's most senior staff in Northern Ireland.
They have been placed on "administrative leave".
KPMG said it did not have "any indication" that the investigation related to the business of KPMG or its clients.
Aside from their KPMG roles, the four men are directors in a property investment company called JEAP Ltd. | HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has made a request to access client files held by a Belfast law firm as part of its investigation into four KPMG partners. |
37,970,124 | The 26-year-old clocked 42.335 seconds - beating Fan Kexin's 42.504 - in her quarter-final, but then fell in the closing stages of the final.
The Scot took 500m gold in the opening event of World Cup series in Calgary.
The Livingston-born skater won a silver medal and three bronzes at this year's World Championships in March.
She had previously competed at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics.
Meet Elise Christie and fellow GB speed skaters | British speed skater Elise Christie broke the 500m world record at the second World Cup event of the season in Salt Lake City. |
32,974,358 | The seasonally adjusted figure is at its lowest level since a year after German reunification in 1990.
The head of the Federal Labour Office, Frank-Juergen Weise, said strong consumer consumption was helping to drive the downward trend.
A recent survey showed Germans are feeling more optimistic than at any point since October 2001.
The chief economist at the government-owned KfW Development Bank, Joerg Zeuner, said demand for staff was rising in almost every sector, although it was weaker in manufacturing.
Private consumption has overtaken exports as the main impetus behind Germany's growth.
The government is hoping household spending will help the economy to expand by 1.8% this year, but economists at Deutsche Bank have lowered their forecast to 1.6%, because of weaker-than-expected first-quarter growth. | Germany's jobless rate has fallen by 6,000 to 2.78 million, as Europe's biggest economy continues to recover. |
40,685,361 | "It was like a miracle," said Narcis Bardalet, who was in charge of embalming Dalí's body 28 years ago, adding that the hair was also intact.
The body was exhumed in the north-eastern Spanish city of Figueres to settle a paternity case.
A woman says her mother had an affair with the world-famous artist.
If María Pilar Abel Martínez is proved right, she could assume part of Dalí's estate, currently owned by the Spanish state.
Dalí's body was exhumed from a crypt in a museum dedicated to his life and work on Thursday evening.
"When I took off the silk handkerchief, I was very emotional," Mr Bardalet told RAC1 radio station on Friday morning.
"I was eager to see him and I was absolutely stunned. It was like a miracle... his moustache appeared at 10 past 10 exactly and his hair was intact," he added.
Lluís Peñuelas, the secretary of the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation, said that it was "a moving moment".
DNA samples have been taken from the artist's teeth, bones and nails in a four-hour operation, the officials say.
It may take weeks before the results of the tests are known.
The exhumation went ahead following a court order on behalf of Ms Martínez.
This was despite the objections of the local authorities and the Dalí Foundation, both of which said that not enough notice had been given.
Ms Martínez, a tarot card reader who was born in 1956, says her mother had an affair with Dalí in the year before her birth.
Her mother, Antonia, had worked for a family that spent time in Cadaqués, near the painter's home.
Ms Martínez's action is against the Spanish state, to which Dalí left his estate.
Ms Martínez says her mother and paternal grandmother both told her at an early age that Dalí was her real father.
But the claim has surprised many, including Ian Gibson, an Irish-born biographer of Dalí, who said that the notion of the artist having an affair that produced a child was "absolutely impossible".
"Dalí always boasted: 'I'm impotent, you've got to be impotent to be a great painter'," the biographer said.
Photo gallery of Dalí's work | Salvador Dalí's moustache is intact in the "10 past 10" position, the surrealist painter's foundation has said, a day after his body was exhumed. |
36,527,323 | The claim: People receiving funding from the European Union would continue to get it until 2020 if there was a vote to leave the EU, and more money could be spent on the NHS and tax cuts.
Reality Check verdict: There would be the money to fund these spending promises as long as economic growth was not reduced - which most economists believe it would be - and the UK outside the EU did not continue making contributions to the EU budget. The people making these promises would not necessarily be in power following a Brexit.
This is important because of the £276m the UK contributes to the EU budget each week about £115m comes back to the UK to be spent on things such as:
Vote Leave is saying that those groups will continue to be funded until 2020, unless the programmes for which they were receiving the money were due to finish before 2020.
After that, there would be £161m a week left over, of which, the letter says, £100m a week would be spent on the NHS and another £33m a week would go on abolishing the 5% value added tax (VAT) currently charged on domestic fuel.
There are a few caveats about this promise.
The first is that if, following a vote to leave the EU, the economy grows by about half a percentage point less than it would have done - and most economists believe leaving the EU would reduce economic growth - then the reduced tax take for the government would wipe out the savings from budget contributions.
If that was the case, then the funding for these projects would have to be found from elsewhere.
The letter says: "There is more than enough money to ensure that those who now get funding from the EU - including universities, scientists, family farmers, regional funds, cultural organisations and others - will continue to do so while also ensuring that we save money that can be spent on our priorities."
But while some of the signatories of this letter are ministers in the government, they are not currently in a position to make spending pledges.
Finally, it is possible that if a post-Brexit UK wanted to retain preferential access to the single market, it might still have to contribute to the EU budget, as Norway does, which would reduce the amount of money left over.
Read more: The facts behind claims in the EU debate | Vote Leave campaigners sent out a letter on Tuesday saying that if the UK left the European Union, then people who were receiving EU funding would continue to do so until 2020. |
34,897,946 | David Cumming, head of equities at Standard Life Investments, said that HSBC was being put at a "competitive disadvantage" by "ever-increasing capital requirements".
"Logically, we would be supportive of a move if they chose to do that," he told Radio 4's Today programme.
Standard Life owns 1% of HSBC.
Mr Cumming said a UK exit would result in "better growth, earnings and dividend prospects unless the regulator changes tack".
The warning came as the Bank of England prepared its latest set of stress tests, designed to assess whether lenders could withstand another financial crisis.
HSBC said earlier this year that it was considering moving its headquarters out of the UK.
At the time, the bank said the decision was sparked by "regulatory and structural reforms" since the financial crisis.
HSBC has said it will make a decision on a possible move away from London by the end of the year.
The bank has not yet said where it may consider moving to, although many expect Hong Kong to be high on the list.
It has had its headquarters in the UK since 1992, but makes most of its money overseas, with Asia accounting for about 80% of its profit.
HSBC has threatened to exit the UK before. In 2010, it said it might move from London if the UK government decided to break up big banks. | Shareholders would back banking giant HSBC if it decided to move its headquarters out of the City, according to one of its bigger investors. |
34,285,548 | Media playback is unsupported on your device
17 September 2015 Last updated at 18:43 BST
She is now settled in Cardiff with her baby son Nabil, although her husband is still a refugee in Jordan.
Her story starts in 2011 with bombing in her home city of Daraa, when the couple fled.
Asmaa spent three years as a refugee, but under pressure to return to Syria, she took a journey via Turkey, Italy and France before arriving in Kent as a stowaway in the back of a lorry.
She said she looked to the UK as a place where she could be safe with her baby. | Syrian refugee Asmaa Al Fashtaki, 29, arrived in the UK last November and was five months pregnant. |
40,407,054 | The woman, who police have not named, was subdued by a police officer who had joined the force two weeks earlier.
A passenger on Southwest Airlines Flight 4519 told KHOU-TV that the woman was behaving erratically throughout Sunday's morning flight.
"She wrote 'Help me' and her name" on napkins, the traveller said.
"I knew something wasn't right," the passenger said, adding the woman's behaviour drew attention even before she had boarded the flight at LAX airport.
"It was weird, something like you see on TV. You never expect to think you'd be on that same flight."
Southwest Airlines said in a statement that the pilot chose to divert to Corpus Christi, Texas, after crew members reported "a potential threat in the cabin".
Corpus Christi Airport Police told Houston's KTRK-TV that the FBI is investigating the situation.
Henrietta Mokwuah, who was also aboard the flight, told the network that the woman came close to opening the emergency door located near the rear of the plane.
"Oh yeah, she tore off a piece of it. There was the frame, that was on the door. She ended up breaking it off," Ms Mokwuah said.
The woman refused to stay in her seat and made remarks about being treated unfairly by the government as she paced in the aisles, passengers say.
Cleveland Independent School District Police identified the off-duty officer who detained the woman as Pamela Minchew, who had joined the police force only two weeks earlier.
Officer Minchew had been on holiday with her children, and was returning home to Texas, according to Police Chief Rex Evans.
Due to differences in air pressure, experts say it would be almost impossible for a passenger to open the door of an aircraft during a flight. Added to that, the doors are locked during flight. | A plane travelling from Los Angeles to Houston was diverted after a woman tried to open an emergency exit near the end of the flight, passengers say. |
35,391,520 | David Warner (122) and Mitchell Marsh (102 not out) helped Australia set a daunting total of 330-7 in Sydney.
But Pandey's 104 not out led the charge to guide the tourists to victory by six wickets with two balls to spare.
India opener Rohit Sharma had earlier scored 99 on his way to claiming man of the series.
Rohit hit 441 runs in the five matches at an average of 110, including two centuries.
Australia had looked likely to add to their 18 consecutive ODI victories on home soil with another impressive batting display.
Opener Warner smashed his 122 off 113 balls and Marsh claimed his first ODI century with 102 off just 84 balls.
Once again in the series, India's bowlers struggled with only debutant Jaspit Bumrah giving some measure of control with figures of 2-40 off his 10 overs.
India got their reply off to a solid start with Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan (78) putting on 123.
Rohit was eventually caught behind by Matthew Wade off the bowling of John Hastings just one short of another century, but this time India avoided the batting collapse that had characterised the previous matches in the series.
Pandey, in only his fourth ODI, kept pace with the run chase and with support from skipper MS Dhoni (34) saw them home in a thrilling finish. | Manish Pandey scored a maiden one-day international century as India beat Australia with a ball to spare to avoid a whitewash in the five-match series. |
39,279,647 | The top two sides in the world are not due to meet until the autumn of 2018.
However, the RFU are understood to be interested in a fixture between the two sides this November, despite the fact the fixture schedule has already been finalised.
England will play Argentina, Australia and Samoa in the international window.
The match could take place if various obstacles, such as the distribution of match-day revenues, can be overcome.
Meanwhile the All Blacks are pencilled in to face the Barbarians on 4 November.
"We are playing New Zealand in 2018," said an RFU spokesperson.
"If there is an opportunity for us to play NZ before then - ie this year - then we will pursue that opportunity."
Eddie Jones' men can surpass New Zealand's record of 18 consecutive victories if they beat Ireland in the Six Nations on Sunday. | The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has confirmed it is looking into arranging an "out-of-window" match between England and New Zealand this year. |
39,203,198 | Out of 724 test purchases carried out by London Trading Standards, 96 retailers sold knives and blades to the volunteers.
It is illegal to sell knives to anyone under the age of 18.
As a result, 19 traders have been prosecuted while others received warnings and compliance advice.
London Trading Standards spokesman Steve Playle said: "Whilst it is commendable that 87% of shops refused to sell, it is concerning that children as young as 13 were actually sold knives."
The tests were carried out as part of the Metropolitan Police's Operation Sceptre initiative, aimed at reducing knife crime.
Ch Insp of the Met's Trident Central Gangs Command, Gary Anderson, said although the force had "reduced the volume of gang-related knife crime" through education programmes and "targeted work on boroughs", more needed to be done.
"We remain committed to working in partnership with Trading Standards to prevent knives from reaching dangerous hands and to reduce the number of families devastated by knife crime in London," he said.
The government said more work needed to be done and that it would continue to work with other agencies to keep children and communities safe.
Minister for Vulnerability, Safeguarding and Countering Extremism Sarah Newton said: "Selling knives to children is illegal and I am delighted that London Trading Standards are taking action to enforce this and have found that the vast majority of retailers are complying with the law.
"Knife crime can have devastating consequences and this government is acting against it, including banning the sale of so-called 'zombie-knives', supporting Operation Sceptre and expanding our work with retailers to stop the underage sale of knives." | Children as young as 13 bought knives in London when teenage volunteers were used to test if shops were complying with the law. |
31,069,005 | While Scotland's Martin Laird led on 10 under, former world number one and 14-time major champion Woods was last in a field of 132 and missed the cut.
The 39-year-old was playing in his first PGA Tour event of the season.
"I've got to keep this in perspective. Sometimes that's hard to do," said Woods, who finished on 13 over.
Struggling with his chipping, he carded six bogeys, two double bogeys, a triple bogey and two birdies in his second round at TPC Scottsdale.
Woods duffed one chip from greenside rough and flew another straight over the flag and into a bunker. He also struggled from the fairway, leaving a chip from 20 yards off the green short.
His previous worst round was an 81 in the 2002 Open at Muirfield, a round completed in a storm that made scoring difficult.
Woods, who carded a two-over-par 73 in his opening round, missed much of last season, including the Ryder Cup, after having back surgery in March 2014.
"We all have days like this," he said. "Unfortunately mine was in a public forum and a public setting, but we all have days like this and we take the good with the bad."
Laird, 32, who shot a second straight 66 in wet and windy conditions, said: "It was a very Scottish day today with the misty drizzle. The big thing was I drove well."
American Daniel Berger is two shots behind Laird on eight under, while another tour rookie, Justin Thomas, is third on seven under.
Phil Mickelson, a three-time winner in Phoenix, missed the cut after carding a second-round five-over 76. | Tiger Woods recorded the worst round of his professional career with an 11-over-par 82 in the second round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open. |
35,262,705 | The special recognition award will honour his 50-year career and will be presented by his friend, actor Dustin Hoffman.
Connolly, 73, has just performed the first of 16 nights at the Apollo Hammersmith in London.
In 2013, he was treated for prostate cancer and Parkinson's Disease.
The comic, whose career began in a folk band with Gerry Rafferty called The Humblebums, first performed comedy in the early 1970s.
In the decades since, he has toured the globe and was voted number one in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand Ups poll.
His acting career began on the BBC's Play for Today in 1975, and he has gone on to host a number of TV specials and travelogues, including Billy Connolly's Route 66, in which he travelled from the east to the west coast of the US.
He was nominated for a best actor Bafta in 1998 for his role opposite Dame Judi Dench in the 1997 film Mrs Brown, and was presented with an outstanding career award by Bafta Scotland in 2012.
Broadcaster and fellow Scot Armando Iannucci said: "It's unbelievable and yet no surprise that we're celebrating fifty years of Billy Connolly.
"Because he doesn't compromise, because he doesn't fit a label, he has no shelf life, he's not part of a phase. He's unique. You can't really sum him up."
The National Television Awards will be held on 20 January and will be broadcast on ITV from 19:30 GMT. | Comedian Billy Connolly is to be presented with a special prize at the National Television Awards later this month. |
40,941,341 | Due in part to some cosmic geometry, the Moon will momentarily obscure the Sun and cast a lunar shadow across the Earth's surface, blanketing parts of the US in darkness, causing temperatures to drop and illuminating stars and planets in the middle of the day.
The last time the US experienced a solar eclipse was 1979, but it has been 99 years since the celestial event crossed the entire continent. The 2017 eclipse will also mark the first solar eclipse exclusive to the US since before the nation's founding in 1776, experts say.
The Moon travels between the Earth and Sun about once a month.
However, due to its tilted orbit - compared to the Earth's orbit around the Sun - the Moon is usually too high or too low in the sky to directly block the Sun's light.
But once about every 18 months during the new Moon phase, it lines up directly between the Earth and Sun, creating the conditions for a solar eclipse.
The celestial phenomenon, or coincidence, occurs when the Sun, Moon and Earth all align at just the right point in the Moon's orbit, giving the Moon the appearance of being the same size as the much larger Sun.
The Sun is actually 400 times wider than the Moon and also 400 times farther away.
As the Sun's powerful rays disappear, its outermost atmosphere, known as the corona, becomes visible to the naked eye and creates a ring of fire around the Moon's disc.
The darkest part of the moon's shadow - the umbra - causes a total solar eclipse. The lighter part - the penumbra - is where only a portion of the sun's light is obscured, causing a partial eclipse.
Why do we associate eclipses with the end of the world?
The Sun's rays are so powerful you can feel their warmth from 150 million km away, which is why staring into the Sun too long could cause serious eye damage.
It allows ultraviolet (UV) light to flood the retina and burn the light-sensitive cells, and since there are no pain receptors in the retina to trigger what is happening, it could cause permanent blurry vision and blindness.
A Pennsylvania school district has gone as far as scrapping recess during the solar eclipse over concerns that students could suffering eye damage from looking at the sun.
Scientists have cautioned that anyone watching the eclipse should wear protective eyewear.
Take measures to make sure you are not causing long-term damage by purchasing a pair of special eclipse glasses, which block out more than 99.9% of the Sun's light, or a pair of binoculars fitted with a specialised solar filter.
You can also construct a pinhole viewer, which projects the light onto a piece a paper, by using a cardboard box, a sheet of white paper, aluminium foil, a craft knife, scissors, a drawing pin, duct tape and glue.
But glasses can - and should - come off during totality, when the Sun is completely blocked. Onlookers can spot the corona, the crown around the Sun as it radiates from the Moon's black disc, and Regulus, a nearby bright star.
If conditions are perfect look for Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Mercury, which could be visible, as well as surrounding sunset colours.
Read more about safe ways to watch the eclipse
An estimated 12 million people live in the eclipse's path totality, a 70-mile (112 km) swath of land between Oregon and South Carolina during which the sun's disc is completely masked by the Moon and the day slips into night.
Another 18 million people are within a short drive of catching the view while an additional 500 million people will be able to glimpse a partial eclipse from other areas in the US, Canada, Mexico, parts of South America and north-western Europe.
The total eclipse is scheduled to begin at 10:16 local time (17:16 GMT) in Government Point, Oregon, travelling across Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina, where it will end at 14:48 local time (18:48 GMT).
But the celestial show really begins earlier than that - viewers in Oregon will start to enjoy the partial eclipse at 09:05 local time (16:05 GMT).
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The amount of time each place in the eclipse's path of totality will be shrouded in complete darkness depends on the speed of the shadow at that time.
For those watching on the edge of the path, the duration of totality will be shorter. For example, those standing on the very edge of the path may only experience seconds of darkness.
The tiny of town of Carbondale, Illinois, will be treated to the longest eclipse duration - about two minutes and 41 seconds of total darkness.
But even the best spots to watch the eclipse depend on good weather and clear skies.
If it is too cloudy to spot the eclipse or you are stuck inside during the cross-country sweep, the BBC will be showing the celestial show on its Facebook page, with Ben Rich from the Royal Astronomical Society on hand to answer your questions.
Nasa is streaming the event live on its website, Facebook, Periscope, Twitch, UStream, NASA TV and the NASA YouTube channel.
Students from the Eclipse Ballooning Project, a group of high school students, colleges and universities and Nasa scientists, are planning to place 57 cameras on weather balloons for a high altitude view.
Meanwhile internet-connected telescope service, Slooh, which partners with observatories worldwide, will stream the event from a telescope in Stanley, Idaho - which stands directly in the path of totality.
Startled by the dramatic shift in light and temperature, some animals have reportedly changed their behaviour to reflect the twilight hours during a solar eclipse.
Owls may start to call, crickets could start chirping and birds may go to roost.
But much of what is recorded about animal behaviour is anecdotal evidence, making it unclear exactly how certain animals may react.
A study published in the Journal of Fish Biology in 1998 found that daytime fish in reefs near the Galapagos swam to shelter during totality while nocturnal fish were more likely to emerge.
A study observing orb-weaver spiders during a 1991 eclipse found the insects taking down their webs during totality, only to re-spin them once again after the eclipse.
Doug Duncan, an astronomer at the University of Colorado-Boulder, witnessed a flock of llamas appear during a 1994 eclipse in Bolivia before they disappeared once daylight returned.
Mr Duncan, who has experienced 10 total solar eclipses, also said he watched a group of whales and dolphins surface during an eclipse over the Galapagos.
Typical house pets like cats and dogs work on a body clock, which means they likely will not be affected by the Moon's shadow.
With the fleeting cosmic event lasting a mere few minutes, the darkness is likely to cause nothing more than a moment of confusion for domestic pets.
In 1932 the Boston Society of Natural History observed animals during a total solar eclipse that lasted 10 minutes and found half of dogs observed appeared frightened.
Since solar eclipses occur roughly once every 18 months, the next one is slated to appear on 2 July 2019 over a wide stretch of the Southern Pacific, before crossing Chile and Argentina.
The next total solar eclipse on US soil is scheduled to occur on 8 April 2024, but it will not stretch from coast to coast. Instead, that eclipse will stretch from Texas to Maine. | On 21 August, more than seven million people across the US are expected to witness the first total solar eclipse to cross the North American continent from ocean to ocean since 1918. |
39,869,009 | The Italian musician topped the charts in 12 countries with the track, which was first released in 1995 and reached number two in the UK in 1996.
Miles's radio station OpenLab confirmed he died "after a courageous battle with stage four metastatic cancer".
Pete Tong led the tributes to the DJ, tweeting: "Sad to hear Robert Miles passing. RIP, thanks for the music."
Singer Boy George wrote: "R.I.P Robert Miles. Very sad news!"
The news was broken by producer and longtime friend Joe T Vannelli, who said: "The tragic news of the death of a very talented artist of our time makes me incredulous and upset.
"I will miss the fights, brawls, criticism, judgements but especially your talent in finding sounds and melodies unparalleled."
Miles won the Brit Award for best international breakthrough act in 1997.
Vannelli's statement continued: "I remember 1997 Brit Awards ceremony very well. Robert Miles was the best international newcomer award, introduced by Gary Barlow. Miles was the only one Italian artist winner in BA history.
"Children is an instrumental and dance anthem, one of the most ever loved tracks. With Robert Miles a part of my life dies with him."
Miles was born Roberto Concina in Switzerland on 3 November 1969 to Italian parents.
After finding mainstream success with Children, he had two further UK top 10 singles - Fable and One & One - and went on to release five albums.
Miles also launched a Balearic radio station Open Lab in 2012, which plays experimental music.
In a statement, the station said: "Robert was more than just an artist, he was a pioneer, a creator, an inspiration, a son, a father, our friend."
It added: "Throughout [his illness] he was strong, determined, incredibly brave and did everything he could to fight this horrendous disease."
Other figures in the dance music community to pay tribute included Darude, who tweeted: "RIP Robert Miles. Thank you for the inspiration, direction & courage!"
Armin van Buuren said: "Really in shock to hear the news of the passing of Robert Miles," while Chicane wrote: "I only played 'Children' 2 weeks ago on Sun:sets.... I wished I had written it."
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]. | DJ Robert Miles, best known for his trance hit Children, has died at the age of 47 after a short illness. |
29,216,611 | He said his father and the Paisley family had been hurt by the way some in the Free Presbyterian Church and in political life "took him for granted".
He quoted Edward Carson talking about a friend who used him as a ladder only to kick him away at a convenient moment.
The North Antrim MP was writing in the Ballymena Guardian.
Ian Paisley Jr's article is primarily a personal recollection of his relationship with his father and an account of how he was called to the family home on Friday.
He said happier memories overshadowed the darker moments.
A private funeral service was held on Monday at the former first minister's east Belfast family home.
As a mark of respect, assembly business was suspended as MLAs remembered the former first minister and DUP leader.
Mr Paisley moved from a political "never man" to become Northern Ireland's first minister in 2007.
He ended up leading a power-sharing executive at Stormont - although he had supported the strike to bring one down 30 years earlier.
A year after becoming first minister of Northern Ireland with Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness as the deputy first minister, he stepped down and handed over the reins to Peter Robinson, who also succeeded him as leader of the DUP.
Mr Paisley would subsequently claim that he was forced out by the party, blaming Mr Robinson and DUP MP Nigel Dodds for ousting him. Both men denied this.
Mr Paisley was a founder of the Free Presbyterian Church in 1951. He resigned as moderator in 2008.
In 2011, he told the congregation at Martyrs Memorial Free Presbyterian Church in south Belfast that he was stepping down from ministry. | Ian Paisley Jr has described critics of his father, the former DUP leader and first minister who died last Friday aged 88, as "pygmies in his shadow". |
37,762,007 | Real and Atletico are banned from registering players in the next two transfer windows after losing an appeal against their own punishments.
Fifa has given the Spanish FA six months to improve its transfer system.
It has strict rules restricting Under-18 players moving to foreign clubs.
Fifa's investigation concerned youth players who played for Atletico between 2007 and 2014, and Real from 2005 to 2014 with the clubs respectively fined £622,000 and £249,000 for breaching rules.
Barcelona were banned from registering players for two transfer windows in April 2014, but bought Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal in 2015, finally registering them to make them eligible to play when their suspension was lifted in January 2016.
Real and Atletico are banned from registering new players until January 2018. | The Spanish football federation has been fined 220,000 Swiss francs (£180,940) for violating youth player transfer rules in the case involving Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. |
38,658,259 | The winner earns a place in qualifying for April's World Championship.
Hendry, 48, has consistently said he has no intention of entering qualifying for the Crucible, and has declined previous opportunities to participate.
"It is certainly not a foray back into the full-time arena," said Hendry.
He is the top seed for the Seniors event and will be joined by the likes of Cliff Thorburn, John Parrott, Dennis Taylor, Joe Johnson and Willie Thorne.
The Scot, who reached the quarter-final at his last World Championship in 2012, told the BBC: "I am looking forward to it, it will be fun.
"It can be a fantastic story for someone because anyone who is an amateur over 40 could qualify and beat one of us.
"I have to win the thing before I can even start to think about playing at the Crucible. I miss playing because it is what I am best at." | Seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry, who retired from the professional snooker tour five years ago, is to play in the World Seniors Championship in Scunthorpe in March. |
25,411,182 | Lord Hanningfield made the claim when challenged to explain his own attendance record.
The Daily Mirror alleges on 11 of 19 occasions he attended the Lords in July he spent less than 40 minutes there.
There is no suggestion the peer broke any rules.
Members of the House of Lords are not paid a salary but can claim a daily allowance of £300 if they attend a sitting.
Lord Hanningfield, a former leader of Essex County Council, claimed £5,700 in total for his 19 days of attendance during July and the Mirror reports his shortest attendance that month was 21 minutes.
During July, Lord Hanningfield did not speak in any debates or attend any committee hearings.
When confronted by the Mirror about the claims, Lord Hanningfield said "at least half" the members of the Lords checked in to claim expenses.
He said he spent half of the £300 daily fee on expenses and so did not really make any profit. He was a full-time peer who needed the money to pay his electricity bills and buy food, he said.
Since October Lord Hanningfield has spoken twice and submitted four written questions.
He told BBC Essex's Tom Barton: "Doing work in the Lords is not just working in the chamber, unless you are going to speak.
"During July I was preparing myself for what I'm doing now and during this term I've been speaking and asking questions. I'm really back to an active life in politics and I don't appreciate the Mirror following me around in July."
The Conservative Leader of the House of Lords, Lord Hill, said in a statement on Lord Hanningfield's comments that he was "dismayed about the behaviour and dismayed about the shadow it casts over the whole House".
He said steps were "already in train" to deal with peers "whose behaviour falls below the standards we rightly expect".
In the New Year, members of the Lords would be asked to approve proposals to stop allowances to peers who breached the code of conduct, he added.
The BBC understands that the Labour leader in the Lords, Baroness Royall, wants to amend the code of conduct for peers to take action against those who bring the House of Lords into disrepute.
She is also suggesting the rules should be amended so that peers claiming the attendance allowance would have to be in Parliament for a minimum of four hours.
Liberal Democrat Lord Steel, who himself put forward proposals earlier this year to force peers who do not attend regularly to retire, said the current system of allowances was a "bit daft".
He told Radio 4's The World at One peers should have to swipe in and out of Parliament to show how much time they had spent in the building - as this would "stop the sort of thing of which Lord Hanningfield is accused".
"The attendance allowance is supposed to represent work in Parliament," he said.
"I have to admit it is not a very good system... Sometimes it works the other way around. Last Tuesday I was in from about 10am to 10pm but because I did not go into the chamber - I was in six different meetings and by the time I went down to the chamber the House had risen - I got nothing for that day."
There are currently 779 "eligible" members of the House of Lords. More than 40 other peers have taken a "leave of absence" for health or professional reasons, meaning they cannot attend.
A voluntary retirement scheme was introduced in 2011 but so far only three peers have chosen to use it.
In 2011, Lord Hanningfield served nine weeks of a nine-month sentence for parliamentary expenses fraud totalling nearly £14,000.
During his trial, a court was told he had submitted false claims for hotel bills including one when he was actually on board a flight to India at the time, and that he had fraudulently claimed for train fares and car mileage.
But Lord Hanningfield, who entered the Lords in 1998, told BBC Essex he had "drawn the short straw" during the expenses scandal and that "most" MPs and peers had been allowed "to pay the money back without any problem".
He added: "I got treated rather badly, I think. I didn't do anything more than anyone else and most peers know that."
Lord Hanningfield, who had the Conservative whip withdrawn in 2010, said he might "hopefully" return to the party one day, adding: "I still do a lot of work and I still tend to support the coalition government's politics.
"The effects of the last four years traumatised me. I had virtually a nervous breakdown."
He added: "I don't think I should have been convicted... I think it was a travesty of justice." | Half the members of the House of Lords clock in and out of Parliament for a few minutes a day in order to claim a £300 daily attendance allowance, a former Conservative peer has said. |
35,440,517 | Knights in Bell Street, Reigate, is closing after 130 years, with its owners blaming an "increasingly competitive market place".
Manager Eric Shields said many customers had expressed disappointment.
"A lot of them have been coming here since they were small children - their mothers brought them in," he said.
"There is a sadness in the town, but also I think there is a realism that nothing stays forever."
Part of the store is housed in a former coaching inn, originally known as The Bricklayers Arms, that was a stop-off on the way from the coast to London.
It later became The Grapes until the pub closed in 1910.
"You can still see the last orders bell and the grapes sign outside," said Mr Shields.
"We are part of the fabric of Reigate, but new challenges lie ahead for us all."
Owner Tudor Williams Holdings said selling the store would enable investment into the site it had not been able to afford.
"The business has been sold to a private, family-controlled company which has a history of investing and upgrading properties in the South East and in creating vibrant environments and employment opportunities," it said.
Knights staff have been offered jobs in the group's stores in Dorking, Cobham, Farnham and New Malden. | One of Surrey's oldest department stores is to shut its doors for the final time. |
36,304,198 | Wilkinson was part of a Stevenage side that lost just one of their last nine games in League Two as they finished 14 points clear of relegation.
The 25-year-old former Portsmouth trainee joined the Boro from Luton in the January transfer window.
Wilkinson, who had already made 24 appearances for the Hatters during the 2015-16 season, then played 19 games for Stevenage. | Stevenage defender Luke Wilkinson has signed a new contract at the club. |
36,166,925 | The central bank - People's Bank of China (PBOC) - fixed the yuan rate at 6.4589 to the US dollar on Friday.
That is the biggest increase in nearly 11 years.
China only allows the yuan to rise or fall 2% on either side of the PBOC's daily fix, to avoid volatility and maintain control over the Chinese currency.
Analysts have pointed out the move is not a reflection of future yuan policies.
Some have argued the PBOC's move is a knee-jerk reaction to US dollar weakness overnight. The US dollar had fallen sharply against the yen after the Bank of Japan surprised markets and decided against any extra monetary easing.
"The expectation for a stronger yuan fix was laid by the gains for the yen after the Bank of Japan announcement," said Patrick Bennett, a strategist at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in Hong Kong.
According to data compiled by financial news network Bloomberg, Friday's increase is the strongest daily move by the PBOC since July 2005.
China spooked global investors with a surprise devaluation in August last year, when it guided the currency down by nearly 5% in a week.
Market reaction to the move, however, has been muted. The Shanghai Composite index closed down 7.26 points at 2,938.32, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index ended the day down 320.98 points at 21,067.05.
South Korea's Kospi index closed down 0.3% at 1,994.15.
In Australia the benchmark S&P ASX 200 headed higher towards the end of the trading session and closed up 0.5% at 5,252.22.
The region's biggest market, Japan, was shut on Friday for a national holiday. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index ended the shortened trading week down 5%. | China has raised the exchange rate for its currency, the yuan by 0.56% against the US dollar, from the previous day. |
33,960,213 | The 44-year-old's departure follows quarter-final defeat in both the One-Day Cup and T20 Blast.
He was promoted from second-team coach in July 2007 and guided them to Friends Provident Trophy victory in 2008.
Essex have since failed to win any silverware, and are sixth in County Championship Division Two with four games left to play this season.
Assistant head coach Chris Silverwood, a former England pace bowler, will take temporary charge until the end of the season.
"I have had 19 wonderful years at Essex, both as a player and as a coach, but I now feel the time is right for a new challenge," Grayson told the club website.
"I have always been a strong supporter of the club's policy of developing our own players into first-class cricketers and it is a pleasure to see so many doing well in the game.
"I would like to thank the players for their hard work and dedication, particularly the three captains I have worked with; Mark Pettini, James Foster and Ryan ten Doeschate." | Essex head coach Paul Grayson has left the county by mutual consent after eight years in charge. |
38,880,431 | Twenty slopes across the country will offer taster ski and snowboard sessions as part of the Snowsport England initiative, which encourages schools to introduce their pupils to snowsports.
The week is targeted at individual pupils or full classes at primary and secondary schools, as well as sixth form colleges across England.
I wish every child could have the chance to give snow sports a go and enjoy that feeling of sliding down a slope, adrenalin rushing through your body
"National Schools Snowsport Week is a great way to give young people who may not have considered skiing or snowboarding before the chance to give them a go," said GB Olympic snowboarder Aimee Fuller.
"Both sports have so much to give socially and are a great way to stay active."
The initiative aims to develop schoolchildren's skills and abilities and increases school participation in snowsports at all levels. For some it will be their first time on skis or a snowboard. For others it could be an opportunity to try racing, freestyle or skicross.
Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards is another ambassador for the week. The ski jumper competed in the 1988 Winter Olympics and went on to become a national hero, with a film about his story released last year.
"I started skiing when I was 13 and have lived and breathed it for my whole life," he said.
"Trust me, it is worth giving it a go and having fun with your friends. Speak to your teacher and get them to sign your school up to National Schools Snowsport Week."
Find out more about how you can get involved here. | Snow slopes across England are set to offer free or heavily discounted activities as part of the second National Schools Snowsport Week, which runs from 24-30 April. |
32,125,357 | Specialisterne Northern Ireland plans to link people with high functioning autism with employers.
More than 50 digital content and film production companies will be attending.
Young people and adults on the autistic spectrum from across Northern Ireland and university staff are to take part.
The audience at the Skainos Centre in east Belfast will gain insight into the abilities of people with autism to organise and make systems.
Specialisterne has traditionally helped people with autism get jobs in IT and software development.
The initiative is the final and flagship event of Creativity Month in Northern Ireland.
Autism and Asperger syndrome are part of a range of conditions known as autistic spectrum disorders (ASD). They affect the way the brain processes information.
Since its launch in April 2014, Specialisterne NI has identified 120 people who are on the autistic spectrum and who have the skills and talent for IT and creative roles. | An initiative aimed at matching the specific skills of people with autism with the creative industries is to be launched later. |
39,730,977 | The 28-year-old has nine caps for his country, appearing in the 2015 World Cup and as a replacement at Twickenham against England in November.
Tight-head Alec Clarey, 23, will join from Bristol, with Jordan Brodley, 23, and Roy Godfrey, 27, also signing.
Meanwhile, fellow prop Jake Armstrong has signed a new deal after initially joining Jersey last summer.
South Africa-born loose-head Godfrey has played for French side Perpignan, while Brodley has represented a number of lower league sides while completing his studies in Bristol.
"Jersey has become known for having a strong pack, and although we've developed more of an all-court game this season, our forwards still play a vital role in what we do," said head coach Harvey Biljon.
"There is a great mix of experience in Roy and Lee Roy, and younger players like Alec and Jordan with genuine potential."
For the latest rugby union news follow @bbcrugbyunion on Twitter. | Jersey Reds have signed four props for next season, including Fiji international Lee Roy Atalifo. |
40,273,939 | 14 June 2017 Last updated at 15:16 BST
They're a type marine fish, related to a sea horse, and can be found in the ocean around Australia.
Nick-named 'Weedies', scientists are now worried that the little seadragons might be endangered.
So, they are asking divers to take photographs of them and send them in for research.
Then they use a special type of facial recognition software to identify each seadragon. | This colourful little creature is a Weedy Seadragon, and scientists are worried they might be endangered. |
35,278,651 | The 22 year old cruised to an eight-shot win over Patrick Reed after a six-under-par 67 at the Kapalua Resort on the island of Maui.
Spieth won the Masters and the US Open in 2015 and wants more success.
He said: "I'll try and continue exactly what we were doing last year."
Spieth held a five-shot lead going into Sunday's final round and was never troubled, hitting seven birdies to post a 30-under total of 262.
He became only the second player to finish a 72-hole event on the PGA Tour at 30-under par or lower, emulating South African Ernie Els who won the 2003 Tournament of Champions with a 31-under score.
Asked how he felt after matching 14-times major winner Woods with a seventh PGA Tour victory, Spieth said: "I don't think there's any reason to compare. What Tiger's done, I can't imagine ever being done again, but it's nice to be in that company." | World number one Jordan Spieth matched Tiger Woods by winning his seventh PGA Tour event before the age of 23 with a dominant victory at Hawaii's Tournament of Champions. |
40,760,637 | The former US Open winner is ranked 101st in the world and outside an automatic qualifying place, but he has been invited by the PGA of America.
McDowell has missed four of his past five cuts and the 37-year-old Northern Irishman exited the Canadian Open at the halfway stage on Friday.
A one-over 73 left McDowell on three over par, seven shots shy of the cut.
He carded five bogeys and four birdies in the second round in Ontario.
Shane Lowry, who will also play in the US PGA, which starts on 10 August, missed the cut after a 73 left him on two under par.
However, fellow Irishman Seamus Power did survive after a 70 meant he goes into Saturday's third round on six under par, six shots behind American leader Martin Flores.
Power, who is 140th in the Fedex Cup standings, is sharing 37th place.
McDowell, who has slipped to 101st in the world rankings and did not earn a place at last week's Open Championship, is 119th in the PGA Tour's Fedex Cup standings. | Graeme McDowell has received an invitation to play in next month's US PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. |
34,583,290 | In the build-up to the World Cup and through the tournament, I never believed Ireland were good enough to win the Webb Ellis Cup, but I was certain their campaign would not end in a hammering.
Coach Joe Schmidt just would not let that happen.
Alas it did, in hugely disappointing fashion in Sunday's 43-20 quarter-final defeat by Argentina.
Injuries to talisman and captain Paul O'Connell, Johnny Sexton, Peter O'Mahony and Jared Payne, plus Sean O'Brien's suspension, were huge factors in Ireland's collapse.
Looking back, Sexton's withdrawal from the team on Saturday morning was probably the tipping point.
In terms of morale, it cannot have been great for the squad to see him ruled out so late in the week given that Johnny calls every attacking play.
Everybody had confidence in Ian Madigan after the performance he put in when he came on against France, but it is a completely different ball game starting a World Cup quarter-final with everything on the line.
Since Sunday's game, Schmidt and the rest of the players have not gone down the road of using the absentees as an excuse.
But let's face it, a team like Ireland are going to be up against it when missing such influential performers.
Ireland's defensive structure was just far too narrow and passive during the opening 13 minutes as they found themselves 17-0 down.
Argentina took a leaf out of the New Zealand book by playing the wide-wide game and Ireland just could not cope.
As soon as Argentina went wide, their outstanding flankers, Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe and Pablo Matera, and hooker Agustin Creevy were causing carnage.
The Pumas had so much width and Ireland did not know how to deal with it.
To Ireland's credit, Luke Fitzgerald's brilliance helped get them back into the game and when they recovered to 20-17 and 23-20 in arrears, I thought they were going to complete the greatest comeback in World Cup history.
At that stage, Argentina were looking seriously rattled with their discipline starting to go, but the third Pumas try in the 68th minute - after Ireland were yet again caught napping out wide - ended the game as a contest.
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It was sad to see the heroic Rory Best, Ireland's best player on the day, having to leave the fray before the end looking absolutely punctured.
He gave it absolutely everything but unfortunately the other forwards were unable to match him despite trying manfully.
I felt for Iain Henderson, who should have been in the back row, trying to pick up the ball and run through opponents like Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe and Pablo Matera did in the opening 20 minutes.
You want your big ball-carriers in the game but, playing in the second row, Henderson did not have a chance to make an impression with much of his energy being expended in a kind of secondary tight-head prop role in the scrum.
Knowing that they were missing so many key players will not reduce the sense of frustration that the Ireland players will feel for some time.
This one is going to hurt because they will believe that they have seriously under-achieved.
But World Cups are hard. Just ask England.
With no northern hemisphere teams making the last four for the first time in World Cup history, there is inevitable talk of a crisis in European rugby and how we now should rip up the existing tactics manuals and start from scratch.
But all that is a little bit knee-jerk.
But for a bad refereeing decision, Scotland would be in the semi-finals and Wales would probably have got to the last four themselves if they had not had such diabolical luck with injuries.
Ireland were severely under-strength as well as they got a bit of a hammering against a very good Argentina side.
Ireland should have beaten the All Blacks in Dublin two years ago and a repeat of that form and the performances that saw off Australia and South Africa last autumn might have been good enough to get them to a first semi-final.
But they were unable to match that and it has to be a concern that Ireland could not perform when it really mattered.
It is about peaking at the right time. The southern hemisphere teams just seem better prepared heading into World Cups after playing all those high-octane games in the Rugby Championship in July and August.
The European teams are playing phoney war warm-up games in August and early September and it is just not the same preparation.
Stephen Ferris was talking to BBC Sport's John Haughey. | Well, what an anti-climax that turned out to be. |
35,959,684 | 4 April 2016 Last updated at 11:16 BST
Philby then fled to Russia in 1963 and when he died in 1988, he was given a burial in a Moscow cemetery with full military honours.
Now, the BBC has uncovered previously unseen footage of Philby describing his career as a Soviet agent to the Stasi, the East German Intelligence Service, in 1981. | Kim Philby denied being a Soviet agent while working for MI6 during the 1950s and early 1960s. |
40,436,002 | Right-back Purkiss, 33, spent most of his career at York and Walsall, before moving to Vale in 2015.
Centre-half Lancashire, 28, has signed a two-year deal after having his Shrewsbury contract cancelled.
The former Rochdale man made his senior debut for Southampton in 2008 and played 16 League One games last season.
"The target this season will be to get promoted. We'll be grafting and working with that in mind," said Purkiss, who has signed an undisclosed-length deal.
Lancashire added: "You want to win silverware as a footballer and the last time I was in League Two I won promotion with Rochdale, so I'll be looking to do the same here."
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page. | Swindon Town have signed defenders Ben Purkiss and Olly Lancashire on free transfers from Port Vale and Shrewsbury respectively. |
34,572,432 | Consequently, a fist can strike with twice the force of an open-handed slap.
Prof David Carrier from the University of Utah said this supports his argument that fighting, as well as dexterity, drove the evolution of the human hand.
Other researchers are sceptical about Prof Carrier's "pugilism hypothesis".
Writing in the Journal of Experimental Biology, he suggests that our hands, with short fingers and meaty thumbs compared to other primates, evolved to satisfy two needs: "These are the proportions that improved manual dexterity while at the same time making it possible for the hand to be used as a club during fighting."
This is an argument Prof Carrier has previously put forward in a study of the force delivered by athletes hitting punching bags.
That work attracted criticism, partly because the data primarily showed that a clenched fist is a very effective weapon; it remained unclear whether the "buttressing" afforded by the thumb - the key advantage of a human fist - could actually save inner hand bones from breaking.
After all, the "metacarpals" of the palm are frequent casualties in human fist fights: the so-called "boxer's fracture".
"The real question was whether or not the buttressed fist provides protection," Prof Carrier told BBC News.
The latest experiments, while a little gruesome, allowed his team to measure the strain on specific bones.
"It is a little macabre and strange, but there was no other way to really get this data. You can't implant strain gauges on living subjects."
They took arms from cadavers, attached them to wooden boards and tied fishing wire to the tendons of the forearm. This allowed them to control the hand - clenching the fist, for example - by tightening those wires on guitar pegs.
The whole board was then mounted onto a large pendulum, which could swing the hand into a padded dumbbell.
Instruments attached to bones inside the hand, and to the dumbbell, measured the forces involved. And sure enough, strain on the metacarpals was greatly reduced when a clenched fist, rather than a loose fist or an open palm, slammed into the pad.
"This is relatively strong evidence that there is a performance advantage," Prof Carrier said.
"Whether or not natural selection ever acted on that advantage is something we can't answer directly. But at the same time, given this evidence, you can't argue that selection on aggressive fighting behaviour was not relevant."
So alongside the more widely accepted idea of dexterity as an evolutionary driver, this fist-fighting advantage "has to be included on the list of possible factors that could have influenced the evolution of the hand".
Dr Tracy Kimmel, a palaeoanthropologist at the University of Kent who specialises in the wrist and hand, said it was a credit to Prof Carrier's team that they had found a way to test part of the hypothesis. But she disagrees with his assertion that fist fighting "must be relevant".
"Overall, it's not a hypothesis that I would support," she said.
"I think the way they've done it is creative and seems to be biomechanically sound. And the fact that the metacarpals experience less load when they're in a fist - I don't disagree with those results. But that's probably a side-effect of having hand proportions that have evolved for other reasons."
Dr Kimmel said that "a much more realistic idea" was the established one, of our hands evolving to manipulate tools. "You can address that hypothesis from multiple directions and it makes sense," she said - noting that fossil evidence of tools goes back more than three millions years, and aligns with changes to hominid anatomy."
Follow Jonathan on Twitter | In macabre experiments which saw dead, severed arms swing punches on a large pendulum, US scientists have measured the extent to which a clenched fist shields fragile bones in the hand. |
36,807,403 | In all the fuss and dust surrounding the referendum, the Tory leadership campaign and the creation of a brand new cabinet it has been easy to lose sight of this fact.
George Osborne has been chancellor of the exchequer for six long years of austerity.
He and his government told us time and again that balancing the budget was their first and most important job.
Now without even an election that policy has been abandoned, the government's aim to bring in more in tax than it spends by 2020 has been dropped, but what has replaced it?
Mr Hammond has given us some clues but to be perfectly honest we will not have the complete picture until the Autumn Statement later this year.
However, the new chancellor has already declined to say when the government's budget will be in surplus, if ever.
Mr Hammond has also said that "increasing taxes is not the way to support the economy, maintain consumer confidence and to make sure that we continue to grow the economy in future".
Nor is it likely that a massive round of new spending cuts is going to help the economy at the moment.
In fact with falling business and consumer confidence, worries over delays or even the cancellation of private investment and a construction industry that looks to be slowing down; many would see an increase in government investment as the obvious solution.
Sajid Javid, the former business secretary, has called for the government to fund an extra £100bn of infrastructure spending over the next five years.
Unless there are huge tax rises or spending cuts that money will have to be borrowed.
Fortunately the chancellor can now borrow at historically low rates, for long periods of time. The markets are so jittery they are willing to put their cash into ultra-secure government bonds for little or no return.
But it is not just money for new infrastructure that the government will have to find, with the economy likely to slow or even go into a recession its existing borrowing targets are meaningless.
A cautious estimate is that the government will have to borrow another £50bn a year by the end of this parliament just to balance the books.
Any borrowing to help boost the economy will be on top of that. Just last month that would have been denounced by the chancellor and his cabinet colleagues as reckless, dangerous and counter-productive.
That is how much things have changed in the last few weeks.
To borrow one of George Osborne's favourite sayings "you have to fix the roof when the sun is shining", and these huge changes in economic policy suggest that the government's forecast is looking distinctly overcast. | Britain's economic policy has changed radically almost overnight. |
35,042,201 | The 31-year-old, who was the Team GB flag bearer last year in Sochi, made his Olympic debut at Turin 2006 and twice won world relay bronze medals.
He cites being a new father and "not wanting to just make up the numbers" at the next Games in Pyeongchang 2018 as being behind the decision.
He tweeted: "It's official, I have hung up my skates." | British Olympic short track speed-skater Jon Eley has retired, ruling out a bid for a fourth Winter Games. |
32,091,804 | Ten people have been killed in the gun battle at the Maka al-Mukarama hotel, including the Somali ambassador to Switzerland, Yusuf Bari Bari.
Other diplomats escaped by jumping from windows.
US-trained Somali special forces have been able to take back control of most of the hotel.
Latest reports say the militants are now on the top floors and the roof, firing guns and throwing grenades.
Police officer Major Ismail Olow told Reuters that he believed there were originally nine attackers, six of whom had been killed.
The attack began when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-packed car outside the building.
Hotels in Mogadishu are often targeted by al-Shabab militants, who were driven from the city several years ago but still control southern rural areas.
An al-Shabab spokesman told the BBC that the Maka al-Mukarama was attacked because of its popularity with government officials.
"We don't consider it to be a hotel - it's a government base," he said.
A car bomb went off outside the hotel earlier this month - the al-Qaeda-linked Islamists also said they were behind that attack.
Many politicians and businessmen stay at the hotel as it is on the main road linking the presidential palace to the city's airport.
Somalia has been ravaged by conflict for more than two decades.
But thousands of Somalis have been returning from abroad to help rebuild the country as security has improved in recent years.
African Union troops have been helping the UN-backed government retake territory from the militants. | Somali government forces are fighting to regain control of a hotel in the capital, Mogadishu, which has been stormed by al-Shabab militants. |
37,742,215 | The 25-year-old left the field in the second half after prolonged treatment.
Scarlets were more hopeful about full-back Liam Williams who came off after 13 minutes, having rolled his ankle.
He left Allianz Park in a surgical support boot but Scarlets coach Wayne Pivac was hopeful he would be able to join up with the Wales camp this week.
Williams' injury was not connected to the ankle problems he has suffered previously.
Speaking to BBC Wales Sport about the pair, Pivac said, "Hopefully they won't be too serious. We'll know more tomorrow.
"Hopefully Liam will be alright, he feels good himself. He's in a moon boot at the moment just to give himself the best opportunity to recover and get into that Welsh camp.
"Jake's a bit sore at the moment, he's got a rib injury and we'll get that checked out."
Centre Scott Williams should also be fit for Wales duty despite being a late withdrawal from the Scarlets side with an ankle injury suffered against Sale.
"There's a bit of swelling there and it didn't quite recover in time. Another couple of days and he would have made it but it wasn't to be but he'll be fine for the Wales camp next week," he added. | Wales lock Jake Ball could be a doubt for their autumn internationals after sustaining a rib injury in Scarlets' 44-26 Champions Cup defeat at Saracens. |
39,512,198 | The blaze broke out at the property in Furrlongs, Newport, shortly after 05:20 BST.
Police said the death was being treated as "unexplained" and inquiries were being made by the joint services' Arson Task Force into the fire's cause.
Detectives said a police cordon would remain around the property for several days while investigations continued. | A 79-year-old man has been found dead following a fire at a bungalow on the Isle of Wight. |
36,754,570 | The first was at 22:00 BST in Faraday Square in which a woman was shot in the arm. She is currently in hospital.
Shots were then reportedly fired in Lovell Road at about 01:00 , Foxglove Way at 01:20 and in Romsey Way at 05:00 and are being linked by police.
Supt Mark Upex said: "We believe they may have been targeted attacks."
He said: "We have launched a thorough investigation into these incidents and are following a number of lines of inquiry to help find the people responsible.
"We have a number of dedicated officers working to establish the circumstances surrounding each incident and we have increased patrols in Bedford."
One woman has been arrested in connection with the incidents and is in police custody.
Road closures remain in place in Faraday Square, Titchfield Drive, and Romsey Way. | Police say they have mounted a "large scale investigation" after gun shots were reported at four properties in Bedford. |
36,891,902 | Differences in height across the globe can partially be explained by genetics, but healthcare, sanitation and nutrition also play an important role.
Research says there's a longer life expectancy for tall people, although they also face a bigger risk for certain cancers.
But a person's stature affects more than their health. Short and tall people face daily challenges from finding the right clothes, to fitting into plane seats.
On the whole being tall has been more advantageous that not.
I was pretty average until the penultimate year of secondary school. But I was self-conscious already, and then suddenly I became the really tall self-conscious teenager where I struggled to find clothes to fit. All I wanted to do was blend in.
I love it now. I still get all the same jokes. Most people are well-meaning. It's useful because people remember you.
Does being tall affect your work?
When I was a correspondent in Dubai I covered the opening of Palm Islands and I was meant to interview Kylie. It was a red carpet event, and I wanted both of us in the shot. She is much shorter than me so I was crouching so that we could both fit in the camera frame. But the interview went on too long. By the end I was physically shaking because my legs were giving way. The newsroom thought I was hyperventilating with excitement because I had met Kylie.
When I was at school it I would always beat the boys at running races because I had longer legs. At 13 I was already the same height as I am now. At that age, you already don't feel self-confident, so being much taller was difficult.
The real problem was with my feet because they are so large. At age 12 my shoe size was 44 (European). People would tell me I had to go to men's shops to find shoes.
In the past whenever I found shoes that fitted me I'd buy them, but now I have more choice and can order things online.
In primary school when we did a line up for gym I was always one of the tallest. But in the Netherlands, most people are tall so I wasn't very aware of my height. Some of the old buildings at home still have low doorways but now there is a new regulation which states they must be over 2m.
I did live in Madrid for a bit and I had a lot of trouble because the metro is short. Paris is better, although I can't stand up fully in the elevator at work!
I was always the smallest person in my class at school, but in Mexico many people are short. My whole family is tiny, we are like the "Polly Pocket" family.
As a teenager and throughout college I wore high heels to make myself taller. When I started working I felt like wearing heels gave me more authority.
When I arrived in the Middle East to study, I thought "Wow, these are the tallest people." I felt like I didn't fit in because even the kids were taller than me! In countries where people are short, I fit - but in the Middle East I felt out of place.
Once in Lebanon, I overheard a kid telling his dad how short I was. He said: "Dad she is so small even my sister who is 8-years-old is taller than her!"
My husband is 177cm (5ft 9in). Its never an issue unless we are dancing. I don't feel confident unless I'm wearing heels!
Growing up I was a smaller kid- short and skinny. Until my late 20s I had to buy clothes in the boys department instead of the men's because those were the only clothes that fitted.
Because of my size, I think I've had to work a little bit harder to prove I'm capable. So I always go above and beyond. For a while I looked quite young so some people didn't trust that I was old enough to do my job.
Now I am grateful. People always think I'm younger than I actually am!
Guatemala is much different than the United States. In my country my height is normal so I didn't face any obstacles in my childhood.
Since I moved here, I usually don't have problems. Sometimes people say things around me, and not to my face, like how I am short or a different colour than they are.
It's always difficult for me to buy shoes in America because I am a size 39 (European). Stores never have my size. I always have to shop in the boys' section.
Generally people aren't rude to me because I am short. Actually, as a short person I have an advantage over tall people because I can handle extreme climates much easier! | New research has confirmed that Dutch men are the tallest in the world and Guatemalan women are the world's shortest. |
39,566,572 | Lions coach Warren Gatland names his squad on 19 April and Pivac believes a number of players are in with a chance.
"I think we are in a position at the Scarlets where I am hoping we get a record number, I wouldn't be surprised if we get four," said Pivac.
Scarlets, formed in 2003, have never had more than two players on a tour.
Pivac added: "Certainly there are a group who put their hands up during the Six Nations."
A party of four players would equal the number who toured from the Llanelli club from which the Scarlets region was formed.
Those four on the 1974 tour of South Africa were Phil Bennett, JJ Williams, Roy Bergiers and Tommy David.
New Zealander Pivac would not specify which of his players he thought was in the running this time, but centre Jonathan Davies played in all three Tests against Australia in 2013.
Full-back Liam Williams, centre Scott Williams, hooker Ken Owens and prop Rob Evans all played for Wales in the Six Nations while flanker John Barclay captained Scotland during their campaign.
Pivac believes the Pro12 Judgement Day derbies at Cardiff on Saturday, when Scarlets face Newport Gwent Dragons, is a perfect opportunity to push Lions selection hopes.
"We have got one more game this weekend where players can show they are worthy of representing the Lions if not Wales, it's an exciting weekend," he said.
Centre Davies is likely to return after being rested for the 51-5 victory over Treviso but flanker Aaron Shingler (knee) and outside-half Rhys Patchell (calf) will miss the game through injury.
Pivac believes the Lions have a good chance of adding to the only test series win against the All Blacks back in 1971.
"It's all going to come down to selection and not only the squad but once the squad is together in New Zealand," he said.
Pivac, who coached provincial side Auckland before moving to Wales, says the home side's preparation will also have a bearing on the series.
"The All Blacks are vulnerable traditionally in June in the that first Test, so it will be interesting to see what they are doing," he added.
"I believe they are trying to get a [warm-up] game because they will be worried by the fact that the Lions do have some lead-in games.
"The Lions could have a bit of an advantage depending on the All Blacks preparation, certainly it's going to be a great series and everyone is looking forward to it." | Scarlets coach Wayne Pivac hopes the region could have a record number of players on the British and Irish Lions tour in New Zealand this summer. |
20,345,071 | With a distinct history stretching back to the early middle ages, many Catalans think of themselves as a separate nation from the rest of Spain.
This feeling is fed by memories of the Franco dictatorship, which attempted to suppress Catalan identity, and is nowhere more clearly expressed than in the fierce rivalry between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, Spain's top football clubs.
A roughly triangular region in Spain's far north-east corner, Catalonia is separated by the Pyrenean mountains from southern France, with which it has close historical ties.
Most of the region's population lives in Barcelona, its vibrant political and economic hub and a popular European travel destination.
Holiday-makers also flock to the Mediterranean beaches of the Costa Brava and Costa Daurada/Dorada, and the Pyrenees are popular with hikers, making tourism an important part of Catalonia's economy.
Profiles compiled by BBC Monitoring
But it is manufacturing - traditionally textiles, but more recently overtaken in importance by the chemical industry, food-processing, metalworking - that make the region Spain's economic powerhouse, along with a growing service sector.
The area first emerged as a distinct entity with the rise of the County of Barcelona to pre-eminence in the 11th century. In the 12th century, the county was brought under the same royal rule as the neighbouring kingdom of Aragon, going on to become a major medieval sea power.
Catalonia has been part of Spain since its genesis in the 15th century, when King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile married and united their realms.
Initially retaining its own institutions, the region was ever more tightly integrated into the Spanish state, until the 19th century ushered in a renewed sense of Catalan identity, which flowed into a campaign for political autonomy and even separatism. The period also saw an effort to revive Catalan, long in decline by then, as a language of literature.
When Spain became a republic in 1931, Catalonia was soon given broad autonomy. During the Spanish Civil War, Catalonia was a key Republican stronghold, and the fall of Barcelona to Gen Francisco Franco's right-wing forces in 1939 marked the beginning of the end of Spanish resistance to him.
Under Franco's ultra-conservative rule, autonomy was revoked, Catalan nationalism repressed and use of the Catalan language restricted.
The pendulum swung back with the emergence of a democratic Spain after Franco's death. Catalonia now has is its own parliament and executive - together known as the "Generalitat" in Catalan - with extensive autonomy.
Until recently, few Catalans wanted full independence, but Spain's painful economic crisis has seen a surge in support for separation. Many Catalans believe the affluent region pays more to Madrid than it gets back, and blame much of Spain's debt crisis on the central government.
A regional government backed by the two main separatist parties - in power since snap elections in November 2012 - held an informal, non-binding vote on independence in 2014, with 80% of those taking part voting "yes". The Spanish government says Catalonia has no constitutional right to break away.
The use of Catalan - a language as close to regional languages of southern France like Occitan as it is to Castilian Spanish - has equal status with Castilian and is now actively encouraged in education, official use and the media. However, Castilian predominates in Barcelona, and is still the first language of a narrow majority of Catalans, who are nearly all bilingual.
Variants are also spoken in the region of Valencia to the south, and on the Balearic islands, leading many Catalan nationalists to regard all three regions- as well as the traditionally Catalan-speaking Roussillon region of France - as forming the "Catalan Countries". | Proud of its own identity and language, Catalonia is one of Spain's richest and most highly industrialised regions, and also one of the most independent-minded. |
39,775,103 | Three decades ago, it was referring to itself as part of the Muslim Brotherhood and laying out its aim to obliterate Israel, creating an Islamic state on "every inch" of historic Palestine.
In its 36 articles, the 1988 document often uses anti-Semitic rhetoric to describe its struggle as a confrontation between Muslims and Jews.
Now, after years of internal wrangling, Hamas has produced a new policy document, which softens some of its stated positions and uses more measured language.
There is nothing so dramatic as recognition of Israel.
In fact, Hamas restates the Palestinians' claim to all the land "from the River Jordan in the East to the Mediterranean Sea in the West".
However, the new document does formally accept the creation of a Palestinian state in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem - what are known as pre-1967 lines.
This idea has been the basis for previous rounds of peace talks with Israel.
At a press conference in Doha, where he lives in exile, the Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal also stressed a change in approach to the Jewish faith.
"Hamas believes our struggle is against the Zionist occupation, the Zionist enterprise. It's not a struggle against Jews or Judaism," he said.
The indications are that Hamas wants to improve its international standing.
It has dropped all references to the Muslim Brotherhood since Egypt and some Gulf Arab states decided to categorise the wider organisation as a terrorist group.
And yet, the new declarations will not see Hamas itself removed from the terrorist lists of the United States and the European Union any time soon.
They make clear that Hamas remains committed to what it calls "armed resistance" against Israel.
The Israeli prime minister's spokesman, David Keyes dismissed the new Hamas document.
"When you look at what they tell their own people on Hamas's TV stations, in their mosques, in their schools, they are calling on a daily basis to destroy Israel," he said.
There has been speculation that Hamas is seeking entry to the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), an umbrella group for Palestinian political factions.
Its original charter states that on the day the PLO "adopts Islam as its way of life, we will become its soldiers."
Now, the body - headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas - is described as "a national framework for the Palestinian people inside and outside of Palestine".
That shift could play well with many Palestinians - keen to see an end to the damaging division between their main political factions, Hamas and Fatah.
However, Fatah spokesman, Osama al-Qawasmi, criticised Hamas for not altering its stance earlier.
"Hamas should apologise to the PLO after 30 years accusing it of treachery and blasphemy and for causing a sharp split between the Palestinian people," he said.
Tensions have recently increased between Fatah, which dominates the Palestinian Authority governing parts of the West Bank, and Hamas, which controls Gaza.
Hamas took over Gaza by force in 2007, a year after it won legislative elections.
The more moderate tone from Mr Meshaal comes as he is about to step down as leader of Hamas after serving two terms.
Some analysts suggest he hopes to alleviate the economic pressure in Gaza, which has long seen tight border restrictions imposed by Israel and Egypt.
This new document also comes as his political rival Mahmoud Abbas prepares to meet US President Donald Trump this week.
While Hamas officially criticises his diplomatic efforts, it may not want to be marginalised if the moribund peace process is revived. | There have long been reports of possible changes to the 1988 founding charter of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, best known by its acronym, Hamas. |
38,610,332 | The billboard, which has displayed electrical advertisements for more than a century, went dark at 08:30 GMT for work to take place.
It is the first time since World War Two the lights have gone off, except for power cuts and special events.
A temporary advertising banner will replace the lights.
A permanent single screen will be unveiled in autumn to replace the current six screens.
As well as being an advertising board, it will be able to provide live video streaming and give updates about events such as the weather and sports results.
Ros Morgan, chief executive of the Heart of London business alliance, said the new screen would "bring visitors an enhanced entertainment experience".
About 100 million people are estimated to pass through Piccadilly Circus each year.
The lights have previously gone out in 1939 to comply with World War Two blackouts. They were not switched back on until 1949.
Since then, they have only been turned off as a mark of respect, including during the funerals of Winston Churchill and Princess Diana, and in support of environmental campaigns.
The occasional power cut and the imposed three-day week in the 1970s have also plunged Piccadilly Circus into darkness.
The new display, which will be the same size as the current space, will be shared by six advertisers.
Coca-Cola has been advertising in Piccadilly Circus since 1954 and will continue its residency, while Samsung will also have a spot.
Vasiliki Arvaniti, portfolio manager at Land Securities, said the new screen would offer brands "pioneering new ways to connect" with people.
Light history | The iconic billboard lights at Piccadilly Circus have been switched off for renovations and will stay off until autumn. |
35,644,590 | The proposal, known as the "Enforcement Initiative", has been put forward by the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP).
It is not the first such vote: in 2010, the Swiss backed proposals to deport foreigners convicted of murder or sexual violence. That policy has come into force, but the Swiss People's Party, believing it does not go far enough, now wants to strengthen it.
The new plan would also deport those who commit two minor offences, such as speeding, or arguing with a police officer, within 10 years. There would be no right of appeal: conviction would lead to deportation in every case, regardless of individual circumstances.
Supporters of the proposals say it will make Switzerland a safer place, and point to statistics indicating that foreigners take up more than their fair share of prison cells.
Opponents argue that those statistics reflect only a partial reality, because many of those in prison are illegal migrants awaiting deportation anyway, while the proposed new law would target the 25% of the population who are foreign, but permanently and legally resident in Switzerland.
The campaign has been emotional and divisive. An infamous black sheep poster, widely criticised as racist when it was first used by the People's Party several years ago, has reappeared.
Opponents of the new law have responded with blunt posters of their own, showing jackboots stamping on the Swiss parliament, and the figure of justice being smashed by a wrecking ball.
What seems to worry some voters most is not the idea that the Swiss government should be tougher on crime, which is in fact low by European standards, but that the new proposal would create a two-tier justice system, one for the Swiss, and one for foreigners.
Getting Swiss nationality remains a long, complicated, and relatively expensive process. Being born in Switzerland does not confer citizenship, so hundreds of thousands of Swiss residents may not have a Swiss passport, but have never actually lived anywhere else.
Hypothetical cases are being offered to try to give voters a picture of how the new law would work.
Take, for example, two young men born in the same village, who attended the same school, and have lived all their lives in Switzerland. But only one is Swiss, the other is third-generation Portuguese.
Both are convicted of petty offences, possession of cannabis perhaps, or being drunk and disorderly outside a nightclub. After they get their driving licences, both are booked for speeding.
Under the new law, the Portuguese would be automatically deported, irrespective of whether he had ever lived in Portugal, could speak the language, or whether he had dependants in Switzerland.
This prospect has struck real fear into Switzerland's foreign community, with some families even approaching their Swiss neighbours and quietly pleading with them to reject the proposal.
Others have lashed out, bitterly condemning the Swiss People's Party as dangerously discriminatory.
"How long before foreigners are forced to wear a sign so that the law-abiding Swiss know to steer clear of them? Maybe a big red A for Auslander (foreigner)?", wrote one.
A leading Swiss columnist has even described (in German) Sunday's vote as Switzerland's "Nazi moment", suggesting that the imagery and the language of the Yes campaign bear comparison with Germany in the 1930s.
The Swiss People's Party angrily rejects such comparisons, arguing that getting tough with foreign criminals will protect other law-abiding foreign residents who, the party line goes, currently risk guilt by association simply because they are foreign.
But the People's Party is well known for campaigning on one single issue: immigration.
Many political analysts see this vote as the latest in a clever strategy to keep that topic at the forefront of voters' minds, so that when parliamentary elections come around again, the Swiss People's Party can, it hopes, gain yet more seats. | Swiss voters are going to the polls on Sunday to decide on a proposal to automatically deport foreigners who commit minor crimes. |
32,778,425 | Zoran Zaev, leader of the opposition Social Democrats, had talked up the possibility of a crowd numbered in six figures angered by covert recordings that appeared to show ministers plotting vote-rigging and covering up a murder.
But half an hour before the start, only a few hundred people had gathered in front of government headquarters.
Then, with just minutes to go, the influx began.
They came from all directions - over the Stone Bridge in front of Skopje's controversial new neo-classical riverfront; past the main post office, a brutalist 1960s lotus flower overseen by Japanese master-planner Kenzo Tange.
There were curious juxtapositions in the crowd as well.
Not just in the mix of young and old or male and female - but in the collection of flags the participants were waving.
The Albanian eagle flew next to the Macedonian sun; the Turkish crescent alongside the spoked wheel of the Roma people.
Macedonia's ethnic groups have not always rubbed along happily.
A brief but violent insurgency in 2001 resulted in improved rights for the country's large ethnic-Albanian minority.
And a deadly shoot-out earlier this month between police and an armed ethnic-Albanian group in Kumanovo, Macedonia's third city, was an unwelcome reminder of those times.
But, by standing together at the rally, people from different ethnic groups were sending a message that they were united in their aim to force the resignation of long-serving Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.
"No matter what religion or political party, we're here - to give support to the opposition and people who think about more than money," said Vladimir, a young protester who had travelled with his friends from Valandovo, a small town about 130km (80 miles) from Skopje.
They held small placards printed with articles of the Macedonia constitution, which the protesters claim the government has violated.
Macedonian protesters vow to continue
Macedonia's power struggle
Macedonia's makeover divides nation
"If we claim to be democratically-conscious citizens, then it's our responsibility to protest against a non-democratic and criminal government," said Ivana, a protester from Ohrid.
"We don't protest only for them to resign, but because we want criminals to go to jail."
Placards portrayed Mr Gruevski behind bars or crossed out in red, like a prohibitory traffic sign. Some simply read: "Goodbye, Nikola."
But the prime minister has so far shown no willingness to leave.
His responses to the protests and the scandal caused by the release of the covert recordings have been defiant, promising to "face down" demonstrators, who he says are trying to destabilise a democratically-elected government.
The authorities made a point of their own on Sunday by allowing the rally to go ahead in front of government headquarters, complete with temporary stage, big screen and massive sound system.
Policing was restrained and no serious incidents were reported.
"It's a democratic right to assemble and protest, a constitutional right to express your views - and when that happens in a non-violent manner it's very good, because that's how democracy works," Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki told the BBC.
But he insisted that the governing coalition had won last year's general election fairly - and should not be expected to stand aside because of the protests.
"We gained a strong victory at the election - people put their trust in us to run the country and we have to follow that path. The opposition's job is to challenge the government - but it has to be within institutions and in a peaceful manner."
The government is planning a rally of its own on Monday evening - an attempt to show that the protesters do not speak for everyone in Macedonia.
Meanwhile, a number of anti-government activists are planning to camp out in front of government headquarters until the government resigns.
Whatever happens to Mr Gruevski, long-term solutions for Macedonia remain elusive.
A seemingly farcical dispute with Greece over the very name of the country has had serious consequences: Macedonia's bigger neighbour has repeatedly vetoed its prospects of joining the EU or Nato.
Diplomats acknowledge that is a disincentive to make reforms - for whichever party takes power in the future. | At first it seemed that the protest movement, building in Macedonia for months, was heading for an anti-climax on what was supposed to be its big day. |
28,083,889 | Some 22 survivors have so far been pulled from the rubble, and 40 others are feared trapped in the debris.
More than 70 workers were in the 11-storey building which was under construction when it toppled in heavy rain late on Saturday.
India has seen frequent building collapses, many blamed on lax safety and substandard materials.
At least six people, including construction company officials, have been arrested in connection with the collapse in Chennai (Madras), the capital of the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
"It appears they have not adhered to approved plans. The building appears to have serious structural defects," Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa said.
Hundreds of rescue workers, including personnel from India's National Disaster Response Force, are working with cutters, shovels and other equipment to search for survivors.
"Clearing the debris is a huge challenge. This would take almost two to three days and we are hopeful of saving many lives, going by our previous experiences in other places," senior police official SP Selvan told the NDTV news channel.
While the cause of the latest collapse is still under investigation, a lack of construction codes, leading to lax safety, is one reason for frequent collapses of buildings and other infrastructure projects in India.
There is also a high demand for housing, pushing up costs and forcing less affluent people to risk their lives in decrepit or badly constructed buildings.
Earlier on Saturday, a four-storey building came down in the capital Delhi, killing 10 people, including five children.
In January, at least 14 people died when a building under construction came crashing down in the western state of Goa.
At least 42 people died after a four-storey building collapsed in Mumbai last September. | At least 17 people are now known to have died when a building collapsed in the southern Indian city of Chennai. |
22,270,716 | Clenching the right hand for 90 seconds helps in memory formation, while the same movement in the left improves memory recall, say US psychologists.
In an experiment, 50 adults performed better at remembering words from a long list when they carried out these movements.
The researchers think clenching a fist activates specific brain regions that are associated with memory processing.
Lead scientist Ruth Propper, of Montclair State University, Montclair, New Jersey, said the research suggests simple body movements can improve memory by temporarily changing the way the brain functions.
"Clenching your right hand immediately prior to learning information and clenching your left hand immediately before recalling it would be helpful to improve memory," Dr Propper told BBC News.
Past research has shown that right hand clenching activates the left hemisphere of the brain, while left hand clenching activates the right hemisphere.
This has been associated with emotions - for example right hand clenching with happiness or anger, and left hand clenching with sadness or anxiety.
Memory processing is thought to use both sides of the brain - the left for encoding memories and the right for retrieving them.
Future research will examine whether hand clenching can also improve other mental processes, for example verbal or spatial abilities, and memory of pictures and places, as well as words.
However, more work needs to be done in more subjects to be certain of the results.
Prof Neil Burgess, of University College London Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, said a larger study was needed to be certain of a specific effect on memory.
This should include brain scans to look at blood flow to the left or right hemispheres of the brain.
Commenting on the study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, he said: "Ideally replication would use a more powerful design (i.e. more people or a within-subjects design) and include fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging to measures brain activity) verification of the effect on blood flow." | Memory can be improved simply by clenching the fists, a study suggests. |
14,215,425 | Derek Slade, who set up a school in Asia and worked at one in Africa, stole a dead boy's identity to hide his past.
The findings are featured in a BBC documentary by journalist Roger Cook.
An Abuse of Trust is being screened almost 30 years after the veteran reporter first exposed Slade's sadistic activities at a school in Suffolk.
The revelations about the headmaster's excessive use of violence at St George's in Great Finborough were broadcast as part of Radio 4's Checkpoint programme in 1982.
He hit boys with objects including a slipper and a wooden bat, leaving many with bruises.
Slade was forced to resign soon afterwards, but was not jailed until 2010 when it emerged that he had also sexually abused pupils.
The 61-year-old, from Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, was found guilty of more than 50 sex assaults and beatings, as well as possession of 4,000 indecent images of children.
He was sentenced to 21 years.
But new evidence shows that in the intervening years, Slade used his connections to people such as Derek Sawyer - former leader of Islington Council - to help him get a job as director of education at a school in Africa.
The job was not supposed to involve contact with children, according to Mr Sawyer, who said he was unaware that Slade was a paedophile.
The two men, friends in their school days, set up an organisation called International British Education Projects (IBEP), which won a contract to run four schools in Swaziland.
Slade also successfully bid for £85,000 in funding from a Leicester charity to set up a school for the victims of India's Gujarat earthquake.
While working at a school in Swaziland, he used the pseudonym Edward Marsh - an identity he had falsely acquired using the birth certificate of an eight-year-old boy buried at a Derbyshire cemetery.
The six-month BBC investigation has revealed that pupils in both countries were abused.
The Swaziland school's doctor told the programme he had seen evidence of "excessive corporal punishment and fondling", while children in India said they were beaten and photographed.
Former Labour councillor Mr Sawyer, who has been chairman of the London Courts Board and director of the youth offending charity Catch 22, said he had been led to believe Slade had legally changed his name.
He also said he was kept "in ignorance" about the violent disciplinarian's true nature.
"I was shocked by Derek Slade's conviction for sexual abuse but I am glad that justice has been done for his many victims," he said.
"Like many others, I have been taken in by Mr Slade and used by him. I knew nothing of any allegations of sexual abuse by Mr Slade, nor did I know that he should not have been put in a position of trust with children.
"I have had intermittent contact with Mr Slade over the past 40 years, which I now regret, but if I had known or believed that he was a risk to children I would obviously have had no association with him whatever."
An Abuse of Trust is on BBC One at 22:35 BST on 2 August, and will also be available on iPlayer. | A paedophile exploited his friendship with a prominent politician to get a job which he then used to gain access to vulnerable children abroad. |
39,012,072 | Pools goalkeeper Joe Fryer made an 11th-minute save to deny Brennan Dickenson, who also fired straight at Fryer midway through the first half.
Chris Porter had an effort disallowed for offside and Sean Murray's deflected effort whistled just over for Colchester, for whom George Elokobi came close to converting at the far post before half-time.
Pools striker Padraig Amond steered Brad Walker's curled ball into the area over from close range early in the second half.
But Colchester went ahead just after the hour mark when Kurtis Guthrie headed home Richard Brindley's cross at the near post after a fine attacking move.
Porter doubled Colchester's lead from the penalty spot with 12 minutes remaining after Guthrie had been fouled by Liam Donnelly in the area.
Pools halved the deficit four minutes later through Nathan Thomas, who burst into the area and planted a low shot past Colchester goalkeeper Sam Walker, but the hosts held on.
Match report supplied by the Press Association.
Match ends, Colchester United 2, Hartlepool United 1.
Second Half ends, Colchester United 2, Hartlepool United 1.
Foul by Tarique Fosu-Henry (Colchester United).
Lewis Alessandra (Hartlepool United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Substitution, Colchester United. Rekeil Pyke replaces Kurtis Guthrie because of an injury.
Delay in match Kurtis Guthrie (Colchester United) because of an injury.
Attempt blocked. Nathan Thomas (Hartlepool United) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Corner, Hartlepool United. Conceded by Matthew Briggs.
Drey Wright (Colchester United) is shown the yellow card.
Attempt missed. Nathan Thomas (Hartlepool United) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.
Corner, Colchester United. Conceded by Joe Fryer.
Attempt saved. Drey Wright (Colchester United) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is saved in the centre of the goal.
Goal! Colchester United 2, Hartlepool United 1. Nathan Thomas (Hartlepool United) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner.
Substitution, Colchester United. Tarique Fosu-Henry replaces Chris Porter.
Substitution, Hartlepool United. Lewis Hawkins replaces Lewis Alessandra.
Substitution, Hartlepool United. Louis Rooney replaces Rhys Oates.
Goal! Colchester United 2, Hartlepool United 0. Chris Porter (Colchester United) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the top left corner.
Penalty Colchester United. Kurtis Guthrie draws a foul in the penalty area.
Penalty conceded by Liam Donnelly (Hartlepool United) after a foul in the penalty area.
Attempt missed. Chris Porter (Colchester United) left footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left following a fast break.
Foul by Tom Lapslie (Colchester United).
Lewis Alessandra (Hartlepool United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution, Colchester United. Drey Wright replaces Richard Brindley.
Foul by Tom Lapslie (Colchester United).
Lewis Alessandra (Hartlepool United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Chris Porter (Colchester United) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right following a set piece situation.
Corner, Colchester United. Conceded by Nicky Featherstone.
Corner, Colchester United. Conceded by Liam Donnelly.
Goal! Colchester United 1, Hartlepool United 0. Kurtis Guthrie (Colchester United) header from very close range to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Richard Brindley.
Corner, Colchester United. Conceded by Joe Fryer.
Attempt missed. Tom Lapslie (Colchester United) right footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high.
Michael Woods (Hartlepool United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Matthew Briggs (Colchester United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Nathan Thomas (Hartlepool United).
Attempt missed. Padraig Amond (Hartlepool United) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high.
Second Half begins Colchester United 0, Hartlepool United 0.
First Half ends, Colchester United 0, Hartlepool United 0.
Foul by Kurtis Guthrie (Colchester United).
Liam Donnelly (Hartlepool United) wins a free kick on the right wing. | Colchester boosted their play-off hopes with a win over struggling Hartlepool. |
35,593,444 | Media playback is not supported on this device
Uefa general secretary Infantino, 45, is one of five candidates looking to replace Sepp Blatter on 26 February.
Blatter, 79, announced in June he would resign, amid a corruption scandal at world governing body Fifa.
The FA had supported ex-Uefa president Michel Platini, who in December was banned from football for eight years.
Media playback is not supported on this device
Both he and Blatter - who was given the same punishment - are appealing.
Fifa's ethics committee found Blatter and Platini had demonstrated an "abusive execution" of their positions over a payment made to Platini in 2011.
Infantino, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, Tokyo Sexwale and Jerome Champagne are vying to replace Blatter, who became Fifa president in 1998.
Switzerland's Infantino and Sheikh Salman of Bahrain are frontrunners to win the election in Zurich.
Speaking on the FA website, chairman Greg Dyke said: "We decided that we would back Gianni Infantino.
"I spoke to every candidate either in person or on the phone.
"We were impressed by Gianni. We were also impressed by Prince Ali but in the end we decided to go with the Uefa candidate."
Last month, Infantino said he intended to include in his manifesto plans for a World Cup to be held in a whole region rather than one or two countries.
Meanwhile, Dyke's proposals to reform the FA were also discussed at the board meeting on Wednesday and will be voted on in May.
Dyke wants to modernise the organisation, but will stand down in the summer at the end of his four-year term because he believes his plans will be strongly opposed.
BBC Radio 5 live sports news correspondent Richard Conway:
"It was widely expected that the FA would back Infantino, but they did get their fingers burnt over Michel Platini - they backed him last summer before they even knew anybody else was in the race.
"This time, they've been a bit more reticent, but good relations with Uefa are important to the FA, and they've gone for the man who stepped into Platini's shoes.
"Infantino's camp are increasingly confident that he's got a good shot at winning the election. Voters are looking at the Swiss technocrat and wondering: 'Is he the safe choice?' Sheikh Salman has allegations hanging over his head that he was complicit in human rights abuses in Bahrain - which he vigorously denies.
"It's going to be a very close vote." | The Football Association agreed to back Gianni Infantino's candidacy for the Fifa presidency, at a board meeting on Wednesday. |
36,343,956 | Northampton Borough Council initially prevented the sale of the house in an attempt to recover some of the £10.25m it loaned to Northampton Town Football Club while Mr Cardoza was chairman.
The house can now be sold and his wife Christina, its legal owner, is entitled to keep half the proceeds.
The council said it was satisfied.
The court papers for the hearing name Mr and Mrs Cardoza as well as Anthony Cardoza, David's father.
David and Anthony Cardoza were directors of Northampton Town Football club when it received the loan to build a new east stand at Sixfields. The stand was not finished and the money was not repaid.
A spokesperson for the council said: "We have reached an agreement about the proceeds of the sale of the house that protects the interests of the borough council and the taxpayer.
"We are satisfied with the agreement reached today, which is part of our continuing efforts to find out what happened to the loan made to Northampton Town." | Solicitors are to keep half the proceeds of any sale of David Cardoza's £1.2m family home in case of further legal action, a court has ruled. |
39,578,212 | In 2015-16, 20 churches in Caerphilly, Newport and Swansea opened their doors and, since 2014, parishes have given land to create 30 affordable homes.
The Church in Wales launched a project to help more homeless people, ex-offenders and migrants.
Housing Justice Cymru gathered data ahead of a road show in April and May.
It will start in Wrexham, where 61 rough sleepers were recorded over a two-week period last October - the highest number outside Cardiff.
The Bishop of St Asaph, Gregory Cameron, said: "Homelessness is not a problem that effects individuals, it effects communities and society more widely.
"It is something that can really only be addressed through all of the community acting together to tackle the causes of homelessness." | Churches provided shelter to 135 homeless people last year with volunteers giving 18,000 hours to help them, new figures have shown. |
35,405,416 | Media playback is not supported on this device
Hartley, 29, succeeds Harlequins flanker Chris Robshaw, who has been the national side's skipper for four years.
The Northampton hooker has had a controversial playing past, having been banned for a total of 54 weeks for gouging, biting and striking.
"My rap sheet is well documented and I will get reminded of it daily," Hartley told BBC sports editor Dan Roan.
Hartley's longest ban of 26 weeks came in 2007, when he was punished for eye-gouging.
He also received an 11-week suspension in 2013 after being sent off for verbally abusing referee Wayne Barnes in the Premiership final.
It meant he missed the British and Irish Lions' tour to Australia that year. He also missed last year's World Cup as a direct consequence of a four-week ban for headbutting.
Although Hartley said he "always had faith" he would play for England again, he admitted to his "surprise" at being given the captaincy.
"I am confident in myself as a player at Test level," he said. "I have captained my club for six years and have learned a lot there.
"I sometimes get it wrong, but it has gone well for me at Northampton, too. You need to get yourself at a level to be competitive and confrontational."
Asked if he will get it wrong again, Hartley replied: "No, of course not. I have learned from my lessons and it is for me to live with. Now I have to lead by example and answer the critics. I am a motivated person."
He added: "I'm well aware of the perception and the reputation that comes with it, but I play my best when I'm on the edge. I just know to not go over the edge."
When asked about Hartley's disciplinary record, coach Eddie Jones insisted he was not taking a gamble.
"The image of English rugby has been damaged enough," he said.
"Our job is to repair the image of English rugby which is by playing really good rugby which produces positive results."
Jones insisted he was "not worried" about Hartley's previous offences, adding: "The only risk is to not take a risk.
"People mature. We all make mistakes as young people. I made a hell of a lot as a young coach.
"If he is an opposition target, then great, because it takes the emphasis away from what the other team needs to do to win. "If they spend half their time baiting Dylan, they are going to be wasting their time."
Former England captain Will Carling said he was "excited" by Hartley's appointment.
"It is a statement, it is about winning," Carling told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"Eddie Jones wants a guy who will go out with an edge, not one who is possibly politically correct and safe.
"Winning at rugby or in sport is not about being safe. That is why I like it. Real leadership is about how you act, commit and show passion."
He added: "When I was captain, it was about how we started winning games and the mentality to win games.
"There is a huge amount of pressure on sportsmen to be role models. Is it more important for a professional sportsman and woman to be a role model or a winner?" | Dylan Hartley says he has "learned from his lessons" after being named England captain for the Six Nations. |
28,921,814 | Intermune, which is based in Brisbane, California, makes a medicine for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a deadly disease which scars the lungs.
The deal is the latest in a string of mergers in the drugs sector.
It is also the largest by Roche since 2009 when it bought the remainder of Genentech for about $47bn.
Roche will pay $78 per share in InterMune, which is a premium of 38% on top of the value of the shares at the end of last week.
Recent deals in the drug sector include US drug firm AbbVie's purchase of the UK pharmaceutical company Shire for £32bn.
UK High Street chemist Alliance Boots was bought up by US pharmacy giant Walgreens in an agreement earlier this month.
In May, pharmaceutical company Pfizer dropped a bid for UK company AstraZeneca. | Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche has said it will buy maker of lung disease therapies InterMune for $8.3bn (£5bn). |
35,304,471 | You can also take a look at the nominees for best actor, best actress, best supporting actor, best supporting actress and best director.
Director: Adam McKay
Cast includes: Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt
What's the story? Four investors make billions betting on the 2008 financial crisis after spotting what big banks, media and government failed to see.
Fact: Celebrities (among them The Wolf of Wall Street's Margot Robbie) make cameo appearances to explain financial jargon to the audience.
What the critics say: "All four stars are smart, fascinating and funny in their respective ways, so much so that their performances - and the script's solid moral structure - sweep away any concerns about asking us to root for people who get unimaginably rich by betting against the health of the American economy." Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast includes: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Alan Alda, Amy Ryan, Austin Stowell
What's the story? Based on a true story and set during the Cold War, the film sees American lawyer James B Donovan (Hanks) recruited to defend arrested Soviet spy Rudolf Abe; (Rylance) and help facilitate his exchange for U2 spy plane pilot Francis Gary Powers (Stowell).
Fact: In real life, when Powers' plane was hit by a Soviet missile barrage, he did not eject as the size of the U2 cockpit would have made this impossible. Instead he climbed out of the aircraft. He was carrying maps, which he later destroyed, and a poisoned suicide pin hidden inside a silver dollar.
What the critics say: "Storytelling this proficient is never something we see every day. Spielberg is so good he makes us forget that Bridge of Spies is basically two separate films, one a courtroom drama, the other a spy thriller, with unexpected dark humour thrown into the bargain courtesy of Joel and Ethan Coen, who did a credited rewrite of Matt Charman's script." Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Director: John Crowley
Cast includes: Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, Domhnall Gleeson, Jim Broadbent, Julie Walters,
What's the story? Based on the novel by Irish writer Colm Toibin and set in the 1950s, it tells of a young Irish girl who leaves her provincial life for one in Brooklyn, New York. There she embarks on a new life of romance and opportunity despite suffering from homesickness.
Fact: The lead character's story was a poignant one for Ronan. Her parents were migrants to the US and she was later born in New York. She was, however, brought up in rural Ireland and part of Brooklyn was filmed 20 minutes from her home.
What the critics say: "Tapping into a rich seam of emigre cinema, Brooklyn beautifully evokes the sense of being torn between time, place and identity... At the centre of it all is Ronan, who hasn't taken a false step since earning an Oscar nomination for Atonement in 2008." Mark Kermode, The Observer
Director: George Miller
Cast includes: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
What's the story? In a dusty post-apocalyptic world, Imperator Furiosa (Theron) leads the five wives of tyrannical leader Immortan Joe (Keays-Byrne) across a desert wasteland in a bid to escape his clutches, with the help of escaped captive Max (Hardy).
Fact: After coming up with the original idea, it took Miller 17 years to make the film. Original Mad Max star Mel Gibson was initially set to reprise the title role.
What the critics say: "The film is almost nothing but chase, with each high-octane action sequence shunting into the next at breakneck speed... With its spare dialogue and dazzlingly choreographed and edited stunts, Miller's film often feels like a great silent movie - albeit a very loud one." Robbie Collin, Daily Telegraph
Director: Ridley Scott
Cast includes: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kate Mara
What's the story? Astronaut Mark Watney (Damon) is presumed dead on a manned mission to Mars following a fierce storm and is left behind by his crew. Stranded on the planet, he must use all his wits and ingenuity in order to survive.
Fact: The film has a 1970s disco soundtrack featuring hits from Abba, Gloria Gaynor, Donna Summer and the late David Bowie.
What the critics say: "[The Martian] revels in the down-to-earth details of making a meal out of a potato when you've run out of ketchup, and the sheer absurdist pleasure of watching human beings outwit the universe with Sellotape and string." Mark Kermode, The Observer
Director: Alejandro G Inarritu
Cast includes: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter
What's the story? Frontiersman Hugh Glass fights for survival after his hunting team leaves him for dead following a brutal bear attack.
Fact: Only natural light was used for the film, which was largely shot in northern Canada.
What the critics say: "The Revenant must be appreciated first and foremost as a sensory and aesthetic marvel, a brutal hymn to the beauty and terror of the natural world that exerts a hypnotic pull from the opening frame. Its deficiencies as a human drama and a metaphysical meditation will take a bit longer to emerge." Justin Chang, Variety
Director: Lenny Abrahamson
Cast includes: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Joan Allen, Sean Bridgers, William H Macy
What's the story? Adapted by Emma Donoghue from her own novel, it tells the harrowing story of Ma (Larson), a young mother held captive with her five-year-old son Jack (Jacob Tremblay) in a 10-by-10-foot space.
Fact: As well as meeting psychologists to gain insight into the trauma of captivity, Larson wrote three diaries as Ma at the ages of 10, 14 and 17 to help her get into character.
What the critics say: "Room asks an enormous amount of its audience, dragging you further into darkness in the journey to find some distant light. It's a mark of how well Abrahamson has told his story that by the end, which takes you to places once unimaginable, you'll likely be willing to go through it all again." Olly Richards, Empire
Director: Tom McCarthy
Cast includes: Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci
What's the story? The true story of how investigative reporters at the Boston Globe uncovered child abuse by Catholic priests in Massachusetts.
Fact: The Boston Globe's Spotlight team won a Pulitzer Prize in 2003 for their work.
What the critics say: "Spotlight never hits the heights of passion, but capably and decently tells an important story." Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian | A look at the best picture nominees at the 88th Academy Awards, announced on 14 January 2016. |
22,548,886 | Two of four reaction wheels are now faulty. At least three are needed to orient the telescope correctly.
"I wouldn't call Kepler down and out just yet," said Nasa administrator John Grunsfeld, saying scientists were working on the problem.
Kepler was launched in 2009 and last month identified two distant planets that Nasa said could be habitable.
So far, the $600m (£395m) mission has identified 132 "exoplanets" outside our solar system, and another 2,700 possible candidates.
How does the Kepler telescope work?
How rare is our blue planet?
But last July one of the spacecraft's four reaction wheels broke down, leaving scientists aware that a further failure was likely and would prevent the telescope operating as it should.
In a statement, Nasa said the problem had been detected on Tuesday, when the telescope went into a pre-programmed "safe mode" which kicks in "if the observatory has trouble knowing where it should point", Mr Grunsfeld told AFP news agency.
The team's priority now is to put the craft into "Point Rest State" - reducing fuel consumption so the craft has enough left to last months or years, giving scientists the time to decide how to proceed.
Kepler completed its primary three-and-a-half year mission last November, Nasa says, and is now in an extended mission phase.
The US space agency says the telescope has generated a wealth of data which could generate new discoveries for years to come.
Last month, scientists announced that Kepler had discovered two of the most intriguing candidates yet in the search for Earth-like exoplanets.
They orbit the Kepler-62 star in the Constellation Lyra - 1,200 light-years from Earth. | The planet-hunting space telescope Kepler has been hobbled by a broken wheel, say scientists at Nasa. |
35,675,006 | Media playback is not supported on this device
The Uefa secretary general succeeds fellow Swiss Sepp Blatter, polling 115 votes, 27 more than closest rival Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, at Friday's election.
Blatter quit in May amid allegations that led to a six-year ban from football, which he is contesting.
"I said today we have to build bridges, not build walls," said the 45-year-old.
"Football can certainly do that. I want to focus on football," he added.
The resignation of Blatter, who denies any wrongdoing, prompted the extraordinary congress at Fifa, which has been engulfed by claims of widespread corruption since summer 2015.
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Infantino is a lawyer from Brig in the Valais region of Switzerland, less than six miles from Blatter's hometown of Visp.
"Today it was an election, but not a war," he said. "It was a competition, but not a fight. It was a sporting contest. An election you win, you lose and then life goes on.
"Now we turn the page, we start to work, we work good together and I show the whole world I'm not a candidate of Europe or wherever. I'm a candidate of football and football is universal.
"This is what we'll start to do now in Fifa to work with everyone for the development of football and not to do politics, to speak about divisions, to speak about barriers."
The first round of voting failed to determine an outright winner, though Infantino led with 88, three more than pre-vote favourite Sheikh Salman.
A simple majority of more than 50% - 104 of 207 available votes - was sufficient for victory in round two.
To help the new president tackle the crisis at Fifa, key reforms were passed to help make it a more transparent and accountable organisation. | Gianni Infantino wants to reunite football after becoming president of world football's governing body Fifa. |
37,259,407 | The six-month-old girl "died peacefully in her mother's arms" on Wednesday, a lawyer involved in the case confirmed.
Mr Justice Keehan's ruling meant the girl could be moved to a palliative care regime, allowing her to die.
She was in the care of Nottingham City Council - which opposed the medics' request to move her to palliative care.
The girl had been born about 14 weeks premature and suffered brain damage during birth, a two-day hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London heard.
Specialists said she had a "complex pattern" of medical problems and would have no meaningful sight, would not be able to communicate, would have no significant voluntary muscle movement and would not be able to feed herself or enjoy food.
She had never left hospital and doctors thought she would die before she was five.
One specialist also told Mr Justice Keehan that the little girl did not seem able to smile.
He said babies initially acted on instinct and the emergence of a smile was an indicator of cognitive function.
The girl's mother wanted her daughter to "pass away peacefully", while her father wanted a judge to decide.
Medics who work for Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust had treated the girl and wanted her life support to be withdrawn.
The council did not agree the burden of treatment outweighed the likely benefit. They said it was "far too early" to conclude that she would not be able to "derive benefit from continued life".
The judge concluded: "I am completely satisfied that the only course to be taken in [her] best interests is to withdraw her current life-sustaining treatment and to move her to a palliative regime and allow her to die peacefully in the arms of her loving parents." | A seriously ill baby - who doctors said did not seem able to smile - has died after a High Court judge ruled medics could stop providing life support. |
34,916,497 | Sean Cronin's 37th-minute try was the difference between the teams in a dour game dominated by defences.
Jonny Sexton and Paddy Jackson traded penalties with Leinster leading 8-3 at the interval, and neither side scored in a slow-paced second half.
Ulster had their best spell late in the game and despite a losing bonus point dropped down to seventh in the table.
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Both sides were under pressure for a victory after poor results in the European Champions Cup.
Leinster, coming off back-to-back defeats to Wasps and Bath, started brightly in front of a sparse home crowd with Sexton nailing a sixth-minute penalty to put his side 3-0 up.
Paddy Jackson missed a simple penalty attempt three minutes later but converted a more difficult effort from nearer the sideline to level the scores after 14 minutes.
Leinster dominated possession and showed their intent when Sexton turned down easy points in favour of a kick to the corner.
Leo Cullen's side had a number of attacking lineouts in the second quarter, with Robbie Diack stealing Sean Cronin's throw as Ulster's defence held firm.
Eventually the pressure told with Cronin rumbling over from close range in the 37th minute after another lineout.
Ulster failed to commit enough bodies to the maul and Cronin crossed to put Leinster 8-3 ahead, Sexton missing the conversion.
Leinster found another gear after the restart and went close to breaching their Irish rivals' defence for a second time.
Rhys Ruddock made a great break straight through Ulster's porous midfield and when the ball was recycled to Sexton, his fast past was fumbled by Ben Te'o with the try line at his mercy.
It was a let-off for Les Kiss' side and in the 49th minute, Rory Best held up Josh van der Flier on the line to keep Leinster at bay.
Ulster's strike runners were starved of possession but Andrew Trimble made one penetrating break to put the visitors into the Leinster half for the first time in the second period.
Pienaar turned down a penalty as Ulster went looking for a try, but after going through several phases Diack conceded a penalty allowing the home side to clear.
Leinster dictated the pace of the game but Ian Madigan missed a drop-goal attempt as the home side struggled to put Ulster away.
Ulster: P Nelson; A Trimble, D Cave, S McCloskey, C Gilroy; P Jackson, R Pienaar; K McCall, R Best (capt), W Herbst, I Henderson, D Tuohy; R Diack, S Reidy, N Williams.
Replacements: C Henry for Reidy (43), R Lutton for Herbst (55), R Wilson for Diack (61), P Marshall for Pienaar (74), L Ludik for McCloskey (74), R Herring for Best (76).
Leinster: I Nacewa; Z Kirchner, B Te'o, I Madigan, L Fitzgerald; J Sexton, L McGrath; J McGrath, S Cronin, T Furlong; D Toner, M McCarthy; R Ruddock, J van der Flier, J Heaslip (capt).
Replacements: E Reddan for L McGrath (32) M Moore for Furlong (51), J Tracy for Cronin (60), P Dooley for J McGrath (60), R Molony for McCarthy (67), N Reid for Sexton (67), G Ringrose for Reid (73). | Ulster failed to break Leinster's firm defence and slipped to a disappointing Pro12 derby defeat at the RDS. |
34,570,604 | From the beginning of the year, boats had to start landing unwanted fish which were caught in their nets.
Incidents of throwing dead fish back into the sea had increased due to EU quotas on which fish could be landed.
UK Fisheries Minister George Eustice has unveiled the chance to bank or borrow quotas.
Mr Eustice said: "If we want a profitable fishing industry and thriving coastal communities in the future it is vital that we fish sustainably today.
"That is why the reforms we have secured to the Common Fisheries Policy, which will put an end to the shameful practice of throwing perfectly good fish overboard, are so important.
"It is essential that we ban the practice of discarding fish, but we are also committed to introducing new flexibilities to help fishermen manage their quotas."
Bertie Armstrong, chief Executive of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation (SFF), said the measures were welcome, but warned there was still a lot of hard negotiating to be done.
Scottish Fisheries Secretary Richard Lochhead said: "No-one wants to see dead fish being thrown back into the sea - least of all our fishermen.
"That's why we are working closely with the industry to ensure the discard ban is implemented effectively and proportionately in Scotland, and to help make sure fishermen are fully prepared.
"We published a consultation paper in June about the allocation of the 'discard transfer' - the additional quota that fishermen will receive when the landing obligation commences for each species. We will announce the outcome of that soon."
The ban came into force in January for species such as herring and mackerel, and takes effect next January for species including haddock. | Measures to ease pressure on boats which will be affected by a European discard ban have been welcomed by Scottish fishing leaders. |
24,458,783 | Apple's feted design chief teamed up with industrial designer Marc Newson to create the device as a bespoke item for a charity auction.
While some may want to see it go into wider production, the amount of work that went into it means that the price would be out of reach for most.
It is expected to fetch between $500,000 (£312,000) and $750,000.
The special edition Leica M camera features an anodised aluminium case with tens of thousands of individual perforations.
The camera took 85 days and more than 735 hours to manufacture.
During that time more than 550 models and 1,000 prototype parts were made and tested; 55 engineers worked on the process.
As for the specifications under the bonnet, it is similar to the standard $7,000 Leica and features a 24-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor and comes with a 50mm f/2 aperture lens.
The RED charity, founded by U2's Bono, will host the auction in New York on November 23. All proceeds will go to the Global Fund to fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Other items to be auctioned include a grand piano picked by the two designers, gold Apple earbuds and a cosmonaut suit. | If you've ever wondered what an iCamera might look like, a Jony Ive-designed Leica might offer a few hints. |
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